Irisa swings the floating lantern towards the voice.
"We came here looking for this man. A friend missed him. Do you know what happened to him? We're not here to cause any trouble. God knows there are enough of that in this city lately. I hope we can work something out. Who are you?" Hearing the demanding voice Irisa attempts to disarm the situation with a gentle voice and a smile.
Zeldana turns to where she head the voice from.
"Are you the one I saw watching us?" Zeldana asked softly. "We don't want to fight, as Irisa said we came here to find a friend who had gone missing..." She said.
The Wasp Nest -
As the lantern swings towards the figure it recedes further into the shadows.
Irisa and Zel gently probe with their response simple non-threatening questions, "You mean Nan? It was an.. an accident. We did not intend for him to die but sometimes her anger, it just... it just boils over. That's why we had to flee and that is why we had to send her away. Into that hole but..."
"Did you know Nan? What kind of accident happened? You are Tengu yes? Let's talk nobody has an interest in involving the dottari. Let's work something out"
Sholti continues the strategy of sounding calm and friendly.
"Who is her? What is this hole you are talking about? Maybe we can help deal with her somehow?" Irisa continues the questions. It's sad that the man died, but she's determined to get to the bottom of things.
Tiel listens to the conversation and actively tries to detect if the speaker in the shadows is evil, instead of passively as she did before.
The Wasp Nest
"Yes Nan tried to help us but she, she got mad and she killed him. So we banished her to that hole until we can decide what to do with her. She is not bad, we just... we did not raise her right, she can't control herself. Chough... We just, we can't bring ourselves to.. to..."
After seeing the creature Irisa looks to the others and whisper. "What is she?"
She then looks back at the speaker. She carefully picks her words, not happy with the situation, but not angry either. "What exactly happened? Surely there was a reason why she was angry? Killing someone just because you are angry seems like a bit extreme reaction. What were you doing with Nan anyway? Were you working together?"
In response to Irisa's question, Tiel says "I don't know, but she seems like she can be reasoned with. They could have gone upstairs and attacked someone, but they didn't."
"I'm not getting any bad feelings from them like I did those things in the livery, either," she adds.
"Did Nan tell anyone else that he was helping you?" Zeldana asked as she raised an eyebrow. "Wait hold on, you said you can't bring yourselves to do something... does that mean you decided on what to do with her yet feel you cannot do it?" She asked.
The Wasp Nest
"Nan was paid to smuggle us out of the city but it seems that the presence of a new ruler had made that very difficult and we were forced to continually delay.
Chough, got... impatient. She is angry, so angry. We love her but we cannot bring her with us any more, she is a danger to outsiders. But if we leave her here... We, we just don't know what to do now as... if, if we could escape this place on our own we would have already..."
Sholti whispers back "She is Tengu. I saw a few Tengu in Absalom when I was in school there. As I understand it, mostly Tengu live in Tian Xia."
Sholti figures that things will go best if they can keep the Tengu talking, and focused on herself since she seems to have a problem.
"Is Chough a relative? You said 'we' so does that mean there are several of you here together? Maybe we can help you with your problem in some way if we know more. Why don't you tell us about it. We're certainly not interested in telling the Dottari, so you need not worry about legal problems."
"Impatient? She killed him because she became impatient?" Zeldana asked with a shocked look on her face. "Huh... suddenly the customers I deal with daily don't seem so bad... however now I'm going to be worried every time that one may attack me..." She said with a shudder. "If she killed Nan she must answer for it! She murdered someone who was trying to help her and an innocent man!"
Sholti looks at Zeldana.
"Wait a minute. We can't bring the Dottari here. We can't take them to the Dottari either because they will insist in investigating and want to know where we found them. We'll have to handle this ourselves, so let's not close off any options just yet."
Hiranno keeps to the ready in case of trouble.
"No one is suggesting bringing the Dottari down here. I wouldn't go running to the Dottari if my life depended on and I knew they'd help." Zeldana said as she crossed her arms. "I said she has to answer for what she did, it doesn't mean we have to hand her over to the Dottari." She explained. "We all know the cost of murder... as much as I hate to say it."
"I don't know, says Tiel to the group. "Murder may be too strong a word. If we take her at her word, Nan's death may have been an accident. Though that doesn't explain why he appears to be partially eaten."
The Wasp Nest
The voice in the darkness becomes a figure who steps into the light. It is indeed a Tengu. Weapons are on her but sheathed, she approaches Sholti.
"Chough is our pet. Our dear pet Corbee. We have raised her since birth but we did a poor job of it... I... I think we could use your help". She sighs.
She then turns to Tiel and points to the water, "It was probably the gator that ate the body. It's lurking in the water, somewhere".
"A pet? What is a corbee?" Sholti's in over her head with this new information, but it's sounding less like a murder.
Tiel turns her attention to the water, looking for sings of the gator.
The Wasp Nest
The woman responds to Sholti who seems to have gained a measure of her trust, "A Dire corby is a race of bipedal birdmen who inhabit deep tunnels and caverns. Our species often times keeps them as pets and companions. They are unbalanced in their natures but Chough seems even more unbalanced than her forebearers..."
Tiel, if that gator is in the water it is amazingly well hidden.
"Well, then anyway possible to calm her down or find the gator?" she asks the group, keeping an eye to the water.
"Would she seek out other people to hurt? Or do you believe if left here she will not harm others?" Zeldana asked as she crossed her arms, trying to think of ways to help.
"So Chough is a pet, but you cannot control her. Do you think it would be possible for you to gain control of her, enough to make her safe around others? If not, I can only think she must be destroyed. Is that would you're thinking as well?"
The feathers beneath the Tengu's eyes become wet.
"If we kept her down here and well fed I suppose she would not harm anyone outside of this place but I cannot know that for sure". she replies to Zel.
"We have tried for so long to gain control of her. Perhaps, perhaps your group could help if you are friends of Nan?" she replies to Sholti.
The Tengu shrugs at Hiranno's question, "I know it is there but I have not seen it, only heard it as it ate the remains of Nan".
Irisa thinks carefully over the situation before answering. "Well, I did manage to some wild dogs we ran into earlier to aid us. Let's see what we can do. It's worth a shot, right? I always wish we'll be able to get the best out of a situation. Could you tell us more about the Corbee and the hole over there? Does it lead anywhere, or is it just a holed off room?"
Keeping the corby down here forever isn't a solution. I'm not seeing any way to deal with her other than to kill her. But, if that's what we're going to do, it would be best to make it apparent to to tengu that we've tried everything else first.
"This is true. Irisa does have considerable talent with animals. Maybe she can do something. It's worth a try."
"Wild animals sometimes can't be tamed."
"Well... I guess we could try that first... and maybe if she remains down here well fed..." Zeldana started before she sighed. "Though Hiranno may be correct... some animals cannot be tamed." She muttered as she looked down. "But maybe it is worth a try..."
"It's better to try and fail, then not try and regret the lost opportunity."
The Tengu looks at Irisa, "Well her name is Chough and she dearly loves rodents of any kind. It's her favorite thing to eat. She also likes to be sung to".
She considers the questions about the environment, "The hole has a second way in and out just south of the hole you can see. Chough is excellent at hiding in the dark. The space is as large if not larger than this space. Still, it leads nowhere so if you enter there she may feel trapped..."
"Singing eh? I'm ok at singing I guess, but I'm no Diva." She looks around at the others. "Are any of you good at singing? It might calm her down, make her easier to deal with. As for hiding in the dark, hopefully the lantern will help with that..."
"I have some training as a singer. I could give it a try." admits Sholti, somewhat doubtfully.
The Tengu replies, "Thank you, thank you so much".
"Sholti, you sing correct? You and Tiel should go first, I will follow behind you and then maybe Irisa and Hiranno?" Zeldana asked the group. "And I do believe we will need some for a light..." She stated simply.
「そのランダム言葉は意味を成していません。」 Hiranno says.
"That sounds fine with me Zeldana. Maybe we should be sure to keep the dog back in the rear."
"Alright, I'll go in beside Sholti. But I don't sing."
"You wont be singing, your blade however will if needed."
"Hopefully your blades won't be needed. But I should be up front if I'm going to help out making it react positively. Besides, I got armor. Let me give you a blessing of luck from my goddess Sholti, it can't hurt." Irisa reaches over to touch Sholti with a quick prayer then hefts her shield just in case and walks in after Sholti and Tiel. "Maybe I can try to help you out with the tune Sholti, just start of whenever you like and I'll follow. Oh yeah, who will carry the lantern? Will you be able to carry it and keep up your impressive sword dance Sholti?"
If Chough likes singing, maybe she should hear them first. Sholti starts singing as they enter the hole. Something simple, a lullaby.
Sholti carries the lantern in her left hand. She keeps her scimitar drawn, holding it in her right hand, but carries it low and against her leg to minimize its visibility.
As she starts to sing her voice quavers, making it obvious that Sholti is nervous.
As the ladies enter the area of darkness they receive some illumination. The area holds a variety of human and children (or its it halfling?) sized furniture. Half of it is smashed.
Sholti's tune gently echoes throughout the space with Irisa's back-up. From the north a growl emanates, just beyond sight of the lantern. It seems that there is one last small hallway to explore and that this is where you will find the aggressive Chough.
"Hopefully the singing calmed it down somewhat. Desna, please guide me. Could you move the light a bit closer?" Irisa says and prays before she slowly starts moving towards the creature, being careful to make no sudden movements.
She holds out one open arm while the other clutches her shield. "Calm down dear Chough, we are not here to hurt you."