We have a CUNNING plan!

From the Journal of Ahmok Silanaas

After much deliberation we decide to actually tell the other warlords in Lantern Wharf (Rasmussen's rivals that is) about the Mescal auction to be held that same evening. We figured that most of them didn't know about it and the prospect of Rasmussen losing face with his suppliers after losing the shipment would make him also lose his grip on power in this Passion forsaken, sorry excuse of a settlement of cutthroats.
We had to visit all warlords namely, T'Pan, a T'Skrang pirate who had one of the largest ships in Lantern Wharf, his inn was the 'Father and Robber'; Maildance, a dwarf whose inn was the 'Mercenaries Club'; K'Aninar, another T'Skrang residing in the 'Foul Flask' inn and finally Wothin, a troll from the 'Swaggering Giant' inn. It turned out that T'Pan was out at sea and therefore was out of the picture. Maildance was a rich trader and follower of Chorollis. Wothin was old and probably the weakest of them all while K'Aninar was an up and coming T'Skrang pirate who was making a name for himself here in Lantern Wharf.
The plan was a group combined effort pushed by Wolf's insistence to destroy the Mescal after contacting him through the magical stone Merrox had given us. It consisted in telling every warlord about the Mescal auction and how would Rasmussen lose face if he lost that shipment and also that our employer wanted the shipment destroyed as a revenge against Rasmussen crossing him one too many times. The warlords only had to gain from this situation as they would gain power as soon as Rasmussen is ridiculed in front of everyone. His suppliers would definitely contact one of them to continue shipping the drug. All they had to do for us was to indicate where the shipment was held, destroy the Mescal and create a diversion. At mission complete we are to contact Merrox or Wolf again to confirm success. Failure to do so would mean that they would assume us dead.
It was decided that only Elessar and me would go speak with the warlords. First off was Maildance. The dwarf proved to be a harder nut to crack than we thought. After hearing our demands he gave us an appointment an hour later to discuss his answer.
K'Aninar wouldn't trust us at all. He was very sceptic of our story. Although he had much to gain he also had much to lose. He was out of the picture as we couldn't give him more evidence regarding the shipment.
Wothin would have none of it. He claimed that he is content with what he has and wasn't seeking further power or wealth and also that he was old now, too old for this kind of thing. Leaving the Foul Flask Inn we saw a huge Theran ship moored at the south east quay. Disembarking from it was Vistrosh with his retinue of bodyguards. Vistrosh the hated jailer. In a manner of speaking though the five flames wouldn't exist without him. His presence here would have to be taken into account. Was he here just as an observer or for the Mescal? We still don't know if he is part of 'The Hand'.
After that brief lull we then went back to Maildance who invited us in a lavish room permeated with unimaginable riches. Expensive gold inlaid tapestries, golden decanters, pictures framed in mother of pearl, jewel encrusted weapons and armor, fine silver shields, silk curtains in gold thread and much more the eye could not take in.
Maildance had a counter offer. He told us to steal the shipment and hide it for him. For that he would give us two Orichalcum coins after the job is done and to be collected wherever we like. His offers were very tempting indeed.
After a surprisingly brief and private debate it was decided unanimously to accept the mission and destroy the Mescal rather than give it to Maildance. This would certainly not endear him to us but it was the right thing to do. We knew we would be hunted down eventually but that was a risk we were willing to take. After that the dwarf took us out on the walkways of Lantern Wharf where he indicated the location of the Mescal shipment; it was underwater behind the 'Wealthy Thief Inn'. It turned out that Maildance wasn't just a worshipper of Chorrolis but also a questor of the passion.
We parted and decided to investigate the shipment before acting. Meanwhile Cyrellion took some money off Maildance to hire an assassin to try and kill an ork merchant who was at the auction. This was to be our diversion.
Elessar geared up, stripped naked actually, to investigate the shipment. We used our newly acquired boat 'The Swamp Widow', to go down the river where we would part with Elessar. The swim to the underbelly of 'The Wealthy Thief' was quite uneventful except for the obscene amount of sewage and corpses littering the lagoon. holding back the gagging, Elessar made it to the hull of the aforementioned inn and dived under the layer of muck to find a huge Tundrabeast shell guarded by two chained, very hungry and aggressive lagoon serpents. Apparently the Mescal was held in the skin of the Tundrabeast. Elessar made it back to the boat and reported also guards holding crossbows on the ship's deck itself.
We had to act that same night so it Cyrellion and Elessar, who knew the location, prepped themselves for the important and perilous mission. We know the auction would take place some two hours after dusk. We bought two hunks of meat which we marinated in poison for a few hours to feed to the sea serpents; nightshade ought to do the trick. We then went back to the lagoon after sunset and Cyrellion and Elessar entered the mucky waters of Lantern Wharf once again. If we pulled this off, 'The Hand' would have been dealt a great blow. The idea was that after dispatching the serpents, Elessar would open a rift using his new talents acquired from his years with 'The Hand', to throw the Mescal in and lose it forever in the void.
Jarl!!!! cast the gills spell on the group so they could breathe underwater. The elven duo and the dwarf made it safely, with a few mishaps to the hull of the 'Wealthy Thief'. No sooner than they had arrived, the assassin Cyrellion had hired started his work. The commotion was audible enough and the two sprung in action.
Cyrellion swam towards the nearest serpent and coaxed him to eat the poisoned meat. It thrashed wildly for a while but went limp soon after. The other serpent needed a bigger push to eat the meat. Infact, at first, it ignored the meat completely and attacked Cyrellion who kept his distance. The furious beast then lost interest in its unreachable target and tore into the tainted meat. It died soon after. Elessar and Jarl!!!! acted at that moment diving for the defunct gargantuan beast. They used the kaetta to open its stitched belly up and found the mescal encased as a whole inside a sort of membranous sac. Cyrellion helped Jarl!!!! pull it out while Elessar opened the rift behind him and with a group effort they managed to tuck it in, close it and swim back to the hull of the 'Wealthy Thief'. Here they were almost discovered as Elessar and Jarl!!!! gulped a lot of mucky water and panicked but Cyrellion was there and helped them to safety before the guards could be alarmed. No sooner had they reached the hull when they saw a crane being lowered into the water. They swam across the lagoon to the attending boat where we were waiting for them. I steered the boat towards the strip mine on our map, our next destination.
The Mescal was destroyed, our mission accomplished; we also had made a new and powerful enemy, Maildance. The dwarf would use every resource he can muster to find us I'm sure of it, but we already have our share of enemies and I am confident that the passions are on our side in this grand scheme of things. My first concern though was to get my companions and myself out of this wretched swamp alive; our main mission has just begun.