Winter 23 - 24, 6840 CA
Meet Cute
It’s been a long winter in Thules. In the summer, the city has a rank and stale smell to the air, especially alongside the southern side of the bridge. But in the winter, the snow seems to conceal the odor. Instead, the streets are lined with brown snow stamped down by thousands of people walking back and forth on their various daily routines. There remains a few pristine areas untouched by the bustle of the city where the snow has piled high and remains pure white. But those locations are scarce. The last snowfall is now an uncomfortable muck.
It’s a quiet day at the Mince the Mark Bakery. The head baker and owner has made the long trek to northern Thules to expedite some supplies that were supposed to arrive yesterday. With him gone, his daughter Ursa is left to mind the bakery. She’s done it before, but today is the first time she’s had to open and close the shop by herself. Well, mostly by herself.
Just outside of the bakery, a trio of friends are quickly pacing through the streets. The morning’s bitter cold hastens their footsteps as they make their way to the bakery. A pair of unlikely siblings are eager to show their childhood friends one of their favorite stops. Besides the good vittles, there’s few places as warm as stepping into a bakery where the oven is enough to keep the whole building warm. The bell on the door jingles and a human, a half elf, and a dwarf walk in.
Valia is recently returned to Thules after a long time spent as a squire. Newly knighted, she has reunited with her childhood friends Zed and Yuriel. The trio have been eager to catch up and they are showing her some of their favorite places to visit. One of these places is the Mince the Mark Bakery. Ursa is pleased to have customers and starts offering them all variety of baked goods, but keeps a cautious eye in case of any merchandise disappearing. After some small talk and banter, the door swings opens and three figures walk in. A tall brawny orc, a quiet human woman, and a small redheaded goblin who seems to be the leader.
Debts and Interest
The goblin demands the payment that is owed to them, as apparently Roph Douglas had taken a sizable loan sometime in the past and had yet to pay up. Ursa denies any such thing happened, but they insist on getting some form of sizable compensation before they are willing to leave. Valia tries to defuse the situation but is told to stay out of things. Once the orc starts turning over shelves, Zed tries to intervene and convince him to stand down. He begins to drag her out of the shop. Valia is able to cast Command to stop him, so the goblin retaliates by charming Valia to make her less hostile. Things continue to get more intense and a fight breaks out.
Ursa summons a strange ethereal duplicate of herself, while the rest get into the thick of things. The group are aided by the sudden appearance of a mushroom-wearing gnome that starts casting spells at the intruders. But the goons have their own backup as well and a ten foot tall ogre bursts through the door to throw down. The fight starts to go south when Zed is able to knock out the goblin ringleader, while Wally the gnome kills the human. The ogre starts to go for the goblin to make a run for it, but Zed expertly knocks him out as well. The orc runs into the streets and out of sight, leaving the group to deal with the aftermath of the corpse in the bakery. Maybe they could hide-- oh, the gnome is already turning into rotten mush. Yuck.
Valia fetches a corporal from the Watch to report what happened. The corporal figures out they're from the Swordrunners based on a marking on the goblin's hand. He's a bit overwhelmed at the sight of an ogre and a little suspicious about the sludge, but he gathers some other corporals and escorts the ogre and goblin out. It's a good thing the group was nice enough to tie them up so well!
The Wanderlust
Ursa doesn't know what to do. Her father won't be back for a few days and the Watch won't be able to spare much help to look after the bakery. They could go after the Swordrunners, but they don't have much information on them. Zed knows someone who could find them a job that could pay off this debt. Ursa seized on the idea and insists that they're all involved and need to help. They all reluctantly agree and head over to the Wanderlust. Yuriel's mother, Ava, spots them all immediately and starts gushing over her son and his friends. Embarrassing!
Zed finds Arturo, a hobgoblin swashbuckler who not only trained her, but also tends to have his ear to the ground when it comes to odd jobs. Taking money or making money? Making, okay, he knows a guy. Shortly after, they meet Onzo Wyld, a playwright that is new to town and is very distressed about one of his friends going missing. He and Tarin Vongard were out carousing, but Tarin has not been spotted since the two were last at the Gilded Thorn. He offers to pay them 10 gold pieces each now and another 100 each upon finding Tarin. Zed convinces him to throw in an extra 100 gold if they find him alive.
Time for Sleuthing
The group head towards the Gilded Thorn, but the road is blocked off by the Watch who are currently investigating the aftermath of a gang battle. Zed and Yuriel recognize the Sergeant leading the investigation and decide to hang back. Ursa and Valia request information about what happened, but the Watch refuse to talk. A bystander says it was a battle between the Swordrunners and the Brass Whispers. Wally is able to get in nice and close to listen in to the survivors. The three Whispers that are still alive are playing dumb and refusing to talk, although they do get a description of the symbol used by the Brass Whispers.
They continue onward to the Gilded Thorn and Valia immediately announces that they are investigating a disappearance. The patrons all stare at her in disdain and go back to their conversations. Zed takes a more subtle approach and talks to the bartender. He remembers seeing Tarin with Onzo a few nights back. After Onzo left, Tarin spent some time with another gentleman with auburn hair, distinct sideburns and an upper-class look about him. What was his name? Oh right, Havmos Norwind. (They all know that name. The last Speaker was a Norwind.) They had been talking about going along Wicker's Lane. The best information they got from a lady who likes to gossip. Apparently one of them men had noticed an unusual warehouse and they had talked a bit about it. A lead, perhaps?
The Whispers Hideout
The group head towards the alley. The buildings get taller and the mood much bleaker. The buildings are very cramped together and very little sunlight filters in. They spot a warehouse with the same Brass Whispers symbol that Wally had heard about. Plus Zed finds a top hat outside and finds the name Vongard stitched inside. This must be the place. Zed and Yuriel intend to circle the place to make sure there's no one else around. Zed is usually so good at this, but it's so distracting with Yuriel's loud armor. Nobody heard them, right?
After deciding nothing is around, Zed uses her lockpicks to open the door and heads in with Wally. It seems quiet inside. Wally creeps closer to look around. He looks south and sees some dogs. The dogs see him first and immediately begin mauling him. The group move in to help Wally and take care of the dogs easily enough, but there are three goblins wielding large tanks on their backs. A burst of flames shoots out of one and scorches Zed. Another one quickly tries to follow up, but ends up blowing up the tank and scorching both Wally and the dogs in the process. Valia, Yuriel, and Ursa rush in to help. They dispatch the goblins, but not after being up close and personal for the other two tanks to explode.
They start checking out the warehouse and find a closet north of the warehouse. Inside is a frightened mad huddled up and terrified. His name is Havmos and he had been captured by the Brass Whispers. He and Tarin were about to be interrogated when the Swordrunners showed up. He was able to hide during the chaos, but he's not sure what happened to Tarin. He checks the bodies and doesn't see him among the corpses, so he surmises that he must have been carried off. Havmos is grateful for the assist and offers a reward if the group will get him home. Yay, more money!
The group head upstairs to find more clues, but it seems to be bare. Wally finds a nice set of playing dice, but they don't seem to do anything special. After exploring the offices, they hear commotion downstairs. A whole bunch of figures have entered downstairs and begun barking orders about setting up a perimeter and identifying the bodies. It sounds like the Watch. Yuriel and Zed immediately back away. Valia and Havmos head downstairs and offer what they know. Lt. Booth is suspicious of the two of them, but he seems to recognize Havmos and doesn't push the issue. They're both asked to be on their way. In the meantime, the others escape out the window without making any noise, although Wally takes a painful tumble.
Finding the Swordrunners Hideout
They regroup and realize they have no leads on where to go next except to infiltrate the Swordrunners hideout. They start making inquiries around town and are able to get instructions and a quickly sketched together map of where to find out one their hideouts in the sewers. They could go there now! But they feel a little banged up. They can go down there in the morning. They go back to the Wanderlust to get rooms. Onzo is concerned. What about his friend!? Valia eases his concerns and he accepts them. They manage to get a long rest in.
Wally leads them into the sewers the next day. They're making good time, up until a small figure approaches and starts talking to Wally in a language the others don't understand. The group isn't allowed to go this way unless they have something valuable to barter. They don't want any mushrooms, but they'll take that big halforc lady. Wally declines. The Darkling hisses and warns Wally to turn around and goes to rejoin the others. The group decide to press on, since they're going to lose several hours if they have to turn around. Wally casts a spell to make them stealthier, but unfortunately the Darklings were lying in wait for them and attack.
The Darklings seem like easy pickings, although they also seem to be disappearing into smoke rather than leaving behind bodies. The group is about to have an easy win, up until the water in the sewer starts bubbling up. A giant ochre jelly emerges! Yuriel tries to slice it up, but that only slices it in two. Wally tries the same thing. This is getting out of hand, now there are three of them! Yuriel decides the best way is to divide and conquer... with his boot. The jelly is eventually dealt with until all that's left is a few bits of ooze that no longer moves. The group is banged up but alive, although Valia unfortunately fell into the sewer water during the battle. Oh well, it was probably going to happen anyway.
Onward to the Swordrunners!
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