The Underbelly of Ellirion

December 3rd

The party arrives in Ellirion late in the afternoon. Despite their regional fame, the party does absolutely nothing to disguise their appearance. Upon arrival, Carlos takes charge and leads the party to a shop called Adelaide's Enchantments. It's proprietor and namesake immediately recognizes Carlos and they share a few moments catching up. She immediately warns him of Corym and his rise to power in the criminal underworld of Ellirion. Carlos plays it off and asks about his other friend William's whereabouts. Adelaide sends him to the orphanage on the other side of town.   As they walk across town, Ellie and Barkemedies playfully traumatize small children by pretending to attack them. When they reach the orphanage, Carlos reunites with his close friend William. William fills Carlos in on the events in his absence: Corym rose to power, Zanros has become captain of the guard and antagonizes Corym, and William has stepped back from normal operations due to a moral conflict; Corym is trading slaves to the Orcs via smugglers. Like Adelaide, William warns Carlos that Corym will know he's here and is likely not going to react kindly.   Reluctantly, Carlos leads the party toward a tavern/fighting ring known as The Abyss to see a man named Artimer. As they make their way, they are pulled into a small shop by a Halfling man named Pikar, another old friend of Carlos. In a paranoid, frantic mood, Pikar tries to hide the party in his building. He immediately recognizes Roswyn as the daughter of Therawyn Weatherbee, the sheriff who arrested him five times back in Rivervale. Unbothered, Pikar continues with his paranoid warnings and questions for Carlos about why he has returned. After the explanation, Pikar sends Carlos to Eida for some help.   The party arrives at Eida's Secrets to greet its proprietor. The Halfling woman also recognizes Roswyn, though this time her mother was arresting Eida's family not her. Suspicious of law enforcement, Eida becomes wary of the reasons for Carlos's visit. Ellie's offer of jumjum juice immediately diffuses the tension as they all sit down for a drink. Like all his other friends, Eida warns Carlos about Corym and tells him to be careful.   After several detours, the party finally makes it to The Abyss, a very large tavern with an equally large fighting ring in its basement. They make their way through the event crowd toward Artimer's balcony room. They get an audience with him where Carlos brazenly asks about Corym's business. Carlos offers the party's assistance to keep the elves off their back, stating that the elves owe them several favors. Artimer agrees to pass the offer on to Corym and will contact the party tomorrow with his answer.   The party heads to the Bashed's Wrath, a tavern in a nicer part of town, to turn in for the evening safe from Corym's reprisal against Carlos. They are greeted by yet another Halfling named by Philomena Kettlewhistle, who also seems to think Roswyn is here to arrest her. She spends a noticeable amount of time reminiscing about her time back in Rivervale and her experiences with Roswyn's mother. It turns out, many of the halfings in Ellirion moved here to escape Therawyn's manacles of justice.  

December 4th

The party starts the day by having Yarver scry on Artimer to make sure he is actually following through. He immediately regrets this when he sees a naked Artimer asleep in his bed for the full 10 minutes. The party heads downstairs where they eat and chat with Philomena. After a time, they receive a letter from Artimer summoning them to the Abyss in the afternoon. They kill some time before packing up and heading over there in early afternoon.   They sit down for a meeting with Artimer in his suit once more. He informs Carlos that Corym has agreed to hear out their proposal, under one condition: Carlos offer insurance. Initially, Artimer asks for one of the party as collateral, but they eventually agree he submit to a Geas curse. Artimer summons Adelaide to cast the curse on Carlos and then immediately dismisses her.   After she leaves, Artimer informs them they just have to wait for Corym to arrive. After a prolonged awkward silence, Artimer breaks the tension by asking Carlos why he has returned, especially now of all times. During the brief conversation, the party gets some more insight into Carlos's life before the party. But, it's not long before the awkward silence returns.   After what feels like forever, the party is greeted by a half dozen people entering the room followed by Corym. The tension in the room grows, but Carlos seems to remain calm on the outside. Corym is very skeptical of Carlos's intentions, and questions him very carefully. Carlos is equally skeptical but, on threat of the Geas curse, is honest but purposefully vague in his answers. Carlos mentions that he needs Corym's connections to get into Crushbone, but he does not mention why. Corym seems interested but not particularly invested. He is more concerned with what Carlos can offer him: favor with the elves. After some back and forth, Corym agrees to the terms and says that he will send a contact to find the party.   Impatient, the party heads to the docks in search of anyone who could be this contact. A bit more distracted, Yarver finds a Human man who offers to "sell" him a small crate of jumjum juice. In a not-so-subtle deal, Yarver and Roswyn happily walk away with several bottles of jumjum juice. Afterwards, Yarver decides to sit on the dock smoking his pipe, making special smoke monsters to entertain nearby children. Ellie sits elsewhere and tries to draw the docks, but Arya's criticisms cause her to constantly start over. Carlos is less patient and constantly scans the docks for someone that he thinks would fit the bill.   Just before sunset, Carlos is approached by the man who sold Yarver the jumjum juice. Through a lightly coded conversation, he introduces himself as Alistair Forthworn, an associate of Coryms who works in "logistics." After some conversation, he offers to take the party to Crushbone for a price. After some negotiation, the party is scheduled to depart tomorrow evening on Alistair's ship.   The party spends the rest of the evening wandering the town and shopping. They head to a jewelry store called The Night's Sun to pick up some spell components. The party debates the best use of their limited funds, but Carlos manages to persuade the party to all pitch in to buy a 1,000 gold ruby. On the way out, Arya purchases several rings for his marriage partners and an amulet for Ellie as a symbol of their collective relationship. As it gets late, the party heads back to the Bashed's Wrath to turn in for the evening.