Oh, that Wizards' Trunk

The Budgie Smugglers (Huilam [Jamie], Tylin [Ian], El Cid [Shane], Burrito [Darryl], Sorrow [Jeff]) settled into their new lair in Sirensville. Lammy, Moonlight and Argile were in the new marmalade room, and they christened it with their drool.

The group had transported six COIN, in a hired wagon, from Winjammer; four of which were spent to buy the new lair. It was a smart stone cottage by the river front.  

[This was a "Downtime": several of the group indulged their vices to clear stress, all of them trained, and some reduced HEAT. The HEAT for the gnoll mission was minor (no HEAT from killing gnolls). It all took a couple of days all, during which time the rest of the chests stored in Winjammer were transported to the new base too. Six of this COIN, plus the two COIN left over from the first trip, was used to go towards the "vice debt" of Sorrow (3), El Cid (2 of 4), Tylin (1) and Lammy (2). There was still three COIN which was private money of Argile (2) and Sorrow (1); now stored in the vault in the new lair.]

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Wanting to recover the Smoking Loon from the dastardly pirates, Huilam did some research in Sirensville's small Funken Wagnall temple library. He was seeking info on the schooner Debonair and the pirate Admiral Jack.  Not much was gleaned, except that the Debonair preyed all along the Wild Coast from Porn City all the way to Two Frime. It did not attack ports, but stayed at sea to predate on foreign merchantmen and harass smugglers. Its crew used the euphemism "privateer".

Daisy Crown

Burrito discovered that the witch Daisy Crown was in town, here at the Wizards' Guild, and serendipitously, she wanted to get a hold of the Budgie Smugglers. So, Burrito summoned the others, and Huilam, Tylin and Sorrow trundled along to meet her. El Cid sulked back at base. At the Guild, Daisy took them all into a meeting room along with the Sirensville head wizard Archimedes Strange.

Daisy had been sent to Sirensville because there was trouble afoot.

The wizards' guild trunk, the very one that the group had transported as far as Winjammer, was now here in the Sirensville Wizards' Guild (it had been brought here yesterday by Jacinta's group). But here it was stuck.

Daisy briefed them: The trunk contained a "living relic" (that explained the scratching that the group had heard within), and it needed to be delivered to the Wizards' Guild in Spite. But "dark forces" had discovered it was here, and were now amassing to take it. No longer was transport by road considered safe. So, the Guild had commissioned a ship from Two Frime to sail here to pick it up. 

Trunk

"It'll be a large fast ship," said Daisy. "I think a schooner or a brigantine. But it won't be here for five days. And so I need you lot to help to guard the trunk until it arrives. This guild only has five wizards, three of them juniors; not very fighty."

She offered to pay 2 COIN per day, i.e. 10 COIN, but the group negotiated a different price. They wanted the WG to locate and recover the party's stolen shallop Smoking Loon as payment. Daisy was surprised, but happy to do that. 

To help the Guild magically locate the Loon, Daisy got them to describe something unique onboard. The rotating name-tube on the bow that gave the shallop its different names ("Smoking Loon" "Pepper Jack" and "Hogshead") was a good example of a unique item. 

Wizards' Guilds have magical communication between the branches. Daisy went away to send some messages back to Scabport, so they could begin the shallop search.

Archimedes Strange
Head Wizard,
Sirensville

Daisy suspected dark agents in Sirensville and even within the militia, so, while the militia would not dare attack the Wizards' Guild to steal the trunk, they could not be trusted to defend it. And the Sirensville Wizards' Guild was not a very defendable building; only weather-boards and a slate shingle roof. She wanted the trunk gone "It must be out of here, before it gets dark, today".

Also, Daisy said, out of earshot of Archimedes, that she didn't trust the support staff here in the guild (1 cook, 3 servants, 2 guards and 2 batmen). 

The group asked if the trunk could be magically tracked, and the answer was assuredly yes. The relic within was magically screened and not traceable, but the trunk itself was pretty unique. So, hiding it would not be possible. There was no Faraday cage here in Sirensville, and no time to build one.

Besides, as Daisy pointed out, Faraday cages have the "null-field problem". While you can't locate things inside one, if there is one nearby, your scanners will detect a null spot, "a dip in the static", which tells the scanner that there is something hidden here.

Daisy hoped that the group still had the 1G conch on them, she didn't have a spare one, but no. They had left the conch in the Smoking Loon in Winjammer. (The other comms device they had, the Blue-tooth skull, was left in their base in Scabport.)

Hearse

While they were having the meeting, someone happened to glance out the window and saw two hearses pass in the street, each pulled by two horses. They were elaborate, ornamental and new.

"Hrmm," said Daisy. "I hope that's not a portent."

Burrito rushed outside to the street, and paid an urchin to find out about the hearses.

Tylin was less subtle; he just followed the hearses himself. They couldn't move very fast through the streets, so he could keep up easily.

The hearses paused at the rusty Sirensville cemetery gates, and then went inside and stopped outside a large aged tomb to the "Storm Family". There were three undertakers and two guards per hearse. The undertakers set about unloading the hearses; two coffins per hearse.

The tomb's unoiled iron doors creaked open, and then all four coffins were carried inside.

A crowd of onlookers gathered to watch the spectacle. Including Burrito's urchin. But he ventured too close to the hearses, and one of the thug guards punched him down.

 

Five undertakers then packed up the hearses and left the cemetery. Four guards were left outside the tomb (two men and two half-elves). Disturbingly, they had Sirensville Militia livery. 

Tylin rescued the unconscious boy, and took him to the REAL temple, then returned back to the Wizards' Guild to brief everyone.

"Get that damn trunk out of here," hissed Daisy.

It was five hours before dark.

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