"Another damned doppleganger?" Tanith growls at Farrukh's warning.
"Eh?" Eben looks over at what Farrukh is pointing out. "I have. At least it's not one of those freaky ones with multiple eye colors." He stares back at the cat for a moment. "We're all 100% sure about the 'doppelgangers don't do animals' thing, then? Just want to make certain..."
Carina's examination of Filge's body causes her face to turn a very pale blue. "Oh... oh my..."
That's... gods, I don't know if there's even a word for how cruel that is. And DISGUSTING.
Once they're back on the surface, she's not feeling especially talkative. She just stares off into space.
"Huh?" Carina looks over to where Farrukh is pointing. "Oh..."
When they settle on the ground, the heroes can see a new exit, previously hidden. Exploring it, they find it promptly leads into the sewers.
4 heavy steel shields
2 masterwork rapiers
2 maserwork hand crossbows (32 bolts)
4 flasks of alchemist's fire
4 tanglefoot bags.
In addition, their boots are caked with some sort of yellow dust which is faintly glowing.
In Telakin's back chamber, there was a small box containing four extremely knotted oak branches, two scrolls on dark parchment, one scroll on light parchment, and a thin copper wand. The box is marked, "Spare".
Carina's examination of Filge's body causes her face to turn a very pale blue. "Oh... oh my..."
That's... gods, I don't know if there's even a word for how cruel that is. And DISGUSTING.
Once they're back on the surface, she's not feeling especially talkative. She just stares off into space.
"Huh?" Carina looks over to where Farrukh is pointing. "Oh..."
As for the cat's eyes, they're likely nothing supernatural. White cats with blue eyes do have a tendency to be deaf, though.
Carina blinks. "Um... we don't have anything to worry about with that kitty there." She points at the cat. "Although the combination of white fur and blue eyes on a cat usually means it's deaf."
"What I think is more concerning, however, is the Beggar's Gold found on the dark elves' boots. It's a harmless and kinda rare sort of fungus, but it grows in underground urban areas." She shivers. "I think the drow and their squid-headed boss might have a base under Greyhawk..."
"That makes sense", Tanith replies. "And that means we've got to be on our guard until this thing is dealt with for good. Nobody goes anywhere without an escort. We'll hide out until Eben's friends are ready to meet with us."
"Where, though?" Carina scratches her head and hugs herself. "And what'll we do with..." She swallows and nods at the bodies tied to Spiny's back. "...them in the meantime?"
Please... Astraden, I'm so sorry about all this...
"Probably a sewer junction near the Cold Forge. That's what the note to Telakin said. That mark it was signed with could have been squid-face's signature," Eben points out. "But for now... we might be able to keep the bodies in the Crooked House's stables for the night, at least." Yeah, Tarquin will love that...
"Nobody will notice the smell out there."
"Okay, you two take Spiny back to the inn. I'll go make my drop, then meet you back there. Shouldn't be more than half a bell getting back. Farrukh, you want to be my bodyguard?"
Carina says nothing. She just walks up to Spiny and pats him on the nose.
"Let's go. I hope Tarquin won't be too angry..." She walks ahead of Spiny, tapping her thigh and beckoning the dinosaur to follow.
I mean, really, it's not like anyone else would want to stable their mount at the Crooked House and would take issue with the dinosaur carrying three corpses. I can't imagine the sight of that putting them off of staying there.
As the party starts to move, they notice the cat following.
Spiny follows Carina.
The undine pauses and looks at the little white cat. Part of her ponders whether or not it's following her for some nefarious purpose.
Alternatively, it could just be hungry...
"Hello, little guy." Carina crouches and waves hello to the cat with a smile on her face. She then looks away, trying to communicate that she poses no threat to it.
The cat hesitates. After a moment, it pads over, still looking wary.
The heroes notice a small slip of paper tied to its neck.
Tanith watches the cat closely, wary of any dopple-antics.
After he's reasonably sure its not preparing to pounce, the big man approaches and tries to get the scrap of paper.
Carina scratches behind the cat's ears before noticing the slip of paper tied to its neck.
"Oh? What's this?" She unties the paper and takes it off the kitty to read.
The letter is written in a disorderly scrawl.
Hey. Me boys an I showed some of you to millstream earlyer today in slums quorter corter. freind wants word with you. Its important. Bring girl, my friend can help. midnight muddle, obadhi shrine.
p.s. Screecher wants a tip. She likes cream.
The white cat suddenly gives an ear-splitting yowl, more-or-less confirming Carina's "deaf" theory.
Reading over Carina’s shoulder, Tanith chuckles for what feels like the first time in ages.
”We can get her a snack at the House. Think you can get to follow us?” the big Kordite asks.
"Okay, you two take Spiny back to the inn. I'll go make my drop, then meet you back there. Shouldn't be more than half a bell getting back. Farrukh, you want to be my bodyguard?"
"Sure. Don't have anything better to do, really. And I wouldn't want you getting nabbed again."
"Um. Kinda suspicious..." Eben says, staring at the note. "But at least it's fairly near the Crooked House. Maybe we can check that out after Farrukh and I get back." He pauses, and looks from the note to Spiny and back. "When it says 'bring the girl', is it... talking about Astraden?"
2) Once she’s gotten over the shock of being brought back and/or a new body, get Astraden to identify and appraise the loot so we can start selling it off.
3) Shop and meet the new guy.
4) Learn about Squidface.
5) Find time for a nice bath at the Kordite shrine.
Eben (accompanied by Farrukh, who may look significantly scuffed up but is actually all the more intimidating for that...) splits off from the group. The two make their way to, actually, the safest and most upscale part of the city, just outside the palace.
Wincing as the kitty yowls, Carina stands up and nods. "I imagine I can--if I can get along with Spiny here, I think I can befriend a deaf cat."
She looks down at 'Screecher' (How apropos.), pats her thigh and beckons the cat to follow her.
"We'll meet up at the Crooked House. Please stay safe." She says to Farrukh and Eben as they take off. She then turns on her heel and leads the way back to the Crooked House.
At the well outside the palace, Eben tears a page out of his journal, fills his inkpen, and composes a hasty note.
'Shifty' problem-makers located, dealt with. Operation close to eliminated. Some followups, complications, best dealt with by large & subtle organized types. My group is at Croked House, Midnight Muddle. Send reps there for debriefing.
After a minute of blowing on the glistening lines to dry them, Eben mutters to himself and just casts prestidigitation to set the ink. He then rolls the missive up, stuffs it in the green bottle he pilfered from the Sodden Hold, and gently lowers it down the well using mage hand. "Yeah, just 'throw it down' she said. What, and break the stupid message?" he says. Then it's just a long walk back to Midnight Muddle.
At the Crooked House, as tired as he is, he spends a few hours transcribing the list of doppelgangers who have actively replaced various people of importance. If anyone asks, he points out "We might have to barter this to the guild in order to get any help from them. And I want to keep the information for our own comfort."
Sometime in the pre-dawn hours, he finally crawls into bed, not even bothering to undress.
The next morning, Carina finds the white cat is gone.
Eben, meanwhile, awakens to find a note pinned to the inside of his door with a rusty knife.
Pastry shop. 8:00 am. Bring your friends.
Most of the party that do not enforce rigorous sleeping schedules find themselves waking up rather later than normal, thanks to their physical and emotional exhaustion. Eben notices the time is 9:00 am.
Having finished his morning workout/prayer, with Farrukh of all people, Tanith returns to the room with Eben and Carina sweaty but bearing breakfast.
"Looks like your friends are interested", the big man says while pouring some juice for Carina. "Is the fact that they want us along a good sign or a bad one?"
"Well, good for me, at the least..." Eben says. "Especially since we're running late. Not that thieves are big on punctuality as a lifestyle, but when it's a time they set... well, people can get grumpy, throats can get cut, that kinda thing."
Carina eats her breakfast with no comment. Very dark circles are visible under her eyes--one only wonders if she got any sleep at all.
You know what? I don't even care anymore. By the time we finish breakfast, we're going to be over an hour late. I figure we're either in for a fight, or we're not.
Farrukh looks at Eben tiredly, finally feeling the ache of every bruise and cut he suffered yesterday.
"I'm willing to risk it. At least being dead doesn't hurt so much."
He then digs ravenously into his breakfast, not having eaten since yesterday.
Later that day, the group comes to Murdo's Pantry, likely the "pastry shop" referenced in the note. Murdo, an astonishingly fat dwarf covered in flour, politely requests that Spiny be kept outside as the heroes enter.
There are six customers present. Two appear to be a married couple, a pair of tough-looking humans sitting near the counter. Right next to the door sit two customers: One a tall, thin man with stringy hair and sunken
eyes, wearing a ratty gray cloak and darker colored robe; the other an older man with a notched sword at his belt.
The last two are most noticeable. One is a sleek elf woman the party recognizes as Tirra. The other looks like her perfect opposite, an enormous man Eben recognizes as the half-ogre from the previous meeting.
Tirra looks up at the party, silent.
Tanith eyes the other patrons with his eyes lingering slightly longer on Tirra.
He notes some kind of connection between the elf and Eben but waits for the bard to make the first move.
Carina eyes the patrons with a degree of unease that's only amplified when she sees Tirra.
She bites her lip and lightly touches Tanith's hand. "Um... sorry we're late. Had a long day and, well, we overslept..." She scratches the back of her head.
Tirra raises an eyebrow, looking somewhat contemptuous. "I see." She gestures to the table. There are seven other chairs. "Do please sit."
Carina sits down without a word.
Before headed out, Eben does a few small chores. First, the doppelganger infiltration papers he gathers up into a neat and more or less orderly bundle, leaving only one randomly selected page out. The rest of the sheaf he rolls up and ties in place with a bit of ribbon. This and his hastily transcribed copy he entrusts to the temporary care of Carin's haversack. He pays Tarquin for another day's board for himself and his horse, as well as including a generous 'tip' for the temporary use of an empty stable stall as a morgue. "Just through today, I promise..."
Lastly, he tucks the sack containing Telakin's skinned face and at his belt, letting it jauntily swing to and fro as he walks. The spare page he toys with on the walk from the Crooked House to Murdo's, folding it down into a collapsible origami rose.
Inside Murdo's, he exhibits a bit of confusion when the proprietor asks him if he'd like 'another batch of peach tarts'. "Huh? I don't even like peaches that much..." he says, before buying a sweet cheese pastry instead. He does make as point of looking around the room casually, past Tirra and her ugly friend.
He smirks a little, then leans in and whispers to Farrukh, "Keep an eye on the lovebirds, just in case. They're her backup." Then he gives a gracious nod of his head to the 'official' guild representatives. "Tirra, you're just as radiant wearing a suspicious sneer as you were when we met the other day and you were sporting a condescending smirk. I swear, if I can ever get you to smile, it will cause my heart to leap out of my chest."
He takes the proffered seat. "I assume you know my friends, and by 'know', I mean, 'have already no doubt done cursory background checks on'. So I suppose we can skip an actual formal introduction. But you do seem to have a few seats too many here." He takes a bite of warm, flaky cheese-infused pastry.
Before headed out, Eben does a few small chores. First, the doppelganger infiltration papers he gathers up into a neat and more or less orderly bundle, leaving only one randomly selected page out. The rest of the sheaf he rolls up and ties in place with a bit of ribbon. This and his hastily transcribed copy he entrusts to the temporary care of Carin's haversack. He pays Tarquin for another day's board for himself and his horse, as well as including a generous 'tip' for the temporary use of an empty stable stall as a morgue. "Just through today, I promise..."
"Oh, it's quite alright," Tarquin says cheerfully. The gnome turns down the bribe. "If you weren't a friend of Eligos, I'd think you were insane murderers and I'd have called the Nightwatchmen last night while you slept, but Eligos's friends are usually pretty stable. Just get them out before they start to smell. Especially the dark elf. Drow give me hives."
He takes the proffered seat. "I assume you know my friends, and by 'know', I mean, 'have already no doubt done cursory background checks on'. So I suppose we can skip an actual formal introduction. But you do seem to have a few seats too many here." He takes a bite of warm, flaky cheese-infused pastry.
Tirra raises an eyebrow. "We've got someone on the way. Speaking of 'on the way', hey, Eben, did you have a nice walk home last night? My friends and I were so worried. The Nightwatchmen have been in ever such a strange mood of late."