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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Morrow" data-source="post: 3198517" data-attributes="member: 301">Session 23 – The Styes (Dungeon #121)Nate Black sauntered along the docks, humming one of his most popular compositions, She’s Only Bloody Cate Once a Month.  He’d just spent several diverting days in the company of a truly delightful young woman named Lysa, but it was time to put aside his pleasures and return to his duties as first-mate of the Albers.Several weeks had passed since the battle at the Freeport lighthouse where Mentirre Aboir the gnome enchanter behind the production of the mind-numbing drug, white smoke, had been killed.  It was a shame that Dutch Tellinghast had escaped, but the death of Aboir was still a victory.  It had been the demise of Patch Carthy, leader of the Buccaneers, that had sent the Freeport underworld into turmoil.  Nate wondered idly if the former gang leader had been a descendent of Ezekiel Carthy of the Full Fathom Five.Nate regretted that he could take so little credit for the party’s victory.  He had missed most of the battle because he had been chaperoning Tavaari to the temple of Harrimast to remove Aboir’s feeblemind enchantment.  Bronson and Sully had recklessly gone ahead to confront Aboir and Tellinghast without their companions.  He’d have to expand upon his role when he composed a song to chronicle the events.The others had been quite busy since the battle.  Tavaari was taking over the production of white smoke and negotiating with the local druglord Kedward Bone to distribute the stuff.  Bronson was crafting magic items and attending to his temple.  Even Sully had days full of jealous plotting against Buster Wallace’s wife, Margaret, and their new daughter.  With the others attending to their own concerns Nate had been at loose ends until he met Lysa.Nate was so caught up in his musings that he didn’t notice he was being watched until two large figures slipped out of the alley and blocked his path.  His hand slipped to his cutlass, listening to footsteps approaching from behind to cut off his retreat.“We’ll be having your purse, now.  And that fancy jewelry, too.”  Nate took a deep breath and was about to draw his blade when one of the thugs before him grabbed his companion’s arm, “Wait, that’s Black Nate.”Nate smiled thinly as he heard nervous shuffling behind him.  He lifted his chin so that his face caught the light.  The thugs before him backed off nervously, “Sorry,” they muttered.  As he walked away Nate heard a whisper, “I thought he’d be taller.” *    *    *    *    *Nate’s companions stood in the shadows watching Dory’s warehouse.  The streets of the Warehouse District were largely abandoned at this hour.  They could proceed with little fear of witnesses.It was unthinkable that their old friend Lucius the scribe had been the Lantern Man, the murderer who had stalked Scurvytown and the Docks for months.  Lucius certainly had his problems.  There was a period of his life he couldn’t remember, several years spent wandering that he was never able to recall.  The party had first met him when his dreams of alien vistas brought him to the attention of the vile Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign.  He was a quiet soul, haunted by his memories and by the death of his friend Brother Egil.  He was not capable of violence.The party didn’t know how Mr. Dory was involved in the Lantern Man killings, but the information they had gotten from Brother Norton and Constable Jute of the Sea Lord’s guard made it clear that the influential merchant didn’t want anyone looking to closely into the Lantern Man killings or Lucius’ hasty execution.Miranda’s familiar, the quasit Daniel, had scouted Dory’s warehouse the night before.  The massive building offered little of interest and the trio of manticores the prowled the structure after dark dissuaded the group from exploring further.  The ships hulk which hung suspended for a great rusted crane on the roof of the warehouse was much more intriguing, made even more so by the trio of creatures, part-fish part-man, that lurked in the shadow of the crane.  What were they guarding?  Bronson nodded decisively and cast a spell.  He reached out to Queg, Tavaari, and Jack and dimension doored them to the deck of the hulk.  Born aloft by Miranda’s spells Sully and her cohort flew to join their companions, careful to keep the hulk between them and the fish-men guarding the crane.Tavaari went to work.  With the assistance of the magic tools secreted in a hidden pocket of his newly acquired vest of escape the half-elf quickly bypassed the lock protecting the single entrance into the bow of the vessel.  Quietly he opened the portal and his companions slipped inside.  They strained their eyes to see the corners of the room entered, lit by the glow from Bronson’s holy symbol.  Through the pool in the center of the room they could see that the hold of the ship was full of water, heated by several stoves scattered around the room.  The result was that the interior of the ship was full of hot billowing steam.  Before the party could even register the trio of figures rising from the pool in the center of the room they were met by a hail of arrows.  The shafts struck home and another volley followed them as the party scrambled to strike back against the amphibious archers.  Sully stepped to the edge of the pool, her blade dancing.  With a word Bronson blinded one of the creatures.  The battle against the strange fish men quickly carried into the next room.  As the party continued to engage their amphibious opponents amidst the warm mist and dripping water the more sharp eyed among them noticed a lightly armored figure with slick translucent skin attempting to hide in the shadows.  The figure’s face, veins and muscles clearly visible working beneath its surface, hardly had time to register surprise and dismay before he fell beneath the party’s blades.  The fish men proved more resilient, but they soon fell as well.As the last fish man fell Nate Black nonchalantly stuck his head through the door.  “Hello.  Miss me?”“How did you get up here?” asked Queg.Nate twitched the cloak on his shoulders, “Cape of the Mountebank.  Don’t leave home without it.”  He nodded to Tavaari.  “I got your note.  It took a little while to get here from the docks, but here I am.”  Then, as if it had slipped his mind, “Oh, you guys do know that there are several fishy-looking fellows climbing across from the warehouse right now?  And I mean literally fishy-looking.”As the others readied their weapons and searched for spell components, Nate passed a sealed note to Sully.  “This was waiting for you at the Albers.  Careful, it’s damp in here.”Sully tore open the letter.  It was dated twelve days ago.Dear Catherine,Dirty Steve is in Selba.  The Red Lady is in port posing as the merchant vessel Scarlet Courtesan out of The City.  I don’t know how long the Lady will stay, come quickly if you wish to catch her.Your Brother,GeorgeSully looked grimly at her companions, “We’re going to Selba.”Supporting CastMentirre Aboir - Gnome enchanter (dead)Kedward Bone - Wizard, diabolist, and drug lordPatch Carthy - Bo’sun (leader) of the Buccaneers (dead)Mr. Dory - Mysterious merchantHamid - Ill-fated assassin (dead)Constable Jute - Sea Lord’s guardLucius - Scribe (dead)Lysa - Nate’s latest mistressBrother Norton - Cleric of TinelElias Scrimm - Cleric of AsterDirty Steve - Captain of the Red LadyGeorge Sullivan - Sully’s brotherDutch “Boss” Tellinghast - Former Commissioner of the Sea Lord’s guard</blockquote>

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