Ah, I do still have a diary. I should probably use it more, if only so I can get this right at my trial.
So, quick summary: There’s a corrupted metal filling being sold, wearing it makes people go crazy. it has *something* to do with the old dark god, and this all happened before, in ages past. Me and some old friends from Neanton have found outselves on point to unfuck this situation, and we’ve got as far as Pentelos. The head of the fortress just up the road from Pentelos was actually useful, and – once we rescued him from his subordinates who had gone crazy – has agreed to help us stockpile all this awful waste we’ve been collecting. When we got to the city, we found a helpful, useful and occasionally bribable government in place who – once we’d convinced them – banned the metal temporarily, and then scheduled a senate vote to ban it completely. Our story continues.
The new dawn of a new day, and we got to work. Have to say, the quality of the inns we can afford has gone up significantly, which is doing wonders for our rest. I woke up feeling like an entirely new man.
Anyway, the senate vote’s scheduled for today, so we agreed to check when that was, see if we can do a bit of lobbying to make sure it goes though, and then I needed to start deep research on how Pentelos fits in with the whole grand scheme. The old maps we got from the underground city say that this place had five roads out (thus “Pent”, I’d imagine). I was actually looking forward to the politics bit. I’d had a rough few days in fights, and the idea of spending a day entirely in the abstract world of bending people to my will with words appealed more than I can say.
So we wandered up to the government district and found the Senate – vote scheduled for 2:30 – Master of the Ways, who said there were four recalcitrant senators. So we went fishing.
The first Senator was easy. He wasn’t interested at all in the issue, and didn’t see why it warranted government interest. I went though the whole story. He seemed… over enthused by elven culture, so I leant a bit on the elvish-made amulets, and elven wizardry of the binding ritual and the events in the elven cities. He folded like a cheap card.
The second senator was… more difficult. Apparently the lobbyist for trading the metal was already present. We bribed the senator’s receptionist, and he let us in. I did a bit of a grandstandy bit, then threw a mild insult at the lobbist’s two guards. The plan was, roughly, to goad them into irrational behaviour and blame it on the metal. So, I said “And you can see some of it on these two bastards”, at which point they kind of drew weapons.
The resulting fight took a while. Elcathriel cast something on me that allowed me to do lots of things, so I sent the leader of them mad and got him to attack his own guard (Not, unfortunately, before he’d stabbed me), Brek mind-controlled one of them to our side, and Dave hit things with swords. We managed to incapacitate all of them (The rogue surrendered, then tried to stab us, then we tied him up, then he tried to stab himself) but one of the guards died from his leader’s poison blade. At which point the local guard turned up – the receptionist had heard the fight, The senator had escaped by a secret passage – and arrested us. Lacking the senator’s ability to confirm that we didn’t start it, we waited patiently in the antichamber for the rogue lobbyist to go crazy and attempt to stab everyone. Which he did. Our story then confirmed, I healed one of their guards – always a good way to get people on-side – and got an escort to see the other senators. (The rogue died in custody)
The third senator was being blackmailed by the lobbyist organisation, and couldn’t help. But he could – and did – give us the name of another senator – Ulrich – who hadn’t been seen for ages, but might be willing to vote with the right side.
The fourth senator had been bribed. We appealed to her sense of self-preservation (mentioned the riots in Tanacord. Not *all* the reasons for the riots in Tanacord, and implied it was all the metal. *ahem*) and noted that her previous briber was now under arrest for attempted murder of guards. She did the cheap card thing too.
Ulrich was harder.
We found his house and knocked. Nothing happened. We knocked again. Still nada. I asked Elcathriel to Knock. She obliged, and ingress was obtained.
The senator had made a considerable dent in his family wine cellar over the last year. Some personal tragedy, I would imagine. Being on the clock, I didn’t care a great deal.
We woke up the senator, gave him a drink, and explained the metal thing. He knew about the report from the fort, which was handy, but wasn’t really in any fit state to help us. I asked Dave to get a barrel full of water. The dragonborn obliged.
I explained to the senator that I needed him to be sober to save the city, and that if he couldn’t manage that, then I would need to put him in this barrel of water until he could. There’s a point where all my skills of diplomacy and persuasion are blocked by chemical imbalance, and I tend to lose my subtly at such moments. Dave dunked the senator like a digestive biscuit.
Unlike a digestive biscuit, the senator wiggled, and so Dave dropped him.
Fortunately, we then saved the senator from drowning, for we are Good Adventurers, and Rescue Citizens Like That.
Somewhat better, we get the senator on-side, and I wander off to buy a Restoration Potion (Cures: Curses, Scrapes and – aha – poisoning) but as I step out the door an arrow *dink*s off my armour. Bother. We were followed.
There’s a back entrance, so we sneak though the back streets (Brek has a spell that makes us more stealthy, which is good, because the armour that allows arrows to *dink* instead of *thud* has a tendency to *clink* instead of silence) and I pick up a potion of full restoration (1000 GP I doubt I’ll see again) and poor it down the woozy senator’s throat. The hangover evaporates from him and suddenly we have a useful person again. However, as we get to the senate, Dave spots an assassin on the roof. So close, and so not quite there yet.
We get some guards to provide some protection, and Dave immediately looms ahead, a walking dragon-shield. Brek throws up a wall of wind that blows any arrow off course (mine too, sadly) and Elcathriel starts throwing firebolts. We take the assassin out with him only getting one hit in (on Dave. Enough to kill a normal person, and enough to annoy Dave a bit). Senator installed in Senate, bill passes, confetti everywhere.
But the Lobbyist was working for someone, and I still need to look into this city roads thing.
So to be continued, I guess.