2022/10/26

Last time in the Iron Kingdoms, Charlotte got blackmailed.

After the victory at the Battle of the Plains of Senarna, Five Fingers became host to a number of dignitaries that were sent to open relations with the free city. The party, but most notably Charlotte was avoiding the Cygnarian delegation, as many of them had left Cygnarian service under less than good terms. While this was going on, the party learned that there was a concerted effort on the part of Five Fingers to make sure that the Cygnar party and Khador's representative did not cross paths. The party however decided that this was not their problem to deal with and went about laying low, hoping that they wouldn't get dragged into the political maelstrom that was brewing in the free city. This wasn't to be however, as a couple days into this new normal, Atrixia summoned the party and told them that they had to attend a dinner for the diplomats that were in Five Fingers. Those sent to Five Fingers wanted to meet the team that was key to securing Five Fingers's freedom. Charlotte and Xavier told Atrixia that this wasn't likely to end well given both of their pasts, though there wasn't exactly much that could be done. The party was to be on their best behavior and hopefully things wouldn't turn out as bad as everyone was fearing.

The dinner was held at the former estate of Lord Governor Fariseu, which had been converted to a place to host important guests of the free city. With the party dressed in formal attire they walked into the ballroom and began the arduous task of answering any questions that the dignitaries had for them. During this time the rest of the party kept Abe on a short leash, making sure that the farm boy didn't offend anyone important during the party. After a little while mingling with the various diplomats the party heard a commotion from outside the ballroom, it sounded like the staff were trying to stop someone, and were raising their voices to do so. At this the party elected to wait and see what happened, they weren't here to act as security and thus this incident wasn't their problem unless it became their problem. Hector did peek outside the ballroom and saw a man in a red uniform walking past the protesting staff for the event. As Hector returned to the rest of the party to share what he saw, the man strode through the doors to the ballroom, drawing the attention of the entire room upon himself. Shakes froze at the sight of the man, as he knew of him from serving during the occupation of Llael. The man was Assault Kommander Oleg Strakov, the head of Khadoran black ops and an extremely dangerous and capable warcaster.

Kommander Strakov looked about the room before finding the party, towards which he began walking. His stride was measured and his path was given a generous berth, as many of the diplomats present were intimidated by the living legend. When Kommander Strakov reached the party, to everyone's surprise he introduced himself to the party, and congratulated them on their victory in battle. As the party introduced themselves back Strakov lowered his voice and told Charlotte that she had caused his nation a great many problems when she had killed General Kendrick in the Thornwood. Adding that one would think that Khador was paying the man with how helpful he was to their side. Charlotte acknowledged Strakov's praise and took note of one of the Cygnarian delegation that was glaring at her with hate in his eyes. Making note of that, the party then asked what one as famous as Strakov was doing acting as a diplomat to Five Fingers. Strakov's response was that he was there to see and be seen, as when one is as well known as he is, their very presence is a message. This did little to reassure the party that there wasn't going to be hostilities tonight, though Strakov assured them that he was not here to start a fight.

At this point the Cygnarian man that had been glaring at Charlotte had gathered up the nerve to confront her. He stormed over to the party, and told Charlotte that she should be dead for her treasonous actions. Charlotte regarded the man and noted that he bore a passing resemblance to General Kendrick. Charlotte then asked if he was going to attempt to make good on that statement. Before things could escalate further, the man's superior caught up to him and told him to leave now before the situation gets any worse. The man was torn between vengeance and obedience, though eventually he listened to the commands of his boss and gave one last glare at Charlotte before leaving the ballroom. The woman who seemed to be heading the Cygnarian delegation then introduced herself as Lady Cecily Ashcroft, of the Cygnarian diplomatic corps. Lady Ashcroft apologized on behalf of her subordinate, though did state that Charlotte had killed his great uncle so there was a bit of bad blood between Charlotte and the naval Captain Kendrick. Charlotte told Lady Ashcroft that she should keep her dog on a leash, though did comment that the navy's discipline was always lacking so some of it could be forgiven. The two groups eventually left each other for the night, and the event finished without any other incidents.

A few days after the dinner, Charlotte was approached by Lady Ashcroft at Undertow. Lady Ashcroft asked if she could speak with Charlotte and her team as she had some matters that concerned them. Charlotte sent Abe to gather up the rest of the party and began talking to Lady Ashcroft. Lady Ashcroft presented Charlotte with a set of documents that seemed to have been written by Captain Kendrick, seeking for the arrest of Charlotte as a traitor to Cygnar. Lady Ashcroft then stated that these papers had been given to her to send back to Cygnar, though she hadn't sent them yet. If Charlotte and the party did something for her they might never be sent in fact. Charlotte tentatively agreed, though stated that while her payment was the documents, the rest of the party still needed payment, Xavier managed to negotiate for 4000 Cygnarian crowns for the completion of Lady Ashcroft's mission. With the terms agreed upon, the party was then told of what they needed to do. Apparently Cygnar had lost a prototype warjack and the party was to get it back. A Cygnarian engineer by the name of Gavin Baskin was working on the next gen warjack for Cygnar's Storm Division, before he stole one of the prototypes and fled to Five Fingers to sell it and his services. Cygnar wants the jack back before it can fall into enemy hands first and foremost. Mr. Baskin would be nice to recover in order to punish for his betrayal, though if he dies during the recovery it's not too much of an issue. Cygnarian intelligence knows that Baskin is in Five Fingers where the sale is to take place, though doesn't have much more to go on. The party asked a few more questions about the matter before Lady Ashcroft left them to go recover the jack. With the party to contact her when they had the jack in their possession so Cygnar could pick it up.

The party then went to the high captains to inform them of the situation, as well as to see if High Captain D'Lamsyn knew of any illicit arms dealers in Five Fingers that might deal in prototype warjacks. D'Lamsyn didn't know of any such arms dealers as the Twisted Blades were mostly a legitimate mercenary company and didn't deal too much with stolen weapons. The party's trip wasn't a total bust however, as High Captain Riordan did pass along that many illegal arms deals go down in the bloody market of Hospice Island. And that Hagan Gaffer at the Chopping Block butchery knew of most of the goings on in the district. The high captains gave their blessing for the party to do this mission and also said that the party was to recover Baskin discreetly if possible, as he was far more useful for the free city.

The party made their way to Hospice Island, and found the Chopping Block, and it's owner Hagan Gaffer. Gaffer was a middle aged man with a number of scars that had a reputation as both a seller of quality if questionable meats as well as a go between for many of the dealings in the area. The party inquired about Baskin and his jack, and after a little haggling over price was informed that Mr. Baskin was staying at the Satyxis's Delight, a nearby brothel where he was waiting for his sale to go through. Gaffer also passed along that the party wasn't the only ones interested in this jack, and that they best get a move on if they were to get the prize. The party then made their way to the Satyxis's Delight and found Mr. Baskin. They questioned Mr. Baskin and found out that his deal had been delayed by close to two months due to the revolution and that he was laying low to avoid the other interested parties that sought to just take the jack from him. The party then offered that due to his sail most likely being a bust and that he couldn't avoid the other parties forever that he hand off the jack to them, and then he could work for Five Fingers. Gavin agreed to these terms and told the party that the jack was in a warehouse nearby and that he could take them.

At the warehouse, the party found that things weren't that simple as the jack appeared to have been stolen. In it's place was an assassin who attempted to kill Gavin, though was stopped by the party. The would be assassin was a soulless Iosan, who was able to tell the party that he was a part of a group called the Vengeants who had taken the jack and were looking to take it back to Ios. The party learned that the plan was for the jack to leave the city and then be placed on a train that would get it close to the border and then it would be taken the rest of the way. The party decided to send the soulless back to the Vengeants to attempt to broker a meeting though still sent word to lock down the northern exits from the city. The party then escorted Baskin to get to the Fingers Watch so that he could be placed in protective custody.