The day after Session 35. Three errands lined up: pick up Cisco’s patched armor, take the safehouse keys from the tannery dwarf, and — late that night — break back into Warehouse 17 for the lockbox. Two of the three went smoothly. The third went very sideways.
The new armor
In the evening, the party (minus Adrik) headed back to the Lower Ward Tannery. Adrik stayed at the guildhall to give credence to plausible deniability — if anyone ever asked, he didn’t know what Elijah was up to.
Cisco collected his armor. Pristine. The job was very well done — the armor as devoid of character as possible, but the craftsmanship impeccable.
Cisco's modified studded leather
What looks like regular leather armor on the outside is now studded leather underneath — metal rivets sewn into the breastplate and shoulder pads. Plus six hidden pockets:
- Two in the chest, two by the kidneys — DC 20 to spot on a pat-down.
- Two by the hips — DC 18 Sleight of Hand to access cleanly.
- Two drop pockets on the lower back — pull a thread by adjusting the collar and they fall to your feet. DC 22 Perception to detect.
Cisco poked around the armor happier and more impressed than the rest of the party has seen in quite some time, maybe ever. Slipped the dwarf another 5gp tip.
The Eel Lane safehouse
The dwarf led them deeper into the Lower Ward — the buildings hunched closer, the alleys tightened. The locals call this stretch Eel Lane, or Southeast Lowers if it ever made it onto a map.
He brought them to a stone building with a story:
Tobas Verren, the Candlemaker
Six years ago, the candlemaker who lived here fell asleep at his work. The fire took out the upper floors, leaving mostly just the stone basement underneath. The building is set to be condemned but hasn’t been yet. The dwarf now owns it and rents it out as a quiet hideaway — the neighbors will talk and may be curious, but it’ll shield you from prying eyes from the guards and such.
The dwarf showed them a latch and a hole with steps leading down. One key on a strip of leather.
Inside, the cellar:
- Dry. About 20’×30’.
- Stone walls.
- Timber ceiling blackened by fire but structurally sound.
- The previous candlemaker’s workspace, mostly intact.
Cisco handed Elijah the key, and tied a string to the door to see if anyone entered while they were gone.
The party headed back to the guildhall to rest before the night’s job.
Late-night return to Warehouse 17
Late at night, the party returned to Warehouse 17 to steal the lockbox. They expected guards.
There were none. Not one soul anywhere in the immediate vicinity.
- Adrik took a lap. No people. No sound.
- The second-floor window was still open from the heist two nights prior.
- Adrik scampered up.
- The interior felt vacated.
- Adrik signaled Fernie up for backup.
- They moved together to Drogon’s office. Fernie kept watch outside; Adrik went in.
The room still had that sense of wrongness the party noted in Session 32. The drawer with the lockbox was locked.
Adrik sent Fernie back down to fetch Elijah, who fetched Cisco. Cisco unlocked the front door of the warehouse from the outside and entered with Lorien and Fernie as his seeing-eye dogs in the dark.
Drogon’s ambush
In Drogon’s office, the wrongness sharpened.
A Minor Illusion dropped. Drogon was leveling a repeating crossbow at Adrik and holding a torch in his other hand.
“Who sent you? The assembly? Vaughn? Or the letter maker?”
He claimed he’d been waiting for weeks — even though the party had been here literally yesterday.
- Adrik played innocent — he was just here to find out why the wood was mixed up.
- Drogon was unmoved. Too convenient. Too many recent visits.
- Adrik leaned into loyal-customer framing. Sometimes the world works in mysterious ways.
- Drogon was still very suspicious — and then realized the rest of the party was in the warehouse too. Uh oh.
Cisco stepped out of the dark, into the open. Took the bluff: he posed as The Letter Maker.
- Adrik didn’t know any more than Drogon — they were both pawns in a greater game.
- Drogon was supposed to be following instructions, but was no longer needed.
- The powers that control them will give them a worse fate if Drogon doesn’t stand down.
Meanwhile Elijah, Fernie, and Lorien hid and bid their time.
Drogon took off his glasses — they’d fogged up from tears. Dude looked tired.
Then he pulled the trigger.
”Disperse!!” — combat and escape
Drogon’s whole inner circle was here. He’d been ready for this.
- Early in the fight, Cisco cast Unsettling Words and Suggestion on Drogon while still posing as The Letter Maker — tried to convince him to stand down or face a worse fate.
- Adrik flanked behind Drogon, ready to take him down if he didn’t fold.
Drogon didn’t fold.
“Disperse!!”
He threw a smoke bomb. His crew scattered.
- Drogon escaped through the smoke. Adrik caught a glimpse for a moment, but he was gone.
- Seris tried to run. Fernie caught her with an opportunity attack.
Two nat 20s on a disadvantage roll. Bit a chunk out of Seris’s ear. She still escaped.
- Fernie then grabbed Tull’s arm and thrashed it from side to side.
- Lorien knocked Tull out.
- Kell ran. Adrik gave chase.
Cliffhanger. The session ended with Adrik in pursuit of Kell through the warehouse.