Follow the Blackmail Trail

## Synopsis

In Season 2, Chapter 7: Follow the Blackmail Trail, we tiptoed up to the third floor of the Broken Crown outpost where the holding cells contained the four remaining prisoners – troubled all the while that what little sound we'd made had alerted the main contingency of bandits on the lower levels.

The captives had been stripped of their belongings but were otherwise in good health – all of them eager to escape if only we could locate the key to the cell doors.  Feeling the pressure to act quickly before being discovered, we handed off one of the bracers with an inlaid arcane focus to one of the prisoners – so they could defend themselves if the time came – and quietly returned as a group to the living quarters below.

Some snippets of conversation overheard by the staircase led us to believe we hadn't yet been compromised, but a shift change was sure to bring on the inevitable.  We bought ourselves some time to get into position by moving any bodies out of sight and giving Orba a disguise – and though it wasn't the flawless execution we'd hoped for, it once again gave us the upper hand to thin the bandits' numbers before they could call for help.

When the fighting broke out in earnest, we held our position in the hallway and let the battle come to us.  Our enemies were skilled combatants but their expertise was physical more so than magical – which opened up the perfect opportunity for Orba to debut her use of the "Slow" spell, limiting their attacks and making them easy targets for her companions.

As we finished off the last remaining aggressor, screams and grunts of pain echoed down from the floor above – and when we returned to the holding area we found all but one of the captives lying dead in their cells.  We were right all along that there was a mole among the soldiers here at the outpost – but in our haste we'd failed to consider the ones behind bars, and with frustration bubbling we bashed his head in without further questioning.

From the lower levels came clinking at an increased pace – most likely more bandits, working as fast as they could to get what they'd come for… which at this point still remained a mystery to us.  We ambushed the records room and this time they were ready for us – but with superior numbers and momentum on our side, we overwhelmed what was left of their crew… killing all but one that we kept unconscious and bound.

In the aftermath, Graven and Erland double-checked that the outpost was clear while Safira examined a large mirror on the wall – not out of mere curiosity, but because the young Broken Crown soldier Jack had said something about it that seemed noteworthy before his death.

The boy was convinced there was a problem with its reflection – and sure enough, some of the portraits hanging on the opposite wall were heavily distorted when looking through the mirror.  The jumbled images and the paintings' titles were arranged in a way that required some teamwork to decipher – and in the end we were left with two decoded phrases: "never forget" and "I am broken".

The length of these phrases corresponded perfectly to a set of dials on a hidden door in the records room – a door that, judging by the unfinished tunnel dug directly beside it, undoubtedly stood in the way of whatever the bandits had come to steal.

With the last dial set into place, the hatch opened and we peered down a long hallway into a room with three glass cases – each containing what looked to be very sensitive information about individuals of influence… especially ones that were prominent players in the War of Giants some 30-plus years ago.

Noting some grooves in the pedestals these cases rested upon, we correctly anticipated that reaching for one document would drop the others through the floor – but using Orba's Mage Hand we were able to secure a second item, and as we collected our spoils we called that a win.

Safira was pleased that she'd have something solid to report back to Lieutenant Colonel Massif – and because we still had a long journey ahead of us before we'd be able to speak in person, we floated the idea of using the Sending spell to let him know what we'd found.

Ultimately our infiltration, while fraught with violence, had put us on the path to understanding what the Stitchers might be up to.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: four natural ones were rolled in this Chapter. 2 each by John and Riley.