Mowenites Unite - Episode One

## Summary:

Mowen had granted individuals the experience needed to hone their skills. In exchange, these people were called to begin their charge. Whether the agents attended the once secret but prestigious academy or were in service to the empire or owed them, six people were sought out and called into service to work the lines of diplomacy, sometimes within the shadows, getting done what needed to be done. Safety was not guaranteed. Mowen was working on a new defensive construction that the world had not seen since the Golden Age of Magic. The six were required to engage in skullduggery, cloak and dagger diplomacy, and questionable missions in service to the empire, all in an effort to build something important.

## Agents:

* Asher "Whiffle-Tongue" - Lizardfolk Wizard
* Gobin Glowstep - Halfling Druid
* Krixx Sharptooth - Kobold Artificer
* Merdaer - Drow Rogue
* Tar'ren r'Eehp r'Eehp - Frogfolk Warlock
* Xilon Harkus Starrati - Half-Elf Wizard

## Adventure:

Some two years had passed since the Dreadwar. Four former Crystal Academy students—Krixx Sharptooth, Asher "Whiffle-Tongue," Xilon Starrati, and Gobin Glowstep—along with the Mage Tar'ren r'Eehp r'Eehp and a rogue named Merdaer, gathered in Abishot to meet with their handler, a Mowen official named Pristina. They met in a backroom at the Abishot Commons.

Pristina told them that the Empire of Mowen was in need of special supplies. The party needed to gather the items without linking their pursuits to the empire. Discretion was the word of wisdom.

The items needed were:

* A special gem that was required for a spell. It looked like a red corundum and needed to be "empty," though no one knew what that meant.
* Lightwood timber, which most likely needed to be purchased.
* Wizards' Coral, which none of the party had ever heard about.

The group was given a sealed envelope with a bank note that could be used to negotiate the purchase of Lightwood timber. The party also would earn five gold pieces per person per week as income.

The party went first to House Stefarni. Approaching the banana grove, they got a look at a curly redhaired young woman dancing around barefoot. Lots of attendants offered assistance if needed, but Asher led the way to meet with Master Relenam Heavyfeet. Relenam greeted them with cheer and hugs. When they asked if Stefarni had any Lightwood for sale, he led them in for tea while he asked around.

Lady Contessa Meridian Selvaggia joined the tea party and gave hugs to everyone. Krixx showed off his metal menagerie, which delighted Contessa. She pet Steelsong, Krixx's mechanical songbird, who sang in her ear. Some of the bird's feather's got caught in Contessa's hair, however, and the group had to help untangle it.

Relenam returned and said there was no Lightwood available in Stefarni, and it would be difficult to get a seller in Mowen. Lightwood was an Oldirin export, but what with Oldirin's troubles with the giants, there were supply chain issues. However, Relenam offered to procure transportation for the party to Oldirin if they wanted to try to find a seller in person.

Next, the group went to the gem markets in the House Stars district. That district was more straight roads than the winding banana grove. Where the main roads collided there was what look like four towers that had stained glass bridges connecting on certain levels. A plaza sat in between them. Heavy doorways led to the underground forge that processed raw materials. A lot of the metalwork on the buildings were black with white speckles due to the starium metal.

As they passed the Stars manor, Xilon recognized a noble exiting the grounds. It was an older gentleman tapping a cane against the ground. Iron Boar greeted Xilon, happy to see his young housemate. They talked about the war and Xilon's training on the forge. Xilon wanted to know if House Stars ever finished the armor proposal. Iron Boar said it would be coming along soon enough.

The rest of the group greeted Iron Boar. Iron Boar said they were a nice little gang. He wondered if they were causing trouble. There was no use for youth without causing trouble.

Xilon said they were looking into a rare, empty corundum gem. Tar'ren tapped his staff and looked at the gem on it. He made clicking noises. A little chwinga popped out and landed on Tar'ren's shoulder. Tar'ren said his friend liked to live in the gem, so perhaps the idea of a full or empty gem might be less foreign a concept than they thought.

Iron Boar knew corundum was rare. The mines that had it near Abishot were long closed. But he did remember the legend of a Mage that had a corundum: Nightseer. Nightseer's tomb was in the Bluewood. That said, if the group wasn't up for tomb raiding, there was a gem collector in Aural who possibly had such a gem.

Xilon asked if he could have a starium sword for old times' sake. Iron Boar said he would see what he could do. Krixx wanted starium as well, but Iron Boar said that giving out the raw material to a stranger might not be as possible.

The group then gained an audience with Harrint the Pure. They asked her about Wizards' Coral and Nightseer. Harrint hadn't heard of Wizards' Coral. The Nightseer meanwhile was a wizard from ages past. Not all bad, but they dabbled in a lot of enchantment magic.

The party split to continue finding information on Wizards' Coral. Asher and Gobin went to House Hudson's casino, Krixx and Merdaer went to a tavern to talk to sailors, and Xilon and Tar'ren went to a library of Oen. Asher whispered to Gobin that if they ran across Pattycakes the Cunning, she would possibly trade favor for being polymorphed into a fox.

Asher and Gobin met with Reyak the Retriever, who offered to gather what information he could in exchange for a favor. What that favor was, he would think about and get back to them.

Krixx told Merdaer that he had a plan. Get a drink, get gold, and get information. They would say there was a bet between them about whether Wizards' Coral existed, then see if anyone could tell them if it was true or not.

The two made it to the tavern and went to a gambling table. Merdaer opened strong saying that no one would call anything Wizards' Coral. Krixx thought an item needed to have a fun name. The two bickered about it for a moment before drawing people into the conversation. A drunk said he'd never heard of someone named Wizard Carl. It sounded stupid. It would be like calling himself Sailor Bob. Krixx corrected him that it was Wizards' Coral, but the man still hadn't heard of it.

Seeing that no results were forthcoming, Merdaer went to a back table and tried to signal to a criminal contact who might be able to help him. Brangian Ashglade walked up to Merdaer and tapped on the table as well. He sat across from Merdaer without saying a word.

Merdaer used his thieves' cant to get across the gist that he was looking for information on Wizards' Coral, but Brangian had never heard of it. He got curious and decided to gather information on his own time. Merdaer was disappointed in the lack of information, but said it had been worth a shot. He knocked on the table three more times and returned to Krixx. Krixx gathered a couple pints of ale and found a dice game. He pulled Merdaer into it and bet some silver.

Xilon and Tar'ren meanwhile went to the library. Xilon said that asking specifically for Wizards' Coral might not work if people didn't know about it in general. Tar'ren agreed and decided to ask for the books people ignored and overlooked on rocks and coral. He also wanted to look up Nightseer's tomb in the Bluewood.

Xilon pointed out that his scarf had the names of the Gods as constellations. Tar'ren studied the scarf closely, finding it to be the height of fashion. The two discussed Xilon's travels and how he made an outfit for Dushah Adriane once.

They found nothing about Wizards' Coral, even after much deep searching. Xilon said they might have to check other kingdoms or more arcane sources of knowledge.

As for Nightseer, they found two different books by the wizard. "Enchantment Proposals that Hook Readers and Optimize Success: A Guide to Defending your Craft," and "Gathering Funds to Fund Your Supply Gathering: A Guide to Wowing Your Investors so You Can Do Your Work." They were surprised by the types of books that Nightseer had written.

Xilon said Adenza the Fox might have more information for them, since she was a Mage who travelled far and wide, trading in exotic items. He could contact her, but not that day. Tar'ren said that could be a good idea.

Tar'ren checked out the books, saying that any damages would be billable to Sire Tar'ren of Inzet. Xilon by habit put the books down for House Stars.

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