9 - Back Alley Deals

Kythorn 3rd, Caston, midday…

Lathander and Nimreth were last to return to the obelisk but since they had boxes of pastries in hand all was mostly forgiven. The group took stock of what they had been able to get: a couple pounds of fruit and veg, a few pounds of cured meats, four loaves of bread, seven potions and three bundles of herbs, some bundles of arrows, about two dozen pastries (four of which had been eaten already), and three extra waterskins.

Happy with their haul, they decided to head towards the stable at the north end of the Bricks. Lathander thought about their mare, and how she had been left at the main gate presumably. Perhaps they would be able to get her and they could use her as a packmare.

As they got to the Bricks the stench of fish intensified with the scent of shit. To say this part of town was rundown would be an understatement. The wood shacks barely held together, and the few buildings that were made of stone had holes or were covered in moss.

"Jeez, and I thought Portahl* was bad" Hawke exclaimed "this place looks like a real shithole!"

"And to think that the rest of the city just neglects this part of town? Like does the Duke know about the condition of this place?" Shalia added, looking down an alley and seeing a brawl happening between what looked like a couple of brigands.

Picking up the pace a bit they finally made it to the stables, as they surveyed the mostly empty stalls they saw a kenku** shovelling shit, horse or otherwise they were not sure. The party approached and Hawke approached and greeted the kenku "Ahh, hello little bird man. We had some questions about a horse that got stolen a few days ago." The party froze and collectively questioned why Hawke would call the kenku a 'little bird man'. Shalia rolled her eyes, used to the shenanigans.

The kenku shovelled one last shovelful of shit, paused and said "ehh, you're gonna have to be more specific."

"Oh, uhh, well, it was stolen by a mysterious figure who headed west to Laketon-"

"And was being pursued by the guards, yes?" The kenku interrupted "Yeah, that happens like every day around here."

"Okay well thank you for your time anyways" Shalia said, pulling Hawke away and reconvening with the group "so we don't know what the horse looks like or the assailant, that's great."

"Hey!" A voice said.

The group looked around but saw nothing, the voice cried out again.

"Hey! You there, with tha massive targets on yur back! Come here!"

A small, rough looking harengon with an eyepatch motioned from an alley behind the stable.

The party looked at each other and figured they had the numbers advantage if anything went wrong so they approached. The alley smelled of piss, it was nauseating.

"Ehh" the harengon said, smacking its chops "heard ya lookin' for a horse thief eh doc?"

"What do you know of any recent horse thefts harengon" Griffin asked pointedly, stepping forward to take charge on this.

"Ehhh, it's gonna cost ya doc" the harengon said with a sly grin, pulling out a carrot to eat.

"What is the cost?." Griffin replied , losing patience.

"You do a lil favour for me, I'll tell ya where your horse thief went" taking a bite, carrot chunks spewing everywhere "You agree to take this parcel to a certain friend a mine in Laketon, I'll give you ya information and tell him ta pay ya when you deliver."

The harengon pulled out of seemingly nowhere a package marked 'ACME' and handed it to Griffin saying "He worked down at the Asera Shipping docks. Bird looking guy, goes by the name of Daph. Tell him I says hi."

Griffin looked at the package, a poorly wrapped round object with a small wick on it. He'd seen things like these in the Mud Wars but they were usually smaller and easier to carry, this one was kinda big.

"Very well, what do you know of the horse thief?" Griffin asked, putting the parcel away in his pack.

The harengon explained that the thief wore a black overcoat with a red bandana over their face, had long black hair and two swords at their side. They had stolen a white horse that had just recently come to the stables. Lathander's eyes widened as they realized it may have been their own mare that was stolen.

"Did you get a look at the horse at all? Did you see its markings?" They blurted out quickly, hoping the harengon had more information.

"Uhh lemme think here… Yeah y'know I did, the horse had a rather nice looking saddle, like it belonged to some rich kid, and a brown spot on it's back.

There was no doubt that the horse in question was Lathander's horse, Myra. So now they had no option for a packmare and had to carry everything themselves, and their parents were probably going to kill them for losing one of their best thoroughbreds. Well, such was life.

As the party walked away they found themselves heading out of the city through crumbling stone walls. The gate here was non-existent as it had likely fallen to ruin many years prior. Once outside, feeling safer and away from the stench of the Bricks, they huddled up.

"So we know the thief's description, we know the horses, all we need to do now is get to Laketon." Griffin summarized.

"Just one thing" Lathander said "the horse that harengon described, I think it's my horse."

"Shit, that mare coulda been useful" Shalia said, snapping her finger as she swung her arm across her chest, echoing Lathander's sentiment exactly.

"Well there is still an opportunity to get it back if we get to Laketon fast enough. Hopefully our suspect is there for a few more days" Hawke said optimistically.

"Hopefully indeed." Lathander added, missing Myra.

* Portahl is one of the saddest, most dilapidated places I've ever seen. I'd call it a shanty town but that is a disservice to shanty towns. If you ever have the displeasure of going here keep your coin pouch in one hand and a dagger in the other.

** Kenku are a species of flightless bird-like humanoids. They most resemble crows or ravens.