TrailQuest Dossier

Page 1

Read this, then destroy it. I don't care if you eat it or burn it, but I don't this falling into the wrong hands.

*Bayorn/Bran
** Knight Captain. High rank in expedition hierarchy.
** Experienced Assassin. Skilled with knife combat. Direct approach will no doubt end poorly.
** Knows who we are.

I had some small hope that he wouldn't interfere with us *this* early or *this* blatantly, and that we'd have more time to prepare for the sudden but inevitable betrayal, but it looks like we won't have that luxury. Be on your guard and whatever you do, don't get caught doing anything shifty. He'll use the laws of the expedition against us and have us executed where we stand. More information on Page 3.

*Lady Barchant
** Expedition Leader. The only person who outranks Bayorn, as far as I know.
** Some sort of powerful telekinetic. Could probably give Bayorn a run for his money.

I've only seen her for a minute and she already feels like a threat. Keep your distance. I'm not sure about the lengths of her powers, and I don't want her plucking our true purpose out of our minds. Still, if she was working with Bran, we'd probably be dead by now, so we might be able to get her on our side. Her authority might be useful if we can turn it to our purposes.

Note: Briefly infiltrated her wagon. She really, really likes books. Might be able to use that to turn her to our side. Also, there were elements and instructions for some sort of occult ritual, which, as far as she knows, were stolen by a changeling who immediately left the party. So we're probably off the hook. I've written a copy of some of the instructions on page 5; Couldn't translate it myself, but maybe you can figure it out. Elements currently

*Thale
** Animal Wrangler. Experienced wilderness person.
** Skilled with pistols and rifles. Doesn't shoot first and ask questions later, but he *will* aim first and has no problem with shooting second.
** Favors men. Has had relations with the Alchemy Guildmaster (ugh). Bottoms (??) (I assume this will mean more to you than to me)

My immediate superior. Quite possibly the only person more stressed out about the state of things than I am. Has threatened us on multiple occasions and has no trigger discipline, but threats are driven by worry more than hatred, and not hating us outright is a rare trait among our superiors. Absolutely terrified of Bayorn. I have traded some information about the mission in exchange for a loose allegiance against Bran. He's an asset, if not a reliable one.

Note: Things happened. See Devlin's entry on Page 3.

*Ferrum (Deceased)
** Head Craftsman. In charge of the structural stability of the whole caravan.
** Has some interest in Devlin, despite his apparent distaste towards nonhumans. Useful, perhaps?
See Page 3

*Vasho (The writing in this entry is particularly rough, as if she rushed through it as quickly as possible.)
** Alchemist

(There's a paragraph here that's been heavily scratched out. From what's still visible, it looks like it cuts into a line of messily-written profanity halfway through. If you focus, you can see that there's a bit near the end that goes "...touched me, with his hands, those filthy...")

Excuse that last paragraph. Personal feelings aside, he notably did not kill me when he had the chance, which means that he's a potential asset. See Page 3 for more.

*Sybella
** Another Bloody Alchemist
This one works with the creatures of this land rather than people. A nervous, frightful woman. She is complicit in the release of the land crab, and the destruction wrought by it, which means that she's most likely on the outs with her superiors now. There's some good from that fiasco -- a desperate, disgraced individual is easier to influence than one in good standing. Since we graciously didn't kill her pet, she technically owes us a favor, which I've learned can be spent on venomous spiders. I almost feel bad for what we're capable of doing to her, but such are the consequences of a profession.

Note: Seems completely obsessed with some sort of...moth-human hybrid. Not like, well, you, but a permanent immutable half-moth half-human. Not sure if any of her work has real-world applications, but may be useful for manipulating her.

*Merina (Deceased)
** Skilled tracker, acrobat.
** Mute. Communicates solely through written notes
** Keeps secrets
An agent of the expedition, tasked to assassinate anyone who tries to defect. Part of a number of clues that there might be something unusual with this expedition, on top of what we already know. She claims to be on our side, and on her account, she's discovered a number of secrets that could ruin the other porters and hasn't revealed them. Her motive is, in her words, that she's a good person. Interesting if true, even more interesting if false.


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Page 2

*Scevi
**Changeling
**Circus Escapee
**Desperately out of his league

Claims to have somehow wandered into this caravan by accident. He also claims to be 24. I'm not sure which one is more ridiculous. Granted, considering he nearly blew his own cover within hours of us meeting, he might be telling the truth. He trusts far too easily, and he owes me a few favors because of it. He has no spine (not literally. Recently learned that changelings do, in fact, have a cartilage skeletal structure), so I doubt he'll help with any wetwork, but his skills in infiltration should still be useful for gathering info, and there are few situations that can't be improved by having a helpful shapeshifter.

Note: Walked into the wasteland. Most likely dead. Will update if situation changes.

Note: Somehow isn't dead. Currently in hiding. Usefulness post-wasteland encounter limited.

*Maggie/Shayahdu
(Everything beneath the name is blotted out. The ink's a different color than the rest of the page, and...no, yeah that's blood. On top of the blood is a short message: "Potential asset, but fragile. I'll handle them. Do not interfere.")

*Devlin
** Vampire
** Quite obsessed with his appearance
** Accomplished combatant.
See Page 3

*Other Porters.

There are two humans in my team: Mrs. Scroggins, an elderly woman who knows more than she claims to. Whatever Scroggins is up to seems unrelated at best, and she seems to agree with the basic idea that a nobleman shouldn't stab a young woman for minor insults. There's also some sort of undead with some interest in fashion. He also wears a mask like Bran, and claims that it's in style in the Sunskull lands. I wonder all the more what Bran's hiding under his own.

EDIT: New recruit named Mada. Claims to be a priest of all religions. What he actually is, I'm not sure, but he's got the skills of a thief. Not on our side yet, but not against us.

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Page 3

[REDACTED]
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Page 4
(This entire page has worse penmanship than the rest, as if it was written while exhausted and on the go)

Merekens:

God of the Hunt and God of Changelings. **Incredibly strong**. May not be killable by Normal Means. Keep watching the Eyes, Keep watching the Eyes,Keep watching the Eyes. Gold is Death. Gold is Death. Gold is Death.

Hollow Men:

Servants of the Gods. Or *a* God. Ancient Beings with control over Space and Time that tried to help the Civilizations that used to live Here. Didn't go well for Either Of Them. They gave us some Cryptic Warnings, gave the Spirit a Box and left. They are...apparently Precursors to Orgres. To Me. Been feeling Different since I met Them. Not sure how.


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Page 5

(It's a careful transcription of the first page of Barchant's occult documents)