Zoom 2021-08-26 21:00

Following the fight at the Inn, the Innkeeper's wife appears and suggests barricading the doors, windows etc which the party and the still-drunk sailors do. The party double-checks the new prisoners/bodies and the old prisoners for any magic or other 'interesting' items - only the innkeeper's cudgel is magical, though the crossbow used by the recent attackers has a fading magic aura about it.

About half an hour later, the Watch arrive - an Elf, 3 Dark Elves and a human in City livery. The party lets them in, and after answering a few questions about their welfare, the healer provides some CLWs to the innkeeper and Umar. The Watch then start seriously questioning the party, the innkeeper, the other patrons and the prisoners. Wun and Twoo try and get some kip, but Quercuis has given up on the idea.

Back at the docks, Francis, Hamish and Joshua start looking for tracks near the night-soil cart, when they are (almost) surprised by a guy stepping out unsteadily from the shadows - hands raised, and hoping to sell us some information. It becomes clear that he is a street-bum and Cinder-oak addict - and will do anything for his next fix. Francis deals with him (and pays him some silver) while Joshua tries to determine how much truth he is actually telling. He claims to have seen two people carrying a hobbit-sized bundle from the cart to a pub called The Black Crow in the Warrens - they took him down through the beer cellar. Although Joshua believes he is telling the truth, there is no way that he could have followed these people without being noticed - he is far to unsteady on his feet for that.

He also claims to have seen a human run from the cart, and then a bedraggled hobbit (ie Hamish) climb out of the cart and make his way off. Furthermore (ie after some more silver) he says that he has seen 2 groups of 4 people - not locals - going around asking about hobbits. Then he clams up and makes his way off.

However, he soon makes a very rapid re-appearance shouting "bloody hell- they're coming back!" - he is followed by group of 4 assailants. Francis steps in to block the alleyway and proceeds to hold off - and defeat - one humanoid fighter followed by another, while being peppered with Magic Missiles from a mage, who runs away once the fighters go down. Meanwhile, Joshua and Hamish send the street-bum off to the pub where Caradoc, Brokev and the druids are to get help, and then idle away the time by climbing up onto the roofs and down again (receiving a few MM's for their troubles), but get back into position behind Francis in time to trip up the 4th assailant whom they had seen running around through a different alley to flank them. Everyone piles in and take him to precisely 0 HPs.  Deciding that one prisoner is enough, F. proceeds to finish off the other fighter who wasn't dead yet. They go back to the pub with their prisoner.

The street-bum does make it back to the pub slightly before F,H and J get there - and so Caradoc sneaks out to investigate. He sees them coming up the road, but also noticing some activity on the roof - so he climbs up to investigate, and sees a scrawny humanoid dressed in leathers and carrying a crossbow shadowing the party from the rooftops. So C. lies in wait for him, then backstabs him as he goes past - a quick, clean, fatal blow. The body falls off the roof, startling F,J and H somewhat.  J&H carry the prisoner into the pub while F investigates the body - which turns out to be an Ariel with his wings strapped up. He retrieves it's crossbow and daggers, then heads into the pub. Caradoc remains on the roof to see if anybody else turns up, but after about half and hour or so, he is convinced that he is alone up there, and nothing else of interest is around.