S11E20 - The Black Hand's Kill List

The episode starts with the heroes approaching Zoqoi aboard their remaining ship. They are accompanied by Iron-Skin, a half-ogre entering Zoqoi’s next martial arts tournament with his friend, and by a group of other travelers the heroes recruited to appease Paco after getting his boat destroyed.

Right after docking, a guard approaches them and informs them that they need to buy leather visitor collars to get law enforcement protection. Without them, if they are collared as slaves, they will lose their freedom.

After getting their collars, the heroes first go to the Colosseum with Iron-Skin and his friend. Soto registers for the tournament, paying the 20 gp entry fee for an event that will take place in two days, and then they meet Rin, a halfling match-fixer. Soto tries to touch him with his Extort Truth, but fails to reach the halfling. A tense moment follows, though it is quickly defused. Rin then offers Soto a deal: throw his third-round match, if he makes it that far, and earn three times whatever money they bet. Soto refuses, and the halfling leaves.

The heroes find Paco and pay him the remaining 350 gp. At last, their debt is settled, and everyone is happy.

At the docks, a group of knights lead by Sir Krys Brightmane, catches Brand’s eye. They need muscle for a two-week expedition into the desert to kill a creature because some of their teammates deserted soon after arriving. The pay? 500 gp per person. Brand takes the name of their inn and promises an answer before they leave.

At the Fragile Cobra Inn, the party fails to haggle the nightly rate down from 3 gp to 2 gp. The Tall Husband Inn it is. When money is tight, you have to stick to your lodging budget.

Before they leave the Cobra Inn, Klik and Klak steal a gnome-sized cup that Nemo recognizes. He turns white. He sends Soto to return it and report what its recipient looks like. The description confirms Nemo’s suspicions, but he says nothing to the group.

Ike stays at the inn with Klik and Klak while the others seek help at the Black Hand Cathedral, a massive temple to Bane, god of tyranny, fear and domination. Lyra secures an audience with its duergar exarch, Hjalmus Darkbreaker.

He tells her that eight congregants close to Hjalmus have been murdered. The victims are being chosen from a list that only he and Lord Boq, one of the city’s six slave lords, have seen. Hjalmus suspects Boq is directing a craftsman named Borius Fang, who moonlights as a killer, to carry out the killings. Lyra commits the party to finding convincing evidence.

After picking up Ike and hiring a babysitter to take care of Klik and Klak, the heroes then split. Brand goes to patrol the surroundings of Zhermos, the aristocrat believed to be the next target on the list, while the rest go to Borius’s shop. On the way, Brand meets Sister Bianca, a nun in her sixties or seventies who is even more muscular than he is. Brand happily exchanges introductions with her, revealing his real name.

At Borius’s shop, Nemo first tries to gather information directly from the creepy dwarf artist, whose shop is covered in his own art, but he does not get far. As Nemo is about to end the conversation, a dazed, provocatively dressed female orc arrives, but leaves as soon as she sees people in the shop.

The party tries a sneakier approach. In a nearby alley, two slave children and a free child are playing. The heroes persuade them to chase Ike, creating a distraction while Nemo scales the wall and breaks into Borius’s shop through the ceiling.

Inside is an unsettling bedroom filled with the dwarf’s creations: skulls, jewels, lamps, stilettos, and machetes. Nemo also finds something more useful: a hidden list of intended victims and planning notes, and he steals both.

Meanwhile, Lyra shapeshifts into a street dog and joins Soto in staking out the shop. Ike follows the orc woman to one of the grandest buildings in the city: Lord Boq’s house. She wears a golden collar, but enters through the back.

From their hiding spot, the heroes watch the orc woman return to Borius’s shop.