What started as an investigation into clan corruption turned into a life-or-death battle when we walked straight into an assassination attempt on Count Yakovic. And let me tell you, I’ve had better days.
The morning brought some crucial discoveries about the tensions in Brandstrad. We’d uncovered evidence of a rigged mining auction, embezzlement, and what appeared to be murder to cover it all up. The dead Coalfoot dwarf, Dordear, had been Baron Bozzec’s accountant and had discovered the corruption. When I broke into his house and found his secret compartment (with help from his cousin Jatrig’s beard hair to activate the magical lock), we uncovered ledgers detailing systematic embezzlement from Count Yakovich.
After Investigating the Dock some more I decide to go and talk to the harbor master. Turns out Dordear was actually his cousin and he was pretty disappointed with the way the investigation went. I asked him if he was okay with me heading on over to Dordears house to see if i can find any more clues. After investigating the house I find a magical hidden compartment on the inside of his office’s desk drawer and ask Momen about it. He lets me know that this seems to be some sort of biological lock, where if you have enough matching DNA, a compartment will open up. After a few attempts on my own with some strands of hair I found in Dordear’s bathroom I head back over to the Harbormaster to let him know what I’ve found. After some persuasion, I managed to convince him to come back with me to the house and try to open up the compartment. Thankfully, He being a relative of Dordear and the extra strands of hair were just enough to trigger the magical lock, revealing a drawer with papers in it. Specifically, Papers that show that the Goldenhorn’s have been stealing money from the Count.
The situation was a powder keg waiting to explode. The Goldenhorn clan, led by corrupt nobles and backed by compromised guards, had been systematically cheating the Coalfoot clan out of mining rights while skimming money from the Count. When Dordear threatened to expose them, they had him killed and covered it up through their ally Lieutenant Fisomi.
We’d planned to present all this evidence to the Count privately, hoping it would earn us enough goodwill to secure that plus-one invitation we desperately needed for the Fossen family banquet. Instead, we walked into a trap.
The Count was at the Robmont mine trying to mediate yet another dispute between feuding workers when everything went sideways. I’d managed to sneak in using a stolen guard pass, timing my movements to avoid the magical detection lights. The Count was there with his knights, completely baffled by the dwarves’ refusal to work together, when merchant Burke Grentville arrived with what looked like a large yellow gemstone.
That’s when my criminal instincts kicked in. Something about the way Grentville was behaving screamed “trouble.” When I saw him shove that crystal into the rock formation, I knew we were about to have a very bad time. I tried to warn everyone, but it was too late - the thing exploded and released a massive golden golem from inside the rock.
What followed was absolute chaos. Half the Count’s knights immediately turned on him - apparently they’d been bought by the Goldenhorn clan all along. The workers scattered, the loyal knights tried to fight back, and this massive construct started smashing people into red mist.
I did what I do best in crisis situations: I improvised. First, I made the Count invisible to buy him some time. Then, when it became clear we were completely outgunned, I used my Amethyst Lode Stone to reverse gravity in the entire area. Suddenly everyone except those smart enough to grab onto something was floating helplessly toward the ceiling - including the golem.
The plan worked better than I’d hoped. Most of the traitor knights went flying, the golem was neutralized (temporarily), and we could identify who was actually on our side. Turned out Lieutenant Fisomi was clean after all - if he’d wanted the Count dead, the mine would have been the perfect place to do it.
But our victory was short-lived. The golem started throwing its weapons at us from a hundred feet up, then began spewing some kind of deadly gas cloud. Momen tried to blast it with lightning while it was trapped in the air, but when gravity returned, the thing fell with a tremendous crash and immediately started chasing us.
The mine’s magical shields contained the beast, but anyone still inside was doomed. We managed to escape with the Count and a few loyal knights, but it was a close thing. Burke Grentville had vanished in the chaos - probably had an escape route planned all along.
So here we are: we’ve uncovered a massive conspiracy, survived an assassination attempt, and saved the Count’s life. The bad news is that Brandstrad is probably about to tear itself apart as this corruption comes to light. The good news is that Count Yakovich owes us his life, which should be more than enough to secure that plus-one invitation.
Sometimes the best way to a noble’s heart isn’t through seduction or charm - it’s by keeping him breathing long enough to be grateful. Though I have to say, our methods for getting party invitations keep getting more dramatic. First dragons, now golems. What’s next, saving him from a tarrasque?
At least we finally have our ticket to the Fossen family banquet. Now we just need to survive long enough to use it.