The cast of heroes
Arken (Half-Elf Cleric) – leader of the party
Bardan (Human Fighter) – the muscleKnil (Elf Ranger) – the tracker
Korum Proudfoot (Halfling Thief) – the scout
Rioja Hyrule (Human Mage) – the wizard
Kima (Black Domestic Cat) – his familiar
Eoforwic Bound (Day 245-268)
Realising that they had no further use for the great
diamond, the party decided to head to the nearest major city in an attempt to
sell it. The smaller towns in their locale would not have the capacity or
wealth to purchase a gem of such value, so the great nobles and merchants of a
large city would be required to provide the market. Eoforwic, the capital city
of Mournland
After just over two weeks travelling the party arrived in
Eoforwic. They made for the most expensive inn in the city, The Bandit’s Arms, where
they rented a room each that led off of a private lounge area and started to
make their preparations for the sale of the great diamond. They had it
independently valued as being worth several tens of thousands of Gold Pieces in
several places and made it known that they would be selling the jewel by
auction in the market square in one week’s time. Interest was quickly
expressed, but there were five main front runners as the purchasers: a local
noble, two gem traders and two collectors.
The preliminary planning took a couple of days, so the party
had a few days to get on with preparations until auction day. They all headed
off in their own directions, except for Bardan.
Knil spent his time looking for some new weapons and armour to
purchase when he got his share from the sale of the diamond, and made himself
at home in the large tree just outside the window of the party’s main leisure
room at the inn. He would guard the approach to the private room from the
outside.
Bardan set up a vigil for the diamond in the private lounge.
He placed it in the middle of the room within its box and set his chair in the
corner where he could keep an eye on both the window and door of the chamber.
After a short while there was a slight noise from the wall beside him. A secret
panel started to shift aside and a shadowy figure was revealed within the
hidden compartment. Bardan used his elbow to strike the figure, which yelped in
surprise, dropped out of sight and promptly escaped. Obviously thieves were
aware of the treasure and were attempting to get their piece of the action.
Bardan re-closed the secret door, tied a string across the hidden compartment
and also similarly trapped the window. No thieves would be getting past him now
he knew about the other entrance to the room.
Arken headed to the Temple
of Din
Rioja set off to the city library to try to find out some
more information about Nephyros and the Darkness. The public shelves could tell
him no more than he already knew, but one tome did reference an older ledger
that may still be in existence that perhaps could give a little more
information. He tried to find out if the library had one in its private
collection but the clerk was blind to all his advances. Rioja awaited a change
of staff later in the day to see if another clerk would be more amenable to his
questioning. Luckily the late shift clerk was a little more sympathetic to
Rioja’s cause and after hinting heavily about how hard it was to feed his large
family passed the magic user a key to the archive vaults. The main proviso was
that the clerk would be back early in the morning to turf him out before the
senior librarian arrived. Rioja thanked him for his wisdom with more than a few
gold coins, and made his way into the vault as the clerk locked the library for
the night.
Rioja headed past rows of glass fronted cabinets containing
curios of days gone by before alighting upon the private collection. He
eventually found the tome he was looking for and made notes of what he found
out. The three aspects of Nephyros were mentioned but only two were
purposefully created by the dragon. The Hawk and the Beast were the main two
aspects, but upon withdrawing those essences from himself, he also
inadvertently created the Darkness. The tome mentioned that there was no real
way of destroying it as it was created by accident and not as the end result of
a ritual which could be reversed. The book, cryptically, mentioned a farmer who
encountered the Darkness which didn’t really fit in with the rest of the book,
but it gave a description that matched what the party had encountered
previously. The final few pages of the ancient text also mentioned that over
all the millennia that the fight between Light and Darkness had been drawn over
ended with about a three to five ratio with Aphyros winning the struggle.
However, the last battle ended differently; Nephyros had created the new
aspects to help pave the way for victory in their next encounter (the battle that
was being fought now). He had never split himself prior to this. The last
sentence mentioned that the Darkness had been roaming free for the last
millennium but was slowly growing in power, as well as being independent of the
other two forces. Rioja checked the night oil and found it was running low, so
he used the remainder of his time browsing through random tomes until the
return of the clerk. He was able to find a few spells contained within the
dusty pages of the books, so he copied them down for future study and
reference. The clerk arrived back a little while before opening time and
ushered Rioja out into the dew laden streets. The mage returned to the Bandit’s
Arms.
Korum was a little more secretive than his compatriots.
After getting the horses stabled and the rooms sorted he hid himself from
general view so that as few people as possible could relate him to the party
with the diamond. He slipped out of the inn and headed towards the Thieves’
Guild. He managed to find it easily enough by following certain sigils carved
upon the lintels above the doors of certain buildings. He passed the lock
entrance test to be faced by an attractive female human receptionist. However,
as he later discovered, she didn’t have hairy feet so she dropped quite
drastically in his estimation. He requested an audience with the master of the
Guild, and after answering a few simple questions that only a high ranking thief
would know the answer to, was led through a small antechamber and into a
courtyard where he was met by a tall, thin human wearing an elaborate robe. He
was shown around the courtyard to see what the members were getting up to and
finally into the chamber of the master thief. He made sure he noticed all of
the faces, doors and escape routes as he proceeded through the complex. When he
was finally alone in the presence of the master he discussed his plans to steal
the diamond and present it to the Guild. The Master agreed to reward him in
return for purloining the diamond but warned him that others were after it too,
and may already have it in their possession. Korum mentioned that he would be
the one to bring it to the master before any of the others could. Rather than
return directly to The Bandit’s Arms he decided to check in to a poorer
establishment to throw any follows off the scent. He bided his time, and
realised that he was being followed but was able to work out the pattern of
observation so slipped away back to The Bandit’s Arms for a couple of hours to
explain what he was up to.
The whole party had now arrived back at the inn so told their
stories about what they had found out. Korum trapped the secret door to stop
further incursions from that direction and they all realised that they may be
able to sell the diamond for a great amount, steal it back from whoever bought
it and then implicate the Thieves’ Guild after Korum had claimed a reward for
it. Arken, Bardan and Knil remained in the inn to guard the jewel whilst Rioja
contacted Laerus to see if he had a contact in the city. He gave Rioja the name
of one of his friends who owed him a favour. Korum headed back to the run down
tavern to resume his part for the cover story.
One More Day (Day 268)
The following morning, Rioja headed off to visit Laerus’s mage
friend for more information. Unfortunately, he was unable to tell Rioja anything
other than what he already knew but, as recompense, the wizard was able to
teach him a few new spells.
Korum began investigating the five main interested parties,
and cased their homes, warehouses and guard routines. He was able to find out
that none of the other thieves would be attempting to steal the jewel until
after the transaction. He made it known that he would be stealing it before the
auction to deter others from accosting the party. During his investigations he
was also able to book six guards to escort the party to the auction site and
then accompany them to get the diamond safely to the stronghold of the buyer. He
also asked Rioja to cast a cantrip onto one of his rings so that he could
activate the lesser ancible to give the party notice that he had stolen the
diamond back and he needed their help straight away. They would obviously know
which merchant’s house to head towards as they would have been there once
already. He also asked Rioja to load a Magic Missile onto the wand Laerus had
given him, so he had an extra sure fire shot in his arsenal for added
protection.
Auction Day (Day 269)
After a hearty breakfast, Arken, Bardan and Rioja
accompanied by the six guards Korum had booked for them, made their way to the
market place for the auction. Knil made his way across the rooftops and set up
a vigil overlooking the square. Korum watched the proceedings from the shadows,
and as soon as the auction was concluded headed towards that merchant’s house
and hid waiting for the party to arrive. The gem sold for a massive 87,000 Gold
Pieces and would be sure to attract the attention of every would-be thief in
the city. The party, plus their six guards and those provided by the buyer more
than put off any straight forward attack. The deal took a short while to prove
it was genuine on both sides with a bill of sale raised by the city to provide
the assurance. The party and buyer then headed to the buyer’s house to conclude
the deal.
Meanwhile, Korum had been watching the house and noticed
that an upper storey window had been left open – unusual if the inhabitants
were out. He then further noticed furtive movements within the upper chamber.
He realised the occupant was a fellow thief, so he waited in the shadows to see
what happened.
The party and buyer arrived and entered the building. Half
an hour later, the party emerged with smiles on their faces, so Korum assumed
the deal had been concluded and the monies paid. In keeping with the plan, the
party did not return to their inn but made their way to a tavern local to the
merchant’s house to await Korum’s signal.
Korum kept up his watch on the open window. Sure enough,
after a couple more hours had passed, and dusk was settling in, a dark-dressed
figure stealthily crawled out of the open window, across a roof and down a
drain pipe. This was Korum’s cue to start following. He caught up with the
figure in a dark alley a hundred yards away from the merchant’s house. He
launched himself at the figure and attempted to pin the person down. The
secretive figure turned out to be a human male with an aspect that marked him
out as not being a normal citizen. The thief went for his dagger, but Korum was
quicker. He grabbed the weapon from its sheath and threw it across the
alleyway. The thief’s other hand was held in a vice-like grip, and after
ejecting the weapon, Korum grabbed him by the throat. He asked where the
diamond was but the thief denied all knowledge. Korum increased the pressure on
the thief’s windpipe and the thief started to reach for something. Korum guided
the hand to where it wanted to go; a satchel hidden beneath the burglar’s
cloak. The thief opened his eyes in surprise and looked over Korum’s shoulder
with intent. Korum wasn’t going to fall for that old trick so punched the
thief. Unfortunately the immense strength given to him by the Girdle of Frost
Giant’s Strength meant the thief’s head hit the cobbles too hard. Without
waiting to look around, Korum snatched the satchel from the body and escaped
into the shadows.
The ancible in Rioja’s hand began to flash so the party knew
that Korum had completed his task. They made their way towards the merchant’s
house, but a few streets before they got there a small fellow approached them
directly and dropped a satchel at Bardan’s feet with a wink. Korum continued
via a roundabout route to The Bandit’s Arms, arriving just after the party
returned.
The Double-Cross
Korum made himself scarce again after telling the party what
had happened. He said he would return in a few minutes as he had something to
do before taking the gem for his reward at the Thieves Guild. He visited a
local apothecary for a certain poison and its antidote, and applied the serum
to the diamond and his hands appropriately.
He picked up the satchel containing the box with the diamond
in it and took it to the Guild House. Again, he passed the security locks and
questions with ease and was ushered into the Grand Master’s presence. He made
sure that they were alone before telling the master that he had acquired the
diamond as he said he would. The master was surprised and asked to see proof.
Korum opened the box in a way to show that it wasn’t trapped and allowed the
master to take a look for himself. The master asked to pick it up but Korum
mentioned the little matter of a reward. The master pulled an elaborate box
from under his desk and presented it to Korum. It was trapped but none of them
had been set to go off, so he opened the box to reveal a beautiful short sword.
Korum motioned that he be allowed to wield it to make sure it was a sword of
great quality as the master suggested. Reluctantly the master agreed and Korum
made sure he made no suspicious moves. Satisfied the sword was of great quality
and most likely magical (it had a similar but better feel than his own magical
sword) he handed it back. The master’s greedy eyes were now fixed upon the
diamond, so Korum made a great show of taking the gem out of its box with his
bare hands and passed it to the master thief’s bare hands. The contact poison
was now on the master’s hands but wouldn’t affect him for about ten minutes.
Korum added that in addition to the sword, he would also like immunity from
Guild rules if he is ever back in town. It was agreed upon that he could only operate
‘within reason’. Korum shook hands with the master and left the way he came in.
He made his way back to the run-down tavern by a circuitous route to throw off
any potential pursuit and then a short while later during the early hours he
headed back to The Bandit’s Arms.
The party were waiting for him to arrive and he told them
the deal had been struck. The party had gained the sale value of the diamond
which Korum said they could have so long as he could keep the sword which Rioja
identified as a Short Sword of Quickness. The trade with the Guild meant that
they had gained the sword from the thieves as well as the gem’s value. In
addition, the party could not be implicated in the theft as they had cast iron
alibis, with all evidence clearly implicating the Thieves’ Guild.
Korum told the party he would now make himself scarce as the
Guild may be after him if his poisoning ploy had dispatched the master thief.
He said he would meet the party at the hoar apple tree five miles outside of
town the following afternoon.
The Aftermath (Day 270)
Korum spent the night wandering around the shadows of the
city, keeping his eyes peeled in case of recriminations. As the light grew, he saw
that some of those present at the Guild he’d noticed over the previous visits
he had made there were wandering around nervously, asking furtive questions. He
smiled to himself knowing that his plans to disrupt the guild had most likely
come to fruition. The new master would thank him in the days to come but he had
also made some new enemies.
To make things seem normal, the rest of the party divvied up
the sale money and went on a spending spree. Bardan grabbed a beautiful suit of
magical plate armour and a new Girdle of Giant Strength to match Korum’s. Arken
also bought some magical armour, Rioja grabbed a couple of magical rings
(invisibility and inaudibility), and Knil got himself a Bag of Holding. After
dallying around for a while they finally collected their belongings from The
Bandit’s Arms and headed out of the city to rendezvous with Korum as agreed.
The Return Home (Day 270- 286)
The journey home was uneventful. Tim greeted them warmly and
showed what he had been up to. Everything was running smoothly, and a further
1,500 gold had been paid off of Arken’s debt to build his temple. Arken paid
his respects to the temple in the local town and paid another large piece of the
debt off in addition to that which Tim had paid.
He then prayed to his goddess for guidance on what she
needed of them next.
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