Dragon Slayers of the Drinking Crow Session #29- The Heist

 A day after the Dragon Slayers returned from 'The Complex' covered in blood and soot, several members of the group were seen reconvening at the Drinking Crow after briefly stopping by Sweet Dreams. Among their number included Bors Redbeard, who had spent recent months working behind the scenes at the Crow. The party lingered as they helped Dwerleiro drown his trauma from the last session as one of their number kept their eyes peeled for the passing of a party from the Burning Witch towards the beach-side entrance to 'The Complex'. Upon sight of the adventurers from the Burning Witch, a signal was given. Then, member by member they delivered some excuse to pardon themselves from the table for a moment leaving, when things were all said and done, Dwerleiro drinking by his lonesome.

What looked like an adventuring party were seen meeting up at the cart purchased by Copra Kaan. The cart was loaded with several logs, a tarp, a funerial shroud, and several block & tackles. It was was hitched to Copra's giant ant lower half and the following party headed north once again towards the ruins of Orm-of-Old:

• Bors Redbeard (Level 4 Dwarf)
• Lefty Redbeard (Level 1 Dwarf)
• Copra Kaan (Level 5 Vat Spawn)
• Crambo (Level 1 Magic-User)
• Malagath Finbaros (Level 3 Elf)
• Axel (Level 0 Man-at-Arms hireling)
• Petra P. (Level 1 Elf)
• Willow the Wisp (Level 3 Illusionist)

The party returned exhausted. They were covered in sweat and a strange green-ish gore (with Bors literally covered in it from head-to-toe). Malagath and Willow both bore the dazed and disgusted continence of one recently freed from a charm of some sorts. With them was the cart, now pulled by Petra P.'s magical elephant Eloise. In the cart stood tall a 10' statue of the Overlord Zotul. The sculpture appeared to be made of adamantine. Also with them was the gnome Geoph, filithy, weary, and disgruntled.

The party returned Geoph to the 111th Company and earned the promised reward 200gp to the party for the return of one of the hireling guild's living missing members. Geoph doesn't quite seem the same. Maybe its the tied to the heavy scar he has on his upper chest or maybe it is being left to the floating ocular monsters just after coming out of a charm. Needless to say, the gnome hireling has been through a lot.

 Stuck to an abandoned cart, a piece of paper was found stuck to the side with a green goo. It had the following note on it:

Copra Kään’s To-Do List:

-Buy a burial shroud. 

-Plant a wagon. 

-Watch Willow the Wisp becomes a Brother. 

-Uncage the elephant. 

-Remove “our petrified comrade” who is DEFINITEY not an expensive statue covered in a burial shroud. 

-Chat with some folks. 

-Put the snooze on an Eye of Terror AND KILL THE OTHER ONE while rescuing a Company man we didn’t even hire!

-Complete our heist, only to discover that Malagath was SWINDLED trying to sell it. Infuriating!

The following journal entry of Bors Redbeard (written by the Level 4 Dwarf's player Shahnawaz) provides a more detailed account of the session:

Bors' Entry 16:

What a way to start back up! I had taken a bit of a break to help out around the bar because Gabby told me how hectic it can be around the New Year.  I've been hearing a bit of what everyone has been up to since they hang out at the bar, jealous of their adventures, but family comes first.

Petra is a bit eccentric, but she was fun to work with.  And seeing the Great Hero Malagath in action again is awe inspiring.  But I believe it was Copra's plan for our adventure today.  It took lots of prep work, but we got word of some of the Burning Witch crew doing a jailbreak or something to that nature.  We decided to use this as a distraction for a heist! We stole a statue a floor down from the library of the White Robes.  With Malagath's new spell and Petra's Wondrous Elephant, we were able to get it out.  But what is a heist without a problem?

We got to the floor with the pink light cages just as they were taken down, we heard the other crew saying that they had to leave Geoph behind and left.  We saw these terror of beings, two floating monstrosities.  They were in-between us and the exit, and while, yes, we could have tried diplomacy, that might have resulted in someone having to stay behind, like the other group was forced to do with Geoph.  So we decided to fight! They didn't notice us at first, which was extremely lucky! I hit one with one of the sleep gas and took it out immediately, and Petra tried to do the same with the other, but with less success.  Once the other floating being noticed us, I rushed it! When it looked at me, my sword stopped glowing, as if all the magic was sapped from it.  But we were not deterred! I instructed Lefty to grab Geoph and take him away, which he brought to Axel with the cart while the rest of us did battle.  It was an impressive battle, with Malagath and Willow-the-Wisp becoming charmed.  For a moment I thought the lot of us would be bested, but then I was able to fell it with a mighty strike.  We made a hasty exit while the other one was still asleep, taking our heavy prize of a statue with us.

I wish I could have left it there in triumph, but it turns out that two-bit crook Zamir somehow took possession of it from Malagath, but this will not stand.

Geoph joined up with Ur-Kel and the Sargent to celebrate a return to the surface. The hirelings could be overheard discussing the state of uncertainty facing "The Complex" after recent events. Valtropis (at least the one who controlled the 'Pool of Life') disintegrated by some sort of death ray, the rogue minotaur Tormano free to wreak havoc (last having been heard calling to attack the Tester and free his prisoners), and creature called a 'black pudding' by the researcher Vootia moving towards the room at the foot of the staircase that leads to Orm-of-Old. The Imperial Mother's head researcher Ujmah was last seen with the sleeping spherical creature referred to by the Imperial Mother's staff as an "Eye of Terror". The trio had a consensus of uncertainty as to how all of that played out.

Loot

• A adamantine-plated lead statue of the Overlord Zotul worth 10,000gp (swindled away before the party could make coin off of it)
• 200gp reward for returning Geoph alive

Experience Points

• 10,000xp from treasure
• Eye of terror killed 1 x 5100xp
• Eye of terror put to sleep x 5100xp

Player Character Cut

• 28gp 5sp 7cp ea. (14gp 2sp 7cp to Lefty)
• 3366xp ea.

Write-ups, drawings, or maps from a session earn PC Level x 100 XP. While I know that Malagath is spending a downtime trying t o Find the Right Buyers, let me know any other downtime activities anyone is taking. There will be at least three segments until the next session.

The Swindling of Malagath Finbaros

After the successful heisting of the Imperial Mother's adamantine plated statue of the Overlord Zotul, the Dragon Slayers needed to find a buyer to turn the valuable work of art into gold. Malagath Finbaros found that he, a hero of renown in Orm, was best suited to rub elbows with the city-state's wealthiest and most important people in search of a purchaser. Malagath's regaling of elite with his own exploits and swilling of the bubbly proved to create little forward momentum in a sale into he bumped into sometime-Dragon Slayer Zamir "Small Time" Hashmi. Zamir had previously gotten the Dragon Slayers through some tense negotiations with the Midnight Marauders so Malagath was open to hearing the apprentice thief's opportunity for the statue.

Zamir arranged a couple of meetings for Malagath for a merchant form the Principality of Kouz, Fianosther. After successive nights of wining and dining with the Zamir, and Fianosther, Malagath found himself with a sale to the Kouzi merchant that left the Dragion Slayers with a full 10,000gp after Zamir's finder's fee. The next morning, Malagath and Zamir met to make the exchange of the statue for the gold. After the statue was loaded, Zamir handed Malagath his falcon so "Small Time" could make sure the piece was secure. It was in this moment that Zamir caught Malagath with someone the thief remember but Malagath never resigned himself to believe. After the Processional of the Old Gods last year, Malagath had been doomed by those dead gods for his arrogance (and maybe truly so- all of Malagath's original adventuring companions breath no more). The renowned hero refused to stoop into the communal embracing of misery under the dying red Sun that is Ostara and disfavor is upon him. Domesticated animals of all sorts could sense this about Malagath. Their reactions in his presence were strong. And Zamir's falcon, a domesticated creature itself, started a loud, mournful sound as it struggled on Malagath's arm. As Malagath's attentions focused, ever so briefly, on getting this "bird-brained freak to shut the hell up", Zamir grabbed the raines of the wagon. With a sharp whip, the cart was off. With an even sharper whistle, the falcon flew back to Zamir's side as Malagath watched the wagon pull away.

By the time Malagath could rouse his fellow Dragon Slayers, it was too late. Zamir had the statue loaded onto a ship and was escaping out into the Bay of Fuval. The Dragon Slayers are resolved to retrieve the statue. Malagath has sworn Zamir will meet with death when they find him.

Zamir is now known as Zamir "Big Time" Hashmi in the halls of the Crooked Hand.