The party doesn't have any trouble getting to Soubar. They encounter other farmers going here and there, and Merchants heading out of town. You reach the gates to the town and they are closed with 8 guards outside keeping guard while letting people in and out. You don't have any problems getting inside, but you find out that there was a Green Dragon attack that wiped out a group of Bounty Hunters heading towards the small village of Daak. Only one made it back here to tell the tale and he is recovering in town somewhere. That's why the town is on high alert.

This is actually Vernon's first trip to Soubar in many years. The last time he was here was when he was actually alive.

"Oi. I haven't been 'ere in a long time. You all been here one person or another, but not me. Nothing changed here. Still a quiet little place." Vernon noted as the party walked through town

Twiggy nods "Boring is good sometimes. We will know quickly if Centari's men come through. Do we want to split up to go to Aki's and Amos's or stick together. Either way people will notice."

"I think we'll be fine inside town with the gates locked. People are worried because of the Dragon attack, so we should be able to do things quickly and then get out again. I suggest meeting at the fountain."

Kalliyan stays out of town and under a tree with Raieylan, as the rest of the party went inside and split up to hurry to get things done. Twiggy, Amara and Roenthelm went to Aki's shop, taking note the local Stable has 6 more horses in there, while Byron, Myarra and Aliana went to Amos' shop so Byron could have Amos deliver a message to his family so nobody could follow Byron home. While Byron was there, he delivered the Book that Farooj gave Byron in Elturel.

Amos was tidying up his shop when Byron, Myarra and Aliana walked inside and was overjoyed that Byron delivered the book.

"So good to see you again Lad, and thanks for getting the book for me." Amos said as he gave Byron a mighty handshake and waved to the girls "You guys were gone quite awhile. You run into trouble? You probably heard we had Green Dragon problems again. Some of those Bounty Hunter got hit hard in their camp."

Twiggy, Amara and Roenthelm had to wait a few minutes for the customers to finish their business before Aki could close and lock the door so he could talk with you.

"I was wondering where you went. My informants tell me my camp has been wiped out. Are you all OK? What happened?"

You are welcome for the book.  We don't have a lot of time and I need a favor from you please?

Byron pauses a moment before continuing.

Seems a certain annoying ruler is trying to extend his reach and isn't so happy with my reply to that.  So if you could make sure my family knows that I'm safe and they should be careful.  I'd stop to tell them myself, but that might draw more attention to them than they need.

Byron looks around the shop.

I see you have been doing pretty well.  If we acquire anything I know you will be interested in that we do not need I'll be sure to stop by and talk to you about it.

Vernon noticed the extra horses in the stable.

Looks like Dwight made it here OK.

Twiggy takes his large mithral shield off of Fitz and carries it in. He casually looks around until Aki locks the door and begins telling the tale. "It has been an interesting time since we saw you last. We went hunting the undead and to check on your digging crew but only found their camp. Getting closer to Troll's Hill we found out why it was named that and fought multiple trolls before encountering a armored troll and their master a vampire. We was very lucky and killed the vampire quickly with a disruption weapon but the aromred troll took more to take down.

We did finally bring all of them down and found the vampire was feeding on people the trolls brought in, most probably your crew too. We found a restless soul that was a merchant in life that couldn't rest until his bones was buried with his family so we took a detour to do that. If anyone from Soubar comes looking for us tell them we was just passing through.

So now you are caught up, do you want to buy this large mithril shield and I need to buy the hammersphere.

This message was last edited by the player at 14:39, Wed 11 Oct 2023.

Aki seems to be truly upset that his friends and workers were killed and thanks the 3 of you for the party's assistance.

"I'll trade you even for the Hammer Sphere. You all have done me a great service and I hope you can keep this incident between the two of us."

Aki takes the Shield and places it on the wall and then gives Twiggy the Hammer Sphere

"The activation word is Malleus."

Twiggy nods "We will keep it between us. Thank you for the trade, it will come in useful. We are sorry for the loss of your crew. The Troll Hills are clear for now, but never takes long for them to come back. The network of caves in the hills is to enticing."

"Aye....we been feuding with Triel for decades and it only got worse since the Centauri's took the place over, so don't worry about attracting attention to your family. I got that covered."

With Byron mentioning his merchandise, Amos smiles,

"Bounty hunters buy this and that, which pays the bills. The rest is all profit for when I retire. You try out that Hammer yet?"

"But, with the Vampire gone, the Trolls won't be as organized as they were before. I'm assuming you all found treasures?"

Twiggy nods"That is true, we hope. We don't know how long the vampire has been there but by the amount of human bones it must have been years if not decades.

We did find treasure, alot was fine merchants goods. The limited magical stuff we took off the dead was sold to Farooj in Elturel. We would have sold the items to you but Farooj had items we need to destroy powerful undead. I had just enough money left to sell my shield and buy the hammersphere."

 
This message was last edited by the player at 23:03, Wed 11 Oct 2023.

Byron replies to Amos' question with a big smile.

Oh yes, it worked better than I expected and I have to thank you for teaching me to use a variety of weapons instead of just one specific sword.

Myarra takes her time looking around the shop. She doesn't have plans to buy anything, but she still enjoys browsing.

"We heard about the dragon on our way in," she says with a shrug. "One big monster wiping out a bunch of little monsters.  Sounds like karma to me."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:59, Fri 13 Oct 2023.

"I am sorry, Aki. They were dead before we got there. We did everything that we could. And yes, until something else makes the area it's haunt, I doubt the evil will be organized - but it will still be dangerous." Amara added. She was truly sorry.

"I thank you for the kind words. You don't know how much it means to me." Aki said to the 3 of you "Please forgive me, but I need to contact a lot of families to tell them the news and I have a bottle waiting for me in the back. I hope you understand. You guys have been more than customers to me. Please come back to see me in a few days. I should be ok by then. Right now, I'm getting drunk."

"And here you just wanted the biggest sword you could swing. Where is your Great Sword anyways? I see it's not on you? You leave it on Charger?"



"I just hope the dragon doesn't come here." Amos said before noticing Shannon "Nice Lynx. What's her name?"

Amos crouched down and stuck out his hand for Shannon to sniff, but Amos could tell right away that Shannon had no interest. "Cats. They either like you, or they don't. Most of the time it's "Don't"." Amos chuckled

Amos looked at Roenthelm next, "The image on your Wanted Poster is very close. You don't look like much. What could you have possibly done to make somebody pissed off enough to put you on one?"

Amara hesitated. "Do you want company?" Some people felt better with company, some don't...

Nolan has it for safe keeping at the moment. Roen is guilty by associating with me.

"I helped a young man pay off his debt to Pervis Centauri and I guess I'm a disrupter of the peace because people need to keep owing the Centauri's money." Roen explained "Then I went around town and spoke to people who owe money to the Centauri's and gave them the money they needed to clear their debts. The Centauri's were upset about it and now I'm a wanted criminal."

Sister Aliana chuckled wryly
"Just goes to show that everything is relative"

"I doubt the dragon would attack a city.  Far too many guards compared to a hive of scum and villainy like a mercenary camp. Although, now that I say it out loud, it's possible I'm a bit biased against kidnappers, slavers, and traffickers."

She pauses for a second before shaking her head.  "Nope, they all deserve to choke to death. Or burn, or freeze ... whatever the dragon brings to the party."

But her grim expression quickly turns to a smile when he compliments Shannon.  "This is Shannon, my third heart.  Don't take it personally, she's my familiar and I still she's still deciding if she likes me.

As for Roen, I think we're all going to end up on posters. We've given Centauri a wedgie, a swirly, and boxed his ears. He's a might upset with us.  And, while I swear we have no intention of harming him directly, when we're done with him his criminal cohorts might just do it for us. In the meantime, the bounty hunters had better hope they face a dragon compared to what I'll do to them."

She leans over and gently scritches Shannon's head.  "Isn't that right, princess?  Mommy isn't someone you want to cross if you enjoy having your personal appendages attached in the same places they were in when you were born.  Have you ever seen a dickcorn? It's hilarious. All you need is a sharp knife, a needle, and some thread.  And the magic words Sliceo Changeo!"