The tavern heaves beneath the eastern quay, crowded with sailors, dockhands, and merchants. Cups clatter, voices overlap, and river fog presses against the shuttered windows.
Bren watches from a rear table, half-hidden behind a tired merchant’s broad shoulders. Near the entrance, a thin middle-aged man in a rain-dark brown coat scans the room twice before approaching.
The informant, a middle-aged human man with a weathered face and close-cropped dark hair slips into the seat opposite Kynes and places a sealed scrap of parchment between them. His fingers remain on it, trembling faintly.
Corvin Vale
The name is Corvin Vale. He handles the silver, though he is not the one giving orders.
The informant glances toward the bar, where a red-bearded sailor laughs too loudly. Bren’s eyes narrow from the rear table, tracking the same movement.
Corvin Vale
But I need more than a name before I risk the rest. Tell me what Larloch promised you, Wizard, and I will tell you who funds the questions.
The sealed parchment waits between them, its dark wax marked by no crest Kynes recognizes at a glance. Around the table, the tavern’s noise rolls on, masking every listening ear.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reveal what Larloch promised Kynes
“I let sea of shadows creep around him. "Uh huh" I say unimpressed " keep talking"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled +1)
Kynes
Uh huh. Keep talking.
A sea of shadow spills from beneath Kynes's chair and curls around the informant's boots, climbing his coat in silent, cold ribbons. The tavern noise seems suddenly distant.
Corvin Vale
All right. The silver comes from Magistrate Orlan Vey, through Corvin Vale. Vey wants every detail of Larloch's bargain before the lich can call it in.
The informant removes his trembling hand from the parchment. Across the room, the red-bearded sailor stops laughing, his cup hovering near his mouth as shadows gather around the table.
Corvin Vale
Vey has men watching the eastern quay and the roads inland. He believes the favor can be turned against Baldur's Gate, if he learns its exact terms.
Bren
Good. Keep your eyes on him, love. The sailor just stopped pretending not to listen.
Bren rises with measured ease, placing one hand beneath her dark coat. The informant swallows as the shadows tighten around his ankles, holding him in place without harm.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn why Magistrate Orlan Vey seeks Larloch's bargain
Quest Complete
Identify who is funding the questions about Kynes
New Gift: Foreign-Agent Network-Seer
“"Magistrate Orlan!" I say with a wicked grin . " I haven't seen him since he was caught for corruption in daggerford, where's my good friend holed up now days." I say plainly”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Kynes
“Magistrate Orlan!” Kynes says with a wicked grin. “I haven’t seen him since he was caught for corruption in Daggerford. Where’s my good friend holed up nowadays?”
The informant’s fear gives way to startled recognition. Kynes’s confidence lands cleanly, and the shadows around the man’s boots loosen without releasing him.
Corvin Vale
You know Vey from Daggerford? Then you understand why he keeps his name buried. He is staying at the Gilded Eel, an old countinghouse near the eastern quay.
Corvin Vale
Top floor, private rooms, guarded entrance. He arrived under another name, but the innkeeper knows him as Master Vale’s patron.
At the bar, the red-bearded sailor lowers his cup and turns away too quickly. Bren steps from the rear table, her hand still hidden beneath her coat.
Bren
That is enough to find him, love. And now we know Vey is close enough to fear the bargain personally.
Corvin Vale
Take the alley behind the chandlery. It reaches the Gilded Eel without crossing the main quay. I have told you everything I know.
Quest Complete
Learn why Magistrate Orlan Vey seeks Larloch's bargain
“" hey red-bearded, come on over there's plenty here." I call over to the man”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Kynes
Hey, red-bearded, come on over. There’s plenty here.
The sailor’s broad shoulders tense, then relax. He sets his cup down and crosses the tavern, drawing wary glances as he approaches Kynes’s table.
Red-Bearded Sailor
A generous invitation, Wizard. I’d be a fool to refuse it.
He pulls out a chair and sits beside the informant, keeping both hands visible. His red beard is beaded with rain, and his salt-stained coat smells of river water.
Bren
Easy, love. He is listening now, which is more useful than him pretending otherwise.
Corvin Vale
He works the eastern quay. If anyone carries messages for Vey, it would be him.
Red-Bearded Sailor
I carry cargo, not secrets. But I have heard the magistrate’s name spoken where it should not be.
“"oh you cheeky bastard." I say with a grin. " Now what do you want friend" I say making a dangerous punctuation on the word friend.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intimidation, rolled -2)
Kynes
Oh, you cheeky bastard. Now what do you want, friend?
Kynes makes the word friend dangerous. The red-bearded sailor’s grin fades beneath the pressure in his voice, and the surrounding talk thins as nearby patrons listen.
Red-Bearded Sailor
Straight to the point, then. I want passage out of Baldur’s Gate and enough silver to make Vey forget my name.
He leans closer, rainwater darkening his beard. His hands remain visible, but his eyes flick toward the informant, measuring whether Kynes’s threat includes everyone at the table.
Red-Bearded Sailor
I carried sealed messages to the Gilded Eel. Vey’s men collect them from a locked room beneath the countinghouse, and tonight’s message names the next target.
Bren
Careful, love. You have his answer, but now he expects protection, coin, or both. Refuse him, and he may decide fear was cheaper than loyalty.
The red-bearded sailor’s admission earns Kynes the information he demanded, but his public intimidation has made the man’s safety an immediate debt.
“I look to Bren " oh I know." To red-bearded man. "And if I give you coin, then I'll have to pay off everyone eh " I say with a wicked grin”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Kynes
Oh, I know. And if I give you coin, then I’ll have to pay off everyone, eh?
Kynes turns his wicked grin on the red-bearded sailor, then briefly looks to Bren. The joke lands as both warning and negotiation, cutting through the table’s tension.
Bren
There it is, love. Make him understand that surviving your attention is already valuable compensation.
Red-Bearded Sailor
Fair enough, Wizard. I will not ask you to buy every coward on the quay. Get me out, and I will tell you who receives tonight’s message.
The red-bearded sailor’s shoulders loosen. His fear remains, but it has settled into cooperation, and his gaze shifts from the shadows to Bren’s concealed hand.
Red-Bearded Sailor
The message is for a woman called Elira Thorne. She keeps a chandlery near the north warehouses, and Vey’s men mean to seize her before dawn.
Bren
Then we have a target, a timetable, and a frightened courier who wants to live. That is more useful than coin, love.
“" thanks " I say. " Sleep" as I cast sleep on both men”
SUCCESS (Legendary Arcana, rolled -2)
Kynes
Thanks. Sleep.
Silver motes spill from Kynes’s hand and settle over the red-bearded sailor and the informant. Their eyes flutter once, then both slump into deep, breathing sleep.
The spell takes hold cleanly, but its hungry magic drains the table’s warmth. Frost rims the cups, and a sharp ache flashes behind Kynes’s eyes.
Bren
Efficient, love. They will wake, but not before we choose what happens next.
The tavern’s noise swells back around them. Bren catches the sealed parchment before it slips from the informant’s limp fingers and tucks it inside her coat.
Bren
Elira Thorne is in danger before dawn, and Vey’s message is waiting beneath the Gilded Eel. We move now.
She rises, watching the sleeping men and the bar in turn. Outside, rain taps the shutters while the eastern quay waits under fog.
“I slip through the alley behind the chandlery”
SUCCESS (Legendary Stealth, rolled +1)
Kynes slips from the tavern’s rear exit into the rain-dark alley, keeping to the walls where fog and dripping eaves swallow his passage.
Bren follows several paces behind, moving with silent precision. No watchman turns, and the distant quay traffic masks every footfall.
Bren
Clean work, love. The chandlery is ahead, and no one knows we are coming.
The alley bends between salt-stained brick and stacked barrels, then opens directly behind the chandlery. Its shuttered windows are dark, but a thin line of lamplight shows beneath the rear door.
Kynes
The rear door is occupied, but no guard is visible.
Bren
Elira may still be inside. Vey’s men could arrive at any moment, so we have the advantage for now.
Bren settles beside the door, one hand beneath her coat, while rain whispers over the alley stones and the lamplight trembles beyond the wood.