```col-mdflexGrow=2.5===# Outline## Players' Information The group is approached on the street by an obvious mage-type. He asks them if they are available for employment. If the players admit willingness to talk about a job, he will guide them to Enchantments, Ltd. (NU) on [[settlement/magic-street|Magic Street]]. Once there, they will be quickly ushered into the office of Lady [[person/rowena-geronde|Rowena Geronde]], the owner.The Lady has a problem, and needs help from a small group, preferably out-of-towners, to solve it. She received, two days ago, a note telling her that her son, Gunter, the most probable heir to the family estates (Karl Geronde, the eldest, is much more interested in serious enchantment than in land management), has been transformed into a horse. The lad had been absent from home for about a week, but the Lady assumed that he was simply off gallivanting with his usual companions, the [[organization/young-stallions|Young Stallions]] and had not been worried until she received the note. Gunter has been brought back to Haven and is due to be auctioned at the major horse auction the following Wednesday. The note explained further that young Gunter is a very fractious horse, and it is very likely that he will be gelded (possibly slain) by his new owner. There is a meeting of the [[organization/circle-chamber|Circle Chamber]] - the mages' ruling body - slated for Tuesday evening, at which time a vote on a critical policy issue is being held.Lady Geronde wishes the group to find and protect Gunter, and if possible, rescue him. Once found, he can be retransformed to human shape, but this is a long process, not performable in less than two days by other than the original enchanter. She will provide a description of her son as he appears in normal form, and some magical assistance in the form of readily usable magic items (there is a chance the group may be allowed to retain some of these as part of their pay). She will also give the group some medallions with a special sign the [[organization/geronde-family|Geronde Family]] uses to mark private and personal possessions (the sigil she will give the group is one not commonly known to belong to the Geronde family). However, she will insist most emphatically that the investigation must be carried out with the utmost discretion, for the note has stressed that efforts to rescue the horse would cause it to be executed out-of-hand. The party's investigation and rescue must be completed by Tuesday afternoon at the latest, or Lady Rowena will be forced to vote the way the kidnapper wishes. If she does not, her son will be killed out of hand.## GM's Notes The horses gathered for midweek auction are usually brought into the city on Sunday and Monday and kept penned or stabled near [[landmark/the-auction-block|The Auction Block]] until Wednesday morning. Gunter will arrive courtesy of a gypsy horse herd named [[person/liriki-dalensis|Liriki d'Alensis]], on Monday morning, and will be kept in a rented pen (PS) until the auction.Gunter is indeed a fractious horse. He doesn't appreciate being an equine to begin with and is firmly convinced that if he can escape, he can get to momma, and all will be made right. Unfortunately, the kidnapper is keeping him on a short lead and well hobbled, so he is unlikely to succeed in any of his attempts. In addition, a secondary hireling of the kidnapper, [[person/bugri-of-trakki|Bugri of Trakki]] (#1712), is stationed at the Market with orders to kill the beast if any serious search for it is being made. Bugri will base his surveillance from one of the small stables that are in sight of Gunter's pens.The kidnapper-transformer has been reasonably careful in covering his tracks. Bugri, for instance, was hired for his job by a now deceased crony and has no knowledge of his true employer. The same deceased crony is the one who took the Gunter-horse about fifty miles west along the Long Road and sold him to Liriki. There is little chance for the party to discover the identity of the kidnapper (who is, in fact, a fellow member of the Circle Chamber), regardless of their success in recovering the lad.If members of the group wear the sigil, and walk around the [[settlement/horse-market|Horse Market]], there is a 50% chance Gunter will recognize the sigil and make some attempt to contact the player wearing the medallion. He is now a skinny and unhandsome palomino stallion pony, with a white face, and blue eyes, standing about 12 hands high. It is possible that they may recognize possible candidates from Gunter's physical description (about 5'8", 150 lbs., blond hair, blue eyes, not particularly good-looking, no scars or marks) - there are only six palominos in the horses set for the auction, and none but Gunter have blue eyes. There is also a 50% chance that some other horse, although none of the palominos, will make some sort of show which could be interpreted as a contact attempt. Gunter will have to be protected from Bugri's attempt to kill him (he uses a small blowgun resembling a flute, with envenomed darts, Level 50), for Bugri will make additional tries if he is not caught the first time.``````col-md**Start / Locations** - **Key Participants** - ---### World Anvil Metadata**Id:** f77ea330-ecf3-49c7-945d-e1f897ae80dd<br>**Entity Type:** Article / plot<br>**Category:** Haven Encounters and Scenarios<br>**Tags:** FCoH-plot```