Nine Towns

The Kobold and the Fairy are still sleeping when Draknar drags himself out of bed. He has a plan. His mind is still not back to its full sharpness, he can tell, but he knows enough to get started. He must build a power base once again. That's alright. He did it once, he can do it again. This riff-raff in the so-called Ten Towns will be no match for him once his affairs are back in order.

The innkeeper confirms that Hlin Trovain is a known figure. This lends credence to his words. Though before acting, it will still be prudent to find out how these towns behave when private individuals mete out vigilante justice. Otherwise, things could end badly. Draknar doesn't want to end up like Nirni, or worse.

The sleepy pair finally get up and join for breakfast. They are not very bright. Draknar has to repeat the explanation several times to make it clear to them what the consequences of their actions might be if they murder someone without due authorisation. This lack of intelligence is not necessarily a terrible flaw in underlings. It mean they can be manipulated when necessary, even to their doom. Draknar must make sure they are loyal to him, until he finds more suitable replacements.

Guards provide no further information about Hlin. Neither does the Sheriff, after Draknar finds him in a temple of Lathander, making pious noises. He waits for the end of the ceremony, disrupting it with his new telepathic powers to pass the time. Lathander seems unmoved at the sacrilege. Draknar doubts the Morning Lord spares much attention for these icy parts. Finally the Sheriff gets up to go.

This is not a very friendly Sheriff. He thinks very highly of himself, and answers few questions, and tersely at that. He does confirm one important point: there are currently no contracts out. This means any so-called bounty hunting is not authorised.

Draknar would have no issue killing someone for money, he has done so before, and in fact he himself used to hire bounty hunters frequently. But even the Goblin Clans, chaotic as they were, had some level of order, and picking on the wrong victim could easily get you killed in turn. It seems to be the same in Ten Towns. And they say Goblins and Men can't get along.

The Fairy and the Kobold finally seem to understand the situation. After some argument, they are persuaded to only talk to Torga and her new bodyguard, rather than assuming they are entitled to kill the bodyguard based on Hlin's suspicions. Draknar makes a mental note to figure out what Hlin's game is, and whether it can be turned against him at some point.

The travel to Easthaven is uneventful. Draknar's underlings are so incompetent they have never heard the concept of keeping watch, despite one of them previously being a town guard. Baffling. The Foolish Fairy misunderstands the instructions from the Careless Kobold and somehow commits some sort of terrible act while on his watch. It's impossible to get much information out of him, but Draknar comforts him anyway. Perhaps this will help build trust. There is a limit to how foolish an underling can be and still be useful in the long term, though. Draknar doesn't think the Fairy will survive long.

In Easthaven, the streets are deserted. A child taunts the Kobold. There is an execution - a wizard who committed murder without authorisation. He is being burned alive as a deterrent to other would-be vigilantes. Draknar shakes his head at the stupidity. Even an evil wizard has its uses. These towns, despite their meagre resources, keep wasting good, solid, capable bodies instead of making use of them. Unruly wizards can be tamed. Thieves have their uses too. Draknar knows this, because he was the sort of person who knew how to use each and every Goblin's talents. That's why they followed him. That's why they respected him. That's why they loved him!

His mind is lost in remembrance of those glorious days when he was the leader of a whole Goblin army as he watches the man's potential go up in flames with his body. Suddenly, Draknar notices something's missing. His coin pouch. Blast! He spots children's feet darting back and forth in the crowd. He sends the Kobold after them, and then speaks to the Captain. She smugly informs him that pickpocketing is legal in this town, so his guards will do nothing about it. Then, in the same breath, she asks him to find four fishermen who have gotten lost. Madness. These people are all insane, their priorities all jumbled up.

The Kobold fails to find the children, but, upon being informed that pickpocketing is legal, he replenishes the party's funds by practicing his art. 10 gold are recovered, reducing his debt to 22 gold. Eventually, after a painful conversation with an idiotic bard, which mostly reminds Draknar of the time he tortured a real, magical bard to death and found out the elf in question could in fact cast real spells with her music, they go to sleep. One of the spells she could cast would heal someone at a distance, bringing them back into the fight even after they were knocked out. But not this bard. Useless.

One of these days, Draknar needs to find a healer for hire. This party will not last long if there are no ways to heal the wounded in combat. Perhaps tomrorow.

When Draknar awakens, he knows he is back to being himself - broken body aside. It's truly time to get to work.

First, they investigate Torga. Draknar has a brief mind to mind conversation with her. She cannot hide a smirk on her face that reveals that she knows there are suspicions about her new body guard, and she's ok with them, maybe even complicit. Another interesting piece of information.

Saving the fishermen will be the next order of business. Hopefully there will be coin to be earned there. If not, it can always be obtained by picking pockets, it seems.

This town is mad. Insane. Upside down. They burn a perfectly good wizard who could have made them powerful, host a trader who, by now, must have a reputation, at least amongst the smarter folks, for hiring murderous mercenaries, and let pickpockets run free. How they have survived this long is a mystery.

Once Draknar accumulates sufficient power and raises an army, this mystery will be set to rest. Before setting out to save the worthless fishermen, Draknar resolves that this town will burn to the ground once he takes the power in these parts. They are rotten, insane, corrupt.

He will start with the thieving children. As the party sets out, he imagine hanging one upside down above the front door of each house, before setting them on fire. The thought warms him.