As the pathfinders had, incidentally, all booked passage on a coach destined to near the destination, all arrive in the same room to await the coach's departure.
The sound of a pigeon can be heard from just outside.
A young stable hand walks through a nearby door,
" 's you people them lot tha's s'posed to be 'headin off, yea?
I's got a missive for you."
He hands it to whomever will take it. It's a tiny scroll case, fit for transport by those feathered couriers.
Pathfinders,
As you may know, we recently discovered the location of two of the Society’s old enemies: ex-venture-captain Thurl and the assassin Mulhia al-Jakri. Attacking them directly is out of the question, at least for now.
First, we need to flush them out of the dangerous redoubt Thurl created in Druma. Luckily, we captured a group of agents working for none other than Grandmaster Torch. These agents revealed that they were on their way to pass off intelligence to one of al-Jakri’s trusted informants, a Varisian man named Emilio Bucsa.
That’s where you come in. Play the part of Torch’s messengers and meet with Emilio at the Silver Spoon Inn in Druma.
I am providing you with false documents that indicate al-Jakri’s
base is unsafe and suggest a better location. If we can force al-Jakri and Thurl to relocate, we should be able to apprehend them before they embed themselves too deeply in a new hideout.
Disguise yourselves and travel to the inn, then convince Emilio to deliver the forged intelligence.
Do whatever you need to do to earn his trust—just get the documents into al-Jakri’s hands. Send word as soon as you complete this task so that we may begin preparations for the attack.
The documents are in the safe keeping of Stablemaster Jennings.
I await your successful report,
Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin.
|
Scratcher's comments are punctuated by the message being plucked out of his hands by a thin but very well-kept man with red-orange hair. He's in well made traveling clothes and hanging to his side is a rapier with a rather fancy basket hilt on it. A small buckler, about a hands width wide, mirrors the rapier.
After a quick scan of the Venture-captain's message, he looks back up at the lot "Well, that's why the boss sent me along," he says with a smirk on his face. "Alexandre d'Alycone, at your service. I do troubleshooting work for our illustrious employer as well. While I am quite trained with my sword, I find that a silvered tongue can be just has effective as a steel blade. Shall we meet up with Master Jennings to acquire our missive then?"
"This is ... is an infiltration mission? Oh I am not so good with things like these! But I will try to support!"
While chatting about the mission, a brown haired man in his early thirties with an emblem of a horseshoe on his vest enters the room.
"Well well, quite a gathering i've got today."
The lad points at you while speaking up.
"Master Jennings, these 'ere people are them folks mentioned in the message."
Jennings: "I guessed as much. Then i have something for you."
Jennings goes to a desk and opens it with a key, where he retrieves a large envelop from.
"These are your 'special documents'. Keep them safe."
Having said that, the sound of a coach stopping near the door is heard.
"Your ride is here. Safe travels and good luck on your mission."
=============================
(cue coach ride sequence)
=============================
The coach stops at a building near the road. It looks a welcome sight after such a long ride. As you open the door, the fragrance of home cooked meals welcomes you.
The Silver Spoon Inn and Tavern fits the description given in Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin’s letter. Its black marble bar top and gilded chairs are clearly intended to suggest an atmosphere of wealth and luxury, but the tattered seat cushions and faded wall tapestries betray a general slide into disrepair.
Patrons clad in jewels and fine clothing mill about the room, drinking and gossiping excitedly. A few white-clad individuals stand aloof from the crowds, nibbling at crusts of bread rather than partaking in the exquisite charcuterie boards laid out on polished ebony tables.
A tall, sandy-haired half-orc man with rough but pleasant features stands behind the bar, polishing the marble surface with a white cloth. He wears a simple leather jerkin over a loose canvas shirt and trousers. A brass tankard dangles from a leather strap at his belt. He grins and calls out in greeting: “Well met, travelers! What’ll you be having, then?”
|
Haplo enters at the back of the group after arranging stabling for his mount, the wolf Swiftness whom he rode alongside the carriage on the trip.
Batting off dust and grit from the armor he proceeds to the bar. Observing the people with an obvious threat assessment and hand near hilt he takes upon a role of guard to the group that is not feigned. Upon reaching the half-orc he looks up and nods in greeting "A refreshing cidar if you have it. I seek to clear my throat from the trip." .
|
|
After a couple stretches from leaving the couch, Alexandre strides into the Silver Spoon with a smile and one hand on his coin purse. "Well met, good sir! What do you recommend from the local wine?" As he orders his drink, the noble gives the room a scan, looking for Varisians. Hopefully, one of them is Emilio.
@ Haplo;
"No fancy cider in stock at the moment. It's still collecting in the cellar. I'm not expecting a finished batch for another month. Something else? I've got mead, ale, whiskey, most drinks that are easily brewed or delivered."
@ Alexandre;
"Good day, my friend. I can recommend the blueberry smooth. A good mildly sweet one that goes fine with bread or red meat. Or, if you're one for stronger stuff, Graebar's Punch. A strong wine that's credit to its name, for those of lesser constitution."
The Scratcher gets a quick mug of mead, with a good foamy top.
@Hatsumoto;
"That scoundrel? I don’t know where he got the coin to drink like he did, but Cayden bless him for it.
He was tight-lipped about his work, but I got the impression he was mixed up in some nasty business. I guess for someone like him that’s just another day, another gold piece.
He rented a room for a week,
but toward the end of his stay he seemed nervous. Always watching over his shoulder, you might say. Didn’t keep him from coming in for our daily sessions. Then three days ago he stopped showing up at the bar. Haven’t seen him since."
The Scratcher gets the impression the friendly looking barkeep is being honest here.
"Sorry, i don't, he made no mention of his intended destination."
|
|
"I will also try the honey mead good barkeep." Haplo says after a pause, the small black form freezing between the sentences. He passes a gold for the drink purposefully overpaying. "We have news of import enough to write down that needs be passed onwards to friend Emilio. If you have any suggestions on finding him it would be appreciated." He returns to still silence while waiting.
The barkeep, introducing himself as Kristoff Valicho, modestly takes the coin with a smile.
"Why, you are mighty generous, kind sir.", he pours Haplo a honey mead with a good foam top.
"Rumor is some Kalistocrat had it out for him. Business deal gone bad most likely, or maybe he stole something from her.
A troupe of Blackjackets busted in here on my night off and dragged him away. Criminal or not, nobody gets forced out of my bar unless I know about it.
If I’d been here, he’d be sitting on this stool right next to you."
Kristoff furrows his brow in thought.
"Now, I don’t have confirmation, but some of my regulars say they saw Amynta Irel’s insignia on the abductors’ uniforms."
|
"What is this?" Xasay pipes in after quite some time with his formidable nose in the menu. " A 'Zombie???' I should like to try that!"
A 'Zombie???' I should like to try that!"
"Ah yes, a creation of a friend of mine. A seasonal product.
Its fruity ingredients are only properly available during a specific time."
Alexandre gets his Blueberry Smooth, at which Kristoff answers his question.
"-Her-, actually.
Her type doesn’t come around my place much, but I know she’s pretty high up in the social order. She has an estate not far from here, out in the country. She likes her privacy."
Xasay feels a tingling sensation after taking a couple of good gulps from the cocktail, his body's quite fit today, not succumbing to the alcoholic potential this brew has.
Kristoff looks past you briefly to make a count.
"There's the Copperbeard brothers, two dwarven lads who run a trade in smithing goods. Come here every other week.
Ol' Greg's in the far corner yonder. Retired militia captain, quite keen on mutual respect. Hasn't quite lost his touch if you upset him, mind you."
"Ah, and at the end of the bar, as he points to his left with a thumb at a 1/2-orc who seems to be observing the room from time to time, Trassk the half-orc. Believes someone from his past is always after him, but he's never told who or what it is.
Truth be told i think he might be a teensy bit paranoid, but otherwise a decent man."
"Some others of course, but these four are the ones present. The rest i have right now are travelers and locals who only come here from time to time. Not oft enough to consider 'regulars'."
Trassk was just looking the other way as Alexandre is taking a seat on the stool beside Trassk.
When he adresses the 1/2 orc, Trassk's head turns to him abruptly.
He eyes you like a cat would a stranger who's come close.
"You must be mistaking me for someone else. Excuse me.", and he quietly takes two gulps from his tankard, lost in thought.
Amynta Irel is a Kalistocrat who owns a vineyard estate 15 miles west of Kerse. Though she presides over several lucrative trade operations, she earns a significant portion of her income through the production and distribution of fine wine. Irel owns vineyards in several countries, including her native Druma.
Amynta Irel was seen recently outside the Silver Spoon Inn and Tavern, where she unlawfully and forcefully took the Varisian traveler Emilio Bucsa into her own custody.
Though popular opinion stands against Irel’s vigilantism, other Kalistocrats understand the reasoning behind her actions and intend to ignore the situation.
Irel’s estate is heavily protected by patrols of Blackjacket guards, magical creatures, and deadly traps. However, Amynta Irel is currently attending to business in Kerse.
She brought her fearsome personal bodyguard and a cadre of guards with
her, leaving the estate less protected than usual.
Emilio Bucsa betrayed Irel in a business deal eight years ago. Irel hired him to investigate a fellow Kalistocrat whom she suspected of illegal business practices.
Emilio obtained evidence of the Kalistocrat’s guilt but defaulted on
his contract with Irel by selling the information to another party before disappearing with Irel’s down payment. Amynta Irel became obsessed with collecting Emilio’s debt.
When he reappeared in Druma a week ago, she set her plans into motion and is currently holding him prisoner at her vineyard estate.
Amynta Irel recently discovered that Emilio Bucsa’s bloodline is directly tied to a historical site in Varisia. She might have plans to use him to access the site.
Rumor has it that she commissioned an Osiriani wizard to create deadly constructs to guard her research about the location and methods to bypass the site’s wards.
|
|
After several minutes of schmoozing with the locals, Alexandre returns to the others. "Okay, the grapevine agrees with Kristoff: Irel snatched Emilio," He whispers to the others. " Her estate is nearby, and while it's guarded by traps and Blackjackets, she's in Kerse, and the best of her guards went with her. Care for a little B&E to see if we can find where she stashed our friend?"
A young lad, seemingly a wanderer, fills you in on a few juicy bits of rumor and gossip, gained from his various ventures.
You are given direction of the estate, in response to some of your general curiosity questioning.
From a distance, it's clear it's not a humble estate either.
Keeping distance, you notice a closed gate cuts off the entrance. As well as two guards, dressed in Druma's military uniform, whom are posted at the gate.
|
|
Xasay has never dealt with Blackjackets before, doesn't particularly like their looks (this most certainly being the first time he can ever recall seeing a shade of black he doesn't like), and has several reasons to doubt his ability to talk them into granting access, so he opts to lead the way in...the Wayang way.
Alexandre and Xasay go ghost mode, and move closer.
Near the guards they take a turn right, and move around the 10ft high wall encircled estate. It takes a little over three minutes to walk around it in its entirety, and inspecting the back of it.
The landscape behind is that of a vineyard against a hill scape.
Part of the back of the estate is made of a thick hedge, as they were unable to see through it, even while trying to pry some patches aside to try and look further.
They eventually return to their comrades.
They'll inform everyone the grapes looked fine and either the gate is the way in, or climbing the wall, or something else..