Doozey grunts in agreement to at least Utar's final point and began the process of getting ready to get under way again. Yet even as he did so he eventually spoke again and said, "The thing is though, even if he was framed originally and tried to go at this whole highwayman thing, like uhhh, a gallant way -- sorta like the legendary Imp Knight did, according to rumor and what Ms. Rethene said, I'm not entirely confident there's any walking things back for the Patriots... And like it or not, we could use the money."

He let the words sit there for a few moments while continuing to work, but eventually he speaks up once more. "Anotha thing is, uhh... well, the other reason I'm bringing it up now is that one of four ta five things are gonna happen. With one of them being a straight up ambush on the patriots part 'fore we even get there." He expressed plainly. "'cause lets not forget dem folk that was keeping lookout 'n expecting Rethene to escape."

Utar suggests the "walk and talk" strategy for now and CRAP starts to get things ready to depart. As the conversation flows, Raist senses the approach of his familiar. Soon enough the elf has a long note in his hands. It reads:

Utar,

I hope this letter finds you well. Thank you for sending me a bird and opening this communication channel even when I find myself unable to meet. I shall repay you with thorough, direct, and honest answers.

Sahnd was a Knight of the Black Fist. He rightfully arrested a powerful noble but justice did not find purchase that day. This city's corruption prevailed and Sahnd was arrested and later sentenced to death. They falsely accused him of plotting to assassinate the Lord Regent himself. A group of fellow Black Fists, knowing Krulek's innocence, secretly freed him and spirited him away from the city. Ever fighting for what is right, I was part of that group. I have no proof of his innocence, but I know it to be true. I trusted the man.

Unlike my fellow "conspirators," I decided to do the right thing and stay behind to face the consequences. What I thought was a light punishment at first turned out to be quite the cruel fate. I was shunned and isolated by my own knightly order. I look over my own shoulder constantly, my career has stalled, most of my fellow Black Fist distrust me, and I alone fight the corruption in the institution from within, as powerless as I am. This work has consumed me and I have little to show for it. Many a time you asked for details and I shoved you away only vaguely referencing my self-appointed mission to clean the knightly order. Now you know the truth.

I only have secondhand information from this point on but I trust it. In order to get vengeance against the noble, Sahnd founded the Gray Patriots. Initially, Sahnd acted honorably and did not harm innocent people, but they occasionally descended into barbarity. Whatever sense of justice fueled his original righteous liberation is no longer at play. Sahnd is nothing but a highwayman now. Instead of enacting his vengeance on corrupt leaders, Sahnd is now making the entire city of Phlan suffer. Ultimately, the corrupt officials were proven right. Sahnd is a menace. He has to be stopped.

Despite their long tendrils stretching into all things nefarious in this region, I have no proof that the Cult of the Dragon is involved in any of this. That doesn't mean that they aren't, so be cautions. The only lead I have on this front is that the second bandit gang, the one in contention with the Gray Patriots, has ties to Tiamat through their leader's fervor and faith.

On to your next question. House Cadorna has its own dark past and is surrounded by accusations of corruption, but I guess this is not surprising when it comes to powerful noble houses. More recently, however, their exploits seem to be more palatable, and their methods are "above the table", so to speak. They have been a member of the Lords' Alliance for some time now and, on this matter specifically, are the ones funding the bounties on Sahnd and his rival bandit leader. I guess you don't want to get between a mercantile noble house and their source of wealth. Sahnd not only did so when stopping trade into Phlan, but he also, supposedly, attacked House Cadorna directly by taking possession of the Heart of Myth Drannor, an emerald necklace that serves as the symbol of the house’s loyalty to the Lords’ Alliance.

If nothing else, know this: the Iron Route is an important trade road east of Phlan. It is beset by the two competing bandit gangs, one of which is led by an exiled Black Fist officer turned cloaked ruffian. Meanwhile a mysterious dragonborn sorcerer commands screaming savages from the north. In this war over the trade route, the beleaguered merchants are the victims, and Phlan suffers from a lack of supplies. If you have the power to fix my past mistake, I shall forever be grateful.

Sincerely,

Cpt. Aleyd Burral of the Knightly Order of the Black Fist.

P.S. Your last question puzzles me. As far as I know, the pirate Walharrow used to somewhat masquerade as a half-decent merchant, but he has been missing for quite some time. Like many others, I simply assumed that he got his comeuppance at sea. 

“Hm. The road to ruin is paved with good intentions ” Neya says upon the reading of Aleyd’s note.

“Still. She gave us some good insights. Some of it expanded versions of what Rathene gave us.”

”Back to the topic at hand. What’s our plan to get to the two leaders? They have scores of fighters combined. They will be watching them while they meet?”

"Hmmm, it would be good to scope out the meeting place beforehand, find points of entry and of escape, set an ambush.  We might be too late for that, but having a plan of action would be useful. At least until it unravels following contact with the enemy."

He considers Neya's point and offers a counter, "Would both sides bring all their strength here though? If they have been at each other's throats, surely not, each side might still be wary of a betrayal, or planning a betrayal for all we know.  I would assume such a meeting would be done under strict rules, maybe each is allowed to bring a set number of their best, which might play in our favour if it reduces the numbers involved."

Utar then falls silent as he fires off a quick response to Aleyd Burrall.

"That, and if we play our cards right, we could even make it seem like Crue-lik is for sure pulling a double cross and I doubt it'll take much all things considering. Either way, it sounds all the more like we won't be able to redeem'em. Best we can hope for is getting him turning himself in for the sake of his crew." Doozey clicks his tongue. "At least two of a certain trio fer sure gonna wanna stick it out to the end... Me and Biscuit can try to keep Little Erik and Ruse in check if pitting the two groups against each other don't pan out. But it'll be up to you Raist and Ms. Neya to deal with the dragonborn leader of the other group, and make sure she don't slip out in any kerfuffle. 'cause between you and me, I don't want another red wizard situation. If ya gotta kill'er than do so." 

"I can't promise their survivability if I fully engage....my specialities tend toward the um more lethal for my targets"   he sighs.  "Please don't bring red wizards into this. Those types are never easy"

"Well, dragonborn ARE pretty tough customer, so I wouldn't worry TOO much about holding back on her account. In fact-..." Doozey looks to Neya. "Perhaps better yet you handle that aspect of things. If, of course, an opportunity presents itself. Otherwise, I stand by what I said about doing what needs to be done and taking her out for good. So long as the body is recoverable, we can then maybe convince the Doomguide to try and word with her after." 

As the group plans, Utar receives his response:

Hours of riding and planning pass. As CRAP gets closer and closer to the cliff identified on their map, the exact location of the hideout becomes quite obvious, as does the reason behind it's name: King's Pyre.

It is now mid afternoon. The fog swirls aside, revealing the effigy of a king carved into the stone of the cliff face, a full eighty feet tall from toe to crown, seated on a rocky ledge overlooking the sea. Trees sprout from the statue’s lap, moss clings to its weathered surface, and its right hand grasps a goblet. Tumbling waterfalls flank the statue, bathing its body in glistening spray. Structures of various degrees of permanency surround the statue, coils of smoke winding lazily through the misty air.

There are two separate camps on either side of the statue. To the west, a loose circle of tents surrounds a large covered wagon. Wood smoke drifts from a low cave nearby. Beyond the camp, an overgrown trail cuts through steep woods to the cliff top. A neat circle of tents makes up the eastern camp. More tunnels dot the rock face behind it, and a great sea cave yawns at the foot of the cliff. A longship bobs in the water near the cave, anchored to the statue’s sunken hand.

From a distance, this is what you see:

As King's Pyre comes into view Utar finds himself rescinding some of his earlier points.  "Whelp, looks like both sides are here in strength and there are a lot of likely entrances and exits, so what do I know. Might be best to hide the horses and decide on our approach?  As a fall back we could always just walk right on in there, you know, as representatives of the city?"

(OOC - Oof! Love that art for King's Pyre!)

"Not sure we saying were from the city would be benificial"

"Boy, you sound crazier than a coon try'na take a bath in some rapids with that last one." Doozey said while giving Utar the most incredulous look. "I mean, it'a be one thing if we had some kind of actual retinue with us and or maybe a decent size band of mercs with us as well for pertection, but I doubt a bunch of bandits gonna care about any fancy papers Raist here could pull out of his ass." He added frankly with Biscuit nodded sagely in agreement. "But yer right about the horse thing, so let's do that right quick fer we're get spotted playing looky-loo from here fer too long." With that, Doozey looked around the nearby area and after spotting a decent copse of trees unlikely to hold any sentinels, he motioned for the group to follow him over and get the horses taken care of.

Once all that is out of the way, Doozey the opportunity to speak up once more. "But'cha know Mr. Utar... I think you were onto something earlier. That is, If one of ya could whip up some kind of counterfeit, uhh, pardon letter of some kind for the Greys, could might be that we'd be able to convince'm to at least actively turn on the other group. Then at some point during the tail end of any chaos we can maybe jump. Otherwise our option is to find a decent spot to try and scope out a sentinel, snatch'em all quiet like, and pull'em aside long enough to at least interrogate them."

"If I had some calligrapher's supplies, I might be able to forge one. But wishing for them is pretty useless."

"I happen to have a calligraphy kit.  Hold on"

Rummaging his pack Raist produces a calligraphy kit  as well as a pen. Ink and.some blank Parchment 

As a plan begins to form, and from a distance, CRAPers continue to notice details about the King's Pyre. First, while the fog has dispersed some, sea fog still lightly obscures all exterior locations, so visibility is likely to be somewhat impaired once/if the group decides to explore the area more closely. Second, the rugged cliff wall looks climbable, though such a feat may require a certain level of athleticism. Third, little to no light seems to be emanating from within the dark cave entrances you can observe from this distance.

(OOC: For an attempt at forgery with calligrapher's supplies instead of a forgery kit, I think I'll call for a straight deception check. Proficiency in calligraphy won't come into play as the 2024 version of this item specifically says it serves the purpose of counteracting forgery attempts.)

Something dawns on Neya, "I fear we may have overlooked something. The Grey Patriots, including Krulek, were once Black Fist, yes? A few might be familiar with official messages from the city. If we are to emulate an official pardon, we need to know the language style used. Do we have a sample of an official document?"

"I mean... Probably? Kind would have to I'd imagine given how strict they've been of late.  But either way, while ya'll try to sort that out I'mma try to see if I can spot some sentinels of theirs down below." Doozey finally dismounts from Biscuit's back and began picking his way closer to the cliffside for a better look. A task easier said than done with the lingering fog; and yet, he remained dedicated to the task. Biscuit remains close at hand to the rest of the party, and kept a general look out.

-Doozey Perception: 28. (Any disadvantage being canceled out by Doozey's adv from heightened senses)

-Doozey Stealth: 32. (if needed. Adv. from cloak, as hood would be up for this)

Neya identifies a potential complication in the forgery plan and checks with Utar and Raist for potential solutions. Doozey shares a thought but is currently mostly busy scouting from a distance. The ranger notices a few more useful King's Pyre details:

• The rivers are noisy and clearly dangerous to ford. Maintaining conversation or even hearing much of anything while close to those waterfalls would be difficult, and Yondalla safeguards those who are pulled downstream when trying to cross.
• Moss clings to the statue’s body. This could make for a possible alternative route, though it is unlikely to be an easy climb to begin with.
• In terms of sentinels, the fog indeed makes it too hard to spot a person at this distance, but Doozey's hearing and smelling senses are not significantly affected by such. Even from this far, he hears muffled shouting, idle chatter, horses, falling water, and seabirds. He also picks up on the smell of wood smoke and salt.
• Finally, for whatever it is worth, Doozey spots those same types of scrubs and bushes the party had noticed earlier: gorse and sage. This vegetation covers the cliff-side.

"Unfortunately any ""official "" papers I have only deal with the library not the government "

"Hmm... Unfortunate. It seems working so overtly might not be our best choice. I propose we go quiet and engage in subterfuge and sabotage." Neya says, shortly before pinching a off ethereal, shadowy energy off of her for head, then gently blowing on it, scattering it around their feet, muting their movements (1 ki point for pass without trace).