Chapter 15: Sneaking and Ambush

August 5

Jaysek and Neia search information on the attack by listening to rumors and trying to ask people what they know.

Saul finds out that crime bosses are gathering in the swamp in the evening around 11 PM.

The group goes to the shore and Ra practices changing to water form. It doesn’t help with sneaking.

They then make a plan that in the evening Kieron and Ra sneak into the swamp to listen to the crime bosses, with Jaysek and Neiia following a bit behind, but not too far

Jaysek then casts vision-improving spells, but fails.

Around 4 PM: A philosophical dolphin comes to greet Neiia and speaks cryptically. The dolphin has apparently met Ra (but Ra was still a baby) and Neiia before. The dolphin is apparently old, judging from his speech. The dolphin thinks he’ll be drawn into something big that will probably happen if and when politics change. The dolphin’s role in this event is to cause destruction, and he doesn’t like it, or actually does like it, according to his own somewhat cryptic words. Jaysek recognizes the dolphin as Shaal, “The Destroyer,” that is, the sea god.

Jaysek tries casting several spells on Ra, and in the process forgets one of his spells for a week. Jaysek goes to take a nap, and the rest of the group handles casino business until evening.

They leave so that they are observing from a little distance away from the swamp to start with. They observe for an hour and see hardly anything. At 10 PM the group starts sneaking toward the supposed meeting place with Ra in the lead. Neiia casts a mind read spell on Ra so the rest get at least a one-way link with him since we’ll lose sight of him anyway, as he is very good at being stealthy. Ra does sneak ahead and disappears from sight, that woodelven knight training apparently is very different from other knights. The rest of the group goes as one group, and at some point Jaysek detects a group of six people standing in a ring about 30 yards away in the shadow of some ship wreck. Jaysek conveys the information by gesturing to Neiia and then to Kieron, who is walking ahead, so Jaysek has to to be catch up with her first. Kieron and Neiia then detect three groups of guards and also point them out to Jaysek. Then Kieron goes ahead sneaking closer, and the others follow a bit, about 20 feet, behind. Neiia and Jaysek stop about 20 yards away and Kieron continues. About 10 yards from the supposed bosses, Kieron detects a fourth guard group and returns to report it to Jaysek and Neiia. Jaysek and Neiia position themselves in place and try to detect that fourth group; Neiia might detect it but isn’t sure. Neiia and Jaysek observe, Kieron goes sneaking closer again and stays there watching. Then Kieron sees something and advances, and after a moment returns with some youngish elf to Neiia and Jaysek. The elf has a hawk sitting on his shoulder. The elf asks if we noticed the ambush set up for us. We nod solemnly, and after that Kieron tells that the guys assumed to be bosses were scarecrows. Neiia introduces herself, and the elf says he is Kwava.

The elf says he didn’t want to contact us because we’re in Saul’s service, but since Saul sent us into an ambush, maybe we aren’t his best friends after all. Kwava says he’s from the Ekujae tribe from the Mwangi Expanse, whom we call Southern Prelates. His name probably wasn’t, according to Jaysek’s memory, on that super-spy’s name list. Kwava speaks grammatically perfect language but talks somehow funnily. Kwava’s mission was to come here because of that black cloud, and they have come to believe - and at this point Neiia interrupts and says shouldn’t we do something about that ambush since Ra is probably coming back soon. Kwava thinks that maybe those 3 wererats could be dealt with. We attack so that Kieron sneaks behind one, and after she attacks, Jaysek and Neiia join the battle.

Kieron surprises one wererat and strikes him many times. Jaysek notices this and shoots. Ra hears the shot from behind after sneaking back past the others. The battle results in 1 dead, 1 unconscious, and one escaped rat.

Kwava says he works for the elf council. They suspect that behind the cloud is some traitor elf. Saul is probably somehow connected to the matter. Kwava has been given instructions to investigate Saul and told about the group from the adventurers’ guild that works for Saul. Neiia reveals that Am Dana is connected to our group being sent here.

Kwava claims Saul had his own assistant killed who was supposedly taking money to the moneylender.