Our Clearcrest Exploratory Journalism Team has recently stumbled upon an interesting story concerning major business interests within Tinker Town, with the potential to disrupt major Dread supply lines in the days ahead. While the Chronicle reporter was following up on recent rumors at the Hogsback tavern, a pair of out-of-town investors began throwing obscene amounts of money around, buying the bar’s clientele rounds for the entire evening. After drawing that sort of attention, our news goblin couldn’t help be doing a little eavesdropping.
An ornately dressed man introduced himself as Veldrin Goldhollow, and nodded to his “supply merchant” associate as Lionel Stonecarver (strangely, this man remained mute throughout the time in the bar). They met up with a halfling woman calling herself Tess, who seemed both bemused and annoyed by the pair. We weren’t able to catch all of the conversation, but heard mentions of an organization called the “Circle of Thorns,” something referred to as “S,” and the well-known Tinker Town business “Council of Progress.”
After the group left, our goblin investigated further, finding a note with a scribbled list of names and a hastily drawn map. The map was mainly detailing the basic setup of the CoP with Administration (Records & Archive) left of the lobby, Manufacturing and Receiving (Testing, Workbench, Lab, Processing & Receiving) to the right, and a partially defunct Tour Hall running from the center throughout the facility. However, below is the mysterious list of names, complete with the notes they’d included:
Elda-elven woman, serene
Grimul-stoic dwarf
Iris-halfling receiver, aspiring engineer
Thrane-cranky old engineer
Pip-gnome assistant engineer, enthusiastic
Elgin-vanished maintenance man, lost journal
Grimlock-iron golem built by Thrane
Maelis-lab wizard, highly paranoid
Strangely enough, this information wasn’t enough to piece together the story. Luckily, the strange pair returned later that day, giving us a chance to snoop a bit more. As they sat down with an elderly man glancing about suspiciously, we managed to install ourselves in a nearby booth.
Veldrin Goldhollow began by introducing himself and a new tabaxi companion as “Biv” and “Bev,, and then seemed to immediately mirror the paranoid behavior of the elderly patron: “Have you heard? They’re out to get your secrets, Maelis. Thrane can’t find Elgin’s journal, and so he’s planning on raiding the lab.”
The man called Maelis seemed unconvinced, responding, “No. Nonono. He can’t. He can’t get to MY secrets…”
“Oh, he plans on sabotaging your protection sigils in the Testing Chamber and getting you kicked out of the Lab. Then you’re gone and he’s got full run of the place. I hear he’s even thinking of some way to get into the Archive where Elgin’s journal might be stored…”
“NO!” cried Maelis. “That’s ridiculous! Thrane only has occasional access to Testing! And he can’t get into the Archives at all! Not like me!”
“Uh huh. Sure. He’s already gotten Reggie Wix out of the way, you know… Soon he’s have Taklinn’s Toolbox, his golem Grimlock, AND your ideas…
At this, “Biv” (Mr. Goldhollow) waved a mug reading “Contains Poison” as if to punctuate his theory, and the pair began to frantically whisper unintelligibly while the cat man “Bev” egged them on like a hype man.
Eventually, the group cleared out, and the investigative team make another sweep of the table. Unfortunately, all they were able to find this time was a page dropped from the Council of Progress Employee Handbook. While a copy has been included here for completeness, it doesn’t appear to add much to the plot of this conspiracy.
As new details become available, we’ll be bringing them straight to our readership. The potential movements against the Dread’s largest weapons and armor supplier may be just the first strike for the larger revolution, and one we’ll hope to expand into a full-scale overthrow of the city’s usurpers. Until then, we urge our subscribers to keep fighting as best they can.
The Clearcrest Chronicle 