CHAPTER W: GRIFTERS AT THE EEL FESTIVAL

At dawn, the Desperate Venture set sail, heading down the Fals River to its junction with the Velverdyva River, bound  for Caronis.  At sunset on the third day of the journey, as they reached the junction, they noticed large numbers net fishermen on the Velverdyva, lanterns ablaze.

By sunset of the fourth day of the journey, the adventurers reached the city of Caronis, amid hopeful fishermen by the hundred, all bringing in net after net of wriggling, splashing creatures.  “Looks like we made it in time for the Growfest Eel Run!” Thurl informed the party.  He explained that the festival was held every year in the Kingdom of Furyondy, primarily in Caronis, and celebrated the migration of huge numbers of young eels from Lake Quag down the Velverdyva River, by which they entered the Nyr Dyv to spawn.

“This is a great time to party!” Thurl explained further.  “All this fishing is cause for a week-long celebration.  And by “celebration”, I mean feasting, dancing, and quaffing heroic quantities of alcohol.”  He laughed.  “Or as they say here, “Bards, bars and barmaids!”  The adventurers looked forward to docking in town, especially Balefire and Kronk.

Arya mentioned that she would like to try her hand at eel fishing.  “There are some nets in the hold,” Elwood told her.  “We can go out later tonight if you like.”  She agreed, but wanted to stop at the local temple of Pelor first.

Thurl recommended The Real Eel Inn to the party as a good place to stay in town.  “Later on, I’ll probably head to Tumbling Dice.  Good place for games of chance.”  Zelda planned to wander around the dock area, visit some local  vendors, inns, and taverns, then head to Tumbling Dice herself.  Kronk and Balefire had similar plans.

As they wandered about the vicinity of the docks, Kronk and Balefire suddenly heard a call for help.  “Stop them!  Please, help!” a man cried out from a nearby alley.  The adventurers looked at each other, then ran toward the alley.

A man lay in the alley, apparently wounded.  A humanoid male, seeing the approaching adventurers, dropped a pouch and fled.  A halfling nearby picked up the pouch and approached the wounded man.  Kronk and Balefire attempted to aid the man.

The injured man thanked them, as well as the halfling, for driving off the robber.  But then he added, “That pouch–it’s got money I have to deliver.  I’ve got to get this payment in by midnight, or I’m dead!”

“What do you have to do?” the halfling asked.

“I’ve got to get this payment to “The Big Mack”.  He’s a bad man!”  Balefire recognized the name: a local loanshark, very vicious, very well-guarded.

The halfling replied, apologetically, that he couldn’t do it, that he couldn’t get involved with The Big Mack.  The injured man then turned to Kronk and Balefire.  “What about you?  Ten gold pieces for you if you’ll help me!”

Kronk tried to pick the man up.  “No, no!  Not that!  He’ll get suspicious!” the man exclaimed.

“OK, we’ll do it,” Balefire assured the man.  “What’s your name, by the way?”  The man gave his name: Bardo.

The halfling advised Balefire and Kronk that The Big Mack would have them searched, and would likely confiscate any gold they might have on them for coming to his place uninvited.  “Here,” the halfling said.  “Put your gold in here.  Then hide it like this.” The two adventurers did as he suggested, stashing several hundred of their own gold in the pouch.  The halfling then showed where to hide the pouch to evade detection.  “No muscle of the Mack would search you there,” he added, pointing to the front of his trousers, where he had stashed the pouch.  He then retrieved it and gave it to Balefire.

“There’s five hundred gold in there for the Mack,” Bardo added.  “That should be more than enough to keep him from killing me!”  He then gave the adventurers directions to get to the Mack: head to the other side of the docks, take a right into the farthest alley, then take the stairway down on the left, to a door.  “Knock three times, then twice.  That’s the signal,” said Bardo.  “And don’t bring any weapons.  That’ll be trouble for sure.”  He again thanked the adventurers, and they left to make the delivery.

As they approached their destination, the adventurers noted plenty of people milling about, having a festive time.  None of the partiers paid any particular attention to them.

Balefire handed his weapons to Kronk to hold.  “Stay quiet and listen for music,” he instructed Kronk.  “If there’s any danger, I’ll summon my instrument and play!  Then come to help!” 

“Kronk help!” replied the half-orc.

Balefire found the alley, easily enough.  On the right, then to the stairway on the left.  Down, then three knocks, then two more.  The door opened, and a burly, well-armed man in leather armor appeared.

“Waddya want?”

“Payment, sir!”  Balefire answered, acting paranoid and scared.  The guard looked him over, apparently satisfied with his attitude.  He grabbed Balefire’s arm and dragged him inside, through a crowded room packed with various shady characters.

There was a door at the back of the room.  The guard knocked: twice, once, then thrice.  The door opened, and the man dragged Balefire inside.  The office was plush and lined with expensive artworks and other luxury items.

Inside, behind a large, fancy desk, sat an incongruous character.  A male human, squinty eyed, balding, on the skinny side.  The Big Mack!

“Who’re you?” the Mack demanded.

“B-b-Balefire,” replied the adventurer, deliberately stuttering.  “I’m, uh, coming to drop off a payment, sir.”

“Yeah?  Who for?”

“For Bardo,” answered Balefire.  “Someone tried to kill him, he was injured, he asked me to bring the money, sir.”

“Really?  And what did this “Bardo” look like, eh?”  Balefire described the wounded man.  The Mack raised an eyebrow.  “And you just decided to rescue this guy, eh?”  Balefire nodded.

“Mr. Helper, eh?” sneered the Mack.  “Well, hand it over, Mr. Helper!”

Balefire opened the pouch and pulled out the coins inside, all but ten.  He handed them to the Mack.  “I don’t know the amount, or why,” he added, sounding scared.  The Mack remained suspicious, but took the coins and dropped them on the desk before him.  There were over five hundred gold pieces’ worth of coins.

He examined one of the coins, then slammed it down on his desk..

“These are counterfeit!” he shouted.  “Grab him!”

Immediately, the guard tried to grab Balefire, but he evaded the grapple.  The way out of the office was blocked by two more of the Mack’s henchmen, but Balefire spotted a window in the main room.  Defensively, he quickly cast summon instrument to retrieve his mandolin.

The first guard managed to grapple Balefire, but he was able to sing while grappled.  But neither Kronk nor Zelda were near enough to hear him.  The Mack’s henchmen began to pummel him.  He tried to tumble past them, but there were too many in his way.  One of them slugged him, hard.  He fell down, unconscious!

But by now Zelda and Kronk had approached the hideout.  Zelda was able to look through a basement window, and could see the Mack’s office doorway with his henchmen blocking it.  She was Balefire fall.

“Kronk!” she cried.  “We’ve got to get in there!”

At once, Kronk attacked the door.  It broke easily under the impact of the furious half-orc.  He rushed into the room.

“Time to PARTY!” bellowed Kronk.

The Big Mack, hearing the commotion in the main room, ordered the guard to see what was going on.  At that instant, Zelda, following Kronk into thehideout, blasted away with burning hands!  Three shady characters screamed as the flames hit them and their clothes caught fire.  Several couches and chairs smoldered.

Balefire, in the grip of two of the Mack’s henchmen, remained unconscious.  His summoned instrument lay on the floor.  “Tie him to the chair!” the Mack ordered.

Kronk continued to rampage through the hideout, as more shady characters continued to fall before him and the burned ones cowered in the far end of the room.  Zelda’s spells found targets. Still, more of the Mack’s minions joined in the melee.  One of them managed to grab Zelda, despite her attempts to break free.

“Zelda!” cried Arya, suddenly at the doorway.  She saw her friend being grappled and tried to dislodge the grappler with inflict minor wounds.  Unsuccessfully.

Things began to turn against the adventurers.  Three of the Mack’s thugs battered Kronk.  “Arrrr!” he bellowed.  A mighty blow landed, and one of the thugs fell dead.

Then things really got bad. . .