KK-02 Murder in Elzen

[Kenneth New]

Becoming licensed mercenary adventurers was supposed to be a ticket to wealth and success. It's only been two weeks, but where's the fame? Where's the wealth? It's hard to break into the field when you can't really talk about your biggest success story.

No one becomes a mercenary adventure hoping to do guard duty, even when the pay is ridiculously high. Nonetheless, you do what you have to. While checking the board at the Mercenary Adventurer Guild, Ladro came upon a man placing a notice. His name was Declan Rhiandry and he needs armed escorts to accompany him on a business trip. The strangest thing is that he insists that his escorts must be adventurers.

The Notice

Adventurers Needed

Escort Duty from Karthis to Elzen (100 miles)
5 days to Elzen, up to 5 days there, and 5 days back to Karthis
Pay is 5 gp per day, traveling expenses are covered
Must leave by Midweek

See Declan Rhiandry
(22 North Carp Street)

[John Niska]

I will jot the info down in my notebook and see if I can round up the others.

[Kenneth New]

Put in the title of the story. I thought it would provide too many spoilers if I named it before the murder occured.

[John Niska]

After finding the posting at the Mercenary Adventurers Guild, Ladro located his friends and they decided to go meet with this Declan Rhiandry. Our potential employer lived above a coffee shop and distinct aroma permeated the air as we climbed the steps to his office. He was well-dressed but still looked like someone who had to work for a living. The deal was simple. We accompany him to Elzen which is on the eastern shore of Lake Hali. Stay in Elzen while he conducts his business and then head back to Karthis once he is done with his business. He would not disclose the nature of his business only to say that it is very private and we should tell him if anyone asks about it.

We left the lawyer’s office and went our separate ways as we were leaving very early in the morning. I asked around about Mr. Rhiandry and it seems he might work for the Gate Directorate and they might be his only client. It would explain why he could offer so much for simple escort duty. I went back to my apartment and packed my gear, left a note for my roommates, and hit the clubs. In the morning, a bleary-eyed Ladro joined his companions at the carriage station.

The trip to the first stop was uneventful and we reached Ardon, a getaway place for Karthians. You could pay for guided hunting trips or fishing trips. The next stop on the trip was the town of Severen. It was a nice town surrounded by chestnut trees. As a matter of fact, all sorts of chestnut related items could be purchased here, including an alcohol called severnel which is aged in chestnut barrels. In Severen, the night life was something unique. A group of kobolds attacked the town. They ran into buildings, stabbed people and stole stuff. They even stole a child. We repelled the attack, regrouped and then set off to track the kobolds and save the child. We caught up with a group of them and managed to kill them and save the boy. As we examined the boy, it seems as if he had the Mark of Yig. The town wanted us to find the lair of the kobolds and deal with the threat. Our employer said it was fine but as this was beyond the scope of our contract, he would not pay us for the additional time spent in Severen. Two rangers from the town were able to take us to the lair and we confronted the kobolds. Several battles ensued and we managed to win the day. We found a tunnel that had numerous wards placed along its way, much to our agony. We stopped heading down the dangerous tunnel and went back to the town, minus one ranger that fell to the kobolds. The town rewarded each of us with a bottle of serenel and 100sp. I bought five more bottles with my share of the reward, as well as some chestnut wood picks and carved beads.

The next stop was the town of Carcosa. Here everything had its own pace, slow. Istivar said he had a strange dream but I often find my dreams are strange. Carcosa was shrouded in fog in the early morning and early evening. As we settled in, our employer told us there seemed to be some difficulty in arranging our next leg of the journey to Elzen. We would have to leave the day after next and very early in the morning. As we were whiling away our time, we discovered that a number of people have been abducted off the street at night, under the cover of the fog. We decided to look into it as we had time on our hands. We ventured out into the fog.
After much stumbling around in the thick fog, we heard a scream and charged in that general direction. We found an open sewer cover and went down into the dank, dirty, and dismal sewer. In the maze of tunnels, we found ghouls. They attacked and Aryn managed to seize control of one of the undead things and it told us where we needed to go to find the abducted person. We continued on, and after some disagreement, we decided to confront the main force of ghouls directly instead on taking out the guards on the adjacent tunnels. A great battle ensued but we managed to stop the ghouls. In talking with our dominated ghoul, he spoke of a city of ghouls deep underground. We also found an abandoned temple of Yig under the city. The day after next, we found ourselves awake at the taint of dawn to board a fishing boat to Elzen.

[Kenneth New]

Being first with a synopsis for this story earns Ladro 50 XP.