Chapter 25

Having left Tella at the Broken Spy Glass, the group returns to the Iron Vulture to discuss their next steps. Pretty quickly, they agree to investigate Davanor’s warehouse, through whatever means necessary. Mond’s dinner hadn’t agreed with him, so he decides to stay on the ship, watching from the crow’s nest, in case something goes awry.

Around 2 AM, Dolor, Grindlefoot, Bilwin, and Gven make their way to the warehouse. They stick to the shadows thrown by the buildings and the darkness of a moonless night. To be certain of their secrecy, Grindlefoot casts Pass without Trace as they approach the warehouse. The streets are empty and it’s dark inside the building, no evidence of people inside.

They spy a built-in ladder on one side of the building, something that most of the taller structures have for maintenance and in case of fires. While Gven leads the way up the ladder, Grindlefoot wild shapes into a giant spider—that seems useful for silently climbing things and investigating in the dark.

When they reach the roof, it appears to be empty, but they can’t quite see the portion above the front doors, which is 80 feet away and just out of range for their darkvision. As they’re clearing the roof before heading inside, Dolor knocks a loose board and they see a figure turn and look in their direction. The human guard peers into the darkness for several seconds, crossbow at the ready, before dismissing the sound and turning back towards the street down below. “Damned rats are everywhere!”

From the cover of darkness, Grindlefoot’s giant spider shoots his webbing at the guard, entangling and holding them in place, unable to move.

Fight choreography

• Gven throws a javelin at the guard, connecting for 10 piercing damage.
• Bilwin blesses Dolor, Gven, and Grindlefoot, adding 1D4 to their attack rolls.
• Dolor fires his shortbow and the arrow hits the guard for 19 piercing damage.

• Gven moves up 30 feet to close on the guard and attacks with her greatsword twice, causing 10 and 7 damage.
• Grindlefoot, as a spider, bites the guard for 9 piercing damage and 7 poison damage.
• Bilwin covers the hatch leading down into the warehouse, in case anyone decides to investigate the ruckus on the roof.
• Dolor closes the distance to the guard and attacks with his short sword, causing 20 damage and knocking them unconscious.

The guard is dressed in leather armor that is well cared for and carrying nicer than usual weapons, obviously a mercenary of higher caliber than they anticipated. Grindlefoot wraps the guard in webbing, preventing them from moving or calling out when they regain consciousness. The difficulty of taking down the guard and their quality gear suggests that Davanor hires guards who know how to handle themselves in a fight—something to keep in mind.

Grindlefoot decides to enter the building first, forgetting that his giant spider body is slightly more rotund and larger than the trap door in the roof. He gets stuck about halfway through the opening, with three of his eight legs still on the roofside, flailing around uselessly. Seeing the predicament, Gven and Dolor lend him a helping hand, pushing him through the doorway. Not expecting the assistance, Grindlefoot plummets towards the warehouse floor, shooting webs at the ceiling as he falls, only catching himself seconds before crashing into the crates below. Hanging from the ceiling with his eight legs spread out in every direction, he begins to whistle, “dun dun dun-dun dun dun dun-dun.”

Dolor, Gven, and Bilwin follow through the roof’s hatch once Grindlefoot is clear, climbing the short ladder down to the second-level walkway, next to the office. They can just make out Grindlefoot’s spider form towards the floor of the warehouse, when they hear his little ditty and then he skurries off into the darkness, presumably scouting for guards.

Finding the office door locked, Dolor deftly opens it with his lock-picking tools and the three begin their search. There are a few ledgers on the top of the desk, and opening one reveals details of shipments coming to and from the warehouse, including some from Amonah with the letter “P” noted next to them.

Gven notices that the ledgers track arrival date, number of crates, origin, and an initial. Two weeks ago is the most recent time a T was listed—possibly denoting her brother, Torp, as the shipment’s receiver.

Carefully opening the desk drawer, Bilwin discovers a piece of paper with a symbol on it that looks like a skewed W inside a circle. Something tickles his memories, but is out of reach.

Verifying there’s nothing else of interest in the office, Dolor, Bilwin, and Gven join Grindlefoot in the center of the warehouse floor, where the giant spider has opened one of the crates. It’s filled with too many coins and medallions to count, but a dozen of them are larger than the rest. They all have symbols carved into them, most are different, but there are multiples of three and four with the same designs. The majority of the smaller coins are made of regular, non-valuable metals like iron, while some of the larger ones are made from valuable metals, such as silver or gold.

As he looks into the open crate and sees the medallions, Bilwin’s memories come flooding forward. “These are holy symbols! Like clerics used to wear over their robes. And look, those smaller ones there, those were carried by the commoners who worshipped them. Oh, oh no. There’s Hanseath’s symbol.” He looks around at the others grimly, “these are highly illegal since The Conflict. I don’t recognize all of the deities represented here, but I do know that it’s almost certain death to be caught trading any of them.”

Covering their tracks, they replaced the lid on the crate with the holy objects and looked for another crate with something more mundane to take, faking a robbery. Bolts of cloth are too difficult to transport, farming tools aren’t worth much coin, but growlers full of beer are enough to make them think someone wanted a free drink. Loading themselves up with several growlers each, the group makes their way out of the warehouse through the backdoor, unseen by anyone.

The group takes a circuitous route back to the Iron Vulture, with Grindlefoot back in his natural halfling form. Along the way, Bilwin kindly gives a few growlers of beer to patrons at several different pubs, spreading the alcoholic-infused cheer and making it look like a crime of festiveness rather than an investigation into Davanor’s business.

When they return to the Iron Vulture, Bilwin grabs a pencil and paper, sketching out each of the symbols they saw on the coins and medallions. There might be a connection between them that they’ll understand later.

Long rest….

Synopsis:

Leaving Mond on the Iron Vulture, suffering from something afflicting his guts, the adventurers go to the warehouse at 2 AM. Seeing no lights inside, they climb a makeshift ladder to the roof. Grindlefoot wild shapes into a giant spider, easily climbing the building walls. The group surprises a human guard, subdues them with spider's webbing, and knocks them unconscious.

Descending into the warehouse through the trapdoor, Grindlefoot's giant spider gets stuck and Gven and Dolor help push him through. Casting webbing as he falls, Grindlefoot catches himself only a few feet from the floor and certain injury. They find the warehouse empty of people and begin their investigation in the office.

In the office, they discover detailed ledgers of the shipments coming to and from the warehouse, including some from Amonah with the letter "P" noted next to them. Gven notices that the ledgers track arrival date, number of crates, origin, and an initial. The most recent time a T is listed is 2 weeks ago—T for her brother, Torp. Looking in the desk drawer, Dolor notices a piece of paper with a symbol on it that looks like a skewed W inside a circle.



In the center of the warehouse, Grindlefoot has discovered a half-opened crate with several different sized coins and medallions. Bilwin realizes that they're holy symbols—and are highly illegal since the Conflict. They leave the warehouse, undiscovered and with the unconscious guard wrapped up in a spider's web. Return to the Iron Vulture for a long rest.