(Continued from Session 009)
As planned, Enna transformed herself to a mouse. Kestyn carried her in his pocket, and he and Gulden returned to the familiar tavern. Kestyn ordered several beverages that he did not drink. Gulden made mouse-form Enna invisible. Enna scurried off to the headquarters, where she was able to sneak into the commander's document room without detection.
Once in the room, however, she discovered that the commander's housecat was waiting in the room. Fortunately, the beast's keen sense of smell did not override its confusion about Enna's invisibility. While in the room she transformed back to a human to manipulate drawers and collect documents, then back to a mouse to escape.
When the espionage cell returned to Gulden's home they examined the documents and found several of different types:
After some effort the party was able to decrypt the document, discovering the following text hidden among many superfluous characters:
GENERAL ORDERS FOR REGIMENTAL COMMANDERS OF THE RECLAMATION OF SOUTH BARSTON:
EACH OF YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF ONE COUNTY. YOUR DUTIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
- SUPPORT THE ADVANCE OF THE REGULAR ARMY AS REQUESTED.
- MAINTAIN ORDER WITHIN YOUR COUNTY.
- SEND WHATEVER FOOD YOU CAN GATHER TO FEED THE CITIZENRY.
- SEND ANY MAGICALLY GIFTED PEOPLE TO SERVE HIS MAJESTY.
- TAKE A COMPLETE AND DETAILED CENSUS OF PEOPLE IN YOUR COUNTY.
- INFORM THE COMMAND CENTER IN JALABARD IF YOU DISCOVER ANY UNIQUE RESOURCES
They slept for the night, pondering what all this meant.
Early in the morning, Kiiv, Enna, Orla, and Gulden paid a visit to the temple. They discovered that all of the senior clerics had been taken away by the army a few days earlier, and their acolytes were trying to manage the temple on their own.
Simultaneously, Kestyn, Morro, and Whipp dressed as soldiers and visited the headquarters of the Cropsingers. They found that it had been ransacked in a similar way to Gulden's house. They discovered logbooks from the various employees that all had different last entries. They found this strange, but Gulden explained that they would update their logbooks upon return from a trip out to the field, and that these trips started and ended at staggered times.
When they left the Cropsinger's Office they believed that a fairly nondescript human was following them. They confirmed this by stopping once again at the inn, where Kestyn continued to order but not consume drinks, and were able to set a trap and pull him into an alley, where they interrogated him. He claimed that the military commander had instructed him to keep an eye on the Cropsinger's Office and report back about anyone who entered it.
Kestyn was frightened by this event and ran back to Gulden's house. Morro decided to kill the spy, and they planted the stolen documents on his body while relieving him of a key. When everyone got back to Gulden's house Kestyn convinced them that they needed to get out of town as quickly as possible.
Party Experience Before Session: 11,674XP
Experience Earned:
Party Experience After Session: 12,874XP
Needed For Level 4: 6 * 2,700XP = 16,200XP
Note: Gulden is already level 5 because he needs to be for his profession. He won't gain experience until the rest of the party catches up with him.