"No, we don't want them realizing Zincher was controlled. Something like 'Zincher, we have a deal,' or 'Zincher, you promised me...' "
"Well, that will certainly get his attention, and given his back dealings before, it's not like we'd be accusing him of much that he hadn't done," Lefrik nods fine with the plan.
"Perhaps Lefrik and Bruendor should go talk to Zincher before we begin. Then when the distraction happens, they're in position to strike. We should also see if Erix will support the idea Zincher betrayed everyone to prevent him from rallying support from his men."
Erix convinced you that Zincher was so on edge that if Bruendor and Lefrik were in close proximity, there was no way the crime lord would let down his guard. Instead, he suggested that the dwarf and the barbarian stand out of sight along the edges of the tent, and let Erix himself spring the trap.
Everyone agreed, though grudgingly, and then moved into position. It took only a minute or so, and then Calla nodded at Anklebiter. The goblin nodded, cast his spell, then lobbed the head into the clearing in the center of camp.
The head rolled and shrieked in common, "Zincher, you bastard! We had a deal!" The commotion in the camp tripled as men screamed and ran to get out of the way, one tent collapsed, and many other men were shouting and talking loudly.
Erix, who had been about to clap at the door of Zincher's tent, moved aside quickly as the man came out. Clegg Zincher's eyes were still fixed firmly on the drow female's head when Besty collided with the back of his skull with a dull thunk. The crime lord dropped to the ground and lay still, the only sign of life the small patterns his breath made in the dirt and grass.
Silence fell on the camp as Zincher's men realized what had happened. Some anxiously fingered weapons, but none looked eager to move on the hugely muscled Akron Erix.
He smiled into the teeth of the wary looks and said loudly "I am an agent of the Sable Company out of Korvosa. I arrest this man on that authority, and call on any who would not be considered enemies of Korvosan law to aid me in getting him back to the mainland. Anyone who thinks they can take me and free Clegg is welcome to try."
He looked over at Bruendor and said, "Tie him up."
Calla blinks.
She looks at Erix and then at Zincher.
She blinks again.
"That was easier than I was expecting," she says drily, a cold smile crossing her face.
"Don't be too sad," Anklebiter tells the gathered criminals. "He really was working for the Drow. They're the ones who wanted the not-lions and the starmetal. They would've had Zincher sacrifice you all to their greed -- make you into tongue-a-lolling zombies! You're better off."
Erix smiled back at Calla and said, "If you think you'd do better, I could cap you on the back of the skull with Betsy and see how you fare?" He wouldn't have gone down this easy if I hadn't blindsided him. He's a tough old bastard.
"He would've seen you coming if we hadn't set him up for the big hit, though," Anklebiter notes, still grinning.
Kel blinks at the scene before her, amazed that Zincher was felled so easily, but one word breaks through her daze, Mainland. "Yes, to the Mainland, you all heard the man, get your gear and lets get off the star blasted rock!"
Lefrik blinks as violence...
doesn't break out, "I confess, I had looked forward to cutting his head off."
"Don't be ridiculous. I need him alive." Akron Erix looked around and glared and the men suddenly started packing again, each glancing over his shoulder occasionally at the big man with fearful eyes.
"Zincher used a prepared messenger spell to contact his ship's captain. If we can get down to the docks by nightfall, it'll be there waiting."
"Hurry up, you lot! Anything not ready to go in 30 minutes gets left behind," he shouted. In a quieter voice he said "Of course, that doesn't apply to Zincher's trunk. I bet its full of more evidence against the man. One of you wouldn't mind checking it out, would you? I need to keep these mental invalids moving so we can get out of here."
Anklebiter draws the other people from the Golden Goblin aside and whispers to them.
"Can we really afford to go without checking the rest of the island? What if the Drow kept the equipment they used to draw down the star here? There is still much left to explore."
You can stay if you want, but the rest of us are getting out of here."
"Uh, Anklebiter, unless you have some spell that makes a ship out of nothing, this maybe our last chance to get back to Riddleport," Lefrik says shrugging.
... In a quieter voice he said "Of course, that doesn't apply to . I bet its full of more evidence against the man. One of you wouldn't mind checking it out, would you? I need to keep these mental invalids moving so we can get out of here."
"Let's see if Zincher has the key on him," Calla says, as she quickly looks over the fallen crimelord.
Either way, once she's finished, Bruendor takes a look at the chest, a quick orison from Calla helping him.
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Lefrik nods and waits to see if the trunk sets someone on fire.
Anklebiter bravely goes and hides behind Lefrik. "You gots good shadow," he says, patting the Ulfen hero on the knee in an approving manner. "Very good. Yes. I appreciate it for a bit. Ahem."
The Ulfen chuckles
"Yeah, I know," Anklebiter says, his ears drooping. "That whale... I don't like staring certain death in the face, giant friend Lefrik Olegson. Nor the teeth." The Goblin shudders. "Let me get a good night's sleep and I'll be right as rain. Just... no more big mouth full of teeth until tomorrow. Not bigger than mine, anyway."
"To fight a sea wolf and live... it will give me many bragging rights at least, good friend Anklebiter. Rest well, my axe is there to protect you if you need...as always," Lefrik says
Zincher was indeed carrying the key on him, and the chest did not appear to be trapped. It was the work of only a few moments to pop the trunk open and see what lay inside. The trunk appeared to contain a wealth of information for either taking down a crime lord or setting yourself up to be one.
Inside Inside are several ledgers for all of Zincher's businesses (legitimate and illicit), a ledger tracking his own personal (and considerable) wealth, and copies of deeds for the places he owns in Riddleport. They could easily be used to secure an arrest of Clegg Zincher, though the records show so plainly the corruption in Riddleport and the double- and triple-dealings Zincher made that the man would likely be killed immediately if these documents were made public. In fact, in the right hands, these documents could be worth a lot of money.
The trunk also contains a rough map of Devil's Elbow, though not to the detail that the drow's map held. It does, however, show many places where noqual was found, more than the amount of the metal in the camp, lending credence to the theory that Zincher was being controlled to act as the drow's hands upon the surface. There is also a rune of some kind on the southern shores, corresponding approximately to the location of the drow caves.
Beneath all the papers were several large sacks of coins, and two smaller bags with gems. In total, there was about 1500gp in coins, thirteen gems. The last items in the trunk were several very large lumps of noqual, about 35 pounds in all.
"You want any of this stuff?" Anklebiter asks Erix. "Books for crooked stuff, sure; you need them to put Zincher in a cell or on the headsman's podium."
The Goblin puzzles through the rest of the things in the chest and harrumphs. "Money, jewels... more noqual. Anklebiter makes gummel magic stuff with this, if we take. But no more... Hmmm."
Muttering under his breath, the Goblin starts looking at the places on the map where the noqual was found in an attempt to determine where the original astrological projectile landed, or at least its main mass.
"Rune looks interesting," Anklebiter mutters. "But not sure..."
The rune has no meaning in any language that Anklebiter knows. As best as he can make out, it looks like an attempt to copy a drow rune from a poorly remembered version.
"We should at least copy these notes so we know who is tied to whom in Riddleport. We DO have a gift for making enemies. I'd like to know who they are," Lefrik suggests. Duplicity and intrigues are not his cup of tea, but he's sure his friends could make good use of it.
"Indeed. I have no desire to become like Zincher, but we may also be able to use some of this information to give us a steady supply of money. That can be helpful.
"This bigger question is what now? Do we want to finish exploring this island and wait for our own ship, or return with Zincher's ... Erix's crew?
"I say there's more to discover here, and have faith we can handle anything else this island chooses to throw at us."
Encouraged by their success, Kel finds a bit of fortitude and agrees with Calla in contrast to her earlier concerns. "Yes, we've made the trip here and fought through so much adversity thus far, lets continue and see what else we find before fleeing this island."
"I vote we stay for the four days," Bruendor says, breaking his silence. "We've killed a powerful drow witch, ended the reign of one of Riddleport's crime bosses, and solved how to kill the notlions. If we leave now, we lose out on our chance to investigate Devil's Elbow before it starts crawling with looters. I say we get some rest here tonight, and then head out for the crash site early tomorrow."
"Then we all agree?" Anklebiter asks, looking to Lefrik. "We stay and scout. Maybe find something good.
And -- maybe-thought. Maybe we keep deeds as well as noqual and moneys? Riddleport is home-town, but it is bad-town in many, many, many ways. Not keep deeds so much -- not all -- but put them in hands of folks to do good? Make town bit better? Must be a few good folks there who can use power wisely."
Bruendor strokes his chin, trying to think of people in positions of power that could use the documents for the betterment of Riddleport.
These are just copies of the deeds, and not the actual deeds themselves. They would be relatively useless without the originals.
"Agreed. Are you still planning to leave tonight, Erix, or can we expect to still have a camp here for the evening."
"You lot do what you want. We're leaving tonight. I'm not staying on this hell-hole of an island any minute longer than I have to. Also, I talked to Samaritha. She's coming back with me. I wish I could say 'good luck', but I doubt even luck will be enough around here. You can have whatever's in the trunk, but I need copies of those documents outlineing Zincher's criminal dealings. If you aren't going to help pack up, maybe you can make some copies for yourself and leave me the originals in his handwriting.."
Erix turned away from you and continued shouting at the men packing up camp. A pair ran over to Zincher's tent and began taking it down with practiced ease.
"Leave the fortifications standing," Anklebiter tells Erix. "And maybe you should at least stay till dawn, have more light to travel and leave."
Regardless the reply, Anklebiter starts copying like a man possessed...!
"Can't stay, the ship's on its way and the captain won't wait. we'll leave the fence and stakes up, the bonfire too. Don't have time to take them down, anyways. Probably leave some of this crap behind, the supplies and extra stuff. Travel light and move quick."
"We'll put them to good use, then," the Goblin says absent-mindedly, his hands moving ever faster. "Safe travels."
Lefrik looks to Erix, "Calm waters to you then. And thank you for your help."
Calla looks around and scowls.
"Let's go find a place where we can be secure, then. I could use a rest before we explore the rest of this cursed island."
Erix had the men leave the tent you had shared the previous night behind, providing you with some measure of protection against the light rain that was quickly becoming heavier. The wind picked up too, making it a miserable business to be standing outside. The big man said a last goodbye before he and the half dozen survivors of Zincher's band walked off into the woods, towing the supplies and Zincher himself behind on travois.
"I'm still exhausted after that encounter with the drow, let us get some rest as we intended and continue exploring in the morning." Kel attempts to make the lone remaining tent as comfy as possible before catching some much needed rest.
"I think not, healer-girl," Anklebiter says, sounding apologetic. "Darkness come, and zombies be tongues-a-lolling. Maybe not-lions come to party as well. Before we rest, we tighten defences and set up watches, yes?"
"Yes, let's find the best place here to fortify... then Kel can get her well earned rest,"