Session 2 - What is Operation Rougarou?

General Summary

VOD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5ul-1zk_7s
Tavern Therapy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM00JNOWBQw

Friday, March 19th, 765

The party is awakened by the conductor of the train, Randall Boulderbrand who announces that they are approaching Rougeford . The environment around them is impassable swamp full of mangroves and willow trees. The sounds of crickets and frogs pierce their ears. However the most notable sensation is the awful stench that seems to burn their nose hair. The conductor lets them know that this is due to the mass production of Low Magic Crystals . As they expediate the rate at which things are lost in this world, it has vastly increased the rate of rot and decay in the Bollothglade Swamps as the population has grew. The party then took intrigue with the wildlife and tried to catch a bullfrog near the train. After that the conductor gave them a bit of history of his train and how it was once hijacked by the Mágos who had tied him up. But then the Blackiron Bandits came to the recue, slayed The Showman and stopped the train before hit wrecked the station.
The party then disembarked and met with Private Simmons whom brought them to their new quarters and was surprised that they were given their own very large room. On the way they ran into the Blackiron Bandits who were bickering about how long it took for Romero "Shepherd" Theriot took to make new fingers for Zelroth and how they had not been able to research their payload. They eventually argued themselves back into the lab and quickly an explosion was hear. Private Simmons remarked on how this is relatively common with these guys and brought them to their quarters. He left them to get acquainted with their room and would grab them in a bit. They talked for a while about their pasts, Veiyanitara Lero had druidcrafted some flowers into their windows, and they explored a magical footlocker that was placed at the foot of each of their beds.

Soon they were called in again by Private Simmons who nervously said that General Joseph Cavanagh had personally requested to see the six of them. As they were brought into a central room within Fort Marshope they were seated and Private Simmons was dismissed. General Cavanagh introduces the others, General John Harper , General T.J. Beauregard , and Fleet Admiral Camellia De Leon .The party found themselves at unease as they, who had experienced first hand that they were not very powerful, now found themselves across from the four most important people in all of The United Shard.
They are informed that they have been chosed directly by General Cavanagh to participate in Operation Rougarou. They are given the Operation Rougarou Docket and everyone goes over it. They disclose that after the actions taken by the The Exiled Outlaws and Blackiron Bandits the military believes they do not have suffient control over the Low Magic Crystal production. So this operation has been put in place to investigate internal actors within Rougeford to investigate any groups of power within the borders.
The other generals then speak up and talk about how they don't believe in this and how many flaws their are. They complain that the party is too weak to accomplish anything, and they're not from here so they don't have any necessary knowledge. General Cavanagh retorts that indeed having fresh faces to this city means that they can come in with no preconceptions towards them and can do their jobs freely, and also means they have a wealth of worldly experience collectively. And they are low enough power level that if this experiment doesn't work, they can easily take them out. He then replys at house this is his mission and he outranks the others and they sit and listen through the presentation.
In this the general outlines what they know and believe they have control over, all the factions that they want the party to look into and some unknowns. These include the legends of the Rougarou and Whistlemarsh Hag. They are additionally told that Private Simmons would be filling their footlockers with their equipment and should be ready when they get back. He dismisses the party and tells them to meet him downstairs in casual clothes at 12:00 hours to tour the city.
They go back to their barracks and see that indeed they have a new plethora of goodies. They put on their outfit that they brought with them and head downstairs to meet General Cavanagh and are informed that they will be accompanied by Mayor Thaidwell Boffins. He informs the part that this gentleman is mostly just a figurehead as his predecessor had been promoted to the government council in the capital, but people like him and things still get done so not much is done about it. The mayor walks up and gives a friendly greeting to the General who asks if they could give a high level tour of the city. The party is informed about the origins of Rougeford including the The Battle of Rougeford and its Red Bloom Festival. He then walks them through each district and gives a quick summary of its culture and the prominent things within.
The last district which they head is Riverfront which Mayor Boffins says he will pay for lunch. As they arrive the General asks if they could take a quick detour and the mayors happily agree and says he'll go ahead an grab a table while they do. General Cavanagh then brings the party to Cafe Du Soleil where a woman greets the general in a friendly ways and tells the owner that she is taking her lunch break. They head upstairs and she hands out coffee and beignets to everyone which they happily enjoy. It is then revealed that this woman is Captain Virginia Dupot. She tells them that she has been doing intelligence in the city for a while. Cafe du Soleil is one of the most popular places in all of Rougeford and gets heavy foot traffic. While people get into the comfortable atmosphere she sweet talks them over and gets details all about the city that most wouldn't disclose. The part is told that she is a resource for them to utilize on their missions. Though, if they wanted to know anything that was below board they would have to make their own contacts.
The party and general make their leave and head towards a restaurant called Vittles. They arrive to a table claimed by Mayor Boffins. The owner of the restaurant, Chef Sebastien LeBlanc, gives a warm greeting to the General and Mayor and takes everyone's orders. He comes back with pistolettes, gumbo, etouffee, po boys, andouille, and frog legs for everyone. The food is a local delicacy in Bollothglade and the party quickly find that its the best food they've just about ever had.
As the chef sits and talks to everyone he asks about the war, which the general marks that its better now after the actions of the Blackiron Bandits they had gotten the mines back to working and things were looking better. The Mayor then asked how the preparation for the Red Bloom Festival was going, which the Chef remarked that it was bad and how he wouldn't be able to make his world famous gator gumbo. The mayor was upset and remarked at how it was a treasure of the city and he was a 5 time champ, he couldn't not compete. The chef then says that he couldn't get anyone to get him a gator. All of the hunters were too scared to go out into the swamps because of all the Rougarou sightings that had been taking place. The General then struck a deal that said if the party would go and grab him a 12+ foot alligator, then he would introduce them to The Resturant Cooperative. He agreed and said if they could do it in a day or two, he would even throw in free alligator bites. The Mayor and General both took their leaves and the party chatted with the Chef about the local legends surrounding the Rougarous. He told them all the things he knew from his childhood.
From there the party decided that they wanted to catch that alligator that night. They took a quick stop at Fort Marshope to grab their equipment and headed towards the Eastglade Swamps where the Chef had said they usually nest. As they approach Veiyanitara Lero used her knowledge of large reptiles from her home in the Aprimilla Expanse to look for where she would believe they would nest. Scarlet Nichols and Kriss Keeton were walking on their own when Vei spotted on directly in front of Kriss.

Report Date

08 Dec 2021