Group 2: Vertange "One-shot" - Jim

 Party: Claudia De La Quinne, The Captain, Wenceslas, Vholanthus Sumquaes, Daisy Dandeigh Deveraux

The city of Vertange - AFB 97

Idleness rarely pays, a lapse in devotion to duty brings trouble to a foreign noble.

It all starts with a letter. A noble seeking assistance, offering to meet the party in the Area Vulgaris. 
We meet our heroes as they head there and into a wonderful bar known as the Abbeverato, run by the scrawny but reliable Conto Abbeva.
They are the center of attention for a bit as Vholanthus apparently has a bit of a reputation in this bar, leading to a group of men dressed in various offcuts of wild animals approaching the table that the party chose for seating.
As it turns out, these men introduce themselves as Rusko and the Varangian guardsmen, the elite defenders of the Imperial family but they have malevolent motivations, as they seek to deprive the party of coin. A brawl breaks out, leaving two of the attackers dead and the party chasing off the remainder after the Captain lightens their coin purse instead.
 
After the commotion dies down, a young dwarf arrives to speak to the party.
Jim of the House of the Three Crossed Beams is a traveling representative for his family's bourbon business, and he arrived in Vertange just as the Season of Celebrations hit the garden of the Fleurs Nobles. Having attended a ball of seven, Jim has grown close with a young lady, the debutante miss Abdelaide Duree (dite Adele), and found himself so entranced by her grace and beauty that he considered requesting her hand in marriage, after she suggested such a thing would be well in the cards.
This, in turn, rubbed some other noble contenders the wrong way. Before long, charges were brought against Jim, casting the cloud of smuggling suspicions on the young dwarf.
Jim, at the end of his wits with the court appointment looming on the next noon, now turns to the party to help him build a defense against the harsh punishment that may ensue should he be convicted as a smuggler. He knows of three rivals for the hand of miss Duree, at least three with the political savvy to create a case against him: Francois Du Tréve, Ignacius De Bouchee and Azure Tesodi.

The party sits back and recovers from the recent battle while they mull over the options.