Newgrowth 37
We rejoin our heroes at the Gleaming Horde inn. On the advise of Horban Courthammer our heroes plan to visit the Sparkling Trinket, a shop near the palace, as several of the heroes need gems for crafting purposes, and of course Tuesday always wishes to exchange his circles for shiny rocks.
Falorn is shaken by his run-in with Rory Delathos. While he fears The Fist may be after him, he does not want to involve or admit this to his new teammates. He buys a new cloak hoping to alter his appearance from how Rory saw him earlier.
Our heroes see an advertisement for the “Hexagon Battle Open,” apparently a contest of group combat with a prize money reward. The entry price is 500g and a single top prize of 3,000g.
Our heroes spot a suspicious young woman following them. Tuesday flies up and surprises her. She seems friendly and the party chat with her. She says her name is Teresa and that she is a chamber maid at the Silver Dolphin Inn. The party asks her to join us in gem shopping at the Sparkling Trinket, but she says she has to get back to work.
Bigglesworth remains skeptical. He stealthily follows Teresa. Instead of walking to work at the inn like she claimed, she instead goes to a business building for “Deadalon’s Veterans,” a mercenary group.
The shoppers have continued to walk toward the palace on their way to the Sparkling Trinket. The shop is a two story tower. Inside, a half orc stands guard and glares while holding an axe ominously. An elf named Gerald, the shop’s proprietor and craftsman, stands behind a counter polishing stones. Annette buys 2 diamonds, Dirk buys a fastpitch softball sized black onyx, Caper buys a new chain for her magical medallion, and Tuesday buys an emerald for his hat.
The shoppers return to the Traveler’s Doorstep with their crafting materials. Annette’s estimate is the 44th and Dirk’s 51st.
Bigglesworth rejoins the group, but his report is borderline indecipherable. Luckily Goram is already familiar with the Deadalon’s Veterans, so he translates Bigglesworth’s finding for the rest of the party. Goram explains they are an outfit that is based in Bidovar with an office in Malus city.
Annette strikes up a conversation with someone at the Deadalon’s Veterans office. Annette asks about the Hexagon Battle Open. Failia, who says she is in charge of the Deadalon’s Veterans, explains that the Deadalon’s Veterans have entered and won the competition in the past with teams “Dwarven Assembly” and “Dauntless,” but they don’t plan to compete this year. Apparently healers are available at the competition, so participation isn’t a huge risk for talented professionals. Failia claims to not know where Teresa is.
The party heads to the Silver Dolphin inn, a 2 story building with a stable on the side. Caper tricks Teresa’s cousin into having Teresa meet the party. Teresa explains that she took a job paying 5 silver to surveil our party and determine the whereabouts of Falorn, while Teresa is happy with the 5 gold she received from Caper for information, she feels vulnerable and still fears further repercussions after her failed espionage mission.
Falorn explains to the party a little bit about his past with The Fist — that he went AWOL. The party would like to clear his name if possible — some because of the bonds of friendship, others because they don’t want weird poor people hiding in bushes staring at them.