Inside the room are three figures.
A male gnome with flaming red hair, like in color of the older male gnome dispatched upstairs. His clothing his simple though he wears a chain shirt and has several daggers at his belt. He is playing with one of them, spinning it around in his hand.
A human male with bulging muscles. He wears a breastplate, and has a shield sitting on his lap which he is polishing. Soliel can also see a tonfa as his only weapon.
The third is a male half-orc. He wears a hideous looking mask. He has a buckler, but no other visible weapons or armor.
Several candles about the room give off enough light to fill the room, though it is only dimly lit. The two larger figures are squatting on small chairs.
As Soliel peers into the room to pick out a target, the gnome looks over at the door, "What do you need ma?" He is not looking at Soliel directly, just looking in the direction of the now slightly open door.
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Sorry to bother, just that door up here is stuck. Come help me open it, I need the ledgers and your father's sleeping. She spoke in a hushed whisper, as if concerned over waking the man. Soliel allowed herself to ever-so-briefly come into view as the gnomish woman upstairs, before moving back upstairs and fading into the shadows. There, she waited for the gnome to come upstairs while assessing him for vulnerabilities.
As she moved into position, she Messaged back to Serelina. Three in the room, male gnome, large human fighter and a male half-orc with a mask. Last looks like a scarred witch-doctor...didn't that ne'r-do-well aasimar kill him?
The gnome gives a soft sigh, then follows Soliel up the stairs.
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Unseen by the gnome, a cruel smile creeped over Soliel's disguised face as she watched him make his way up the stairs. She stepped back away from the upstairs door as the gnome arrived upstairs, continuing to look for the best place to strike.
Soliel slowly approached from behind as the gnome got into position to open the door. When the door was open, Soliel struck, attempting to drive her curved sword through the man's spine.
The gnome lets out a cry of pain at the sudden bleeding wound left by Soliel's blade.
The gnome drops to the floor at Soliel's feet with a soft thump.
The sound of chairs being knocked over come from below as one of those in the downstairs room calls out loudly in a concerned voice, "Leandric?"
Ian rushes to the door to the backroom and throws it open.
Inside the human stands at the foot of the stairs leading up, while the half-orc is just rising from his chair. He lets out a curse in orcish, then the eyes of his mask glow and Ian feels as though the world shifts in its place. The half-orc then gives an evil laugh.
The human gives out a shout, "What the..." as he claws at his eyes, trying to get the dust out of them.
Edmond steps in and to the side, taking a shot at the half-orc on the stairs.
Snake man squeezes in as well.
plus
All three attacks score hits on their respective targets.
"Backup Jo" calls out the half-orc.
The human takes a wild swing at Soliel, and despite the cramped ceiling lands a lucky hit.
He then steps back next to the half-orc.
Ian moves around the snakeman to reach J14 and attacks the orc.
Ian steps around the human to attack the half-orc, but is unable to hit him due to the tight confines.
The half-orc focus his efforts on casting a spell without exposing himself to enemy attacks, while reaching out to touch his ally.
At the completion of the spell he utters a single word in an unknown language, "Cевер" and both he and the human disappear with a pop.
Dimension door
Ian hesitates for a second, thinking they'd gone invisible, but remembers Serelina's use of glitterdust--he shouts, "Check the roof!" and runs back the way he came, into the adjacent warehouse, searching.
Scanning the neighboring streets and rooftops Soliel does not see any sign of activity.
Ian runs back in, cursing, and starts throwing aside rugs and furniture looking for any kind of tunnel entrance.
Ian spends several minutes pushing aside furniture, crates and other items in the small home and warehouse, looking for a way to pursue the thieves, but finds nothing.
Soliel turns to looking for any valuables.
Cloak of resistance +1
Chain shirt +1
Ring of protection +1
500gp
Numerous ledgers of transactions. No monetary value, but does have a list of purchases and sales and names associated with them.
"Damn it!" Ian curses loudly once it's clearly been too long and there's no chance. "So close, and so f%~*ing useless. We got nothing."
Ian starts smashing apart furniture and toppling over any shelves that were still standing. It's a moment before he's calm enough to return with them.
"Buildings are close together here. Might burn the whole district. No need, they won't meet here anymore now. Like f%$@ing rats to a new f*~*ing nest."
Soliel does find a hidden compartment in one wall of the back room area. Inside is a scroll case with a parchment inside.
The parchment is covered with numbers in neat columns. Eight columns in total, the numbers do not contain any immediately discernible pattern.
Ian waits grimly, ready to return when the rest are.
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Upon finding the parchment, Soliel quickly pulled out the black journal and neatly scribed the series of numbers on the page. Ensuring she left no finger prints, she then returned the parchment to its hiding place and left no sign the hidden compartment had ever been opened. We can analyze this later, she said to no one in particular. For now we should return quickly to the Tower before we are ambushed ourselves.
Back at the Tower, Soliel showed the numbers columns to Serelina and any of the Masters who they can locate. Soliel herself will re-examine the numbers for any particular cypher or combination.
Afterward, Soliel addressed the group. It is unfortunate that several prominent members of Diguri's Criminals escaped, she glanced at Ian as she spoke, but I believe the three dead gnomes represent the entirety of the Fizzwinkle clan. Their deaths would likely please Firyin and his faction of criminal scum. If a meeting could be arranged, perhaps his gratitude could be returned in the form of information about Lia, one of the Abyssal escapees.
The tiefling looked over at Serelina briefly before continuing. Regardless, I suggest we turn our attention back to the Abyssal escapees and the bodies being used by Daemons. As for how we do this, the following are possible leads: re-locate the man called Dether and compel him to divulge what he knows of the priest Bannali, utilize the street leads Hezek provided while under the Question to locate Bannali, scry the blood vials from the two we fought after the drow's execution for further details or, lastly, employee Master Serelina's spell to locate areas the Abyssal escapees have traversed...though I admit to little knowledge of how this operates. She mentioned the last haltingly, in contrast to the quick, clipped conveyance of the other options.
Jori Banest and Master Banock attend to the return of the group and to take in their report.
Jori looks over the rows and columns of numbers Soliel copied down, "Likely a cypher of some kind. Without a key to it though..." he shrugs. "But something to look out for in any feature encounters you have with the criminal element."
Master Banock speaks regarding the daemons. "The sewers where Ian found the diagrams is probably the best place of any to start if there is a direct trail to the daemons."
Ian is staring grimly out into space, it takes a moment to register he was being addressed.
"Yeah fine. I can lead us to the place in the sewers as long as we go down in the same spot. Ready to go?"
It's clear he's distracted, but determined to do his job.
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Soliel listened intensely as Jori Banest and Master Banock spoke. With a sharp nod she placed the cypher back in a pocket as the conversation turned back to the daemons. Perhaps more than was intended, she took Master Banock's comments about the sewers as essentially an order. She said nothing, but stood rigid for a moment and pounded her right fist to her chest in the Friends salute.
Once dismissed by the Masters, she turned to the others. very well Ian, please do lead the way.
Ian leads the way back into the sewers where he found the bodies. The diagrams still remain marked on the floor, though the slime and dampness is beginning to wash them away.
There is a noise of shuffling feet from a side passage and in a momenta middle aged woman in bedraggled clothing steps into the light. She looks at Ian, "So you's back. I 'xpected you would be." Ian recognizes her immediately as the woman he met previously in the sewers.
"Somewats been prowlin' down here. Durn scared off all the rats." and now that she mentions it, there certainly is an absence of rats or even noise of them. "But I keeps me head 'bout me, and it can not find me." she lets out a weak chuckle. "Whats I can help you with today good masta'?" her eyes dart to Ian's money pouch.
Ian gives her 3 gold up front. "Just stay safe. If we find it, we'll kill it."
Edmond and the Snake remain near Ian, though give him space for conversation apart from them.