”But Jack, the odor is coming from you. Did you perhaps bring something weird after the battle or something?”

“I brought the Bladder, but that’s in me bag, and we wouldn’t smell it.”

Trimyrai: (to the party) "The bladder wouldn't be what is smelling, its filled with magical water, and unless by design magic typically does not create an odor. At least from my understanding of how magic works."

After the comments by Jack and Trimyrai, your party pauses a bit, to think of recent events...

• When Trim returned the blue bladder to Vordat, Jack started rummaging through his backpack (post 1522).
• Vordat mentioned more than once that the magic waters would only be potent last night (1340, 1525), but he failed to say what happens when the water goes bad. Or what happens to the bladders.

Walking around Jack, the other party members notice the bottom of Jack's backpack has a wet stain along the bottom. The backpacks are not waterproof, but you would not expect normal water to soak through the treated leather like that.

"Hey Jack, i think that...uh, fish bladder has gone Belly up." Isk wheels around behind jack and runs a finger along the damp spot on the pack, then nearly gags as he smells it. "Trimyrai, you think you could hand wave this spot away?"  

Quote from Guiltysparc >>

"Trimyrai, you think you could hand wave this spot away?"  

 (Magic hand-waving will save the rest of the stuff in Jack's backpack, but the backpack itself is a lost cause.)

Trimyrai: (to the party) "I already used Prestidigitation, I could try again if you insist."

“Ah, no... my backpack..” Jack removes his bag and puts his stuff in his BoH, including buy not limited to soap, the water shampoo bottle, and a piece of paper. “Well this sucks. I liked me bag.”

Reverie chuckles at Jack, shaking her head a little before she taps his shoulder. "I'm sure we could see another backpack for you, Jack."

At Reverie's words, Jack perks up a bit. The dwarf shop-keeper did sell some finer quality backpacks, and you still haven't collected your reward yet...

At the bottom of Jack's backpack is a pile of bladder goo, like grey and red curdled milk. Definitely the source of the smell. One of the gate guards was to be punished for breaking some rules. It is decided that this guy has to take the spoiled backpack well away from town (downwind), burn it, and bury the remnants.

The officer and another guard escort your party to a larger building in the northern part of town, near the temple of Eldath. This building is used by the town officials, and is the headquarters for the town and gate guards. There is a gathering to hear your words, with two dozen council people, head clerics, and prominent members of the guilds... The testimony and questioning takes several hours. It will be mid-afternoon when it is over. 

During one of the early breaks, the gate guard officer speaks to your party: "So you are new to town, and have been staying at the Portly Warthog? Will you be staying for the upcoming winter festival?  Your rewards for rescuing the prisoners and uncovering this scheme are still being organized, but I could arrange to pay for the tavern housing for the next six days, through the 3rd day of the next month. The holiday rates will be higher on the days around the festival."

(What I need to know:

• You don't have to role-play the meeting any more than you want to. Will you be giving standard testimony? That would be most of what Vordat said, what the devil and sahuagin leaders said, and what you saw in the cavern. It would not include any of your personal details.
• Will your party be staying in town through the 3rd of Winter Firstmoon? The festival is on the 1st and 2nd. )

(i don't know about the rest of the players/characters, but trimyrai definitely wants to spread the word about what he discovered, and every detail he knows/remembers.)

Isk agrees that the best course of action would be to give a full account of what happened.

(Sorry for the super late reply of mine! Festival sounds amazing to me and, yes, Reverie would spread the words of what happened c:)

Reverie also agrees on spreading the words and how they had rescued the prisoners. Then, she looks at the rest of her companions. "What do you think of their offer for the festival days?"

Trimyrai: (to the party) "Its certainly a difficult offer to pass up. I don't want to take too long, i wanted to go to the guild office and tell them about the devils and Sahuagins. And if possible try to track the devils down to where ever they are based out of. I know Vordat said that the trail went cold and they went by sea, but i figured we could try going along the coast and see if we pick up any clues. Then again, we did barely make it out of there alive, if it seems like too much for us i am fine with leaving it be. Maybe this festival has an archery contest of some kind."

Quote from EmperorKarino >>

Trimyrai: (to the party) "...i wanted to go to the guild office and tell them about the devils and Sahuagins..."

This conference has the important guild and church leaders, in addition to the city officials, so consider them informed. Noam (from the Watchful Guild) didn't say anything, but was busy taking notes. After the meeting is over, word will circulate.

Froskan also thinks they should give the whole story of what happened, and is happy to stay through the festival (he likes ice after all, so winter festival seems like a good fit)

Jack shrugs. He would happily give testimony, but doesn’t really care about the festival. But he is a bard, after all.

Quote from Elliethedream >>

(Festival sounds amazing to me...)

 The gate officer nods, and will inform Gerdy (the day manager at the Portly Warthog) that the five of you will be staying there the next 6 days, and that room & board will be covered.

For the meeting itself, the leaders thank your group for the information, and for improving relations with the merfolk fighting the sahuagin. Some notes:

• They are a bit dismayed to find out that another slave organization is operating. They had hoped the situation was cleaned up, 6-12 months ago. As mentioned by the devil last night, adventurers from the Nunkreet area went north to smash the evil humanoids and bandits that were raiding the mountain villages. Around the same time, a large force from the far east, composed of the Good houses and militias, invaded the Underdark and broke up Drow strongholds.
• The eight prisoners are being cared for at the temple of Eldath, and are doing well.
• When you mentioned that the interpreter for the devil wore a robe with the symbol of a dark upturned hand, all eyes turn to the cleric from the temple of Bane. He calmly states that the church of Bane has no involvement in slavery, and that this is probably the actions of renegade worshipers who were driven from the church.
• They plan to increase patrols in the Discord Bay, but are concerned that the evil sea creatures are minions of the Kraken. (They are willing to say the word out loud, but it is still hushed.)
• The discussions will continue the rest of the afternoon and into the night, but your party can leave after your testimony. Your reward (in addition to the tavern expenses) will be available tomorrow at the Watchful Guild building.

(Your part in the conference is over. If you like, you have time to visit the dwarf shop and the clothing store before they close for the evening. It is only slightly out of the way from your path back to the tavern.)

(EDIT: Or as Trim says in the next post, you can head straight to the tavern, enjoy a big dinner, and relax.) 

Trimyrai: (to the party) "Should we run some errands before we retire for the evening? I personal think they can all wait until tomorrow morning."

"A large force from the far east, going into the underdark"  Isk hears this and thinks to himself, "Hergoss, sounds like the army succeeded in its goal, good." 

"Trim, do you mind if I call you Trim?  I agree that we should run down these devils.  They make be walking ahead of me on the path.  For now though, I am still quite tired.  A hot meal and another night's rest sounds fantastic.  Maybe, some whiskey?"