In which Councillor Brannon Byrne is Murdered (1st
May 2013)
The Dragon Warriors
Aethelfrith – Thane
Sir Erich of Barton – Knight
Hillson - Warlock
Nazir al Khalid – Barbarian
Solaran – Elementalist
Karban Telos – Sorcerer
Arrested (Day 12 (92) – late evening)
Solaran, Sir Erich and Aethelfrith knocked on the wooden
door of the Councillor’s house. As they expected, they received no reply. They
called his name a few times before they decided to shoulder open the door. Upon
entering the gloomy passageway beyond the main door, they held their torches
aloft calling the councillor’s name. Again they heard no reply. They advanced
into the candle-lit study and saw the councillor lying upon the floor in a pool
of half-congealed blood. They quickly studied the body and found that he had
been stabbed; the knife was still in the wound. They looked quickly around the
study, but could find no reason for the break-in. The study was in its usual
state of untidiness but nothing appeared to have been taken. Solaran found his amulet on a workbench and
placed it quickly back around his neck just as the party heard voices coming
down the entrance corridor.
Four men-at-arms advanced into the chamber and demanded that
the occupants lay their arms to and step away from the body. A fifth person was
just visible in the shadows beyond the soldiers. The sergeant examined the body
making mental notes, and then he proceeded to look around the chamber. Whilst
he was looking at the evidence before him the fifth member of the guards’ party
encouraged them to arrest the three adventurers on the spot as it was obvious
they were guilty. By now he had advanced further into the chamber and all three
adventurers realised it was the bandit chieftain from Worsted – this was
obviously a set-up. The councillor had been deemed to have double-crossed the
bandit chieftain (the argument the party had witnessed upon their immediate
arrival in Worsted supported this) and the party had wiped out his lucrative
set-up in the forests.
The party were asked to accompany the guards to the watch
tower as they were accused of murdering the councillor. They accompanied the
guards gladly as they had nothing to hide.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party back at the safe house
became a bit restless as their companions had not returned after a few hours.
They decided to take a trip to the councillor’s house to see what might have
happened. When they arrived they found that the councillor’s house had been
cordoned off and four well-armed guards had been posted outside. Their
enquiries led to nothing as the guards were very tight-lipped. The party
decided to cut their losses and made their way to a tavern across the street
that was still plying its trade at that time of night. They questioned the
denizens of The Golden Goose, a very upmarket establishment, over a few very
expensive drinks and found out that there had been a murder and that the
perpetrators had been carted off to the local watch room under heavy guard.
Sir Connor (Day 13 – early morning)
The guard appeared before the doors to their cells with a
bucket of gruel and proceeded to ladle the grey mixture onto soft leaden plates
for the accused. He started to push them through the slits under the doors
designed for such purpose when a familiar voice was heard from behind him. The
guard produced his set of keys and unlocked each of the cells containing the
companions. They rubbed their eyes in the bright morning light and followed Sir
Connor out of the gaol and into his office. The smell of freshly baked bread
and spicy sausage greeted them upon their arrival. He bade them to eat their
fill and explained what had been happening over-night. He was well aware that
they were not guilty but had to show that protocol was being followed. He asked
the party how they knew about their accuser and they explained that he was the
bandit chief out for revenge on both the councillor and themselves. He put out
an order for the bandit to be tracked down at the address he had given the
watch and detained, which was snapped to immediately. He said he would keep
them in for another day or so just to make things look the part and then set them
free due to lack of evidence.
Back at the safe-house, Toby returned at his allotted time.
He had no further information for them, so the rest of the party set out for
the prison to get an update on the situation. The scenario was explained to
them in detail, and Toby was sent off to try to look for the whereabouts of the
bandit chieftain just in case he could find out something that Sir Connor’s
guards could not.
After the discussion, the party that were free to go headed
out to do some investigating of their own. Hillson went looking for details on
the monks of Worsted, whilst the others set about selling the treasures that
the party had accumulated over the last few days. Nazir walked around the docks
under the guise of gaining some steady employment but really looking for
rumours of what had transpired recently. He heard nothing that the party did
not already know.
As the bells of the church of the new religion tolled for compline, Sir Connor called into the
cells and let the party go. The bandit chieftain had fled town and so there was
now no witness to link them to the murder and thus no-one to pin the blame on
except the chieftain; presumed guilty by his absence and the testimonies of the
three adventurers being cross-referenced with what was heard by the denizens of
The Golden Goose.
A New Hideout (Day14)
The party met up again at the safe house later that night
but realised that they would need to move on if they did not want to run the
risk of being found by any of their enemies. They gathered their belongings and
headed for a nicer part of town where they booked into a new tavern for a bath
and some rest and recuperation. They found a neat tavern in the richer
district, close to the gaol in which they had recently been held. They informed
Sir Connor of where they were now staying.
The following morning, they gathered their treasures and
headed out to find a blacksmith who could make some decent plate armour for Sir
Erich. They soon found a master armourer who could do the job for them but the
armour would take five days to complete. They paid over 600 florins up front
for the armour and said they would pay the rest upon completion. The smith said
that was a fair deal and set about making the mail.
After placing the order for the armour, the party returned
to their new tavern hide-out and began to settle in for a night of feasting and
roistering whilst they laid low waiting for Sir Erich’s armour to be completed.
During the course of the evening, Aethlefrith and Karban
took part in a game of Mubbly-Peg – This
tavern game is a contest between two players who throw their daggers at their
feet in order to see who can get closest without cutting themselves.
Aethelfrith won the initial contest but when he opened the floor for any takers
none were willing to take on the seasoned warrior. Karban was another prospect
entirely, and a local sailor relived him of several silver florins. Hillson
also became a few florins richer by betting against his friend!
Whilst the frivolities were taking place, Sir Erich was
approached by a hooded man. Nobody else noticed the hushed conversation going
on between the two shadows in the corner of the tavern whilst there was a fun
distraction going on.
A New Ally? (Day 15)
The following morning, after the party had broken their fast
and they had recovered from the night before, Sir Erich asked the party to
return to their own common room, as he had something to tell them. Sir Erich
explained that he had been approached by Antonio Guaires (the third member of
the Scorchers coven in the final underground chamber who had escaped from the
party’s clutches). He mentioned that he was a member of a small faction within
the family that was not happy with the way things were being run. The family
were not as united as many supposed and he was fighting to carve out a new
niche for himself. He had seen how the party had handled themselves in that
fight and was willing to take them on as his strong arm.
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