Sapphire:Sessions:20180714
On Dark Days 4, Neville Dalton walks through Sapphire, learning the city's layout and looking for work. He finds the Imperial Army training grounds; he recognizes several banners from his time on the eastern front. He stops to watch a blacksmith forging horseshoes, politely waiting to speak to the smith. After an hour the smith, Taren Gibbs, finally looks up and acknowledges the big man. Neville explains that he's not looking to join the army, but he has some blacksmithing skill and is looking for work, whether it be making nails, repairing weapons, or sweeping the floor. Gibbs mentions a few local blacksmiths who might be hiring, including the world-famous dwarven weaponmaster Tron Ironsinger.
Neville sets out again, looking for three things he considers necessities of life: a dog, a light (for the stogies he stashes in his bowler), and a drink. From the shadows of an alleyway he hears yipping and whimpering, so he goes to investigate. Pausing at the end of the alley, he sees a couple of people looking at something on the ground. At first he thinks the people are human children, but when his eyes adapt he sees they are halflings. Each of them wears leather armor and casually holds a long knife. They are staring down into a crate containing several puppies.
Neville -- all 6'5" of him, broadly built, a smile on his ugly face, wearing a long coat, heavy boots, and a pair of weighted leather gloves tucked into his belt -- pauses just long enough to remove his bowler, pull out a cigar, and replace his hat -- strides up to the halflings, indicates the stogie, and asks for a light. The halflings look (way) up at him warily. Neville offers to pay 1cp for a puppy. The talkative halfling, "Toefoot", replies "They're not for sale -- they've got potential." Neville increases his offer... 5cp for two puppies, then 1sp for all five. Toefoot agrees to sell; he takes Neville's coin and makes a show of picking up the crate, raising it high, and handing it to Neville.
As Neville turns to leave, he glances down because he thinks he feels something at his feet. Behind him he hears a chuckle. He pauses and looks back at Toefoot, who grins at him. "Is there a problem?" asks Neville. The other halfling, partly concealed behind Toefoot, answers, "No problem, just cleaning up after the pups. By the way, they call me Cups."
Neville turns away again, this time almost tripping on something he doesn't see. Behind him he hears a grunt. He glances back and this time he sees Toefoot standing in front of Cups, who is making odd gestures.
Neville carefully sets down the crate, pulls on his gloves, faces the halflings, and rumbles, "Now you've pissed me off." The halflings draw their knives, Cups makes another gesture, and Toefoot clutches something that hangs around his neck.
Coming up the alley behind the halflings is an elven woman dressed in leathers. Momentarily Neville wonders if she is a new opponent, but she grabs Toefoot firmly by the collar, hoists him in the air, and slams his head against a wall. Neville commences to punching Cups about the face. Soon neither halfling is in any condition to fight.
The woman begins questioning the halflings. They claim they are occasional couriers for the Thieves Guild. She yanks an amulet off of Toefoot's neck. He admits that he is a priest of the Mother of Night. They had bought the puppies off a street kid. They were going to "change" two of them and the others would become dog food. Toefoot declares that the Mother of Night had increased her cult's presence in Sapphire because the protector had left the city.
One thing leads to another, and both halflings end up dead. The woman takes the amulets they halflings were wearing. Neville takes their knives, which are very fine rune-etched blades; the woman identifies the maker as Jonathan Atwater of Ordin. The woman glances at the crate -- which is back where it originally was, not where Neville had dropped it -- and whistles at one puppy who has gotten out. The puppy happily waddles over and sits at her feet. "That's the smart one," Neville thinks.
Neville and the woman, Shawna, introduce themselves to one another. When Neville mentions he was headed to Tron Ironsinger's to look for work, Shawna takes him there and personally introduces him to the renowned dwarven weaponsmith. Ironsinger offers Neville a job, starting on the 13th.
One of the copper kids, Fredi, rushes up to them and exclaims breathlessly that someone is impersonating Shawna and going around Old Town collecting rats and other vermin and throwing them into a wagon. Shawna shakes her head but agrees to have a look. Neville puts on his full regalia -- well-made scale mail, crossbow, and harpoon.
A couple of boys, Sammy and Andy, lead them to a vacant three-story building with a caved-in roof. Shawna observes that there are Watchdog and Limb Lock spells on the front doorway, but remarks that she doesn't care if anyone knows she's coming, and if the Limb Lock spell works at all it will wear off quickly. The aboveground floors are dark and they can see light coming up from below, so they descend. The first room is a large wine cellar, dry, well-lit, clean (not even any dust), and empty. There is one door, and it is closed and locked... from the wine cellar side. [By whom? And who does that, anyway?] Neville easily opens the lock. They wend their way through a random arrangement of rooms and short hallways. At some point Shawna pauses and casts Sense Foes which indicates a distance of 35 feet. They come to what must be the next-to-last room, but there is no one there and no other exit. Neville takes a draw on the pipe the halflings "donated" to him and blows a puff of smoke, which reveals the outline of a door.
Neville forces the door open and Shawna, from over his shoulder, casts Flash. Neville hurls his harpoon and kills a crossbowman. A door on the far side of the 20x40 room bears a "focus amulet" that Shawna guesses throws either fire or lightning. Three of the four other people in the room have been blinded by the Flash. Neville yanks his harpoon back into his grip and steps aside; Shawna runs up to the door and throws a Sunbolt at the amulet. S2 charges, swings his sword, and scrapes against Neville's armor. Shawna shields her eyes as the amulet door explodes, then runs on through.
In front of Shawna is an elven female (EF) clad in glowing armor and a battle helm, wielding a knife. Surrounding her is "a series" of rats and spiders. Another door beyond her is swinging on its hinges. Shawna charges and pierces EF clear through, destroying the Illusion Shell. Neville drops his harpoon, flexes his fingers, and commences to singing a battle song while throwing punches right and left. EF begins transforming into... something horrible.
Shawna rips her sword upward through EF's chitinous form while EF swipes feebly with its black claws. The three blinded men are each groping their way toward a wall.
Neville barrels on through the door as Shawna cuts the hideous creature in half. He runs on through into the next room where an elven woman (E2) throws Lightning which stings but is mitigated by his armor. Neville swings wildly and E2 ducks. Shawna runs in and sees four other people besides Neville and E2. Also, more rats. Shawna casts Flash again. One man is blinded, two women rush at her, and another man (M5) approaches Neville.
E2 fast-draws her sword then throws Lightning, hitting Neville again. M5 strikes Neville with no effect. W1 swings and misses, and Shawna parries W2. Shawna chops W1 in the neck. Neville punches E2, his blow strikes something more solid than flesh, though E2 wears no visible armor. His experience in combat tells him E2 has High Pain Threshold.
E2 grunts and steps back; her eyes dilate and lightning forms in her hand... a large bolt that then shrinks before she throws it and hits Neville. Neville strikes at E2's face but she dodges. Shawna cries out "In Delsa's name!" and strikes W2 in the vitals. W1 tries to attack Shawna but passes out.
Shawna strikes M5 from behind. E2 throws lightning at Neville again but this time it does no damage. Neville punches E2 in the face once, twice; she staggers, one eye bloody and her nose broken.
Neville throws a haymaker and E2 collapses, unconscious. Shawna slays the men while Neville finishes off E2.
Shawna casts Major Healing on Neville and he feels much better. Shawna identifies E2 as Perdrina, a Ranger Warden who has not been seen in the elflands in some 25 years, but there had been no indication that she had deserted her calling. She reeks of death magic and necromancy.
Shawna prays, "O Dar, what is going on here?" She is given to know there is a conspiracy to weaken Sapphire through sickness and other foul means. Pandemonium Guild is behind the plot.
Neville states that he'd like to claim the house for his own, to fix it up as not only his personal living quarters but as a shelter for homeless kids. Shawna says she'll check with the authorities to see if there's an owner of record, but figures that with the condition it's in, nobody cares enough about the house to contest it. Shawna tells Neville she'll meet back with him in a few hours, after she takes Perdrina's corpse to the Elven Quarter. Neville asks Sammy and Andy, "Whose territory is this? Who do I talk to?" Then he asks them to take his room key, go to his room at the inn, and bring his stuff.
An official at the title office says the house belongs to one Jango Bate whose taxes are in arrears. Shawna applies to purchase the house.
After exploring some and straightening things up a bit, Neville sits on the stoop, smoking. Andy and several other kids appear, bringing him his gear and his crate of puppies. They watch interestedly as he tattoos each puppy's ear with his initials, ND. He explains to the kids, "The key to training dogs is -- don't let 'em talk back." He invites the kids to come by every day to work with him. He will train the dogs well, then give them away... except for the "smart girl" that had responded to Shawna's whistle. "This one, I'm gonna keep. I'm naming her Ginger."
Shawna delivers Perdrina's corpse to Lady Thire and tersely explains what she has learned so far. Then she goes to Envoy Manor, and a short time later she is soaking in a nice warm bath while the inimitable Jeeves gets her clothes fresh and clean.
Sammy comes back leading two older boys, maybe sixteen years old. "This is Tammet and Sorodon. They run this area." Then Sammy withdraws and the younger kids immediately take off. Tammet claims they operate under the auspices of the Thieves Guild (but something about the way he says it leads Neville to doubt this). Sorodon expresses unhappiness with Sammy being in his area. Neville tells them, "I don't care what you do as long as you don't do it here." He requires safe passage for the Copper Kids. "I'm not planning to be a 'boss'. I just want to live here.... I will tear this place down and rebuild it." He asks them "What services can you offer?" then offers them 1sp apiece per month. "Let me know when folks have been snooping around."
Shawna returns as Neville is going through the house to see what he can use. There's one room where most of the furniture has been piled; much of it as usable, or will be with a little repair. He'll use a needle and strong thread and fresh straw to make a new mattress. Two hours past sunset, Neville and Shawna obtain a wagon, a mule, and a pile of burlap, and haul the corpses into the swamp.
A kid named Timmy reports that the wagon that Perdrina had been throwing rats and other vermin into has been located in a stable on Simon Street in the Merchant Quarter. He leads them to the place, a modest house on a half-acre lot, and points out the workshop where the wagon is stored. The house belongs to Ganson Warness, who has been a paid member of the Mages Guild in Sapphire for six years. Neville goes to check the workshop as Shawna watches the house.
Listening carefully, Neville hears a small creature moving around inside. He easily breaks the lock, and as he opens the door a barn cat hisses then streaks past him. Lighting a lantern, he examines the wagon. It is empty and clean, but there are weird symbols carved into the bed of the wagon. He finds some thin leather hides and some soot and makes rubbings of the symbols, then finds a wood plane and scrapes the symbols away. He returns to Shawna, outlines his findings, and shows her the symbols.
Shawna rings the bell. A Wizard Eye comes up over the house. Neville tries to force open the door but strikes the doorframe. Shawna hears the back door open, and Neville and Shawna run opposite ways around the house. Shawna sees a blurred figure moving away slowly; she casts Tanglefoot and the figure falls down. (He had simultaneously tried to cast the same spell on her, but failed.) Neville punches him in the face, knocking him loopy and cracking some facial bones, then ties him up and performs First Aid.
Ganson Warness is a human male in his 40s, 5'6" with thinning black hair and a neatly-trimmed beard. He lives with his wife, Gertie. He wears holy symbols of Cor and Mensep. He had been paid to lend out his wagon to "deliver stuff to a blessed of Charesoon". He had not noticed the symbols scratched into the wagon, which Shawna says are runes related to Animation and Control Animal. Shawna: "What are you getting out of this?" GW: "Future favors, informant long-term, and paying debts that I had incurred to... people." Shawna: "You're a resident of the richest city in the Calventine Empire, you've been a paid member of the Mages Guild for six years, and this is all you could think of?" GW: "I had some... difficulties while I was traveling in the Coastal Kingdoms and... the Troubled Lands." Shawna: "And you brought these troubles to Sapphire with you." GW: "Or... the troubles brought me back to Sapphire.... Leveraged me to get me to do things for them. This was one of those things." Shawna: "Who are these people? Give me names." His contact/handler in Sapphire is Tate Patel of Pandemonium Guild. Patel is very good at disguises, but not at altering his voice. GW doesn't know where he lives or what his position is within the Guild. He's sure "Tate Patel" is an alias. He's pretty sure Patel is presently in Sapphire. If Warness needs to contact Patel, he can leave a message with the bartender at the Bull & Imp Tavern. There's a special code in case of an emergency, though he's never used it. GW: "I've been back in town a couple, three months. This is the first thing they've really had me do.... It goes south so fast... You two appearing at my door... I don't know what happened."
Warness admits, "[Pandemonium] pretty much owns me." (pause) "The Guild... Pandemonium just likes to cause chaos... They had me do things in the Troubled Lands that seemed to do nothing more than cause disruption, confusion..." There is constant turnover among the "ruling class", and GW says he added to the "agitation." "They knew I had returned to Sapphire, and they ordered me back into their service."
Pandemonium Guild is on the Empire's Most Wanted list, and the Crown will thoroughly interrogate any agent that comes into their hands. The Guild is known to ally with Derakor and Malprin.
Shawna: "He's told me all he's going to. Put him to sleep." Neville puts Warness in a sleeper hold. Neville: "Now what're we gonna do with him?" Shawna: "Turn him over to the Imperial Guard, I guess. Although I happen to know the Guard has no effective way of keeping mages under lock and key. They will interrogate him. We've done all we can do tonight."
Neville hoists Warness over his shoulder and loads him into the wagon. They take Warness to the nearest guard post and Shawna explains "He's a wizard, suspected of colluding with Pandemonium Guild." The guards blindfold and gag Warness and bind his fingers together. Shawna advises them that Warness' nose might swell up, and Neville adds, "We can't have him die unexpectedly, now, can we?" Shawna: "Give my regards to Captain Harlock."
Shawna, realizing she hadn't eaten supper, invites Neville for a late meal at Envoy Manor. "I have some friends you should meet."