Session 18

<After heading towards the tavern where Jones is staying>

Even as you approach Jones' room, you can hear crashes and shouts exploding outward, rocking the entire building. Suspecting foul play, you rush in to help, only to find the space occupied solely by Jones, Dog, and Arat. Most of the commotion seems to be caused by Dog, who is shouting bloody murder and slamming his huge fists into the wall while Arat tries in vain to calm him down. As you enter, Dog swings around, bellowing, "You! Crush them! Set the entire block on fire! Hunt down their families and kill them all! Urgh" Dog's eyes roll back in his head as he collapses on the floor, foaming at the mouth. Taking advantage of the distraction you provided, Arat has plunged a hefty dagger into Dog's back, coated in a black, viscous poison.

"OK, we have a few moments of peace now to work out a plan while he's unconscious. As you might have noticed, things are not well. One of our customers has stabbed us in the back, leaving us with few options for recourse."

Jones takes this opportunity to join the conversation, "My friends! I am overjoyed to see you back! You've arrived just in time to help us out of an awkward situation. One of the local thieves guilds has made a claim on a considerable store of merchandise we had locked away in a safe house in the city, and has succeeded in convincing the Commission of Interested Parties that this claim has merit."

Arat interjects to explain, "Memnon is a military town, and the criminal element here has discovered the hard way that it needs to be highly organized to survive. The Commission sets down the rules by which all outlaws who do business in this city live, and arbitrate any disputes, lest they spill into the streets and attract the attention of the city guard. The trouble is that the Commission's run by a set of bastard Genasi who are quick to put the interests of their own kind in front of those of outsiders such as ourselves."

"And sadly," says Jones, "our accuser is a guild composed entirely of Genasi. They've changed the lock to our warehouse and have been awarded the only key, representing their ownership of the goods within. While I believe that we might still be able to convince the thieves' court that we've been wronged, this incident will considerably weaken our capacity to do business within the city, and I it will certainly not be long before other organizations attempt something equally as bold. Direct action on our part is impossible, since we would be immediately censured by the Commission and permanently exiled from the city, but an independent party, such as yourselves, who will be leaving the city the next day would be able to get away with it. In short, I'm asking you, my friends, if you would be willing to teach those charlatans a bloody lesson and retrieve for us our warehouse key. I'm afraid I can't offer you much of a reward beyond the transportation that I've already promised, but you would be free to keep whatever loot you found while acquiring the key.

Arat fills you in on some of the details of your mission: "The guild doesn't have a formal name, but it's got quit a history in the city. They used to be real big-shots, but these day's their numbers have been reduced to just a handful. Their leader these days is a mysterious fellow; he keeps himself holed up in his headquarters and never comes out. Nobody's seen him in years, and there are some that say he doesn't even exist, though the guild's members of course say different."

"We here don't give a shit about rumors, though. Just kill as many of the suckers as you can to send a message to anyone who survives that nobody in this city messes with us. You can find their headquarters here," he says, motioning at an unmarked building on your map, "though you might want to make a detour before heading in. We used to be in possession of a map of their headquarters building, but Jones used it awhile back to pay off one of his bookies down by the docks."

Arat shoots a glare at Jones while Jones sits back in one corner, pretending he's not listening. "The bookie lives here, "says Arat, once again pointing at your map. "He's likely still in possession of the map, though I doubt that he'll hand it over willingly. Blueprints like that are hard to find, and if you can't get that one, you're probably not going to find another. You're free to handle the situation however you like, though I should warn you that the docks are crawling with soldiers, who have a habit of arresting foreignors on site, even if they have legitimate business, so if you're going to visit the bookie, you'll want to be subtle about it. The thieves' guild, on the other hand, is deep in a bad neighborhood, and you shouldn't get too much attention from the city watch while you're tearing the place up.

<What does the key look like>

The key's pretty ordinary. Black, thick, and iron. You can tell it's the one by the number 'seven' engraved in its head.