Recap by: Luke (Datedsandwich)
Recap
It’s a warm summer day in Sharn. Chompy slept in her office, apparently, which is certainly bad for her back, though it might be nice to be woken by the bird song. We don’t really get birds in the Lower City.
Early in the morning, someone arrived at the office and caused quite a disturbance, loudly demanding to speak to someone. Melvin, his meticulously styled hair fraying from his fidgeting, opened the door to admit the disturbance. The visitor is a smoker, which is the first thing I notice, and the second was that he’s a dragonmarked elf. The mark covers most of his exposed skin, indicating we’re dealing with an Heir of Siberys.
Our visitor produces a wanted poster showing a masked criminal, The Mongoose, who he claims is harassing his family. Melvin asks them who they actually are, and he introduces himself (begrudgingly) as Thavrin Amakiir d’Phiarlan. Melvin ushers us into his office, which he has haphazardly “cleaned” just moments ago. Thavrin is clearly put out by the state of the office, and lightly dusts the seat before he blesses it with his dragonmarked buttocks.
Melvin, seemingly the only professional among us, leads the conversation. Thavrin’s daughter, Valanthe, is a talented artist who is seemingly being targeted. The Mongoose is stealing her artwork, and seemingly only hers. They have a new exhibition tonight, and need to ensure that nothing goes awry. Melvin asks how Thavrin knows the thief is the Mongoose, and he claims to have seen her.
The Mongoose consistently circumvents the security measures and knocks out the guards.
Chompy wants to get food, so I suggest she can eat some of the leftovers in Melvin’s office, which prompts Melvin to supply that the mess isn’t his, but from the person whom he shares the office with. Terrible habit, apparently they have a thing for onions.
Thavrin gives Melvin the address to the art gallery, it seems we’re going to the Brelish Museum of Fine Art. I ask if there are any patterns to the thefts, but it just seems to be whenever Valanthe’s artwork is on display. The Mongoose takes only a single painting during each theft, never more than that. Thavrin tells us that his daughter lives with her “friend”, which after some probing is actually her partner, though Thavrin disapproves of the relationship.
Melvin requests that Chompy does not like his cloak, despite the food stains. It’s definitely his office-mate’s cloak. We pick up food on the way to the museum, from a stall that sells meat on a stick, Bertrand and Mitsy’s Grilled Goods. At the food stall, we run into a couple members of the Watch that the others seem familiar with. Apparently Thavrin had previously come to them with his problem, and stormed out when they didn’t drop everything to investigate immediately. Bartholomew, one of the officers, reveals that the Mongoose has also targeted an artist from House Thuranni, a rival of House Phiarlan. The officers tell us the identity of the Thuranni artist that’s been targeted, Xenni d’Thuranni, if we want to go speak to her.
Chompy asks about Vadallia, my patron ancestor. I explain that she led the elves in their rebellion in Xen’drik thousands of years ago, and that I keep her with us by emulating her deeds, albeit on a smaller scale. Melvin comments, today the art thieves, tomorrow the rebellion.
We arrive at the Museum, and quickly find Valanthe, who’s hanging around and looking shifty. She rolls her eyes at mention of The Mongoose, and asks if her dad hired us. Melvin confirms that not all of the paintings stolen were Valanthe’s, but Valanthe is unaware of any other artworks going missing. Valanthe claims that only three artworks have gone missing, but she doesn’t care. She figures that they’re making someone happy. Melvin asks if Valanthe has any notable fans, and Valanthe gives us the name of her “gal pal”: Taris Corvin.
Valanthe’s mother defected to Thuranni during the Schism, an important piece of information. Valanthe seems to have a strained relationship with both of her parents. The stolen artworks were landscapes, two of the Brelish countryside and one of the Aundairian countryside. They all featured mountains.
We spent some time investigating the area. I go outside to look for all the entry points to the tower displaying the art. Melvin uses his Medani magic to look for invisible clues. Melvin is much better at this than I am, I spend more time looking at escape routes, of which there are two: a single door and a glass ceiling. Melvin notices that there’s another elf in the room, which is apparently very shocking to us (as she was invisible!). Medani magic yeah!
“So many elves, it must be the nest” - Melvin R. d’Medani, 998 YK
Melvin signals to us that he’s seen something with a whistle, and we go to speak to this new elf. They won’t speak to us here, Melvin waves us outside. Chompy was on the ceiling, dragging the outside dirt along the inside of the glass. We’re not going to be allowed back here. Chompy yells “catch me” and then falls directly onto Melvin, almost killing him. I channel my ancestor to heal the damage.
Melvin begins talking, but the rest of us cannot see the person he is talking to. Melvin correctly guesses that this elf is Xenni d’Thuranni, and after she comments on how clever he is, Melvin hands her a hand-drawn business card. Xenni drops her invisibility, and talks to us properly. Her paintings were stolen from a different site, from a small art gallery in Lower Menthis.
Chompy asks if Xenni knows Taris Corvin, and she does. It seems that Valanthe is also acquainted with Xenni. They met in Thaliost, when Valanthe was exhibiting her art there. Xenni is supposedly a “very good friend” of Taris’, and she is aware that Valanthe is also “gal pals” with Taris. Xenni and Valanthe are friends, despite the animosity between their houses. We are able to confirm that they are not in a polyamorous relationship, which is probably for the best as Xenni and Valanthe are related. Melvin tells us that he knows someone with a dragonmark on their butt. Xenni is not marked.
We go to speak to Taris, who greets us at the door with her bow, pointing an arrow at us. She’s Thranish, and a follower of the Silver Flame. Chompy bites the arrow, despite Melvin trying to stop her, for which I apologize profusely. I ask if she was expecting someone else, and it seems that Thavrin has been harassing her. Taris claims to have been praying every time a painting was stolen. Melvin asks if she has a favourite painting, she says she likes paintings of the night sky.
Melvin theorizes that Thavrin could be trying to pin the thefts on Taris, as he clearly dislikes her and disapproves of her relationship with Valanthe. Taris claims to know nothing about the thefts, simply stating there is a lot of crime. Taris has only been in Sharn for the last six months, she met Valanthe (and Xenni) in Thaliost. Chompy threatens her, and then she leaves to go pray. Melvin is fairly sure that Taris is hiding something.
Taris left the door open, but we don’t want to break the law by trespassing. Chompy wants to go in, claiming that an open door is basically permission, but Melvin isn’t having it. He decides Chompy can peek inside, and if she sees anything, we’ll investigate, but otherwise we leave it. Chompy sees newspaper clippings from the Sharn Inquisitive and the Voice of Breland, all about the Mongoose and the art thefts. Chompy and I go in, and I find some beans (sus). Chompy finds three portraits, one of Taris, one of Valanthe, and one of Xenni. Hmm, Valanthe said the missing paintings were portraits, was she lying?
I go back outside and tell Melvin to go in, I’ll keep watch. Melvin is an actual investigator. We find a coded letter, which Melvin copies down into his notebook, and then we go to a diner called The Mermaid’s Tail to get lunch. The chef is a mermaid! Whilst we sat in the Diner, we used the power of teamwork to decode the letter (I decoded it irl and then had to justify it in-game).
Encoded:
Nb wvzivhg Hroevi,
R zn dvoo zmw dv nrhh blf gviiryob. Hszim rh mlgsrmt orpv gsv uivvwln dv szw rm Gszorlhg, R uvvo gsv rgxs lu vbvh vevibdsviv R dzmwvi. Oruv rh wfoo dsvm blf ziv mlg zilfmw.
Hllm, hllm. Yivorhs Urmv Zig Nfhvfn. Gsv fhfzo hklg.
- Rmwrtl
Decoded:
My dearest Silver,
I am well and we miss you terribly. Sharn is nothing like the freedom we had in Thaliost, I feel the itch of eyes everywhere I wander. Life is dull when you are not around.
Soon, soon. Brelish Fine Art Museum. The usual spot.
- Indigo
Silver is likely Taris, as she’s a Thrane. Indigo = Xenni? She wears a lot of blue. Are they stealing their own paintings back? Regardless, they assaulted the guards and that’s also a crime. Is it an insurance scam? We bear them no ill will, but we’re being paid by Valanthe’s father. We assume Indigo is Xenni, but there’s also a possibility that they’re a person we haven’t met yet, a secret third lover of Taris’.
We decide to call upon one of our criminal contacts, the changeling Clover. Chompy is the one who knows Clover, so she leads the way to contact her. Chompy goes to a casino in Dragoneyes called Chance, where Clover is meant to be working. Clover is, unsettlingly, taking the form of Taris Corvin at the moment. It seems that Taris is paying Clover to impersonate her. Clover goes and impersonates Taris at the church, which clouds Taris’ alibi. Taris is the Mongoose?
Chompy flirts incessantly with Clover, and almost forgets to ask Clover if anybody has been trying to fence paintings. It seems that, surprisingly, no one is trying to fence paintings, which is odd given the art thief that’s in all of the newspapers.
Whilst Chompy contacts Clover, myself and Melvin go and stake out the museum to try and catch them in the act. We got distracted and walked around the gallery looking at the art, and talked about how it “spoke to us”. Chompy catches up with us and we discuss what to do.
We find the paintings done by Valanthe, a view of Sharn against the night sky. Melvin suggests setting a trap to catch the art thief in the act. Chompy goes to hide on the ceiling, and Melvin hides behind a potted plant. I lean against a nearby wall and do my best to look like I’m meant to be here.
There is a flash, and the Mongoose appears in the center of the room, already holding the painting. Melvin declares “Your goose, your mongoose is cooked!” as Chompy drops down on the Mongoose. It goes something like this:
“I just need this for my collection!”, and then Chompy.
Melvin declares that we just want to talk, not fight. Chompy restrains the Mongoose, and then another figure emerges from the shadows holding two daggers. They demand we let the Mongoose go. Thavrin walks over and states his theory that the Mongoose is Taris, but the Mongoose is very clearly an elf.
Melvin shoo’s Thavrin away, and then unmasks the Mongoose. It’s Taris! There was an illusion on the mask to make it look like an elf. Melvin doesn’t want to arrest Taris for the art theft, but she did assault guards, and that’s still a crime. Melvin has a bit of a breakdown as apparently Chompy has seen him cry himself to sleep before, but he only started at the agency recently! The other elf, with the daggers, is revealed to be Xenni d’Thuranni. It’s all coming together.
Valanthe left the room when Melvin shoo’d everyone out. Melvin asks if Xenni or Taris have a way to communicate with Valanthe, maybe some lesbian magic. Melvin gets very flustered after saying this, and feels the need to clarify that he supports “gal pals”. I go and fetch Valanthe, and have to keep Thavrin out. He sulks, clearly unused to being told no.
Melvin explains the situation to the three gal pals. The art theft isn’t necessarily a crime as they’re stealing their own paintings, but breaking and entering and assault are definitely crimes. Melvin doesn’t want to make an arrest, but requests that they pay a fine, preferably to us and not the Sharn Watch. It’s definitely not a bribe. Melvin tries to convince Valanthe to tell her father how she really feels, he’s unlikely to press charges.
Melvin refuses the bribe he just solicited, as that would be a crime, and instead takes the others back to our office. We send Chompy to distract Thavrin whilst we do so, Melvin incentivises her with the promise of meat. Chompy goes out to speak to Thavrin, and claims to have forgotten his name, which enrages him. Whilst Chompy keeps him distracted, we sneak the criminals out and Melvin steals the painting. He won’t take a bribe but he will take the painting.
There is a very tense confrontation between Thavrin and Valanthe. She is clear about how she feels, and Thavrin declares she is no longer his daughter, and then demands that we arrest her. We explain that we won’t be doing that, they will be fined for the breaking and entering, and the assault. Thavrin storms out, dramatically and villainously declaring that we haven’t heard the last of this.
He didn’t even pay us! Melvin stops me and Chompy from committing another crime. Melvin processes the gal pals and collects their fines, and then tells them to “be gay, do crime.” Valanthe pays the fines, and also covers the money that Thavrin neglected to pay us. Chompy tells them about Threshold, that they would be free to do what they wish there. Chompy declares that they can be helpful, and Melvin asks if she can read. Chompy takes offense and goes to see Clover, and Melvin gives her two gold pieces “for the meat.”
Chompy tells Clover everything, which is an interesting choice. Melvin and Thaendyr finish up the paperwork.
Case Closed.