Prologue: The Legend Breakers, pt. 2

After the ambush on the Via Mortis, the journey to Varen passed without incident. The Legend Breakers arrived at their destination at the onset of winter, took rooms at a student hostel called the Red Banner, and set about locating their contact, the sage Kharebutu. A little legwork earned them the knowledge that Kharebutu was employed as a professor of divinity in the University of Varen, for which the city was named. Curiously, although Kharebutu claimed to have been educated in the Royal College of Ronon, this point appeared never to have been verified, despite the University Chancellor's claim to the contrary.

Soon after speaking to the Chancellor, the heroes had their first hint that little Anriel might not be entirely what she seems: when discussing the Chancellor's obstinacy, she seemed altogether too adult for the eight-year-old she ostensibly is. Brandis, in particular, found this troubling.

Kharebutu happened to be away from Varen when the Legend Breakers arrived, and Heinrich took the opportunity for a little leisurely drinking. Unfortunately, he happened to order "potato wine," not knowing that this was the local euphemism for "rotgut moonshine that kills anything less hardy than a dwarf." After a deeply regrettable incident with the Red Banner's groom, in which Heinrich attempted to heave his 500-pound bear into the hostel through a second-floor window, Clangden and Brandis managed to subdue the (literally) blind-drunk dwarf.

Upon finally meeting with Kharebutu, the heroes discovered him to be a frail old man with wispy white hair and a scrupulously polite demeanor. He used divinatory geomancy to examine Anriel for some time, and finally announced that he would need to keep the child overnight for further observation. This occasioned some debate from the heroes, but in the end they agreed to return for Anriel the next day.

That night, while Brandis infiltrated the campus to discover more about Kharebutu, Clangden, Imno, and Heinrich were apprehended by the overzealous City Watch on suspicion of kidnapping. It came out that Kharebutu and little Anriel were both missing, and had been seen leaving the University in the company of three robed and cowled men. Examination of Kharebutu's quarters revealed that, although considerable effort had been expended to make it look like the place had been ransacked, the most likely culprit was Kharebutu himself.

Just then, a Watch sergeant burst in with the news that Anriel had been sighted leaving the city half an hour earlier by the north gate in the company of Kharebutu and his... partners? ...accomplices? ...minions?

Experience rewards:
Averting disaster at Heinrich's drunken hands: 1,000xp
Skill challenge - Kharebutu's quarters: 2,400xp
Total: 3,400xp
Per character: 850xp
Current status: 26,500 + 850 = 27,350xp
To next level: 32,000 - 27,350 = 4,650xp

Treasure rewards:
None this session

Next time, in Sailing the River of Worlds:
The Legend Breakers pursue the absconding Kharebutu, and learn the true nature of the child Anriel. What secrets does she hide? Why does Kharebutu want her badly enough to abduct her virtually from under her guardians' noses?