THE HIDDEN
SEGMENT 003
1/26/13
“DOCKS OF YRLAG”
EYRE 3, 999 – THE DOCKS OF YRLAG IN THE EVENING-
The dock city of Yrlag is always busy even at twilight. Venders, Hiring groups and ladies of the night are but a small part of it. One of the newest interests here is the House Ghallanda barge- Tymora’s Luck. It is a casino barge that travels along the river the city sits on. House Tharashk has an iron grip on the city’s activities and will not allow the barge to dock. So each night the barge gets within 100 feet of the docks and the halflings come ashore and offer passage. It annoys the orcs to a great deal.
One of the things that the halflings have done to encourage customers is offer free tickets to board the barge. Rose Vidana, a valenar elf swashbuckler and would be professional gambler has talked her new friends to join her on the barge and collected the free tickets for everyone to come. Tom Garvin, a druid ranger with a wolf companion named Maul quickly agreed to come. RAF, a warforged warrior, has also agreed to come but has little interest to join in. He was once a ceremonial guard in Wroat. Maybe he can find some inner peace by guarding these people. Maybe anyway. Their newest friend, a human fighter with interest with magic joins them at the last moment.
They have come early to the docks. This will allow them to take in the sights before going on Tymora’s Luck. They first see the community bulletin board. This large 10 X10 foot wooden block is where people may post notes for all to see. These notes go from wanted posters, hiring help, caravan requests and other more mundane notes of interest. Two boisterous drunken humans are pointing at a note. A handful of annoyed orcs glare at them. Whatever the humans believe is funny displeases the orcs.
Further down, a vender is trying to sell trinkets to some merchants whom have recently sold some Eberron shards they found to House Tharashk. A Talenta Plains halfling watches all of this from the comfort of his dinosaur. Loud commotion draws their attention down the docks. Someone is forcing their way through the crowds and yelling the entire time. RAF instinctively places his hand on his sword when he sees who it is.
The Emerald Claw.
There are four of them, a woman and three knights dressed in full plate. Not the average group but still distinctively the Claw. She is looking for a specific pilot of a ship and the people are quick to point him out. The others follow RAF as he marches up them. They have already climbed down the stairs of the dock to a floating platform where a small meager looking boat awaits them. RAF and his friends are no experts on sailing but question the strength of the boat as the woman and three heavily armored agents climb aboard. One of the knights seems to question it briefly himself but the woman demands him to climb in. The ship nearly sinks from their weight. As the pilot tries to warn the woman of the danger (he was not there would four- much less armored- passengers) she belittles him before the growing ground. One of the knights sees something in the water and leans over. The other two yell out in fear and throw their weight to the other side to avoid capsizing the 15 foot ship. Over it goes with a curse from the woman-and a great deal of smiles and laughter from the people on the docks.
At this point, several goblins, one with a large and heavy series of bags and packs on its back, step up to Rose. They try to sell their goods over and over to her. Maul convinces them it is time to move on.
A new commotion comes in behind them- Tusk d’Tharashk and his “deputies”. Tusk is a very large orc wielding a double bladed axe. He and his three orc buddies bully and control Tharashk law as he sees fit. He walks to the dock’s edge and sees the woman placing spells on the knights to keep them from sinking. The big orc sniffs and gives a sneer before turning around and commanding everyone to disperse. Now.
He begins to stare down a vender for bribes when a halfling dressed in fine blue silken robes and two lightly armored halfling guards walk between him and his target. He changes direction and turns to the drunken men by the message board. He makes it clear they need to leave but the halfling steps up to him first. He tries to ignore her but cannot. “We have a drunk on our dock- why not be useful and clear him and his passed out friend!” She is only a third of his height but makes up for it with her determination and fierceness.
He leans over and tries to intimidate her. Doesn’t. “Comon boys, maybe we can have some fun.”
Followed by the halflings, the four orcs go onto the pier where the large row boats await. A warforged dressed in robes carrying a quarterstaff with a ‘U’ shape on it watches everything with great interest. The orcs go directly to the drunks. The one is passed out and his drunken and unsteady friend acts to defend him. He swings his empty tankard at Tusk whom easily steps back to avoid it. Laughing, the large orc kicks the drunk in the chest and sends him into the river. The man surfaces and seems barely able to swim. Tusk then with his heavy boot rolls / kicks the unconscious man off the pier into the water. The first man does all he can to save his friend as the crowd looks on. All are afraid to act due to Tusk. RAF begins to size him up for a fight but first another fight begins without the orc or warforged.
A goblin waving a staff and a dark glass ball is yelling and arguing at a ½ orc vender. Each accuses the other of shoddy potions. Many people are forming a curious ring around them. A small and very silent goblin is moving from person to person. It is proving to be a good night for him. Wrath, RAF, Rose, Tom and Maul wander over to the argument. Tusk and his deputies begin to move roughly through the crowd also. The goblin spots the orc and decides tomorrow may be a better day to argue and leaves- quickly. The goblin that was working the crowd now disappears behind the tents.
The group passes several more groups. Women of the night, a rich couple complete with a body guard and a shifter with two Eldeen rangers. The last two groups follow them onto the pier to gain access to the Tymora’s Luck. A robed warforged has also chosen to join everyone along with a handful of merchants.