"Well met! I apologise for not arriving a little sooner, to stop that fellow from casting his spell, but the Lady of Fates decreed otherwise."

Xalten wiped his blade on the fallen wizard, sheathed it, then quickly searched the fallen figure for anything of note.

Pulling back the hood of the assassin reveals a surprisingly young face. A quick search produces a dagger, 6 gold pieces and a wooden wand with a crude goat head carved at the base.

Max searches the other 2 bodies.

Max find 2 short swords, 2 daggers and a total of 5 gold pieces and they both wear filthy leather armor.

The taller of the men also carry a letter written in common with a surprisingly eloquent script:

BOUNTY NOTICE

Be it known to all those of evil intent, that a bounty has been placed upon the heads of Benedict, Clay, Enigma, Malus, Maximillian, Niall and Xalten, the foster children of Gorion.

Residing in Candlekeep, these persons are to be killed in quick order.

Those returning with proof of the deed shall receive no less than 200 coins of gold per head.

As always, any that reveal these plans to the forces of law shall join the targets in their fates.

Another turn passes as you search the bodies. Malus' torch begins to flicker.

---

This message was last edited by the GM at 21:00, Tue 26 Mar.

"Let's take the bodies out as well, time to go I think, what do you all think?" Max asks his compatriots.

Clay grins a grin that wouldn't look out of place on a shark.  "We are already on the list.  I suggest we go and hand this over to the forces of law, whoever they are."

"A price on our heads is one thing, but...200 gold? Even at a minimum, is that all we are worth?"

It was perhaps slightly disconcerting to learn, but Xalten was making a good fist of smiling about it. He took the items of note from the dead wizard and nodded at Max's suggestion.

"Time to leave indeed. We could always drag the bodies into the cellar, better than lugging dead men long distances."

This message was deleted by the player at 00:26, Thu 28 Mar.

"Who, and why, would someone want us dead? We've never hurt anyone, until now. What in the name of the gods is going on?" Max asks the others. "We need to show this to our masters and find out what is up!"

Clay shrugs. "Maybe  our esteemed Foster father will know."

Max drags the first body through the hole in the wall, very tiring and hard work. After he gets it through, he sits down against the wall to rest and catch his breath. When the others get through with the other two bodies, he says, "This isn't good, someone wants us dead for some reason. We aren't safe here anymore! I don't like this at all!"

The Church of Torm is a lawful, just organization that works with law enforcement. We could take the information to my order, at the very least they could potentially try to figure out what or who is behind it he said, shrugging.

Max nods his head in reply, "Yes, we can definitely do that too!"

Candlekeep is a small place, the only temple here is dedicated to Oghma. The nearest shrine to Torm is in Baldurs Gate.

"Well, let us try the priests of Oghma here at Candlekeep first - unless there is someone else in authority we trust with this information?"

The information obviously needed passed along, but to whom Xalten wondered?

Clay frowned and said, "Wait a minute.  Suppose we retrace the assassins steps.  Perhaps then we can solve the problem without anybody ever knowing that we knew."

I'm all for retracing the steps, but I think we need some healing before we do that. We should see if we can find a priest to join us he said. That wizard hit me pretty good with his magic.

"I'm with Niall, after we report this to Gorion and get healed, then we come back and try to retrace these assassins. He got hit by magic, and I was gnawed on by rats!" he added to the conversation. Then he rises, ready to report to their foster father.

Malus' torch flickers one last time and dies. You find yourself in utter darkness.

---

So what do you do? You want to go find Gorion? If you make your way up I'll handwaive lighting another torch, resting for a turn and all that.

</quote>

"Let's inform Gorion and then Reevor and collect our money. Then we'll follow the back trail of our 3 assassins. Who's coming, who is staying here in the dark?" Max asks his friends.

"I'm with you, lets find Gorion and Reevor."

Xalten was also intrigued, and not a little concerned, with the wand carved with goat head.

 "You don't have to tell me twice..." Enigma grimaces.  "Well, I've got a couple of ideas... We could talk to Tethtoril, or perhaps the Gatewarden?  The Priests of Oghma might be able to run a divination for us...?" Enigma shrugs, aiding her fellows as best she can.

Clay nodded and joined the Exodus home to the surface.

Continued here: link to a message in this game