Ports' Gambit Session 6
General Summary
We be Clubbin
A good night's rest was exactly what the group needed. A day of bar fights, travel, and dungeon delving had taken its toll on the young adventurers. The rooms in the Sterling Beaver provided enough comfort that they were able to recover and heal their minor wounds. In the morning, they made their way downstairs one by one finding Kregsmum more or less passed out by the bar. Once fully awake, the group caught up Kregsmum with the discoveries from the night before. They all agreed that it would be best to return to the docks and question the head of the South Wind Trading Company. The group made their way to the south side of Castleport to the dock district, finally arriving at a group of warehouses and what used to be the merchant's guild hall. They had a quick chat with one of the guards standing by a two-floor warehouse, but he proved to be extremely uncooperative. Ultimately, however, he indicated that the person they were looking for, Medarin Clubs, was located in the building across the street with the roses in the back. They entered the building, formerly the home of the merchant's guild, walking past a pair of large, armed men who eyeballed the party as they crossed the threshold. Standing just inside the door and holding a small red ledger, was a man with a simple brown haircut and a charming smile. A young woman sat a bureau nearby taking notes and doing some calculations. The man introduced himself as Medarin, the person in charge of this particular chapter of the South Wind Trading Company. Spruce Springstream and Torque immediately offered up that they were the ones that killed the Company's man the night before. Medarin's face immediately turned dour and he asked them to accompany him to his office in the back. The door closed behind them, and both Torque and Penguin noticed the unusual plant in the corner. Medarin explained that it was a very rare plant and to please leave it along. Torque, in true Torque fashion, conjured a magical hand to try to pull a leaf from it. The giant blueish-purplish hand was immediately noticed by Medarin who angrily reiterated to the the dragonborn to leave his plant alone. Spruce and Xolos began to question Medarin, with Kregsmum, who was still hungover from the night before, presenting a sketch of the gear found at the murder site to him in an accusing manner. Medarin quickly rebuffed the notion, countering with the emblem of the Company. The group continued their disorganized interrogation, trying to intimidate the savvy businessman who wasn't having any of it. Spruce tried to boast of their law enforcement credentials, but Medarin sneered at their paperwork. Medarin told the party that, if anything, they had been the aggressors after accosting and then murdering one of his men in cold blood, then coming into place business to harass and sling wild accusations at him. Medarin firmly requested that the party leave, but they kept pressing with their questions. Medarin pushed through the group to open his door and called in his assistant, Matilde Carson to bring the guards out front to help. The young woman returned a moment later with the two armed men from the front door. Chupa and Torque continued their questioning while the rest of the group complied with the demand. In the foyer, Xolos introduced himself to Matilde and told her, while presenting her with a bouquet of roses he picked from out back, to come find them at the Sterling Beaver if she had anything she wanted to tell them. Meanwhile, Torque continued to press his luck. Medarin had had enough and ordered his men to remove the dragonborn. One grabbed the sorcerer by his collar and literally dragged him out. Ultimately they had learned little new information and decided to continue with their day.A Little Bird Told Me...
A pair of guards bearing the insignia of the South Wind Trading Company passed by the group, shoulder checking Spruce and warning him to watch where he was going. Spruce joked back, with Torque sending his own insult, but by that point the two men had walked out of earshot. They headed to the market area in the general direction of Qi'faren Elesh's magic shop. They stopped off briefly at the wheelwright, Callie Daggersharp, to see if she'd seen anything. The halfling scowled a little bit, and retorted that it had barely been 12 hours since they last saw each other, but nevertheless she hadn't seen anything. Spruce quipped about Torque having wasted his money. In that moment, Qi'faren exited his magic shop and instantly recognized the party. A smile crossed his face as he headed over to greet them. "Ah, so you've decided to take me up on my offer?" he asked them. The group said they were considering it, and Qi'faren agreed to sweeten the deal with a total payout of 10 gold pieces to the party. The group asked, once again, what it was that Qi'faren was looking for and he reiterated the shopping list. Spruce mentioned if this would be drawn up in a contract. Qi'faren confirmed, and with the wave of his hand a yellowed parchment magically appeared next to him in the air with the terms of their agreement fully expounded. The wizard clarified that, if they failed to bring everything back, that the payment would be forfeit. Kregsmum spoke for the group and tentatively agreed to the terms, but gave no specifics on timeline.Do You Have Any Books On...
The party decided that they wanted to question the librarian, Natalie Iscalon, a bit further, so they headed to the Castleport Library. As it was miday by this time, the library had just opened up and there wouldn't be many people in there. As they approached, Chupa Saltamontes jumped out of the bushes once the group approached and explained that she had been watching the comings-and-goings of the crowd. The reunited group climbed up the stone steps and entered through the wooden double doors of the large structure. Behind the desk and clearly occupied just as before was the half-elf Natalie Iscalon. Her disheveled blond hair was put up in a top knot with strands falling across her face. The group immediately set upon her. She appeared to be in a better mood from the night before. The group produced the sketch of the gear taken from the murder scene and asked if Natalie had seen it before. She wracked her brain for what seemed like forever, but finally concluded that she had indeed it, but not for some time. She remembered something about a series of murders of magic users about a decade prior. None of them, however, were as grizzly as the ones currently plagueing Castleport. She remembered the group as well: The Brotherhood of the Machine and how they effectively just disappeared after a while. The adventurers once again inquired about gaining access to the restricted section of the library, but Natalie was adamant in her refusal to allow them access. Not quite put off by this, Xolos quietly whispered that they'll just come back at night and take a look anyway. Regardless, Natalie expressed her willingness to help any way that she could, without providing access to the restricted section. Kregsmum was thankful for her cooperation, and said that they may have further questions later as they left the library.Informing the Boss
The group passed through the gates of Hardingham Keep by mid-day and headed straight for Aldar Duskstone's office. The guards acknowledged the adventurers this time, having recognized them from the day before. They entered Sheriff Duskstone's dimly lit office where he was talking with Alyce Dorgonn, his deputy. He seemed wearier than the day before and hung his head in his hands. Spruce asked if everything was alright and Aldar replied that it was nothing that a little hair of the dog couldn't fix as he removed a flask from coat pocket and took a sip. The group was proud of the work they'd done and Spruce triumphantly presented the sketch to the grizzled Sheriff. Aldar looked up from his flask at the paper and asked "what is this?" The group explained that they had copied it down from the most recent murder scene and how it had been hidden behind a barrel. The old man appeared hopeful for a moment before taking the paper and holding it up in the light. He squinted his eyes at it as he struggled to recognize it. His countenance visibly changed as his hand began to tremble, giving off an audible crackle of the paper he was holding. The party was clearly confused. They had just discovered a major breakthrough in this case but this was not the response they expected. Aldar asked for clarification on where they had seen this. As they explained what they had found - the gear symbol, the ties to the Brotherhood of the Machine - Aldar crumpled up the paper and threw it back at the group. He yelled at the group to get out of his office. Tears streamed down his face as he stood up and yelled again. Spruce was thoroughly confused by this sudden turn of events. Alyce told everyone to get out and that she would update them outside. Aldar seemed to break down as Alyce closed the door behind them. The look of sympathy and sadness was apparent on her face. The deputy began by confirming what they had found and what they had learned: that the symbol belonged to the Brotherhood of the Machine, an anti-magic group that ran amok a decade ago. Spruce acknowledged and informed her that they had learned about the murders of three magic users. Alyce countered, saying that there had actually been four killings. The fourth one was a young man, but the Brotherhood had never claimed the killing. As it happens, the victim was Florentus Duskstone, Aldar's 19 year old son. Aldar spent years searching for the killers, but they had disappeared. It drove the normally upstanding and diligent lawman to drinking and bar fights. Eventually his wife left him and returned to her family in a neighboring town. Since then, Aldar has let things degrade and spends most of his days drinking. With a scant few hours until sunset and a killer on the prowl, the group must decide how to prepare...Rewards Granted
- 75xp per player for learning about The Brotherhood of the Machine
- 50xp per player for learning about the extent of the South Wind Trading Company's corruption
- 50 xp for Kregsmum for excellent investigatory work
Character(s) interacted with
- Medarin Clubs
- Matilde Carson
- Callie Daggersharp
- Qi'faren Elesh
- Natalie Iscalon
- Aldar Duskstone
- Alyce Dorgonn
Report Date
24 Mar 2022
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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