We added a new Player into the game. Their character, Anais, was a ruined catfolk noble-turned-thief who only stole from rich people. When I asked what made Anais come to the town the Party was at, this is how the conversation went:

Player: “I heard about this guy named Dracko and went to go check it out.”

Me: “‘Dracko…?’ Wait, do you mean Draco?”

Player: “Yeah, him.”

I was puzzled for a moment.  Who would talk about an orphan albino who’s never left his hometown, and why would Anais, who only steals from rich people, be interested in a kid who, until that raid on a goblin fortress, never had a penny to his name?

Then, something about the aforementioned dialogue caught my attention, and my DM gears began to turn…

So, Anais was out and about, staking out his next mark, when he heard two thugs talking about a guy named Draco moving a lot of money around in a certain town. Intrigued, Anais followed the trail and found the Party in the inn. Discovering they were associated with Draco, he forcefully inserted himself at their table to make friends, although he did eat their food off their plates.

Eventually, Draco joined them in the dining hall. Conversation moved toward how much loot they got from the fortress raid (which got Anais’s attention) and who did what with their earnings. Draco was quick to announce that he bought a Morning Star and an Agile Breastplate, and gave the rest of it back to the inn. This made everyone, Anais included, confused and concerned (What can I say? He was employed at the inn as a favor to his late parents, and was only paid in room and board. He doesn’t know how to handle money).

The Party split up to do different tasks around town. The Elf Ranger invited Chaka for a quick hunt, and Anais tagged along. Unfortunately for Chaka, Anais pilfered some of his gold while his back was turned. Near the end of the hunt, Chaka commented on how the town should be safer now that the goblins were gone. In passing (perhaps too subtle for some of the Players to catch on), the Elf Ranger said something about “if only all threats came from outside of town.”

For a good while, Jyn’s Player had been begging me to let them find an artificer to help enchant their weapons, so I finally obliged. A Gnome Artificer had set up shop in the seedier side of town. Jyn made a beeline for the shop. While getting a price check, two thugs entered the shop, and the Gnome Artificer immediately got skittish and rushed Jyn to finish.

Suspecting foul play, Jyn hid outside for the thugs and jumped them after they left the store. In the quick scuffle, one thug died and the other was knocked out. Jyn declared the Artificer was under his protection now, but instead of showing gratitude, the Gnome claimed he “ruined” him and raced off to call the town guards. Realizing he made a mistake, Jyn retreated.

Meanwhile, Ciara had gone to the armory to pick up some materials, but they were out of stock. The armorer said that her usual supplier had jacked up the prices all of a sudden. Ciara checked in with the supplier, and after some lucky Sense Motive and Diplomacy checks (Diplomacy is one of her worst skills), she discovered that he and other citizens had applied for “paid protection” due to the recent attacks, especially after the Party allowed the Quasit and her sinspawn to invade from the catacombs. Unfortunately, said protectors charged exuberant prices for their services.

The Party reconvened at the inn (Jyn using Disguise Self, just in case) and compared notes. They had stumbled upon a loan shark’s operation. Wanting to quell the unrest, they decided to take the loan shark down before he got too much power.

Before they left, the Sheriff stopped by, looking for Jyn. Some of the improvised dialogue produced some humorous implications that I hadn’t planned on:

Sheriff: “We received a report from a local artificer that a tengu had assaulted a couple of men outside his shop. One was found dead, the other in critical condition. There’s really only one tengu that comes to mind in this town.”

(after the Sheriff departed…)

Ciara: “You left the bodies?!?”

Jyn: “…This one panicked…”

When evening fell, the Party prepared to storm the loan shark’s hideout. Chaka summoned a Giant Centipede and had it go in first to “thin the herd.” Once it did some damage, the Party entered. However, shortly after the scuffle began, someone set fire to the building, forcing everyone to evacuate.

The Sheriff and the town guard arrived to make arrests and put out the fire. Apparently, the Sheriff had been aware of the loan shark’s activities and had been planning on moving in when the Party attacked prematurely. In the chaos of the fire, the loan shark had escaped.

“He got us good,” the Sheriff said, “but I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of Dray Cole.”

Needless to say, Anais (and his Player) were not happy to hear that.

As for Jyn, while the loan shark and his thugs were guilty of extortion, he still killed a man in broad daylight without any sanctions from the town guard. The Sheriff said he had to spend the night in jail, but, all things considered, it would just be a formality. Jyn followed him without resistance.