Maelis's Research Notes and Forged Duskwatch Ledger

Stub-class article · First seen: s06 · Last seen: s23
Maelis's Research Notes and Forged Duskwatch Ledger
Maelis's notes · forged Duskwatch ledger · the ledger · Maelis research · the shipping order · the shipping order stuff · the documents · the ledger notes
Maelis's Research Notes and Forged Duskwatch Ledger, Documents (forged shipping ledger + alchemical research notes) portrait
Item
StatusActive
First seens06
Last seens23
TypeDocuments (forged shipping ledger + alchemical research notes)
Attunementn/a
HolderHugo
OriginMaelis Dirn's research desk in the Warrens, session 6

Maelis’s Research Notes and Forged Duskwatch Ledger are the papers Hugo took from Maelis Dirn’s desk and chamber in The Warrens in session 6: her draft and final notes on binding a soul to fungal nodes, and shipping papers about cargo sent through Duskwatch [1][18][3][22]. The Broker read the shipping papers in session 7 as “fakes, as anyone could see”, showing Maelis exporting Biogloom toxin into Velkris, and sent the party to Silent Intake, the counterfeiting organisation there [4][5]. Hugo has carried them undelivered since, and in session 19 the party made redeeming them in Velkris its next objective [9][10].

Overview

Two sets of papers came out of Maelis Dirn’s lair in session 6 and have been with Hugo since: her research notes, and a bundle of shipping papers that the Broker called forgeries. The table treats them as one object. It calls the shipping papers “the ledger”, “the shipping order” or “the documents”, and the party’s plan to turn them in at Velkris has driven its route since session 19 [14][15][4][9][10][11].

Description

  • The research notes. Sketches of the Titan, diagrams of three-capped mushroom clusters tied to a central figure, and margin notes: “Three nodes to hold the weave. Two pulses to seal.” [16][17]. A later “final version” binds the soul to five nodes instead of three [3].
  • The shipping papers. Papers about shipping and dock work. Their gist is that Maelis shipped something through Duskwatch, though “the letters don’t quite make sense” [18].
  • The Broker’s reading. “These documents tell of her exporting Biogloom toxin over through Duskwatch and into Velkris. Of course, these are fakes, as anyone could see, but it could be enough to be, you know, persuasive to the right kind of person.” They were relatively old [4].

Open questions

  • What else do the research notes say? Nick never read them out in detail, and Hugo’s player had not read them closely [19][20].
  • Will Silent Intake still reward the party when the papers reach Velkris? The Broker’s offer assumed a prompt delivery [4].

History in the campaign

Session 6: Maze of the Minotaur and the Titan

Main article: Session 6

In the Warrens, Hugo went through the parchment on Maelis’s desk, learned that the Titan was a failed experiment she had repurposed, passed on only her part of it, and pocketed the notes [1]. Harvo found a pile of shipping papers and the DM said that Maelis had been shipping something through Duskwatch, though “the letters don’t quite make sense” [18]. Hugo asked to hold the papers for the Broker, and Harvo handed them over [21]. In the main chamber a second, final version of the notes spoke of five nodes, and Hugo asked to take those too [3][22].

Session 7: Maelis Falls, Vasquez Captured

Main article: Session 7

Paid for the Maelis job, Hugo weighed his own organisation’s displeasure and showed the Broker “the dock orders paperwork” in return for the gift of the axe [23]. The Broker called them fakes that could still persuade “the right kind of person” and old ones at that [4]. He said the counterfeiting organisation in Velkris, Silent Intake, would likely reward the bearer, and told them to look for the Talking Skulls near the entrance [4][5].

Session 8: Bruise the Cellmate, the Succubus, and the Quarry Ghosts

Main article: Session 8

Hugo’s player’s recap of session 7 included the Broker’s lead to the counterfeiting organisation in Velkris [24]. Later Risa said her sister had seemed to turn on a candle with her mind [25], and the party asked Hugo whether Maelis’s notes held anything like it. Hugo’s player said he had not read the research notes closely and assumed he had seen nothing [19][26].

Session 10: Ruin Joins, the Aurelian Conspiracy, the Plate Armour

Main article: Session 10

Before play the players went over what the party still had to do. Terry named “the delivery notes that we found underground”, and Hugo said that was where the party was “actually going next” [27][28]. Nothing else in the session mentions the papers.

Session 16: Through the Sewers, Onto the Skiff

Main article: Session 16

In the Eldwythe sewers Hugo asked whether anything in Maelis’s papers had to do with the place, and passed the shipping documents to Terry to check [29][30][31]. The DM said that she had mainly been sending cargo to Duskwatch, most of it through Dock 13 in Umbrafall [32][33], and Hugo concluded that nothing in them related to the area [34].

Session 19: A Penitent Priest, an Unmade Leash, and the Pixie in the Dark

Main article: Session 19

Deciding whether to push on to Aurelia, Caelumn’s player asked what the party’s task in Velkris was, and Terry named “the ledger notes” [35][9]. Hugo then set the plan: “we’ll be going to Velkris probably to redeem the shipping order stuff and maybe after that we might go to Gloamhearth just to update Sevryn on what happened” [10]. The routes were by land through Eldwythe, Umbrafall and Mirestrand, or by skiff or barge [36]. Father Thomas, joining, was told that the party needed to “hand over some documents” there [11].

Session 20: The Man Who Was Always Here

Main article: Session 20

Hugo’s player could not join, and the session opened with Caelumn’s player recapping session 19 [37][38]. The DM prompted him: “you have a fake ledger from”, and Caelumn’s player filled in that it came from the underground section of Umbrafall and tied it to their barbarian friend [39][40]. The party was camping on the road to Velkris [41][42].

Session 23: The Changeling in Manacles

Main article: Session 23

Explaining the party’s position to the new players, Terry said they had a second quest, “some order notes that we discovered in the depths of Umbrafall”, which they would follow up as a tangent while heading away from Aurelia [13]. Nothing else in the session mentions the papers.

Status

As of session 23. Carried by Hugo and undelivered. The party has not reached Velkris, and the papers are still the stated reason for the trip [43].

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 6, line 1226-1231: Maelis's desk: sketches of the Titan, mushroom diagrams and margin notes; Hugo reads them and pockets the notes.
  2. ^ Session 6, line 1258-1277: Harvo finds the shipping papers; Hugo asks to hold them for the Broker.
  3. ^ Session 6, line 1453-1455: The "final version" of the notes binds the soul to five nodes instead of three.
  4. ^ Session 7, line 736: Broker's reading of the ledger ("exporting Biogloom toxin over through Duskwatch and into Velkris").
  5. ^ Session 7, line 745: Broker names Silent Intake, near the Talking Skulls in Velkris, as the counterfeit org.
  6. ^ Session 8, line 190-194: Hugo's player has not read the research notes closely when the party asks whether they mention Risa's sister.
  7. ^ Session 10, line 113-114: Terry lists "the delivery notes that we found underground" among the open leads.
  8. ^ Session 16, line 239-282: Terry reads the shipping documents in the Eldwythe sewers; most cargo went through Dock 13 to Duskwatch.
  9. ^ Session 19, line 158: Terry identifies the party objective as turning in "the ledger notes".
  10. ^ Session 19, line 271: Hugo sets the new route (Velkris to "redeem the shipping order stuff").
  11. ^ Session 19, line 864: Caelumn tells Father Thomas the party needs to "hand over some documents" at Velkris.
  12. ^ Session 20, line 48-49: In the recap the DM prompts "you have a fake ledger from"; Caelumn's player places it in the underground of Umbrafall.
  13. ^ Session 23, line 1372-1375: Terry tells the new players the party has "order notes" from Umbrafall to look into as a tangent.
  14. ^ Session 6, line 1231: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 6, line 1276: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 6, line 1226: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 6, line 1245: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 6, line 1258-1263: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 8, line 190: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 16, line 254: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 6, line 1275-1277: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 6, line 1467: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 7, line 727-733: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 8, line 40: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 8, line 189: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 8, line 194: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 10, line 113: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 10, line 114: Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 16, line 239: Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 16, line 248: Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 16, line 256: Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 16, line 266: Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 16, line 280: Inline citation.
  34. ^ Session 16, line 276-278: Inline citation.
  35. ^ Session 19, line 157: Inline citation.
  36. ^ Session 19, line 290: Inline citation.
  37. ^ Session 20, line 47: Inline citation.
  38. ^ Session 20, line 50: Inline citation.
  39. ^ Session 20, line 48: Inline citation.
  40. ^ Session 20, line 49: Inline citation.
  41. ^ Session 20, line 43: Inline citation.
  42. ^ Session 20, line 60: Inline citation.
  43. ^ Session 23, line 1375: Inline citation.
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