"Kangaroo rat? Ascension?" Nari asks, confused, startled enough by this talk of previous lives to actually ask the questions out loud. She looks over at Seph and shrugs, an expression of bemused confusion on her face.
Seph shrugs as well his mind in its current form not being able to really comprehend that sort of talk
Nari was going to just go back to eating, but at that point her psicrystal jumped on her food. She sighed and set down her fork.
"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry if I w-w-was rude. I d-d-don't understand about the f-f-factions. W-w-w-what about the B-b-bleakers? W-w-w-what is it they b-b-believe? And the D-d-d-dustmen? It's hard t-t-to investigate something w-w-when you d-d-don't know who any of the g-g-groups are and why they d-d-do or d-d-d-don't g-g-get along."
Seeing Nari getting nervous again Seph hops over and climbs onto her shoulder giving a quick hiss at the psicrystal as he does so.
Isaac is naturally going to pick up his laundry before the ragman gets it. He'll likely go along with Naridre's suggestion of asking around at the soup kitchen, since there don't seem to be a heck of a lot of other leads to follow up.
Mrs. Feddlewick has Issac's clothing ready for him. The once-dirty rags are washed clean and the rips expertly mended.
"Quite a bit o' wear on these skins cutter," Mrs. Feddlewick comments handing them over.
" It'll be ten Stingers, eight Greens all told. If yeh're looking for some new skins I have some family what do custom tailoring."
Seeing Nari getting nervous again Seph hops over and climbs onto her shoulder giving a quick hiss at the psicrystal as he does so.
Nari gives Seph a grateful smile. She seems to relax just a little.
"Thank you for explaining that to me," she says politely to Isaac. When she isn't trying to hide or barely able to talk through her nervousness, it's like speaking to a completely different person.
Justin enters the front door about midway through Isaac's explanation to Neidre. He wears his usual smirk and carries a backpack carelessly slung over one shoulder. He waves to the others, but doesn't interrupt. As he sits down at the table, he seems happy, even smug. His hair is still damp from being washed, his goatee is neatly trimmed, and his clothes are clean and show no evidence of the previous day's adventures. (Except for his ever-present long leather coat, which never seems to change, for better or worse.) He orders a plate of steak and eggs, and ale. But otherwise remains silent through Isaac's speech, munching on a roll and paying attention to the details as if he is expecting a test later. When the ranger finishes he nods thoughtfully.
"Sounds like the factions all oppose each other with a passion from what little I've seen. I'm surprised that there isn't more outright conflicts because of it. Is it true that's because of the intercession of the Lady?" He asks curiously.
Nari listens intently, eager to learn more about her new home. She decides that Isaac fits in the 'not scary' category, which means that currently everyone at the breakfast table counts as not scary. She relaxes more than she usually would in a public place, actually looking up at people when they speak and even smiling now and then.
Karrin has been listening to the conversation at the table (to the best of her ability) but eating food takes a lot of concentration. Also her father had repeatedly told her not to talk with her mouth full and it seems people around here felt the same way . . . but how could you have a conversation and eat at the same time if you couldn't talk with your mouth full? It was another of life's great mysteries.
"I asked about this lady once before," Karrin says to Justin after quickly swallowing her food, "but I think someone got confused, she's like the big boss of Sigil right? Really powerful and stuff, but I don't know any more then that."
Isaac is naturally going to pick up his laundry before the ragman gets it. He'll likely go along with Naridre's suggestion of asking around at the soup kitchen, since there don't seem to be a heck of a lot of other leads to follow up.
Mrs. Feddlewick has Issac's clothing ready for him. The once-dirty rags are washed clean and the rips expertly mended.
"Quite a bit o' wear on these skins cutter," Mrs. Feddlewick comments handing them over.
" It'll be ten Stingers, eight Greens all told. If yeh're looking for some new skins I have some family what do custom tailoring."
Isaac hands over the cash, throwing in an extra stinger for her trouble. Holding up a worn but clean shirt he praises her handiwork.
"Mrs. Feddlewick, you're a miracle worker. Let me take down your relations' address and I'll give them a visit."
Karrin has been listening to the conversation at the table (to the best of her ability) but eating food takes a lot of concentration. Also her father had repeatedly told her not to talk with her mouth full and it seems people around here felt the same way . . . but how could you have a conversation and eat at the same time if you couldn't talk with your mouth full? It was another of life's great mysteries.
"I asked about this lady once before," Karrin says to Justin after quickly swallowing her food, "but I think someone got confused, she's like the big boss of Sigil right? Really powerful and stuff, but I don't know any more then that."
The half-elf nods.
"Aye, that's the Dark of it, though saying she's the boss isn't quite it. The Lady isn't nearly so direct. Ever seen a dabus? The floating men with the little horns that talk in symbols? The Lady made them to keep Sigil in the shape She likes. Yah ever wonder why the Powers don't just march on Sigil in force and take it? Whole city of portals could be quite a prize, right? The Lady of Pain keeps them out, somehow. Which is why they have to send Proxies, mortal servants, if they want a presence here. Beyond that, Her attention is never benevolent."
He leans in conspiratorially, his voice hushed.
"Justin's got the right of it when he says She keeps the factions in check. No matter how powerful the factions get, they've got to at least play civil while in Sigil. When She steps in directly, some leatherheads are about to get Lost. A berk gets too big for his britches, or if She just decides that they're too dangerous to Sigil itself to walk the streets She sends them to the Mazes. One day a berk's walking to his kip like he always does but the street bends wrong, right? Old Copperman Way might not take him where it's supposed to and he's caught, Mazed. Whole factions have gotten Mazed before, you tumble to that? There's always a way out, which is what drives 'em barmy while they're in there, but few ever make it out again. And listen, because this might save your sodding life (not that I think any of you are Clueless enough to try it, but better safe than sorry): the Lady of Pain is not a Power. Don't ever worship Her, don't ever sing Her praises, don't ever try to get Her attention. Leatherheads doing that end up in Her shadow, cut to ribbons without Her ever lifting a finger. If your luck goes so sour that you end up peeping Her down the street, you run for your sodding life."
"Mrs. Feddlewick, you're a miracle worker. Let me take down your relations' address and I'll give them a visit."
Mrs. Feddlewick gives Issac an address down a few blocks on Copperman Way for Herrigan Feddlewick, Gentleman's Tailoring
"Me brother's son, don't yeh know, a foine tailor."
"Sound like the whole damn place is run by a tyrant. One who pretends she 'aint one and everybody's so busy pissin' their pants they just play along."
Nari shrinks back into herself, once more extremely wary of her surroundings as one of the people she hasn't classified as not scary joins the group.
"Sound like the whole damn place is run by a tyrant. One who pretends she 'aint one and everybody's so busy pissin' their pants they just play along."
"Might be, at that. Pretty light for a tyrant, though. Any fiend, celestial or Prime can come and go as they please so long as they know the portals. The day-to-day running is done by the factions from the Hall of Speakers and the Lady don't show a preference. But believe me, She don't factor into every day life. A berk's much more likely to get scragged by a troupe of Hardheads or put in the deadbook by some Chaosmen than have any truck with the Lady."
Isaac gently pats Nari on the shoulder and offers some encouraging words, breaking from Elven abruptly once or twice with some Cager cant in the Planar Trade language.
Elven:
Nari smiles up at him gratefully.
Elven:
"Sound like the whole damn place is run by a tyrant. One who pretends she 'aint one and everybody's so busy pissin' their pants they just play along."
Justin wipes up the last of the remains of his eggs with a biscuit, pops it into his mouth and chews thoughtfully. He then washes it down with a mouthful of ale.
"Be that as it may, I don't plan on attracting her attention if I can help it. I'm sure she's called the 'Lady of Pain' for a reason. And I'm not in a hurry to find out why. Anyway, unless she has something to do with Eli specifically, or disappearing crazy people in general, I doubt we'll have reason to worry about her. At least today." He says hopefully.
"Speaking of today, what else do we have to follow up on besides meeting with the original client and hoping he's willing to give us more info than previously?"
"I was thinking last night, and I thought I saw a connection,... and then I fell asleep." He admits sheepishly.
"And when I woke up I was, distracted. But there is definitely something that we found out yesterday that is bugging me. It's tickling the back of my mind. And when I put my finger on it,..." He snorts, snags another roll and takes a large bite, chewing thoughtfully under furrowed brows.
Swift humms to herself as she eats a little, obviously caught up in her own little world as the others talk. Content to leave the others to talk she makes plans in the back of her head and reaches out to gently pet Seph from time to time.
The group has a large breakfast with sausage, fried potatoes, fresh bread and a host of other wonderful treats. Renkar had left word that Gedrak Ironfist would be showing at the fourth hour Before Peak so there is little rush. A crowd of early peak workmen and merchants crowd the common room, clamoring for Bess' tucker.
After breakfast, the group exits the warm inn for the quick walk to the Silver Rose. The day is rainy, like many are in the Cage, and the brown water soaks into everyone's clothes as they sprint down Copper Court. The office is open and they find Renkar and Hanali chatting in the exercise room. Renkar smiles at them and gestures for them to be at ease.
"Ser Ironfist will be here shortly. I do advise you all to be circumspect when dealing with him. He is a tempermental dwarf, and we are working for him."
Drazek nods and steps bak towards a shadowed corner of the room near where Bethany sits against the wall, nursing a hangover. He doesn't exactly manage to hide the grin on his face.
Isaac nods and takes a seat.
"Aye-aye, boss, ye'll not her any back talk from me."
Bethany comes through the front door of the Cauldron looking decidedly worse for wear. She takes a seat close to, but not with, the others and tries to force down some breakfast. Joining the others as they leave, she flies erratically down to the Silver Rose, thanking the Winged Lord for it being such a short distance away.
Hanging back from the others, she leans against the wall for support, slowly regaining the use of her faculties. She scowls at Drazek as he moves near her, but her heart isn't in a confrontation right now (not to mention her head) and so she resumes her task of letting the wall support her. She catches Drazek's smile and makes a mental note to teach the Shadow some manners regarding his betters at some point in the future.
After a bit of chit-chat there is a knocking on the door. Hanali goes to open it and returns with a short figure dressed in chainmail and carrying a large Dwarven waraxe. The dwarf is dark haired and bearded, with a scattering of grey hairs in both. The many scars on his face and visible skin speak of experience on the battlefield. He looks about and mutters gruffly.
"Right. I'm here Renkar. What have yeh found out about Eliath?"
Renkar nods
"Good Peak to you Gedrak. Can I offer you some coffee? No?"
Renkar continues
"I will allow my operatives to describe what they have found out so far, and perhaps ask you for some information on Eliath to facilitate their mission."
Nari finds a seat far away from the intimidating harpy and does her level best to appear invisible.
Nari finds a seat far away from the intimidating harpy and does her level best to appear invisible.
Anyway, she only has a +4 in that particular Skill anyway. ;)
Nari finds a seat far away from the intimidating harpy and does her level best to appear invisible.Anyway, she only has a +4 in that particular Skill anyway. ;)
Justin sticks his tongue into his cheek when Renkar suggests that they be 'circumspect' with the dwarf, but nods obligingly. He gives a small smile to the dwarf when introduced, but sits back, letting the more charming members of the group have the first words. He observes everything carefully, and thinks about the best questions to ask the dwarf, that they might actually get an answer to,...
"Well, Ser Ironfist, we split up to search the Hive for your friend yesterday and it seems the Dustmen have him logged in the deadbook since eight peaks ago. They say he's been cremated. But we have other theories. Karrin lead a group to the Gatehouse to see if he had been interred with the Bleakers and they said that barmies have been disappearing from the streets. That very evening in the Hive, a barmy hit the Blinds in a way that leaves no marks on the body. The Chaosmen they spoke to spread the chant that it's become common lately to find the poor sods in such a state."
"Couple that with the fact that Toranna, the Dustman in charge of logging the deaders, knew Eliath as "Barmy Eli" from her Collectors almost off the top of her brain-box and we're getting the notion that there are some further darks on your mate and his whereabouts which don't involve a one way trip through a furnace."
Isaac pauses to let Ironfist absorb everything.
"Now, so far we've only got a few sparse leads to follow but we were hoping that you could give us some further chant on Eliath: who his friends were, where he called kip, if he had any enemies, things like that so that the next time we meet we'll have some more substantial chant for you."
Ironfist frowns as Issac makes his pitch for some darks
"Yeh've got teh understand I don't know the berk all that well. I hired him for a service, he was taking my jink to look up some darks in places I don't have access to. My theory is he got brainsnatched by a booktrap when he read the wrong page somewhere. I don't know if anyone was tryin' to pen him in the dead book. Alls I know is he was last seen wanderin' around the Hive barmier than a Spire god.."
Feigning disinterest Drazek listens to the man's word for the ring of truth. Or the underlying unspoken omission.
Feigning disinterest Drazek listens to the man's word for the ring of truth. Or the underlying unspoken omission.
Drazek:
Justin perks up at the mention that Eli was doing research for the dwarf.
'Now, THAT'S interesting!' He thinks with a smirk as he leans forward in his chair.
"Well. It must be pretty important information he was researching for you if you suspect a braintrap. A lot of mystics are paranoid about protecting their secrets. BUt very few bother to protect with a spelltrap something that can be found somewhere else anyway. If you can tell us what he was researching for you, and where, that might help us to understand what happened to him exactly. Why he suddenly went crazy,... er, Barmy."
"We, might, even be able to help you with your research." He adds as an afterthought with a quick glance at Renkar. "I presume that you were looking for him because his research was incomplete, and you wanted what he had managed to gather for your coins. I'm a fair hand at research myself. IF you can tell us what you're looking for, it may also help us with locating Eli for you."
"Of course, that may require further negotiations," He says with a deferential nod to Renkar. "As research was not included in the original reason we were hired. But again, the more we understand about what Eli was doing, the better chance we have of finding out what actually happened to him."
;P
"We, might, even be able to help you with your research." He adds as an afterthought with a quick glance at Renkar. "I presume that you were looking for him because his research was incomplete, and you wanted what he had managed to gather for your coins. I'm a fair hand at research myself. IF you can tell us what you're looking for, it may also help us with locating Eli for you.""Of course, that may require further negotiations," He says with a deferential nod to Renkar. "As research was not included in the original reason we were hired. But again, the more we understand about what Eli was doing, the better chance we have of finding out what actually happened to him."
Ironfist laughs
"Well yeh've got a set of brass ones, that's for sure. "
He leans back in his chair and looks Justin over
"No offense cutter, but Eliath had keys to some very guarded doors. He's a top shelf sage an' he charged a dear bit o'jink for his services. As to what he was searchin' for ... well, I'm an adventurer, I came across summat while exploring a dim corner of the planes. I wanted to know more, an' I hired Eliath, whom I'd done business with before. Anything more than that and I'm giving you darks I gave blood and jink to uncover."
"Fair enough. Could you tell us if you were referred to Eliath by another sage or adventurer? Where did you first meet him? Did he strike you as addle-coved the last time you spoke to him face-to-face?"
"Did you give the sage the key?" Karrin asks absentmindedly, "because if he opened the door himself he might of inadvertently let something in . . ."
Karrin again seems to be looking into her axe as she speaks. The blue glow from the crystal baths her face.
"Obviously he weren't all that good at it," Drazek slowly steps from the shadows. "You want to know 'bout dark corners, you come to the right place."
Diplomacy: 1d20+1=17
Ironfist sighs
"A blood I knew referred me to him five cycles ago. He helped me find the location of a tomb me an' my crew wanted a look at over in Acheron. Since then I've used him on occasion since then when there were deep darks to uncover. That berk knows how to lann the chant. He's a member of several private libraries, including the Society of the Luminiferous Aether. "
He shifts and taps a stubby finger to his large bulbous nose
"He always struck me as a bit barmy, but he spent his days reading dusty tomes an' debating points of history with his bloods. He didn't seem like the type to go wandering down to the Gatehouse looking for a cot. He seemed as normal as I'd ever seen him last time I palavered with him."
"Obviously he weren't all that good at it," Drazek slowly steps from the shadows. "You want to know 'bout dark corners, you come to the right place."
Ironfist starts at the menacing form of Drazek. His hand twitches towards his axe, then relaxes. He scowls
"Renkar, what's wi' this? "
He turns to Drazek.
"Yeh saying yeh can get access to more darks than Eliath? Or are yeh jest playing big dog in tha park? I don't have time for petty games."
"Did you give the sage the key?" Karrin asks absentmindedly, "because if he opened the door himself he might of inadvertently let something in . . ."
Ironfist looks askance at the absentminded Karrin and looks about to say something then thinks better of it
Karrin again seems to be looking into her axe as she speaks. The blue glow from the crystal baths her face.
Karrin:
Justin gives the dwarf a good-natured smirk.
"No offense taken. But you can't blame a, blood, for trying." He replies casually.
"And brass or otherwise, anything that you CAN tell us might help us uncover what happened. I'm not after your secrets sir, I'm just trying to unravel this mystery."
"I'm sure that your observations of Elaith's sanity are accurate. Any good researcher learns that teh key to holding onto your sanity while poring over dusty tomes is the ability to have a good conversation with oneself."
"Do I look like I gotta play at bein' big dog? People in this room got more skills than any 20 o' them fools outside put together. Rankar only works with the best."
Bethany remains quiet through all of this. She is slowly starting to regain some of her former poise and demeanour, but wants to play it cool. That and the fact that a lot of the language being used is taking her some time to decipher. Blood, Chant, Dark... it's like she's going to have to lean a whole new language just to comunicate with these people.
"Do I look like I gotta play at bein' big dog? People in this room got more skills than any 20 o' them fools outside put together. Rankar only works with the best."
Ironfist scowls at Drazek
"I'll tell yeh what me foine researcher. I'll give you a name: The Isle of Black Trees. It's what I was after, any darks on that. If yeh find me any chant on it, I'll make it worth yer while."
Justin gives the dwarf a good-natured smirk.
"No offense taken. But you can't blame a, blood, for trying." He replies casually.
"And brass or otherwise, anything that you CAN tell us might help us uncover what happened. I'm not after your secrets sir, I'm just trying to unravel this mystery."
"I'm sure that your observations of Elaith's sanity are accurate. Any good researcher learns that teh key to holding onto your sanity while poring over dusty tomes is the ability to have a good conversation with oneself."
Ironfist relaxes a bit after telling Drazek the name.
"I really don't have much else. If I did, I'd have lanned yeh the dark of it by now, there's no reason fer me ta hold anything back. I HIRED yeh to find him, after all. I ain't out ta make the job tougher. If yon 'researcher' who looks more like a combat warlock ta me wants to try researchin' the name, be me guest."
Ironfist looks to Renkar
"If yeh don't have aught else fer me I have things to attend to."
Renkar gets up and escorts him to the door, chatting polietly
Isaac grimaces as if he's eaten something sour when Ironfist mentions Acheron, but doesn't say anything. He listens along with the rest of the group and offers a farewell when the dwarf takes his leave.
Isaac grimaces as if he's eaten something sour when Ironfist mentions Acheron, but doesn't say anything. He listens along with the rest of the group and offers a farewell when the dwarf takes his leave.
Issac:
Drazek ponders but can't think of anything he's ever heard with that moniker
"If Ironfist is to be believed (and I don't doubt it, personally) his missing friend was a top-shelf spellcaster with some serious jink to throw around. Definitely not the type of barmy to look for a cot in the Gatehouse. The Society for the Luminiferous Aether is a good lead on our victim: closed club for top-shelf greybeards, he had to be sponsored to get in so there's at least one blood that knows him and someone there likely knows where his case was. Combine that with combing the Hive for the chant on our mysterious Barmy Killer and we're bound to turn up some deeper darks."