Session 34: Murder turnt Triumph

General Summary

Making their back to the tavern for yet another night of drinking, the party sat down next to the now-former champion Leif, who had a few drinks and a respectful talk with Conn, who had claimed his title. The night went on and drinks were had, where the thirteen-year-old Um was handed what he thought were alcoholic drinks by Nakor. As midnight rolled around, Um left, only to return as an 88-year-old man. As the geriatric man began to talk loudly to his companions it didn't take long until another old man at a nearby table told him to keep it down. This request was met by hostility and as a physical confrontation seemed imminent, Conn and Jeanne stepped in to calm the aggressor down, as Um had fallen into a maniacal fit of laughter.    This old man turned out to be yet another former champion of the arena, named Bartholomew. The man was investigating a map, which immediately caught Nakor's attention. The map was according to Jeanne at least 1500 years old, maybe older. A negotiation began which ended in an agreement where Nakor would be handed the map in return for twenty percent of whatever treasures they may find. These would be handed either to him or his closest living descendants. As the deal was struck Conn began to escort Um out to prevent any further hostilities between the two. But as he did, Um shouted something about Bartholomew's mother. In response Bartholomew threw an empty glass at Um, and hit, shattering the glass. This made something crack in the changeling, his eyes turned black, and a visage of something more daemonic shot through. He lifted his finger and in a manner, not his own branded the man for infernal vengeance. Black flames erupted around the old man and in seconds burned him into an ashy corpse.   In a second, which seemed like an eternity, the party contemplated the severity of what just happened. In the end, Conn knocked the changeling out with a punch and left for the ship with him. Jeanne simply sat in disbelief. But Nakor, not wasting a second, decided to try and salvage the situation. He used his magic to transform the corpse into that of a young blue dragon, and then proudly exclaimed that another dragon had been slain by the Dragonslayers. This caused a lot of confusion and wonder. In the end, Gimgen cleared the tavern to provide an opportunity for discussion. Nakor, however, left with the crowd. Jeanne tried to discuss what had just happened and make Gimgen realize that this was actually no dragon. Nakor on the other hand managed to convince the people that the dragon could not be left inside the tavern but needed to be brought out to the square. And that was what the people did. Despite the protests of Jeanne.    When it had finally been brought to the square, more people had joined the crowd. Bewildered by the sight of an actual dragon they seemed to blindly believe the tail spread by Nakor. Nakor then appeared from an ally, now shining and flying in his angelic form. He told the people that the body must be destroyed. Soon guards and Conn joined. But before anything else could be done, Nakor cast two giant fireballs on the dragon which broke the spell on it as well as disintegrated the corpse, not even leaving any ashes. When the temporary governor arrived he seemed confused as to the tales of the slain dragon yet, nothing remained. He asked Jeanne and the rest to meet with him the next day.    The people dispersed and the party returned to the ship. The next day the now not very agreeing party discussed what happened. Jeanne had prepared two statements regarding the events. One for the governor and one for the Emir himself. The one for the emir would be somewhat hinting at things not really being as they appeared. They made their way to the Emir's palace and met with his agricultural advisor who had been left in charge. After telling him their account and handing over the statements, they were told that all evidence and witnesses seemed to support their account. Thus they, or more exactly Um, were given a reward in the shape of an Orb of Sunlight. A magical orb from the treasury.    The party then left the palace and went back to the ship to see if any alchemist had responded to their flyer. And indeed two had done so. The first was an established and well-read human named Alabaster Cromwell. He, however, demanded a hefty 3800 gold per month for his services. He did seem knowledgeable if a bit pompous. The second was a lizardfolk named Morileth of the Draxxlyx Clan. A shaman who was a bit rougher around the edges but upon further investigation seemed the better candidate. And he only required 30 gold per month for his services. The party spent the rest of the day buying some supplies for him, before preparing to depart from Harasan.