Sunday, January 08, 2006

Episode I: Origins - Act III "Sigo's Request"

Scene I - 8th of Olarune (early morning)

Continued from last Act.

The battle with the assassins did not fare well for the companions. Gerard was greviously wounded at the outset by his elusive foe, who slipped past him and Morgan to retrieve the documents from the dead man's outstretched hand. Gerard healed himself and tried to pursue, but was struck down again for his efforts. This time however, he did not get up, and his new friends decided to tend to him rather than continue the pursuit. After making sure that Gerard would survive, Morgan went to find a Jorasco Healer while Esan informed the barkeep of the troubles. The barkeep sent the owner of the Proud Tower up to investigate, who in turn called the Royal Swords.

Morgan brought back Hamir d'Jorasco, a talented Healer, who revived Gerard for a small fee and left. Morgan and Esan retrieved a considerable sum of gold from the dead man when they searched him, as well as identification papers and a badge of office that named him Saal Smyth, a treasurer for the local United Trade Coalition chapter house. When the Royal Swords arrived, they asked a few questions and informed the group that the UTC chapter house had been raided. Every key member of the UTC in Rekkenmark had been killed that night. Saal was the only one unaccounted for. The Royal Swords thought it might be a guild war, but they were unsure who the perpetrators were. The companions decided to get additional rest to recover from the sudden attack.

Scene II - 8th of Olarune (late morning)
After a good amount of rest, the companions arose and went down into the common room, where they were approached by the barkeep. He inquired about their troubles earlier, and he also gave them a message from a stranger that they understood immediately - the meeting with Sigo Karlach would happen today at noon, at Wynarn's Retreat. They left the inn.
Before going over to Wynarn's again, they stopped by Udengar's house to pick up the maps he had drawn up of Mandar Keep. They were precisely detailed. Udengar asked them to return if they could to tell him what happened. They continued to Fergus' tavern. When they arrived, they didn't go to the main room; instead, they turned right at the entrance and went back into the sound-proof conference room where they had previously spoken with Fergus alone.
Sigo Karlach was a middle-aged half elf with a sophisticated demeanor. He did not seem interested in giving much detail about his own employers, but he also didn't ask many questions about the companions, which seemed to suit everyone just fine. Sigo was quick and to the point; he wanted them to infiltrate Talovar ir'Mandar's keep, kill him, and retrieve documents incriminating him as a sympathizer to the illegal organization known as the Order of the Emerald Claw. They conferred amongst themselves, and decided to put Sigo to a simple divination that would prevent him from telling lies. They were concerned that the whole thing was a setup. He submitted to the test without protest, and once they were satisfied that he was legitimate, they agreed to the job.
Sigo gave them quite a few useful tools for the job. First and foremost was an open invitation to a gala that Talovar was holding on the evening of the 13th of Olarune. Through a mole in Talovar's inner circle, another name could be put on the guest list. The companions agreed that Morgan, the most convincing of the three, would be a nobleman, and the others would be his retainers. This was convenient, as Morgan didn't carry any visible weapons anyway, while Gerard and Esan could take theirs with them and not stand out. Sigo also gave them five potions that would make them invisible to the naked eye, and a pair of scrolls, each of which could open almost any door. They requisitioned a poison from Sigo which would multiply the effects of any alchohol a victim consumed, for they new Talovar was a great drunkard. They also got the name of a tailor in town who could make them disguises and be discreet. Sigo picked up the bill for that as well. Finally, Sigo told them what the job would be worth to them. A thousand gold marks...each. He gave them a quarter of the total reward up front.
Before they left, Fergus approached them to discuss returning the favor they owed him. He had a hunch that they were going to Talovar's, and he wanted something from Mandar Keep if they happened to be in that area. A cypher belonging to the United Trade Coalition had fallen into Talovar's hands somehow during the raids. Fergus suspected that the cypher would end up wherever Talovar kept sensitive documents. The companions realized that the cypher would probably be with the other documents they were trying to procure anyway, so they agreed to look for the cypher. They privately believed that the cypher might be keyed to the documents that had slipped through their hands early that same morning. So was Talovar the one behind the raid on the UTC chapter house? Always more questions.
After a couple days of preparation, the companions left Rekkenmark on well-groomed horses on a northern country road to Mandar Rath.