Session 015: Seige

Monday, April 5th, 2021 @6:30pm-

General Summary

General summary start @00:09:06
The Great Mouse Detective (& Friends)
Following the assassination of Warchief Stornwall, Ourse moves to the paperwork the half-orc had been analyzing, per Duul's orders. Through Ourse's eyes, Duul is able to learn that the paperwork references the death of one of the engineers, though the name itself is blocked out. He is fortunately able to, however, make out that their body was found in their home in Ghozad. Careful not to interfere with the crime scene any further, Ourse sneaks past the guards and otherwise beelines back to Duul undetected.
[THING]
Morning brings with it another round of chaos, though this one is not so unexpected by the party as the previous day's.
[THING]
Hobgoblin Commander Omame is doing whatever he can to keep order in the fortress, though only so much can be done after the string of murders, especially when the most recent one is the former war chief. While the others go off to do what they can to investigate, Lavug inquires about their eccentric companion, retrieving Emyr and Chompsky from the brig. During his stay in the fortress, Emyr had spread the word of bear riding as a sign of nobility, and though he was not a prisoner, spent his time in the brig as really the only safe place to hold both of them until their story could be proven true. Meeting back up with the group, Lavug briefs the pair on what's happened since the party's arrival, and from there, they begin to set about their work, following Emyr and Cyrus' introductions.
Following a series of inquiries, they do learn that the war chief appeared to, in fact, be the only casualty of that night. With this, they focus on the note that brought about the deceased's epiphany, trying to eliminate suspects they had interrogated the night before. With little to go on other than "an engineer from Dig," they focus on the remaining three engineers, Kazeqwik, Zhar, and Meruz. Focusing first on Meruz, Vex takes a seat beside her in the mess hall for breakfast, sparking up casual conversation about the latest murder. [INTERROGATION] With her singular focus on her work and distinct, on-record alibi, Meruz seems to be cleared. With her eliminated from the suspect pool, the party sets their sights back on Zhar. With a small posse of Cyrus, Duul, and Vex move on and locate the bugbear investigating the portcullis gate separating the Kingdom's side of the bridge from the fortress proper. While Duul focuses on keeping the man distracted with casual, base-level knowledge of the contraption, Vex does what he can to investigate the area around him and the man himself...
[AFK]
...they bring up the town mentioned previously, Ghozad, and the man says that he's from there but lacks any family in the area, as he moved there after having made a name for himself with his contraptions. After having fiddled with the gate and accidentally closed it by breaking its locking mechanism, Cyrus tries to help in reopening it, but in the end Vex has to shove it upwards, allowing the workers on the other side to reenter; regrettably, his bulging muscles also cause him to rip his shirt, an apparently common occurence. With the whole present party gathered at the gate, Lavug begins to inquire as to what damage was done, aiming to help in fixing it. Checking for potential sabotage, Lavug discovers that the real issue, at least initially, was a lack of proper maintenance and upkeep, though the main issue appears to just be a snapped pin holding the locking mechanism. Zhar states that, with a good, available blacksmith, the issue could be remedied within a day or two. With magic at his disposal, Lavug significantly cuts down the time needed for repairs, casting Mending on the pin and restoring it as though it were now new once more. While Vex holds the gate, Lavug re-secures the restored pin, and Vex inquires as to who the rest of his team are. He responds by saying that they are his construction crew from Ghozad, who joined him from there to the fortress. Their investigation into Zhar puts the party even less at ease with the man, and they begin to discuss how best to get the potential truth out of him. Emyr proposes their most unorthodox, though effective, plan: RatBear.
[Chompsky is now the fighting arena's champion. No one has died, for she is a noble beast. She even refrained from biting.]
[Some glitch in pausing the recording]

The Charming RatBear

"Be not afraid!" - RatBear Chompsky

Recasting, and failing at Charm Person, Duul's Ourse clarifies that Zhar is the one being addressed, causing the nearby guards to relax, though the bugbear is clearly even more confused by the scenario. To further amplify the creepiness of event, Emyr casts Fog Cloud around the pair of beasts. Failing at intimidating the man into any sort of confession, the party requests the back-up of Slab's Zone of Truth. Finally successful, they compel the man to admit his fault, and with the murderer successfully found, the party enters combat, joined by approximately five guards, against a former "friend", as Zhar turned out to be the rude pirate they'd encountered previously, succeeding. With the assassin dead, Vex calls into question whether the man was acting alone, and thus very thorough, or if they've only cut off one head of the proverbial hydra.
[AFK]
...the goblins begin deciphering. The Commander thanks them, and for having found the assassin --- and thus Stonewall's murderer --- they are now heroes of Bram's Folly. Leaving Ourse on a shelf out of the goblins' reach, though he sees little of note other than the goblins using a picture of the Commander as a dart board.
H1:
Sleeping in shifts, with Chompsky guarding the body of the assassin (and thus preventing proper corpse disposal), Cyrus and Emyr hear a commotion outside the barracks. Leaving the halfling to awaken the rest of the party, Emyr sets off to investigate. He finds that two other intruders were caught trying to lock the portcullis open for the invasion. [Somethingsomething flickering lights?] Emyr seeks out an alarm bell to ring and alert the rest of the fortress of the danger. With the guards on alert, they immediately rush off to wake the entirety of the outpost. [Oops I zoned.]
H2: The Fires of War
[Pewpew fighty bits]
H3: Spoils of War
300G @Duul Thieves' Cant journal translated: Instructions to infiltrate, sabotage fortress for upcoming siege(thwarted),
"The head of this family is the brother to the current king. There's some turmoil and the heir of that is the target of what appears to be an assassination. (Phax)"

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Character(s) interacted with

Commander Omame (Hobgoblin)
"Zhar"/Assassin/Pirate (deceased)

Report Date

05 Apr 2021