Runelords 14.0 - Koume's Forwarding Address and the Seven's Sawmill

When it became late and Shadliss had fallen asleep, the adventurers resolved to go to the address they had recovered from the Sandpoint Sanitorium, where they hoped to find a clue to the whereabouts of the mysterious mercenary and fugitive Koume Kamun, if not the woman herself. Aldern led them unerringly to the correct street, familiar as he was with the city, and they found themselves in one of the town's rougher districts. When they arrived, they found that the street had buildings numbered 25 and 29, but no 27, the place they were looking for. Aldern confirmed their immediate suspicion: many buildings had upper apartments, and 27 was likely to be above of one of those two buildings, which appeared to be a bakery and an adventurer's tavern called the Jolly Walrus. The bakery was long since closed, but the bar was at the height of activity, meaning that the streets still had numerous passers-by. After quickly considering their options, Khyrralien suggested that they go inside and have a drink until the streets got quieter; Virgil's enthusiastic response to this plan preempted the formation of any others, and the five walked in.
The group proceeded to order rounds of drinks; Aldern was at first disappointed that he could no longer enjoy alcohol, but Luna made both of them infusions of Polypurpose Panacea, at least allowing them to join in on the communal drunkenness. Khyrralien and Virgil proceeded to get very drunk indeed, while Luna and Eamon attempted to ask the barkeep about the apartment upstairs. The proprietor seemed very defensive about the subject and wouldn't speak of it, suggesting that what or whomever was up there was not to be discussed or bothered; they gave up the line of questioning before the man could get too suspicious.
When at last the bar closed for the night, the group, consisting of two very drunk extraplanars, one mildly buzzed angel, and two now-sober undead, wandered onto the street. Virgil and Khyr were still set on finding apartment 27, so they decided to break into the bakery, on the assumption that number 27 was more likely to be on top of 25 than 29. Walking into the empty alley behind the buildings, they had Luna pick the lock. When the door swung open, they found themselves looking into a perfectly ordinary bakery. Making their way quietly upstairs, they found a tidy, lived-in apartment. A quick glance in the rooms revealed two women sleeping together peacefully, and a young girl sleeping in an adjacent room: the baker and her family, ostensibly. Embarrassed at their intrusion into an innocent bystander's home, the group quietly removed themselves and locked the doors behind them, disturbing no one and leaving no trace of their invasion. 
Luna, upset at the awkward and gauche behaviour she had just been involved in, resolved to not enter the other building, keeping Aldern with her after she picked the back door open for them. Eamon, Virgil and Khyrralien found themselves in a closed back foyer of sorts behind the bar, where the keeper was still likely cleaning up for the night. A door in front of them assuredly led into the bar itself, while a set of stairs led up to their left. At the top was a locked door, which they couldn't quietly pass without Luna's assistance. A short arguement was had regarding whether they should break in or not, and it was eventually resolved that they should come back early the next day and formally ask for Ms. Kamun, rather than engage in even more illegal behaviour. With that, the group left and returned to Foxglove's townhouse for the remainder of the night.
The next day, the group reconvened in the late afternoon at the Jolly Walrus after having spent their mornings engaged in personal persuits: Virgil had let an excited Shadliss show him around the city on her knowledge gleened from thorough readings of the travel guides that would occasionally pass through the Sandpoint bookstore, while Aldern had shown Luna and Eamon around some of the sights and Khyrralien had disappeared to conduct his own business. The six met up outside the bar, and it was determined that the best course of action was to have some of them disguise themselves and go inside, asking for Koume, while the others waited outside as back up. It was decided that Virgil, Aldern and Khyrralien would disguise themselves, as the barkeep had already heard Luna's and Eamon's voices and might recognize them; using Luna's infusions of Disguise Self and the Hat of Disguise that Aldern wore to mask his nature, the three went inside.
At this time of day, there were only six patrons in the establishment; ignoring them, the trio went straight to the barkeep. Virgil requested access to the upper apartment, and was obviously about to be refused until he mentioned Koume's name. At this, the barkeep paused and changed his tune, leading them into the back room where they had broken in the night before. Telling them to wait there for a moment, he shut the door behind him as he re-entered the bar.
As the other three loitered outside, they saw six people all leave the Jolly Walrus simultaneously in a single file, before all turning left and walking together towards the alley that led out back. Luna and Eamon recognized one of the retreating people: it was Ilsa, the mercenary that they had met and befriended at Thistletop Shrine. Luna shouted out her name, and the woman looked up; with a smile and a wave, she stopped in the street and beckoned them over. When they caught up and exchanged pleasantries, Ilsa explained that she was still hard up for work, and that the barkeep had just offered two hundred gold to whomever could deal with the three troublemakers who he had just escorted out back. Nodding, Luna bluntly informed her that she was about to go beat up Virgil and Khyrralien, which had the effect of significantly downing Ilsa's mood, excited as she was at the prospect of a payday. Sighing, she said they should probably catch up and do something. The three agreed; Shadliss commented that apparently Luna wasn't lying when she had warned earlier that they got into trouble a lot. 
Just when the three men inside began to consider that this was probably a set-up, the back door opened and they were met with five obviously-unfriendly combatants. Sighing and stepping out into the alley, Virgil immediately gave orders for Khyr to act as a distraction and for Aldern to stay out of the way; Khyr began dancing with a gusto, enthralling two of the five, while Aldern drew his knife and hung back, worry clinging to his affect. The remaining three lashed out at Virgil and Khyr, but Virgil began to cast Suggestion, forcing two more of the aggressors to sit on their hands for two hours. When only one of them remained free from mind-control, he turned and ran down the alley, passing Ilsa and the others as they caught up. Virgil greeted the approaching group, particularly the newcomer Ilsa, and began to re-enter the bar to have further words with the barkeep. Shushing him quickly and shooing them out of sight, Ilsa ran up and knocked on the door, loudly proclaiming that she had beaten the troublemakers. The barkeep stuck his head out into the foyer, muttered something to the woman and passed her a bag. Glancing into it, she grinned and nodded her head, walking back out into the alley and waving them free to do as they wished. Virgil chuckled and strode back into the bar, much to the fear and surprise of the barkeep. Khyrralien followed, freeing the two barflies from their enthrallment; with the money gone and their opponents obviously powerful and otherwise engaged, they decided to make a hasty exit, leaving the two Suggested people to sit on their hands in the alley. The barkeep flustered and cowered, obviously afraid of what these men might do to him and his establishment. He explained quickly that a woman had indeed arrived some months ago to rent the upstairs room; she had never stayed there, but had paid a huge sum up front with the instructions to deal violently with anyone who came around asking for Koume Kamun. The only other thing she asked for was to have any mail sent there forwarded to a particular address in Turtleback Ferry, which he had been doing. He swore that he hadn't given any of this much thought, especially after the windfall, and that he honestly wanted no trouble. He gave them permission to look upstairs, and indeed, it was an empty apartment that appeared to see occasional use for underground poker, but nothing else. Thanking him for his begrudging assistance, the men took their leaves.
Walking down the street, away from the Jolly Walrus, the group reconvened with each other and Ilsa as Virgil, Khyr and Aldern eschewed their current disguises for their usual ones. Ilsa was pleased at the money she had come into, which meant she wouldn't be threatening destitution for a little while. She had still been unable to find steady work, and was suffering for it in Medinipur. Virgil shared the fact that their "friend" Ms. Kamun had left a forwarding address in Turtleback Ferry, to which Ilsa exclaimed was her hometown. The others, still dedicated to hunting down Koume for her role in the attacks on Sandpoint and for whatever she had been planning in the sanitorium, offered to escort her there and to help sort out the troubles that had chased her out of town to begin with, if she fancied. Ilsa heartily agreed: she was rather sick of living the life of a vagrant adventurer, and would love to go home. They planned to leave Medinipur in a few weeks, after their business was resolved, and she agreed to travel with them and show them the quickest way to the village of Turtleback Ferry. Heartened, she wisely resolved that she needed a different bar to frequent for the remainder of her stay in Medinipur, and the seven of them set out to find it, going on a rather early pub-crawl. 
With seven days and nights of free time, waiting until the appointed night to investigate the Seven's sawmill, the group set about entertaining themselves. Virgil spent his days and evenings with Shadliss, who drank up the city's grandeur. Luna and Aldern were neigh inseparable, as Foxglove threw himself into the act of showing her absolutely everything about the city, serving as a distraction for himself; every place they went and person they spoke to where Aldern was treated as himself, without any hint of something being wrong, different or suspicious, galvanized him further, bolstering his spirits and serving to all but banish the melancholy that he had suffered under in Sandpoint. The pair of them rarely returned to the townhouse before the early hours of the morning or until a downpour trapped them inside; Luna began to craft a copy of her medallion for Aldern in these times, under the tutelage of Zara. Meanwhile, Khyrralien occupied himself in various pursuits, as the bustling city life also spoke to him, and he and Virgil availed themselves together of various debaucheries in the dead of night, after Shadliss had fallen asleep. Eamon found his way to numerous grand churches of the various gods and goddesses, spending a long time in each and savouring their particularities in a sort of mini pilgrimage; he found the churches of Lyevald and Taiyo particularly spoke to his ideals of Virtue. 
One day, as Foxglove brought Luna to the Serpent's Run, a rather famous horse racetrack, they found it to be closed and cordoned off. Inquiring with a stationed guard, they learned that there had been a murder there and investigations were on-going. A few loose words from the guard suggested that it was a peculiar scene, and they pressed interested passers-by for more information. According to local news, there had been a series of murders in the last month or so: rich, high-profile politicians, merchants and civil servants had been killed and, as it had been rumoured, mutilated, with seven-pointed stars carved into their bodies. The justices had been taking this case very seriously, and details were tight as suspects were hunted for. Unsettled by this development, the pair shared what they had learned with the others, who all agreed that it wasn't something they should try and openly become involved with, as they were more likely to get dismissed out-of-hand, or taken in as suspects themselves. 
Virgil and Eamon, during this time, approached the local church of Lyevald, a congregation devoted to justice and protection of the innocent, in regards to Foxglove Manor. Presenting them with a fitting donation and praise to their god and services to the people, they mentioned that they had come across a terribly haunted property that was endangering the surrounding populace. The clerics inquired for technical details regarding the specifics of the haunting, which neither of the men had owing to their lack of divine magical knowledge; however, the church promised to send people to investigate and cleanse the area in due course.
Eventually, the time came to go to the sawmill that Foxglove had pointed them towards. Shadliss was left sleeping in the townhouse as the five adventurers made their way to the building. The resolved to act as Aldern's guards as he asked for audience, hoping that this might grant them an easier entry or perhaps provoke more information regarding the plans that had culminated in Aldern's death. They approached the door, where a single hooded man was standing guard. Aldern introduced himself and begged entry; the guard stepped inside, and returned minutes later telling them to go inside. 
The mill was of good construction: a complicated series of ropes and pulleys hanging from the center allowed the facility to be built vertically, with the product raised and lowered across four floors for the various stages of processing. Climbing the stairs, they found the ground and second floors to be empty, though the grinding sound of machines still filled the air. On the third floor, there were five men, going about their work, which seemed a tad strange considering the lateness of the evening. One of them greeted them, and Virgil asked to speak to the people in charge. The worker feigned ignorance, and Virgil's questions were soon met with aggressive stonewalling. The other workers made their way closer, and suddenly they pulled terrifying masks over their faces and attacked, lunging with murderous intent. The adventurers were not surprised, however, and retaliated presently; three men were swiftly rendered unconscious, and the other two retreated, running further upstairs. Luna stopped to ensure that none of the men would succumb to their injuries, stabilizing them before the group followed the retreating men upstairs.
The fourth floor was a workshop with an office on the far side; large, tell-tale bloodstains could be seen all across the floor, poorly covered with sawdust. Making their way to the office, they opened the door without introduction. Inside, a proud, half-elven man dressed in offical-looking robes sat at a desk, flanked by four men wearing the same horrible masks; two of the men were the ones who fled minutes earlier. The man welcomed them formally, and Aldern whispered to Luna beside him that that was Chief Justice Ironbriar. The office was small, and two of the masked men stepped outside in order to allow Virgil and Eamon space to enter, also serving to more effectively surround the adventurers. Virgil and Eamon began to address Ironbriar, trying to glean useful information while the man returned their conversation, apparently pleased that he now, as he admitted, had a group of people to pin the recent murders on. As the conversation progressed, it became increasingly clear that there was something wrong with Ironbriar: Foxglove noted that he was talking strangely, based on what he knew of him from previous meetings and parties where he had heard him speak; Khyrralien, using Detect Magic, noted that he had some sort of spell over him, though Ironbriar noticed the spell and dismissed it, chiding him for his rudeness; most of all, though, he began to act irrationally at the mention of the Mistress of Seven. According to Ironbriar, he had no knowledge of any murders occurring outside of Medinipur, only the ones in the city that he was responsible for obfuscating the investigations of. He knew nothing of Aldern's involvement, though when he was mentioned, Ironbriar cloyly mentioned that Mr. Foxglove likely wouldn't like his affairs discussed, to which Aldern agreed, frustrating the others. However, when they mentioned the Mistress, Ironbriar suddenly became highly aggressive, shouting that she was his and no one would touch her. Virgil managed to calm him down and divert the topic to the Brotherhood, at which point Ironbriar explained that there was no one in charge of the group: it was merely an organization of wealthy families who supported each other behind the scenes, and there were no women. Pressing the glaring contradiction of his statements, Ironbriar seemed to begin to gain an awareness of the gaps in his own understanding of the situation. As it seemed he was coming to a realization, one of the masked men beside him, all four of whom had been becoming more and more anxious as time passed, mercilessly stabbed Ironbriar in the back. 
The scene erupted into chaos, as the two men at the desk tried to kill Ironbriar, while the two in the workshop lunged at Khyrralien, their closest target. Virgil and Eamon rushed to Ironbriar's aid, with the bard casting healing magics to keep him alive while the barbarian lashed out at the aggressors. Luna used her tanglefoot bombs to impede and injure the masked assailants, while Khyrralien fought back and Aldern stood defensively, unwilling to enter combat. Ironbriar shrouded himself in Invisibility, trying to escape before he succumbed to his grievous wounds. All things told, the struggle ended quickly: the four men were no match for the adventurers and were quickly felled. Closing the office door quickly enough that Ironbriar could not have fled, Virgil addressed him, stating that he hoped it was obvious now that they were not at fault for the murders: they were trying to stop them and the corruption in the Brotherhood that was their cause, and were on Ironbriar's side. He responded only to say that he needed to get away. Shaking his head, Virgil allowed his escape, offering another healing spell freely, holding out his hand innocuously for the justice to take if he wished. Virgil could feel something touch his hand, discharging the spell, and the door opened as the man made his escape. 
Luna dashed about, trying to stabilize the four men, but found that one of them, who had been fighting Eamon inside the office, had already perished. Aldern looked about, and muttered that he had a very bad feeling about letting Ironbriar go. Some of the others agreed, and Virgil shrugged, yelling out a poorly-worded Suggestion that made Ironbriar drop his invisibility and pause, but not actually stop his attempt to flee. Luckily, it was enough of a pause that Eamon could catch up and grab him. Ironbriar, maintaining his dignity, pleaded to be freed, and, since he no longer had a spell over him, Luna cast Zone of Truth on the area from a wand and the group agreed that they would let him go, after he had told them everything he knew and with mutual promises to not turn anyone in and to not report the scene for twelve hours, which gave Ironbriar the time he wanted to flee town. 
Ironbriar admitted that he must have been under some sort of compulsion magic: he had no clear recollection of the Mistress who must have ensorcelled him, other than her beauty, pale skin and red hair. She had put the rest of the Brotherhood under her command, transforming them into a cult as she orchestrated them to commit murder for her for a purpose he was not aware of. He would not reveal any of the Brotherhood's identities, because he professed a loyalty towards them that he hoped and trusted that they would likewise continue to extend towards him and his family. He didn't know personally who had committed any of the Medinipur murders, only that he was to obfuscate the investigations, though he supposed that they must be members of the Brotherhood or their agents as well. He still claimed a complete lack of knowledge regarding the murders in and around Sandpoint, and anything to do with Lordship and the Skinsaw Man, though he had heard of Vorel's Legacy, the cursed mould from the manor. When questioned what the Brotherhood was doing with it, he said that it was being sold to the Shivering Ones: a group of two or three peculiar, well-spoken kobolds who wore blue paint, and who had recently come to the city to try and negotiate formal trade deals with wealthy groups. The Brotherhood was obviously against negotiating treaties with a lowly kobold warren, but the Mistress established a small deal that involved selling them the mould as a means of testing their reliability; he had no idea what they were paying for it, or what their plans for it were. 
As a final note, Ironbriar said that he had been sending reports to the Mistress via raven, and that the birds in the aviary off of his office would be able to find her. With that, he begged with dignity for freedom, which the group granted, allowing him to dash down the stairs, apparently in an effort to leave town before more of her agents could track him down. Khyrralien skipped after him to ensure that he in fact did flee and didn't betray them, but it was only moments before the dignified half-elf deeked around a corner and vanished from Khyrralien's sight, eluding him entirely.
Eamon and Virgil went to the adjacent aviary to find three ravens in a caged area connected to a small window. A rock ptarmigan had flown in from an open window beside and was gorging itself on the food intended for the ravens' rewards for completed deliveries; it took flight and fled immediately upon the entrance of the men. Despite Virgil's ability to speak with birds, the animals knew little of value, and were not trained to perform any task other than deliver messages, dashing Virgil's hopes of using them to track Ironbriar. Scribbling a note that cryptically read that he "was excited for the explanation for all of this", he gave it to a bird and told it to deliver it to the mistress. Excited for its reward, it took wing exclaming that the snake-lady always gave good food. Watching it fly, Virgil sighed realizing that the only way they would learn anything of note was by following it, so he took his true form and covered himself in invisibility, taking flight and following the bird, leaving a fuming Eamon to deal with the mess in the sawmill. Returning to Luna and Aldern, he and the alchemist had a terse discussion regarding what to do with the corpse, the six severely wounded and unconscious men, and their promise to not report any misdoings for at least twelve hours.
Meanwhile, Virgil was led to a mouldering tower, propped up against the side of the cliff that ran through Medinipur beneath the broken bridge. It looked about ready to collapse in several areas, and was likely posing a serious risk to those people who lived in its shadow. The bird flew into a small hole, and peeking through, Virgil could see it was a caged-off aviary not unlike the one he had just left. Investigating the upper reaches of the tower, many of which were open owing to large chunks of wall and roof having fallen away, he spied a room that had been rather lavishly attended. Ignoring most of the room's contents, he focused on a large bed of fine pillows and sheets, where something much larger than a human appeared to sleep. Letting his curiousity outweigh his better judgement, Virgil provoked the sleeper, first by making a loud, illusory bird call nearby. A woman sat up slightly, beautiful, pale skinned and red haired, but she merely groaned and lay back down. Intrigued, Virgil used a spell to pull away the sheet that covered her, revealing that the woman's body ended at her torso, becoming the emerald coils of a gigantic serpent: the Mistress appeared to be a lamia. As Virgil turned and fled into the night sky, the enraged woman shouted out a Suggestion that the intruder reveal themselves and lie upon the ground until she was done with them; Virgil managed to wrest his mind from the compulsion and continued to fly off. As the lamia shrieked from the unkind invasion, she fired off a series of Magic Missles, some of which struck Virgil by chance, but as he was still cloaked in invisibility, he managed to escape. Grinning at the knowledge his audacity had won him, he flew back towards his companions: hopefully, this woman was the one pulling the myriad of puppet strings involved in this series of gristly events, and they could be done with it at last. 
Category:Rise of the Runelords