One Crime at a Time

This campaign is part of the events of the Mordish Civil War.

This campaign was not run by the primary GM

In the spring of AeP 447, The Mordish Birding Society attempted to carry out a series of assassinations of the Kaiser’s key allies. One of these targets was Lord Gavin Bellest, the Shipmaster of the Port Thresthelm shipyards. This task was given to J’Kar, who was using the alias Stellars Jay. He hired four people to help him. Two were northerners from Carufell, Alekiai and Willa. He also hired two locals, Ricard a crime lord, and Jorso a thief. These four got to work by first intercepting a courier delivering a note from the Count of Quarinov to the Kaiser. They swapped the note with one given to them by Jay. They then scouted out Lord Bellest’s home and the shipyards, carefully planning their assassination. Several nights later they broke into the shipyards, set fire to Gavin’s workshop after stealing his notes, and confronted him and his bodyguard on the boulevard leading to the shipyards. They defeated his militia, Willa killed the bodyguard, and Gavin was captured and executed by Ricard.

Player Characters

 * Alekiai of the Frigid Pines: A Nurmendemar warrior from Carufell armed with a distinctive hammer, who travelled south with Willa and his family.
 * Jorso: A local thief and expert pickpocket.
 * Ricard Joyce: A crime lord in Port Thresthelm, known for his connections to important people.
 * Willa of the Cold Storm: A berserker warrior from Carufell, who went south to find a cure to her illness. Her weapons were two axes passed down from her family.

Important NPCs

 * Lord Gavin Bellest: The Shipmaster of the yards, a loyal ally of the Kaiser.
 * Stellars Jay: A member of a revolutionary group who hired four people to kill Gavin.
 * Mobius: The bodyguard of Gavin Bellest, from Thelakatec in the Southern Isles.
 * Waxwing: Jay’s bodyguard, handy with an axe and bow.

Midgame Documents
Alekiai’s Reflections: Night One - A first person narrative about Alekiai sitting with his family after his first day working for the Birding Society Count Shevenor’s Note - A note written by Penelope Shevenor, to be delivered to the Kaiser. It was intercepted by Jorso. The Tavern With the Blue Door - A narrative following Alekiai’s wife Larin, as she speculates on the future.

Session One: A Storm is Coming
At the direction of Emilio Kent and the Mordish Birding Society, J’Kar and Daxian traveled to Port Thresthelm. Their goal was to coordinate the assassinaion of a high ranking Mordish noble. After doing some reconnaissance they reached out to four contractors, Ricard Joyce, Jorso, Alekiai and Willa. Each had their own reasons for fighting the crown. Each provided specialization to the mission. Ricard was a crime lord with ample contacts and resources in the city. Jorso was a thief who knew the back alleys. Alekiai and Willa were warriors from the north. Using one of Ricard’s storehouses as a base, J’Kar now going by the name Stellars Jay, invited the other three contractors over. Jorso found Alekiai and Willa outside. Together they entered, meeting Jay, Ricard, and Waxwing. After introductions were exchanged and the reason for the summons laid out, Jay gave them a small test. Their goal was to find and intercept a courier delivering a letter from Count Penelope Shevenor to the Kaiser. Jay handed the team a letter with the Count’s seal, and asked them to switch it up without alerting the courier. If they could do that, they could be trusted with the real target. At the promise of great pay and a chance to fight the kaiser, the four agreed. Jay gave them what little information he had on the path of the courier and explained that he couldn’t go because a guard had seen him and Waxwing the day before.

The Count had several couriers, and it was unknown who would be delivering the note. Fortunately, Ricard did business with a major mail carrier. He took Willa and Alekai to Hilltop to investigate. Alekiai and Willa pretended to be his new bodyguards. As they walked Alekiai began to tease Ricard. The Northerners also helped scare off the various people approaching Ricard. Dressed in his resplendent robes, the crime lord made quite a sight. Many people approached him asking for favors. On one occasion the Northerners were not enough to scare someone off. With a sneer and a flick of his hand, Ricard rejected the approaching man, and walked off. After arriving at the mail carriers office, Ricard spoke with the boss. Waiting downstairs for him to finish his meeting, Alekiai and Willa played catch with an axe. Ricard was finished soon. After promising money and a favor to the boss, Ricard was able to find out who the courier was. Seeing that Ricard was competent and helpful, Alekiai stopped most of his teasing.

Meanwhile Jorso scouted out the route Jay had indicated. He stalked through the alleys and found a section to lay a good ambush. It was a small section of the path that could easily be blocked off with a cart, forcing the courier onto the busy main road. The two groups met up and formulated a plan. Ricard would get one of his local cart workers to block off the alley, which Alekiai would then stand in. As the courier came through and noticed the blocked off alley, Alekiai would leave and bump her, knocking her to the ground. Ricard would then approach and distract the courier, while Jorso would switch the letters. Willa would wait a few blocks away as backup if needed.

They would execute the plan in several hours. In the meantime they went to get a meal. Ricard took them to a Toallan restaurant. The owner gave them a private room, tall sandwiches with cured meat, and fruit juice. Ricard paid. As they ate they discussed the plan and their various reasons for being in the city. No one revealed much but everyone got the sense Ricard was from Toalla and this was personal for him. Alekiai and Willa were trying to find their place in Port Thresthlem, having just arrived in the country a few weeks prior. They were unwelcome in Carufell for crimes committed against the king. After the long lunch, they returned to the alley to set up. Alekiai took half his sandwich with him.

Hours passed as they got in place. Willa left for her spot and Alekiai took his place in the alley. However, minutes before the courier was due to arrive, a rival crime gang, The Ruffians, came around the corner. They targeted Alekiai, believing him to be Ricard’s new bodyguard. They told him to cough up Ricard, or else. Alekiai was happy to accept this threat. He threw his hammer at two of the men, knocking them out easily. One other got a minor hit on him, so Alekiai smashed his head into the wall with the hammer. The other quickly fell as Alekiai tripped him and knocked him out. Ricard and Jorso came around the corner just in time to see the aftermath. They scrambled to hide the bodies and clean away the blood. They dragged the unconscious men away and threw the corpse into a dumpster. Alekiai used a bit of earth magic to dirty up the wall where the man’s brains were splattered to hide the blood.

Everyone scrambled back into position just in time for the courier to come by. Alekiai knocked her down as she passed. After doing his part, he began to run to where Willa was in case she needed help. Ricard came up to distract the coursier. He greeted her by her name, confusing her by speaking quickly and playing up the severity of her extremely minor injury. She knew Ricard and was surprised to find him here. Ricard played on that confusion to keep her distracted. In this time, Jorso was able to easily switch the letters without the courier noticing. Willa received the all clear signal from Alekiai, and the group returned to The Lair to report a successful mission.

Session Two: Revelations
Having proved themselves, the six revolutionaries gathered at The Lair on the following day. Stellars Jay filled everyone in on their target, Lord Gavin Bellest, Lord of the Kaiser’s Shipyards. Jay told them what he could, mostly public information including the location of Bellest’s manor, the size of his militia, and the hours he worked at the shipyards. Jorso added in  some stories he knew about how Gavin’s bodyguard could make people disappear. The bodyguard was supposedly from the Island of Thelakatec. Waxwing began to laugh. He said the Thelak were stories told to scare children in the Isles. Rumors said they could see perfectly in the dark and could hold their breath indefinitely. He spoke about how they could smell bad children who stayed up too late and would eat them whole. Waxwing dismissed the entire thing as children’s tales. Jay gave him a look and asked if that was crazier than some of the other things they had seen. Waxwing laughed again and said of course. Smelling bad children was ridiculous. Regardless of the supposed powers of Gavin’s bodyguard, the team wanted to check out the shipyard. Jay said he would come up with some false credentials for them while they were out. They broke into two groups.

Ricard and Willa went to check out some bars around the shipyard that workers used. Their goal was to learn more about Gavin’s private militia and his bodyguard. On the way, however, Willa got distracted by a particularly loud fishmonger. He claimed to have the cheapest and best fish, but Ricard was wise to these petty schemes. After some harassment, the fishmonger gave Willa a small bag of sardines and shrimp to go away and stop making a scene. The two then continued to the south gate of the shipyards. While there, they scouted out a few taverns, and eventually found one that seemed the perfect combination of seedy and refined that a private militia would frequent. After ordering drinks, Ricard passed the bartender a few extra regents. The bartender told stories about the bodyguard, saying the militia was scared of him. He warned them not to cross Bellest, and repeated some of the stories Jorso said, about how people who crossed Gavin were known to take a “long swim”.

Meanwhile, Jorso and Alekiai enjoyed a nice lunch. They watched the main gate and got a sense of its defenses. Jorso overhead some workers behind him talking about their jobs, so he went to chat with them. Posing as an aspiring dock worker, he played into the worker’s egos and got a little bit of the inside layout in his head from listening to them describe their workplaces and buildings.

Before going back to The Lair, Ricard and Willa did a little scouting closer to the gate. After watching for a bit, Ricard decided to contract someone out to look for him instead. He found a shifty knife merchant. After buying a knife from him, Ricard asked him to keep an eye on the gate and report the comings and goings of people to him the next day at sunrise. The knife dealer was suspicious, and demanded payment in advance. Ricard didn’t have the money on him, and had to explain collateral to the man. After much explaining, Ricard handed the man a Toallan lockbox to retrieve the next day, with delivery of the man’s payment, but Ricard also left him with a warning: Do not shake the box. There was something dangerous inside that COULD NOT be disturbed.

The team reconvened at The Lair, where Jay had forged a few notes for them. They decided in the morning they would go to the shipyards pretending to be an inspection team for Lord Fillat, who was having a ship built in the yards. The next morning, everyone met by the south gate and met with Ricard’s lookout. He gave them information about how guards only needed one piece of documentation for a whole group, and crown soldiers and Gavin’s militia got in without papers. After he was paid he handed back Ricard his box, and assured him he did not shake the “cool lateral box” With a heavy sigh, the group moved to the line at the main gate.

The group that entered the line after them was none other than Lord Gavin Bellest himself, along with his bodyguard and a small contingency of militiamen. Alekiai, feeling brave, tried to start a conversation with the militia. He and one of the guards talked about their children. Alekiai explained how his five year old daughter was using her practice knife. The guard explained to Alekiai that his four year old daughter was using a real knife already. They continued to make small talk as they stood in line. Nobody interacted with Gavin or his bodyguard directly. However, everyone got a close up look of the two of them. Gavin Bellest was thin, tall, and nearing sixty. He wore a golden ring stamped with an anchor, to indicate his rank and an expensive grey jacket emblazoned with the Kaiser’s seal overlaid with an anchor. Though his technical rank in the Mordish Nobility was low, his position as a trusted advisor to the current monarch and the Kaiser before him, as well as his role running the Shipyards, put him in a high position of power. The bodyguard was also tall. He wore leather gloves and a thick sailor’s coat with a high collar to cover his neck. His eyes were bulging and he carried a cutlass and longbow. Though Gavin ignored their group, the bodyguard watched them.

Eventually the four got to the front of the line. The guard looked over their papers, and after a few mindless questions to Ricard, let them in without issue. They had to go right to their destination as Lord Bellest was behind them. He had to do no such check in. Fortunately, Jorso knew where the main shipyard buildings were, and they were able to find signage to Lord Fillat’s ship construction area. After more harassment from Ricard, the team was able to convince the surrounding people that they belonged there, but were unable to gather any useful information about Gavin and his entourage without raising suspicions. Fortunately, Ricard remembered a contact he had in the shipyards, and sent Jorso to slip a note in his pocket, telling the contact to meet him the next day.

Session Three: Honor Among Thieves
The next morning, the team met Ricard’s contact, Cena Char. Cena used to work in Ricard’s business, but as a final favor, Ricard helped him get out of illegal trade by finding him a job in the Royal Shipyards. Cena showed up to the tavern Ricard had picked for the meeting, clearly uncomfortable and out of place. The team attempted to put him at ease by getting a table in the corner. Alekiai casually leaned up against a pillar blocking Cena from view, and Ricard stood in such a way that any onlookers wouldn’t be able to tell if he was talking to Jorso and Willa or Cena. Ricard tried to make small talk, asking about Cena’s wife and kids, but Cena had none of it. He asked Ricard to get right to the point. Casually, Ricard asked about Gavin’s schedule. Cena told Ricard what he knew, and told him about Gavin’s Workshop where the Shipmaster kept his most important documents.

Cena was getting jumpy, but Ricard decided to press more and asked about the bodyguard. This spooked Cena significantly. He jumped up and tried to bolt. Alekiai stopped him by using the hook on one end of his hammer to catch Cena by the legs and bring him to the ground. The team took things into the back alley, but even with threats to his family, Ricard wasn’t able to get anything more out of the man.

The threats worried the rest of the team, but Ricard assured them all it was empty. He didn’t need to carry through, people just needed to believe he would. The team returned to The Lair to plan their next move, and with a stroke of luck, Waxwing returned after happening upon a weapon salesman who bragged he sold weapons to Gavin’s Militia. Willa and Alekiai decided to sabotage the arrows while Jorso and Ricard took it easy. The next morning, Alekiai took his kids shopping for a new knife to cause a distraction while Willa went around back to sabotage the arrows. Alekiai was more than able to talk weapons with the master blacksmith long enough for Willa to complete their own objectives. Alekiai and his daughter Ellenor ended up having a nice conversation with the blacksmith who was excited to meet real weapons experts in Mordehall. Alekiai bought a knife for Ellenor and gave her toy knife to his son Henry. Willa gave the thumbs up having successfully damaged the weapon shipment, and the Caurellans left.

Meanwhile, worried about the militia beyond just arrow sabotage, Jorso took Ricard to try to find some poison to put in the ale at a tavern the Militia frequented. Ricard didn’t have any poison sellers, but did know an apothecary that distributed illegal drugs out the back. He took Jorso to his apothecary, and the man was very confused as to what Ricard wanted, but eventually pointed him to some burn cream, saying ''“This will make you really sick if you eat it. It’s for topical use only”'' Jorso dipped his finger in and tasted some. It didn’t have a strong flavor, but he instantly felt his stomach rumble. Jorso demanded they buy some, much to the discomfort of Ricard and the apothecary.

The team regrouped and walked along the path they knew that Lord Bellest took every day, looking for the ideal place to spring an ambush. All that was left was to spring the trap the next day.

Session Four: Rat in the Trap
After scouting out a perfect location, the team began to plan their ambush. Ricard would send for some of his men to set up and set fire to their carts, cutting off access down the main boulevard. Waxwing, Jorso, and Ricard would then position themselves on top of a roof behind Gavin’s group and shoot arrows at them, causing the only escape route to be through a tight alley guarded by Willa and Alekiai.

The only thing the team was missing was bait. Ambushing Lord Bellest during the day while he was walking with crowds and guards was suicide, so they decided to break into the Shipyards at night, pilfer his document room, and light it on fire. Still worried about the militia guard, Jorso went to poison the ale tankard at the militia’s favorite drinking spot. He mildly poisoned another patron so the bartender would take him to a hospital, and used the time to pour his burn cream into the large tankards. The bartender stepped back in as Jorso was leaving, and searched Jorso to make sure he didn’t steal anything. Joro hadn’t taken anything, having finally learned the value of one crime at a time. The team reconvened at The Lair to gather Daxian, while Stellars Jay, knowing the team had no intention of making this look like an accident, gathered his things and prepared to leave. He wished the team well, and said he would arrange payment for them at The Lair when they returned. The team told Waxwing to meet them at the ambush point after they set the document building on fire. Waxwing agreed, and began to string his bow.

The team went to inspect the wall to the docks, and decided to try to get in near Northside, by the academic buildings, as this area was less guarded. They hoisted Jorso up onto the wall, but a guard came around a small bend, carrying a torch. Jorso was able to hide by hanging over the ledge. He then pulled the guard down, who was then knocked unconscious by the rest of the team. Ricard donned the guard’s outfit, and helped Jorso over the wall again so he could pull the lever and open the gate enough for everyone to slip under.

Jorso scouted ahead on the way to the document room, and encountered a small guard group. He returned to the team to warn them, and they laid a quick trap. Ricard in his guard uniform stood at an intersection, and acted confused to bring them in. The captain came over to chastise Ricard and the team jumped the guards. The small unit was easily dispatched by Willa and Alekiai, and guard outfits were acquired for everyone. The guards were knocked unconscious and locked in a nearby room.

With their new outfits, the team was able to approach the guards posted outside the document room directly, planning to surprise attack them again. Willa took out one, but the other guards proved stronger than the previous set. Ricard realized he needed to buy some time. Attempting to cause confusion, Ricard leaned in and kissed one of the guards. However, he realized he felt something: a connection with the man. A once in a lifetime kiss. But then Jorso stabbed him. As the team entered the document room to pilfer, Ricard took one last look at the mysterious man, and took his ring to wear for himself.

Inside, they found extensive documentation explaining how to use Northern Pine to make ships, schematics, and maps of the best locations to harvest and trade for it, along with some minor enchantment rituals. Alekiai pocketed as much as he could and grabbed Gavin’s supply of earth stones. Then they burned down the storehouse which quickly went up in brilliant flames, and ran as fast as they could to the ambush point to meet Waxwing. Waxwing was already in position, waiting for a fight. Jorso and Ricard climbed up to the rooftop next to him, wearing their militia uniforms stolen from unconscious guards. Alekiai and Willa went to the alley to lie in wait. In short time, exactly as planned, Lord Bellest, his bodyguard, and a small contingent of militia came running down the boulevard towards the Shipyards.

Ricard gave the signal. His men lit their carts on fire and fled the area. Gavin’s entourage, now penned into the boulevard, stopped to turn around, but when Waxwing and Jorso opened fire on the archers, they fell and some swordsmen scattered in panic. Only Bellest, a few swordsmen, and his bodyguard stood their ground. Gavin’s bodyguard went to clear the way ahead of them and ran into Alekiai and Willa, while Gavin realized he recognized one of the men on the roof. He attempted to intimidate Ricard, but Ricard stood his ground and fired a crossbow bolt back in retaliation. The bolt missed, and Gavin laughed.

Meanwhile, part of the militia group came to confront Willa and Alekiai on the bodyguard’s orders. Alekiai dispatched them easily while Willa ran to confront the bodyguard. However, Willa began to be affected by her illness, the Blinding Blight. Brandishing her axes, she charged the bodyguard anyway, knowing she had precious few moments before falling unconscious. She was able to briefly confront him before he threw a smoke bomb in an attempt to escape. Willa began to pass out, and Alekiai ran to catch her. Before helping her up, he struck the ground with his hammer. Channeling earth magic through the blow, he caused a small earthquake, making the ground a slippery loose collection of crushed stone.

Bellest, meeting his bodyguard in the smoke, was secretly instructed to take one of his remaining smoke bombs, and move for the alley while he caused a distraction. Gavin took one, and began to sneak around slowly, while the bodyguard moved in the opposite direction and made a loud noise.

Alekiai dropped to help Willa. Knowing the only thing that could help her know was her berserker’s bloodlust, he screamed at her and shook her. Willa instantly entered a blood rage and jumped up. She was able to find the bodyguard easily, and using her axes with a rage no one else could replicate, dispatched the Thelak in a quick confrontation. She chopped off his head and threw the head down the alley to intimidate Bellest. The Shipmaster threw down the second smoke bomb to mask his approach to Alekiai. Still Gavin found the warrior waiting at the mouth of the small alley. Bellest drew his Tidal Dagger, and used it to move the smoking grenade between Alekiai’s feet. Once more Alekiai used earth magic. He dragged his hammer across the ground and used the vibrations to find Bellest. Using the same trick he had pulled against Cena, he incapacitated Bellest easily. He then took the dagger with the intention of giving it to Ellenor when she got older, grabbed the lord, and dragged him to the center of the square, with the buildings going up in smoke and flames around them.

Alekiai was able to easily strong arm Bellest into a kneeling position before Ricard. In a desperate attempt, Bellest offered Ricard power beyond his wildest dreams. Ricard laughed it off, and pulled out his lockbox, and withdrew a vial of mysterious substance. He explained that it was Bank Robber’s Burn, a highly volatile and explosive chemical, and that he was going to make Gavin drink it. Gavin attempted to refuse, but when Jorso plugged his nose, he had to eventually open his mouth to breathe, and Ricard poured the viscous liquid down his throat. He screamed for a moment, and then stopped confused.

“What the hell is this?” He asked.

“Oh, that’s Honey” Ricard responded Gavin was confused for a moment. “Don’t worry, I’m still going to kill you,” Ricard continued. Gavin hardly had time to process everything that had happened before Ricard plunged his sword into Gavin’s throat. Waxwing crouched down, pulled a white feather from his bag, and dipped it in Gavins fresh blood. He flicked it about in the air to coagulate it, and put it back in his bag.

After killing the bodyguard, Willa had succumbed to the Blight and passed out in a dizzy spell. Alekiai picked her up. The team then returned to The Lair, largely ignored, as most town folk and guards were worried about putting out the fires. There they found a large sack of coins, everything promised to them. Ricard forwent his portion, and the others split it between themselves. Inside the bag were also two letters. One sealed with the insignia of the Kaiser, and one unsealed. The unsealed letter said that as soon as he saw the fires, Jay flead, and for Waxwing to meet him at a predetermined coded location. He explained that the world would be changing, and the team had proven themselves trustworthy for other jobs, if they were up for it. In the meantime, their promised pay, and a special note for Alekiai and Willa, which would grant them access to the Kaiser’s lands in the Mordish Capital. Jay explained that the castle would be better defended than the castle in Carufell, but if they wanted to search for Willa’s cure, it was their best bet, and he was happy to lend his skills to them. They carefully opened the letter without breaking the seal, and inside saw a note, supposedly from the Kaiser, that said to grant his “Friends from Carufell” entry to the Dorlon. Alekiai was hesitant to move his family again, and though perhaps he should enjoy some time with his kids, but Ricard said he would accompany Willa. There wasn’t much left for him in Port Thresthelm, and perhaps his talents were better off exploring this “new world” Jay spoke of.