Found Gems
Following the resolution of Wintercopse's giant problem, our heroes find themselves in Carris Whismael's gainful employment for some time. While the party is anxious to learn more about the Mad Gold Dragon Incident, Carris has other plans. Guildmarm Weatherwax informed Carris that a group of fledgling Silvergard mercenaries turned in a shipment of gems, likely worth over 10,000 GP once refined, that they recovered from a marauding band of orcs. The Kingdom of Vern takes shipping incredibly seriously, and has a remarkable bureaucratic system to magically track packages. However, the tracking number of this particular shipment matches that of another shipment that was marked as delivered--3 years ago. Carris asks our heroes to investigate, as their inquiries regarding the Mad Gold Dragon Incident were not leading anywhere.
Leads
Carris had his assistant track down the shipping manifest for the gems. This particular batch was mined by a collection of independent mining communes from the Zwillmer Range to the northeast of Vern. Small, independent mines often cooperate to hire one caravan to deliver their gems to the markets in Vern. The manifest documents that these gems would have traveled along the Eastern Dreifluse River towards Vern. Carris posits that the gems must have been stolen at some point along this journey, but is confused why the shipment was never reported as missing. The manifest lists the clerk who signed off the delivery notification as a certain Lilith Hillhollow. The Stout Trout Company was hired to provide protection for the shipment. Our intrepid adventurers depart to the Merchant's Guild to track down this Lilith Hillhollow, dreading the opportunity to once again interact with the bureaucracies of Vern. They found Lilith, who was no longer a clerk but a supervisor. Once confronted, Lilith broke down. Three years ago, her husband had left her to be an adventurer. She was having trouble making ends meet for her family. A man with red hair and a scar that spanned from his ear to his chin approached her and offered her 200 GP to mark a shipment of gems as delivered. She needed that money for her children, so she accepted. The heroes were moved by her story, but decided to report her crimes to the authorities. Kat'an then intuited that something bigger was going on. This was the second gem-related crime that the heroes had investigated, and there were some unanswered questions about the Riverbend Incident. She sought out Ambroad Malloy, who was presently doing time in Vern's jail. Offering him a reduced sentence for information about the red-haired man with the scar loosened Ambroad's tongue. The same red-haired man frequented Ambroad's illegal mining operation, and Ambroad pegged him as a noble as soon as they met because of his mannerisms. With this new information, the party decided to scour the Royal Archives for more information about the noble houses of Vern, hoping to find anything about noble families with red hair. However, the search was fruitless. From there, the party departed for the Department of Mercenary Affairs to inquire about the Stout Trout Company. Unfortunately this lead proved less fruitful than the previous one. Apparently the Stout Trout Company went questing and never returned.Murder in the Streets
The party was bewildered. The only information they had for Carris was about the red-haired man with the scar. They made their way back to Carris's office that evening and were approached by a fearsome hound. The beast was foaming at the mouth and growling at the party. As they were distracted, a poisoned crossbow bolt struck Katan in the side, nearly knocking her out. An assassin. With heroic effort, the party dispatched the assailant. The party checks the body for clues, and they are rewarded. Hidden in a secret pocket of the assassin's jerkin, they find a bent golden coin and a golden ring. While no one in the party recognizes the coin, they do identify the gold ring as a noble's signet. This particular signet features a large ruby and the visage of a snarling dragon.Conclusion
Bloodied and bruised, the party hurries to Carris's home to inform him of the attempt on their life. Understandably, Carris is shocked by their appearance and the news, but when the party shows him the gold coin he goes pale. He confesses to the party that the bent gold coin is a token of the League of Shadows. After some questioning, he admits that before the Iris Rebellion, he was a member of the League. After King Cornelius Aberator took the Vernish throne from his father, he left the organization to manage the gem trade for Cornelius. The party also shows Carris the signet ring, but Carris does not recognize the noble house to whom it belongs. He suggests that it may belong to a noble house that fell during the Iris Rebellion, and recommends that the party get into contact with another colleague of his, Neremen Ianfaren, an eccentric man with an interest in the old noble houses.
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