Are You Signal?

Summary
As the party made their way to the slums Verathis noticed a figure in the alleyway gesturing towards him, as Verathis approached Carter snuck around while Firali and Baldrick approached behind Verathis. The stranger revealed himself to be an employee of Norim and said that Desmond created an alibi for him, but he'd have to pick between two.

The first option was killing J.A.D. and stating that Verathis spent his entire day healing him, the other option was a 150 gold fine from Blisterbark due to Verathis partying too hard. The party opted for the latter and made their way back.

Seeing that the party members may be in trouble, Carter decided to disguise Verathis as Russell Crowe before entering the inn. Once they did, they were greeted by a large bear of a man, Arac Skrell, the owner of 'The Library'. Arac warmly greeted the party and then took them aside. Stating that someone claiming to be Burt Reynolds, a member of their group broke his merchandise and caused trouble, making him the target of some very unhappy mercenaries. After a bit of denial by the party, Arac promptly told them that he did not tell the mercenaries who the visitor was but may be inclined to help them if the party didn't pay him 93 gold. The party scoffed and then sent him on his way, choosing to face the mercenary threat rather than pay yet another large sum of gold.

The party then went upstairs they began to discuss how to deal with the new threat. Carter suggested kidnapping someone and dressing them up as Burt Reynolds which was denied by the party. They then discussed earning some coin and fixing bets, which ended up with the plan of Carter pretending to be a bookie and collecting funds before disappearing. After a bit of back and forth they decided to deal with the problem later on tired by the day's ordeals and wanting to get some rest.

After waiting a while, Carter snuck into Baldrick's room and applied a disguise on him, making him look like Burt Reynolds, and satisfied with his work he began to leave, but just as he was about to touch the door he heard voices and loud knocking. He immediately hid under Baldrick's bed and waited as booming voices demanded that Baldrick and Verathis step out into the hall immediately. When they opened the doors the guards were confused at their appearance (disguises) but they confirmed with Lippa that the room were indeed theirs, and demanded that they come out for questioning. Sicarian had come for Baldrick, and Gwarri had come for Verathis, along with their guards they were hauled off outside while a guard stayed back to search their rooms. While searching Baldrick's room, Carter was discovered and after some confusion, Lippa told the guard that he was a patron and Carter told them the reason he was in the room is because Baldrick was afraid of monsters in the night. After shrugging the guard left and Lippa asked Carter what the hell his two party members had done to upset the guards, Carter just shrugged apologized, and went to bed.

Sicarian and Gwarri questioned Baldrick first, stating that it was curious that the day he asks for a tour, he begs to see the prison which holds someone he had an altercation with, and 1 guard was knocked out while another was killed. Baldrick then gave a satisfactory answer, telling them that he meant to apologize and Sicarian told him that his offer was rescinded and he was not allowed to come near the compound.

When Verathis was questioned, he provided an alibi of being at Blisterbarks and was promptly taken there to confirm it. As the group approached Blisterbark's Norim came out with a battered female and thanked the guards profusely for catching Verathis so soon after his report. As the guards confirmed the details and consoled the crying girl, Gwarri told Verathis that it was curious, but his alibi checked out. As they left the brothel, Gwarri told them that he wanted Verathis' party gone within a week for all the trouble they caused him and reiterated that they were to lose the fight tomorrow.

In the morning after talking about what happened and how they should proceed the party had their breakfast. Carter noticed Lippa looking stressed and apologized once again, handing her 1 gold. The party then headed down to the guard compound with Carter disguised as a bookie and Baldrick still dressed as Burt Reynolds.

As the crowd saw the party approach, they made way and cheered on. Baldrick and Carter decided to watch from the sidelines as Verathis and Firali were brought forth with a smiling Gwarri who introduced the bout, saying that it was a good way to show off the guard's prowess. The crowd cheered and Carter started taking bets, but was noticed by another bookie who began getting aggravated and yelled at him for coming in on his turf. Baldrick stepped in to diffuse the situation and managed to get the bookie off of Carter's back. Carter then decided to stash his disguise and 20 gold, then head back to watch the fight.

As the battle begun, Firali immediately feigned a sprain and fell to the ground while the crowd jeered. The three guards in front began to take offense, thinking that he was mocking them and launched themselves at Firali, dealing a bit of damage as he writhed in a mixture of genuine and fake pain. Verathis, looking at the display decided to give a proper fight and cast entanglement, entangling two guards. The third guard then saw the difficult terrain and launched himself at Verathis, slashing at him with his blade. As Verathis took damage he stepped back, hoping to protect himself. Firali continued to not get up and took the blows, determined to give a poor show. As the guards grew more infuriated yelling that he was faking, the crowd began to throw rocks, and Carter joined in, throwing his ball bearings. Verathis, concerned for Firali cast his fire sphere and burnt the two guards. He then morphed into a poisonous spider and slithered away, after biting the guard in front of him. As the guards stepped out of the flame they continued to attack Firali, who had gone unconscious at this point, but since the crowd thought he was acting, he was not extracted. Verathis then moved the flame again and took a few hits as the guard in front of him attacked, causing him to drop his form. One guard then fell from the flames and Verathis rushed to heal Firali, seeing that there was no response. The guard near Verathis then attacked again and slashed at him, dropping him and getting them pulled out of the battle.

Firali suddenly awoke, and saw Verathis fall. He mustered up his strength and stood up, casting hail of thorns and immediately felling the guard in front of him. He then was attacked by the last remaining guard but managed to put some distance between them. After casting Hunter's mark. Firali dodges a couple thrown blades but began bleeding heavily as the guard's last weapon managed to hit him. Firali then gave up all thoughts of losing intentionally and shot the guard, causing the crowd to roar at his victory. A thunderclap was heard and Firali was knocked back, Gwarri Oakhammer took the guards away to get medical attention, and more guards came to grab Firali, escorting him and Verathis (now healed) roughly. Gwarri told the crowd that he was going to reward them and they dispersed. Carter and Baldrick managed to get a glimpse of their comrades being hauled to the compound and decided to follow, but were denied entrance. Baldrick then decided to head to the inn and wait while Carter snuck around and scaled the wall, seeing the two get hauled into the main building.

Verathis and Firali were thrust into a chamber filled with ledgers and scrolls, as the raised their eyes they saw Gwarri looking at them furiously. He began to yell and scream that they didn't obey the plan, not knowing what trouble they caused. Verathis then demanded to know why Firali wasn't taken out of battle and Gwarri told them that his horrible acting made it so that no one believed him. Gwarri then stated that this endeavour was supposed to be mutually beneficial but he could no longer vouch for the safety of his guards or the two if they were to stay. He demanded that they leave this night or suffer the consequenes. Once he was done, he got the guards to pick up Firali and Verathis again, leading them downstairs. Once they reached the exit the mayor, stopped them and gave Verathis a sealed letter, telling him that this would allow audience with the Wardens. He then turned and left, as Verathis and Firali were shoved outside the compound.

When the party reunited at the inn they discussed what happened, they thought it was best to pack things up and leave immediately. They argued what to do with the gold and decided that they would take separate actions. Though Verathis was a newcomer the loot was split 4 ways and Lippa offered to take the cart off their hands, offering them 40 gold. The party agreed and Carter asked if Lippa was single, she laughed and replied yes she had been taking care of the inn for a long time alone. Carter then gave her 10 gold back, telling her that she should take of herself. The party then headed to the Zeltians bank and created accounts while Carter and Firali waited outside. Once the business was done, they all headed to the Caravansery where they were led to a card and headed outside Arpeon. Leaving behind their temporary home.

After three days of uneventful traveling Desmond led them to a cave, where they saw a large bear bristle but then shrink to a human form and let them through. They made their way into a large cavern with rope bridges and ladders among many outcrops while bandits lazed among tents and warmed themselves by various fires. A few took notice and raised their weapons, but dropped them once they recognized Desmond. They then spread word and approached a large tent from which a 7 foot tall female emerged. She talked to Desmond and took the package from Baldrick. Upon inspecting it, her group tore into it and ran off shouting with glee while others brought forth 6 barrels. Once the barrels were loaded into the cart the party was led a couple days towards the trade road and were left alone. They didn't travel far before Carter got curious and opened a barrel.

Inside the party discovered 4 human girls, 1 half elf girl, and 1 elf girl who all seemed to be around 11-13 years of age. The girls looked on dazed and scared shaking at the sight of unfamiliar men. Once Carter began asking them questions they revealed that they remember heading to Arpeon to see the festival and we're attacked by bandits. They cried as they remembered the blood of their families and being given strange powders to injest.

The party then realized that the bandits were robbing passing caravans and giving girls to Norim in exchange for drugs. Carter noticed the effects seemed to be the same as something called the Harpy's Smile and began to tell the group that they couldn't possibly forgive Norim. The party began to argue with how they should save the girls and decided to try to sneak them into the orphanage and kill Norim. Verathis originally didn't agree but decided to follow their decision. They then gave the girls scraps of clothing so they didn't freeze and continued onwards, trying to formulate a plan to get back at Norim and get Baldrick's ring back.

Kills
3 Guards (Incapacitated)

Loot
10 Gold each from sale of Cart (except for Carter)