Taking the Prince's Shilling (Sort of)

When last we left our heroes...

...they were faced with difficult choices. Pietra had been found and she was safe for the moment, but not forever. At least three...perhaps more...of the "statues" had been shipped out in the past few days, on ships bound for the Lhazar Principalities. Duvrin was letting them stay at his place, but probably not forever. Whatever was going to happen, they were leaving Sharn, that much seemed certain. But where? To sign on the ship Prince Lorrister was refitting and taking to war? Back to Fairhaven, to report to Urik Rorham and see if more employment was in the offing?

Not to mention they had a lease to cancel, a house to empty, AND the mail cut-out at The Drunken Dragon. Adventuring is complicated.

First things first; send messages. One was sent to Urik, via House Sivis Speaking Stone. Basically it said; Pietra is found, she is safe, our involvement on the case is through, pay up.

The message that came back said: Can you arrange transport for the girl back to Fairhaven or do you need help doing so?

A message was sent to Morgana Corleis saying that they were in pursuit of her niece, and they would stay in touch. She replied that she'd do the same.

Another was sent to Constable Corleith telling him not to give up hope; they were pursuing the Captain. He didn't reply. He's far too bitter for that.

So, the next up was to investigate the allegiances, motives, means, ways, policies and devices of Prince Lorrister.

All the digging Adan and Gideon could do...speaking to former associates of his, speaking to nobles and sponsors and clergy...it seems that Lorrister is that so-rare thing in Eberron; exactly what he appears to be. Prince Lorrister is a Holy Knight of Dol Arrah who, a few years ago, decided to raise an army and sweep clean the pirates of the Lhazar Principalities. He really was gathering a crew, having found sponsors willing to put up enough cash to buy an old airship and refit it for war (or at least for scouting for war...airships can be a bit fragile). He was taking on crew, having 'auditions' at the temple of Dol Arrah in Sovereign Towers.

So the party queued up at the temple. Eventually they got inside to see the man himself, wings, cockatoo animal companion and all.

(Editor's note: this NPC is basically from the book. In the illustration, he has wings, and a cockatoo. I would not create an NPC with wings and a cockatoo).

Next to him was a massive half-orc whom he introduced as his second mate, and boarding party commander, Tavaak Half-Ear, who, it was evident by his clothes, was a priest of the Sovereign Host. The Prince indicated that the party would have to subject itself to some minor magic; Detect Evil, Zone of Truth, that sort of thing. They acquiesced, and more or less passed that part of the test. Then Lorrister wanted to know what the party was capable of, and was told they saw themselves as an asset when it came to combat, not as sailors or airmen.

In order to test the veracity of that claim, without further ado, Lorrister drew his cutlass, leaped over the table, and attacked Kaloei.

It was evident that he was just sparring. He quickly overcame Kal, but also pointed out to her that she had given the best showing so far that day. Sol was next and the result was much the same, with the Prince scoring many solid blows, and Sol scrambling around the room flinging axes, but ultimately being cornered and overcome.

When the Prince turned to Adan, Adan bowed, then cast a spell that seemed to suck all the color and substance from his own form and sent it hurtling in a bolt of color and light at the Prince's eyes, blinding him. Adan disappeared.

When the Prince recovered his sight, he told them they were accepted and where should he send the paperwork?

With much rejoicing, the party headed back towards Duvrin's house. On the way there, near a lift, they were suddenly ambushed by two gnolls, one of whom said "Cavallah says hello."

The gnolls, however, were not alone; eventually something large and ugly and tentacled joined the fight; a Dolgaunt. Dolgaunts are, for those not in the know, a creature of the Daelkyr, twisted, evil, and horrid...did I mentioned tentacled?

The dolgaunt was overcome with some difficulty, and the party was busy trussing up gnolls and heaving them over the rails when the distinctive jingle of armor and weapons approached. A squad of 5 or 6 men, all armed and armored varyingly but dressed in distinctive red cloaks, approached the party, claiming to have been out hunting the Dolgaunt. They of course thoroughly questioned the party and what was going on out there, claiming to be from the Redcloak Battalion, an elite unit of the Brelish military attached to the Sharn City Watch.

Rather than mess with the Redcloaks, Adan wisely "found" a pouch of 200 gold on the ground that, as he said, "Surely belonged to the Captain." With that out of the way, the party finally went back to Duvrin to receive...gifts!

Duvrin lavishly showed his gratitude for saving his adopted daughter, with the following presents:

Adan: Ring of the Beguiler; +2 bonus to Intelligence, grants the Spell Focus feat for Illusion school and Enchantment school spells.

Kaloei: +1 Keen Flaming Rapier

Sol: Skirmisher's Axe: +1 Returning Throwing Axe, extra 1d6 damage on a Skirmish attack.

Duvrin also pointed out that he could arrange the party a loan from the Kundarak Bank at reasonable interest, which would grant them each roughly 7,000 gold pieces with which to purchase equipment, supplies and magical goodies before shipping out on the Spear of Dawn. He also made clear that his plan was to hire several Changelings to impersonate Pietra and have them scatter in various directions, while the real one would take to the Lightning Rail with guards, headed ultimately across Karrnath for the Mror Holds.

The party awaited their enlistment papers from Lorrister while shopping and pondering this question; where would Cavallah's troops get a tame Dolgaunt?

Edit: You'll note I have been lax with the posts. Trying to catch up. One down, two to go!