Help Wanted - 9/17/08 Session Recap

We started with our four heroes in the river port of Shandrapur, nestled deep in the Genga river valley that cuts between the western and eastern Whiteback mountain ranges. Our intrepid adventurers are:

Boreas Aquilo, a high-elven wizard with well-developed storm magics and a sense of justice.

Ander, a halfling rogue who was rescued on the road by the rest of the party when he was attacked by bandits.

Thoric Gravenstone, an unusually well-spoken and well-trimmed dwarven cleric of Linitheriva.

Xakoraki, a dragonborn warlord in search of ancient heirlooms that were plundered by the dragonlords during their reign.

The party was heading north from provinces in the south, and stopped in Shandrapur to look for opportunities. Even though they were moderately wealthy, they knew their money would run out sooner or later and they needed something lucrative to keep them occupied. They looked in the town square, and saw many employment opportunities as caravan guards or porters. But the largest parchment read, "WANTED ALIVE! Orvalion 5000gp" and contained a small sketch of a dragonborn male.

Xak recalled that Orvalion was of the Parthanak line, the first and oldest line of nobility among the dragonlords. Orvalion was also known for the razing of an entire village, women and children included, during the rebellion. This intrigued and worried the party, so they sought the best purveyor of fine alcoholic beverages to help them mull things over. They found Johan's Spirit House, a respectable establishment with a wide variety of drinks and a lot of serious-looking bouncers. Johan opined that business was good, but that it was dangerous outside of protected cities. Trade was booming, which only made banditry more lucrative.

After fortifying themselves with some quality mead and date wine (and river water), the party ventured up the hill to the nicer part of town where Caelebhan's (pron. ky-le-von) keep stood. Guards stepped up to ask their business, and allowed them up to the keep.

Xak and Ander peeled away to explore the upper city, but were approached by guards again and told that these were private residences. They went back to the keep where Ander asked the guards to tell his friends that he and Xak had gone down to the docks. The guard resented being taken for a messenger, but Ander walked away without even tipping him.

Inside the keep, Thoric and Boreas were granted an audience with Magister Caelebhan, a middle-aged man who looked like he was prematurely aging or sickly. He asked if they knew of Orvalion, and when he found they did not, he explained that he was willing to pay 200gp each for confirmation on rumors that he had been in Tregynon at some point. He offered a further 300gp on top of that for proof of where Orvalion had gone next. And of course, he offered the standard reward of 5000gp for bringing him in alive. Thoric said that they were not bounty hunters, and wanted to know why Caelebhan wanted Orvalion. Caelebhan said that he merely wanted to speak to him about a matter that was his own private business. When asked about Orvalion's war crimes, the Magister said that he wished to speak to him about those as well, but that they were not his primary concern. They parted cordially and left the keep.

The guard mentioned that their halfling friend had gone down into the town, but it was only after Thoric asked very nicely that he vaguely remembered he had said something about going to the docks. The party was reunited, and they discussed options. Very quickly they decided to hire on with a caravan, and spent the afternoon finding a good-paying contact that was headed towards Tregynon. They were offered 2gp per person per day for a 14-day trip.

Ander/Sean wanted to know if they would have some time to explore the town before the caravan left, but when the GM told him sure, it would be a couple of days, he immediately got bored and wanted to know how soon they could leave. Whereupon the GM wanted to smack him, and said that it could leave the next day.