You are each in Sasserine for your own reasons. Some of you have lived here longer than others. You may have even passed by each other on the street a time or two not knowing the future each of you would have with each other and the world.
The other similarity you all have is that you have recently received a dinner invitation from someone named Lavinia Vanderboren that reads, "Greetings, and I trust this missive finds you in good health! My name is Lavinia Vanderboren, and I humbly request your attendance at dinner at my estate on Festival Street and Blue Skink Lane tomorrow evening. I think I can present you with an opportunity uniquely suited to your skills. Please inform the carrier of this letter of your response to this invitation, and I hope to be speaking to you soon!"
The Vanderboren family is a wealthy and prestigious family of the city.
Lavinia is the oldest daughter in the Vanderboren family. The Vanderboren family is led by Verik and Larissa, her parents, and she has a younger brother named Vanthus.
There was a tragic fire that happened about a month ago that claimed the lives of the elder Vanderborens. The
Vanderborens were survived by their two children, Lavinia and Vanthus.
Each of you arrive within minutes of each other. and are led into a sitting room
The Vanderboren Manor is located in the eastern section of the Merchant District. The seven-foot-high stone wall that surrounds the estate is impossible to miss, as is the towering, gothic, three-story house
that dominates the grounds within. Leering gargoyles and capering nymphs festoon the eaves of the manor's roof, and several trees give the manor grounds a nice buffer from the hustle of the city.
The front gates have been left open for you, but no one greets you until you reach the front door and knock. After a few moments, a wizened halfling woman answers the door. She introduces herself as Kora
Whistlegap. She thanks you for arriving on time and asks you to wait in the atrium, claiming Lady Vanderboren shall be with you shortly.
|
Arriving a little early, dressed in well cut, but clearly rarely used clothes and just with a little dagger at her belt Katharina thanks Kora and follows her into the atrium.
She moves very, very carefully and sits down, braiding nervously her rich dark raid hair. She is deeply sun-tanned and what of her skin is visible shows sometimes quite badly healed scars.
Garnstn looked at the piece of paper for a long time, flipping the elegant card over and over again in his hands as he thought about the words. He could read a bit, and knew what it said. But he didn't understand it, meaning who was inviting him somewhere like this. He'd been doing jobs and earning his reputation since leaving the gang, but they were dirty jobs with dirty people. This invitation was the cleanest thing that had ever belonged to him. Odd how pretty something could be just for being clean. He wrapped it in a cloth before putting it in the sack.
He would have to clean up for this one, and he had a couple silvers for a bath and a few coppers to get his clothes cleaned. Someone could waste money on pretty paper could pay well enough to try and make a better impression. That and the fleas really itched.
Rugged would be the kindest way to describe the half-orc who joins you. His hair and clothes appear to be still slightly wet and smell faintly of soap, obviously just cleaned. He wears his wide brimmed hat cocked so it goes low over the left side of his face. He stays quiet and sticks to the walls and corners, always with his good eye to the door.
Knowledge Nobility
A prestigious Human family sending me an invitation? I shall have to attend if only to refuse their offer in person...
Malseti arrives in a timely manner. His clothing is Elven in make but not haughty in appearance. His colors match the woodlands soft greens and browns including his boots.
He nods to the Halfling woman neither smiling nor frowning as he steps past her and into the atrium.
Observing a woman and a half-orc he nods to both, "Am I to assume you have both been invited here as well for a dinner?"
Appearing almost nervous that he doesn't belong in the room, Garnstn pulls out a folded piece of cloth and opens it to reveal the invitation, which he shows to Malstei.
"I'm supposed to be here," he says with some sound of defiance in his voice, as if daring Malstei to correct him.
Malstei nods to the half-orc.
"If you are supposed to be here, perhaps you know what this is all about then? I do not..."
Garstn looks at the invitation then looks at the elf. He points to one of the words and says, "Dinner, right? I here for dinner." He points to another part of the invitation. "Garnstn. That's me. I am supposed to be here for dinner."
The emphasis on the final am indicates that he thinks Malstei is challenging his right to be at the dinner, rather than inquiring as to the purpose of the dinner. Given is apparently low means, it is understandable that the half-orc feels out of place at the fancy dinner.
Damn, I knew I shouldn't have come... What the hell would a rich b&%@h want with me anyhow.
|
|
Looking at Garnstn, Katharina snorts."No, we are not here for dinner. We are here to do something the city watch can´t!" Looking at her fingernails, bitten down and so very unladylike Katharina continues."No leader of a noble house would invite us for dinner. But then... you might earn a nice copper!"
Garntsn angles his head to get a good look at Katharina with his good eye. He then turns back to Malstei for a moment before moving to a different corner to wait.
"Garnstn, I am Malstei", Mal turns to the Human woman after she makes her comment.
"Agreed, we are not here for philosophic debate, the Gods know I have little interest in that, but to perform a service. I suppose I am simply wondering if any of you know what that service may be?"
Dot
A sturdy dwarf(well that no doubt applies to many dwarves) arrives a bit late. He is wearing well polished scale mail and has a warhammer at his hip.
Casting a critical eye over the room and everyone, he nods. "Dain Bramage. Would all of you be here at the invitation of the lord of the house?
Knowledge (local)
Coming in shortly after the dwarf, a young man enters and stops abruptly, surprised to see so many people already here. You may have passed him on the streets a hundred times without noticing him. He is of average height and build, with unremarkable brown hair. He is dressed modestly and carries a cudgel and a small pack. Clean, nondescript and overall pretty forgettable.
Once inside the door, he drops the pack next to the wall by the door. Rubbing his hands together he asks "Are we all here for the same thing? Yes?" He produces his invitation from a pocket, neatly folded.
With his voice quivering with nervous excitement, he says "I'm Mahath. Mahath Kishion. I live in the merchant district. Do any of you know what this is about?" Then he stops short as he gets a good look at the others in the room. Uncertainly flashes across his face as he unfolds his invitation and looks at it again, as though perhaps there is some error or something he missed.
"We are Master Dwarf. I feel the same way Mahath an odd invitation no?" Mal states as he sees the human's apprehension.
Garnstn looks at the crew of people, realizing they seem to be as confused as him. "My note is from a girl, not a lord - unless Lords take girl's names now days. Who knows with their type."
Growing a bit more confident that this isn't a jest or a trap of some sort he adds, " I'm here because they said they had something for me. Something to present. I don't get presented with much, so I thought to at least see what it was. Guessin' you all are in the same boat."
A 'buisness oppurtunity' it seems. Unless the like springign traps for the chuckles I believe this is legitamate, so we'll see soon enough what awaits us.
After being let in the house by a Halfling servant who quietly introduces you as Kora, you talk among yourselves in the anteroom--explaining to Garnst it is a fancy name for the first room of a fancy house. Then you hear a group of people approaching. Four figures emerge from the hall and are heading toward you. Kora the Halfling races behind these figures, which include a jaunty male half-elf dressed in leather armor and armed with a half-dozen daggers of different shapes, a dark-skinned dwarf with a sour expression dressed in green and brown robes and clutching a large curved spear, an attractive but haughty-looking woman dressed in dark purple robes and with a tattoo of a crescent moon on one cheek, and lastly, a tall and handsome man dressed in polished breastplate carrying a bastard sword .
The man in the breastplate stops and pauses for a moment and looks you over, "Hmmm. You must be the help Lavinia's bringing in to do the chores. Good luck to ya!" Not waiting for any responses he continues on his way at a brisk pace with the rest of the group and the servant following behind him.
Moments after they leave the halfling comes back and tells you Lavinia is ready for you to head to the dining room. The private dining hall is comfortable and cozy,softly lit by wall-mounted lanterns. A window overlooks the manor's central courtyard and the carpet is thick and soft. A large portrait hangs on the wall, a fine work depicting a handsome young man with a short beard. Standing before the portrait is an attractive human woman wearing a long, flowing blue dress. She smiles as you enter, introducing herself as Lavinia Vanderboren.
She gestures you to sit and takes a chair at the head of the table. After you settle in she says, "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 Dawn Council, the harbormaster, 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 these 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 someone pays for the last four months of mooring. I've paid the fines to the man the harbor master'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 200 gold in return once I've access to my vault."
And as she finishes her presentation, the first course is brought in and served by Kora with grace and sophistication. An array of eating utensils and a folded piece of cloth (there are more than one fork) baffles Garnst.
Knowledge Local
Malstei came ready to eat a free meal and politely decline the offer. The amount of money that she was dangling though was not something that Mal could so readily walk away from.
"Lady Vanderboren. You certainly have the right of what I am able to do. I would say I was concerned about what the local constable would think about this particular offer but I really care very little about that. I wonder though, why that group that passed us in the hall has not been commissioned to handle this little problem, they seem rather capable for the job".
Dain quietly listens as Lavinia explains her situation.Hmm..If Vark is pulling this stunt, there must be more. Just horking off a noble is bad business and could get one blackballed or lynched. Like what might just be happening real soon now. He chuckles.
|
|
After listening to Lavinia´s words the petite woman chuckles."Dear Lavinia, I am here to repay my debts. Without your, well nice words, that lordling would have caused me more trouble after I bashed him into the wall. And I never forget a debt of honor. I thought you needed me to make your misfavor known and you delivered in spades. I really abhorr those bullies who think women are weak. I am utterly confident he will understand my language. What Dain says is true, but there are some people who have an inate understanding when someone is vulnerable!
I will work with the people gathered to clean this mess for you!"
If not for the steel in her voice and the utter confidence those words would be quite ridiculous from a girl a little more than 4 feet and less than 100 pounds.
Picking the correct fork she takes a quick bite before continuing."Excellent. Quite Excellent!"
Garnstn watches the others to try and see what to do with all the silver on the table. "Is all the extra in case some gets stolen? Damn." He tastes the food carefully, not recognizing most things, watching to make sure someone else tries each thing first to know its not a decoration.
When the figure of two hundred gold comes up, however, all that stops and he snaps to attention. "Two hundred gold to get brutal with a cheat? I'm yer guy, lady. I'm yer guy." It is entirely unclear whether he said lady to recognize her nobility or lady in semi-sarcastic street parlance.
Knowledge (local)
"I must admit, this is not at all what I expected, but I will certainly be glad to help carry this out for you. If the ship has been idle for months, who knows what kind of nefarious squatters might have taken up residence. But, if I may be so bold..."
He looks around at the others and then says "Why don't you just have the Jade Ravens do it for you?" As he says it, he jerks a thumb toward where the group had just disappeared. "I'm sure Tolin Kientai and his men could do this quite well, and I have heard they are already in your service."
"Not that I don't appreciate the opportunity to prove myself; I feel quite wasted merely doing appraisals and small tricks. But I just want to make sure we know as much as possible before we plunge into this."
With that he picks up the correct utensil and starts picking at the course, looking across to see if he has offended, or if an answer is forthcoming.
Lavinia smiles as the food is served. Talk of bandits she dismisses as the incredible food is served. A tender, whole whitefish is served in a fish shaped plate with both a spicy and sweet sauce to dip the fish in. A tender roast of beef is sliced thin with both a clear and a rich gravy. Leeks and potatoes are in a tasty, thick soup with ham. Both a hearty, brown stout ale and an incredibly dark red wine are served.
"You will find all you need down at the waterfront. If Tark and his band don't listen to reason and there are casualties, it would be best if the law did not find out about it. As for the Jade Ravens, they have other tasks they are about. But if you are not up to the task, I can see if they can do it."
Lavinia looks pointedly at Garnstn. "I think your brand of diplomacy may work best in this situation."
Dain is too busy enjoying the beef to notice anything, the rich gravy and potatoes sang to his tastebuds with a siren song that blocked everything else.
Sense Motive
Mahath holds up a hand in a placating gesture. "I am on board with the assignment, and glad to do it. I only ask to better inform us about the parameters of the mission; the more we know, the better able we will be to carry it out successfully. In fact, I don't see any reason why we couldn't get started right after this wonderful meal you've so generously provided."
At her comment about using Garnstn's 'brand of diplomacy', Mahath nods and surveys the half-orc for a moment. "Do you have any expectation or hope regaining possession and use of the vessel again? Is it insured against loss? I think it is important to know as that may inform our... tactics, shall we say. And what we do, if anything, to cover our tracks."
A little later in the dinner, Mahath will ask "Can you tell us if the rings themselves have magical properties, or is it just the locks? I only ask because if the ring has magical properties, it may actual may it easier for me to detect. Also, do you have anything that was sealed with the ring so we can get a good look at what the face looks like? I would hate to go through all of this trouble for you and come back with the wrong ring..."
Right, if we get into a brawl with them there might very well be damage to the ship.
Mahath nods in agreement with the dwarf and adds "Or someone might accidentally knock over a lantern and 'poof!' the whole thing goes up in flames. Burned to the waterline." He shrugs and adds "Stranger things have happened."
The lady is thoughtful a minute and speaks again. "And if the ship is lost, getting the ring is of lesser value, 100 gold each. Probably I lose the ring and Vark's payment. I would consider the mission a marginal success. I think the ring is mundane. If in doubt, bring back every ring you find."
She adds:
"If you feel you can't recover the ship intact, I will pay you 50 gp each for scouting it out and get the Ravens involved."
You see Kora begin to clean up, and Sense the dinner is over.
"Yes, my lady. We'll take every precaution to preserve the vessel. We'll be far less discerning when it comes to Vark's welfare."
Sense Motive
Mal finishes the meal in silence, the fare is a bit heavy for his elven tastes but a free meal is a free meal after all.
"Perhaps we should sit together for a few moments and gauge our individual strengths. It would be best if we knew what each of us were capable of to best approach this problem.
I am handy with a longsword, one of the chosen weapons of my people. My greater strength lies in my accuracy with the bow".
The warhammer is my choice of weapon and I have some skill with the lightcrossbow. Kord grants me blessings and I can heal and bolster my armor if need be.
Finding something as small as a ring is going to be troublesome, could be anywahere on the hip.
Asking around the next day you attempt to learn more about the situation but are convinced the dockworkers are very corrupt and giving you the runaround--they may be even paid off. You are soon convinced that going through proper channels is not going to work.
According to Lavinia, the Blue Nixie was docked at pier five in the Merchant District the last time she saw it. This is a long pier between the Merchant's Guildhall and the Smith's Guildhall. Alas, upon arrival it becomes apparent that the Blue Nixie is not docked at the pier at all, but is in fact moored to a float about 100 feet from the pier's end. From the pier you can tell there are at least a few men moving around the ship.
The Blue Nixie is about a 140 footer, three masted, with a middle main deck and elevated fore and aft decks. The holds are probably below the main deck. Crew looks to be about a half dozen or more.
So we'll have to row out it seems. Dain looks at his scale mail and looks a bit uncomfortable.
"I am a wizard of modest ability, and I have been known to sell lore as a sage. If the ring is magical, I may be able to detect it if I am close enough. Otherwise, we'll just have to be diligent in our search."
"If we have any chance of gaining an element of surprise, we'll have to try and row over during the night, and quietly at that." Do we know if we can expect it to be overcast, or what phase the moon is in?
I can see at night perfectly, as well as Darnstn I believe and you as well Malstei? Then night time will be perfect since we can help guide the boat.
"I certainly see well enough at night Dain. I think it is the only course of action Mahath. Based on timing it seems we should do so sooner rather than later, time runs out for our employer".
Looking around on the docks, you inquire about boats.
The harbor master and his cronies have boat services. There may be questions to be answered, and the skills of approaching quietly in a boat are beyond most.
"It was a valid question! Maybe she wanted to collect insurance on it!" His face flushes as he says it though; he clearly knows she is correct and it was inappropriate.
Knowledge (local)
"Hmm. I guess we can steal one of the harbor boats for a little while. Unless someone knows someone who has one?"
When hearing what the caper is, Garnstn mentions "I know a guy who deals in boats and can keep his mouth shut. Could get us there and back with no trouble."
When people describe what they add to the group he says, "For me, I do some second story work to make coin and get brutal when it is needed."
"Well done Garnstn. I am a relative newcomer here and know few people beyond the rest of you.
Tell me, do the rest of you get the sense that our Lady employer does not wish to use the Ravens for this for reasons other than what she is letting on?" Mal asks as he follows the half-orcs lead in procuring a vessel.
Perhaps they are better known then we are and affilated with her? She might prefer to keep us deniable.
Perhaps they are better known then we are and affilated with her? She might prefer to keep us deniable.
"Perhaps. But I sense something else underlying it, one would think she would freely admit to that when we pressed her on the issue. There is something more there. I mention it because perhaps we can perform more tasks for her if we are successful here and work well together. The amount of gold she pays is certainly a significant sum..."
Trying legal channels and asking around takes most of the evening after dinner. Early the next morning after your breakfast, Garnstn takes you to the Ticklish Ogre, a tavern of rather common appearance. The sign out front has a green ogre being tickled by a scantily clad serving wench. As the woman on the sign is bending over to tickle the ogre, it appears she has no undergarments on. The ogre is laughing as he is attempting to grab a mug off the wenches full plate.
The barkeep is a small, stout man with a waxed handlebar moustache and is polishing glasses with a rag he just wiped the bar with. He sees Gurnst and directs him to the corner table. Besides some local fishermen and off-duty stevedoers, Garnst introduces you to 'Slip', a tall, thin man with balding sandy brown hair.
Slip explains: "Aye, I prefer to avoid any legal entanglements when I move about the city. But it will cost you a gold piece for each leg of the journey. Out to the Nixie is one gold piece. If I wait for a return, it is another gold piece. It is still light out, we can get you there now or wait till dark. My boat is ready to go from here. For an additional five gold, I can tell you what I saw when I went by yesterday and looked at the Nixie through my looking glass."
Slip nods:
"Two boys on the upper decks on watch. Two boys on the lower decks trying to be hidden, but on watch. All four had loaded light pull crossbows. No sign of anyone else. The layout is like this."
Slip carves into the table with a knife a rough outline of a ship. He uses mugs to denote lookouts.
The bartender seems unaware of any damage to his corner table.