Gruulsh quickly grapples the teamster Kozke and rolls him off his wagon, which rambles down the road before the horses realize to stop. Menacingly, the bugbear presses the fat man for information on his latest 'cargo', after damn near knocking him unconscious. Gruulsh showers the man with a few coin to loosen his lips, and fearfully, Kozke reveals all. He claims he was looking for fares outside the Seven Flood In, when the elf named 'Scorpio or something' paid handsomely for a lift to Halehusk. Kozke denies any involvement, and when the elf said he wanted to hide himself in back of the wagon, who was he to complain? Gruulsh decides to bring Kozke back to Commander Hoary for questioning, even at this late hour, so they gather up the wagon again and head off, arriving soon at Armory Square where they stir up some commotion. Baro takes note and joins Gruulsh in dragging Kozke over to the officers' quarters. When Hoary hears whats up, he orders the team to case and infiltrate the Blind Vixen in Halehusk. The two head off to sleep, after Gruulsh drops Kozke at the foot of the Cathedral of Blades.
Ivric, Martenin 17th, 838 ID
Ballyhoo and Mudgol prepare for their final restoration spells, while Rumpridge heads to the Fiery Rat to speak with Flake Falloway about a business proposition. The rogue is interested in purchasing a partnership with Flake and Odd Jon in the tavern, and generously donates a hunk of platinum for further repairs. Flake says he'll have to speak with Stuckle, but that it shouldn't be a problem. After this the PCs purchase a few more potions from the Cathedral of Blades, while Rumpridge, Ballyhoo and Mudgol speak with Lieutenant Banghorn to see how he's holding up. Mudgol manages to insult the invalid (no surprise) and then gets sent off. The heroes acquire a wagon to roll over to Halehusk later in the morning, and when they arrive they set up a plan to flank the shady tavern where 'Scroundel' was presumably spending his evening. Gruulsh and Rumpridge sneak around back to watch for potential escapees or secret entrances. Mudgol and Baro take watch out front of the place, and Ballyhoo (disguised as the Yellow Hen) and Ymurf Gnarlbottom head inside to speak with the owner. As for Ginkwrench...he parks his wagon over at the seasonal dog tracks and then attempts to set up an arm wrestling exhibition with the locals...what a soldier!
Ballyhoo and Ymurf parlay with Frestha, the incredibly canny blind woman who runs the joint, and who it seems impossibly to sneak anything past, including a disguise. In fact, she recognizes Ballyhoo by his voice alone, and he swears he hasn't met her! All the while, Ymurf is 'scanning' the tavern for signs of evil, and when Ballyhoo suddenly decides to plays some music as a distraction, he gives him a warning look, since he notices numerous sources of ill-will coming from Frestha and just about everyone in the kitchen behind her. Frestha informs the 'Lord' that they usually only have entertainers at night, but that he's welcome to come back that evening for a proper performance. The farmers seem a bit rowdy. Meanwhile, a young teenage girl with a bear crafted from hay and straw bothers Mudgol, and seems to know his name...the hijinx continue inside the Blind Vixen, when Baro decides to follow up his friends in case they're having any trouble. A few moments later, Ginkwrench, not finding any takers for his challenge, encounters the same little girl with the straw bear...
She ACCEPTS his arm wrestling challenge, but unfortunately for the gnome, it turns out that she is not who she seems, but an assassin who sneak attacks and paralyzes Ginkwrench! She continues to slowly torture and stab the gnome, who mentally communicates (thanks to Mudgol's pneumonic enhancement spell) his agony to the others. Gruulsh and Baro rush off to help him, the latter interrupted right as he is entering the tavern, and Mudgol decides to take flight. Rumpridge waits behind the tavern just in case. The assassin notices Mudgol out of the corner of 'her' eye, and decides to break for it, using some combination of magic and stealth to escape the PCs, and leaving the gnome alive and in great pain as a warning not to meddle in the affairs of the Score! Gruulsh, Mudgol and Baro eventually catch up to the scene but can't find the assailant anywhere, so Mudgol decides to fly about and scout, using true seeing. Meanwhile, Ballyhoo and Ymurf are about to leave the Blind Vixen, when out back, Rumpridge notices some drugged out, wealthy local adolescents coming out of the straw latticed trap door about 15' behind the tavern. He decides to follow them for a short while...
The rest of the PCs meet up, towing the paralyzed Ginkwrench along with them, and then Baro stuffs him in a rain barrel while they speak. They eventually call out for Rumpridge, who abandons his pursuit of the addicts, who seem to be collecting their horses to return to the Keep. They change up their strategy, with Ymurf, Gruulsh, Mudgol and Baro going inside the tavern to muscle in on the proprietress, while Lord Ballyhoo and Rumpridge creep into the underground passage out back. Frestha decides to bargain with the PCs for an enormous amount of cash, which they begrudgingly pay; but not after threatening them that she'll blow the whole place sky high if they try anything. She notes that two Score agents, Scroundel and Derelech (aka Adder) did indeed meet the previous night, and that she has hosted their ranks before for payment, but that she does not belong to their organization. She jokes with Baro (since both are from Toul Tabor) that 'her organization' is from her homeland, but the evoker is dumbfounded. She informs the PCs that she overheard Scroundel saying that he was heading for the villains' hideout beneath the quarry town of Badash in Sothos Karr, but doesn't know where Adder was off to (which turned out to be nowhere, since he was likely the assassin that jumped Ginkwrench). After a few more questions, Frestha tells them they've worn out the fabulous chunk of cash they handed her...but not before acquiring the drinking mugs used by the Score members the previous night.
Meanwhile, Ballyhoo and Rumpridge discover the drug den in the large back area of the tavern, where questionable folks gather to smoke 'Haze', a dangerous narcotic inhaled through pipes. There are a few patrons, including a Floivin Keep merchant named Nestor Manteau, heavy into his smoking. Ballyhoo disguises himself as Monch Gnarlbottom, and Rumpridge dons his red dragon outfit (from the astral plane) and they give the wealthy bastard a shock within an inch of his life, before Ballyhoo enchants him to turn himself in for rapes he admits to committing during the sack of Floivin Keep. The hear the latch from the kitchen area turning, and a swarthy chef ('Baffles') armed with a nasty meat cleaver enters the drug den, to collect pay from the clientelle. He seems surprised to see 'Monch' there (Rumpridge is meanwhile hidden), and the bard notices a strange tattoo off a smiling man giving a 'thumbs up' on the cook's wrist. After he does his rounds, Ballyhoo and Rumpridge leave, to meet up with their friends. Ginkwrench has meanwhile thawed out, and the party gathers their wagon and returns to the Keep to plot. Upon arriving, Rumpridge heads back to find out if Flake and Odd Jon accepted his offer. They did, and he is now 1/3rd owner of the Fiery Rat tavern.
Evelais (Saint's Day), Martenin 18th, 838 ID
The PCs decide to allow Mudgol to scry while they finish getting Ballyhoo restored. The half-orc makes several attempts, to locate either Scroundel or Adder, but fails miserably. The party decides it in their best interests to wait one more day, and attempt again to spy in on their quarry...
Aric, Martenin 19th, 838 ID
Today, Mudgol is more successful in scrying Adder's, but it turns out that in the two days since their encounter with the assassin in Halehusk, he has made his way to the Haunted Horrn to meet with the red wizard and other members of the Score, surrounded by Warlord Ultroon and his Blooded Lash host! The half-orc then attempts to locate Luorn Stride, Pedegar Pell and Shalabar Klasp, others the PCs are hunting, but has no success (the spell immediately fizzled when trying to pin down Klasp). Since they don't feel like teleporting right in the middle of the Haunted Horrn at the moment, they decide it might be time to take a road trek to the Score's hideout in Sothos Karr, and begin to make their preparations to travers the Mimresh and Fyreklaw Barrens.
PCs: Ballyhoo, Baro, Ginkwrench, Gruulsh, Mudgol, Rumpridge
NPCs
Nestor Manteau (human male): A wealthy Floivin Keep merchant; short, paunchy, bug-eyed and with greasy locks of gray-white hair. He was encountered by Lord Ballyhoo and Rumpridge as they were scouting out the drug den beneath the Blind Vixen in Halehusk, and the pair quickly took advantage of his paranoid, drugged out state. He guiltily confesses to having raped several women during the recent siege of Floivin Prorince, so Ballyhoo lays a lesser geas on the him to turn himself in, which he does.
