Session 2

Date: 8 March 2021

Previous: Session 1

Open Scene


We're on a boat!

Things seem fine. The brat took the captain's quarters, the rest of us are sleeping in...less than comfortable lodging.

Several days into the trip, we're roused by noise on deck. A Brass Dragon flies overhead! Rin writes "Hello" in the sky (in Common). The Dragon ignores it.

Mortalis goes to fetch his weapon, but it doesn't return. Beans and Xanie stay up geeking out over it, while Suleiman goes back belowdecks to resume his nap.

A Few Days Later...
A few days later, another ruckus rouses us from belowdecks. Xanie, Beans, and Suleiman bolt upstairs. Mortalis has the forethought to grab his weapon first. The others (except Knot) follow.

The captain and mercenary leader are at the railing, peering into the distance with a spyglass.

There are no dragons.

Mortalis inquires about the situation. A ship heading straight towards us, about an hour out. It isn't flying any flags. They're readying arms as a precaution. He heads belowdecks to ready himself. Suleiman does the same. Knot asks Mortalis whats up, and he explains.

The captain hoists the flag of the mercenary company (?), and the ship turns away from us. Crisis averted.

We sail on to Korvosa.

As we approach, the crew remarks that there aren't nearly the normal amount of ships in the harbor. The navy is still present, but not really merchant ships.

Korvosa
As we depart, the captain doesn't know where the Adventurer's Guild is but directs us to the Burnt Wolftail tavern (because Suleiman asks about a pub).

The market outside is oddly quiet. Suleiman heads straight to the bartender and orders an Ale. After some faffing about, we also get rooms.

Suleiman orders food from the GIANT half-orc outside, after which Knot successfully Deception-checks himself into dinner. (Minor Side Plot: Butcher gave the Chef Bad Sausage?)

Rin overhears a few snippets of conversation (while Suleiman tries and fails to start one of his own):


 * The docks sound dangerous
 * "Low docks"?
 * Bandits
 * Pirates
 * Something about the adventurer's guild

Beans confirms that the dragon was NOT seen in Korvosa. The docks are empty because of the PIRATES. Korvosa has a navy, which traditionally has held off piracy but hasn't helped with this. They can't FIND the pirates (!!!). Some ships straight-up disappeared.

Beans engages GOOD mode and asks how we can help. The merc we're talking to directs us to the guildhall.

The Adventurer's Guild
We make our way out of the inn in the morning (Beans and Mortalis buying a bottle of mead apiece on the way out) to head to the adventurer's guild.

Nobody's home, but there are a LOT of requests. Requests on requests on requests (literally, pinned on top of one another).

jk there's a tiny mans in here. A flustered tiny man. Sounds like people are vacating the city, so there aren't many people taking jobs from the guild.

Some Jobs:


 * Helping nearby farmers deal with the Bandits
 * Open calls for help in Low-Dock
 * The Navy is recruiting
 * Someone wants help retrieving an heirloom from an Abandoned Hamlet

Sounds like the Low-Dock problem is part out-of-work dockworkers, part gang-war, and part incompetent handling by the guards.

We decide to go help the farmers.

The Farm
We encounter some traders on the way out of town. Suleiman notices that they're a bit roughed up and inquired. Bandits on the road, north of where we're going. We press on to the farms, arriving shortly after dark.

As we enter the hamlet, we hear the sound of something being dropped and shouting. "They're back!"

Rin announces us: "Hello!? Dragon Research Team! Any dragons in the area?" No response.

He continues shouting. Knot...clears things up. The farmer comes out and we talk.

They sent multiple requests to the guild. We're the first to respond. They've been harrying farms all up and down the road. We go inside, Mortalis keeps watch towards the north (where the bandits came from) through a window. Rin summons an owl for the same purpose, which circles outside.

Conversation Notes:
 * Doesn't sound like the farmer has any direct knowledge of the bandits.
 * "About a dozen"
 * Heard them talking, dunno the language. "Sing-songy" Elvish.
 * Hitting about "a farm a night".
 * Most of the people have gone to town for safety, but only a couple farms are fully abandoned.
 * They haven't touched crops / livestock, only heirlooms, some grain.
 * We check the old farmhouse. "Ransacked" was an apt way to describe it. Cabinets emptied, food stores emptied. BUT! nothing damaged / broken.

Suleiman finds a finely-made dagger, well-maintained and clearly well-forged. Elven make, but certainly not masterwork. Dropped, and kicked under a bed.

We rest, with a watch. Suleiman and Xanie notice lights in the distance towards the north, but nothing they can make out.

In the morning, the party begins searching the rest of the farm. There is a distinct lack of things being ransacked. They didn't steal any horses.

We head north and find a well-trod deer trail. Rin gives us all Pass without Trace, and we stealthily follow it---stumbling onto a well-organized elvish camp.

/fin