Location: Ptolus. Dates: Waterday, 4th of Growth
Participating characters:
Alcott - Half-Elf Rogue, level 2
Crispin Ellindril - Elf Ranger, level 2
Quinn Farshore - Human Fighter (Magical Adept), level 2
Alcott arrived at the Tenpin Children's Home to a chaotic scene. Small children were darting about in games of chase or hide and seek while the acolytes tried to keep up and tend to their other duties. He was looking for Sister Luanna Dremain, and he discovered her chasing a diaperless toddler down a nearby hallway. With a quick sweeping motion he scoops the tiny escapee up and hands the child to Sister Luanna.
"Good catch Alcott, what brings you here?" "I'm looking for a job. Something that will net me some quick gold. Do you know of anything?" The Sister smiled, "It just so happens that Brother Fabitor at St. Gustav's needs help with his roof. You should check there, and be careful."
He headed to St. Gustav's across from Delver's Square to speak to Brother Fabitor about the job. Traffic was heavy and his progress was slowed by the large number of carts, wagons and people crowding the streets. Delver's Square was also bustling with activity, but St. Gustav's showed little sign of activity aside from two armed and armored individuals having their wounds attended to by the Brother.
"Come in and wait a moment." Brother Fabitor spoke while his focus remained on his patient. A brief prayer offered to Lothian sent healing energies into the arm causing a long weeping cut to fully heal. The beneficiaries of healing presented the clergyman with a small bag of coins in thanks and were on their way. "What brings you here today young man?"
Alcott explained his goal of finding a quick job to earn some money and that Sister Dremain had pointed him in this direction. "Ah, yes, that troublesome leak at the steeple base. It's small and will likely require a little pitch and a couple of tiles. You can find these nearby, I smell the heated pitch from here, there must be work on some other roof on the street. Um, here!" he said smiling as he presented the bag of coins to Alcott, "It's fifty gold. Use it to buy what is needed and keep whatever is left for working on repairing the roof."
Crispin's curiosity led him to Delver's Guild Headquarters in the Undercity Market. He hoped that he might be able to find someone that could shed light on the nature of the disturbance driving the ratlings to such levels of activity. The recent increase by the Church of Lothian of the bounty on their tails was a direct response to the havoc being caused by these overgrown vermin.
Before the jobs postings board were a handful of heavily equipped people looking to have very recently seen combat. One of them bore an overstuffed sack with several giant rat or ratling tails protruding from the top. "That's quite a collection of tails you have there, how many did you get?" Morty broke from staring at the notices on the board and turned to address Crispin, "Twenty give or take. This will help us buy supplies before we head into the dungeon again. I'm Morty, you are?" Nodding with a look of approval Crispin gave his name and began prying for more info about the ratling problem.
Morty went on to describe the assault on a nest of the creatures north of Delver's Square through a combination of sewers and parts of the dungeon. He used some charcoal and a piece of parchment to draw a very rough map of the way there and gave it to Crispin. "This should get you close if you're interested. I'm bad with directions so take it for what it's worth." Morty acknowledged the rise in troublemaking by the vermin people, but as to the cause he was without clues.
After the adventurers departed, Crispin turned his attention to the notice board. It had a few help wanted items, but his attention was drawn to a Wanted poster for an individual named Rullus Hobb, with a rather sizable reward of 5,000 gold pieces. There were several copies of the sign so he helped himself to one.
TM and © 2022 Monte Cook Games, LLC
Figuring he had gotten all the information about the ratling issue that he could for now, Crispin headed back out into the city proper. On his way, he and Alcott encountered each other and briefly filled the other in on their current tasks, agreeing to meet later at Quinn's estate in Oldtown.
Alcott made quick work of repairing the small leak on the roof of St. Gustav's Cathedral and informed Brother Fabitor of it's resolution before journeying back to the Daykeeper's Chapel. He had earned the money to buy the healing potion from Sister Arsagra. Acquiring the vial, he set out for the meeting at Quinn's home.
Quinn arrived back at Sard's Boats, claimed his deposit and paid the fee for use. He had a lot to think about and his mind swirled with the matter, finding no immediate answer of how to approach it. He was home before he realized it, having been distracted by his thoughts all the way.
Later that afternoon they had regrouped at the Farshore estate. Quinn laid out the details of Bulpo's predicament and the short time remaining to solve it, to his companions. Less than six days remained to prove Bulpo's innocence. Alcott and Crispin agreed to give the matter priority over the missing person case despite Quinn's offer to go it alone while they worked the other matter.
Their first task was to locate and talk to witnesses and that meant going to the last place Bulpo and the victim had been seen together, the Black Swan tavern.
They could hear laughter conversation coming from inside the bar as they approached the door. Just outside, sitting against the wall was a dirtily clothed man who raised an empty hand palm up. Quinn gave the fellow a silver piece and engaged him in conversation. "Do you know Bulpo Greenstone?" The beggar admitted that Bulpo would sometimes buy him a beer. Further questions determined that he had seen Bulpo leave the night before Rary was killed and that Rary Silvershine had left shortly before him. He thought they might have gone in the same direction, "toward the Old Goose down the street." They thanked the man and went inside.
Quinn had suggested that Crispin might engage someone in a game of Dragon Scales and try to gather information that way while he would go talk to the owner Migos. Alcott would quietly observe reactions around the room.
Hardly any notice was paid to the newcomers as they crossed the room, except for Migos Foraeth, proprietor and barkeep. With a smile and a friendly sweep of his hand above the bar he asked, "Can I get you a beer or perhaps a Black Swan?" Quinn skipped right to the point of his visit, "I'm a friend of Bulpo Greenstone. I believe he's innocent and am trying to help prove it." Migos' eyes grew wider as did his smile, "Anyone trying to help Bulpo is a friend of mine, one free beer on the house. What can I do to help?"
Crispin had noticed a group around a table in the back were engrossed in a game of Dragon Scales, most of them heckling the players about how bad they were playing. He worked past the other tables to join them. He began to kibitz on the game, offering other move options that might have been better. This drew some laughs and the attention of the players. "You play, elf?" Crispin nodded, "In a fashion," May I play the winner?"
Alcott noticed that the crowd seemed relaxed and jovial. Nobody seemed to be bothered or concerned about their presence. He listened to Quinn's conversation with Migos, maintaining his view of the crowd.
When Quinn raised the question of how Bulpo was viewed by others and if he had any enemies Migos shouted to the crowd, "Everybody, how do you feel about Bulpo?" and a rousing response of raised hands and the shout of Bulpo came back. Not one person abstained from the display of appreciation. "As you can see, he is well regarded and nobody believes for a moment that he committed the crime he's convicted of doing."
It was only a couple of moves more before Crispin got his chance to play. His opponent collected the other dwarf's bet and left his own coins on the table, "Stakes are 5 gold pieces per game." Crispin anted up and the game began. They were playing green dragon scales, a simpler version of the game and Crispin was well acquainted with the strategies and tactics at this level of play. He played it simple and kept the conversation going, leading it toward Bulpo's situation.
Quinn learned from Migos that Bulpo and Rary Silvershine had been playing a series of games of dragon scales as Gersh and Wendt looked on. The games had all gone Rary's way, as expected, and Bulpo lost over 100 gold in the course of play. "Of course since the Black Swan doesn't have a license for gambling, I was shocked that such wagering was happening in my establishment," Migos said with a smile. "Afterward they chugged down some of the bar's namesake drink and argued over the games. Then they had a bit of a knuckle duster, typical fun, no harm."
Crispin's line of inquiry was drawing much the same conclusion as Quinn's and took him into a second game after a narrow win in the first. His opponent pointed out Wendt who was nearby, exchanging jokes with his tablemates and said "He'll be able to tell you more about the night they tussled." The game then took a sudden unexpected turn and Crispin lost, paying the fellow his 5 gold pieces back.
Quinn wandered over to talk to Wendt. As he approached the table Wendt nodded, took a swig of beer and pulled out a stool. "Have a seat. I heard you and your friends asking about Rary and Bulpo. Whatever I can tell you I will."
In the course of questioning, Quinn learned that Bulpo was fond of showing off his family dagger to anyone that asked about it. It had a fancy sheath covered in polished malachite stones, looking somewhat like a pattern of dragon scales. Everyone admired it, but Wendt couldn't think of anyone that would steal it. Rary's custom dragon scales set was also a thing of beauty. The pieces were of onyx and jade with a board of oak and maple. Rary carried it everywhere and they had played with it that night. He wend on to talk about he and Gersh making small wagers about who would win the games and the fight. "Where's Gersh? I'd like to talk with him as well," Quinn asked. "Not here yet today. Might be at work. He's a coffin maker over on Exposed Street near the necropolis."
The party had been able to learn some extra details while at the Black Swan. Bulpo's dagger and sheath had been on the table the night before Rary's death. Those, and Rary's own dragon scales set were of obvious value and not something you could easily make a quick sale of to just anyone. Anyone who comes to the Black Swan even semi-regularly would know the items on sight for who they belonged to. The items had to have gone somewhere. Alcott mentioned that only a well connected fence would buy high end, recognizable goods, with that he knew where they could check.
Working their way over to Ash street in the early evening, Alcott filled the other two in on the place they were going. Ammel's General Store was exactly that. Ammel handled everything himself and rumors Alcott had gathered seemed to indicate he was also a fence. Quinn decided he would go in first.
Ammel stopped his sweeping to assist Quinn. He could see Quinn was nervous and that made him wary. He knew the city watch suspected his shop and that they were always close by. "I'm hoping you can help me. I'm looking for where I might be able to purchase a nice gift for my father." Ammel took a breath and motioned with his arms, "This is a general store. Nothing here is what you want for a gift. I sell dry goods, meats, candles, all manor of sundries. No nice - gifts - here." Ammel's voice had gotten slightly louder and he looked annoyed. "Where did you hear that this was a gift shop?" Quinn paused and mentioned the Black Swan. "Bunch of filthy dwarves! Ammel was clearly not happy about this nosiness. "The city watch sent an amateur." he thought. Quinn excused himself and departed.
As Quinn left the shop he raised his hands up and shrugged, a resigned look on his face. Alcott and Crispin knew that wasn't a good sign. "I'll go in," said Alcott as he stepped from the curb to cross the street.
Despite Ammel being on his guard and angry, Alcott's calm demeanor and clear use of thieves cant eased the shop keep's mood. "Sorry about my friend, Alcott intoned. Family issues." Sweeping aside a dust pile Ammel stepped closer to Alcott. In cant, they conversed, exchanging bits of information mixed with innuendo and generalized comments about merchandise.
Descriptions of the items and their possible seller were passed from Alcott to Ammel. Ammel denied any such visitor or items being exchanged. "But if a red-headed dwarf with rings in his beard were to come into my shop a couple weeks ago offering such things, I wouldn't buy them. And if I did buy them I certainly wouldn't keep them here. Such things would only have a narrow set of buyers, so I wouldn't buy them. Something like that might easily go for 600 to 800 gold pieces. you see, and my customers haven't the coin. But if I were going to buy them I'd probably offer about 300 gold to a fellow like that." Alcott nodded and asked for something to cure a headache. Ammel fished a couple of pills from a nearby bottle, wrapped them in a slip of parchment and slid them across the counter. Alcott slid a coin pouch with ten gold across to Ammel, picked up the pills and left.
They discussed the information Alcott had talked out of the fence as they made their way into North Market getting closer and closer to the Necropolis' west wall. Outside of the coffin makers shop was a wagon into which two strapping laborers had hefted an empty coffin while a middle aged man looked on. The wagon and workers moved away as the trio approached.
Crispin piped up, "We're looking for Gersh, is he around?" Wendel Marcus wasted no time expressing his thoughts about his missing employee. "Hasn't been here all day. Not in his apartment above the shop. Probably off gambling like always. Bad habit of his. What are you after him for? He owe you money?"
A few questions later and Wendel directed them to the rough whereabouts of a gambling den Gersh sometimes visited. "Back behind the warehouses on Song Row. If you see him tell him he's fired and needs to move out."
Meandering along Song Row looking somewhat lost eventually found the group in a long back alley on the eastern side. Finally finding a courtyard between 4 buildings, the party backed off and watched to learn where the gambling den was located and how to get in. After close to an hour the entrance was revealed to be a secret door with a special knock sequence to get in. Four knocks, wait, one more knock.
They were met in the hall by a young tough with a club at his side. He pointed to a room on the side with two armed and armored figures and piles of weapons and armor on the floor around the room. " Disarm in there before gambling." They did as instructed and were let into a larger room full of people drinking and gambling. Another thug met them at the door and escorted them into the chamber.
At the front table sat a venerable old man and his much younger opponent playing a game of dragon scales for money. To the left a crowd was gathered around a table heaped with coins for a drinking game called Grab. Further to the right was a two man game of Peg the Tom, Mumblypeg to some, and in the center was a high stakes card game between a halfling and a human. In the far rear of the room, around a table piled with coins and goods sat three men, armored and armed. Crispin could immediately tell by his demeaner that the one in the back was former military.
Quinn opted not to join any games, instead to observe. This brought him a number of stares. Crispin gravitated to the game of Peg the Tom. The two men there were wagering increasing amounts to see how many passes of a dagger, quickly between their fingers, they could complete without cutting themselves. He asked to join and for a bet of 20 gold, was allowed. Alcott edged into the corner where the excitement seemed to be and watched a couple rounds of Grab before a player bowing out to go pee opened up a spot at the table.
Grab looked to have simple rules, but a growing challenge. Players take a full mug of cheap beer and when it is their turn they begin to chug while with their free hand they try to grab as many coins from the table as they can in one clutch and deposit them into a cloth bib. After three turns pass, everyone counts the total value of their grabs with the highest keeping their loot. The rest return the coins to the table and then everyone adds 5 of any coins to the pile. This is followed by refilling the mugs with beer. Coins that end up on the floor belong to the house and may not be picked up.
A few rounds of gambling allows the party to gather more information about Gersh who, is not present, much to the Grab players' delight, "He can drink everyone under the table so eventually wins the most." It is also discovered that Gersh recently paid off some of his gambling debts.
Crispin handily won his game after the two other participants injured themselves. He came away with a gain of 45 gold pieces and all of his fingers intact. Alcott won 19 gold as well, though he came away with a slight case of beer buzz.
Excusing themselves, the three exited the establishment, reclaimed their gear and went out into the night air.
No comments:
Post a Comment