Strange Cargos: Shifty Dealings in Magical Sundries
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A couple of days ago from this posting our troupe came across a small group of people being attacked by bandits. The group in question were mercenaries in heavy mail and carrying large sacks of raw gemstones such as onyx- something the Senior Retainer has mentioned as being able to contain large amounts of necromantic energies.
These mercenaries were escorted to town despite the very obvious shadiness in their demeanor-- the leader of the group, one accidentally identified by his companions as ‘Sa- (Sam? Samul? We don’t know) showed an unfamiliarity with the area surrounding Arabel and, once within the walls of the city, he made his way down to a bar in the sewers.
A stealthy member of our host managed to trail him on our suspicions and saw him exchanging the onyx to someone else within the bar. Both groups left through the back door where our sneak could not follow without risk of discovery.
I feel it important to mention that I asked our sneak to trail this ‘Sam’ because of the shadiness of their actions, things they said and the like and most importantly, Osco’s concern.
Yesterday while working at the forge in Hilmarch, I was approached by someone identifying himself as Sedgewin, he was seeking river sand from the Helmlands for a client of his and wished to contract out the job to myself and the individual with me (her name I cannot even begin to pronounce, I’m afraid).
I intentionally bid low and baited him with the idea of future work at such prices in order to better learn what his employer is looking for. Due to the strangeness of the request, the fact that the request took place in Hilmarch once again, and everything else that has been going on lately, I cannot assume these are related but I think it’s safe to assume someone within the city (or near to it) is farming out a lot of work to people in efforts to build something magical. . .
This is supposition on my part, but it feels right.
Sincerely,
Aspirant Keline Hallenthen
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I'm almost certain that Sedgewin was the name of the fella we met transporting the onyx. You know, the one with the amulet that I spent good gold on? The Paladin Blocker!
What does river sand from the Helmlands do? It's not like sand is hard to find there. It's almost ALL sand!
Osco -
You know, in my exhaustion I hadn't even thought of that. When we were approached, he mentioned that the client (the one he was contracting out for) wanted the sand because minerals from that area accumulated on river banks, making it good for whatever they had planned.
Seems to me like this man is a busy beaver and his client moreso.
-Keline
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I met with him tonight. He is indeed the same man. He has a handful more of the topaz to collect and then a shipment of Star Sapphires to transport. He is retiring after that. I have made arrangement with him to introduce me to his buyer, so that I may take over the business on his retirement. I can likely get most of us on the transport team. I imagine the introduction and the delivery to be at the same time.
Start the planning. We do not have much time. Keep these things in mind:
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We will not risk House Misrim's good name.
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We may have to have the delivery go through and find them at a later date.
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If I am to remain effective in these kinds of matters, we can not have it known that I come running to you with information.
Polk
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Sands of the Helmlands?
These lands are cursed. They are twisted in chaotic and wild magic. The natural order has been shattered in these lands. It is a wasteland that seeks to spread its chaos further, but our Forest of Redwoods keeps it at bay.
What we know of gemstones is that their use is varied. From simple ornamental purposes to being key components to magics. And these magical spells can go from the most innocent one to the most vile ones.
It is now they have a lot of onyx and some topaz. They will have star sapphires and now seek river sands of the Helmlands?
We are concerned when it comes to people messing with things from the Helmlands. We believe getting to the bottom of this is important.
- Nanthleenee
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Perhaps unrelated, perhaps not. A widowed Ms. Tresletine has recently made a large purchase of land near the Hullack from House Misrim. Oddly enough, she requested documents and a second opinion of the land from a man in the Faceless, of all places, exchanging a large amount of coin for documents, when she had been staying at the Falcon's Rest. Why she decided to make her way all the way there instead of having the man drop by the Falcon's already rose my suspicion. However, her quick reactions to shout when brought to the palace to the inquiry were clear indication she was hiding something- and I had a horrid sense of unease about her person. One we cannot ignore. She felt... /off/. It is hard to describe. But not something we should take lightly.
I push for further investigation and clues onto where the land is, what is on it, and possible connections to the current gem trade.
Dawnsquire Aritian Faressain
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The sale is not linked to the gems and stones. At least with the information I have. I brought a group to the site before we arganged anything and got the Great Druid's appraisal that the site was not one of great magic, or holiness to the druids.
Polk
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A clarification.... he already has access to the Star Sapphires. He needs transportation. He needs under 30 stones of flawed topaz, that is what he is waiting on most.
Polk
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[The placeholder card is replaced with a full note.]
So after speaking to several folks that dabble in enchantment and things like it, I’ve learned the following:
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These different elements appaear to be components of a ritual which incorporates (or may be entirely) arcane in nature.
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Each gem type has a common use or attunement, something that is part if its makeup like the heart is to a living being, those appear to be:
-Onyx – Negative Energy
-Topaz – Lightning
-Star Sapphire – Cold-
The sand from the helmlands is as chaotic as the Great Druid mentioned.
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Star Sapphires have a flaw within their forming that makes them appear as they do; they’re beautiful gems, but for purely magical purposes, they are still flawed vessels.
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Attempting to enchant a flawed gem is dangerous. Imagine the gem as a container for magic, like a barrel. If you fill a good, well made barrel, it remains full, but if the barrel is lacking somewhere (say a weak band) then it will dump its contents out. Now imagine this barrel was full beyond bursting of acid-- that’s the sort of danger and unpredictability you can expect.
Speculation:
- This feels like an incredibly dangerous explosion just waiting to go off, and it’s being funneled through the city which makes me very nervous.
My thinking on the shipment of Sapphires is that we should have people on the cew moving them, and plant some kind of scrying device within it. Because of the nature of the cargo, I firmly believe that attempting to slip something into the crate is the wrong approach-- you don’t buy this much of an extremely rare gem without knowing something about your seller.
We don’t know what that relationship is, so let’s assume that we will not be able to get a gem in there without rousing suspicion. Even if we could find a star sapphire and have someone enchant it, our evidence of tampering would be obvious if there are seals on the box.
What if, instead, we stake a mithril nail into the cargo container? I can forge the nail, we enchant it, we can extract one from the container and put our nail in place then have a wizard scrying upon it. I say that this kind of thing might be the better tact as if we are discovered, we are going to endanger Polk’s life before we’ve had a chance to learn anything of value.
These are just my thoughts, we should act soon, though.
-Keline
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Do we have a trained diviner among us, or at least one we know and trust with such an important task?
Osco -
Unfortunately, I know of no such person. We're basically doing what we can with what we have.
-Keline
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It is a moot point. He has the stones. I am to go with him on the final delivery. The boy with the Antlers helm(dario), works for him. He has been in my employ for a while but has not lead to much. He is negotiating for a much higher fee. Being he is not the brave sort, I think he might have something. I will pay his price and give him a gift. A magicked bag. We will use that to track us. so forget the nail. Make me a bag. And quickly. We will be going very soon.
Polk
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I have a bag made from a lion's hide we can use if you want.
Osco -
Great idea! Make sure it has nothing to tie it to the House. Then we as a whole need to find an enchanter and or diviner.
Polk
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I could not secure the mithril required to make the nail- I burned through 30 or so nuggets of the material in the attempt. My apologies.
Waldon is an enchanter, however from my work on Project Moonlight, I've not yet seen any diviners despite looking. We will have to make do with what we can.
Do you need funds or supplies to keep this man in your confidence? I've gems and such that might sway him without crippling your finances.
-Keline
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We went early, and with out any of his associates. We will not be seeing Sedgewin around the city anymore. He has been retired. We need to acquire the services of a top notch diviner to find him. I have something of his to use. I know for a fact he knows something and we have a trade item he might well want to bargain for.
Polk
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Moved from Plot Faction: Council of Twelve Peers by S Swifty Willownall
