Session 2 - Scene 1 (of 4)
While discussing whether or not to go into the sewers to track the drow, Al reminds everyone about the dead horse. His primary concern is to make sure there is “equine justice” before they run off after the drow, as it might look bad to observers. He also wants to make sure the group avoids getting hauled into the local court of chancery by an angry merchant.
Krolec agrees that Al brings up a good point, but those wanting the group to head into the sewers still feel time is of the essence if they are to catch the drow. Zena is about to make a point when she is overcome with pain, apparently having sprained her back in the rooftop chase. As she leaves to go lie down for a while, a younger half-elf in the plaza takes notice of the group, overhearing their conversation about heading into the sewers. He wanders over and makes a comment about the smell of barbecued horse meat in the air, but no one pays much attention to him.
Taking a break from the debate, Berend decides to again check the crowd to see if anyone else saw the man in the purple cloak, but is unsuccessful. He also re-checks the alleyway where the man was last seen, but finds no new evidence. He does, however, confirm that the man did not appear to go into any of the adjacent buildings in the alley.
Meanwhile, the nameless wizard, who reveals her name to be Leigh, drags Krolec and Shaelynna off to the merchant’s shop to quickly deal with the situation (though neither Krolec nor Shaelynna are quite sure why they are being dragged along). Once inside, Leigh explains how she accidentally killed his horse while fighting drow.
The merchant is initially upset about losing “Betsy”, but then gets quite concerned about drow being in the city. He rushes over and begins boarding up the windows. Krolec tries to calm him down, explaining the immediate threat is over but that they will need to come back and compensate him for the horse later, as they need to pursue any remaining drow in the sewers now. The merchant takes Krolec for a man of his honor, and agrees.
With that taken care of, everyone reconvenes in the plaza, including the half-elf stranger who wandered over. Although he appears to be a bit too fond of smoking herbs in his pipe, the man has the look of an adventurer and is half-elven, and so the group decides to invite him along to help, figuring they need all the help they can get. The man introduces himself as Lucan, a swordmage who also studies the arts of wizardry. He agrees to come along, though not so much out of a sense of duty to fight the drow as that he is bored.
Al relents and decides that although he personally thinks it is a bad idea to head into the sewers, he is willing to go along with the group. Berend, however, seems intent on being the voice of dissent against the descent. He begins rambling about how he’s lived in the town all his life and the sewers are too dangerous to just go heading into. Quinn silently agrees with him while everyone else contemplates whether Berend is acting out of prudence or cowardice. Either way, they find it an odd attitude for a would-be adventurer to have and decide to head into the sewers without them.