The party continued their pursuit of the two thieves who had pickpocketed Hat and Bhakris earlier. Fueled by anger, Bhakris hurled a javelin at one of the fleeing figures, striking them in the shoulder and sending them crashing to the ground, gravely injured.
This act of violence shocked the crowd that had gathered. They cried out against the party, believing them to be unjustly attacking defenseless children. An urchin emerged from the throng, inciting them further against these dangerous strangers.
Desperate to sway the crowd to their side, Bartholemeow leapt atop the giant spider form of Waer’dara and broke into song, attempting to spin the situation as a morality tale of thieves getting their just deserts. But his performance failed to lift the crowd’s mood.
As Bhakris moved to pursue the other pickpocket, the incensed urchin latched onto him from behind in a grapple, seeking to stop this brutality against the children. But Bhakris managed to reverse the grapple, locking arms with his assailant in a stalemate.
Meanwhile, Hat had dashed off alone in reckless pursuit of the thieves. But upon reaching a winding warren of alleys, the goblin quickly lost the trail. Finding noone worth stealing from to make up their lost funds, Hat returned empty-handed to the chaotic scene unfolding back at the square.
There, the rest of the party had managed to subdue the grappling urchin. Thalmiir intimidated the sniveling child into submission just as two imposing figures arrived. Calling themselves the Goram Twins, they addressed the party as affiliates of someone named Sterling. The twins proposed taking the urchin to smooth things over with a local figure called Granny Basham.
Though uncertain of the twins’ motives, the party acquiesced and followed them through a maze of back alleys. They soon arrived at an enclosed courtyard where an elderly half-elf sat upon a stoop. Identifying herself as Granny Basham, she confronted the party about the violence against her urchins.
After some tense negotiations, a deal was struck. Basham would provide information gathering and protection services through her network of street children, in exchange for payment from the party. Seeing the value of such an arrangement, the generous Pebblesong readily fished out ten gold pieces.
Satisfied, Basham returned the stolen items to Hat and Bhakris. She taught them a whistle to use to call for aid while in her territory. The party had secured an ally on the dangerous streets of the dock ward, though the day’s chaos had surely sown seeds of future trouble.
Key Events