A Pitch to Bait and Switch

## **Synopsis**

In Chapter 88: A Pitch to Bait and Switch, we stopped at the bridge in Wampurani-Na to solidify our strategy going into the Offices of the Broken Crown.  As we didn't yet know why she'd been summoned, Orba and Erland distanced themselves from Safira and feigned interest in storing a valuable magic item in their Room of Safe Deposit.

We were hoping that our Writ of Service would permit us a preview of the vault – potentially setting up an opportunity to solve Graven's predicament within the hour – but security was both uncompromising and sophisticated, incorporating the usage of not just physical locks but also poisonous gasses and Atoc Massif's Sending Stone technology to alert additional guards in the event of a break-in.

An appraisal and a waiting period were both mandatory with no obvious avenue to circumvent the requirements, so we stepped aside to think while Safira paid a visit to Lieutenant Colonel Warber – who'd been circulating pictures of her likeness in an attempt to track her down.

As we suspected, the search for Safira was at the behest of Raymond Massif – though he was unable to meet in person and had instead sent a sealed letter north after missing us when we passed through Tuktu.  His efforts to gather information about the mysterious organization "VOID 2" had led him to the conclusion that it might be a covert collaboration between certain members of the Gentle Void and the Broken Crown – though he'd yet to discern the primary motive behind such a partnership.

Earlier we had learned of a contract to recapture a Broken Crown outpost seized by bandits north of Na-Upa – and Massif thought it might be worth looking into, especially if his suspicions were correct that it could have been an inside job facilitated by soldiers of the BC.  Without tipping her hand, Safira told Warber she might have associates who were interested in joining the cause – but despite being a promising lead it wasn't going to help us destroy the crystal that would give Graven his freedom back.

With his schedule cleared, Warber recalled Orba and Erland to further discuss the Room of Safe Deposit – and though he would not budge on allowing us in on the spot, he was willing the waive the waiting period in exchange for our help.  Somewhere along the road south out of town, a carriage went missing that was carrying valuables belonging to the Broken Crown – including a lockbox containing spellcasting components meant to pay back the local cleric Donovan Ainsley.

Not wanting their reputation to deteriorate any further than it already had, Warber tasked us with retrieving the lockbox – explaining that since the components inside would be stored in the vault, it wouldn't be of further inconvenience for him to let us follow behind and take a look around.

The trade seemed fair… and as Safira and Orba made for the General's General to get an appraisal and a decoy crystal, Erland sprinted to the Steederway entrance – where a stubborn guard proved to be a frustrating obstacle in his desire to travel quickly to Na-Garwas to check for correspondence from Marvyn Bishop's captors.

As all this was happening, Graven spent some time recuperating at The Deck – but it wasn't all napping and tending to wounds.  A little birdie pecking at the door bore a note from Villepont Willoughby, who sensed there was something afoot and offered to chat if we could get away from prying eyes.

After that, fellow goliath Vane mo-Hakra invited Graven downstairs for a game of cards – a welcome distraction from the weight of recent events where he felt, perhaps for the first time at this bar, not like an outsider.  We chatted about contracts, the deceased Christopher Chauncey, and then curiously the conversation turned to skin grafts – as one of Vane's friends had gotten one months ago and was still rubbing the irritated spot on his arm.

That rubbing motion had a ring of familiarity to it, but there wasn't much time to dwell on it before Orba and Safira returned to explain the situation.  Our best hope seemed to be in locating the lockbox, entering the Room of Safe Deposit with Warber and swapping out the real crystal for a (hopefully) convincing fake one.

If we couldn't manage that, simply breaking the crystal in the room seemed like a solid plan B – with Graven's suggestion of a full-on assault of the Broken Crown offices coming in a distant third.  As it dawned on us what kind of risk we might be taking sneaking Graven out of town with so many watching, we reluctantly parted ways with plans to track down the lost carriage.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: one natural one was rolled in this Chapter, by Jordan.