All That Glitters
After many months apart, a cold winter, and a variety of
adventures both with and without each other, the Traveling Minstrels rejoin at
Anghor Thom, their adopted home. The weather warmed with their meeting, and in their friend’s embrace, the party recalled all the great and small escapades since the ferocious fight on the
Summershaw bridge.
Their celebration includes Meager Mike,
Bravit Bitterchin’s erstwhile barman and now the Minstrel’s temporary proprietor of their bar
Smaug's Lair. The joy is cut short however, as Mike takes them around what was their humble drinking hole with character, but has now been transformed into a glittering, massive, and gaudy establishment, replete with a new bar, new furniture, a revised layout, and even, a back parlor filled with gambling tables. Proud of his work, and ready to open the bar in time for the feast of Lemuralia, Mike beams with pride, but the Minstrels despair: How much did all of this cost?!
State of Play
The answer is everything, and the group is left with no money outside of Vandre’s horde far away in
Summershaw. Sweet Salinger Sue,
Hagen Brandywood, and most especially the dwarf
Kona - who shares she and
Sheriff Ivor have recently split up - are present at and attest to the massiveness of the renovations but also of Mike’s good intentions. Just as they start discussing,
Grady McCreary makes an appearance, their on again off again Anghor arch-rival, telling them not only did Mike run up massive debt to pay for the new barroom, but he borrowed the money from Hagen, who in turn took out a loan with Grady to cover it. So indirectly, the group was now indebted to the one person in town they despise most.
Never ones to sit on their heels, the group decides it’s time to make some money and quickly head north to press their claim on the
Stojanow Ruins, in the hopes they can make some coin and get another source of revenue up and running in the small northern town of
Anghor Dum. With any luck they can corner the bean market ahead of the festival, and possibly cut off Grady’s attempts to dig into their profit center. They send Hagen south to Summershaw to stop any northbound bean shipments. Meanwhile, they head into town to collect supplies for the journey.
Supplies and the Supplied
At the marketplace they procure a horse and carriage that will help them transport the barrels of beans they want to bring north to Anghor Dum. There they also hear their first talk of
The Red Regiment, a new military outfit with ties to the presumed missing
Baroness of Anghor, and whom, throughout the winter, provided much needed food, shelter, and aid to all Anghor residents. However, their largess did not extend to non-Angric villagers and travelers. This in turn soured even local residents against outsiders, polarizing the once harmonious Anghor capital, and driving away Ivor’s militia.
After randomly meeting up with Torwald, one of the brothers they helped
who was poisoned the year before, and Thermulan Drakespun, the
spider leg cook whom they procure some food from, they convince both men to be a part of the Lemuralia festivities at Smaug's Lair, assuming they're back in town in time.
With movement papers obtained so they can pass through the many Red Regiment checkpoints on the path north, they set out to salvage their business, their coin, and help those in need.
