Session 3: The Beat Report

General Summary

After turning in the two captured sprites, the party retired to the guild bunkhouse for the night. The next day, they planned to explore the town and learn some of the faces.

Exploring the Town

Wanting to get a better feel for the town they would be working in, the new Peacekeepers set out to explore all that Ferriero had to offer. They stopped at several businesses, including the alchemist, carpenter, Temple of Volund, and an upscale tavern that features a piano-playing bard. One place they stopped by was Ferriero Smithy, which was run by a human woman who did not believe owning a magmadrite was ethical. This seemed nonsensical to Rocco, who was not shy about voicing his opinion. This caused some tension within the party as both Vincenzo and Mario viewed the use of magmadrites as a form of slavery.
The issue became even more tense when they visited the Glittering Anvil, which used a magmadrite on the forges. The proprietor, believing he was educating the two nay-sayers, demonstrated that the magmadrites were simple tools that only did as ordered. This pleased Rocco, who went on to talk to the owner about possibly getting an apprenticeship with them soon. However, Mario and Vincenzo both remained unconvinced by the demonstration.

The Earthquake

The day of milling around the town was suddenly interrupted when they checked into The Loyal Sword general store. The ground began to shake violently, causing the wares to fall from their displays. Although the tremor was brief, it left the people in shock, having never experienced such a thing. The party offered to help Emil, the storekeeper, clean up, but he rushed them out along with the few customers who were there at the time.
Outside and around the town, people were trying to figure out what had just happened. The Peacekeepers saw their duties and began helping anyone who needed it—mostly cleaning up debris. They were fortunate to find only minor injuries from the sudden tremor. Returning to Town Hall, they saw a large gathering of protestors standing outside. They were not actively protesting, recovering from the earthquake themselves. The party saw signs that supported a kobold named Snitt to be allowed on the Town Council.
They checked in with Deputy Taldahk to report on everything they had experienced. He was equally surprised by the sudden earthquake and wrote his report to his superiors to inform them about the strange event. Vincenzo inquired if it might have had something to do with the mine. The deputy had not considered it since it had never happened before but said it was an astute idea worth looking into tomorrow.
 The following morning, the party went to the mine and met the overseer, D'Angelo. He told them that the earthquake had given them quite a scare but that they were cleaning up debris and hoped to have the mine operating at its total capacity by the next day. He allowed them to go and investigate the shafts for themselves. While they were down there, they spoke to one of the miners who said that he was uncomfortable working in the bottom level of the mine because it felt like someone--or something--was watching them.
Checking the lowest tier of the mine for themselves, Mario did feel a bit of unease. However, he would admit that he was unaccustomed to being in a mine and could be uncomfortable with the new experience. Regardless, Vincenzo decided to detect magic, and while he did not sense anything nearby, there was a faint hint of ley magic. He explained to the party that powerful ley lines run worldwide and could be tapped into to empower magic. For instance, he suggested that a spell like Galerina's earth tremor, usually in a small, contained area, could be multiplied in power to cause an earthquake.
After spending almost the entire day exploring the mines, they decided they needed some recreation. They headed to The Tall Stone to get a drink. There, they saw an elfmarked girl named Stormi Fellwater alongside some Drathknights. She was trying to rally people to stand up against the injustices of enslaving magmadrites. The bartender saw that emotions were tense and asked if Vincenzo could lighten the mood with a song. He did a fair job, but the issues were too controversial for people to stop yelling at each other. Although Galerina had hoped to speak to Stormi, the girl was asked to leave the establishment to prevent any fights.

The Rat Trap

After the investigation at the mine failed to turn up anything useful, the party rose the next day to a new case: the local farmer, Mr. Ratti, was complaining about dozens of rats infesting his barn. This case was a priority since his farm was the primary food source and the only stable in town.
The party went to the farm to see what was happening, but Rocco charged in and started screaming at the only rat he saw. It was a very large rat, but certainly alone. As the rest of the party came in, the rats began to multiply, and soon, there were four rats instead of just one, and they were all biting Rocco. They managed to kill two of them, causing them to turn into piles of goop. Nonna managed to capture the original rat using a barrel while Vincenzo put the remaining clone to sleep.
Galerina began to speak to the rat, which was scared and confused. When asked why it attacked Rocco, the rat replied that he came in and started screaming at him. He felt like he had to. The rat went on to say that he didn't know why he was there. That a person put him in a cage and left him there, but he didn't know why. He also didn't know why he started to multiply. He just wanted to go back home. She let the rat go.
She then spoke to Rocco's donkey, Ragu, who was stabled at the barn. He had also seen someone come in and leave the caged rat. Of course, he could not describe the person because he claimed two-legged people all look alike.
Rocco located the cage with a strange contraption on it that he could not figure out. He also found some scraps of paper. Galerina determined that the paper seemed to have been from a consumed spell scroll.
Outside, they conferred with Mr. Ratti. He said he remembered seeing a small, shadowy figure the night before. The figure was sneaking around his barn. He also said that he was sure it was Snitt, the local kobold trying to get on the Town Council. He admitted that he had led the opposition in the last Town Hall meeting against allowing a kobold on the town council. The party pressed him further to see if he had any other enemies, but he honestly did not believe he did.

Current Date

Morning of the 23rd of Sowing, 1751.