The drinks are good and the company seems fine. Those few who give curious glances are out numbered by those enjoying a warm evening in doors.
The morning comes safely for all. A dwarven woman comes to the inn with a message for the group, Triela is at the Vanderborn residence. You seem to recall her mentioning that Lady Vanderborn had sought out Triela's help to gather adventurers.
Triela tells her mother her suspicions about the cult and that perhaps they are responsible for her mother's curse. She asks her about any major political folks that might have similar feelings as the cultists. She then promises to find whoever is doing it and stop them.
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Aak has a good night sleep, more then what he has had in a long time. He wakes up, refreshed and ready for the day. He heads on downstairs and get a nice meal from the bar. Anything is better than the hardtack and dried fruit from his trail rations he has had for so long.
Aak will smile and thank the dwarf for the message. After the meal (and leaving a tip), Aak will head on over to the Vanderborn residence.
The Vanderborn grounds are large, but seem a bit unkempt in areas. Nothing distracting, but a bit like the help isn't doing a good job or there isn't enough help.
Remain takes up the rear as the group heads through the gate. The dwarven woman smiles and moves quickly toward the entrance. Beyond the entry way is a parlor. The dwarven woman turns, "Make yourselves comfortable. I will alert the Lady of the house."
The next morning Triela readies herself. She plans on discussing things with the cleric that diagnosed her mother, and has the note he left so she can find him. On her way out she passes the parlor and notices it has some familiar occupants. "What are you all doing here?
Lady Vanderborn steps forward, "I took it upon myself to summon the rest of your group. Looking toward Triela, I hope I did not overstep myself, but I assumed that these were the individuals you sought out to assist me."
Concerned with whether she has offended Triela, Lady Vanderborn continues hesitantly. "I had asked Lady Triela to seek out a group of adventurers to assist me." After glancing again at Triela, Lady Vanderborn begins to explain.
"As you may have heard, I recently inherited my parents' estate. Along with this fine house, unfortunately, came a fine amount of debt owed the DawnCouncil, the harbor- master, and quite a few guildhalls. It seems my parents, for all their success as adventurers , were not as skilled at finance as one might expect. If I'm to get the taxes paid, I'll need to access my family's vault under Castle Teraknian.
"And that's the problem, you see. The vaults are magically locked -- keyed to special signet rings. Both of my parents had these rings, at least, until recently. My mother lost hers a few months ago. She arranged for a replacement, but it won't be done for another month or so, too late for me. Which leaves my father's ring. He never wore it-he had a thing about men wearing jewelry. He kept it hidden somewhere on his ship, the Blue Nixie. The problem there is that the harbor- master's seized the ship until some- one pays for the last four months of mooring. I've paid the fines to the man the harbormaster's put in charge of my ship, a brute named Soller Vark.
"Yet when I went to claim my ship, Vark's men wouldn't let me board, claiming that I hadn't yet paid the fines. I spoke to Vark again and he denied ever receiving my payment. My complaints to the harbormaster have fallen on deaf ears-he's a doddering old fool who trusts his man and won't relent.
"Vark and his men are up to something on my ship, I know it. What I need is to find out exactly what they're up to. Unfortunately, Vark's not the type to react well to diplomacy or logic. I need someone who speaks his language... which is where you come in. If you can find out what he's using my ship for, or even better, recover the money I paid him, I'll pay each of you 2 0 0 gold in return once I've access to my vault."