"It has been four weeks since the Night of Ashes, the night of my parents' disappearance. Laria tells me that they're most probably dead at best. Or currently locked away in one of the Lord Mayor's illegal dungeons at worst. I still maintain hope though. Hope that they're simply laying low. My mother knew enough to store the lockbox with Laria. Surely, she must have known about the Night of Ashes...
... on to better thoughts though. Today also marks the beginning of the third week since the founding of the New Silver Ravens (note to self: remember to run the MIGHTY SILVER RAVENS by the other founding members Tassara, Turik and Ormus. The first week of our organised resistance ran smoothly, for a lack of a better word. Last week, however, was another matter. Thrune's goons invaded the Devil's Nursery under the pretense that a dottari patrol went missing in the area. I'm still not sure what provoked the invasion, but rumour has it that Thrune's prison are now packed to capacity with tiefling "dissidents". They even arrested Turik (luckily we had enough in the treasury to cover his bail).
Once things calmed down, the founders, accompanied by our new wizard, Philipe, returned to the Nursery to investigate a series of murders. They returned, successful apparently, though with horrendous wounds. I counted fourteen broken fingers among them. Poor Philipe, all ten of his digits were horribly mangled. They haven't told me the full story yet (I'm sure they will in time), but whatever they did, it resonated positively within the Nursery. Laria tells me that dozens of tieflings have begun flocking to our cause.
Going through the notes we discovered beneath the Livery, it's clear that somebody in the past Ravens kept a record of things. I see it as my duty to do the same for this generation. I promise to write more in the future, but now it's time for our weekly planning meeting."
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Turik rubs his eyes, something clearly has been affecting him. Maybe it is the pressure of the rebellion, the constant fear of being picked up by the dottery; or maybe its meeting so many different people under extreme situations - be that as it may, Turik feels far more perceptive. A keen eye for both the environment and the people in it, how they do things, why they do things.
With the successes around Kintargo, the current emphasis falls to the missing Cloven Hoof head, as well as the burnt tavern and estates. "More eyes on the ground and feet in the street! If we're lucky somebody will find some evidence or hint that will come in handy."
Ormus is unsure whether he wants to invest in a higher Perception (which is good) Or maybe boost his stealth or intimidate...
Intimidate would eventually get the +4 bonus. Stealth might reach 10 ranks after level 10 sometime...
"Fufufu - if our lady cleric isn't around, I'll lead one of the teams."
"Ormus suggests that we try and increase our treasury somehow"
Your informants report that Strea Vestori is/was often regarded as the face of the slums known as the Devil’s Nursery. As Kintargo’s most outspoken and public tiefling citizen and leader of the Cloven Hoof Society, she has/had nearly as many admirers as she has/had political enemies in Cheliax. Strea, like many others, disappeared on the Night of Ashes. The Cloven Hoof Society's operations have been shut down and boarded up ever since.
What many may not know is that Strea's accomplishments were in no small part due to the aid of the Cult of Milani. However, the cult too has gone silent since the Night of Ashes...
"This is the time where we can lay the foundations of our rebellion; not many know of us yet - so the recruitment needs little effort to find the low hanging fruits."
"Much has happened since my last entry. We discovered the saboteur—an imp that had followed its contract into the Wasp's Nest. The contract, of course, was filed among the documents recovered from the Livery basement. I feel terrible. If anybody should have found that contract, it should have been me. At least I could have spared Morgar weeks of mental torture. Despite everything though, Morgar has agreed to stay with the Ravens. I don't know if I could, if I ended up in a similar situation. I hope the other officers recognise that man's bravery."
"That's not all. Thrune's dottari, amongst escalating violence against the citizenry, have clamped down on the Songbird Hall. I suspect that it's in no small part due to Tassara's presence at various anti-Thrune events across the city. I will try to broach the subject of hiding her faith, at least until the tensions between Songbird Hall and the dottari simmers down."
"... and it's now time for our weekly planning session. Today, I intend to share my theories about my parents' survival and ask the other officers to prioritise a visit to Hocum's Fantasmagorium."
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Turik bends over the map of Kintargo, makeshift markers indicate prior and possible operations, areas with heightened Thrune activity, and various strategic positions. The newly added Hocum's Fantasmagorium sits center-stage to his attention; Rexus had at some length quantified his hope that his parents - or at least his mom - may have survived the Night of Ashes. A shiver of excitement washes over Turik as he realizes that this may be his only chance to meet and learn about the Archivists - those who preserve the true history of Kintargo.
"We'll need a team to put ear to the ground on this. If there is any noteworthy activity on at Hocum's we should know about it as soon as possible."
Morgar reports that the structure was the passion of a struggling stage magician and salesman named Braedan “Hocum” Azperex. Hocum had the Fantasmagorium built the year after the Chelish Civil War ended, with the goal of “bringing whimsy and joy back to Kintargo.”
Hocum planned to have the Fantasmagorium serve as a museum of fantastic oddities and “authentic” magical phenomena. His charm and showmanship transformed the bizarre concept into a minor success for many years, but when the exhibits (many of which were either grossly exaggerated or utter hoaxes) began to lose some of their novelty, the Fantasmagorium struggled to make ends meet. It finally went out of business 20 years ago, and Hocum died not long thereafter—the building has remained shut down and something of an eyesore ever since.
Most of the team's inquiries were met with laughter at the mere notion of bothering with the old eyesore. However, the team encountered a few that claimed to have seen priests of Asmodeus coming and going late at night through the Fantasmagorium’s main entrance.
And Rexus adds: "Once the Fantasmagorium began struggling financially, the Sacred Order of Archivists secretly purchased the building from Hocum to use as its own hidden headquarters."
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"Excellent work Morgar, we'll get to the bottom of this yet. ...we got ourselves a menagerie of bizarre magical pieces - no telling how they would influence an investigation of the place. Then we have Asmodean priests in there, do they think some of the exhibits can be fashioned to their purposes? Or are they digging into the hidden headquarters? Then the headquarters itself - if it still exists it may be hard to find and have some form of defense if we do manage to breach it."
"Priests of Asmodeus. Ormus can be very persuasive, when he needs to be..." Ormus cracks his knuckles.
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Turik raises an eyebrow, "Just remember, leave no evidence of who we are. We cannot have a repeat of that dogboxing incident. I'm worried Tassara's going to get so despondent she will wear moth-eaten rags out of protest."
Turik's face broadens into an extra wide grin, "But! Do I have an idea for you - what if we can find a pastry chef that is able to make an amazing dish with hidden mint! We just need to get the mayor to eat it and publicly acknowledge its splendid flavor."
"Excellent work Morgar, we'll get to the bottom of this yet. ...we got ourselves a menagerie of bizarre magical pieces - no telling how they would influence an investigation of the place. Then we have Asmodean priests in there, do they think some of the exhibits can be fashioned to their purposes? Or are they digging into the hidden headquarters? Then the headquarters itself - if it still exists it may be hard to find and have some form of defense if we do manage to breach it."
Morgar responds: "I'm afraid that's as much as my team can deliver. If you're looking for floor plans, detailed movements and headcounts of the Dark Prince's church, and so forth, you'd need to look elsewhere or employ a team with a skill set more suited for stealth and reconnaissance."
Philipe has settled into the role of Sentinel now and has started sharing his vast expertise from researching the histories of various rebellions. His records show that the most successful rebellions had to stay on the down low, and recent experiences have proven why staying stealthy is a good idea.
"This rebellion needs to start planning for a long term campaign, and in order to survive and prosper this group needs to have a steady source of funds"
Philipe plans to recruit a group of peddlers so that we can start to generate wealth to cover some of the costs of the rebellion.
This is enough to get the services of a team of peddlers. At rank 5 we get another team slot, so we can do this, just not sure who is their manager, me?
"Fushi sisters, Ormus thinks we need to increase our funds. Go forth and get us some... donations, but not from the needy."
Edit: Changed to the correct alias.
"I'm still trying to make sense of all of it. This book, this soul tome, when I read it, it sometimes feels as if my mother still lives. Stupid, I know. I know she died. I know how the church used her corpse... She will be avenged. I will have my revenge."
"... this weekly planning meeting should be interesting. We've got to discuss Thrune's 9th proclamation and this invitation from Countess Setrona Sabina."
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The 9th proclamation reads: "BY ORDER OF LORD-MAYOR BARZILLAI THRUNE, THE CONGRESS OF HELLKNIGHTS KNOWN AS THE ORDER OF THE TORRENT IS FROM THIS DAY FORWARD STRIPPED OF ITS CHARTER! ALL OF ITS HOLDINGS AND POSSESSIONS ARE CONFISCATED, ITS PRIVILEGES AND ENTITLEMENTS REVOKED, AND ITS MEMBERS DECLARED OUTLAWS! STEADFAST CITIZENS ARE COMMANDED TO TURN OVER THOSE MEMBERS WHO HAVE SLIPPED THE NET OF JUSTICE!"
In addition, Thrune also raised the toll for crossing the Bleakbridge (which is the only point where one can easily cross the Yolubilis river), from 3 cp to 5 sp.
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Shortly after the release of the 9th proclamation, Laria received an invitation from Setrona Sabina, the owner of the Tooth and Nail tavern and only known relative of Lictor Octavia Sabinus, the head of the Order of the Torrent. Sabina's invitation asks if her fine feathered friends would like to pay her a visit at the Tooth and Nail.
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Notoriety changes:
Nox, faithful protector of our esteemed Lord Mayor, has gone missing! Are the Silver Ravens to blame?
Azvernathi Raul, cleric in the Church of the Prince of Darkness, has gone missing! Silver Ravens suspected!
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