Investigation in Silverymoon - Eleasis 17th

Eleasis 17th
H 86/L 66

Closest Patrol Today:
Captain Aito arrives in the evening from Silverymoon


Early the next morning Umberto, Althalus, and Hasimir get up and set out on their tasks today.

So, where to? Investigate Nolan Cromwell of the 7th Ward, or the Hall of Records?

Hasimir stretches and yawns "I say we go ask Mister Cromwell a few questions. That sounds like it might be a little more fun than pokin' around a bunch of dusty old books. Just sayin'."

After a quick breakfast you head out of the inn and into the rays of the morning sun, the city is starting to awaken with people milling about going about their lives. You get directions to 7th Ward and head off in that direction.

“Big Daddy Althalus!” cries a woman.

Through the crowd emerges and young shapely brunette wearing a low-cut dress, “Oh Althalus, we miss you at work, please come back, won’t you?”

“Oh…hello Monica, how are you?” replies the caught off guard ranger.

“Not good. Have you seen Chantal? I know us girls talked about leaving Bishop Velvet and moving up to your place in the mountains, but I can’t imagine she would leave without saying goodbye. No one has seen nor heard from her in a month. I’m worried sick!”

No, I sure haven't. I will ask around for her while I am here. I am glad to see you, however, even though you had this troubling news for me.

Monica frowns with disappointment, “I fear the worst, I-I-I hope she is alright.” She gives Althalus a big hug and runs off wiping tears from her eyes.

You continue on your way to the 7th Ward and find that it is an upper class retail district that has everything from expensive garments and jewelry stores to the finest cuisines in the city. After asking around a bit you finally find someone to point him out, “That’s Nolan right there,” he says pointing to a group of three men, “the one with the short beard.”

You advance and see Nolan engaged in a conversation with two merchants. A young woman walks by them and he gives her a wink, to which she blushes. The merchants get a chuckle out of this as they shake their heads. Nolan spots your approach, “Ah, good day gentlemen, what can the 7th Ward do for you?” asks the jolly representative.

The representative cups his hands around his mouth and shouts, "I said, WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?"

"I am Umberto Lunini of Rockhammer, I have some questions concerning the the incidents surrounding the Gillshire halflings and their claim of sacred lands. I understand you were involved in these interactions?"

The ever present smile on Nolan’s face disappears, but only for a moment. “Gentlemen,” he says as he turns to his colleagues, “excuse me but duty calls.”

Nolan Cromwell takes you by the arm and leads you to the middle of the street, far enough away from wandering ears.

“Yes, I brought the plight of the Gilshire halflings to the attention of Taern, whom I know to share my desire to see those who look up to Silverymoon, to see them protected. Why do you ask?”

"It would seem the same laws that protect the kindly halflings are also responsible for Silverymoon's stance on the sacking and occupation of Temel," Umberto says calmly, quietly.

"Hey, hey," says the representative holding his hands up, "I have nothing to do wtih that."

The half-elf looks Nolan in the eyes and asks: (without accusing Nolan also nicely)
"Do you have any idea who helped the orcs with thisinformation? I think you might. hmmmmm?..."

“Um…er…no…of course not. How would I, uh” Nolan wipes the sweat off the back of his neck, “how would I know anything of that, um, nature.”

" You must know something, I mean the man who created the law should know who is using the rights it imbues, right?"

"Yeah!"

Nolan takes a couple of careful steps backward from you, his usual wit and charm escape him as he speaks in an excited tone. “Look, why don’t you go kill those orcs in Temel then, huh? Stop badgering me about your problems! I’ve got enough problems as it is! I didn’t know anything about orcs attacking Temel, that was not what I was-“

Nolan abruptly cuts himself off.

"That was not what you you were what Cromwell? Out with it!"

Nolan winces with pain, closing his eyes tightly, “That’s not what I was told!”

The representative drops to his knees and hold his head in his hands, “Oh, what have I done?”

The three of you stand around for a second, unsure of what to do, finally Nolan Cromwell stands up, and wipes the tears from his face, “No more, I won’t be a puppet to Bezias any longer!”

Nolan pushes through you and bolts down the street!

"Uh oh, we probably should follow him." The monk takes off after him, following.

Althalus and Hasimir take off (assumingly) as well and the chase is on through the streets of the 7th Ward. Hasimir barges through Umberto and Althalus, setting them back a bit before they can get underway.

With the half-elf just about 20 feet behind the target, Nolan ducks down a side street. The quick-footed monk makes up some distance and cuts the corner, ducking inside of Hasimir. Althalus barges right into a passer-by and stops to help them back to their feet.

Nolan runs into a cart, while Umberto continues to makes ground and is now just 15 feet behind him. Hasimir takes a slip on the corner but quickly gets up. Althalus stops to apologize one last time to the passer-by before continuing.

Nolan jumps on top of the cart and onto the roof of a one story building, with his feet still dangling, he kicks the cart over, spilling vegetables all over the street and removing the place to jump to the roof for the monk.

Umberto barely breaks stride, deftly vaults over the vegetables, onto the overturned cart, and with a heroic leap, makes it to the roof. Hasimir does the same, but struggles pulling himself up onto the roof. Althalus, now very far behind, stands with his hands on his hips, “Will you look at this mess?”

Nolan really knows his way around the district, even on the rooftops, he ducks in and out of site as he hustles along, and now hops up onto the two-story buildings rooftops.

The wind picks up with a strong gust, nearly knocking everyone down. Once everyone is settled, the breakneck pace between Nolan and Umberto continues with Hasimir still chasing.

Soon you see the destination of Nolan, he starts to climb a four-story church steeple. Crowds start to gather around the church as the chase continues. Nolan is about halfway up, a good 35-feet off the ground when Umberto and Hasimir reach the bottom of the steeple (20-feet off the ground). The representative of the 7th Ward turns to you, “You’ll never take me alive!!”

" Nolan, this is not what you want, do not make your life forfeit. There is nothing that we cannot work through. This is not how you want to be remembered, I know you want to do the right thing. Just come down, and we can talk. You have my word that I will do everything I can to help you, but you need to come down and talk to us," Umberto glances at Hasimir and under his breathe says, " is there anything nearby that we can use to break his fall?" Umberto tries to maintain eye contact with Cromwell.

(Nice roll!)

Nolan takes a deep breath, “You’re right, I don’t want to die. I’m coming down right now.”

A few minutes later and the four of you are back on solid ground, Nolan looks mentally exhausted. “What do we do now?”

"Well, we find a safe place to talk, a tall pint and some food then you tell us what happened. From there we see what we have to do to fix things."

The four of you find a place to eat and huddle together in a distant corner, away from the ears of others.

Nolan shakes his head, “Bezias said everything would be ok. He promised to take care of everything. I should have known I wouldn’t have gotten away with…murder.”

You have done the right thing by coming clean on this... there would have been no redemption for you if you had died at the church. Just tell us of the events that led up to the introduction of the law and Bezias' involvement.

*incidentally, this was said by Althalus. I just noticed that the forums auto-logged me in as Jordan.

Nolan takes a long swing off his ale. “It all started with that escort Chantal. After our ‘session’ (and yes, he does the air quotes), she…dropped dead. I didn’t know what to do. I’m not a criminal, I don’t know what to do with a body. Then this guy, Bezias walked into my house. I didn’t know him, but he promised to help me get rid of the body. I didn’t know what to do so I welcomed the help. He took the body out and that was that.”

“A few days later he returned. I was just starting to get over the shock of what happened. I cringed at what he wanted out of me at this point. But he just wanted to push the bill on behalf of the Gilshire halflings. I gotta say, I was pretty shocked. Heck, it sounded like a worthy cause. So I pushed it through.”

Nolan takes another swing, “Then I heard about the orcs attack on Temel.”