Chapter One - The Lotus and the Dragon

[mackaber]

"You put too much faith in this City's legal system Daerith. Likely ye never dealt with it first hand ey? Only way to make sure we'd be rid o that whore would a been me choken er to death! Next time we'll be warned and I won'ts let you stop me." he spits in the water and adds. "Now if I only were a fish I'd jump in the water and bite her perty head off, but alas I'm only a poor Dwarf."

[Vardaen]

Daerith consider's Berek's words, "Perhaps, perhaps not. Not all city officials and guards are criminals like you seem to think Berek." He continues to stare north into the cave, "She played us all, the moment Sindu mentioned throwing her in this pool she knew she was home free." He glances at the monk, "Next time she won't get a chance to surrender."

He steps back from the water's edge. "Come on, if we aren't going after her we might as well explore the rest of this place."

[mackaber]

"Agreed. I'm sure we'll see her again soon enough before that let's make sure we gathered all her riches shall we?." with that the Dwarf turns ready for more exploration.

[Trogdor]

With Rowyn and the rest of the thieves long gone by now, and Knarra watching the treasure, it's safe enough to explore the rest of the Lotus-Dragon hideout. You take it slowly and carefully, and manage to uncover most of its secrets.

The southeast is for the leadership of the guild, as you've figured out. Rowyn's chambers as well as a meeting and planning chamber and training and testing halls. By now you've thoroughly explored that area.

The southwest is living quarters. You've seen the dining hall already. To the south of that are the kitchens and pantries. The only surprise there is when you reach the kitchens and are almost hit with a pot of boiling poison hurled by a makeshift catapult. The only person inside these rooms (in fact in the entire guildhall) is a harmless kobold cook who offers no trouble once she finds out that the guild has been destroyed.

The northwest is clearly meant to deal with prisoners. It has cells, a torture chamber and a sort of arena. It also has some other secret exits to the surface.

The northeast has an exit to the harbor and seems designed to allow secret meetings without allowing any of the visitors to see any more of the guildhall.

In the end, it takes several hours to fully investigate the guildhall. And it's afternoon before you're finished.

Map

Key to Explored Areas

The Lotus Dragon Guildhall

D1 - Taxidermy Entrance: The entrance from your new home.

D2 - Guardroom: Clearly a guardroom with a table and a few chairs.

D3 - Barracks: Filled with eleven double bunks. There's a little bit of stnadard gear here. But anything of real worth was stripped from it.

D4 - Rum Storage: Contains four casks of rum, one of which is about half empty.

D5 - Cruncher's Pen: This is clearly the pen for the worg you killed.

D6 - Cellblock: Several cells with excellent locks and partly rusted bars. No prisoners are here at present.

D7 - Torture Chamber: A room filled with all manner of torture implements, from a rack to an iron maiden to a brazier of coals.

D8 - Torturer's Quarters: A nicely furnished bedroom with a cage not quite big enough for a man to comfortably fit into. A footlocker has been pulled out from under the bed and hastily emptied of anything of worth.

D9 - "The Crucible": You're not sure whether it's a fighting arena, a place for punishment, or a testing ground. But it's a large open area with a large pool in the middle. There is a hole in the ceiling twenty feet up that seems to lead to the surface. The room can be flooded. And a crocodile on a chain lives in the westernmost part of the cave. The chain can be let out so that it reaches all of the cavern.

D10 - "The Ring of Ruin": This is an hallway surrounding the Crucible that has four domed rooms, each with ladders leading up to hatches in the ceiling. The hallways have no visible doors, but several secret doors.

D11 - Observation Room: This room looks over the main area of the Crucible, though an illusory wall hides it from those in the Crucible.

D12 - Lounge: A nice room with a stuffed couch and a low table. Nicer and drier than the standard barracks.

D13 - Bedroom: A nice bedroom cotnaining two comfortable single bunks. Also drier than the standard barracks.

D14 - Guardpost: Another room that's clearly a guardpost. Shumba can see signs that the worg is sometimes stationed here.

D15 - Meeting Room: This room contains a table with several chairs. Berek would guess it's where they held meetings with important visitors.

D16 - Waiting Room: This room contains a long wooden bench and a small room with a chamber pot in the north.

D17 - Smuggler's Pond: There is a large pool of sea water and a pier here, although there are no boats. There is a passage to the south that you guess meets up with the urchin pool, and a passage to the north that you guess leads to the harbor.

D18 - Sea Urchin Pool: You've been there.

D19 - ???: There is a passage leading out on the far side of the Sea Urchin Pool that you can't investigate unless you have a boat or are willing to swim across the sea urchin pond.

D20 - Mess Hall: Scene of a major part of your recent fighting.

D21 - Kitchen: You're almost hit by a pot of boiling poison as you open the door. Evidently their cook never got the message to bug out. Her name is Churtle and she's a kobold. She is totally harmless and once she learns that Rowyn has fled, she's despondent.

D22 - Pantry: Contains a number of foodstuffs and 10 voals of sea urchin poison

D23 - Churtle's Quarters: A very simple bedroom with a hammock and nothing of real value.

D24 - Lavatory: Teh spot where the poop thief was hiding.

D25 - Training Hall: You've been here.

D26 - Evaluation Room: You've been here.

D27 - Guardpost: You've been here. It currently has a dead rhagodessa in it.

D28 - War Room: You've been here. It currently has the map and the slate board in it.

D29 - Guard Room: You've been here. It currently has a twice-dead bugbear.

D30 - Bath: You've been here.

D31 - Rowyn's Lounge: You've been here. It currently still has the painting of Sasserine Harbor in which the boats all fly the Lotus-Dragon flag.

D32 - Rowyn's Bedroom: You've been here.

D33 - Guild Treasury: You've been here.

Possible Encounters

• Potential mini-encounters I could run
• Meeting Churtle
• Exploring the cave beyond the urchin pond
• Dealing with the crocodile

[Vardaen]

OOC

Damn its big! This could have taken a long time to explore!

I would be okay with RPing all three mini encounters.

* meeting churtle might give us insight into something
* the cave beyond the pool likely requires some exploration just because its so hard to get to
* Shumba might want a pet crocodile at 4th level

Exploring the tunnels takes a while, and Daerith is careful in his movements through the place expecting traps or more encounters. He tosses chambers when found, and generally attempts to loot the place. Each time he's disappointed when it turns out the retreating Lotus Dragons took everything of value. "We should consider the rum...and that painting." In fact at some point during the exploration Daerith attempts to remove the painting and add it to the pile of loot, "Might look nice in my room at the Vanderboren estate." While he's at it he searches behind it too for a safe in the wall.

[mackaber]

Berek is somewhat impressed as he realizes the overall size of the Lotus Dragon Hideout. Then again he is somewhat distraught at the fact that they failed to turn up any further loot. The only thing that can bring a smile to his face is the massive amount of tasty rum they were able to turn up. After having tried a hearty sip of the liquor he approves. "Me thinks we should store this here open barrel at the manor so I'll have somein' decent for breakfast. The rest we might be able to turn into a bit o coin, but in the grand scheme o things it ain't gonna account for much..."

OOC

I'm assuming what's been turned up includes everything we could find by searching for secret doors and hidden compartments?

[arkahm]

Sindu is amazed that the guild could create such an edifice under Sassarine. He even somehow has doubts that it was the guild at all but some more powerful source perhaps. He peruses the gathered items and awaits to assist in the haul out. "Perhaps we should be on our way? The Lady will be interested in what knowledge we have gained. And remember we still must bring that monstrosity of a wand to Wee Jas." As he says this he remembers the letters that he had found that he did not look at closely. If Vanthus and Rowyn were lovers, perhaps he mentioned to her his whereabouts. He starts from the one dated the closest to the current date and works backwards to see of any hints of Vanthus' whereabouts.

[Vardaen]

Daerith, who has the wand still, perks up when Sindu speaks. "Oh yes the wand. Here Brother Sindu." He hands it over to the monk. "Perhaps the Temple will be pleased enough with its return to grant us a boon of healing when we need it, in a good faith sort of payment." He looks to Berek and for once the dwarf and elf agree on something. "The rum must come with us, I agree." He assists in rolling the half drank barrel to the loot pile.

[arkahm]

"I am ready to go." Sindu speaks with anticipation after receiving the wand. "We should return to Lady Vanderboren and split the monetary treasures gained. I will then return to my temple and deal with the wand. Still reading through the letters as he speaks, "I am perusing these letters to perhaps find the location of Vanthus. It looks as if Rowyn and Vanthus were lovers of sorts. Perhaps he has mentioned his dealings in them to her."

[Trogdor]

OOC

Sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday. It might require a little posting revision. But these were two things that I wanted to get done.

Having dodged a pot of boiling poison set up on a rather ingenious catapult, Daerith, Berek, and Shumba make there way carefully into the kitchen. The place is empty, as is the pantry next door. But in a small sleeping chamber off of the kitchen they see a hammock, a small box used as a makeshift footlocker, and a blanket lying crumpled on the floor.

A quick glance around the room shows that the blanket is shivering and clearly covering someone or something. Daerith moves over and pulls the blanket away with Torothalion, revealing a kobold woman dressed in simple clothes and a dirty apron.

"Please don't hurt Chrurtle," she cries out, lying on the ground with her hands over her head. "Churtle is just cook! Not thief, just cook!"

Churtle

Meanwhile, out in the dining hall, Sindu has spread Vanthus' letters out on the table. The thought that they might reveal something helpful compels him. And he knows that Berek, Daerith, and Shumba are more than capable of handling anything left in the kitchens.

As he finishes sorting the letters out, the monk finds that he was right in his assumption. Most of the letters are risque, even graphic declarations of love - or at least lust - towards Rowyn. In fact, until now, Sindu had thought some of what Vanthus describes to be impossible, or at the best, highly improbable. Perhaps Vanthus was using poetic license.

Nevertheless, a few passages from the letters are particularly revealing. At a basic level they reveal something Rowyn didn't tell you - her last name. She is actually Rowyn Kellani - related, you would guess, to the Sasserine noble family of the same last name. Of course it's hard to say whether she was acting with their knowledge or was a black sheep in the family. But it's a good thing to keep aware of.

As for the rest, three passages are of particular interest. Two are from around the time of the fire that killed Lavinia and Vanthus' parents; and the third is from just two days ago. The passages show that Vanthus had a hand in his parent's deaths and that, surprisingly, Rowyn was telling the truth about Vanthus meeting up with some pirates along the coast.

Letters