Enter the Factotum
Dayereth, finally seeing an opening, demands a reasonable payment of 10,000 gp and takes his leave. He may actually smile a bit as he goes.
With that out of the way, and realizing Lucian has vanished, again, the party tries to figure out what they want to do as a crowd of “touts” begins to gather about them. Perhaps it is the evocation of Zorath (Dread Lord, Master of Death, Ultimate Keeper of Dark Lore, etc, etc) or the mention of a library from the Tomb of Horrors or a jeweled skull, or perhaps its just the parties appearance, but they seem to attract the attention of a desiccated and not entirely alive humanoid.
When confronted, this being introduces himself as
Deadus Cred, a “factotum of the Dustmen”. He briefly explains that the Dustmen are a “faction”, one of many in Sigil, that sees little difference between life or death, and guesses that the party also understands that the line between the two states can indeed by a fine one. He seems quite polite for someone who occasionally has to reattach his extremities, and claims to regularly show important personages about the city. With no other viable option, the party agrees to let him be there guide.
He explains the taurus shape of the city, and its relatively large size. He muses on whether Sigil has a “middle”. Sim picks right up on this. Which seems to be the pattern.
Deadus mentions a few places for the party to lodge: Chippers, which he says is popular with “primes” and the “Fortunes Wheel”, with its diversions that may appeal to the party and more importantly a small and very secure inn attached. The band opts for secure, and rent two rooms, each for the princely sums of 40 gold per night. They are treated very well at the Fortune’s Wheel. They even have some luck with the dice, though not much with the Wheel itself.
The factotum then takes them around the Great Bazaar to some adjacent shops that trade in arcane items. The artificer in particular has several things he thinks the party need and being a native of another great planar city—The City of Brass—hopes to readily find. They eventually find most of the items, but realize they cannot really pay for a lot of them.
Conveniently, the things they have—library of necromantic lore, jeweled skull—are exactly the sort of things that would be of interest at the Mortuary, the Dustmen headquarters and a place that, as the name implies, collects and holds the dead. Deadus promises to check with his faction on the possibility of purchasing the items.
Deadus also points out that they are being followed. A fact quickly confirmed by Forge and soon everyone else. Buckthorn moves unnoticed behind the conspicuously non-descript individual as the other surround him. He plays tough for a bit, but is clearly shaken by the sudden turn. He seems to be with the Guard, and mentions a large “unregistered bounty” on a group that comes very close to matching at least three of them. After some back and forth, the party mentions githyanki, and he toughens right up again, telling them to report to the Courthouse the next day.
At the Courthouse, together with Milister Hardtop, the Harmonium agent trailing them the day before, they meet Judge Clearview, the pipe smoking “Guvnor”—member of The Fraternity of Order—who seems to lead this little investigative cell. (something is mumbled about another faction that is not represented in the meeting). Both sides are bit evasive, but eventually they make progress, and come to an interesting agreement.
If the Githyanki were the source of the bounty, that could explain why it was so hard to trace it, being an illithid bred race with a disproportionate number of psions, which could be used to cover tracks, as it were. But that wasn’t the reason for summons.
The reason was another ongoing investigation. After noticing more Githzeria and Githyanki winding up dead than normal, the investigators eventually discover that the Githyanki have been quietly massing in the city, in a very unauthorized and unregistered sort of way. Almost a legion’s worth of unregistered massing. They also seem to be focusing on a part of the city called “The Bends”, a sort of permanent maze that the Dabus seek to contain but do not, or cannot, remove.
More back and forth…but then the deal is struck. Forces will be joined against the Githyanki, to help protect the party and “give the Githyanki a bloody nose” as Hardtop puts it.
There is a small complication: weapons. And technology. Most of places Sigil is portal-linked to tend to be magic rich and less developed technologically. However enough advanced items have begun to enter the city that the Lady of Pain has started to consider increasing its “technology level”. The main impact so far? Portable rockets, harquebuses with clockwork reloading, and some cannons…in the Armory.
The Armory is also the headquarters of the Doomsguard, another faction with a somewhat pessimistic outlook, and one that does not get along with the Guvnors nor Harmonium. So the mission for the party is simple. Deliver an official request for weapons, and actually get them.
They great Deadus Cred after the Courthouse meeting and he informs them that he has two more meetings for them. One, at the Mortuary, to sell their library and skull, and one with some members of his order that may know
things. These are in different parts of town, and eventually the party will have to split up.
But first they all head to the Armory.
Cred presents them in his official capacity as a factotum of the Dustmen, and equipped with 50 sapphires from the Judge, they garnish their way to see the “doomlord” on watch.
It’s a slaad. Surrounded by heavily armored and armored beings, flanked by a demon and a deamon and supported by a vaguely familiar fine print reading devil, the negotiating begins. When the slaad can be comprehended at all, it clear that the vile toad like thing cares little for the niceties of well, anything, but relying heavily on Nar’s Ion stone and Sim’s cosmic insight they make progress by relying on appeals to the potential for destruction, threats that they will look weak, and loyalty to the Lady of Pain (in that order). Plus the remaining sapphires.
The weapons are promised—with, at Forge’s insistence—training—and contracts are signed, with just a bit of blood. Its made very clear that the Armory bears no responsibility for any resulting death or mayhem they may be contributing to.
The party splits. Sim and Buckthorn head to the mortuary and Nar and Forge to meet Cred’s associates.
At the mortuary, the planar and halfing are ultimately brought to a dark and cowled figure. For all its unliving ambiguity Sim does well to arouse the interest of the being, tormenting it with various hints on the archive and its origin, and ultimately forcing it to pay 25,000 platinum (in bar equivalent) for the library and skull.
Deadus Cred is cautious as he leads the elf and dwarf to the other meeting. He does not “vouch” for those that are being met. And his suspicions, such as they are, are confirmed soon enough. The two are met In an ornate room in the Ladies Ward, a statue of a heart eating power behind them. An evasive back and forth evolves into demands for the “book”.
Meanwhile, their wealth secured in one of the party’s bags of holding, Sim and Buckthorn head back to the Fortune’s Wheel, but then run into a somewhat familiar tiefling (no, not that one).
“Been looking all over for ya”
Wielding ichored batorian steel daggers and accompanied by a efreet, not a dao this time, of pasha rank (though they all have ranks) that Simoria may or may not recongnize. Turns out, there is no bounty for a run-off janissary that meets Sims description. But there is the big bounty for the party, and the spells-swords head can just be a bonus.
Back with Nar and Forge, the two Rakshasas reveal themselves in their true tigeresque form and begin to assault the adventurers.
Ichored daggers or not, the rogue tiefling has little luck, and the efreet only a bit more. Buckthorn is zipped up to a roof by Sim and is free to litter enemies with arrows. Even the appearance of a powerful fire elemental on the roof does little to deter the Halfling, who easily evades it. He is hardly scratched, the tiefling is killed, and the efreet forced to flee.
The Rakshasas, with their mental assaults and one well timed
vanish and leave an illusion behind manage to inflict a good deal of harm. They also suffer it. Nonetheless, reinforced by a strange astral construct, they are able to bring down the magmaized wizard (burning transformation+stone skin) before Forge finally dispatches them.
Some time earlier… heading to the Armory, they stopped by the Temple of Knowledge and somehow ran into Wella, the Halfling cleric who conveniently introduced them to Deyareth and more importantly helped drive off Grazz’t when the demon lord had been summoned by a wayward student last time the band was in Watercross. Now, conveniently, she runs into them here.
“Answer to my prayers.”
They have a somewhat evasive discussion—one of many for the party in Sigil—and, in their defense, the adventurers have reason to suspicious of the appearing priestess. She, of course, senses this. She notes that the lore they seek may require them to go to a “higher power”, but if they don’t trust her, then—and tell no one she suggested this—there is Kesto Brighteyes and his shop that might help. Its all a bit cryptic.
Its very possible that Deadus had already mentioned Kesto. He did mention Fell, the very old and fallen Dabus. Who does tattoos.
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