Britain, Trammel, Chesapeake (PaxLair Times) – October 17, 2011 – by Ashlynn – I came across a startling revelation this evening as I began following up on the events a few nights past. Events that involved angry bakers, orcish corsairs and a great crimson dragon.
For those not aware of the previous evening’s events, we were called upon by Captain Gwen to investigate a disturbance at the Bakers in Trinsic. There we found an overworked baker by the name of Pierre refusing to work until his demands (which consisted mostly of a pay rise of some sort) were met. Eventually he was talked into resuming work if his bakery was refurbished with new baking apparatus, including more ovens.
We were then suddenly alerted to orc and human corsairs landing on Barrier Island, so we made haste to intercept them. After a brief clash, we returned to the Trinsic Jail with a poisoned and heavily injured guard that spoke of a poisoned blade and I believe of something in Papua. Eventually, the guard was given an antidote that Gwen acquired from somewhere, but it seemed there was something wrong with either it or the guard as he transformed into a great crimson dragon that attacked us.
In the slightly confusing haze of events that followed, we ended up in Papua (after dealing with the draconic monstrosity) in a hideout hidden below some shops. We discovered weapons and strange books but nothing that seemed to lead us elsewhere. With nothing else to work with, Captain Gwen Dismissed us all, but advised us to take a closer look at the items if we wished. And with that, we all retired for the evening.
Decoding the Books (*Spoilers ahead, don’t read if you want to break the code yourself!*)
I returned to Papua to examine the books in greater detail. All three were tattered copies of the Britain Beacon and contained partial articles and sections with lucky numbers for the readers. I discovered that the numbers were actually a cypher and by decoding it, I found hidden messages in all three books, clearly aimed at an unknown conspirator.
The first book I decoded had the message “destroy” and “documents in cove bank, double rate upon seizing” hidden amongst it’s pages. The other books contained the messages “remove zodok. any means” and “instigate orcs to create diversion”.
This was an important revelation! It seemed to imply that whoever was involved in the assassination of Tavalia Zodok was now trying to cover their tracks, and perhas it was not Kendrick Morrow afterall (having already been tried, why bother with the effort of a cover up now?). It was not clear if the diversion was the attack the previous eve or one a week or so earlier when many orcs made landfall on Barrier Isle.
With the books decoded, I immediately headed for Cove and the bank at the centre of the town. Inside I found a pile of scorched parchment and most of what was in the documents was unreadable. One of the documents contained a ledger or list of some kind, signed by someone with the partial second name “Middlet-” but there was little other information. The second document referenced a tailor shop called The Spinning Wheel, and the third was a map of the Summit Chamber in Castle Britannia. It showed a cross where Tavalia was seated and two hidden passageways into the room.
With this newly won information, I next traveled to Castle Britannia to look for the hidden passages into the Summit Chamber, but the search turned up naught. Clearly they had been sealed or were well hidden. I then headed to Vesper (spotting an old patched shirt discarded by the moongate) and stopped by The Spinning Wheel. There was little to be found except for a half-used bolt of cloth that stood out because of it’s colour. It seemed very similar to those of Kendrick Morrow’s clothes on that terrible day though I am not entirely sure if they are a match. But it may support his story of a doppleganger as evidence of where the real assassin sourced his garments.
At this point I began to run out of leads and decided to retire to think over the everything I had discovered and also write it all down. I hope my own findings will aid others who wish to look into this further themselves. I will continue my own investigations over the next few days and report on anything I find.