Meet 92, Adv 6, 8/3/19

The group managed to get the information they needed through a variety of decent encounters on Gerry Rockbottom and eventually Ixitch Barrowman. According to all our gathered intel - Ixitch is the Drug Dealer for Scratch and it pivotal in the destabilization of Durcent Province. However, the drug manufacturer is someone we know only as Big GO - and to get to him, we need to get to Ixitch first.

We know that Ixitch is in a former manorhouse pretty close to the border of Grimyria and he has a number of guards and supporters at his fingertips. Right now though we have surprise as no one knows we're coming as of yet and hope to catch Ixitch ill prepared.

We'll see how that goes.

Write up follows:

Being that it was almost 4 and we had some time, Darius wanted a chance to try and get a name from Wantan the Smith on a possible owner and/or rider of the heavy war steed. So changing into his courtier clothes and adopting a more imperious manner he headed off to the street of smiths and found his way to the common stabler. He started off talking to some of the stableboys who were uncomfortable with an apparent lord and passed him on to the stablemaster.

There was some banter back and forth where Darius indicated that he was Isilwine Goldsmith (his younger sister Twilane’s betrothed) and wanted some information on “better steeds than what’s here.” The conversation moved about while Darius drove it towards war steeds and where could he get one. Who has one? Is it for sale? Give me a name. Eventually he got the name of Sir Berwick Ironbrand and his band of mercenaries (4 or 5 of them). Thanking the stablemaster and getting word that Sir Berwick occasionally comes to Canaslan but has had more steady work with Lord Emberwine of Emberia.

Eventually we left and after sharing what we learned, a stop at the Chamberpot Ogre named Rutus (stationed near the Farrier) then led us to getting some smaller coin. Near Whiteshadow was a money changer named Dangrel who was willing to exchange gold for us in his shop. It was a one on one basis, through locked door and under guard and ready. Taking 3% for himself, he made the swap for the party and by just shy of 5 PM, we were set and ready to go.

Heading back to the Malters, we noted that it was getting late and many places were closed for now. Gerry Rockbottom’s was the same. Following Barb’s lead, we went on to the last Malter’s, where the 3 dwarves were willing to give her some work, half a sandwich, and some information earlier. We spoke to them, they shut the doors behind us and a group of 5 dwarves, all related, of the family name Copperpot, then filled us in on Gerry Rockbottom and his operation.

The dwarves aren’t a fan of Gerry but he is a dwarf, so they did share some information with us about the man and his goings on. He does answer to an Ixitch Barrowman who is a well placed functionary on King Seljack’s Brute Squad. Seems Ixitch also moonlights as a drug dealer and Gerry is one of his pushers. So when Barb dropped Ixitch’s name, it freaked Gerry out since effectively she gave him some bullshit that his boss directed her to see Gerry to buy Scratch – a claim that made no sense and caused Gerry to close up shop earlier.

We were still being watched and the Copperpot dwarves were willing to let us go down into the sewer and crawl along to a safe area near town square. So we parted with 3 crowns and left, getting under the city streets where some foot and a half of foul water met us in the 5’ diameter brick tunnel. A box was passed down for Shim to ride in and we were told to go four junctions and then climb up, knocking 3 times and then again to alert the Chamberpot HalfOgre Segan to let us out of the building.

We made our way down after stripping off shoes, hose, and even pants, rolling up cloaks, and then walking (and pushing Shim) through the foul mess. Barb, Thalin, and Brading were choking and feeling ill but we counted off 4 junctions and then climbed up to a covered grating where it took some time to force it open. We emerged into an unused shop, some dust around. One by one we came out and taking the box with us, laid it near the returned grating. From outside we could hear faint voices and the lack of light let us know that it was now evening.

We knocked 3 times, paused, and then again. And ogrish voice answered with exaggerated care that he just needs to stretch and then worked a key in the lock and told us to come out. We hid behind his spread trench coat and then he made believe that we had all come out from his chamberpot together.

The guards nearby didn’t care and knew that Segan was lying – but let the half-ogre think he was putting one over on them and we thanked the half ogre who locked the door again, was happy to be doing work for the Copperpot dwarves, and gave us directions to a bathhouse and launder not too far from the Winsome Wench.

Leaving a trail of dirty water behind us we arrived at the bathhouse, and arranged for 5 baths – triple time for each. We even had our clothes left here for laundering with the knowledge they were to be returned to us at the Wench later. One by one we went into the narrow tub filled rooms and started scrubbing.

Barb was relaxing and then a garrote wrapped around her throat and a voice hissed in her ear that she should stop asking questions about Ixitch and her and her flunkies “should toddle back to Erylond and beat up dungeon trash” instead. A pin prick at her jugular and the voice nearby had her unmoving and waiting. The man told her she had until tomorrow and then they would get nasty. Giving her an ultimatum, he told her to not move for a count of five or the last thing she’d see would be her blood fountaining in the bath.

The pinprick left but the garrote stayed and she counted to 5..then 10. Then with slow care lifted her hand to the braided cord at her throat and pulled it away freely. A pair of wooden handles had been wrapped together and the weight let her think there was still a person holding it. She looked out in the hall…No one there.

As we all got dressed in our second set of clothes, Barb showed us the garrote and the pinprick on her neck, the group interested in that someone was looking to drive us off. We were exhausted and wanted to solve the issue sooner rather than later, so we went off to the Winsome Wench, ate quickly, and then grabbed a room. Once there we made sure to bar the door (as recommended to!) and had to suffer through a newbie thief trying to pick our door and being chased away, then some guy selling insurance to make sure no one tries to pick our door again, then the laundry being delivered but the young man dropping it off getting body slammed for disturbing our door from the insurance tough and eventually by 8 that night we fell asleep.

The next day was Spirit Month the 30th – New Year’s Eve. Tonight there would be merriment and revelry, signaling the start of the New Year and the first day of winter. Many businesses were going to be closed early today, or just closed at all. Gerry Rockbottom was most likely going to be closed and we wanted his address.

So Thalin and Darius went back to the Malter’s to talk to the Copperpot Dwarves to get the last bit of information of Gerry…and it was some serious back and forth between Thalin and Drang Copperpot who didn’t want Gerry permanently hurt. At all. He’s still a dwarf and a scumbag, but still a fellow dwarf. So we did eventually get the address and learned he had a young daughter living with him as well. There are 2 guards always on duty who watch the house but don’t live with him – so don’t screw around – or you’ll be seen and the guards are NOT pushovers.

By 9:30 we had gotten together again and made our way to the cul-de-sac that Gerry lived on – 3rd house from the right. No one seemed to be watching but we assumed we had a small window of time at best. So Shim went first, taking Darius’ “cat pillow” he had taken from his mom’s house months ago, and spoke to Gerry’s daughter through the door. Dad was sleeping, normally you have to come back when he’s up. Ooo, you’re gnome? That’s a nice pillow. Maybe a little bit. I don’t know. Maybe.

We got her to open the door and then rushed her. Gerry’s daughter, Flea…was a hellion. Twisting and biting, she stabbed at Darius’ leg, bit Barb fingers, and tried to twist, pull, and force herself back. Brading dropped a silence spell on most of the house so all her yells were for nothing and eventually we had her bound up and dumped in a large sack that Brading tied closed and Barb was holding on to.

Then two of us went back to Gerry’ bedroom where he had 2 alarm bells near his headboard. While neutralizing one, the other slipped off and was going to ring but Barb grabbed it quick. Then it was “wake up time” and questioning. Where was Ixitch? Wouldn’t tell us. Ixitch was getting upset because he owes Big GO, but Big GO hadn’t gotten in touch with him to set up exchange of funds. Darius dropped Isilwine’s name again as his own and indicated they were from Big GO, looking to collect. Where was Ixitch? WHERE?!?!?!

Eventually after some beating we got a bearing on where Ixitch was and we Gerry a sobbing broken mess with the instructions to talk to no one and to count for a long time before daring to get up.

Where did we have to go? Ixitch has a Homestead near mile marker 5 near the border of Grimyria. Ugh. It was 10 after 10 and we were going to leave town NOW and take the fight to Ixitch Barrowman.

Meet 91, Adv 6, 7/20/19

The party made their way to Paxian since being in or near Durcent Province was going to get them caught, lynched, and killed. While here they were following the clues on various things - the origin of the scratch, the name of the person with the heavy warhorse, and the trail of the 2 gnomes.

There was lots of LARPing at the table and they are proceeding accordingly to uncover the mystery and who's who in this entire mess.

Write up follows:

It was after 8 PM when we made the decision to leave Durcent Province behind us for now and get to Paxian. We assumed that Fersic and some of the vigilant mob might follow us but not too far we hoped through the Wyld. We estimated it was 9 hours minimum hard walk through the rough terrain to get to the Canaslan and we were going to be tired before arriving. According to an overland map we had, there was a large forested area between our location and Paxian and we would be pushing to get there and rest.

The night passed with slow methodical passage as the miles fell behind us. With an almost full moon and cold crisp air (it was in the high 20’s), we kept our cloaks tight about us and our eyes peeled as we traveled. Numerous innocuous wild animals abounded but it was some time after midnight that we espied some torches in the distance traveling southward and then eventually turned to intercept us. A voice from the gloom called out and asked to come and meet.

We agreed and stepped forward to see a tall thin man with a pair of zombies trailing behind him, mindlessly shuffling along. He identified himself as Karius, a “Scavenging Functionary” from Grimyria on an expedition to locate any recently fallen dead and have them animated and brought back with him. He admitted he had about a dozen at this time (we saw 2) and his two apprentices as well.

We kept it light and friendly and we all bid each other a farewell. We watched as his apprentices came up – a late teen’s thin girl with a line of 9 more assorted races zombies on a chain, and a corpulent also late teen’s boy in a set of robes too small for him, sweating even in the chill air, leading a snarling ghoul on a 6’ iron pole and chain set up that kept the carnivorous undead out of biting range.

Yeah…we were never going to go to Grimyria if we could help it.

It was another hour before we arrived at the forest and once there, spent a short time clearing the ground and gathering together for warmth. Rotating for watch we rested until the sun was peeking over the horizon and we could get moving. Shaking the cold from our bones we skipped out on study and prayer for now and were walking again by 8 AM. It was after 11 when we crossed the border into Canaslan – the temperature climbing at least 10 degrees instantly, and another half hour to reach Paxian.

We cycled through the main gates, and hit up the Half-ogre at the square to use his chamber pot as well as ask a few questions. Shim and Thalin did most of the probing, dropping hints of gnomes and where one could go to see others? We were told to go to Winterwarm, a bar on the east side of town that catered to gnomes, elves, and gnomes.

We made our way through Whiteshadow and followed directions to the smaller tavern and inn. We were treated well if a bit surprised that Barb and Brading were willing to come in. But we ordered a signature wine, ate some food, and probed the bar tenders and patrons about other gnomes and possible information.  There are two gnomish brothers, traders who do come and stay here in town for a week or so before moving on and returning again, doing some manufacturing before going out to sell their wares. Malik “Malted” Dingrel Falser, and Yultar “Uke” Dingrel Falser. And it was believed that at least one of them was Tower Trained.

Bingo.

We had some other places to look. Barb was going to go to another Half-Ogre Chamberpot warden named Maro that she had spoken to our last time here and see if she could get some information on Scratch. The rest of the group was going to go to the Greengrocer and then to the Stablers and Farriers to see if they could scare up some information from Wantan, the dwarven Farrier who most likely was shodding the heavy warhorse seen in Durcent Province – and hopefully get a name.

Barb’s visit to Maro was productive. There was a dwarf named Gerry Rockbottom who operated out of a Malters to the south west of Whiteshadown, that had been pushing Scratch as of late. When he started to talk about Scratch and some of its effects, Barb was under the impression he was going to segue into the dangers of it, but instead he had a Half-Ogre’s way of thought and suggested it was a great idea if she wanted to partake. It would give her a gravitas, a commanding presence, and with her size and ferocity, could seriously impact and influence orcish males to her way of thinking.

Ok….then! She thanked him and made her way to the area in question. There were a half dozen malters in the area and one of them had a 3 count of half-orcs working outside. She had asked for directions to Gerry’s and was told to either pay up, or hit the bricks. Not getting any closer, the dwarves next door asked her to give those guys a berth and for a small pile of coins, they’d help her out if she’d move a pallet of block stone from the back of the shop to the front. She put the effort in and was sweating it out while lining up the courses under proper direction, all the while the dwarves were advising her to just not bother with Scratch or any other drug and go on home.

For the rest of the group, they purchased a few days of travel rations and then made our way to a horse dealer and pretended to be interested in making a purchase. We were guided to many draft style horses and were shown a decent sized nag for the cost of 200 nobles. Ouch. But we talked to the proprietor (an orcish descended individual named Regahn) and let the conversation meander a bit, guiding it naturally along until we got to smiths and farriers and shoeing the horses.

We were then introduced to Wantan Smith, the dwarven farrier who would take care of our new horse purchase for us. We talked about his job, saw his forge, watched some of his apprentices work, and the conversation then turned to his master and other jobs he’s done. Knights and their steeds? He admitted he’s done heavy war steeds but in the interest of professional decorum, wouldn’t say any names.

We let the conversation end and thanked him, promising Regahn we’d get back to him and then started making our way out of the Farrier district and towards the Malters to meet up with Barb.

Barb meanwhile had finished her work, got paid and thanked by the dwarves, and was told that Gerry Rockbottom was in the Malted shop next door (where the half-orc toughs were hanging out). She went there, stared down the mouthy one who had bothered her earlier, and was guided back to meet with Gerry Rockbottom. Gerry was a thin strung out looking dwarf with poo hygiene and a furtive look about him. Two brutes with flatbows and axes were guarding him as Gerry and Barb were talking.

Gerry was loathe to just sell Scratch to Barb. Who was she? How did she know his name? He wanted some questions answered and didn’t know or trust her. Not wanting to the half-ogre Maro’s name involved, she thought about who she could mention and on the note we found from the gnomish Satchel that Ranger Thog had gotten for us before his death, and said Ixitch Barrowman had guided her to him, as it seemed to be the name of the person who owed Big G O money.

This set Gerry off who was freaking out, claiming that he was NOT getting involved with this. Barb was trying to back pedal the conversation when Gerry slammed his travel case closed and stormed out the back door of the malters, the two guards blocking her from going after him. She could hear Gerry through the alleys cursing and complaining and she was informed by the guards that “Gerry was not interested in doing business at this time. Leave.”

She left and realized that she was being shadowed and watched from various alleys as she left the malting district and joined up with her friends. They all eventually went to the Winsome Wench where they shared what they had learned, ate and drank a bit, and were thinking about their next move. It was a quarter to 4 at this time on Spiritmonth the 29th and we were thinking of heading back to the Malters and see if Gerry had returned and maybe try talking to him as a group.