Dripping Dagger Inn, Room 418 - Ash
Knowing he likely had little time, Ash shifted and jammed a chair under the doorknob, then took a quick look at the book on the box.
The book turned out to be Barvette: Walking with Destiny, a popular recent biography of Queen Barvette, the mother of current Queen of Aundair, Aurala ir'Wynarn. It was near the top of most non-fiction best seller lists, with most reviewers saying it was sophisticated and satisfying, and the exploration of experience and reflection on painful failures, while less glamorous than a fate written in the stars, turned out to be the key ingredients in Barvette's legacy.
The box underneath was not locked, only kept shut with a small latch. Inside was a small stack of papers that looked like proposed orders, fulfillment invoices, and notes about clients. At a glance, the merchant seemed to be a middleman between larger businesses and small entities or individual clients. Most of the orders contained some combination of weapons, field equipment, and medical magic and gear. Perhaps he was an outfitter for adventurer or small mercenary groups?
Absorbed as he was in the papers, Ash didn't hear any footsteps approaching in the hallway.
Dripping Dagger Inn, Room 418 - Ash
Less than a minute after Ash opened the box someone bumped into the door. "Excuse me," he heard Zander say in the hallway.
"Move, clanker," said a voice Ash hadn't heard before. "What are you doing standing out here, anyway?"
"Apologies. I am encountering mechanical difficulties with my knee. It will be only a few minutes before I am mobile again." Zander's voice was its usual unruffled self.
"Hold him! Get him out of the way!" The other voice, on the other hand, was quite upset.
"There is no need for hostilities, I am not threatening you," said Zander.
"You broke into my room!"
"I have not entered this room," said the warforged on the other side of the door.
Fireball clues:
1) Martem's necklace.
2) Note and key on the dead gnome (Dalakhar) -> note from Kalain of the Nine Waters
3) Death mark from House Tarkanan
Supposition:
A) Zander's observations on the roof.
B) Declan's encounter with Floxin.
C) Renaer's father's stolen half million galifars.
Assigned missions:
Investigate elf murders in Dock Ward- House Phiarlan (no results on Night 1)
Investigate explosion in Trollskull Manor- self-assigned
Personal hooks:
Ash wants to help the shifters and owes Blaze a favor
Idrassa can be as involved or uninvolved with the arbitrage trade you set up in Field Ward as you want
Illendur agreed to go to dinner at his sister Fientia's- they're having a dinner party and she mentioned that Lillian from accounting will be there and she just broke up with her boyfriend
-we can play that out or just say it happens offscreen, up to you :D
Zander was interested in a clockwork bird he noticed flying east-west and back over the neighborhood and tracked it to a neighboring villa in North Ward
Running a tavern?
Background points of interest PCs have noticed:
There's a low level street war going on between Daask and House Tarkanan
There's a sea-faring circus that just got to town called the Sea Maiden's Faire
Completed:
Find Red Susie- street urchins
Find Maxeene/return Maxeene's familiar- Remallia Haventree/Maxeene
Protect clinic in Field Ward- ir'Cassalanters
Rescue Floon- Vordik Gaebler/Renaer ir'Nelview
Take noble handkerchief to contact in Dock Ward- Boromar Clan (or the Tyrants?)
Also! Hit me up with personal goals! This is a huge metropolis! If there was ever a game where you thought 'I want my PC to accomplish X,' this is the one to do it in. Does your PC want to do something? Let's make it a hook!
Illendur walks about to Trollskull with the others, thinking about what they've learned, and realizing there are more mysteries than answers in today.
Absorbed in his own thoughts, Illendur keeps walking.
Idrassa fished in her pocket and pulled out the necklace she had liberated earlier. "This is the murder weapon," she observed. "According to the boy, Martem, the assassin dropped it in a water barrel after the deed. Does anyone know enough about these things to know where it came from?"
Disappointed in his search, Ash quickly put the papers and chair back the way he'd found them, shifted, and hopped out the window. Once on the ground, he re-entered the inn with the intent of fetching Zander - and keeping away from the merchant and his bodyguards.
Dripping Dagger Inn - Ash/Zander
Ash circled back inside the Inn's front door and walked up the steps, hearing the merchant yell at Zander as he reached the third floor stairs. Once on the 4th floor, he immediately saw one of the bodyguards (the unarmored one; a curious choice) with his sword drawn as the other went through the pockets of Zander's red leather trenchcoat.
"Keep it here while I search the room," their boss was saying as Ash came around the corner.
Trollskull Manor - All
Idrassa fished in her pocket and pulled out the necklace she had liberated earlier. "This is the murder weapon," she observed. "According to the boy, Martem, the assassin dropped it in a water barrel after the deed. Does anyone know enough about these things to know where it came from?"
Goggh grunted as he looked over from the pile of papers and the ledger he had open on the bar. "Explosives like that are regulated- licensed mercenaries operating outside the city, tracked sales. Even the Watch and Guard don't use stuff like that. So it's either legit mercs or black market." He glanced at Illendur. "At least for mere mortals. Could be someone connected. The rules are different for the Houses."
Idrassa frowned at this. "So, Renaer was planning to meet someone from House Phiarlan, and was scared enough he was looking to lie low with an old contact. And he was right to be hiding, because someone with access to military grade pyromancy was after him." She looked at Illendur. "Do you think we could find out who Renaer has been working for since he left his old job?"
I'm sure we could, a few well-placed questions in the right ears.... the half-elf thinks a moment, who would we like to start with? Floon? Gaebler?