It is a chilly day in Daggermark as you gather at Dryblade House. The venture-captain is speaking to someone in his office and will be with you shortly.
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A tall, pale-skinned elf leans against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. It's hard to read any expression, aside from body language, as his face is covered with an elaborate demon mask. "I hope that he won't keep us waiting too long," says Solumn in a soft tone of voice. "I don't mean to sound impatient, but it's harder to keep the demons at bay when standing still."
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Nargal walks in, a massive sword on one hip and holding a huge hammer in her hands. Feminine, sure, but incredibly butch looking. Multiple nicks and dings and scars, she has been in many a fight. Even now she looks angry. You swear you can see her blood vessels pulsing. She doesn't say anything, she just paces the room, clenching and clenching her hammer.
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A tall but skinny half elf walks in. "Hope I am not too late. I heard there is a opportunity brewing here.". He has brown uncut shaggy hair and green and brown travel clothes on. A compound longbow in his hands. "I hope we have time to get some shopping done. I need a few things."[b]
He smells of the road with mud and dirt on his cloak. [b]"Well, I know I am a little disheveled. At least I left my bird, Bravory, outside. She does not like closed in areas. We are working on it."
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The semi rare sight of a kitsune, and a stunning one at that, enters the room and nods a greeting to those present. Dressed in green and sporting not 1 but 3 tails, the kitsune studies his soon to be companions before offering his name.
"Greetings! I'm Akito - follower of Milani! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Steady sleet patters against the window of Dryblade House, breaking up the Lodge’s eerie silence. Venture-Captain Istivil Bosk emerges from his office accompanied by dwarf in a military uniform, who pulls a flask from his coat pocket and fills two small glasses with vodka.
“I’ve already made excuses to my superiors, and I’ll check in myself every few hours to make sure the safe house is still secure,” the dwarf rumbles, handing one glass to the venture-captain. “You focus on hammering out your agent’s escape route.”
“Already working on it,” Bosk replies. The two raise their glasses in a toast.
“Then may we take this story to our graves, and drag our heels the whole way there,” the dwarf proclaims as they each down their vodka. The dwarf sets his glass on the table, dons a thick wool cloak, and trudges out into the sleet.
“That was Brandur Clovesh, a sergeant in Daggermark’s infantry,” Bosk explains, closing the door after his departed guest. “Please excuse his brevity. He’s taking a big risk to help me out of a dire situation, the same situation that led me to request your aid. One of our local agents, a gnome named Timinic, has been exploring and surveying the sewer complexes beneath Daggermark. I made sure to clear his activities with every official possible so we wouldn’t draw unwanted attention from the Assassin’s Guild or the Poisoner’s Guild, which run the city behind the scenes. To my knowledge we’ve stayed in the Guilds’ good graces, but somehow Timinic’s mission ran afoul of...” A fit of coughing interrupts Bosk mid-sentence, and he begins gasping and clutching his chest. His vodka glass shatters as it tumbles from his hand. Moments later, the venture-captain collapses.
Bosk is not unconscious, and through his gasps he seems to be trying to gesture and tell you something.
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In his usual casual manner, Solumn nods in greeting to the venture-captain once her's acknowledged the Pathfinders in the room. The elf is curious about the exchange between Bosk and the dwarven sergeant, so he listens intently to the mission debriefing. His posture is immediate on edge, as soon as the venture-captain hits the floor.
Not knowing what else to do, he draws onto his natural magical ability and hunts for any foreign objects that may be attacking the man from the inside.
"Everyone look around. See if he has anything on hand. A city like this, I suspect a good venture-captain would be prepared for any possibility." Solumn turns towards the kitsune, "Akito, correct? Can you see if there is anything you can do for him?"
Bosk appears to be frantically gesturing in the direction of his desk. "There... potion... can delay..."
Solumn finds that Bosk was definitely poisoned.
Cuethric tries but fails to find some way to ease Bosk's condition.
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A pale human walks casually into the room to see the scene unfolding, "Let's see, pathfinder agents running around frantically while standing over a dying man on the floor. That sounds about par for the course." he says as he looks around for a moment, "You know, I just saw a dwarf walk out of here and he seems like either a prime suspect or another potential victim, I suppose I'll go after him while you handle this...event." he says as he walks out the door after the dwarf. "Oh, you may want to close the office door, I'd hate for a simple guard to walk by and come to the wrong conclusion here."
When Manus looks outside, the dwarf has already vanished into the sleet.
Meanwhile, Akito frantically searches the desk.
Those still standing around Bosk hear him gasp, "Must find... Brandur... but also..."
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Right behind Manus a small female gnome appears riding on a dog and having a flying dinosaur on her shoulder.
"I am Aatish. Aatish can burn the poison out of him ... but then he is burnt too ... actually, he'd be dead." she says with a wicked smile.
Aatish is a small Gnome woman with grey-pink long hair that almost illuminates her surroundings. She has a mithral buckler in her hand and wears a custom-fit Haramaki suit that looks like it has been recently oiled.
Aatish is sitting on a military saddle on top of a riding dog that looks like a red wolfhound. It is clear that this dog can fight while carrying a rider and Aatish is not really fully in control.
On Aatish's shoulder you see a tiny Rhamphorhynchus flying dinosaur that has dark red scales and looks aggressive.
Aatish's eyes turn red when she gets down from her riding dog and she looks at the Venture-Captain maliciously.
"Aatish has never seen a Venture-Captain die ... "
As the Pathfinders crowd around the desk, Nargal finds the small drawer containing the potion.
Bosk gasps, "Timinic... in great danger now... find... before it's too late..."
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Cuethric grabs the antitoxin and administers it to the VC.
"I thought I gave one of these to Solum. I guess in the confusion it didn't register with him" "Hopefully this will help the situation."
Cuethric feeds the liquid to the captain as the situation allows. "Take mine from Solum. If this doesn't work, we will need a healer or alchemist."
Solum sees a wide variety of maps and notes all over the desk, which will take more time to properly evaluate.
Bosk gulps down the potion, and breathes more easily for a moment. "The safe," he says, eyes flicking to the wall where you see a safe mounted. He reels off a string of numbers which you take to be the combination. Then he begins gasping for air again.
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"Well, spooky gnome girl, you really came through with the solution. (chuckle)... liquid is a solution... But who is this Aatish you keep mentioning? No, wait, you arrrre Aatish. I get it. Sorry. Well thanks again ... Aatish."
Cuethric turns a little red in face. "Maybe, I should help with the safe?"
Alas, Manus turns out to be premature. Bosk's gasps fade away again, this time to complete stillness as his fight ends. It seems the potion only bought him a little more time.
Inside the safe are personnel files. The contents reveal that Brandur Clovesh brought the imperiled Pathfinder Timinic to a safe house on the city’s border, though it does not specify where. Timinic’s file also notes that while in hiding, Timinic will recognize those who call themselves “Guardians of the Open Roads” as fellow Pathfinders. Another earmarked dossier tracks the movements of a wanted killer named Cladara, and notes that Cladara’s murders have prompted city-wide investigations, an unusual response to deaths caused by any Assassin’s Guild member in good standing. A third file suggests an apothecary named Pemak may have connections to the Daggermark Poisoner’s Guild.
In addition to the files, the safe contains a bird feather token, a wand of share language (6 charges), and a ring of arcane signets.
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"Looks like our captain kept some good notes. The Assassin's and Poisoner's Guilds weild a lot of influence here. I mean, you either do what they want or they want you dead." he says gesturing towards the fallen captain. "Not sure if it's relevant, but trainee assassins aren't allowed to target members of military, which of course means that a lot of people are signed up as part of the force here."
"The Poisoner's Guild tends to work with the Assassin's Guild, but they are much more interested in studying than actual killing, though they tend to contract out work to test their poisons and mixtures." he say, looking back at the fallen captain, "I wonder if that's what happened to him."
"If you hear the word 'specialist' in Daggermark, it probably means Assassin, so keep your ears open." Manus says as he takes his keen intellecet to the captain's desk.
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Still leaning over the now deceased Venture-Captain, Solumn takes a moment to mourn the loss, closing the man's eyes and gently placing the hand down. "We need to carry on the work set out for us," the elf says matter-of-factly. He begins to examine the body for any clues. "Is anyone familiar with poisons?" He asks without looking up from his work.
To Manus, he responds, "If the guilds are as structured as you say, it seems odd that they would target a well connected person, like a Venture-Captain, without good reason. Especially if he was trying everything in his power to play by their rules."
Looking over the desk, Manus sees that most of the papers are maps and surveys from Timinic’s exploration of the Daggermark sewer complexes. Most of the Pathfinder’s excursions began at the Dripping Wall Distillery. Timinic’s field notes also mention several encounters with suspicious folk lurking in the sewers near the distillery, and include requests to provide extra security for the distillery’s proprietor, Ramyla.
Examining Bosk's body, Solum and Cuethric confirm that he died of heart failure brought on by the poison. Cuethric determines that the poison is dark reaver powder laced with aconite root and other substances to enhance its potency, an intricate and customized recipe that is not available on the market. Aconite root in particular is known for its association with Daggermark’s Poisoner’s Guild.
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Solumn sighs outwardly at the information gathered. "There's no doubt about it. The poison did him in, and very specialized stuff, too." Looking around the room, the masked elf says, "Anyone have any suggestions to our next move? This Brandur Clovesh seems an obvious lead, but Bosk also wanted us to make sure that this Timinic is safe. Also, the location of his research may be worth check out, as well."
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Aatish listens and then speaks up.
"Team and Aatish go to apothecary named Pemak who may have connections to the Daggermark Poisoner’s Guild. Asking questions will either lead to answers or Aatish kill man as retribution for killing Venture-Captain." she says and jumps on her red furred riding dog.
"Besuuz, come back to me!"
Suddenly, the flying dinosaur flies into the air and in the middle of her flight above Aatish's head the dinosaur transforms into ink that flows in Aatish's direction and appears on her face ... the ink shapes into a tattoo of a dragon that breathes fire.
Moments later the tattoo moves down from her face to another location on her body and disappears behind her clothing.
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Akito shakes his head in sorrow.
”May you Rest In Peace Sir. We will find out who did this and bring them to justice!”
He turns to his companions.
”All three leads seem worth looking into but I’m inclined to look for Brandur and Timinik first. Just in case they are next on the hit list. The dwarf was just here after all. He shouldn’t be too hard to find.”