"Yes, mother," Jessi replies to Davina, rolling her eyes slightly before grinning impishly. "I've already got the back-up taken care of. I'll be fine!"
When she hears that Leora has business elsewhere that evening as well, Jessi suggests that they travel together most of the way for safety's sake.
Jessibel leads Leora on a quick side trip to the War Cage to purchase an 'off-the-rack' suit of black leather armor. When the pair reaches the Kintargo Opera House Society, Jessi leads the cleric inside to one of the common areas and introduces her to some of her acquaintances. Since so many bards, actors, and entertainers are members of the Society, the HQ has a small make-up and dressing room, which is where Jessi leads Leora.
Jessi introduces Leora to two of her new friends there: Jenni (a pretty, smart brunette) and Kathie (a pixie-ish blonde who specializes in make-up). "Jenni--I want to try that new style from the tropics: cornrows. Leora--anything you want done to your hair, face, skin, nails...Kathie's the best! I can prestidigitize you if you'd like as well."
Although Jenni is loathe to braid Jessi's hair, saying that she doesn't think the look will work for a young noblewoman, Jessi's insistent. When the new 'do is done, Jenni sniffs, "You look more like some sort of exotic assassin than a noblewoman."
Perfect! thinks Jessi as she views herself in the mirror. Since the Tooth and Nail is in Old Kintargo and it's only been a few days since the raid on the Sallix Salt Works, the girl wants to look as different from the red-haired vixen 'Jenvara' as is possible...just to be on the safe side.
With the help of the other ladies' sewing skills and some of her own mending spells, Jessi's able to quickly tailor her new armor to better hug her curves. Grinning at Leora, she says, "The Vashnarstill boys' jaws are going to hit the cobblestones when they catch a glimpse of their dates for the night!"
When the Vashnarstill family coach arrives--fashionably late, as Jessi'd foreseen--the twins step out to greet their guests for the evening. Jessi plants a peck on Angus's cheek before presenting Leora to the twins. Then she steps up to Phenio with a smile. Her kiss on his cheek is quite a bit closer to his mouth, as though inviting him to meet her halfway if he'd like to renew their brief summer fling from a few months back.
Domitius examines the ring that was found in the livery, but finds no sign of any code words, even when, in a fit of whimsy, he tosses the ring into the embers of a fire to see if that causes any magical writing to appear. The ring is unharmed by the heat, but shows no sign of any words.
The moment Dom threw the ring into the fire, he had that flash of, No you fool! But to his surprise, nothing happens to it, nothing-not-so-much-as-a-smidge-of-soot, that kind of nothing.
“Hey, we mighta missed something with this ring. Can someone with a little more magical know-how take a look at this?” Just in the name of being thorough (or thoroughly annoying), after the ring is out of the fire and cooled, Dom puts it on, and stares at the page they’ve been fussing over.
Dom doesn’t give a second thought to Jessibel’s stated intent to go out, but he notices Davina’s using her worry-voice. As Davina is about to leave, Dom says to her, “As I said, I’ll be here if you need anything, sudarynya,” hoping she takes his meaning.
“So, Sabrina, as soon as curfew lifts in the morning, my plan is to head to the farmers’ market. I suspect I should be able to find , and see if I can ask a little favor. Think you can stay out of trouble until then?” He asks jokingly.
Dom turns to the Fushi sisters. “I hope you don’t mind a little extra company tonight, ladies. I’d love to play some cards or something to pass the time, but this is working hours for me. Plus, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion you’d have me flat broke inside of an hour,” he smiles. Dom then proceeds to make himself comfortable to spend a night in the Wasp’s Nest, trying to keep an eye out for their mystery intruder.
"Sure, I'll take a look. Even if I see anything though, Tinker will have to figure it out," Leora says, noticing the man is still perusing the coded documents. She casts detect magic on the ring to see if there is anything unusual about it.
Leora is impressed by Jenni and Kathi's skill with hair and make-up. The most she did with her hair - and only for a special occasion like a date - was usually to wash it, brush it until it shone, and let it hang down her back. She'd usually made a mess when doing her own make-up, so she normally stayed away from that.
"Wow, that's really awesome of you, thanks! Uh, how about some sort of up-do for my hair. Whatever you think will look good. And just a little makeup for my eyes and lips please." She tries to sit still while the girls work their magic, and is thrilled at the result. "Amazing!" she says to her own reflection, once they are done. Seeing Jessi's alterations, she says to her friend "Definitely! You look great. I hope Phenio recognizes you with that new hair style!"
Once the twins arrive, Leora greets them, mimicking Jessibell's style of introduction and kissing Phenio, then Angus on the cheek. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she says, watching to see how Angus reacts to him finding out that his blind date is quite a bit older than he'd probably expected.
Davina gathers her things and heads out into the streets well before curfew heading to Eradon Manor. She considers taking the secret sheet, but decides to leave it in the lock box at the Nest. It's not a very far walk from the Coffee House. She enjoyed the early evening air as she walks along the streets.
"Mother I'm home." Davina calls as she enters the house. "I had some experiments that needed tending to for the last couple of days." She listens to her mother talk about their latest research and her father's lectures at the Academy as she heads into the library to do some reading for the evening. "I'm glad nothing too exciting has happened. By the way I've found a gardener for the Manor. He'll be tending to the gardens a few days a week in exchange for room and board. He won't work here full time. He has other interests he needs to work on." Her mother knowing the type of people Davina usually associates with assumes Dom is either an up and coming writer or an alchemist who is on the hunt for the formula to turn lead into gold, and currently a bit down on his luck.
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The ring does not detect as magical in any way.
The Tooth and Nail is a rough dive, but has its charms. The owner, Setrona, seems to know Angus and Phenio, and during the quiet parts of the evening spends some time chatting with the foursome. She seems genuinely kind and friendly, although running a business in this rough part of town has put steel in her spine, as well.
The proprietress of the adjoining bakery, the Sweet Tooth, which shares a roof with the T&N, comes by during the evening, handing out candied blackberry tarts that didn't sell during the day. A frail-looking, dark-haired young woman who wears a simple dress, leather gloves, a patch over one eye, and a fancy rectangular talisman around her neck, Luculla Gens is both coy and flirtatious, making sure to let Jessibel, Leora, and their dates know how pleased she is to see new faces -- "Especially such attractive ones!" -- in the tavern.
Angus and Phenio are fairly typical Kintargo petty nobility. They dabble in the arts, but are more interested in drinking, gaming, and debauchery. They have nothing but contempt for the new Lord Mayor, and with a few drinks in them feel free to recite a bawdy poem someone known as "The Poison Pen" has been spreading around about Thrune.
Jessi's pleasantly surprised at how well Leora and Angus seem to hit it off, and the girl's glad she invited the awesome secret cleric along for the evening. A feeling of intense relief surges over her, washing away all the trials, tribulations, and (most of all) responsibilities that go with being a member in both the Silver Ravens and Kintargo Opera House Society. For this one night at least, Jessibel can go back to being a spoiled, carefree teenager.
Setrona seems nice and knowledgeable, so Jessi casually asks if the woman's heard any interesting tales or rumors from her patrons. Now that the 'business' part of her night out's been taken care of, it's on to the pleasure! Having a cleric of Cayden Cailean as your wing-woman can be fun, but it also has its hazards: Jessi finds herself more than a bit tipsy way earlier in the evening than she'd expected.
Luculla's blackberry tarts are divine, and Jessi orders a couple dozen to take back to the Nest for the other Ravens the following morning. She finds herself strangely drawn to the dark and mysterious woman...and wonders if perhaps she's part of the reason the Vashnarstill twins are regular visitors at the Tooth and Nail. She puts on a faux frown and strictly forbids Phenio from being too friendly with Luculla when she's not around. Then she grins and says, "Honestly, I like her. She looks like a pirate with that eyepatch! I almost asked if I could borrow it--it'd be the perfect accessory to my 'bad-girl-slumming' outfit, don't you think? But it would've been rude to ask to try it on...." Jessibel does make it a point to surreptitiously inspect the pirate wench's unusual flashy talisman, however.
Once the ale starts loosening the twins' tongues and they start reciting the racy poem from the Poison Pen, Jessibel laughs and suggests they check out a skit called "The Night of Asses" at a small theater called the Silver Curtain some day. Realizing belatedly that she'd just let something slip that perhaps she shouldn't have, Jessi rolls her eyes ditzily and says, "Oopsie!"
A bit later, Jessibel takes Leora aside to confess something. "I'm a Nembezzler," she says into Leora's ear. "I used Silfer Rafen's funds for my new armor and those blackberry tarts. Actually, the tarts are good, since they'll actual be going to the Rafens. I'm gonna pay back the money for the armor, though--is it my fault Lydia didn't charge me for the healing kit to patch up Korvosa Fushi? Fushi! Name sounds funny, doesn't it?"
As Phenio passes by bearing the next round of drinks, Jessi sighs but refrains from an all-out swoon. "I think Phunnio and I are headed to the next level tonight!" she whispers into Leora's ear while grinning like a happy drunk. "Please, don't let me do anything stupid--like get married."
At first, Leora is uncharacteristically nervous. Though the Tooth and Nail is nothing like the Thrashing Badger, she worries that maybe after the Salt Works, Thrune's agents have caught on to the Silver Ravens and will burn this place down too. This time with her inside. But after a drink and some lively conversation, Leora's baseless anxiety vanishes. The gentlemen have bought the first round of drinks, so Leora buys the second, raising a toast "May we get what we want, may we get what we need, but may we never get what we deserve," while grinning devilishly at Jessibel and the twins.
Leora chats with Luculla when she stops by, offering her a drink and casually asking about how things are going in this rough part of town lately.
Later, Leora challenges Angus to a game of darts, inviting Jessibel and Phenio to join them, but not insisting in case they want some alone time. "I'm terrible at darts. If you're any good, maybe you can teach me some tricks," she says, giving Angus an easy excuse to have a reason to get close to her and 'help' her play.
Leora reassures the drunken Jessi as best she can, even though she's quite drunk herself. "Pfft, it's just money. not like we're broken or something! You and Phenny-o? Awesome! Don't worry, I won't congregate... orientate... what's the word... officialate... a marriage, so you can't be stupid. Me 'n Angus are gonna go upstairs too, I think. We can see'ya in the morning! And eat some more of those great tarts."
Kiri was left with little to do while the others were out for the night. She thought about following Jessi and Leora, just to make sure her apprentice didn't get into any trouble while she was out. She didn't think there was much likelihood of that so she decided that watching for the threat within the base, the one they were sure was there and that caused the wall to collapse. Maybe, just maybe she'd get lucky and manage to take the thing out.
He holds up the bag of crushed chalk that Nicolae presented. "We were about to spread some chalk powder around, try and keep track of who's makin' tracks around here. Gonna get a might messier in this place. Nicolae, it ain't a big deal to get more of this, is it?"
Tinker shakes his head. "It's chalk dust. Cheaper than flour and it's not hard to find. Use it at-a your leisure."
Nicolæ is oblivious to any potential dishonesty on the cleric's part and smiles amicably. "Have a good time! Be careful and safe out there."
With many of the residents out of doors, he decides to get a little work done. He lovingly sets out his supplies in an orderly fashion and casts a few light spells as he prepares his work area and gets ready to focus on the work at hand. He gives his hawk, Isa, a good night scratch and sets himself down to work. He spends the next few hours entirely focused on the blank scroll of parchment as he writes the intricate calligraphy and imbues it with the magic of the spell obscuring mist. It wasn't a spell he wanted to memorize every day, but it was a good bet it would be handy to aid another quick get-away some time in the future.
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Jessibel "Loyalty Day -- it's happening like it does in Egorian and other places this year. Compulsory attendance and all. I liked it better when Jilia let folks show up or not, but the times they are a-changin'..." says one tall, thin human with a shaggy beard.
Setrona chuckles at this"I've heard the Mayor and the Torrent Hellknights got into a row about it. Octavio won't support compulsory Loyalty day -- he went on a rant about how loyalty coerced is no loyalty at all and stormed out of the Opera House." She seems proud at her brother's keeping to Kintargo's spirit of freedom, even in his role as a champion of law and order.
Luculla's talisman is made of gold and ivory but has no design that Jessibel recognizes.
The Poison Pen of Kintargo is the nom de plume of a mysterious figure who's been writing satirical verses about the Thrune regime for years, but only once in a while, not anywhere near as often as in the last few weeks. The poetry has spread through the Shelynite and Opera House communities, as well as through the streets. Handwritten or cheaply printed libels with words mocking the Lord Mayor and the Order of the Rack. Jessibel had seen these but not connected them to the old name from years ago.
The two couples retire to a room that was clearly designed for assignations of this sort -- a heavy, sound muffling (though not quite blocking) curtain can be dropped to divide it into two spaces, separating the two beds. As soon as the curtain drops, each pair of lovers finds their bed, and soon finds the pleasure, release, solace and distraction each was seeking.
In the morning, the moderately hung-over twins arise before their bed partners, and get morning ale and porridge from the Tooth and Nail's kitchen. Returning to the room, Phenio draws up the privacy curtain while Angus opens the window, letting in early sunlight and the sounds of the street from outside. "Rise and shine, lovelies" he calls out to Jessibel and Leora.
The following day, the Fushi sisters head off to begin investigating matters in the Devil's Nursery, hoping to run down leads about the murder of tieflings. Turl's performers do similar, but don't have a single location to focus on, as the Red Jills are known to strike anywhere in the city.
That evening, just before Curfew, the Fushis return, carrying with them a badly wounded Lucius. Apparently he had thought to take matters into his own hands and solve the murders himself, but fell victim to whoever was doing it instead.
Lucius's face has been torn up, his cheeks slashed widely, and all of his teeth forcibly removed. His fingers are broken as well, making it unlikely he will be able to use his firearms again without magical healing.
Jessibel manages to rise but there's no way in Hell she's gonna shine any time soon. If the twins' hangovers are moderate, hers is severe with 2d6 reallys in front. She'd never had so much to drink--her previous double dates with Sabrina and the twins had included a wineskin or two for passing around. Never drink all night with a cleric of Cayden Cailean! she chides herself...and then her blurry eyes discover Leora in the room's second bed, looking a radiant sort of disheveled.
"I take it you and Angus hit it off?" she asks with what starts as a smirk but almost immediately becomes a genuine smile of joy. Then after it takes two attempts for her to sit up in bed, she adds rather hopefully, "I don't suppose you know any old family recipes for dealing with hangovers?"
The young bard uses prestidigitation to freshen up both herself and her roomies, though her normally clear voice has a sort of 'groan-y' quality to it this morning. Her stomach flip-flops at Phenio's offer of breakfast porridge and the girl remembers ordering gods-knows-how-many dozens of blackberry tarts for her friends back at the Nest from...the pretty pirate girl. Lucella. No--Luculla.
The groggy girl goes to run her fingers through her hair and discovers her locks missing! Even worse, her scalp is covered in strange lumps and bumps! Only then does she remember her new cornrows hairdo and giggle at herself. "Hey--I've discovered the cure for morning hair!" she announces, running her hands briefly over her braids.
She forces herself to stand, approaches Phenio, and kisses him hard on the lips. "Thank you," she says, staring into her lover's eyes before turning and nodding to Angus as well. "We'll definitely have to do this again. Maybe some time next week?"
Although still a bit wobbly on her feet, Jessibel forces herself to get dressed. Great--I'm gonna need a day off to recover from my night out, she thinks to herself. She wonders if Turl and the Fushis (Why did I think their name sounded so funny last night?) have dug up any useful information on the various goings-on in Redroof district. Part of her hopes not; a day in bed sounds much more enjoyable than suiting up for hero duty. She'd also made vague plans to report in to her mother and grandmother...but since she had no coin to further pay off the loan Lady Eldonna had floated her, perhaps that could wait.
The following evening, when she sees Lucius and the condition he's in, Jessi goes pale. This is all my fault--I told him about the murders in Redroof and he went off alone to deal with them! She pours all three of her available cure light wounds spells into the mangled man as a sort of penance.
"This...this is the work of tooth fairies," Jessi tells the others in a stunned voice. "I thought they were just imaginary creatures in the stories my mother used to tell me so that I'd take good care of my appearance. But the bites...and especially the removal of his teeth.... The breaking of his fingers, though...I'm not sure such small creatures are capable of that."
"You mean me 'n Angus didn't keep you awake all night?" Leora asks in her most innocent voice while winking at the young man.
She's glad for her friend's magic - she'd forgotten to take her makeup off before falling asleep last night, and it's now smeared all around her eyes (and pillow).
"Hangovers... oh yeah! A friend of mine, she's a really good chemist, and she made these for me a few weeks ago. I almost forgot I'd brought them along." Leora remembers when Davina first told her about the potion called alchemist's kindness. Belatedly, she wonders what Davina would think if she knew Leora had given the spirited young Jessi even more ideas, so she adds "They're pretty expensive though. You could buy a lot of wine for what one of these costs." With that, she pours some of the powder into their four cups.
After breakfast, she echoes Jessi's sentiment. "I'm definitely up for next week!" She kisses Angus on the cheek before they leave. She is clearly in a very good mood, and once they've left the boys, she says sincerely to Jessi "Hey, thanks for inviting me, that was a lot of fun. It was great to get out and meet people and talk and hang out." Sounding a little less mushy, she says "And meeting Angus was nice too. It looks like things worked out between you and Phenio as well!"
She asks the young bard if she minds stopping by an alchemy shop before they return to the Wasp's Nest, or if Jessi would rather continue on her own so that they arrive at separate times. Either way, she purchases some powdered silver on the way.
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After she and Jessi return to the Wasp's Nest, Domitius reminds her about the chain mail armor they recovered from Kossrani for the umpteenth time. She'd been avoiding it for a number of reasons, one being that it was downright gross, and a second, more important one, she was pretty creeped out by wearing the armor of a priest of Asmodeus, Cayden Cailean's immortal enemy. But she'd finally come up with an idea and was in the mood to see it through. "You're right, I'll clean it up today. Right now, actually."
Leora gets to work, scouring the blood off of the armor by hand. While she knows Jessi's prestidigitation spell could quickly clean the armor, she feels that's not the right thing to do in this case. After what feels like hours of scrubbing, she arranges the armor on the floor in a quiet alcove of the Nest. She sets a tankard of ale nearby, and prays over it, adding the powdered silver she'd bought earlier that day.
"Cayden Cailean, the followers of the Prince of Darkness enslave our friends and family. Protect me so that I may free our loved ones in your name," Leora prays. She remembers the terrible conditions that Mallus and Tinker were kept in, merely to bring the greedy Kossrani money and to support the despicable Lord Mayor. "Cleanse away the evil spirit of the one who wore this armor before me." She imbues the ale with holy energy, and washes the chain mail one last time, this time using the beer.
At no time during all this, does Leora think about what an odd spectacle she must seem to her friends, crawling around in the dirt with a dead dwarf's armor and a mug of beer.
Her improvised ritual complete, Leora dons the armor and goes back to see Dom. "Alrighty. What do you think of my chain-ale armor?" She grins at the stupid joke she just made.
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Leora is horrified at the number and variety of Lucius's wounds. Though Jessibel seems to have things under control, she does what she can to help clean and bandage. "Korva, did you find him like this? Where was he? Was there anyone around, that could have done all this?"
She frowns, frustrated that she can't fix the deeper damage inflicted on Lucius. "$&*#. It's nearly curfew. It'll be rough, but Lucius should be alright through the night. Maybe we can get a scroll or take him to the Temple of Shelyn first thing in the morning. Unless we want to put our Queensmen disguises on and try taking him tonight... " Leora is usually decisive, but isn't sure what to do in this situation. She hates seeing Lucius in pain, but if they get caught after curfew, the Queensmen would only make things worse.
Jessi accompanies Leora to the alchemy shop and then back to the Nest. She hangs around outside people-watching for a half-hour (OK, ten minutes--she gets bored easily!) and then heads inside herself. She checks on the progress or lack thereof in hunting the alleged invisible intruder that had collapsed the ceiling on Korva; then she checks in briefly with the tengu herself to check on her condition.
Jessibel rules out a visit to the family villa until she has something noteworthy to report or more gold to pay off part of her debt to her grandmother. That means focusing on the Silver Balladeers and the lovely Silverbelle. Jessi asks Rexus if he'd crossed either of those subjects in his perusal of the old Silver Ravens documents. She's thrilled to hear Rexus say he had; she's appalled, however, when the scholar points to a corner of his cluttered desk and says, "Somewhere in that pile, I believe."
It takes Jessi several long, booooring hours to find the pages Rexus had mentioned in an old journal. What she finds is vague, but the notes give her enough ideas that she feels comfortable in trying to bring out the powers of a Silver Balladeer on her own. All she needs is a silver weapon.
Sure, she feels certain she can get Dom to lend her his silver morningstar for a few days, but that weapon's heavier than she prefers to wield. Davina, however, possesses a silver dagger.
"Davina--can I borrow your silver dagger for an experiment?" she asks the novelist/adventurer. "I promise I'll give it back...unless you don't really need it and would like me to keep it."
Davina returns to the nest after her visit with her family. She came with some alchemical reagents and a supply of clothes for a few days just in case. She approves of Leora's new armor. "You are looking very stylish. I'm glad you could cleanse it."
She is busy settling in her alchemical lab, and work space in the back corner of the nest when Lucius is brought in. Rushing over she is shocked to hear Jessibel say Tooth Fairies. "Where would he have run afoul of those? Does anyone know what he was working on?" Knowing she can't help much with the healing, she begins to research Tooth Fairies to find out what their weaknesses and tactics might be.
When Jessibel approaches, looks up from the tome she's reading. She looks confused when Jessibel asks to "borrow" her silver dagger. "The dagger was a found item. I didn't pay for it. You can keep it. I'll be looking to get some special metals on a couple of rapiers soon. You never know when we'll be fighting demons or fey again. What did you want it for?"
When Domitius heard Kiri talking to what seemed to be empty space, he was alternatively suprised and relieved. I guess it's good that it's no longer just the bird an me that think that, he thinks to himself.
Coming to Kiri's side, he leaves his weapon sheathed, and tries to pinpoint whatever Kiri's talkng to.
"I mentioned the Redroof murders to Lucius right before he vanished from the Nest--it's all my fault this happened to him."
Jessi goes on to tell Davina about her personal quest to uncover the powers of a Silver Balladeer and become one herself . She adds that she's planning on purchasing a mithral rapier and mithral shirt for herself at some point in the future, but it won't be any time soon as she's pretty much broke and still has a tuition loan to pay off.
After experimenting a bit with the dagger and her own bardic powers, Jessi thinks that she's beginning to get a feel for what makes a Silver Balladeer tick. She returns the dagger to Davina before the group heads out for Redroof, saying, "You might need this back. If tooth fairies are resistant to normal weapons like the grimples were, you may need this--I can rely on silver coin shots. Hmm...if the tooth fairy rumor is true, that would make two kinds of wicked fey raising havoc in Redroof. Sounds like more than mere coincidence to me."
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Korva is in good shape now, but feels terrible about Lucius's condition.
"That tiefling bint, Zea, she showed us to him, said he'd told her something about us. She found him like this yesterday, tried to keep him alive, couldn't get him to wake up. When we showed up, she was about to try breaking curfew just to get him to the temple of Shelyn. She told us he had started patrolling at night in the tiefling ghetto, what they call the Devils' Nursery, trying to catch whoever was killing folk down there. Looks like they caught him instead. We got a place to meet her, we can take you there if you want to speak to her yourself."
Jessibel suits up for action, magically dying her armor and hair Boring Brown again with prestidigitation before setting out into the streets with the Fushi Sisters.
"Two groups of five?" she asks the others.
Although Turl's company wouldn't necessarily check in immediately if they'd uncovered nothing concerning the Red Jills, Jessi's concerned for the troupe's safety while hunting down the unpredictable gang of tieflings.
"If we're going to sneak out now, during curfew, I'd rather take Lucius to Songbird Hall than go to the Devil's Nursery after dark. I want to be able to see whatever attacked Lucius before it gets us." Leora looks at her friends to see what they'd like to do.
"Will Lucius be stable through the night? I'd rather not push our luck again by being out on the streets at night if we can avoid it." she thinks for a moment, "Though carrying an unconscious man through the streets during the daytime will probably be more noticeable. We'd have to have a good story about it."
"Lucius will be stable through the night, but will be in a lot of pain until he rests for several days or a more talented healer than me is able to take a look at him. We could try using a raven to ask Zacharin to come here to avoid moving Lucius. Or we could try our luck buying a scroll at the market. "
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Kiri walks slowly through the Nest, feeling for stray air currents, while its residents all hold their breath whenever she is nearby. Unfortunately she cannot feel any movement of air that shouldn't be there. This could mean that whatever was here before has left, or it could be hiding and refraining from moving about in the way that was causing air movement before.
When Kiri's search proves fruitless, Jessi begins searching using Detect Magic. (Nicolae, as well, if he wants to.) Neither detects any magic auras other than the ones they expect to, including the magic page on Rexus's desk, and the magic items that some of them are carrying.
When Leora starts scanning, she begins walking through the Next on the route previously agreed-upon.
When she gets to the top of the stairs and steps into the warehouse area of the Nest, she suddenly senses the presence of evil somewhere within 60 feet in front of her.
Jessibel looks at the others a bit nervously, knowing that if this ploy fails to eliminate the unseen saboteur, the Nest may become unsafe for habitation. ”We only have one shot at this. We have to strike hard and strike true. Assuming we locate the intruder, we’ll have to play dumb until it’s within the range of Kiri’s air blast, Dom’s charging ability, and whatever other surprises the rest of us have cooked up. Just chat quietly about something—maybe the Silver Ravens’ finances or treasury—until we spellcasters can pinpoint the intruder. When we detect our uninvited friend, our keyword phrase can be something like ‘Good point,’ after which we’ll message the thing’s location and launch the attack. Sound good? Well then…good luck, folks! Let’s do this!”
Jessibel casts message, targeting Dom and Kiri. Then she casts detect magic and, with three silver coins in her left hand, coin shot. The bard then slowly descends into the Long Roads Coffee House’s basement, through the secret door therein, and down into the Nest, concentrating on her spell while scanning for magical auras where there ought not be any. ”Start chatting, but act natural,” she whispers to the half-orc and strix. ”I’ll alert you both when I detect something and it’s within range of our little ambush.”
Leora listens carefully as Jessibel explains the plan in the coffee shop - and not in the Nest. She hadn't even considered that the thing could still be lurking in the Nest, waiting for the right moment to do something. Or maybe it was just listening, waiting to report on them to someone. To her, this was scarier than invading the Salt Works and being caught by the Queensmen. Who knew what sort of awful creature was hiding in their home and trying to kill them? Or maybe there was more than one!
After the preparations are taken care of, Leora leads the way around the Nest, moving slowly to make sure her spell of evil detection covers every nook and cranny. Jessibel is chatting about how much money they will have after they sell some of the goods they've acquired recently, and how much should be donated to the Silver Ravens treasury.
"Good point," Leora says as they move to the stairs, about to enter the workshop, and she finally detects the evil thing's presence.
Davina decided to stand next to Rexus' desk during the search. Those papers are important, and I want to make sure no one is messing with them. We need that history deciphered not pieces of it to go missing. She had chosen to create two Comprehend Languages formula for the day. When she hears Leora say "Good Point' she starts to drink the formula she had poured in a coffee mug.
When Jessibel hears Leora give the code phrase, she goes a bit off the gameplan, moving to the table in the heart of the room; from there, her detect magic spell should be able to reach every corner of the chamber...eventually.
"I see our dedicated translator is still hard at work," she comments aloud, centering her current detect magic scan around the desk where Rexus works.
"But we just have one translator. A single guy can only figure out so much stuff. "
Leora knows this isn't true at all, Kiri and Davina are helping with the translating too. She figures the Ravens will understand why she emphasized certain words. And that the thing lurking in the nest won't.
She continues concentrating to determine exactly where the invisible creature is.
Jessibel takes a seat at the table and lets out a big sigh. She puts her elbows on the tabletop, cups her hands, and lowers her chin into that cup for support. Gazing casually in the direction of Rexus's desk, she ponders aloud, "I wonder if there's even anything worthwhile in those piles of documents."
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Kiri received the message and nodded towards Rexus' office as she gestured Domitu to follow her. She stopped far enough away that she wouldn't be seen by any one inside the room, or in the hallway, and waited for word they'd found the intruder.
Leora walks slowly towards the table. "This place is just such a mess! Maybe we should spend some of our money on a real desk! And with Tinker spreading all that dust all over the room I can't believe we haven't tracked any of it down here by all these crates and the desk."
Although her story seems kind of contrived, Leora is confident her friends will figure out what she's hinting at. She continues to use her spell to keep track of where the evil aura is and make sure it isn't moving as she walks slowly down the stairs towards Rexus's desk.
"I should straighten these papers up some. Rexus is quite messy." She moves to one end (not the front) of the desk and starts to rearrange the papers on the desk.
"Eugh! There it is! It's a rat, under the desk!" Since there's no good way to aim her crossbow at the rat from where she's standing, Leora casts light on the chair next to her. Hopefully it will make it easier for everyone else to see as it tries to escape.
Davina moves toward the stacks of crates.
Jessibel almost loses her concentration when Leora starts yelling about a rat but continues to scan the area she picked previously, attempting to pinpoint, define the strength of, and possibly identify the various magical emanations she detected moments earlier.
Hearing the commotion, and deciding that the fighting with whatever it was had started, came quickly into the room looking for the rat. She looked around quickly for the creature, prepared to crush it with a burst of wind.