19 Varden 1119

Help Wanted

Every day dozens of ships enter and leave Marhaven's southwest docks. The fine trade goods and merchandise carried by these ships are the business of the merchant guilds that own the docks and adjoining warehouse sector. A recent rash of theft and vandalism in those warehouses, therefore, was a problem to be addressed quickly and decisively.

The Marhaven Adventurers' Guild sent six heroes to meet with Riley Hanal-Rian, dockmaster of the southwest docks:

• Aria Seastar, an aventi monk;
• Uiq Oevlai, a warrior from one of the eastern lands;
• Pendrul, a human swashbuckler;
• Strontium, a dwarven mage;
• Teiliaquinnas Oromae (Quinn), a druidess of the local aquatic elf community, with her shark companion Baelavin;
• and W'illot Mauk, a young rogue of undisclosed origins.

In their meeting, Riley laid out the history of the incidents as it was known.

About ten days before, vandals had apparently entered warehouse B7 by night and opened a shipping crate containing a set of custom tapestries commissioned by Simeon Vale, a rich local merchant. Two of the tapestries were found floating under the dock a few days later, destroyed by exposure to salt water. The rest were presumed to have sunk.

Some days later, a similar incident occurred at warehouse A5. Thieves entered through a window, shredded a quantity of silk cloth and stole a set of masterwork ceremonial daggers made by Melchior Fordney and awaiting transport to the buyer. Upon discovery of this action, Riley had ordered all warehouse building windows shuttered and permanently sealed.

On the night of 16 Varden, someone entered warehouse B17 by sawing a hole in the floor from below. A shipment of spices and perfumes belonging to Saurian merchant Suleen Nar-Alzun was missing, with strong indications that the goods had been dumped into the water. Nar-Alzun was outraged and the guilds were demanding strong action to stop the vandals.

Riley conveyed his opinion that more was being stolen than actually destroyed, a point that the party found quite reasonable. They accepted his offer of 100gp each to apprehend the thieves and, if possible, recover any of the missing goods they could.

W'illot used his contacts in town to learn that each of the local thieves' guilds believed the recent actions to be the work of a rival, and were mostly concerned that those in question were being greedy and indiscreet enough to bring trouble on all of the guilds. With a little more checking, the party learned of two useful facts. A pinnacle -- a small, fast sailing ship with a low profile and high maneuverability -- had been noticed quietly slipping into the city near the edge of the service sector under cover of darkness just after the theft of the daggers and destruction of the silk. Also, a shipment of masterwork tools was scheduled to arrive that day and to spend the night in warehouse A22 before being split up, with some going to local merchants for sale and the rest shipping out to other ports.

With a good working idea of what the thieves' next target would be, the party chose to stake out warehouse A22. Strontium, Uiq, W'illot and Pendrul took concealed positions inside the building while the aquatic team members, Aria and Quinn, watched the deck area from below. Baelavin, the shark, kept by Quinn's side.

Late in the night the party heard the sounds of a scuffle taking place in the streets outside the warehouse building. Several of the team wanted to respond, but Strontium counselled them to remain in place -- the conflict outside could easily be a diversion, he told them, and the party's job was to guard those tools. They heeded the dwarf's advice and held their posts despite the screams and cries for help from outside.

Sure enough, even as the sounds of combat began to die down, the party became aware of a scraping sound under the warehouse floor. Quinn and Aria saw a posse of small humanoids gathered under the warehouse and sawing through the floor with what looked like a modified pole arm. The others waited and watched in the darkness as the intruders sawed through two floorboards to make an opening large enough to drop small crates through.

A small humanoid head popped up through the opening and then dropped back immediately as a magic missile from Strontium struck it. The aquatic pair heard and felt the splash and closed to engage the intruders. Aria tried a Stunning Fist attack on the leader but failed to connect.

Inside, Pendrul lit a lantern to allow the group to see their opponents. Strontium unleashed another magic missile and killed an intruder where he stood. W'illot crept silently down the ladder from his perch on the upper level as Uiq felled an enemy with one mighty swing of his maul.

More of the creatures clambered up through the hole only to find the party ready for them. Pendrul skewered one with her rapier as another felt the sting of W'illot's shortbow. Aria killed an enemy with her fists while the shark Baelavin bit another. Uiq pulled a blow enough to render one of the creatures unconscious and then stood guard over the opening, ready to dent any unfriendly skull that poked through it. An enemy managed to scoot behind Pendrul and struck her with a sling bullet. This turned out to be a bad idea, as the quick swordmistress turned and ran the rogue through immediately.

With their leaders incapacitated and the heroes clearly in control, the remaining invaders tried to flee. Their swim speed was no match for Baelavin's; the shark caught up to one easily and then, at Quinn's instruction, tracked the other leader through the water.

While Quinn and Baelavin pursued the fleeing miscreant the rest of the party mopped up at the warehouse. The enemy turned out to be sea kith -- an amphibious goblin subrace -- and were easily intimidated into telling their story.

The goblinoids claimed to be auditioning for membership in a new thieves' guild. Their task was to break into the warehouse, steal the contents of the crates bearing a particular shipping company name (which one of them carried on an oilskin page for reference) and take those contents underwater to another location, an herbalist's shop on the far edge of the Service Sector. The oilskin had a crude map that gave the party a basic idea of where this herbalist shop must be.

As the group finished trussing the captives for delivery to Riley, Quinn returned with news of the one they allowed to flee. She and Baelavin tracked the creature for about 900 feet and watched it enter another building through a trap door in the deck. Quinn's information dovetailed with the crude map and gave the party the exact building where the goods were to be taken. Strontium was out of spells and Pendrul was injured, but they decided that it was vital that they investigate the herbalist shop immediately. Uiq and W'illot covered the hole in the warehouse floor with a heavy crate while Quinn cast a healing spell on Pendrul. Then the party set off for the service sector. Quinn and Baelavin swam ahead while the rest of the party went on foot.

Outside the warehouse, the group quickly noted the signs of recent battle in the form of blood smears and footprints. They hurried on their way and came face to face with a trio of dire rats. The rats attacked, as dire creatures are wont to do. One bit Uiq on the leg but was quickly slain by Pendrul. W'illot dispatched the other two with well-placed arrows and the party moved on. They passed another dire rat that had already been slain.

Quinn was waiting when the rest of the group reached the herbalist's shop. She pointed out the correct building and they took a careful look at the exterior. There were heavy drapes over the windows and no signs of life or activity inside. Quinn spied two large hallions on the deck edge that looked new and surmised that the pinnacle must tie off there.

W'illot checked the front door and found it to be both locked and trapped. He disabled an alarm device and eased the door open safely. Inside they found a typical-looking storefront: shelves lined with jars of various herbs and products made from them, a counter with an empty strongbox, and a door leading to the rest of the building. A back room held crates bearing Suleen Nar-Alzun's company name and the cowering, shivering figure of the sea kith Quinn had tracked to that place. The creature put up no fight and, with a promise from the party to release him if his information proved accurate, told the group that the herbalist was out and would return on the pinnacle the following night to receive the stolen goods.

The upper level proved to be unoccupied. The party examined the herbalist's bedroom and found nothing of value. A desk in the common area provided an ugly surprise when W'illot picked the lock and opened the top drawer only to receive a cloud of stunning gas in the face for his trouble. The rogue fell backward and had to wait for his body to shake off the effects of the gas while the others examined the contents of the drawer: a leather pouch containing platinum coins and three blood rubies. The lower drawer held a ledger. Strontium examined the book but was unable to tell much other than that a large amount of cash -- around 14,000 gold pieces' worth -- had apparently passed through the herbalist's hands as a result of recent activities.

A more disturbing sight greeted the group in an upstairs room at the back of the building. The room was bare except for a well-crafted wooden altar, upon which sat an altar cloth and a pair of blood-red candles set into platinum candlesticks. The altar cloth bore a symbol:

Several of the party examined the symbol but were unable to identify it. They took the altar cloth and candlesticks and searched the rest of the house.

W'illot found a sliding panel that led to a hollow beneath the staircase. Inside the party discovered a small chest and a finely-crafted teak box. The held six ornate masterwork daggers -- clearly the Melchior Fordney ceremonial daggers stolen a few days before from the warehouse. Inside the chest were five glass vials of liquid and a quantity of gold pieces.

With the building secured and a full day before their quarry would arrive, the party opted to rest in the herbalist shop to recover spells and hit points while Uiq reported their progress to Riley. The harbormaster congratulated Uiq on the party's success and agreed with their plan to lie in wait for the herbalist. Uiq also learned that one of the dock security men had been killed by the dire rats but that the tools were safe thanks to the party's efforts.

As night fell on the city Quinn and Aria set up watch at the edge of the outer decks to watch for the ship. A few minutes after midnight they spotted a pinnacle approaching their position. The ship dropped sail a hundred feet shy of the city's edge and came in under oars. Quinn and Aria swam ahead and alerted the group to the ship's coming.

With several of the heroes watching from cover, the pinnacle slowed and turned about before tying off to the hallions. They counted four hands, four rowers, and two more men on the quarterdeck. One wore shell armor and carried a staff; the other had the wheel and barked commands to the men on the main deck. The party watched in silence as the armored figure and two of the deck hands left the ship and walked around to the front of the house. Aria quietly jammed the rudder with a coil of rope to prevent the ship from escaping.

The leader unlocked the door and opened it, but only the two hands actually entered the building. They were set upon by W'illot, who fired arrows at them from the cover of his darkness ability. Pendrul opened the inner door and addressed the thugs from the front. Even Uiq somehow managed to cross past Pendrul to engage the thugs in the front room and killed one with his maul.

Meanwhile, Quinn and Aria jumped the group on the pinnacle. Aria leapt up and climbed the sterncastle, trying to maintain cover, but was spotted by the ship's pilot and attacked. She responded with a Stunning Fist that staggered the pilot and allowed Aria to knock him unconscious.

Quinn jumped onto the main deck at the bow only to find herself surrounded by two thugs and, moments later, the herbalist. She dropped back into the water and used her animate water spell to conjure assistance. Strontium came to her aid by sending magic missiles at the thugs from his position at an upstairs window.

The herbalist, demonstratic a command of druidic magic, dazzled the wizard with a flare but was unable to follow through because Quinn leapt out of the water again and grappled the herbalist, trying to pull him into the water. It took multiple tries but soon Quinn and the herbalist tumbled back into the sea.

In the house, the final thug dropped his weapon and surrendered in the face of Uiq, Pendrul and W'illot's weapons. Pendrul saw that the fight had moved on and chose a fast exit: she leapt through the back room window, smashing it with her boot, and landed neatly on the deck next to the ship. The nervous thugs quickly dropped the lines and pushed off the deck while screaming at the rowers below to start moving. Oars came out from the sides and the ship started to move despite the lack of a pilot at the helm.

Uiq, W'illot and Pendrul leapt across the gap to the main deck to engage the remaining thugs while Quinn struggled with the herbalist in the water. She held him while Baelavin attacked, and their combined efforts limited the herbalist to strugging to escape and gasping for breath.

W'illot slew a thug with a point blank shot from his bow. The cramped quarters seemed to bother Pendrul, who stabbed at the other deck hand but missed twice. Aria joined in and also missed the target. Uiq slid the handle of his maul through the hatch rings to prevent the rowers from joining the fray and then slew the final thug with a well-thrown spear.

Pendrul checked the rowers and determined that they were slaves chained to their benches. She promised them freedom and they cooperated with Strontium and Uiq to help bring the boat back to the edge of the deck.

Under the water, Quinn and Baelavin continued their struggle with the herbalist. Aria joined them and their combined efforts subdued the man. They dragged him to the pinnacle deck and bound him securely. By his features they could tell that the herbalist was a sea kin -- a human subrace that is somewhat adapted to aquatic life but not truly a sea creature. The rest of the captives were human.

The party sent for Riley, who arrived directly with a contingent of the city watch to take possession of the prisoners. Riley praised the heroes for their work and promised to share whatever information he gained from the captives. He also awarded the party the pinnacle as their prize, along with all of the valuables they found that were not part of the stolen goods from the warehouses.

While Riley spoke to the main part of the group, W'illot slipped back into the house and released the sea kith rogue as promised. The creature dove through the trap door and vanished into the sea.

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