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Story Hour
Eberron's Not So Brave - The Dragonmarked Madness
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<blockquote data-quote="Lwaxy" data-source="post: 5933653" data-attributes="member: 53286"><p>Night Two</p><p></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>The next mid morning, one of the serving girls led the storyteller back into the large common room, where everyone who cared for the story – which was about the whole of the crew – was gathered on tables, chairs and the floor. Once more the storyteller settled into the large chair next to the fire and smiled at everyone. A few children brought covers and placed them carefully around shoulders and over the lap. Then they settled back to their places. </em></p><p></p><p>"So, where were we? </p><p></p><p>Oh, yes, them waiting for real adventuring jobs. The first thing offered to them via their drop off at the messenger station was not coming in a message, but in the form of an older dwarf smoking a pipe while reading the morning news. It was Tjuja's turn to check for any news, and being told that there was nothing but a letter to Zolan from one of his new friends he was trying to develop some sort of orphan project with. As usual, she was not surprised, but there was the usual disappointment nonetheless. </p><p></p><p>Not noticing that the messenger station worker waved at the dwarf and pointed at her, the halfling was already on the way out and bumped almost into the dwarf. Before she could apologize, he smiled warmly at her. "You are of those looking for a job, yes? I have just the thing for you." He then took the startled girl to a corner and explained it to her. When he was done, Tjuja accepted the job without thinking to ask back with the others. </p><p></p><p>Their reactions varied. "A vampire hunt?" Lorraine complained. "We'd need to know a lot more to get that done, especially with a vampire as tricky as you just described."</p><p></p><p>Filbura folded her arms and shrugged. "It is a job. If they can't track it, we probably can because we are not expected." </p><p></p><p>"I don't like vampires." "Do we get some magic help?" "What's the payment?" "Why were we picked?"</p><p></p><p>Ahna the gnome paladin shouted for everyone to be quiet and tried to get the story straight. Tjuja's explanation had been more than a bit confusing. "So, this man, a Commissioner Dabrah, hired us to hunt down a vampire who has violated the laws of conduct here in Sharn. Several times." </p><p></p><p>Tjuja nodded. "Yes, he has been killing people drinking them empty but not making them new vampires for some reason."</p><p></p><p>"And at first no one noticed until he went from homeless and beggars and drunkards to more important people?"</p><p></p><p>"Yup, it was then they knew what had happened to so many unseemly characters. From the set ups, the commissioner thinks it might be a vampire who used to work for some city officials, eliminating undesirables, as he called it." Tjuja sniffed. "Sounds to me like a more or less official assassin got angry and now turns around on them."</p><p></p><p>"If that was so, then why starting with beggars?" Feyan wondered. His gnome ears flicked. "Could as well have gotten straight to the point."</p><p></p><p>Ignoring the interruption, Ahna motioned for the halfling to go on. "And he said that the vampire evaded all attempts at catching him?"</p><p></p><p>Again Tjuja nodded. "He thinks he has friends with the city guards, probably even the elite troops. Anytime they were sure to get him he was either not where they thought he was or escaped the least possible moment, even seeming to play with his would be captors."</p><p></p><p>"Do they even know it is a he?" Moreelle pondered. </p><p></p><p>"Not so sure, no, but the commissioner has seen him... it... flee, and says he thinks it moved like a man. Supposedly such things do not change when becoming a vampire." </p><p></p><p>"I see." The artist scratched her head. "Do we have a list where the murderer has hit before?"</p><p></p><p>With widening eyes, just remembering something that she had been given, the halfling reached into one of her many pockets. "This supposedly has all the information we need." Carefully, she placed a cone shaped orange crystal on the table they were all gathered around. </p><p></p><p>"Oooh!" Tibunn reached out for it before she could explain its function. Carefully, he touched the tip of the crystal and concentrated. A moment later, the area over the crystal showed a miniature version of Sharn, a semi-solid one at that. In many places they could see red dots, accompanied by arrows linking dates and details to them. Information about the killings, no doubt. </p><p></p><p>"How did you know how to do that?" Tjuja stared at the other halfling. </p><p></p><p>"It is a psi memory crystal. My aunt taught me how to use them. Insanely expensive and hard to come by unless..." He caught himself before trailing off. "I don't suppose we can keep this, can we?"</p><p></p><p>"Unfortunately not," the girl replied with some sense of regret. "But it will supposedly automatically update when something new happens, or rather, when they find another body and discover details. No idea how that works."</p><p></p><p>"Some psion is linked to it, that way, they can also keep track of it so we can't abscond with it." Tibunn grinned weakly. There went his hope of doing just that when the job was done. </p><p></p><p>"So," the paladin tried to find out more details, "the commissioner has decided to hire us not only because the police is probably dealing with one or more informants, but also because we are new on the scene and that vampire has probably never heard of us, right?"</p><p></p><p>"Eh, yeah, basically. And because we are a large group less likely to run out of people to shadow someone with, so he said." The halfling girl looked a bit sheepish. "I know I should have asked you all first but..."</p><p></p><p>"But most of us would have done the same, if not all," Deniv interrupted. "It's fine, we were all dying for a real job."</p><p></p><p>"So what's the payment?" Viril grinned. </p><p></p><p>"The award on the vampire is 5000 gold already, and we'll get 500 extra for just trying."</p><p></p><p>Whistles were heard and some applause. This job would be no loss in either case, and 5k of gold was just what they needed right now with their incomes running low. </p><p></p><p>And so they got started. At first, they tried to analyze the data but the attacks had been random, and in some cases one area had seen more than one attack. Altogether, there had been 98 attacks, where only 6 green spots signified escaped victims. Eventually, Filbura realized, smacking her forehead, that the 6 green points were almost exactly where deadly attacks had happened not too much later. No other spots were right above each other. The 3D view had confused them there for a bit. </p><p></p><p>"So, the places of the killings are important?" Nihil racked his bard brain for some lore about rituals requiring anything like this, especially on a large scale, but could come up with nothing and neither could anyone else. </p><p></p><p>"Over what time did all those killings occur?" Quavin circled the image of the city, hoping to see anything special about the locations. </p><p></p><p>"It says 29 months on this note," Tjuja answered. "Quite along time for the authorities to ask for outside help. But then, they supposedly only noticed the connections late, with people dying no one was missing and such." The halfling poked at the image. "If the locations of the killings matter, maybe the timing does, too?"</p><p></p><p>Zolan scratched the meager beard he had managed to grow and looked at the comprehensive list Tjuja had also gotten. "Not in my book. Random time passed between murders. As little as 30 min in some cases, and weeks in others. But they of course don't know exact time of death for everyone."</p><p></p><p>"Hrm, doesn't help. Maybe we should check out all the locations, even if there are so many," Viril suggested while easing a large sandwich, his determination to lose weight all but forgotten. "It says here there was nothing out of the ordinary in the places where the victims were found, but who knows?"</p><p></p><p>"Nothing out of the ordinary? Then why does it say in a footnote divinations didn't work?" Tjuja mumbled, but no one paid attention right then. </p><p></p><p>"Checking out all those places would take ages, and while at the topic of ages, there will be nothing left as most murders happened long ago. Last week was the first one after a break of over a month!" Lorraine shook her long blond hair, which she now had in curls as to the latest fashion. "No, we might send a few of us to check out last week's location, but it will probably not help."</p><p></p><p>"That's happened in the financial district," Filbura said. "So I better go, I might be able to use my House identity. Feyan and Deniv, wanna come?"</p><p></p><p>"I will be along, too, I know a bit about finding evidence and hiding it," Milayn chimed in. Until now, the slim girl had not seemed to pay any attention. </p><p></p><p>"Alright, then, you all go and we will see what else we can dig up." Zolan said cheerfully, trying to impose a sense of moving forward. "</p><p></p><p><em>"And they didn't get back to the fact that divinations were useless?" a young mage asked and her eyes widened. "It seems important to me."</em></p><p></p><p>"No, no one had heard Tjuja and by the time the others were leaving, she got a client so forgot all about the pressing questions in her mind." The storyteller smiled ruefully. "It was a forgivable mistake, and at least the information was there to read again. </p><p></p><p>The viewing of the murder location proved to be fruitless. Authorities had, after taking in all the evidence, or lack thereof, removed the body, and what little mess had been made had been washed away by rain and trampled by many feet. A street vendor selling snacks to busy people explained that the area felt changed and the mood of the regular people coming and going had been subdued for a few days. But it had not been the first murder and wouldn't be the last. He said it was likely just the fact that everyone knew it had been a vampire. The opinions about vampires being allowed in the city varied widely, and there had been some heated discussions in the area. </p><p></p><p>With some sense of disappointment, the group was on their way back when, from the alley between a broker and a betting office that seemed not quite legal, they heard a cry for help and some laughter. Looking at each other, they decided to see what was going on and ran into the alley, all with their daggers respectively club drawn. A slim, tall man looking like a minor noble was fighting with a rapier, pressed with his back against the wall, against a bunch of robbers trying to grab his substancial purse. The criminals were armed with daggers and clubs themselves, and one had a short sword, but the loud arrival of the party caused them to panic and run. They rounded the corner at the far end of the alley. Filbura considered going after them, but that would have been a futile excercise. Maybe those dark souls would think better of it next time. </p><p></p><p>"My thanks," the man gasped. "I'm Feivel Hollowain, owner of the Magic Brewery. I just retrieved some money from the bank to buy new equipment; had those thugs gotten my money I might have been ruined." He simled apologetically. "My bodyguards are sick, and I foolishly thought no one knew where I was going. I owe you my thanks and probably my life." As the man came out of the alley, they could see he was an elf with pitch black hair and equal eyes. </p><p></p><p>"Ah, Lord Hollowain," Deniv hinted at a bow. "Heard from you, of course. Your beer is among the best brands in whole Sharn and area."</p><p></p><p>"I would hope you heard of me." Regaining some confidence, the brewery owner laughed. "What say you, it is after midday already. I will buy you a lunch you have likely never seen before. Along with enough drink to keep you from drying out, of course."</p><p></p><p>Both Deniv and Feyan grinned widely and accepted with a bow, while the women just inclined their heads in acceptance. Not a quarter hour later, they were sitting in the Warforged Stag, one of the better restaurants of Sharn, in a room by themselves. The food was truly great, although not unique, and soon talks centered around what they were doing in Sharn as it was, from their accents, obvious they didn't grow up here. </p><p></p><p>None of them mentioned their Houses – they had all agreed on that - just that they had been out of luck lately and banded together to find work as an adventuring group so they could see something of the world and, first of all, of Sharn. </p><p></p><p>Hollowain listened politely and asked all the right questions. "So, you are looking for work currently? I have a little problem I could use help solving, and you 4 seem just the right crew for it. It isn't anything that big, but it is, strictly speaking, a little bit illegal. As it is often the case with romantic problems. Oh, not my romantic problems," he hastily added when he saw Milayn's unbelieving eyes. "My cousin is in love with the wrong girl, you see, at least where her family is concerned. They want her to marry a rich businessman of the magic item trade. More prestige, and asides, their patriarch abhors alcohol, sad as that is."</p><p></p><p>Deniv shook his head and downed another beer. By now, he felt a bit light headed. "How could anyone not admire this yellow brew?"</p><p></p><p>Feyan coughed and kicked his friend under the table. When Deniv was drinking too much, things could go ugly. But their potential employer had not really paid attention to the bronze colored youngling. "It comes down to this," the elf continued. "She is to wed this guy she detests on the morrow. My cousin has tried to get her out of her parent's clutches twice and failed. Maybe you can be his salvation and manage where he didn't come through for his woman."</p><p></p><p>"You want us to abduct her, right?" Milayn was right to the point. "Because her family wouldn't know us. And then you want them to marry on the run, kinda?"</p><p></p><p>"Very astute of you," the elf smiled. "Indeed, that is what we have been planning. But no one wanted to be bothered with a little job like this one."</p><p></p><p>"Sure," the gnome laughed before anyone could stop him. This was not only a job, it was a quick one and what was even better to a gnome, it involved a practical joke of some kind, namely destroying wedding plans with a secret wedding. "We're in. Tell us what you know about where she goes and all such, so we can get to planning. Time is short!" </p><p></p><p>Deniv, in his intoxicated stated, nodded enthusiastically. Filbura nodded her agreement after a short hesitation. She had done some similar things before in her hometown, getting people out when they were oppressed by their families. Milayn did not comment as she was already outnumbered. The Thuranni was not sure what rubbed her the wrong way about all this, but she had a bad feeling about it. But she would not, under any circumstances, let her friends do this alone, especially as they had no time to go back and call for help. And, in this case, a small group was likely better. </p><p></p><p>"Delightful!" Hollowain began writing things down on a napkin. "Here is her schedule, as much as I know it, her address, and additional info. And the place to meet at to do the wedding. We'll pay you 200 gold each, is that ok? Oh and, my name musn't come up. My father is not too happy about all this either, as he would rather see my cousin's half of the business fail so he could take it over. " </p><p></p><p>Deniv stared, so did the druid. Feyan just chuckled, not considering the overly large amount they were offered. "Sure is fine. And we won't mention you, we know family can be a problem. Now, let's see what to do about this..."</p><p><em></em></p><p><em>"They didn't tell the others at all?" The voice belonged to the young halfling who had pointed out the trap folly last night.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>The storyteller shook the head.</em> "They wanted to surprise the others. Come back with some success even if it was not related to the vampire murders."</p><p><em></em></p><p><em>"When I'm going to be an adventurer, I will be more careful," the boy said. "Anything could happen and no one would know where I was? No, thanks. Let me guess, something did happen?" The boy's face was definitely hopeful as if he wanted them to have been punished for their foolishness.</em></p><p></p><p>"Oh, something always happens," <em>the storyteller grinned.</em> "About an hour later, the 4 of them were in Upper Northedge, standing at the walls of an impressive mansion build on a large platform outside one of the wider towers. The walls were decorated with sculptures and carvings showing trees and vines, and the gates were formed by living bushes. The whole set up spoke of taste and money without appearing intimidating or arrogant. It looked, in a nutshell, harmless to them. This was amplified by the fact that, unlike on normal days, there were a lot of non-elves around for what they called the prosperity festival, which took place on the inner platform circling the tower and in the tower streets themselves, then spilling out onto two of the wide bridges connecting the towers. Almost every street was brightly decorated, there were street vendors selling stuff everywhere – not heard of on a normal day – games for young and old and mimes and more. To make sure the festival was not disturbed, someone had cast a shield of sorts over the whole area, which kept out the drizzle of rain that had started about half an hour earlier. </p><p></p><p>Filbura and Feyan were enjoying theirselves eating colored candy sticks – supposedly to fit in with the crowd. Milayn was eating some sort of sandwich, just Deniv was uncomfortable in the situation. "We got her description, but in the masses of people, how to find her?"</p><p></p><p>"She might still be in the house," Filbura suggested. </p><p></p><p>"I think, the only way to cover this is checking both out. There are so many people going in and out, we could just grab a crate and join the masses of servants supplying the festival," Deniv suggested as he scratched his copper beard. "But I look too weird to pass as any sort of servant not yet seen, so I will be one of us checking out the festival."</p><p></p><p>"That is a lot of festival to cover," Filbura worried. </p><p></p><p>"The elf wrote down she loves to try exotic foods, so we probably just need to check the food vendors," Feyan reminded them. "I'm with Deniv."</p><p></p><p>"For some reason, that just sounded like 'I'm with stupid," Milayn mumbled so that the others would not hear. </p><p></p><p>"So, Milayn and me sneak into the mansion then. Should be a breeze," Filbura said, but she sounded doubtful.</p><p></p><p>So the group split up, which was, all considered, not a bad idea. They had even considered what they would do when they had found the girl, who was, as they had been told, not informed of the plan as there had been no way to contact her. This was especially an issue if they would find her in the mansion. </p><p></p><p>Sharn was then as it is now a very magical city. For the right price, you could find levitating discs, flying carpets, flying anythings really to take you and your cargo from a to b with several stops in between. The festival naturally had plenty of such taxi services just waiting for customers. It was simple enough for Milayn, who had an assortment of potions, to prick the skin of a fat gnome waiting for a cargo delivery and take his levitating wooden platform with a large empty crate as he fell asleep. It only hovered a feet or two over ground, but it would serve to sneak a girl-filled crate out of a mansion. </p><p></p><p>Getting in was as easy as they had thought. The single guard hardly looked at them when they mumbled about "Lady Caithlyn's delivery," just like Hollowain had said. But standing in the large and beautifully kept garden, they realized the men still had the crudely drawn base map of the mansion."</p><p></p><p><em>A few in the audience chuckled. "Did they not memorize the map?" an older man asked. "The paladin who led our group back in my time always insisted on memorizing maps, as it takes precious time to check on it while you are better off running or fighting."</em></p><p></p><p>"They remembered some of the layout as they moved into the grand hall of the house – a room occupying the whole front – but they had not memorized it, no. They would learn to do that later.</p><p></p><p>They were looking around the hall – the decorated pillars, large staircases leading up and the double doors supposedly going to an indoor courtyard – and pondered where the girl would be if she was still here. They decided checking her room would be the best option, and maybe innocently ask a servant if they would happen to encounter someone. </p><p></p><p>At the same time, Deniv had lost sight of the gnome, who had darted off a moment ago. Probably to get some more food, the artificer thought. He tried hard not to frown as he started at the flks mingling around the booths and food kitchens, trying to make out anyone fitting the lovely description of Lady Caithlyn. Unfortunately, the crowd was so packed in places that he would have had to come a lot closer to any woman to see if it might be her. This could take all day. </p><p></p><p>Just then, Feyan popped up next to him again, munching on some cookies with a strange spicey smell. "Found her," he mumbled. "She's at the silversmith's booth over there, ordering rings."</p><p></p><p>"How did you..." the human started. </p><p></p><p>"I have that kind of luck, finding what someone, myself included, is looking for." Feyan grinned. "Unfortunately, I also misplace much more things than I find, so I guess it just balances out." </p><p></p><p>"Well, then, let's talk to her and..."</p><p></p><p>"Ah, not so fast. There are 2 nasty looking elf guards with her. We need a distraction."</p><p></p><p>"Can you do that? I think I'm better suited talking to the lady," Deniv admitted. "She may be interested enough in my appearance to listen to our plan."</p><p></p><p>Grinning even wider, the gnome nodded. "Sure thing. Just watch!"</p><p></p><p>Half a minute later, the silversmith was crying bloody theft as half of his booth' content got knocked over and a red clad small figure ran down the lane. The lady ordered her guards to give chase, as she had been about buying some of the display – or maybe just because it seemed the right thing to do. It confused Deniv as Feyan had been wearing greens, and it confused him even more when his friend appeared between two stalls, pointing west. "She went there!" he shouted, hopping on one leg. "Bumped right into me and stepped on my foot. Bloody and bloody halflings! Thieves, all of them I tell ya!" He then seemingly caught himself. "Present shoppers not included, of course."</p><p></p><p>The elves went right where he had pointed, and Deniv was already on his way over to the lady. No one else was paying attention. "I bear a message from your beloved," he announced as soon as she noticed him. "He wants to marry you tonight in the Chapel of Eternal Light. We are to get you there safely. Oh and he says to tell you 'rosewater.'"</p><p></p><p>Her expression turned from confused to hopeful. "I can leave? Really? That was all your doing?" Her blue eyes sparkled at him, and Deniv felt weird without being able to say why. He nodded and pointed towards the end of the booths not top far away. "We need to move." </p><p></p><p>Right then, dancing around the silversmith who was picking up items, the gnome was back and put a blue cape around the girl's shoulders, covering her yellow and orange blouse and pants. "So they won't recognize you," he explained. Deniv was sure he must have "borrowed" the cape from somewhere. A moment later, him, Feyan and Lady Caithlyn were darting between some stalls, making for the exit from this place of merriment. They had forgotten about the girls from their party, nor would they have had a means to tell them they had been successful"</p><p></p><p>Back at the mansion, the girls had maneuvered their floating box to the upper floor and stood in front of many doors leading to various rooms. They had tried to open some, but they were all locked and, from listening to them, were also all empty. Just when they were about to ask each other what to do, a stressed sounding voice came from the end of the hall. "Estelle, where are you? Can't get my hair done properly!"</p><p></p><p>"Sure sounds like a young lady to me," Filbura chuckled, then the dwarf was already pulling their means of transporting a bride behind her. A door was standing slightly ajar, and a mix of scents drifted out into the hallway. Perfume, incense and something less pleasant they could not identify. "Who will talk to her?" the dwarf hissed. </p><p></p><p>"My turn," Milayn said, knowing that if they were not believed, she could always use a few drops of the sleeping poison on the lady and they could still get her out. She peeked into the room and saw a young woman fitting the description fighting with a hairbrush and a pearl tiara. </p><p></p><p>"Milady?" she started the most polite way. "Would you come outside for a moment? We have something for you. Rosewater. From your beloved."</p><p></p><p>The woman turned and looked at the two of them with a confused and definitely impatient expression. "What? Beloved? Rosewater? What are you talking about?" </p><p></p><p>"We are talking about the Chapel of Eternal Light and a dream come true," Milayn tried again. "All you need to do is come with us, everything else is taken care for."</p><p></p><p>"If this is one of those practical jokes so popular lately, cut it out," the woman said sternly. "Who sent you?" </p><p></p><p>"Your beloved," the dwarf said the same time the assassin pointed to the crate and said "Not a practical joke. It will be all clear once you look in here."</p><p></p><p>Getting up with some angry frown, intending to end whatever this was sooner than later, the elf came to the crate the two were now holding open for her. "This is empty. What...?"</p><p></p><p>Milayn poked her with the sleeping poison quickly and gave her a slight push so she would land in the crate. "We don't have time to talk all day, don't want this Estelle come and surprise us,." She explained. "She can thank us later."</p><p></p><p>Filbura closed the crate and, with an afterthought, picked up brush and tiara and add it to their cargo. "She sure doesn't want to go to her wedding without her hair done right," she grinned. Then the two made downstairs by means of one of the spiral stairs in the back of the house, which was slightly moire dificult with the floating crate, but they encountered no one but a grumpy maid dusting off portraits, not paying them any attention. Out the servant's entrance in the back, they grumbled loudly to each other about being ordered to carry this useless stuff to wherever while others enjoyed the festival. The lone guard at the back snorted something about them not being the only ones to miss out but that was all. </p><p></p><p>With a sigh of relief, Flibura followed Milayn down the street, directing the crate while her friend pulled. "This was quick," she laughed. "I admit I was a bit tense in there."</p><p></p><p>"We're not out of the water yet," her friend grumbled. The rain, not kept out beyond the festival area, had grown stronger and they had to pull their cloaks up as they hurried over the smaller pedestrian bridge towards another tower. The rain was a welcome excuse for stealth in Milayn's eyes. "There, down the ramp and out of the elf neighborhood as quickly as possible."</p><p></p><p>"This city is so confusing," Filbura complained as they hastened down the ramp. "We will need a skycoach to get to the temple district, no? Won't we raise suspicion?" They way to the elf residence they had made going through one of the few public teleport points, but not only were those one way, they also did not allow luggage and were a bit expensive to use. </p><p></p><p>"Yes but there is so much weird stuff going on in this place, suspicion is not what I am worried about," Milayn answered as they took a short break after crossing yet another bridge into another tower. She pointed towards a balcony with waiting skycoaches – some drawn by magical beasts, some driven entirely by magic – floating discs, flying carpets and even a small green dragon with rider waiting for customers to carry. "There is plenty of transportation to chose from, and several people have luggage. We'll say we have a delivery for the Chapel of Eternal Light – which is not even a lie – and we shall be able to get there without paying a fortune."</p><p></p><p> She was right. Filbura decided they try the dragon, because it could carry the crate and levitating platform in its claws while they could sit up. The rider was just too happy to oblige, as, so she said, too many people were afraid of her dragon friend because they equaled her green color with bad behavior. "It's not easy being green," the dragon sighed as they flew off. For some reason, this caused the dwarf to struggle with laughter. </p><p></p><p>The women had a much easier time just hiring a flying carpet right from the festival. Their girl was willing to go along, after all, and so they arrived at the temple district, close to the chapel they were expected at, very early and still had time to spare."</p><p></p><p><em>"But... but they had two girls now," a pregnant dwarf in the audience called out in confusion. "I'm guessing the one going willingly was the right one, but what about the other?"</em></p><p></p><p>"Ah, we'll get to that after lunch," <em>the storyteller nodded. </em>"Let's have something to eat first, shall we?"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lwaxy, post: 5933653, member: 53286"] Night Two [I] The next mid morning, one of the serving girls led the storyteller back into the large common room, where everyone who cared for the story – which was about the whole of the crew – was gathered on tables, chairs and the floor. Once more the storyteller settled into the large chair next to the fire and smiled at everyone. A few children brought covers and placed them carefully around shoulders and over the lap. Then they settled back to their places. [/I] "So, where were we? Oh, yes, them waiting for real adventuring jobs. The first thing offered to them via their drop off at the messenger station was not coming in a message, but in the form of an older dwarf smoking a pipe while reading the morning news. It was Tjuja's turn to check for any news, and being told that there was nothing but a letter to Zolan from one of his new friends he was trying to develop some sort of orphan project with. As usual, she was not surprised, but there was the usual disappointment nonetheless. Not noticing that the messenger station worker waved at the dwarf and pointed at her, the halfling was already on the way out and bumped almost into the dwarf. Before she could apologize, he smiled warmly at her. "You are of those looking for a job, yes? I have just the thing for you." He then took the startled girl to a corner and explained it to her. When he was done, Tjuja accepted the job without thinking to ask back with the others. Their reactions varied. "A vampire hunt?" Lorraine complained. "We'd need to know a lot more to get that done, especially with a vampire as tricky as you just described." Filbura folded her arms and shrugged. "It is a job. If they can't track it, we probably can because we are not expected." "I don't like vampires." "Do we get some magic help?" "What's the payment?" "Why were we picked?" Ahna the gnome paladin shouted for everyone to be quiet and tried to get the story straight. Tjuja's explanation had been more than a bit confusing. "So, this man, a Commissioner Dabrah, hired us to hunt down a vampire who has violated the laws of conduct here in Sharn. Several times." Tjuja nodded. "Yes, he has been killing people drinking them empty but not making them new vampires for some reason." "And at first no one noticed until he went from homeless and beggars and drunkards to more important people?" "Yup, it was then they knew what had happened to so many unseemly characters. From the set ups, the commissioner thinks it might be a vampire who used to work for some city officials, eliminating undesirables, as he called it." Tjuja sniffed. "Sounds to me like a more or less official assassin got angry and now turns around on them." "If that was so, then why starting with beggars?" Feyan wondered. His gnome ears flicked. "Could as well have gotten straight to the point." Ignoring the interruption, Ahna motioned for the halfling to go on. "And he said that the vampire evaded all attempts at catching him?" Again Tjuja nodded. "He thinks he has friends with the city guards, probably even the elite troops. Anytime they were sure to get him he was either not where they thought he was or escaped the least possible moment, even seeming to play with his would be captors." "Do they even know it is a he?" Moreelle pondered. "Not so sure, no, but the commissioner has seen him... it... flee, and says he thinks it moved like a man. Supposedly such things do not change when becoming a vampire." "I see." The artist scratched her head. "Do we have a list where the murderer has hit before?" With widening eyes, just remembering something that she had been given, the halfling reached into one of her many pockets. "This supposedly has all the information we need." Carefully, she placed a cone shaped orange crystal on the table they were all gathered around. "Oooh!" Tibunn reached out for it before she could explain its function. Carefully, he touched the tip of the crystal and concentrated. A moment later, the area over the crystal showed a miniature version of Sharn, a semi-solid one at that. In many places they could see red dots, accompanied by arrows linking dates and details to them. Information about the killings, no doubt. "How did you know how to do that?" Tjuja stared at the other halfling. "It is a psi memory crystal. My aunt taught me how to use them. Insanely expensive and hard to come by unless..." He caught himself before trailing off. "I don't suppose we can keep this, can we?" "Unfortunately not," the girl replied with some sense of regret. "But it will supposedly automatically update when something new happens, or rather, when they find another body and discover details. No idea how that works." "Some psion is linked to it, that way, they can also keep track of it so we can't abscond with it." Tibunn grinned weakly. There went his hope of doing just that when the job was done. "So," the paladin tried to find out more details, "the commissioner has decided to hire us not only because the police is probably dealing with one or more informants, but also because we are new on the scene and that vampire has probably never heard of us, right?" "Eh, yeah, basically. And because we are a large group less likely to run out of people to shadow someone with, so he said." The halfling girl looked a bit sheepish. "I know I should have asked you all first but..." "But most of us would have done the same, if not all," Deniv interrupted. "It's fine, we were all dying for a real job." "So what's the payment?" Viril grinned. "The award on the vampire is 5000 gold already, and we'll get 500 extra for just trying." Whistles were heard and some applause. This job would be no loss in either case, and 5k of gold was just what they needed right now with their incomes running low. And so they got started. At first, they tried to analyze the data but the attacks had been random, and in some cases one area had seen more than one attack. Altogether, there had been 98 attacks, where only 6 green spots signified escaped victims. Eventually, Filbura realized, smacking her forehead, that the 6 green points were almost exactly where deadly attacks had happened not too much later. No other spots were right above each other. The 3D view had confused them there for a bit. "So, the places of the killings are important?" Nihil racked his bard brain for some lore about rituals requiring anything like this, especially on a large scale, but could come up with nothing and neither could anyone else. "Over what time did all those killings occur?" Quavin circled the image of the city, hoping to see anything special about the locations. "It says 29 months on this note," Tjuja answered. "Quite along time for the authorities to ask for outside help. But then, they supposedly only noticed the connections late, with people dying no one was missing and such." The halfling poked at the image. "If the locations of the killings matter, maybe the timing does, too?" Zolan scratched the meager beard he had managed to grow and looked at the comprehensive list Tjuja had also gotten. "Not in my book. Random time passed between murders. As little as 30 min in some cases, and weeks in others. But they of course don't know exact time of death for everyone." "Hrm, doesn't help. Maybe we should check out all the locations, even if there are so many," Viril suggested while easing a large sandwich, his determination to lose weight all but forgotten. "It says here there was nothing out of the ordinary in the places where the victims were found, but who knows?" "Nothing out of the ordinary? Then why does it say in a footnote divinations didn't work?" Tjuja mumbled, but no one paid attention right then. "Checking out all those places would take ages, and while at the topic of ages, there will be nothing left as most murders happened long ago. Last week was the first one after a break of over a month!" Lorraine shook her long blond hair, which she now had in curls as to the latest fashion. "No, we might send a few of us to check out last week's location, but it will probably not help." "That's happened in the financial district," Filbura said. "So I better go, I might be able to use my House identity. Feyan and Deniv, wanna come?" "I will be along, too, I know a bit about finding evidence and hiding it," Milayn chimed in. Until now, the slim girl had not seemed to pay any attention. "Alright, then, you all go and we will see what else we can dig up." Zolan said cheerfully, trying to impose a sense of moving forward. " [I]"And they didn't get back to the fact that divinations were useless?" a young mage asked and her eyes widened. "It seems important to me."[/I] "No, no one had heard Tjuja and by the time the others were leaving, she got a client so forgot all about the pressing questions in her mind." The storyteller smiled ruefully. "It was a forgivable mistake, and at least the information was there to read again. The viewing of the murder location proved to be fruitless. Authorities had, after taking in all the evidence, or lack thereof, removed the body, and what little mess had been made had been washed away by rain and trampled by many feet. A street vendor selling snacks to busy people explained that the area felt changed and the mood of the regular people coming and going had been subdued for a few days. But it had not been the first murder and wouldn't be the last. He said it was likely just the fact that everyone knew it had been a vampire. The opinions about vampires being allowed in the city varied widely, and there had been some heated discussions in the area. With some sense of disappointment, the group was on their way back when, from the alley between a broker and a betting office that seemed not quite legal, they heard a cry for help and some laughter. Looking at each other, they decided to see what was going on and ran into the alley, all with their daggers respectively club drawn. A slim, tall man looking like a minor noble was fighting with a rapier, pressed with his back against the wall, against a bunch of robbers trying to grab his substancial purse. The criminals were armed with daggers and clubs themselves, and one had a short sword, but the loud arrival of the party caused them to panic and run. They rounded the corner at the far end of the alley. Filbura considered going after them, but that would have been a futile excercise. Maybe those dark souls would think better of it next time. "My thanks," the man gasped. "I'm Feivel Hollowain, owner of the Magic Brewery. I just retrieved some money from the bank to buy new equipment; had those thugs gotten my money I might have been ruined." He simled apologetically. "My bodyguards are sick, and I foolishly thought no one knew where I was going. I owe you my thanks and probably my life." As the man came out of the alley, they could see he was an elf with pitch black hair and equal eyes. "Ah, Lord Hollowain," Deniv hinted at a bow. "Heard from you, of course. Your beer is among the best brands in whole Sharn and area." "I would hope you heard of me." Regaining some confidence, the brewery owner laughed. "What say you, it is after midday already. I will buy you a lunch you have likely never seen before. Along with enough drink to keep you from drying out, of course." Both Deniv and Feyan grinned widely and accepted with a bow, while the women just inclined their heads in acceptance. Not a quarter hour later, they were sitting in the Warforged Stag, one of the better restaurants of Sharn, in a room by themselves. The food was truly great, although not unique, and soon talks centered around what they were doing in Sharn as it was, from their accents, obvious they didn't grow up here. None of them mentioned their Houses – they had all agreed on that - just that they had been out of luck lately and banded together to find work as an adventuring group so they could see something of the world and, first of all, of Sharn. Hollowain listened politely and asked all the right questions. "So, you are looking for work currently? I have a little problem I could use help solving, and you 4 seem just the right crew for it. It isn't anything that big, but it is, strictly speaking, a little bit illegal. As it is often the case with romantic problems. Oh, not my romantic problems," he hastily added when he saw Milayn's unbelieving eyes. "My cousin is in love with the wrong girl, you see, at least where her family is concerned. They want her to marry a rich businessman of the magic item trade. More prestige, and asides, their patriarch abhors alcohol, sad as that is." Deniv shook his head and downed another beer. By now, he felt a bit light headed. "How could anyone not admire this yellow brew?" Feyan coughed and kicked his friend under the table. When Deniv was drinking too much, things could go ugly. But their potential employer had not really paid attention to the bronze colored youngling. "It comes down to this," the elf continued. "She is to wed this guy she detests on the morrow. My cousin has tried to get her out of her parent's clutches twice and failed. Maybe you can be his salvation and manage where he didn't come through for his woman." "You want us to abduct her, right?" Milayn was right to the point. "Because her family wouldn't know us. And then you want them to marry on the run, kinda?" "Very astute of you," the elf smiled. "Indeed, that is what we have been planning. But no one wanted to be bothered with a little job like this one." "Sure," the gnome laughed before anyone could stop him. This was not only a job, it was a quick one and what was even better to a gnome, it involved a practical joke of some kind, namely destroying wedding plans with a secret wedding. "We're in. Tell us what you know about where she goes and all such, so we can get to planning. Time is short!" Deniv, in his intoxicated stated, nodded enthusiastically. Filbura nodded her agreement after a short hesitation. She had done some similar things before in her hometown, getting people out when they were oppressed by their families. Milayn did not comment as she was already outnumbered. The Thuranni was not sure what rubbed her the wrong way about all this, but she had a bad feeling about it. But she would not, under any circumstances, let her friends do this alone, especially as they had no time to go back and call for help. And, in this case, a small group was likely better. "Delightful!" Hollowain began writing things down on a napkin. "Here is her schedule, as much as I know it, her address, and additional info. And the place to meet at to do the wedding. We'll pay you 200 gold each, is that ok? Oh and, my name musn't come up. My father is not too happy about all this either, as he would rather see my cousin's half of the business fail so he could take it over. " Deniv stared, so did the druid. Feyan just chuckled, not considering the overly large amount they were offered. "Sure is fine. And we won't mention you, we know family can be a problem. Now, let's see what to do about this..." [I] "They didn't tell the others at all?" The voice belonged to the young halfling who had pointed out the trap folly last night. The storyteller shook the head.[/I] "They wanted to surprise the others. Come back with some success even if it was not related to the vampire murders." [I] "When I'm going to be an adventurer, I will be more careful," the boy said. "Anything could happen and no one would know where I was? No, thanks. Let me guess, something did happen?" The boy's face was definitely hopeful as if he wanted them to have been punished for their foolishness.[/I] "Oh, something always happens," [I]the storyteller grinned.[/I] "About an hour later, the 4 of them were in Upper Northedge, standing at the walls of an impressive mansion build on a large platform outside one of the wider towers. The walls were decorated with sculptures and carvings showing trees and vines, and the gates were formed by living bushes. The whole set up spoke of taste and money without appearing intimidating or arrogant. It looked, in a nutshell, harmless to them. This was amplified by the fact that, unlike on normal days, there were a lot of non-elves around for what they called the prosperity festival, which took place on the inner platform circling the tower and in the tower streets themselves, then spilling out onto two of the wide bridges connecting the towers. Almost every street was brightly decorated, there were street vendors selling stuff everywhere – not heard of on a normal day – games for young and old and mimes and more. To make sure the festival was not disturbed, someone had cast a shield of sorts over the whole area, which kept out the drizzle of rain that had started about half an hour earlier. Filbura and Feyan were enjoying theirselves eating colored candy sticks – supposedly to fit in with the crowd. Milayn was eating some sort of sandwich, just Deniv was uncomfortable in the situation. "We got her description, but in the masses of people, how to find her?" "She might still be in the house," Filbura suggested. "I think, the only way to cover this is checking both out. There are so many people going in and out, we could just grab a crate and join the masses of servants supplying the festival," Deniv suggested as he scratched his copper beard. "But I look too weird to pass as any sort of servant not yet seen, so I will be one of us checking out the festival." "That is a lot of festival to cover," Filbura worried. "The elf wrote down she loves to try exotic foods, so we probably just need to check the food vendors," Feyan reminded them. "I'm with Deniv." "For some reason, that just sounded like 'I'm with stupid," Milayn mumbled so that the others would not hear. "So, Milayn and me sneak into the mansion then. Should be a breeze," Filbura said, but she sounded doubtful. So the group split up, which was, all considered, not a bad idea. They had even considered what they would do when they had found the girl, who was, as they had been told, not informed of the plan as there had been no way to contact her. This was especially an issue if they would find her in the mansion. Sharn was then as it is now a very magical city. For the right price, you could find levitating discs, flying carpets, flying anythings really to take you and your cargo from a to b with several stops in between. The festival naturally had plenty of such taxi services just waiting for customers. It was simple enough for Milayn, who had an assortment of potions, to prick the skin of a fat gnome waiting for a cargo delivery and take his levitating wooden platform with a large empty crate as he fell asleep. It only hovered a feet or two over ground, but it would serve to sneak a girl-filled crate out of a mansion. Getting in was as easy as they had thought. The single guard hardly looked at them when they mumbled about "Lady Caithlyn's delivery," just like Hollowain had said. But standing in the large and beautifully kept garden, they realized the men still had the crudely drawn base map of the mansion." [I]A few in the audience chuckled. "Did they not memorize the map?" an older man asked. "The paladin who led our group back in my time always insisted on memorizing maps, as it takes precious time to check on it while you are better off running or fighting."[/I] "They remembered some of the layout as they moved into the grand hall of the house – a room occupying the whole front – but they had not memorized it, no. They would learn to do that later. They were looking around the hall – the decorated pillars, large staircases leading up and the double doors supposedly going to an indoor courtyard – and pondered where the girl would be if she was still here. They decided checking her room would be the best option, and maybe innocently ask a servant if they would happen to encounter someone. At the same time, Deniv had lost sight of the gnome, who had darted off a moment ago. Probably to get some more food, the artificer thought. He tried hard not to frown as he started at the flks mingling around the booths and food kitchens, trying to make out anyone fitting the lovely description of Lady Caithlyn. Unfortunately, the crowd was so packed in places that he would have had to come a lot closer to any woman to see if it might be her. This could take all day. Just then, Feyan popped up next to him again, munching on some cookies with a strange spicey smell. "Found her," he mumbled. "She's at the silversmith's booth over there, ordering rings." "How did you..." the human started. "I have that kind of luck, finding what someone, myself included, is looking for." Feyan grinned. "Unfortunately, I also misplace much more things than I find, so I guess it just balances out." "Well, then, let's talk to her and..." "Ah, not so fast. There are 2 nasty looking elf guards with her. We need a distraction." "Can you do that? I think I'm better suited talking to the lady," Deniv admitted. "She may be interested enough in my appearance to listen to our plan." Grinning even wider, the gnome nodded. "Sure thing. Just watch!" Half a minute later, the silversmith was crying bloody theft as half of his booth' content got knocked over and a red clad small figure ran down the lane. The lady ordered her guards to give chase, as she had been about buying some of the display – or maybe just because it seemed the right thing to do. It confused Deniv as Feyan had been wearing greens, and it confused him even more when his friend appeared between two stalls, pointing west. "She went there!" he shouted, hopping on one leg. "Bumped right into me and stepped on my foot. Bloody and bloody halflings! Thieves, all of them I tell ya!" He then seemingly caught himself. "Present shoppers not included, of course." The elves went right where he had pointed, and Deniv was already on his way over to the lady. No one else was paying attention. "I bear a message from your beloved," he announced as soon as she noticed him. "He wants to marry you tonight in the Chapel of Eternal Light. We are to get you there safely. Oh and he says to tell you 'rosewater.'" Her expression turned from confused to hopeful. "I can leave? Really? That was all your doing?" Her blue eyes sparkled at him, and Deniv felt weird without being able to say why. He nodded and pointed towards the end of the booths not top far away. "We need to move." Right then, dancing around the silversmith who was picking up items, the gnome was back and put a blue cape around the girl's shoulders, covering her yellow and orange blouse and pants. "So they won't recognize you," he explained. Deniv was sure he must have "borrowed" the cape from somewhere. A moment later, him, Feyan and Lady Caithlyn were darting between some stalls, making for the exit from this place of merriment. They had forgotten about the girls from their party, nor would they have had a means to tell them they had been successful" Back at the mansion, the girls had maneuvered their floating box to the upper floor and stood in front of many doors leading to various rooms. They had tried to open some, but they were all locked and, from listening to them, were also all empty. Just when they were about to ask each other what to do, a stressed sounding voice came from the end of the hall. "Estelle, where are you? Can't get my hair done properly!" "Sure sounds like a young lady to me," Filbura chuckled, then the dwarf was already pulling their means of transporting a bride behind her. A door was standing slightly ajar, and a mix of scents drifted out into the hallway. Perfume, incense and something less pleasant they could not identify. "Who will talk to her?" the dwarf hissed. "My turn," Milayn said, knowing that if they were not believed, she could always use a few drops of the sleeping poison on the lady and they could still get her out. She peeked into the room and saw a young woman fitting the description fighting with a hairbrush and a pearl tiara. "Milady?" she started the most polite way. "Would you come outside for a moment? We have something for you. Rosewater. From your beloved." The woman turned and looked at the two of them with a confused and definitely impatient expression. "What? Beloved? Rosewater? What are you talking about?" "We are talking about the Chapel of Eternal Light and a dream come true," Milayn tried again. "All you need to do is come with us, everything else is taken care for." "If this is one of those practical jokes so popular lately, cut it out," the woman said sternly. "Who sent you?" "Your beloved," the dwarf said the same time the assassin pointed to the crate and said "Not a practical joke. It will be all clear once you look in here." Getting up with some angry frown, intending to end whatever this was sooner than later, the elf came to the crate the two were now holding open for her. "This is empty. What...?" Milayn poked her with the sleeping poison quickly and gave her a slight push so she would land in the crate. "We don't have time to talk all day, don't want this Estelle come and surprise us,." She explained. "She can thank us later." Filbura closed the crate and, with an afterthought, picked up brush and tiara and add it to their cargo. "She sure doesn't want to go to her wedding without her hair done right," she grinned. Then the two made downstairs by means of one of the spiral stairs in the back of the house, which was slightly moire dificult with the floating crate, but they encountered no one but a grumpy maid dusting off portraits, not paying them any attention. Out the servant's entrance in the back, they grumbled loudly to each other about being ordered to carry this useless stuff to wherever while others enjoyed the festival. The lone guard at the back snorted something about them not being the only ones to miss out but that was all. With a sigh of relief, Flibura followed Milayn down the street, directing the crate while her friend pulled. "This was quick," she laughed. "I admit I was a bit tense in there." "We're not out of the water yet," her friend grumbled. The rain, not kept out beyond the festival area, had grown stronger and they had to pull their cloaks up as they hurried over the smaller pedestrian bridge towards another tower. The rain was a welcome excuse for stealth in Milayn's eyes. "There, down the ramp and out of the elf neighborhood as quickly as possible." "This city is so confusing," Filbura complained as they hastened down the ramp. "We will need a skycoach to get to the temple district, no? Won't we raise suspicion?" They way to the elf residence they had made going through one of the few public teleport points, but not only were those one way, they also did not allow luggage and were a bit expensive to use. "Yes but there is so much weird stuff going on in this place, suspicion is not what I am worried about," Milayn answered as they took a short break after crossing yet another bridge into another tower. She pointed towards a balcony with waiting skycoaches – some drawn by magical beasts, some driven entirely by magic – floating discs, flying carpets and even a small green dragon with rider waiting for customers to carry. "There is plenty of transportation to chose from, and several people have luggage. We'll say we have a delivery for the Chapel of Eternal Light – which is not even a lie – and we shall be able to get there without paying a fortune." She was right. Filbura decided they try the dragon, because it could carry the crate and levitating platform in its claws while they could sit up. The rider was just too happy to oblige, as, so she said, too many people were afraid of her dragon friend because they equaled her green color with bad behavior. "It's not easy being green," the dragon sighed as they flew off. For some reason, this caused the dwarf to struggle with laughter. The women had a much easier time just hiring a flying carpet right from the festival. Their girl was willing to go along, after all, and so they arrived at the temple district, close to the chapel they were expected at, very early and still had time to spare." [I]"But... but they had two girls now," a pregnant dwarf in the audience called out in confusion. "I'm guessing the one going willingly was the right one, but what about the other?"[/I] "Ah, we'll get to that after lunch," [I]the storyteller nodded. [/I]"Let's have something to eat first, shall we?" [/QUOTE]
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