Rift City Recap #9

Clover’s Log

As we recover from our harrowing experience in the book, we breathe a sigh of relief as a newly awakened Keys rejoins us, though this time without further memories of his past. Then Evelyn Silverleaf tells us two things of great import: 1. She can help us (to an extent) avoid capture now that we are all wanted by the Church, 2. She can grant us the power to enter other books as we have just done to learn the truth of what has really happened on Thalos. We will have to face challenges of various kinds, as before. We all agree, and she weaves a spell into us that allows us to identify books that have been locked by the Church. We may enter at our own risk. If we die while still within the pages, we could drastically alter history.

A knock at the door interrupts our gathering, and while we fugitives try to blend in with furniture and doorways, Evelyn goes to receive her visitor. She returns clearly distraught and informs us that a friend of hers has died. Or rather, has gone missing. This is apparently not the first disappearance being dubbed as a murder of late. There has been a series of strange disappearances the last couple of tendays, all the eldest member of a prominent family, all crossing a skybridge at night. As Evelyn relays what little she knows, despite her desire that we not get involved, I find my curiosity gnawing voraciously at my gut. To my relief, my companions seem interested in investigating the case as well. At least once they learn there is a reward involved. We are rather short on funds.

Our good fortune rears its head at last, as a friend of Evelyn’s, a fellow seeker of the truth and someone seemingly unbothered by our status as fugitives of the law she serves, is leading the investigation: Captain Alara Stoneheart. We don’t have to wait long for the prim and proper dwarf to arrive. She is all business, clearly a former soldier of some sort, though her eye lingers a little longer on Brendel. He seems to be the only one she wants to talk to, so the rest of us become the furniture we hid behind earlier. Before we begin discussing the case, she expresses great interest in our adventure into the Rift. She wishes to know more should we actually prove useful in helping her solve the case.

Here are the (rather lacking) initial facts of the case as we receive them:

• There have now been six disappearances.
  

  • The families Pashti (human), Thorn, Eldren, Stormveil, Frostvein, Dracon (dragonborn)

• There have been no witnesses.
  

  • Other people have gone missing under different circumstances but are not high status and have therefore been largely ignored. They could have been witnesses to what happened to the others.

• The spouses of the victims don’t seem particularly involved in the running of the family businesses.

As the investigation continues, the Golden Plateau’s guards are using the cover story that there is ongoing construction on the skybridges so that people will stay off them at night, so we should try to keep information about the case to ourselves so as not to alarm the populace they are trying to protect. Their story will not hold up long, as repairs never take much time here. We toss some ideas around for our own cover story and how best to proceed. Nyx offers to disguise herself as a potential victim and act as bait. Captain Stoneheart tells us to tell anyone we talk to that we are a special investigative unit. We will start first thing in the morning.

We chat a little more with Evelyn. I can’t help but ask if she knows where my father is. I’ve never been this close, and I can’t give up now. She offers to put out some feelers within her network of truth seekers. She will also help us find the information we need on Mechanus. After some brief discussion on how best to lay low when we leave the plateau—Oman thinks we should go to the Darkheart—we get some rest.

First thing in the morning, we go to the home of the missing Emil Pashti. His daughter lets us in, and after the greetings and offering of condolences, we get down to business. The facts we receive are:

• His 65th birthday was four days ago.

• He was headed across the skybridge to handle a small bit of business, and he took a coin purse with gold.

• He does business with the Thorns and knows Sara Elderen, whose family deals with the distillation of spirits.

• His daughter, Preet, was likely the last to see him.

• Other prominent business families in the area: Windriders, Voss, Ravenshadow, Moonbrooks, Nightshades

• Emil had a custom-made amulet from Sanji with the family crest, a reddish-brown gem, and a silver chain.
  

  • It was purchased at a place with Silver in the name.

Preet (whom her father called Little Petal) tells us we should talk to her brother, Sanji, since he is more involved in the business. We can find him at his office or wait until this evening.

We go see the Thorns next, and despite the four Warforged guarding their door, we are allowed inside. We meet her son, who is either extremely high or distressingly unintelligent, and he tells us his name is Kale. The “facts” we receive here are:

• Kale thinks his mother worked in jewelry—gemstones??—or something…“bro.” She seems to have been a procurer of magical artifacts.

• She’s the only one who knows the code to the vault with all her acquisitions.

• The family lawyer hangs out every day right before nighttime “because Alara disappeared at night.”

• She was headed to pay off some money, Kale’s debt from a party at the Gilded Citadel, when she disappeared.

• Alara buys spirits from Sara Elderen.

• Sara told Kale to buy Alara a gift for taking care of his problems.

  • He bought her a necklace that looked much like Emil’s but has a gold chain instead.

  • Bought it at/from Silvertongue?

  • A group (all from prominent families) went to acquire such gifts at Sara’s prompting. They had family crests engraved.

Suddenly Sara Elderen is looking very suspicious, more so when we learn she provided her family lawyer for Kale so he can sign all the appropriate documents for his mom’s business—but he doesn’t seem aware enough to know what he’s actually signing. We informed him he doesn’t answer to the lawyers, that they work for him, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone look so simultaneously dull and enlightened. After discovering Keys has made delicious cookies, Kale wants him to be his cook. We give him a pat on the shoulder and tell him maybe after we find his mom. For now, we need to go find Sara.