2023/06/28

Last time in the Iron Kingdoms: The ferryman's toll.

After the events regarding the archon and the transformation of the Treasure Pit, the party was given some time to rest and recover. This was unfortunately cut short when another problem began to arise. A string of murders had begun to strike the city, focusing on those taking the many ferries that traverse the city. The ferryman union had been complaining about unlicensed ferries for a little bit now, though until the bodies started washing up, the responsibility of policing those skirting their regulations was their problem. Now that there seemed to be a serial killer however, the high captains were more inclined to allocate the resources to look into the problem. Quinby and the Hand were first dispatched to look into the matter, and while their investigation uncovered a number of individual ferries that were not following union regulations none of them were a fit for the murders. As this was going on a public panic was beginning to set in. People were more afraid to take the ferries, leading to traffic jams on the bridges. As industry slowed down due to the delays, the party was reassigned to the case and given carte blanche to find the killer and restore trust in the ferries.

As the party took over the investigation, they began catching themselves up to speed on the matter. The victims seemed to be of no particular ethnicity or the like, though due to the nature of commercial river travel, they generally were middle class. When the bodies washed up on Five Finger's shores they seemed to only have been dead for twelve or so hours. The cause of death for the victims was universally drowning, though a couple of the victims did have some defensive wounds on them. The point that the party focused on however was the timing and locations of the appearance of the bodies. The killer seemed to be cutting a brisk pace in their murders and such a thing would be difficult for a single murderer. Though unless some sort of murder cult had moved into town recently, there were a lot of assumptions that went into a group of killers.

As the party continued investigating, the city continued its panic. River traffic dried up to all but the most desperate or foolish, as the legitimate ferries began openly displaying their registration. This did little to slow the murders, and over time the public opinion was that the union was harboring the killer themselves. The party however was not overly concerned with the rising tension in the city, and continued diligently investigating. As The Hand's investigation of the unlicensed ferries was thorough the party was now looking into alternative potentials. They had latched on to the fact that it would be difficult for a single killer to be killing all these people at this rate. Difficult for a mundane killer that is. As there didn't seem to be any sort of connection between the victims, the current theory that the party was working with was that it was the result of some sort of paranormal killer, either a ghost ferry, or some sort of Grymkin. That second one did get Abe's brain firing, as he recalled a story from the swamps to beware the boatman that appears just when you need. The story told of a Grymkin that prowled the waterways, offering to ferry passengers across a river or swamp. This was a trap however and halfway through the journey the boat would sink and the victim would be drowned. Such creatures did have a weakness however, in that they were bound to oblige to a deal struck. And many stories had the protagonist bartering a cherished possession in exchange for their life and safe travel.

Figuring that that fit the pattern of the murders, the party then went about figuring out how to find and deal with such a creature. As it was paranormal in nature and the stories generally had it appearing to those in need, the party's assumption was that if they were to go looking for it, the boatman would find them. As for what they would do when they found it, they latched on to the tales of bargaining for the travelers lives and took it a step further. The party's hope was to barter with the Grymkin so that it would leave Five Fingers. With everything set, they began walking down the smaller docks, looking for a mysterious murderous Grymkin. Not too long in their search, the party came across a small ferry, operated by an elderly man.

The man and his ferry seemed unconcerned by the current hostility towards ferries in Five Fingers. When he asked the party where they were heading, they said that they were on their way to meet someone, and they would like to purchase passage to Captain's Isle. The fare was slightly on the cheaper side, though not unreasonably so given the state of the ferry, and the current panic. With passage paid for, the party set off across the Dragons Tongue. As the boat went across the river a fog settled in. The old man waved off the concerns as just a sea mist, though the fog in question was rather thick. Not too much later, the party began feeling water lapping at their feet in the bottom of the boat. With confirmation that they had found their mark, they began negotiations in earnest. The boatman was enticed by this second round of bartering, and the sinking of the ferry paused for a moment while the party made their offer. The party tried to get the boatman to leave Five Fingers forever, though as forever carried a hefty price with it they settled for a century and a day. To purchase such an agreement the party did have to sacrifice quite a bit that was dear to them. The losses to the party included Charlotte giving away the gun that she had shot Kendrick with, Xavier forfeiting a unsent letter from the time of his desertion. Hector eventually offered the hand of glory that he was bestowed so many years ago in Rhul. Finally Abe paid with his armor, specifically the remaining pieces of Rig that were worked into it. With the payment accepted the party was taken to Captain's Isle and dropped off, with the boatman sailing off into the mist.

This didn't stop the murders completely however. And bodies continued washing up on the shores, albeit with less frequency. As the party realized that there was still work to be done they went back to investigating. The most recent victims matched the previous ones, leading the party to think that there was a copycat that was using the boatman as cover. Despite this theory, the party was at an impasse as to how to proceed. They couldn't just keep wandering around as they were rather noticeable. However Dmitriv was still rather new in town and wasn't as recognizable. So the plan was to have Dmitriv wear one of the spy eyes and take some ferries in the hopes of finding the copycat. During Dmitriv's travels across Five Fingers, he came across a man that looked similar to the boatman that the party had bargained with. Realizing that there wasn't just a single boatman that was hunting in Five Fingers the party had their solution. Now all that there was to do was to deal with this one and to make sure that Dmitriv didn't drown. As the boat was going along, the old man informed him in a raspy voice that the boat was taking on water and if he wanted to reach the nearest dock he should start bailing water. As Dmitriv was aware of the party's previous encounter, he realized that he only salvation was to begin bartering. Though was dismayed to find that he himself didn't have enough to banish the Grymkin from Five Fingers. Instead, Dmitriv traded a photograph of better days for passage to shore and hoped that when reunited with the party they could come up with a solution. The party did have a solution, and that was the power of incredible violence. They had arrived at Dmitriv's destination and were waiting for the boatman to come in so that they could kick its ass.

As the ferry rolled in, the party told the Grymkin that they had a new deal for it: it could leave Five Fingers or they would kill it. The Grymkin laughed a horrible laugh at them “negotiating in bad faith” and a fight broke out. The fight involved the boatman as well as undead corpses of his victims. Despite Dmitriv almost drowning and Kitten being stuck at the bottom of the river, the party was victorious killing the Grymkin, which left behind a golden coin. The coin was identified as a divination coin which occasionally a boatman would bestow as a boon to a particularly clever passenger. The coin told the party of the location of the rest of their treasured possessions, a cove mostly untouched by the waves. With that settled and not much else to do while a crane was obtained to raise Kitten the party went out and retrieved their payment.