Wandering Wolves: Pursuit of the All-Seeing Eye Interlude

Sypheros 11 - Sypheros 13, YK 999

Though they didn't reveal themselves, Lysander was fairly certain that the two lead assassins, the unnamed male and Hellena, were with House Tarkanan, and that the others were local hirelings. They told the Wolves that they had been hired to kidnap Nock (who they referred to by name) and bring her back to a specific place in the Bloody Market at Rhukaan Draal and leave her there, alive but unconscious. The person that hired them (a hobgoblin, but they are fairly sure it was actually a changeling) was very specific on that point, and also very specific that if he spotted anyone but Nock, they would not receive their money, and would be dead before the day ended. They believed it. Their suspicion is that their contact, and whoever he works for (probably Vadis) are working for a powerful benefactor, one that engenders a fanatical loyalty. It is clear that Vadis has deeper connections than those of the Tyrants.

After letting the assassins go, the Wolves made their way back to Wyvernskull, and found Pus One-Eye, who took them to the two shifter children he had been hiding, per "Canker's" request. Pel and Lysander made sure to find a captain of a ship they could trust who was going to Korranberg in Zilargo and paid him 150 gold to take the former slaves there, so that they could contact their loved ones and go back to their lives.

Upon Luggoth's insistence, after they had checked in with Failin d'Orien to make sure he was still waiting for them, The Wolves spent a day in Wyvernskull asking questions and trying to find the Emerald Claw that had purchased Savannah and the others. They were able to track down rumors of a group of shifters being smuggled to the Shadow Marches aboard a slave galleon, and they tracked it down before it could leave. The Emerald Claw put up a brave resistance, but they were no match for the Wolves, and Luggoth was reunited with Savannah. Stories of what exactly Cavoletta had done with them, or why she had sold them to the Eel, would have to wait for another day, but Savannah and the others did reveal that they had heard that the Claw was selling them to be used in experiments by someone named Count Werner Orlok.

This name struck a chord in William's memory. When he was a boy, he had heard tales from his aunt, a Sentinel Marshal named Hannah d'Deneith, of a Karrnathi Count Werner Orlok, who was a war criminal and member of the Emerald Claw who performed hideous experiments on enemy soldiers involving undeath. In fact, his experiments coming to light were no small part of the reason that Regent Moranna turned on and banished the Emerald Claw from service in the Karrnathi military.

Orlok had fled the country, but Hannah tracked him down and was forced to kill him some 15 years ago. His body was stolen by agents of the Emerald Claw, however, and every now and then rumors would arise that Orlok was somehow alive (or undead) once more, still performing experiments at the behest of the Emerald Claw and his own sick whims. Hannah disappeared five years ago while tracking a fugitive in the Shadow Marches, and many believe that she died at the hands of her resurrected foe there, although no one has ever been able to find her body.

The Wolves, along with Savannah, traveled with Failin back to Rhukaan Draal. They have two days' journey in which to decide what to do next. Nock has recovered somewhat from the effects of the Dreamlily, although she has taken enough that she has earned an addiction to it, one more powerful than the brief one that Pel and Luggoth had. She can maintain a waking (albeit unnaturally fearless and somewhat dazed) state by taking a dose of Dreamlily, or she can begin the process of recovery, but doing so will render her completely useless for at least a week.

Nock suggests that she feign unconsciousness and go with Vadis's contact in the Bloody Market, and that the Wolves can track them back to his lair. Interrogating Vadis's agent will do them no good, she tells them. This close to him, his agents will have a fanatical, possibly suicidal, loyalty, and if the agent manages to kill himself, they lose their only lead to Vadis.

She is also willing to let Pel impersonate her, and she will stay at the Deneith enclave in Rhukaan Draal and try to recover from her addiction and salvage what intelligence she can from her operation with the Eel, which is pretty much destroyed now that the slaver and his crew, as well as his Orien assistant, are all dead.

Either way, Nock suggests that they do some careful digging and asking around in Rhukaan Draal to see if they can find out the name of Vadis's contact, and maybe get a line on him or her before they hand Nock (or her carefully crafted replacement) over.

Everyone notices that Nock is a bit cold and methodical, and she very much seems to believe that this is now her operation. There's definitely a personal grudge against Vadis and a desire to bring him in, and a ruthlessness underlying her character that makes it easy enough to see how she could have spent months inside a slavery operation without her conscience gnawing at her.

Important Questions:
1. Is the party OK with spending 150 gold to send the slaves back to their loved ones? It will definitely add to your heroic rep, as 21 people spreading the word of their rescue at the hands of the Wolves will turn into a lot more. Also, do you want to give them any traveling money, or are they on their own once they get to Korranberg? Another 50-100 gold to the group would probably let them buy lightning rail passage to wherever they needed to go, or at least send Sivis messages to loved ones.

2. I presume everyone is OK with raiding the Emerald Claw's slave galleon on Luggoth's behalf? They don't have any useful information to offer other than what I gave you above, the destination (Shadow Marches) and the buyer (Count Orlok).

3. Is Luggoth OK with leaving Savannah and Borgath at the Deneith enclave? It seems a fairly safe place, and is entirely surrounded by soldiers. (Metagaming: Cavoletta will not sneak in and kidnap them again.)

4. And most importantly, what's the plan for finding Vadis? Interrogating his agent will almost certainly not work. The main question is whether you want to use Nock or use Pel impersonating Nock, but if you have other ideas/schemes you want to put into action, I'm of course willing to let you try them.