the Jester
Legend
Our heroes travel to the nearest manhole and ascend a rickety, rotting ladder covered in filth. They find themselves in a street crowded with people, but as they clamber out the crowd moves away with a collection of muttered sounds of disgust. From a second story window a rotting tomato flies and hits Bolfol in the face. “Get outta here, you stinking adventurers!” a wavering female voice cries. The party notices a pair of old men staring at them from a nearby porch, drinking tea and frowning in their direction. Krunkshank shoots them a dirty look and the two hurriedly move inside. There are some benefits to being feared.
Our stinky adventurers walk rapidly to the sea, where they rinse themselves off before heading back to the Mulled Mead. Horbin is fuming the whole while, muttering, “I can’t believe he shattered my holy symbol!” The whole group pays for baths and takes the time to clean up, then Horbin stomps off to find a church of Dexter. It takes him a little while, but not too long; after all, even though Poppin allows a great deal of religious freedom, most of the townsfolk are Galadorian, so there are several Dexterite churches. He makes a large donation and comes back with a new holy symbol. By this time the rest of the party has moved off to their traditional watering hole, so he heads off to join them at the Dwarves. They all take their time drinking heavily except for Droidi, who doesn’t seem to drink, and all of them eat a big meal except for Clambake, who hasn’t been eating much lately for some reason.
“Arr,” he comments glumly.
Eventually most of the group heads back to the inn to sleep, while Droidi goes back into the wilds, saddened by the loss of his lizard, and Vito elects to stick around the Drinking Dwarves for a while. Captain Clambake isn’t tired yet, so he stays there as well, drinking a vast quantity. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, he has an assignation to keep. Indeed, not much later a fellow joins him and they talk briefly, then leave together.
In the morning the party reassembles. Droidi arrives at the Drinking Dwarves first and finds Clambake still there. The rest soon wander in over the course of a couple of hours. Horbin announces that he really wants to kill that priest of Juiblex- not a big surprise. The group spends a few moments discussing the situation.
“What about that body?” Krunkshank asks.
“Do you think it was that cleric we heard about, who was investigating the fungus?” Horbin wonders. “That might be another one we owe that slime priest!”
“I need a new shield, arr,” says Clambake. “And what about hiring us some mercenaries?”
In the end, the group decides to spend a day or two re-equipping themselves, seeking magic weapons in town and perhaps finding some strong arms to help out. Horbin bites his tongue; he’s got a grudge and he wants to take care of it, but going it alone surely isn’t the best way. So he goes along with the party while they wander the town. They find a place called the Forinthian Swordsmith’s, not because the smith is Forinthian but because he uses good Forinthian steel (“most of the metal here on Dorla is very low-grade,” he confides in them). The party gets along fairly well with him; he’s a dwarf, and unlike most of the town he seems to think that adventurers are okay. (“They got lots of coin,” he smiles.) Clambake gets a new shield.
Then they find a place called the House of the Steel Coins. It’s the local mercenaries’ guild, but when they try to hire on, the head guy- a half-orc named Blunder who seems none too friendly- glares at them suspiciously and declares, “Nope. I ain’t sending my people into the sewers with no adventurers.”
“Why not?” asks Horbin in exasperation.
“’Twould be a death sentence. I know how your kind are! Always lookin’ for monsters, plunderin’ tombs- hah! Not a job for a mercenary.” He folds his massive arms across his chest. “Nothin’ doin’.”
The party argues and tries to persuade him, and finally Vito manages to strike a deal with him: they’ll hire Blunder himself, for the stiff fee of 150 gp a day. “At least we won’t have to give him a share of the loot,” Horbin mutters. Blunder shoots him a dirty look.
By that point it’s night again, and the group goes through their typical hard-drinking routine. “Say, Clambake,” Krunkshank says, “aren’t you hungry? You haven’t touched a bite of food all day.”
“Arr, a little ale’s all I need.” Nonetheless, Captain Clambake picks at a meal, mostly moving the food around on his plate. Sure does put away a lot of drink, though.
Feeling ready, the party notes that Ooluts’ party is the next night. They decide to attend, since it’s open to anyone who wants to go. “Maybe we can spread the good word for our friend Zenvo,” Vito says. “And in the morning, we can go try to find your nemesis,” he adds, nodding at Horbin.
The next day Vito tells the group that he’s learned a little bit more about the sewers from the new friends he made in town. “It seems that this town was actually founded in part by adventurers, and they also found a natural cave underneath it. The sewers connect to it and drain down into it. I suggest that we try to find this cave. Perhaps it has something to do with our quest to free up the harbor.”
“Yeah, after we kill that slime bastard,” Horbin mutters.
They collect Blunder and head to the manhole cover that they emerged from previously, as it’s close to where they fought the creature before. When they get there, the two old men are sitting on their porch again, drinking tea. When they see the party tromp down the street towards the sewer entrance, they give them dirty looks, but when Krunkshank sends a glare their way the two hurry inside again, and the dwarf elementalist laughs.
“Well, down the hole,” he says, more cheerfully than he feels.
Next update: verifying the body's identity, some easy fights, the second (not the last) fight with the Juiblexian, and the drain. What's going on down there, anyway?
Our stinky adventurers walk rapidly to the sea, where they rinse themselves off before heading back to the Mulled Mead. Horbin is fuming the whole while, muttering, “I can’t believe he shattered my holy symbol!” The whole group pays for baths and takes the time to clean up, then Horbin stomps off to find a church of Dexter. It takes him a little while, but not too long; after all, even though Poppin allows a great deal of religious freedom, most of the townsfolk are Galadorian, so there are several Dexterite churches. He makes a large donation and comes back with a new holy symbol. By this time the rest of the party has moved off to their traditional watering hole, so he heads off to join them at the Dwarves. They all take their time drinking heavily except for Droidi, who doesn’t seem to drink, and all of them eat a big meal except for Clambake, who hasn’t been eating much lately for some reason.
“Arr,” he comments glumly.
Eventually most of the group heads back to the inn to sleep, while Droidi goes back into the wilds, saddened by the loss of his lizard, and Vito elects to stick around the Drinking Dwarves for a while. Captain Clambake isn’t tired yet, so he stays there as well, drinking a vast quantity. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, he has an assignation to keep. Indeed, not much later a fellow joins him and they talk briefly, then leave together.
In the morning the party reassembles. Droidi arrives at the Drinking Dwarves first and finds Clambake still there. The rest soon wander in over the course of a couple of hours. Horbin announces that he really wants to kill that priest of Juiblex- not a big surprise. The group spends a few moments discussing the situation.
“What about that body?” Krunkshank asks.
“Do you think it was that cleric we heard about, who was investigating the fungus?” Horbin wonders. “That might be another one we owe that slime priest!”
“I need a new shield, arr,” says Clambake. “And what about hiring us some mercenaries?”
In the end, the group decides to spend a day or two re-equipping themselves, seeking magic weapons in town and perhaps finding some strong arms to help out. Horbin bites his tongue; he’s got a grudge and he wants to take care of it, but going it alone surely isn’t the best way. So he goes along with the party while they wander the town. They find a place called the Forinthian Swordsmith’s, not because the smith is Forinthian but because he uses good Forinthian steel (“most of the metal here on Dorla is very low-grade,” he confides in them). The party gets along fairly well with him; he’s a dwarf, and unlike most of the town he seems to think that adventurers are okay. (“They got lots of coin,” he smiles.) Clambake gets a new shield.
Then they find a place called the House of the Steel Coins. It’s the local mercenaries’ guild, but when they try to hire on, the head guy- a half-orc named Blunder who seems none too friendly- glares at them suspiciously and declares, “Nope. I ain’t sending my people into the sewers with no adventurers.”
“Why not?” asks Horbin in exasperation.
“’Twould be a death sentence. I know how your kind are! Always lookin’ for monsters, plunderin’ tombs- hah! Not a job for a mercenary.” He folds his massive arms across his chest. “Nothin’ doin’.”
The party argues and tries to persuade him, and finally Vito manages to strike a deal with him: they’ll hire Blunder himself, for the stiff fee of 150 gp a day. “At least we won’t have to give him a share of the loot,” Horbin mutters. Blunder shoots him a dirty look.
By that point it’s night again, and the group goes through their typical hard-drinking routine. “Say, Clambake,” Krunkshank says, “aren’t you hungry? You haven’t touched a bite of food all day.”
“Arr, a little ale’s all I need.” Nonetheless, Captain Clambake picks at a meal, mostly moving the food around on his plate. Sure does put away a lot of drink, though.
Feeling ready, the party notes that Ooluts’ party is the next night. They decide to attend, since it’s open to anyone who wants to go. “Maybe we can spread the good word for our friend Zenvo,” Vito says. “And in the morning, we can go try to find your nemesis,” he adds, nodding at Horbin.
The next day Vito tells the group that he’s learned a little bit more about the sewers from the new friends he made in town. “It seems that this town was actually founded in part by adventurers, and they also found a natural cave underneath it. The sewers connect to it and drain down into it. I suggest that we try to find this cave. Perhaps it has something to do with our quest to free up the harbor.”
“Yeah, after we kill that slime bastard,” Horbin mutters.
They collect Blunder and head to the manhole cover that they emerged from previously, as it’s close to where they fought the creature before. When they get there, the two old men are sitting on their porch again, drinking tea. When they see the party tromp down the street towards the sewer entrance, they give them dirty looks, but when Krunkshank sends a glare their way the two hurry inside again, and the dwarf elementalist laughs.
“Well, down the hole,” he says, more cheerfully than he feels.
Next update: verifying the body's identity, some easy fights, the second (not the last) fight with the Juiblexian, and the drain. What's going on down there, anyway?
