In which the Five return to Balefyre to find the city not quite the same as they'd left it...

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It's a day's walk south from the incipient settlement of Midway along the wagon trail to Balefyre, a journey that concludes without incident. The landscape is quiet and largely empty, the recent snows marking the conclusion of the autumn harvest. Few are out and about as the Five reaches the inhabited margin of the city-state's modest holdings. Fields are fallow and dusted in white, the cold significantly damping the fish reek of the fertilizer that makes this dry grassland cultivatable.

The sun is going down when the city walls come into view. A chill breeze blows inland from the sea. Unusually, two flags fly from the mast atop Fire Watch Keep instead of the customary one. The familiar city standard now undulates below an unfamiliar red banner- a black sword and spear crossed upon a bloody field.

As has long been custom, the city gates close shortly after dark; the sun is just kissing the western horizon when the adventurers arrive in the shadow of Main Gate. Four guards man the entrance instead of the usual two. One pair of sentries wears the orange-lined dark-grey cloaks of the Fire Watch. The other pair are clad in robust red-lacquered armor; they stay in the background, but are obviously in charge. One of the city watchmen recognizes the weary travelers- he's messed with them at the keep barracks and sparred a little with Gronk in the yard. Wendal is his name and he's just about to usher them through, uninspected, when one of the red-armored guards makes a loud tisking sound and fixes him with a disapproving glare.

"State your business in Balefyre." the chagrined Wendal commands, sounding rather uncomfortable with this forced assertion of authority.

Despite the change in tone, Wendal and his fellow city watchman quickly usher the Five through the checkpoint, making a show of inspecting their gear but being less than intrusive in the process. As the adventurers emerge from the arched passage under the gatehouse into the Gate Ward, Wendal says, "You'd best be gettin' indoors quick as you can. Curfew's about to start." None of the Five recall a curfew being in place the last time they were in the city, three or four day's past. As they walk away, Wendal adds, in whisper, after them, "I wouldn't go back to the keep, if I were you."

His tone suggests that he doesn't feel at liberty to elaborate at the moment.


Your Turn.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 16:50, Mon 30 May 2016.

"I say let's get to the house and maybe we can figure out what's going on once we are there," Ulfgar suggested.  He knew the five of them had various ways to investigate things, even if they couldn't leave their abode.  Nic had his Raven to send messages, Corros could mind-chat people, and Frostbeard could speak with animals and assume a variety of unobtrusive forms as needed.  Figuring out what happened in Balefyre would be important, as would avoid getting arrested after 'curfew' it seemed.

After their initial appearance, the ravens have waned in number, some appearing to lose interest and ranging farther afield.  They're still in Nicolai's peripheral vision, though.  The core of the unkindness appears to be seven individuals (seven for a secret never to be told, singsongs a ghost of Nicolai's internal monologue from his long-suppressed childhood) who are - for lack of a better term - scouting the road ahead despite the complete lack of any instructions.

As the party approaches Balefyre and the new banner comes into view, Nicolai catches the gaze of the closest raven and dismisses it with a slight motion of eye and chin.  It's only once he's done it that he realizes the corvids understand this sliver of thieves' cant.  It is not a wholly-comfortable revelation.

Despite intense curiosity, the Ardani makes himself unobtrusive while the party passes through the Main Gate.  He's silent until the sentry post is out of sight and several casual glances into shop windows have assured him no one's following.  It's actually a matter of some effort to find an urchin still out and about, which is an indicator in and of itself.  He beckons the child over with a hint of a coin held between two fingers.  "Hey, runner.  I need a message to the Waterbearers.  Tell them it's time for a professional discussion at the old Bálint house."

As the child scampers away, Nicolai turns his attention to his companions.  "This next part is no job for a street rat."  He withdraws his silver raven figurine and murmurs the phrase to awaken it.  "Find Commandant Overmark.  Inform her we're back in town and need a briefing."

Are you responsible?  It's a question Corros keeps turning over and over in his mind.  He hadn't given Jenna an answer.  It wasn't that simple, was it?  He had been part of it.  Maybe even played a larger role than most, but they had to rise up, didn't they?  That's what everything they had been told, everything they had experienced had led to.  The Eleventh Finger had managed to hide all intention of playing the double game, of using all the ensuing chaos to tilt the nobles into confusion and then climb into their ranks on the backs of the masses that supported his vision, selling out everyone on every side.  Thousands died, and it was his fault.  It didn't rest with Corros, did it?

How much of it was justification and how much of it was true kept the warlock occupied on the return to Balefyre.  Occupied enough that he didn't see that the city had become occupied as well, new banners and new soldiers at the gates.

"It looks like the mercenaries are here after all," he says to the other softly after passing the gates.  "We may have been gone far too long.  Curfew?  That just makes the streets more dangerous."

Corros shifts, feeling the difference in the city they left and the city they returned to.  Getting back into the familiar confines of the buildings has usually been a relief.  Now, it feels almost as alien as a forest.  The place is breathing differently, the blood of its people moving in new patterns.

"Let's go home.  I know a shortcut."



City Secrets ability to move through the city twice as fast as normal.

Jenna moved through the City streets with the others, following Corros as he led them down alleys and passageways that she did not recognise. More than once she thought that they were lost, but always the Warlock eventually led them back to a street that she was familiar with.

"We should be mindful of Master Padin as well" the blonde haired young woman remarked to the others when Nicolai mentioned seeking out the Commandant. "If he knows that we have returned - and I think we should presume that if he does not he soon will - he will be expecting us to pay him a visit with the items that he tasked us to fetch. And I suspect that he will not take our word for it if we claim that we found nothing of interest."

"We need to give him something. Not necessarily the papers that we actually recovered -" Jenna glanced over at Corros., hoped that the Warlock had not entered her head without her knowing as she remembered how she had felt when he had taken the writings about the Weapon "- but something that will satisfy him."

She paused for a moment, pulled her cloak tighter about her shoulders. "Or be prepared for him trying to take what he may see as his." It was clear that the blonde haired woman did not trust Padin. Although to be fair, at the moment she wasn't sure if there was anyone in Balefyre that she did trust.

With hired messengers and summoned spies dispatched on party business, Corros and Nicolai expertly lead their companions homeward by the city's less-frequented paths, arriving back at the party's estate in the River Ward unhindered and in good time (the bell announcing the closing of the gates and the presumed commencement of the new curfew ring just as the party turns on to their street). They let themselves in to find Lenora waiting in the foyer with a battleaxe over her shoulder, poised to strike. The relief on her face when she recognizes the intruders is almost comical.

"Gorlana's tits! I thought they'd finally found me. Where in the hells have you been?"

The more observant notice a couple of items of men's clothing- a pair of boots and a orange-faced cloak- hanging by the door;  they clearly don't belong to any of the Five. Lenora notices this, and answers the question before it's asked.

"That's Jurvis' stuff. He's a… friend."

Blushing a little, she quickly changes the subject.

"You've been gone for a month! I'd begun to fear the worst."

With little prompting, the former Throne's Reach operative-turned-housekeeper give the party a complete rundown of the recent happenings in the city.

"The Bloodforged arrived about a week ago. It was a coup from the outside. Rumor has it they mean to sell the city to the highest bidder.

"The Fire Watch fought back at first, but they were no match for the Redcloaks. After about a dozen watchmen were killed, the rest lost their fight pretty quick. They were under-strength to begin with. A quarter of the watch is still posted at Yonder's Hole. The mine's reopened, but not many prospectors have gone up there, what with what happened to the first camp and winter coming on and everything. The Bloodforged are real selective when it comes to who can leave the city now."

Gronk interrupts, unable to contain his concerned curiosity any longer, "What about Kara, er, Commander Overmark? Surely she wouldn't stand for this!"

"No one's seen Commander Overmark since the skirmishes ended. Word on the street is that she rots in a cell in the keep. X is in charge of the remaining Fire Watch now, and he's under Zardis' thumb- Zardis Kreyg is the leader of the Bloodforged. The Fire Council still sits, most of it anyway-Muzz Breakwater stood up to Zardis and now he's locked up too. The others are lame ducks, too scared to speak out or do anything that angers the invaders. Except for the local whores, there's very few Balefyreans thrilled about the new administration in town.

"It's relatively safe to move about town during the day. The Bloodforged aren't above stopping people and 'fining' them for various invented infractions- I hear Toesplitter's none too happy about the new boys horning in on his racket- but as long as one shows the Redcloaks the proper 'respect', there hasn't been too much trouble.

Oh, yes. A mister Thumek stops by nearly every day asking after you. He bid me give you this immediately upon your return."

Lenore hands over a folded, sealed piece of paper. It reads,


At your earliest possible convenience, please visit me at Warehouse 8 to discuss our outstanding business arrangement.
Please be discreet.
Come during hours of darkness and do not allow yourselves to be detained along the way.
Tell no one of what you have seen or done during your recent travels.

L.P.


Your Turn.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 00:25, Tue 31 May 2016.

"I'm sure if we wanted to slip out after dark, I could make sure we wouldn't be detected," Ulfgar offered, thinking of his Pass Without Trace spell.  "Presuming Jenna has some leathers or such to don," Frostbeard added.  Clanking around in metal armor wouldn't be optimal, even with powerful magics covering their movements.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:47, Mon 30 May 2016.

Gronk is clearly upset by Lenora's news about the Commandant. He can barely contain himself.

"Pardon my Common, but fuck Master Padid! That weird old man can wait. Those bloody mercs have got Commander Overmark in a dungeon! We gotta get her outta there!"

Although it's not delicately delivered, the half-orc warrior's opinion is clear.

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This message was last edited by the player at 21:25, Tue 31 May 2016.

”I’m sure I can find something in my pack that will suffice.” Jenna nods to Ulfgar. The blonde is perched on a chair, one leg crossed over the other, her armour propped up against the wall next to her shield and Arma’s Blessing, though she still wears the same tunic that she had worn under it, the sleeve slit where the creature’s weapon had sliced through it, the crimson stains vivid against the white, showing where she had shed her blood for her Goddess. Her hands are clasped around a mug of hot tea, of the non herbal variety, her hair pulled up into a ponytail.

At Gronk’s outburst her head turns in the half orc’s direction. She and Gronk had had their differences before when it came to Overmark, so she pauses for a moment, takes a sip of her tea before she speaks, not wishing to pour fuel onto a potential fire. ”I take your point Gronk, but something tells me that Master Padin is not going to wish to wait for us to present ourselves to him at our convenience. Do you want to be looking over your shoulder watching for him to stab us in the back as we attempt to rescue Commander Overmark?”

Corros sits on his own chair, close to Jenna, but not touching.  Not quite.  In an almost nervous tic, he keeps rubbing his shoulders trying to get the feeling to come back into his arms after carrying his pack on the long walk back to the city.  Some frames just aren't meant for long hauls of heavy gear and Corros has one.  Not that he complains about it.  That often.

"I agree that we need to speak to Padin.  We need to speak to everyone we know."  He pauses and looks at Gronk.  "My friend, we will try to get Overmark freed, but rushing the keep isn't going to work.  I'd like to speak to the streetrats again.  They're going to have a different outlook on how to move through the city and what's going on.  I'll talk to them, but they might tell us to head right on over to the hells unless we clear that tunnel their friend disappeared down.  Which bring us back to Padin, I suppose.  Or maybe it only sort of bring us back to Padin."

The warlock glances at his pack and the scroll case strapped to the outside.  "We're going to have to give him something.  One of the crystals?"

Leaning against the kitchen counter, Nicolai contemplates his own tea, lost in thought.  At length, he looks up.  "Corros has the right of it.  We need information before we can act.  That will take time.  Right now, we don't understand the environment well enough to make many plans.

"Having said that, I believe Gronk's instincts are correct."  He gestures at the ex-gladiator with his mug.  "Commandant Overmark is probably the one ally we have in this city who possesses a degree of integrity.  That alone would argue for trying to spring her, but she's also well-regarded by most of the citizens.  Free, even if she couldn't show her face, she'd be a figurehead and rallying point."

His gaze meets Corros' in a moment of silent communication that doesn't need the Library's aid.  Both of them know what happens when a population under pressure is given a cause and a symbol.  Nicolai tilts his head in acknowledgement of what he's suggesting, then continues.

"If we're going to trade on reputation, our own needs to be spotless.  We need to display more integrity than the Fire Council has shown us thus far.  That means honoring our commitment to Padin.  He's almost certainly an arcanist of some power; even if he's not a practitioner himself, he's clearly well-versed in the lore of the arts and has substantial mundane resources.  A man like that is also going to soak up information and we should wring him dry.  Politely, of course."  His lips quirk in a faint smile.

"As to what to give him - as I said, information.  Thanks to Corros' universal literacy, we know something of the place itself, and we've observed that time there runs more slowly than it does outside - if not going sideways.  We also," he hesitates, "all experienced some foreign influence on our emotions. which is a hazard any follow-up expedition should know of.  Going on, we also have at least a partial bestiary of the things that dwell there.  As for the other items... we did agree to deliver any arcane lore we found.  I'm not comfortable reneging on that, however dangerous the experiments we seem to have uncovered."

Gronk takes a couple of deep breaths while he listens to the others. By the time Nic finishes his assessment, the half-orc has visibly calmed down.

"You guys make a lot of sense. I don't trust Padin- he's too nice and too weird- but I do trust you. If we're going to see Padid tonight, can we at least get a couple o' hours of sleep first?"

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This message was last edited by the player at 00:58, Thu 09 June 2016.

"When did you change your mind?" Jenna's eyebrow arches and she's unable to keep the surprise from her voice when Nicolai gives voice to the possibility of handing over the papers that they had uncovered. "Did you not say that there was hardly anyone in this City that you would trust with so much as a butter knife yesterday?" At least, it had been yesterday to them. " Or did I mishear you?"

"Who knows what he might do with such knowledge? Or try to do? Even if he doesn't succeed who can say what the consequences might be? " The Priestess shrugs her shoulders. "I have no affinity for this place, but nor do I seek to see it razed to the ground. Furthermore, keep the papers and potentially we have a bargaining chip should  we require it."

Nicolai shrugs fluidly.  "I still don't trust him, but we also need allies more than we did yesterday.  He's powerful and well-informed and he seems to know a few things about doing business discreetly.  In the current environment," he gestures with his mug at the darkened street outside, "that makes him someone I'm less willing to risk offending by withholding parts of what we agreed to bring him."

"A middle ground, yeah? Corros interjects.  He's been siding with Nic in most negotiations and then watching as Jenna's skepticism has been proven.  Maybe he feels like he owes her one, maybe he's lost objectivity, but Corros wants to find a way to back her concerns this time.  He assumes Nic can see that written all over.

"We need to deal fair, but we don't have to lay every card down.  We agreed to hand over the goods we found, but not all of them.  But let's tell Padin we're holding some back for our own research.  Relics we might consider selling later.  That way we're being upfront, but still watching what he does.  Neither one of us can do anything without all the documents, and if he makes a move, we know it's him. None of us trust him, let's be up front about it."

"Hm."  Nicolai's eyes unfocus as he considers Corros' proposal.  "Given that you are the local expert on the Sleeper and we need to understand more about the ruins' connection to it, that's not even a lie.  We do need to commit research."  He smiles mirthlessly.  "And by 'we,' I mean 'you.'

"I'm fine with telling him we're keeping a bargaining chip for later.  I just don't want to be in the position of having to hide lies from him."  His eyes unfocus again.  "I'm afraid I'm about to have to tell a very large number of lies and the more I tell, the harder it is to keep them all straight..."

The Five rest for a few hours, at the end of which Nic's raven spy returns to report having been unable to find Overmark at the keep, or anywhere else in the city, for that matter. The bird did, however, overhear talk that supporting the rumor that the commandant is alive and being held prisoner in the keep's dungeon.

Leaving their estate, the Five wind their way through the empty city streets to Warehouse 8, once again avoiding contact with any other souls brave or foolish enough to ignore the curfew. The companions arrive at Padín's warehouse just as a couple of Redcloaks appear to spot them. Seemingly of its own accord, the wicket door opens under Nicolai's knuckles and the Five quickly usher themselves inside, shutting the door behind them. The dimly lit warehouse is still packed with freight, and seemingly uninhabited, but the adventurers get the feeling that they are not alone there- a strong sense that they are being watched by something just beyond the shadows.

The party rounds a stack of crates at the back of the warehouse to find Thumek waiting for them at the stairway down to Padin's private warren. He leads them underground and opens the heavy bronze doors to the master's chambers.

Lovad Padín looks different somehow. His dress is the same, as are the fundamental features of his face, but the more perceptive among the Five note subtle differences. He looks older, more pinched and drawn. In his thin, reedy voice, Padin bids them sit around the same low, intricately carved hardwood table where he pitched his initial business proposal. As before, Thumek serves light refreshments.

Seated comfortably, and feeling unusually relaxed and open, the Five recount their experiences in the City of the Forgotten ones, leaving out very little. Master Padín listens intently, long-nailed fingers folded in his lap, his gaze focused in turn on each speaker. On the matter of the sentient creatures encountered in the tunnel loop (i.e. the nothic, the helmed horror, and the banshee), Padín opines that they were likely members of the first expedition that he dispatched, corrupted somehow by the time-distorting magic of the place. As further corroboration, Padín confirms the provenance of the greatsword taken from the black knight.

Bidding Thumek to take the blade, Padín gets down to business, "Now, what artifacts were you able to secure from the ruins?"

Nic and Corros are forthright in their response. As they hand over a selection of ancient documents and crystals recovered from Master Control, they explain that they are keeping a portion of both for their own research purposes. Padín appears somewhat taken aback by this announcement. He looks at Nic and Corros searchingly, then nods once, slowly. Without another word he begins studying the proffered artifacts with trembling fingers. As they flick across the lines of script on the first fragile page, Padin's pale green eyes shine with a life that the Five haven't seen from him during their brief acquaintance. With a force of will, Padín tears his gaze away from the fragile parchments, covering them with a fine silk handkerchief as if to hide them from himself. He looks at the Five again, but it's as if he's having trouble seeing them. What seem like minutes pass in silence.

"These finds are quite marvelous. Thank you." Padín finally responds, fully present again. Although his gratitude seems genuine, his displeasure at the Five's decision to withhold a portion of the artifacts is apparent.

He signals to Thumek who leaves the room with the greatsword and returns forthwith carrying a small, ornate chest. The major domo places it on the table in front of the adventurers and lifts its lid to reveal a substantial pile of coin and gemstones (OOC: estimated value of the reward is 5,000 GP).

"Of course, I can pay you more for the rest of your collection. And I am willing to share what I can learn from them as well. You see, these items are like pieces of a mosaic. Too few, and the picture does not reveal itself. If you keep some of the artifacts, it is likely that neither of us will learn much of value. Study them, by all means, but when you have learned all that you can, please remember that my offer still stands."

Padín leaves the matter at that.

On the subject of Balefyre's current political situation, Padín responds, "Regime uncertainty and martial law are bad for business. It is in my best interest to restore the former administration, despite its myriad flaws, to power. I am not opposed to offering you indirect support in your efforts to eject the Bloodforged from city politics, but I must be discrete. I have no wish to be associated with any form of insurrection. That too, would be bad for business, worse perhaps. What, pray tell, do you have in mind?"


Your Turn.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 02:10, Fri 08 July 2016.

His professional mask back in place, Nicolai nods sagely at Padin's ill-concealed pique.  "Of course, Master Padin.  I'm sure you understand that my associate," he gestures smoothly to Corros, "is a scholar and linguist in his own right.  I'd feel almost cruel if we prevented him from pursuing one of his driving passions."  He suppresses an internal chuckle and a mental image of Corros disrobing Jenna with a set of bolt-cutters.  "I've no doubt the two of you will have much to discuss once you're wrung all the knowledge you can from your respective projects."

"As far as the current, ah, instability in the city... at present, our greatest need is information.  We have a general intent, which is the restoration of order and self-governance to Balefyre.  We have several possible vectors toward that goal.  But we were rather surprised to find that we'd been gone a month, objectively, so before we can develop any of those vectors into plans, we need to understand the political landscape.  And, of course, we share your need to remain discreet.  We don't," he smiles cynically, "want to appear as a threat to the Bloodforged."  Yet.

"A return to normal in the city seems like the wisest path forward," Corros says.  He chooses to ignore, for the moment, that "normal" was a rather high level of messed up for a great many of the citizens of Balefyre.  And if the Five are going into the business of insurrection, Corros hopes that he can do a at least a little something about that.  Not to quote the Eleventh Finger, but if you are going to break eggs, at least make an omelette that you want to eat.

"Should you be interested, sir, I would be happy to relate to you what I find in my own studies of these documents, and the history of those ruins.  I do enjoy the challenge of trying to make sense of all of this.  I'm sure you do too."  It's not a lie, exactly.  It's just not how the warlock would care to pass the time.  But they need allies, even if they don't trust them, and information about what his happening with The Sleeper, regardless of the source.  "If you would be willing to share as well," he adds.  "There is much to understand, yeah?"  So much for sounding cultured...

Corros will wait until the negotiations and information session is winding down before bringing forward his final point.  "Master Padin," he starts smoothly, "I'm hoping you could help me with one final detail.  Before we went missing for several weeks, one of the local street rats came to me with the story of a missing friend.  Given that this "friend" had stolen some gold from us earlier, we decided to try and track him down.  Unfortunately, we lost his trail in the sewers near here."  Corros keeps his expression hopeful, innocent, and light.  "You are clearly a man in touch with his place in the city, and I wondered if you knew of any threats around here that might have trapped the missing youth?  People you have had to defend yourself against.  One of our advantages in fighting the Bloodforged would be utilizing the tunnels beneath the city, and for that, we need the street rats on our side as guides.  A part I believe they would be happier with if we could return their missing friend."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:01, Sat 04 June 2016.