***Please read the wiki page on the Vast, found here: (
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/The_Vast)
Rowan, Zanbis, and Emrys... the three of you have been working together for around a year, completing odd jobs for the highest bidder: nobles who need a discreet hand to accomplish a task, paranoid merchants looking for dirt on their competitors, bandits who need to know when the next shipment of goods will pass their territory, or jealous lovers intent on usurping the legitimate spouse of their paramours... Whatever needs done quietly, with a subtle touch, with few eyebrows raised... you have become infamous in the underworld of the Vast.
Zanbis, you are a master of subtlety. Your true heritage as a Yuan-ti Pureblood is something best left to only the most trusted of friends. As such, you have been accustomed from an early age to re-direct attention and layer intrigue upon intrigue to mask your true identity. It is this background that through your well-connected network of informants, you are able to find some sort of job or lead for adventure wherever you go, which is helpful since you and your crew do not often stay in the same town for more than a few weeks at a time. Call it a hazard of the trade... when you manipulate, cajole, backstab, and straight-up lie to get the job done, enemies form quickly. The faster you can distance yourselves from the last job, the better.
You and the crew just left Calaunt after getting your hands on some particularly scandalous love letter written by a nephew of one of the city's Merchant Dukes to his brother... Your client asked for proof of the affair, so they could force the nephew to self-exile to Sembia rather than bring ruin upon the family. You performed perhaps too well by getting written proof. When presented with the evidence, the nephew jumped from to 6th story of his family's manor to his death. The client counseled your crew to leave Calaunt for a time to let things cool over...
After about three days of travel, you find yourself in Thindilar, a market town populated by artisans and craftspeople. Life there was busy and energetic, and people there had little time for wild tales of treasure and adventure in their vicinity. You three usually only indulge this town for the MockingJay Tavern that offers some of the most comfortable rooms in the Vast and by far the best tasting mead, brewed locally by Jay Terrbaud, the owner of the establishment. Jay is a halfling, who used to be a member of the Calaunt Thieves Guild and usually keeps his ear to the ground about interesting jobs and rumors.
Around 6 in the morning, the three of you wearily enter the MockingJay Tavern to find it devoid of most life, save Jay slumped over the bar with a cask of mead in his hand. Your arrival rouses the halfling and he slightly raises his eyebrow in your direction, and in a swift, silent motion, uses a mage hand cantrip to bring three tumblers over to the bar. By the time you reach the empty stools across from Jay, he has filled them with his Vast-famous mead.
"Of course you decide to show up when I'm barely cogent and far too boozed up to engage in intellectual banter... So, I'll make it quick. There's a job for you. There always is. This one's got some commission though, and we all like a little commission.
If you take this job, the client promised me 1 percent middleman fee--standard. A highwayman of sorts came in here asking if I knew someone that could handle a discreet problem for him... a bit of fact-finding and potential recovery of goods. Well, I told him I know a crew of three that can get just about any information you could want. He's got a camp in the thicket just outside of town, he said just show up wearing this purple sash around your arm and his men will know your business. Now, I'd recommend you get some rest and head over to the thicket around dusk. If this don't fit your fancy, well I heard Fritz over at the stables may have heard of something else for you... you'll probably want to talk to him anyway if you need to get yourself a new horse."
"Anything else I can do for you three?"
Jay looks over at Emrys, your half-elf warlock companion, who seems to be playing with a spider in his hand, letting it run over his fingers as he flips his hand around. With his eyes fixated on the spider, you hear the voice of Emrys in your heads, though his lips don't move, saying
"Looks promising. I was told Fritz may have some additional supplies for us. A reward from two clients ago, we best stop by this afternoon. Jay, this mead is delicious as always. Thank you for the lead. I believe a 1 percent middleman fee is fine."
This was typical of Emrys. Amongst friends, he would rarely vocalize his thoughts, instead relying on some mystical ability he has been granted by an unknown force that allowed him to directly speak to one's mind. Emrys never discussed how he could do this and Rowan and Zanbis simply accepted it. It always irked Jay, however. With a scowl he remarks,
"I can't ever tell if I've had too much mead when around you, Emrys. Usually, I find that I need more when you throw this hocus pocus my way."
With that, Jay throws back a swig of mead, wipes his lips with the sleeve of his shirt and looks with askance to Zanbis and Rowan.
"Well, you with Emrys here, or you have your own thoughts?" asks Jay.
Having a hitched a ride into town on a caravan wagon, you are in need of a place to store your goods. You remember that Jay always rents a room out for a reasonable 5 silver pieces a night and throws in a glyph of warding on the room for extra security. Jay of course will allow you to rent for as long as you need. Even so, it appears as though you have at least two leads for where your journey will take you, 1) speak to this "Highwayman" in the thicket outside of town, and 2) retrieve the reward from Fritz at the town stables.
Additionally, Rowan, you know some of the local militia members of Thindilar from your time as a soldier. Perhaps they have some information of interest in these matters. They may know of this "highwayman" from the thicket.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:19, Sun 21 Apr 2019.