Session Report 24 - Aiones' Wall of Truth & Lies
General Summary
"Things are never as simple as they seem! When I was investigating the rumours of the grass that walks, I figured out that the Neo-Lizard Conspiracy was real! But that's not all - The Flint Guild was consorting with an anonymous Council member. Piracy! Operation Fishbones! Operation No-More-Weekends! Operation Heartstopper! IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!"
-Jelex Aiones
New Snooping Efforts
The Drifters make their way back to the Five Fingers Club to inform Aisha of the death of Warden Wemblewood & the discovery of his chequebook. Aisha is more than a little disheartened by the death of her contact but is glad to hear that the party has leads into secret Council business. She looks at the three names Laire pointed out, doesn't recognize any herself, but asks around the club and brings back a dwarf with incredibly muscular legs - Leggsy - who used to work in the Offices of Slit Throats. He knows Ichiro Juzuchiyo to be a well-paid assassin who is good at killing people with "accidents". The party agrees that this is a solid lead, but thinks that heading to talk with an assassin about the nature of his jobs or the identity of his clients would be a poor idea. After some more discussion with Aisha, they leave the chequebook with her to be returned on the morning of the 29th.The following day, the party agrees to follow up on Jelex Aiones' lead in The Shackwood. Before departing, Locke mentions that he has finally found a name for his familiar - Smith. Laire & Ramone both take a new liking to the newly named ferret. The party then departs for the forest.
The Forest, The Flint Guild, & The Ferocious Feline
The party moves towards the northwest Shackwood where the secret Flint Guild safehouse/rendezvous point is supposedly located. While on the way, Ramone finds a large pile of droppings and the tracks of the large six-legged feline that left it. While the party isn't 100% sure what it is, Locke recalls stories about the existence of such a creature able to deftly avoid being hurt. Grov spots a blackish shape in the distance, but it slinks out of sight before anybody else can see. Now on edge, the party follows where the tracks came from.Soon enough, the party comes upon a cabin in the distance. However, as they approach, the displacer beast which was stalking them sprints out from behind the cabin. Gunther starts taking shots at the creature, and Laire advances slightly toward it but is then set upon by a hidden tendril, which drags him toward the jaws of a disguised roper. Chuck frees the elf, severing the tendril, but the monster resumes its assault, pulling both Laire and now Grov towards it, biting Laire and severely wounding him. Meanwhile, Ramone & Gunther all barrage the displacer beast, eventually killing it, while Locke uses magic at range to hit the roper. Grov is put on the brink of collapse but powers through, and the party eventually brings it too to its demise.
A minute or two later, an old gnomish woman steps from the cabin. The party asks her about her affiliation with The Flint Guild, which she does not deny. While she doesn't wish for the party to search her cabin, she lets them in without putting up a fight and even tells them the location of her saferoom - though the party elects not to check it. When asked about the council member, she indicates that an anonymous council member would never come in person to this location but would instead send an agent. After a few more evaded questions, the party agrees to leave.
As they depart, Ramone notices the woman taking a bring pink petal from her mouth, which the druid believes may have been poison for the event that she was forced to talk. While the party understands that they could have learned more, they agree not to push their luck with The Flint Guild and go on their way.
Aiones' Wall of Truth & Lies
The Drifters return to Jelex Aiones, informing him what was right and wrong about his theories. His wall of people, places, and organizations, all connected by strings, has gotten much larger. So much so that not only are folks such as Thelmus & Tanned Timothy on there, but so is the entire senior Crew of The Driftwood - connected to various places and names in a wide, confusing mess. Laire, impressed with the detective work (right or wrong) decides to give Aiones a present and writes down his full name & some details about himself that even the crew doesn't know. The conspiracy theorist, of course, eats this up. Grov also approaches him and asks if he knows anything about Nadarr Harikov, his father. While Aiones doesn't know, he makes it very clear that he'll keep his ear to the floor once Grov offers to pay. After more discussion, the party departs to look for rumours about the unknown suspicious names in the chequebook.Rumours & New Leads
Gunther & Ramone hit up The Cobweb, where they talk with a few of the regular patrons, including Thelmus, who knows nothing. After a bit of searching - and quite a few people recognizing Gunther with his newfound fame - one patron recognizes the name Sneebee, and identifies him as a kobold who has recently made it rich for unknown reasons. The patron doesn't very much like the kobold for being a bit untrustworthy but admits that he's great at parties because nowadays he buys everybody drinks. He can be found at various taverns across town at night.Locke & Grov hit up various dive bars, eventually finding a woman who knows of Verbo Xxarzz. He used to be a hotshot mercenary a couple of years back, but now he lays low and works in private security. She hasn't heard much from him in the past little while, though she doubts he's out of port and identifies him as a seven to eight-foot-tall bugbear on the imposing side.
Laire & Chuck hit up The Charcoal Pub, which is known to be a meeting place for members of the Flint Guild. It's a muscleman pub with plenty of arm wrestling and drinking contests. After a bit of time snooping (and getting on the good side of the patrons), Laire is approached by a less muscular individual who is clearly a bit shady. He gives a general description of Verbo and mentions that, since the bugbear had a dispute with his employer about pay, he has been looking for new work while hiding out in a complex in The Fly Corpses between Kendil Street & Shal'qharam. The Fly Corpses, he says, are a rundown part of town in the southwest Spider Web filled with struggling artists, criminals, and a surprisingly large Salimstinian community.
The party gathers once more and agree to look into Sneebee next, and then to head over to Verbo to ask about their dealings.
Report Date
26 Nov 2022
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