DIDx13

TL;DR

Here are the highlights from this session:

• The group questioned Ansell and learned that the attacks on the Delvers had been organized by the treasurer of Dolenna, Debin Tyrell.
• The party managed to sneak back through the city gates and found that there were crude wanted posters with their description, offering a bounty of 300 darr each for bringing them in dead.
• The Delver's Guild began to organize a special contract offering Delvers the chance to re-enter Ludranna Grotto if they agreed to march on Rikhevlovir and hunt down the Deepfolk they believed responsible for the murders.
• Shein scouted out Debin's office and learned that while the entrances were all under guard, the roof seemed unguarded and could be an access point.
• Rainer, Scarf, and Toban went to speak to Speaker Athissa to reveal what they had learned about Holis Ditani and Debin. She seemed unsure, and offered to hear them out if they brought her evidence by the end of the day. As they went to leave, Marshals ambushed them, trying to murder Speaker Athissa so they could pin it on the group.

Full Summary

As the group finished clearing the rubble from the northern passage, Nylin came to visit them and said that Ansell seemed much more willing to talk now, and suggested they follow her back to her home in order to question him. As they arrived at Nylin's home, they found Ansell bound against the wall, his arms fused to the limestone walls of the building, looking haggard. The group began by getting straight to the point and asking him who was behind all the attacks; who was orchestrating them. Ansell gave a long sigh paused for a moment before telling them that it was a man named Debin Tyrell. At mention of this name, Toban stiffened and cursed, saying that this was none other than the city treasurer of Dolenna. With this knowledge, the group began to speculate about what reasons he could possibly have for this, coming to the obvious conclusion of money, with Zero seeming thoroughly confused about why everyone was so obsessed with it, saying that it was just a "shinier metal". Ansell told them about prior negotiations with the Deepfolk years prior, attempts to purchase their Muteniten, which had been refused; and after Debin replaced the former treasurer, the Deepfolk cut all contact because of his aggressiveness regarding the topic; a fact which Nylin confirmed. Zero commented that life was worth far more than metal, and Ansell mocked them for it, with Zero becoming angry and threatening him for it. Ansell went on to describe Debin's physical appearance to the group, and telling how many remained "in his pocket" now that they had dealt with Holis Ditani and the corrupt Marshals. Satisfied with this information, the party asked if Nylin could make a deal with Debin to stop the attacks, but she was outraged at the suggestion of making a deal with the one who had attacked and slaughtered her people. The party suggested making a deal with someone else, but could not think of who else could possibly make a deal that could offer protection in return. At that, Shein pointed out that now that everyone seemed to be aware of this metal, these attacks would likely continue until Debin got what he wanted, and Nylin considered this. The group wanted to use Ansell as a witness to convince the city that the Deepfolk were innocent, but Ansell pointed out that he would be killed before they had the chance if they brought him back to the city. The group said that if he was willing to talk, he could live to see tomorrow, with Shein saying he can either die as a rock, or die as a man. Shein asked whether the grotto is heavily patrolled, which Ansell confirmed, saying it will be crawling with Marshals, especially now that he has not returned. Zero asked if there was a memento Debin kept on him at all times that could be used to identify him, with Ansell mentioning a brass flask engraved with his initials that he kept on his hip, filled with water. Shein wished Ansell good fortune in his new life as "10% rock" as Ansell sighed and the group debated what to do with him. Zero believed that leaving him with the Deepfolk might add more fuel to the fire to provoke another attack, but nobody could come to a consensus, so they asked Toban, who suggested returning through The Maw and re-entering Dolenna through the main gates, disguising themselves, and trying to clear their names. With their plan clear, Zero asked Nylin if she could spare another diamond or two, and she handed over a couple, after which the group set themselves on course through the northern passage and made their way back through The Maw to the surface, arriving outside the gates of Dolenna early the next morning.

Shortly before arriving at the gates, Toban suggested staggering their entry so they aren't seen as a group, otherwise their composition might tip off the Marshals. But the problem was that Zero could attract attention regardless, as Forgeborn were still relatively uncommon. Toban took out some materials from his pack and began to mix some kind of strange substance which he slathered onto Zero's chassis. After the substance dried, it gave the rough approximation of the appearance of skin; covered by his cloak, the Marshals may not notice his true nature. With that, Zero, Rainer, and Toban decided to go first, heading through the gate, only attracting mild suspicion due to Zero's appearance; but a comment from Toban shaming the Marshals for ridiculing a man's looks quieted them. As the three entered the city, they immediately saw wanted posters plastered everywhere with a rough artist's depiction of their group; though the likeness was inaccurate enough that they likely would not be recognized so long as they didn't travel together too much. As Scarf and Shein approached a half an hour later, Scarf attempted to spin a story about how they were returning from fishing, which confused the Marshal, who asked where he could possibly have been fishing given the lack of any bodies of water in the area. They simply named a random river to the north that was far away, and the Marshal seemed to not care enough to ask any more questions. Joining the others, the group head for the Delver's Guild to check on the state of affairs, and found a large gathering of people standing outside the guild with an unknown Vesperkin man at the doors next to a tarp covering something. The man unveiled the statue under the tarp as he gave a speech about the attacks, commemorating the 26 Delvers whom had lost their lives and whose names were on the statue, before announcing a special contract that would allow the Delvers to enter the grotto specifically to hunt down the Deepfolk in Rikhevlovir to bring them to "justice". Shein cracked a joke about the Vesperkin man "looking like one of the people on the wanted posters" and suggesting they turn him in. The group decided that they would need to find some allies in order to expose Debin, and head over to the bulletin board looking for information, where they heard a public announcer speaking of the bounty on their heads. Taking one of the fliers that was being passed out, they read it and discovered that a bounty of 300 darr had been placed on each of their heads and that they were wanted dead. Shein pointed out that they were currently all gathered together around a lot of posters detailing their exact party composition and that perhaps they should split up, so Scarf, Rainer, and Toban decided to go looking for evidence of residents who may not be so keen to believe the propaganda being spread about the Deepfolk, while Zero donned his cloak and head off to tend to his own business. Meanwhile, Shein decided to scout out Debin's office.

As Rainer, Scarf, and Toban entered a tavern, hoping to overhear some gossip, Scarf picked up on a conversation between two Humans, with a woman doubting the propaganda that was being circulated and not liking how bloodthirsty everyone had become. The two seemed to speculate that something was going on behind the scenes since there's no real tangible proof of what had happened. On a whim, Rainer decided to approach the woman, and told them he felt the same, saying he had only had good interactions with the Deepfolk. She asked what he thought was going on, and he suggested that someone in Dolenna had staged it all, subtly implying that perhaps it was a ploy to take the Deepfolk's resources. She asked if there was any proof he had or if this was just a feeling, and Rainer decided to engage her in a game of deduction, asking her a few targeted questions trying to nudge her to figure it out for herself, with her correctly guessing Debin. With that, Rainer asked who they could go to in order to turn in a city official, with the woman suggesting that perhaps they would have to contact The Legion. The woman mentioned that when Debin replaced the previous treasurer, all commerce with the Deepfolk ceased, saying that it seemed suspicious and perhaps he had done something to provoke them. She suggested speaking to Speaker Athissa about it, as she had been around during that time and may know more. Before leaving to go speak with her, Rainer asked that if the woman knew any like-minded folk, to spread the word, and she agreed. Elsewhere, Shein was skulking around Debin's office on third street, and saw that it seemed to be under heavy guard, with several Marshals in front and one pacing around the back. However, Shein noticed that the roof appeared to be unguarded and potentially accessible, as many buildings in Dolenna had rooftop trap doors, noting that the other buildings nearby were 5 ft. shorter, but close enough that they could perhaps jump across. Elsewhere, Zero began spreading dissent throughout the Temple of Umos, revealing what they had learned to the clerics there and showing the evidence they had collected, offering the *Moon-Touched Longsword* found in the grotto as an offering to Umos.

As Rainer, Scarf, and Toban arrived at Speaker Athissa's office, they found two Marshals guarding the front. Rainer approached, asking for an audience with Speaker Athissa, to which the Marshal replied that she wasn't taking visitors at the moment. Rainer pressed the matter, saying that they had urgent information about the Delver attacks and after browbeating them into submission, one of the Marshals escorted the three back to Speaker Athissa's office, knocking and letting them in, after which the door was shut behind them and Speaker Athissa asked what they wanted. Rainer got straight to the point, immediately telling her that they were three of the people depicted on the wanted posters, the ones implicated in the Delver attacks. Speaker Athissa bristled and seemed panicked, with Rainer trying to defuse the situation by telling her that they had been framed and that they were there to clear their names. Athissa seemed nervous, but seemed open to hearing them out, and listened as they described their encounters with Holis Ditani, thwarting their assassination of a group of Delvers recently, and preventing the attack on Rikhevlovir. They mentioned having questioned Ansell personally and having left him behind with the Deepfolk. Athissa initially seemed to take this as confirmation that they WERE working for the Deepfolk, but Rainer clarified that they were just trying to protect innocent people. Speaker Athissa then asked for evidence of their claims, and Rainer awkwardly realized that Zero was carrying most of the tangible evidence they had collected, so he mentioned Debin's plot to take the Deepfolk's Muteniten. Speaker Athissa seemed to hear a leaf of truth in their words, perhaps making the connection to the Deepfolk's cessation of communication after Debin had taken office, and said that whether or not she believed any of what they were saying, they would need some hard evidence of his involvement, otherwise she would have to assume this was attempted character assassination. Scarf commented that they were concerned about their evidence being destroyed and that they had left it with their associate, and Speaker Athissa agreed not to say anything if they could bring her their evidence by the end of the day. As the group got up to leave to go gather their evidence, they opened the door to see three Marshals standing there, weapons at the ready. The lead Marshal quickly spoke, speaking in mock upset, claiming that the group had murdered Speaker Athissa, and that they would have to bring them to justice, and lunging to attack.

Scarf opened with two quick strikes that bounced off the lead Marshal's breastplate, and Rainer managed to hit him with a Booming Blade attack, dealing heavy damage and covering Speaker Athissa with a Sanctuary spell. The Marshals moved in, attempting to swarm Rainer, but Rainer deftly dodged all their attacks before Scarf landed a devastating blow on the lead Marshal, killing him and throwing a Flow dagger at another. One of the Marshals charged past Rainer, attempting to reach Speaker Athissa, but the Booming Blade Rainer had hit him with a concussive force and Scarf stabbed him hard in the side. However, the Marshal reached Athissa and tried to impale her, but his attack glanced off of the Sanctuary spell's warding and Scarf finished the man off before boxing in the remaining Marshal and jabbing him in the side as Rainer hit him with his Booming Blade. Rainer then taunted the man about his poor decisions before the Marshal attempted to fight back, but his attack missed by miles as Scarf jump up and slammed the pommel of her dagger down on the man's head, knocking him unconscious. Scarf and Rainer asked Athissa what to do, but she seemed overwhelmed by their attempted assassination and they needed to calm her first. She said she wasn't sure what to do, but that clearly she couldn't trust the Marshals, and she may need to contact The Legion if the Marshals were involved in this. The group dragged the two bodies into Athissa's office before tying up the one that had been knocked out and leaving him in there as well to keep them all out of sight. Scarf handed a dagger to Athissa so she could defend herself if necessary, and Rainer loaned her a spare staff, which she tied together to make a spear, her preferred weapon from her days as a Delver. The group told Athissa that they would return with the evidence as soon as possible, and on their way out, Scarf commented to Rainer that they had made a friend.