Chapter 3 - Session 10 - A not so simple favor

I was out drunk like a candle in a rainstorm. When I finally came to I was offering Bruin some of the Ale. He said it tasted like battery acid. The group wanted to get going and Klackers cast something that made me immediately feel so full I involuntarily throwing up the entire contents of my stomach in the alley. Ale and rations and stuff I don't even remember eating. It hurt and tasted 1000 time worse coming up than it was going down. We make our way to The Rusted Anchor per Odra's note. As we enter the establishment we are hit with the distinct smell of oxidized copper and rusted iron. A mountain of a man with a lazy eye behind the counter pats the counter and tells us to order or get out. We take a seat in a corner booth the tabled bolted to the floor and rust covering every metal accent it has. We get salty fish and some hard as rock rye bread with a side of lard. The smell alone made me gag and I would have lost my lunch if Klackers hadn't already assisted me with that. As our group settle in enjoying their meal a cloaked figure entered the bar looking around. They lower the hood and we notice it is Idris! He spots us and sits down greeting the group. He notices Odra looks very different from the last time he saw us. You know because the whole dragon thing. She gives him the run down of our recent endeavors about the revolution and syndicate encounters. He listens intently and lets us know the Syndicate isn't just smuggling but they are harvesting bone marrow and body parts experimenting with eugenics. He told us that the Syndicate is using a lab called Aethenaeum where they are creating these beasts and abominations. It is heavily guarded and we can either find a guide to forge papers to enter right through the front gate or we can go through the mountains guarded by hunter seeker drones that will kill on sight but it does bypass the normal civilian check points. He looked like his time in the city hasn't been kind to him. The things he had to endure to get the information we got had taken its toll on his body. He was past the point of healing now he isn't in it for a cure or recovery, now its about retribution for him. He offered us the use of a safehouse while we are in town where we can set up as a base of operations as we prepare and decide which route we want to take. The safehouse is actually in the back of this tavern hence why he wanted us to meet him here. After some macabre questions and talk about what to do with his body and soul when he dies we leave him to go meet his guide to see how he can help us. I decide to hang back and try to reverse engineer the shrinking potion we got so I can mass produce them for the group. Half the group goes to find the sludge lord guide we were told about. They make there way through the slum district to the Baron's Forge. They do notice some recent posters still fresh with ink showing crude pictures Z'ed and Odra wanted for "Questioning". We need to keep our heads down and not draw too much attention if possible while out and about in the city. Klackers helped Odra disguiser her features so she is less noticeable than her pictures depict. They made it to the guide we were told about, Sylis. He has already seen the posters and comments that as we are now wanted folk the price of his services are going to be higher or possibly we could help him with a favor for a favor. The favor he referred to would be infiltrate a maintenance substation and redirect the power to his workshop. The route would be dangerous and definitely poisonous and full of drones and security. He mentioned if we wished to just buy his services he would want the entirety of our group present to negotiate later today. They left him and came back to the safe house to share what they had discussed with Sylis. After some discussion Z'ed, knowing about the wanted posters, preferred to stay indoors out of sight for fear of being noticed. Odra wrote a note for Sylis to to be delivered, "The favor will be done. Send assistance, be it information or goods, back with the associates present." Amani and Bruin left to meet up with Needle to deliver the letter. Needle snatched the letter and snapped at them stating that there is no assistance to be had. Any provisions for the mission is up to us. We either meet Sylis as a group or get to it on the favor for him. With that Bruin and Amani returned to us with the response. It was now up to us to decide which path we are going to take. Odra spent time talkin to Barnaby seeing if she could get some more info about the maintenance ducts and getting in touch with some dredgers for more specific details. I'd love to get a closer look at the under workings of the cities engineering. Amani is looking to let off some angst against some sludge and Bruin was down to tussle if need be.