Trail to the black market

Structure

Exposition

19th of Irami’el 1245 AE
Once they returned to Averton the group decided to buy some horses for the journey. After a good night sleep they continued their journey this time  in company of the remaining Vanguard. Their first stop was at the nearby Vanguard fort where Hesione reported to her commanding officer. The adventurers were offered the chance to either join the Vanguard or become associates. Ielenia Galanodol was promoted to the rank of Falcon because she was already a member. The group then decided to spend the night at the fort where Luanda had a strange dream.

Rising Action

Goodbye to a friend

21st of Irami’el 1245 AE
In her dream Luanda Keenkeeper saw how many members of the Archonic Order lay dead on a battlefield. Among the dead she even saw her good friend Francisco and Endori'em, the eldest son of the current Pavan Emperor. Among all the dead were obscure figures with spectral like faces. Believing this dream to be a vision of some sort she decided it was her time to return to the Archonic Order and make sure everything was still allright. The group left the Vanguard behind and continued towards Ostend. Along the way they passed through the village of Kolpada where several other adventurers managed to kill a hill giant. While passing by the could hear the name Azure Defenders being shouted by the bystanders.
Later that the adventurers finally reached Ostend. Before entering the guard at the gated asked if their dragon was registered. Since this was not the case they were brought to the guard captain to complete the necessary paperwork. Ielenia agreed to pay insurance money that she would retrieve when the dragon becomes older.
After the necessary paperwork was in order the group continued towards the Agora district from where they saw smoke rising into the air. Along the way they passed an Archonic temple and Luanda decided to enter. Inside it seemed most priests were gone. When she inquired about this she heard that there was an execution of several doppelgangers who had been posing as members of the Archonic clergy. When they arrived at the agora they saw that 3 persons were placed upon pyres. The pyre that was already burning revealed that the person was actually a strange looking creature with bluish skin and a rather empty looking face. Along side them were several members of the Archonic Order. Luanda immediately recognized Francisco and decided to talk to him. After some talking Luanda decided to return to the Archonic Order once more. As the crowd around the pyres started to lessen Luanda said her goodbyes to the group. The last thing the rest saw was Luanda leaving with Francisco and the other members of the order by her side.

Black Market

It appeared that the doppelgangers that were just executed weren't the only ones. The problems had already started several days before. After leaving the pyres from the Archonic Order behind the group left for the Navigator’s guild where some recently executed Doppelgangers came from. A small square next to the guild was also the location of the dead drop the Shadow Fangs used. After some searching the group found a letter entirely written in Avaronian. The letter appeared to be a command for all left over members to travel to the Arena and contact the local leader. An additional map was marked with a location. The group decided to see what was there.
While traversing through the city they couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being followed but couldn’t find anyone. Once the adventurers arrived at the marked location they saw a tavern called the “Horny Bard”. Using his thieves can’t Dimble managed to gain access to a secret passageway leading downward. He decided to look for other entry ways and found one of the tunnels leading to the sewers. The rest of the group could enter this way and continued to travel downwards. They arrived in a large cave complex where the black market of the city was located.
In the black market Dimble found a merchant selling a large range of books. However judging from his clothes Dimble could quickly deduce that the seller was a Keeper selling stolen books. Dimble decided to bring these books back to the Keepers. To do so he devised a plan to lure the seller with offering a rare book. Once they were in the sewers Dimble knocked him out and tied him up.

Climax

The rest group all went to the Arena to find out more about the possible writers of the Avaronian message. The arena seemed to be an ancient Dwarven building that was repurposed like many buildings in the underground black market. But to gain access backstage they had to enter the arena as a contestant. They fought against a Helmed Horror and were victorious.

Resolution

Once the fight was done they started investigating any suspicous activity. They learned that recently a top gladiator died and that some of the other gladiators saw someone messing with the chains before the match. At the end they saw the Azure Defenders again. The paladin Alessa didn’t want to give any information since she saw the adventurers as a rival adventuring group. Osric however was a little more sympathetic and wanted them to work together. He told them of his suspicions of the boss of the arena.

Parent Plot

The Faceshifters