28/01/2020 - Tailing Trimaeus and Stealing from Steve

## **TL;DR**

* The group travelled to the dockside tavern to see Captain Trimaeus
* They couldn’t find him there but saw some of his shipmates who said he’d gone to the Pink Pony
* Some of the group put on a baller show
* Blagden  led a man outside, put him to sleep and stole from him
* Kunai went to the Pink Pony ahead of the group and saw the captain singing then going back to his ship
* Bird Person went there ahead of the group and damaged/shat on the ship
* They struck a better deal with the Captain  to hire him and agreed to come back in the morning to help him clean up
* Bayul  went on a run the next morning and came across the dead body of a man who’d been looted, named Steve , and also an ongoing inquiry into the damage to the ship, where Krieg Venusto was busy testifying against them

*We resume as the party set off for the tavern at the docks to find the well-lubricated Captain Trimaeus ...*

A few minutes after leaving the base of the tower, the group began to hear occasional crashing sounds and grunts. Coming over a small rise, they gained a view of their cheerful goliath, Rocky , launching his trusty hammer Rosie full-strength at Bayul . After several throws went wide and others were blocked by Bayul’s  broad and sturdy shield, he was delighted to see it finally strike true, square on Bayul's  forehead, flattening him. Rising to his feet, the Loxodon gave a terse nod of approval. “Bloody hell dickface, I didn’t know you were taking it that seriously!”. “We should do this again, this was…fun”, Bayul  responded. The others rolled their eyes as they joined them.

## **Dockside Tavern**

As the increasingly motley bunch wandered back to the dockside tavern, they passed by the very bustling entrance to the Pink Pony from whence but hours before they had liberated young Rocky . Thankfully, it seemed that the distinctive forms of both the goliath and Narko  went unnoticed.

At the entrance to the dockside tavern, Leoven  addressed the group, letting them know that he was praying for their success and also asked if anyone was good at persuading. Blagden  keenly backed himself for the role of negotiator, but literally everyone else was more keen on Bird Person for the job. While everyone filed in, Leoven  made himself a more sensible 7 feet tall and Blagden  turned himself into the visage of an old woman. Intrigued, Scribbulus  followed as he scuttled off into the crowd but soon lost him amongst the chairs and legs and splashes of beer.

Rocky and Rodrik  sauntered over to the bar. One perfectly innocent patron saw Rodrik  approaching, and one glance in his haunted eyes was enough to persuade him that his beer was much better off with a new owner. Meanwhile Rocky  got chatting to the barkeep. Declaring himself a thirsty patron’s local hero he offered to put on a glorious performance for the price of some beer for the party. Seeing the opportunity, the barkeep offered them a hearty 2 pints each, with Rocky  negotiating his own supply up to 4 so that he could “moisten me’ pipe”. He then asked for a few "carrots for me’ neddy”. Everyone within earshot suddenly became alert and the temperature seemed to drop several degrees as Narko  glared at him. Rocky  explained that the 'water in a place like this always made him shit like a fountain' and he wanted to save the centaur a grim fate. He proved his point by intimidating yet another unassuming customer of the bar into drinking a bucket of their finest tap water. Unfortunately he didn’t get out of range of his own experiment and got coated in the very same water plus the contents of the miserable soul’s stomach. Everyone enjoyed this while he made his way outside to wash.

Taking full advantage of the commotion caused by their colourful group, Blagden scoped out the clientele of the tavern. When he spied a particularly drunk and innocent looking individual on their own, he made his way straight there with an impeccable old-lady shuffle. “Excuse me, I’m a very old lady, can you help me home?”. Immediately realising he had no way out that wasn’t awkward, the man kindly but reluctantly agreed to help 'her’. They walked out of the tavern arm-in-arm to the whistles and jeers of his drinking pals, and Blagden led them in the darkest and quietest direction. Once he judged that no one was about, he simply touched the man’s hand and he slumped forwards, utterly asleep. In seconds, Blagden and his invisible mage hand looted everything of value from the poor bloke, leaving no pocket or orifice unchecked. He slipped the fruits of his endeavours into his pocket dimension, returned to goblin form and sauntered off back to the tavern, leaving the man asleep in the alleyway.

Back at the main group, Bayul  turned to Khrom , Merric  and Rodrik  who had previously met Trimaeus  and asked if they could see him. “Those are his drinking partners, but I can’t see him”, Rodrik  responded. As they made their way over there Bayul  ensured that those who would be recognisable were out front. “Remember what would god do!”, Leo  helpfully chimed in from the back. Clearly heeding this, Rodrik  stalked directly to the table, punched it and yelled “tell me where your captain is!”. They turned at his tone, but their faces lit up when the hulking form of Khrom  came into view. “Ah, the negotiator!”. After a moment of pleasantries, Rodrik  got irritated. “There’s no time for this!” he declared, while slapping the first of them with an astral arm. Even as specs of blood flew from the victim's nose, Leoven  muttered a magical incantation under his breath and if anything the nose appeared more healthy than pre-slap.

Ever-cheerful, the drunks were excited by the magical arms despite their slappy tendencies. “You’re a magic man aren’t you?! We’ll tell you where the captain is if you show us a trick!”. "Can you make your horse disappear?” one of them asked, gesturing to Narko . “I’ll make you disappear if you’re not careful”, he thundered in response. “No need for trouble. Anyway, nobody has acknowledged the elephant in the room”, added the dwarf, just wanting to get in on the banter. As Bayul  pondered the least efficient way to skin a dwarf, Rodrik  was already leaning in again with the multi-slap.

Tired of everyone’s general level of communication, Merric  begrudgingly agreed to show them a trick. With three tankers set out on the table in a row, he brought an ethereal purplish glow to those on the outside, while the message ‘Where is the Captain?’ inscribed itself in magical script upon the central one. “That was impressive mate!”, one exclaimed. "Last we heard, he went down to the Pink Pony”. On hearing this a general groan arose from the group. Particularly offended for some reason, Rodrik  went to hit them yet again but paused as the soothing voice of Leo  inquired “What would god do?”, appealing to his spiritual side. Rodrik  took one look at the friendly Firbolg before knocking both drunkards out, and Merric  healed them both up with a sigh of disapproval. No one was sure if Rodrik  was really violent or if he was actually taking Leo’s advice and his god was just a massive dick. In the end, Bayul  decided enough was enough and grappled the disturbed monk away from the table.

This frivolity was interrupted as Rocky strode back in, glistening in stable water and clad in his signature tassels. “Alright boys, let’s get the band back together!” he yelled to Merric  and Bird Person . As the trio took their positions on the stage, Merric  added a magical sparkle to Rocky’s  nipple adornments and Bird Person created a spotlight effect on the strutting goliath. People excitedly muttered in anticipation, before it fell quiet. As the music started up, Rocky turned sharply. “Makin’ my way downtown, walking’ fast, faces pass and I’m homebound”, he belted. The crowd erupted on hearing this banger, while smoke monsters from Merric’s  pipe began pulsating to the beat and Bird Person flared his wings and jingled a cowbell. As the performance came to a close and money flew at them like projectiles, Rocky flexed while Merric  began collecting up the takings, encouraging them even more with his own little number. “Toss a coin to your Rocky , oh tavern of plenty!”.

The group then reconvened in a quiet corner. All agreed that, given the events of the day, going back to the Pink Pony was a bad idea. It was suggested instead that they wait along the route from the Pony to the ship and pounce on him along the way. However, Bayul  was having none of it. “We will not kidnap a man who will sail with us for weeks at a time, making him our enemy is a terrible idea”. “The plan, dickface,…”, began Rocky before Bayul  abruptly cut him off. “Call me dickface one more time Rocky , and you’ll have neither a dick nor a face”. Temporarily taken aback, Rocky replied “I have to say when I first met you I thought you was a dick because you left the tavern, hence the name. But after seeing what you did for Kunai in the fight in the mine, I got more respect. So Bay-ool it is.”. Bayul  nodded tersely. “Now Bayul  that wasn’t very nice and I think you ought to apologise too”, rumbled Khrom . He didn’t.

Getting back to the plan, Bird Person suggested an idea. “How about this…tomorrow morning, when he’s feeling awful, we can offer to heal his hangover as a bargaining chip for a better price?”. Everyone agreed this was a good compromise and that they should go back to the guild for the night. However, Kunai pointed out that they didn’t even know if he was still there at the Pink Pony, and that he could go alone to scope it out. “Why do you wanna go alone?”, Leo  asked, suspicious of this shady lizard character. Annoyed with being questioned, Kunai simply stalked off into the night towards the Pink Pony.

Suddenly realising that he hadn’t heard any annoying voices for a while, Bayul  turned to the group. “Has anyone seen the little goblin shit?”. As they all glanced about, Rocky saw Scribbulus  skipping about and waved him over. “Scribbles ! Have you seen Blagden ?”. “Hello Rocky ! Well you see he turned into an old lady and I was just following him when he seemed to disappear! Terrific performance by the way”. A minute or two of fruitless searching passed, before Blagden wandered back up to the group and was immediately interrogated. “Ratty and I just went for a walk we did, yes yes”. Overwhelmingly suspicious and conscious of his promise to the guard captain, Khrom  picked him up and held him at arm’s length. “You ain’t bin stealing again 'av you?”. “No!”, Blagden insisted. “I told you, me n ratty went for a walk!”. “Stealing is wrong”, Leoven  affirmed. Blagden was startled at the hypocrisy and made his feelings known, gesticulating towards Rodrik . “No one says anything when he steals drinks!”. “Bayul , may I have the honour?”, Rocky asked, before kicking Blagden and leaning down to talk to just him. “You need to stop being a little shit while we’re on the island, ok?”. Having acquired everyone, they left to follow Kunai .

## **To The Pink Pony**

Outside, as Kunai crept along the dark path he began to hear sounds of frivolity in the distance. He soon came upon a very loud and jolly crowd surrounding a particularly energetic crooning dwarf, Trimaeus . Pushing through the crowd between songs, he jostled his way to the captain. “You must come with me at once, I have been sent with urgent business regarding your ship”. The Captain  looked at him, part disbelieving and part just not wanting to stop having a great time. “Ahh the ship’s fine, come and join us!”. As he turned to continue the partay, Kunai graciously ignored his invitation for fun and instead melted back into the crowd to watch for the group’s arrival.

As they too were drawn by the cacophonous singing, Kunai went over to explain the situation. “I believe we need to best him in some contest to get him to listen”. Even as he uttered those words, however, the crowd began to move away with the Captain buoyant over their heads. He glanced in their direction. “Hey you lot! You mentioned ship travel…well we’re travelling!”. Thinking fast, Kunai gestured to Bird Person . “Quick, I told him there was damage to his ship, make it happen”. As the others realised what was now happening, they swiftly followed the Captain-carrying crowd.

Bird Person's feathers became streamlined in the wind as his mighty wings drove him towards the ship. Coming upon it, he opened with a violent hail of thorns that shredded into the fabric of the sails and rent them asunder. Then, utilising his primeval awareness to communicate with some nearby seagulls, he had them redecorate the masts and deck of the ship with their avian discharge, before dropping his own (significantly larger) payload. To a passerby it might have looked like it was snowing. After just a few seconds he admired his own work and flew back to the group, giving Kunai a smirk but eliciting no reaction in return. Lost in thought for the coming interaction, Kunai whispered his plan to the charismatic Rocky .

The crowd halted as it drew close to the ship, and the group heard a mighty exclamation. “Ah fuck!”. Keen to capitalise on the situation, Kunai made his way to the Captain again, greeting him “I told you that the ship had been damaged. Perhaps we can now renegotiate the price you offered”. Rocky  then backed him up further, “to be fair the ship is in a shit state". “Well isn’t this bloody convenient!", the Captain raged. “Look, we were in the lucky sailor all night, I give you me word”, Rocky  swore. Calming down somewhat and believing the innocent-faced goliath, the Captain made a new offer. “Very well, I will give you my ship for 50 gold per day and a 25% cut of your final loot if you help me get it back to good sailing condition”. “Let’s make it 15”, Rodrik  countered. The Captain looked pained but gave in. “Fine, but you best be here by 9am sharp tomorrow morning to help me clean up this mess”.

## **The Guild**

The group then decided to turn in for the night and wandered back to the guild, mellow after a long day of tasks. Seeing the goblin looking tired, Rocky  threw him up onto his shoulders for a ride, making Scribbulus  yell in delight for a go too. He picked Scribbulus  up, and Ratty scrambled over the ‘Rocky ’ terrain down to snuggle up with him.

Meanwhile, Narko  asked Khrom  more about his past. Khrom  explained that, coming from a tribe of Bugbears he did what he had to do to survive, which mainly involved violence. On one particular occasion, they raided the village that Merric  hailed from while the village's usual protection was away. Deciding in that instant that the brutality of the Bugbear way of life was not for him, he turned on his own kind to protect the gnome people. With his help, they managed to hold off long enough for the village’s elven protectors to return. Ever since that day, he had been welcomed by the community he helped to save, and they had bequeathed him with the specially-crafted weapon he now wields and trained him to fight with martial skill. Now, he sees it as his duty to show that there’s more to his kind that killing and stealing. Impressed by the story, Narko  responded that he had certainly done that, and apologised to him for any coarseness he’d shown in the short time they’d known one another, it was because he was used to bugbears being extremely violent and dangerous. Khrom  said it was understandable, but that there are angels out there who are dicks, and hopefully bugbears who are nice. They decided that they should spar together sometime.

With nothing but a brief nod to Rodrik , Bird Person shot off into the night. Seeing people begin to disperse, Bayul  addressed them all. “Regarding the two different ship captains. Let’s not make this decision lightly, the other one we spoke to seems like a much more decent character and didn’t ask for a percentage cut of the loot“. Everyone agreed that before making any kind of decision a conversation with the guild on funding was needed.

As they filed into the guild, Khrom , Merric , Narko  and Rocky went off to a room to sleep. “Rocky , if you don’t mind then leave Rosie with me for the night and I’ll see what I can do”, Merric  suggested. Kunai and Gimble both said they’d accompany Bayul , but once he and Kunai were inside Bayul  slammed the door leaving Gimble outside. He began to well up as Scribbulus  followed behind and put his arm around him. “Come on Gimble, let’s go and see Wilbur”, Scribbulus  said comfortingly as he led him back out. Alone again at last, Blagden decided to investigate his loot. He opened the locket he took from the poor innocent man at the bar, revealing an image of what was clearly the man’s family. It being worthless, he quickly ripped it up and cast it aside. Blagden then confided in Ratty that he was sad because Tamsin still wasn’t there.

At the crack of dawn, Merric  arose naturally as the excitement of a new project gave him energy. Grabbing the hefty form of Rosie, he took her outside. It was a reasonably lengthy process but slowly the hammer became infused with a magical essence, and while he waited for everyone else to wake up he set about tinkering with some other ideas he had in the back of his mind. As Rocky woke up, Merric  brought him outside to the target range and showed Rosie off with pride. Where before it had the look and feel of a utilitarian hammer, there was now a lustre to the metal that gleamed in the morning sun. Hefting it up and feeling the new-found lightness to her, Rocky  took one look at a nearby target and violently let fly. It struck the target with force and then fell to the floor with a clunk. Rocky  was confused for a second but then glanced down at his belt, where the hammer had suddenly materialised. “Bloody hell, that’s amazing!"

Grinning from ear to ear at Rocky’s  joy with his work, Merric  then unveiled his second creation of the morning. “Introducing Maxwell Reginald Brightsmith”, he declared as he whipped a cloth from atop a metallic form. Seeing Merric, it began to wag its tail and Rocky watched as the form of a metal dog with a large body but fairly short legs padded out towards him. “He protec, he attac, but most of all I ride on his back”, Merric  explained. Generally in a very good mood, Rocky created a small illusory dog for Reggie to play with and turned back to Merric . “Rosie will grace many a battlefield my friend”, he said as he launched her at a nearby glass of water. The glass was utterly obliterated and both water from the glass and tears of joy from Merric’s  eyes began to drip to the floor.

Also one of the earliest risers, Bayul  came across this interaction and, while appreciating the utility of the returning hammer, it was all too wholesome for him, so instead he took off for a run. As he reached the market he saw a commotion involving both ordinary people and guards. Speaking to a guard he discovered that a man called ‘Steve ' had been found dead with multiple stab wounds and nothing of value left on his body. He also saw a woman crying a little way off so headed over to find out if she new more. She turned out to be Steve’s  widow, and revealed to Bayul  that he’d been drinking in the lucky sailor, and as far as she knew had no real enemies.

Slightly disturbed by the implication that the group had been so close to a murder the previous night, Bayul  continued his run so deep in thought that he almost missed the second commotion around the dockyard. Sighing, he again approached, and a guard informed him that a ship there had been sabotaged in the night; its sails slashed and covered in shit. Thankfully, the guard said, they had a witness testifying at that very second. In the distance, Bayul  made out the form of Krieg Venusto earnestly speaking to another guard. Bayul  asked that he be allowed through to speak with him, citing his business interest with the ship as his cause for concern. The guard begrudgingly allowed him through. As he reached Krieg, Bayul  put his arm around him with undisguised strength. “Hello my friend”. Krieg claimed that he’d seen a centaur and his party attacking the ship, and Bayul  probed his story further, asking why the owner of a successful tavern should be down at the docks late at night alone. Krieg explained that he was escorting various clients back to their homes, and Bayul  celebrated with him that there should be so many witnesses coming forwards later in the day to validate this story. Satisfied, and with an overly firm clasp of Krieg’s shoulder, he set off back for the guild.

At breakfast, Bayul  informed the assembled party what he’d seen. Narko  in particular was furious that he should be implicated. “Well at least we have a world class lawyer if we need it”, Khrom  consoled everyone. “Do we? If you find one Khrom , you let us know!” Bird Person dropped in, absolutely slaying the pleasant bugbear, who shed a single tear that travelled over his enormous cheeks and dripped onto a gigantic pec. “Nah Khrom  you are a great lawyer, we have the goblin all thanks to you!”, Rocky  assured him kindly.

As they debated what to do, Dr T emerged and strode over to them. Having never seen her before, Rocky immediately introduced himself and asks her what she was doing that night. She blushed profusely, unsure how to deal with this excitable newcomer.

*We will resume our story as the adventurers set off to acquire a ship to leave the island at long last, and perhaps find out what happened to poor Steve...*