Locate Jamie

Dryali was telling Kaelani and Fine Branch about the owl gryphon eggs when a tall but lanky Rain sagani entered.  He seemed a bit out of his element, looking around wonderingly; all he said was he'd escaped his former life and was looking for something new.

His name was Hu'eu Aukai and the three Freelancers brought him up to Arnari's office to meet her.  She was surprised - "yes another Rain sagani, hmmm" - and suggested 3 different missions they could embrace as a group:

• The leader of House Aldous is looking for people to find hippogryph eggs, to expand his breeding lines.  He is offering 100 gp/egg or a trained hippogryph gelding for 10 eggs.
• Track down the mysterious Jamie.  His M.O. seems to be to fuck with people.
• Go to Lakeview.  They are having a problem with giant frogs attacking fishermen.

Dryali started.  "How big are these frogs?"  Arnari shrugged.  "Medium-sized."

"How big is that?"  Dryali scowled.  "Are they bigger than me?!"

Arnari shot back, "Everyone is bigger than you."  Kaelani lifted a finger.  "Um…"  Arnari looked at the diminutive Rock sagani.  "Oh, that's right."

Fine Branch shifted, one of her tails lashing.  "Why are we discussing this?"  She had a beef with Jamie.

Arnari expanded on that.  "Ok, so Bryseis Seere of the Skyguard posted this mission.  The request is to investigate him:  find him.  Don't need to bring him in; try to figure out what's happening, what's his deal."

She shuffled her papers, reading: "He was last seen in the Trade District, a pretty half-elf, kind of young-looking…" She looked up at Dryali and Fine Branch.  "Actually you are the last ones to see him."

Kaelani was dubious, "Frogs sound more straightforward.  How much?"  Arnari told him, "100 gp for frog head."  Fine Branch said, "We're going after Jamie, damn it."

The Freelancers discussed what to do, as they sauntered across the Trade District.  Fine Branch thought it would help if they could draw Jamie, perhaps for posters.  But nobody was actually an artist.  Dryali suggested they go to the boarding house where they'd encountered Jamie, 3 primes ago.  Since nobody had a better idea, they did that.

They found the boarding house, and there were the rooms, and the door which still had the dick that Fine Branch had drawn on it.  They knocked on the door, and to their surprise, a female half-elf answered; noises of a young child came from behind her.

The Freelancers asked her, if she knew where the previous occupants of the room went, and she told them the dragonborn who had been there had moved to Cliffgate.  The Freelancers thanked her and left.

They decided to go to the leasing office and talk to whomever let the rooms.  Hu'eu piped up.  "I can intimidate!"  Everyone looked at him strangely.  Dryali said, "Nobody to intimidate…"

They got to the leasing office, and met the landlord, a male human named Iphis.  He was portly, with dark brown hair slicked back, and tan skin.

Hu'eu greeted Iphis.  "Hello, we're looking for Jamie."  Iphis gave him a strange look.  Hu'eu described Jamie, and Iphis said simply, "Dunno Jamie."

Dryali interjected, "We're looking for who was in the room with the dick drawn on the door, when it was drawn on the door."  He did not add who drew it.

Iphis told him brusquely, "Don't keep records.  ...there's a half-elf now, and a dragonborn before her.  Not sure, anyone else."

Kaelani asked, "Who else was renting the room in the last 30 days?"  He considered, and asked, "What is the dragonborn's name?"

Iphis' eyes narrowed slightly.  "What's it worth to you?"

Kaelani drew himself up and declared, "I am a duly appointed Paladin of Ua, in pursuit of –"  Iphis cut him off.  "Ua is a rich temple."  Kaelani said, "Fine.  10 eagles."

Iphis pulled out a ledger.  "Roland started renting the room for the day before the Tumultuous Holiday, and the prime after that.  Don't keep much records, but he's a caravan guard."  He scratched his chin.  "A pair of sagani and a human were renting the room,  There was a commotion, and they left."

Dryali and Fine Branch glanced at each other.  Kaelani asked, "...Laki?"  Iphis grunted.  "Sound familiar."

"Blessings of Ua upon you," Kaelani intoned.  Iphis put his hand on his belt pouch, and actually smiled.  "I think they already are!"

After they'd left the boarding house, the Freelancers decided to pay Bryseis of the Skyguard a visit.  They caught the hanyou outside, overseeing some of the lingering repairs to the outpost.  The gold Celestial Eagle on her shield was shining brightly in the Daystar's rays, a huge contrast with her black hair and lavender skin.

Dryali asked if she had gotten any information out of Aleki and his friends.  Bryseis said they weren't able to get much.  Fine Branch suggested they make posters with Jamie's image and put them up for a reward.  Nobody thought this was a good idea; then she explained the idea was to say Jamie had done something good and the Skyguard wanted to give him a reward.

This confused Bryseis, since Jamie had performed no such act.  Fine Branch told her, of course not; but seeing such postings perhaps would pique his curiosity and bring him into the open to investigate.  Bryseis was just No.  She shook her head as if it hurt.  Perhaps she did not deal with nekomata too often.

Dryali suggested going to the City Guard.  Hu'eu suggested putting graffiti over Jamie's graffiti.  As they considered these ideas, Bryseis decided she'd get some posters printed.

The Freelancers left, and walked a couple blocks west to the City Guard building.  There they talked to Melas Starmaster, a bronze dragonborn, and inquired about any reports of vandalism, in particular dick graffiti.  His skin tone matched the bronze frogs on the ridiculous formal brown coat the City Guards wear.

"The City Guard is not interested in graffiti and vandalism!" Melas boomed.  "Our focus is on muggings!  And keeping the peace!"

Dryali, thoroughly unimpressed by this declaration, pointed out "That doesn't mean you aren't getting reports."

"There are a few reports," Melas admitted, "In Pegasus and Parkside districts."  After it became plain that he had stopped, Fine Branch asked pointedly, "Addresses?"  Melas said reluctantly, "The Temple of Serenity."

"Let's go then," they all said at once, and left Melas.

Hu'eu, it turned out, had been an acolyte of the Snake, and held against his will; glad as he was to have escaped, he felt a bit lost without the structure of a temple.  At this news, Kaelani became interested in converting Hu'eu, or at least in convincing him of how wonderful Ua was.

So as the Freelancers paused to contemplate the Temple of Serenity, a building which stood by itself in the center of a large plaza in Parkside, Hu'eu went ahead to talk up the acolytes about Te Mārie and Serenity.

They had an easy conversation and Hu'eu easily worked in questions about graffiti.  Yes, the Temple was getting graffiti'd.  The acolytes had been tasked with cleaning it off, and those devotees of Te Mārie who had seen it had been using Serenity to stay calm.

Hu'eu gestured to the other Freelancers approaching, "Would you mind if we guard the Temple tonight?  We'd like to catch these perpetrators."   The acolytes liked this idea, but they cautioned Hu'eu, "Try not to have too much violence, it disturbs our serenity."  They withdrew.

The Freelancers quickly organized a plan:  Dryali would trance during first watch, so he could prepare snare, and Hu'eu would get a bucket of water.  He guilelessly told Kaelani it was to meditate on Ua.  As Dryali tranced out, the two of them were meditating together.

Nothing happened during first watch, so Dryali went to the other side of the building and placed a snare.  He came back and was carving some wood when Hu'eu poked him; he'd heard something.  Dryali looked to see 3 humans, starting to paint dicks on the side of the building that didn't have the snare.  They woke the others up.

Hu'eu whispered, "The paint is water-based.  I can control it!"  They all decided to sneak up on the miscreants.  But Hu'eu stepped on something that emitted a loud crack, causing the humans to turn around and see.

Fine Branch gestured, and a second Fine Branch appeared!  Dryali changed what he was doing with the wood, and carved a protector eldritch cannon, pulsing out its helpfulness to everyone nearby.

Kaelani moved forward, and slammed his rainstick into the ground, as if he were a majordomo.  "Who goes there?!" he asked, menacingly.

Hu'eu, fighting his embarrassment at making the noise, used shape water to dump the paint on two of the vandals.  They ran away, wiping the pain off their faces.  The third human tried to smack Kaelani, but missed, so also ran away.

Doppel-Fine Branch moved parallel to the fleeing thugs, and commanded one to stop.  Actual Fine Branch also moved closer.

Dryali used mage hand to dump the paint bucket over the head of the vandal Hu'eu hadn't gotten.  Kaelani ran up bellowing, and smacked him with the rain stick, getting paint on it.

Hu'eu's voice – distorted, deep, and loud – called out, "STOP INSTANTLY or The GoDS Will SMite YoU!"  The words echoed through the plaza.  "TelL US What we WANT to KNOW and MAYbe We Will Set You Free."

They all stopped running.  The thug in the back stopped next to Kaelani, whom he beat enthusiastically.  Fine Branch and Doppel-Fine Branch disarmed one of the others, and Dryali hit one in the head with his rapier pommel.  Kaelani gave as good as he got to the thug beating on him.

Hu'eu's distorted voice continued, "YOU HAVE DESECRATED THIS HOLY TEMPLE.  THE GODS ARE ANGRY."  He smacked the thug furthest away from the others, and knocked him out.  <narrator voice: Homer rolled a nat 20 for a OHKO> 

Fine Branch said to the other two, "Sit down, so we can have a civilized discussion!"  They did not.  Fine Branch tried again, with more emphasis.  Still nope.  Hu'eu interjected.  "SIt DowN!"  They sat.

Fine Branch: We're looking for Jamie.  You know him?
First Human:  We wish we'd never met him!
Second Human: We don't meet him, he sends his pseudodragon!
Fine Branch:  "And when you are paid?
Both: Same.
Fine Branch:  How'd you get this job?
Second Human: Were lookin' for work and he approached us
Dryali:  In person?
First Human: yah.
Dryali: Where?
Second Human: Southwestern corner of Trade District.
Fine Branch:  Ok.

As they described the day labour market in Trade District, Dryali realized the only way Jamie would know to pay them would be if the pseudodragon was watching these events.  He looked around for it.  Fine Branch saw him and realized what he was looking for, and also looked… to see Jamie's psuedodragon flying off to the southeast.

"Well!"  Fine Branch fumed.  "Now Jamie knows we're looking for him!  This is bad!"  The others did not think so.  How would he know we weren't just religious fanatics?

As if on cue, 5 acolytes and a cleric of Te Mārie emerged from the Temple, their serenity disturbed by Hu'eu's thaumaturgy.  Upon seeing what had transpired, they were happy to find out the graffiti would be stopped.  They thanked Hu'eu and gave him 100gp, and they took charge of the would-be vandals.

Hu'eu split the 100gp evenly with the others.

The next morning, the Freelancers returned to the Skyguard outpost to relay their findings to Bryseis, and discuss what to do next.  They told her that Jamie was recruiting dayworkers in the Trade District.

Bryseis was not happy they'd yet to locate Jamie, but upon hearing what happened at Temple of Serenity, and that the Freelancers brought this latest mischief to an end, she paid out 100gp for this partial result.

"Tell Arnari, the mission still holds," she instructed them.  "With full pay!"

• Hu'eu → lvl1!
• Kaelani → lvl3!