Sessione 4 -- Dock and Cover

The party continued their infiltration of a dangerous Venetian warehouse to rescue Luca Rosso, a captured informant. Luca held critical intelligence about a Byzantine-backed smuggling operation fueling unrest in Venice. The agents of the Doge needed him alive, or at least needed the information he carried.

Guido led the way, with the others stacking up behind. The door Nico had identified earlier stood ajar. Beyond it, lay more dock hands. Nico’s previous scouting left multiple doors open, inadvertently alerting foes to possible intruders. With precious few seconds before discovery, the party charged in.

Combat erupted immediately. Nico and Fancy squared off against two guards in the first room (with a third one asleep), while Gianna, Volpeo, and Guido engaged others in the connected room beyond. Fortunately, the thugs didn’t see Nico because of his elven cloak.

The enemy struck first.

Fancy took a hit from a guard’s blade, and Gianna and Guido were wounded as well.

Then came the counterattack.

Nico, emerging from hiding, landed a devastating backstab, dropping one foe immediately.

  Fancy missed with her hammer, but Nico’s assault drew the others’ attention.

 Volpeo, dual-wielding sword and a main gauche dagger, struck a foe with a critical dagger hit, though for minimal damage.

  Gianna counterattacked with determination, scoring a solid blow.

 Guido, perhaps shaken, flubbed his strike entirely.

The sleeping guard awakened and joined the fight. The second wave of attacks brought more hits. Guido again took damage. The rest of the team suffered glancing blows.

Eventually, the tide turned.

  Fancy and Nico worked together to bring down one guard.  Volpeo dropped another opponent.  Gianna slew her enemy with a perfectly timed blow.  The group began cleaning up, though not without taking a few more wounds. Nico suffered a critical hit, dropping to half his hit points.

After the fight, the party regrouped and healed.  Gianna accepted Guido’s healing spell, restoring herself partially. They crept to a closed door, where Nico heard two voices -- one in pain, one angry. The group assumed this was Luca’s interrogation.

They launched a surprise breach.

  Guido pulled open the door and let everyone else in the party let loose with their missile weapons and spells. Fancy missed with her crossbow. Nico cast Magic Missile, hitting for maximum damage. Gianna, spotting a thug torturing someone tied to a chair, fired her bow and killed the torturer with one shot.

Volpeo, from his different vantage point saw another thug in a corner of the room and fired but missed.

  Their leader, Servidio Buccini, called out, “Who are they? Get them!” before ordering his men to attack.

Thugs swarmed the room.  Gianna, Volpeo, and Nico each took hits as the battle raged for several rounds.

Volpeo, incensed, dispatched one of the attackers. Gianna followed suit. Guido landed a blow. Servidio taunted Luca, saying, “Nobody betrays the Red Scarf and doesn’t pay the price,” then missed his attack on Guido and fled back into the room with Luca and out a side door.

Fancy and Nico continued with ranged attacks, finishing the last visible thug. Volpeo gave chase to Servidio through darkened hallways and engaged Servidio in a final showdown on a narrow dock outside the warehouse. Intending to subdue, not kill, Volpeo landed a clean hit, knocking Servidio unconscious.

Dragging Servidio back, the group untied the wiry and anxious Luca, who greeted them with a wary, “Thank you, but who are you?” They explained they were sent to extract him by the Doge and to acquire the information he possessed.

A grateful Luca explained:  The shipment of contraband had already passed through. It was sent to a warehouse in Northern Murano, marked with red flame graffiti.  He also mentioned the name Orsini in connection with the operation -- a name the party recognized from the ledger they found earlier and the dinner party guests a few days before.

  Servidio Buccini, the captured leader (now bound and gagged), served as a kind of criminal foreman of the warehouse and docks.

Nico, rifling through the still-unconscious Servidio’s pockets, found a crumpled note reading: “Red flame crates to Warehouse 7, north Murano. Orsini expects delivery by dawn.”

Fancy reminded the group that escaping wouldn’t be simple, as they hadn’t cleared the whole warehouse, and other thugs might be on patrol. Searching the crates and barrels would take time, and they already had what they came for.

Guido stepped out onto the narrow dock and spotted three gondolas tied at the north end of the dock -- the likely destination Servidio toward which had been fleeing. The group agreed to avoid further bloodshed and commandeered one of the gondolas, slipping away under cover of darkness.

Once they were clear of the docks and out of earshot, Volpeo began in his dulcet tenor a rendition of: “Santa Lucia…Santa Lucia…”

With both Luca rescued and Servidio bound, the party returned safely to the Doge's agents and delivered their quarry, their trophy, and the information they had gleaned. Their mission was a success.

But leads remained: Warehouse Seven, the red flame mark, and the mysterious Orsini awaited…