Of Men and Machines Session 6
General Summary
Curiouser and Curiouser
After finishing up a brief shopping trip at The Maple Co., the party headed over to the Mages' Guild over on the east side of Atibel Run by North Bridge. The purple roof and the occasional flash of bright light through the windows followed by the faint scent of ozone and burnt hair wafted through the air. As they approached, the door to the guild opened up and a man with dark hair and a just-shy-of-gaudy coat in red and gold walked out, closing the heavy wooden door behind him. He walked past the group and Fel'Shu sought fit to follow. The rest of the group, meanwhile, decided to attempt to gain entrance to the building. Both Malark and Damakos attempted to muscle the door open, but it wouldn't budge. Keck began to knock on the door, but noticed that his fist wouldn't move once he pounded on it. It was just stuck. He noticed a tooth-ridden smile appear on the door around waist height as a long purple and teal tongue popped out and began to flick at the fighter. Just as Keck drew his weapon with his offhand, a short, middle aged human woman with thick glasses and slightly greying chin-length hair broke through the group. She opened the door with a gentle push and told the mimic, a being by the name of Camus, to leave the party alone. She asked, curiously, who they were and what their intention was. The party identified themselves as deputized investigators inquiring about the murders around town. Intrigued, the woman named Denisse Hillstrike opened the door further and invited them in. She bade them welcome and had a set of chairs magically summoned for them. They all sat in a circle and began to ask questions. Meanwhile, Fel'shu's chase led to a nearby open-air neighborhood market. As the crowd grew increasingly dense, it became harder to keep track of his mark. Fel'shu attempted to blend in while the well dressed gentleman chatted with a local fishmonger about the latest catch. Fel'shu kept his ears open, trying to discern bits of information, but wasn't able to pick up anything useful from the man's conversation. However, he heard a rumor about one Baron Sterling McAllister sending men to Castleport to track down a thief who had stolen from him in Arrowport. As Fel'shu noted this information, he looked around for his mark only to find that he had lost him. He decided to head back to the Mages' Guild and wait for the party outside. The party learned that none of the victims had any affiliation with the guild whatsoever. None had even inquired. They informed Denisse about the possible link to The Brotherhood of the Machine, which piqued her interest. The party let her in on some of the details of the case, such as the surgically removed organs of the victims, to which they all speculated that one would do that if one were constructing a Flesh Golem. However, countered Denisse, doing so is a magical act in and of itself - something which runs counter to the stated goals of the Brotherhood of doing away with magic. The group asked questions about the Brotherhood, to which Denisse gave the public accounting about how they'd put on a reign of terror across the region, only to disappear one day without a trace. Denisse recommended not making the part about the Brotherhood public knowledge due to the panic it could cause. The party had things to consider now, so they headed over to Hardingham Keep to report what they'd learned.We've Found Something
The party headed over to Hardingham Keep to tell Deputy Alyce Dorgonn what they had learned. The sun was starting to hang low in the sky as the orangish clouds passed overhead. Deputy Dorgonn was exiting the sheriff's office when she ran into the party. She informed them that Sheriff Duskstone was not to be disturbed as she and the party moved off to the side. They began to update her on their discoveries: the gear symbol, the magic users, all of it. Upon hearing of the Brotherhood, Deputy Dorgonn grew immediately uncomfortable. She knew what that would mean if it were true and if the information got out. The party took her to the site and showed her the symbol. She recalled seeing the painted markings on victims' and potential victims' homes; the civil strife it caused as neighbor turned on neighbor. She told the party not to tell anyone about the potential tie to the Brotherhood, and that they would answer only to her from now on. Keck, ever curious, asked why. Alyce told them that she and Aldar had worked the Brotherhood killings 20 years ago. And then they had simply stopped. Nobody could figure out what had changed, but everyone had been happy to have the reprieve. Years went by, and there was nothing. Then, about 10 years ago, Aldar's son was murdered. A single gear had been found by Aldar at the murder of his boy, Florentus. His death broke Aldar, as he became consumed by finding the killer or killers. So much so that he took up drinking heavily and his wife left him. Since then, Aldar had descended into general apathy. The party saw this as an opportunity to help, and they asked to see the sheriff. At first, Alyce resisted, but the party's words swayed her, and she took them to see the aging lawman. They returned to the keep and entered the sheriff's office. He looked up from his desk, slurring his incomprehensible words. Alyce began timidly - highly uncharacteristic of her - to explain that the investigation was going well, and that the party had made some progress in the short time they'd been there. Keck and Damakos stepped forward, and explained what they had found. Aldar looked alert and partially sober right away upon hearing of the gear. He stood up in a fury, dug into his desk and pulled out an old journal. He threw it at the party and yelled at them to leave right away. Keck tried to explain how this could be an opportunity to redeem himself for the murder of his son. That instantly triggered Aldar and he swung his fist at the orc. He missed and fell to the floor as he yelled at them to get out. Outside, the party and Alyce examined the journal that had been handed to them. A single thing was scrawled inside. Page after page it read "Silk Rose." Fel'shu recalled that this may have been a reference to The Society of the Silk Rose, a shadowy organization with influence far and wide. Meanwhile, Malark remembered that they had found a silk rose tattoo on the body of Victyr Shaulfer back in Beachdenn. Could there be a link? They needed more information, so they headed to Castleport Library.You Don't Say...
It was a little bit after 6pm by the time the party arrived at the library. Natalie Iscalon was locking up when the party arrived. Keck and Malark approached and she recognized them from earlier in the day. They asked about the murders from 20 years earlier and what had happened with them, what was their resolution. She didn't have much more information than they already knew, but she remembered that the sheriff of Castleport at that time was a man named Halodreth Emberwhite. He retired some years ago and was living in a farm west of the city, or so she'd heard. She didn't know much else, if he was alive or not. The party decided to pay him a visit in the hopes that, if he were still alive, he would have information about the murders. But that would wait until the next day. They decided to get some rooms at a tavern named the Aggressive Goblin, located right across from the Fighters' Guild. Along the way, Keck and Malark spotted a gaggle of South Wind Trading Company men heading south along the main road. They seemed to be traveling - maybe even escorting - a smaller statured man with kept, brown hair combed to the side. They decided to follow, but kept their distance. They waited until the group was over the bridge before continuing, deciding to blend in with the crowd. Unfortunately, due to the setting sun and the tension surrounding the murders, the number of people on the streets was dwindling. It became harder and harder to hide in the crowd. The two men in the back spotted the adventurers and decided to confront them. Meanwhile, Damakos, Tim the Not-so-Tiny, and Fel'Shu had headed to the tavern. Damakos and Tim went inside and rented some rooms. Fel'shu, as was typical for him, found a spot outside - on the roof actually - to perch up and keep a watch over the area. A pair of South Wind men began to approach the tavern. Fel'shu recognized one of them as the man that had stolen from the apple vendor. He waited for his opportunity and pounced on the unsuspecting men. It didn't take much for him to subdue one while the other one was stunned from a well placed blow to the head. Although the conscious one did land an excellent strike on the monk, it wasn't enough to stop his attacks. The thug eventually gave up and ran with Fel'shu letting him go, just in time for the stunned one to come around. Seeing his friend take off like a coward, he also fled, assessing himself to be clearly outmatched. Keck and Malark were in a bind. They improvised quickly and pretended to be breaking into a nearby house, with one pretending to be mentoring the other. It took a minute, and the men weren't really buying it. But rather than provoke the wrath of the lot of them, the two adventurers decided to disengage and "leave." In actuality they circled around the block into an outcropping of trees for cover. By the time they had eyes back on the group, they had passed through the city gates into the Southgate neighborhood. Keck and Malark assessed they had gone to the Itchy Orc, and would be too difficult to follow up with. So they decided to head back to the Aggressive Goblin to rent a room and call it for the night.Rewards Granted
- 1 Inspiration point for Fel'shu
- 250 xp per player for continuing the investigation and confronting the South Wind Trading Company men
Report Date
12 May 2023
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