Master Brand and Portent Order condense the five unit caravans into a single train, leaned by removing all civilian refugees and other non-essential employees. Charlie Company will probe ahead to Silverymoon with two intentional objectives and one incidental bonus objective:
- Deliver a gift, an ornate cylindrical box decorated in runes, to Silverymoon boss lady and notable archmage Alustriel Silverhand. Lady Silverhand is not an especially close ally of Quastarte and is powerful enough she doesn’t really need to be. This cordial relationship must be carefully cultivated. Therefore, and this cannot be emphasized enough, it is neither necessary nor recommended for the party to make personal contact with Lady Silverhand. It is sufficient merely to safely conduct the gift to her without dismantling it out of curiosity.
- Professor Anton Steele, before buckarooing into Cohoreth’s escape portal, corresponded with a Silverymoon merchant by the name of Tenrath Albessac, proprietor of Lost Things Found. Steele was apparently arranging to acquire a partial planar map strategically valuable against the Quastarte incursion. The party must complete this negotiation and acquire the artifact.
- Quastarte in general, and the caravan in particular, has unrealized enemies all around and the local reaction to Quastarte must be evaluated. The party, as high profile representatives of Quastarte, will collect social data to further Quastarte’s diplomatic strategy.
One little non-negotiable mission requirement is that Charlie Company will be operating surreptitiously as Professor Anton Steele (Watc), Assistant Professor Grim “Gee-gee” Greycastle a.k.a. Griffen Garterrobe, a.k.a. Glitter Goateater, a.k.a. Goblin Grumbly, a.k.a. Grundlehorn Gutrot, a.k.a. Gruff Gimbleman, a.k.a. Gregg Gobbledygook, a.k.a. Geddy Gorecorpse, a.k.a. Giuseppe Gigglesnort, a.k.a. Gary Giddi-Up, a.k.a. Greg Gobstopper, a.k.a. Galloping Gilbert, a.k.a. Gordon Googlyeyes, a.k.a. Gordon GoodGrapple, a.k.a. Glenn Gleamingteeth, a.k.a. Grimace Gingerroot, a.k.a. Gimp Greaseeater, a.k.a. Gilbert Getbackinthebox, a.k.a. Giggles Gingerbread, a.k.a. Greta Garbo, a.k.a. Grappling Gavin, a.k.a. Gerald Goopygrin, a.k.a. Golly Goatroper, a.k.a. Geoffry Glibmouth, a.k.a. Gerhard Gunndersen, a.k.a. Goose Ganderson, a.k.a. Goodman Grey, a.k.a. Glengarry Glenn Gross, a.k.a. Green Gardenias, a.k.a. G’dayy Govna (Ander), Spellguard Captain Briar Quicksilver (Spellguard Captain Briar Quicksilver), and Spellguard Redshirts (Barika, Sqyylarr, Hops, and Ash).
The Steele Delegation (Charlie Company) sets out for Silverymoon in appropriate costume and with a livery upgrade from hillbillies to horses. Barika names her horse Gregg Gobblygook. En route east, an owlbear contending with a wolfpack for ownership of a stricken elk spooks the horses throwing Barika, Ander, Briar, and Hops to the ground. Watc evokes a wall of water around the elk diners. Ash and Hops prepare to defend the party. Barika and Sqyylarr catch their horses by the reins. Barika prepares to fight, and Sqyylarr helps Hops catch his horse before it can flee. Ander grapples his horse by the haunches as confused by his athleticism as his horse is. Eventually Ander’s horse wrestles out of the hold, but by that time Sqyylarr has caught hold of it and calmed it. Briar tries to reason with his horse; the horse comprehends but does not understand at first, but together they work through the confusion and Briar remounts. The party regroups and rides out just as the owlbear defeats the wall of water by walking through it.
After another day of travel, the Steele Delegation arrives at the north gate of Silverymoon. The party’s magic users can feel the magical pressure of the city wards that prevent conjuration magic, fire magic, and teleportation magic within city limits. They have also been warned of a city scrying network that can detect criminal or deceptive conversations. It is blocked only by anti-scry coins issued by local government.
Owing to Watc’s flaw of being unable to keep a secret, Assistant Professor Grim Greycastle answers the guard’s queries under the pretense that Steele’s vocal processors are malfunctioning. The answer seems excessive and vociferous at first, but then the guard realizes the extraordinary importance of admitting the party without delay or challenge.
The horses are stabled with a pleasant fellow with a severe cough. He recommends a couple of nice inns, but can’t help with locating lost and found items.
The party heads to the market center. Hops samples the food and drink, local news of which there is none, and decidedly avoids the aura cleansing bath, his aura already being the perfectly developed dwarven aroma as the rest of him. Barika checks out some crystal glass jars and then joins Hops at a flower vendor. Assistant Professor Greycastle finds several excellent potions, but can’t close the gap from his 20gp stipend to their extravagant price tags. Ash casually probes for local underworld contacts and meets four short, cloaked, possibly fey loan sharks who are the town bosses. Briar acquires some discount pumpernickel bread. Professor Steele approaches a dour town guard and inquires as to the location of Lost Things Found. Guard Jod has never met a living warforged before now, and he doesn’t care much for it now. Briar smooths out the escalating encounter and gets directions to the Lost Items Found in the southern district.
The party heads south, crossing the town’s iconic moon bridge over the River Rauvin. They find Lost Items Found along Ghost Way. A gawky teenager greets them as Master Albessac. The confusion clears up when it becomes evident that he is Elrith Albessac, son of the recently missing Tenrath Albessac. Professor Steele has no curbside order ready for pick up, so it seems like the party will be drawn into Albessac family drama.
Tenrath went missing a few weeks back, but there were no warning signs or likely enemies. His business was successful enough to afford him the indulgence of fancy clothes, wines, haircuts, and foods. If they could find Elrith’s pop for him, he would gratefully repay them with an anti-scry coin. Oh, also his mother has been pretty sick for months, if they wanted to have a gander at that.
The Steele delegation follows Elrith home to a very nice dwelling that backs up to the river. Elrith feeds bread and water to a frail middle aged lady in a bed of comforting magic. Hops detects that her ailment is poison, not disease as the family believes. Hops and Briar give her three magical curatives to eliminate, hopefully permanently, the source of illness so that she may recover on her own. The unusual, man-made poison, Hops suspects, was a trace amount delivered initially and only once by a needle.
Ash uses the distraction to slip away in the otherwise empty house. He finds Tenrath’s home office and deftly picks open the desk drawers. He finds accounting ledgers and coin sacks, but a maroon, tied book of encoded writing really catches his interest, despite and because of the fact he can’t quite decipher the code right away. He slips only the book into the Echo haversack and restores the office otherwise to its original condition.