Cold Stone Thievery

Cold Stone Thievery
Date	06/24/2025
Storyteller	Aru
Tier	Trainee
Player Characters	Ariyu, DDOS, King of Dance, Hiroyuki, Uravas - "Cap'n Stardust"
Rewards	50 GP, Ghost touch rune, Flask of Fellowship, 250 XP
Result	Success
Author	Uravas (Johnnysupernova)
Downtime	1

In which five adventurers solve three mysteries, and meet several new friends.

Log

An Excerpt from The Ballad of the Jongleur Three : A Factual and Historical Recounting of Cap’n Stardust’s Adventures as Penned by Sava Ru Book 1, Chapter 11

Dramatis Personae

Uravas - Cap’n Stardust, Leader of the Jongleur Three

Ariyu - Cap’n Stardust’s younger sister, Member of the Jongleur Three

DDOS - A walking, talking, weapon with bunny ears

King of Dance - A Canine that rules over all of Dance

Hiroyuki - A fresh faced Associate with an iron stomach

--

It is well known that a Pirate’s skills are well varied and well mastered. It is also well known that for all their strengths, punctuality is not one of them. Fortunately for Cap’n Stardust, on this particular adventure, he had his sister Ariyu with him.

“Must we leave so early?” The Good Captain asked, as his sister pulled him through the streets of Onadbyr.

“Punctuality is important, Uravas.” Ariyu said, simply, her keen eyes ever vigilant.

“Ah, but you see, we were asked to appear at 9, on the dot, and at our pace, we shall arrive before then!”

“This will give us time to scout the area.”

“A pirate does not scout–” Uravas began, and then thought better of hassling his much scarier sister. “Ah. Perhaps it would be good to scout the area.”

And so, two of the Jongleur Three found themselves in the Trimarket, outside of the office of one Meek Lantley, but her role in the story is to come later. As always, we must ask for your patience, as the crow must learn to fall before it can fly, as a wise scholar once said. As before we can meet Meek Lantley, we must first meet the rest of the group that would travel with the Jongleur Three (at this moment two, though we assure you Arumi, the third member was simply busy during this adventure, and otherwise safe and sound.)

The first to join with the Good Captain and Ariyu (though not the first to arrive, nor even the second or third, as Ariyu would be the second, and Uravas the third, as for the first? Ah, but we must again ask for your patience) was the King of Dance. We are sure you are no doubt aware of the monarch’s sterling reputation.

The Good Captain met the royal canine with a bow. “Your Majesty. It is an honour to travel with you again.” He said, noting to stress the silent letter in honor, as one must when dealing with royalty. Ariyu could not hide her excitement at meeting a new animal, and excitedly met the mechanical canine. “This, Ariyu, is the King of Dance! He is the king of all dances.” he added excitedly to his sister.

“The King of Dance? Which dance?” Ariyu asked, curiously, but not skeptically.

“Capoeira, usually.” The King of Dance said, as noble as one would expect from royalty.

It was then that the eagle eyed Ariyu saw her second dog of the day, a true boon few would hope to achieve. “Look! A raccoon… dog!” She declared, pointing with glee to a small creature rifling through the old treasures outside of their benefactor’s office.

Ariyu excitedly ran to greet the creature. “Hello!” She happily cried out, with a ration laid on outstretched hand. The raccoon took the ration, and a moment later, transformed into a humanoid figure. “Thank you!” The newcomer sang out, before chomping on the gifted food. “I am Hiroyuki! Nice to meet you!” It is now that we reveal to you that Hiroyuki was in fact the first to arrive on the scene, arriving much earlier than Uravas and even Ariyu. We hope this revelation makes the earlier request for patience seem as important to you as it was to us.

The sudden transformation, we regret to say, shocked the usually unshockable pirate captain. Ariyu, for her credit, found the transformation of raccoon into tanuki even more interesting. “I take it you are joining us today?” She asked.

Hiroyuki nodded, then said “When is lunch?”

Uravas stated “In about twenty minutes.” for he did not have Arumi’s keen knack for telling the time and truly did believe that lunch would be served in twenty minutes. We must, unfortunately, inform you that the Good captain was not correct on this, as it was nine in the morning.

“Oh! That’s so far away!” Hiroyuki cried out, in anguish.

“I have something edible that might hold you over until then.” The King of Dance kindly offered a vial with an enchanted potion in it.

Hiroyuki took the offered bottle happily and wolfed it down before letting out a concerned groan. “Oh. I don’t feel so good…” She said weakly, as the magical effects of the mutagen began to weigh her down. She made her way to the alleyway behind Meek Lantley’s office to hopefully expunge the misbehaving poultice from her system.

“Hm. She’s not like the Tanuki in the stories.” Ariyu said. “Remember the story of the Tanuki who would steal from her friends in her sleep?”

“Ah. I remember it well!” Uravas said, a wistful sheen falling over his eyes. “I recall the tale of her outsmarting the dragon’s illusion! These Tanuki, they are clever sorts!”

“I have heard of a Tanuki who sold property.” DDOS, the massive figure added, arriving exactly at Nine.

Uravas’s expression grew cloudy with a growing anger he could not yet trace. “There’s nothing a pirate disagrees with more than a realtor. Perhaps it is time we speak with our benefactor.”

--

The office of Meek Lantley was small and cramped, which suited her well for she was small in stature and meticulous in her organization. “I have to keep this short,” she flipped an hour glass on her desk, before turning her gaze to the assembled adventurers. “I have a lot of appointments today.” It was at this moment Uravas felt the urge to use his magic to approximate the amount of sand in the hour glass. He realized this would be both unwelcome and inappropriate and instead opted to not perform this act.

“I work for the Councilwoman Statekski, she oversees the maintenance of the Trimarket. We’ve had a series of reported incidents of vandalism. We suspect it might be a serial vandal, but we are hoping this is not the case.”

“As to your purpose, we would like to investigate and put an end to these incidents. I must stress, these are petty vandals, please be gentle. Don’t kill them.” Meek Lantley said this last sentence with a graveness in her voice that could shake even the most hardened of knights.

Meek Lantely reached below her desk, and then placed a series of vials onto the surface of it. Before Meek could explain, Hiroyuki had already grabbed, and drank one of the bottles, to miserable effect.

“Those are meant to make your weapons less than lethal. Why would you drink that!?” Meek cried out in horror.

“You gave it to me!” Hiroyuki cried out in anguish.

“Observation: If it is non-lethal, it should not kill you.” DDOS did not cry out, for its statement was clear and analytical.

The Good Captain, spied the falling sands in the hour glass. He did not have the keen sense of time as either of his sisters, but he could tell that much of the sand had already fallen, even without his favorite spell: approximate. Thus, he asked “Where are we investigating?”

Meek Lantley placed a map of Trimarket on her desk. On it were three marks on the map. The traditional X that marked the spot. The Good Cap’n Stardust made a note of this. Was Meek Lantley once a pirate? She did not seem the sort, so at ease in the stressful world of her office. Uravas mused that such a world seemed more dangerous than the life of adventure he lived. After living a life such as hers, setting out as a pirate would seem like the act of children. And yet, only a pirate would mark a map in such a way. Before he could put these thoughts into words, Meek said “There are three spots. Trimarket, A back alley block close to the weaving willow, and the Trimarket gardens. We don’t know if they’re connected, or who even did it, but we know something’s wrong when we see it!”

With but three grains of sand left in the hourglass, Meek Lantley ushered the assembled group out of her office. “When you finish, come back here, you need not schedule an appointment. Thank you!”

Realizing the conversation was now over, Hiroyuki ran to the alleyway behind Meek Lantley’s office, for she had come down with a sudden sickness, owing to her ingestion of a merciful balm, that was, we must note, merciful enough to not poison her to death. The kind hearted Ariyu tended to Hiroyuki in her trying times.

–

While a pirate’s sense of time can be found lacking, their sense of navigation is anything but. So keen was Cap’n Stardust’s sense of direction, he could navigate the city of Onadbyr with his eyes closed. And thus, he did.

“I could find this place with my eyes closed!” The Good Captain declared, before covering his eyes and taking the lead of the group.

“Uravas. I don’t think you should do that.” Ariyu said in what we are sure was not a critical tone, but a concerned one.

“And yet, here we are!” Uravas said, opening his eyes and brandishing his arms to the Market Square, for he had done as he had claimed.

The Trimarket Square, even at this early hour, was busy with travelers and merchants of all sorts, even in the middle of Winter it was a popular destination for any in our fair city of Onadbyr. The Good Captain, knowing that no mystery is solved on an empty stomach, found himself a spot in line at a food tent. The rest of the group split up to survey the area.

The Noble King of Dance, who’s domain consisted of all things dance, approached a woman with a dour expression, who sat below an unlit street lamp. She had been surveying the area of the square before the King interrupted her.

“Excuse me.” King of Dance began.

“What.” The woman reposted, flatly.

“We are investigating vandalism in the area. Do you know where it might be located?”

“No. I don’t know anything. Don’t talk to me.”

Uravas had neared the end of the line, or some might say, the beginning as it was now his turn to order. He had overheard the conversation, and saw an opportunity. He ordered four mugs of hot chocolate, and a plate of steamed carrots. The carrots were for DDOS, and the chocolate was for the members of the group that partook in such things. The King of Dance abstained (and it is just so, for the drinks of commoners are truly beneath royalty, as we all know.), which suited Uravas’s plan quite nicely. With an extra cup, he approached the now angry woman.

“Well met, I apologize for my friend, he is a King, you see. I have brought you a hot chocolate as an apology, and in hopes you can give us insight on this troubling matter.”

“Go away. Ask up north.” She said, with growing fury.

We unfortunately do not know the name of this woman, or what adventure she was set on. But we do know that Uravas realized he had overplayed his hand, and thus, the Captain retreated to follow her instructions.

While these conversations and trials ensued, Hiroyuki was hard at work with her own quest. She saw the Statue in the center of Trimarket Square had no leaf on its robed visage, and thus, knew what must be done. She found a tree that threatened to reach into the heavens, where the Gods plan the great trials of lesser men and the quests of greater women. With great effort she scaled the tree, and plucked one of the leaves from its mighty branches. The leaf had no divinity, but we would forgive you for believing otherwise.

With leaf in hand, she scaled the giant statue in the square of Trimarket, and placed the leaf atop its head. Seeing her work completed, she descended from the skies and landed, sneakily, behind the Good Captain. The Captain, for his part, was always vigilant while solving a mystery, and turned, expecting a sneak attack.

“Have at thee! No one sneaks up on Cap’n Stardust!” He said, brandishing one of many cups of hot chocolate as a weapon.

Hiroyuki, in terror, used her tanuki magic to turn into a bundle of sticks that tumbled into several pieces on the ground, before reforming into her original form. “I’m sorry!” She said, in horror.

“Oh. My apologies. You should have said something!” The Captain said, with concern, before handing off his extra cups of chocolate. “Here, I bought these and our prime suspect did not want them.”

Hiroyuki, thankfully, took the cups of atonement, and found them to be much more palatable than the merciful balm.

North of the Trimarket Square, the group did not find much more answers to their mystery. Two warring pottery merchants plied their trade, and debated the efficacy of pottery based weaponry with DDOS.

“I’ve the best pottery in town.” The first began.

“SECOND best pottery, you HACK.” The second shouted.

“Pottery would not make a good weapon.” DDOS stated, bluntly.

“You would be surprised.” The first said, with a smile that missed more than a few teeth.

“You can throw pottery just fine!” The second said, hefting one of his vases as one would heft a ball.

“Observation: As the first vendor is missing teeth, the second vendor’s pottery is clearly the superior weapon.”

“Ah, like the riddle of the Hairdresser.” Ariyu chimed in.

Knowing that the second vendor’s pottery was the superior one, the King of Dance surveyed his wares, and purchased a sculpture of a Medusa’s head. A fine addition to the royal collection.

As the group made their way back to the center of Trimarket, DDOS found the signs of vandalism that had thus far eluded the group. With excitement, Cap’n Stardust brandished his detective’s kit, and investigated the area. Ariyu, with her keen eyes, was the first to notice the scorch marks in the street.

“It looks like magic, almost like… Arumi… It wouldn’t be her, right?” Ariyu said, curiously.

“If anyone asked, she didn’t.” Uravas said gravely, for it is always a pirate’s duty to defend his sibling, even if they were now the prime suspect.

“A spellcaster does not narrow it down any.” The King of Dance added in.

“Indeed. Some might say what I do is spellcasting.” DDOS confirmed.

With some futility, the party realized they had not moved any closer to solving this mystery. Fortunately, it was Ariyu that spotted the minotaur relaxing at the edge of the Trimarket square.

She rushed to the figure. “Excuse me! Do you know anything of the Scorch marks?”

The minotaur thought for a moment, before she said “Oh. Yes! Mages were here a while ago, exploding fruits. It was quite the sight.”

“Can you describe them?” Ariyu asked.

“Oh they were quite small. About this high.” She measured her hand about three feet off the ground. “They appeared once, and not since!”

“Thank you!” Ariyu said, and turned to leave, The Good Captain stopped her.

“Ah, before we leave, friend, might we have your name?” The Good Captain asked, for common courtesy was as important to a pirate as their commitments to family, duty, and honor.

“Hrm. My name…?” She thought it over for a moment. “Oh, yes. Arias!”

Eagle eyed historians might recognize the name Arias. What can we say of the gentle giant that has not already been said before by historians who wield the quill more keenly than we could ever hope to? We fear you might find it unbelievable to read that Cap’n Stardust crossed paths with one as notable and esteemed as Arias, but we assure you, that while we may embellish lightly for dramatic effect, we do not fabricate historical events.

With the revelations Arias gave them, the group was confident that they had learned all they could here, and set out to their next destination.

—

The Alleyway near Weaving Willow was a quaint area, less packed than the Market, owing to the snow still packed high. DDOS approached two of the guards stationed here, and asked bluntly if they had seen any signs of scorch marks or mages in the area. They had not.

The Good Captain approached an Orc man, who was lounging on his porch, and asked for his name.

“The name’s Lan.” Lan said his name.

“Have you seen any mages?” Uravas asked of the presence of mages in the area.

“Can’t say that I have.” Lan said, confirming he had in fact, not seen any mages.

“Have you seen anything untoward?” Uravas asked, changing tacts.

“There’s been rocks missing. Every now and then, a few of ‘em go missing.” Lan said, with a shrug.

With this new knowledge, King of Dance and Ariyu spotted that Lan’s words were true. Large chunks of the street had been torn out. DDOS’s analysis of the holes made it clear this was not the work of magic, and thus, an idea struck Uravas.

“Your majesty, what is your vase made of!?” He cried out, realizing they had a new suspect.

“Clay.” The King stated, then, predicting Urava’s line of inquiry, added “These streets are not made of clay.”

As the group puzzled over the missing rocks, Hiroyuki approached a friendly Nagaji basking in the warmth of a small fire set ablaze in the street. The Nagaji was named Lassie, and the fire, we assure you, was well controlled.

“Why are rocks missing?” Hiroyuki asked, as the two bonded over the warm fire.

“Oh, you’d have to ask the inspectors!”

“The inspectors?”

“The nice halflings that come by, every now and then!”

“Where are they?”

“They hang out over there! At least, I think so, usually!” Lassie said, pointing to the southeast.

“Have they found anything?”

“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t know anything about rocks.”

Hiroyuki nodded, then stated “I like food.”

Lassie, realizing the truth of the statement, for she too enjoyed food, offered a stick and marshmallow to Hiroyuki, and the two spent time together making smores.

After this pleasant exchange, the group set out to meet these mysterious Halflings. They were a rough looking duo, milling on the old, forlorn steps of a building time had forgotten.

“The name’s Trip. She’s The Wire.” The first halfing said.

“Do you know anything about the missing stones?” DDOS asked.

“What stones?” Trip asked, with a smirk.

“The missing stones.” DDOS confirmed.

“Yeah. I collect them and inspect them.”

“For what?”

“Damages.”

“Are you going to… return the stones?” Ariyu asked.

“Already returned them.” Trip said, with a toothy grin.

“As to that, the holes are still there.” Uravas said, with a frown.

“Ain’t my job to return the stones.” Trip said this with a shrug.

“Observation: Their job is to inspect, not return.” DDOS said. Its motivations with this statement were unclear to Uravas.

“Look. They pay us good money for our rocks. We give ‘em to Lantley. They fill in the rocks, we inspect ‘em, the cycle keeps spinning.

It was at this moment the Wire jumped from her stoop and dug into her bag with annoyance. It was unclear what she was looking for. The King of Dance jumped up to assist, as one would expect from one as regal as he. She hopped back down after realizing nothing was amiss and gave the group a scowling look.

“Be careful. She’s easily triggered.” Trip said with a laugh.

Hiroyuki appeared behind the group, and said. “It’s fine, they don’t have the rocks. I think they ate them.” With this final revelation, the group surmised the infamous scheme that Trip and the Wire were performing, and realized their work here was done. They set off for their next destination.

—

The Gardens of Trimarket were eerily quiet. As Uravas stepped forward to inspect the well at the Garden’s heart, he almost fell into a pit of snow. His quick reflexes, owing to his years of training as a pirate, caught himself. The rest of the group surveyed the grounds of the Garden and came to a startling discovery: the stone roads were missing!

“Observation: Something is eating the rocks.” DDOS said, after a close examination.

“The bite marks are quite small… Almost like a goat.” Ariyu noted.

“Goats do not eat rocks.” DDOS stated, plainly.

“Ah, as any great detective will tell you, if you rule out the improbable and the probable, and are left with only the impossible, then that is the truth. If she believes they are goats, I am inclined to believe her!” The Good Captain added.

Ariyu spotted tracks leading deeper into the Garden, and found one of several goat statues. They were finely made statues, almost lifelike. They did not respond to Uravas poking them with his sword, but did respond to DDOS asking if they were elementals. One goat, then another, then all of them, shook off the earth on their fur like one would shake off snow, and frantically ran off.

The group sprung into action to tame the goats. The goats were clever adversaries, when they felt they were in danger, they transformed themselves back into stone, and waited for the perfect moment to strike. This proved to be the undoing of several of them, however. As in their stone form they were immobile. DDOS used this inherent weakness of stone to push them over on their sides. Ariyu, cleverly, grabbed hold of the goats when she could, and when she couldn’t, dispatched them with her bow. Before you react with horror, we must assure you, Ariyu did not harm any of these goats. She used the merciful balm given to her by Meek Lantley to ensure her arrows struck clean, and harmlessly into the goats.

The King of Dance, for his part, ran all along the Gardens. He easily kept up with the goats, and with his intricate dance moves, was able to dispatch several of them all on his own. Hiroyuki used her fanciful scarf adorned with blades to trip and tangle the goats set in her path.

And Uravas? The Good Captain Stardust? Why, he dueled with their leader. Blade against horns. A fight for the ages, and we assure you, his strikes were as gentle as Ariyu’s keen arrows.

With the goats now pacified, the group realized they had solved all three mysteries set before them, and returned to Meek Lantley.

–

Meek Lantley took several moments to respond to the knocking at her office door. “Yes? Are you finished?” She said, from behind the door. “I think you’ll want to see this!” Uravas called out to her.

She opened the door, looked at the group, then asked “Did you finish your investigation?”

“Yes!” Cap’n Stardust declared.

“Not quite.” The King of Dance corrected.

“We’ve found one of the culprits.” DDOS declared.

“Two, actually!” Ariyu corrected.

Meek Lantley looked at the line of goats behind the group, then back at the group before her. “What… is this?” She asked, with growing concern.

“The goats have been eating the rocks in the Gardens.” DDOS stated.

“Did you see them do it…?” Meek asked.

“We saw them turn INTO rock!” Uravas noted.

Meek Lantley inspected the goats, and prodded at one of their horns. She noted the odd texture of the Goat’s horns. It was made of cobblestone. “The goats did all of this?”

DDOS gave the negative. “We found two halfings that were stealing rocks to sell back to you. Trip. And The Wire.”

Meek shook her head. “No! They do good work, they wouldn’t… would they…?”

“I think they were eating the rocks too.” Hiroyuki said, with a nod.

Meek Lantley sighed, and sat back behind her desk. “I’ll have to report this. Thank you. What of the Market square?”

“As to that, the work of mages. Though I think that situation has resolved itself.” Cap’n Stardust said. “They have not returned since.”

Meek Lantley nodded, and passed forward a coffer of coins. “Well… I guess that about does it then. On behalf of the councilwoman, I’ve collected a reward for your efforts.”

Ariyu looked at Meek Lantley, then at the goats now crowding into her office. “What about the goats?” “What of them?”

“What will you do with them?”

“I don’t know. There might be someone who handles goats.”

Uravas smiled as he was struck by an idea. “We could take them.”

Meek Lantley nodded. “You want the goats? Fine, take them!”

Ariyu shook her head. “Uravas. No. I’ll have to take care of it.” She then sighed. “You can take one.”

Uravas frowned. “Ah, but you see, it would be tragic to split any from their family. We must take two.”

Hiroyuki looked at the two siblings, then at the goats, and said. “You’re the Jongleur Three. Shouldn’t you take three?”

And thus, Cap’n Stardust and Ariyu left with several goats.