Missing Husband

Exposition

The heroes enjoyed their newfound fame after defeating the Dragon of Goldspine. While looking into establishing a guildhall, Katan was approached by a weary middle-aged half-elf woman who claimed her husband has been missing for three days. She introduced herself as Sylvia Fehlt and told them that she had nowhere else to turn, as everyone else she asked for help assumed that her husband Bernard had left her. Sylvia knew that was not the case. She offered the party 2000 GP to locate her husband, and the party accepted.

Leads

Sylvia mentioned that her husband was acting a bit high-strung for the last two weeks and listed his usual haunts to the players. His favorite bar was the Wonky Wheel and he made a living for himself and his family as a gemcrafter, the sole proprietor of Bernard's Gems. She also mentioned that if Bernard had fled, he did not take any money from the family's funds and had left all of his jewelry except for his favorite ruby necklace.
The players followed up at the Wonky Wheel and encountered Wulhelm and Gorm, Bernard's drinking buddies. They had not seen him in a week, but recalled he seemed particularly stressed. He had also mentioned that he was looking for a discrete locksmith. Wulhelm recommended John Locke Smith, who was located near the slums of town.
Upon investigating his store, Sylvia and the heroes realized he was missing roughly a quarter of its stock. It appeared that only the necklaces were gone. Sylvia sought out Bernard's only employee, Will, and he mentioned he had not seen Bernard in about 3 days, but was told to take the next week off. Will, when informed about the missing necklaces, asked if they had checked the safe. The safe appeared untouched and was locked. Bernard had the only key. The party also checked the store's financial records and found that all was in order, except for a mysterious entry for a 10,000 GP renovation which neither Will nor Sylvia knew anything about.
Running low on leads, the party decided to follow up with the locksmith. It took some convincing to get John to talk, but he begrudgingly admitted he had been working for Bernard for a month on a custom project. He had created many lockboxes as well as a large safe door, which were installed in Bernard's home while Sylvia and the children were visiting Sylvia's mother. However, the cost of the locks and the door still totaled less than the 10,000 GP renovation.

The Hidden Vault

Sylvia and the party dashed to her home and investigated Bernard's office. There were scratch marks on the wooden floor, leading towards a bookshelf. Once removed from the wall, they were greeted by an impressively large iron door that was locked shut. Once coaxed open the door dug into the wooden floor, revealing the cause of the damaged flooring. Inside, the party discovered all of the missing necklaces as well as Bernard's journal.
Reading the journal revealed that Bernard was growing paranoid, but he did not mention any particular threats, simply saying that "they will not get me!". The journal had notes from Bernard's meetings with the locksmith and documented the construction of the safe. The last entry's date matched the last time Sylvia had seen him and mentioned going to the Spellweaver's Circle to have his door enchanted.
Once the party arrived at the Circle they encountered Armil Tuvaras, the wizard who had accompanied them for a time. Rather than continuing as an adventurer, it appeared Armil had parlayed his fame from slaying the dragon into a comfortable academic position. The party consulted with him about their current case and Armil revealed that he was to meet with Bernard regarding some custom enchantments, but that Bernard never arrived to their meeting. Armil was troubled to learn that Bernard wanted enchantments on his safe door, as Armil specializes in evocation magic. Any of his signature enchantments would have exploded anyone unfortunate enough to accost the door. Armil suggested that they seek the help of his colleague who would be able to sell them a Locate Creature scroll.

Conclusion

In the end, Sylvia paid 5000 GP for the scroll and worked with the party to cast the spell. During the frantic search of the path between Armil's workshop and Sylvia's home, the spell picked up Bernard's location in a rough part of town. He was dead, a wound from a dagger in his side. His coin purse and his favorite necklace were both missing, leading the party to conclude that he was the victim of a random mugging gone wrong. Sylvia was distraught.
Sylvia asks the party if they would accept an ancient map as payment for their services, as every penny counted for the bereaved Sylvia and her family. The map apparently belonged to her grandfather and she had inherited it when he passed. She confessed that she had made no effort to investigate its destination, and that now she may never have the chance. The party of course accepted, and the map appeared to lead into the Zwellmer Mountains.

Plot type

Quest