Part 2: Payment Comes Due

The next time you meet with Fallenta, the playwright is obviously shaken. She's quick and to the point at describing the situation she's found herself in.

"I apologize for not being more forthcoming, but the real reason for my secrecy has backfired on me. Many years ago, I had to flee Kintargo, and to keep House Thrune from tracking me, I hired the Dragonfly Society—a group of smugglers based in Vyre who specialize in helping people start new lives with new identities—to help in my escape. It worked wonderfully, but over the years, the Society’s been more and more aggressive about demanding new payments from me. Their latest demand is a step too far—they want complete creative control over our new opera, and a lion’s share of the profits!"

Fallenta goes on to explain that the individual who contacted her with this demand, an attractive but unsettling man named Gideon Shanklett, initially threatened to spread word to Thrune agents of her true identity in return for control over the opera and its profits. House Thrune, as far as Fallenta knows, believes the woman who’s theatrical works slandered Abrogail Thrune years ago has long been dead, and if they were to learn she merely changed her name, their interference could make Fallenta’s life a literal living hell. At the same time, giving up so much was a step too far, so Fallenta pushed back against Gideon, then somewhat shamefully admits she "may have volunteered your services instead."

As Fallenta explains, the Dragonfly Society has had their own trouble with a rival smuggler of late, and for reasons Gideon wasn’t willing to come clean on, he’d rather have someone outside of the Society go in and solve their problem with the competition. If Fallenta’s "heroes" were to come to Vyre and help the Dragonfly Society out, Gideon promises to not only drop his demands for creative control but also destroy all documents on Fallenta still held by the Dragonfly Society—thereby permanently releasing her from any further payments.

"I hope you aren't too annoyed by me volunteering you for this task. From what I've seen and heard, though, dealing with some smugglers should be a simple task for you. And if this competing guild is as sinister and awful as Gideon claimed, adding a bit of local heroics to your resume could help build your fame in the region."

Fallenta lowers her eyes at your admonishment. "I'm sorry. In the past, I have dealt with people who were much less...noble than you are. I fear I picked up some bad habits during that time. But I will swear to you, here and now, that I will come to you first, as partners, instead of making decisions behind your back. You have my word."

"Thank you for understanding. I procured a couple of gifts for you. Please, accept them as a token of my thanks."

Fallenta gives you an entertainer's cincture and a moderate maestro's violin.

"The city of Vyre is located on Vyre Island just to the northwest of Kintargo. It's a 70-mile journey. A typical journey between the two cities costs a mere 8 sp aboard a passenger ship and generally takes about 18 hours to complete. Ships typically depart late afternoon, sail through the night, and arrive at their destination the next morning.

"Once you arrive, you are to meet Gideon Shanklett and his associates at The Seven Apples, a hostel that caters to visiting adventurers. All you have to do is show up at the hostel, arrange room, and then wait in the common area to be contacted."

Although Kintargo is the capital city of Ravounel, it isn’t the largest—that honor falls to the nearby city of Vyre, located on Vyre Island just to the northwest of Kintargo. Before Ravounel’s secession, Vyre already operated as a city largely outside the jurisdiction of Cheliax, a self-governing free port that promised privacy to those who could pay. A city of drugs, blood sports, gambling, and other hedonistic pleasures, Vyre serves as a place where the mighty can go to unwind, away from the intrigues and pressures of politics. Things have largely remained unchanged in Vyre since Ravounel’s secession.

The city of Vyre is located on an island of the same name on the shallow harbor Keelwrack Harbor. The city sprawls up and between two hills and across two smaller harbor islands, jagged Dunrock and luxurious Keelwrack Island. The Vyre River flows east from the island and cuts through the city on its way to Keelwrack Harbor. The city's sky is often hazy with smoke, and between the salty harbor and many pungent eateries and perfumes of its streets, Vyre has as much a geography of scents as it does physical streets and districts.

You check into the Seven Apples and wait for Gideon Shanklett as Fallenta instructed. Indeed, Gideon arrives soon after you, grinning broadly and giving the elderly halfling proprietor of the hostel, Molly Mayapple, a flirtatious wink and wave (that she responds to with an eye roll and a dismissive scoff). All big smiles, good looks, and sporting a very fashionable wide-brimmed hat adorned with peacock feathers, he certainly doesn’t look the part of a surreptitious smuggler. He swaggers over to your table and has a seat. With a snap of his fingers, the two smugglers who accompanied him here as guards take their seats a few tables away.

"And here you are, mighty minions of my old friend Fallenta—or should I say, ‘Imogena,’ since that’s the name I knew her best as back in the day. She seems awfully confident in your abilities, enough to put control of her latest work on the line. You do understand that if you fail to perform my little task for you, your boss belongs to the Dragonfly Society more than ever? Of course you do. Imogena wouldn’t hire fools. Now then... let’s talk about what you’ll be doing for the Dragonflies, hmm?

"The Society has a problem with a competitor. Recently, a valuable payment they were expecting for services rendered to a woman of power whose identity doesn’t matter to the problem at hand was stolen from the cargo of the Misbegotten Albatross within minutes of the ship’s arrival in port. I was put in charge of tracking down the stolen payment, a collection of magical curiosities and trinkets. It took me some time, but eventually, I tracked the theft to an old rival named Lady Augusta Wormwood, and there I hit a complication.

"Lady Wormwood is no stranger to me—she’s been a thorn in my side for many years, ever since I exposed her corruption and had her removed from her position in the Dragonfly Society. Since then, I've had to deal with her initially petty but increasingly disruptive retaliations. The complication is that my one-time supervisor appears to have settled into an abandoned warehouse along Vyre River in Westwatch—a neighborhood that the Dragonfly Society has been forbidden from directly operating in by the city government after a long-ago gang war spiraled out of control and resulted in the burning of several buildings.

"She chose her hideout well, lurking in Westwatch, where we Dragonflies aren’t allowed. But you all aren’t Dragonflies. You can head into her warehouse and snatch up the stolen shipment, and if anyone spots you coming and going, well, no big deal. As long as you keep your mission within the walls behind closed doors, what happens in that old warehouse is just the business of yourself and Wormwood. She knows that theft breaks one of the promises and can’t rely on the city for protection, and anything stolen from her in turn is thus fair game. I’ll leave the logistics of the retrieval to you, but here’s a list of the items she stole from us that we need back. As for Lady Wormwood... what happens to her I leave to you as well, but I, for one, would not miss her if she were to... go away."

Gideon gives you directions to the warehouse. "The warehouse Lady Wormwood is holed up in has two main entrances, one from the yard and another from a riverside dock. There's also a sewer pipe you might be able to squeeze through to gain access to the tunnels under the building, if you don't mind getting dirty and smelly.

"As for Wormwood herself, she's a master occultist with a strong command of magic. I'm not sure what other defenses she might have in her hideout, but the fact that she managed to effortlessly snatch away the cargo without any repercussion means she’s grown more powerful, more dangerous, and more resourceful since last we clashed. Frankly, I worry that she has powerful backers or hidden supporters. But yo are highly skilled adventurers, yes? Surely, you’ll not have a problem dealing with her!"

"The items are all small enough to fit inside a small chest," Gideon confirms. He asks you to take care of the situation within the week, if possible. That gives you a few days to prepare if you need them.

Gideon is happy to lend you a small chest in which to carry the items back.

---

Once you are ready, you head to the warehouse. Wormwood’s warehouse is located on the north bank of the Vyre River in south-central Westwatch. A ten-foot-high stone wall surrounds the landward side of this abandoned riverside warehouse. Lines of broken glass and jagged bits of metal have been affixed atop the wall, and a large wooden gate is chained up in the middle of the northern side. The building’s facade beyond presents a forlorn sight with its windows bricked up and boarded front door. To either side of the building, the ground slopes down steeply toward the Vyre River to the south.

In the back of the warehouse where it abuts the river, a five-foot-wide wooden stairway descends from a door down the side of the building, connecting to a wooden loading dock attached to the base of a circular stone tower. Just west of the staircase, a dirty lead sewage pipe leaks pollution into the river through a filth-encrusted iron grate.