Mythodea / First Night and a Murder Suicide

15.10.2022
The Salty Stick Tavern's long awaited Grand Opening finally happened! This autumn, as the leaves began to turn, the East Blackwood Company's Salty Stick opened its doors "officially" for the first time welcoming customers from all over Mythodea. Although party and good cheer was expected, and indeed, it was prevalent, the day of the grand opening was plagued by a murder suicide. While the morning sun warmed guests of the tavern as the sparred in the courtyard, a plot was afoot which ended in the death of no less than three people on the premise.

Pre Grand Opening Party

The Salty Stick's proprietor, Marik "The Drunk" Fulgrimson opened the doors to the Tavern a day before the official opening ceremony allowing visitors the hospitality of the Salty Stick Complex as they arrived. Those present dubbed the day before the Grand Opening the "Pre Grand Opening Party". The taps ran near dry in the first evening of the festivities forcing the tavern crew to stock back up at the E.B.Co warehouse at the nearby at Zweiwasser's Black Pier. It was late into the early morning when the bar finally closed and the last of its guests retired for some rest before the First Night could begin.

Murder Suicide

Much of the morning and early afternoon was dominated by sparring between guests and East Blackwood people. Around noon, on the day of the First Night, a messenger arrived claiming to be a man named Reed of the E.B.Co. He delivered letters to a few from East Blackwood including Lady Anna-Katharina von Rabenau. After delivering his letters, the messenger spent the next few hours talking with the guests and watching the sparring in the yard.


One of the tavern guests reported to have come across a blood trail while taking a pleasure walk through the nearby woods. The guest, who we will not name for their safety, followed the blood trail and found a fresh corpse at the end of it. The corpse's throat had been slit. The guest would later theorize that the blood trail must have been placed, as no one with a cut throat would have made it as far as it had appeared the corpse had before falling dead. Unfortunately, this theory did not come immediately as the guest returned to the tavern to get help investigating the body. The on-duty Embassy Guard, Dawyn Miller, and the messenger went with the guest to investigate the body.
The guest reported that the messenger killed Dawyn and attempted to kill him as well once they reached the corpse. The guest and the messenger were injured in the ensuing fight. The messenger retreated into the woods after sustaining a wound. The guest rushed back to the tavern to gather a search party. Together with Captain Varn and a mob, they began to search the woods.


Once the mob got close to the messenger, he ran again only this time Sir Raven and the Iron Daggers present ran after him cutting off his retreat and cutting him down in a fight. Captain Varn ordered that the "messenger" not be killed but the messenger did the deed himself by jamming a parrying dagger into his own throat. Squire Logaan of Aven, the Champion of the Embassy Guard, searched the body finding two letters. One a short list of targets and the other a letter that had dried blood on it and had been written in Lady Anna-Katharina von Rabenau's own hand.


Sometime during the escalation of events, Lady Anna retreated South West alone without telling anyone where she had gone. Captain Varn and Commander Anthem ordered evidence be collected while a search party was sent to find and protect Lady Anna. As the evidence was collected, and Lady Anna found and returned to the tavern safely, Commander Anthem and Captain Varn put Squire Logaan and Master Gideon of the East Blackwood Company in charge of the official investigation. Together with the help of Beria de Eline of East Blackwood and Dalag'Nor, Niamh O'Tamhais of the Western Seal, Sinaya Sonnenherz of the Münzquell, Adular of the Waffenmeister and Sir Raven of the Iron Daggers and other guests and East Blackwood people the following was surmised:

  • The brother of Lady Anna-Katharina von Rabenau had been murdered as was reported by the Syconian Embassy.

  • The real Reed was the tutor of Sir Dagger of Blackwood's ward, Fennix Heighless and was likely killed on the road to usurp his identity.

  • Count Gavrill Vorontova of Syconia presented an offer of marriage to Lady Anna-Katharina von Rabenau. Syconia being the homeland of both Lady Anna and Lurius her traveling companion and alchemist of the East Blackwood Company.

  • The first corpse found likely belonged to a merchant of some kind which was one of the targets in the letter found on the impersonator of Reed.

  • The second corpse, Dawyn Miller, a new soldier of the Embassy Guard at the time of his death may have been the "Rebel" as the Rebel was one of the three targets on the impersonator's letter. Dawyn Miller had been wearing the armband of those who fought in Kahl'hatra and it was reported that many of their number hand joined the Blackhand Rebellion some six months after returning from Kahl'hatra. However, there is no current proof that Dawyn Miller was indeed a rebel aside from the fact that he was killed by the impersonator.

  • A picture was found on the body of Dawyn Miller with the seal of the of an organization called the Brotherhood of the Half Moon or Crescent. One of the guests reported that Dawn Miller had been asking after the whereabouts of Lady Anna-Katharina von Rabenau before his death.

  • The impersonator was likely a member of an organization called the Brotherhood of the Half Moon or Crescent.

With this information and conjecture in hand, Logaan and Gideon ordered that Beria de Eline lead a ritual spell to attempt to relive the last moments of the brother of Lady Anna-Katharina, Valentin von Rabenau. As the spell functioned, Beria reported that it was the Count's men who had killed Valentin von Rabenau. It has been reported, that Baron Varek of Zweiwasser has been informed of the events that transpired within his lands. The Baron has offered his full support in the ongoing investigation.

We at the "The Ambassador" send our kindest condolences to Lady Anna-Katharina von Rabenau and her surviving family for their loss as well as Fennix Heighless for his.

Coming to Terms and Allowing Celebration

Although it was learned that upwards of five people had died either on or off location, the guests of the Salty Stick's First Night slowly allowed themselves to celebrate the victories and commendatory of each others company. Though the revelation of the death of Lady Anna's brother had been hard, she herself allowed herself only a moment of grief before the guests of the Salty Stick. Instead, with spirits and song, the spirits of the gathered were slowly lifted once more.

The First Night at the Salty Stick

Marik Fulgrimson, satisfied with the security of his guests, called all together just after the eighth hour for a speech. Marik called Sir Dagger of Blackwood and Fia of the Bracar Keltoi to stand beside him because without the two, he claimed, the Salty Stick Tavern would not have been possible. He thanked the guests for coming to celebrate the tavern's long awaited grand opening and then Makø Tock, William Klatch and, his crew presented the large buffet. From that moment on the night was filled with drink, song, gambling, a ball, great food and drink and even a wine tasting that will be talked about for years in Nova Bretonia.

The First Night at the Salty Stick was anything if not eventful but now the tavern was official and, even just for a moment, people remembered what they lived for.

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