The party was led into a small room by a man named Adso, who obviously greatly disapproved of leading a half-orc and gnome around the sacred abbey. Inside was a man that all of the adventurers knew to be Father Alberoth.
"Greetings; as you all know, I am Father Alberoth. I have sent for you, as there is a pressing matter at hand. In forty days hence, it will be Marhaus day. On Marhaus day we unite the skull of Saint Marhaus and the spike that he used to drive the terrors from the this land. Every hundred years, when we unite the skull and spike, a divine prophecy is received from the One. This Marhaus day, there shall be such a prophecy. But there is one... problem. The skull we speak of was originally housed in a distant abbey. The group of clerics and monks transporting the skull here to Durthang were attacked. Two men managed to escape and arrive here; one died in the hospital, the other ran away. I can not prove it, but I am suspicious that someone has infiltrated this abbey and has done God knows what mischief. ...." (introduce Galdor, talk about murders)
The adventures stepped out of the abbey. It was eight o'clock and crowds were out in force, severely slowing them down. By 8:30, the party was by the inn named The Heady Ale. Striking a deal with the owner for 60 gold pieces per week, they covered their room and board.
Soon they were settled and began a discussion concerning what they should do. Slink proposed that he should move to the lower end of the town to acquire information with a little "motivation," as he put it. Sandie decided that she wanted to go and get a license to perform in the city. Torgon and Krog decided to escort Sandie. Difficulties had already arisen, for Sandie and Krog (as a half-orc and gnome) where considered slaves of Torgon, the fighter of status. If found wandering in the city, they could be whipped or stolen to be 'resold.' As of Galdor's opinion, he simply said, "I will follow what the rest of the party decides," and left it at that.
As Krog, Galdor, Sandie, and Torgon departed, Slink went near the slaving market to find the lower end of town, . After fifteen minutes of pushing through the crowd, Slink found his destination. Little shanties were scattered as far as the eye could see, with poor people coming in and out, going about their business. Slink headed towards one hut where on man was sitting outside.
"Tell me sir, where might I find certain information?" he asked; the scruffy peasant stared him in the eye and grunted, "Depends on what information you wish to acquire."
"The type known by a choice few," Slink replied with a knowing expression.
"Come inside," the man muttered quickly. Inside, he poured some ale from a dusty mug and offered it to Slink, who merely asked, "What do you know about the Thieves' War that's going on currently?" The man replied, " Oh it's a nasty affair. It's happening because of the skull of Marhaus, the Slaver's and Gladiator's Guilds do not want it found because if it is reunited with the spike, Alberoth will become the Abbot and he is far from being a fan of slavery and gladiator bouts."
Slink pushed a silver piece forward and took out a gold piece. The man continued, "Baron Wulfhilde also doesn't want Alberoth as abbot; he wants his son to be the next abbot so he has more control in the city."
Slink pushed gold piece forward. The man's eyes got bigger, "Also the death of that man - you have probably heard of it - he was drowned in a vat of pig's blood. He was one of the members in the Thieves' or Assassins' Guild. Deaths like this probably will keep happening."
Slink put two gold pieces on the table and acknowledged him with an, "I'll keep in touch. You should expect me stopping by from time to time." With that, Slink left the shantie. As he moved through the crowds, he spotted three men following him with their hands in their cloaks. Smirking, Slink waved at them. Obviously agitated, the men moved even faster. With ease, Slink slipped through the crowd and ran into a shantie, eluding them easily.
Krog, Galdor, Sandie,and Torgon successfully bought Sandie's license and made it back to the Heady Ale by twelve o'clock. When Slink arrived, it was one o'clock. He ate a late lunch and told the group his information. With nothing else to do, the group lounged about the rest of the day until the evening.
While Sandie was performing, Krog decided he would like to talk with some men at an opposite table. The men were from the mercenary guild Spear Point. As Krog approached, one of the men spat and said, "Get away filth. We don't drink with half-breeds".
Enraged, Krog slammed his great-ax into their table. That was the last straw. All the tables cleared as people scrambled to get away from the raging half-orc and taunting mercenaries. Krog slammed the first man in the face with a fist of iron, knocking him out instantly. As two men charged him, Torgon shouted, "Clean fight! Take off those gauntlets!" to the leader of the group who was arming himself with them.
Ignoring Torgon, the leader slammed Krog in the jaw. Krog responded by giving him the upper cut of his life. Torgon cold-cocked one of the men on him while the other swung at his face, missing by inches. All this time, Sandie was still performing with Galdor next to her, sipping wine that he clearly disliked. Disgusted by the bar room brawl, Slink successfully marched through the entire fight scene and sat near Galdor, sipping his ale.
Torgon smashed the last man on him right across the face while Krog sent his final adversary flying onto a table that split under the impact.
"That was too close," Torgon told Krog, who grunted. Slightly hurt, he took his two bowls of soup and went outside to eat in the stables. He never saw the shadowy figures creeping behind him.
Sandie was upstairs when she heard Krog snarl in pain and surprise. Charging downstairs, she followed on the heels of Slink, Torgon, and Galdor. Outside, they found Krog with smashed soup bowls and a dagger in his back, facing two hooded figures. Slink automatically tumbled into the shadows, creeping up on one of the men. Sandie drew her whip, but Galdor was quicker. Muttering an incantation, he flung his hand into the air and pointed at one man. A blindingly bright spear head flew from his finger and struck the man, killing him in an instant. Torgon deftly snatched his hand-and-a-half sword from the scabbard and dispatched the other assassin.
Quickly the group began to pick up the bodies to dispose of them. At that moment, the inn keeper rushed out of the back door.
"What happened?
Torgon replied. "Assassins tried to kill my half-orc body guard."
"Why isn't there any mark on that one?" The inn keeper pointed to the one Galdor killed as Sandie attempted to drag the body into the stable, and not succeeding.
"Krog strangled him." she replied with relish. The inn keeper recoiled.
"Quick." Slink interjected. "We need to bury the bodies in the stable before the city guard sees." That silenced everyone. Krog dug a pit while Sandie and Galdor searched one body and Slink the other. Besides a few weapons, the only things of consequence where a bit of cloth and the tattoos on the forearms of the assassins: two serpents entwined around a black sun and moon. The cloth was embroidered with a sign that none of them could place.
While everyone else went to bed, Slink threw his grappling hook to the top of the roof and climbed up with Sandie close behind. Nearing the top, Slink looked at the roof and saw one cloaked figure sitting there watching them, about 20 feet away. Wasting no time, Slink leaped from the roof, drawing a javelin in a seamless flip.
"Stand down coward!" But to no avail. The figure simply took off running with a head start, leaving Slink far behind.
And so ends Day One.
~by Slink (as usual, extensively edited by Sandie)
