After leaving the prison, The Party returned to its base and hid.
The ledgers, carved onyx skull, and stolen silverware remained to be sold.
Adam’andiel Ironbane said his armor was already upgraded, so The Party used its funds to upgrade Rin’s armor and set aside funds for Vesper Farheel’s armor. Adam’andiel personally paid to have low-grade silver added to his shield boss. Jenvirick returned from errands and offered to help establish a Hellbreakers chapter in The City, citing The Party’s rescue of Siadrius and protest at the Moyal. Sira Antkeep welcomed those willing to fight alongside them. Jenvirick urged them to begin at once and offered to make posters. While she fetched a visitor, Sira said she did not consider herself a capable leader and trusted Rin more than Vesper to lead; she still suspected Vesper might betray them. Wyn said the group had equal ownership. Vesper defended her trustworthiness, and Sira pointed out that Vesper was a Hellbreaker consultant, not a Hellbreaker.
The visitor, Otton Nettlebrush, said Vulaunex had dismissed most of Reevesrest’s staff after Headvend’s downfall, leaving only a few servants and guards. Valuables and rare books remained there, along with a glaive in the steward’s room that older servants called a magical weapon. Jenvirick proposed taking the manor’s wealth to help The City’s needy, and Otton thought the smaller guard force made a quiet entry possible. The Party agreed to scout first. Jenvirick also proposed disrupting The Army’s food supplies by impersonating Chelaxian couriers. Sira warned that shortages might lead The Army to seize food from civilians, so Jenvirick suggested warning townspeople to hide it. After surveying the manor and finding few human and animal guards, The Party entered unseen using Wynter’s shared invisibility. Vesper’s phantasmal minion distracted the dogs while Rin and Sira kept the animals away and Adam’andiel studied the guards’ routes. They opened doors, overcame magical security, and reached the rooms they sought. They recovered the Token of Salt and Earth, which could conceal its bearer from fiends, fey, or undead, and Lifebloom, the glaive Otton had described, which could produce medicinal herbs each night and release a healing wave. Both went into shared supplies, and Wynter agreed to adapt his fighting style to use the two-handed glaive. The Party brought the manor’s wealth to its base, where people thanked them; Vesper also kept a dress from Headvend’s belongings.
During the celebration, Jenvirick asked whether The Party had killed Headvend, since the Hellbreakers were being accused. Sira said Caeto believed another group claiming to be Hellbreakers had done it, and Jenvirick called the accusation a frame job. Jenvirick proposed framing the Azris to disrupt The Army’s weapons supply, but The Party chose to pursue the food-supply plan first, rather than Jenvirick’s separate proposal to frame the Azris using talismans. Sira and Wynter each prepared forged orders for Vesper to deliver. Vesper chose Wynter’s set, though Sira’s was the better forgery, and a guard accepted Wyn’s orders after Vesper approached him in disguise and flirted with him. Later, Quoster said authorities would not let him leave with his goods and that he needed leverage. Jenvirick proposed staging a visible robbery at the docks so Quoster could argue his goods were unsafe; nothing was to be stolen. Quoster advised going at night, warned that killing guards could prompt Caeto to tighten control, and suggested asking dockmaster Sastoli for patrol information. Sastoli described a Watchmage, three shield-bearing guards, and hellhounds, and offered to draw one guard away. The Party planned to knock out the patrol rather than kill its members and agreed to act at night. They still had a few weeks before their planned departure.
At the docks, the disguised party hid among crates and pallets while Isaac took the exposed role in the staged theft. Sira summoned a ghoul to help create the disturbance. The approaching patrol noticed Wynter and moved in. Rin’s driving rain obscured the group, and Adam’andiel used Bless and drew a guard’s attention. The Watchmage hastened herself while the guards and a hellhound attacked. Vesper’s Dirge of Doom frightened nearby enemies as Wynter, Sira, and Rin struck the patrol. Adam’andiel killed the hellhound with his shield. When Rin asked why the guards had to be spared, her companions explained that killing them could bring a crackdown and hinder The Party’s movements. Rin then used a nonlethal blast. The Watchmage and every guard were knocked unconscious.
The staged robbery’s outcome and Quoster’s ability to leave with his goods remained unresolved.
Threads to Watch: the ledgers, carved onyx skull, and stolen silverware remained to be sold; the identity of Headvend’s killers remained unresolved; whether Quoster could leave with his goods after the staged robbery remained unresolved