29 March 2019
Refreshed from the good night's sleep under Caius' magical dome our adventurers head out to the the Dwarven city of Gracklestugh. Nearing midday they encounter a great wall that appears to be seamless. As they approach the wall out of nowhere small openings appear, openings that are suspiciously arrow slit shaped. Caius, our always merry bard, shouts out a greeting that lands on nothing but blank wall. When the adventurers get close a new opening appears, this one at eye level.
With no one in the group that speaks Dwarfish, Caius tries to communicate with him anyway, trying the universal language of gold. Depositing a few coppers in the hand of the guarding dwarves the bard proves that he has a terrible accent in the universal language. The dwarf isn't impressed and ignores the bribe, letting it slip between his fingers, the coins falling to the dirt. Whilst Caius recovers his riches from the ground Bree performs a ritual of universal understanding. Enabling the group to communicate with the city guard.
After a while our adventurers manage to convince the guard to be granted access to to the city. Small cracks appear in what was smooth stone just seconds ago and a huge set of doors swing open. In the little courtyard beyond the gate 6 members of the Gracklestugh stone guard surround the adventurers. The commander of the unit starts reading a long list of rules and laws of the city. He drones on and on and on on all the things our adventures shouldn't do. After what appears to be about half an hour, he gives the group some directions. They are to be guided to the only district of the city non-dwarves are allowed to wander and stay over night. There they are to find the one inn they can stay and they might be able to trade with the merchants in the market. The 'guides' are made up of the 6 Stone Guards that form up in formation around the group en start a forced march towards the harbour district, making short time of the trip.
After arriving to a lesser wall dividing off the different parts of the city our adventurers are directed through a second set of gates, the doors slamming shut just behind them. The group finds themselves on the edge of a busy marketplace with merchants trading a great variety of goods from the underdark and some items that seem to be from the surface. Making a way through the busy market Caius spends a few coppers getting some food here and there. Being thankful for finally eating something else than rations, dried fish and bland foods that had been magically given some (but not all that convincing) flavours. Meanwhile the group manages to get directions to Gholbrorn's Lair, the one inn in town where they are allowed to spend the night.
Staying in Gracklestugh proves to be rather expensive. In order to lower the cost of their stay the group tries bargaining with the landlord. Caius convinces him that he can sing and entertain, in the evening. Autun on his turn is asked to go on a beer run fetching casks of ale from the brewery at the other side of the district. Bree and Kais propose to join the kitchen staff scrubbing pots and plates. Ezri, not feeling like doing the washing up, volunteers her carpentry skills and asks if anything in the inn is in need or repair. Not realising or noticing for that matter that the dwarves are the most exquisite craftspeople and all the furniture around her is in impeccable shape. After making a bit of a fool out of herself she gives in and agrees to join Kais and Bree for scrubbing duty.
After agreeing the now lower price of the tree rooms the group splits up. Autun joins the brothers of the inn keep going on a trip to the brewery the others check out their rooms. These seem, albeit expensive not remarkable. The party searches their room and Bree finds a small bag of dried mushrooms that no one is able to identify.
Next up is a trip to the market. With the upcoming trip to the city of the deep gnomes in mind the group trades the gems and valuables they've gathered along the way for a diverse selection of rations, restocking Autun's spices, arrows and a few lengths of new rope. Caius also opts for getting some extra clothes.
After the shopping the group finds the local bar, The Shattered Spire in order to gather more intelligence on who to contact with their dire news of what is happening to the underdark. In the Spire they notice a figure who is wearing what looks like an octopus as a hat. But before they get a good look at them a brawl breaks out in the middle of the bar. The Spire's landlord breaks up the fight, and everyone returns back to their drinking business. Our group doesn't really get the finer details but figure out that the fighters themselves didn't really know why the got in this fight in the first place. It will likely prove to be an eerie omen.
In the chaos of the fight a shady figure is pushed into the table where our adventurers are sitting. Standing out from the crowd, being surface dwellers with Autun towering above anyone else the group is approached by the shady figure who introduces himself as Werz Saltbaron. Werz inquires about the groups business and after hearing that they will be heading to the deep gnomes he proposes them a deal: If they deliver a bag of gems to the deep gnomes they'll be offered a generous reward. After some discussion the group agrees upon the offer and they arrange a meeting at the docks at twelve bell the next day.
Having plans for the morning set our adventurers head back to the inn not wanting to miss out on their expensive, and paid for, dinner. Once the meal has been taken care of Caius keeps his end of the bargain and starts singing. He sings about the adventures of our group. He sings about his bravery at the Reckenmark. The tune catches on and to the the amazement of the landlord the bar has been drunk as dry as a bone.
After a long day the group retires to their rooms for a good long rest.
Prior: 15 March 2019, All: Play_Sessions, Next: 5 April 2019