5/10/2018 – At the Rangers Guild Hall, Shamino brought up the magical paints that had been recovered from the Assassin of Vesper, who in turn had taken them from the Sheriff of Vesper when he had assassinated the sheriff. The containers had a label, indicating that they had been sold by someone named Nico Radu. Nico, Shamino had learned from his own investigations, was a traveling gypsy merchant that had recently been seen setting up his shop in Ilshenar. Shamino’s desire was to find this merchant and learn more about the paints that the Rangers Guild had in their possession. Leading the group, Shamino and his rangers traveled to the lands of Ilshenar.
North of the Meer city of Lakeshire, they found two wagons, one belonging to the mysterious Nico Radu and the other to another merchant named Dimitri. The rangers attempted to talk to Nico when he walked out of his wagon, but Nico asked them to wait for a moment as he was in the middle of a negotiation with Dimitri. It seemed that Nico was attempting to buy something from Dimitri, but Dimitri was asking for something Nico deemed too high a price. However, with his new potential customers present Nico saw an excellent opportunity. He told the rangers that he was attempting to find an old crystal ball belonging to the great seer Morganna, and Dimitri knew who had it but would not say unless Nico gave him the pelt of a rare white hart. A white hart had been seen recently in the grove to their west but Nico was unable to acquire it himself. He said if they would help him get his crystal ball he would be open to answering questions and letting them see his finer wares. Reluctantly, the rangers went on the hunt for the elusive creature. It proved difficult to take down, moving about the forest on swift legs and eventually disappeared into a neighboring woods infested with reapers.
The rangers came across a particularly old reaper that seemed to talk, and it told that them that it had seen the white hart and would tell its location if they took care of a problem for it. The problem, the elderly reaper said, was that a fellow reaper elsewhere in the forest had formed an evil alliance with water elementals, watering its roots with their magical water and becoming further corrupt in the process. The rangers were happy to oblige the old tree and, locating the rogue reaper and its companion water elementals, destroyed them all. Once they learned the location of the white hart, they managed to corner it at the edge of the forest and killed it.
After taking its pelt to Nico, the merchant was able to satisfy the demands of his peer and learned from Dimitri that the crystal ball was in the possession of the Rat King. Knowing this, Nico told the rangers to visit the Rat King in the caves to the southwest and attempt to bargain with it, as the crystal ball was very old and fragile. The Rat King did claim to have the crystal ball when the rangers confronted it, but warned them that if they tried anything sneaky or attacked, the crystal ball would be destroyed. And so, another deal was struck, with the Rat King saying that that his predecessor had been slain (by the Royal Guards nearly two years ago) and he had taken over, but there was another rat that claimed to be the true king. The Rat King had sent the would-be king into exile and now wished for the rangers to kill the exile and brings back its head. The exile was under the protection of a spider queen and so the rangers would have her to get to the exile.
The rangers accepted the Rat King’s deal and traveled to the spider cave to the northeast, where they found and destroyed the spider queen. As soon as she had died the exile appeared out of hiding, begging for mercy. The exile, named Skitz, claimed to be the true descendant of the previous king, and that the current Rat King did not have a legitimate claim to the throne. He asked that the rangers not kill him, but instead kill another ratman and bring its head to the king, as the king wouldn’t be able to tell the difference anyways. Skitz would be in their debt and promised to return the favor at another time. The rangers agreed to this proposal and brought another ratman’s head to the king. The king, not able to distinguish the face, happily accepted it and gave the rangers the crystal ball.
Upon returning to Nico, the rangers were carefully not to hand over the crystal ball until Nico yielded some answers. Nico had explained that the magical paints were something he had acquired from fae creatures, and the paints had the ability to allow the painter to bring a certain kind of life to his work, to access one’s imagination in a way not possible with ordinary paint. The special paints, however, had to be used with a special gem that Nico could acquire from the savages. Nico then brought out his finest wares and let the rangers choose which item they wished to purchase, and even promised to throw in a painter’s gem for all the help they provided. Nico then disappeared into his wagon, saying he would need time to acquire the goods and would meet with them again soon.
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North of the Meer city of Lakeshire, they found two wagons, one belonging to the mysterious Nico Radu and the other to another merchant named Dimitri. The rangers attempted to talk to Nico when he walked out of his wagon, but Nico asked them to wait for a moment as he was in the middle of a negotiation with Dimitri. It seemed that Nico was attempting to buy something from Dimitri, but Dimitri was asking for something Nico deemed too high a price. However, with his new potential customers present Nico saw an excellent opportunity. He told the rangers that he was attempting to find an old crystal ball belonging to the great seer Morganna, and Dimitri knew who had it but would not say unless Nico gave him the pelt of a rare white hart. A white hart had been seen recently in the grove to their west but Nico was unable to acquire it himself. He said if they would help him get his crystal ball he would be open to answering questions and letting them see his finer wares. Reluctantly, the rangers went on the hunt for the elusive creature. It proved difficult to take down, moving about the forest on swift legs and eventually disappeared into a neighboring woods infested with reapers.
The rangers came across a particularly old reaper that seemed to talk, and it told that them that it had seen the white hart and would tell its location if they took care of a problem for it. The problem, the elderly reaper said, was that a fellow reaper elsewhere in the forest had formed an evil alliance with water elementals, watering its roots with their magical water and becoming further corrupt in the process. The rangers were happy to oblige the old tree and, locating the rogue reaper and its companion water elementals, destroyed them all. Once they learned the location of the white hart, they managed to corner it at the edge of the forest and killed it.
After taking its pelt to Nico, the merchant was able to satisfy the demands of his peer and learned from Dimitri that the crystal ball was in the possession of the Rat King. Knowing this, Nico told the rangers to visit the Rat King in the caves to the southwest and attempt to bargain with it, as the crystal ball was very old and fragile. The Rat King did claim to have the crystal ball when the rangers confronted it, but warned them that if they tried anything sneaky or attacked, the crystal ball would be destroyed. And so, another deal was struck, with the Rat King saying that that his predecessor had been slain (by the Royal Guards nearly two years ago) and he had taken over, but there was another rat that claimed to be the true king. The Rat King had sent the would-be king into exile and now wished for the rangers to kill the exile and brings back its head. The exile was under the protection of a spider queen and so the rangers would have her to get to the exile.
The rangers accepted the Rat King’s deal and traveled to the spider cave to the northeast, where they found and destroyed the spider queen. As soon as she had died the exile appeared out of hiding, begging for mercy. The exile, named Skitz, claimed to be the true descendant of the previous king, and that the current Rat King did not have a legitimate claim to the throne. He asked that the rangers not kill him, but instead kill another ratman and bring its head to the king, as the king wouldn’t be able to tell the difference anyways. Skitz would be in their debt and promised to return the favor at another time. The rangers agreed to this proposal and brought another ratman’s head to the king. The king, not able to distinguish the face, happily accepted it and gave the rangers the crystal ball.
Upon returning to Nico, the rangers were carefully not to hand over the crystal ball until Nico yielded some answers. Nico had explained that the magical paints were something he had acquired from fae creatures, and the paints had the ability to allow the painter to bring a certain kind of life to his work, to access one’s imagination in a way not possible with ordinary paint. The special paints, however, had to be used with a special gem that Nico could acquire from the savages. Nico then brought out his finest wares and let the rangers choose which item they wished to purchase, and even promised to throw in a painter’s gem for all the help they provided. Nico then disappeared into his wagon, saying he would need time to acquire the goods and would meet with them again soon.
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