DA2 TTRPG Campaign Diary - Session 5 - A sealed Basement

Last we left off, the party had discovered red lyrium beneath a locksmith's shop. Deorum convinced the group that as a mage he was the most knowledgeable of lyrium and should be responsible with handling it. While everyone else traveled back to the Mason's guild to let them know of a job well done, Revas stayed behind to burn the rat bodies and help the family clean up their home from rat feces. 

While the party had told the family there had simply been many rats and that they had cleared them all out, Revas presented the family with three yellow flowers he had gathered while traveling in Ferelden. He explained the risk of Blight and the importance of making the flowers into a tea, and Vhez accepted them with much gratitude.

Since it was late in the evening, the mason's guild promised to appear at the house the next morning, and the party retired for the night. Fenlin didn't trust the red lyrium and stayed up through the night outside of Deorum's door in case of trouble, though nothing happened. ((I had Deorum roll against the possibility of bad dreams)).

At breakfast the next morning, Lord Kristol Dalmasso asked Deorum about his job hunt. As Deorum explained plans to buy up real estate and rent them out to the newcomers to Kirkwall, Dalmasso made a comment about Lord Albrecht, head of the merchant Noble House of Kirkwall. Albrecht is the most disliked noble house of the city, with their focus being solely on the gathering of wealth. 

Deorum asked if there was anything he could do that might be advantageous to House Dalmasso while discrediting Albrecht. Lord Kristol was intrigued by the inquiry and promised to get back to him. 

On the way back to the House in Midtown, Deorum stopped by the Hanged Man to ask Varric if he knew about lyrium that wasn't blue, and despite Varric's prodding, the mage continued to be evasive. 

-----------------------------------

The Mason's Guild joins the party at the house. As the trap door to the basement is small, has a nonexistant ladder, and doesn't give enough room for materials, the Guild asks permission to rip up the floor. They also use some of the materials they have to create a makeshift stairway.

Upon seeing the hole in the basement wall and the graves it leads to, Brekan is impressed at the party's abilities and agrees to work without the Templars so long as the party agrees to stay and handle any threats. Any stray skeletons that arise are quickly dispatched.

Brekan inquires as to the state of his cousin's shop and learns of the Blighted rats that were found in the basement. He agrees to seal up the sewer grate and the entrance found in the cellar.

-------------------------

The party finally has some downtime and Deorum introduces the group to Varric who reveals he does have some work for them. With the new documentation the city is requiring for city workers, records are being dug up regarding City Guilds and those who lied about the number of their members are being heavily fined. Varric has no idea the last time the Dwarven Merchant Guild documents were last updated and asks the part to sneak into the archives and retrieve the paperwork. The party negotiates 30% of whatever the fee would have been. Varric agrees so long as the party slips in and out unnoticed, otherwise, if their pretense is detected or any foul play occurs, their reward will be less.

With business concluded, Varric directs the party to the Undercity market located beneath Errant Square. There they will find Garrick who does forgeries and knows the layout of the city archives well. He also directs them to Ebbert’s Outfitters for a breather mask that will help them with the chokedamp of the undercity.

Ebbert turns out to be an eccentric dwarf who tries to sell them all manner of seemingly useless devices, including a bouncy ball that he markets as a "trap finder."

After pushing aside the statue of the Errant Knight, the party descends the stairs into a flee market light by multi-colored torches. All manner of items the Templars would not allow are sold down here, including illegal knife sets, magical lotions for changing hair or skin color, alchemical grenades, magical messages, and potions, and more.

The group locates "Muscle" a qunari that Fisher once worked with. He is sporting light blue skin that he thought would look intimidating, and the group takes time to make suggestions, such as red skin with gold horns. They also observe a hooded figure that sits near the table of alchemical grenades that Muscle guards. The qunari lets slip that her name is Sophia. 

Fisher presents a gold piece given to him by Varric and speaks the password "Grimoire." Muscle takes the gold and leads the party through a maze of stone walls to the Dark Market where the most dangerous and illegal items are sold. The area includes poisons, creature shops, thugs for hire, a brothel, drugs, macabre trinkets, and more. 

The party is stopped by an old crone selling "samples" that only Deorum tries. His mind is opened to the universe and he asks for a way to use the lyrium he found safely. The universe answers that it might be safe in small amounts.

The party locates Garrick, who (with payment) shares his knowledge of the archives.