Session IX : The Night Auction Report
General Summary
The adventure begins with a bit of a de ja vu when for the second time, they meet Dru for the first time. She informs them that she needs them to investigate a murder having been urged by a creature called Nashal and she shows off a weapon to Valoseyr Raptyr that resembles his own katana. It disappears in smoke. The investigation begins at the ship, The Fair Vivian. On the deck they find the captain, dead with his head still stuck in the bucket where he was drowned. His legs are clawed or gnawed open. Yandrea Twilightbrewer starts investigating the body and sees the bite marks have been cauterized and it is relatively bloodless. She also sees a mark on the body that is suspicious, like a raised scar. Bul-Kathos grabs the captain's sword which is on the deck and immediately licks it, his senses were overwhelmed with the smell of brimstone and sulfor and his mind goes blank for a moment and he collapses to the ground, while his body is falling his mind is no longer there but in the abyss and he's confronted with the prince of demons, Demogorgon. When he hit the deck he woke up. No more licks to the sword took him to the Abyss. "Is that the one who cursed me?" While that is going on ZIs Moonflow searches the captains cabin and finds detailed information about the captain, that he fools around with someone named Countess B. and they exchange innuendo laden messages. She also finds the deed to the ship and sees that it is being sold to Levan Ropp for the prices of 3000gp. When Yandrea Twilightbrewer is finished looking at the body, she drops off along the side of the ship and explores the sand near by, she finds a handkerchief with the initials K.Y. When they talk to Captain Uglow, the one who reported the crime to Drusilla Bones he tells them that Levan Ropp is the one who reported the death and that he was waiting for them at the Silver Eel. He was a "good dog" right? The hankerchief likely belongs to Karian Yanti who works at the brothel called the Lily Pad. He recognized the symbol as one that belongs to The Children of Dogba. In the Silver Eel they order drinks trying a local drink called Vitor which is made from a cactus that is smoked underground. They find Levan Ropp and talk to him about the murder. He says that he went to finalize the purchase of the ship, which had happened very quickly. The captain, an acquaintance, came to him that morning offering to sell the ship at 50% it's value. Levan sold everything he had and took out an extra loan to acquire the ship. He reported it immediately to the captain. They convince him to give them 1500gp to turn over the deed to him, which he agrees to do after some good persuasion. He is quite embarrassed when they ask him about Karian Yanti. He says that if there was someone who wanted to hurt the captain, it would probably be Sgt. Joffa Hollow, a rather rough character who was always extorting people and told them what neighborhood you could likely find him in. The party splits up, with Yandrea Twilightbrewer and ZIs Moonflow going to find Joffa. Valoseyr Raptyr and Bul-Kathos decided to follow up on the weak brothel option. At the Lily Pad, the two work their way inside after talking to the owner, Loha Summers. They make their way to the room where Karian Yanti works out of and ask her several questions about the captain and even about Joffa Hollow. She tells them that Joffa used to come, but is now involved with a woman named Bianca Mercer. Valoseyr heads off to find the girls, while Bul-Kathos "gets his money's worth." When Yandrea Twilightbrewer and ZIs Moonflow arrive looking for the Sgt. they find a commotion in the alley and a dog with dripping fire leaving the scene. Inside the alley there 30 people amassed around a man hanging from a post by his foot. He is clearly dead. This is the Sgt. Joffa Hollow. The crowd had clearly been mistreated by him, having him extort money and do all kinds of terrible things. Most are happy to see him dead and they want to bring him down so they can strip his body and beat him. The girls ask around an learn that a man and his two dogs killed the man biting him while the man beat him to death. When the crowd gets the body down they find a note on the body which the crowd reads out loud. ZIs Moonflow writes down the code at the top right, but then the rest is thrown out into the alley. However, when Valoseyr Raptyr arrives on the scene they get the original note and quickly crack the code. I received the invitation. We need more gold. It is tonight. The note also points towards Lady Mercer. They head off across town to Lady Mercer's house and when they arrive they see the Houndmaster stepping out of the burning building. A woman's screams coming from inside. He tells them that they're not too late if they want to save The False Follower. Then his three hounds attack and he retreats. While the rest are fighting, Yandrea dashes into the house moving to the second level where she finds Bianca tied to a chair. She grabs her and leaps out of the window with her they crash to the ground. The dogs are quickly dispatched outside. The house collapses and Yandrea knows that someone else was in the fire.
Rewards Granted
XP : 4000 (2100 for the hounds, 1000 for rescuing Bianca, 900 for RP and investigation/sword licking)
Missions/Quests Completed
Given the quest to investigate the murder of the captain and capture of the killer.
