Id: 08f78a02-dbfc-4b87-bb1a-a70bce9f5a17 SessionDate: 2023-02-12 EntryDate: 2023-02-14 GameDate: { Day: 3 Month: Mitu Year: 3321 } Author: Patrick Title: A Bloody Gift for the Crew Text: "There was a knock on the room door. Xedran answered. A familiar visitor shared news of someone’s capture. “It’ll cost $3000 to get her out. Either that, or we’ll have to figure out another way,” the visitor shared. “I don’t know where we could come up with that kind of money,” Xedran responded. “I know. For now, you’re gaining some notoriety.” The visitor said. “Keep doing what you’re doing. It can likely help us later to have you as a distraction, being know, and then we can pick pocket through the crowds. We’ll try and figure something out.” --- The city started to come alive. Roosters were crowing. Shop keepers were preparing for the day. And in the Stews and Brews, Drick sat stoically, awaiting the rest of random group. The door opened flooding the room with the bright morning sun only to have it blotted out as the monstrous form of Saxon entered followed by Tiger; a low rumble in its throat and tail flicking about. Saxon mumbled, “Ah you’re here,” and plopped down in a chair uncomfortably close to Drick. Refusing to move, Drick just sat in silence as others began to show up. Cassian and Xedran arrived shortly after and took a seat. Dheir entered last, looking sleepy and irritated. “I’m glad you’re here, Drick. Since you missed our first meeting, let’s get you caught up…” Cassian started to say. “I already know what’s going on,” Drick quipped. “Oh, but… no, we need to tell you what we talked about,” Cassian retorted. “Don’t assume that he doesn’t know. If he says he knows, he knows. Just get on with it,” Dheir interrupted. Her face twisted with disdain. The group once again discussed the options of going to the Mayor and going to find the Vermin catchers. “Rats.” Dheir voted interrupting the conversation. “I vote rats,” Drick agreed. “Well I thought the Mayor…,” Saxon said, “but if everyone wants to go for the rats.” They asked the bar keep, “where should we look for the vermin catchers?” “I’d check down by the docks. There’s always vermin down there. Maybe the dock master?” --- They walked down the road towards the dock. Dheir tapped the shoulder of a stranger as he passed by. He turned and looked at Dheir and jeered as he turned away picking up his pace. Noticing the finer set of clothes that he wore, Dheir responded by lacing a parting gesture with profanity. Arriving at the docks they noticed a shop already open. Unlike most shops where you approach a counter and ask for what you want, this one allowed you to come browsing through. They entered to find a sea dwarf preparing for the day. “What can I help you with,” the sea dwarf asked as if his mouth was full of marbles? “Where can we find the dock master,” Cassian responded? “Oh, you won’t find him around here. He has people out working for him. What did you need him for? Maybe I can point you in the right direction,” the Sea Dwarf inquired. “We are looking for the Vermin catchers and thought the dock master could point us in the right direction,” Cassian responded. “No need to go looking for the dock master, just go through that second door over there.” The sea dwarf pointed to a door on the South wall. “That’s their office right there.” His muffled chuckle went unnoticed. “Oh great thank you.” Cassian smiled as he turned and pointed to the door finding everyone but Saxon already moving towards the door. He quickly translated for Saxon, “Rat Catchers. There.” They entered into the office for the Vermin Catchers and asked about collecting some rats… to uh… feed the cat. They were told that their catchers were equipped with wands that just evaporated the rats. “They aren’t really caught, just eliminated. But if you want to, I have a new problem in one of my warehouses. We’ve got a new infestation of Vermin Worms, that I’d pay you to clear out. They actually don’t taste too bad,” :n,Wina Adleous,Wina: quipped. She followed by whispering, “don’t tell anyone, but I’ve tried it before. Tastes like pork!” “What does it pay,” Drick asked. ‘I’d pay 50 gold to clear the warehouse.” Drick’s eyes grew wide. “Fifty each,” Dheir asked? “Oh no, fifty total. That’s the going rate. The infestation has just started. We sent a couple vermin catchers in thinking it was rats, but they didn’t come out. Those wands can’t kill them worms with one shot,” she added. “Let’s go,” Drick urged. He turned and headed towards the door with an excitement in his eyes, not yet seen before. Dheir followed Drick out and they headed towards the warehouse. The others closed the conversation and followed behind. Arriving at the warehouse, Drick pushed the door open and he and Dheir stepped inside. “What do you see,” Drick whispered? Scanning the warehouse Dheir replied, “I don’t see any movement.” Long pause, “Yet.” Drick moved off to the right and disappeared into the darkness as Dheir move forward, closer to the middle of the room. Cassian, Xedran, Saxon and Tiger stepped into the warehouse. Dheir moved over to one of the crates and kicked it causing it to wobble back and forth a couple of times. As the sounds from the crate began to fade, Dheir said, “There’s a hole in the ground over here.” She moved next to it to peer in. With her rapier at the ready, she waited for something to emerge. Boom! Something bounced off Dheir’s back as two other worms emerged from the ground surrounding her. Having her rapier at the ready, she thrust down into the closest worm skewering it. It immediately stopped moving as she turned to see two remaining. A menacing smirk appeared as her eyes opened wider. Saxon, Tiger and Xedran moved in on the worms around Dheir as Drick moved along the wall towards barrels stacked in the back corner. You could hear the ringing of steel, and a low growl of a Tiger. Cassian, standing by the entrance way found himself surrounded by two worms as the sprung out of the floor. They latched onto him as he moved towards the center of the warehouse. Two worms erupted from the ground surrounding Drick, sinking their teeth into his form. With glee, Dheir slayed another worm and moved towards Drick to help. More ringing steel. A roar. Steel. Dripping. “Ah!” Steel. Swish. Clunk. And it was over. Tiger perched on a crate eating one of the seven worms. “That was easy,” Dheir said. Cassian looked at her, with a covert roll of his eyes. They put the 6 remaining worms in Dheir’s net and she carried them out back towards the Vermin Catchers office. “Great job everyone! If I have anything else like this I will look you all up. You’ve been a great help. We can get those holes filled up and start using that warehouse again. Here’s your payment.” Drick started to reach out his hand for the payment, but the Vermin Catcher handed it to Cassian instead. Cassian divided up the gold handing an equal share to everyone. Holding the gold in his hand, Drick clutched it close to his heart, just for a moment, then tucked it deep within his garments. Struggling to keep the remaining worms away from Tiger, Dheir headed off towards the dock and the ghost ship. --- They made their way down to the docks and as they approached the ghost ship, a gangway appeared as a life boat morphed out and back. Stepping onto the deck, it was noticeably quiet. There was a gelatinous stain on the deck where the other lifeboat once stood. Dheir and Drick divided up the worms to carry down below. Dheir headed to the captains quarters aft and Drick headed to the front and the store room. Finding both places empty, they heard a voice in their head saying, “Come down below.” They headed down a deck to the crews quarters, meeting amidships to find :n,Chester: and :n,Portman: together in the hallway. “We’ve got a new problem,” Portman said. “There’s a third faction now. They are not like us, and seem to have returned to their base instincts.” “Well that’s a problem,” Dheir sighed. “What do you need from us?” “Most definitely,” Chester responded, “but it’s not your problem. It’s something that we need to handle. They’ve already taken out a few of us.” “We do have some food for you,” Dheir said. Dheir and Drick handed over the worm corpses; three to Chester and three to Portman. “This will help us a lot,” Portman said. “Yes, this other group are the ones that fed on most of the crew. They are stronger than us,” Chester added. Chester and Portman began breaking the worms into pieces by biting off chunk after chunk and spitting them out. “How many of them are there? What are the disguised as,” Drick asked? “Mostly crates and barrels. We figure there is seven to ten of them,” Portman answered. “That many, huh?” Dheir commented, then added, “we are still looking for more food and trying to figure out a solution for all of you.” As much as you can see expressions in a mimic, Chester and Portman seemed to appreciate that news. “Oh, we found this while you were gone.” Chester coughed up a leather bound journal of some sort. Giving it a quick look over, Dheir and Drick couldn’t read the language inside, but seemed to recognize it as sea dwarven. “Looks like it might be the Captain’s journal,” Drick pondered. “Let’s keep this to ourselves for now,” Dheir responded as she tucked the journal away. Their eyes met and they both nodded in agreement."