WRITTEN RECAP
Eldoria — Episode 10: Knife In The Back
Episode Ten begins with the Old Dudes staring at Gregor Ironwill Thorne's house and deciding whether a group containing several seven-foot-tall Goliaths is ideally suited for a stealth burglary.
The answer is no.
They do it anyway.
Gregor is no minor official. He is second in command to High Marshal Kalin Stonefist, and Bravaro has connected his name to the encrypted phrase “Turn the bell. Cut the rope.” If there is a conspiracy forming inside Shade Karn, Gregor is now the best lead the party has.
The group watches the property, tracks the guards' regular patrol and waits for an opening.
There is extensive discussion of sneaking, disguises and how difficult it is to hide a collection of giant people who look exactly like adventurers trying not to look like adventurers.
Eventually they get inside.
The search becomes classic Old Dudes investigation: some people look for secret documents, some people look for hidden doors, and Garth Maul finds food and eats it.
A guard becomes a problem and is dealt with in a way that inspires a surprisingly long ethical discussion for a party currently committing burglary. Zayon and Wenende are, after all, a cleric and a paladin. They may be trespassing in the home of a suspected traitor, but that does not automatically make murdering household security acceptable.
The party searches Gregor's rooms and office and eventually finds letters and documents.
Later Jay will reveal that he hid six useful clues in the house.
The Old Dudes find one.
The moment they have something promising, they leave.
At the next session everyone will be delighted to learn just how much evidence they walked past.
Fortunately, the single clue is enough.
It points toward a secret meeting at the Garnet Forge.
The party infiltrates the area and listens in rather than immediately kicking down a door. Gregor is there with Lyra, a high-ranking figure beneath the head of the merchant guild.
Then another voice joins the conversation.
Havroth.
What the Old Dudes hear confirms that the conspiracy is much larger than an odd coded message.
Gregor and Lyra intend to remove the people above them, seize their positions and push Lethadia into war with Ashenfall to the north. Peace is not a success to them. It is an obstacle. If their superiors die, Gregor and Lyra rise into positions where they can shape the coming conflict themselves.
The exact reason behind all of it remains murky, but the threat is no longer theoretical.
The party brings what it learned back to Bravaro.
He begins quietly investigating from his side while warning the group that careless accusations against powerful people could get them killed before the conspiracy ever has to act.
The black-ichor thread still remains open as well. Oma Val needs a sample, which means the Old Dudes need to return to territory where they know corrupted lizardfolk can be found.
So after breaking into the home of a high-ranking military officer and spying on a treasonous meeting, they decide to leave the city and go collect monster goo.
This is apparently a normal workweek now.
On the road toward Stonebridge, they encounter something new.
The great bridge has been fortified with rough palisades and is being controlled by armed thugs demanding a toll.
The party refuses.
The toll collectors discover that this was not a negotiation.
The Old Dudes kill the men holding the road, although one escapes across the bridge toward Stonebridge.
That survivor is going to warn whoever is in charge.
Episode Ten ends with the group standing before a town they once helped, now barricaded and controlled by people who clearly do not belong there.
Behind them is a conspiracy involving Gregor, Lyra and Havroth.
Ahead of them is Stonebridge under occupation.
Somewhere beyond that are the lizardfolk and the black ichor they still need to collect.
The knife in the back is no longer a metaphor.
Someone is moving against Lethadia from inside its own power structure, and the Old Dudes have finally heard the plan in the conspirators' own words.