Chapter Two: Raising the Alarm (Lower Scumsgrove)

New Arrival

While the party rests up and gathers a bit of information in Lichgate, a new hero arrives by the name of Argo D'morr. He is a strapping man with scars and a birthmark that names him as one born under the Satyr. He introduces himself to the group and claims to be seeking the Starborn. The group welcomes him with open arms and sets to planning the trip into Lower Scumsgrove.

Many of the heroes seem very suspicious of the people of Lower Scumsgrove. Rygorh in particular voices his opinion that the merchants of Lower Scumsgrove are "low life" black marketeers, and in a moment of prescience says, "If we go in and start raising the alarm they may attempt to have us jailed as disturbers of the peace; we must watch ourselves carefully."

Truer words were never spoken! And truer words have never been heeded less.

On the Road

The party is forced to rest outdoors overnight while traveling from Lichgate to Lower Scumsgrove. They pass many refugees on the road from both Bronce and Lichgate, and much to their pleasure, learn that both places are fully evacuating. During the overnight stay a handful of ghouls led by a ghast attacks the heroes. Things go badly for Tilk as he is paralyzed and diseased by the ghast's attacks, but after a long-fought battle the party prevails with no casualties. The next morning the group makes it way to Lower Scumsgrove, arriving late in the afternoon.

Lower Scumsgrove

The town of Lower Scumsgrove is a pit of misery built on the eastbound river Caulith in the stagnant waters at the head of the river. The stench of decaying vegetation, rotting fish and dumped sewage permeates the entire community as towering buildings lean over one another creating dark alleys even in the bright of day.

The heroes make their way towards the nicer part of town where Neil manages to sway a guardsman to his favor. The guardsman answers some questions about the town and gives Neil directions to The Feathertop Inn which he claims is a nice place to stay at decent prices. He also mentions the Cracked Mug Bar and Fisticuffs as a great place to have a drink.

The party finds the Feathertop Inn and make arrangements to stay the night. They then set out en masse to the Cracked Mug Bar and Fisticuffs. At the bar they find a Fight Club style ring in the middle of the place and dozens of human men and half-orcs drinking beer, bellowing and cursing, cheering the fighters and pinching the bottoms of tavern wenches. Tilk seems most interested in the fighting.

Celegorm makes his way to the bar where he buys beer for several of his comrades and engages the barkeeper in a bit of conversation. After a couple of mugs of beer and some small talk, Celegorm explains the Duergar threat and asks who he can speak to about the situation. The bartender seems none too interestd and somewhat offended. He asks repeatedly to know what the game is and who Celegorm is working for. Seeing this exchange as a lost cause, Celegorm and friends make for the door.

In the meantime, Tilk has managed to get himself into the fighting ring. His opponent lands a wicked blow to Tilk's head to start the match, but thereafter Tilk manages to keep his defenses up and eventually pummels his opponent to the ground. Tilk receives 5 gold pieces for his effort, and Rygorh collects a good deal more from bets he placed on his friend.

The heroes take their leave of the place, only to be stopped by Vanson Braddock and some of the town guard. Vanson explains that he has heard a bit about their business in town, and he wants to know more. The group makes its way to the town hall where Vanson listens intently to the group's story. He asks a few questions, but mainly seems interested in who they are working for and what they are trying to do here. He seems suspicious of them and is looking for ulterior motives. The party is abruptly dismissed, but not before Vanson asks where he can find them later.

Sleep Interrupted

Early in the morning Celegorm stands guard in the hallway at the inn when two town guards approach and demand that he accompany them. Celegorm refuses to go alone and wakes his companions. The two parties exchange heated words and the town guard retreats without Celegorm. They return sometime later with a much larger group led by Vanson Braddock.

The party, sans the Knife who has made his way to the roof of the inn, go down to the common room to find Vanson Braddock and a dozen or so town guards waiting for them. After a great deal of arguing (and some frustration on the part of players and DM alike), Celegorm and Rygorh agree to accompany Vanson. He takes them to a warehouse near the river where they meet an attractive and eloquent man in his early 30's who demands to know their story. He listens with interest and asks to see the letter the party recovered from the Duergar post. While a guard goes back to the inn to retrieve "the elf" and the letter, he has a guard serve out wine, cheese and bread to his "guests".

Rumus and Larien both arrive some time later with a pair of town guards and the Duergar letter. The man looks the letter over, asks a few more questions about the situation and dismisses his "guests" after thanking them.

Murder in Lower Scumsgrove

Later that morning and Rumus and Celegorm rest the other heroes discover that the owner/operator of The Cracked Mug Bar and Fisticuffs has been murdered in his bed. More disturbing is the fact that Vanson Braddock has been crucified in the alley behind the Feathertop Inn. The party prepares for the worst and starts making plans. They discuss leaving town immediately or warning townspeople directly by making a public announcement among other things. They settle on reaching out to one of the local churches for help.

Rygorh and Larien go to the local temple of Firinna where they meet with Father Arik. He accepts thier story and explains that they should take this information to the Guild of Merchants. The heroes describe their experience of the early morning and that they believe they have already met with the Guild. Father Arik tells them that the person they met is Blaine West, who is a member of the Guild, but he is not the ranking member, nor is he particularly friendly with the leadership of the Guild. Rygorh correctly surmises that inter-Guild struggles explain much of what has happened thus far. Father Arik asks the heroes to stay in town until he can arrange a meeting with members of the Guild.

Guild Masters

Around noon Rygorh and Larien receive a message from Father Arik: they are to come to the temple of Firinna at 3:00 pm today, and he will take them to meet with the Guild leaders. The party makes preparations and later heads to the temple.

At the temple the Knife refuses to enter and Neil and Argo decide to keep him company outside while the others go to the meeting.

The heroes follow Father Arik into a warren of passages beneath the temple that twist and turn, going up and down, until they are completely lost underneath the town. They emerge from a tunnel into a very ornate chamber where three men sit placidly at a round ironwood table. A quartet of guard-types stand in the corners of the room.

"P-puh-pleh-please, be s-suh-see-seated," the old man mutters to the group. He sits between two others. All three of them are dressed in finery and appear well off.

The three men listen to the party's story about the Duergar, occassionally, the older man will stutter out some question or comment about the situation. He seems disturbed about the whole affair, but is mostly concerned about how this will affect his profits. A waving of the Duergar letter and further explanation ends when the old man stammers, "Y-yeh-yes, I s-suh-seh-see, that we m-mu-muh must m-m-muh-move on. I will s-suh-seh-see to it!" The heroes asses the old man's intentions and feel that he will, in fact, order the town to evacuate. Before he dismisses them, the old man calls on one of his partners to pay them. Each of the five heroes receives a largish sack that clinks with the familiar sound of coins. They later find that each of them was paid 1,000 Caldrazan gold coins for their efforts. Father Arik leads them back to his temple.

Back at the Feathertop Inn the party gathers they gear and makes haste to leave this foul town behind. They set out at 5:00 pm intending to travel through the night to reach Churney-on-the-Green.

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