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dungeons-n-nerdlings · 7 years

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Friday Femme Fantasy AGE - Episode 3

Our Adventure Continues....

We pick up where we left off in Episode 2

As our three main heroines, Fern, Sharpwit, and Bertha were escorting their charge up to the gates of Soleia, they actually stopped a small-ways back to discuss how to get Andrew’s men through the gate without raising suspicions.

At the same time Sharpwit when through the items Count Powers gave her and found the letter of introduction that he had given her. She carefully opened the letter and a couple of things stood out.

The letter opened with “Dear Michael” not “Dear Dechion”.

There was no mention of harm to his daughter, only confidence that he could help her.

These two things together raised enough suspicion on Sharpwit that she got the other letter from April and compared them. While they looked the same to her initially, Bertha was quickly able to point out the small differences that were clear signs of a forgery.

After some discussion with Lavender and April, they decided to get rooms at an inn, then go over to Dechion ahead of Lavender, and see if they could determine the truth.

Sometimes You Just Need A Little Dumb Luck...

The group makes their way to the center of Soleia to the area known as “The Stone City”. This is a part of down that was rebuilt nearly entirely of stone after the previous area burned to the ground.

The inn that Sharpwits uncle recommend was not hard to find. It is a huge 4 story building with a large sign showing an adventurer bent over to pick up a gold piece and a gout of dragon fire missing him with the words “Dumb Luck” in side of it.

The group makes their way up the front steps where they see an emerald golem sitting with his feet up on the rail. He turns out to be actually animated and well mannered, making Bertha second guess her opinion of golems.

He quickly covers the rules of fighting, that no weapons should be used and the loser of any fight cleans up around the bar until someone else loses.

The group heads inside and finds a very impressive bar/tavern area, and learn there is a small casino on the 2nd floor along with rooms and suites on the 3rd and 4th floor.

Sometimes You Just Need To Punch Something...

The group, consisting of Sharpwit, Fern, Bertha, Lavender, April, Andrew, and two of his men ended up getting a 4 room suite on the 3rd floor. Once in the room Lavender and April took the largest room, Andrew and his men took another, Fern and Sharpwit took the 3rd and Bertha got a room to herself.

Fern and Sharpwit decided to go to Dechion, leaving Bertha and Andrew behind to watch over Lavender and April, who were getting cleaned up and enjoying the amenities of the suite’s master bedroom. Once Fern and Sharpwit left Bertha and Andrew debated on going to the casino. Once Bertha put her foot down that she was waiting on the girls, Andrew left to go gamble.

A short time later Andrew returns with a pouch of silver where he had won over 150 silver playing cards. He again offers to watch the girls while Bertha goes, as there is no reason for two of them to wait around for them to get cleaned up.

Bertha finally caves to her urges, but opts to play at a table that has full view of the stairs so that she could see any threats going up. Andrew also has two men placed at the top of the stairs as well, so the girls are well protected.

Bertha begins playing cards and drinking orcish ale (it has bits of meat in it), and having a good time. However, her luck turns, she starts to lose and gets into a fist fight with the Dwarf, that she lost too. While the fight had been a great stress reliever for her, she was not wiping down tables and yelling at people to learn to use coasters.

Meanwhile Across Town...

Sharpwit and Fern follow the directions they have to Dechion’s place. They come upon a small house with a white picket fence and small bell at the gate. They ring the bell, the gate opens and they see a sign that says “stay on the path” (which they do) and go up to the door.

A well built human man comes to the door, when Sharpwit asks if he is Dechion Arcane, he says he is, and asks why they are there. After a brief explanation Dechion invites them in to discuss details.

Sharpwit explains why they are there showing Dechion both letters and asking him if his given name is “Michael”. He says it isn’t but it is something that Count Powers would call him out of affection.

Dechion confirms that the letter that April had was the forgery and encourages Sharpwit and Fern to bring Lavender and April back over to his place so they can sort things out, as he would never harm Lavender and he wants to clear up who would suggest such a thing.

Sharpwit and Fern return to Dumb Luck and when they get to their suite, they find it empty. Bertha’s stuff is still there But Lavender, April, Andrew’s and his men's stuff is all gone.

There’s Always Room For More...

Sharpwit and Fern quickly fine Bertha cleaning up on the second floor. Bertha explains that she went to gamble after Andrew said he would keep an eye on the girls. Further, she was playing at a table where she could see anyone coming or going up the stairs..... except for Fern and Sharpwit, she hadn’t seen them go up..

Sharpwit points out she also didn’t see Lavender, April, and Andrew leave. To which Bertha has an explosion of obscenities in Common, Dwarven, and Orcish. She proceeds to rant about how she is going to hurt Andrew when she finds him.

As she finishes her rant, a very large woman and a very tiny man came up the stairs asking if they were talking about Andrew Croner. The group nods in the affirmative, and asks why they wanted to know.

The Hafling (as that is surely what he was) initially said “no reason, just a guess” and the large woman (half-giant for those keeping score) said, “We have a bounty on him, he’s worth 200 silver”. To which her companion halfling looked slightly disappointed.

The Halfling then went on to introduce himself as Fiz of the Burning Flame and his companion was Skalda of the “save my ass from being eaten” fame. Fern, Sharpwit, and Bertha all took turns introducing themselves and quickly our trio of characters became a quintet.

Sharpwit suggested the revisit Dechion and let him know what happened, that might lead them to Lavender, April and Andrew. The rest of the group agreed and as they were heading out the door a voice from behind Skalda asked “Is it ok if I tag along, my vision led me here”.

the group turned around (and Skalda stepped aside) to find an Female Orc Shaman standing there looking determined but smiling. Bertha immediately asks what tribe she is from, and when she answers Bertha lights up and says, “My uncle’s wife is from that tribe! Ok, come with!” and like that the group grew to six. The orc says her name is Eldra and the group heads out.

Things Could Always Get Worse....

The group returned to Dechion, who is understandably confused as none of the new people Sharpwit and Fern brought were Lavender or April. However, after a short summary of what happened Dechion understand and, in fact, can add some information to the pool.

He did some magical investigation on the forged letter while the group was away and found that it was in fact written by a Powers, just not Markus Powers, but rather by his brother Bastion.

Bastion is Markus’ older brother and was disowned by the family. However, as things stand now if Markus was to die before Lavender came of age in two years, Bastion would all of the Powers holding and belongings. Further he is pretty sure that April is April Powers, Lavender’s cousin and a fairly good grifter in her own right.

With this information the group decides to head out after Lavender, April, and Andrew Croner (and his men) as they want to stop April from manipulating Lavender into killing her father, capture Andrew and his men for the bounty, and stop for some breakfast tacos on the way out of town (don’t judge. Fiz is always hungry.)

Dechion supplies the group with a bracelet that will nullify Lavender’s powers temporarily so she can be brought back to him. He also gave them a compass that points to Lavender so they can track her. The group thanks Dechion, says they will return with Lavender, and head out.

Well, most head out, Fiz decided that the shortest way back to the street is to dive out the front window, where he is promptly grabbed and attacked by the carnivorous bushes that Dechion has outside his windows.

Dechion is stunned for a moment in shock that anyone would think that going out the window would be faster than walking out the door, then he quickly moves to the front door as he gets the bush to release Fiz before he is killed and eaten.

Dechion advises Fiz that the shortest distance is not always the quickest way and he should consider such actions in the future. Fiz nods and thanks him for getting him out of the bush.

Shouldn’t Have Taken That Left at The Wall...

As our six heroes begin to track Lavender with the compass, they find that it is leading them straight towards the city gate they came in through. They figure she is headed back to Culthhaven to attack her father, so this direction makes sense.

However, before they get to the gate the compass quickly shows Lavender moving off to the groups left. The group alters course to follow and before to long finds that the signal is pointing into a large warehouse.

While circling the warehouse to see the options for getting in, the group discovers the body of one of Andrew’s men lying in an alley covered up, but clearly recently killed. The group then becomes more cautious with their movements.

Eventually Sharpwit offers to sneak up and take a listen at the only door they’ve seen that looks like it could open. As she is listening there is a very quiet sound of wood sliding and a voice whispers to her, “You should be here.” To which she answers, “Where am I exactly?” The voice says “You are trespassing in The Court Of The Hand.”

As Sharpwit isn’t from Soleia, she doesn’t reflect the appropriate amount of awe and fear that one might have expected when dealing with the cities largest thieves guild. However, this lack of knowledge doesn’t deter her from her mission.

“We are here looking for a young girl that I’ve been charged with bringing safely to Soleia.” The voice replies, “If she is in here, you’ve really not done your job very well.” Sharpwit replies, “so how can I get her back?” The voice tells her to wait, and then comes back and tells her, “You and the Orc over there may enter, the rest must wait out here”.

Eldra looks confuses, Sharpwit looks confused, in fact, everyone is a bit confused as to why the voice picked Eldra and Sharpwit. But, in the end, they comply and Sharpwit and Eldra enter the building.

The shadowy figure leads them down and through a maze of boxes, hallways, and doors until they reach a large open area where they see Lavender and April hanging in gibbet cages and Andrew tied to a chair beaten and unconscious.

As the two take in the sight around them the figure steps out of the shadows and puts his hood back to reveal an Orc male with a scar running down one cheek. He doesn’t offer his name, and neither guest asks.

Making a Deal With The Devil...

Sharpwit asks the Orc what they needed to do to take Lavender and April out. Their host tells them that they can barter for Lavender’s release but April has cheated and stolen from The Court Of The Hand and must be held accountable. April, having dropped all guise of the “innocent handmaiden” look rolls her eyes at this comment.

“What do you want for Lavender’s release then?” Sharpwit asks? The Orc says that he wants Andrew released from her thrall as he is one of their best agents and currently he’s simpering dolt only set on protecting Lavender. Sharpwit agrees.

Sharpwit goes over and talks to Lavender, who is insistent they must save April and her. Sharpwit explains a little of what she knows, and that she can only get her out right now. As she does she reaches through the bars and places Dechion’s bracelet on her wrist. It glows ever so slightly for a moment and then goes back to normal.

Sharpwit returns to the orc and says that Andrew is free. The orc looks skeptical, but nods towards Andrew where two men with a bucket of water walk out and wake him up. Andrew seems to have no memory of where he is at the moment or why he is tied to a chair, but clearly he is not acting to protect Lavender, and that fulfills the bargin.

Lavender is released from the gibbet cage where Sharpwit, Eldra, and her are led back to the front door by the mysterious orc. The Orc whispers to Sharpwit that if she ever wants a career change The Court could always use talent like hers. She smiles, but says she’s currently on a job.

The three of them rejoin the others and head back towards Dechion’s house.

Our Adventure Will Continue in two weeks...

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