A NOBLE IN NEED (days 1-2)

Our story begins as four adventurers and friends (Graim, Grunk, Hearold and Pillboxer), each receive a letter, hand-delivered by a wizened-looking halfling woman named Kora. The letter is written by Lavinia Vanderboren, who has heard of their looking for adventuring work and invites them to dinner in order to offer them a job.

Graim recalls and shares with the others news of a tragic fire a month ago that claimed the lives of Verik and Larissa Vanderboren. The Vanderborens were survived by their two children, Lavinia and Vanthus.

Vanderboren Manor is located in the eastern section of the Merchant District; the 7-ft.-high stone wall that surrounds the estate is impossible to miss, as is the towering, gothic, three-story house that dominates the grounds within. Leering gargoyles and capering nymphs festoon the eaves of the manor's roof, and several trees give the manor grounds a nice buffer from the bustle of the city.

The front gates were left open for our heroes, but no one greeted them until they reached the front door and knocked. After a few moments, the same wizened halfling woman answered the door. This is Kora Whistlegap. She thanked the heroes for arriving on time and asked them to wait in the atrium, claimimg Lady Vanderboren would be with them shortly.

At some point after the heroes had arrived but before they were called into the private dining hall, four figures emerged from the hall and headed towards them. Kora raced behind these figures, which included a jaunty male half-elf dressed in leather armor and armed with a half-dozen daggers of different shapes, a dark-skinned dwarf with a sour expression dressed in green and brown robes and clutching a large curved spear, an attractive but haughty-looking woman dressed in purple robes and with a tattoo of a crescent moon in one cheek, and lastly, a tall and handsome man dressed in polished breastplate and carrying a bastard sword.

This group had little time or interest in the PCs at the time, although the man in the breastplate did stop to size up the heroes and wish them luck in whatever chore Lavinia would ask their help with. He introduced himself as Tolin Kientai, but the entire group appeared to be anxious to be on their way and did not chat anymore with the heroes.

The private dining hall is comfortable and cozy, softly lit by wall-mounted lanterns. A window overlooks the manor's central courtyard and the carpet is thick and soft. A large portrait hangs on the wall, a fine work depicting a handsome young man with a short beard. Standing before the portrait was an attractive human woman wearing a long, flowing blue dress. She smiled as the heroes entered, introducing herself as Lavinia Vanderboren.

Lady Vanderboren informs them that she recently inherited her parents' estate. Unfortunately, along with the manor came a fine amount of debt owed to the Dawn Council, the harbor-master, and quite a few guildhalls. It seems that her parents were not as skilled at finance as one might expect from such successful adventurers. If Lavinia is to get these taxes paid, she will need to access her family's vault under Castle Teraknian.

And that's the problem. The vaults are magically locked - keyed to special signet rings. Both of Lavinia's parents had these rings, at least, until recently. Her mother lost hers a few months ago. She arranged for a replacement, but it won't be done for another month or so, too late for Lavinia. Which leaves her father's ring. He never wore it - he had a thing about men wearing jewelry. He kept it hidden somewhere on his ship, the Blue Nixie. The problem there is that the harbormaster seized the ship until someone pays for the last four months of mooring. Lavinia paid the fines to the man the harbormaster put in charge of her ship, Soller Vark. Yet when she went to claim her ship, Vark's men wouldn't let her board, claiming that she hadn't yet paid the fines. She spoke to Vark again and he denied ever receiving her payment. Her complaints to the harbormaster have fallen on deaf ears - he trusts his man and won't relent.

Lavinia thinks that Vark and his men are up to something in her ship. What she needs is to find out exactly what they're up to. Unfortunately, according to her, Vark's not the type to react well to diplomacy or logic. She needs someone who speaks his language...which is where the heroes come in. If they can find out what Vark is using Lavinia's ship for, or even better, recover the money she paid him, she will pay each of them 200 gp once she has access to her vault.

Her presentation over, Lavinia was open to specific questions. When the heroes asked about the group they met at the hall outside, Lavinia identified them as the Jade Ravens, a mercenary company that's been in the Vanderboren employ for several years. She has asked them to travel south to the city of Cauldron to contact her aunt and uncle for aid.

The heroes also asked how much money she gave to Vark, to which she replies that she payed him 100 pp. Grunk then tried to ask for a larger finder's fee, but Lavinia  reminded him that these are money she still owes to the harbormaster.

When the heroes asked about the portrait hanging in the dining hall, Lavinia paused for a moment before revealing that the portrait is of her brother Vanthus. The heroes also asked her if Vanthus knows that her mother had lost her signet ring, to which she replies that he does. Lavinia had nothing more to say about her brother other than that he's left town.

The heroes also asked Lavinia what happened to her parents. Such a direct question took her aback. After she took a moment to gather her thoughts, she said in a quiet voice that they burned to death in a ship fire about a month ago - they were taking the recently purchased ship for a cruise when something caused the ship to catch fire and burn to the waterline. There were no survivors.

The heroes also asked if there is a possibility Vark knew about the signet ring being on the Blue Nixie. Although Lavinia considers it common knowledge that all of Sasserine's nobility have vaults under the castle, she can not fathom how Vark would know that her father's signet ring was on board the Blue Nixie.

On the next day, Graim tried to gather information on Soller Vark. He learned that the man has been recently employed by the harbormaster, and that he is considered a brute by most people he talked to.

According to Lavinia, the Blue Nixie's docked at pier 5 in the Merchant District - this pier is the long one between the Merchant's Guildhall and the Smith's Guildhall. Alas, upon arrival it became apparent that the Blue Nixie is not docked at the pier at all, but is in fact moored to a float about 100 ft from the pier's end.

The heroes hire two gondoliers to take them to the ship, which was guarded by two men on the main deck and one more on the quarterdeck. Vark's men began hollering for him as soon as the heroes boarded the Blue Nixie. There are plenty of ropes to aid a climber in boarding, but they and the ship's hull are slippery in places. Vark's men then used their crossbows against the heroes.At this point, the gondoliers hired by the heroes decided this was far too dangerous a ride and fled the scene. The guards were soon joined by two more men and one woman, along with a man with a shaved head and a jagged scar running down one arm. This man was prone to making flamboyant attacks; he attempted and finally succeeded in taking Grunk's axe and bull rushed Hearold off the ship.

Vark's men aren't that dangerous individually, but they outnumbered our heroes and gradually picked them off. The main advantages the heroes had over them was an element of surprise and higher morale. Any time one of Vark's men was wounded, they panicked and tried to flee. They jumped into the water and swam for shore. The man with the shaved head was not above such cowardice himself - he fled as well. Once most of Vark's men were fleeing the scene, the woman shrieked out a command to "burn them all". Soon after, the last of our heroes succumbed to their wounds, leaving their fate unknown.