Codename: Sleeping Alley, Report the Tenth

General Summary

We met the Alley Sleepers in the arpeggiated cove of danger, about to undertake a mission for Mimgee Grimeye to get a corner on the giant riding lizard market. Grex the Indomitable took this opportunity to blink back into this plane from whereever the hell he was. He got a little more information about this "blink curse," though. One, it is probably not a curse, and two, someone with "dog" in their name might know more. Interesting!
Aletha of the Flintclaw is also back among her companions, having conducted a solo operation to see what Illthiri of the Axemane is doing wearing an Alerki Ascendency uniform. To do this, she deployed what is rapidly becoming her favorite activity: Watching Some Guys. Eventually, having covertly followed Illthiri back to his lodgings, she was able to confront him. His answers--something about increased difficulty of living in the Break along with the inevitability of the Ascendency--did not sit well with Aletha. She said something pretty cutting and brutal about having a backbone before she took her leave. Your humble chronicler assumes that she is filled up with Vengeance Spirit now.
In order to track down this hand cannon caravan, lizards are needed, so our heroes each purchased some mounts and got down to the serious business of naming them. Svo'Kool's is named Crouton; Rieta went with Glams; Hama vu Farlight decided on Garbage (to complement Trash the baby giant snail, of course Aletha rides Reptar; and Grex is still pondering an appropriate name for his trusty steed.
With the Naming Puzzle resolved, our adventurers made their way down to Belbelder because pretty much every caravan from Gattland makes its way through there. On the way, they would get their first taste of mounted combat as they encountered some The Manifest troops harassing some commoners. It was quickly decided that, "hey, you know what...fuck these guys," and a battle commenced. Fight highlights included some badass lizard combat, a very timely use of Suggestion by Grex, and just continued lizard chomping on a hapless, laughing man. 
It turns out that these commoners were no mean common folk at all, but part of the Forest People--a group of survivalists, hermits, and general outdoors type that don't appreciate the Ascendency trying to control them. Olek was happy to make the Sleeper's acquaintance, and the Sleepers, who have apparently heard of him, were kinda starstuck.  
Finally, the group arrived at Belbelder. Hama went to see a man about some stables and found Hopper of Hopper's Barn to be a little weirded out by stabling lizards, but ultimately amenable. Svo and Rieta decided to check out Frix & Son All Sorts, and Aletha went to The Broken Bird. Malyei, a gnome healer devoted to Xun, let Aletha know that those eyeless crows with the broken wings and feet? Probably Xun watching her. Interesting! She also scored some healing potions.
The true action of the night was in Wett's Whistle & Wink, the local inn and tavern. The Sleepers did their level best to determine how to track down this caravan by utilizing their skills. Grex got to do some charm work, Hama asked some probing questions, Aletha Watched Some Guys, Rieta read the Tomb of Dreams--a strange story about scarecrows that change color--and Svo'Kool did Svo stuff. It was all kind of a mixed success. Ultimately, some of the Gattish groups were scared off by the antics of our heroes, but not before Hama got a quick Hunter's Mark off on one of them. He was clearly seen doing this, so I wonder what that will mean. 
And that's where we left it. We'll see what Hama's Mark holds for the fortunes of the Sleepers during our next session.

Rewards Granted

Riding lizards!

Character(s) interacted with

Mimgee Grimeye, purveyor of riding lizards.
Hopper, an ostler, runs Hopper's Barn.
Frix, general merchant of Frix & Son All Sorts.
Malyei, a gnome devotee of Xun, The Broken Bird healer.
Librynn Wettwink, proprietress of Wett's Whistle & Wink.

Report Date

22 Nov 2020

Primary Location

Skint Parish

Secondary Location

Belbelder