Welcome to Freelancers
Damian leads new Freelancers Carmen, Colt, Kaladan, Okomi, and Tim on the mission from Wymar Adelard to check the storm doors.
It was the first day of the prime, and breakfast in the Freelancers' back tavern was more crowded than usual. A handful of new people had joined the guild of would-be adventurers for fun & profit, and emboldened by his newfound status as a relatively senior person, Damian was holding forth to them about adventuring life.
Damian was a male human of middling height who'd come to Freelancers from Carnivale, to learn a bit more about Freelancers' experiences in order to gather creative material for a presentation or show. The other Freelancers at breakfast listened to him in various states of amusement, since he was retelling their adventures, but the newly-joined were clearly inspired by his telling, and wanted to have their own tales.
Nervously, Damian led the five of them upstairs to the office of Arnari, the leader of the Cliffshadow Freelancers, to find out what missions she had on tap for them. Arnari was a dark-skinned half-elf, and was sitting behind a giant mahogany desk with lots of scrollwork and piles of paper. A blue-and-gold duster was casually thrown to the side as she ignored the papers and idly played a lap harp.
The office was a large corner office over the front, public-facing tavern. The door was opposite the desk, and two maps were on the left-hand wall when walking in the door. The walls had many shelves with knickknacks scattered about, most of which were related to music. In front of the desk was a giant bearskin rug, and between the rug and the door were chairs in a variety of sizes, sort of arranged in rows. Against the back wall, to the left of the door, was a wicker peacock chair.
Damian went to the front row of chairs, sat down in a human-sized chair, and checked his backpack nervously.
Okomi was a male half-orc with a fierce look. He'd gone wandering from his tribe after being repeatedly told he'd not become a shaman, and was looking for an alternative life path. He leaned against the wall near the door.
Kaladan, a male Green dragonborn in nice clothes that had seen better days, produced a deep bow at Arnari before sitting down.
Colt was a male human wearing a chain shirt and a rancher's hat. He'd grown up on a ranch, but won a "prize" which turned out to be recruited as a knight's squire. Unhappy with that fate, he'd come to Freelancers, and brought his hippogryph. He tipped his hat to Arnari as he walked in, and said "Howdy!"
Tim was a male human not wearing a rancher's hat, and in meagre clothing. He'd also grown up on a ranch, and hated it; he was so ready to do something else. Anyhow he sat in the back near the door.
Carmen was a large male Firbolg with black hair and freckles. He'd grown up in the bird sanctuary on Waypoint Lark, and waypoint fever had inspired him to crew on an airship. While in Cliffshadow port, he'd been kidnapped by a press gang, but by the time Freelancers rescued him, his ship had sailed. He quietly picked a chair his size and sat in it, clearly testing it would hold his bulk first.
Arnari had been watching the group sort themselves out, nodding in response to Kaladan and Colt. Once they were settled, she set her harp aside; Tim and Carmen both noticed the harp was magical. Eyes narrowed, she quickly shuffled through some papers, until she found one.
Glancing at Damian, who was still reviewing the contents of his pack, she suggested, "I have a single mission that's wise for you to take; that's checking the storm doors. Our city's famous cliff separates the building from the docks, and protects against storms sweeping over the leading edge of the skylith; but that does put a dent in transporting goods from the airships to the rest of the city and beyond. Six mighty tunnels lead entirely through the mountain, with doors to batten down in case of a large storm. These need to be examined from time to time, and it will pay 50 gp/person to just do an inspection and report on things to Wymar Adelard, the dockmaster."
Okomi, considering this task, tried and failed not to squirm at the idea of being a glorified inspector. Damian, however, heaved a huge sigh of relief. After a pause, he got nervous again.
- Colt: Ah dunno that much about doors
Okomi: do any of us know?
Colt: no
Okomi: you expecting a reaasonable assessment? Or what?
Tim: as a rancher, I've looked at some buildings.
Arnari: not looking for structural assessment, but maintenance; is there hinges, are there rocks, dry rot, etc.
Kaladan: if the doors need cleaning, why do they not just call the servants?
Arnari: they do not know where the servants could go.
Okomi: I guess you can rely on us for at least that
Carmen: storm season is soon, so this is probably important.
It all felt like kind of a letdown, after all of Damian's stories, but the 6 of them took the mission, and rose to leave. Then realized they were not that familiar with Cliffshadow's layout.
- Colt: let's start closest.
Kaladan: going north better than going south.
Okomi: soonest started, soonest done.
Damian: is there a map we can take notes on?
Arnari: you may give the report either to me or Wymar, and yeah – grab a piece of paper
Tunnel 1
Damian's nervousness increased as they got to the first tunnel, and he jumped at everything; the creaking of wagon wheels, a bird flying overhead. He forgot to look at the doors. Okomi looked at the doors; the tunnel was wide enough for two wagons, and the doors of a size, and that's all he saw.
However the door had dry rot.
- Tim: someone's gonna have to fix that door.
Colt: you see that dry rot right there?
Damian: it's not moving, it's fine.
Colt: you got the paper, note that down!
Damian <started>: oh. Yeah
Okomi produced a chalk, and marked the dry rot with an X, then they started through the tunnel.
- Okomi: I'm not from here, are you?
Carmen: no
Colt: ranch
Tim: you don't wanna BE from a ranch!
Kaladan: not from a ranch.
They got to the dockside end of the tunnel, and looked at the doors, which were fine. They started walking north to the next tunnel, past docks with the elemental airships. The elementals murmuring to themselves in the various baskets.
- Colt <nodded at the elementals>: how you think they get them in the cages?
Okomi: carefully.
Colt: that's how we do the bulls back home
Kaladan: you must wrestle the lesser creatures.
Tunnel 2
The Freelancers got to the dockside door of the next tunnel, and Damian was somewhat calmer. They looked at the doors. Okomi went up to it and sniffed it, then pulled out his axe and scraped it a little, finding rust. Kaladan made as if to sniff disdainfully, and inhaled a fly. Damian jumped initially at that, then calmed down. Colt and Carmen looked at Kaladan. "Does that taste good?" Colt asked.
Kaladan did not answer, and they proceeded down the tunnel, which was also wide enough for two wagons. It had more traffic than the first one. When they got to the cityside doors, one of the doors had a big scrape. Tim bent and inspected it.
- Tim: this was recent. It's not weathered enough to be old, and see, here? It was going towards the airships.
Colt: wow, you can tell all that from just a scratch?
Tim <surprised>: apparently so
They'd emerged into the city next to the Pilot's Guild. As they headed north they walked past the stables, which house beautiful and fast peregrine gryphons used by the pilots who helped dock and launch the airships, as well as boundary navigation. To their right, the cliff was decorated with an impressive mosaic of beautiful gryphons.
Okomi flagged down a passerby to ask about the history of the mosaic. The human glanced at Okomi and the group and frowned.
- Passerby: I'm busy. They been there forever. <Walked away.>
Colt: what's their problem?
Okomi: maybe axe? Tusks? 6' tall?
<At this, Okomi suddenly realized, his height did not stand out. Everyone but Damian was tall.>
Carmen: you are all short.
Tunnel 3
The cityside doors of the next tunnel were fine, and as the Freelancers walked down the tunnel, Okomi launched into a discussion about demon beasts. The tunnel was 3 wagons wide, and heavily traffic'd; mosaics were on the walls. 6'9" Carmen was still musing on how the others thought they were tall when they turned around a dog leg in front of a mid-tunnel set of doors. He tripped and fell face first into a nasty part of the walkway, covered in excrement.
Colt picked him up, and helped him back on his feet. "Isn't the first time Ah fell face first in sheeit," he said kindly. Damian pulled out a playbill from his pack, and then used prestidigitation to clean off Carmen.
"You have my gratitude," Carmen said in a heartfelt tone.
The central doors were fine, and the group headed to the docks, where those doors were also fine. The airships here were mechanical; thick cigar-shaped metal, with massive central rings holding the movable wings, and giant propellers at the ends pointed up.
Carmen shook his head at the mechanical airships. Then he said to Damian, "you probably should write that down." Damian looked at Carmen, puzzled. "What?" Carmen indicated behind, in the tunnel, with his head, and Damian's face cleared. "oh. Yeah."
Tim was getting restless. "We should find out who did that!" he declared.
Tunnel 4
The Freelancers walked past the dockmasters' office to the next tunnel, which was also 3 wagons wide and busy with carting traffic, and the dockside doors were fine. They started down this tunnel, which also had mosaics on the walls depicting airships, the sky, and riders on gryphons and pegasi. Carmen, Colt, and Kaladan looked at these, impressed.
- Tim: eventually, do we see combat?
Damian: there was combat on my first mission.
Tim: sweet! See some action!
Damian: no; Maghris was killed by an ooze. <more to himself> it's okay! We're closer to town.
Tim: did you get your share from him?
Damian <taken aback>: no, Arnari and Tomtom did some magic.
Kaladan: now he must live with the shame of falling to an ooze.
Colt: how does this work?
Okomi: we just saw falling into ooze.
Carmen became embarrassed again, as they got to the middle doors and inspected them. The hinges were jammed, and Tim, Damian, and Okomi checked carefully, then concluded it was not from deliberate action. Damian noted it down, and the Freelancers pressed on.
- Damian: it [the ooze] seemed to form arms to attack, and just hit people. Once Maghris died, we brought him back to the tavern.
<A long pause as Damian thought about it, and looked at the others.>
Damian: Arnari was really mad, and I don't want to deal with Arnari mad again. So all y'all stay alive or some dark plays come out of it!
The mosaics had changed to landscapes with rolling hills, and agricultural themes. But then they emerged into the cityside, the Pilot's Guild stables on their left now. These doors had rust on the fastenings, and Damian noted it down as the others again looked at the pegasus mosaics on the cliff.
The Freelancers walked north, and the shops improved in quality, although the taverns perhaps did not. Airship crews were bar hopping, and Carmen's eyes narrowed. He tensed up and started looking more closely at passerby, trying to see if anyone was in a press gang. Tim also started looking, having heard Carmen's story, but neither of them spotted anyone. The passerby were all clean, and well-dressed.
Tunnel 5
As they got to the doors of the next tunnel, the Freelancers saw the cliffside mosaics gave way to murals of pegasi flying. Illusion magic had been applied to make the wings appear to glow.
They inspected the cityside doors, which seemed fine; Okomi started to concentrate on detecting any spirits, and kept that up as they walked down the tunnel. The tunnel was only two wagons wide and didn't really sport any decoration; traffic was much lighter.
As they got to the portside and checked the doors, Kaladan, Okomi, and Tim spotted the bases of the hinges, where they attached to the doors, looked rusted or rotted. Damian noted that down as they emerged near the docks of the sail airships. They had graceful lines and triple masts that looked like a Y when extended from their hulls, which were more decorative than the others.
As the Freelancers strolled north to the last tunnel, Carmen looked at these with an strange expression: part wistful, part as if trying to recollect something.
Tunnel 6
The last tunnel had very little traffic, and the Freelancers, having grown bored, decided it was just fine. Okomi was still trying to detect spirits, and Kaladan kept thinking he saw something move from the corner of his eye.
Okomi didn't detect any spirits, but did manage to disturb and anger a small swarm of bats, which swooped down at the Freelancers.
Kaladan made weird gurgly noises from his throat, and everyone looked at him. Then he let out a mighty belch, and a cone of dark green gas came out, and enveloped the bats. Three dropped dead from the fumes.
- Tim: nice job Kaladan! "Bat slayer!"
Kaladan: I would like a better reputation.
Tim <encouragingly>: early days
Kaladan: I'll take it for now
Damian: can you always do that?
Kaladan <embarrassed>: indigestion. …not always.
Damian, inspired, drew his rapier to attack the bats, and <Narrator voice: of course, Casey rolled a natural 1> instead managed to thrust at Colt, who blocked it, exclaiming, "What the hell?" Damian apologized profusely, then suggested "Maybe you should hit one of those bats for me," granting Colt bardic inspiration.
Carmen felt bad for the bats, and told them to go away and be safe, as one does when one is a firbolg. In case they did not, he pulled out the belaying pin he was carrying as a club, ready to hit one if they tried to bite anyone.
Okomi pulled out his battleaxe, shouting a battlecry as only an awkward 17-year-old can do. He killed a bat with it, and snarled at the little bat, sliced up on the ground.
Only two bats were left, and one tried to bite Okomi, and the other Damian. The two Freelancers avoided them, but Carmen smacked a bat with his belaying pin, killing it too.
Tim brought out his quarterstaff and splatted the last bat.
That left Colt with nothing to fight. Feeling less useful than the others, he complained, "I was busy blockin' Damian!" Kaladan told him, "You defended against a far more dangerous opponent!"
The Freelancers emerged into the Parkside district, and gave the doors a casual glance. Flush with their taste of combat, they were sure the doors were fine.
Denouement
The Freelancers found themselves in a very well-to-do neighbourhood, and as they turned to head back to the tavern, they saw a fancy pastry shoppe. As they scanned the street and storefronts, they realized there were two dueling pastry shoppes. Since checking the storm doors was hungry work, they checked these shoppes out.
One of the pastry shoppes had meat pies, and Colt was excited to get one of these for his hippogryph, Peri-Anne. Damian, meanwhile, was so relieved they'd finished the mission, he bought everyone a beignet for not dying.
On the way back the Freelancers went through Pegasus Square, and got a good look at the huge marble statue of the pegasus rearing. They noticed it was not the same as the mural with the illusion magic.
When they returned to Arnari, and she asked how it went, Carmen was super quiet. Tim told her, "We had a bat problem, but dispatched them." Damian read off his notes to her, and she took her own notes.
"I'll make sure this gets to Wymar," she assured them, as she handed out 45gp each for their efforts.
- Tim → lvl1 wizard!
- Kaladan →lvl1 warlock!
- Colt →lvl1 fighter!
- Okomi → lvl1 barbarian!
- Carmen → lvl1 cleric!
- Mission pay: 50 gp (10% to Freelancers)