"These two are minor healing potions," Valai says, putting the vials in question aside. "This one will grant invisibility -- briefly, and attacking anyone after imbibing it will dispel the effect."
The Elfmaid frowns prettily as she considers the others. "Whoever is best at stealth should have this, I suppose."
Dimral shrugs:"that could be useful, but I don't need it for now. Let's keep it safe, we'll figure out who to give it to later. As for the matter of the warlock... bringing the corpse to the guard shouldn't be a problem. He was a wanted man, leaving him here will just give someone else the opportunity to collect the bounty"
Judah's brows raise at the mention of the invisibility potion. Something like that could have made his previous life a whole lot easier.
"I wouldn't mind having that."
"I have no desire to be seen as some avenging vigilante," Valai says. "It would interfere with our investigation by drawing vengeful attention from the dead man's compatriots. Let's have a majority decision. I vote we leave the corpse for the vermin, or at least for later pick-up by proper guardsmen."
[b]"A couple of us could go to the Arvensoar while the rest could stay here waiting for the guard to confirm that justic was served"[/ooc] Dimral speaks calmly.
Germain volunteers to get the guard while the rest of you wait. He comes back a short time later with the Kasadei and a couple other guards. She examines the scene and orders the other guards to remove the body.
She pulls out a coin pouch with 100 gold and sits it on one of the tables "Well done. Personally, I would have prefered him alive to see him thrown behind bars, but I suppose this will do."
"We tried. He wasn't amenable. He cast some blasted spell and put 3 of us out of commission. We had very little choice in the matter after that" Dimral explains.
"Whether or not he was a slaver is a moot point now. This trail has dried up. I suppose the only option left is to go to Underbridge and search for these Tower Girls" judging from his tone the gigantic man isn't happy with having so few options.
Kasadei nods in thanks "Good job either way. Good luck on your search. Of course if you come across anything important you can always seek me out."
She heads out throwing up her hand as a farewell as she walks away.
After finishing up with Kasadei Dimral leads the way to your only further lead, following Kasadei's instructions for finding the warehouse in Underbridge. Coming to the building you find a partially collapsed warehouse on the shoreline, in a particularly filthy stretch where tidal currents often cause the filth and refuse of the city to collect in stinking clots along the shore. Although a good portion of the warehouse is collapsed you do find, on the side of the building, a doorway with no doors leading into the warehouse
Heading insde to get a better look you find the building has a relatively large open area within, but one corner has a sort of crude shelter made from rowboats and timbers leaning against the warehouse’s frame. The entrance to this hovel consists of a pair of skiffs leaning against each other to create a triangular “arch” from which a moldering remnant of a ship’s sail hangs like a curtain. Sitting next to the entrance is an old sea chest with a broken lid. A sign leans against the front of the chest—“LEEV A GIFT AND WATE OUTSID.” A dented tin platter sits on the ground before the sign.
After leaving the offering and stepping back to wait a few moments eventually a wretched man, more skin and bone than meat comes out. His flesh is clammy and gray in places, one of his eyes is clouded over with a white film, and his clothing is caked with filth. His breathing is raspy and gurgling and smells of bad meat — he’s plagued by a wet, hacking cough. He looks at the offering in the plate snatches it up and pockets it. Nodding with approval he sits on top of the broken chest "What yew want Fenster ta’do?"
Fenster picks up on your obvious desire to get information about Natalya "I be needin' some better coin fer such 'portant info." He flashes a toothy grin and shifts his weight so he can kick the plater toward you.
While he waits for you to increase your donation he adds, obviously bragging "Ya know Fenster is the Tower Girls landlord!"
Looking around you see no obvious signs of anyone else having been here for awhile. He continues " I know the Girls been missin' for awhile, but they'll be back... they always come back ta ol' Fenster!" with that he gives Valai the creepiest wink you have ever seen. After a moment he shrugs "There was some trouble I s'pect with one of their members, this Natalya ya mentioned. S'pose that may be why they haven't come back."
"We are going to need some more information before you see more money," Valai says, her arms crossed. "We're not paying for a pig in a sack; we want to at least know there's pork in there before we hand out the jink."
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"So they have a hit of a, uh, soft spot for you, Mr. Fenster. We think our friend, Nat, is in trouble as well, and we are just trying to help her out. But we need to find her first. And, Im sure that if your girls knew you tried to help us to help her, well Im thinking that might lead to a very special sort of night for you as a reward. . ."
Stopping for a moment, trying to give the man a moment to let the possibilities take root and blossom, "But, if Nat and your girls have been taken, prisoners of whoever is behind the kidnappings for instance, well Im not sure they would be happy if you didnt help save them. I know I wouldnt be. Do you know anything about that? These kidnappings." all the while feeling a bit dirty for having to resort to talk like this.
Fenster just look at the offering plate at during Valai's protest not seeming to want to budge on getting paid up front. At the mention of the disappearances he puffs up his chest while proudly claiming "Fesnter is good at makin' people disappear if the price is right! I can even make the likes of you disappear if I were paid enough!" he starts chuckiling to himself which quickly breaks out into a series of alarmingly wet coughs finishing with him spitting a solid chunk of plhegm on the ground.
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"I'm sure you can, friend, but why would you want to. We are not your enemies, right? And I don't think you kidnapped anyone, though I'm certain you are very, very good at it. I mean, why would you unless someone paid you a lot, and who is going to do that when they can just hire some drunken idiot in the nearest tavern. Who could afford a professional like you?"
Fenster deflates a bit and nods "Ya, yer right. It wasn't ol' Fenster but I wish it was! I 'ave seen the one doin' it though. It is the blue dwarfies and I seen them skulkin' about the alleys of the waterfront now and then, though I don't know where they come from or go to and I ain't seen them in the past several days."
Fenster motions to the dinged up offering plate "Sure can as soon as ya make it worth ol' Fensters time. Informaion ain't cheap, 'specially when it is something you really need."
Valai snaps her fingers and mutters a word. Immediately, Fenster's plate starts to fill up with what looks very much like gold dust...!
"Will that suffice?" she asks acidly.
Fenster eyes the gold dust greedily and takes the platter, putting it inside his hovel. Coming back out he nods "I seen her lurkin' 'bout in a nearby buildin' and she ain't hangin' with the other Girls no more. Fact, she seemed to be doin' her best to stay unobserved"
Fenster grins and continues "Nuthin' in th' Shadow gits by me good peeper!" as he taps the sallow cheek under his non-clouded eye.
"Which building?" Valai asks. "And is she in there all the time, or just part of the day?"
Fenster shrugs to the second question "'Ts not like I sit around wathin' the place all the time."
"As ta the builin'. Head out on the main street 'ere an' go down three blocks. Take a right towards the cliffs and yull find it up agains' the cliff face." Fesnter uses hand gestures that really only confuse his description further, but you feel confident you can locate the building from his directions.
Judah hadn't been feeling well ever since his short slumber. If you don't let yourself sleep for long enough eventually you kind of stop feeling sleepy. Give yourself a taste of it though, and its all your body wants.
He was having trouble keeping his eyes open now. He had a headache and his neck and back hurt too. He was glad the others had a handle on talking to people because he could barely remember what they were supposed to be doing.
You follow Fensters direction and eventually find the building he described. It appears to be an old, run down boarding house. Its clapboard sides are dark with mildew and marred by scorch marks. In places fire has gutted portions of the roof's moss-covered tile shingles, but the building appears to be structurally intact which is more than can be said by a number of other buildings in Underbridge. The building stands near the stark wall of the Seacleft, and scree from several decades of minor rockfalls has piled up along its southern face. The building’s windows are heavily boarded over to the point you can't even see inside. There are two doors, one on the south and another on the east of the building that you can see.
"..."
Dimral doesn't utter a single word while the rest of the group interrogates the strange man. He just stays behind them, an intimidating presence ready to unleash itself at minimal provocation
Again, Judah scouts ahead. He didn't really want to, but he figured he needed to contribute something to the group's efforts.
Dimral moves towards the door in front of the group, hammer ready.
Valai quietly draws her rapier and follows at the back of the group.
As you all approach the building two men rush out of the western door way.
Yelling the one in the lead says "Hey yous! Get out of here. This ain't no place for you!" The other one rounding the corner seeing Dimral and Germain at the door draws his weapon before also yelling "You're not s'ppose ta be in there!"
Valai quickly mutters a spell, and a shimmer of force surrounds her.