TIME June 9th, morning LOCATION The Section House, Chuza seaport.
BACKGROUND:
As the Agents approached the Kemer Lexi beacon, they discovered Zhakarov gang members attempting to free Marek. A fight broke out, with additional sniper fire from a nearby apartment.
Hawke was critically injured, and Marek attempted to escape by having his hand severed. Crowe shot him down, and Raven pursued the remaining attackers.
Hawke was stabilised and revived, as was Marek-only to be knocked unconscious again. Reinforcements arrived to secure the scene and collect the wounded and dead.
The Agents returned to the Section House with their prisoners.
Marek was placed in a high-security cell, and the drug satchel was logged-though Raven secretly kept two vials.
A malfunctioning door system triggered an alarm, which Crowe disabled manually.
After debriefing with their captain, the Agents earned a new nickname from their amused colleagues: “The Dustmen of Section 18.”
The session concluded with the Agents preparing their official report.
WHAT HAPPENED
The Agents visited Chuza Mercantile to interview Master Barhwalle whose official stamp/seal was on the bill of sale for the consignment that conceivably delivered the golem to Chuza.
Raven initiated a rather aggressive stance against the receptionist and the awkward encounter ended when the desk clerk, Payden Chek, agreed to send word to Barwhalle to contact Agent Hawke at the Section House urgently.
The aloof and taciturn Barhwalle eventually visited the Section House for an interview. He emphasised a couple of times that the seals were fake, but it wasn’t pursued. The Agents requested a warehouse inventory list from Barwhalle before heading to the wharf, to see if there had been any feedback on the mysterious crate. Or the construct.
The crate had drawn the interest of Agent Sam, Section 18’s more senior forensic examiner. She revealed the crates’ hidden mechanism – two plate doors that dropped open to expose the coral mirror.
The plate cover was held in place by the weight of a substantial amount of sand. Whether intentional or not, the sand flowed out of the crate when a crane lifted it off the ship.
When enough sand drained out, the release mechanism tripped, and the plate doors swung down, exposing the mirror.
Agent Sam surmises that if the coral mirror was a portal for the construct to travel through, the sudden massive increase in weight probably caused the crane to topple off balance.
The crate was one of five deliveries destined for Lord Morden, under the rather vague category of object d’art.
This particular crate was a last-minute addition, brought on and paid for at the time by a dock crew, just before the ship sailed. Not an unusual event to add late shipments, as long as the cargo goes through the clearance checks and is paid.
But it was unusual that it was specifically transferred and inspected by the Kalitzim dock workers. They were very efficient.
The captain is in a long-term, lucrative, delivery contract with Marakoff Mercantile, an established company based in the port of Kalitzim. As it was part of the consignment, he didn’t see any need to argue.
On closer inspection, the crate’s contents were absolute junk. Reject pottery and glassware.
The aramis pod fruit was worth more.
The Agents returned to the Section House and recorded an interview with the now conscious Marek. Marek revealed one of the Snipers’ names (Fuchs) but did not entertain Hawke’s request to arrange a meeting with his boss, Zhakarov.
Next on the interview list was ‘Shirdrella’ but the Agents chose to waive the recording. She initially questioned if her arrest was regarding the man (Chuzan dock worker) that tried to hurt her.
The Agents gleaned that her real name is Marella and that she had been recently abandoned by the jongleur troop she was touring with. Apparently there had been a similar self defence incident in Talismonde a few months earlier.
After withdrawing to Paraisopolis to try and earn her keep, she was attacked one evening and rescued by Shirdrella. Shirdrella paid for her stay in the Courier Inn if Marella would deliver some medicines to various gangs in Chuza, in the guise of the dark elf.
The acting job appealed to her – helped by the prospect of her accommodation being cared for. Marella indicated that she did not know the medicines were the alleged drugs.
Raven suggests that Marella has been led on by Shirdrella and has been used to courier drugs. Raven arranges for Marella to be cleaned up.
The Broken Mug barkeep Thom was implicated by both Marek and Marella. Marella met Thom to hand in the bag and was prompted to wait in the games room with Marek and Tarek.
EXTRAS.
TAPE RECORDER
A small box with two spooling cogs that have an organic looking wire tightened between them. The clerical ‘recorder’ concentrates on the wire, holding it with between thumb and forefinger, while their assistant winds the spool.
The cleric concentrates and expends a cantrip (or higher) spell to embed the recording onto the spun wire with up to 15 minutes stored per level of caster. The finished recording is difficult to alter without damaging the magical integrity, causing very audible distortion and hiss. The wire is derived from a vine harvested from the Green Hell.
“Chuza Mercantile have indicated their appreciation on your intervention, and preventing further fire
Captain Brin, Section 18
damage.
The official story will be that a merchant was smuggling out a cargo they shouldn’t have been.
Frost indicates your quick actions had, well… not a trivial role in resolving the ‘problem’.
High praise indeed. He’s a man of few words. Might help smooth over the Grimm incident in the eyes of those higher up. Should be a bonus at the end of the month too. Now get out of here. I want a full report filed before you finish today…“
“You cut him [Tarek] down in cold blood. We were just playing, sa sa. You had the weapons out. Only drew the cheese toaster when you went to dust him. Court card.”
Marek Grimm, Zhakarov Gang
“The pottery looks like kiln rejects. Cracks and holes where the imperfections blew.
Agent Sam, Section 18
And the glassware… The small bubbles may look artistic but I doubt they were planned.”
“As you may know… Okay, maybe you haven’t had the privilege of ordering on Lord Mordens’ behalf. Anyway, in the past, there have been occasions when a merchant has tried to deliver items and shall we say “request” payment. These false sales were few and far between but there’s always someone trying to pull a fast one.
Master Barwhalle, Chuza Mercantile
To mitigate the issue, three copies of the sale are created when an order is lodged by the Lord. All are stamped with the seal. One to the vendor, one to the ship captain and one for the customs delivery. These, Barwhalle gestures to the manifest, are fake.
Good ones, I’ll admit. They have the right grade of vellum and the script is, well, uncannily good. But the seal is a forgery.”