(Note: This takes place between Sessions 4 and 5)
Lorsanlaid on the beaches of Flotsam's Respite Resort attempting a tan. Realistically, he was just angering his ginger skin in small doses to try to prevent the regular sunburn. Theoretically, he could stay out of the sun (or put on clothes that covered more than the parts he refused to risk to sunburn), but Lorsan wasn’t exactly a reasonable sort. And the warm sun felt wonderful.
A shadow fell over him. Looking up, he saw a dragonborn, mostly covered and wearing a straw hat. He even had a bit of that white paste others used on the tip of his exposed snout. Shelth Grax stared down at him. "Long time no see, whip boy. Tried finding ya but it seems you've been away for the past few months."
Lorsan looked up in annoyance. "Aww, did you miss me? Sorry, the dance card's been a bit full" he said, returning to his sunbathing.
"Heh, I'm sure. Ya got time for a quick tango back in Visceras, though? I've sussed out two more acquaintances to flesh out our uh, house call crew, if ya catch my drift."
Lorsan most certainly did. “"Oh really? And just how acquainted are we?"
“Would I trust em’ with my life?” Shelth proposed. “Probably not. Would I trust their desire to line their pockets with absurd amounts of gold? Ab-so-lutely!”
Lorsan propped himself up on his elbows "Someone you only trust to line their pockets is just as likely to empty yours as the mark's. If they don't empty you as well..."
Shelth laughed a nervous laugh. "Come on now, you know as much as I do that's just a risk of the trade! Besides, I trust that if things go south, we can sort the other two out. Like I said, us uh, Port Bovans gotta stick together!"
The only thing that could make two criminals from Port Bova stick together is Sovereign Glue. Lorsan mused.
"Plus, to be frank, they're the only two crackpots I could convince to tag along on this job, and we'll need the manpower"
There. There was the truth of it.
Lorsan shrugged. "Well, what's the next step in this dance? You're taking up valuable resort time."
"We catch a ship back to Visceras, wait till nightfall, and then pay a visit to old Lazlek. Sound good to you?"
Lorsan stretched and rolled over to his stomach, displaying his newest tattoo. "Sure. So when are we doing this?" he said, sounding fairly uninterested.
"Unless you've got other plans, I was thinkin' we could go head out tomorrow. There's a storm rollin' in, which'll make for some good cover and set the mood if you're one for theatrics."
Great. Lorsan thought. This idiot wants to go out sailing in a storm. It would at least make sneaking around easier. "Tomorrow it is!” Lorsan agreed. “Now what's the where and when?"
Shelth removed his straw hat and worried at it until it frayed a bit at the brim. "I've got a dinghy by the docks we can take. If we wanna make it to Visceras by nightfall, we'll have to leave a little past noon. That oughta give ya time to collect anything you might need."
"The other two are already ahead of us in Visceras scoping out the mark. I'll send word ahead and have em' ready to meet us at the docks so we can get the show on the road."
Lorsan waved Shelth off. “Sure Sure, tomorrow, noon. I’ll be there. Now get out of my sun.”
Spending the time in between, Lorsan visits Julian and Vathunugoni to get more information, both on Lazlek and the Scoundrel’s Code. Stealing from other pirates wasn’t exactly a good move, but no one was enforcing that, with the Pirate Queen herself raiding other pirates at her whims.
Julian, despite being a more recent addition to Windfall, had already heard of Lazlek, and conveyed that he's a powerful pirate lord who retired after decades of plundering on the high seas. His name is as famous among Windfall as even that of Captain Landsend. Vathunugoni, who as usual is the most astute member of Xolo's Revenge, recalled that she once shared a few drinks with one of Lazlek's old deckhands. After getting properly sloshed ("The poor fool thought he could outdrink me", she mention with a hearty laugh), the deckhand talked about how the whole terrible pirate lord was just a persona that Lazlek put up.
Well that made things clear as mud. Lorsan thought. For good measure, he checked in with Mercy over the entire thing.
While I find the methods unsavory, if Lazlek’s goods are ill gotten, I have no qualms with repossessing them for our endeavors, she whispered into his mind. Continuing, It's never quite as easy to tell who is good and evil with you mortals as it is with those of my ilk. If you are to wield me with purpose, then let us consider this a practice in developing your ability to adequately judge others.
Great, on-the-job training. he thought. Digging out his darkest clothing and making sure his Mithril was completely covered, Lorsan made his way to the docks and Shelth.
Upon arriving and docking at Visceras, they were greeted by two individuals, a scraggly looking human man who introduces himself as Stash, and an older Kobold woman who introduces herself as Guttem. Shelt confirms to Lorsan that these two are the hired help for the job.
After initial pleasantries, such as they are, the pair gave Lorsan a run down of the estate from what they've been able to scope out. Captain Lazlek's Manor is a large, cliff-side, villa estate on the eastern end of Mara's Fang. From what Stash and Guttem were able to discern, there's about seven rooms in total encircling a central courtyard/garden complex, with a second floor composed of two additional rooms. From observing the guard detail, they think there are around 5-6 guards in the estate at any one time, alongside a handful of supporting staff and Yado himself.
After they finish conveying the general details, Shelth continued, "Alright, well we need to come up with a game plan to actually get into the place, cause obviously waltzing through the front door ain't the best choice."
Of course there was no plan.
Guttem replied, "Heh, I was thinkin' we could make our way up the cliffside and break in from the back. From what I've seen, there ain't much in the way of patrols there. Unless, of course, you've got any ideas", she said, looking at Lorsan.
He thought for a moment. "You're not going to make it up the back wall if someone isn't keeping the guards entertained. It only takes one person to look over the edge to see us coming. And that is not where I want to be when the alarm sounds”
He pondered for another minute."Head for the back wall. I'll get in my own way and see what I can do about the guards, or at least a distraction.”
Guttem replied, "Whatever suits you my man, just don't ruin it for the rest of us, eh?"
Lorsan was certain he cannot trust these people and he didn't like the whole thing to be honest, so remained unusually silent. He was more concerned about Shelth's real goal here and why Yado had this reputation/behavior change as of late.
About a mile out from the villa, Shelth, Stash, and Guttem all split off and Shelth said, "See ya on the inside. Try not to get found out, alright?"
Lorsan continues up the path. As he approached, Lorasn saw a beautiful, squat villa with 10-foot walls and little to no exterior windows. Facing his way along the front wall of the building was an archway lit by two torches under which two guards stood at their posts. Chuffing at Shelth’s earlier comment, Lorsan stepped into Mercy’s realm, becoming invisible in this one. And literally. Walked. Through. The. Front. Door.
With no trouble at all, he entered the villa. As he did, he entered a large courtyard filled with lovingly tended plants and a central pool that collects rainwater. Along the sides of the courtyard was a covered walkway. The courtyard wasn't nearly as well-lit as the entrance was, and Lorsan couldn't make out any figures or movement in the darkness. Wandering around the first floor, he found a kitchen, some servants’ quarters, a parlor, a dining room, a lavatory, a storeroom, and a study. Lorsan opted to slip into the storeroom first. It didn't take long for Lorsan to find something of interest. Well-hidden in the back are crates of Ironwood, easily as much as they had raided from the Pirate Queen themselves. Well, that explains the paranoia, Lorsan thought. Anyone who would steal from the Pirate Queen is likely to catch a dagger in the back.
Lorsan quietly left the storage room as-is. Good information, but nothing worth taking. One guard stood in front of his next destination - Yado’s study. Well, there was no reason to kill someone just doing their job, so Lorsan opted to see if he could lure the guard away. Retrieving his Pipe of Smoke Monsters, he tried his best, “what is that moving in the shadows over there?” It wasn't great, but it did get the guard to leave his post. Sliding up on the door, he tried his Mystery Key, which… remained a mystery. Quickly retrieving his thieves’ tools, he made short work of the lock and slipped in before the guard returned.
Before Lorsan was a fairly ornate study with a wide array of books of learning among other things, which is an odd thing in the Archipelago indeed. Even in the dim lighting, it was an impressive sight. A cursory glance at the correspondence on the desk doesn’t really mean anything to Lorsan, so he keeps looking. A painting above the mantle of the fireplace catches his attention. It is of an old tortle (presumably Yado) smiling with a number of what appear to be crew members surrounding him. Not exactly a fearsome pirate lord, Lorsan thought. That guy looks like he’d tell you bedtime stories and bring you mulled wine if you had a cough.
Well, if I were a secret safe, I’d hide behind a big family portrait. Lorsan mused, moving to take the painting off the wall. As he did so, a needle pricked at his finger.
“Fuck!” he cursed under his breath. Momentarily nauseous, the feeling passed. Lorsan’s quick reflexes seemed to have prevented the needle from giving a full dose. Looking back up, sure enough, a lockbox stared back at him.
The mystery key opted to keep its mystery and out came the tools again. Not long after, with the safe opened, Lorsan found a small bag of gold and a journal. With no interest in the gold, Lorsan started flipping through the journal. Thumbing through, he found the words of a contemplative and thoughtful man. Alongside that, he found affectionate references to someone known as The Admiral, alongside scathing critiques of the Pirate Queen's policies.
I like this guy more and more.
Lorsan was able to deduce that Lazlek was very much not a pirate, instead preferring to work as a salvager throughout his lifetime as a captain. However, being a salvager makes you a target among those in the archipelago that are a little more lawless, so with the help of the aforementioned Admiral, he developed a persona of a great and terrible pirate in the hopes that the legend alone would deter people from harming him and his crew. Also, he has a lot of anger built up towards the Pirate Queen, but no specifics. Granted, Lorsan remembered someone mentioning the Pirate Queen murdering someone named the Admiral, so that is probably a good enough reason.
At this point, Lorsan was over this whole robbery sham. Lazlek isn’t some greedy shut-in and Lorsan wondered if Shelth had been duped to somehow further the Pirate Queen’s agenda. Quickly he made his way to Lazlek’s chambers. On his way, he found the lifeless body of the guard from earlier. His throat had been slit and terror was still frozen on his eyes. The trio he arrived with were ugly, but nothing to cause that sort of frozen horror.
Dashing up the stairs and following Mercy’s direction, Lorsan burst into Lazlek’s chambers. The old tortle was sound asleep in his large four-poster bed. However, things weren’t as they seemed.
“So glad you could join us”, whispered a voice from the darkness that Lorsan recognized from the two hirelings.
Both lunged at him, and a fight ensued, rousing the sleeping Tortle. Lorsan moved to protect him, taking more strikes, but Mercy’s revenge was swift and outright killed one of the would-be-assassins without Lorsan landing a single blow. She seized the body at its moment of death, stepping into this realm as a specter of her true self. The duo quickly slayed the remaining assassin.
Understandably, Lazlek was in a panic and called for the guards. “Good!” Lorsan says, patching up a knife would. “You certainly need them. These two nearly did you in.”
The tortle narrowed his eyes at Lorsan under his nightcap. “And just why should I trust you?”
Lorsan sighed. “Because I’m the one bleeding so that you’re not. How many murderers have you met that take stab wounds for the person they’re trying to kill?”
The drowsy Tortle pondered the logic while getting to his feet as the guards arrived. Trundling down to the parlor, more guards hauled in a subdued Shelth. “You fucking idiot.” Lorsan cuts him off.
Without any plying, Shelth revealed his employer was a grey-skinned dragonborn woman with dark purple horns, to which Lorsan simply shook his head. “Yep, same person who tried to get me killed in Evershoal. Getting really tired of her”, he growled.
Pointing a finger at Shelth. “You are a fool”, Lorsan said, with a bit of anger in his voice. “And tonight you nearly got me and a good man killed. Get back in that damn boat you used to bring us here and make sure I never see you again. If I do, no one else will see you afterward. Got it?”
Shelth shrank back from this aggressive side of Lorsan’s nature. Gone was the playful sexual tension of earlier interactions. “S-sure thing boss, whatever you say. I’ll get gone and stay, you’ll never see me again, promise”, he stammered out.
Lazlek gave Lorsan a confused look. “You’re letting him go?”
Lorsan shrugged. “Shelth is only as dangerous as his dumb plans, or whoever’s manipulating him. Honestly, if he makes it out of Windfall without the Pirate Queen taking care of him, I’ll be surprised.”
Alarm spread across Shelth’s face. “Ah, yes, that uh, exit. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get started on that. Run while the running’s good, and all that.”
Lorsan waved him away, turning back to the tortle. “Lazlek, I think we have a common enemy in the Pirate Queen. I have some people you should meet. I think you’d like their company…”