Prelude: The Death of a baker

 Somewhere in the lower City of Baldur’s Gate, Ozochitl enters a tavern. It’s early in the morning - he’s looking to have a quiet breakfast and perhaps pick the barkeep’s brain about a new brew recipe he’s been working on. As they chat, the barkeep mentions a disheveled, drunk, and sullen woman with a maimed hand who had been muttering about some patriar or another and how she needed to silence the baker Ellyn Harbreeze. The barkeep chortled: “Nobody can keep the baker from spreading her tales, I said, but then she just got quiet and drank even faster. She stayed all night and only just left a few minutes ago.”

Ozochitl took in the barkeep’s story and froze. He knew what he needed to do. The tiefling cleric shoved a handful of bacon into his mouth and ran out the door.

Meanwhile, in the Upper City, Ellyn Harbreeze has just opened her bakery. The freshest pastries and cakes, some still warm, line every shelf and she’s got tea and coffee ready to brew for her early morning customers. A lovely young couple waltzes her door. They order breakfast and coffee and sit down at one of Ellyn’s cafe tables. Vaantrik, the young elven wizard, is in a fantastic mood - He and his brand new paramour Kristris are on their first proper date and they have plans to spend the whole day together.

At a gate to the Upper City, Ozochitl’s progress is slowed by a suspicious merchant cart that lacks the proper papers. The Fist are called to search the entire vehicle and a line forms behind it. The cleric manages to sneak through the line by faking a medical emergency. He continues on.

Back at the bakery, a hooded woman with a maimed hand enters. She reeks of alcohol and stares intensely at Ellyn, who is currently oblivious and puttering behind the counter. Inwardly, the hooded woman is freaking out - how can she execute a smooth stab and run if there’s a whole-ass counter of pastries in the way? She’s too unsteady with liquid courage to even attempt a leap across. Fuck, she will have to wait until the baker comes out. The hooded woman turns to stare intently at cakes in the window, trying not to be suspicious. In reality, she is staring at the ground and struggling to stand without swaying.

Now through the gate and into the Upper City, Ozochitl walks briskly towards the bakery. He is a couple blocks away. Suddenly, a patriar on horseback crashes into a nearby apple cart, spilling fruits all over the streets. The gathering crowd is hard to maneuver through, delaying him further.

In the long-forgotten back garden of an elderly widow’s mansion, just around the corner from the Harbreeze bakery, the mossy lid of a hidden well suddenly lifts and flies through air. A strange and soggy tiefling stumbles up and out from the depths of the well and falls to her knees. Her body is unfamiliar and not quite the same as when she left Dusk. She is slightly taller and sturdier. Flesh has settled in new places - Her butt and tits are bigger, her knees and back a little achier. Her muscles are on fire and she is STARVING. 

Back at the bakery, just outside the front door, pugilist Talon is giving his friend Sima a pep talk. No, she doesn’t simply ask the baker to stop spouting falsehoods - she has to demand it! Say it with authority and a vaguely threatening air! The lithe elven sorcerer nods, pumping herself up. Talon takes her by the shoulders and spins, pointing her towards the entrance. A bell rings as the duo step through the door.  Vaantrik and Kristris look up from their conversation, noting the new arrivals and wait- was that hooded, lumbering weirdo there this whole time? She reeks of drink! Does she seem familiar? Oh well. Vaantrik is now keenly aware of Kristris’s knees touching his under the table and returns his attention to his date. Sima and Talon march up to the counter and Sima begins her tirade at a wide-eyed Ellyn. “How dare you…”

20 ft. from the bakery, Ozochitl is stopped by an earnest young person with a clipboard. “Sir, do you hate children? If you don’t, let me tell you how can help the poorest children in Rivington for just 1 silver a month…” The cleric spots a purple stranger running through the bakery’s door and starts trying to politely leave this conversation.

The strange, now slightly less soggy, tiefling rushes into the bakery and starts eating everything in sight, shoving pastries and cakes into her mouth at record speed. Ellyn turns her attention away from Talon and an indignant Sima and towards the weirdo eating all her merchandise. She steps out from behind the counter and moves towards the hungry stranger, first calling gently “Honey, you need to pay for those first.” The hungry stranger is confused, replying “Huh? Who pays for food? Food is for hungry people” before she continues her feast. Ellyn approaches faster and shouts that she will call for the guards. She reaches out to pull the stranger away from what’s left of her gourmet cupcakes.

Talon and Sima are shocked but intrigued at the development - Maybe the tiefling stranger will deck that rude rumour-monger!

Vaantrik is deeply annoyed at this chaotic development, as it is interrupting his date with beautiful Kristris.

The hooded lush hovering near the cakes has noticed that her target has left the protection of the counter, and is now accosting a tiefling 15 feet away. Ellyn’s back is turned - it’s now or never. The guards will be here soon. She reaches into her cloak for her blade and starts shuffling as deliberately as possible toward the big-mouthed baker. 

Ellyn Harbreeze seals her fate as pulls roughly at the hungry stranger’s arm, which is now reaching for her last “Ravenguard’s Raspberry Chocolate” cupcake. The arm pushes her away, backwards half a step and directly into the hooded drunk’s blade. She must have hit something important because there is now blood EVERYWHERE. Ozochitl is breathless in the doorway, staring at the deadly scene. He was a second too late.

Talon and Sima’s mouths are agape. The stranger shoves “Ravenguard’s Raspberry Chocolate” cupcake into her mouth as the Flaming Fist shove Ozochitl aside and burst into the bakery. Kristris is screaming and hysterical. Vaantrik, now stone-faced, seethes. Everyone is swiftly arrested.

FIN

Bystander 😳: Talon (Max), Sima (Laura), and Ozochitl (Nacho)

Liar 🤐: Vaantrik Baroques (Cameron)

Murderer 💀: Darcy “Flea” Brookes (Michelle) and “Honey” (Emily)

Instigator 👉: No one!

Vaantrik’s now ex-girlfriend 💔: Kristris

Silenced forever 🧁🗡️: Ellyn Harbreeze