Session 36: The Mystery Unravels Report

General Summary

Mystan is going with Diego to Seaton. Diego will be escorted by two guards on horseback, and two guards on the wagon with Diego and Mystan. Meanwhile, Virion and Seklyn will be investigating the jail.

The four guards that Eliander trusts are named Rosa, Carlos, Amila, and Joaqin. Amila and Joaqin are a human and dwarf on the cart, while the other two humans are on horseback.

Past the Haunted House, Rosa shoots Diego but doesn't kill him, surprising everybody. Amila is first up, and her gun jams, so she throws it it away. She takes the reins while Joaqin stands up and shoots at Rosa (as opposed to her horse), grazing her shoulder. Mystan then casts Compelled Duel on Rosa, who fails, and he moves between Rosa and Diego, who is still taking cover. Finally, the traitorous guard goes, and shoots one of the wheels of the cart out from under them. Finally, Carlos circles around and gets within 10 feet of Rosa, shooting her horse.

Amelia regains control of the cart, while Deigo drops prone to gain full cover. Joaqin then shouts "Rosa, this isn't like you!" and shoots her horse, which collapses under her, and Rosa hits the dirt. Mystan then casts Spiritual Weapon and attacks Rosa with it, who cries in pain. He then follows up with Toll the Dead, far beyond bloodying her.

Following this, Rosa ducks and rolls off her horse, pushes Carlos off his horse and then shoots the other left wheel of the wagon and damages the cart. She then succeeds her wisdom save and rides away. Carlos stands up and shoots at Rosa's new horse, hitting at the longest range possible.

Amelia tries to get back onto the cart and lean off the right side to right it, it doesn't work. Joaqin then jumps off the horses to try and follow on foot and shoot, but lands prone and can't get within range. Mystan, picking up the slack, fires off a Guiding Bolt and kills the horse. Carlos sprints sixty feet ahead, getting twenty ahead of the horses, and gets ready to calm them down. Amelia, with Carlos's help, calms the horses down enough to stop the broken wagon. Diego gets up and gets off the wagon, and kneels. Joaqin looks like he's about to run after Rosa, but after Mystan gives an order to stay here, Joaqin moves to guard Diego.

Mystan then casts Locate Creature to try and track Rosa as she will quickly be out of sight. But strangely, despite being able to see her, having met the guard before... the spell fails. Following this, Rosa disappears out of line of sight, over a hill and into the rain.

Lore of the guards: Amelia's mother in law is sick, Carlos and Joaqin are fuckbuddies. The improv of this damn shit.

The rest of the convoy then re-asses their situation. They lost the traitor, but they still have Diego. Diego and a guard can ride on one draft horse, while two others ride on the other draft horse. After Amelia and Joaqin argue about which one should stay behind, Mystan declares that by protocol, Amelia and Joaqin must go retrive the pistol and walk back to Seaton.

In the end, the team (in two groups) makes their way to Seaton unharmed.

Meanwhile, Seklyn and Virion are investigating the Saltmarsh Barracks & Jail, as the map indicates something is being moved to or from there by the festival. They are choosing to divide and conquer. Areas include the bailey and stables, the outhouses, the watchtowers, the mess hall, the barracks proper, the offices, and the jail. They enter via the bailey, as that is the only entrance - though they enter separately, with Virion heading in first. He shows his paperwork and crosses the baily & stables, entering the mess hall. Virion searches the kitchen and mess hall, trying to see if there's anything suspicious there. While he doesn't see anything illegal, he does realize there's a small gap in the floorboards that allows anyone in the mess hall to look down into one of the cells below. Specifically the cell Ned Shakeshaft died in.

While Virion looks around, Seklyn comes in and investigates the Bailey and Stables. While he rolls well, he doesn't note anything out of the ordinary. Though, Lt. Johnny is standing around and looks really worried, his eyes darting all around. Seklyn asks for his help, trying to notice if he's avoiding showing him anything. Seklyn searches the Mess Hall, Kitchen, Barracks, and Offices. Lt. Johnny is very compliant, only asking Seklyn not look into personal writings of guards and papers regarding active investigations unless he has a warrant. None of it is of notes.

Virion's searching of the jail is fruitless, and he heads back up to search the office. He passes (Second) Lt. Johnny and Seklyn, who then go check the watchtowers. Seklyn confirms that someone is always up here watching, with the previous guard being Estabaun. Seklyn doesn't want to search the outhouse, so Virion does, usuing a hankercheif and perfume to not gag.

The latrines have wooden benches with holes cut into them. Latches can raise the hinged seats for maintence. In the final stall, Virion finds a fresh corpse in the shit pit. That of a guardswoman with her throat slit: Rosa.

Meanwhile, in Seaton Mystan casts Sending to Captain Fireborn, telling him that Diego is safe but Rosa was a traitor. Fireborn, who just recieved word from Virion & Seklyn, tells Mystan that that wasn't Rosa; she was murdered earlier that day.

By now, night has fallen. This break-in investigation has become a murder investigation. Whatever is set to be dropped off at the barracks hasn't yet, unless it was taken from the barracks already.

Seklyn and Virion retire to their respective abodes, after Virion informs Captain Fireborn that he - and Mystan - will be out of town on the 18th and 19th for a personal commitment (rousing suspicion from Eliander). Furthermore, Seklyn asks if Virion will do some Bladedancing on the 17th as part of the Solmor Show.

The following day, Mystan speaks with Delmeriv on acquiring spell components, including a bronze mirror, golden reliquary, and a variety of diamonds and diamond dust. Some of the diamonds he can get in town from dwarves, but the rest he will have to have shipped from the Raan Dynasty. Luckily for him, he only needs to pay half price for those goods.

Finally, the press has a strange announcement: papers slipped under their door last night prove that a local mercenary, Diego - who some say was taken in by the guard - was actually living under a psuedonym. His real name is of an eastern pueblo language and translates to "Earth Meets Water". He was part of a failed coup in the Great Cheifdom a few decades ago, and he and the general - along with their compatriats - that tried to overthrow the Overchief fled and have never been seen since.