(4) Severozov - Muz's Meats and Hexagonal Real Estate

As the old man Syravich cowered before them, Kopek, Levi, and Cornelius pried him with questions about his desire for the cylinder. He claimed over and over that he only accompanied his duergar friend to protect him, and was ignorant of the cylinder’s abilities. The trio lacked the insight to ascertain Syravich’s honesty, but it seemed better to them to keep him alive and useful. Additionally, his clear admiration of Levi’s affiliation with Highwatch seemed genuine enough. To quell any distrust, he told them of his home in Water’s Edge, a hovel surrounded by rose bushes, where they could seek him out. After Syravich’s departure, the party discovered a Leviathan Rip Spinner on the duergar’s corpse, which Cornelius immediately set aflame, much to Levi’s chagrin. The trio cleaned up the rest of their victims’ corpses, heading back towards the garrison for a much needed rest.

Their rest would not go undisturbed, as hobgoblins approached their bunks for a midnight mashing of the lips. Kopek was pleasantly surprised, and partook happily. In the meantime, Cornelius directed the remaining hobgoblins towards Levi’s bunk, where he was accosted by mercenary mouths until his indignant flailing finally sent them away. In the morning, quest markers popped up all over the garrison, and the party got to work. First, they informed Belov (who worked closely with Dan) of their findings with the cylinder. Satisfied with their performance thus far, Belov let the trio in on something of great importance. A package had been stolen from him prior to their arrival, exonerating them of any guilt, and had been taken somewhere in Water’s Edge and hidden. Unsure of who to trust, even amongst the city watch, Belov beseeched the trio for their aid, requesting that they return the package to him or Dan only. To Taghai then the trio treaded, who immediately inquired about the topic of their discussion with Belov. The party divulged Belov’s request, to which Taghai responded with a request of his own: bring the package to him, and not to Belov. Additionally, he asked them to clear out an old hexagonal tower in the lower city, which he hoped to use as a new mercenary headquarters. As the party deliberated over who to bring the package if they were to find it, they were beckoned by Muz, the orc cook. Appealing the entrepreneurial character of Cornelius, he asked the party to help him in acquiring a butcher shop in the lower city. Deciding to mull their decision with the package over for a time, the party agreed.

Heading towards the butcher shop, Kopek, Levi, and Cornelius formulated a plan, which would play out almost perfectly, but for one hitch. Levi entered the store and ordered a sandwich from the butcher, and after exiting the shop, placed Cornelius in the sandwich. Cornelius, of course, was not in humanoid form, and had transformed himself into a lowly worm, contaminating the otherwise perfectly sanitary sandwich. After displaying the worm infested sandwich to the mob, Levi returned to the butcher, flanked by the imposing Kopek. The butcher offered to show Levi his freezer to demonstrate the shop’s cleanliness, but upon arriving at said freezer, shoved Levi (and worm Cornelius) inside and locked the door. Looking around, Levi found that he and his transformed acquaintance were not alone: staring across the cold room was an even colder looking white bear, with ice crystals hanging from its fur and saliva dripping from its bared teeth. Cornelius, not to be outdone, transformed into a bear himself, beginning an ursine brawl while Levi slung fireballs from the door. Kopek eventually strolled to the back, where he too was thrown into the freezer. All three party members together quickly dispatched the ice bear, and they burst through the freezer doors to dispatch the butcher and his employees in turn. Cornelius ripped the butchers head from his body and charged past the gathering crowd into the shadowy taiga, where he discreetly returned to tiefling form before heading back to the city. Muz soon arrived to quell the chaos and assume ownership of his new shop, Muz’s Meats. The party loaded up on some delicious hoagies before setting out into the city once more.

Next on their agenda was to investigate the hexagonal tower Taghai hoped to claim. The tower itself was composed of stone brick, oppressed by moss and clearly falling to pieces, with slits for windows decorating its walls. Upon entering the tower, the party found it occupied by a pair of wretched looking humans, who immediately rushed towards the doorway in a panic. They arrived at a solid stone wall, and as the party turned around, they found the doorway through which they had entered was gone without a trace. Levi attempted to detonate the cylinder and blow a hole in the wall, but the strength of the blast was not enough. The tower’s dilapidated exterior clearly masked some sort of arcane presence holding it together with unimaginable strength. Cornelius once again covered the cylinder in more of fluid number four, but only succeeded in putting to sleep the two wretches in the tower with them. Their only choice was to head up a spiral stair to the tower’s second floor. Kopek discovered a taunting note and an open floor in front of him, clear of all debris except a few small pebbles at various locations. Across the expanse of floor was a glowing blue stone atop a stone table. After stepping onto the floor, Kopek was blown back by a gust of some arcane wind. He quickly discovered where to place his feet to avoid that occurrence, and made it across the floor, followed by his compatriots. As they touched the glowing stone, the three investigators were transported to a plane of darkness, save for an open door through which the unmistakeable and enticing sound of music poured…