Trouble Brewing Report

General Summary

One sunny day, near the end of their downtime, there was a great ruckus in the Hell's Outcasts. Before either Ent or Martin could bother to check what was the matter, Febblekin came walking up the stairs of Martin's tower with a newspaper in hand. Handing it to Martin, he saw the first article, which took up the entire page. The header read: "Lord Mayor of Greyhawk Murdered in the Night by an Agent of Iuz", with a picture of a pile of dust scattered on a royal bedroom floor. Febblekin complained that the news had people in a panic and uproar, every tavern in the city was filled with townsfolk who were trying to get the latest news on what the guilds of Greyhawk planned to do in response. Not long after, Martin was contacted by a messenger, who told him that the captain of the guard, Tyril Tylander, would like to speak with the Grey Outcasts. Martin agreed, and Febblekin was itching to clear out the Hell's Outcasts for a few moments of quiet so that they could talk. Within a few hours, the adventuring party was gathered at the tavern, just in time for the arrival of the captain of the guard. He admitted things were not looking good for the city of Greyhawk, the guilds were in disarray, many of the heroes of Greyhawk were either nowhere to be found, or already busy dealing with the situation at hand. Tyril needed boots on the ground inside enemy territory, to stall any enemy plots while the guilds elected a new mayor, and the surrounding nations held a summit to determine the best course of action in dealing with the forces of Iuz. The party agreed to sneak into the fallen city of Critwall under the guise of traders in exchange for a king's ransom in gold and favors, should they survive and continue to help the cause. Once the agreements were made, Martin decided to call in a bit of help. He remembered that Sylvan used to have a regiment of thugs at his disposal to deal with the riff-raff and anyone who was looking to cause trouble, and in somewhat Sylvan like fashion, he went to the top of his tower and wrote TO HELL! with the spell Skywrite. As business was finishing up, a troop of thieves and neer-do-wells had shown up on their front door, led by a half-elf named Elmund, who introduced his "cutpurses" to the Grey Outcasts. They agreed to help for a reasonable sum, since they were good friends of Sylvan. Once Naelen's ship had been loaded with trade goods and Elmund and his cutpurses, they set sail across the Nyr Dyv to the once proud capital of the Shield Lands. On the horizon, they spotted the city, a dreary place with faint wisps of smoke from industrial fires wafting over the walls. As they docked, they were immediately boarded by a troop of hobgoblin soldiers, who inspected their ship and looked over their manifest to ensure that nothing and no one aboard had been smuggled into the city. Once all was settled, the group of them walked into the dock ward, an impressive collection of warehouses and business centers, which had now been possessed by the occupying force. Walking towards the gate that led into the main city, the Grey outcasts got a good view of the many war galleys that had been stationed at the docks, one of which was exceptionally large, armed with many impressive weapons, and decorated with a large brass ram shaped like a dragon's head. As they made their way through the main gate, they decided to get the lay of the area. They quickly learned that the city currently has four districts, as two were destroyed in the battle to capture the city in an attempt to deter the invaders: The Docks, the West Wall, The Forge Quarter, and the Grand Citadel. What's more, they picked up hints about a sort of resistance in town, and quickly met one of its members, a halfling named Nick Thistlewack, who was to be thrown in an oubliette. Luckily for him, the party heard his cries as he was being carried off through the streets, and rescued him from the city guard's clutches. Nick proved to be an invaluable ally, and agreed to set up a meeting between the party and the resistance leader. Nick also tipped the party off to a place where they could sell their spices and continue to keep up their disguise: The Nobleman's Feast, a restaurant run by an impoverished noble. It was one of the last establishments still run in town, due to its owner providing insider information about the city to invading forces before the siege of the city. Soon after, the party smuggled Nick on board Naelen's ship and made their way to the Nobleman's feast to see if they might be able to make a sale. The owner was delighted to meet them, as he was running very low on ingredients, and was afraid that he wouldn't be able to feed the Iuzian officers that loved to dine at his establishment. He paid them as handsomely as he could for their spices, and offered them a meal the next day, which was usually not a day many officers showed up to dine. As the day came to a close and night set in Nick brought the party to a secret meeting spot in one of the ruined districts, next to a sewer entrance. Here, they met another resistance member, Mercer, a blue tiefling, who led the group through the sewers to the resistance hideout. Here they met Johann Kennic, the son of the previous ruling noble of the city and leader of the Critwall Rebels. The two groups agreed that a strike against the invading forces and their leader, Tulak, a fearsome general, might restore some hope to the people, and give the surrounding kingdoms some time to organize a military response to the looming invasion on their doorstep. Their plan was to first spring any rebels and citizens still alive in the oubliette, and use that distraction to raid storehouses at the docks, hoping to steal some substance called "unquenchable fire" to set the large war galley in port ablaze. With the plan formalized, the Grey Outcasts made their way back to their ship to rest. The next day, the group of them took care of personal tasks before making their way to The Nobleman's Feast for their promised meal. When they got there, the owner was very notably nervous, as Tulak, general of the occupying Iuzian army and his top officers had decided to drop in for a surprise meal, and the owner was terrified that he had somehow angered Tulak. As the party was seated for their meal, the group of them decided that it would be in their best interest to cause a scene and leave. Martin immediately called over a server and started a scene trying to get kicked out, demanding a refund for the poor service. It would have been successful, as the owner was trying to deal with the situation as quickly as possible, but it wasn't to be. As the party was enacting their commotion, Tulak had quietly approached the table and, making himself known, politely diffused the commotion. Ent, a bit unaware of the tension, offered Tulak a flower. In response, the general took ahold of it and wilted it with a powerful spell. Not missing a beat, he then turned to the rest of the party and introduced himself in an almost sociopathically friendly way, questioning their business in town. Backed into a corner, the party introduced themselves as spice traders, and part time adventurers, considering many of them were still dressed in their adventuring gear, and that would have been difficult to find an excuse for. Immediately turning back to the rest of the party, Tulak, with almost comedic surprise and glee, informed them that there was, coincidently, "another" group of adventurers causing trouble and interrupting his operations within the city and offered to pay a handsome sum if the party could deal with them. They reluctantly agreed, unsure of exactly what game Tulak was playing by tasking them with dealing with themselves. Happy with their response, Tulak returned to his meal, and the party left the establishment rather confused, but thankful that the confrontation hadn't led to violence. Unsure of what to make of the encounter, the party did their best to just forget about it and move on with their plan. That night, Dream caught a dock worker by surprise and interrogated him to see whether he knew where any "unquenchable fire" might be stored. In return for escape from the city for him and his family, the dock worker told Dream that while he didn't know exactly where it was being kept, a log of shipments and locations of goods was kept at the shipping headquarters at the northern end of the docks. Sending the worker on his way, Dream informed the party and the resistance of the location of the substance. They agreed that the next day should be the day that they enact their plan, giving Tulak as little time to react as possible. As the sun rose, the Grey Outcasts made their way to the Oubliette, a repurposed well that had been expanded into a small prison. A lifting platform had been built atop the well to let guards in and out. Quietly, Dream cleared the way of guards, and secured safe passage for some of the clankier party members. Once below, Kaizzt pulled a fast one on the guards below, successfully deceiving them that he was a high ranking officer that needed to remove a prisoner from the Oubliette. Once they had been let inside, the group of them slaughtered the guards and rushed to free those trapped inside. Their little plan had raised suspicions however, as a large troop descended on their location. While these hobgoblin soldiers did slow them down, they were able to still make an escape to the sewers. It seemed, however, that even here they were being watched. From the shadows appeared hobgoblin assassins that successfully got the drop on the Grey Outcasts. These well trained combatants proved difficult to overcome, but they could not get the better of the party, who dealt with them swiftly. Running low on resources, the Outcasts hurried their way through the sewers and to the docks, where Dream, Martin and Clarimund snuck their way into the shipping headquarters building and made their way to the offices. Miraculously, their only real obstacle was two bumbling guards that spent more time arguing about food than guarding. All was not well outside however, as the rest of the party outside saw a massive battalion of soldiers dressed in full plate making their way through the docks, led by none other than Tulak himself, dressed in full war regalia with a massive curved blade on his back. The air was electric, as the three inside fumbled around the offices, searching for the ledger, but it was too late, fighting had already broke out as they laid their hands on it. Outside, battle clashed as the first wave of soldiers descended on Kaizzt and Ent. While a number of resistance members jumped out from the crowd to aid them, they were badly outmatched. Just as it seemed as thought the battle might swing in their favor, as Johann and (tiefling) had joined the fray, Tulak, like a bolt of lightning, flew across the cobbles and sliced Mercer cleanly in half. He then turned and released a frenzy of lightning, catching both resistance members and his own soldiers, nearly killing Ent, who melded into stone to escape. The rest of the party jumped into the river or became invisible to make their way to their ship, abandoning their mission. Once aboard the ship, they activated a Quall's feather token, which they had been saving for years for a moment like this, and sped away, gusts of wind filling the boat's sails. Hours later, Ent emerged from the stone to find himself in the ruins of a battle. Thankfully, Johann and Nick had survived, and were able to help a battered Ent into a rowboat and port him to the ruined tower north of the city, where the party and their hired soldiers had stationed themselves. However, things seemed to go from bad to worse. As soon as they had settled down for the night, they heard a great flapping of wings, and a great thunder as a mighty blow struck the tower, showering those inside with chunks of brick and mortar. Rushing outside as to avoid being crushed, they were faced with a monstrous Bronze Dragon, it's scales a mature shade of verdigris, and its pale green eyes blazed with anger. Threatening to fry them, the dragon demanded they leave, lest he end their lives like all of the other servants of Tulak. Sensing that the Dragon thought that they were servants of Iuz, the party attempted a parley with the dragon, who, after considering their condition, believed that they had come here to help the region, and introduced himself as Korondalin. The party told Korondalin of their exchange with Tulak, which further put him at ease, as Tulak was a foe that he had sworn to destroy. The sword that Tulak possessed was an artifact of immense power that Korondalin felt would be far safer were it tucked away in his hoard, where it would never be misused. Agreeing to help the party due to their shared enemy, the dragon led them to the entrance of his lair, a cove hidden by an illusion to appear as a cliffside. Here, the party docked their ship, safe from harm and hidden from view. After marveling at all of the decorations around the cave (which Korondalin considered to be a living room of sorts), the party began to scheme and decide their next move. Korondalin suggested that the party assault a castle to the north that had been captured by marauders that had sworn loyalty to Tulak. It would allow them a place to hide and stay warm before the winter hit and give them time to strategize and plan their next move. Korondalin offered to help them in their quest, but would only do so if they agreed to surrender Tulak's sword to him, should they kill him. While Korondalin shared in their goal, he did not trust them with such a powerful weapon. The Grey Outcasts was wary of this agreement. They wanted Korondalin help, as he could be an invaluable ally, but the sword was a powerful weapon that could change the party's future forever. Unsure of what to do, the Grey Outcasts told Korondalin they would need time to decide, and would deliver him an answer after they had secured the castle to the North. With all of their ducks in a row, the party headed north to assault the marauder's keep, with a big decision hanging over their heads...

Notes

This report summarizes about 4 sessions.