Lorlenn nods at Clarence, "Seems fair to me."
In a low, but audible voice, trying to sound like he's cursing, Lorlenn says in Elven,
Then in Common he belts out, "How dare you commit such blasphemy?! There have been no true prophesies for over a century!" and strides purposefully into the tent, where he holds up a finger to his lips.
There are plenty of places to purchase weaponry and Clarence easily finds a crossbow of local design to replace his destroyed one. The weapon dealer takes the gem as a fair exchange.
Within the stuffy, cluttered tent is a table covered in blue velvet stitched with moons, stars, and arcane symbols. A dusty crystal ball and a dog-eared harrow deck sit upon it. Behind this table sits an aged, bald, Varisian man with threadbare purple robes and piercing eyes.
He looks at the gem that Braelex sets down and licks his lips, eyes darting up. "A reading for all of you? Or perhaps, you wish a little something ... else?".
Lorlenn winks at Zograthy and then leans over to whisper, "The men outside intend us no good. Is there another way out of here that will let us get past them, unnoticed? After we're done with our business, of course."
Genuinely confused by the shouting, Braelex shrugs and continues to address Zograthy. "Actually, we're looking for information about a woman you may know... Vancaskerkin? We understand she was a go-between for the Pathfinders and some Szarni gangs, but we're not sure which."
The old Varisian listens to Lorlenn and Braelex as they both communicate with him in their own ways. He swipes the gem off the table, leans back and grins, his entire demeanor changing, "Information, is it then, eh? That's my speciality. Although ... if there's possible danger involved, this ... " he indicates the gem, "... may not be enough. I do know the woman you're asking about, Natalya, yes? Scratch a bit more of my itch, and I'll give you the information you seek."
He can't hide his greed, he's fishing for more money. Your opening offer was likely high. Additionally, he knows more than he's letting on about the danger and he doesn't seem afraid at all. He actually seems strangely comfortable.
Lorlenn says, "No danger to you, I simply believe the men outside intend to rob us, and I would rather avoid them than confront them."
Lorlenn says, "Not that a group of six battle-hardened adventurers are incapable of defending ourselves from a rag-tag band of carnies."
Lorlenn pauses and smiles at Zograthy, "I think that gem is more than sufficient payment for both the information that we seek, and to signal your friends to back off."
Relan gripped the hilt of his sword and made to draw it while looking intimatingly at the forming mob. "For your sake and the sake of your friends, I hope the payment is acceptable." he glared at Zograthy.
Are you intimidating at the same time as Lorlenns attempt at diplomacy? If so, roll an intimidate check.
Braelex ponders Fulmen's query for a moment before wincing and shaking her head. "They might take notice, but I doubt they would enjoy the bluff once we were seen."
The old Varisian watches Lorlenn for a moment and then laughs, slapping his hand on the table, "Brassy old elf, now aren't you ... this isn't your first con, no? Alright then, I'll tell you what I know about Natalya. We haven't heard from her in quite some time. Probably caught up in all this disappearance business. Seems only Varisians and other underprivileged folks along the waterfront are being hunted. Here in Beacon's Point and the Dockway are the primary areas. Great, huh?" The carnie spits bitterly, "Anyhow, definitely not a Sczarni disappearance ... that I can assure you."
Turning to Relan, "And you, tough guy ... be careful who you threaten in a Varisian carnival, especially one controlled by Sczarni gangs ... you may not walk out with the same number of limbs you walked in with." He waggles his finger and stares with one eye a bit larger than the other for a long awkward moment.
"Indeed," Braelex agrees with the old con. "Those are probably Sczarni bravos, and worth their salt in a fight. They know we're outsiders and are probably as wary of us making trouble as we are of them." She turns back to Zogarthy. "My father is Brael, the 'special effects' man. I don't believe he's worked for your show, but you may have heard of him. Do you know anyone Vancaskerkin was working with, if the Sczarni are not suspect?"
"I know of Brael, his concoctions are legendary. Id heard he'd picked up a hellspawn whelp as well, so it seems your story may be true or at least rooted in truth as all good bluffs are."
He rubs his chin for a moment, considering the tiefling before he proceeds, "The Vancaskerkin lass ran with the Tower Girls last I checked, second story types, all women. Very effective. No idea what happened to her. The prevailing theory around here regarding the disappearances is Nidalese slavers, but I'm not so sure."
Lorlenn raises an eyebrow, "Not a Sczarni disappearance and not slavers? So your recommendation is that we talk with the Tower Girls to see what they know."
Lorlenn ponders for a moment and then asks, "Can you arrange that for us? I don't suppose that they'll answer their door, even if we find their safe-house and knock."
"I'm not recommending anything just selling you information. Good luck getting in contact with any of the Sczarni leaders, they've all been scarce recently. The Tower Girls had some sort of falling out with Natalya ... they're wanting to find her as well, and pay her back for whatever wrong she did them. Word on the street is she went mad slightly before her disappearance. That's about all I can tell you." The old man indicates the flap to his tent and motions you to leave.
Relan leans back against the post, "So, whos the leader of these Tower Girls?"
"Slightly mad, in what way?"
The seer shakes his head at Relan but doesn't say any more, again motioning to the door.
Lorlenn peeks out the tent flap to see where the men he saw earlier are located, and asks, "Did you signal your friends, as agreed upon?".
"They won't hurt you as long as you don't get aggressive."
The men are still there, but are back to lounging casually in the nearby area.
Braelex gives the bravos a wink as she exits the tent. Once everyone is outside and leaving the circus, she speaks up, "Sounds like we should ask around about those Nidalese slavers. They're next on our list of suspects." She looks to the group for further ideas.
"What are they going to do? Arrest us? I hardly think getting past the clerk by pretending to bring a bounty in is an arrestable offense. Maybe a few coins and a couple of winks from Braelex will settle their tempers for our ruse"
"What are they going to do? Arrest us? I hardly think getting past the clerk by pretending to bring a bounty in is an arrestable offense. Maybe a few coins and a couple of winks from Braelex will settle their tempers for our ruse"
"They might arrest us, and in any case can certainly decide to not help us." Lorlenn glances back in the direction of the clerk,"Besides, that clerk seems to have something against Braelex."
Lorlenn wanders over to the spot indicated by the clerk.
Andel brightens at Lorlenn's suggestion, Ahh, yes ... I'm certainly used to these bureaucratic processes. You all head on and I'll see what I can dig up here."
"Where should we meet you? And when?"
"I have no idea how long this will take. You sketched out your path earlier, I'll meet you somewhere along the way by walking backwards along that path."
An extremely disheveled and somewhat drunk Andel sporting a black eye and with the signs of a recently bloodied knows runs into you shortly after you depart the carnival and you're discussing your next step, "Heyshh, guys! What fun ... worked out ... *hiccup* ... in the end! Got a bead on a shlaver rahn-day-voo thish evening at midnight ... shum tavern on the Shore ... I wrote it down." He begins digging through his pockets.
Braelex raises an eyebrow, remains silent.
Lorlenn thinks, I guess I'll need to study that polypurpose panacea cantrip when I become a wizard, after all.
1 Backpack
1 Bedroll
1 Flint and steel
1 Pouch, belt
1 Crowbar
1 Torch
1 Rope, hemp
Lorlenn asks Relan, "I thought you arena fighters were experts with all manner of weapon? Shouldn't you have a bow or crossbow? What if we need to fight a dragon?"
You wait for the course of three hours, stopping and visiting, getting increasingly insistent with the clerk. The man handles you with the practiced patience of a lifetime bureaucrat and no matter how hard you try, you don't seem to be able to break free a guard.
"AH HA!, here tish!" Andel pulls out a wine-stained journal marked with the Heidmarch Pathfinder Lodge sigil, and flips it open to a red stained page. The last entry states:
Nidalese Slavers meeting for a sale tonight at midnight with prospective seller. Old abandoned tavern in the Dockway, The Puffy Pelican
Looking further through the journal, you're able to piece together Andel's last few hours ...
Andel watches as the party walks away.
Those guys are going to be legendary some day ... I can feel it. And I get to chronicle it
Andel shakes himself from his reverie, muttering to himself, "As long as they find you useful, idiot. Get to work.".
The scribe, familiar from his time as a courier in the city with the House, quickly navigates the throng of pressing bodies, keeping an eye out for ambitious pickpockets and other unsavories. After a quick visit to a money changer, he turns the gold piece into a couple silver and a bag ful of copper, and sets to work.
Over the next hour, he plies his contacts, moving from friend to acquaintance, courier to barrister to lobbyist, but ultimately ends up as frustrated as the mayor appears to be. No one really has any more information than simply, people have been disappearing. Most notably indigents, Varisians, and ladies of the night
Which implies they're targeting folks who are less likely to be missed ... or maybe it's just that those are the kinds of folks that are out and about in the wee hours.
Andel gathers a list of about 12 "confirmed" kidnappings, and their last known sighting before disappearing. All seem to be along Beacon Point and the Dockway, clustered near the water.
Deciding to try a different tact, he grabs his staff and heads to some of the various locations to ask around. And as he does so, he runs into the problems with chasing rumors
This is the last of the 12 sightings, and if it goes like the 11 before I'm guessing there's a 50/50 chance that this guy isn't actually missing!
Five of the previous reported kidnap victims from Andel's original list were actually not missing but seen this very day by friends or family.
Spying the red-bearded fisherman he'd been sent to see for this latest lead, Andel cries out "Oi, there ... you got a moment? I'll buy you a drink if you let me bend your ear for a second about a friend of yours."
Thirty minutes later, and half-a bottle of wine in, Andel finds himself in the middle of a game of knuckles, up five gold pieces, and obviously not winning any friends. His conversation with the fisherman was a bust, but while relieving himself out back, he overheard some men talking about a late night rendezvous with "those Kuthite creeps." That led to a reason to stay, which led to the game, which led to the ever increasing angry group of dock workers sitting around the table with him as he get ready to cast the bones.
[i]Gods, this wine is going straight to my head, I'm seeing double. Please let me lose this toss and let this be the end of this nightmare."
He throws. The dice rattle and settle and a collective groan goes up around the table and several of the men start pushing over coins. One, however, does not ... and the angry, one-eyed, snaggle-toothed, tobacco-smelling sailor decides to give his share of the winnings with his fists. The plucky scribe doesn't see the first hamfist coming and is unconscious right before he hits the ground.
--------------------------------------------
"After that, I woke in the alley. Couldn't hardly hear a thing over the pounding in my skull. But as luck would have it, passed out behind those crates, I heard the plotters settle on the time and place of their meeting. I scrawled it down and came a running! I certainly hope that's what you were looking for!" He looks up at you sheepishly rubbing his temples with a slight groan.
"You did good!"
Lorlenn turns to the rest of the group, "Let's go across the river to Ordellia and find a restaurant. While we're there, I can show Andel a meditation ritual that should help his reaction times in tense situations."
Lorlenn grins back at Andel and asks, "You've studied some religion, have you not?"
"After eating, we can go back to my place and rest up before going out to investigate this meeting. And I may have a financial proposition for you all while we're there."
Braelex silently nods to Lorlenn's suggestion.
"Andel, superb job getting information. Sorry you had a ruckus, but your efforts appear to have paid off."
"It looks like our only lead is the abandoned tavern, The Puffy Pelican. We need a plan to spy on the meeting and follow some of those who leave the meeting. Is anyone familiar with the Dockway section of town?"
Fulmen lowers his head and knuckles his nose and he begins to think.
"Andel, superb job getting information. Sorry you had a ruckus, but your efforts appear to have paid off."
"It looks like our only lead is the abandoned tavern, The Puffy Pelican. We need a plan to spy on the meeting and follow some of those who leave the meeting. Is anyone familiar with the Dockway section of town?"
Fulmen lowers his head and knuckles his nose and he begins to think.
"I can't say that I'm familiar with the area, beyond knowing the monuments there: The Fifth Wind and Eyes of the Hawk. Andel, is this abandoned tavern near either? Although, even at midnight it might seem unusual for us to be studying them."
Lorlenn ponders for a moment and then looks around, "I still think we should get dinner first. Maybe Ordellia is out of the way...unfortunately there are not any monuments that provide boons in areas like hiding or listening. Following the docks around to the northeast will take us past the Battle of Charda though, and eventually bring us to the western edge of Dockway, where The Fifth Wind is located."
Lorlenn directs his gaze at Relan, "Practicing weapon-play in the plaza around the monument in an intimidating fashion can grant a boon with the use of hand-held weapons." He then turns towards the Druid and Trapper, "Studying The Fifth Wind can give you insights into the environment: weather, animal patterns, and the like, and can also prevent seasickness." He grins and continues, "Hopefully we won't be chasing slavers to Nidal, though."
"I've seen people meditating before, wasn't sure of the exact rituals. I'll be willing to check out the Mistress and give it a try. I knpw where the tavern is. Let me show you on this map I keep."
Lorlenn looks over Andel's map, "Okay, if that's where the Pelican is located, then loitering around one of the monuments won't be an option for monitoring." He points at the map in two places and says, "They're here and here. Also, that's far enough away that we definitely shouldn't bother with the Mistress in Ordellia this evening. And the financial proposition I have for you all can wait a few days, as long as we don't spend the rest of those gems. The proposition involves having a place to live here in Magnimar, for the next year at least."
Lorlenn gestures to the northeast, "There's gotta be a restaurant near the Battle of Charda, let's start moving in that direction."
Lorlenn asks Relan, "I thought you arena fighters were experts with all manner of weapon? Shouldn't you have a bow or crossbow? What if we need to fight a dragon?"
Relan looks at the elf, "Just how many arena fights have you seen where the fighters threw sticks at each other?, he grinned good-naturedly, "But your right, let me grab a bow then."
"A boon huh. Well just point it out when we get there and ill do a little sword swinging for the ladies and see what happens." giving a wink to Braelex.
Having exhausted the current leads, the party decides to bide time until the meeting time, finding food on the way and discussing the various monuments.
This area of town doesn't have a plethora of table service restaurants and you find yourselves enthralled with the Varisian dishes available at a street vendor'a cart. Various meats on a stick, soups with boiled pieces of what seems to be seafood, huge chunks of fried ... everything, leaf-wrapped piles of dried meats and fruits, all mixed with exotic spices and sauces. You don't go hungry.
You follow the water line from Washer's Row and Lorlenn leads you to the Battle of Charda, a large statue commemorating the first and most famous of the nautical battles waged in the city’s early days between Magnimar’s navy and the pirates of Riddleport. The battle itself was significant not only for the size of the invading force, but for the pirates’ use of five captured and charmed monsters harvested from the Darklands—four-armed beasts known as chardas. Today, the monument exaggerates the actual size of the chardas, depicting them as 30-foot-tall behemoths as opposed to the 4-foot creatures they really are. Rumors that these monstrous giants are actually petrified monsters persist to this day.
You eventually leave Beacon's point and travel into the Dockway along the waterfront, a constantly bustling scene of activity as ships bearing travelers and cargo vie for dock space. The general din increases to where you almost have to shout to be heard and you're constantly jostled by merchants, dockworkers and sailors. You pass by the ancient stone weather vane that is the Fifth Wind and then on to the quieter waters as you pass the impound yard. Ahead across the harbor, you can see the lights of the Bazaar of Sails, one of the most famous trading markets in the world.
Finished milling about as the midnight hour approaches, you head for your goal. The Puffy Pelican is on the land side of a dirty street that runs parallel to the shore. You come upon it from the rear since it faces another street further in. A large collapsed metal fire pit lays in the wreckage of an outdoor wooden deck. The windows are boarded up and a couple very faded paintings of fat pelicans can still be made out on the facade of the building.
Lorlenn points and whispers, "There's definitely someone inside."
Relan nods at Lorlenn and whispers in response, "We need to get closer and see how many."