Horillo beckons Sorix to his side, a shudder moves up his back and quietly he says, "Sorix, listen, behind us, the eyes of a half-elf woman are following us. She is keeping hidden. Turn slowly and you will see her. I suggest you move round behind her and introduce yourself. I would do it, but I'd best keep tabs on Nils and Mawl." With a flick of his head he indicates the spies position, "Careful Sorix, she could be with House Thrune."
Horillo goes back to protect the two explorers below him.
Sorix relays whatever she understands about the structural integrity to her allies who are now descending into the rubble.
After getting a heads-up from Horillo about a half-elf watching her and her fellow Silver Ravens, Sorix very slowly turns her head until she spots the figure. She nods quickly to Horillo, then makes her way around the other side of the building where the half-elf is trying to hide.
Approaching from behind, Sorix announces her presence a few paces back. ”Hi there! What brings you to this burned-out sinkhole?”
Watching the group mill about around the burnt building, Sholti can tell they aren't themselves dottari. She also hears enough to suggest they aren't on friendly terms with them.
But just the impression, not direct evidence. And these are dangerous times...
Sholti can tell she's been spotted. It's almost cute how they "casually", meaning slowly, take a peek in her direction one after the other. So, when the tall woman with them peels off and walks away, it isn't hard for Sholti to guess where she's going.
She shifts her position slightly so she'll be facing the woman when she arrives. Sholti isn't so worried now. It seems unlikely they political or legal agents. They don't seem particularly professional. She had seen the type in Absalom, where her relations kept several such people on retainer for corporate espionage and other, seamier work.
If she and they were both here without authority, the situation just needs to be framed in Sholti's favor. The question isn't why she's here, it's why they're here.
"They could be looters though, or a street gang. Plan B is to run like crazy.
When the woman arrives, Sholti is leaning against the building, thumbs hooked into her belt, looking right at her.
"Greetings to you as well. I'm a music aficionado and that's no ordinary burned-out sinkhole. It was the Silver Star, a particularly well-known and loved music shop. I heard that it burned, and needed to see for myself. It is a great tragedy."
Sholti narrows her eyes at the woman and, with a cat that swallowed the canary smile, asks in return. "And what brings you lot here. Looks like you're all set to climb down and explore the place? Whatcha looking for pray tell?"
”Tragedy indeed. And isn’t it quite a coincidence it just happened to burn to the ground the exact same night as several other devastating fires. Fires that didn’t spread, mind you. Just destroyed certain specific buildings."
She doesn't seem to be on Barzalai's side...perhaps I can trust her with another bit of info and she'll tell me more in return...
Sorix looks the woman straight in the eyes. "We think it was no coincidence, and we're looking for anything to help prove it wasn't." After looking at her for a long few seconds, attempting to judge her reaction, Sorix asks, "Just a music afficianado, huh? That's the only reason you came by?"
Mawl is inspecting his area looking for any clues as to if there are clues to the Sarenrae connection or if it was a spot in the underground resistance railroad, if they left anything behind like when the Silver Ravens were discovered.
Sholti face registers astonishment as he woman lays out her idea that the fires were not a coincidence, as if she and her companions have uncovered a hidden truth. She's not sure what to make of it exactly. She feels the woman is genuine, in part because none of her companions seem to be making moves to box Sholti in for some nefarious purpose. But as described, the woman's and her friend's plans don't seem to make much sense.
"To be frank, I think the only people who do believe the fires are a coincidence are working very hard to believe it. That really is the point of them isn't it? Three fires on the same night, one of which without a doubt very much in our new Lord-Mayor's best interest, occur exactly as he arrives. There's no need for him to claim responsibility. Everyone knows. The lack of a public statement is a sop for those who desperately need to believe it's a coincidence to soothe their conscience while they accept the acts. Everyone else knows the Night of Ashes was aimed at removing possible opponents in a way that would also serve as a display of brutal power to cow the city's people. The Lord-Mayor can deny any involvement while knowing we know."
Sholti shifts to upright, no longer leaning against the building. "So, I guess my question is this: what if you do find proof the Lord-Mayor ordered the fires set? Who exactly are you going to take that proof to? How does confirming an open secret serve a purpose?"
"As for myself, I'm an acquaintance of this property's owner, who is also missing at this time. I'm trying to keep an eye on her interests until she can do so herself."
”Proving the open secret isn’t the point.” Sorix takes a deep breath, centering herself. She looks around quickly to see if anyone else seems to be within earshot. Satisfied the conversation isn’t being monitored, she keeps her voice low nonetheless. ”I … We have decided we’re not going to just accept this kind of tyranny. We’re going to do something about it. There could be clues at the sites of the fires. Specific leads. Or maybe there’s nothing? Either way, we need to check.”
”There’s something else we need besides clues; something even more important. Allies.”
Sholti isn't expecting that response from the woman. She doesn't know how to balance the possibility they're up to something very intriguing against the possibility they're lunatics.
She doesn't answer the woman immediately, too shocked to do more than stare at her. Sholti finally decides against what is probably her better judgement to answer with the most limited affirmative she can think of.
"I'll come with you to look around the place. My name is Sholti."
It's something she intended to do anyway. At least they have rope and extra hands on board so she won't have to worry about what to do if she gets stuck down in the hole that used to be the Silver Star.
As Sholti agrees to come take a look with Sorix, a group of 3 dottari round a corner and spot Horillo and Saniel standing near the rubble. They pick up their pace as they move toward the scene and shout out "Hold! What are you doing over there?" Their hands move to their weapons as they make their way over, but they haven't drawn them yet.
Horillo turns towards the approaching Dottari, speaking loud enough for those down the hole to hear his words, "Afternoon officers, sorry to be any trouble, but I could have sworn that there's a dog down there, either that or a large rat." He drops a wooden holy symbol of Asmodeus, drop from his pocket on the floor, letting the Dottari see it fall. "There's a reward for catching a dog and meat if I kill a large rat, but if you want me to leave, then we shall be more than happy to go on our way." He shuffles towards the Dottari, kicking up ashes and dust to further conceal the rope.
Mawl makes every attempt to conceal himself from view from above where Horillo and Saniel were standing.
Noticing the dottari, Sorix stays where she was talking to Sholti by the building and ducks for cover if there’s any to be found, retrieving a scroll of obscuring mist from her bandolier.
The dottari get closer to Horillo but stay far enough back that they can't yet see into the rubble. The lead dottari looks a little confused for a moment while the others wait for his lead.
Hearing Horillo's voice from above Nils finds a convenient bit of cover near to the rope and tries to fade into the shadows.
Sholti tells the woman beside her "Fill your friends in they should go with what I say, unless it doesn't work. Then I guess it's either run or fight."
Sholti walks out from beside the building with a rapid purposeful stride, straight toward the dottari patrol. As she gets nearer to them she calls out in a confident but cheerful voice "What luck you've happened by!"
As she reaches the men she offers her hand to the likely commander of the patrol, and her best smile to all of them. "I am Arrosa Palben and I have brought my employees with me so we can fence off this property. The current owner, who owes me a considerable debt, seems to have vanished without paying. I intend to place a lien against this property, or what's left of it, under the Unified Property subsection, lines 78 through 92, of the Breach of Contract Law."
Again Sholti smiles warmly at the dottari. "That ordinance allows me to claim the property of a contract holder who is in breach of terms until such time as my losses are made whole or two years have passed."
"But, as you can yourselves see, the current ruined state of the property has left a pit that presents a clear danger to children, unwary animals such as dogs, and nighttime passersby. I certainly don't wish to be held responsible for any resulting deaths or injuries. My people and I are presently surveying the place to determine the amount of materials needed to fence it."
"That is why I am so pleased to see you!" Sholti, who is still holding the man's hand, gives it a gentle but urgent squeeze.
"Navigating the governmental offices to secure the proper permits is so daunting for a person like me, who doesn't know their way around. But you, I'm sure every door opens at a word from you. Could you please do me the great favor of getting the permits for me? If you tell me which post I can find you at, I will collect them tomorrow. I would be so deeply in your debt!"
Horillo turns to see the interloper make herself known, not only to Saniel and himself, but also the Dottari. As she does this, his brow furrows as he tries to make sense of what's going on. He watches nervously as Arrosa explains her position and the legality of her claim. He feverishly looks around, hoping to spot her people, but sees none.
He looks questioningly at Saniel and into the darkness where Sorix is tripping over debris as she tries hard to make herself difficult to see. He refrains from a smile as he watches the wizardly woman, returning his gaze to the Dottari and Arrosa. He makes no sound, waiting for the situation to resolve itself. His bow remaining in his hand, seemingly posing no threat, but able to be used should either the Dottari or the woman threaten him or his friends.
Between Horillo and Sholti the guards look extremely confused. The lead guard shrugs to Sholti "I uh, sure I can see what I can do. I definitely understand the difficulties that all the red tape can present. We are stationed out of Castle Kintargo. Ask for Sargent Bask and I will be sure to get the appropriate documents. I'm glad some citizens are still concerned with the well being of others."
He waves the other two dottari to move out and heads in the direction of Castle Kintargo. The other two look back with a parting glance of confusion but neither speak up and follow along.
Once the dottari are out of sight and earshot, Horillo casts his eyes over Arrosa. "You are fencing this off now, Arrosa. Did you have anything to do with what went on here, sounds like you have a bone to pick with the previous owner. You seem to know much of Asmodeus' laws of contract." he says in a darkly suspicious voice, before he calls down to Mawl and Nils. "The dottari have gone, we have the new owner of the Silver Star here." His eyes narrow as he waits for his allies to look the stranger over. The grip on his bow tightens.
Mawl, confused comes out from his hiding spot and looks up at Horillo and Sorix, noticing the other half-elf with them. Hmm, looks like the two of them have it under control. I know there has to be something here to determine why this place was a target and there might be evidence of more potential allies.
Sholti thanks the dottari patrol leader profusely for his help, then waits while watching them go.
When she turns back around the questions from the man catch her by surprise. "What? Oh!" She laughs.
"No no, that was all made up. I'm fairly certain my enchantment took hold of the boss, but I still needed a plausible reason for them to leave. If I'd simply told the boss to go away, the other two would certainly have realized he wasn't acting on his own volition."
Sholti points to the pit. "I want to see what's down there too."
"The magic should hold for a couple of hours, but we shouldn't count on having that much time. Best we hurry."
Privately Sholti is very pleased to find her off-the-cuff story had worked so well.
Mawl spends his time sifting through the rubble. Nils does the same, but as the ground shifts again he narrowly avoids more collapsing debris. After nearly half an hour Mawl finally manages to find a small coffer that has survived the fire and building collapse. Feeling confident there isn't much else of import to find he hauls it up to the others. Inside you find a cache of items including four scrolls and seven potions.
Mawl is satisfied, yet still a little disappointed not to find the solution to all the world's problems and have everything blissful. Not wanting to risk possible serious injury with the apparent continued collapse, and satisfied that his find was better than their finds at the other locations he climbs back up to the surface.
[b]"It is none too safe down there. I think we are lucky not to fall into the continuing collapse. I am satisfied we got something that might help us with our mission. We need to look it over then get back to Clenchjaw's so that we can talk to him"[\b]
Sorix smiles at Mawl’s discovery. ”Nice, you found something after all. Still, I’m ready to get out of here. Let’s get to Clenchjaw’s before anyone decides to come back with, um, appropriate documents." Sorix looks at Sholti. ”’The enemy of my enemy is my friend,’ I’ve heard it said. Excellent work with the dottari. Perhaps we should chat more, somewhere less conspicuous?”
Sorix looks very ready to leave the site.
Horillo's brow furrow and his eyes darken as he looks "Arrosa, lies seem to spring easily from your lips, trust is a difficult thing to earn, when lies are the introduction." He, stares momentarily into Arrosa's eyes looking to see her soul exposed. "And the house is the biggest liar of them all?" His arm grips his bow, his reflexes at the ready, coiled. "How do we know that was not a put up job, to introduce yourself to us? What do you really seek here?" He beckons for Mawl and Nils to return and help Sorix and himself in judging whether Arrosa deserves a modicum of faith.
Mawl seems to notice the stranger for the first time. He ambles over to the three of them and examines her from top to bottom. Always one to expect the best in people he sees no malicious intent.
Knowing he has never been a good judge of character he has come to rely on his sister and with her absence recently, he kind of thinks of Sorix as a sister. She doesn't seem threatened by this newcomer, but I'm not sure she is completely convinced yet either. I'll just be on my guard, and keep my mouth shut
Mawl focuses on Horillo for his expressions and turns to observe her from the corner of his eye, not a very subtle fellow.
Nils climbs back up and takes the measure of their new companion.
Not feeling any immediate threat he merely indicates her scimitar with a quick jerk of his chin and observes, "An interesting blade."
To Horillo he says, "Fine questions but as Sorix said let's find a better place to have them answered."
Sholti's face goes from slightly amused to extremely annoyed with the man very quickly.
"Says the man who was even quicker with lies for the dottari out of his mouth than I was. That Asmodean holy symbol you accidentally dropped on purpose was laying it on a bit thick by the way. Lies can be problematic, but they can also serve a good purpose. Hypocrisy is always just plain distasteful."
Turning away from him to the woman Sholti's demeanor returns to pleasant.
"Thank you. Agreed, time to leave while we're in the clear. I'm very curious to know what's in that box as well. Yes, we can chat more."
Then, swinging back to the rude man with the messy hair she adds "You can trust me or not, I don't really care. My concern is whether or not I can trust you, and I'm not wheedling to join your little club. I bought you the time to recover the box, so you owe me a look at its contents."
Horillo, his nerve unshaken by the newcomer, speaks to Nils, "To the Nursery, there are places there we can talk. Or are we to Clenchjaws?" in a soft voice as Nils is close to Horillo, he continues in Nils ear, "Best to not lead her to our safe houses, lest our trust is not returned. She has not proven her worth yet, though Sorix seems to accept her company."
He returns his stare to Arrosa, "Then what have you heard in the grapevine of the goings on in this place. What rumours have found your ears? Tell us and join us for a drink at Clenchjaws?" he asks with no warmth in his voice.
He moves his sleeve down over his tattoo and follows Nils and Mawl.
You all head back to Clenchjaw's, though the walk is quite with the unease between the group and the newcomer. Saniel pays the way once again for you to all cross the bridge. You reach Clenchjaw's in the late afternoon. The evening crowd is already starting to arrive and the tavern is much busier than when you were here earlier in the day.
As you enter you find yourselves in the midst of a bar brawl. Four customers are fist fighting among themselves while Jillian is attempting to break up the fight to no avail. Oddly Clenchjaw is no where to be seen. Jillian moves up to try and pull one of the men away and he, what appears to be accidentally, elbows her in the nose. She stumbles back holding her face as blood runs from between her fingers.
Seeing Jillian’s nose bloodied and the situation out of control, Sorix glances at her companions and says quickly, ”We gotta help Jillian!” She then positions herself to get the four men brawling with each other in the area of a 15’ cone and yells, ”If you’re not one of these idiots who’ve mistook this tavern for a fighting arena, STAND BACK!”.
Seeing what Sorix is doing, Mawl waits for the spell and if they still haven't split up he will physically grapple one away, in an attempt to separate them. If Sorix succeeds in breaking it up he will rush to aid Jillian.
Sorix steps up and upon her exclamation to stand back, the crowd moves away leaving only the fighters. As the flows of colorful magic wash over them they all pass out and hit the ground with a thud.
Jillian stands up, still holding her nose and comes over "I appreciate the help! Maybe you can drag them outside so they can sleep it off in the streets?" She shakes her head and pulls out a cloth to wipe off her blood before looking to the rest of the guests. "Best be on your best behavior now, lest you want to end up like these fools! We don't need to be attracting the Dottari here, or even worse, those new Hellknights... so keep it civil folks!"
Mawl helps drag the bums outside, then comes back to chat with Jillian before tracking down the proprietor.
"Hey Jill, what's up? We never used to have these issues in here. We were like-minded people for the most part and the rowdiness was more for the other places in town. Clenchjaw's was always a fun place but we never had to worry about people busting up the place. It attracts the sort of attention we aren't looking for. ?Rinston would never let this happen...and where is he by the way?"
Sholti stays out of the way. Rough place it seems. What does it say that this is their preferred meeting location?
Noting that no weapons had been drawn Nils stayed clear of the fight while his companions dealt with it. Instead he turned his attention to the rest of the room noting those who were here and looking for anything that seemed out of place.
The thud of four bodies and sudden silence drew his attention back to the formerly fighting quartet and he couldn't help but smile at Sorix's efficiency. Taking the opportunity, he helped Mawl drag out the bodies and rifled through their pockets for anything of interest.
Not wishing to see the men fall afoul of the Lord Mayor's brand of justice he's sure to direct Mawl to drag them to a place they're unlikely to be noticed before Sorix's spell faded.
"They may be fools, but they are still part of our city." he says as they return to the inn.
Jillian shrugs to Mawl's inquiry and when he brings up Clenchjaw she rolls her eyes "Yeah, I don't know what's been going on. Ever since the Thrashing Badger burnt down it has just been a mess here. As for Rinston, he is passed out again. It is so strange, almost like clockwork right after 5:00, he gets crazy tired and just goes to sleep, almost out of nowhere it seems. I agree with you though, we don't need or want the kind of attention it might bring if this keeps up. Maybe you and your friends can do a little investigating and talk to some of the patrons to see if you can figure out what has been going on?"
Horillo, who has been keeping his own council, overhears the ...those new Hellknights and picks up a mug of ale, before entering into the tittle-tattle revolving around the fight. "Were they really Hellknight here? I was told this was a place you could come to get away from things? You know relax let off steam, isn't that the case anymore?" But it seems that his questions bring about suspicion he is another of Thrune's agents, perhaps the text of Asmodeous is still visible, he tucks it further into his cloak and sits down quietly to drink. The town's problems have made everyone very cautios of strangers, maybe the others will have better luck.
The cleric, acting as a no-one in the crowd, makes his way to where Rinston is sat slumped. He calls over Jillian, and with a quietened voice whispers to her, "Forgive this intrusion, I am a friend of Mawl. He told me what you said about Rinston. Perhaps I can help, I have some small skills in healing, if I can help I will, please don't be alarmed if I inspect Rinston. I have your permission." he waits for her answer.
Horillo first looks over the the man, looking for any injuries or disease that might have caused such a reaction, but there is nothing he can discern, Rinston is quite healthy apart from the ale on his breath. Quietly he says a prayer, asking for guidance from Erastil, using his magic to determine if there is any residue he can identify.
As if almost to himself, but audibly to those close to him, "Rinston always had so much energy and for him to 'pass out' like this every evening...that just isn't making sense. There must be something going on, I would like to investigate as Jillian suggests. I can't believe it is a coincidence with the Badger burning and this place going to hell and Rinston allowing it all at the same time."
It would be good if someone that was better at talking with people could ask around. I have never been that person. Saniel! he was that person
Horillo finds Sorix, She knows magics and asks her to looks at Rinston, there is a faint aura about his person, Sorix has knowledge of these things.
Phew
Sorix tries to help drag the now-unconscious men outside as best she can. After, at Horillo’s suggestion, Sorix casts detect magic, concentrating on Rinston intently, trying to determine the nature of magic aura emanating from him.
Not particularly skilled at speaking with new people or in the healing arts Nils asks Jillian, "Would you mind if I had a look around Rinston's quarters? Such a constant and regular malaise doesn't seem natural."
Mawl hears Nils' request and joins in the search.
Sholti finds the whole situation very confusing. They walked into a place to take a closer look at the contents of the box recovered from the Silver Star, and perhaps discuss some common interests. Then suddenly everyone is running about knocking out belligerent patrons, dragging unconscious people around, and investigating something about someone.
She stays out of the way, and begins to reconsider her decision to go anywhere with this group of people.
As the others rush around looking into things at the tavern, Saniel moves over to Sholti and offers her a drink and a seat. While Saniel hasn't been overly talkative he has been keeping an eye on things, particularly this new woman. When they find a place to sit he starts "You must forgive my compatriots. With everything as it is in Kintargo now, trust is not an easy thing to come by. Plus, you caught us in the midst of working to resolve some issues for the city. I must say, you did a tremendous job in assisting us back there. For that you have my thanks, and the others as well, even if they don't say it."
Taking a sip from his drink he continues "In any case, you mentioned you were interested in seeing what was among the rubble. I'm curious what sparked your interest?" With a smile he shakes his head and extends his hand "Please excuse me... where are my manner's? I'm Saniel." After a firm handshake he goes about introducing the others of the motley group, pointing them out to Sholti while they are busy in their work and then waits for her reply.
”Rinston is enchanted,” Sorix says to Horillo. ”Let’s get everyone back together, including Jillian and see what we can figure out. I’m afraid Break Enchantment is much more powerful magic than you or I are yet capable of. But we might be able to figure out who’s got him enchanted.”
Sorix then orders tea with whiskey, biscuits with lots of butter and honey, and takes a seat at the table with Saniel and Sholti, listening politely to their conversation.
"Enchanted!? Who would do that and what would they have to gain? To me it seems like he is just sleepy at the wrong time of day. That's a terrible thing to do to a man like Rinston. Do I just have to slap him or something? How do we break it?"
Sholti accepts the drink and chair. She'd really like to know what's going on with this band of people and besides, this one is the good looking one anyway. She returns the handsome man's greeting and handshake.
"You're welcome. It just seemed the decent thing to do. From what I've heard even criminals who should normally be caught don't deserve the kinds of punishments and cruelty that are being visited upon prisoners now. My name is Sholti."
"There's not much of interest to tell you about why I wanted to see the Silver Star for myself. I've been away at school in Absalom for several years. Not long before I left for Absalom, I saw Shensen at the Opera House. I had been to a few operas there before, but Shensen's performance was unlike anything I had ever seen. I was transfixed. I haven't been quite the same since. In Absalom I followed her career as closely as I could. Shensen has never been there to perform, but her reputation extends to opera enthusiasts there and she she is very highly regarded."
"Anyway," Sholti swirls the liquid in her glass and brings herself back to the subject at hand before she bores the man too much. "I've just returned. I'd expected to begin a singing career of my own, and I hoped to finally meet Shensen in person eventually. But I barely had my bags unpacked before all this began." Sholti gestures with her arms to indicate she means the whole present state of affairs in Kintargo.
"The Opera House is closed. The Silver Star is burned, and Shensen is missing. I want to know what has happened to her."
Everything Sholti tells Saniel is true. She excludes certain things though. That Shensen is also a half-elf, which Sholti finds inspiring, is too personal. That she and Shensen share a faith is too dangerous.
"So there's my story." While she spoke, Sholti had kept very good eye contact with Saniel. His eyes were very nice to look at, but she also wanted to carefully watch his reactions. Now she begins reading his face in earnest.
"My turn now." Sholti says it playfully, with a cocked eyebrow, to diffuse tension. "Why were you lot there? I heard mention among you of a 'mission', and you just said you were working to resolve some city issues. Who do you work for? Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but offhand I wouldn't mark the lot of you as opera fans. Well, not them at least, you seem pleasantly different."
Sholti uses her joking exclusion of Saniel from his companions as an opportunity to briefly place her hand on Saniel's arm as a token of warmth and his inclusion with her. Then she withdraws her hand and waits to hear what he has to say.
Horillo looks to Sorix, "Charmed, what magic would force him to be so sleepy and withdrawn from reality?" he asks the woman with magical training. Horillo looks down at the ground, his eyes closing slowly as he stands motionless. He breathes deeply, and in lowered tones speaks to Sorix, "I know one prayer that could help, that might allow Rinston to shakes off the enchantment, but if he falls under its control so easily, it is unlikely to work. Anything else is beyond my capabilities, unless we can take Rinston to receive holy blessings from those the gods look on more favourably." His eyelids rise and he looks straight into Sorix's eyes, "But what advantage does anyone get from Rinston's condition? the poor man."
Then, realising that magic is involved, Horillo is somewhat horrified, the caster could be in Clenchjaw's even as they try to help Rinston. He turns his head, searching for anyone in the crowd taking an unusual interest in their activities. "We must be careful, in case the enchanter is here." he says to Sorix, "Let us go separate ways to join Saniel."