(6) Severozov - To Water's Edge

With Muz’s Meats firmly in the orc’s grasp and the hexagonal tower cleared out for Taghai, Kopek, Levi, and Cornelius turned towards Water’s Edge to acquire Belov’s missing package. Their distrust of Taghai had only deepened after he requested the package for himself, and already Kopek had decided it was time for Taghai to go. In his mind he began formulating a plan to remove the warlord and install his friend Torgan as the new mercenary leader of their hobgoblin brethren. He and his compatriots would somehow need to destroy Taghai’s reputation in the eyes of his followers, and the respect for riding the hobgoblins had would play centerstage in that destruction. They would need to influence Taghai’s horse to buck him off - but it needn’t be Taghai’s horse at all, for Cornelius could simply become the horse. First, however, the package. The tiefling’s boots were once again muddied by the squalid streets where he had entered the city. The trio passed the occupants of Water’s Edge as they went, unfortunate wretches with neither the coin nor status to escape their filthy environs. As he trudged through the shantytown, Levi recalled Syravich’s description of his rose adorned home, and decided to stop there in hopes of finding a clue as to the package’s whereabouts.

Syravich’s home appeared as he described it: a worn wooden door barely held in place by a rusty latch, flanked by bushes of beautiful red flowers. Levi approached the door and gave it a solid gnomish knock. Syravich, recognizing the former Highwatch scholar, immediately allowed Levi in, while Kopek and Cornelius remained outside, the former of which rested atop his noble steed, Fluffers. As he entered Syravich’s hovel, Levi’s nose was assaulted by a deathly odor, the source of which appeared to be an exsanguinated corpse lying on a table in the corner. Next to the table was a glass jar full of some red fluid, most likely the corpse’s blood, resting on rotting floorboards. As Levi explained his objective, Syravich informed him of a shack to the east where a guard of the city watch stood constantly, suggesting the location was of some import. Before Levi could depart however, Syravich requested that he return after finding the package. He stated that finding that package might reveal more about the mysterious arcane cylinder in Levi’s possession, insinuating he knew more than he originally let on.

Meanwhile, on the street outside, Kopek and Cornelius had been busy. In order to pass off as Taghai’s horse and give Torgan a true chance at rulership, Cornelius would need to remove the actual horse from the equation. And who better to perform the thankless theft than a wretch of Water’s Edge? While Kopek watched from Fluffers, adorned in the armor of the city watch, Cornelius approached a wretch by the name of Vlad 27. After offering Vlad a small amount of gold for the service, he identified himself as Cornelius Dingding, founder of Adler Sales Force. Both he and Kopek recognized this as a blunder, and as Vlad 27 skulked away Kopek stuck him with an arrow and Cornelius stuck him with his cane sword. Attempt number two brought the tiefling in contact with Peter the Great IV, and after Cornelius identified himself as Kopek, the actual Kopek preserved his anonymity with another arrow through Peter’s skull. As the pile of perished peasants grew, Cornelius spoke with one more, Vlad 32, who promised to steal Taghai’s gilded horse and bring it to the hexagonal tower. Vlad asked for Cornelius’ name, and Cornelius supplied him with one: that of his nemesis, Nacho Belle. Levi exited Syravich’s shack to find two wretched corpses adorning the muddy street, both of which Syravich was quick to claim for his bloody experiments.

As the party continued through Water’s Edge to find the guarded building Syravich spoke of, they were halted by a wretch who began to approach Cornelius aggressively. Once again displaying his lack of impulse control, Cornelius cast a thunderclap that shattered the eardrums of everyone nearby, including a number of angry wretches and some shady looking thugs. After the trio dispatched these newly hostile citizens, they continued towards their target building, in front of which stood a mailed member of the city watch. Displaying his own city watch mail and a sharp wit, Kopek convinced the guard to leave his post. As the guard began strolling away, the party thought they were better safe than sorry, and disintegrated the guard to a pile of ash. Kopek placed his helm upon Fluffers and stood before the door while Levi and Cornelius penetrated the building. Cornelius moved in quickly, avoiding the trap that had been set for intruders, but Levi was not so lucky, and was blinded by a flash of light. To his right he heard an intimidating voice, bidding him approach. As Levi blindly walked towards the voice, he quickly regained his sight, and saw before him the decapitated head of his hobgoblin victim from Lavrenti’s Vendors. After a short discussion, Levi mercifully put the despairing hobgoblin head out of his misery.

Catching up with Cornelius, the gnome and the tiefling walked through a door at the end of a long hallway. Upon entering this door, it became evident to them that they were in some kind of potioneer’s shack. Lining the back wall were all manner of brewing apparatus, and nearer to them was a table with bottled potions of various colors. Also on the table was a note and a cubic parcel, surely the package they were sent to retrieve. Before the table was a chair upon which sat a skeleton, clean of all flesh and clothing as if had sat there for years. As Levi rushed forward to reach for the package, Cornelius saw the reason for the skeleton’s odd cleanliness: it was engulfed in a horrific flesh-eating gelatinous cube! Also engulfed for a moment was Levi’s hand. He quickly recoiled as the cube’s acidic insides burned his flesh, and the slime began sliding towards him menacingly. While his compatriots investigated the shack, Kopek continued his watch, waving away another seemingly corrupt member of the city watch. His watch was disturbed as he heard yelling from inside the building, and he rushed in quickly to assist his comrades in finishing off their fetid foe.

Levi was quick to ransack the table for all the potions he could get his hands on. Cornelius meanwhile, read through the letter on the potioneer’s table. In an elegant hand was written “keep your purpose secret. The package is essential for acquiring the Kasar’s spinner,” and at the note’s base was signed a single letter - “K.” The letter had referenced a Leviathan Rip Spinner, and out of spite (and to prevent Levi from learning of the device) Cornelius burnt it to ash. Before departing, the group collected the package, leaving it unopened for the time being, and remaining ignorant of its contents…