Are you a new reader of the Asheraven Play Report? Consider reading from the beginning with part 0.
Good morning, and welcome to the fifth issue of the Asheraven Play Report. The party seems to be trying to investigate multiple points of intrigue in Narwell. For one, they have the situation with Aldo, and then there is the related issue with the guards seeming to serve interests other than the town. Meanwhile, Lord Octavius' castle may hold information pertinent to the disappearance of many Knights of Asheraven, the reward for which is the compelling force for the party to delve into there.
The most recent information the party has gotten was related to the Aldo and the Narwellian guards situation. They identified a guard who was seen wearing a marked tabard at Aldo's compound in the forested hills near Narwell. His name was Simon, and he lived in town with his wife Gertrude. With this information, the party decided to stop by his home while he was on duty in the hopes of speaking to the woman, and this proved fruitful, for she was present. They asked her many questions about her husband's occupation, trying to see just how much she knew about his dealings. She seemed to be ignorant of his side work, but she did say that he had recently gifted her several yards of fine fabrics of silk and other materials with a bonus he received from working with the guard. Gertrude was a known amateur seamstress and clothing designer. That isn't to say she wasn't good, but it was something she did not as a profession but as a hobby. Her home, which the party entered to interrogate her, reflected this with a corner of their living area acting as a workshop for her. They did end up telling her that her husband may have purchased those fabrics with money earned through less-than-legal jobs, so it may be best to avoid continued work on projects with them. At this allegation she was appalled, and the party was ejected from her home. It then occurred to the party that the guards use a local launderer to clean their tabards, so they went back to Sergeant Renault to see just who it was that they contracted the work with.
Renault told the party that it was a family business of the Lindels, and the party again left the barracks to ask more questions. Lindel's was a busy place. They launder the cloths of most businesses and organizations in Narwell. They wanted to speak with Mr. Lindel himself, and he obliged as he stepped away from reading off directions to his employees. Their questions began mostly inoocuously, asking Lindel about his business' reputation and clientele. Through these preliminary questions, the party learned that, aside from the Narwellian guard, another notable client of Lindel's was none other than Aldo Venhall for his restaurant. They redirected further questions to Aldo for the moment but only learned that he had complained about some of his tablecloths not being cleaned thoroughly and sent back. The complaint was valid, and it was resolved without further incident, according to Lindel. The party asked how the laundry service worked specifically as it related to the guard. Lindel said that the guards had a bin that soiled garments were put into, and, every third day, a worker was sent to retrieve the tabards with a handcart. The bin is placed near the rear door of the barracks, although it only gets placed there the night before pickup and resides inside at all other times. The tabards were then laundered, and they get returned the day after. Lindel told the party that the guards' pickup was unique in that their laundry is picked up alone, whereas other clients are picked up on a route with each other. The players inquired further about their pickup routine, and Lindel said that the guards had a dedicated pickup worker named Ernest; Ernest was the only one who handled the guards' pickup and delivery, but he also handled other routes. Alas, Ernest was not working that day, so he could not be called to be spoken with, and Lindel said he did not know exactly where he lived. Besides that information, Lindel seemed like an above-board player in Narwellian business circles, so the party chose not to probe deeper into his business dealings and risk offending him. The party did tell Lindel they were investigating a matter involving the tabards but that it was only related to him insofar as he handled them closely enough to notice if anything about them was out of place.
They bid him farewell and were going to go back to Simon and Gertrude's home to do some more clandestine investigation, but, instead, they found a guard who wasn't Simon exiting the house. They asked him if Simon or Gertrude were in, and then asked what he was doing there after he said neither were home. He said that he was a friend of Simon, his name was Walter, and he was ensuring, at Simon's request, that the coals under the cauldron were still warm and that the stew within it was not burning. He said he had no idea where Gertrude was, and he also said he forgot to check if the stew was actually not burning, so he went back inside and told the party to come back later. The party stayed put, so when Walter again exited the home, he told the party to get lost before he had them arrested for loitering and harrassing a guard. The party did desert the area at the threat but only far enough to double back secretly and see what Walter would do next. The guardsman had set off in the direction of the gateway for the road that would branch into the trail leading to Aldo's. The party decided to follow him and see whether he was actually heading to Aldo's. They followed until he passed through the gate and began to obviously be heading in the direction of the compound. Once they were sure of that fact, they ambushed and restrained him before demanding what his business was with Aldo at the compound. He said that it did not matter what he said, because he was clearly already convicted in the opinion of the PCs and because the work he set out to do had been completed. The party looked back towards Narwell and saw a steady plume of smoke snaking upward into the sky. The party checked Walter's person and found several tabards wound tightly together and wrapped around his waist, hidden under his own tabard. They also found a cloth coin pouch containing a few pieces of gold and many pieces of silver; guards generally do not carry significant funds, because the social implication is that a well-funded guard is a purchased guard, meaning one that has been accepting bribes. The party removed his tabard, used his own manacles to bind his hands, and tied a rope to them as a leash, and the entire group marched back to Narwell. Walter was silent the entire time after saying his initial few words to the party, and he otherwise looked stoicly forward.
The party arrived back to Narwell and saw that the house that was once Simon and Gertrude's was in flames. The PCs immediately assumed that Walter had been paid to do this, and his silent nodding as the building came into view all but confirmed this. A sixty-foot section of the street centered on the home was being blocked by other guards. They would not let the party pass through, but they did say that the home itself will likely not be able to be saved but the flame was successfully being prevented from spreading to the adjacent buildings. A nearby communal well was being used to draw water buckets and contain the blaze. Domino Di Arguilo stood nearby, and he said he knew nothing about the events leading up to the blaze but merely came over when he saw the commotion of people rushing outside his restaurant. The party had kept Walter out of view of the guards so far, but. in the interest of keeping him unseen, they decided to leave the area and situation to the guards and other volunteers, and they brought Walter into the barracks to be properly arrested and jailed. Although the party could not prove at the moment that Walter had set the fire, the numerous tabards in their possession confirmed that he was at least guilty of stealing property of the Narwellian guard and, by extension, Lord Tarban. For that, Walter was put into the jail in the dungeon of barracks.
With this new turn of events, it seems that the party is on the road to uncovering a deeper conspiracy within the ranks of the guards of Narwell. They are still clueless what role Aldo has in all of this, if he has one at all, and who else might be involved. The capture of Walter only reveals a single moving part in the machine, and only moreso if they are able to get him to spill the beans on anything else he knows. Thank you for reading this report. Have a blessed day.
Next: Play Report #6