Locate Jamie

After Osric, Tuala, Cathance, Terrance, and Fine Branch provided Arnari a mission debrief, the 1 platinum Freelancers' Cut, and noting they were waiting for weapons, Tuala wandered off to write down his observations from the airship in his journal.  That left the other four Freelancers sitting in the not-quite comfortable chairs in Arnari's office.

"While you are waiting for those weapons, perhaps you'd like to take another mission," Arnari suggested.  "I have three that might be appropriate."

• The mayor of Lakeview sent again for help; now they have a cave bear eating their sheeps.
• Track down Jamie, for Bryseis of the Skyguard
• We've a request for bouncers, for the opening night of an Untz club, "Kowiri Music & Tavern"

Cathance kicked her feet.  It really was rude of Arnari to have such large chairs.  "I'm not much of a bouncer."

Arnari replied without missing a beat, "They'll need people to keep order in the line, as well as stop any fights."

Osric said, "We are presumably not to kill anyone."  His statement was a question.

Arnari looked startled.  "Certainly not."  Fine Branch declared, "If Jamie shows up, all bets are off!"

Cathance had acquired an interest.  "When is it?"

Arnari told them, "Two nights hence."  Osric scowled.  "I know, your owl gryphons."

Fine Branch wanted Jamie, and dropped into a screed about it.

Cathance kicked her feet, thinking hard.  "I'm pretty good at keeping order," she mused out loud.

A silence ensued.  Finally Arnari said, "...Right."

Cathance snapped out of it.  "Have we heard of any other incidents with Jamie?  We've been on Pembroke, after all."  She waved her hand to indicate the group.

The five of them reviewed what was known about Jamie.

• He hires dayworkers
• His pseudodragon pays
• His pseudodragon watches

They decided to go after Jamie, since Osric and Terrance were unknown to him.  They'd go to the market for the dayworkers, and see if they could get hired.

As they filed out of Arnari's office, they were discussing how to accomplish this.  Osric's new hide armour, with the obvious bearskin, and Terrance's new leathers would not do; they changed into the beat-up clothing they'd been wearing when they joined Freelancers.  Cathance and Fine Branch were known to Jamie, having been spotted by his pseudodragon.  Cathance picked up a disguise kit for 25gp from the quartermaster, and Fine Branch would use disguise self.

The Freelancers badges, with their faint magic signature, would also be a dead giveaway that the bearer wasn't really a person in need of pickup work for manual labour.  Fine Branch and Cathance picked up leaded badge cases from the quartermaster for 5 gp.  Terrance and Osric just left theirs in the barracks.

A firbolg, a Holder dwarf, a male Djogeon halfling, and a down-on-their-luck human arrived in the labourer pickup area in the Southwest Trade District Market at roughly the same time, wandering and mingling with others hoping to trade labour for coin.

The firbolg looked a bit desolate, since there weren't much in the way of trees, and more importantly, not much in the way of graffiti-looking people, but her keen eye noticed a pseudodragon perched on a nearby roof, watching.  Terrance did manage to point the creature out to the others before they scattered.

Cathance, even with the lifts on her little shoes, saw fuck all.  She was just too short.

Fine Branch had no problem blending in, and started inserting themselves into groups likely to get picked up for graffiti.  After some wandering around, so did Osric and Cathance, the latter with a group of halflings.

The pseudodragon started flying over the gathered people, swooping about.  Cathance watched it, trying to figure out where it was looking to, which surely was Jamie.  But the tall people blocked her from doing so.  The pseudodragon landed on the other side of the market and resumed watching.

Fine Branch, bored, moved to a new group.  Osric, uncomfortable, asked around until he found a group of stablehands.  Cathance tried to put an air of camaraderie and forlornness with the group she was with, but they still thought something was off, and shunned her.

She went off to the center of the market, unhappy, and sat on a curb, visibly despairing.

Time passed, with the Freelancers, unused to this kind of work, noticing nothing.  Then the pseudodragon took off, flying east towards the leading edge of the skylith.

Cathance, still visibly despairing, got up and left the market, head down, heading east.  Terrance, who'd also seen this, took off too.  Fine Branch and Osric stayed behind.

Looking around the market, Fine Branch saw nothing, beyond Terrance leaving.  They hoped Terrance remembered to meet up at the Academy of Magic, which had the tallest spire, if they lost track of each other.   Osric, meanwhile, noticed that the… shadiest group of people, had left the market.  He wasn't sure when.

The morning was waning and so were any opportunities to be hired.  Fine Branch and Osric, after one last look around, headed towards the Academy of Magic.

Meanwhile, Terrance, who was following the pseudodragon, kept a sharp eye out on the trees for signs of its passing.  Cathance, who had to jog a bit to keep up with Terrance, provided guidance, "May the Tortoise approve of your plan."  Apparently the Tortoise did approve, and Terrance and Cathance were able to follow it into Guildstrom District, to a two-storey house on a tidy section of Horsefeather Street, with a garden in the back, and maybe an animal shed?

Once they were sure that was where the pseudodragon went, Cathance and Terrance headed back towards the Academy of Magic to tell the others.

The group went back to Freelancers Tavern, to have a bite to eat and change into their normal gear.  They also briefly checked in with Arnari, to report they thought they'd found his house.  She nodded her thanks for the update and they headed out.

On the way over to Horsefeather Street, they stopped at Oskar Torevir's shop, so Osric and Terrance could pick up their silvered weapons.  The coating had a slight purple tinge that was only obvious at certain angles.

They walked past the house on Horsefeather Street, which was a mix of houses and shops.  Fine Branch suggested they talk to the neighbours to confirm it was Jamie.  Terrance wanted to check out the garden.  So the group split up again, with Terrance and Osric heading around to the alley running behind the line of houses and shops.

Fine Branch used disguise self again, and was now a female human.  They strode confidently up to the house next to the one which was hopefully Jamie's and knocked.  A female human answered and Fine Branch announced, "Hello, I'm interested in Jamie and his patronage of the Arts.  We're doing some background checks to determine his character as part of ascertaining his suitability for an award."

The human in the doorway was terse.  "Don't know him," she paused. "He has a couple visitors, every other prime," she added helpfully, and then shut the door.

Cathance rolled her eyes.  Fine Branch wasn't very good at this.  They headed to the house on the other side of Jamie's, and Fine Branch knocked on the door again.  Cathance helped to give them both an air of involvement with the Arts in Cliffshadow.  They didn't even get a good glimpse of the person before the door was slammed in their faces.  <narrator voice: because Matt Harris rolled not one but two 1's>

Cathance said, "Let me do this."  They went over to the house across the street, and Cathance put on a very sincere face and knocked at the door.  Another human female answered, a bit older.  Cathance repeated the spiel Fine Branch had done prior.  The woman immediately warmed at the two Freelancers.  "Jamie seems to be a nice young man," she started.  "A couple friends visit him every so often – every other prime."

She continued, "He's very helpful.  His friends fly in on their own gryphons, and they sometimes get loud, but it's not often.  He lives by himself… about once an eighth, he travels away, and asks me to take care of his garden.  Sometimes it's not necessary."

Cathance nodded solemnly and thanked her for her information.  "Might we get your name, for our records?" she asked.  "Emmelota," she told them.

Fine Branch asked, curiously, "Do you happen to know how old he is?"  There was a pause.  "The award has an age restriction," they finished lamely.  Emmelota made a dubious face.  "It's hard to tell, with half-elves."  They took their leave and headed up the street to a little park they'd noticed.

While that was happening, Terrance and Osric had gone around the block into the alley.  The house's garden had a 5' tall stone wall around it, blocking Osric's view, but not Terrance's.  The well-tended garden grew various herbs, useful for both cooking and spell components.  The outbuilding appeared to be a small stable.  Osric could tell by the smell that one gryphon was in the stable, but it was large enough for two.  Then they also headed towards the little park.

Now they knew it was Jamie's house, but still had not seen Jamie with their own eyes.  Since Jamie (and/or his pseudodragon) had seen both Cathance and Fine Branch, the next part was up to Terrance and Osric.  Terrance could stealth into the garden to peer into the windows, and Osric had learned how to shapeshift into a cat, which impressed Cathance a bit more than Fine Branch, for some reason.

It was midafternoon, with the Daystar shining down, and the consensus was that this further investigation of Jamie's house would require dark time, so the Freelancers stayed in the park, which had about 10 other people, including children playing.  The park had a small statue of a storm cloud, not really a surprise, given the Church of Storms was a few blocks away.  Fine Branch checked out the statue, but Terrance went to the two tall trees in the park and talked to them.

Cathance asked Terrance, curiously, "Do they ever talk back?"  Terrance confessed to her, "I don't understand what they say.  But it sounds like music, so I like it."

After the Daystar disappeared in the west behind the skylith, Osric and Terrance left for the alley behind Jamie's house.  Cathance and Fine Branch stayed in the park; it was empty, but did not feel so since the nearby restaurant had a lot of business in the back patio.

Osric turned into a black cat, and they were behind Jamie's house.  The two of them hopped over the wall into Jamie's garden… <narrator voice: and at this point, Casey rolled a nat 1 on stealth.>  ...and perhaps they should have practiced this, because 6' tall Terrance landed on Osric-the-cat's tail.

Osric's startled "MRIIIIIAOW" split the night, followed a moment later by the "SKREEEEEE" of an angry, freshly-awakened gryphon.

Terrance and Osric, froze, listening.  Someone was coming to the back door of the house.  Terrance hid behind the small tree, not considering she was larger than the tree.  Osric-the-cat summoned a spirit hawk and then jumped up on the wall, pretending to chase it.  Perhaps Osric should have actually practiced being a cat, as he ran after the spirit hawk on his hind legs, swinging at it pugilistically.  <narrator voice:  Casey rolled a 0 on performance.>

The back door opened, and Jamie emerged on the back step of his house, pseudodragon on his shoulder.  Looking at Terrance and Osric, he exclaimed, "What the shit is going on?  Explain yourself, and get out, in that order!"

Terrance stepped out from behind the tree, and tried to make herself look even bigger.  "Don't mess with me, if you want your gryphon to survive!"

Jamie was so not impressed.

Terrance did a backflip over the wall into the alley.

Jamie suggested to Terrance, "Bring the cat here, and explain what you were doing."  Osric, who had gotten to the edge of the gryphon stable by then, heard this clearly.

The pseudodragon launched from Jamie's shoulder and sailed over to Osric, stinging him with its tail.  The cat form faded out, surprising Jamie as it was replaced with a dwarf in bear furs.  Osric jumped off the wall into the alley, shifted into the form of a Palomino horse, and ran north up the alley, away from Terrance, neighing really loudly.

Back in the park, Cathance and Fine Branch looked at each other.  What was going on?  Why was a horse neighing?  They hadn't been gone more than a minute, tops.

The still surprised Jamie pulled out a wand, pointing it at Terrance.  A 20' cube of sticky webs materialized around her, which she avoided adroitly.  However that effort of Jamie's broke his concentration, and Terrance's compulsion to bring him the cat faded.  She exited the cube of web, and took off after Osric, throwing a dagger at Jamie in passing.

The pseudodragon flew to the top of the gryphon stable and perched there, watching, as Osric thundered away.

Meanwhile, a suspicious Cathance got out the sack she still had from Gemhallow.  She prepared to cast chill touch at the pseudodragon, if it appeared.

Osric galloped into view from the park, as Jamie moved towards his back wall, but otherwise just watched, as Terrance ran north after the horse.

Fine Branch was trippin'.  Unaccustomed to being confused, their ears were half flattened.  

The pseudodragon hid.

Cathance had an epiphany, the horse was actually Osric!  She became more concerned about the pseudodragon, and moved under a tree, so a casual flyover would miss her; but she again prepared to cast chill touch at the pseudodragon, if it appeared.  She clutched the sack tightly in her little hand.

Osric's hawk spirit was still with him, and he used it to locate the pseudodragon, 45' back.  He kept running away, north up the alley, and did not turn toward the park, not wishing to bring danger to Cathance and Fine Branch.

After a moment of quiet, Terrance strolled into the park, and addressed the tree that did not have a halfling under it.  In Trade, she praised its health, and asked it how was its day.

The tree's leaves rustled lyrically.

Fine Branch said to nobody in particular, "So, that went well."

Terrance said to the tree, "Could have gone better."

Fine Branch asked - again to nobody in particular, "Could it have gone worse?"

Terrance said to the tree, "My back flip could have failed."

Fine Branch wandered off.  Cathance, who heard this deliberately-not-an exchange, stealthed out of the park. <narrator voice: not that it matters, but Shari rolled a nat 20 on stealth.>

The pseudodragon hid.

Terrance was really concerned that her actions had placed her newfound community in danger, and wandered northward, to the Park in Parkside.  She'd spent plenty of nights sleeping in the open there, another night was no big deal.

Osric kept running.  The pseudodragon sting had hurt, and he did not want to lead the creature back to Freelancers Tavern.  He kept checking via the spirit hawk if it was following him, but did not see it at all.  Eventually he found an inn off Hippogryph Way, The Wayward Wing.

Fine Branch and Cathance returned to Freelancers Tavern, saw Arnari, and told her they'd located Jamie.  She rose, immediately noting it was just the two of them, and asking, "Are you sure?  Come with me," leading them back up to her office.

"Yes, we're sure," Fine Branch told her.  "There's trouble with him; Osric and Terrance are missing," Cathance added.

Arnari went to the door and called in Valan (male Cloud elf) and Nohea (female Fire sagani), two of the more senior Freelancers in Cliffshadow.  "Be on the lookout for Osric and Terrance, and secure the Tavern, we may be attacked."  They nodded.  To Fine Branch and Cathance, she said warningly, "If they are not back by noon, the three of us will go with you, to confront Jamie at his house."

Thus the watch was doubled and the windows shuttered at Freelancers Tavern, as they watched and waited to see whether Jamie had made the connection between the intruders at this house and Freelancers.

The next morning, Osric returned in the form of a tabby cat.  Terrance just returned as herself.  Valan hauled them all up to Arnari, who demanded to know what happened.

Terrance talked faster than normal, and her tale to Arnari dwelt much on her perfect backflip and nearly as much on the various plants in Jamie's garden and not at all on her lack of stealthy behaviour possibly giving the mission away to Jamie.  Osric's tale was a bit more measured, and he sheepishly turned to Fine Branch, and asked for "cat lessons," which they consented to give, once they were done laughing.

Cathance, a bit more seriously, told Arnari about the conversation with Emmelota, who confirmed it was Jamie, that he has friends over every other week, and he travels away every eighth.

Arnari sighed, but the parameters of the mission from the Skyguard had been fulfilled.  She issued them all 90gp each, saying "This is for Bryseis."

• Fine Branch → lvl3!
• Cathance → lvl3!