Thanks @xaosseed for the really inspiring adventure in Brancalonia and thanks to all my comrades for going thorugh it together
With thanks to Hyperion IV - @mcbasm789 , Ragnar Stonefist - @froggyprince , Wanda - @polina , Glug-glug - @Tequila_Sunset , Canelli - @shocker , Heart - @Lobut who played through Wages of Vice.
After getting a letter requesting aid from Madame Samira Arah, Queen of Coins, our heroes set out for Zinda, arriving during the March of Vice, a festival celebrating the magnificent jeli fruit upon which the cities recent wealth has been built.
Entering the city they persuade the gate guard they are there solely for work, not to have fun and get the entry fee waived on condition of their not having fun throughout the festival.
Making their way slowly down the stream of people arriving into town they spot something interesting, the glint of gold in an alley. Investigating they find a dwarf, dead with all his valuables scattered around him. As Glug-glug was just establishing that this was a case of poisoning, guards of the Silent Verse turn up and shortly their after the head of security for the city - coincidentally Madame Samira Arah, their would-be employer.
Taken to a nearby coffee house for a discreet talk, our heroes are informed that the death they were found at was the second such attack on an heir to the Kings of Gold, the ruling merchants council of the city, of which she is a recently elected member.
They travel towards the Thornapple tavern to question the first survivor, Zenia Ruba and as they progress through the crowded markets, there is panic and mayhem as a stall holder attacks a richly dressed man - our heroes wrestle them down and tie up the snarling, snappping, incoherent merchant. Witnesses confirm a cloud of pink dust and a figure dressed in green and yellow just before the merchant went beserk. The guards arrive once more and attest that the near-death victim is another heir. After an attempt to back-track and pursue the green-and-yellow clad figure is foiled by the throngs of the festival crowd, our heroes proceed to the Thornapple to talk to the first survivor.
At the Thornapple they meet one of the Kings of Coin, Myx Nargis Ruba, the victims father, who is cagey with details and directs them to his daughter. Zenia describes how there was a pink mist then she felt ill and her servants, some she knew all her life, went berserk. At this point the dance act everyone was waiting for arrives and just as they begin their act, the lead dancer throws sequins in the air - accompanied by a pink dust - and suddenly the dancers are attacking Zenia!
Our heroes leap into action, tackling the lead dancer down and subduing them while the two back-up dancers come to messy ends at the hands of the pair of tabaxi fighters.
Shocked by this, Myx Nargis confesses that all the heirs were once pledged as payment to a witch in return for their creation of the jeli fruit but the witch is dead, so they suspect a curse. Our heroes figure a much more material hand is in play, the figure in green-and-yellow. Hearing that the festival parade is being lead by another of the heirs, they head in that direction hoping to intercept the attacker.
Squeezing their way towards the head of the parade they are just in time to see a sudden eruption of vines grappling the cart and its oxen, then a flung pouch scatter pink ash all over the cart occupants and guards. With half the party leaping to block the guards and the other half running to intercept the attacker, a frantic few rounds of parrying guards and chasing the agile attacker finally culminates in the attacker surrounded and surrendering on a rooftop.
A dark twist in the air appears and snarls curses, leading them to conclude the matter is not fully over, but the active threat is dealt with.
Their employer pay their wages (50gp each) and grants the reward for stopping the problem (100gp each). Anyone who wishes can also take a Bag of Holding, which was gifted with jeli wine within. Sale of the jeli wine provides fund to feed and provision the Golden Cockerel and keep Fluffy and his brothers fed for another moon.
Thank you, @Arthilas, @truecrawl, @Istariel, @Bryabrya, and @Dharaxas, for joining my table once again! I had an incredible time DMing this session, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.
After successfully infiltrating Cassius’ stronghold and coming face-to-face with the man himself, you displayed immense courage and decisiveness, swiftly and effectively taking him down. As the Don and his mob celebrate Cassius’ demise, you all know that this is not the end. Cassius will return, stronger and more determined than ever. But for now, take a moment to rest, to celebrate, and to revel in your well-earned glory and opulence, just as Cassius would have wanted. He is watching, silently biding his time, knowing what is yet to come.
As a reward for your daring heist, each of you may choose one of the following items in addition to receiving 480 gp:
For those of you who wish to venture into Ratterdam again, you also have the option to choose:
(Please note: This item may only be used at my tables or at tables where the use of firearms has been explicitly permitted.)
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