Here Comes the Bribe

## **Synopsis**

In Chapter 84: Here Comes the Bribe, Orba and Beezaura started their ride toward Na-Qhusi with a note of optimism – laying out the details of the Mr. Two investigation and expressing our hope that Butez could be convinced to open up about his unique set of skills.

A little over halfway between townships, we spotted a crowd gathering at an outdoor kitchen serving as a rest stop for merchants and travelers – and with a presence of armed guards we could tell there was someone here of note.  As it turned out, Percival Mollefaire was quite a fan of the Jaculi Stew – and as word got out that he frequented this spot, hopeful northerners came to rub elbows for a chance at getting on the Mollefaire payroll.

Orba cleaning up in a game of cards gave Beezaura the opportunity to privately commiserate, which she did while informing Percival that former pawnchaser Colt Moreno was no longer in a position to be of service to him.  Percival begrudgingly turned the contract over to us… and just like that another plan for a chess piece was in motion.

Back west, Safira was the lone remaining party member in Na-Upa – setting aside some time to train with Sarn Darrow in the use of her Wild Ordnance weapon.  By saying an old elven prayer, Safira was transported to a dreamscape where the wolf from her initial discovery of the bow was guiding her through a sea of fog that hid shadowed figures resembling the people who had tormented the spirits in life.

Keeping the shadows at bay with bursts of protective light magic, Safira moved from one altar to another – but after reaching her destination there was a disconnect between the physical and the spiritual that she could not reconcile.  The shadows closed in and she repeated Sarn's prayer, but it wasn't enough – the vision collapsed and Safira knew she would have to return at a later time to attempt the reassignment again.

A discouraging moment to be sure, but with a couple of days left before we were set to head north, there were still opportunities to revisit these techniques – and Safira turned her attention to other pressing matters like heading east to meet with Vane mo-Hakra and the Broken Crown.

Already present in Wampurani-Na were Erland and Graven, who stopped at All Hands On Deck to secure lodging but otherwise had errands in different parts of town.  At the Militia Reserves, Graven reconnected with Thorsten Ramaker who had new leads regarding the string of murders.  From the Broken Crown he'd acquired a list of citizens who'd been outfitted with a Band of the Benefactor, which he thought was a good starting point for narrowing down suspects who'd be unable to purchase their own weapons – consistent with the methodology of the killer.

He needed help tracking down the remaining names, but that combined with the vial that Graven had learned about from Mrs. Hannomore felt like we were moving in the right direction.  We promised to speak again soon and Graven headed to Palomer Franco's house, where a pair of Gentle Void favors made for a smoother interaction than Beezaura's previous visit.  Cashing in a magic pendant that we acquired all the way back in Urin-Chupa, we got Palomer to agree to tinker with the dormant Ring of Protection – a tool we hoped to have for our foray into the mountains.

As was his way of things, Erland's business took him somewhere he hadn't discussed with the party – a contact named Siegra on the south side of the river who was a friend of Robert Bastille's.  Honoring a deal we'd made weeks prior, Erland had the money to reimburse Robert for the horses we'd borrowed – and in exchange Siegra returned an emerald-encrusted pawn that was held as collateral.

After that, Erland was southbound to meet with Marvyn Bishop – and around that same time, Beezaura had arrived in Na-Qhusi to speak with Butez.  Pragmatic to a fault, the tattoo artist didn’t have much problem speaking about metallic attunement once the subject was broached – but his asking price for information was exorbitant.

Reaching into her deep pockets, Beezaura paid for two recent forms detailing two metallically attuned tattoos: one for Emma Pasternackle, the Short Ports custodian, and one for Percy Oland – the surgeon's assistant who'd turned up dead in Thorsten's investigation.  It gave us some insight into how Mr. McKenna was running his business, but the connection to Mr. Two was still fuzzy – and it seemed like a return to the coast was in the cards.

With so much left to do in the days before our departure, we hoped that something new might turn up in the place where it all started.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: three natural ones were rolled in this Chapter, by Riley.