Chapter 05 - Gone Underground

3-23-6050

The Usefullness of Drugs

• Raen produces the Resha flower, a rare euphoric herb that he claims allows mental contact with a friend with many miles. Tasher volunteers to eat it.
• After several seconds Tasher begins to feels woozy and must sit down. He begins to feel the presence of his friends and soon finds Bat’s mind and contacts him.
• Bat’s Story: “I went to the Golden Hand to meet about an Alliance against the Red Dragons. But it was an alliance between them and a trap. They captured me and gave or sold me to The Medusa. I am outside the city. They took me on a skiff upriver, perhaps a few miles away. I think they will be taking me somewhere tommorow but I don’t know where. I’m in the bottom of a ruined tower in a swampy area. At least a dozen men are here. I’m tied but unhurt. They have been sounding ominous, I don’t think they have good things in mind for me.”
• The gang heads to their homes for a nights sleep, tommorow they must formulate a plan.

3-24-6050

The Stench of the Canals and Boatmen of Sel-kai

• It is hot and humid, smelling like sewage. Ah, summertime.
• Jerig talks to Lemod who says the Medusa is some serious bad news.
• Tasher and Jerig go to see Kyse Pharnese to try to recruit his help. No dice.
• Raen and Dag try to research possible ruins around Sel-kai but find nothing specific enough.
• Cricket gets a message from Moth: The Nightwings have gone underground. The hideout has been compromised and with Bat missing and bad blood with the Red Dragons the Nightwings have scattered. It is not even know how many more the Red Dragons might have caught or how many have fled. Maintain communication via trusted sources. He finds that Jens Rosha wants to meet with him in the Sighing Docks, near Punts & Barges.
• Cricket talks with Reg the Gargoyle, a group of people in Sel-kai are interested in destroying or at least disrupting the slave trade, they might have additional information on Raen’s brother, or on the Medusa gang (who are known to be involved with the slave trade).
• Meanwhile Tasher asks around to see if any in the League of Boatman might be implicated in ferrying Bat for the Medusa. His search brings him to Temiar who often takes his lunch at The Golden Dragon in Canal Maze (overpriced with watered down drinks and small portions of food but scantily clad barmaids). Temiar is an ornery bastard but challenges Tasher to a Canal Boxing match - if his wins he will give him the info he looks for. Strong blows are exchanged but Tasher wins the day while Cricket wins some money on the fight and promptly uses it to buy a round of drinks for the entire tavern. Temiar gives him the info - where Bat was taken upriver.
• The gang splits to find allies.

The Nightwings Regroup

• Cricket runs errands around the city and locates several members and friends of the Nightwings including Taelvis, an elven Bard of little fame (and an ear of the Nightwings in the city), and Emmet a Monk of Gydal-Tyl and a childhood friend of Bat. Moth comes forward to take control of the Nightwings again with two junior members - Laro and Deneb who are wearing red shirts.
• The Nightwings recruit the yound Boatman Tad to run a second Boat for the large group. Outside the Cold Barley Soup Kitchen chaos ensues - the boats shake, the tavern shakes - the entire city shakes in what must be an earthquake. Waves and water wreaks havoc on street vendors and passer-bys. A few ramshackle buildings in Canal Maze and Sighing Docks are later found out to have been completely destroyed.
• After some group infighting, Cricket decides he should go meet his contact with the Wardens - Jens Rosha. His boat, poled by Tad, heads up to Sighing Docks while Tasher heads out of town. As Cricket & Co approach Punts & Barges they spot multiple Wardens with Jens…definitely not a good sight….so they bug out.

Have Fun Storming the Castle

• The two skiffs carrying the Nightwings approach the castle compound but keep their distance to avoid any possible lookouts. It is daytime. Raen levitates invisibly to get an overview of the ruins and Strategy considerations ensue. Moth then invisibly flies to the lookout tower and eliminates the guard.
• Cricket leads a group to the right of the castle and meets up in the stables. Emmet leads the other half of the group to the left where they meet up with Moth. Tad stays with the skiffs.
• As Cricket & Co approach the castle walls Cricket falls in a narrow pit with spikes at the bottom. He is hurt, badly. Tasher gets him out and they hide in the shrubbery. While hiding in the shrubbery they find…a herring! Raen discovers Cricket has been poisoned due to his visit with the spikes. Raen revives Cricket using several herbs.
• A guard comes out of a secret door in the side of the wall and investigates. He cautiously approaches and looks down the pit. Tasher, gifted with a bout of quick thinking, runs forward and pushes the guy into the pit where he appears to die quite horribly.
• Cricket & Co enter through the secret door and to the rear courtyard, avoiding traps this time. They meet up with Moth and the others outside a rear entry into the castle, into what looks like a kitchen. Jerig sends his Spider pet into the room and it appears to be empty, so the entire group of brave Nightwings enters the kitchen, quietly. It is a site to behold.
• Raen’s eyes glow a blue-violet as he mentally scans the area as he walks the perimeter of the kitchen. He determines there are two large groups. Taelvis reads a Rune and with a green glowing wall of light, a wall of Earth forms in front of one of the doors blocking exit for one of the groups.

Diplomacy with Medusa, Nightwing Style

• The entire group with Tasher, Emmet, and Dag leading the way, then barge into the other room - a dining room - where the are several men sitting. Tasher throws daggers incapicitating one of the men. Dag runs in and chops off a guys leg (thus earning the nickname Limb-Death), Moth kills one easily while Emmet throws a guy onto the floor and breaks his legs. The battle is over quickly and the rest of Nightwings start filtering in from the kitchen.
• Interrogation of the remaining guy reveals that Bat has been sold to Moralis Sanctity…not good.
• In the middle of the interrogation, a few men come from behind (from the tower apparently) and lays waste to one of the Red Shirts (Deneb) as his hands get completely burned off, and then getting severed shortly thereafter by a man in plate armor. The new arrivals are a spell user who summons a demon made partially of smoke, and two warriors - one in plate and the other in chain armor.
• In the dining room Moth quickly kills the remaining guy and the Nightwings go on the defensive. The group plows into the Nightwings taking down Laro. Due to a pile up in the doorway Tasher and Dag run around the other way, through a few rooms and end up back in the kitchen where they approach the warriors and spell user from their flank.
• Dag takes down one of the warrios, but no one can seem to touch the demon as he seems non-solid. Tasher’s boomarang dagger seems to hit something solid within the demon but the demon ignores the paltry attempt.
• The wizard vanishes in a bathing red glow and the remaining warrior is backed into a corner.
• Now as things start to seem a bit under control, other then the Demon, more men seem to be entering the room from the front of the castle…