Day 261-269: Tower of the North to Norport

Day 261 (31st October)
After a stormy crossing, a battered Lady Cloud pulls into Tower of the North well after midnight
Day 262 (1st November)
The party goes onshore whilst running repairs are carried out, ends up sticking their noses in and getting run out of town.
Day 263 (2nd November)
Ship is blockaded, party encounters a Wild Dwarf and after a rest sets off to the mines
Day 264 (3rd November)
Clears out the mines, largely through bluffing and heads back to ship with an entourage of crippled Wild Dwarves
Day 265 (4th November)
Arrive back at ship, return the dwarves to the sea and pick up their “reward”
Day 266-7 (5th – 6th November)
Uneventful journey at sea
Day 268 (7th November)
Dock in Norport.
Find some accommodation, various paying of respects at shrines etc.
Day 269 (8th November)
Establish who is collecting the mithril and where it is bound (Bristol).
In the evening Garaf brings along Rimstl (Senior Priest of Perceval) to have a chat……
……….
Rimstl has left, and the party is discussing what information he provided when a minor brawl breaks out at the bar, resulting in two humans being forcibly ejected from the inn.
A couple of minutes later a familiar Dwarf pulls up a stool and joins you are the table.
The first thing everyone notices is that Vinmira looks absolutely knackered, whilst never the smartest of Dwarves his current scruffy state makes him look not much better than a tramp. His eyes are bloodshot and throughout the conversation that follows he is constantly yawning or trying to stifle a yawn.
He orders an ale from a passing barmaid and pays for it. Once it is delivered he pushes into the middle of the table..
Vinmira: “Probly would have got chucked out if I didn’t order a drink, but this place serves nothing worthwhile.”
He then pulls out a hip flash and takes a swig, those nearby recognise the heady aroma of Hightower Brandy.
Vinmira: “OK, with those two bozos out of the way.” A nod to the bar where the recent kerfuffle was, “We probably have 15 minutes or so before other watchers arrive. You should have been here a couple of days back, not like the Lady Cloud to be late so I guess you got mixed up in something.”
Vinmira: “I am seriously pissed off, and you folks could be in a lot of trouble.”
Vinmira: “Someone up my chain of command has been playing me like a puppet and I don’t like it. Problem is, I don’t know who, but I mean to find out.”
Caradoc: “How do you know that?”
Vinmira: “Because I was told to authorise the shell game trick that Quercius came up with. The thing is, someone in Alveran intelligence then made sure the Lizards knew about the ‘box’ being near the cracks of doom. Funny thing is, they only did this once they heard that Eliezure was heading there as well….. assassination by proxy you might say. Plus there are other things….. You may remember that when we first met I was kicking my heels at a border post, not my normal posting and I had been there over a week. I now realise that I was kept there purely so that someone could observe me closely….or rather something. Something that needed to be able to mimic me closely, in hindsight it was your comment about the Five only drinking ale that gave it away….the last time I drank ale was on that posting, cos I had run out of decent stuff….and that was all that was easily available.”
Vinmira: “Then two weeks ago I headed up a snatch team in Hightower, we had information that a Solaran infiltration squad was in the city. The information was good, and the team was picked up – it was all too easy and so once the prisoners were handed over I took a day to dig a little….and replenish my supply of course. Turns out this infiltration squad had been grassed up by their own side, who considered them as traitors. Not the normal Solaran way of dealing with treacherous behaviour…..”
Vinmira: “….and now to crown it all. You and the other two teams still operational have all been branded as deserters or worse traitors. You folks have somehow become responsible for the death of Onwen and Eliezure as well as the Solaran assassination squad in White Beach. Thankfully the service presence here in Norport is not the most effective, but I have heard that tomorrow you will be ratted out to the Solarans. So I would make haste and get out of here tonight, or dawn tomorrow at the latest. The problem is that there is a lot of mud being thrown at you, death of Onwen, death of Eliezure, maiming of Garm…..you don’t have many friends at the moment. And I suspect that I am on the list of sacrificial lambs as well, but obviously am still useful.”