After days on the southbound road, Kynes enters Baldur’s Gate’s Outer City alone. The caravan continued northward, while Larloch and the burial mound remained behind in the wet dark.
Fog coils between crowded stalls, leaning shacks, and unlicensed workshops. Salt, coal smoke, and river mud thicken the air as porters hurry past beneath patched awnings.
Before Kynes can choose an inn, Bren steps from a narrow passage. The short, athletic Void construct wears a dark travel coat, her obsidian-toned skin stark beneath long straight white hair.
Bren
There you are. I was beginning to suspect Baldur’s Gate had swallowed even the Wizard of Phandelver.
Her gaze sweeps the street rather than lingering on him. Beneath the fog’s muffled clatter, distant footsteps pause, then resume in careful imitation of passing traffic.
Bren
Assassins and smugglers have been trading rumors. Someone is paying for information about you, and especially about your bargain with Larloch.
Bren
We should not discuss it in the open. Tell me whether you want a room, a meeting place, or the person funding the questions.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what Bren knows about the threat
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify who is funding the questions about Kynes
“I give her peck on the cheek. " Let's get room love, and you can tell me what's going on."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +1)
Kynes leans in and gives Bren a brief peck on the cheek. Her watchful expression softens, and the careful footsteps outside lose their importance for one quiet moment.
Kynes
Let's get a room, love, and you can tell me what's going on.
Bren
A room, then. Stay close, Wizard. I have missed your particular way of making trouble look like authority.
Bren guides Kynes through a crooked alley to a narrow boarding house beneath a faded blue sign. After a few low words and a coin, the keeper, a lean middle-aged man with a weathered face, close-cropped brown hair, and a faded gray vest over a linen shirt, gives them a key.
Inside, the rented room holds a washstand, two chairs, and a shuttered window overlooking the fogbound street. Bren checks the latch, then settles near the door.
Bren
The questions began three nights ago. Smugglers were offered silver for your route, your arrival, and any word about the lich's bargain.
Bren
The money comes through a broker near the eastern quay. I could not identify the master behind it, but the orders are precise. Someone wants to know what favor Larloch believes he owns.
Quest Complete
Learn what Bren knows about the threat
“I roll my eyes slightly " you know how liche Lords are." I smirk " all over dramatic." I shrug. " How should I let this play out eh."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Kynes rolls his eyes slightly, then smirks.
Kynes
You know how lich lords are. All overdramatic. How should I let this play out, eh?
Bren’s mouth quirks, but her attention remains on the shuttered window. Fog presses pale fingers through the gaps, muting the boarding house’s outside sounds.
Bren
Let them believe you are exactly as dangerous as Larloch’s reputation suggests, while giving them nothing useful to carry back.
Bren
We go to the eastern quay openly, but not together. I will watch the broker’s people. You let yourself be seen choosing a public table.
She crosses to the washstand and draws a rough quay map in the condensation on its mirror, marking a countinghouse, a tavern, and two narrow lanes.
Bren
The broker expects frightened fugitives or curious investigators. Give him a wizard with a title, a temper, and no apparent concern about being watched.
Bren
If the questions are about Larloch’s favor, the broker will reveal who is afraid of its terms.
“" so be myself." I grin”
Kynes
Then I’ll be myself.
Kynes grins. The mirror’s fog-drawn map catches his reflection beside the marked quay, while Bren studies him with fond, measured exasperation.
Bren
That is precisely what worries me, love. Fortunately, it is also what makes the performance convincing.
She wipes the map away with her sleeve, leaving only the countinghouse mark and the tavern’s location traced faintly through the moisture.
Bren
We leave separately. I will reach the tavern first and take the rear table. You arrive when the street has time to notice you.
Bren checks the latch once more, then opens the door onto the fogbound stair. Below, the boarding house murmurs with muted voices and clinking cups.
Bren
If the broker wants the Wizard of Phandelver, give him exactly that. Let us see who comes to collect the answer.
“I give her some time, then head for the tavern alone.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)