1945 Friday, the 6th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
Scratch wins the game of Coals that he plays with Wayne, and gets the medusa’s bottle of wine back. Crimson Hammer and Bozdyn stay behind to watch the cambion’s game of cards with Wayne in exchange for the spellbook, which the mercs unfortunately lose. They seem prepared to overwhelm him by force but as they leap to their feet drawing bows, he reveals that he has a gun. It’s uncertain whether it’s loaded, but the threat is enough and everyone parts ways.

2100 Friday, the 6th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
After returning the bottle to the medusa and being treated to dinner and drinks, the party camps outside the entrance to Dakaszefon to head out in the morning for Vos Inaril.

1900 Monday, the 9th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
After a weekend of poor navigation and an encounter with an elemental trying to sell them directions back to the city, they eventually arrive in Vos Inaril. They get paid by Kotri (1400cc each), and spend the night carousing.

1100 Tuesday, the 10th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
In the morning, the party discovers that in the drunken revelry of the night, Bozdyn was arrested for assaulting a noble and is being held at the Mirasyn estate…

XP Awards
Anadkya +73 xp
Bozdyn +375 xp
Crimson Hammer +40 xp
Friendly Tourist +440 xp
Scratch +57 xp

1045 Wednesday, the 4th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
After a brief tour of the mercenary camp on the teal level of Dakaszefon, the party continues on their way to find Wayne. They run into a group of thieves on their way and Scratch plays dice with them for a bit.

1200 Wednesday, the 4th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
Upon passing into an area of the hold which has either not been finished or was being mined, they navigate a few traps, are warned not to continue by a an animated mouth on the wall, and find the entrance to Wayne’s hideout.

1215 Wednesday, the 4th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
Talking to two cambion mercs who are camped outside the door to Wayne’s living area, they learn that the door is heavily enchanted and locked with a complex mechanism. They’ve come here for a similar reason as the party; a wizard’s spellbook was stolen and they’re here to retrieve it. The mercs have sent a message to a lock specialist in Vos Inaril, he’ll arrive in two days. The party decides to explore a bit while they wait.

1230 Wednesday, the 4th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
Near Wayne’s living area the party runs into the lair of a young dragon named Agsmong who confirms that the enchanted door nearby does indeed lead to Wayne’s living quarters. Agsmong seems to be some sort of scholar and spends his time here collecting rare texts and playing weekly strategy games with Wayne.

Crimson Hammer starts work back in the mercenary encampment on a hammer for Bozdyn.

2000 Thursday, the 5th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
Crimson finishes the hammer which turns out to be of expert quality, the finest work he’s done yet.

0700 Friday, the 6th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
The burglar arrives and begins work on the door, spending the better part of the day getting through it.

1900 Friday, the 6th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
The party, now joined by the cambion mercs, enters through the door and in a small barren chamber speaks with a spectral projection of Wayne. After some negotiation, they agree to some games of skill in exchange for the items he stole.

XP Awards
Anadkya +60 xp
Bozdyn +60 xp
Crimson Hammer +80 xp
Scratch +60 xp

0700 Wednesday, the 4th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
The party continues to explore the halls of Dakaszefon, following the directions given to them by the medusa in their search for the topaz idol “The Grasping of Agramax”. They head down towards the blue layer where the cultists are supposed to be and run across two galkagath cultists. They chat for a bit before continuing on down towards the main worship chamber. Discovering the congregation mid-sermon, they chat with the galkagath priest Gloxl who communes with them telepathically. It informs them that it’s willing to make a trade for the idol, but can’t say so in front of their congregation. All the while ranting aloud about how blasphemous and foolish the party is, of course.

1000 Wednesday, the 4th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
They meet with Gloxl and discuss the possibility of a trade. Eventually they come to an arrangement and the priest leads them to a secret chamber near the main entrance to the hold where the idol is traded for the fine tapestry the party stole. They also get a bit more insight into the layout of the hold from Gloxl. It describes a path to the teal layer (where the thief of the medusa’s wine is supposed to be) that doesn’t require going through the cultists’ territory.

1030 Wednesday, the 4th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
The party heads down the trichroma hall to the green layer where the discover the source of flickering light in the green main chamber. The chamber has been picked clean, but a large hole has been dug at one end of the room and a fire rages below. They follow the rough directions Gloxl gave them and end up in the central teal layer. It seems there’s a mercenary company that’s squared away a corner of the teal for themselves. They pay the toll of ten copper to get entrance and chat with the elven door guard for a bit, discovering they have supplies and training areas down here, all available for trade.

XP Awards
Bozdyn +65 xp
Friendly Tourist +65 xp
Kid Squid +65 xp

0700 Saturday, the 21st day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
Scratch pays a visit to Mavo, a dwarf fixer here in Gehesti. Mavo hired Scratch not long ago for a job which went south due to some information Mavo omitted from his description, and Scratch hopes to negotiate pay for the botched job. The negotiation goes poorly, but Mavo hands over a cheap brass and tiger eye ring to get rid of him.

Sunday, the 22nd day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
The party spends the day researching Dakaszefon to see if they can glean some more information on the hold before their visit, but most of the records on the hold are quite outdated.

1100 Monday, the 23rd day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
The party heads out on a Styx ferry to Vos Inaril, the closest they can get to the dwarven hold by free transport (using the open tickets they have via the contract).

1530 Sunday, the 1st day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
After a six day trip on the Styx, they arrive in Vos Inaril and after grabbing waterproofed canvas parkas and some tourist guides at the docks, they head out into the mazelike tunnels of the Jarchari beyond Vos Inaril city limits in search of Dakaszefon.

2045 Tuesday, the 3rd day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
Having spent a few days mostly successfully navigating their new subterranean environs, they finally find the underground lake outside the bright orange great entrance to Dakaszefon. Rubble is scattered outside, the main doors have been completely removed, and the flicker of firelight shines from within.
 They venture carefully into main entry hall on the orange level and find a stairway on the left leading up into the red layer. They are thwarted by a locked door but find a chamber beyond with barrels of drink, signs of recent habitation, and a large (3×2 meter) tapestry depicting a a deep open mining shaft with the glorious fires of dwarven industry. Scratch takes the tapestry down, triggering a makeshift gas trap which isn’t too bad, but sends Anadkya into a teary choking fit which she recovers from shortly. They decide to roll up the tapestry and make camp outside the main entrance.

0630 Wednesday, the 4th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
Waking up from their needed rest, they head back into the hold. Heading back up the red stairway near the entrance, the explore the chambers more fully and find two kobolds hiding in the chamber beyond the one that contained the tapestry. A brief conversation about the party’s quarry (the topaz idol) reveals that it might be held by a group of oozes and frogfolk deeper in the hold. Leaving the kobolds they also find a chamber up here that contains yet more barrels and foodstuffs, as well as a heavy locked ironwood chest. Leaving it undisturbed, they return to the entry hall on the orange layer.

0645 Wednesday, the 4th day of High Rush, Year 3 EP
Opening the door opposite the entrance to the red stairway, they find an angled hall with three doors. One has loud (even through the thick stone door) splashing on the other side, and hen its handle is turned seals click open and water starts seeping through the cracks. They turn the handle back to seal it again and check the next door, beyond which they find a dining hall. Seated at the table are a dozen folks; mostly imps, but a halfling and a medusa are also among them. Chatting with the medusa they agree to make a good faith effort at returning a bottle of rare wine that was stolen from her in exchange for information on the hold. The halfling shows them her map of the hold and gives directions both to where the oozes holding the idol are located, as well as where they think the thief might be living. Apparently, the oozes as well as a giant frog have the idol and worship it like a god. The party thanks the group for the information and drinks, and parts ways.

XP Awards
Anadkya Black +50 xp
Bozdyn +50 xp
Friendly Tourist +50 xp
Scratch +60 xp

1645 Thursday, the 19th day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
The party are at Patrovka, a hole in the wall bookstore in one of Gehesti‘s entertainment districts. They’ve heard that the mercenary team holding Edward’s property visited here and are hoping they can find some lead to where they’re at. Turns out they ordered some tourist guides and had them delivered to a warehouse in one of the eastern dock neighborhoods.

1700 Thursday, the 19th day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
Before delivering the ring Crimson has to the maw they’re supposed to meet in the northeast catacombs, they go check out this warehouse.

1915 Thursday, the 19th day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
After a long ferry ride, the party makes it to Brineforth, the far eastern dock neighborhood. They poke around the area a bit trying to find the warehouse and eventually find an alleyway entrance to the address where an N’tirian is sitting on a barrel smoking. After some back and forth they determine that this is where the Mad Pissers are working out of, and the N’tirian introduces himself as Glarm. He leads them in to chat with the rest of the team and up on the second floor they meet the others: Ghost, Crab, Rance, Bumble, and their seeming leader, Madshow. They chat a bit about the situation with Edward, and after some negotiation the Mad Pissers agree to hand over Edward’s contract and property if the party also accepts another contract that Madshow doesn’t have time for. It’s a job retrieving a family heirloom for a young dwarf named Kotri who lives in Vos Inaril. Her home, the dwarven hold Dakaszefon, fell into anarchy and disrepair to mysterious circumstances, and she’s hoping that a topaz idol of a dwarven head called “The Grasping of Agramax” can be returned to her. The pay is 1400 copper each for six people and it comes with an open ferry ticket on the Styx to Vos Inaril. The party agrees and after a quick trip to a notary for a transfer of the contracts, the deal is made. The party heads back to the Twentieth Column to inform Edward of the good news and let him know where he can grab his stuff.

0600 Friday, the 20th day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
The next morning, the party gets to work tackling the delivery of the ring Crimson has.

0845 Friday, the 20th day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
It’s a long trip across the city but after a couple ferries and a rooftop longcart, they find themselves at the catacombs. Heading down into the tunnels, they attempt to find the free market where this unnamed maw can supposedly be found.

0930 Friday, the 20th day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
Kid Squid manages to use thiefsign to navigate the catacombs and they eventually come upon the unlit free market in Gehesti’s northeast catacombs. There they locate the maw, a particularly large one, but as they introduce themselves a group of hooded figures with knives in hand comes out of the crowd and asks for the ring. A fight ensues which is over in seconds, one of the assailants being slain and the other two surrendering. They are revealed to be skeletons (not immediately apparent with their skin gloves), and after some questioning say that they heard from a hag fixer named Nine-Teeth that a valuable magic ring would be handed off here. They let the other two skeletons go after confiscating their knives. Handing off the ring to the maw who promptly leaves, the party splits up to tackle some legwork and loose ends.
 Crimson Hammer spends the rest of the day cleaning up their old boat while chatting with Bozdyn about his plans for making a new maul, Kid Squid tracks down Nine-Teeth to make contact for future work, and Anadkya spends her day at the library researching the dwarven hold Dakaszefon that they’ll be exploring soon.

XP Awards
Anadkya Black +40 xp
Bozdyn +40 xp
Crimson Hammer +40 xp
Kid Squid +40 xp
Scratch +40 xp

The party finds themselves in Gehesti just a few days after the 60th Council of the Most Grave Crash at the Twain where they among others were granted warrants of trade by the Archcouncil. Coin is slim and they need to find work soon.

1500 Thursday, the 19th day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
Crimson Hammer and Scratch are hanging out at the Twentieth Column, a pub/gaming hall in Gehesti, weighing their options for work in the city. They’re approached by a human named Edward who apparently has racked up a sizable gambling debt and some Meskellian mercenaries were hired to lean on him. They’ve seized all his belongings and are holding it somewhere. He hopes that the party can settle this somehow through negotiation as they’re Meskellian mercenaries as well. He says if they can negotiate the return of his property, he’ll give them his boat. Crimson and Scratch are wary and don’t make any promises, but say they’ll look into it. They finish their drinks and head off to talk to one of Scratch’s contacts here, a bauble fixer Scratch calls “Stick”.

1600 Thursday, the 19th day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
Meeting with Stick at her private booth in a club, Crimson and Scratch discover that the mercenary team who took the job call themselves the “Mad Pissers” and although she doesn’t know where they’re holed up, she says they’ve been through the neighborhood and she thinks they visited a bookstore down the street. Crimson also asks about someone he was supposed to be delivering some armor to and Stick says she’ll look into it if he runs an errand for her. She gives him a ring she wants delivered to a maw in the northeastern catacombs.

1645 Thursday, the 19th day of Waxing Rush, Year 3 EP
Crimson and Scratch make their way to the bookstore to poke around and ask about the mercenaries who came in before.

XP Awards
Crimson Hammer +30 xp
Scratch +30 xp