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The Earthsblood Miner's Guild

Whoops!  Only 2 players showed up!  Better luck next time, I hope.

Party at the start:
Mace Blackstar (Mike D.; Human Fighter)
Wilbered The Silent (NPC; Human Cleric)
Castor Bean (NPC; Human Bard)
Trygvie (NPC; Elven Wizard)
Kane (Al G.; Human Monk) at
Zuran (NPC; Human Fighter)
Ryneh (NPC; Human Rogue)

When we ended last session, the player characters had just met Ryneh the thief at The Drunken Bear Inn and had agreed to pool their resources in tracking down the source of the slaves.  They had learned that the one man who transacted all of the slink slave sales was named Grisson Oyle and that he was an employee or associate of Riga Cornover's.  Since they had no idea what he looked like, they asked Ryneh to visit his contact at the thieve's guild and see if they could supply a description of the man's height, weight, general characteristics, etc.  Ryneh left and Mace ordered another round.

Ryneh returned shortly and reported that Grisson Oyle was known to frequent the Earthsblood Miner's Guild and had also been seen on Craft Street.  He was a heavyset man with dark, pomaded hair and garish taste in clothing who smelled of cologne and pipeweed.  "He sounds like a real putz," concluded Mace.

Splitting up into three groups, the players went to Craft street.  They saw a tinker selling pans and kettles, various vendors selling fruits, cloth, spice, etc.  A large palanquin bearing a hugely fat woman carried by four broad-shouldered slinks and surrounded by guards passed by, so Mace, Wilbered,  Ryneh and Zuran tried to follow as inconspicuously as possible.  Kane, Castor and Trygvie saw a man fitting the description of Grisson Oyle going the opposite way on Craft Street so they tried following him, thus the party split up into two groups.

Mace & Co. seemed pretty conspicous in their armor and brandishing weapons --- most of the townsfolk wore plain clothes, mud and eathsblood spattered work clothes or stylish finery in the case of the middle and upper classes.  They saw the fat woman on the Palanquin (whom they surmised to be Riga Cornover, Baroness of Bramwald) direct her slaves to carry her across the New Market Square and onwards towards her home in the southeast part of town.  They trailed at a distance and sent Ryneh ahead to saunter casually past the mansion and "case" the joint from the street.  Ryneh reported seeing several guards at the front gate and, through the bars of the front gate, he could see a couple of slinks trimming hedges in the garden but since the mansion was surrounded by a high stone wall, very little else could be seen.  They then proceeded up to MacKurian's house, where they were admitted by Curry Woodspice.  MacKurian urged them to learn more, saying he was certain that this "Grisson Oyle" person was very significant and asked them to beware the mercenary guards hired by the Earthsblood Guild more commonly known as "The Monitors."  MacKurian also said that the player's hijinks at the Winged Victory Inn had reached his ears and he begged the PCs to "watch their step."

Kane, Castor and Trygvie followed the man they believed to be Grisson Oyle to a jewelry shop on Craft Street.  Grisson stepped inside, so Castor followed him in, attempting to appear as a curious fop in search of new jewelry.  Castor entered just in time to Grisson say, "I'll pick up the amulets next week," as he slid a money pouch across the counter to the proprietor.  Grisson then turned and left the shop as the owner turned to Castor and immeadiately began a very aggressive sales pitch, asking, "What will it take for you to go home wearing this broach today?"  By the time Castor managed to disengage himself from the shop, Kane and Trygvie had followed Grisson.  Trygvie tried to send his owl familiar, Hootie, back for Castor.  Hootie circled overhead, frantically trying to get the bard's attention, but Castor failed to notice him (blew his spot roll badly).  Finally, the owl gave up and flew after Trygvie.  Castor headed back to the Inn of 14 Virtues.

Kane and Trygvie followed Grisson Oyle down to New Market Square.  Grisson went directly to The Earthsblood Miner's Guild and stopped and spoke to the guard at the front door, and then went inside.  One of the guards left the building and went east, so Kane and Castor  loitered in the square near the central pool,  purchasing snacks from the vendors and pretending to  listen to a musician who played there while watching the front door. 

A short while later a dozen guardsmen accompanied by a man in peaseant clothing approached, stopped at the front door of the Miner's Guild and then marched directly across the square towards Kane and Trygvie.  "Oh, shit," they thought as the vendors and musicians around them gathered up their wares and scampered off.  "Those are the ones that did it," shouted the peaseant, pointing at Kane and Trygvie.  "They flattened that skink right out!"

"Slink," corrected the capatain of the guard.

"Yeah, slink," said the peaseant.  "That's what I meant.  I saw them do it."

"Do not move or draw your weapons," growled the captain as the monitors advanced, halbards at ready.  "You are charged with assauting a slink -- a serious crime in Bramwald."  Kane and Trygvie protested their innocence but the captain would have none of it.  The two were disarmed and marched to a small fort that served as headquarters for the Monitors.  Here they were locked in a cell and told that they would get a fair trial in the morning.

Mace, Zuran, Wilbered and Ryneh saw their comrades being marched along as captives of the guard and followed them to the Monitor's Guildhall.  Wilbered demanded news of his friends, and, after a short delay, was ushered into the office of Monitor Guildmaster Blane Thurgudman.   Thurgudman wasn't particularly helpful but told Wilbered that his friends had been charged with assaulting a slink and would be given a fair trial the next morning.  When Wilbered tried to asser that the men were innocent, Thurgudman grew impatient and told him to leave.  Unsure what to do, they rushed back to MacKurian's residence where Curry Woodspice once again ushered them into the old man's prescence.  MacKurian was upset at the news and agreed that it was a frame up.  He told them that there was nothing to be done at this point but promised to attend with his good friend High Sherrif Gurney Dain.  MacKurian promised that the High Sherrif would have the power to intercede on the player's behalf.

The next morning all asssembled at the  Monitor's Guildhall for ther trial.  MacKurian was there, along with an older man of military bearing with a long drooping grey mustache, Sherrif Gurney Dain.  Grisson Oyle and Riga Cornover were seated with the prosecution.  In a surprisingly swift trial, Kane and Trygvie were found guilty and sentenced to a 2,000 gp fine as well as banishment and confiscation of all weapons, armor and other goods.  No witnesses for the defense were permitted to take the stand and the jury deliberated only for a minute before returning a guilty verdict.  Sheriff Gurney Dain, however, immeadiately commuted the sentence to only a 2,000 gp fine (something he was able to do as High Sherrif).  Grisson Oyle and Riga Cornover scowled as this was announced.  Kane and Trygvie scraped all of their money together as well as a couple of gems and came up with about 1,700 gps.  Mace donated three pearls from his hoard to the fund and the fine was paid.

After this experience, the party retired to MacKurian's to discuss their next move.  It was decided that Kane and Ryneh would attempt to infiltrate the Earthsblood Miner's Guild at night and try to find evidence of their misconduct.  MaKurian suggested that the players consider leaving town since further actions by the monitors were to be expected.   The player's retired to the Inn and Trygvie and Wilbered went to bed in order to be able to memorize/prepare spells.

At about 3:00 a.m., Trygvie cast Cat's Grace on Kane and Ryneh and Invisibilty on Kane.  The two travelled down to the Earthsblood Miner's Guildhall and observed guards at the front door.  The went around to the back of the building and saw windows on the second floor.  Kane scaled the wall and hooked a grapple to the window so that Ryneh could follow him using the rope.  Ryneh jimmied the shutter open and they entered a lounge like area with statues of warriors, deep plush carpets, overstuffed chairs and an elaborate fireplace decorated with small ivory figurines and silver candlesticks.  They entered and began to see that most of this level was dominated by a massive atrium that went through all three floors of the building -- from first to third.  From the balcony on the second floor they could see some guards gathered in a group and talking by the vestibule on the first floor, below.  Moving as silently as possible, they crept around to the front of the building and investigated a conference room of some kind with a liquor filled cabinet and some plush rugs and tapestries.  A light shone under another door and after listening and failing to hear anything, they decided to sneak upstairs and investigate the third floor.

The third floor had four office-like rooms around the central atruim.  Each door had a brass plaque on it but only half of the plaques could be read due to the extreme darkness.  Ryneh picked the lock on the first door and found a massive desk with a sculpture of a tiger on top of it as well as a gleaming golden spitoon and some overstuffed chairs.  The desk contained blank paper, pens and ink, etc., as well as a scroll and a wand.  They took the blank paper (thinking it might have invisible writing on it), the scroll and the wand.

The second room was labeled "Silas Oglethorpe."  The room contained a desk, some comfortable chairs, a large silver mirror, rugs and tapestries, a shelf of account books, etc.  A brief investigation of the account books indicated that they listed barrels sold and raw materials for barrel manufacture purchased, wages paid, etc.

There was just enough moonlight streaming in the shutter to read the name on the door of the third office; "Mikhael Gorchabof."  Once they had picked the lock, they found another plush office.  A large iron safe caught their attention.  Ryneh made numerous attempts to pick the lock but failed.

They picked the lock and entered the last office.  This one smelled of perfume, incense and pipeweed.  A large portrait of Riga Cornover, looking much thinner, more attractive and younger, hung on the wall.  There was a large jar of tobacco on the desk, various papers scattered around, a golden brazier filled with burnt incense and an ivory box.  Kane and Ryneh went through the desk, taking anything that looked to be of interest.  They took:
They didn't wish to take the time to study these items.  They put everything in their backpacks, locked the door behind them, climbed out a window (carefully closing it behind them) and took off for the Inn of 14 Virtues.

The adventure ended here.



character/player:
 class/level:
 XP at start:
  XP award:
XP at end:
Mace (Mike D.)
 human FTR 7th
 28,002 500
28,502
Wilbered (NPC)
 human CL 7th
 25,394 125
25,519
Castor (NPC)
 human Bard 6th
 19,498 125
19,614
Trygvie (NPC)
 Elven MU 6th
 20,937 125
21,062
Kane (Al G.)
 Human Monk 7th
25,009 500
25,509
Zuran (NPC)
 Human Fighter 4th
 8,602 125
8,727
Rhyneh (NPC)
 Human Rogue 5th
 10,000
 125
10,125