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.