E1 - A Very Warm Welcome

The party meets Torrent and gets a quest

General Summary

The session began with all the PCs meeting at the Poison Apple Pub in Gate Pass. The pub had a sign out front that said - "Official Notice - Trehan Finner, owner of the Poison Apple Pub has been taken into temporary custody under the protection of the city guard, until such time that the representatives of the Ragesian Empire can question and find him innocent of hostile collusion. The Poison Apple Pub is hereby closed until further notice." The note had the seal of the city guard stamped on it. The pub was abandoned with all doors locked. Rayland tried to pick the lock on the side of the building when the door was opened by Torrent, who invited us in. Torrent shared with us that a Ragesian Empire army was marching for Gate Pass, accompanied by Inquisitors, who hunt and kill magic users not aligned with Ragesian Empire. They are attempting to establish dominance after the death of Emperor Coaltongue. To stop them and protect the city, we need to find Funzbar Biteknee, a gnome spy from The Lyceum who was undercover in the Ragesian palace. He has intel that was supposed to be given to Peppin Tallman, Funzbar's human handler from the Lyceum in Gate Pass. He was found dead, and it is unknown if Funzbar is aware of this or not. Funzbar has a package containing "vital military intelligence which he stole from the Ragesian palace". We need to meet with him where he was going to meet with Peppin, at Depository Tower. From there, we will deliver the package to The Lyceum in Seaquen. Torrent planned on us leaving the city and traveling down a southern road to the Fire Forest, for which she had proffered a few potions to resist the fiery blaze. The issue she presented was - how do we get out of the city, which is on lockdown. She suggested we talk to Councilman Erdan Menash, who is sympathetic to The Resistance and may be able to help. He has a home in Summer's Bluff, the wealthy borough of the city. Before we could begin the mission though, we were attacked by assailants wearing red arm bands with a black horse's head and text imprinted on them. They were led by a male human on horseback named Kathor. In the process of these assailants sneaking in, a fireball made of oil smashed into the roof of the pub, lighting some of the assailants on fire, as well as the building. After a quick battle, the group escaped out the same side door they entered from, Torrent included. On their way out, Bryn asked Rayland to grab one of the armbands. And they escaped into the night.