Caradose

Caradose is a male halfling rogue in the Emeron campaign.

Caradose is a halfling who grew up in Nowheresville and proved good at stealing and killing. Obviously such activity was frowned upon and it wasn’t long before he found himself shunned from the village. He made his way north falling in with a variety of bandit clans and criminal organizations where he eventually met Legor and Ethrys. They made an effective, and deadly, team and decided to stake out on their own becoming well respected (and skilled) assassins for hire.

## Contract on the Joined of Vesper

On the 19th of Unicorn, 1159, The trio got word through their contacts that a man named Silvanus wanted to hire them in Emeron City. They were offered 2,000 gp a head for each of the Joined of Vesper with a 4,000 gp bonus once they were all slain. The trio investigated Silvanus and learned he worked for the Royal Justicar, Roge Thorgon.

The group accepted the contract and along with intelligence reports furnished by Silvanus and their own contacts determined that the Joined had made their way through the Halfling Shires but departed. Ethrys attempted to scry on them but was unsuccessful.

Eventually they received a report that Shren had been slain in Reikland, and they began compiling reports from Silvanus and their own contacts and learned that the Joined were seen in Lyzol, in the company of a halfling poet (Ronald Cunningham) and a blond archer (Belina Katel). Ethrys tried scrying on these figures and, while failing with Ron, they actually succeeded in spotting Belina in Reikland.

The Trio made preparations to strike the following day but Ethrys suddenly could not scry on Belina any longer. Unbeknownst to the trio, they had been granted sanctuary at the Red Keep and it's magic protected them. Ethrys kept trying however and after a couple of days she found Belina inexplicably in Emeron City in a run down tavern called the Unintended Corpse.

### Strike in the Unintended Corpse

The trio moved on Joined of Vesper in the Unintended Corpse Tavern. Caradose disguised himself as a human beggar child. In this disguise he approached Ron Cunningham, Raskin Daggermaw, Beybulat Tasho, and Belina Katel, throwing them off guard by pitifully asking for coppers.

When the kindly Ron reached over to give some coin, Caradose stabbed him with a poisoned blade, casting off his disguise and attacking. He was quickly joined by Legor while Ethrys remained invisible and cast spells on the Joined of Vesper.

The trio proved too strong for the members of the Joined of Vesper, and they fled the trio of attackers, reaching the streets of the city and blending into the crowd. The trio did not pursue, as the element of surprise was now gone and the odds of success at that point were minimal so they withdrew.

### Strike at Horsehead Peak

The trio continued to try to keep tabs on the Joined of Vesper, but found it difficult as they spent several days in the magically protected safe house of Jaymes Chickwood. Eventually Ethrys was able to locate Belina magically, but she seemed to no longer be with the Joined of Vesper.

They went back to compiling intelligence reports, and found that the Joined had surfaced in Hardale, rallying the town to battle and leading the Battle of Hardale. Their reports indicated they were traveling in the company of a second halfling, a chef named Rongul Ruddletater. As with Belina, they were able to scry on Rongul and determine that the Joined of Vesper were delving in an abandoned dungeon at Horsehead Peak.

Ethrys magically teleported them to the area and they rendered Rongul unconscious. They avoided killing him, as if the attack failed they would want to use him to keep track of their targets. Caradose dressed in Rongul's clothes and pretended to be a dead or unconscious Rongul to draw their targets in while Ethrys was set to bombard the group with spells to make climbing down from the entrance to Horsehead Peak far more dangerous while Legor hid in an invisibility spell and attacked when the time was right.

The ambush went well, as the Joined were drained of energy and spells from fighting monsters in the dungeon and they were caught wholly by surprise. At varying times Briac and Bey nearly fell to their deaths, everyone was injured, and Froderik did fall and seemed to have been saved only as a result of his connection to Vesper and a speedy application of healing by Edella.

Still, the fight turned against the trio and Legor was slain while Caradose was rendered unconscious due to a sleep hex from Zenga. Faced with the prospect of fighting the Joined alone, Ethrys teleported away, abandoning Caradose.

The Joined stripped Caradose naked and interrogated him, but the halfling convinced them to spare his life in return for him explaining who hired him and how Ethrys was able to keep finding them. Reluctantly the Joined agreed and let him go after getting the information they wanted, though Froderik broke the halflings foot before he was freed.