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| Jiord Jonne |
The squad was approached by Rhei Chernaz, a merchant of the Duck's Back Curio Shop, who pays the Washboard Dogs protection. She disclosed that the brother of Maurissa Jonne, the leader of the Washboard Dogs' brother, named Jiord, bought an artifact from her shop, an antique hookah. She said “He said he and his friend were meeting at a so-called mutual acquaintance’s sloop called the
Arrowhead, not far from the Slick Scylla taproom.”
The squad, determined to capture Jiord and use him for leverage with Maurissa, headed for the docks and the Arrowhead berth.
Valcos scouts the docks and reports back; he spied Jiord and two minions uncrating a container amidships. Mr. Gone flies to the ship. Jiord smashes the enchanted hookah he cad purchased from the Duck's Back Curio Shop and frees the demon contained therein, then takes an Invisibility potion, vanishing. The demon, called a Melademon, exuded an aura of rapacious hunger. Simimel, Valcos, and Grimwald all leap from the dockside to the deck, but before the demon attacks, it is banished by Pumpelio.
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| Melademon |
Jorin casts a spell to see the invisible fleeing Jiord, and Mr. Gone captures him.
The three prisoners are taken to Simi's temple. Simimel plays the recording of their activities, and the temple secures them for interrogation by the temple inquisitors. Valcos convinces Jiord to give Valcos a way to pass a message to Maurissa.
The meet is arranged, and the team meets Maurissa and her Washboard Dogs at the Groundwater Tunnel drainage ditch.
a way to send a message to his sister, and he arranges to send word to Maurissa that her brother is being held and Valcos can help get him back.
Drainage Ditch meeting with Maurissa.
Temple inquisitors are ready to interrogate Jiord, and the squad goes to meet Maurissa at the drainage ditch
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| Maurissa Jonne |
The scents of freshly turned earth and salt waft down the Groundwater Tunnel. A steady rain has caused the runoff in the drainage tunnel to flow a bit quicker as the time to meet Maurrisa Jonne approaches. The sound of footsteps is obscured by the patter of rain, covering the approach of the figures at either end of the tunnel. As each group approaches, it becomes clear that the rain isn’t the only noise in the tunnel—the gangsters approaching you are rhythmically running pipes, bats, and clubs up and down their washboard shields, building to a cacophonous crescendo that stops as suddenly as it began. The crowd at the northern end of the tunnel parts to reveal a human woman in her thirties, dressed in denim and leather work clothes and carrying no weapons. A large silver buckle hangs from her belt. She stops ten feet from you, making a show of sizing you up, then smirks and jerks a thumb over her shoulder at the gangsters behind her. “Pretty good, eh? Builds morale. Anyway, let’s talk.”
“As you probably know, my Dogs have recently fallen into scuffles with a gaggle of misfits called the Diobel Sweepers. The details of this affair are unimportant and would likely only bore such high-ranking officers. All you need to understand is that I need the Sweepers to stop bothering us—preferably for good."
“The Sweepers aren’t quite as… nice… as us. The weapons and chemicals they peddle have caused a lot of destruction across the neighborhood. I’ve even heard credible rumors that they’re brewing up some new concoctions that would give law-enforcement like you no shortage of trouble.”
Maurrisa pauses and smiles pointedly. “Fortunately for you, I know exactly where the Sweepers formulate their new products—as well as the date their boss Berleth plans to visit the lab. Now, if my Dogs were to attack their lab, the other gangs in the Docks might consider that a step too far, and then we’d have to deal with the Sweepers’ allies as well. But if the ’watch were to raid a particular building on an anonymous tip from a concerned citizen? Well then, no harm done, right?"
"And if the Sweepers were taken care of, I’d be freed up to help you more with your investigation… I might even remember where I put this ‘dangerous thing’ you should really, REALLY know about.”
The Washboard Dogs had received the mysterious item from the Skinner at a dead drop.
Simi reminds Maurrisa that demons are bad.
The prisoners are taken from the temple and transferred to the Edgewatch for holding. Captain Lavarsus takes custody of the prisoners and receives an updated report.
Jorin finds a map from Maurissa to their base - the former Sweetsand neighborhood, once known as Madam Kathy’s School of Common Grammar and Behavior Haunted grammar school. The school is a freestanding building.
Valcos adopts the Sweeper uniform du jour and does a scouting mission, and drops the sentries with the last of their knockout blowgun darts. The squad then approached the front door of the school.
Valcos disarmed the snare on the steps, but found a three-bomb trap on the front door, which he also thought he had successfully disarmed. The front door lock was simple, and the squad entered the schoolroom, ready to make arrests.
The gang thugs were out in force, and a brawl ensued, with the Diobel Sweepers throwing alchemical grenades while resisting arrest. The gang members also had a golem, whose mission was to heal them during the fight.
Grimwald and Valcos fought as a team, while Simimel and Mr. Gone fought the other group. Pumpelio sang a song to inspire courage in the squad, and put up a green chromatic wall to divide the enemy and ruin their bomb attacks.
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| Bloody Berleth |
In the office above, the gang leader Bloody Berleth saw the melee, and leaped through the office window to attack, accompanied by reinforcements. Pumpelio cast a song of haste on Simi. Grimwald and Valcos fought the gang members, dodging alchemical bombs. Slowly the fight began to turn against the gang members. The golem shattered a widow, and several gang members escaped before Pumpelio dropped the green chromatic wall, to replace it with an orange chromatic wall that sealed the widows.
Bloody Berleth sought to flee, but was captured by Mr. Gone. Other gang members escaped, as the golem began a self-destruct command. Everyone took cover while Simi tossed the golem through the orange chromatic wall and through the broken window.
Once in the street, the golem exploded in acid and fire; the orange chromatic wall stopped the acid, but the building caught fire, along with several neighboring buildings.
Jorin summoned water elementals to swiftly extinguish fire fires, limiting the damage.
Valcos discovered poison needles on the stairs up to the office, and needed medical care before the office could be investigated.
(The game session ended here due to the late hour, and investigations will continue next session!)
(Images sourced at https://app.demiplane.com/nexus/pathfinder2e/ )
