Upon the return to the CotIO, the group meets with K.Rus-T’s silent disapproval for the mission failure. The merchant group is more vocal in their dismay, though they do concede that the information was dated. The minimum is paid and the group reconvenes to address the pesky golem damage. Tis an odd time in the city. Catastrophic fires swept through much of the city – but only in areas where the inhabitants were either a) poor, b) not politically in favor or c) on particularly strategic parcels of real estate. The sudden drop in housing, storage, goods and services has set off a round of inflation that sees prices increasing by as much as 50% in as little as a tenday. The group’s funds are under pressure…
Skilver sets off to try and enlist the support of the Church of Belial to aid him in his quest for healing. While the Belialians are eager to help the stalwart clergyman, they are not in possession of a 17th+ level cleric and so are unable to assist the stricken party members.
Meanwhile, Raineer makes arrangements to train by visiting the Black Mage of Orlbar, and is subsequently sent to apprentice under Butterkrak the Sorcerer – currently on assignment in the Dawn Pass, providing magical support to the Beholders, if needed. With Greenleaf still gone, the remaining party members are Thud, Max and Orthan
Thud takes his last emerald and sets off to enjoy the time he has left, before he can’t afford to drink and whore the night away. Max and Orthan sit in the common room at the tavern and survey their options when K.Rus-T approaches, indicating that someone wishes to speak with them about employment.
The someone is an outrageously flamboyant individual dressed in silks and wearing a starched white collar. On the steps outside, a grubby man holds the reins of a fine steed. Clearly, this fellow has money.
The foppishly dressed nancy-boy with his bespectacled young personal assistant in tow begins to explain what is desired of the group and the vast sums of treasure they might acquire were he only to be able to decipher a section of a map. When Orthan leans in to examine the document he is slain by a dagger thrust while a silence spell is cast on the stunned Max. The grubby stable hand engages the troll bartender in single combat while K.Rus-T grabs a cleaver and comes charging out of the kitchen. The rest of the patrons try to make themselves scarce, exiting by the windows. Deciding that prudence is the best option, Max joins the exodus in animal form, and then spies on the attackers, tracing the stable hand back to a slave guild before returning to the scene of the crime.
The tavern is smoking from the fire, and the crowds are thick while the city’s mages are mumbling spells of precipitation and fire dousing. Max enters to find the bartending troll’s forearm scrabbling away from the flame in the common room. He locates Orthan, now turned face up, stripped of same valuables, and missing his pinky finger from his left hand.
One thing leads to another; the group members assemble and decide to beat a hasty retreat from the hostile environs. They decide to pursue a lead from a while back; in the hopes it has not yet been investigated and set off to the Spine of the World.
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