The chess game has started

Desnus 4, 4712

Daryle is on Hellknight patrol in the middle of the night walking with her sister Darelle and two other soldiers when the sisters notice suspicious activity near one of the wells. A man is sitting by the well holding a keg of wine singing Hooray, it was inevitable softly to himself. Daryle talks to the man and he is clearly intoxicated. In the conversation, the drunk reveals that he got the keg from Thorne, but he was told he wasn't supposed to say that. Daryle arrests the man and orders the Hellknights to escort him to the drunk tank and to place the keg in evidence. She quickly examines the keg and notices that it is from the Zelnaux winery. They shackle the man's hands, and leave with him and the keg.

Meanwhile, Darelle smells the well and it resembles the plant hoya carnosa, take a sample of the water and notices it is very waxy. This well, much like many others in Fort Inevitable, has been contaminated with a waxy substance. She packages the water in a jar for further study.

After some waiting for the two soldiers to return, the Coopers decide to head back towards the Citadel. They discover the prone figures of the two soldiers. Daryle checks for vital signs but she sees severe puncture wounds. There is no sign of the drunk, but the keg lays on the ground. The wounds are similar to those inflicted to the Juliver Gate guards a month back. Daryle sounds the alarm, and as soldiers arrive on the scene she reports the incident, and she requests that Commander Roscoe be notified as well, even though he is on patrol with a party of Hellknights in the mountains, searching for the giants.

While examining the Zelnaux keg that has been left behind, Darelle discover that the keg has a secret hinge that opens a hole in the top. When leaned over, this hole could be used to dump the contents of the keg out of it without being noticed. Unfortunately the keg is empty, but it still smells like hoya carnosa.

Wanting an explanation, Darelle and Daryle decide to go and find their younger brother Thorne. They locate him in Braddon's General Store as he is about to open his doors. After a headed conversation he reports that he doesn't know anything about the water being poisoned, but he suspects the poisoners from Daggermark. He also acknowledges that he did sell kegs of Zelnaux mead, and his most recent sale, of 7 kegs, was to the Hunters' Lodge. When asked by Daryle, he produces a liquor license he obtained from the Hellknights. He also tells her that he actually doesn't own the mead but acts as a broker between Mayor Dunleaf Appletop and other parties interested in this rare beverage, so even if he did not have a liquor license, which he did, he never owned any liquor himself and therefore would not be in violation of any Hellknight ordinances.

Daryle informs him about the millions of board feet missing.Thorne professes not to know anything about it, and for some unknown reason Daryle believes that his surprise is genuine. Thorne had not heard about the wood being stolen, and he vows to investigate and find out how he can get a cut. Perhaps Gerald has discovered something since he was asked to look into the topic.

Darelle decides to bring the sample of the water she collected from the well to Dr. Mordel. The good doctor agrees to investigate the waxy water and perform alchemy checks. Darelle wonders if there's some illegal dumping going on. It does seem like a strange way to get rid of whatever this substance is. Dr. Mordel tells her the local priests are treating the water, but they can't keep up. Clearly someone is still contaminating the water. In Fort Inevitable, most wells are about one hundred feet deep and reach the water table, but in a few cases the wells had to be dug to about one hundred and fifty feet. It is believed these wells tap a different water table. However, wells from both depth have been contaminated.

The Coopers decide to head over to the Hunting Lodge, on the outskirts of the forest. The place looks as it always does, but there are now three very mean looking and well trained dog, as well as two men on the deck who appear involved in casual conversation but are in fact guarding the place. Daryle approaches and asks to speak with the owner. The lodge's president introduces himself as Vorkstag and listens politely to Daryle's inquiries. After some back and forth he agrees to let her look at his wine cellar even though she doesn't have a search warrant. In the cellar Daryle discovers the lodge only has two barrels and not the seven Thorne claims to have sold. Was their younger brother lying to them?

Back in Fort Inevitable, Daryle and Darelle pay a visit to Karlyle the Butcher. He tells the sister that the last time he had contact with the lodge's president, Peter Dusk, was about two months ago. Come to think of it, he has not seen any of the hunters for at least a month. The sisters consult the tax rolls. The quarterly taxes were paid by Vorkstag, the new club president. Darelle writes down a timeline in a her notebook:

• 73 days ago, Karlyle claims that this is the last time he saw Peter Dusk, the hunter also known to Daryle.
• 36 days ago, an assassin kills Hellknight guards at the Juliver Gate. There are reports that many of the wells in Fort Inevitable have been poisoned, and there's a confrontation between Roscoe and Karlyle the Butcher. An assassination atttempt on Roscoe's life results in the destruction of a newly erected apartment block.
• 34 days ago, all of the ruffians and workers from Daggermark are tricked into leaving Fort Inevitable on rumors of a gold rush in the hills.
• 30 days ago, paperwork is filed with the Hellknights indicating that the Hunting Lodge has a new president.
• 7 days ago, the Cooper sisters resolve the confrontation between the Hellknights and the villagers of Dimsdale.
• 5 days ago, Thorne brokers the sale of 7 kegs of Zelnaux mead with the Hunting Lodge.
• Today, the sisters discover that one of these kegs is used to poison at least one well in Fort Inevitable.

Daryle thinks the wells should be locked. Darelle thinks the wells should be guarded. Both of these measures should be implemented to stop the contaminated process. Plain clothes officers should be placed next to wells. These ideas are suggested to Maralictor Wirt, who agrees to the measures and dispatches soldiers immediately.

Darelle goes back that evening Dr. Mordel's neighborhood patrol could guard the wells. Mordel tells her that his sources report a master alchemist from Daggermark is involved in the plot to poison the residents and the Hellknights of Fort Inevitable. Dr. Mordel says that his agents will keep an eye on the wells. When Darelle questions whether an alliance of assassins and poisoners could truly take place, Mordel responds that if their target was a common enemy, they may be able to put aside their differences.

Daryle tells Mordel about the missing members of the hunter's guild. Mordel replies that he will try to find out as much as possible.

The sisters meet again with Thorne, who claims not knowing why both guilds would want him dead. He speculates that the presence of demons indicate that Duke Mosley, who is a member of the Order of the Nail, and has an not-so-secret interest in demons, might be behind the overall plot, maneuvering pieces like the assassins, the poisoners, the Mistress of Thorns, the giants, and Greenhide and his goblins like so many pieces on a chessboard.

Darelle then talks to Falandra about manufacturing evidence against Thorne to get him demoted. Falandra replies that it shouldn't be too hard, but maybe the sisters should address themselves to Maralictor Wirt while Roscoe is gone first. They do so, and Wirt is more than happy to immediately suspend Thorne's access to the treasury.


Desnus 5, 4712

Passing through town in the morning, Darelle finds a message waiting for her at the Juliver Gate. Dr. Mordel urgently needs to see her. She goes over to his house, and he tells Darelle that there are 22 members of the poisoners' guild in the hunter's lodge. He also shows her the prisoner he captured in the night. The demon is currently captured behind a series of walls of forces in Mordel's basement, and the good doctor will attempt to get as much information as possible from it.

Leaving the house, the sisters run into Gerald who tries to hide that he is carrying a spellbook. He was coming from the direction of Abernard's house, and he looks suspiciously guilty, as if he had borrowed the book without permission.

In the evening, the sisters trek to the Hunters' Lodge. The sisters fire arrows and slay the guard, then Darelle entangles the dogs under the porch. They break into the lodge and interrupt a card game, only to let one of the guards escape. He returns with a team, but in no time the Coopers dispatch them all. Exploring the lodge, they discover an alchemy lab on the second floor. Darelle finds a jar of cloud.

In the basement they discover over 40 barrels of Zelnaux mead behind a secret wall. They then find another trap door leading downward. The latter takes them about 150 feet below ground, in a series of tunnels. Someone has been mining crystals. They locate the rest of the poisoners' crew, who are running away. The sisters manage to eliminate them all, then they track what had scarred them. In a wall at the end of one tunnel, they discover a clear crystal window, and on the other side is a frightening outsider who appears to be trying to break free. The sisters wisely decide to withdraw, and they return to Fort Inevitable.