07/04/2020 - Ransacked Repository, Absent Artefacts and Vanished Venusto

## **TL;DR**

* Arrived back at Ilbidor  and found that the guild vault had been plundered
* Scribbulus and Wilbur immediately went to check on the turtles and people of the town
* Dr T and Ilyan  explained the situation, Dr T mentioned the 'Rod of Divining'
* Checked the vault for clues but to no real avail
* One group went to the harbour master and retrieved logs of ships that had recently departed
* Others went to the Pink Pony and found out that Krieg Venusto was responsible
* Dr T explained that the Rod of Divining had been checked out by an expedition 7 months ago but never returned

## **Homecoming**

The return journey was relatively uneventful. Bayul  kept a close eye on ‘Admiral’ Rocky , but he seemed to be earnestly listening to Captain Trimaeus , who was good-naturedly humouring the eager goliath. As The Wildmane pulled into Ilbidor , the hustle and bustle of the port came into view. Trimaeus  reminded the group to visit Dr T so that she could make good on her promise to him vis-a-vis her letter, and Rocky arranged to meet up for drinks with the Captain later. However, as The Wildmane drew closer to shore it became clear that something was off. The atmosphere about the place was palpably more frantic. Where before an observer at the harbour would have seen a leisurely but constant loading and unloading of goods and heard the racket of cheerful banter, now there was only a muted and business-like flurry as ships were readied to sail. People and stuff were clearly leaving the island, and in something of a hurry.

## **Unexpected Tidings**

Ves and Rocky  were both keen to head straight for Dr T to deliver the trip report and have the pleasure of her company, respectively. Meanwhile, everyone else set about investigating the unusual dockyard behaviour. Kunai  tracked down the harbour master’s office with Trimaeus’s  help and discovered that the vault of the archaeology guild had been utterly cleared out 4 days ago! Ash  found much the same through chatting with passing sailors, though these were acutely concerned by the closure of their favourite establishments on the island. On such a small island the guild represented a major source of financial stability and many small businesses had been wiped out by its sudden bankruptcy.

At his swiftest sprint, the reptilian rogue dashed past the group towards the guild, informing them of the situation without stopping. Hearing the news from Kunai  and a re-emerged Ash , most of the group also set off at a run. Narko  got particularly involved because he was dying for a good gallop after the confines of the ship, and in his signature laid-back fashion Elyan  strolled next to Ves  and informed her of the situation.

The only party member who did not follow was Scribbulus . He had always had it in mind to check on the turtles at the beach. However, with thew news that the island was going to become effectively abandoned by all who brought in trade and wealth he made a plan to check on those who may be left behind. Unfortunately, in the excitement and urgency of their arrival, no one had noticed or thought to inform him that he’d forgotten to put his clothes on that morning. Atop a sauntering Wilbur, he made his way over to the residential part of the island in the morning sun. His state of undress caused some peculiar looks, but his innocent cheerful smile and naturally relaxed demeanour meant he still came across as sufficiently friendly, if a little odd. He spoke with people to find the most vulnerable and, suggesting that they save whatever food they could, fed them using an array of magical berries summoned with a click of his fingers.

## **Who billed the guild?**

As the party arrived at the guild, the archaeologists were a mess. Even 4 days after the discovery of the incident, people were still in shock and flapping about. Kunai , Blagden  and Tamsin  immediately made for the office of Lt. Ilyan and found it abandoned, the only exception being a pile of rubble on her desk. Fortuitously, she strolled in not long after and thoroughly updated them on the situation: absolutely everything in the vault, including gold, artefacts and the private collections of several wealthy patrons, had been taken (though there was no single exceptional artefact that could indicate a motive); 4 other guards, all of whom were at some point code-carriers, had been murdered; and they were still in the process of persuading the priests to do the ‘death-speak thing' again. Blagden  and Tamsin  immediately began setting up Blagden’s  defence, but Ilyan  assured them she was confident of his innocence on account of him being hundreds of miles away. Elyan  inquired about shutting down the harbour or at the very least monitoring who was leaving, but they all decided that as they had failed to do this so far, the opportunity had passed.

A second enthusiastic entourage made their way to Dr T’s  office, everyone ascending the stairs totally cooly and normally like normal people and people-horses. I mean, why would anyone not be able to handle stairs? Now I don’t even know why I mentioned it. In sheer enthusiasm, Rocky kicked down the door to the office and came face to face with not only the unimpressed dragonborn, but also an array of other guild members in earnest discussion. These promptly left at Dr T's instruction, though one, a kind-faced and excitable gnome, greeted Ves  with a huge smile and suggested that they meet up for a beverage. Getting down to business, Ves  suggested that they do away with the debrief and Dr T  agreed. Ves  inquired about her patrons, the Fieffers, who kept significant holdings in the vault but Dr T only knew that everything had been taken. As for the event itself, she was hesitant to speculate at first, but later confided in them that she believed Krieg Venusto to be a major suspect. It was generally agreed that Venusto was indeed an all-round arse who should be a prime culprit for something like this, especially after the events of the group's last meeting with him.

Everyone became increasingly resigned as it became clear that, if it was him, Venusto  could have escaped to almost anywhere with the contents of the vault. However, Dr T revealed that the guild had one last trick up their sleeves. The 'Diving Rod’ was an artefact that the guild both possessed and sometimes utilised. It showed the wielder the way to a past belonging of theirs. The only issue, she explained, was that in a major case of The Tragedy of Darth Rod the Divining, no one knew where this had got to. Quite rightly, Khrom  asked if there had been a Rod for finding the Rod. Alas, the answer was a negative. The group agreed to investigate the guild vault and the Pink Pony to search for clues while Dr T tracked down the rod. Before allaying, Rocky managed to wangle a drink with Dr T . The others were surprised at her agreement, not expecting Rocky to be her ’type', but were clearer on the situation when she shared a look with them that spoke volumes.

On their way out, they ran once again into the excitable gnome, who dashed up to Ves  with her signature beaming smile. Breena was introduced to the group and, upon hearing of their plans, hastened to join. The group reconvened at the vault, though their probing yielded little in the way of firm evidence. No unusual traces of magic were discovered, nor were there any suspicious holes or hollows inside the walls that would have suggested a burrowed entry. Various theories were discussed but the only real conclusion was that the entry must have been made using the actual code. After a fruitless search, they split once more. Keen to understand who may have had access to the vault, Bayul  returned to speak with Ilyan  and found that the guard on patrol around the vault on the night of the event was Krushaa, one of a total 10 guild guards.

## **Dockside Detection and Probing the Pony**

En route to the harbour, Leoven , Merric , Kunai , Blagden  and Tamsin  followed in the buzzing wake of Ves  and Breena, oblivious in their convivial catch-up chatter for the entire journey. On arrival, they found Potir the harbour master once more in his office. They quickly established that, over the past few days there had not been any overtly suspicious or excessively large items exported, though their monitoring was limited. In further corroboration with his already-suspicious lack of presence, Venusto’s  ship had indeed sailed away in the early morning 3 days prior. As this was being discussed, Blagden  scoped out the shiniest object in the room, an ornate ship in a bottle, which was (un)fortunately too substantial for the little deviant to steal. Then, glancing interestedly at Potir, he grasped at a piece of copper wire in his pocket, and silently whispered ‘Magpie?’ to Kunai . Kunai , hearing this word whispered into his head, stealthily replied using some discreet hand signals. In no uncertain terms, Potir put to them that he believed this line of inquiry to be nothing but a dead end, prompting their departure, though he did agree to copy out the harbour logs for them. Kunai  tried to give the man a few gold coins for his time, pushing them across the crowded desk over piles of papers. The principled harbour master insisted he did not wish to be bought, but after a brief exchange finally gave out and took it with a shrug. Breena frowned at Kunai’s  attempted bribery of authority and informed him of her disapproval. ‘Sometimes just being nice is ok’.

Just a few streets away outside the doors of the Pink Pony gathered Rocky , Elyan , Narko  and Ash . No signs of life lit up the interior, and with a gentle push of Rosie, Rocky pushed on the front door. It swung inwards with a creak. The bar was utterly empty with the exception of one halfling female and her party of several tankards of ale in various states of fullness. As she swung around on her chair, Rocky immediately recognised her as the bar manager, Denna. ‘Rocky , I thot you were dead!’, she exclaimed, slightly slurring her words. As Elyan and Rocky helped themselves to beverages, she informed them all quite bluntly that Krieg  had left the pony because he killed all of those people and stole from the guild. Obviously. Startled at her blunt pronouncement of his guilt, they quizzed her further. It turned out that his cousins, other Venustos , were big mafia boss peoples but now they’re ‘gone good’. Krieg  saw the opportunity to get a leg up in the family business using the guild’s resources to bankroll himself.

The missing piece of the puzzle was where the cousins had ‘gone good’ to. The group had been completely oblivious to it but Merchendale , a prominent trading city on the continent of Ostaria , had been decimated by a huge tidal wave a couple of weeks ago. Narko  was completely overwhelmed with concern when he heard of the wave, and asked Denna what she knew of the wastelands beyond Merchendale . ‘I don’t know or care. Everyone who doesn’t care about the wastelands , say “Nay”'. At once frightened for his family and furious at the drunken halfling’s goading, he abruptly lunged for her, knocking aside Rocky’s attempt to stop him. ‘My family, my tribe, everyone I know and love lives there!’, he growled at her as she wriggled in his iron grip. Only Rocky , holding the cold steel of Rosie next to his temple checked him. Denna retained some of her good humour in the heat of the situation and deftly defused it. ‘Look boys, don’t fight over me, I’m fine’. Ash , who had watched this situation unfold with some amusement, cut to the chase. ’So where has the asshole gone?’. “How should I know?’, retorted Denna, though she directed them to Venusto’s  office for information and made a swaying swipe at Rocky as he referred to her as a ‘good girl’ on the way out.

The found the office in a state of disarray. A selection of fine carpets lined the floor and exotic animal skins hung on the walls, but hastily sorted piles of paper lay strewn about the room. Rocky and Narko  set about collecting anything of value into the bag of holding while Ash  searched the documents themselves, though found nothing of clear interest.

On their exit, Rocky took Narko  aside. They passed around the back of the bar and into a corridor, then turned into a small doorway. Before them lay a cramped room. The stone walls were damp with mildew, a meagre window allowed in just a slither of grey light from high up on the wall, and the homogeneity of the grimy floor was interrupted only by a paltry spread of hay. ‘Would you like to know what this place is?’, Rocky asked, gesturing inside the enclosed space. ‘An unpleasant place’, Narko replied quickly, his bulk barely contained in the dank alcove. ’This was my room before you told me to get out of here’, Rocky explained, his eyes aglow with memories. He went on to describe how it made him feel when Narko  got angry with people - it reminded him of the suffering he had experienced, which he would wish upon no one else. ‘The next time you get angry with someone, think of me in this box for 20 years’. At that, he stalked away, obliterating the door in his wake and leaving Narko  to a moment of quiet contemplation.

Back in the bar area, Elyan  was tucking into a fine bottle of brandy he’d acquired from Venusto’s  private collection. Rocky suggested that they take the somewhat worse-for-wear Denna back to the guild, where she’d be able to offer some help in place of her bar work. At first she resisted leaving, but he offered her the use of his bed in the guild and he persuaded her that the pink pony was completely dead. Between them, Elyan  and Ash  conjured a plan for a brand new establishment to replace the questionable legacy of the Pink Pony. At this small but hopeful spark of an idea, Denna’s eyes lit up with purpose and she agreed to go with them to the guild.

## **Finding the Rod of Finding**

The group gathered to return to the guild once more, though Ves  branched off to check on the Fieffers. Back at her office, they found Dr T poring over her desk, intently staring at huge arrays of ledgers. ‘Ah, you’re here!’ she greeted them with a glowing smile, optimistic despite the circumstances. She showed them that the Divining Rod had been checked out of the guild approximately 7 months ago by a group gone to investigate the whereabouts of a magical sword once thought to belong to the prismatic pirate ‘Orm the Red’. One of the excitable young troupe members believed him to be their ancestor from the times of the Iysgarthian empire. In the column for checking items back in, it simply read ’not returned, lost on island when attacked by witch’.