Sapphire:Sessions:20150509

Feast Time 2 at the Green Lantern Tavern. Little Sal: "It is my intent not to involve the city guard in tonight's events." Chalker: "We have no objection to your disposing of the body." Sal doesn't recognize the name Carl Carver; he'll ask his serving girls.

Chalker returns to the main room and goes up and claps one of the scholars on the shoulder. "Another drink?" The scholars speculate that the fighting sticks were keyed to one individual -- Hunter -- which is why they disintegrated when he died.

Yasser is quite pleased when a serving girl brings him drinks and tells him they're on the house.

Shawna examines Hunter's contract for watermarks, and finds one behind the mage's signature. It is a sketch of the western coastline of the Peninsular Kingdoms. She gazes steadily at the parchment, then announces that the mage's name is Tholadan.

Tammy comes over, points to a young man at another table, and identifies him as Carl Carver, a university student who stops in at the Green Lantern about once a week. Chalker walks over and seats himself at Carl's table. Carl's companions give their names as Don Shaw and Earl Lark. Chalker slides the contract over to Carl, telling him to read it. A few moments later, Carl looks up and claims he has no idea why anyone would want him dead. But then he admits that several months ago he had dated the emperor's fifteen-year-old daughter. Some men had attempted to kidnap her from the Green Lantern, but had been foiled by a group of local adventurers.

When Carl and his two friends leave the tavern, Ahn-Lee follows them for a time, but no one is paying them any special attention.

The contract specified that Skylar was to be delivered to a certain alchemy shop. On the way there with Chalker, Yasser says recognizes the name Tholadan from his travels in the Peninsular Kingdoms seven years ago.

The alchemy shop is two stories tall (shop on the ground floor, living quarters above). The shop is dark, and only a single dim light shows in a second-story window. From what Yasser and Chalker can tell, the building is not under observation. They check the rear of the shop; the back door is not latched.

Chalker mutters to Yasser, "We're going for our strong suit." Boldly he opens the door, walks in, and calls loudly, "Hey! Is there anybody here?" A minute or so later, a middle-aged man creeps down the stairs, a club clenched in his fists, and shakily addresses the intruders: "My name is Ander; this is my shop. Take anything you want, just don't bother my family." Chalker quizzes him. Yes, he left the door unlatched deliberately. A man calling himself Tyadim paid him 4g to leave the door unlocked and place a small rug on the floor. He shows them the wool rug, which is only about 1.5 feet square; it has fancy designs woven into it and words woven around the edge. Chalker has Ander place the rug in a bag. Ander elaborates, "Tyadim is a mage... The deal was that he would pick up this rug in the morning... No, I never met him before... Describe him? He was about five-six, jet black hair, well-trimmed beard, lightly tanned skin; wore expensive embroidered clothes. And he spoke with an odd accent; no, not like yours."

Chalker: "This conversation never happened. But if Tyadim comes and leans on you, tell him Chalker Jackson can be found at the Dolyenan Embassy. And Ander, if you've lied to us... wasting a dwarf's time is expensive." After Chalker and Yasser leave, Ander locks the door behind them.

Upon hearing their story, Shawna notes that Tyadim had been expelled from the Mage Guild in Sapphire some 25 years ago and "put on a ship going south."

A glass appears on the table; Chalker knocks the small rug over it and the acid in the glass eats through the rug. A twisted copper piece appears; it was minted in Gateway.

Yasser: Smorshal is on the western coast of the Peninsular Kingdoms; it borders Kell. Seven or eight years ago the "Tower Mage" was making waves there. It's got to be at least 880 miles from Sapphire.

Feast Time 3: Shawna checks with Rory; he has mapped six gates in Smorshal, all underground. None are on the coast; the nearest to the coast is 50 miles inland.

Shawna explains to Trace what the group will need. They will go through one of the gates to Smorshal, and Trace will use his Earth magic to tunnel a passage up to the surface.

Chalker asks along Temple Row whether there is any religious significance to the date Feast Time 2. A priest of Mensep says he "felt Mensep's presence walking in the city."

Ahn-Lee meets with his immediate Guild superior in a tea shop. "I want to take a vacation."

Feast Time 4: The group packs most of their stuff into Chalker's collapsible wagon.

Shawna examines Yasser's axe, noting that while it is not magic, it is of top-quality Dwarven work, and had at one time been blessed by Santash.

Trace sets the crystals into the gate, which opens into a bedroom with an attached toilet. The mana in the room is slightly elevated. Trace and Chalker determine that they are a little over 60 feet underground, below a small but well-furnished study, dimly lit by a mage globe upon a desk. A single doorway leads out of the room.

Trace constructs a tunnel beneath the keep that ends beneath some shrubs at the edge of a manicured lawn. Around noon the group emerges near a town called Kirvan. Trace has fashioned an earthen plug, and wishes the others good luck as he closes the tunnel behind them. Dashing the group's hope of not being seen, a young girl points at them and starts yelling something to a nearby adult, who doesn't seem to pay much attention to her.

The group walks to the market square, where there is an inn/tavern and a smithy. Chalker asks at the smithy about buying horses and a wagon, and the young girl who first saw them pipes up and says that there's a string of horses at Ned's. While leading them there, the girl chatters endlessly. Her name is Samara, she is eight years old, and she knows a lot of secrets. She says that Shawna is beautiful, and that she has never seen a dwarf before. "I saw you come out of the ground." Yasser: "You're not allowed in the underground highway."

Ned tells them that 'someone' did indeed sell him some horses a couple of days ago. Three of them are sound, and he admits the fourth is 'older.' He'll sell them all four horses and their tack for 18sp. The horses all look dirty, mangy, and pitiful. Shawna immediately picks up a brush and a bucket of water and starts cleaning and brushing the horses.

Chalker impresses upon Samara the need to keep the 'underground road' a secret. She says her older brother, age 15, can do magic and is a guardsman. Chalker says he is from the Coastal Kingdoms, and that Shawna is a 'great warrior.' Samara: "I'm very good at lying." The family name of the local nobility is Galion; there is a Count Galion and a Baron Galion nearby.

Eventually the group leaves Kirvan. Five hours later, they make camp for the night.

Around 1:00am, while Chalker is on watch, he notices something circling the camp about 30 yards outside the firelight. He can hear twigs snap beneath its four feet, and it is wearing nothing metallic. Chalker taps Yasser, who awakens and grabs his axe. Chalker stealths out to intercept the visitor, which appears to be a jungle-type cat, about 6' long from nose to rump, with a 2' tail. Chalker is within five yards of it when it raises its head and sniffs. Chalker rushes, trying to slam the cat's midsection, but he only grazes it as the cat dodges away. It spins and runs away, and Chalker lets it go.

Yasser is on watch 2.5 hours later when he thinks he sees the cat again. He wakes Chalker, then readies his axe and goes to check things out. When he gets within five yards, the cat stops, stares for a moment, pivots and runs away.

The next day, Feast Time 5, is rainy. The group travels 30 miles, and as evening approaches they figure they are five miles from the coast. "Fishing towns have taverns," Yasser notes sagely, and the group pushes onward until they reach the coastal village of Warton about an hour past sundown. A trading ship is moored a quarter-mile out in the harbor.

Shawna says "I have business to take care of" and goes out into the darkened woods. Chalker, Yasser, and Ahn-Lee enter the tavern, where several sailors and an officer glance over at them. Ahn-Lee alerts the others that the officer has recognized Chalker and signaled to another sailor. Chalker looks carefully and recalls having seen the man in Dolyena many years ago. At that time the man was a mercenary guard on a merchant ship. Three of the sailors are only pretending to be drunk; they are trained fighters.

Chalker greets the officer, who gives his name as Mose Kintoth. "So you do remember me, Chalker Jackson! I guess this is our first official introduction." He is the first mate of the trading ship in the harbor; the captain, Loopy Stockbrand, is negotiating trade with the local Baron (Chalker realizes this is a lie).

Ahn-Lee sees the sailor (S1) who received Kintoth's signal flipping a throwing knife into his hand; S1 seems a bit nervous. Another sailor (S2) appears to be jostled by a drunk companion, causing blood to trickle down his arm. Ahn-Lee alerts Yasser, who grumbles, "This'd better be important."

Mose Kintoth knows quite a lot about Chalker's travels, including "the orc business in Bicarn." Chalker: "We're here looking for someone on the coast." Kintoth: "So you weren't here on purpose?" Chalker: "How much are you being paid?" Kintoth: "You've always been a nosy sort... I have standing instructions concerning you." Chalker guesses that those 'instructions' come from Malprin. Kintoth suddenly rises, flipping the table at Chalker, who steps back.

Ahn-Lee draws both his knives, tapping Yasser with one of them. Yasser stands up, growling, "Boys, stay put or get hurt." Chalker draws his sword and swings the flat of the blade at Kintoth's chest; Kintoth raises his left arm and the sword clangs on a bracer, but the force of Chalker's swing knocks him back a step. Kintoth draws his shortsword and feints at Chalker, who parries. S1 flings his throwing knife at Chalker's back, but the knife plinks off of Chalker's armor; S1 flicks out another knife. S2, whose arm is bleeding, slides a knife out of his sleeve into his hand. S3 charges with a knife in his left hand.

Chalker sidesteps and swings at Kintoth, who parries. S1 stabs Ahn-Lee. S2 throws a knife into Yasser's chest. S3 maneuvers closer to Chalker. Yasser throws a punch at S1's arm; S1 dodges. Ahn-Lee steps forward and slashes S1 across the throat.

Ahn-Lee finishes off S1 with a stab to the head. Chalker hooks onto Kintoth's metallic bracer, jerking him forward. Yasser tries to tackle S3 who dodges him cleanly, then flips out a knife and swings at Yasser's throat, and the dwarf parries. Kintoth swings at Chalker and misses. S2 stabs at Chalker, whose parry breaks S2's knife.

S3 attacks Yasser and misses. S2 pulls out a fighting knife and steps around Chalker. Kintoth attacks and Chalker parries. Ahn-Lee charges S2, who parries. Chalker swings at Kintoth, who parries. Yasser grabs S3 firmly by the throat.

Ahn-Lee attacks S2, who barely parries. Kintoth swings at Chalker and misses. S2 strikes Ahn-Lee. S3 punches at Yasser's face, and the dwarf deflects the blows. Then Yasser rips S3's throat out, and as S3 collapses the dwarf snarls, "You asked for it!" With the flat of his sword Chalker smashes several of Kintoth's ribs; the first mate falls to the floor, unconscious.

Ahn-Lee strikes S2 in the vitals, opening a huge bloody wound and stunning the sailor. Yasser follows that up by smashing his shoulder into S2, growling "He interrupted my first drink in two days!"

S1 and S3 are dead, and S2 soon bleeds to death. Chalker eases the badly-injured Mose Kintoth into a chair and applies first aid. The three non-combatant sailors sit, their mouths agape with shock; Yasser orders a round for the house. Ahn-Lee uses the hem of a dead sailor's shirt to wipe the blood off his knives.

Gradually Kintoth focuses his eyes on Chalker's. Chalker: "That didn't end well, did it? I'm not going to threaten you, okay? I'd like you to tell me what's going on... or I'll push you in the ribs." Chalker orders a strong drink for Kintoth, which the waitress brings hesitantly.

Kintoth takes a sip. Chalker: "You've been looking for me?" Kintoth: "No. We had to stop you from interfering." "By whose orders?" "Guild leader's." "Guild? You mean Pandemonium Dagger Guild?" Kintoth stares at Chalker with a shocked expression; Chalker notices that a chain Kintoth wears around his neck bears the PDG insignia. Chalker: "They have reason to be upset with me, but what have we stumbled on here?" Kintoth: "We are picking up something to trade to a wizard in exchange for something we need." "What is the thing you're picking up?" "Some magical artifact. The Captain knows the full story." "Is the Captain coming back here?" "No, he's not expected to." "Where is he now?" "Meeting with a priest of Asseraah."

Chalker: "So there's a standing order to kill me?" Kintoth: "Basically, yes." "I understand that. But we had no idea what was going on here. But now, do I take the magic thing and your ship?" "Why did you come to my table?" "I recognized you. If you'd said 'Hi, how are you doing?' I'd have bought you a drink." "Bulls--t."

Chalker: "You've given me a lot of info to digest. If you sit still, you might live -- unless you want the dwarf to finish you off. You know I only hit you once, and that was with the flat of my blade."

Yasser first-aids Ahn-Lee, who tries to return the favor. Chalker stops Ahn-Lee from making a mistake that would aggravate Yasser's injury. Ahn-Lee admits, "I don't do this often."

The bartender declares, "It was self-defense, I saw it all." In response to Chalker's questions, he says there are "hedge wizards and a few priests" in and around the village. Chalker: "is there a mage this Captain would go see?" Bartender: "The Baron might have a mage -- or be one." Chalker takes a deep breath, then asks the Baron's name. Bartender: "Melber, the family name is Melber." Chalker recalls that the Bicarn ambassador to Sapphire is also named Melber, and wonders if they are related.

Chalker: "Is there a gathering of priests going on?" Bartender: "A priest of Asseraah arrived this morning. Our village supports shrines to all of the First Chosen." "Including the Mother of Night?" The bartender looks frightened; "Oh, no, no, not the Mother... We pray to Jarooth to protect us. In fact, there is a rumor that the Baron has sent to the capital for a priest of Jarooth to come bless and protect us. The townsfolk have seen... things... in the area... but we keep trying to tell ourselves they aren't monsters."

Just then Shawna appears in the doorway, looking very unlike herself -- dirty, disheveled, and exhausted. She slumps into a chair, a red glow fading from her eyes, staring at nothing. Cautiously, the waitress sets a large tankard of ale in front of her. Shawna blinks, eyes the contents, wrinkles her nose, then pours some of the ale onto a bar rag and begins cleaning mud and gore off of herself.

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