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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MarauderX" data-source="post: 1971059" data-attributes="member: 9990">Session 26:  Riverside NegotiationsWith their tensions of returning the ship into the city safely, the party relaxed as the ship was secured in the South Docks.  The crew offloaded after being paid, and many were glad to be safely returned to the city they knew.  Galadin and half a dozen others stayed on board, still overseeing many of the duties to ensure the ship’s wellbeing.  The party went into the city, splitting up to each take care of some personal business.  Quentin and Alex saw the obese Mortis just as he was sitting down to eat a stuffed quail, and it became apparent what the large man spent most of his money on – chefs to bring him rich food equal to that of the Marquis.  He made them watch as he ate before wrapping up the business of the silver-masked man.  Once they were paid handsomely, Mortis grinned with pleasure that their delivery went well.  Grimnyr roamed into the city and was welcomed at a fine establishment that seemed much too quiet and empty.  With a few tales of the northern men and their heroic exploits, Grimnyr pulled in the attention of the bar patrons and got the beer flowing freely.  Within an hour he had earned a full stay at the bar with meals and free mead.  Jerrin ventured back out of the city to visit the closest druid grove, and once there he heard many of the same concerns that others had – assisting the forest to recover from its receding line as more people expanded their holds, helping woodland creatures, and holding a funeral for an ancient dying oak.  Thovaas was regaled at the barracks in which he had housed his belongings.  He heard much about the crimes of the last several weeks, whether petty or vial, as there was usually an unreasonable villain with which to be dealt.    In the morning, Thovaas went to see Barrister Sigrid, but he was not at home since he went down to see a man about a ship.  Thovaas then hustled back to the ship and met Grimnyr and Alex on board just as they saw an entourage coming along the docks.  A man dressed in the finest clothes was striding haughtily and with him Barrister Sigrid kept pace.  Sigrid had his scribe with him, and this rich man had at least ten attendants of various sorts walking with him.  They approached the ship and Sigrid was heard loudly explaining that the ship was for sale by the ship’s new owners, Captain Thovaas and Captain Quentin.  Sigrid talked mostly to the well-dressed man, but it was clear he was explaining the circumstance to the party as well.  Two inspectors were given permission to board the Lorleena’s Cutter and quickly they started to note every last thing that seemed to be wrong with the ship, from incorrectly sized rope to poor rigging and several loose boards that might cause leaks.  Galadin sprang to his feet in defense of the ship’s condition and began a running debate with the finely dressed inspectors as they perused the ship.  Galadin stopped arguing when they entered the captain’s quarters to discover disheveled piles of paper, cloth and tools.  In the middle of mess Quentin stirred awake and asked Galadin who the men were.  Upon explanation Quentin quickly pulled on his trousers and emerged a few minutes later to help discuss the matters of selling the ship.  The rich man was introduced as Ibeli, a noble who already had over a dozen ships working under him.  Ibeli, under the direction of the inspectors, made his first offer of 12,000 gold.  Not pleased with the first offer, the party waited patiently for him to raise the amount.  After much debate the party lowered their price to 16,500, but Ibeli remained firm at 14,000.  The party looked at Sigrid, who seemed to be indicating to raise the price, so the party stayed at 16,500.  In a huff Ibeli spun away from them and left the ship.  Barrister Sigrid returned an hour later and was upset that the party had misinterpreted his signal to take the offer of 14,000, not try to raise it.  He said he would try to talk Ibeli into revisiting the ship the next day if the party would lower the price even more, to which they agreed.  Jerrin inspected the ship and did what he could magically while Galadin directed the others to properly fix even the untidiest of items.  Jerrin also found an inspector of his own to review the ship and provide another professional opinion on the value of the vessel.  The party agreed that they would settle for 15,000 gold for the ship.  The day passed into evening and the party set up a double watch to look out for anything suspicious.  While Alex and Quentin were discussing a few techniques for crossbow traps, they noticed the glow of torches reflecting from the water.  Several hundred yards down the docks a mob of almost a dozen men walked towards them, and each of them bore a torch.  In the front were two men dressed in robes that Alex recognized as belonging to a mercenary guild in the city.  They approached the ship as Quentin woke the others.Just as the rest of the party was grabbing arms they heard a loud bang that resounded throughout the ship.  On the deck they saw Alex holding his ringing ears as the men on the pier called out again and again to negotiate with the temporarily deaf Alex.  The party drew their weapons as the already hostile discussions deteriorated, and Jerrin cast a commanding spell to give him control over lightning.  The Halfling strode forth to stand on the edge of the gangplank, ready to call forth the lightning, when a volley of acid soared over his head to land in the river.  The other burly torchbearers scrambled up the gangplank towards them and swung at the Halfling.  Two crossbowmen fired at Quentin while two archers fired at Thovaas.  Alex, Quentin and Thovaas quickly pelted the acid-throwing mage with deadly arrows, and Thovaas struck him last with an arrow that went through his left eye to emerge with a splatter from the other side of his skull.  The raiding mercenaries continued their attack, and Jerrin’s companion Tempest pulled one from his feet, knocking him sideways on the plank before he lost his grip and fell into the river.  Another launched himself onto the boat and was dragged to his knees by the large dog.  His attention affixed on Tempest, the man began to stand only to have his head separated from his body by Thovaas.  The other raiders looked more determined and swung their swords violently to dig at the paladin.  Grimnyr called for several sound bursts on the archers and remaining mage as he pulled his sword.Quentin maneuvered around the battle after being hit several times by crossbow bolts.  Suddenly one of the mercenaries appeared carrying a clay pot in each massive hand, and with a grunt he tossed them both onto the ship.  Then he pulled two flasks of oil from a pouch and grinned.  Grimnyr, whose melodic voice was usually so southing, let out a crazed bellow as he ran straight through the flames to charge one of the boarders.  He and Thovaas slashed at the man several times, carving deep gouges in his flesh before he fell.  Jerrin then raced forward and stood at the top of the gangplank and called down another devastating blast of lightning on the man with the flasks of oil.  The flasks erupted, exploding in his palm to spray him with burning oil, and the party watched as the lit oil cascaded down the man’s arm as he howled in pain.  Repeatedly the archers and crossbowmen pelted Alex with their missiles while the remaining mage sank bolts of blue light into Thovaas, Jerrin and Alex.  Grimnyr frothed as they brought down another boarder and the last was knocked into the water between the ship and the docks.  Grimnyr launched himself down the gangplank, charging wildly toward the archers.  They stepped back and fired at him before dropping their longbows to draw short swords.  The mage was terrified as he cast yet another spell, but it wasn’t enough as Grimnyr swung his sword deep into the mage’s side to drop him to the ground.  The four mercenaries stepped back and called for a truce, or at the least mercy, pleading for sympathy from the approaching paladin.  It was of no use to Grimnyr, whose berserker bloodlust made him deaf to their pleas.  He struck one of the archers solidly in the chest, burying his sword deep into his lungs after slashing through his weak leather armor.  Jerrin told the other three to play dead if they wanted to survive, but it was of no use; the remaining men dropped their weapons and fled as fast as they could.  Meanwhile, Alex stepped over another of the fallen men to see if he was carrying anything of value.  Again he came up short, as they all had likely left whatever valuables they owned somewhere safe, but the biggest of the attackers wore a fine looking belt of some type.  Jerrin, mounted on Tempest, pursued one of the panicked men down the docks and stabbed him several times before he jumped into the river between two boats.  Jerrin leapt from Tempest in mid-stride and before he hit the river his form had changed to that of a crocodile.  Swimming downward Jerrin realized the man was unconscious and sinking fast toward the bottom.  Climbing out of the river, Jerrin swapped forms several more times to help close his wounds.  On the docks, the rest of the party had determined that one of the archers had a magical quiver that could hold up to four times as many arrows or bolts or other long thing items such as wands.  Grimnyr, having caught his breath, replied that the cloak the first mage had worn was also enhanced, his smooth voice run ragged from the fight.  The belt was determined to provide aid in protection, and later the cloak was learned to grant the wearer with resistive powers.  Afterward, the group set the bodies of the attackers in a line along the dock before returning to their watch.  During the last watch with Thovaas and Grimnyr, a voice startled them as they scanned the river.  On the dock below them was a man dressed in grey stood straight and smiled politely.  He asked if the ship was still for sale, as said he had heard an offer of 14,000 was refused.  He offered 15,000, and could only give 5,00 cash at the moment, but offered to pay as much as 500 per month until the debt was settled.  After some discussion the man was politely rejected and he melted into the darkness.  At dawn Jerrin busily masked the evidence of the fight from the night before, and Galadin and the other ship hands scrubbed the blood from the deck.  Jerrin swam around the underside of the ship to examine the hull for hidden weaknesses, growth or other abnormalities but found none of any significance.  Barrister Sigrid bustled down the dock to tell them that Ibeli would be visiting again, and to consider lowering their offer.  When they told him they would sell at 15,000, he was pleased and left.  Soon afterward Ibeli strode down the edge of the river towards them.  Ibeli sauntered around the deck of the ship looking for damages that may have occurred during the night, and his face was red when he saw that there were none.  Jerrin’s personal advisor, the shipbuilder, arrived shortly after and gave his credentials to which Ibeli could no longer refute.  When Ibeli’s advisors mentioned that there might be serious damage to the hull Jerrin offered to take them all on a walk along the river bottom.  It took some encouragement, but Ibeli decided to try it, as breathing underwater held most of his curiosity.  Once in the river, Jerrin pointed out the fine lines of the Lorleena’s Cutter for some time before they came back to the docks.  Once on the docks, Ibeli began stripping his clothing and cursing the Halfling for trying to kill him with a cold.  Two of his servants bustled around him to hide his exposed legs as he walked back onto the ship.  Ibeli mentioned his offer of 14,000 again, and seemed steadfast at first.  Then, when Quentin, Grimnyr and the others told of the adventuring tales that he would also claim when he owned the ship, he seemed very pleased.  The party told him they wanted 15,000, and after pausing for several minutes he agreed.  Immediately afterward, Ibeli started ordering that everything on the ship be removed, and that the painters and craftsmen were to be sent the following day.  The party quickly grabbed their things and a giggling Sigrid shook their hands and told them he would see them the next morning.  Grimnyr took the party to the inn at which he had been performing, and when they learned he would be back they upgraded his room to fit them all comfortably.  In the morning the group headed to Barrister Sigrid’s home, where his butler instructed them to enter.  The butler asked if they would prefer gold or gems, and the party choose gold, figuring that Alex and Quentin could find gems at a better rate than those given.  The group left and went back to the inn where they divvied the gold.  For the next few nights the group talked about their future plans, where they should visit and when.  It was decided unanimously to go in the direction of the mountains once spring arrived, as they all could easily wait until then.  One by one they headed their separate ways and agreed to meet after the spring thaw in Kargam.</blockquote>

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