Suspicious Voices

Scribe Notes

Summary

GM: Bernard
Season: Summer 825 WK
Night: Tue
Location: Online
Level: Med/High

Party

Sabastian
Eugene
Aurora
Vargr
Minerva
Lizette

Employer

Mission

Pay

To Be Discussed

Scribe Notes

Session 1

It’s been a while since I was on a mission and this one seemed extremely suitable for my talents, involving diplomacy, and sneaking around trying to be subtle. We were visited by a merchant called Sir Andrij Petruk who was suspicious of his business rival, a person called Akekchu Running. Recently this rival had been swimming in money and Andrij couldn’t figure out how this rival was doing it. I didn’t seem to be accounted for by just normal trading. Both of them trade between South Riding and the cities east of the Sea of Grass. This rival only uses horses for transport and also has warehouses in Upper and Lower Seagate. We were being paid in a rather heavy bag of silver, so heavy that I couldn’t even lift it. It tipped over and lots and lots of silver coins spilled onto the floor. There were so many coins that I was sure it would take over an hour to pick them all up, let alone count them.

There wasn’t much else he could tell us so we organised ourselves. For some reason, it was decided that I should be the party leader. So I planned to do what all good leaders do, delegate to the underlings. I was also appointed the scribe and Minerva being the Military Scientist.

Next thing we did was to get Greaters. Minerva and I already had one but I decided to accompany the others as they went to get Greaters from Aaron, mainly because I hadn’t seen Aaron and his mother for a while. Meanwhile Minerva set off to visit her merchant uncle and, after being stopped by the guards for wearing an illusion. She then discovers that her uncle isn’t home, nor at the Sulis warehouses. She was rather concerned about this as this was rather unusual.

Sabastian also checked with his contacts which confirmed that the person is making a huge profit but the numbers don't add up - such as the turnover don't account for it. So Sabastian and I went to have a look around the warehouses. It turned out he had two. One was a stand alone building by the docks which had a barndoor entrance that was securely padlocked and chained shut as well as having few visible windows. The other turned out to be a complex of three buildings surrounded by fences and gates.

We all met up afterwards in a nearby tavern, and after a bit of a wait, we managed to obtain a private room. Once we had settled in, we attempted to scry the warehouses with Crystals of Vision. To be honest, I wasn’t too surprised when we discovered they were all scry shielded. We then enquired about places where merchants usually go to conduct business and were given two locations, the Wagoneer and the Velvet Lounge.

Session 2

At the Wagoneer after enquiries, we discovered, they had heard of him there, describing him as a short thin man with dark skin, black hair, dark eyes and a thin face. He wears strange armour from the east called Hatanga. He was last seen in Spring and it was thought he was heading back east. It was also speculated that he carried his goods in several bags of holding.

Day 2.
It was 2am by the time we reached the Velvet Lounge and it was closed. So we headed back to the Guild and slept for most of the morning in the barracks. After that, we headed back into Seagate to look over the warehouses. There were signs of invisible or unseen people on one of the roofs., plus there were magical defences scattered about such as wards on the gates that were triggered by unauthorised entry. We figured that an item was required plus something else, probably a pass phrase. The walls were warded with Necrosis.

Next stop was the Velvet Lounge. The place was very upper class but not quite up to royal court standard in my opinion. Sabastian ended up talking silver mines with the Dell family of halflings from Ranke who passed him on to a human called Brigit whom the Dells sell to. She also knew Aketchu. Meanwhile I was wondering if the nearby elves were from Alfheim and whether they were wine merchants. Maybe they could obtain the rather expensive fey wine I like.

Session 3

As it turned out it could have gone a lot better. For some reason my enquiry about fairy wine was met with 'You don't really want to do that". Seems that they deal in bulk. Basically the conversation didn't go well, they didn't seem welcoming and I really got the impression that they wanted me to go away. So I politely excused myself and left.

After that fiasco we headed out of the city before wildfiring back to the Guild, arriving there a couple of hours after dark. Sabastian tried to read the night sky but all he got was

  Sugar and spice and all things nice
  Chilli, lime, and all things mine 
  Upon the shoaly shores 

Just like any astrology reading, they never make sense until after the event.

Day 3.
First thing the next morning, I’m checking maps and I get suspicious of an area of land east of the Five Sisters, that has no references to it in the Guild Library – no details whatsoever. I suspect no one has been there.

Meanwhile Sabastian does more astrology readings with varying results.

Around mid afternoon, we decide to fly to Southgate – no, not the one in Southern Ranke, the one in Carzala just south of Seagate. We land outside of the town and go to a tavern called the River Goat where I sample the local hooch. Woah, that stuff was potent. Still, when we described Keckchu the barkeep referred to him as a Sea of Grass barbarian. Most of the conversations I was able to listen in on involved cheese and how 'all good things take time'.

We spent the night under Minerva’s tent on the village green where Sabastian did a whole lot more night sky readings. I stayed up as well, keeping watch and recording the results.

Day 4.
Next morning, it was a short flight to Arns Ferry where we found the Sweet Apple Inn. I ended up sampling ciders from all over Carzala.

Session 4

Mid afternoon, we flew back to Seagate where Minerva’s tent was set up, inside which Minerva pulled out her huge gold bed. All the girls and Sebastian slept on it in the hope of getting some prophetic dreams. Unfortunately all we got was a very bad night’s sleep. Sebastian had also tried looking for a Master Astrologer for assistance in interpreting the readings we already had. Unfortunately there was none to be had.

Day 5
Next morning, it was decided to fly towards the other Southgate, the one in Ranke. Two hours later, we landed just south of the town and walked in on the South Road. This road runs from Carzala to Ranke City, now called Alcazar, and at this point, it goes around the fortified town.

We attempted to enter Southport but were stopped by two guards with the insignia of a Black Mailed Fist, holing a Golden Sword, most likely an order of Michaelines. They refused to let us in until we were ‘cleansed’ which involved reading a prayerbook. It was the most tedious and boring book I had ever read and took a total of eight hours to go though all it’s repetitious and turgid text. I was feeling a bit ill at the end and was really hoping this was all going to be worth it. But, even after that, we were still not cleansed because of association, presumably Vargr. At this point, they were wondering if they should fetch an Inquisitor. So we decided to leave. We later found out that Southgate was more of a military outpost than a town. Our merchant was involved in selling Carzalain weapons to them.

As we proceeded north, Minerva came up with a theory that this person was making his money by running illicit and illegal substances.

From the air, just before dusk, we spotted a small hamlet that was connected to the main road by a dirt track that was several miles long. So, being the adventurers we are, we decided to check it out. What we saw was fifteen houses surrounded by a ditch. One side faced the river. Just after we landed, in the hope of spending the night, we were spotted by someone with a handcard who ran into the village. Shortly after that, the defensive mound was manned and we were told in no uncertain terms ‘There is nothing for you here’.

We decided to leave and carry on. Twenty minutes later, the river forked and we saw a town on a rock outcrop between the rivers. This was Labragurie and was known for it’s apple and plum cider, which of course, I sampled. Sabastian was looking for a game of cards and found one at the Five Wheeled Wagon. He also discovered that no merchants operate out of here but several wagoners do. Meanwhile I was discussing music with a couple of fiddle players. Maybe I should learn to play one. We ended up spending a couple of days here.

At this point, the choice was to keep going north or start looking for the trade route east.

Session 5

While we were here, I purchased a couple of new musical instruments to try out and also settled down to practice as well as learning to read and write sheet music. Meanwhile Lizette and Minerva were attempting to deconstruct a plate of spicy meat they had discovered – with little result while Sabastian was making enquiries. No idea what Eugene or Vargr was up to. Should I be worried?

Sabastian managed to discover that Aekchu passes through here every so often, the last being mid Spring and wasn’t expected back until late summer or early autumn. The convoy consisted of him, six horses, and a dozen people, He had factors in Seagate and Alcarza,

Day 8
So we continued following the road eventually finding ourselves in a valley full of fog. Somewhere down there was a lake and we could see some of the towers of Alkazar peeking up through the fog.

I made a careful and slow landing as I didn’t want to crash into a tree – again. Because of the fog, it was near midday by the time we reached the gates. We got directions to the merchant quarter and eventually found our way to the Spare Wheel boarding house. On the way, it was discovered that there was a magical aura on the fog. Some sort of weather control?

It was beginning to look like it as that fog stubbornly refused to lift, which was irritating me a bit. Sabastian managed to find out the name of the local waggoner representative, a woman called Alize, whom he sent a message to in order to arrange a meet. In the meantime we went to the Steel Wool tavern where it was confirmed that Aekchu was a plains barbarian and he was one of a dozen. He was here last autumn before going east through the Gabrielle Pass into Tuscana. Now, that was unexpected.

A message came back telling us that Alize would meet us for dinner at the Silken Cloud, an open air establishment. That fog was still hanging about and, for some strange reason, Minerva’s portable hole wouldn’t open so I couldn’t retrieve my best air mage sky blue court outfit I wanted to wear. So I ended up doing a magical clean on my tartan skirt and while blouse and hoping that it would be enough.

Well, either it wasn’t, or my courtier skills were slipping, or something but I started to feel I was out of my league. Alize had connections in the Red Palace so she was on home turf as it were. Plus she would only answer questions if paid 5000 silver per question. So, between Sabastian and myself, we discovered his route takes him though Hamburg, Lubeck and Konenburg and his home base was either Hebos or Kilema but Gedalpria could be a possibility. As far as she was aware, his goods and tactics hadn’t changed.

So it looks like we’re heading east next. And that weather control was really messing with my Predict Weather ability. So tempting to tell Lath about this place.

Session 6

Day 9
Next day we walked out of town and through the fog to find a safe place to take off for our flight to Hamburg Sabastian was looking tired which I was a bit concerned about, but he was able to make the trip.

We had to fly over the Naliatria Mountains between Ranke and Tuscana, a range of rough and rugged steep mountains, and I was reluctant to guide the party into really high altitudes as I suspect some of them couldn’t stand the heights I can reach. So I swung south looking for the Gabrielle Pass. Turned out that we had reached the range a bit further south than I had thought so we went back north and found the pass. A fortress was spotted two thirds of the way along, presumably marking the boundary.

As per usual procedure, we landed outside Hamburg and walked in. The guards told us that occultism is a capital crime which led to at least half the party trying to define what occultism meant. It was determined to be ritualistic magic such as summoning, necromantically raising the dead and witchcraft.

Hamburg is boarded by two other towns that are the only two entrances to the city. It’s because Hamburg is on an island with only two bridges. We stayed at the Deep Hole boarding house while enquiries were made. This place had very low mana.

Day 10
The following day we left. This time, before lifting off, I grabbed some stuff out of Minerva’s hole and changed my outfit. During the flight we noticed we were getting followed by two people using Celestial Star Wing spells. So we passed over Lubeck then landed to see what would happen. They continued flying overhead.

So we took off after them, and with the help of Sabastian’s ‘faster than my wings’ spell(60mph) we caught up with them before matching course and speed (50mph – my max speed). I wanted to try and communicate with them but one of them threw a Whirlwind Vortex at us forcing us to take evasive action. Sabastian fired one back. They were now out of my effective spell range. I ended up using a Rank 10 restorative but Vargr and Lizette had been forced down and crashed. So I peeled off to go look for them, finding them in a Rank 15 Windstorm. The MA of the spell was 27 and I was quite sure diplomacy was now right out of the question.

Session 7

It was lunchtime by now so we hid in the trees and set up Minerva’s cabin. According to my map we were two thirds of the way between Lubeck and Kronenburg. Lunch was served followed by arguments as we decided what to do. Clearly discretion was now out of the question as well as it seemed obvious that Akuchu knew we were investigating him. We finally decided to go straight to one of the cities that could be his base of operations. The nearest possibility was Gedapria so that’s where we went.

It was a bit of a long flight, requiring a few waypoints to find our way. I wasn’t feeling confident about my navigation either over a long distance so when we saw a city built on hills and cliffs in the rough general area we landed a mile out. We were met by people on horseback who confirmed this was indeed Gedalbria. So we entered. Between the outer and inner walls surrounding the city, were tents of assorted warbands. There didn’t seem to be a central organisation in the city.

We found a boarding house to stay in, or should I say a large tent. The tent was divided into four quadrants of which one was empty so we took occupancy. It was close to evening by now so we settled down to rest.

Day 11
After waking the next morning, I watched the dawn then purified while hovering in the air. In one of the other quadrants, four people were purifying in the fire. Afterwards Sabastian asked about Akepechu. He was told that he was not from here and neither do the Running Clan have a compound here since they are a coastal clan. We also leant that the Rapids Clan can be prickly and as for the Snow Clan, stay out of their way.

Sabastian later talked to a Maaka Cheetah who had a true silver short sword. It turned out to be one Sabastian had made that had been sold to Maaka by Akepechu. It seemed to Maaka that Akepchu was more into trading for the fun, not for profit since a year ago. Also that the Running Clan are spread along several cities.

As well as western weapons, Akepchu also sells Eastern weapons or armour which seems to imply he has Lunar Empire connections. They’re also are not on good terms with the Razor Clan. Violence had erupted between the retainers of both clans.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Sabastian spoke to someone from the Shrieking Knights before purchasing horses.

Day 12
We rode off the following morning with the Shrieking Knights, They told us there were lots of bad stuff in a region called the Sulphur Vents such as elementals, undead, aberrations, all sorts of monsters. Even low flying over the area could be hazardous. It is actually tempting to see if any of our more experienced adventurers would like to have a go at it.

Day 13
We crossed the Sweetwater the next day, then we split off to travel to Kalimar. This city was built on a slope going down to the sea. Upon arrival we got directions to the Running Clan but stayed to watch the horseback archery of the Razor Hawk clan. I was really wanting to have a go at that.

We discovered that Ekchu and Ketchu are cousins. Ekchu is a tailor. Ketchu went on an expedition to sea a year ago and came back with wealth. He took a warband worth of warslaves with him and none of them came back. Had he gone to the Lunar Empire and sold them? He had gone for a couple of months so the Isles of Adventure were another possible destination. Appeared on that

Ekchu lives in Hebos and there had been a black flag on the ship. We went down to the coast and, sure enough, there was a ship there flying a black flag anchored out there.

An astrology reading was attempted but there was no answer on where the ship went or where it went when Ketchu was aboard. So it was decided to hire a rowboat and row over there.

When we got there and went alongside, we were plunged into a darkness that surrounded the boat. It was quiet, too quiet, a rather eerie disquieting silence. A rope ladder hung over the side so we climbed up. No one seemed to be aboard and there was no ship’s wheel.

Just then a figure in dark robes with the hood up appeared on deck. We tried asking about Ketchu and where he went but he refused to tell us, stating client confidentiality. Since we were not intending to hire the ship, he then insisted we get off the boat immediately. I instinctively took to the air to leave but, the attempt proved to be fatal.

Fortunately Lizette was able to resurrect me, and Minerva, who had dived over the side to rescue me. Unfortunately both of us lost our permanent Greaters. It turned out that the ship actually was in it’s own pocket plane and by leaving, without using the rope ladder, we actually ended up in the Void between Planes – completely inhospitable to life. Eugene had obtained a black piece of metal, the hooded man’s calling card. The card was protected from information and scrying magic and is a message card.

Session 8

We spent the night in Minerva’s tent, which didn’t look too out of place among the tribe’s tents

Day 14
The next day we started flying our way back to Seagate, taking two full days to get back. On the way we got a message telling us that we had been banned from Tuscany. Apparently we were tried in abstentia for crimes we knew nothing about.

Day 15
Just as we entered Carzala’s air space, Sabastian peeled off towards Brastor.

Upon arrival at Seagate, I paid 1500sp to the Guild divinators for a second opinion. Not that I didn’t trust Lizette, but I wanted to be absolutely sure there were no side effects on me.

Sabastian arrived just on twilight and he conducted quite a few night sky readings. He couldn’t learn anything about the ship. He got ‘no answer’ when asking if Kepchu had gone off plane, and a whole lot of gibberish when trying to find out where he was on land.

Day 16
Minerva did some sun-sight readings the next day. When she asked the question ‘What was the purpose of Akepchu Running’s trip that gained him so much wealth’, the sun pulsed bright and gold at her.

Other questions: ‘What was the fate of the slaves’ – No answer. ‘Was he always on plane’ – No answer. ‘Were the slaves part of the trade?’ – No answer. ‘Where was he when he got his gold?’ – No answer. ‘Does anyone in the town outside his clan know the details of his trip?’ – Minerva was dazzled by the sun. ‘What clan can we talk to, to get information about his trip?’ – No answer. ‘Is Kepchu currently in Hebos?’ – No answer ‘Who is his Nemesis?’ – No answer

Meanwhile I did library research, spent 13750sp for an all-purpose Rank 15 Greater, and provided a picnic for lunch. I also sent a message via the winds to Minerva’s uncle but did not receive a response.

Evening rolled around so Sabastian took over the astrology readings. He tried Minerva’s questions and also got no answers but was blinded by the moon at one point. He also added the following questions: ‘Are the two fliers that attacked us, allied to Kepchu?’ – No answer. ‘Who are the two fliers working for?’ – No answer. ‘What people in his clan would know about his trip?’ – The stars flare at him. ‘Did the majority of his clan approve of what he did to get his wealth?’ – No answer.

Day 17
Early the next morning we flew off to Hebos, arriving there mid afternoon on the second day. Sabastian was looking for scholars to get more information about the astrology readings. To find them, we had to go to the north section of town where their towers were.

We finally found a group playing a game that involved spiked balls and throwing sticks on a lawn Mongolian Patonk?. We discovered that Lunar Empire ships had gone missing and House Golden Stallion was having and auction at the end of the month. Sabastian was also being bombarded with questions about halflings as well as halfling society and culture.

Basically clans stay in the city while tribes wander the plains. To be a clan is to be self sufficient. The Radiant Stallion seemed the most likely interpretation of the sun flaring and that turned out to be a person. There are tales about him taking on thousands of enemies and burning them. Another possibility is Midday Blaze, another fire mage of the Keeper Clan who married into the Weavers of the Sea.

Ketchu Running had dealings with a smith who lived in the eastern area of the town but who isn’t there now. The Running Clan have a central hill in Hebos that was walled off. I tried talking to the guards but was met with stony silence.

It was getting close to dusk by now so we found an out of the way place to set up the tent.

Session 9

Day 18
Next morning, Sabastian was gone on an errand. Unfortunately he didn’t say what the errand was, where he was going and when he would be returning. Since I had no idea what line of enquiry we should pursue at this stage. (Eugene was suggesting assassination which I was firmly opposed to), I decided that we should follow up on the case of the missing Lunar Empire ships, and the only way to do that, was to go to Tycho City. Plus it may be possible to relieve Minerva’s worries about her family. Even her casting her ‘staring into the sun’ ritual provided no answers. So, after consulting my mental map of Alusia, I came to the conclusion that we could get there in ten to ten and a half hours on my Air Wings. So, after casting the spell we took off. . We did stop for lunch on the way briefly but, while we were still passing the mountain range on the mainland, Lizette’s wings cut out. I tried to restart the spell while flying after her as she fell but she was too close to the ground. When I realised that, it was too late for me to pull out. We both crashed, hard. The rest of the party made it down safely.

Next thing I knew I was being resurrected and healed up by Lizette. Seems Minerva had an item that was a risky one shot resurrection and used it on Lizette. I was upset and furious, mostly with myself, especially since the only cause we could determine was the spell duration simply just running out, and I had neglected to overlay a new one after lunch as a safety measure.

It was getting late by now so we camped for the night. I wanted to resign as party leader on the grounds of stupidity and incompetence but the rest of the party wouldn’t let me. I then sent a Whispering Wind to Sabastian, letting him know what we were up to and what had happened. I then slept up a tree as I was still upset. During the night, a long way off, falling stars were seen falling into the bay. No idea what was going on, didn’t care, not our problem.

Day 19
The following day we arrived at Tycho City and had to endure all their bureaucratic entry procedures as they wanted to ensure we weren’t trading without a license and not smuggling any trade goods into the Empire. I also paid out 2000sp for a year long license to allow me to fly within the Lunar Empire.

It was decided to arrange to stay the night at House Sulis’s private local villa. The guard there wanted to know who we were and, once Minerva showed her credentials, the head servant arranged to have the villa ready for accommodation. Apparently the family only use this place when they are here on business.

While they were doing that we went to the Port Shipping Guild to see what they could tell us about missing ships. I learnt very little as my credentials in the Western Kingdoms (“that small kingdom”) or Carzala (“that tinpot little barony”) didn’t mean anything here. What I did find out was that black ship did visit the Empire but was only allowed to visit one port per trip.

Day 20
Stayed the night at the villa then flew into the Empire itself (Tycho being on an island) and after a rather roundabout course, consisting of at least two navigational waypoints, and a river – since I didn’t want to get lost, we found the main House Sulis villa. We had to wait a bit until Minerva’s parents came in from the vineyards but when they arrived there was a family reunion followed by small talk etc. The wine was lovely and I realised I had tasted that same vintage back at that posh place on Seagate. I arranged for a bottle or two, and some local cheeses, to go back with me.

They had heard of Akepchu, but didn’t have any further information on him, and had heard about the missing ships but, although there had been an increase, didn’t think it was currently a serious problem. They also said they were in the process of shutting down the operation in Seagate and relocating Minerva’s uncle but suggesting that Minerva herself, take over the position of local representative. (GM note, this is not accurate.)

Day 21 - 22
Again Sabastian was kept up to date and, given that there seemed nothing more we could lean, we headed back to Hebos, the following morning, taking two days to get back. I wasn’t going to take chances with flight spell durations this time. Plus we flew back higher up. Maybe a thousand feet is just too low.

Session 10

Day 23
Sabastian had been busy while we had been gone but t not made any major discoveries. On a whim, we headed down to the Hebos docks and talked to some halfling sailors to see if there were any significant rumours but we drew a blank. It was tempting to book passage on a ship and see what happens.

As far as the Razor Clan was concerned, everything they know is unverifiable and mostly rumours, They are business rivals with the Running Clan as they go for the same sort of things. They had told Sabastian that the Running Clan are in the slave trade but that sort of implied that the Razor Clan were too.

It was decided that we needed to infiltrate the Running Clan’s estate. Their servants were discretely Daed and we discovered that they have active magic on them, mostly basic buffs or utility/defence magic. There was a Geas there too, ranging in power from 6 to 16 and the Nature was Confidentiality, Loyalty and Keeping Secrets. It was basically there to stop them spilling secrets while under duress and if the Geas was somehow broken, the person would die and be irressurectable. No Power was associated with it. I concluded it was the magical equivalent of a Non Disclosure Agreement.

Next task was to accost a servant and steal their token, as it was most likely that they would have something to bypass the wards, much like the wards at the Seagate warehouses. So, I tried to gently, and discretely bop a servant on the head to knock them unconscious. I succeeded in the first bit okay but I must have hit him too hard as I gave him a concussion. Fortunately Lizette was able to fix it. We then took everything, including the token, which had a magical aura on it, to make it appear like a random robbery.

Sabastian tried to pickpocket another servant to get their token but couldn’t find it in the same place we found the first one. Was a long shot anyway. So he tried to forge one, even matching the magic. He got close, and believed it would work.

That evening, after purchasing wine and cheese, Sabastian and I were the two who, under Disguise Illusions were going to infiltrate since we were the two who were good at this spy thing Both of us had a token, I had the fake.

The first obstacle was the guard at the gate, who seemed to want something from us before he’d let us proceed. I was assuming he wanted proof of identity but, as I was pulling out the token, Sabastian managed to placate him with a bribe of a bottle of wine.

Once in, we discovered that the estate was divided into three parts, the crafting district, the residential district and the noble district. I let Sabastian take the lead and we headed for the crafting district, trying to make it look like we belonged here and we know what we were doing, even though I was concerned about why we were going this way.

A bit later, Sabastian must have realised it may be a bit silly taking wine and cheese to the crafting area so we headed for the residential area. We encountered a junior servant, as it was evident that we were of higher rank, and asked him to take it to Akeptu. By his reaction, that might have been an unusual request and it started to look like this servant, and the person that Sabastian was impersonating had some sort of ‘bad blood’ between them as it soon became obvious that this servant was trying to set the person who Sabastian was, up for a fall. I also got the idea that there were two factions here and one believed that the Lunar Empire would eventually take over this area.

We continued on and I nearly set off a ward. We managed to work out that it was beacuse the ward was checking for the presence of the token as well as matching the GTN of the holder with the stored GTN in the token. So, since my token had the GTN halfling stored in it, while Sabastian’s was human, we swapped tokens. Still we were able to identify Akepchu’s heraldry.

We then took the basket into the dining hall but, given that it was more likely I could be compromised and I didn’t want to push my luck any further, I handed the basket to Sabastian and made my way out, following the stream of servants. I had no trouble exiting although the gate guard, a different one, was Commiserating on me going out after dark as on some sort of punishment detail.

Meanwhile, inside the dining room, Sabastian managed to see a lot of the Running Clan arriving for dinner, including the one we were looking for. Unfortunately, somehow, he was found out, as he was impersonating an inner circle servant, and was basically made an example off, being beaten up to the point of death, healed up, beaten up some more, healed up, tortured, healed up ... on and on and on. By the time he next morning rolled around, when his body had been thrown over the wall he was in a very bad way, just barely alive, and missing an arm. But we had enough for a Locate.

Day 24
Lizette did what she could but, during the healing, a viper suddenly appeared on Sebastian’s chest and a fight started. No idea where it came from but it was suspected a demon was involved, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Seir.

It was the evening of the 27th by the time Sebastian, and anyone else who needed it were healed up – and the auction was on the 30th. Plus there was a distinct possibility that Sebastian had spilled the beans and they knew why we were here.

Session 11

We rested up in the intervening days before the auction. Sabastian passed all the information we had to the Razor Clan.

On the day of the auction, we were told we had to declare in advance what funds we were going to use to bid with and have them verified that they were legitimate. So I declared 100,000sp. I was also going to put up my master bow and recurve bow set up for auction but Eugene expressed an interest in buying so I said I would let him have the set for 21,000 – just a bit more than I paid for them. It was either that or have them gathering dust on my display wall.

We entered the auction room and discovered there was some sort of magical barrier around the stage. As we were conducted to our tables (we took up two), it was noted that each table was occupied by different groups, presumably clan members, and it wasn’t permitted to get up and walk around. Instead Golden Stallion clan servants would deliver refreshments on request and also pass written messages to other tables. The magical barrier Daed as Damage or Die when it was asked ‘What happened if it was touched’. I guess all these precautions was to prevent unruly behaviour during the auction, such as trying to steal an item or starting a fight as it appeared that there are separate clans at each table and they're all bitter rivals.

The auction started off with magical potions, then scrolls, then investeds. I did put in an opening bid on a tornado staff that did whirlwind vortexes but, once the bidding started, I let it go.

Finally up came the more interesting stuff. A dragonbone blade, made by Kekchu himself, came up for auction. It was a single edged oversized curved sword and Eugene won the bid. Vargr made Eugene an offer for it on the spot. When they looked at it, it was assessed as a Rank 10 weapon, had a lot of magic in it, made from a single piece of black dragon bone, and did additional poison and acid damage. Plane of Origin was Alusia.

A break had been called so, while they were examining the sword, I went outside, with an escort, to stretch my limbs, and even my wings. During that, I got pushed, without apology. Initially I thought that was a bit rude but, I had to admit it was a bit crowded out there – and I dislike crowds. When I got back in, Eugene determined that I had been poisoned to slow my reaction time. And I was thinking I needed another cup of tea. Still, it was an easy fix.

Next up was an actual dragon heart. The bid rapidly got up to 100,000. Kekchu was grinning broadly whereas the Razor plan people, sitting at the table in front of us were not looking happy. A message to them got the return response, “It’s nothing to do with the dragon, it’s Kekchu. An elf, two tables over, finally won the bid at 113,000. Seems we now have an inkling how Kekchu is making his money – dragon slaying.

Yellow dragonscale armour was up next, that was crafted by Delga Running. We had earlier found out he was the smith thar Kekchu had used and was now integrated into the clan. That went for 389,000 to the couch collective on the west side of the room.

A dragon slayer’s spear, presumably magically enchanted with dragon bane came up. Kekchu immediately went for it with an opening bid of 100,000 ... and won it with that bid.

Next was a dragoneye stone, a stone formed by a dragon’s eye. It seemed rather interesting, but I must have got a bit impulsive as I opened with a 100,000sp bid. I should have known better and started with ten thousand instead, as no one else picked up on it. I was now the proud owner of a dragoneye stone. I felt as if I was melting in a puddle of embarrassment and really hoped I hadn’t just bought a lemon.

The final item was a black shelled, still alive dragon’s egg. The bids rocketed up to a staggering 495,000sp by one of the members of the Razor Clan.

We got to examine the eye. It had some properties of dragon vision and contained lots of potential but no actual effects. I was more of a vessel of stored concepts.

We then discovered I had a curse of envy, which started off with a level of 27 and would grow as long as we were all exposed to the stone. Eugene had a similar curse, at level 35, but it was because of the sword. Basically the curse was, anyone who was the owner of either the sword or the stone, everyone else would be envious that they had the item. So I borrowed Lizette’s bag of holding and put the rock in it. I also suggested that Eugene put the sword in there too but he kept refusing. Maybe he thought I was going to steal it.

Anyway, it was now obvious that Kekchu had made his money by slaying dragons and selling off stuff made from their parts. And our curse was caused by a death curse that this dragon had cast. So we declared our mission was over and flew back to the Guild, taking two days to get there.

Guild Security valued the eye at 10,000 and I put it in the loot split but ended up buying it back. I have no idea what I’m going to do with it but Sabastian did make me an offer. I might take him up on that.

Information

Below is the information we have gained in AR and his operation.

Table Title (Optional)

Source	answer	Comment
Astrology: ask what the thing is that AR is trading	Sugar and spice and all things nice Chilli, lime, and all things mine Upon the shoaly shores	none
Sun - What place is best known as the shoaly shores –	no meaningful answer	See first astrology question. Not a specific location
Astrology- What geographical location AR her sourcing the things	no meaningful answer	Multiple locations?
Where is AR sourcing his goods –	no meaningful answer	Multiple locations?
Astrology- Who is the biggest buyer of the thing? –	fails. (not no answer)	The person is protected from Astrology?
Astrology- What is the largest city the trading route with Aekchu high profit good travel through -	Upon the sugar, there it comes.	It travels along the Sweet waters? (not according to the answer below) so maybe the Sweet Riding? Or make a city with a sweet name?
Night sky - What plane is the destination the largest volume of goods are handed over	No meaningful answer
Night sky- Are any of the good goods a living creatures?	does an octopus know how to juggle with eight cups and saucers and the fish watching him while the elephants swim
Night sky- When are the goods next passing through Arns ferry?	The sun was shining on the sea Shining with all his might He did his very best to make The billows smooth and bright
Night sky- Do the goods travel along the Sweet Water?	No meaningful answer.	Interesting this was no a yes or no. Not sure why.
Night sky- Do the goods travel through the Arns ferry via a barge?	No meaningful answer.
Night sky-• Do the goods travel through the Arns ferry via a horse?	No meaningful answer.
Dock workers in Seagate - what does AR trade in	He buys a lot of leatherworks (Seagate), weapon-work (Seagate, Brastor), precious metals (more from Rank).
Seagate investigation - looking at his warehouse	Protected by R20 Necrosis wards, Invisible guards, Permanent durability on the walls etc.

Mil-Sci

Daily pattern

‘’How much time does the party spend sleeping, eating, traveling, doing rituals, etc each day’’

Travel Magics

‘’What travel magic options does the party have, how far per cast/or per day if duration is longer than usual travel time.’’ ‘’Can the party eat/sleep/etc on the mode of transport.’’

Aurora - Rank 20 Wings. 50mph, 630min, 10 targets per cast. Maximum range: 525 miles.

Watch Order

Day Watch. ‘’Used when stationary, or on a larger transport such as a ship’’
First - ??
Second - ??
Third - ??

Night watch
First - Aurora, Vargr
Second - Sabastian, Lizette
Third - Minerva, Eugene

Vision

• Sabastian; R18 Nightvision (230ft), Hobbit infravision 100ft, Witchsight R6/R20
• Eugene
• Aurora
• Vargr
• Minerva
• Lizette

Marching Order

Skirmish Formations (Front)
Double File	Single File

Buffs

General Buff Notes

Buffs listed in the table don't need to be detailed, other buffs not on the table must be mentioned at the time they are cast.
Y means always on, N/- means never on, 'Sit.' means when the party has time for buffs before a fight.
Weapon Spells which weapon/s it is going on normally should be noted also

Long duration buffs

Magic	Rk	Effects	Dur	Sa	Eu	Au	Va	Mi	Li
Linking Lifeforce (Sa)	4	This ritual allows the Adept to bind an object to the life-force of an entity. The object will reflect the entity’s physical condition if they are within 500m	Permanent
Shadowform(Sa)	9/15	+20/32% defence melee/ranged and 10/16% in close	5/8 Hours
Witchsight (Sa)	20	see objects or entities which are invisible. see in the dark as a Human does on a cloudy day, with an effective range of vision of 150 feet under the open sky, and 75 feet elsewhere.	10.5 Hours
Strength of Stone (Va)	10	The target of this spell has their Physical Strength or Endurance increased by 11pts	11 Hours
Shadow Wings (Sa)	14/20	The target of this spell receives wings comprising Dark and will carry the target, and anything that the target can carry, at a speed of 16-44mph/0-60mph. Can change speed with a magical pass action.	7.5/10.5 Hours
Coruscade (Mi)	17	Adds 36 defense	9 Hours
Resist Cold (Au)	6		7 Hours
Armor of Earth (Va)	6	Increase defense by 12pts	3.5 Hours

Short duration buffs

Magic	Rk	Effects	Dur	Sa	Eu	Au	Va	Mi	Li
Blending (Sa)	11/17	While remaining still the target is not able to be seen by non-magical means (i.e. as for invisibility).	11/17h
Walk Unseen(Sa)	6/12	The target of this spell may move unnoticed, not invisible. This means that it will not transmit light.	7/13h
Witchsight (Sa)	20	see objects or entities which are invisible. see in the dark as a Human does on a cloudy day, with an effective range of vision of 150 feet under the open sky, and 75 feet elsewhere.	10.5 Hours
Creating Rune Weapon (Va)	10	The Adept may create a magically poisoned weapon by inscribing a Rune of Acid on a weapon and activating it with the Rune Weapon spell. D10-5 + 3	15 Mins
Durability (Sa)	10	One object weighing up to 22 pounds may be made more resilient and less susceptible to damage. Armour protected by this spell will have 3 extra Protection to a maximum of the equivalent Steel armour. Note that the added Protection replaces (rather than adds to) any other Protection bonuses due to a material’s strength (eg Armourer bonuses). If the item is broken, or armour suffers damage from a Specific Grievous, the magic is dispelled	110 Mins
Resistance to Light (Mi)	12		130 minutes
Light Sword (Mi)	8	Adds +9 Strike Chance +3 damage	13 minutes

Self only buffs

Magic	Rk	Effects	Dur	Sa	Eu	Au	Va	Mi	Li
Charismatic Aura (Sa)	20	+25% to reaction rolls (conditional)	105m
Heroism(Sa)	15	+15% to fear checks for friendlies in line of sight.	Permanent

Other

Wand(Sa) - can increase all aspects of a spell/talent, except BC, by 6 ranks. Prevents doubles, triples. Only for the colleges; Earth, Water, Celestial (star, light, dark), Solar, Air, Life (i.e., wiccan), Rune, Fire. Fiddly to use

Calendar

‘’Insert correct month here’’