Xeno proceeds into the room, and begins to search the room. Unfortunately her search turns up nothing as the room appears to be empty.
Tom is excited, because this underground chamber seems to be a fantastic place to hide out and lay low when the heat is on.
He'll do a sweep of the room and then follow where the party decides.
"We certainly aren't going to get any farther this way. Might as well look for other ways to get farther in." Gideon answers, following suit with the others in taking one more look around.
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You peruse the room and find several damaged crates and boxes that seem to all be destroyed by the elements and worthless. As Tom is exploring, he steps on a bit of loose stone. Upon further investigation, he realizes the stone wasn't from the debris littering the room but was clearly a false tile. He is able to quickly peel the tile up. Inside the cache are three small crates in good condition. Gideon notices a small nest in the northeast corner of the room that was clearly used by a small humanoid creatures (possibly another gremlin).
Impressed Tom lets out a low whistle.
"Jackpot."
Tom puts the tile back crooked in order to mark the spot for later.
"Some goodies down here, bit big to carry away, but we can probably come back and sell this stuff once we're sure the place is clear."
Rexas comes over to Tom's report. "Sell it! I bet this is what we're looking for. Quick, help me lift these out!" Rexas squats on the floor reaching into the hole and starts to pull the first crate out.
Johan moves to help Rexas and passes the crates on to the others.
Tom reaches in and starts helping.
"To be fair, I wasn't paying that much attention to what it was we were supposed to be looking for."
"Yes'm," Tom replies, and carefully searches the crates for traps as they're pulled up.
Gideon moves to help pull the crates out as well, getting wherever will be the most useful position to do so from.
The first crate is able to be peeled off. Inside is a suit of Masterwork Leather Armor, a Composite shortbow (+1 Str), a masterwork hand crossbow, a masterwork silver morning star, a cloak with Elven runes inscribed on it's inseam, and a pouch with a dozen pearls inside.
The second crate contains a locked, watertight iron coffer.
The third crate contains ancient straw, but digging inside the straw you will find 6 silver figurines in the shape of a raven.
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"Much of this is probably magical but I'd need to look at it tomorrow to be sure unless someone can determine that now. If so they will certainly be useful in dealing with Thrune, however unless they are very powerful they won't be enough. Once Quicksilver
has finished checking it for traps lets get the other one open. Most records from when this was buried won't be very useful but it might contain directions to more stores of equipment, or powerful scrolls." Xeno says obviously thinking either possibility rather remote.
Rexas will turn his attention to the items pulled from the crates and cast Detect Magic examining the items and attempting to identify them. While he struggles with the first raven, the other 5 identify with the same enchantment so he makes a reasonable guess that they are all the same. He will finally explain, "I believe the cloak is a Cloak of Elvenkind it helps the wearer blend with his surroundings when the hood is drawn. The ravens on the other hand, are very fascinating. If you give them a command the trinket will turn into a raven and go to and wait at any location you tell it to go. I bet the Silver Raven's used to use these to pass messages right under their Chelaxian noses."
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Xeno nods to Rexas "Thanks, the pearls aren't magical, that's a shame. The Ravens will be useful if we want to pass messages, there are six of them and seven of us. Maybe the seventh person can act as the hub, every sends their Ravens to where the seventh is staying they can pass on messages. Shame they are silver, there is subset of our community that might get tempted by greed, doubt we can paint them black given their magical nature but worth a try."
"As for the rest of the stuff, the cloak is something that would useful to all of us, either to enhance our practiced skills or to make up for a lack of natural talent. However there is only one of them as there is only one of the other more mundane if skillfully made items. I suggest if anyone would like any of those items buys them from the rest of us and we sell the rest. The cloak is likely to be worth vastly more than anyone's share so the person who gets that will likely have to owe the rest of us until they or we earn more, given the trust we are having to give each other already I see little problem trusting any of you to repay later."
"I am not interested in the mundane equipment, I am interested in the cloak but will happily relinquish that claim for anyone with a good reason that they should get it."
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Tom works his magic on the lockbox and finds inside 4 scrolls holding down the corners of hundreds of papers. Rexas's eyes light up. "Mother was right, I bet those are the documents she believed the raven's hid here." Rexas hurries over to the box and thumbs through a few, lighting up even more as he realizes they're in some sort of code.
"I need to study these papers, and I need to reward you for your help here today. Please, let us retire to the Long Roads Coffeehouse. I have a friend there that will offer us a safe place to stay."
Tom is proud of himself for unlocking the box, but seeing what's within seems somewhat disappointed.
"Wait... code? That sounds fun."
With nobody piping up about the armor he adds:
"That leather gear looks pretty slick, and to be honest me own is starting to get that, sewer rat stank. Anybody mind if I pick that up?"
Does anyone recognize these scrolls? I am fine with Raven getting the bow Tom getting the armor. I am not that interested in the cloak so whoever would like it is fine. We should get a pretty penny for the pearls
Rexas informs you the spells contained within the scrolls are Misdirection, Pass without trace, Undetectable alignment, and whispering wind.
Hell's Rebel's Rebellion Sheet
Melia stood in the doorway guarding the exit while the others searched the room. She wasn't good at finding things so she left that to those that were.
When mention came of the coffee house she turned around, "Long roads? I know that place. It's nice."
Making your way out, you find your way to the Long Roads Coffeehouse, located in Villegre just northeast of the park. The establishment caters to an eclectic mix of customers, serving coffee and food to bright-eyed students of the Villegre and delivering fancy desserts and pastries to the noble estates in the Green. The name comes as much from its traditional halfling fare as for its lovable proprietor, Laria Longroad.
When you arrive with Rexus, Laria greets you all like old friends and presses steaming cups of fresh coffee and handfuls of pastries into your hands and quickly invites you into her office to "catch up on old time." Following along with her ruse, you're lead into the private place to talk. Once inside Rexus introduces each of you to the halfling.
The halfling is quick to ask, "You run into any trouble at the Fair Fortune?"
Tom is incredibly impressed, he's never been in any place so nice. He picks up a particularly flaky and complicated pastry, and bites into it, allowing the cream within to leak down his chin.
"Thish ish amazshing you guysh!" He says as he chows down.
He also pockets a few pastries for later.
Rexas will answer honestly, Laria knew of the mission I intended to recruit you for and more, if you are willing. I have been honest with you about everything I have told you. My hope, is that we can rebuild the silver ravens. Laria has agreed to aid us in that task." Rexas pauses a moment sipping his coffee before continuing. "You've proven yourself against the Chelish thugs, and your bravery is without question. I am hoping you'll join me. If not, I understand, and only ask you silence. You're free to go with payment in hand."
Having finished, Rexas will draw a small coffer from Laria's desk. "This is what remains of my inheritance, and I wish you to have it. You've given me more than all the fortunes in the box by helping me find these papers." Opening the box, Rexas will take a mithral key out and keep that for himself. The rest of its contents he pushes across the desk to you to take.
Inside the box are 150 gold crowns, a Victocora signet ring (worth 75 gp), a masterwork silver dagger, and a set of Burglar's Bracers.
"I'd like to hear more about what you have in mind, too. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see Thrune get a good, swift kick in the pants as much as the next guy, but I don't see how we'd be anything but a mosquito to the Thrice-Damned House as we are."
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Xeno nods "One condition, keep me or us informed and part of the decision process. I guess if you treat me as a partner in this rather than a employee we should be alright."
Xeno indicates the box. "On that topic, you needn't give me all that, don't get me wrong, I'm sure we can good use of it like the stuff in the cache but you don't need to give all of it, maybe you would like to keep the ring?"
Laria will let out a bit of a laugh, "You lot jump right to the endgame don't you. To be honest, there's little chance we can overthrow Thrune, but we may be able to drive them out of Kintargo. Ever the chances of that are slim. The best we can do now, is rally and recruit. Help the downtrodden and find the outspoken dissidents to support us. Once we've build up some support it might be possible to look further into the future."
Rexas will chime in, "I'm also hoping these encoded documents will aid us in some way. The old silver ravens were rumored to have lots of secret defenses against the Chelish. I'm hoping once these are uncoded we'll have a better idea what to do. For now, I'm just looking for a safe place to begin working on them." Rexas casts a pleading look to Laria, who seems to give in.
Laria sighs, "I know some of you already know this." Laria says glancing between Melina and Rexas before continuing, "But for a few years now I've run an association known as the Bellflower Network. When Thrune moved in, most of the Bellflower's left the city to lie low. The network is all but disabled, though I still try to keep my fingers to the pulse of this city." As though she realized she's gotten off track, she clears her throat with a soft cough before continuing. "That having been said, the coffee house has a small bunkhouse upstairs if you need a place to lie low. The Bellflower's have an old hideout we would give to the Silver Raven's, there is only one problem. A friend of mine, Nan Comerivos was smuggling a load of Varisian textiles through the tunnels of the hideout and storing them there until he could find a buyer. Problem is, he went in to check on his goods a couple days ago and still hasn't emerged. With everything going on in the city and most of the Bellflower's either arrested, laying low, or fleeing the city, I haven't been able to check on Nan. I'm hoping he is just laying low, and when I've gone to leave bread and wine at the entrance the previous days has been eaten. What worries me, is I keep hearing some inhuman laughter echoing from deeper in the hideout."
Nan Comeviros is a smuggler. He primarily deals in Varisian scarves and skirts. In your experience, he uses a good network of contacts to move his goods through other cities outside of Kintargo. He used the Six Finger's a few times to run messages or goods to contacts he didn't want to be seen with. The Six Finger's cut ties with him some time after you left. Rumor has it it was because he started dabbling in smuggling other goods besides Varisian textiles. Whatever it was Flametongue decided it wasn't worth the risk.
Rexas and Laria are waiting, hoping the rest of you will agree to aid or even better to join.
Melia offers Laria a warm smile, "We'de be happy to figure out what happened to your friend. It's the least I can do.""
She then turned to the others, looking over her options within her mind, "I'm in, on the Ravens. Something needs to be done."
Tom listens to everyone around him, and sees the glorious goods being rewarded to the party.
"Healing potions. I'm going to need some kind of magic healing if I'm going to go into what is likely to be trouble again. Also if I'm going to join a group of trouble makers, then I'm going to need to know we can do this job right.
But lastly, Nan's in trouble? Then I'm in. He's done me a good turn in the past, and I have questions for him." Tom says all this in a rush, and the stuffs his mouth full of pastry.
"As for rebuilding the Ravens? The Chels have always found us common folk revolting, but now they are going to see how big a stink we can make when we're rebelling!" He says, little flakes of pastry flying free with each word.
Laria will add in, "If you need to rest, you're more than welcome to rest in the bunkhouses upstairs and set out tomorrow morning."
"Rest would do us good. I won't be staying here though, I have two dogs at home that do need to be fed." She rested her hand on the hilt of her blade as if to assure the others she'd be safe.
"I will take you up on the offer of the bunkhouse. I could use some sleep"
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"If you don't think there is any rush? Quicksilver is likely to need magical healing anyway. Luckily your wounds don't look like they received from a beating at the protest. Go to the temple, they will heal you for a 'donation' and spend the rest on potions." Xeno says tossing the purse to Tom. Turning to the halfing "Thank you for your offer, but my family will already be worried given today's events I better get home. Shall we meet back here for breakfast? Maybe one hour after sunrise?"
Tom looks around the fancy establishment.
"I'll go get myself healed up, and come back tonight. It's better than that rat infested place we just left for a sleeping hole."
He turns the Halfling and kneels to her height.
"If Nan's alright I'll clap him about the ear for giving you a fright, and if not... You'll know what happened, I promise."
Suddenly a thought strikes Tom.
"When do you drop off the bread and wine? Dawn or dusk? Because if it's dusk, I don't mind dropping it off on my way to the healer."
A plan was forming in the young man's mind.
Laria will inform you that they begin to serve as soon as the curfew is lifted, though most people don't arrive until a good half to full hour after.
In answer to Tom with a disappointed ring in her voice, she informs you that they no longer make home deliveries due to Thrune's curfew.