Session 61 - The Rock in the Pocket
Reminder: the party is searching for Moelwyn’s contact, Aldrick Voss, in Drar, to ask about the Antamian Empire’s incursion in Shalarag.
Aftermath of the Ambush
- Kailas and Dristuul picked over the assassins’ bodies for loot.
- Nyxara healed the party before everyone climbed back into the Sand Witch to depart.
- Kailas looted poop from one of the corpses and brought the stink with him into the vehicle.
- He then smeared it across the steering wheel trying to clean his hands. Dristuul tried to wash them with whiskey from his Bottomless Flask.
- Dristuul offered the flask to Kailas, who tried to yoink it — Kailas was quick, but Dristuul was faster.
The Road to Drar
- With Korin’s flawless reading of the map, the party reached Drar without incident.
- Approaching the city gates, Kailas and Dristuul sniffed the air for the smell of food. All they could smell was the shit smeared on Kailas.
A Catastrophic Parking Job
- As the Sand Witch slowed to about 20 kph approaching a parking spot, Kailas simply jumped out, leaving the vehicle pointed at a wall.
- Korin tried to leap into the driver’s seat but couldn’t react in time as the vehicle crept toward the wall.
- Dristuul used Dark Leap to teleport himself and Nyxara clear of the vehicle.
- Korin Misty Stepped in front of the Sand Witch and braced himself to stop it with his bare strength.
- Jaruul also Misty Stepped behind Korin and hit him with Thunder Wave, slamming Korin into the front of the vehicle.
- Between Korin’s strength and the momentum of the spell, the two managed to bring the Sand Witch to a stop. The Thunder Wave released a deafening boom across the parking yard.
- A worker named Star came running, complaining that the party had broken the vehicle. Nyxara cast restoration on it (or rather, pretended to — it was never actually broken). Star was delighted and tried to hire them for a job, but the party declined.
Through the Checkpoint
- Kailas tried to slip into Drar without stopping at the checkpoint and was halted by a lizardfolk guard. He claimed he urgently needed to take a shit, holding up his shit-smeared hand as proof.
- His deception only barely landed, but the guards didn’t care enough to press the matter.
- The rest of the group walked calmly through the checkpoint without incident.
A Map and a Marketplace
- Just past the gate, a kid selling maps approached the party. Dristuul immediately tried to coerce him into drinking from the Bottomless Flask and offered him a knife. Korin intervened and pushed Dristuul along.
- The party paid 300 copper for a map of Drar and continued toward the markets.
- Kailas wandered ahead and found a bacon stall — long strips grilled over an open flame.
- He tried to buy 3 slices for 3 silver, but only had gold. When he tried to break a gold coin in half, the stall owner stopped him and offered an extra strip instead.
- Kailas held out for 3 strips. The vendor quietly gestured at the longsword sitting behind him. Kailas backed down to 2 strips for 1 gold and walked away quickly. (Don’t let a barbarian do business.)
The Scalded Market
- As the party entered the Scalded Market, Dristuul was suddenly flooded with memories — possibly from his childhood.
- While he was distracted, a figure in a green-ish, mud-ish hood bumped into him, apologized, and vanished into the crowd.
- Checking his pockets, Dristuul found a rock wrapped in a piece of paper with something written on it. Only Dristuul knows the contents.
- Dristuul secretly recognised Drar — he knows the city — but did not disclose this to the party. As Korin squinted at the map, Dristuul casually pointed in a direction “where there might be a place to drink,” pretending he didn’t know.
The Dust Bowl
- As evening fell, the party arrived at a tavern called The Dust Bowl off the open market plaza.
- The tavern was carved down into the sandstone — a low-ceilinged room reached by descending steps. Surprisingly cool inside, and very busy.
- A dragonborn approached their table. Korin ordered a full round of the cheapest beverage on offer.
- The party asked about rooms — the tavern had none, and the dragonborn directed them to find an inn in The Warren.
- Kailas used the toilet — literally a hole in the ground next to a bucket of questionable water — to “wash” his shit-smeared hands. They looked better than before, but the contents of that water were unclear.
- Approaching the table again, the rest of the party caught a metallic, stinging, sharp smell off Kailas — like cat piss. Dristuul immediately claimed expertise as a “cat piss expert” and tried to convince Kailas he had washed his hands in it.
- Meanwhile, Korin approached the bartender and offered him a gold coin for information about Aldrick Voss. The bartender had never heard of him, but mentioned that there are definitely people to talk to in Drar if you want to find someone — though he wouldn’t say who or where.
- Dristuul knew exactly who the bartender meant but kept it to himself. The group he was alluding to has a great deal of influence and power in Drar.
- Jaruul suggested they look for shady places — gambling dens and the like — to maybe stumble onto these people. First, though, they would secure rooms in The Warren.
Into the Warren
- Crossing into The Warren, the air changed completely — no more spices or food smells. The district was quieter, with older buildings, narrower streets, and sandstone smoothed by generations of footsteps.
- Two carts could not pass each other in the lanes. Laundry hung between buildings on ropes overhead.
- People avoided the party — passersby stopped and turned away as soon as they noticed them.
- The Warren is the biggest district in Drar.
- The streets were dark and quiet, with no inn signs visible. Occasional lights flickered in the distance but nothing stood out.
- Korin stopped a tired, taciturn passerby who pointed out three inns on the map: Shedskin, Ambercup, and Coiled Fang.
- The party chose to head for the Ambercup.