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After regrouping at Zellara’s abandoned house and meeting Max the Shoanti Barbarian and Tanoff the Dwarven Fighter the group decided to head into the riots to see if they could help out any. Simon the Wizard stayed behind to keep the place safe as his player was working late and wouldn’t show up for a while.

The party split into two groups, Ankou the Cleric and Max would head into the streets to be do-gooders and Cyril the Ranger and Tanoff would make their way to Cyril’s mother’s house to make sure that she was alright. Ankou and Max ran into a group of Korvosan guardsmen who were in a tense standoff with a mob of drunken rioters. It looked like violence could erupt at any moment, but with some smooth talking from the Cleric of Pharasma and some angry looks from the towering Shoanti, both groups headed away peacefully.

Things didn’t go so well for Cyril and Tanoff who, after finding Cyril’s mother’s house relatively unmolested, ran into a similar situation. The half-elf and dwarf tried talking the drunken mob down, but after a glass bottle was hurled at Cyril’s head, a melee broke out. The fight was a free for all between guards, rioters, and PC’s. Cyril and Tanoff restrained themselves, pulling the blows from the weapons so that they only dealt non-lethal damage, but the guards and rioters had no such compunctions. Cyril was slashed a couple of times by the guards, who saw him as an instigator and the largest threat. Tanoff held off the rioters until he knocked out the man he identified as the leader and the rest of the peasants fled. After a couple more rounds of fighting, three of the four guards were out cold and the fourth fled, screaming for backup. Cyril noted that his goal of getting into the Sable Company was looking at having a couple of bumps in it now. Before the two of them left to regroup with Ankou and Max.

The group came together again in the streets, tired and still wounded from the assault on Gaedrin’s fishery and the riots. They decided they enough was enough for one night and were preparing to find a safe place to rest when all four of them were stung by a flock of invisible imps who saw the wounded PC’s as easy prey. The imps were fast and stung them all again with their poisoned barbs, though only the hearty Shoanti succumbed to the poison and then the fight was on. Everyone was finding it hard to damage the nasty devils (except for Max and his greatsword of imp-smiting) and things only got worse when the imps suggested that it was getting hot and a pleasant dip in the nearby Jeggare River would be quite refreshing. Most of the group just laughed at their trickery, but Ankou thought that they were on to something and the party’s cleric took off at a sprint towards the dark waters. Left without a holy man, the party circled together while Max held the imps off until a flight of pseudo-dragons swooped down to the rescue. The imps and pseudo-dragons fought viciously but with the help of the PC’s the imps were dragged down and sent back to hell. Ankou came back sopping and angry, just in time to see the fight finished. Really needing their rest, the group followed Ankou back to the church of Pharasma in the strangely peaceful Grey District and passed out for the night.

Over the next couple of days the group went back out into Korvosa to help quell the riots where the could, Simon the wizard rejoining them. Of note, the group helped a young nobleman escape from an angry mob with little fanfare and then ran into a drunken guardsmen whom Cyril recognized as Grau Soldato, a well-liked Watch Sergeant. Grau was thoroughly hammered and seemed to think that Simon was a someone he knew from his hometown of Sandpoint. The group attempted to coerce the drunken sergeant to follow them, but after some abysmal rolling, Grau insisted on sharing drinks and getting reacquainted with his pal. Max decided that some “barbarian diplomacy” was in order and punched Grau in the face. Grau was slightly stunned and though they could tell that he was a far superior fighter than any of them, his extreme drunkenness worked against him. Max wrestled Grau to the ground while the rest of the group helped or shooed passerby’s on. Good roll’s from Max and bad rolls from drunken Grau let Max tie the Sergeant up and knock him out for good.

Max hoisted the unconscious Grau onto his shoulder and they set off towards the only neutral place that they could think of to stash the soldier, Zellara’s house. Unfortunately, they didn’t make any attempt to get him there stealthily and ran into a Korvosan guard patrol. Seeing the unconscious soldier bound up and being toted around, the guards drew their weapons and entered combat. Most of the group decided to run for it while Cyril valiantly stepped forward and began defensively knocking the pursuing guardsmen out. After a quick and relatively bloodless scuffle, the group decided to proceed with a bit more stealth and Cyril was really beginning to feel that his chances of joining the Sable Company were going down the drain.

The group ousted a squatter from Zellara’s place and untied the unconscious Grau, letting him sleep off the worst of his drunkenness. Grau woke half a day later with no memory of what happened courtesy of too much alcohol and a big meaty Shoanti fist. The group successfully diplomacized Grau into swearing off alcohol and returning to the guard.

Noticing that the riots were subsiding and the city was getting back under control, Ankou sent a courier to Castle Korvosa with a message that the group had found the queen’s brooch in the stash of a petty crime lord during the riots and retired to the Church of Pharasma for an evening’s rest. They receive a reply invitation to come to Castle Korvosa early the next morning and set off.

Unfortunately for them, on the way to return the brooch an Otyugh erupts from the sewers underneath them. A fight ensues and the party sustains some damage while putting the beast down. Unknown to him, Max has been diseased by the bite of the foul creature and will soon begin feeling the effects. Realizing that they can’t meet the queen in their disheveled state, the group quickly finds a place where they can clean off before arriving at Castle Korvosa (bunch of preening ninnies).

They successfully return the Queen’s brooch and are rewarded with a job for the Korvosan Guard as well as money. The group realizes that they seem to work well together and they accept Queen Illeosa’s offer. That was where we finished for the evening.

It had been late afternoon when they had arrived at Zellara’s house, so it was in the final stages of dusk when the men arrived at the Old Fishery headquarters. The building was dark, with little sign of activity, so Cyril snuck up to the windows to see if he could see into the building. Being and incredibly perceptive young half-elf (with some great rolls), Cyril managed to get a basic layout of the front rooms of the building through the grimy, boarded-up windows.

Cyril could detect something moving around inside the front room, but couldn’t quite figure out what it was so the group decided that a “kick-in-the-door” and blitz approach would be the best option. Cyril readied to kick in the front door with Wolfom reading to charge in right behind him. When everyone was in position, Cyril kicked the door … and hurt his foot. Cyril’s failed attempt to kick in the door sent the fishery’s night watchman, and old, mean looking dog into a fit of barking. Realizing that what little element of surprise they had was gone, Wolfom charged into the door and his mighty Shoanti frame knocking the locked boards off their hinges. The rest of the group surged into the room and with a critical hit from the cleric’s mace, old Bloo was forever silenced.

The group spread out to check the doors, but realized that all of them were locked for the night. After a minute of fumbling around, the PC’s were surprised when a sleepy and half-dressed Yargin threw open the door from his sleeping quarters, pointed his acid wand at the Shoanti standing right next to him … and cursed as nothing happened. Fortunately for Yargin, Wolfom wasn’t used to swinging his greatsword indoors and banged his weapon off the doorframe between the two men. A stray bolt from Cyril and Yargin was feeling pretty good about himself, until Ankou’s magic ice-bolt confirmed another critical hit, dropping the acid-slinger.

A quick rummage through Yargin’s possession turned up the keys to the building (Yay!) which made the group’s advance much easier. Sweeping through the fish muck and stench, the group forced their way back into the two tiered processing floor where they found a giggling half-orc and a sleepy gnome yelling at a malnourished group of children.

The gnome successfully intimidated the children into attacking the intruders with their stirring oars and forks. Ankou, himself having been a child in Lamm’s employ years ago, didn’t wish to see any harm come to the children and attempted to talk them down, but the children were much more afraid of the gnome and with a thwack, one of them hit the cleric upside the head with an oar. The other orphans didn’t fare nearly as well, and batted their makeshift weapons ineffectually at the PC’s. Simon the wizard, agasht at the thought of hurting innocent children, cast a sleep spell, dropping three of the orphans, and the giggling half-orc into magical slumber. Finally getting to show off, Wolfom made a running leap from the balcony and landed in front of the gnome and sleeping half-orc, landing like a gymnast. One swing of his sword dropped the gnome, and a cleave finished the sleeping half-orc. Seeing their oppressors fall, the children dropped their weapons and fled from the fishery, free-at-last.

When a quick search of the rest of the fishery failed to turn up Gaedrin, the group readied themselves to head out to the old ship moored behind the fishery. The going was slow, as the planks were rotted and slick, and a couple of times, Wolfom had to struggle to keep his footing. Wolfom led the group onto the Kraken’s Folly, but was caught off guard when a monstrous spider leapt from the ship’s darkened interior and bit him. Fortunately for the hardy Shoanti, the spider’s poison was too dull to have any effect. Cyril had to jump from the ship’s deck to the dock as the boards that he stood on gave way and the group agreed that using the stairs was probably a better way of doing things.

A small handrail framed the wooden stairs that led into the depths and Wolfom, showing off his natural grace and athletic ability jumped over the railing from the side and into the stairs … promptly catching his foot on the railing and falling headfirst into the hold. Cyril behind him laughed at the barbarian’s clumsiness and decided to jump the rail as well to show the tribesman how it was done … and promptly caught his foot on the rail and fell on top of the Shoanti. Serious Cleric is Serious just shook his head at the two fallen warriors and headed around the rail when the wizard pushed past him and with grace and poise, leapt the railing and dropped daintily into the hold next to the barbarian and ranger, forever proving that he was more manly than the two of them.

The barbarian got to his feet and intrigued by the chests in back moved around the cobwebby interior, only to be jumped by more monstrous spiders. He managed to slash one of them down before the rest jumped on him. The venom from the two spiders that bit him proved tougher than his Shoanti blood and the barbarian’s muscles spasmed loosely, leaving him weaker. Finishing his round, Wolfom smashed two of the spiders that scuttled on him. The rest of the group rushed to aid the barbarian, but resulted only in slapping the barbarian a few times while the spider scuttled around and bit him some more. Finally growing weary of the vermin, Wolfom flexed his “poisoned-but-still-considerable” strength, locking the spider’s fangs in his muscles and squished it with the pommel of his sword.

The cleric muttered a healing prayer over Wolfom before the group set to looking around the ship’s leaky interior. Luck was once again on the barbarian’s side as he discovered a slidable door that led from the cargo hold to a small rickety walkway scant feet over the inky waters below. On the other side of the walkway was the fishery’s undercarriage, a room with dim light spilling out. Cautiously making their way over the slimy walkway, Wolfom kicked open the door to find Gaedrin Lamm tossing through the day’s pickings.

With a shriek of surprised fright at seeing the nearly 7’ tall Shoanti kick in his door, Gaedrin whipped out a hand crossbow and fired it into the hole in the center of the floor, arousing the anger of Gobbleguts the crocodile, who leapt from the water, his jaws snapping closed only inches from the Shoanti’s face. It was here that Wolfom’s luck ran out.

Hearing the voice of the man who had murdered his closest friend, Cyril charged forward, trying to push past the barbarian to get to Lamm. The combined weight of the two men sent the planked floor crashing down, and though Cyril managed to jump back in time, Wolfom plunged into the dark water below where the only thing visible was the gleaming jaws of a waiting jigsaw shark. The shark snapped at the barbarian, wounding him lightly before the barbarian could start to swim towards the fishery. The rest of the group, now seeing the thrashing shark that attacked their companion started firing at it, but couldn’t seem to get a bead on the shark through the dark water.

Wolfom knew he needed to get away from the finned menace and decided to try and force his way into the shallow waters beneath the fishery. With some exertion, the barbarian managed to pull himself into position … right next to Gobbleguts! The alligator was still pissed off at the bolt stuck in its back and chomped down on the barbarian, bringing him to 0hp. Cyril, realizing that help was needed inside the building ran and jumped the gap in the walkway and would have plummeted into the waters had not the touch of destiny chosen this moment for him to shine. Cyril landed inside the building and swatted away the bolt that Lamm fired at him. Outside, Ankou remained scared of the walkway collapsing under him and stayed where he was, firing ineffectually at the circling shark below. The wizard wanted to move forward to help, but was the cleric yelled at him for getting too close so he just fired his crossbow and missed the shark.

Wolfom refused to die this way and entered a frenzied rage, striking at Gobbleguts … and missing horribly. Gobbleguts, who thought that there was more dangerous prey, decided that the barbarian was too annoying to let live chomped and thrashed and left the barbarian lifeless in the water. Cyril ran past the preoccupied alligator, drawing his shortsword, and whiffed big time against Gaedrin. Outside, the cleric decided to finally make a jump for it but fell just short, splashing into the water. The wizard summoned a dire rat next to the shark to distract it from the cleric’s thrashing, the shark took the bait and R.I.P. Squeakers.

Gobbleguts, having finished with the barbarian, turned his sights on the next nearest thing, Cyril, but the dodgey ranger stayed well out of his reach. Gaedrin stepped back to fire at the ranger but missed. Cyril’s counterattack did not, and Gaedrin Lamm met him just end at the hand of a vengeful ranger. Meanwhile, Ankou managed to climb out of the water and into the fishery as the wizard shot at the alligator again, still with no luck.

Gobbleguts continued to assault the ranger, this time biting deeply and bringing the ranger to the brink of unconsciousness. Not having learned the barbarian’s lesson, Cyril decided to duke it out toe-to-toe with the alligator and bounced his sword off the creature’s scaly hide. Ankou fired an ice bolt which stung the alligator, trying to pull it off the ranger. Outside the wizard got a running start … and kept running right off the edge of the walkway and into the water. The wizard’s owl familiar decided “Screw this” and flapped easily into the rafters of the building. With no more Squeakers to distract it, the shark homed in on the floundering wizard but was stopped short by the wizard’s magical armor.

Gobbleguts, with a last hurrah, snapped at the ranger but could get through his defense. Finishing it, Cyril put an end to the barbarian slayer. Ankou ran to the door and helped the wizard out of the water. An annoyed shark, decided that these guys were too much effort for too little gain and swam off hungry.

The group fished the dead barbarian out of the water and set about searching the late Gaedrin’s stuff for valuables like the carrion-pickers that they are only to find Zellara the fortune teller’s severed head (at which point the only guy who didn’t know about this looks at me and goes “What?!” so I’m glad I at least get some reaction from it) and a bunch of loot. Collecting the bodies so that Ankou can give them their final rights, the remaining group finds the city in chaos with the news of King Eodren’s death. Deciding that they need to recoup and get off the streets, they make their way back to Zellara’s house for some answers and find another Shoanti man (who looks and acts exactly like Wolfom, except his name is Max) who had shown up late for the party. And we called it for the night.