The morning brought new revelations about the tensions plaguing Brandstrad, and I found myself in the uncomfortable position of being caught between two feuding dwarven clans through no fault of my own.
We started our day at the Cat and Fiddle, where Lieutenant Fisomi Goldenhorn was having breakfast. Through conversation with him and the Goldenhorn bartender, I learned more about the clan dynamics in town. The Goldenhorns are the largest clan - new money merchants and goldsmiths who worship Vergadain and aren’t above using underhanded tactics. Their main rivals are the Coalfoot clan, experienced miners who worship Dumathoin and keep to themselves, making them seem suspicious to outsiders.
The bartender mentioned that things had been “peachy” until recent months when something started stirring up trouble. More troubling was Tittlin’s discovery from the previous evening - he’d overheard a secretive conversation in one of the private booths involving mentions of the Coalfoot clan, gold, the Vulgar Vulture tavern, and the Tamori name. The bartender confirmed her husband had been in that booth, identifying him as one of the participants in whatever deal was being discussed.
After breakfast, I decided to visit my cousin Hothor Tamori, who runs the local gems and jewelry business. The reunion was warm - he was clearly proud of my growing reputation as a dragon hunter, even producing marriage proposals from various dwarven clans, including an embarrassingly embellished portrait from the Silver Sword clan. But beneath the familial joy, Hothor revealed the dark undercurrents threatening to tear the town apart.
The conflict, he explained, stemmed from a suspicious death two months ago. A member of the Coalfoot clan had washed up on the shore, officially ruled a drowning accident by Lieutenant Fisomi Goldenhorn. However, the Coalfoot clan suspected foul play, particularly given that the incident occurred in winter when no one would be swimming voluntarily. The fact that the investigating officer was a Goldenhorn only deepened their suspicions of a cover-up.
Hothor warned me to stay away from both clans, as the situation was rapidly escalating toward a full turf war. He also revealed that Count Yugantsev Yakovich was completely unaware of the clan politics at play, making him ineffective at resolving the growing crisis.
Determined to understand the full scope of the problem, we decided to investigate further. I visited the Vulgar Vulture - the Coalfoot clan’s establishment - to make peace offerings and gather information. The tavern was everything the Cat and Fiddle wasn’t: dim, rundown, smelling of old beer and cedar, with no windows and suspicious patrons. I presented a bottle of fine wine as an apology for inadvertently choosing sides by staying at a Goldenhorn establishment.
The Coalfoot patriarch, Tharhus, was a dwarf of few words but eventually provided a crucial lead. He directed me to investigate the sale of the Robmont mine, suggesting this was connected to the current troubles. Meanwhile, Tittlin investigated the docks where the body was found, discovering suspicious sword marks on the pier - marks made by someone significantly shorter than human height, most likely a dwarf.
Following Tharhus’s lead, Spesof visited the county clerk’s office to examine mining contracts. What he discovered was damning: the Robmont mine had been sold to the Coalfoot clan for a suspiciously low bid - two orders of magnitude below what such a valuable property should command. All the bids were notarized by Baron Bozzec Coinhand, a noted friend of the Goldenhorn family, suggesting possible collusion in what appeared to be a rigged auction process.
The pattern that emerged was deeply troubling. The Goldenhorn clan, with their connections to the town’s bureaucracy and guard, appeared to be manipulating mining rights and possibly eliminating anyone who threatened their schemes. The Coalfoot clan, realizing they were being systematically cheated, had grown increasingly hostile, leading to the current crisis.
As scholars often say, the most dangerous knowledge is that which reveals corruption in high places. We now understood the true cause of the mining troubles - not simple worker disputes, but a complex web of clan rivalry, economic manipulation, and possible murder. The question was whether we could use this information to solve Count Yakovich’s problems without becoming targets ourselves.
Our mission to secure his plus-one invitation had become significantly more complicated. Rather than simply charming a lonely noble, we now needed to either help resolve a potential clan war or find a way to extract ourselves from an increasingly dangerous situation. The Count’s obvious frustration with his inability to understand the troubles suddenly made perfect sense - how could he solve problems rooted in clan politics he knew nothing about?
The irony wasn’t lost on me that my academic pursuit of dragon restoration had led me into the middle of a very different kind of dangerous situation. Sometimes the most treacherous monsters are the ones that look like people.