Investigation in Silverymoon - Eleasis 17th

"Well Alth looks like we found out where your girl went... damn shame. Nolan do you think this Bezias may have been behind Chantal dyin? Do you know what they did with her? Nobody deserves to be discarded like that."

(also sorry sam been busy working and sleeping)

Nolan thinks for a minute while he stares into his ale as if he is contemplating his innocence in the girl’s death for the first time. He snaps out of it, “I have no idea where the body is.”

Nolan draws his ale near him and shakes his head, “Funny thing about Bezias. He always smelled of sulfur.”

Umberto's eyes widen, "Sulfur?" Then the sound of the name rolls through his head, "Bezias, that sounds Fiendish. This can't be good. We need to return to Taern Hornblade, quickly. You have to come with us Cromwell, I know how difficult this must be, but if we are to come to the bottom of this we need you to corroborate this. My promise stands to protect you, but we must go!"

Nolan drains the last of his ale, “Ok, let’s go.”

A quick trek across town and you find yourselves back at the center of the government buildings. You find yourselves whisked to Taern Hornblade’s office much quicker this time.

Taern sees the representative and sighs. He holds up a hand to pause you from speaking while he has Valamros summoned to this meeting as well.

Taern shakes his head as if he knows you have unsettling news. “So, what’s going on?”

DM Note – This is a good test to see if you know what is going on. I love making you guys pay attention

" We approached Cromwell, asking about the Gilshire Halflings, at first he was resilient in his reply. Obviously proud of the event, however when I pressed him about the orcs he became very nervous. SO much so that he ran through the streets and attempted to throw himself off a church to avoid this whole conversation. After we talked him down he divulged some interesting information. After his escort mysteriously dropped dead, he turned to a stange figure who happened to be on the scene. The character smelled of sulfur, according to Cromwell, and called himself "Bezias." Bezias helped Cromwell dispose of the body in exchange for the push of this law that the orcs are currently using in Temel. Did I leave anything out?" Umberto looks at his companions and Cromwell.

That about covers it... the question is who will do what to remedy the situation and to what end?

Taern gives a scornful look at Nolan, “Why you never told me this-“ then the High Mage’s rage fills, making him unable to complete the sentence. Nolan bows his head in shame.

You all sit in awkward silence while Taern muddles through this dilemma in his mind. Taern then opens up a series of rapid fire questions to Nolan regarding Bezias. If he had ever seen him before, if Nolan had any enemies, if Nolan ever socialized with nefarious characters. Nothing in his testimony leads you to believe that Nolan knew anything about this or how this Bezias came to him in his hour of need.

Taern shakes his head, “This appears to be a dead end. Do you have any ideas on where to proceed from here? Have you looked into the Hall of Records?”

" Not yet, we will head there at once. Hopefully this will be more fruitful."

With dusk approaching you head out of Taern’s office and over to the Hall of Records. The passes he gave you earlier get you to straight to Head of Clerks, Neil Lomax. Neil is an older, balding man who is very helpful. Quickly he leads you right to the file.

“Ah here is its, everything is in order.” Says Neil.

It looks like an official document that decrees that the particular area of land in the Nether Mountains, which includes the present day location of Temel, was declared a sacred orcish land due to a battle fought there centuries ago. The story is exactly as you heard it before and bares the official stamp of the Hall of Records.

You shake your head at another dead end and listlessly hand the document back to Mr. Lomax. As he shoves it back in the drawer, he hesitates.

“Hmmm, this is quite odd. The stamp date is just a month ago. You would have thought this would have been recorded decades ago.”

" Wait a minute, who stamped this document?"

Neil squints his eyes and holds the document close to his face. “Ummmm, looks like Clerk Randibald stamped it. He’s here, let’s ask him about it.”

Neil leads you through the catacombs of rows and rows of filing cabinets until he ducks down one that ends with an overweight middle-aged man.

“Randibald, do you recall stamping this document?” asks the head clerk.

Randibald gets a little nervous as he sees the three of you bearing down on him with his boss. “I….um….well….”

He holds the paper with trembling hands. “Oh….oh yes…I remember this one. Gorgeous woman brought this in. I st-st-started to ask her about, um, why such a beautiful woman would, you know, have this.”

Head clerk Lomax looks at him closely with his arms folded across his chest, “Well?!?!”

Randibald looks down at his feet, “Um, sh-sh-she told me to come see her at the Happy Endings Parlor and not to, um, worry about such things.”

“Well, is it at least legitimate or not?!?” barks Neil.

Ranibald gains a little confidence, straightens out his shirts, and looks his boss in the eye. “Actually it is. I’ve confirmed it with the records in Waterdeep, and those records were stamped centuries ago. I’ve also followed it up in a book of orcish lore that makes mention of a battle between an orcish warlord and local human king, King Theron. It’s legit.”

" But there is some hesitation here, isn't there? What things should you not worry about Randibald? Why was it necessary for this woman to coax you into the Parlor?" Umberto asks calmly.

Randibald scratches his head, “Well, when she asked me to come back to the Happy Endings Parlor, well, I forgot about my questions about it. She said, ‘Let Chantal talk care of everything’, so I went back with her and I filed the papers.”

[You kinda get the feeling that Randibald was a more nervous about being questioned than by anything he did or said. He felt guilty about being persuaded easily by the girl, but was relieved to discover (albeit later) than the document was legit.]

"Randibald, you let awoman get the best of you, and now Temel has been sacked and it's people have to live outside of the hold. We do our best but they are not the best living conditions. Can you help us get to who is behind this?"

Randibald shrugs his shoulders, "I guess we could go down to the Happy Endings Parlor and find Chantal."

Althalus? Any input on this?

We will not find her there. She has been missing since for a bit and by another's account, she is dead, although no body has been found. Unless something has changed since I was more involved, there should have been some record kept of her appointments and visitors.

You make the quick trip over to the Happy Endings Parlor and discover that things have been a bit lax since Althalus last worked here and the records are not up to date. However, you find several girls that remember seeing Randibald come in and spend some quality time with Chantal. Some of them even think that Bishop Velvet (the proprietor) did not get paid for this visit.

Seeming you find yourselves at another dead end. Then a couple of the girls come forward and mention that they had seen Chantal frequently with another person recently who was not a customer. When you press them on a description you learn that this gentleman had an ominous feeling about him and smelled of sulfur.

Having no where to turn you return to the offices of Taern Hornblade and lay everything out on the table:

“It appears that Chantal had been working with Bezias prior to either her encounter with the clerk Randibald or the incident with the representative of the 7th Ward, Nolan Cromwell. Apparently Chantal was coerced or she volunteered to get the paperwork filed at the Hall of Records in a manner that would not be questioned. She then hooked up with Nolan Cromwell and either faked or really was killed in his residence, thus forcing an alliance between Nolan and Bezias for the representative to file the paperwork to allow the orcs to remain in Temel without fear from a reprisal from Silverymoon.”

Taern and Valamros listen closely to what you have to say.

Valamros shakes his head, “I find it very difficult to believe that orcs could work in such a manner.”

“Quite unprecedented,” adds Taern, “one would have to imagine that the tiefling is leading them but how in the world are the orcs following him and his plan for this long? How do they not resort to their barbaric nature?”

Valamros interjects, “However, this is consistent with the reports we have on Thar Grim-Rule. Afterall, he did work closely with King Obould Many-Arrows who is a noted patient tactician.”

“But he is not in control of the Broken Tusks,” says Taern, “how does he have such sway?”

Valamros shrugs his shoulders, “Gold? Magic? Perhaps the Broken Tusks are evolving into a more sophisticated creature? It certainly must be something, as our friends just told us, they control at least four hill giants.”

Taern just shakes his head.

The High Mage stares out the window for a moment, “I know not how to proceed from here. Any ideas?”

BTW, MF saw this shirt the other day. Brings back good memories of The Four Ravens. That and burning stuff down.

" We need to untie Silverymoon's hands from this law. If we find Chantal will that help? I do not trust that the orcs have only their eyes set on Temel. King Obould Many-Arrows is hungry, and he will grab land by all means necessary."

Valamros holds up one hand, “Rest assure, we have been very thorough researching any and all documents since this orcish claim emerged. We believe the law to be acceptable now.”

Taern nods his head, “Yes, finding Chantal would logically lead to the Bezias. However, from what Althalus has said he doubts she is still around.”

Taern paces around the room for a bit, “I too worry about the Broken Tusks inviting in other orcs. However, as the law stands, if the orcs or Temel ever act in an unlawful manner, then Silverymoon can march on Temel.

Valamros interjects, “What if they never do? Are we stuck with the orcs in Temel forever?”

Taern shakes his head. He looks up at everyone and walks over to the door, “The hour is late, anything else my friends?”

Taern smiles, “Alright then. I’ll send word back to Rock Hammer if I hear anything else regarding this matter. Good night gentlemen.”

You crash for the night and head back to your home the following morning.