The evening progressed as the sun set over Sundel, and Baldor kept downing ale in large quantities at The Oaken Respite. One the sun had dipped behind the horizon, using the darkness to their advantage, this newly founded group made their way back to the docks to watch the cargo crates containing the mysterious minerals.
It had been decided that Stuart, with his noble clothing of blues and red stood out too much, so along the way Mabel-Rae used her halfling size to her advantage (don’t call her short!) and scurried between his legs, making him trip and fall to the ground. He had reluctantly agreed his clothes looked to clean and too fancy, but lacked the gumption to do anything about it himself.
“As we were hanging out on the docks, chatting and drinking, pretending to be enjoying a night in town, we were keeping a keen eye on the unloaded cargo,. After a while four individuals arrived and started carrying the crates away. Seemingly out of nowhere a group of hooded figures, what looked to be, Drow, appeared and approached the group. One seemed to stand taller, was dressed more ornately and could wield magic. Who do I know that you might ask? Well, they killed the individuals ferrying the crates and took them for themselves. Two of them start carrying the crates while the mage used magic to effortlessly lift another.
As they left we decided to follow.
Baldor, having had a lot of ale, dropped his tankard which of course alerted them to our presence. But Stuart surprisingly reacted quickly and burst into a drunken song, appropriate for the festival that were to be celebrated here in Sundel in a few days. I started picking away at my banjo, also in a seemingly drunken manor, and Baldor attempted to sing along, which definitely sounded anything but good. Our ruse seemed to work and the drow continued on. We waited a bit before continuing our pursuit at a safe distance. Reading their body language we could tell they were more wary and suspicious now, and at a junktion they chose to divide themselves: The two ‘goons’ went one way and the mage another.
After a quick, whispered talk amongst ourselves we decide taking on the goons seem easier and so we follow them, but as we round a corner of a building and come out by a smaller square, we realise they have been waiting for us and a fight ensues.
We were correct though, in that the goons would not be too difficult to deal with. But I was not expecting it to be that easy: In the heat of the battle Tormund leaped of a create and completely cut one of them in half with his great axe. It was a sight to behold! He’s usually so quiet and modest, but apparently quite strong and feisty when needed.
Stuart surprises me yet again, as he reveals that he can speaks elvish, and starts to communicate with the other Drow goon, whom we now have surrounded. Having seen his friend cut in half, and having Baldor looming over him demanding answers seems to rattle him a bit. But not enough to talk. Baldor wants to know who their boss is and where they are taking the minerals. Using Thaumaturgy to further intimidate the drow by making lanterns flicker, window doors slam and the weather to turn, he earns the name “Baldor the Soulcrusher”.
We eventually learn, witht he help of Stuart acting as a translator and messenger, that they are taking the crates to a warehouse, that the mage is named Rok and that this group was the last one so the place should be fairly empty by now. The Drow even, reluctantly, leads us there and we decide I should scout the place as I notice a strange, magical shimmer by the front door: Someone is guarding it while being invisible.
Tormund spotted some broken windows and as I come back from checking the perimeter of the building, I let them know the back seems safe. So we head there and Tormund threw a rope, without any difficulty, to the roof where he was able to latch on to a spikey part and attach it. Small, quick and stealthy as I am I climb up, make my way across the roof and look through a broken ceiling window.
The coast was clear, and so I used a predetermined signal and the others joined me on the roof. We used another rope to slowly descend into the empty warehouse.l, where we were met with rows and rows of crates, each row with it’s own manifesto. We read a few, realising the minerals were being shipped to both the Gold Coast and the Dunlands.
Amidst our investigation we heard noises outside the front door and became aware of the fact that we were about to have company...”
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