Codename: Sleeping Alley, Report the Fifth

General Summary

We met the Alley Sleepers in the fibrous living room of danger, just kind of milling about their new digs. Several names for this forthcoming honey & mead operation were discussed, with general consensus being that it should somehow involve ivory. The Ivory Bee, perhaps? More discussion is warranted.
Our gang's idyll was interrupted by the arrival of "Smallcastle", visiting on behest of the Brass Lamb with an very important operation. He wants our crew to find out what happened to the Lamb cell Clownrose Dive that operated out of Riverskint. Most of the members are dead or incarcerated. Those that aren't are missing. Something strange is afoot & Smallcastle wants to know what's happening. There's also the worrying possibility that The Crescent is involved. If that is the case, there's no telling just how comprised the cell might be, or how compromised the entire Riverskint sector is. The entire resistance itself might hang in the balance here, no pressure!
Our folks agreed to travel to Riverskint and see what happened. Smallcastle provided the heroes with 2500 gold for operational expenses & expected to hear from them soon. It was devised that perhaps this trip should also be executed as a cover, so The Ivory___ could perhaps be used as an excuse to travel to the big city for supplies to get it up & running. & maybe actually get those supplies! Fantasy kismet.
So it was off to Riverskint, by boat, as it happens. Our champions managed to navigate the Pimeweld without too much difficulty until a couple of merrows showed up & were very unhappy. A brief fight later found those merrows to be dead & Rieta the new owner of a very nice spear (since dubbed Pimeweld's Wake). Nice!
The introduction of Riverskint capitalism & probable corruption was visited upon our adventurers through the guise of Engog, the Riverskint harbormaster. In a few days time, their paltry vessel will rack up some pretty hefty "habor fees." Hmmm! No good.
A cursory poke about the city offered a few things. One, a Shard of Gnet for Hama & a tusk growin' potion for Svo'Kool from Coldstamp at Gnet's Eyebrow over in Gnet's Line. Nice! Svo's tusks are now growing fairly uncontrollably. Not so nice! Two, an encounter with "Porter" who seemed to known the Duke of Laughter, the presumed leader of the Clownrose Dive cell, & was no friend of the Ascendency. Interesting! & three, yet another fight. This one was with a gang of street toughs & some horrifying creature with several mouths (later identified as an otyugh).
Relatively quick work was made of the gang, but the otyugh proved resolute. Just when it appeared our heroes might triumph, it ran away. Bullshit! The gang themselves had in their possession a strange sigil inked on a piece of parchment. It kinda looked like a weight of sorts with a big X on it. Hama filed that away for later. 
That fight really took it out of them, so everyone agreed to find a place to rest. Luckily, Svo'Kool, being the savvy city-dweller he is, knew of a nice place in Gyllcross, Sparklehaus. This inn & tavern is run by Sparkles, an amiable enough half-orc missing an ear. After room & board was secured, our crew prepared to retire for the evening, but that plan was interrupted by the arrival of a familiar face--Norgabella Largerock, who seemed just as surprised & uncomfortable to see our operatives as they were to see her. It turns out that Norgabella is either on the run or laying low after their last meeting in Curragan's Shame, which resulted in the death of Kordel Reg & blowing the hell out of a nitre mine.
Some folks weren't as lucky as to make it into hiding when the Ascendency came calling, though. Stolvan Honorarrow seems to be one of those unfortunates, as his tortured, emaciated corpse was discovered hanging in a gibbet by Rieta. Every war has its debts. The question is often who is left to pay it.
After much discussion, it was agreed that perhaps Porter should be visited again in the morning. Oh, & Svo'Kool attempted to sate his gambling appetite by returning to the Siren Song Casino, but was prompted denied entry by its guards, Igor & Stravinsky. 
Morning broke & it was time to track down Porter. He was found in his market stall in Coin & sold Hama a dryadleaf, Svo'Kool a Bard-in-a-Box, & Aletha an everlasting sugarbomb. He also directed Grex toward a jeweler, Lordel Blazegem, who sold Grex a nice diamond & turned out to maybe be Porter's mother. 
Most importantly, though, he agreed to meet later at The Lovely Octopus in Sallow & discuss more of what he knows about the Duke of Laughter & the Clownrose Dive cell. 
Before that fateful meeting, though, Azureite's Forge was visited and the intense war-forged blacksmith agreed to make Svo'kool a truly amazing ivory morningstar when the time is right. So, that'll be gross, horrifying fun.
In Riverskint, as in everywhere on Keshloam, nothing is for free. Porter agreed to tell the gang what he knows, but demands that they, first, destroy Ever, the large oak in the Endoak district. Presumably, this is to send a message to the Ascendency, but it might be that my man just doesn't like big trees. Anyway, attempts to intimidate him into just giving out the information very much failed, so it looks like Operation: EverBurn is underway. We'll see how that shakes out during our next session.

Character(s) interacted with

"Smallcastle"
 Engog the Harbormaster
Coldstamp, owner of Gnet's Eyebrow in Gnet's Line
Norgabella Largerock
Sparkle, of Sparklehaus
"Porter" 
Lordel Blazegem

Report Date

11 Oct 2020

Primary Location

Riverskint