Ports' Gambit Session 1
General Summary
The Traveler
The group continued to debate amongst themselves about whether or not to return the blade to the Veleta Stone Circle east of Beachdenn. As the sun had already set, the group decided that any travel to the crypt would best be left for the following day. The party turned to head back into The Smiling Crab Tavern when they heard a whistling from the darkness. Stepping into the light was a pleasant strawberry blonde-haired woman with a colorful headscarf and a leather satchel around her shoulder. A melodic whistle announced her presence long before the group could see her. She stepped forward with a great big smile on her face and promptly introduced herself as Natalya Danamark, traveling saleswoman from "here, there, and everywhere all at once." The party introduced themselves and they all seemed to hit it off instantly. They took a look at her wares and decided not to make purchases. Natalya offered to buy everyone some drinks and they all accepted in a heartbeat. As the group sat down inside the tavern, they noticed a bit of a disturbance over at the bar when a red-skinned Tiefling ran afoul of a bearded drunken human. The bearded man called the Tiefling several derogatory names and shoved him to the ground. It only took an instant but just before the Tiefling threw the first punch, the bartender, Helius Lamoth, broke up the fight and kicked out the Tiefling. He promptly put down his mug and stormed off into the night. Returning to their table, the group chatted amongst themselves and Xolos and Spruce Springstream began to tell Natalya about this story they'd heard about a group of adventurers using a bead of force, similar to the ones in her satchel, to stop a moving castle in the Abyss. Natalya was fixated on the story. This went on for a while, with the wanderer inquiring about the party's own backgrounds. A while later, the drunkard at the bar decided to leave. As he stumbled out, Spruce stuck his leg out, tripping him. The man picked himself up with some effort and called Spruce and Xolos a couple of half-breeds and made other rascist comments about the rest of the party, including about how Kenkus are best used as dinner on his table. Before getting into another fight, the drunk man decided to disengage. After a few more rascist remarks, he left the tavern in a fluster and headed off into the darkness. After discussing these events and others for a few more minutes, Natalya decided that it was time to retire for the evening. But first, she said, she would like to take a light stroll around the town just to get a lay of the land.The Murder
Shortly after heading out, the group chatted amongst themselves. Something about Natalya seemed... off. Chupa decided to follow her and Penguin opted to join her. Soon into the tail, Penguin stumbled on a barrel in the darkness and caused enough of a racket that Natalya stopped to investigate. Penguin's quick thinking allowed him to try to mimic the voice of the drunken man, but the stress got to him enough that he completely botched it and ended up sounding totally different. Natalya called out to the drunk sounding stranger and told him to hurry home before he made any bad decisions. With that, Penguin headed back to the bar, leaving Chupa to her lonesome. The small Kobold continued to follow Natalya through the darkness, until she finally stopped at a small alleyway. She ducked into with calm and grace. Chupa snuck around to get a better view. There was the drunkard from the bar. Natalya could be heard saying "Oh Victyr. I always heard you were a nasty drunk, but even that was more than I expected." She pulled out a knife hidden in her back and slipped it in between his third and fourth rib with near surgical precision and whispered "The Society says 'hello.'" Chupa ran back to the tavern and got the party Natalya dropped the knife near the body, took a step back, and let out a horribly frightened scream. Within moments, guards arrived on the scene along with various citizenry. The party showed up soon after as Kobril Dersk, the young sergeant of the guards, worked to set up a perimeter.The Interrogation
Natalya could be seen crying into her hands near several guards who appeared to be attempting to console her. She could be overheard saying that she was just going for a stroll in their charming town when she came across the dead body of the man from the bar. As Natalya stood there explaining what happened, Spruce found himself beginning to interrogate her skeptically. This went on for several minutes as he tried to poke holes in her story, but every time he managed to corner her she was able to wriggle out. The young, slightly naive sergeant of the guards believed her, and sent the guards to go retrieve the suspect, Damaceus Serechor. The party went with them to question the Tiefling and to bring him to Sergeant Kobril. Damaceus informed them that he was furious with the victim, Victyr, but that he didn't kill him. The guards handled him roughly, but delivered to Kobril largely unharmed. The questioning of both Damaceus and Natalya continued, but ultimately Kobril made the decision to lock up the Tiefling and send him to Castleport the following morning. Meanwhile, Natalya, he told her, should get a room and stay out of trouble. The group, somewhat dismayed at the turn of events, decided to keep an eye on Natalya for the duration. As she walked back to the tavern, she glanced over at the party and gave a sly wink. Chupa was particularly irritated at this snub. The party resigned themselves to rest for the remainder of the night, and figure out what they're going to do in the morning. Whatever it would be, they need to find out what this Society is and what they're trying to do...Rewards Granted
50xp per player
Character(s) interacted with
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Report Date
01 Dec 2021
Primary Location
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