So the consensus within the party was that Leif needed to be rescued. Goody Threeshoe said that most likely Leif was taken by some militia & was underneath the Gambling Hall. They all took a break. Amadi was tempted to begin work on copying his
sleep scroll to his spell book, but knowing it would take some time, retired w/ Gnolan & decided to peruse his new found book on Mathematics & got about 1/3 through; Djarel read a bit of his book about Cult of the Black Dog; Magus & Telal both took a load off & caught a few Zzz's... The five eventually regrouped in the bar area & discussed their plan for rescuing Leif...
They got to the Talbot Gambling Hall around 5 PM & were surprised to find Goody Threeshoe inside @ the only table being used, in the center of the hall, where a roulette table was. Also @ the table was Delly Hammonds, the stonecarver, they first met when Magus was looking for work, & also they are introduced to Sam Gugs, the master brewer @ Mineral's Brewery. Surprised that the party already knows these fellows is the MC of the gambling hall, Shadow Jask, a buffed out brother, who is anxious to make his presence known. Other than those four are six other folks around the table: three farmer lookin' men & three shady lookin' mates w/ hoods, all eyeing the party suspiciously. Though everyone seems a bit questionable about Gnolan, they realize that Amadi is in control of him, the way he follows him, & they start in w/ Shadow about seeing Leif & letting him go free. Shadow restates the crime Leif is suspected of: accosting & robbing Lyla Dimmings (the Baron's daughter) of valuable jewelry while on her way to a formal gathering. Shadow asks if they have an alibi for Leif for a day & a half ago. They all speak @ once, saying they were in Crackenmore. Leif was w/ them. Everyone's jaw drops. Shadow says, "Crackenmore?! Are you kidding me? What were you doing in Crackenmore & how do we know you were really there?" Djarel steps up w/ Kinchen's shield & brandishes it proudly, pointing to the inscription reading
Kinchen Forever. "Found in Crackenmore, my friends," he says. Those around the table are quite impressed. "But how do we know that the elf was w/ you?" asks Shadow. "Hey," says Goody, "can you spin the wheel already? & then we can deal w/ this." Rattled, Shadow asks if any of them want to place a bit before he spins & gambling addict Magus reaches deep & places the 18 gp he gained from Crackenmore on black. Shadow rolls. RED 7. Oh well, no one ends up winning. Shadow scrapes up the coins & pockets them. "By the way," says Shadow, "you all will need to deposit any weaponry you are carrying into the bank." There is a bit of resistance, but as the three fellows w/ hoods stand & circle the party, after noticing Telal trying to sneak closer the door on the north wall, things get more serious & Shadow presses that they must deposit any weapons they have in the gambling hall. He leads them to a door in the SW corner of the hall & then they watch as he takes their weapons one-by-one as they hand them to him. "Now can we get Leif out?" asks Amadi. "You may have that shield, but nothing proves that the elf was in Crackenmore. The bail is 650 gold," says Shadow. Gulps can be heard around the room. The party presses Shadow about going down to @ least see Leif, but is shot down. "Can ya'll go down?" he asks the 3 hooded folks & they promptly exit the door on the north wall. As everyone is back around the roulette table, Shadow included, Djarel & Magus get into a verbal fight of some sort, about gambling Magus' money away when they need it for bail, & Amadi grabs Shadow for discussion, bringing him over to the side; in the moment, Shadow lets it slip, "I have no call in all of this, the thieves guild are the ones w/ the control," then before Shadow knows it Amadi is subtly casting Charm Person on him & as the argument dies down, Shadow is now asking what he can do for Amadi & the party. "How much money do you have, Shadow?" asks Amadi. "I think about 1200 gold," says Shadow. "I would like to use your 1200 gold to free the elf," says Amadi. Shadow heads toward the bank door & then comes out lugging two large bags of coin. "What the hell?" says Goody. "I been gamblin' here how long? You never loaned me nothin' like that." He looks to the others still there, who also look a bit confused. "Can you take one of those bags & get Leif?" says Amadi. "Sure," says Shadow, "that shouldnt be a problem." Shadow heads out the door on the north wall, where the hooded fellows had disappeared to. The party then moves toward the bank room where they realize Shadow left the door ajar. Goody, Delly, Sam & the three yokels decide to gather their stuff & follow the party to the door where everyone grabs their weapons, them included, & then the party moves back to the center of the hall as the others leave the establishment. They wait. Shadow has not returned after 30 minutes. They decide to go through the door, w/ Magus leading. They pass through the door & go down a stair. They come to room lit by torches in wall, a table in the middle w/ cards & some coin atop as well as a number of doors about. The party notices a body laying to the NE of the room, in front of a door. It's Shadow & he's dead. The sack of gold is nowhere to be found. Telal tries to unlock the door but is unable. Amadi then steps up, twirls & kicks it open. Inside they find Leif sitting on a dirt floor w/ his hands tied behind his back in a nasty knot, wearing only his simple clothes, all of his major belongings taken. Telal cuts him free & searches the room, but finds nothing; the party regroups in the room, & swipes the coinage from the table, eyeing the other doors about. They decide to try to door north of where they are.
Amadi tries to kick it open but fails. Telal then steps up, pulls out his tools & quickly has the door unlocked. They ease in & see that the room is split into to different openings...dirt floors like Leif's cell...as they get further in they first notice a figure hunched in the NW wing - nearing the figure they see that it is a gnoll w/ hands tied behind back. He begins speaking w/ Gnolan & Leif translates for the party. The gnoll was captured up north near the Enchanted Waste & he says that if they free him, he knows where as stash of 2000 silver is that he can pay them. The party frees the gnoll. They move to the other wing of the room where they evade a bear trap of some sort & against the wall find two coffers w/ 15 platinum pieces each. The party moves back into the main room & discusses their options. There they stand, 550 gp & 30 pp richer, now a party of seven individuals: a magic-user, a thief, an elven ranger, a half-orc cleric, a dwarf & two gnolls. Shadow's dead body crunched in the corner of the room. Amidst the discussions of whether to stay or go, & what to do about Leif's possessions, the freed gnoll adds that somewhere down here, supposedly, under the gambling house, is an entryway into what many gnolls refer to simply as the Old Tunnels.
7:00 PM
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