Tavern Brawls S04W07

Raelyn and Aeric nervously sat in a dusty guestroom over the Tipsy Turtle Inn, taking swigs of fiery whiskey from a flask to pass the time. Raelyn was the first to break the silence, “So you’re sure this meeting will occur without any more troubles? We can’t lose time, especially since our Syndicate job is set to deploy us in two days.”

“Seriously?”, Aeric quipped. “You nearly got nabbed by the Wild Bunch in the Old City. But I was the one to neutralize Hoood with my quickfire Sleep spell. So the only reason we even have this meeting is that I was able to charm the mapmaker to meet us after hours at the Inn. She promised to come alone so we could pay her off and finally decode this broken treasure map.”

Before Raeyln could respond, a steady knock at the door interrupted the verbal sparring, and the Ranger sprung to the door and spied through the peephole. The mapmaker stood outside the guest room, but she was unfortunately flanked by two of Jeowyn’s Followers. Scowling at Aeric, Raelyn let in the guest of honor. After a moment of hesitation, Aeric quickly tipped the two holy warriors, pulling thirty gold pieces from their joint treasure hoard. With the tithe payment made, the two followers stepped back outside into the hallway, leaving Aeric, Raelyn, and Cewona face-to-face for the first time.

Raelyn seized on the moment and quickly engaged with their ‘guest.’
“Thanks for making the trip to meet with us and showing discretion in not bringing any brawlers or family members to this impromptu meeting. Who knew my friend Aeric was so pious and willing to donate so many precious metals to the church?” Raelyn cast a frustrated look at Aeric; they both realized they would need to settle the accounts later.

Cewona interjected, “Let’s just say that Aeric the Wizard made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,”  a sly smile across her lips. She continued, “If it makes you feel better, no one else knows I took this meeting, besides the two strong and silent Followers I borrowed, unbeknownst to Jeowyn and Hoood.  I don’t need my sisters to protect me; I can handle myself, even if I am the youngest.” Looking around the disheveled room, Jeowyn took a seat at the small table near the tiny sole window in the corner of their boardinghouse. “Well, let’s see what all the trouble is; I am curious to discover what made the Wizard Aeric promise me a treasure hoard.  The promised payment exceeds what I make in a week working for the miserly Trade Commissar at the Counting House.”

Aeric stood up, opened the adventurer pack under the table, and pulled out the copy of the treasure map Raelyn crafted during their first run in the tunnels under the Tipsy Turtle Inn during the opening match of Tavern Brawls.

As the mapmaker began studying the document, Raelyn and Aeric looked on in anticipation and continued their rapid drinking of hard liquor. When asked for an update, she deflected their request and began pulling out books on Thandarian genealogy from her backpack. Give me a few hours to check this document against my reference books.

After several hours of careful study and a hefty gold fee, Cewona shared her findings. “Well, if Raelyn ever decides to retire from Rangering, she could have quite a career ahead as a Master Forger.   But what is so interesting is that someone tried to merge two maps, one old and one new, and that’s the map you shared with me.”

Raelyn pressed her luck,  “Any idea who that someone could be?”

Cewona paused awkwardly, then nodded and waited until another purse of gold coins was pushed across the table towards her. She continued, “Well. The map you have is unsigned,  but there are clues.  The wealthiest families in Thandar often hire mapmakers to produce elegant maps of their entire estates.  So if we study one of those maps that are signed and look for details of the map grid, the rose compass, and the text styles used, it is often possible to determine who created an unsigned map just by looking at any official documents that are filed with the government. Based on publicly available signed maps,  I can state with almost perfect confidence that your map was likely commissioned by the personal cartographer hired by both the Crowley and the Dragovar clans. Sadly, the cartographer died in a sailing accident one fortnight ago.”

Aeric was shaken to hear of the mysterious death of the original cartographer and the Dragovar name again.  But the other wealthy family didn’t register. Finally, Raelyn jumped in, “So, who are the Crowleys?”

Cewona looked surprised. “The Crowleys are one of the founding families of Thandar.  But in recent years, they have been pursuing dark alchemy and occultism. They started a traveling circus of freaks and monsters a few years ago. As fate would have it, Crowley’s band of misfits is staging a show at a nearby village today.”

Raelyn and Aeric thanked the mapmaker, realizing now that the secrets they were pursuing were being held by two of the most treacherous families in all of Thandar.  Once Cewona had exited, the two rogueish adventurers began planning their visit to Crowley’s Circus.