Episode 91

The party makes their way to the town of Caamir. The weather is rainy and cold; quickly becoming chillier the closer they get to town. The party is cloaked up to avoid the rain, however they find themselves soaked nonetheless. They claim a room in a tavern a short ways from the Ebony Wing’s meetingplace and talk about the game plan. They decide to scope out the Drunken Duck ahead of time. Lily and Marisol disguise themselves to go undercover and the others are made invisible.

The other tavern isn’t very busy when they arrive, however the warmth from the fireplace is much welcomed. Marisol and Lily split off from the party; Ingred and Seipora snoop around inside; Anthos and K stand guard outside. Lily orders drinks at the bar and asks if there’s a place where she can get some privacy. There are rooms, but not much else. One man can be heard muttering to himself about writing and two tanners in the corner discuss leathers and upcoming shipments. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Meanwhile, Ingred relays that she doesn’t find anything unusual in the right wing of the tavern, but she spots the manager’s office in the left wing. Marisol and Lily talk with the barkeep some more. Lily asks if there’s a job opportunity soon after Marisol purchases a private room. She is able to get a cleaning job and introduces herself as Abeline. Ingred gets chased out of the tavern by an unusual creature that “shoots lightning”, according to her. She tells the group that there’s a new hire named Emily Yuridge. She says that the young woman seemed nervous, but the party doesn’t think much of it.

Lily informs the party that there’s only a few minutes left on the invisibility and they meet up again before returning to the Drunken Rat with a new spell. Inside, Marisol sets up the orb again and they talk about the *new* game plan. Marisol, Seipora, and K, (all of whom have anti-scrying devices) head towards the private room that Marisol booked. Everyone eventually settles down for the night. The rain slowly turns into a slush and they awake to the town being coated in a thick layer of snow.

The others make their way to the Drunken Duck and take their positions. Lily does her job and listens in on the customers that enter. Some time in the afternoon she notices two suspicious individuals sitting beside each other and pretending to eat their soup. They appear to be hiding in plain sight. She hears from one, “It’s not my job to change the weather, it’s hers”. Emily walks over to remove their dishes, and while doing so she taps one on the shoulder and drops a note in their lap. He reads it and shares it with the other man. They both drink a bit more before leaving the building. The rain outside pours harder as the two head down the street. Lily sets her shadowhound on one before the party meets up in the back alley to decide on their next course of action. Seipora is left behind to keep an eye on Emily and the others follow the two men.

The rain soon fades into a light drizzle as they walk. The two men stay on the main road and head towards the eastern gate. They come up to a closed up building that appears to be the only closed one on its street. The party hears some locals commenting about the unusual weather. The two men disappear behind an alleyway as a group of people pass by. Lily suggests that Ingred slip inside from one of the upper floors and she finds her way into the third story window. She sees many people looking down from hanging metal scaffolding. They are robed figures who seem focused on something occurring below them. Sawblades hang from the ceiling by heavy metal chains; the building appears to be a wood processing plant.

Ingred tells the group there’s at least 6 armed people. "It’s weird here". The rest of the party quietly makes their way inside. They all hear whispering before it stops abruptly. The two men stand in the center of the building and speak to a dwarven man. He tells them that he has seen the heart before. He has a good idea of where it is now, or at least where the next breadcrumb lies. However, the information comes at a price. The two men both pull their hoods down and put on masks of the Ebony Wings. The tall one agrees and pulls a tube out with a paper inside. He warns the dwarf that he can only use “this” once before getting detected and hands it over. The dwarf exchanges an old leather journal for the scroll. The wings spend a few minutes reading the journal and one nods to the dwarf, who tells them that “the Fell Rest and Dark Stars won’t forget your help in the future”. He tells them that perhaps they’ll work together again before they part ways. The dwarf snaps his fingers and the people in the scaffoldings break the windows and flee from the scene.

The Dwarf informs the wings that they have “rats”. The two men break off in a sprint. Seipora calls frantically through the stone, telling the party that Emily is heading their way. The session ends here.