Varunasi inspects the sketch again and harrumphs, "It looks almost feline Darling. But what type of feline would be over six feet tall yet walk like a man? There are several possibilities, none of them good. This creature, whatever it is, is cunning and brazen. The watch are not cut out for dealing with a foe like this, they are more used to dealing with theft, fraud, and mercantile squabbles than a highly organized cult of murderers. Still Darlings we know one thing, like many apex predators, our murderer is supremely arrogant. He or she, no this will be a he. Darlings our murderer thinks he is likely invincible."
Suddenly loud, she snaps, "Nothing is invincible! Not even the gods. Yes hubris will be his downfall." Gently she adds, "But Darlings if you are to be the agents of his demise, you must not share in his folly. Walk lightly, carry a big stick."
The derelict warehouse that Varunasi pointed out is half way across town, so to save time you retrace your steps back to where you left Lord Pandisar's cab driver. The man was patiently waiting for you at a cafe across the road from the cab. He spots you, hands a waiter a coin and sprints over to the cab. You explain where you need to go and the man nods and drives you through a series of back streets that inexorably lead south to the single bridge over the river known as the chase.
As you travel, you leave the cobbled streets of the commercial districts with their austere showrooms behind and the stone buildings give way to the myriad wooden warehouses of the northern docks. Soon you're over an invisible line and the Surakpor ward, perhaps the buildings are shabbier here but there's still signs of life and industry everywhere with various street vendors hawking their wares and countless people walking to and fro.
Eventually the cab pushes pas the crowds and you end up in a quiet street with several disheveled looking buildings. One particular nameless warehouse looms ahead. The cab pulls up and the driver starts reading a broad sheet, content to await your needs. Initially the building, a two story wooden affair with a long sloping roof looks to be all boarded up and inviolate but soon Hirati darts off and comes back gloating. She'd found a back entrance where the walls had been hacked through.
Inside the building is dark with a pungent smell of urine and feces, that soon grows overpowering. In the dark shadows of a basement you find a great pool of filth. The sound of insects buzz in the air dancing among the noxious fumes. Bobbing on the surface are various pieces of partially eaten humanoid here, in states of decay ranging from fresh to stripped bones. There are several heads visible near the "shore".
On the way, Lilly's thoughts were occupied by both festivities and the cruel fate of the woman & the baby.
When they arrived, she jumps out eased.
"This is the place huh? Hey, why's Hirati darting off so quickly?"
Hearing of the secret entrance, she smiles...which soon turned to revolt as the smell of the situation inside presented itself.
"Bugh...talking about a huge open lavetory.
I'm not going to search that."
शांति
स्थिरता
मौन
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Mohktar pulls up the ends of his head wrap and binds it around his nose and mouth. "It may need to be done..." He responds to Lilly.
He next withdraws a torch from his haversack and sets to lighting it, not at all pleased by having more illumination on such a grim scene. But the torch he hands to and returns to their entry point. Using his crowbar he pry off a long board. This he takes back to the pile of midden and defecation. "Let us see what is of use... Keep an eye on the surround, whatever made this mess is most likely coming back."
Mohktar can't make heads or tails of the tracks but some of the heads are in easy reach using the plank. A couple of them are half mummified but one is quite obviously that of a baby. You are horrified to find out that it's been gnawed on. The other head is of a woman matching the description of Vitusa. While its soft tissues have been burned out by acid the left ear is mostly intact complete with a matching earring.
Gritting his teeth, Mohktar searches the cesspit. It takes him quite sometime to sift through the filth with the plank, eventually he snags something! But getting it out is tricky and eventually he has to put most of an arm in, and is rewarded with a broken Falchion and the powerful need for a bath...
mark of the smith who forged it.
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Riding in the cab, Alwyn continues to admire the artistic side of the city. Although as they neared the area surrounding the warehouse, artistry became more the street performers than physical monuments.
Following the others around the back of the warehouse, his stomach turns as the inside of the building becomes apparent.
Urgghh!, momentary retching gah, what monstrosity lives in this filth? Pratavh, I'm not looking forward to searching anything in that pool. I would hazard to say though, quite a few missing persons reported can be solved looking around. Have we got anything that would allow us to fish those heads out to us? Perhaps using mage hands to draw the heads to the side of the pool"
Alwyn, disgusted by the act but doing so anyways, reaches out his hand and begins to pull dismembered heads towards the side of the pool, turning them to look at the ears.
The remaining body parts, heads included are too far gone to learn anything new.
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"Thank you Mohktar, I'm sure that was less than pleasant"
Alwyns gingerly inspects the sword that the monk has retrieved from the nightmarish soup but cant tell anything specific about it. Casting detect magic on the sword and the area before leaving.
"We should let the guard know of this place but gods help them should they meet whatever calls this home now."
Realizing that Hirati is darting off Pratavh calls after her, "Hey, where do you think you are going?" Her smug look upon returning mollifies his complaint a bit and he follows the others in, gagging at the stench. He looks around but avoids the cesspit, seeing no need to go in there and explore since it is already being handles.
Hirati, seeing the strange prints, "Hey PRAT! Funny feet, funny feet!" Looking at her find and seeing the strange foot prints, Pratavh begins to think about any creature he knows of with strange limbs like this who might want to do such things to people.
Shiko guffaws at Mohktar's going through the cesspit It's the excrement of your forefathers! Bahahaha
Seeing the poo covered falchion Shiko calms down enough to say It's Vudran..it bears a smith's mark. We would see who forged it. But by Xian Tia's blessed bottom, clean it first!
Hirati notices there is cistern full of brackish water in the corner of the room. Mohktar plunges the sword in it, and washed off the worst of the muck from it and himself.
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Alwyn examines the sword much closer after it has been cleaned off. "This makers mark I recognize it!, It belongs to a Barathol Mekhar, he has a shop over in the harbor district. My last captain actually had one of his swords. Beautiful weapon and balance beyond compare. I'm sure the driver will be able to take us to his shop."
You head back out of the warehouse, relieved to be away from the stench and the darkness. The cab driver does his best to pretend he can't smell something, but you get the sinking feeling you need to visit one of the cite's many bath houses. Still that can keep and besides blacksmiths are not known for their sense of smell...
The cab makes good time to Barathol's shop, a low stone affair dominated by a huge firepit. Barathol is known as a traditionalist sticking to coal for heating the metals although apparently he does use a bound air elemental to fan the flames.
You hear the pounding of metal long before you can see him, a brute of a man with deep, almost onyx-black skin and curled, military-looking scarification on his cheeks. His hands and huge forearms display puckering blade-cut scars as well as smaller pockmarks left by hot splattering metal. He folds his arms as you approach and waits for you to speak.
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Smiling at the large man, Alwyn approaches him.
"Greetings Barathol Mekhar! Master Smith of Jalmaray. The sword you made for Captain Naidu of the Banerjee, is beautiful as ever and many a pirate has learned the truth of your mastery shortly before they went to meet their maker in a watery grave.
I hope we find you well today. Unfortunately what we bear has your mark but has not fared as well. We found this sword in a most unfortunate location, and the owner missing. Might you remember this sword and it previous owner."
Alwyn will present the sword in question to the smith for his inspection.
Pratavh, finding himself out of his depth and needing to keep a firm eye on Hirati leaves the others to do the talking in this case.
Shiko nods in appreciation at the weapons displayed around the shop.
Barathol who is famously taciturn, simply grunts and accepts the sword. He frowns as he examines the weapon, apparently frustrated by the way it's been mistreated. Not only has it been immersed in filth, it was used to strike something solid with such force that part of the blade fractured. Barathol shakes his head and puts the weapon down on a table before wandering over to a filing cabinet filled with ledgers. He selects one, pulls it put and flips to a particular page before beckoning you over.
In rows of surprisingly clean handwriting you can see that the sword was sold to Lankesh, a high-caste merchant. The sword was brought back for sharpening on several occasions in the past month. The most recent of which was 5 days ago.
His eye caught by a some of the weapons, Pratavh goes and looks at them, recognizing the materials, "It is not often I see these materials in use, did you make these particular weapons?"
Barathol simply nods with a slight smile. As an afterthought he asks in deep voice, "You buying?"
Shaking his head, Pratavh replies, "I am afraid not, I have little skill or use for weapons myself. I will keep you in mind if I do need one someday though."
Lilly took in the broad figure of the smith as they walked in.
Well, this city's main muscle seems to be the smith, he's broader than the guards i've seen.
"You buying?"
"Maybe one of the guys is, i'm supplied."
Barathol shrugs and returns to his work.
Lankesh is the man we look for, the owner of the sword. He has a home not far from here.
Well with a roll of 25 you know more about Lankesh, he's a successful merchant owning a number of local businesses including the Apananda Silk Mill in the Low-Caste District and the Golden Cat Tea House in the Harbor District, as well as having a minority share in the Jalmeray Consolidated Tea company. He conducts most of his business from his modest but undoubtedly expensive home.
Barathol pauses between blows on the hot metal he's shaping to shrug, "Didn't say."
"It's not too hard to notice you're upset, sir mastersmith.
He might not have said why, but could you as a master craftsman, shed a suspicion of what it would take to even wear down or damage one of your crafted swords that way?"
Barathol picks up the damage Falchion, squints at it. He points at some deep scratches on the blade and says tersely, "See this? Been smashed into stone..."
Lilly looks a tad disapponted, expecting and not expecting that answer.
"Sir mastersmith, is there a cave or quarry nearby? Swinging against stone to get this result wouldn't be easy to do in public."
Pratavh continues to examine the weapons made of rare metals and keep an eye on Hirati, listening and absorbing what is being said.
You get back into Lord Pandisar's carriage and explain where you want to go. The cab driver nods and drops you off close by, promising again to wait for your return. Before you get far, you notice a familiar face across the road. Its the street urchin Deepa and she seems to be looking for you.
Deepa lightly runs over to you with a grin, and excitedly says, "Vāha tuma ēka phainsī gāṛī mēṁ āsapāsa kī savārī, baṛē samaya mārā gayā hai! Bahuta sē lōga aba āpa dēkhanā cāhatē haiṁ, mālakina tarī lōmaṛī laṛakī acchī taraha sē ṭhīka hō rahī hai lēkina bānī hōnē vālī mautōṁ kē daravājē para hai ki śabda kē li'ē bhējā hai. Vē kala kucha karanē kī kōśiśa karanē kē li'ē jā rahē haiṁ, lēkina vaha surakṣā kē bārē mēṁ cintita hai aura āpakī madada kē li'ē pūchatā hai. Ōha, aura maiṁ āpakō yaha patra dēnē kē li'ē ēka vyāpārī sē pūchā gayā." She looks at you expectantly with a smile.
Accepting the letter from Deepa Pratav replies to her, "Tuma dīpā dhan'yavāda."
Hisrati, happy to see Deepa again starts circling her head yelling out, "DEEPADEEPADEEPADEEPA!!!"
Pratavh reads through the note out loud and then studies it before handing it over.
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"Dīpā, dhan'yavāda, āpa samaya kē li'ē yaha lō. giving her 5cp Āpa vyāpārī haiṁ ki āpa patra diyā gayā thā, jō hamēṁ batā sakatē haiṁ?
Alwyn looks over the letter but nothing stands out to him. Noticing Pratavh's closer examination....
"Pratavh can you make anything out of it?
She seems to have no idea of the letters contents and replies happily to Alwyn, "Unhōnnē kahā ki vyāpārī kī vastra dhāraṇa ēka mūn̄chēṁ kē sātha ucca jāti madhyama āyu varga kē ādamī, binā bāla kiyā gayā thā. Unhōnnē kahā ki mujhē mērē li'ē ēka bahuta laga rahā thā jō isa, vitarita karanē kē li'ē ēka cāndī dē dī hai. Vaha apanē paisē kē sātha itanā mukta hōnē kē li'ē bahuta amīra hōnā cāhi'ē."
Lilly smiles as she hears the little kitsune is showing signs of recovery.
The thought however seems to be distracting her from the little girl's expectation of a tip.
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"We seem to be making friends, Miss Deepa here says a balding middle-aged merchant with a mustache gave her the letter to pass on to us. I find it a bit coincidental that a balding middle-aged merchant with a mustache was also seen to be at the incense shop before the attack there. Lets go meet the sword's previous owner."
Turning back to the smiling child....
"Misa dīpā, patra kē li'ē dhan'yavāda, ādamī patra dēnē kē li'ē āpa bhugatāna karanē mēṁ bahuta udāra thā. Hālāṅki pīṭha usa ādamī kē pāsa mata jā'ō. Vaha ēka khataranāka vyakti hai."
Finishing his examination of the letter, Pratavh looks back to the others, "If you look at the handwriting, how the man has exaggerated and embellished his letters, it is something only a very dextrous man with extraordinarily long fingers could accomplish." He looks back at miss Deepa, into whose arms Hirati has landed for some much needed attention, and says, "Yadi āpa apanē agalē gantavya misa dīpā hamārē sātha savārī karanē kē li'ē karanā cāhatē haiṁ?"
She looks torn and asks, "Āpa uttara ūpara jā rahē haiṁ? Maiṁ tumhēṁ parēḍa kē sātha kala usē yā nahīṁ madada karanē mēṁ sakṣama haiṁ, tō mālakina tarī yaha batānē kī jarūrata hai."
Shiko rides along with the others, glad they are keeping up with the investigation. He keeps his eyes on the streets after the revelation of the threat from the "merchant"