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Ashur accepts the potions/oils and stows them before he starts healing himself with his own wand. He listens to the man's story with earnest.
"Yea, your girlfriend is apparently suffering from a case of evil b%&~*. I also say we let him out." He will also pack up the Hellknight's longsword before taking a scroll out to give to Kulik. "Here, if someone is close to death or actively dying, use it."
"I think his exact words were to 'make sure I never have to lay eyes on that embarrassment of a son again'. I am sure you know what that means."
"Wh... what? No! He... he wouldn't say that! Come on, you're kidding! Listen to your friends; you're outvoted! Let me outta here! You... you mentioned wanting to save that paracountess broad, right? You'll need me to get her, trust me!"
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Erin shoots a withering glare at everyone around her and forges onward.
"Well, since these two have grown so attached to you I suppose we can find a way around this situation. You see, you have been labeled as expendable, by your own family no less. He said he does not want to lay eyes on you. I do not see why you would not be able to walk out of here just fine. I have been paid good money to make sure you are not seen in Korvosa again. That does not mean I cannot advise you to head somewhere else, with a different name to preserve your life. In exchange for this kindness, you help us with the Countess. Do we have a deal?"
She says, jingling the keys again.
@Erin: "A new life? Yeah, I see where you're going with this," he says with a sly nod. "Hey, after this, are you guys looking to break off, too, then? You're clearly competent enough to be my top cousins; I can guarantee you the biggest bags of money. Heh, my dad probably trusts you enough to even let you walk right into his personal office. That'll make that infiltration easy."
The middle-aged woman in the cell speaks up as Marduk peeks in, without getting up. "I'd like to ask for you to let me out, too. Should lie straight to your face as well?"
@Marduk:
"Me? Name's Sascha Antif-Arah. Guess I'm still technically a Pathfinder, though I'd understand if you don't believe me. Suuuuuuch a coincidence, right? Hang on a second," she says as she stands to flip her bunk's thin mattress. Out of it, she procures a well-worn shiv. Beneath the mattress are easily hundreds of tally marks, to which she adds one with the shiv. After a few seconds of counting, she stop counting and simply asks, "What year it is?" She immediately shakes her head and continues, "Eh, never mind; doesn't really matter. It was 4708; I'd been retired from the Grand Lodge for at least three years by that point. An old teammate of mine said that she'd found some strange puzzle box from some old cave, rumored to have been Runelord-worshipping hideout. Knew I was good with things like that after the time Dreng woke us up at midnight to send us to one of those ruins up in Kaer Maga."
"So I show up to her house in Old Korvosa to see this box for myself; got Thassilonian runes all over the thing. Not 5 minutes into my search, there's a knock at the door. She answers it. Guess who showed up for lunch? They said that box was stolen property of the royal bloodline, and that I was enough of an accomplice to get locked away permanently as well. Gadren took her out of here a few months ago. Never came back. Just like this 'Paracountess.'" She points toward the Gael's cell. "That little boy's been trying to bribe Gadren every day for what must at least a year now. When he's here, he tries to sweet-talk him into busting him out. When he leaves, he spits as many curses at him and tries to get me to 'jump him' from my cell, like I even could. Always talking about getting back with Daddy and just how many tons of gold I'll get. Fat lot of good his dad's done him."
Markus presses his face to the bars. He then realizes he yelled right in Erin's face, "Sorry about that. She's clearly lost it. She's been in here forever."
Markus seems really attached to his dad, despite having informed him that he's disposable. He either didn't believe it or is suicidally attached to his position.
Sascha is being pretty upfront. Randomly trusting prisoners is usually a good way to get shanked, but there's enough things one could test her on to validate her background.
Sascha speaks up again. "The password for whatever item he uses when he trades his prisoners for more dogs is in Infernal. While I'm sure the ex-Hellknight could tell you what it is, but I wouln't trust him farther than I could throw him. And I'm getting old." The Gaels boy just shakes his head and spins his pointer finger around his head to state his opinion of the woman.
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Erin turns away from Markus' cell and heads over to release Sascha. While making her way across the room she beckons Marduk over and speaks quietly so Markus cannot hear.
"Marduk, we may need that guy to get us to Zarta, but if you want to see him live he must not return to Korvosa. There are people there that will kill him not long after he steps foot in town and he is apparently too big of an idiot to realize it. I empathize with any Hellknight prisoner and would like to see him make it even if he is a complete moron. I would suggest using your size and stature to convince him returning home is not the best idea. "
After unlocking Sascha's door she hands him the keys.
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Marduk takes the offered key and gives Erin a nod.
"I don't care if he lives or dies but I understand the desire to ruin the Hellknight's plans."
After Sascha's cell is unlocked, the hulking half-orc approached Markus's.
"We are going to release you and you're going to help us get to Zarta. After that, you're going to disappear - far from Korvosa. I hear Minkai is nice. Refuse any part of this and I will personally make you wish you were still in this cell. Do we have an understanding?"
@Marduk: He takes a step back, visibly shaken. "Y... uh, yeah. Okay. He's got some devil-dog statuette he takes into his room. I've seen him carrying it around down here, but he's never taken it out of Caina. The phrase to activate it is "Here be the Undersigned" in Infernal. I can say it for you, if you need me to." He then stops for a moment. "You're... you're gonna let me out now, right?"
@Erin: Sascha picks up her well-worn shiv by the pointy end. "Figured I'd take a souvenir." As she's walking out, she points out, "You know, I've been here a LOT longer than he has, and I can tell you how to work that dog idol, too. Just didn't want to look like some beggar like him." She stretches her lithe form and looks upon what's left of the Hellknight. "Wow, you fight your whole way through here, or am I gonna have to sneak out?"
Both inmates point in the same general direction simultaneously; towards the room to the right, behind the desk.
Sascha mouths the words "He's full of it" to Marduk, away from the LoS of Markus' cell.
"He's got a bag of Invisibility Oils somewhere. Rubs 'em on the dogs he gets from getting rid of people. Could I take one off your hands?" Sascha asks.
@Marduk, and anyone else entering the Warden's room: The room reveals little more than a bed and a small wardrobe built into the south wall. Strangely, the room’s east wall is adorned with a small, framed painting of an eyeless, two-headed devil hound baying against a fiery background.
She puts her hands forward; "I see some things haven't changed in the Society since I left. You barely looked around. He's probably got everything hidden in some trapdoor somewhere." She drops the shiv on the ground and shuffles it to Marduk harmlessly. "Some insurance; I'm not going anywhere 'til you get on with your mission," she says as she sits on the floor.
Kulik and Erin's search reveals a small, wooden chest hidden in a hollow in the wall behind the maralictor’s wardrobe. It is locked.
The figurine has some kind of weird writing you're not familiar with.
The prisoner logbook is a record of all prisoners kept in the oubliette’s cells in recent years. Under the heading “Holding Cell Four,” the words “vacant—must remove corpse” feature prominently over a carefully redacted entry. Under “Holding Cell Three,” the words “Sascha Antif-Arah—indefinite” are written. Under “Holding Cell Two,” above several redacted entries is written “Markus Gael—traitor.” The only entry under “Holding Cell One” was scribbled out hastily but is still legible: “Zarta Dralneen—execution imminent. Requested by Losarkur. Delivered.”
There is also a magic bag .
Also, the longsword's scabbard is incredibly heavy; most likely some really thick, stone material.
"I suppose. The script is in Devil-speak, though it'd take a few minutes for me to read it properly..." she points out.
"HEY! I CAN SPEAK DEVIL! yells Markus from the adjacent room. "IF YOU'RE IN A HURRY, JUST LET ME OUT AND I'LL READ IT ALL YOU WANT!"
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"Hey, the both of you. I can read it just fine without either of your help." Ashur yells before turning to the group.
"Let's just let them go. Or in his case, let him rot in that cell."
"It says I call upon the pact in this idol to open the gates to Losarkur's domain. That's a really simple command phrase. It's like they're not even trying."
As Marduk whips the sword out of the scabbard, the blade comes out ablaze! Additionally, the scabbard doesn't re-size for the falchion, though upon inspection, is perforated to release the heat to comfortably carry an eternally-burning sword.
Sascha speaks up from her seat on the floor, "You gotta read it in Devil-speak somewhere in his room, maybe from a specific point or something. I'd help, but I'm not supposed to go anywhere yet."