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Kaeldra manages to keep her displeasure from creeping into her features. The woman has answers they need so acting overly aggressive may not give the results they need. She obviously is putting on a show for her and her companions, but she believes the villagers don't know half of what she's done. Kaeldra waits patiently for her explanation though she's sure she's a pro and will cover her tracks. The villagers almost seemed afraid her. She would find no such reaction from her companions.
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Auntie Baltwin chuckles.
Oh, I see you talked to Tomas and Dean... Well, I do let the older ones go down to the docks and "help" the workers. It makes them feel important, and they love helping out with the orphanage. They bring their little "pay checks" here and are just so proud when I tell them it helps pays for food or medicine for the younger ones... But to answer your questions, we always need more funds for the sick. It's not just orphans that find their way here, but other citizens who need healing and medicines. My paltry healing magics only go so far, you know...
She rubs her nose, which, if you look closely, is just slightly more red than the rest of her face, and continues.
I can assure you, the children here get the utmost care and concern, as do anyone else who comes here in need of aid.
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Amba looks skeptical. "That is a convenient explanation. The boys talked about how tired they were, from work. Is it really just a game?" She leans in a bit closer. "If we go to the docks, people will say the say thing you said?"
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Auntie Baltwin is very clearly lying to you. You get the distinct feeling that she is mixing the truth, or at least part of it, with her lies in order to make it sound more believable. You don't believe for a second that it's only the older children being sent off to work.
She addresses Huckleberry with a small grin, not aware that her attempts at trickery are failing.
I always have sick patients around. Not just children, but any who wander in here. Even with my magic, I never have enough to keep up with the demand. Please, may I have it so I can get started?
As she holds her hand out for the package, one of the children bursts into the room. No older than four or five, she proudly exclaims.
Auntie! The man in the black hat is here! He is ready to trade his bottles for your bottles if they arrived yet!
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"Feeding your hard liquor habit with medicine, perhaps?" Seleena starts heading for the door behind the child. "Perhaps we should meet this man..."
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Jidai's expression is one of concern.
"Surely you are not being forthright with us. I suggest, if you wish to continue receiving assistance from the Silver Crusade, that you immediately disclose your troubles and potential wrong-doing. Perhaps if you come forward, they will have more sympathy for you."
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"Feeding your hard liquor habit with medicine, perhaps?" Seleena starts heading for the door behind the child. "Perhaps we should meet this man..."
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What, with all of the children running around here? Of course I need a drink every now and then! And he knows better than to show up here, I never trade out of the ho--
Auntie catches herself, and takes a deep breath before continuing.
What I mean, is that I don't conduct business from my house, and my associates know that. I'm beginning to think that you aren't here on a simple delivery mission, but instead to spy on me! Perhaps we should start over... I fear that you are getting the wrong impression of my operation. Would any of you like some tea?
She offers you all from a pitcher, and then pours herself some. She also adds a splash of whiskey to hers, from a bottle in a desk drawer.
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At seeing the woman pour whiskey in her tea, the truth dawns on Amba. "So, you would actually trade the children's medicine to sate your own desire for drink?" She scoffs and rejects the offer of tea, then begins pacing the room.
"Searching would not do any good, Buck. I've heard enough. I doubt there are sick children here, anyway. And if there are, this is not the place for them. I suggest we alert Alysta Zadrian, and take the supplies back to her. She can alert the city watch about this woman's scams. She would be arrested, but then the children still need care. Still, she will not escape justice, if what we heard about this Silver Crusade is true."
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Kaeldra is disgusted with the woman before her. Once the suggestion is made to search the house, she agrees instantly.
"We need all the evidence we can get so she gets put where she belongs and these children get a true champion who fight to ensure they have a stable environment not fraught with cruelty and dishonesty."
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A thorough search of the house reveals several stashes of supplies from three other different charities around the house, as well as several ledgers that reveal she has been selling them on the black market, fueling her drinking habit and her gambling addiction.
For what it's worth, she really does take care of the children, the sick, and the elderly; however, she never needed any donations to do so. Her magical healing abilities are more than enough, and she only uses the donations for her own vices.
Once the information is turned over, the Venture Captain sighs and sits low in her seat, her head in her hands.
Her misdeeds will have to be reported to these other charities. She cannot use these donations in vain. There are others that need them, whether she cares well for the children or not, though these reports of child labor concern me. I will look into her deeply myself, and more than likely shut her down. Thank you, you have all done well.
You are given a light lunch, and ushered out of the building shortly thereafter.
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Amba appears increasingly disturbed as they find more evidence. "I am sorry to see that your good work was spoiled by greed. We will report, and you will pay the price." She considers any more words wasted at this point.
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After partaking of the lunch at the Temple of the Shining Star, Amba looks around to ger her bearing. "Should we visit Dremdhet Salhar next? It is in the Wise Quarter, as Venture-Captain Valsin said. That is close to here."
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You all make your way to the rich estate of Grand Council member Dremdhet Salhar, and are greeted by a guard who is expecting you as you reach the tall, wrought-iron gate. Once you're inside, a servant tells you Salhar is not present, called away on important Council business, but his most trusted advisor is available to negotiate any business you may require. The servant explains this while leading the group down well decorated hallways, past expansive rooms. After a few minutes, the group arrives at a simple study near the end of a long hallway. Inside Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage, a tan-skinned old man sits behind a desk flipping through pages in a large tome. Scraps ofpaper jut from the book marking over two dozen different places. As the group approaches the open door, the wise sage silently gestures you into the stud y with one thin hand, while closing the tome with the other after finishing what he was reading. Once you are all inside the study, he speaks.
“Good day to you, Pathfinders. I am Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage, advisor to Master Salhar. I understand you were sent here to discuss archaeological permissions. Knowing this was coming, I spoke with Master Salhar at length on the subject and have this to say. “Since Osirion was reopened to exploration a decade ago, adventurers, historians, and treasure-seekers flock to my country by the hundreds, perhaps thousands. While most families with ancestral burial vaults maintain guards and keep their sites out of the hands of casual thieves, not all families have the wealth or power to restrict everyone, and as we all know, not every defense is perfectly secure. Unscrupulous tomb robbers and maligned merchant organizations cause Osirion to bleed relics into the Inner Sea—something the descendents of Ancient Osirion cannot afford. We Osiriani have thousands of years of rich history coursing through our veins, and while that power has been out of focus in recent years, we are content to wait, knowing our enemies will wear themselves down. As they fall into arrogance, folly, or greed, we wait for our return to power, knowing we bear the riches of our ancestors at our feet. “Master Salhar remains impressed by the Pathfinder Society, orating in their favor a handful of times in front of Absalom’s Grand Council, in fact. Due to previous relationships between him and the Society, Master Salhar has agreed to grant permission to the Pathfinder Society to explore his family’s vaults below Sothis. The only thing he requires is that you retrieve the map of the vaults from his own vault here. The servant will lead you to the basement and show you the room.” The Sapphire Sage’s eyes twinkle as he smirks knowingly, then he turns back to reading his book as though he had never been disturbed.
After leaving Amenopheus’ study, the servant brings the you back through the spacious estate, leading you down sturdy stone steps into the cool basement. Down a hallway, after a couple turns, you end up at a plain wooden door. The servant opens the door, gesturing to the room with a bow, and waits silently for you all to enter. Once you do, he shuts and locks the door behind you. On the inside of the door is written "“Within these cases lies your quest and your way out.”
From where you are, you see that the plain stone room contains three chests: a copper-banded chest of smooth, dark wood; a red lacquered chest; and what looks to be a cube of solid steel. Behind the chests sits a low table holding a clear glass jar half full of liquid and a covered wicker basket.
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Seleena begins by thoroughly searching the room for anything that is not immediately obvious.
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Amba is quiet but respectful during the meeting with Amenopheus. She doesn't quite understand what's going on, and prefers not to take any chances in embarrassing herself and the Society.
Once the door closes behind them, she allows herself to look puzzled. "That was odd, was it not?" she asks her companions. "I do not think I like Osiriani. They always give me the idea that I mistake them - that they say one thing but mean another." As she walks into the room and removes the cover from the wicker basket, she continues to talk in her rapid, clipped speech. "I thought we would come here to pick up papers. This Salhar had already agreed, had he not? We would only make it official. And suddenly we are in his basement. To perform a 'quest'?"
Still puzzled, she bends over the wicker basket to see what's inside it.
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While Seleena searches for anything hidden, Jidai detects for magical auras, And between the two, they come up empty. The chests do not appear to be magical, and neither does anything on the table. Amba has a little better luck, though, as she peers into the wicker basket, and sees a coiled viper looking back at her! She is just barely able to see the glint of something shiny underneath the snake, but she can tell there is no way to get to it without going through the creature!
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"Hah!" Amba's ears perk up at the sight of the viper, a creature she's had some experience with in the jungles of Garund. She picks up the wicker basket and takes it to a corner of the room to dump its contents on the floor. Keeping a close eye on the snake, she then tries to fish the object away from the snake with the point of her blade.
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Amba looks at Buck in surprise, even as she keeps track of the snake from the corner of her eye. "Why would you shoot it? It has not harmed us, yet?" A thought dawns on her. "What if this is the Osiriani's favourite snake? Or maybe a test. To see how Pathfinders would act while exploring his family's vault? We cannot be seen as tomb robbers that kill and destroy everything we encounter. That is the style of the Aspis!" She practically spits out the last word, even in her lyrical voice.
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The viper darts at Amba when she dumps the basket out!
It misses, though, and Amba, Huckleberry, and Kaeldra may take an action against it!
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Seleena keeps her cool, ignoring the snake. "I think this chest with the copper bands is not... Right..."
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Amba is able to retrieve the item that caught her eye; a blue stone key that faintly radiates an aura of transmutation.
Now that the 'fight' is out of the way, Seleena and Jidai have more time to devote to looking around. The glass jar on the table is about half full of a clear liquid, and at the bottom sits a jeweled brass key. The copper chest shimmers faintly, and now that you heard Seleena exclaim about its possibility of not even being real, you can tell that it ay just be an illusion. The smooth, red lacquered chest looks devious. The solid metal plate surrounding the gaping keyhole pulses with glowing amber runes. The steel chest has only the faintest crack where its lid meets the base, and would be completely featureless save for its narrow keyhole.
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Amba takes the key back to the others. "This one is not right?," she asks of Seleena, poking at the copper-banded chest.
"It feels pretty normal to me..." With her new-found key, she approaches the other two chests. She tries the steel one first, poking her blue stone key at the keyhole. If that doesn't have any effect, she does the same with the red lacquered chest. "We maybe need the other chest as well... Two chests with keyholes, and two keys?"