Just a quick summary.
We found out more about Sven from one of the other bouncers, and from checking out Sven's locker. Sven was the mastermind behind everything. He was a member of the Lubeck Thieves' Guild. He'd been sent to RE to waylay and kill the Shadow. His plan was to kill some innocent travellers, and frame Shadow. We also learned that he had a girlfriend, a seamstress in Lubeck named Inga.
Sanjay, worried about Elspeth, checked her out in his crystal ball. We saw her on horseback, in the thick of battle. She was fighting orcs who were wearing leather armor with the black spider sigil of the Drow on. Fighting the orcs were humans who looked Greek, and fighters bearing the banner of the Capitalist Army of the Light.
We went to the banquet at the castle. Much partying was had.
The next morning, Hal was summonned to see Lord Lara on urgent business. Lara had had news that the orc armies of the east had made a treaty with the Drow and with the lizard men. The Lizard Men were selling their kidnappees to slavers, who had a connection with the Sea Folk. There seemed to be the possibility of a Sea Folk-Drow connection.
Since we had information that Metallica was connected with the Drow, Lara wanted Hal to investigate an upcoming Metallica concert near Owl's Hoot.
We all went off to Owl's Hoot. On our way, we went through Lubeck, and took the opportunity to hunt down Sven at his girlfriend's place and arrest him.
OH is about the same size as RE, but is much more touristy. There were a few posted adverts for the concert; they said that one had to buy tickets (!) from some fellow calling himself the Ticket Master. There was a Bard Hall in OH, of the Grey Elves. They were a lot more sensible than Vrba. They said that Metallica was due to stay at the Inn of the Giddy Elf. The Grey Elf Bards were not happy about Ticket Master, who they said was trying to make music the exclusive provenance of the rich. They invited me and my companions to a banquet.
We went to check out the IotGE. Generally, human-elf halfbreeds are more attractive than your average run-of-the-mill human. The proprietor of the inn was the hideous exception. He was just grotesque. (Imagine a fat, hairy elf.) He said that he was booked up for the next few days, and referred us to the Golden Rose, owned by his friend Hanse Anderson. It was right next door. The GR was acceptable.
We went to dinner at the Bard Hall. The Bards told us some news. The Greeks are suffering plagues of orcs. I told them some tales of our recent adventures, and news from Lubeck Barony. The next day, we saw the band (Metallica) come in. They weren't much like the version we saw in Scotland. These guys were scruffy-looking, riding in a poor one-horse wagon. We ate dinner at their inn, and checked them out. They looked like a scruffier version of the act we'd seen in Scotland. No magic was detected about them.
Keef and Erose struck up a conversation with the guys. They said they'd been touring for 8 years. They said they never heard of the Ticket Master, they'd never been to England, nor Lubeck. They were outraged to find out that these TM bastards were trying to charge people 2 silver to see their concert. The next day, Erose, Hal, and the band went to yell at the TM guys.
The TMs were gnomes, from Zurik. They said they were agents of _the_ Ticketmaster. Erose et al shut them down and told everybody that the concert was free. The gnomes (about 12 of them) were all staying at the Giddy Elf. About an hour before the concert, a tall, thin, pale man in black robes appeared. As the concert approached, all the gnomes went out, and the man followed.
At the concert, the gnomes were trying to collect tickets. The audience generally ignored them. The black-robe showed up and hung out at the edge of the crowd. Erose harassed one of the gnomes; he claimed to be ignorant of Black-robe. The gnomes left. The concert was due to start, and there was a huge crowd, much bigger than they'd expected. Lars begged me to try to convince the bards to provide them with amplification. I did so. The Grey Elves stage huge, week-long operas to huge audiences. This group had enlisted the services of a young bard from Alfheim, named Bose, who had worked to perfect amplification magic. He agreed to help out.
The concert went well. During the concert, Black-robe did something odd. He floated on air and squinted. He summonned a small blue triangle, through which he watched the concert. At the end, he left, returned to town, and ate dinner. Erose followed him and chatted him up. He said his name was Rupert, and he was "in entertainment." He promoted bands. He said that he'd lived in England, Northumbray to be exact, for a while, but had left because of the political situation.
My idea was that he was somehow recording the concert, to use in production of a "new" spectral version of Metallica for the Drow. I talked to some of the other bards about this, and they agreed that it was a possibility. There are, after all, legends of such things in the far past.
Much partying in town. The town guards discovered that the gnomes were planning on killing the band. We got the band to safety, but learned that the gnomes had left town. We went to bed. At midnight, a 120-ft fireball blew up the Inn of the Giddy Elf. The charred remains of the innkeeper and Rupert were found inside. Hal and some of the local soldiers (who were wood sprites) tracked the gnomes to a point where they'd gone underground, but lost them at that point.
NB: garrisson at OH is "manned" by a variety of beings, from the Royal Woods-- wood sprites, centaurs, humans, elves, etc.