Chapter Eleven "Decisions and Deliberations" (30/01/2021)

Sitting down over breakfast the group begin to discuss how they are going to get in touch with Marcus only to find that he is sat in the booth behind them.  He looks a little different; blonde instead of brunette, eyes a different colour but still distinctly Marcus.  As the group shuffle up to make room Marcus gladly takes the room and a large helping of Geshut's breakfast.

As the group catch up on the events of the last day with Marcus he relays to Elric that the bracelet he found on the severed foot seemed to belong to a member of the Tuli family, a previous power in Cipado who have been wiped out by the Mishibi's. Marcus agreed to look in to the family further for Elric in exchange for a favour in the future, when they shook on the deal Elric felt a strange shiver through his body. Dolosius also makes a similar handshake deal with Marcus and the agreement to look in to his home town, Portas, to see if he has any knowledge of the place. Elric makes a second deal with The Blackhand to look in to details of any known cults from an island that may be somewhere along the coast (based on note found in Chapter Seven), this handshake sending an even deeper shiver down his spine.

Marcus recaps to the group that their deal in exchange for taking out Trask was that Marcus would either carry out some research on the other leaders of the Mossani Cartel or make an introduction to one of the two sibling rulers of Cipado:

• Noric Mishibi, ruler of West Cipado. The brother who thinks of himself as suave and sophisticated (whilst others may think he's just a prick) and never turns down a challenge.
• Naliah Mishibi, ruler of East Cipado. The sister who is a more refined character, a flirtatious lady who can be condescending to those who she thinks of as having less intelligence than herself.

The group ask for an introduction to Naliah, deciding that she would be best to speak with and try to gain her favour.

With an hour to spare before the meeting the group decides to investigate Trask's place, whilst Marcus said it has been ransacked the group wanted to be sure for themselves.  After some investigation Elric finds a trapped hatch under a lose floor board and after successfully disarming the trap the group head down to find some kind of prison/torture room in the basement. 

Continuing to working together Singe is able to pry open a small window for the group to see inside the prison's door, this allows Lotty to send in Boobrie and aided by Elric's dancing lights the group are able to discover there is still a prisoner chained in the room, a humanoid form that looked once to perhaps be a muscular male but is now withered in form. Not seeing any immediate danger Geshut is able to use his Javelin step to teleport inside the room and open the door from the inside. Dolosius steps closer to the figure to try and sense his thoughts, he senses a broken mind just repeating "the end" over and over again.  Whilst the person seems somewhat feral Singe removes his hood to reveal an elven man and administers healing hands on the prisoner. Elrich finds some belongs that appear to belong to the prisoner which include a band with the initials B.T engraved on them, he says the name Tuli out loud and the elvish prisoner seems to recognise the name. 

Lotty ungags the man and manages to coax a few more words out of the man, they discover he is Baelon Tuli, the end of the Tuli family line. It quickly dawns on the group that they are going to ne late for a meeting with one of the heads of the Mishibi family, an enemy of the tortured man in front of them. 

Elric uses the sending stone to send message to Remmi to update him on the Tuli/Mishibi situation to see if he is allied with either of them. Remmi seems to be pre-occupied with having found Vi, and by the sounds of it engaged in combat so isn't in a position to offer much insight other than to make allies.

The group is a divided between wishing to provide aid and refuge for this tortured man and ensuring they do not miss their opportunity with Naliah, they give Baelon water and rations explaining to him that they are going to lock him in the basement for his protection until they can return. Leaving him slightly more comfortable in a cage than as he was previously, suspended from the wall.

As the group arrive at Naliah's villa and proceed inside, the bright daylight immediately turns to dark; the villa is enchanted to produce a continual night-time effect. As the group continue through the villa they are met by Naliah, a tall drow elf, elegantly dressed in a dark purple and navy gown with long, tied back, white hair. Her room appears to be somewhat regal, giving the impression of a throne room.

Elric immediately drops to his knee "Mistress" he greets the beautiful woman. Taken aback at the sudden obedience and subservience of their companion the group each offer a somewhat more subtle nod, bow or courtesy. The group explain to Naliah that they are the ones responsible for removing Trask and that it was likely that Remmi would be coming to power to replace him so should she wish to make alliances with this up and coming power the group could aid in the facilitation. To try and get in Naliah's favour Elric offers up the engraved band from the prisoner, knowing that it belonged to one of her enemies he thought she may find it of interest, Naliah takes it saying she can use it to make sure any person connected to the band is definitely dead. As the group discuss potential alliances and the nature of Naliah's business and collection of magical items it seems that her main interest is acquiring objects and artefacts and selective dealing which has, on occasion included supply from the Mossani cartel.  

Naliah explains there is a vault of items that she would allow the group to chose one item from if they could help her procure a key - the vault requires two keys to be opened; one that she posses and the other that is held by her brother. 

As they walk away from the villa, fractures in the group's moral code come to surface with some feeling that by giving Naliah Baelon's band it had effectively condemned him to death, whilst Elric protests that wasn't his intention it leaves some uneasy feelings in the group. Deciding to try to get to Trask's place fast and release the prisoner to give him a head start the group find the place already surrounded by Naliah's men. Thinking better of any kind of confrontation the group keep walking deciding on what to do next, Lotty feels strongly about not getting involved in any kind of robbery whilst others are concerned about the reprisals of not seeing through on the agreement with Naliah. Agreeing to just scope out Noric's place to group head over to West Cipado to Noric's place.

The group see a much more humble abode, seemingly a single story stone house, no walls or guards on show that were seen at his sister's more lavish villa.

Lotty is, unsurprisingly, able to detect illusion magic surrounding the building and when the group look through an unglazed window they can see a purple glow from around the corner of the room. In an attempted to get a better look Singe tries to stealth his way inside the window, instead falling on the landing - it seems that anyone in the building knows of the groups presence and the door magically opens.

Walking side the group see the purple glow seems to be a portal of some kind and send Boobrie through to see what is on the other side; whilst Boobrie returns, unharmed, after a moment, Lotty wasn't able to see through her eyes or get any indication of what the bird saw on the other side.

Geshut is able to turn Singe & Elric invisible to scout through the portal, on the other side Elric is able to see Noric at the end of a long chamber, sat cross legged on the floor, perhaps in meditation. Thinking it would be a good idea to assassinate Noric whilst he is alone Elric heads back through the portal to bring through the rest of the group whilst Singe takes advantage of his invisibility to sneak closer to Noric.

As Geshut, Dolosius and Lotty approach Noric they explain, in a similar way to Naliah, the recent events and how a future deal or alliance may be possible. Noric is less receptive than Naliah however, he says he can take whatever he needs and sees no value in anything this group may have to offer and draws two swords as the group conclude...

Noric is a dick.

Chapter Ten “The Magnificence of Geshut” (23/01/2021)

As the group starts to try and work out who they have been surrounded by and why the figure Geshut had called Marcus had stepped forward, he practically picks up Geshut and gives him a long, uncomfortable for Geshut, hug; still unsure as to what is going on but not sensing any imminent fight brewing the group begins to relax a little.

The relaxation continues as Marcus hands around the finest bottle of whiskey most of the group have every tried and it's obvious to see that Marcus is glad to see Geshut is alive and well. After some introductions and discussion - in which Marcus appears to be relaxing on reclining chair that nobody else can see - Marcus describes himself as an 'administrator' of the Brokers of Shadows, alluding to him just pushing papers and arranging deals, although the title of 'The blackhand' makes the group think otherwise.

The group explains to the Blackhand how they have ended up in their current predicament and that they have arrived outside Cipado to hunt Trask - of course the group had every intention of leaving Geshut outside the city so as not to cause any issues. Marcus explains that news of the Cartel's defeat in Delaroso has spread quickly and Trask has imposed a form of martial law in Cipado which has been making business difficult for the BoS so they would not be apposed to seeing Trask taken out of the way. Whilst the BoS must remain neutral, of course, Geshut's ban from the city could perhaps be overlooked and some key intel could be shared with the group and, rather conveniently, a few Sicarrio uniforms that just happened to be laying around the area.

The group spend a few hours deliberating their plans on how to get in to Cipado and confront Trask, Marcus had explained to the group that Trask was expecting their arrival and had instructed his men to allow passage to the Captain where he would hold court in his tower each day expecting their arrival.

After arriving outside the city as day breaks Singe, Lotty, Dolosius and Elrich decide to adopt the disguises and sneak in to the city unnoticed, they head to their agreed meeting point, the Twin Peeks Inn, and take up strategic positions around the Inn leaving Geshut to set the rest of the plan rolling. They find the bar crowded and staffed by two goliaths; they seperate out and wait for Geshut and Trask to arrive.

Being the only member of the group not going in disguise Geshut takes Nessie (the steel defender shaped like a Shetland Pony) and confidently rides in to town, with the cloak Lotty lent him (salvaged by Elric from Arnon's backpack before he escaped) majestically billowing behind him to complete the graceful picture. 

The guards recognise the kobold but do not block his passage, Geshut instructs the guard to send message to Trask that he had arrived and to meet him in the Twin Peeks Inn before billowing there himself.

After some time waiting at the Inn - and nearly ending up with a stranger's bar tab it soon becomes apparent that Trask is not going to show and the group is going to have to go to him. Geshut sends out a message to the rest of the group who head outside to discretely scout out Trask's tower whilst Geshut maintains the image of continuing to wait.

As the group subtly ebb and flow towards Trask's tower they begin to scout out vantage points. Singe plants himself atop a nearby roof (eventually) ready to strike, Elrich scales the side of the tower and whilst Lotty watches through Boobrie's eyes Dolosius watches over her, ready to strike.

After a time Geshut, still majestically riding Nessie, arrives at the stone tower and climbs the spiral staircase, slowly... very slowly, arriving at the top out of breath and making sure it is very apparent that he is not a threat to Trask. Geshut drags over a crate, takes a seat opposite Trask and starts the negotiation, asking Trask what it will take to get out of the Cartel alive and come to an agreement.  Trask says Cartel membership is "blood in and blood out" - you either die and you're not a part of the cartel any more or you kill everyone that will stop you from leaving.  Trask goes on to explain that he has no loyalties to Mossani and would gladly spilt from the cartel, taking his men with him in exchange for being left alone and reporting back to Remmi that Trask is out of the picture.

Overhearing the discussions from the nearby rooftop; Singe becomes concerned that the negotiations are sounding a little too realistic and starting to worry that the groups previous plans of getting Trask to let down his guard before attacking might turn in to an actual deal being made. Not leaving anything to change Singe jumps over to the tower and squarely plants his fist in Trask's face!

Suddenly, Trask transforms from his human form, sprouting demonic wings and a fear inducing appearance, wielding an intimidating glaive. Singe and Geshut are initially thrown off by this sudden change of appearance before shaking of the fear and laying in to Trask. Taking their queues Elrich, Dolosius and Lotty also spring in to action and join the fight, taking advantage of the ballistae at the top of the tower Elrich manages to turn them against Trask and plant a few arrows through those wings, with Trask keeping the group on their toes flying around the area and dealing some serious damage with a icy blast taking out Nessie and almost doing the same to Singe. Despite Trask's natural resistance to the groups go-to powers of fire they manage to take him down with Dolosius dealing a powerful blast that manages to decapitate Trask and burn him to a cinder. Digging through the burnt remains the group does manage to find a ledger detailing some of Trasks slave dealings in the Wildlands and how he meets his contacts.

After the battle the group continue over the bridge to West Cipado, settling in an Inn called "Hooters"  staffed predominantly by owlfolk. Tucking in to some food Singe confronts Geshut about the negotiations and how he may have been a bit too convincing in his intentions to let Trask get away but Geshut is able to convince Singe (mostly) and the group that he was just following the plan and the codeword to attack was just around the corner.

After sending a message to Remmi to update him on the progress the group begin to decide on their next steps. Remmi lets the group know he is still tracking down a lead on Vi.

Chapter Nine "Revelations (AKA not another Cart)" (16/01/2021)

The group continue to make introductions to their new found ally, Singe, who is obviously wary of this group of seemingly nefarious individuals baring the brand of this slave dealing cartel; a group who just don't seem to "go together" and is understandably cautious around aligning himself with them. As they continue to share a little information about themselves one thing that remains very clear is that none of them have chosen to be in the position they are in and have all been conscripted by Remmi in to this mess.

Elric share details of some information he has managed to dig up from asking around about a family called the Mishibi's who are known to supply the cartel with magical items who may be a good target to help weaken the cartel and boost the groups arsenal. 

During the evening the group picks through the remains of the fight, Singe taking a cloak to try and cover up his distinctive red hair and Lotty grabbing a shield to set about tinkering on. After discussing and sharing the secrets to some of their abilities the group once again felt like a group of growing friends and they settled in to the warehouse for a night's rest. Geshut demonstrates that he managed to pick up something when Remmi spoke to us all in our minds and sent the group messages directly from his whispering lips to their minds! 

Not 100% trusting Remmi's guards the group still take turns for the first watch. 

Singe & Rhone take the first watch and Rhone explains to Singe that he needs to leave the group to take care of his own business but that he takes some comfort in knowing that Singe is there to take his place, telling Singe that despite how they may appear they are a good bunch and decent people, explaining at some point in their travels each of them had fought alongside Rhone and risked something for him - even the Drow had once put his own safety on the line to save Rhone from drowning.  He gives Singe a note to pass on to the group and heads out for a walk...

In the morning the group reads the note from Rhone:

Friends,

I have never been a man of many words, but I need you to understand. I know that the task before us is overwhelming and that we are stronger together. However,  I have been feeling called home to Zanidonia ever since we fought Vjord in the streets of Sierrrona. 

Seeing the slaves suffer and the steps we have taken to end it keep reminding of how my people suffer back home under my brother Rollo’s thumb.

It is my duty to my people to return home and free them if I can. I was afraid to leave you all but after seeing how all of you came together like brothers and sisters in the shield-wall gives me confidence that you will keep standing no matter what may come. I will leave you each with a few words:

Newcomer: I can’t even recall your name but the way you stood by my friends and shielded their body with your own, I know you will be the party’s shield.

Lotty: I will truly miss your skills, witts and feisty personality. I never knew a Gnome so fierce and will tell all of Zanidonia about you. This world is so dark but I know you will be the party’s light.

Elric: You are more than just killing and stealing, you just don’t know it yet. But when there is a time for killing and stealing I know you will be the party’s sword.

Dolosius: I am happy to have known you. Your confidence inspires me to pursue my dreams as well. This world will crush you if you let it, but I know you will be the party’s resolve.

Geschut: I have never seen so much power in such a small package. Keep using that power and your voice for good. Dangerous situations can make us all reckless, but I know you will be the party’s voice of reason.

I am sure we will see each other again.

Until Valoria - Rhone

Understanding of Rhone's decision the group are still sad and upset to hear of this news, they decide now is not the time to question his departure but instead continue to with the mission at hand and hope to one day be able to travel North to catch up with their friend, maybe they'll be searching out Yarl Rhone one day.

Heading outside the warehouse the group is met by one of Remmi's men who give the group some gold that they have managed to scrape together and explains that Remmi has left to continue his business. Asked about his history he tells the group his story of how he was once a former slave just recently 'liberated' in to the Cartel's guard by Remmi. He was originally resident of the wildlands where he was taken by Trask's people in to slavery and moved along the coast via Cipado to where he ended up currently in Delaroso. He described Trask as an imposing figure wielding dark powers and a glaive so powerful it is as if he has a demon in him. He describes Trasks and having no pleasures in life other than the sadistic acts he carries out on the slaves.

The group stocks up on supplies in Delsroso before heading out Geshut tells the group that he is wanted by an organisation in Cipado and was hoping it would never be relevant to the group to discuss his problems there but that he is exceedingly unwelcome there, deadly unwekcome. He says he will explain more on the open road and the group purchase a cart and two horses, the journey isn't far but thinking Geshut could possibly be snuck in under cover of the cart. Lotty shows the group the result of some of her recent studies and tapping in to the more arcane side of learning than her usual tinkering introduces "Boobrie" to the group a familiar in the form of black/blue raven that appears on Nessie, the steel defender's head with a whistle from Lotty, and disappears with another whistle. Lotty explains that it isn't exactly a real bird but borrowed from kind of a pocket dimension, she can't attack but can be a useful scout and can help Lotty out. 

As the group make good progress towards Cipado they start to feel a rumble in the ground beneath them, Geshut shoots a fire javelin in to the ground, the noise and rumbling stops. Hoping they have scared off any threats the group quickly move forward to get away from the area but they are not quick enough

and from out of the ground springs an armour-plated beast, on four short, powerful legs with an imposing snarling maw landing straight on the steel defender, taking Nessie out of the fight in a single blow, at the same time Singe is knocked to the side of the road, his martial skills seeing him deftly landing on his feet avoiding some of the damage whilst less nimbly Lotty is knocked to the floor and badly hurt (only to be knocked unconscious as she foolishly tries to crawl away, it seems she hit her head quite hard on the landing). The bulette turns and takes another leap towards Geshut and Elric this time landing on top of and obliterating the wooden cart [World 2 - 0 Carts]. Thanks to some hard hits from the group and Singe's healing energy the beast is defeated and Lotty is spared another day. Not one to miss the opportunity to find something unusual; Elric cuts open the beast to see if any of it previous prey had left behind anything that was yet undigested and found a foot with a braclet still attached. 

Feeling worse for wear from the fight the group decide to rest up early for the night and make camp so they can get an early start on the day and take some of the travel at night for the benefit of the more daylight sensitive members of the group. Lotty asks Singe to watch over her for a moment and whistle Boobrie in to existence, as Lotty's eye's glass over Boobrie flies up in to the skies to search out a potential camp sight and for a moment Lotty is able to see and hear through the raven whilst being deaf and blind in her own body.

As they rest up Geshut explains that he used to hold high standing within an organisation in Cipado called "The Brokers of Shadows" having spent most of his life with them after they took him in when he was a child alone on the streets. He was accused of an act he did not commit and because of his previous good standing within the organisation he was "forgiven" the act and whereas he would have been punished by death he was instead banished from Cipado; his life forfeit should he return. As the group discuss ways of possibly sneaking Geshut in to the city without the cart and trying to see if he may still have any allies in the Brokers of Shadows Geshut explains that there is just one person who knows the truth; but there is no way of Geshut to reach him and it is unlikely he would entertain an audience with the rest of the group as he was the leader of the organisation, known as "The Blackhand".

As Geshut thinks back to his life in Cipado it stirkes a chord with what Elric had mentioned earlier about the Mishibi family and he recalls his familiarity with the name. Geshut explains that Cipado is geographically divided in to East and West sides of the City, connected, in the main, by a large bridge. East-Cipado sees Naliah Mishibi holding power whilst West-Cipado sees her brother, Norric Mishibi, holding power and there has been something of a sibling rivalry to gain overall power of the city.

The braclet Elric found was identified as a non-magical item and had the initials VT engraved on it in dwarvish script.

Exhausted from the fight the group soon sleep and hope the rest will hope with the next morning's planning. Taking the first watch Dolosius too soon goes to sleep, as Elric emerges from his short trance he sees the two horses and Nessie have disapeared, he wakes Dolosius who is too tired to do anything than dream that his watch went well isn't able to shed any light on the missing animals. Elric uses his tracking skills to make short work of finding where they went and followed off to investigate, perhaps too still feeling tired Elric wasn't quite as stealthy as usual and not wishing to alert suspicion he gets close enough to see torches moving along the road in the direction the tracks lead; deciding this isn't a solo mission Elric returns to the group to keep watch over them whilst they continue to rest. As he retraced his steps back to the group Elric trips on a tree root in the dark and falls face first in to a moss covered tree, inhaling the spores released by the impact. For the next, Elric's not sure how long, he finds himself not fully in control of his senses, hearing and seeing things that he is sure aren't there. Knowing that things aren't right he rests and waits out the effects of this hallucinogenic moss enduring the strange sights and feelings and the repeating of a woman's voice echoing the word 'disappointing' over and over again. When he finally shakes of the effects he returns to the group to wake them telling the of the stolen horses. Seeing her steal defender missing Lotty (not being a morning person at the best of times) recreates Nessie to her side angry at the thought of someone else having the audacity to take her companion knowing they would now see the stolen Nessie perish in front of them. Before Elric can share details of the night's events the group find themselves in the unnervingly familiar situation of being surrounded; there seems to be some 20-30 figures obscured in the trees and bushes surrounding them.

After a tense and terse introduction of sorts one figure, and half-elf, emerges from the treeline who calls herself Fallah. She demonstrates a show of power by ordering a volley of arrows, expertly aimed, around the group - creating a fence of arrows around them. Fallah demanding to know the business of the group of the outskirts of Cipado explain we must speak with her boss, another figure steps out from the treeline and removes his hood; to which Geshut exclaims "Marcus?" ....

Chapter Eight "The long standoff" (02/01/2020)

As our band of heroes stand in front of the warehouse surrounded by Endrea the familiar Orc blacksmith with her mightly longsword, the Goliath known as Pono and a scantily clad woman the group would later find out is a changeling called Vi.

Geshut steps up to try and salvage the situation, telling Endrea that she has interfered with their investigation and that she needs to back away and stop fucking things up! After some toing and froing the group hears a message in their head's from Remmi to say that it was now or never and were we with him, the group convey their intentions to Remmi who then produces a magical wall to separate out some of the guards from the 'arena' cutting down the number of foes being faced and quickly ducks back in the warehouse to preserve his concentration on the spell leaving he group awkwardly preserving the stand-off, trying to continue to illusion of fealty to the Cartel and pick the right moment to make their move, cautiously steeling themselves for the fight to come.

During the tense stand-off as the Cartel start to move closer to the warehouse and the group readies for a fight a dwarf suddenly appears, seemingly from nowhere having vaulted from a nearby roof top straight in to the middle of the conflict! Sporting a flaming locks of hair and an impressive beard to match Singe confronts Endrea telling her he has been watching over this group for some time and has heard marvellous tales of their exploits and adventures; he warns Endrea against the perils of engaging in such a well oiled fighting machine of a group having heard of their hive-mind like efficiency and formidable achievements. Endrea pushes forward regardless and the inevitable fight begins.

Vi immediately takes to the skies flying above the group for a better vantage, whilst the group begin to make short work of guards their confidence quickly fades as Endrea grows to an enormous size, Pono goes in to a hulking rage and Vi continues to threaten overhead.

As the fight progresses the group takes a lot of damage with Dolosius, Lotty, Elrich and Rhone (twice) all going down as the fight continues. Luckily for the group Remmi sticks his head out of the barn to provide some mass healing and also joins in the fight towards to end to hamper Pono just enough for Dolosius and Singe to finish him off.

Endrea was downed by a well placed javelin from Geshut, only to bounce straight back up with her Orcish hardiness and knock out Rhone, eventually she is finished off once again and seeing this Vi steps through a magical doorway and disappears. At this point the guards who have been making their way around Remmi's magical wall appear, seeing their leaders have either been killed or fled the guards are quickly convinced to surrender to Remmi who will go on to see if he can convert them to his side.

Remmi explains that Morrow Mossasi has several of these higher-ups in his employ that need to be taken out in order to overthrow him and explains to the group these people are:

Endrea - head of intelligence

Pono - head of slaves??

Vi - Lieutenant in the Cartel, oversees matters of the Arcane & Occult

Trask - Captain in the Cartel, Head of procurement, based in Cipado

Balla - Oversees exhaltium & tobacco production in Beinya

Sorsosa - Captain in the Cartel, Head of market operation in Sierrona

Fane - Captain the the Cartel, head of security and personal bodyguard of Morrow Mossani

Remmi gives the group a stone and explains that it is a sending stone and it can be used once a day to send a 25 word message to Remmi with any updates and that they would divide up their resources with Remmi initially going after Vi and the group to decide which target they would go after first.

Lotty asks Remmi to make sure her father is looked over whilst the group are unable to return to the City and also points out the Layla the bard the silenced a week earlier could become a target. Remmi seems to know of Layla already but didn't want to discuss any more details.

The group hunker in to one of the empty warehouse with some of Remmi's men around to stay watch and once again find themselves making introductions after having fought a battle together.

  

Chapter Seven "The Cart" (19/12/2020)

Before heading out to Delaroso the group makes their preparation including sending a message to Layla to let her know they will be gone for a short time as well as purchasing a cart & two horses to make the journey quicker.

Along the journey to Delaroso the group discovers a pile of dead bodies blocking the path of the cart, as they try to move the bodies the group discovers a note with just a few visible words that include "cult" "deceiver" "island" with a crude outline of an island drawn on the parchment. The group notices the bodies have been cut in a surgical manner as is sections of skin have been removed from the bodies, the group ponder if maybe they had particular runes or tattoos that may have been removed for some reason.

Moving on with the task at hand the group stop in the farming town of Banya and rest up at the Hay Stack Inn for the night. The following day the group come across a damaged bridge crossing a river that starts with a waterfall and, as luck would have it, a hurricane pushing in that may further destroy the bridge and need to get across as quickly as possible.  Leading the way Rhone successfully manages to lead one of the horses across the bridge; as the group endlessly deliberate how to get the cart across and discuss ideas of dismantling the cart to repair the bridge before deciding to get everyone and the other horse across and then pick up the cart on the way back if possible the rest of the group begins to cross the partially broken bridge.

The group, in various stages across the bridge, is suddenly attacked by a roper from the middle of the waterfall. Grappled in to the roper the group desperately battles from the grips of the monsters tentacles, suffering another near casualty of life and the devastating blow of Elric losing his crossbow the group manages to get back on the path to Delaroso.

When they arrive the find Delarosi to be a large harbour city, a low level place shaped in a 'U' expanding around the harbour; it is an idustrious city filled with fishermen, trade crafts and warehouses.

The group find several Mossani warehouses on the western side of the harbour, it is then they see a group of Mossani Sicarrios leading slaves in group to three of the warehouses, the group splits up to see what then can find.

In the first warehouse Elric & Dolosius see cargo boxes and a row of bound and chained slaves sitting of the floor, the retreat when Dolosius is nearly discovered by a Sicarrio but he quick wittedly talks his way out of trouble.

In the second warehouse Rhone & Geshut see a group of Sicarrios and not being a master of steal Rhone almost walks straight in to the group but is quick to see they are easily won over with a little beer money.  Rhone & Geshut watch as the slaves are apparently being tested for their ability to take a punch.

the third warehouse Lotty (& Nessie) see a different sight, through a high widow Lotty watches as she sees the aftermath of a fight between several sicarrios with the victors being led by Remy, after gathering the group and confronting Remy it transpires that he himself is a former slave who has rose through the ranks of the cartel and now he has been freeing slaves and training them to take the place of established cartel members in an attempt to overthrow Morrow, Remy believes his freed slaves in the Cartel now outnumber genuine cartel members and he is poised to start a revolution.

The group agree to frame Pono for the missing "merchandise" so that they may return to Morrow and continue being the 'inside men' to help Remy take down the cartel. Plan in hand the group confidently step out to be surrounded by 30+ Mossani cartel memebrs, including two Goliaths Rhone & Geshut saw punching slaves. The group is being lead by the blacksmith, Endrea, who seems to mouth a message "I've found them, it's Remmi and the new guys"

Chapter Six (13/12/2020)

The group stand surrounded by Rhone's imposing and intimidating kin with Rhone himself uncharacteristically trembling by this new sight.  Rhone addresses the leader as Vjord and, in no uncertain terms. tells him "fuck you, I'm not going

back" Vjord says that he's taking Rhone back willingly or just his head and they begin to form a phalanx, locking their shields together and begin to advance on the group.

After a hard-fought battle and almost losing one of their own the group emerges victorious and whilst resting up Rhone explains that he is the bastard child of the previous Zanadonian ruler and as he potentially holds a claim to the throne the current Jarl, Rhone's brother, sees him as a threat to be eliminated. Whilst Rhone has no interest in becoming Jarl he recognises the danger of having him around puts on to the group and offers to separate from them; the group all agree however that separating the group is not an option and that they stay together no matter the threat and deal with it together.

The group continue on to the docks to look for signs of Arnon and find the previous 'distribution point' seemingly cleaned out with just a note to say "Docks tonight come alone" and nothing else. The group decide to rest up and go out on a night mission to see what they can discover.  Aware of two sets of docs in the city the group split up sending Dolosis and Elrich ahead to scout out the docks whilst the rest of the group took a longer rest.

Dolosius investigated the Southern docks; being under control of the Mossani cartel he was able to gain reasonably easy entry to the docks ad investigates a large galleon at the side of the dock.  With careful sleuthing and using his powers to discern the thoughts of the inhabitant of the galleon Dolosius he uncovers a man waiting for a whore to arrive... no sign of Arnon here.

Elric investigates the Eastern docks under he control of the Voodist Cartel Elrich needs to use a little more trickery to talk his way on to the docs and manages to find the troublesome gnome at the centre of this storm talking to two members of the Voodist cartel talking about "finishing up" and "moving to a new place" using his potion of invisibility Elric manages to get closer still and discover they are heading out to Palirano.

Meeting up with the group Elric passes on the information to the group along with a cloak he managed to steal from Arnon to Lotty, despite her desperation to speak with Arnon before he leaves Lotty succumbs to the better advice of the group and let this one go for now.

Not wishing to waste the night the group heads in to the Exalted District to see if they can find the Bard, Layla, they have been looking for. Finding the club she is playing at the group sit through her act listening to her political comedy at the expense of the cartel, likening the cartel to slave traders and that the only way they can accomplish anything is through brute force.

After the show the group manages to sit down with Layla and buy her a drink, Lotty tries to persuade Layal to give up the political comedy or tailor her message to avoid trouble, after trying every reason she can think of she eventually manages to dig enough information out of Layla to discover that she has a potential lost love in the North and the group agree that they will help her travel North in two weeks and she will stop her shows.

The next say the group meets up with Endrea again to get the intel on the third lead Morrow wants to be investigated. Endrea explains that cartel property is being smuggled along the coastline from Siphandel, Wildlands, via Delaroso but some of the property is going missing in Delaroso and not making it to Sierrono. Endrea explains Pono is in charge of the supply in Delaroso and that the group is to stop the leak and, if possible, retrieve the merchandise.