Coded Missive to the Fortuneers
Addressed to the Fortuneers, items of interest come to light on the Officials by a concerned Icemule resident about the Far Market and Daukhera Darkflorr: (maybe in code!?)
Category: Towns
Topic: Icemule TraceDate: 07/16/2018 02:14 PM CDTFrom: OUTZENB1Subj: Coded missive to the Fortuneers (IC)T (#1):Items of interest regarding Far Market:
Members ranked and identified by number. Individual encountered recently identified as Number Six. Unknown if numeric rankings are similar to ours.
Stealth and observation capabilities of Far Market are generally excellent. Use caution when encountering.
Trade arranged with Far Market to obtain key to tome in Icemule Trace. Betrayal by person named Goblyn ensured both tome and key now in hands of Daukhera Darkflorr. Anticipate discovery of ruins of necromancers’ settlement (purported to be near Pinefar) within matter of weeks (estimated).
Far Market now in possession of artifact alleged to contain souls of the lost Mhoragian ponies. Item of major cultural significance. Item provided by Goblyn in exchange for key to tome. Goblyn exposed attempt to acquire tome and key to Daukhera in exchange for access to the tome.
Initial conclusions: as artifact smuggling goes, the Far Market is most definitely in the “big leagues”, and bears watching. Operational security appears to be tight enough to conclude that they have been operating this way for some time. These people, in short, are Competition, worthy of the capitalization. Contingency steps should be taken to counter and thwart their influence where possible.
Further items of interest regarding Daukhera Darkflorr:
The woman has no grasp of archeological procedure. She prefers to blast or bluster her way through every situation (likely endangering any artifacts at the dig sites currently being worked). Of mixed blessing is the fact that she has a short temper; this might be taken advantage of in the right situations, however she has displayed magical skill in sorcery equivalent to grand-mastery (displaying the usual range of destructive magics, plus some unique magicks – now further augmented by the tome she now possesses). This making provoking her something of a calculated risk.
She has shown the capacity to summon creatures of varying strengths and capabilities. She also has sentient minions at her command; at least one acts as a “mouthpiece” on her behalf; others have performed searches from the air on her behalf.
The nature of what artifacts or knowledge that may be unearthed at the ruins – assuming she actually finds them – are so far unknown, but it is generally agreed that it would be unfortunate if Darkflorr should acquire them first. I will continue to relay coded reports as events unfold.
Regarding the saddle: You are of course aware of the immense cultural significance of such an artifact. Major repercussion may occur should the artifact (saddle) not be returned in good condition to the halflings (the peaceful ones, at least; I cannot say what would happen should Darkflorr should acquire it, and for that matter it is questionable as to whether the Far Market can be trusted with it under any circumstances).
As it would be inappropriate to withhold this information, I have sent this information separately to I.C.I.C.L.E. (the local town council in Icemule Trace). I have not discussed or mentioned the possibility of aid from the Fortuneers at this time, as I am unaware of your disposition to provide aid at this time. Prompt response respectfully requested, if/when feasible.
SY (#747)