Meet Our Adventurers:
Kiera Elither (Dragonborn Druid) played by Amanda	Orabella Yedda (High Elf Druid) played by Caitlin	Killian Celadhrinian (Dragonborn Ranger) played by Brendan	Urth Brightshear (Human Fighter) played by Brian	Ninib Gandu (Tethyrian Rogue) played by Dave
NPCs they've met:
Spymaster Emerald (Director)	Lead Agent Kite (Assistant Director)	Agent Mentor Locke (Deputy Assistant Director)	SAC Hadley (Special Agent-in-Charge)	ASAC Boyer (Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge)
Bureaucrat	Armored Guard		Shank (Special Agent)	Helga
	Male Dragonborn Bodyguard	Frank	Female Dragonborn Bodyguard
Monsters they've fought:
	Goblins	Cave Bear (Dire Bear)	Kobolds
Items they have:
Magic Mouth Tattoo (one for each adventurer)	Disolving Powder	Forged Letter (Click to read)	Shank's "Secret" Key

The adventurers have been hanging out at the Fiery Grog Tavern, in Ogden, Alaron, for months. Each of them had their own reasons for being there, but all of them keep apartments on the second floor. Seeing each other every day led them to develop genuine friendships with members of the group.

Kiera and Orabella traveled to Ogden at the behest of their order, The Priestesses of Nature. Their mission is unclear, but the rest of the group is happy to have them around. They seem to have nothing really pressing to do, but they do disappear from time to time, but always come back to the tavern for supper.

Killian and Urth share a deep hatred for Goblins and Orcs. They can be overheard for hours talking about their hatred and telling stories as to why. Both of them preform odd jobs around town for money and seem happy enough to make enough to pay for food and lodging.

Ninib is a bit of an enigma, he is funny and everyone enjoys his humor, but not much is really known of his life before Ogden. Over the months in the tavern, however, everyone's feelings towards Ninib have warmed significantly. Ninib never seems to work and rarely leaves the tavern. He is a bit secretive, but hey, everyone is that way so why hold it against him and he buys drinks occasionally.

About four months ago Urth came down from his room for supper and announced to the group that he thought they needed to do something more with their lives. He was handed a card that read,

After some discussion, everyone agreed it was a good idea (The constant pay swayed some, adventure swayed the others, and a general indifference swayed may have played a part for some).

It turned out, "The Ghosts" were a spy organization that ran missions all over the Moonshaes. The entire team was accepted and immediately started their training. Training was led by Agent Locke and they progressed quickly. The trust they already had for each other was something Agent Locke wanted to build on so they were kept together as a single unit. It worked wonderfully.

We find ourselves four months into their training and they have been summoned to the keep for their final test.

The team shows up at the keep and are ushered into Agent Kite’s office. They have never met Kite before, but sit patiently waiting in the provided chairs for Kite to show up.

Kite enters and sits down in his chair behind his desk. "Well, well, well. Who do we have here? Locke’s *best*. Well, I had hoped for more." the dwarf asks with his arms folded while leaning back in his chair. You are all waiting around patiently in a small room for your final test to become Ghosts, the royal spy organization. "You’ve been here for months and we’ve never been formally introduced. I have been following your training quite closely however. I figure we ought to know each other if we’re going to trust each other with our lives. I’ll start. I’m Kite, the Dwarven Defender, born and raised in Alaron. Who are you?"

After the team makes their introductions, there is a knock on the door and Agent Locke walks in, "Good morning, everyone. I bet you’re very excited to get the big payoff for your hard work, so up and out of those chairs!" He points to the weapon rack in the back of the room. "Grab your gear and we’ll head over to the are-" His last word is cutoff by a gurgle as an arrow strikes and lodges itself into the side of his neck. His body falls limply to the ground, and you hear the sound of goblins cackling in the hallway.

The team battles all 12 Goblins (except Orabella who seemingly fell asleep, passed out or found something more interesting to do for the entire fight) and once the goblins are all dead they notice that Locke is still breathing. Locke is not in good shape, but manages to get out "Protect Spymaster Emerald…" before he dies. Kite explains that Mintarn drove back a goblin invasion using intelligence gathered by the Ghosts, so the goblins want revenge. Kite knows the way to Emerald’s office and can lead the party.

Kite leads them through a labyrinth of hallways in the Ghosts Keep. The players see signs of battle with dead goblins and Ghosts around but no obvious way to help. Finally, they come upon the Arena entrance. Looking through the door window of the Arena they see a room crawling with goblins (20 or more). They are very, very familiar with the Arena and opt to avoid the room. A passage to the right leads to the Control Room, Training Gear storage, and the Monster room.

• Control room – Contains a machine that can alter weather conditions in the Arena
• Training Gear storage – Contains any basic (non-magical) weapon the team could want.
• Monster room – 2 "monster generators" that will generate almost any monster they can think up.

Orabella uses the Control Room (with no luck) until she finally summons a hurricane in the Arena. It is a nasty storm and the goblins are surprised, but unphased by the wind and rain at first. Kiera uses the monster generators to generate 2 Dire Bears. One successfully succeeds in wiping out of the goblins who were woefully unprepared to fight a Dire Bear. The other Dire Bear must not have been summoned properly, it constantly attacks the hurricane.

With the fight over they again follow Kite through the winding hallways and up the spiral staircase to Spymaster Emerald’s office. They hear sounds of battle all about, but when they burst into Emerald’s office they find him chatting with Locke and 2 other people (one male, one female).

"Ah, the new recruits have already made it," the Spymaster says.
"Kite, I think this is the fastest bunch we have seen yet.
Definitely worthy of the mission we have for them." Kite walks over and slaps the Spymaster on the back.
"I told you they were a right bunch of recruits. Congratulations," Kite says turning to you.
"Welcome to the Ghosts. Sorry about the alarm. Had to test you for real. Don’t worry the goblins were just illusions, and Locke is just fine."
The Spymaster looks at Kite and the other 2 human agents, one male and one female, and nods.
The agents nod back and make their way to the door.
As he walks past, the male agent says, "Very excited to have you onboard. Keep up the good work," and then leaves.

Kite waits for them to exit, then quietly says, "Those are 2 of our top agents, Hadley and Boyer. Well, I guess it’s your turn now," and leaves.

Emerald is a legend for having help create a united Alaron as it is today by uniting North and South Alaron against Mintarn. Also, Emerald is 2nd only to the Grand Spymaster, who has never been seen by anyone at the keep and may or may not actually exist. This is; however, a spy organization and it may not be a big deal that no one has ever seen (or reported to have seen) the Grand Spymaster.

During the aftermath of battle, Ninib looted some arrows from the goblins, but nothing else of value was found. Checking his bag, he notices that all of the looted items have disappeared. They were just as illusions too.

Urth asks what the Sheep is and Emerald doesn’t have very many specifics. The Sheep is a key component of a Putrefaction Ritual, it could be:

• A bomb
• A beacon (like a flare) that attracts dragons
• A powerful energy gun

Urth then asks, "why us" and Emerald says, "I have to be honest, you’re all we’ve got. This is a difficult time for Alaron- Mintarn relations, and all other battle-capable agents are already on assignments. But I have complete confidence in you, especially after your performance today in your final test."
The team is provided with:

• A scroll (that he forges in front of the team) from the high king that guarantees entry to Cobh by the king’s orders.
• A gold coin that they are to use upon meeting Shank at the Red Ring Inn.
• Each of them receives a tattoo of Magic Mouth.
• A pouch of Dissolving Powder
• "The knack" (inspiration points)

They are met on their way out of Emerald’s office by Kite who gives them some words of encouragement and also tells them that it is late and they can hit the Ghosts Weapon shop will provide them with any other items they may need and their horses and wagon will be ready to go at first light.

The team gathered together mid-morning after a good night's rest. Refreshed and ready to go they received their horses and set out for Cobh.

After nearly 8 full hours of riding they reached the city to find a very long line of people waiting to get into the city. They dismount and take their place in line. While in line they find out that this is the only way in or out of Cobh and the city has a wall that entirely surrounds the city. Once there, very long, wait is over they are greeted by one, very impressively armored guard, and a bureaucrat who asks what their business is in the city. "We are just passing through", says Urth. The guard replies, "There is no 'Through' here. This is the only way in or out, please go around." "We have papers." replies Urth. "Oh, may I see them?"" the guard says. The guard looks over the papers and hands them to the bureaucrat stating that all seems to be in order. The bureaucrat says, "something seems off..." I've never heard of Charles Barkley. Please wait here." and scurries off. Upon returning the bureaucrat says that everything is good and they may enter the city.

Cobh itself is a small town of a few hundred people. It is mostly a trading town between Mintarn and Alaron surrounded by farmland. The city is entirely walled (with guards patrolling the top of the wall) and has a bustling market in town with various merchants trying to unload their goods. Many merchants store their goods in warehouses on the north side of town.

The party decides to skirt around the market as it looks very busy even at this, relatively late, hour. Upon turning a corner, the party members are greeted by 4 kobold thugs who promptly fleece them out of a gold piece for information on the Red Ring Inn that is never received once the kobolds flee. The inn, however, does not prove to be very hard to find. They tie up their horses and station Killian to stand watch while the rest of the party enters the inn.

When the party arrives at the Red Ring Inn, a friendly innkeeper Helga welcomes them at the door and directs them to get a drink. She mentions that they just got a large shipment of ale coming in from the latest harvest with barrels being rolled in past the party as they speak. Additionally, the barrels behind the bar are loaded into a contraption to automatically load and tap a new barrel when the previous one empties out he party is welcome to get a drink and to chat with the locals, including off-duty guards, merchants, and farmers.

Scanning the bar, they see one, and only one, halfling sitting in a dark corner by himself slowly sipping on an ale. When the party goes to sit down by him, he talks in a quiet, soothing voice and is constantly breaking eye contact and looking around the room. He opens by asking, "Do we know each other?" Urth hands him the coin, which he looks at closely, slightly grins, then give the party a knowing look. He then says, "I believe we have a mutual friend: a diamond, or ruby, or something like that?" Urth replies, "yes we do." "I have been told that you’re interested in the cows or horses, or some of the other animals in town, yes? Well, there’s an interesting warehouse in town on the north side. You might find it very interesting. Or perhaps you could talk to the owner of the warehouse about how he secures his goods: he usually comes in later in the evening to play Dragon’s Dice with the locals. The locals like him: he loses a lot but keeps coming." Shank slides them a key and pockets the coin while saying, "you may find this useful." When Urth asks him what the key is for he rolls his eyes a bit and says, "it may open the door to that which you seek." They make a little more small-talk, but it's evident that Shank has no other information to give. Urth attempts to ask him how they can find him if they have more questions or need his assistance, but he merely says "You don't find me... I find you." He excuses himself and leaves the bar.

The patrons of this inn, and presumably the entire town, are drunks... Ninib attempts to talk to Mike, an off-duty guard of the warehouse, but he is three sheets to the wind and speaks in vague half sentences, then passes out. While Ninib is valiantly trying to give away Killian's ale Orabella meets a very drunk local farmer who attempts to pick her up, fails, then starts dancing on the bar only to be knocked down by Helga and thrown out of the Inn. Thank goodness he took care of removing himself as Urth's intimidation skills were very, very lacking.

About this time, Frank Rivers finally shows up with his two bodyguards. Frank owns the warehouse and is very, very proud of it. The girls chat up Frank who can't talk enough about his baby (the warehouse). First, he mentions having "top men" guarding the facility from the outside. He says that they are loyal to a tee (someone in the bar snickers at this). He says that they would guard his wares with their lives. Frank invites the girls to contact his secretary to set up a tour of the warehouse, but then seems to lose interest in talking with them as Helga brings out the Dragon’s Dice set. He leaves to play dice and quickly a small group of patrons shift to his tables and the games begin. Frank beckons the girls to join him for a game of dice, but they repeatedly decline.

Ninib, upon hearing about the laughing patron, works his magic and gets some information out of this local (using Killian's ale as a bargaining chip) and receives the most valuable information of the night. The loyal and brave guards that Frank boasts about are neither loyal nor brave. One guard, however, will fight anything, "just for fun." This local also mentions that a wizard named Wilkiam, the best wizard in Cobh, has set up all of the magical security on the warehouse. He says, "but do not call him Wilkiam... he prefers to be called 'Will'." He doesn't really know where to find Wilkiam, but offers vague generalities like "the wizard place? Wherever wizards hang out? I don't know... I'm a farmer." Sensing that the valuable information has dried up Ninib heads back to his table.

Ninib and Urth approach the bar while Helga is with another customer. Urth interrupts and is promptly ignored, but Ninib saves the day by batting his eyes and speaking smoothly to Helga. She answers all of Ninib's questions about Will. Will works at the local magic shop on the other side of town. He is there almost all of the time, Will (don't call him Wilkiam) is indeed the best wizard in town.

Having gathered all of the information they need; our party decides to leave the bar and meet back up with Killian and their horses. Upon leaving the inn they realize two things: 1) how late it is and 2) they are missing a horse. Night has long since fallen and they find themselves in a strange town, with 4 hourses after a long day's travel. Unbeknownst to thhe rest of the party; Ninib, sticking to the shadows, decides to follow Frank on foot while the rest of the party is discussing what to do next.