Failure To Launch
Winter 39, 6840 CA
The day picks up with the group deciding they want to get more options for the warehouse before breaking in. The cold has started to pick up and a fresh snowfall covers the ground. The group discuss their plans for the heist and are starting to feel woefully unprepared. Nazsnag makes an appearance and requests some alcohol. Ursa tries to gently suggest her mother and father patch things up, but Nazsnag is having none of it. She drinks two bottles of saké and seems to be warming up to Wally. She also wants to go fight things and break bones, so the group decide to invite her along to their little stealth mission.
They make arrangement to talk to Robbo to use his contact as a way in. He mentions he has a friend who works in security that owes him one due to an incident with a dog, the river, and the bread. Ursa is desperate to know what this means, but he waves it off. They're sent to go see Thok. Valia is instantly horrified as she recalls the guard who flirted with her the day before.
They decide to go meet Thok. The group is sticking together as a unit due to some well-earned paranoia about being ambushed. Valia takes Ursa and Yuriel to meet with Thok. He's near the end of his shift and is surprised to see Valia again so soon. He deflates a little when he hears she's looking for a job and moreover when he hears about the incident with the dog, the river, the bread, and Robbo's sister. He agrees to take them on. He's willing to start them out tonight, but the group decides to delay it another day so they can be better prepared.
Zed and Wally take a look around the outside. Wally uses Detect Magic to look for anything suspicious, but nothing stands out. They do find an exterior door with no doorknob that appears to be some kind of fire escape. Wally is able to sneak in as a bug and check it out, but he discovers that it appears to be protected by an alarm. The first floor windows are barred, but there is some potential of climbing into the upper floors.
The group reconvene to share information. They debate vigorously over the merits of summoning two two-headed spiders and sending an invisible Yuri and Zed on top of them. It's a good plan and they're definitely saving it as Plan B.
With the rest of the day free to them, the group go their own ways. Zed slips away on her own, while Wally dips into Abalow to go fetch some warm clothes and to ask about the Baron. Ursa goes to check up on her mother. Back at the Bracemark Manor, Nazsnag is gone! The dogs are gone! There's two more bottles of empty saké! Ursa follows the fresh snowprints. Ursa and Nazsnag have a discussion. Mirabelle is there but tries not to takes sides. Nazsnag seems very stubbornly to want to be angry at Roph and wants nothing to do with him.
Meanwhile, Wally decides to take the free time they have to officially move all his stuff out of the sewers and up to the Bracemark Manor. While he's down there, he decides it high time he started asking about the Baron of Deepburn. He spends his entire day scouting around and asking questions about the Baron to gather any kind of information he can. He later reveals his findings to the party:
Stories of the Baron have existed since before the bridge was first constructed. Stories are inconsistent on the name and appearance. In some stories the Baron is a man and in other a woman. Often the Baron will assume the form of a human, but sometimes will appear as an elf or a dwarf or a gnome or goblin or the strange creatures from Malnosso to the west. No one is really sure if any of them are the same person. The only consistent characteristic are two bright, piercing blue yes.
Of the many names the Baron has gone by, they include Vanos, Kerath of the Two Winds, Tiantah Moonlight, Hyrsam, Elenmore the Beautiful, among many more.
The story of how the Baron became the Baron involves the Dragon of Deepburn. A powerful Moonstone Dragon once resided beneath Abalus as one of the last holdovers of dragons in Limuria. One day about three hundred years ago, a man named Hyrsam, arrived in Deepburn seeking out the dragon. Yrvaidae Warmheart was a young dragon who had claimed Deepburn as her personal domain. Hyrsam arrived in the form of a mere kobold and weaseled his way into her service. He learned all there was to know about her domain before slipping away one night. A few days later, the dragon was gone. Hyrsam would claim it was some great battle, but there were no signs of a struggle.
Deepburn developed into its own small community in the years that would follow. About fifty years ago, the Baron arrived in the community and claimed to be a descendant of Hyrsam. The community was ruled by a Darkling baron who was skeptical of the Baron's lineage. However, the two of them settled the dispute over a game of dice. It's not known what the Baron placed up for wager, but he did win and so claimed the title of Baron for himself. Ever since then, he has gathered a troupe of friends from all across Abalow and together they share in revelries and adventures.
Making it into Deepburn is difficult. The path was carved by Yrvaidae Warmheart and her magic remains upon it. The tunnels are always shifting so that even though Deepburn is stationary, it can be arrived upon from almost any direction if you know the way and you have been welcomed into his court. Those who are enemies of Deepburn find it impossible to ever make their way in.
This gives them all a lot to think about. They turn in for the evening and await the next day.
Wiling Away the Hours
Winter 40, 6840 CA
It's the day of the heist! Except it's not until night time... so the party has a lot of time to burn. When they have time to waste, there's no spot better than the Wanderlust! Zed is going to head there by herself, but Yuri invites himself along... and Wally... and Ursa... and Valia. Guess it's a group visit!
Ava and Zed talk. It turns out Ava is dating a nice dwarf fellow now. He has a nice tuggable beard, too. This vexes poor Yuri. His mom never used to date. He's not a fan of Ava the young independent dwarf woman who can make her own hours and spend her time however she wants. Zed asks about Arturo and if he's been around, but it seems he's been scarce as of late. Ava agrees to let him know that Zed is looking for him.
Talk Later, Do Crimes
After an unproductive day, the group gathers Nazsnag and pickup Darcy so they can head to the Lightbottle Warehouse. Through sheer force of will, they have finally constructed something resembling a plan. Yuri and Zed will take Wally and go invisibly up to the top floor and break into Bilmin's office. Valia, Ursa, Dahlia, and Nazsnag will all go get recruited as guards.
Valia and Ursa talk to Thok, who is starting his shift and ready to put everyone to work. He's a little surprised that his number of recruits have grown, but he accepts their help. There is armor meant for the gig, but all of them want to keep their fancy armor on (except Darcy who has no armor). It suddenly occurs to them that this seems like a really underpaying job for people running around in fancy plate armor. Valia smooths it over and convinces him that she just needs a distraction after the breakup.
He takes them on a long tour of the building and mostly chats incessantly about all kinds of weird rumors and stories he's heard. It seems like he doesn't get a chance to talk to people often during lonely security shifts. Eventually Valia corners him and tells him that they're going to do crimes and that it's better if he's looking the other way or better yet, making a distraction. Thok is very not okay with this and really would prefer that they didn't involve him. But Valia makes a very compelling argument that seems to charm him into getting out of their way, although not quite enough to make him incriminate himself by making a distraction. It's still enough so that the quartet can double back and head to the elevator. Thanks to their official looking uniforms, the night shift workers don't seem to pay them any attention.
Bilmin's Office
The disaster siblings head to the fourth floor with Wally hiding inside Yuri's backpack so he's also invisible. As they pass the offices, they quickly become aware that at least three of the executives are in their offices and working despite the late hour. Thanks to Wally preemptively casting Detect Magic before heading inside, he's able to read that there's magic placed on Bilmin's door. The three are stumped by this as they're worried it could be either an Alarm spell or an Arcane Lock that will make the door harder to pick. Eventually Wally reveals he can cast Dispel Magic, but he's extremely reluctant because that reduces his ability to help them in later battles. They agree it's worth it to find out what's in the office.
Wally dispels the magic and Zed immediately tries to pick the lock, but the double-lock vexes her and she isn't able to pick it fast enough before both Saria Pillwinter and Hesna Dazzlebranch step out to investigate the noise. They briefly discuss the building being old and making strange noises before returning to their work. Zed tries the lock again and this time they gain entry. They are greeted to a massive office to explore. They do a quick search and discover there's moving floor tiles that lead to the secret staircase that leads down to the basement.
The desk has a locked drawer, but the lock eludes Zed. Yuri and Wally both try to pry it out with their brute strength, but Wally has gnome strength and Yuri doesn't quite have the body strength he did before he was eaten by a crocodile. They opt to yank it out violently despite the noise it will create. They find a potion, some money, and a strange crystal with a button that Yuri pockets. Knowing that they might have been heard, the three quickly dash down the secret stairs.
Adventurers Assemble!
The group is reunited at the bottom of the basement. Yuri proudly proclaims that they've found what they were looking for as he holds up the crystal. Valia: "That's not what we'ere here for."
Wally has a rough layout of the rooms he's visited before and a minute left on Detect Magic. He indicates what he can sense to the others. There's one room to the north that's just a teaching room where they find a Scroll of Arcane Lock. The room to the west is filled with automatons. Zed attempts to stealth her way forward into the room, but she proves unlucky as her steps make just enough noise to attract one of the automatons. A quick battle ensues that turns the door into a chaotic chokepoint. They're able to triumph over the automatons and so have free range to start exploring.
In a room to the north, they recover some more portions, as well as some diamonds, a pearl, and gold dust. Zed peeks into the room to the west and spots that there's a scary looking knight-shaped figure guarding a door. She shuts it before they're spotted. They turn their attention to a room to the southeast. As they enter, something registers with Zed that something is off about the shape of the room. But Wally wants to check out the magic he felt. They find a large storage container which contains what looks to be a bunch of tiny Aetherstone fragments. These are useful components for spells when you don't have the normal material.
As Wally is scooping up the fragments, a metal scythe suddenly swings at Zed and Wally. Zed is able to elude it thanks to her sharp senses, but Wally isn't so lucky. Two blades cut into him and they find themselves facing a large mechanical Mantis - all while the rest of the party are in the next room looking through the stacks and stacks of financial documents. The fight is on again!
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