It's only a matter of time before one of these dogs has been caught stealing. Here's last time.
Anyway! Our intrepid dogs are now a party of Pioneers, and they have a storehouse in the Riverwall district. The storehouse is an abandoned warehouse, full of stuff, mostly worthless, but every now and then they find something interesting. There's a forge (courtesy of Dire; he knocked down a wall and is teaching himself to smith). Peppa is running a waystation for the poor of Riverwall, giving out food and supplies when she can. Gelert sets up an obstacle course to practice his acrobatics and stuff. Beneath the warehouse, there's a tunnel...and no one is sure where it goes.
The party is hanging around their storehouse this fine morning, when Dire is approached by a dog wearing the livery of one of the noble houses (Dire doesn't recognize it, but then he wouldn't). The dog says that the party has a message from Duke Heinrich Doberman, and hands Dire a letter. Dire breaks the seal and reads it:
He calls the others over and hands the letter to Petunia, and she reads it out. They talk over what they know about Duke Doberman - he's a veteran of the War of Cats and Dogs, a ruthless businessman, and widely seen as a contender for the throne of Pugmire once King Puckington Pug passes on. He also runs the Cat Conservation Society, a philanthropic (philcanic?) group dedicated to providing aid to cats and other non-dog species.
The party sends word back with the messenger that they'll come tomorrow evening, and do a little more digging the next day. Gelert mingles with the citizenry and learns that while Heinrich Doberman isn't exactly despised, the common folk don't like him much, either. Petunia has heard that the Doberman family has three distinct bloodlines: blue (politicians), black (business dogs), and red (soldiers). Heinrich is firmly blue.
The dogs head to the North Quarter the next night and walk right up to the main gates of Apolda Manor. The two guards there scoff a bit, but Petunia introduces herself and it turns out that one of the guards knows her mother's cousin's etc, Dornell! (Everyone knows a Pibble.) The guards let them in and they're escorted to a receiving room bigger than their storehouse (Boomer and Dire both roll their eyes a bit at this opulence, and wonder how hard it would be to rob the place).
They meet with Duke Heinrich, and his wife Viveka, and their son Graff. Heinrich explains his problem: a band of cats is robbing his iron mines and disrupting supply lines, and he would like the party to look into it. Petunia asks why - after all, they're Pioneers, not a security force - and Heinrich explains that they're capable warriors, should it come to that, but also they are known to be diplomats who are willing to work with cats. Heinrich hopes that his intelligence is wrong and it's not cats causing the problems, but if it is, sending his own forces would look badly for him, politically. He is willing to pay the characters handsomely for the trouble. The mines are located near the village of Ellendonk.
Petunia stays quiet, but she's from Ellendonk and this is starting to worry her. The characters agree to the mission, and then invite themselves to dinner. Viveka stands up in disgust and leaves, not even bothering to come up with an excuse. Heinrich is much more politic, and the characters do get to eat dinner at the Manor, though it's awkward for everyone involved.
After dinner, Sister Peppa goes to the kitchens to ask for scraps to take back to Riverwall, and is surprised to find another Acolyte of Man, Brother Archer Corgi, there. She chats with him briefly and finds that he's here to help Duke Heinrich with the Cat Conservation Society. He doesn't say as much, but Peppa gleans that he's not happy with how Heinrich is approaching things - the Society could be doing more. Gelert talks with one of the servants and learns that the Pioneers aren't the first group to get sent on this mission - but a previous group didn't return.
The party spends the next day preparing for the trip. Ellendonk is a week's journey on foot, so they procure rations and traveling gear. They also do a little asking around; Dire talks to his friend Felicia Ragdoll, a cat book collector, and learns that if Heinrich hired mercenaries to go on this errands at first, it's the sort of thing they'd keep quiet. Petunia goes to Granny Sue's and asks Sue if she's heard anything from Ellendonk, and Sue, thinking about it, says that it's been almost two years since she's heard anything directly. This concerns Petunia; this is, after all, her hometown.
The last thing the group does before striking out on the road is check in with Bivi Affenpinscher, their trustee. He tells them that this mission feels strange to him, but just what Petunia has learned about Ellendonk alone is worth investigating. He also warns them that Heinrich is very powerful, politically. They'd best not cross him unless they're very sure. Peppa asks Bivi to look into the Cat Conservation Society while they're gone, and he agrees.
The party heads out, and the first two days of travel are uneventful. But on the second night, Gelert is keeping watch and juggling to keep himself awake. He drops the rocks he's juggling, and as he leans down to get them, he notices the ground sinks a bit. And then a giant worm rears up from the dirt and bites him!
Gelert shrieks an alert and the other dogs bolt awake. Petunia smashes the worm's head (?) with her staff, but more worms pop up as the characters wake up and take action. Gelert realizes that these creatures track movement above them, which explains why they tend to go after the dogs after they run or walk. Fortunately, though, the worms are fairly soft, and Dire's sword, Boomer's ax, Petunia's staff, and Peppa's sling make short work of them (Gelert does manage to break his staff over one of them - not his day!).
They move their camp across the road and get some more rest. In the morning, as they're packing up, Dire notices a dog watching them from nearby. He calls this to the others' attention, loudly, and the dog steps out from behind a tree with his paws up - Graff Doberman!
Graff tells the characters that he has heard terrible rumors about his father, and wishes to accompany them to see the truth of the matter. Boomer asks what he's heard, but he's not willing to share, because he hopes it's not true. He promises, though, that he won't keep anything from them that might cause them to come to harm. Peppa, always a good judge of character, feels that Graff is being honest, and so they let him join the quest.
And on they go, towards Ellendonk!
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