When the party return to
Cambria after raiding
Count Draku's mansion they find he has been defeated and that the realm has a new
ruler, Eleanor. The party are now viewed as heroes and are knighted by Eleanor for their part in the resistance
to Draku. She offers them each a manor house and lands but they each turn the offer down in search of new adventure
in Miredor where Crow says she intends to set up an agency similar to Elwin's.
After three months of soaking up the adulation and free beer associated with their new status the party set sail
for Ostelor in Miredor which is to be their new home. Their new colleagues at the
agency are a fairly exotic bunch even for a busy trading port in Sudland. They are:
- Helena - in charge on a day to day basis. Very close and loyal to Crow. Regards the party with slightly amused disdain. Looks a statuesque 40ish woman but may be much older from hints in her conversation.
- Savak. Goblin administrator. Very loyal to Helena.
- Caladir. Elven Cleric. Pale blue eyes and skin means he has a remarkably different appearance from the darker skinned local elves (and the half-Elven Crow).
- Zetafor. Magic User. In his natural form appears to be a gnome made of metal. Speech can be a bit stilted.
- Racac. Insectoid Thri-Kreen from the desert. A bit of a badass warrior (having six arms helps). The party have seen a Thri-Kreen before due to the fashion of Cambrian nobility having exotic bodyguards. When he is in human form pretends to be a mute. Usually communicates by telepathy.
- Hadraa. Half-ape Druid. Extremely friendly and helpful soul.
- Phizz. Magic using ‘locksmith’. Admits to be not human but always maintains human form unlike most of the others who switch between they normal appearance and human form as required.
- Boff. Hippo-headed artificer. Likes things that go bang. Crow has insisted he hire a separate workshop on the edge of town for his experiments.
In order to blend in Crow appears to have insisted that this crew can all change their appearance (normally to human) to blend in for their work. As a group their strength appears to be surveillance and infiltration.
Before the party start work they are given two weeks to explore the city of Ostelor and pick up contacts. Circe
spends most of the time practicing her spells but then announces she has 'done her bit' by ensuring she will always
be able to find out who enters and leaves the city by the main gates.
The party's first mission concerns a new criminal gang in the city. They muscled in on a Thieves Guild operation, stealing the proceeds and killing two Guild members with a further three still missing. The Guild have set a
bounty for the capture of up to three members of the gang. Helpfully thugs from the same gang have been trying
to shake down Boff at his workshop, demanding he make explosive devices for them. Helena has contacted the Guild
and promised that three of the gang will be delivered shortly.
Given that a raid by the gang is most likely overnight the party position themselves in hiding around the area
of Boff's workshop as darkness falls. Ten gang members turn up and attack Horatio who is the only visible guard. Nameless briefly
enters melee with him before deciding the thugs are quite tough and she would rather watch proceedings from
the workshop roof beside Circe. Things are going quite well for the gang before Milo and Circe decide the whole
battle will be conducted in an area of magical darkness with added tentacles. Some try to flee but are picked off
by party members, Circe's cat and Nameless's griffon. In the end five of the gang are killed and five captured.
The party learn that three of the attackers were former Thieves Guild members who were forced to join the gang
and the two that survived the skirmish are only too happy to tell what they know. They say that the gang used
a warehouse down by the docks to gather before the attack and were physically enhanced in a ritual conducted by a group of magic users.
The party later quietly infiltrate the warehouse where it is obvious gang members are training but there is no
sign of the magic users. Helena calls off the raid, having learned from the Thieves Guild that the gang are
members of the
Black Dogs. Discreet surveillance of the area continues using
other members of the agency.
While taking part in the infiltration of the warehouse Milo chose to enter the sewers running below the building
and was surprised by a ghostly figure gliding towards him causing him to flee. Helena was interested in this encounter and chose
to investigate whether there had been any suspicious deaths in the area recently. A cleric of Kojomo, the
Drel god of the Sea, who runs a mission in the docks had two bodies brought
to her in the past few days (one from the sewers and one from an alley) who had both died of necrotic damage. The cleric
promises to heal the agency's employees for a year if the (likely undead) killers are destroyed.
The party are led by Milo to the scene of his previous encounter where they confront and destroy three apparitions
after a brief skirmish.
The cleric is very grateful but the next day she calls the party back to her morgue to re-examine the bodies.
Beorhtric discovers that on the back of the neck of one of the bodies is a tattoo of a snarling dog, the sign
of the Black Dogs. Rather more disturbing are two small puncture wounds which Circe (who seems to be a subject matter expert) confirms are a vampire bite. The party returns to the sewers (minus Circe who decides to wash her hair instead) and have a strange encounter with
two richly dressed figures who appear to be floating above the surface of the sewers. The figures warn the
party that the sewers are a dangerous place to be. Circe, on being told of the encounter confirms that they probably met two vampires.