Session 38: Foamy Duck and Dive Report

General Summary

Arrival in Carderby

The party set off on the morning of 2 Mercor, heading directly to Carderby.   The journey to Carderby was uneventful, and they began to see the town ahead of them.   As they approached they noted the roads were very clear, not many civilians out and about. They also saw a patrol heading towards them. Rukk quickly turned himself into a cat while Gortan and Hal disguised themselves. Blaize and Tarvy relied on their innate charm and guile to get by.   The soldiers, some inquisition and others not, approached the party, greeting them. They were asked to state their business and the party informed them they were just travelling through, and needed a place to rest for a bit. The guards seemed largely convinced and they moved along.   As they continued, they saw a woman, young and Elf-Blooded, trying to flee from 3 burly Inquisition thugs. The party intervened and the thugs convinced to leave. The young woman, Pia Litwin, was grateful, but remained slightly suspicious of who the party were. After some persuading she agreed to help them get into the town and take them to the Foamy Duck.   They reached the gates to the city and were stopped by guards who informed them they needed to state their business before coming in. Before they could, Pia was able to charm them into getting their sergeant, and Caradoc Dungey emerged. He seemed to recognise the party and told his men to stand aside and let them enter.   He told them that whatever they sought to do they'd be best placed to head to the Foamy Duck and speak to Sybil there, she would tell you more about what was going on in the town.   The group snuck through the town which appeared to be under curfew as nobody was in the streets apart from a few guards and inquisition soldiers moving from house to house.   Skirting around the walls, the party was largely able to make their way through unnoticed, though Rukk did have to escape an overly curious guard as they went.

The Foamy Duck

The party arrived at The Foamy Duck, a Brothel on the walls of the castle itself. Outside were two non-human guards. As they went inside, they found it to be a lively place, though most of the clientele were humans while the staff largely non-humans.   Hal quickly disguised himself as a prostitute to avoid any excess notice, before Sybil Rosewarne, the Orc-Blood Madame was brought over to them by Pia. She asked them to come upstairs, away from prying eyes and ears.   They went up and she explained that she could assist them in getting into the castle in as much as giving directions. There were 3 ways in, walking through the front gate, going through the postern gate, or going over the walls.   Once in there would be a couple of ways into the dungeons, either to go through the castle, or go down the well, a well apparently full of gems and some other unknowable peril.   She also said that her main hope was that they could save her son (who may also be Gauvain's son), as the inquisition had broken their word and taken him from her.   The party agreed to do so and decided to, the following night, descend down the well. With this, Sybil was able to assist, giving the party 3 potions of water breathing (which were apparently for use with some of their more demanding clients).

Entering the Dungeons

The following evening the party set out, sneaking through the town and trying to enter the castle through the well-hidden postern gate. On the other side of the gate, guards stopped them demanding a password, Tarvy gave one he used to know, and they, seemingly intimidated by his visage, let them enter, with their halfling prisoner. They were then in the open courtyard, a killing field, surrounded by walls on almost all sides.   They made their way through, however, Hallaster was spotted by the guards on the walls who drew their weapons. Thanks to quick thinking and Tarvy's background in this field, they were able to make their way across despite this and the poor pretence Gortan and Hal were putting up.   The reached nearly to the well where they found a group of Orcs, members of the Tyrant's Chosen, cordoned off.   The Orcs didn't seem particularly worried by them, and one, who they recognised from their meeting with Gauvain, was prepared to let them go to the well in exchange for being told what they found down there.   The party, therefore, drank their potions, and dived in.   Within the well, they saw a dead body at the bottom, his large bag, gems spilling out of it, and a floor and walls bearing numerous twinkling gems. As they attempted to take these gems however, they were attacked, as two water elementals revealed themselves and attacked. After a struggle underwater, the party emerged victorious, and, opening the door to the dungeon, scooped up as many gems as they could quickly, and dived through the door.   They found themselves in a dark stone corridor, which may well have been part of the basement of the castle.