Episode 8 - Blood Money
General Summary
On the way back to Riddleport, the group was ambushed during the evening by a group of men. Two were apprehended and admitted to being bounty hunters. They were trying to cash in on a contract on Sakali (200gp alive, 100gp dead) and Valarius (200gp alive, 10gp dead).
The contract was obtained from the Crimson Coin guild, a guild of bounty hunters that operated out of the Golden Master Inn.
After greasing some palms to cover “transport tax”, the group arrived at the Gold Goblin and offloaded their treasure. Saul and Larur were thrilled to see the statue. Saul gave them a bit of information about the Crimson Coin.
The group went to the Golden Master and spoke with Kenoshi, the gold dragon man who ran the place. Kenoshi would not tell them who placed the contract on them and bore no ill towards the group, stating that it was “just business” and even joked about Valarius cashing in on his own contract. Valarius left a note for whoever placed the contract, should they decide to place another, asking them to meet them at the Gold Goblin to discuss whatever this issue was that prompted the contract.
For two weeks, the Gold Goblin prospered. Cyphermages began poking around the statue and were promptly kicked out. Cyphermages have been banned from the Gold Goblin.
One morning during breakfast, while everyone was looking at their wayfinders, Sakali noticed an arcane energy around Alyuin’s wayfinder. He suspected someone was using it to scry on the group.
Saul approached and asked the group if they had seen Larur. Vancaskerin admitted that one of the ways he was able to finance the Gold Goblin’s refurbishment was by taking out a loan from Lymas Smeed, using the Gold Goblin itself as collateral. The loan was for 2,000 gp. Thanks to the group’s efforts, Saul was able to make a 500 gp payment toward the loan. He sent Larur to pay the 500 gp yesterday evening, and the manager hadn’t been seen since.
Saul suspected that Smeed worked for Clegg Zincher, and hoped this didn’t prompt Smeed to take action against Larur as a warning to Saul.
The group went to “Rat Street Loans” to see Lymas Smeed. After a perimeter search, Larur’s cloak was found in the trash behind the building. The cloak was slashed and bloody.
Valarius knocked at the front door. No answer. Sir Godric decided to knock with his Earthbreaker, shattering most of the front door with one swing. Smeed was inside and fled upstairs where two half-orc barbarian enforcers were waiting to protect the loanshark. The fight was intense. The half-orcs gave as good as they got, knocking Valarius, Godric, and Winifred unconscious. The casters managed to finish them off and apprehend Smeed as he tried to escape.
Smeed was interrogated. He admitted to being the front man for Boss Croat, rather than Zincher. He denied doing anything to Larur, saying the dwarf didn’t make his appointment the other night. All of Smeed’s business is done “by appointment only.” The lifelong criminal’s answers seemed legit(?) Smeed also warned that doing anything to him would earn the group the wrath of Boss Croat.
Since the only people who knew about the appointment was Saul, Smeed, and Boss Croat, the group decided that they would pay the crime boss a visit.
Character(s) interacted with
Winifred “Fred” Aldysh – During the two weeks of downtime, Fred made her way to both Maly’s Wonderous Vault and the Cypher Lodge to try and upgrade some of her spells. She trained her swordplay with Sir Godric and asked him quite a few questions about how one would go about fighting devils.
Notes
Boss Croat – One of the eight crime lords of Riddleport, the half-orc named Boss Croat runs several street gangs and controls much of the trade of illicit or illegal substances on the street. He is well known to hire only half-orcs as his enforcers. There is a rumor that he was known as the place to go to set up a contract for assassinations before the Crimson Coin set up in Riddleport.
Report Date
12 Jun 2018
Related Characters
