The party entered the Grey Citadel and learned by talking with merchants outside the city that there has been a shortage of rabbits and chickens.
A merchant with chickens and rabbits in cages saw his creatures go bananas as they got close to the gate.
There was a lot of RP with the town guards regarding the entrance fee and the rules of the city.
Basically, they tried to charge outrageous prices unless the person requesting entry was offering something the city needed (e.g., goods, bard services, demon patrol).
The party then encountered some beggars and possible pickpockets in the form of old woman and an attractive young lady, who apologized for Grandma’s clumsiness in making something fall off Jon’s belt.
They moved through the check-in process and met Edgar, the Stable Master, and town clerk and his servant, Tad.
Kriick snuck out to avoid paying his fee and also to avoid having his weapons peace-bound.
They also met a horse named Weck, who claimed to have been a drow that had been polymorphed. He also claimed to be a Grey Cloak.
Molly
Weck
Next, the party made their way to the Market Tavern and met Argath (the Inn Owner), Fitch (barkeep), Molly (waitress) and Horace (busboy and bouncer).
The party took rooms at the Inn with Marston paying 50 gold for the master suite, which included unlimited beverages, food, and other luxuries.
Molly promised to take good care of him.
The party met Rasputin, who explained how he worked a room and adjusted his songs to make sure that he didn’t get hanged.
When told that Kamvase was in town, he asked to see him.
Avari shared part of his new song with Rasputin, who said that he would let Avari join him later that night to perform it as long as the crowd was in the right mood.
Rasputin cautioned that there were monsters in the streets at night.
The group wanted to visit “The Hole” (the rough bar) before retiring for the night, but River decided to retire for the evening and stay at the Market Tavern.
Grandma Beatrice
Stumpy
The party encountered a rough scene at “The Hole” and met Kate, an unground, passionate rebel who was trying to organize an adventuring group to rid the city of the demon problem. She was mad that a mercenary group, named the Crimson Cloaks, was overcharging the mayor.
She was also mad that the Mayor was now a puppet and that he was letting the Dharan Empire take over. According to her, the Dharan Empire was terrible for trade. They overtaxed, they stole from the merchants under the threat of violence, and they confiscated goods whenever they saw fit.
She was also mad that the Dharan Empire was not doing anything to stop the demons and was relying on mercenaries.
Kate was talking to a tiefling named Kiervasan, trying to convince him to join her rebellion and help her stop the demons.
Kiervasan told her that he would help with the demons, but that he had no interest in kings.
A brawl almost broke out in the bar between a Minotaur named Rex and Argone, but was diffused when Edgar, the Stable Master and clerk, overheard Kriick announce that his weapons were not peace-bound.
Kiervasan cast a minor illusion to make Kriick’s weapons appear peace-bound, and the party convinced Edgar that he had misheard Kriick.
The party meets a merchant named Rorin, who tells the party that he or Kinnan the Dark can get access to the more exotic items.
A drunk dwarf climbed on the bar and ranted about the Mayor not doing anything about his missing stepdaughter.
Argone dragged him off the bar and calmed him down.
The dwarf explained that his daughter was a wizard for the Grey Cloaks guarding something important, and that her locked-tower is in town.
There was talk of the Bone King and Kate asked Kamvase to sing the song about it, which he did.
The Bone King song told a story of the first ruler of the Grey Citadel, centuries ago. The ruler fell in love with a woman much younger than himself who never really loved him in return but married for power. His wife became very ill and was going to die. The Bone King made a deal with something evil — the deal was that his wife would live but the Bone King would give up his soul. His wife recovered and did live, but not forever, eventually dying of old age. The Bone King, however, was now immortal and it was said that he went crazy and gave up his rule. No one really knew what happened to him, but any time something unexplained happened in the Grey Citadel, it was blamed on the Bone King. Eventually, the truth of the matter was lost in songs and children’s tales, the Bone King is the “boogie man” of those tales.
Kiervasan added that he knew that chickens, rabbits, and other normal animals were terrified of the Bone King.
The party talked more with Kate, and she asked that adventurers who wanted to join her in battling demons meet at the Town Hall at 2pm the next day.
The party left, and Kiervasan retired to his room upstairs.
As soon as the party exited The Hole, they saw two drunk townspeople walking the street and suddenly being attacked by bone demons.
The party and Kiervasan fought and killed the demons, but not before they killed the two townpeople.
The party agreed to meet at 2pm at the Town Hall and went back to the Market Inn. Once there, Marston found an attractive woman, who called herself “Jade”, in his room.
