"Oh that's terrible. And it does sound suspicious!" Zetty wrinkles her nose "We'll go find it right away. The longer this Carman guy has a hold of it, the colder any leads get! Or at least, that's how it goes in novels."
She nods along with Vengis' question, then ponders what she knows of Carman and who else might know him and his whereabouts.
Carman Rajani is a blacksmith and owner of the shop Blades for Glades. Carman is also a member of the Osprey Club. The “Ace of Blades” is the moniker given to the best knife thrower in the Crook’s Nook, and Carman Rajani has held that title for so long that it’s become his nickname among fellow members of the Osprey Club.
Zetty recalls that Carman used to spend time in his youth at a local cave called Smuggler's Refuge, about an hour outside of town. It's likely that he has gone into hiding there.
"Oh, he's that knife throwing Ace guy at the Crook's Nook. I wonder why a blacksmith would stoop to stealing a sword?" Zetty pulls out her pen and taps it against a fresh page. "I smell a story there. And probably a sordid one."
"Carman's probably run to hide at a cave about half an hour from town. We should go after him right away. You guys ready?" Zetty raises her eyebrows at the rest of the group. "Because I am. I'll lead the way!"
Bella agreed, “Yeah, let’s check the Smuggler’s Refuge, before he takes it somewhere else.”
"Hmmm... not sure if this is about selling it... It sure seems like there might be some other history behind him wanting it." Zetty muses as the party starts towards the cave.
You head north through the forest, and after an hour or so, you reach Smuggler's Refuge. Though it’s too far inland for transporting heavy cargo, this cave once saw a lot of use from smugglers moving lighter goods. They hid their loot in one of the cave’s many niches, planning to come back for it at a later time, or used the site as a drop point for transactions with a buyer. Today, with the recent decline in smuggling, Otari’s young people camp in the cave when they need a break from the lumber town.
A wide cave opening leads into a rocky hill sheltered by a stone overhang. Dense trees and berry bushes grow near a few logs arrayed around a well-used fire pit, though it appears nobody has used it in weeks.
When you are ready, you head into the cave. This area contains several stalagmites and stalactites, ranging from a few inches to a few feet in length. Many of these natural formations have broken off or been daubed with graffiti over the years. The alcove to the north holds a pool of clear water.
Movement near the corners catches your attention. Two undead shadows peel away from the cave walls as they move to attack you!
"Shadows? What are they doing here?" Zetty quickly sketches a light shining into the cave entrance, then slips a vial from her belt and tosses it at the nearest shadow.
Bella warned the others with what she knew about Shadows. She waited to stab one if it got near.
Zetty begins her performance before blasting one of the shadows with a ghost charge, wounding and weakening it. Having fought a shadow in the Vaults, Bella recalls that they resist all damage except for force, ghost touch, or positive. They also are not very physically tough.
Vengis hurls a rock through the damaged shadow, though it resists some of the damage. As the shadows move in, Bella slices at one, damaging it slightly. The shadows reach for Bella and Kragga, draining their life force!
Zetty continues to juggle her pen and her alchemical vials, producing another ray of light on her page as she also produces another ghost charge to debilitate the more weakened shadow. "Well, hope this does the trick, because I'm out after this one!"
Kragga growls with fury as the shadow attacks her. Fortunately, as a grave orc, she is resistant to the negative energy. The magus casts shield, enters her arcane cascade stance, and slashes at her assailant!
Bella prayed to Sarenrae and brandished her holy ankh, ”Back to the plane of shadows: you’re not welcome here!”
Eyenia conjures forth a blast of divine wrath, shooting it at the shadow.
Eyenia's lance goes wide. Vengis's lighting only injures one of the shadows, and both resist some of Bella's healing. But Kragga delivers a solid blow, and Zetty's second ghost charge destroys the southern shadow!
The other one reaches out for Bella again. It just manages to get a hold of her, wounding and her and tugging at her own shadow to weaken her.
"Okay! We're getting somewhere!" Zetty keeps up her with her inspirational artistry, but this time joins Vengis in propelling a stone through the remaining shadow. "Just need to keep it up."
Kragga moves around to flank the second shadow with Bella. She delivers a powerful slice!
Zetty and Vengis batter the shadow with hurled projectiles, and with a hiss, it evaporates into nothingness!
"So who expected we were going to get hit by shadows out here?" Zetty finishes her drawing, detailing the beams of light from the cavern entrance piercing through the cores of the two shadows. "Is Carman another Belcorra disciple that's been living undercover in town? I hope not..."
She looks out to the northeast end of the cavern, then listens for the sounds of anyone moving about or hiding there. If she hears anything, she calls out "Anyone home?"
Rotted crates, forgotten clothes, and other debris suggest this cave is occasionally used but rarely cleaned. Another cold campfire surrounded by logs sits at the cave’s center. Faint smells of mildew and smoke hang in the still air.
Mazul hears movement from behind one of the crates. Realizing he's been spotted, Carman Rajani curses and stands up. "Damn you! You'll never take me alive!" he shouts!
Before you can react, Carman hurls a pair of hammers at Kragga, battering the orc and leaving her badly hurt!
Bella rushed over to heal Kragga.
Bella's ministrations alleviate some of the pain from the hammer strikes, but none of Kragga's anger. The orc howls as she rushes at Carman, bringing her sword down in a thunderous strike! Though she misses, a wave of sonic vibrations emanate from her sword, and the magus draws the power inward to enter her arcane cascade strike.
Zetty winces at how badly Kragga gets pummeled, then responds to Carman with "Hey! Give up the sword you stole, and we're not going to bother you! But if you keep fighting, we'll have to do the same."
She starts sketching the scene, the whole party ganging up on Carman. As she does, she focuses her magic on the group's foe in an attempt to distract him.
Eyenia avoids Carman's reach and gets behind Kragga, placing a hand on her shoulder and saying, "Your strand of destiny continues. His does not." Healing energy pours into Kragga, closing her wounds.
Carman proves quite stalwart, resisting both Kragga's and Zetty's spells. Vengis's retort distracts him, but he dodges the projectile hurled his way.
"This is my sword! I only took what is rightfully mine!" he shouts as he draws the Cooperative Blade, slicing at Kragga with the silvery sword.
"A 100 year old sword is yours? Do you have a receipt for it?" Zetty calls out a brave taunt, ruined by the concern in her voice. The devastation of Carman's attacks was horrifying.
With inspire courage lingering, Zetty quickly sketches out an ally for her party. She tears the paper loose and throws it up into the air, where her magic folds it into a papercraft mitflit gremlin!. The papercraft flits through the air and completes its formation right next to Carman.
The papercraft fey raises a paper dagger stained with ink and attempts to stab at the offending thief.
Kragga roars in rage as blood drips from her wounds. She grits her teeth against the pain as she steps to flank Carman with the papercrafted gremlin. She chants a spell as she focuses magic into her blade, causing it to crackle with electricity. Then she strikes!
”We need the Cooperative Blade to stop a threat to Otari!”, Bella declared, stabbing at the thief.
"I don't care about--ARGH!" Carman shouts in pain as first the mitflit stabs him, then Kragga and Bella strike him for significantly more damage! Bleeding profusely and convulsing from the electricity, he groans and falls to his knees. "Alright, alright! I surrender!"
”It’s mine, I tell you! The sword is mine! How can I steal something that already belongs to me? It belonged to Vol Rajani, and I’m her only surviving descendant. That uptight mayor says the sword belongs to his family just because a pack of kobolds had their hands on it for a while, and his ancestor snatched it from them. He says an heirloom is an heirloom, and he’s right, but it’s my heirloom! Look, I tried to buy it off him, but every time I saved enough coin, he raised the price—fifty gold, then one hundred, then two hundred. Then he said it wasn’t for sale! I had no choice but to take it. It belongs to Vol—to the Rajani family. It belongs to me!”
"What do you plan to do with it?" Zetty stows her slate and crosses her arms "Because I bet it isn't as important as stopping an undying evil spellcaster from using the Gauntlight to destroy Otari and Absalom with an invasion of horrors." She steps up to the man and jabs him in the chest with a finger.
"YOU are being selfish. That sword's as much an heirloom of the town as it is yours. And we need to borrow it for some town-saving."
"The sword belonged to my family, to Vol. She was the best of the Roseguard and the best of the Rajanis... and I wanted to be mayor. I’ve tried four times but always lost to Oseph. If I had the sword, well—people say that it gives the town good luck! If I had it, they’d want me to be mayor so that I could give them luck.
"Look, as long as you're not taking the sword or me back to town, I'll go with you to do whatever you need to do."
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Vengis looks at the groveling man crossly.
"You're not exactly in a position to bargain," he says. "I don't think we need to take you back to town, but we do need to take the sword with us. The last thing I want is to have you with us, where you've already tried to kill us. I think you should part with the sword and count your blessings."
Zetty sighs "Well, the townspeople aren't going to like you enough to elect you as mayor if you stole the sword that brings luck to the town. They're just going to see you as a no-good thief."
When Vengis says his part, she adds "Vengis is right, you didn't exactly make yourself trustworthy. Plus, you do know we're about to head back to content with a big pile of ghosts and ghouls right? Just give us the sword for now. If we don't come back, you can go down there, bring it back, and be a big hero. How does that sound?"
Carman considers the request for a bit, then he sighs. "Alright, fine. You can borrow the sword. I'll stay here and hide out till you get back. But don't tell the town guard where I am, okay? I'm not keen on being arrested!"
He allows you to claim the Cooperative Blade.
Bella said to Carman, trying to allow him to save some face, "The fact that you are consenting to allow the use of the sword speaks well of you. It's not important for the town guard to know your whereabouts at the moment." As for who is the rightful owner, that can be sorted out later.
Zetty gives the scoundrel a side eye for a moment before claiming the blade "Alright! We'll bring it back. And think about my suggestion if we die down there. Or even... if your goal is to be mayor, you've got to prove your good intentions to the town. You could even go back right now and say that you borrowed it for us to save the town with, and that it was totally altruistic. Then you won't be in trouble with the guard. Heck, I'll back you up on that story."
Whether he agrees or not, she heads for the entrance. "As for us, we've got one more to go, right?"
"Hmm... That's not such a bad idea," Carman says to Zetty. "Let me think on it for a bit, yeah? Maybe I'll go back to town later tonight."
While Carman considers his options, you return to Otari and seek out Morlibint, the proprietor of Odd Stories. A three-story stone tower rises from the back half of this one-floor wooden bookstore. A sign above the front door depicts a stack of open books with lines of magical energy rising from the pages. While the shop’s owner is indeed a wizard, Morlibint had the sign commissioned in an attempt to portray the power of imagination within the fanciful fiction works and anthologies that are his specialty. Morlibint sells other texts as well, although he leaves the nonfiction curation to his husband Carlthe.
Morlibint has bright red hair that he keeps closely cut to his scalp. Despite his perpetual scowl, he warms quickly to the presence of other scholars and wizards, for he’s always excited to “talk shop.”
Soon enough, the conversation turns to the final icon of the Roseguard. ”Zarmavdian? Yes, of course,” Morlibint says, adjusting his spectacles. ”His spellbook, Thresholds of Truth, is in my academic collection. I’d be happy to loan it to you. Just take good care of it...” Morlibint disappears into the back room of his shop, returning a few minutes later with a well-preserved tome. He hands it over to you.
You now have acquired all four icons needed to remove the seal on the Abomination Vaults' lower levels! You should probably rest and prepare before returning to the dungeon.
Bella replied to Vengis, "I suggest that we get a good night's rest first. Who know's what dangers we will face as we descend."
Zetty thanks Morlibint profusely, then addresses the party once they're all out of the shop. "I'm with Bella! Resting first, then lets check if Wrin has any new advice for us."