"First to the map shop, all together, to see what we can find. Then let's split, whoever wishes to go to the library, go, I will go to my cousin and then the Iron Anvil Guildhall.

"We meet up again at the... castle? Hopefully either the Librarian or Sheldon will be able to arrange an introduction."


OOC: If GM wants us to stay together for logistics reasons (less work for him), I would be happy to do my side track via PM and we meet up when finished at the library.

"What's at the guild hall?"  Piper asked, her lack of knowledge of the city showing in her piqued interest.

“It’s a metalworking guild known for the high quality of its weapons and armor” Lirian answered (OOC: see the Common Knowledge thread, last post). “But, what we have to do there?” she asked to Hunter.

“I’m OK with Piper’s suggestion. I agree any cultists are likely to have left the shop, if they know about our raid yesterday, though I doubt it’s vox populi yet, but even if so, they may have left some clues there if they had to leave on a hurry…

I hope Daremo and the dragonkin already have told the guard about our adventure, but talking with their officers can help us, if they are as honest as I hope. Elysia may introduce us to them. Maybe she can help us with the book too. No one would have so magically trapped it unless it’s seen as important. If it is related to our issue now or not it’s entirely another matter… And I left my lute there, I won’t deny this reason too on my part…

Wherever we go, I’ll take my shortbow this time, though” she added.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:03, Wed 22 Nov 2023.

"Well, I want a blunderbuss for starters" Hunter said promptly. "If only I can convince dear Cousin Sheldon to pay for one. A blunderbuss would have been most welcome yesterday, if fact I felt positively undressed once I had fired my pistols. Moreover, I am rather keen to see what else these famous crafters and smiths have fashioned."

With an overall list of places to visit more or less finalized, Quentin decides not to argue about the exact order of visits and says he's fine with whatever the people come up with, as long as we have a consensus. Meanwhile he sits with the guards. "Can we discuss the rat-hunting? An interruption came the last time around and I was unable to clarify the details. Will you be able and willing to pay by the tail instead of a full-time job? If so, I would be interested. I gather there are not that many applicants, so you should still have funds in the program. In fact, are there any other applicants? I'd like to coordinate our efforts with them, we are having some success so far, which is better than nothing, and can sort of come with a workable plan."

23:10, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 5,24 using 1d6+1,1d6+1, rerolling max.  Persuade the guards to pay by the tail.

"What strange times of mean fortunes are these."  Aeress shook her head, not in frustration of anyone in particular but just the world she found herself in.

"I find that order reasonable.  I'm obviously more biased to check the shop first, but in exchange I'm just as interested in following up on the others."

Lirian listened to Quentin talk with the guards. “Well, we’re short on money…” she thought. “We probably should take the short swords we took and don’t need for ourselves to sell them…”



“Unless I understood wrong the shop will be our first stop…” she answered. “Even if our raid is not yet vox populi and they have not fled this would not last…”

She was reading herself to go, taking the book in a small backpack, a short sword to her belt and her staff, as well as the bow and quilver when she had second thoughts about it being appropriate on a city.

Then she closed to the guards too, trying to talk to another one and not to disturb Quentin. “Excuse me, Sit, but are people allowed to openly carry weapons like a bow on the city?

I mean, I guess melee weapons are, and with the rats problem even usual, but I understand a bow could be more problematic…”

Hunter stirred Jenkins awake with his foot. "Come on, up. We're off soon."


The pile of rags jerked and twitched, and presently Jenkins emerged blearily eyed. She stuffed their meager belongings into the backpack while Hunter checked the priming on his pistols yet again.

OOC: I am okay with splitting up. You can do whatever you choose. This game isn't on rails.

IC: Quentin talks to the guards and one of them seems to be more chatty than the others. "Right now the job is pretty standard. You are paid for a days work, however and don't be telling people. We are offering a deal as a bonus proving you have slayed some of the bigger beasts. The small ones are stand? We have a few sellswords who are lined up to do the work so you wouldn't be alone. But the choice is yours?"

OOC: If you are splitting from the group let's announce where you are going and who is going to be with you to keep the flow of the story moving. Then I can break up the groups into the right groups.

"Got that." Well, Quentin did not have to say how he liked that, but he got that well enough. "Who's organizing the partitioning, scheduling and that sort of thing so that the teams don't trample the same areas all over? I'd like to take a look at the map of the sewers to see where one could start and to mark one area checked. Besides, if that's not a secret, how many man-days heve been put in and how much of the map has been covered?"

The guard looks at Quentin with a grin, "HA!" the man laughed patting Quentin on his shoulder. "Groups he says boys. Maps yeah, we have a map that we can give you as a matter of fact, I won't even hide it.". The man digs in his bag and produces a map of the sewer showing the details of where people have mapped out and some other areas that seem to have X's marked in red. There's lots.

"Before you ask. That's all the teams that have failed. So it's not a small amount. In terms of how many people have joined generally those low on coin. Good news is, there's always travelers looking to make a coin. So we have lots of recruits but very little in terms of people surviving once they go down. A few groups have come back up but generally they only go down maybe once or twice at most."

With decisions (more or less) made, Piper finally roused from her lounging position and with Mosii aiding in her efforts, sought out some breakfast for the pair from whatever it was that Orin was making.


OOC: Piper is ready to head to the map shop first just to see if that's worth any effort.

Kai enters, his cloak coated in hoarfrost.  "Good morning," he says in his usual sullen tone.  He hangs his cloak by the fire and joins the others at the table.  "Sorry I wasn't here sooner.  I woke up early and wound up having to deal with some...things."

"Well, if you are up for dealing with more... things, I believe we have an itinerary set.  You should remember the traitorous shopkeeper?  We were about to see if he was still in town, so to speak."  Aeress explained.  Kai had been swindled by the same snake, and would likely be interested in trying to track him down.

Since Kai has a new player, previously Aeress and Kai were captured by a gas booby trap set in a mapmaker's shop.

Quentin takes a good look at the map. Of particular interest is whether this map is "full" sewer map as the city might have had pre-crisis that was then updated by the teams going there or was it just mapped by the teams going there with no pre-existing map. He also tries to infer any patterns but feels mostly confused by the preponderance of red X's all over the place. He points at the site which the group has recently checked whether it is or is not marked on the map. If it is not, he asks whether the guards knew that the sewers ran this far outside and if so, are there any other such spots.

OOC: Mostly ready to leave. Will talk to the guards for a bit, but just let Quentin know when you are heading out.

10:22, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 1,1 using 1d4,1d6, rerolling max.  Research(?) the map.

Seeing the rest of the team ready, and receiving no answer from the guards, Lirian decided to take her short bow anyway.

“We must assume we’re being watched, and so we will be trailed” she said to the others. “I even would not rule out a spy among the patrons…” She looked at the patrons in the Tavern, trying to see any suspicious person among them.

“So, we’d better be alert and watch out backs. If they don’t know yet about the raid, their spies would be watching us, and if they do, they may either have withdrawm or readied an ambush…”

"Ooh! Now this is of interest!" Hunter exclaims, and joins Quentin at the table to study the map.

Soon after, he was frowning. "I'm sorry, I don't understand. These Xs, these are where people went down, Yes? And where did they come out alive? Can I draw on your map?"

If permitted, he will go over the map with the guard, and circle the Xs where people went down and came up alive, and put exclamation marks at the Xs where people went down and failed to return.

"Also, where are the entrances to the sewers? Like, what major places? If there is a temple entrance, is that marked "temple". Is there an entrance near Silver's map shop, where is that?"

OOC: I'm good to go, but more map clarification would be good.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:38, Tue 28 Nov 2023.

The guards laugh at Hunter. "Alive? Very few..", says the guard. He points to the locations that you can enter the sewers which are mainly around the docking area where the boats come in and out of the bay. There are other locations closer to the edge of town. Skimming over the map itself you determine that one of them was likely the area that you had the big battle last night where Kai was nearly killed by the giant rat.

The closest one to you the Sunset Pomade which is close to the docks but sort of an entrance for people coming into the city. Further off on the edge of town you do see that a few blocks from the library there is another entrance. The one by sunset has a number of different ways you can take but most have X's leading to dead ends or people just didn't finish mapping. The one by the library only has one specific X.

"It won't matter if they prepared an ambush," Kai says loud enough for teh other patrons to hear.  "We'll simply kill them.  Then we'll come back here and cut out the tongues of anyone who told them of our plans."  He looks about the room in a menacing manner.

OOC: I am going to move the scene to the shop as it seems there was a number of people that wanted to go in that direction.

IC: As you leave the tavern to figure out what to do next your off following the direction of the people who were caught at the shop. As you reach the shop you can see that the shop looks pretty empty from the windows. As you all walk in you notice a foul smell coming from somewhere in the shop itself. Everything seems in place but there is nothing specific out of place.

You round the corner behind the counter looking for the owner only to find his body laid out on the floor in a defensive position missing his face. The area where his face is a huge bloody hole. You assume right from the second you see the body that the guards have not seen this yet.

“It seems the shopkeeper was not among the enemies, but another of their victims, probably to ambush you here…” Lirian though in loud. “We’d better call the Guard before anyone blames us about this.”

She looked around to see if there was a rear door or any clue about what happened. She also looked (without touching) if there was any sewer map among the ones that could be in the shop.

Quentin, along with his whole zoo, is guarding the outside against anyone coming in or out, including through the back door. He will come inside if asked, but would prefer for someone to replace him outside.

Hunter led the way in with pistols drawn, coat flapping gloriously. Seeing no immediate opposition he seemed somewhat disappointed, but nevertheless he checked the whole shop for anyone hiding.

Jenkins followed in cautiously behind the others, but when she saw the body she pounced and immediately began rifling his pockets.

Hunter is looking for any enemies lurking somewhere, and also other exits including other rooms, back doors, and specifically looking for some kind of a trapdoor. He will be lifting rugs etc to look under them.

Jenkins is looting the body. Any maps or notes of interest. Any keys?

Kai sighs at Jenkins' interest in looting.  "You could at least say a prayer for his soul first," he says before kneeling down and doing just that.

Is the shopkeeper's face just beaten to a pulp or was it literally blasted off, like with magic or a shotgun?

Jenkins snorted disparaging and called to Hunter "Can has eats naow?"

"No, you can't eat him. Even if Big Hat does say a prayer first"  Hunter replied .

OOC probably gnawed off...
This message was last edited by the player at 02:55, Thu 30 Nov 2023.