Moonstone ear ring from the gnoll. Harloc casts detect magic as a ritual and notes that it is magical.
1d4 temp hit points from the Ramen.
Children are playing discover Maurice dead with note. Child starts screaming.
Cory investigates the body and finds Maurice has been stabbed with his own knife with a note:
GOTTA BE ELSEWHERE. DON’T YOU WORRY, I’M RIGHT HERE AT HOME. The Joker
Hanzo and Harloc loot Maurice’s body. Hanzo takes Maurice’s dagger while Harloc takes the lute.
3 commoners approach, ask what happened in the city. A very confusing sequence of events is related.
- “There’s something happening here, what it is isn’t exactly clear.”
- Says the grouchy man holding a crossbow
- “Be wary, always be wary”
For What It’s Worth
The earth moves as buildings collapse. Vines shoot out of the ground and take over what remains standing in the city. In an instant, the city is overrun by dense forestry.
Helia and the party move into the mining town of Ode, getting there around noon.
They see Viscount Bridgerton horse. Looting it reveals a ciphered note.
Hanzo and Helia split to go to the market. They spend 10gp restocking over a 100 meals worth of dried and preserved food.
They pick up some town gossip:
- The local religion of minism is not well regarded but they get mixed answers about where people meet (Cult of Darkness).
- There are some rumors about bad things happening inside the mines
Cory, Ev, and Harloc go inside The Lone Beatle and find the viscount and his servant at the back booth with only the barkeeper there for company
Drinks start flowing freely. The viscount reveals:
- He had planned to leave the city but did not expect the riots
- He thought that the people were generally content and that there was no reason to riot (something later backed up by his servant)
- He was stopped by the royal guard holding insignias by the man of strings
- The Leader is a small time figure not worthy of attention.
Hanzo and Helia come back to the inn.
Hanzo goes inside where Cory is playing the lute. They secretly hatch a plot to rob the Viscount later that night.
The Viscount orders another round of drinks while clumsily gesturing to the bartender. The acknowledges and makes the drinks.
Helia enters and intercepts the drinks. A drinking game is begun where it becomes difficult to track whose drink is where. Some of the drinks are spilled. Those who drink their drinks are unaffected (the drinks are expensive and good).
Hanzo suggests a magic trick to the viscount, who is very entertained. He grabs some manacles and some rope, and manages to trick the viscount and servant:
- The viscount and servant are manacled together
- Harloc and Ev are holding the rope that binds them together
The viscount laughs but then asks to be freed. Hanzo starts going through the viscounts belongings as the viscount starts shouting. Hanzo pockets a purse with 150gp.
The bartender reacts to the assault. Cory asks him to be cool, but is not convincing. The bartender starts shouting for help.
Initiative is rolled. The combat encounter consists of various PC’s slapping the viscount and servant around. The bartender is grappled, tied up, dragged behind the bar, and then silenced with a sock in his mouth.
Hanzo goes upstairs to find 2 smaller rooms and one large room. He finds the the large room door locked and kicks it to no avail.
The viscount pleads for his life and his servant is ready to sell out his master. Cory uses this opportunity to confirm earlier details, but both the servant and viscount stick to facts stated earlier.
Harloc and Ev manage to move the restrained viscount + servant to the basement of the inn and convince them to be quiet.
2 villagers come to investigate the noise. Cory is able to sway them by claiming that the bar is closed for a special function and the noise is usual for one of the viscount’s parties.
Hanzo comes back down and grabs the room key from the bartender.
Going back upstairs, he finds an ornate but small chest in the large room. The chest is locked and neither the viscount nor the servant have the key. They claim not to even know where the key is.
The party asks the bartender to find a good home for their 8 orphans. The bartender agrees on the condition that they never come back to this town again.
The party leaves through the back and heads down the south road. Examining the chest reveals 7 hidden buttons. Ev is able to freeze the hinges and smash them, opening the chest.