XXXIV. Edward's Penance

On a morning in the third month of Edward’s penance, a prominent church of Hieroneous in Greyhawk was burglarized, and a number of sacred items were stolen. Church authorities turned to Edward to deal with the matter, and it was decided that Edward’s new cohort, along with several of his more capable followers, would be dispatched to Greyhawk to investigate. And so Merovech, the cohort, a powerful eldritch knight and former paladin of Hieroneous, gathered his party: Isembard, a young paladin; Childeric, a cleric; Clothilde, a ranger; and Kenric, a sorcerer.  

At Greyhawk, Merovech and the followers inspect the church. The stolen items were identified – golden candlesticks, censers, paintings and icons – and plan of action was formulated. The party would ask the resident priests if any suspicious characters had been seen in the area, and if they had any other information that might bear on the break-in.

"Being that you mention it, I did notice a sneaky-looking fellow over past the week and half," responded one of the priests. "First time I saw him at a service, but I thought, "Now let’s don’t judge a man by his appearance." But a few days later I also spotted the chap loitering about the area. That was about two days ago, behind the church." The priest provided a description of the man: early twenties, human male, about 5'5", scrawny looking, prominent facial scar, notched ear, dark hair of medium length.

Merovech proposed checking out the nearby restaurant/tavern for possible additional sightings or information about the suspect, and also suggested checking the surrounding alleys for clues. The followers agreed, and promptly began their investigations. Initial examination of the premises revealed that the sacristy door had been pried or picked open, probably by a knowledgeable thief. Meanwhile, Merovech sent his hawk familiar flying above the area to keep watch and report what it saw to him empathically.

The party next sought the nearby restaurant/tavern, the Happy Paladin. Isembard detected for evil, but, unsurprisingly, found none. After taking a seat at the bar, Merovech gave the bartender 10 gp (a hefty sum!), and inquired about the sneaky-looking suspect. The bartender thought for a bit, then remembered seeing someone fitting that description. "It was the night before last, and this fellow was in the tavern having a drink with some bloke who owns a pawnshop, I think," said the bartender. "Don’t remember ‘is name, the pawnbroker, but I know where ‘is shop is and what ‘e looks like." He provided a description: a middle-aged, balding man, on the fat side, a good tipper. The fellow’s pawnshop was a couple of miles away, in a middle-class part of town.

Returning to the church, Merovech asked if any of the stolen items had any marks or other means for identifying them. The priests told the party how to identify the makers’ marks on the various gold items; the icons and paintings were custom commissioned. The group then headed toward the pawnshop, a trip of about half an hour on horseback. When they arrived at the pawnshop, however, a sign in the window read "OUT TO LUNCH".

So, the party searched for side or rear entrances to the pawnshop. They found the rear entrance in the alley behind the block of buildings in which the pawnshop was located. Merovech posted Childeric and Kenric in the alley to stake out the rear entrance, then headed to a store across the street from the pawnshop to observe the place, waiting for the owner to return. After about half hour, he appeared and re-opened the shop.

Merovech entered the pawnshop, followed by the other two group members. He introduced himself to the pawnbroker, then said, under his breath, that he was looking for "religious articles" and asked if he had any for sale. The broker was suspicious, however, and denied dealing in such items. Isembard asked if he had any nice weapons, but the broker also denied dealing in arms. While the broker was addressing Isembard, Merovech detected for evil. He found it–the pawnbroker’s aura was definitely evil.

Meanwhile, Isembard described the sneaky-looking suspect to the pawnbroker and told him he had recommended the broker for items of these kinds. All of the party tried their best to maintain the bluff. The broker, looking around, noticed a large bag of gold that Childeric had quietly placed on his counter.

"You know, perhaps I might have heard something you’d be interested in." He eyed the bag. "They say that untying purses can often untie tongues." Isembard pulled out twenty gold pieces and laid them on the counter. The broker took them and said, "Last night the man you described asked if I knew anyone who might be interested in choice goods. I said I did. They’re due to meet tonight at midnight."

Childeric produced thirty more gold pieces and asked where the meeting might be. "Behind the shop, around midnight, with Bragi." He asked for a hundred more gold pieces, which Merovech produced. "Bragi is a very good fighter with chains," the broker continued, describing Bragi’s appearance and abilities. Then he whispered, "Don’t tell anyone. This conversation never happened." The party nodded in agreement and quickly left the pawnshop.

That night, the party visited several cheap taverns in the area, then wandered into the alley. Some pretended to be drunk and passed out, while others hid behind barrels and crates in the alley. Merovech’s hawk perched on a nearby roof to observe the scene.

At about 11:45, the party heard footsteps coming from behind them in the alley. Then about ten minutes later, the party heard several sets of footsteps coming from the opposite direction toward the rear entrance of the pawnshop. Opening one eye, Merovech saw them: Bragi, a human male, along with three burly human thugs.

The suspect and Bragi met. The suspect had a large bag, which he opened to let Bragi examine its contents. Bragi pulled a candlestick out, looked at it, put it back in the bag, looked over various other items, then nodded and gave the suspect a small pouch. The suspect handed over his bag to Bragi. Quickly, Merovech quaffed a potion of bull’s strength, then came out of hiding, declared himself and told the thieves, "Drop your weapons and surrender!" Two of the others of his group "woke up" and backed up Merovech.

Bragi looked at Merovech and said, "Good evening, we’ve been expecting you!" From the other end of the alley, the party noticed three archers who had come up behind them.

Isembard wasted no time in charging the thief. Unfortunately, the thief was uncannily able to dodge Isembard’s attack. The thief immediately decided to flee the scene, and tumbled out of battle. He ran down the alley as fast as he could, with Merovech’s hawk flying after him, trying to keep him in sight.

Meanwhile, Kenric cast mage armor on himself, then ran up next to Merovech. Bragi got to Merovech first and attempted to disarm him with his chail. He was unable to do so. But Merovech advanced on him and stripped Bragi of his chain, then tripped him with his heavy flail and struck him with it.

The three archers loosed arrows at Kenric and Childeric. Two missed, but the third hit Childeric and lodged in his thigh, critically injuring him. Heedless of his own injuries, Childeric cast bless on the rest of the party.

Yvonne attempted to land a blow on Bragi herself, but missed. Bragi’s three thugs swung wildly at her and Isembard, doing no damage. Isembard ignored the thugs and focused on Bragi. The thief took two critical smites from the young paladin!

Suddenly, Merovech grew rapidly in size, as a result of Kenric’s enlarge spell. Bragi tried to stand up while the knight was enlarging, but Merovech tripped him again! Giving up further attempts to rise, the robber drew his scimitar and prepared to strike.

Three more arrows whizzed by Merovech and Kenric, but again failed to find their targets. Bragi cursed their poor archery. But he quickly had more urgent matters to curse about–Merovech attacked, striking him three times for serious damage.

The fighting between Yvonne, Isembard and the three thugs continued ineffectually, only Isembard suffering even minor scratching. Isembard again ignored the thugs and swung at Bragi, wounding him again. Kenric wounded him as well with a scorching ray.

Bragi’s attacks from the prone position unexpectedly dealt Merovech heavy physical damage and, shockingly, also drained him of constitution! Unfortunately for Bragi, the damage wasn’t enough to prevent Merovech from beating him into a subdued state.

"Surrender, you villains!" Merovech demanded of the three thugs. He struck one, who went down unconscious. The other two, realizing the battle was over, withdrew and fled the scene. The three archers likewise fled.

The fighting over, Childeric cast cure serious wounds on Merovech. The knight seized Bragi, while Isembard seized the fallen thug. The crew recovered the stolen goods that the thief had given to Bragi. The thief, however, was able to escape, evading Merovech’s hawk and ducking into a doorway while the rest of the party was occupied.

"Don’t worry about him," said Merovech. "We’ve got what we came for. Now let’s take ‘em where they belong." The party went back to the church to return the stolen objects, to the profuse gratitude of the clerics. Bragi and the third archer they escorted to the nearest police station. They were shown to the appropriate accommodations in the jail. Satisfied with their night’s work, the party retired to their quarters.

The morning after next, Merovech received an urgent message from the police station. He gathered the party and hurried to the station, to be met by one of the jailers at the door. "There’s been a jailbreak!" he exclaimed.

"What?!" exclaimed Merovech. "When did this happen? And how came you jailers to fail in your charge?" Merovech inquired. He turned to his companions. "Examine this place," he instructed. "Inside and outside. We’ll find out how this happened."

It was readily apparent what had happened: before dawn, someone had cut the bars out of the window of the cell in which the suspects had been held. The question now was, how?

Merovech returned to the office and began questioning the jailers again. It turned out that, at the crucial time, both jailers had been asleep. "Asleep on duty!" exclaimed Merovech. "Please, sir, please don’t report this!" implored the guards. "We don’t know how it happened! We were working like any other night, going over our paperwork, we sent out for coffee, then, well, that’s the last thing we remember!"

Merovech quickly cast detect evil, but found none in the guards. The questioning continued.

"It must have been a spell!" cried the senior of the two guards. "Where is the coffee? What cups did you use?" demanded Merovech. The guards indicated where the requested items were. "We shall have these objects examined," said Merovech. He gave them to Isembard and signaled for the rest of the party to follow him out of the jail.

They headed across town to a magic shop familiar to Merovech, where a friendly alchemist was employed. The party went in, and Merovech asked the alchemist to analyze the cups and the coffee pot, giving him a suitable fee for the analysis. About an hour later, the alchemist returned.

"Well, well, where’d you get these? Somebody have insomnia or something?"

"Not exactly," said Childeric. "What have you found?"

"Definitely traces of a sleeping potion in these objects," answered the alchemist.

"I guessed as much," Merovech confirmed. Thanking the alchemist, he left, with the rest of the party following along.

Back at the jail, the party continued their investigation. "Where did the coffee come from?" asked Isembard. "We always get it from this tavern just a ways down the road. It’s called The Puking Hog," the senior guard answered. "Doesn’t sound very appetizing," observed Isembard. "Or clean!" added Childeric, a look of disgust on her face.

"Do you get it yourselves, or is it delivered?" continued Isembard. "Usually we get it delivered. Sadie brings it over," said the guard. "Right, but she was off last night. Out sick, it seems. A new girl brought the pot over."

"New girl?" exclaimed Childeric. "Ah, yes, the new girl: short, kind of mousy-looking, not all that attractive. Human at least, probably thirty-ish age," the second guard added. "Said her name was Jeni or Zheni or something, sounded rustic like she was from out in the country."

"I think we have a lead here," observed Kenric. Merovech and the others nodded in agreement. "Let us head for this, this tavern," said Merovech disdainfully, "and let us hope that the name is ironic rather than descriptive." The two guards looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

The party made their way to The Puking Hog: a down-scale tavern and inn, to put it generously. It was about two o’clock in the afternoon. They found a table, sat down and ordered drinks. Merovech looked for a barmaid matching Jeni’s description, but saw no such girl.

Merovech asked the barkeep if Sadie was on duty. "Naw, she’s night shift. Comes in around ten at night," he replied. Merovech returned to the table with the information. "Sounds like we’re going to have to hang around," said Childeric. "Indeed. We may as well find a room for ourselves," noted Isembard. They all agreed, and sought out the innkeeper to obtain suitable lodging.

They rested until eight in the evening, then returned to the common room for dinner. The food was every bit as good as the tavern name suggested.

At ten, the night shift came on. The party ordered more food and drink. Soon it appeared, brought over by a new barmaid, who introduced herself. "Hello! I’m Sadie," she told the group. "The barkeep said you were asking for me?"

"Indeed we were," said Merovech. "We didn’t see you last night. Someone else was doing the service in your stead." Sadie replied, "Oh yes, I had a terrible headache last night, just came over me kinda sudden. So Max, the proprietor, had to call in Jeni to take over for me. She’s a new girl, came from out of town looking for work. Had a sad story. She’s scared, comes from out in the country, near where all these killings happened lately."

"How shocking!" exclaimed Childeric.

"Indeed," agreed Sadie. "She’s from out Codsall way, back way out in the countryside."

"Well, we hope she stays safe here in Greyhawk," said Merovech. Sadie nodded, then said, "Gotta go. Other customers, you know. Be back soon!" And she was off.

"It seems we have our next destination," said Merovech to the others. They all agreed to head to Codsall in the morning.