"Send Kaul in after a bottle or two, and then let's get back to the ship. Got a few questions for our guest, here."
The crew navigate the dilapidated boards of Scurvytown keeping a weary yet wary eye out for booze or ambush. The stink grows as they pass the Fishmarket and recall the Blackened Knot used to have a clubhouse nearby on a dock over the polluted waters. That strange singing filth creature, they encountered tracking down the source of the brainboil plague, might still be scat scatting somewhere in the drains beneath their feet. This brings to mind Whitecoat and his unlikely escape into the jungles of Kepre Dua. Hopefully a snake has swallowed the rat by now or the angry elves have done him in. Jim takes over carrying the unconscious pusher when Corliss tires.
No one harries the crew on their way out of Scurvytown, they are a tough looking lot with a body thrown over a shoulder to boot, but Kaul opines they're better off buying booze at the Black Gull. It's less likely to be poisoned either intentionally or not. Once the crew passes the pier where the Broken Mug used to stand, Kaul peels off to run his errand while the others wend their way across the Docks District to the Bloody Fortune.
Once free from the nauseating basement Dibbets sees fit to flush his mouth with a stream of saltwater using his arts. Shaking his head he grumbles "Shoulda burnded the whole feckin place doon tae embers... swear I'll be seein that bloody paintin when me eyes roll up an I slough tae sleep tonight." His efforts then turn to the grim task of keeping up with the rest of the longshanks as they made a goodly pace of movement through the city... indefatigable he may be, but it still bloody hurt to push his fractured body along.
After thanking Jim for relieving him from toting the unconscious guard, the Besmaran priest swaps out a spell to heal the swashbuckler back near full strength.
"Won't be able to sleep tonight," he confides to the crew. "Every li'l tickle from me blanket's gonna make me think thar be a big black spider comin' fer me!"
Dibbs snorts and jibes back "Iffin yer wantin advice on tickles in yer bedsheets then Madman's the ear ye need bendin. He's got a bit o' record in probin wi' proboscisis..."
The Taldan smiles, but says nothing.
Dingus moves along with the group scrowling, slouching, and pouting. "That thug better not drink everything before he gets back".
Ed is on watch as the crew return to the ship a bit past midnight. Dingus is momentarily relieved that they've beat Kaul back, but then he's annoyed that there's nothing to drink yet. It isn't much of a surprise that Ed has been signed such a lonely watch because the big mouth halfling is even more intolerable when he is bored. "Oh hey, find any more firewater there, Dibbets? Lola said you were tighter than a fish's arse ho' this afternoon. Been off brawling? Looks like Dingus ripped his hose. HA! HA!"
Dibbets pauses in place and sets Ed with a cold-eyed stare, dead grey eyes in sunken hollows looking through the fellow slip entire and paying him scant regard. Tuneless and flat he agrees "Oh aye... har har... We been out gettin a taste o' tha spider... its out there... in Scurvytown..." turning to limply point in its direction, before turning back to Ed.
"In s'far as it goes we'll be back out soon enough... under the dead eyes, eight-legs and shiver whores..." cocking his head slightly to the side "Care to join us next time out Ed? I hear they like their meat soft and warm..."
Jim tosses the man one of the weapons taken from the cultists. "Little trophy we picked up. Ever see one like it?"
Ed skitters out of the way of the sickle which clatters on deck. "What in the Nine Hells?! Don't sling sickles. That's dangerous, Jim." He gives Dibbets a wary look and laughs nervously, "That's alright Cous', I'll stick with mead and grog and I'll give Scurvytown a wide berth."
The halfling rigger gingerly picks it up the sickle to inspect it. Never seen one like this before. Unique to say the least. Looks like a spider leg or something. Just plain creepy. Can you imagine being stuck fast in some monster spiders web unable to while it's a creeping closer and closer to come suck your guts out. That's how the eat ya, Cous', they don't care about your meat. Just drain you like a tasty cuppa. Slurp! Slurp!"
Ed takes note of the unconscious man that Jim has dumped on the deck. "What's his story? Did you save him from the spiders? Checked him for eggs, I hope. You've given me the willies now, Cous'. I can just see him asploding with baby spiders coming to slurp me next. Spiders!"
"Err...can't say as I checked him fer eggs," Corliss confesses. "We was in kinda a rush to get outta that creepy place an' back to the safety o' the ship."
"Check him for pokes, hey? Figure that if they put eggs into him there's got to be a wound."
Fortunately, Jim and Corliss' inspection doesn't turn up any suspicious lumps or depositing wounds. It does look like he got cut with one of the spidery sickles and dosed with a concentrated amount of shiver. A moan from the doped up thug signals that it may be wearing off soon.
Noting the moan, Dibbets seeks to accelerate the transition by conjuring a deluge of salty water to flush over the doped up thug's head. With a jerk of his own grizzled visage he intimates to Kaul that it might facilitate easy discussion if the half-orc were the first mug that the thug grokked when he returned to the land of the conscious.
Dibbets looks around and realizes that Kaul has yet to return with the booze. This might be a good thing if the goal is to question the captive, not have him die of fright.
The man sputters and bloodshot eyes blink open. "Wha-? Where am I?" He shakes as he sits up slowly. "No spiders," he sighs, seemingly relieved.
Jim grins. "None of those here, hey?" He glances around quickly to be sure, then raises an eyebrow at Dibbets. "We have a question or three for you, though, and when we're done you might want to consider a career change to the seafaring life."
The man twists his head in consideration. "Don't know much about sailing, but I can learn. My name's Moses."
"Jim Patterson. Let's start with what you were doing at the Grunt. You worked for Raynaldo?"
"No. Not even. Raynaldo worked for me or rather, I was the leader of the gang and we worked with those creepy spider-lovers until Raynaldo stole some stuff from 'em. Everything went bad after that."
Dingus sits down during the questioning, bedecked in mostly normal grey robes and slip on sandals. The others wonder if he's sick.
He sits Richard down in front of him, and tries to teach him to dance as he hums along, glancing at Moses every now and then from the corner of his eye, ready to jump in and be scary if needed.
He finally loses patience, and bursts out. "Where is Kaul? Do you think he started drinking and forgot us? Should I go looking for him"?
Dibbs gives Dingus a wave of his hand that imparts Kauly's a big boy and can handle himself, and I mean... we'll hear screams and maybe see some fire if he's in real trouble so we may as well focus on the task at hand savvy?... or something to that effect.
"Spider lovers... where else they linked tae? - jus tha Grunt, or we gots other holes we needs tae fire em outta?"
While the others interrogate the revived man, Corliss hangs back, trying to weigh the truth or lies in the man's replies.
Moses just shrugs at Dibbets' query about other cells. Corliss believes him to be honest. "The whole thing about Norgorberites is keeping secrets, right? They certainly weren't going to be telling us anything. There coulda been other groups. I saw a couple masked strangers come and go that weren't the regulars, but our gang was just the hired help."
"All I know has to do with selling the shiver. And obviously that the stuff Raynaldo stole was important to them."
"I heard he stole a book--was there anything else?"
"Yeah. He grabbed a couple knick-knacks worth some coin from the old manor: a sapphire butterfly broach, a silver key and assorted silverware."
Jim idly scratches his chin. "Huh. Where's this manor? And where did the rest of the take end up?"
Moses looks at Jim oddly. "Where did you find me? I ran back to the manor in Scurvytown when that bloodthirsty orc attacked the gang at the Grunt. I was hoping the cult's beef was just with Raynaldo, but I didn't even get a word out before they knocked me out."
"Raynaldo sold that stuff straight away. Don't know to who specifically, but we have a lot of trade in Drac's End. I'll bet he headed over around the Freeport Institute thinking it was far enough from the cult and was the best chance to get a good price for the book in one of those egghead shops over there."
Musing Dibbets notes "Pokin round tha Freeport Institute seems a reasonable way tae spend our time unless any other bugger's got a better idea like?"
"Aye, as you may recall I know a boffin up that way."
Moses gives a yawn. "Not likely to be anything open at this hour. I'm gonna need a bit of time to recover. You got anywhere I can sleep?"
Offhandedly to Moses "Crew hammocks are below... Ed can see ye sitch-ewe-ated... can't ye Ed?"
To Jimmer "Roight... so power nap then attem? - or considerin big scarred and nuggety ain't 'round should we make sure 'e goan be orright afore turnin sleepwise?"
Corliss listens to Dibbets's words and then looks to Jim. "Aye--I'm a bit worried 'bout ol' Kaulie meself. He can handle himself well in a fight, but iff'n magic--or poisonous spiders--be involved, things might not go his way."
Jim ponders a moment. "I'm thinking we should stay put for a bit, in case he comes back here. Two of us nap while the other two keep watch, then we switch?"
Shrugging "Fair 'nuff... I'm happy tae take first watch-like... gimme a chance tae educate Eddy here on how good 'es got it."
Corliss opts to take second shift to ensure there's a capable healer available on each watch.
Ed frowns. "Sure and I'll give him the farthest hammock from mine. I'll prob'ly have nightmares about spiders anyway." Ed disappears with Moses below decks leaving Dibbets to cover the rest of his watch.
Kaul may have gone off on a bender of his own as he doesn't show before the crew has to just break out the onboard rum rations before retiring.
Everyone is finally up around mid-day for chow and still no sign of Kaul. Moses remains haggard. Seeing his new mates' concern, he doesn't have much in the way of encouragement. "No show, huh? May be the spider cultists got him. I wouldn't go direct back though. You get that book and maybe you got something to bargain. If they took him, I bet that's what they were wanting."
Snorting "Iffin tha spider buggers got Kaul they'll get a reckonin wi'out our need fer it. Less roll on our own way eh? - we ken see tae havin word left at the Gull tae keep peepers out fer 'im"
"Aye, let's get to the Institute sharpish after that."
Finishing a tasty repast prepared with particular gusto by Estabo, the mates take their leave of Belinna and the others to swing by the Black Gull. They find the place empty other than the eponymous black "gull" at its post above the bar and a waitress mopping up some stains that look suspiciously like dried blood from the floor. She looks up with alarm at the newcomers and then plops the mop in the bucket and goes behind the bar. "Obviously you weren't here last night or you wouldn't be here this early. What'll it be?"
Corliss lets the more senior members of the crew do the talking. He does his best to seem disinterested but tries to gage the truthfulness of the waitress's responses.
Corliss gazes at the mess the woman's attempting to clean up. "Whoa--what happened last night? Somethin' beyond yer run-o'-the-mill bar brawl, I'm guessin'?"
Never one to refuse some brain poisoning when its offered Dibbs instinctively responds "Gin, neat and generous portion." before taking in the bloodstain, shrugging his shoulders and adding to Corliss' words "Dinnae see any teeth inna stain so don't seem too bad eh? Our man Kaul come through late?"