Pedirene took us on a long tour of the locale in the Clays. The Flow River runs along the edge of the tall hills and it is here that the hills are stripped clean. The top soil is dug out barrel by barrel to be repurposed elsewhere. Then the revealed clay deposits, some of them 50’ in depth, are next where they are Adzed off in great swaths. Below that are a mix of stones and subcutaneous rocks which are chipped and harvested for concrete and building beds if need be. The process is slow and laborious, and the hills are 400 to 650 feet in height here. There is a humongous area that is worked on and the quotas are constant and high – but manageable.
This has the effect of slowly widening the Flow upriver from New Dam. To combat this, the riverbed on the western side of the flow is buttressed and backfilled to account for whatever widening occurs on the eastern banks. Cutbacks, guides, ropes, nets, and safety rails are often and plentiful.
He took us past New Dam to the space of the river before it flows to Old Dam. Some 40 weeks ago, there was a massive underwater shift and Old Dam actually slipped forward a foot and a half and canted off 2 degrees from plane before lodging into its new place. This caused the Flow to stop downriver for a few days (why the irrigation lines all dried up along with Lake Isner). There was the call to install a 2nd Dam, a New Dam, almost 1,200 feet upriver. The process took the better part of 10 weeks but upon completion it took pressure off Old Dam and restored the proper movement and care to the Flow.
To prevent any further dam issues, at the end of the day, an animate is sent down to the base of the dam with a sledge on each side, and they clean up any fallen rocks, garbage, or tools that might spill down there. They are tied to a rope and after a banging signal; the sledges are pulled up followed by the undead being hoisted out. This system worked without issue for almost 5 more week until the animate never came out. The same thing happened the next day and then again after that. The ropes were not cut, they appeared to be untied.
Requisition were then sent for low functioning animates to do the dredging and cleaning job under the water so that if any were lost, it wouldn’t be as much of a hardship. We asked a number of follow up questions and took the time to walk the sites. We figured there was something down there under the water and we were hoping to coax it out. Go fishing in some manner. We went through a number of plans and Pedirene was fairly interested. When the need to execute got nigh, we had us go back to Angelnan again and explain the situation to him.
He agreed in time and we set up 3 stations – one on each side of the river and one on top of New Dam. Two animates were prepped, one with 3 sets of ropes, the other with a Hide from Undead spell. Ballista defenders at the top of the Clays were ordered at the ready and we Angelnan sent the 2 animates down along with the sledges to clear out the dam. We had a detect undead and a detect chaos spell set up as well and we waited and watched. Dizzy eventually let us a know of a rising Chaos under the water at the base of the dam – getting stronger and more prominent. And then Captain Asher let us know of arriving undead as well. We ordered the undead pulled out and the one from the Hide from Undead came out no issue, the other had 2 of the ropes already untied and a pair of fleshy pink tentacles followed it out, pulling a huge chimeric bulk of compressed zombies behind it.
Holy. Damn.
It was easily 20’ in diameter and had to weigh over 2 tons. A number of fleshy tentacles 30’ long whipped around, dragging the creature closer and trying to pull it out of the water. It hit the dam with a sweeping flash on tentacles and everyone on top dropped to avoid spilling in. It gave a huge roar and crushed one of the animates nearby. We all poured on attacks and shots. The ballistas fired and one of them exploded, killing the 3 men operating it up there. Godrick fired off a Blindness spell; rolling the hundred pull eyes over to white and making it howl and shake in fury. It flailed about with more wild abandon as we hit, slashed, shot, and fired at it.
A number of us were swept into the water but we swam for the dam and pulled ourselves out. The zombie-akira-chimera continued to assault the shore as the clerics all tried to get themselves in place. Meanwhile, Inquisitor #5, Meilwemair, had portaled in on the unsanctioned death of the 3 men who had died at the ballista and was watching this entire thin unfold below. The Wraith was moving down the slope of the Clays, frantic at the adventurers once again doing something…strange and wrong!
As soon as they were able to, a consecration spell was put in place and the 4 priests all fired off a turning spell as the shivering and howling monstrosity – eventually blowing parts of it apart and then it exploded, raining guts and body parts all around. At this point, Inquisitor #6, Herause, arrived and on seeing the aftermath, felt that Angelnan and the party did a good thing. Meilwemair felt otherwise and the conversation got heated until Herause reminded the Wraith – that he was here for the 3 dead ballista men – and they had died due to an accident. The Foreman sided with us and the rest of the Clay Workers agreed. The decision was made to stop work for the day, clean up the site, and everyone to drink and enjoy some barbecue and grilling.
We enjoyed our notoriety and eventually at day’s end, went back to Vitalia and the Adjunct Rawanis. Word had already come thanks to our efforts and he thanked us for a job well done. We had 1 more job for him tomorrow, and it was kind of important for OCC Mide as it took place in her district. For now we went back to the Heart of Vitalia and had a great night before resting
The next day was Birthmonth the 26th and after studying and breaking our fast, headed off to see Rawanis. He was actually meeting with OCC Mide; a late 20’s looking brunette woman who was happy to meet us thanked us for some rather impressive work. She reiterated that Adjunct had a last task for them and upon completion, they would be reporting to her and a few jobs that entailed a stipend. She left and we got a chance to learn of job 4.
There are a dozen bakeries in town and they provide bread and bread products for the entire city as well as the outlying towns. Two of them, a pair of high profile bakeries, have been engaged in a rivalry for the last couple of years. Their rivalry has gotten up to the limit of the law but never go over the line. The Dough Will Rise is run by Venains, a skilled baker in town who has ties to the local constabulary. And Ragamuffins is run by baker Baelin who has ties to the local fire brigade.
Their antics have gotten worse over the years. The locals living near them are having their lives disrupted. The constabularies have come out many times but the law states that public displays and advertisements can be engaged between 9 and 5, 5 out of 6 days a week. They aren’t breaking any law but the complaints are almost too much and the Adjunct and Councilor want the party to interview the 2 bakeries, find out the problem, and resolve it.
We went off to the west side of town to Bakery Way and looked at the places there. Kneaded treats, Bread for Success, a Scone to Settle – lots of bakeries. But the 2 in question were right across the street from one another. The Dough will Rise showed some recent fire damage to the façade of the building, but a guy was out there in full chef’s regalia, standing by a burn bin, and was tossing in muffins into the fire every so often while staring across the street at Ragamuffins with a weird grin.
We decided to divide and get some info. Godrick, Brandon, and Dizzy went to Ragamuffins to do some reconnaissance while Gryg, Thalin, and Asher were going to go to Dough Will Rise.
Ragamuffins was a nice looking bakery with a huge clean front display with racks and shelves. An animate was by the front window working a butter churn with methodical regularity, her eyes vacant but a smile on her lips. At the counter was a heavy set baker constantly looking out the window and complaining to a younger man with similar facial features, that “They’re purposely doing that! How COULD they!? This is it, son! This is it!”
We got his attention and he let us know he was Baelin. His wife was the butter churner and his son worked one of the main ovens. He had a staff of about 20. He offered to sell us some muffins and the “butter is always fresh!” We casually brought up the Dough Will Rise and guy burning the muffins. He had some Juniper berries that had ripened shipped here from Nylwire and had made a batch of 4 dozen muffins seasoned with the berries. The hope was he’d sell them and the townsfolk would like them and it would be worth importing more. Someone came in this morning and bought the entire batch, said he was from a local artisan guild.
It was shortly after that they Baelin learned he had been duped and the buyer actually was a scout from Dough Will Rise – and they bought the muffins and were burning them before anyone could taste them.
At some point he asked us if we worked for the constabulary and if we did, we’d have to answer. Assuring him no, he invited us to the back where eventually he got around to it. Wanted to pay the party 150 crowns to set fire to the Dough Will Rise tonight. Don’t want it burned to the ground, but enough to disrupt business and get Venains off his back. He hated her – at an award ceremony 4 years or so ago, she had the gall to tell the assembled staff that he was a poor baker and that “his wife is a dry fuck”. How DARE she!? That’s his wife, animate or not! We said we’d have to scout it out but would back in touch ASAP to let him know – and then the 3 of us got out of there.
Meanwhile the other group had a similar experience but different. Venains was a large woman, 5’ 7’, 240 plus pounds. Her daughter, maybe 15, was of the same size and weight. Her husband was outside and was burning the muffins in retaliation for an attack Ragamuffins did against her Shoppe last week where a strange fire had set part of her façade ablaze.
She had only a single animate working here, a menial sweeping the floor. She also verified that we were not working for the constabulary and that we’re here to solve problems. She wanted to hire us to spread a mold in the living quarters of Ragamuffins that would make Baelin and his family sick, and force to close the place for a while. She was willing to pay handsomely. She never forgive him at the award banquet 4 years ago when he told everyone that she was a shitty baker and “a great big fat fucker.” How DARE he!??!
We left assuring her we’d be in touch and then regrouped, went down the block to a local outdoor eatery (“The Breakfast nook”), had a short order and discussed what we had learned. Gryg surmised that there might be a 3rd party involved and we might want to look into that matter. It was a bit after 10 at this point on Birthmonth the 26th and we hoped to get to some resolution to this soon.
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