The Keys of Telku / The Temple of the Apocalypse pt. 11 / Balen the 14th through the 15th, 3592 CE / 3-8-20

Following the assassination attempt on Henry, the party must deal with the aftermath, first by quelling the fears of the inkeeper, Ostler Gundigroot. Ostler recognizes the assassin as a guest at the All-Seeing Eye who went by the name "Zert" and claimed to be a merchant from Furundy. Acknowledging the Adventurer's role as heroes, Ostler allows them to search Zert's room, where they find further evidence that seems to confirm he was hired to avenge Lareth the Beautiful. Ostler sends his daughter to fetch Werner Jacks and the party heads to the guard tower with their prisoner, though not before covering their tracks and disturbing the guests with the lie that the unconscious Zert is contagious with some sort of disease. At the guard tower, Werner wakes a sleeping guard and they place Zert in a cell, with Adrienne and Moss staying nearby to see that the killer stays where he's supposed to. The next morning, the Adventurers set out on their sailboat for Divvers, with Adrienne expertly navigating the boat down the Velvet River. They reach Divvers on the morning of Resurrection Day and dock at a riverside inn called the Welcome Wench. There they start to get the lay of the land and meet a local named Blur. They also spot a man run out of the bar who turns out to be Artimus, a thief who used to work as one of Tarrus's retainers. When the party asks Blur if anyone in Divvers would be interested in books, he can only think of one place, a temple dedicated to the Trickster. This strikes everyone as odd, because traditionally there is no organized religion based around the Trickster. They go with Blur to visit this temple, noting that they have a tail for part of the journey. The temple is as run down as the rest of the Divvers, the front door being locked up, but Blur knows that most people enter from the rear. When they go in, they once more see Arty. He warns them they need to leave, but not before his mother, the high priestess Rawneth enters. She claims to know nothing of a missing book, saying that religious icons are are more her trade, as is evident from the collection assembled in the back room. The party returns to the Welcome Wench with little new information. Blur recommends they secure their boat, as thievery is legal here. They secure a goblin squatter from the dockmaster, a bugbear named Burne. Uli, wishing to gain more information on his patron, returns to the temple of the Trickster. Henry, seeking to draw out Canon Terjon or the mysterious "K," goes to another bar, the Boatmen's Tavern, asking about selling a book, though he meets with little success. Moss, having learned that he is in a town with no law, finds a possible release from the compulsions of the Rod of Law fragment he carries by acting out and stealing a horse. Waldo attempts to earn some money busking and is confronted by the local bard from the Inn of the Welcome Wench. And back at the Welcome Wench, Adrienne, Roisyll, and Blur, are once again confronted by Arty, who warns them to get out of town, because his mother is actually in league with the Temple of the Apocalypse!