And to yet another seedy bar.
Our search for the weapons, and the people who are transporting them has lead us to this place. A tavern with a bar in the basement, how very quaint. It smells of sewage and stale alcohol, and when we enter I cannot tell if the bar itself, or the patrons there in are the cause. Nobody is happy to see us here.
Gerard shouts "Anybody know anything about any weapons that just came into town?" This silences the bar. A man, who curiously is missing most of his nose, tells us that they would rather be "taking those weapons you got there." Of course, those are fighting words.
Their attack is quick and sloppy. Better than a dozen men are felled in the battle. Several men die after a flurry of strikes from Gerard and myself. I also manage to drop one by breaking his nose with the butt of my sword. Sandra pitches in and Anna lets her blade be known as well. The fight is dying down when the bartender leaps up on the bar, firing a crossbow. He is human but of minute stature, by all accounts he is a midget. Seeing no other targets, and sensing this mans anger, I bull rush him. The impact of my large armored body on his small-unarmored frame is incredible. The little man is catapulted off the bar, crashing through the racks of glasses on the back wall. He lands in a pile of broken glass and alcohol, dazed as to what has just happened. This brings the fighting to a rather dramatic close.
The bartender survived his flight, and is ready to tell us everything we need to know. I slap him and ask if he wants to live. His response is to soil himself, and whimper incoherently. We ask him about the weapons and he just starts making stuff up. He is our prisoner, but he knows nothing of the shipment. The other survivor, a man with a badly broken nose, knows much more. He tells us the weapons from the west came in two days ago, and were delivered to their new owner. The deliverymen from the caravan are staying at the Griffins Brow Inn. For his help, I do him a small kindness: I reset and heal his nose. He will never look quite the same, for the break was severe, but for the moment he is in no pain.
The Griffins Brow is a very nice place. The surroundings are far more posh than anything we have seen here so far. Bards play music in the background as bartenders serve up wonderful looking drinks. Everyone seems to be having a rowdy good time. We settle into tables and scan the bar. There is a group of men, more boisterous than most, who keep spouting off about the shipment they were guarding. Gerard sits down and buys them a round to try and get more information. In the meanwhile, I take up a seat at the table next to them with a lone man, dressed in all black.
I introduce myself to the lone man in black, and take a seat. He holds his head as if he is in pain. He says his name is Vincent Dhark, and he was once a warrior for the Legion, but now supports himself with mercenary work. I inquire as to his pains, and he explains that his headache is an old war wound he suffered in defense of the fledgling Free Nations. His wound has long since healed, but is constantly reminding him of his past. Vincent knows much more than the drunken guards Gerard is talking to. Vincent explains that the weapons are going to a very powerful person. Just then Gerard nudges me, telling me it is time to go.
I thank Vincent for his company and follow Gerard and his drunken friends. We are going to see their boss, a woman named Mydel. When we arrive, Gerards drunken companions lead us straight to the boss’s office. Sitting behind a desk, surrounded by paperwork is the woman from the bridge. I have to choke back my anger as I wish to kill her on the spot for what she did to my friends and me. Gerard has other plans however, and strikes up a conversation. She reveals little, but tells us that she did indeed deliver the weapons, but they were not hers. Beyond that, she knows not where they have gone. She dismisses us as if we are her servants. We do not dare start a fight here, for this is her headquarters, and we are most outnumbered. We have put another piece of this puzzle together. |
