"I 'ave no idea." Mels responds to Maggie, shrugging her shoulders. "Do you even 'ave sexes?" She turns back toward Rexus and Saul's conversation, then looks back with wide, apologetic eyes. "No, seriously, I thought you laid eggs, so you don not 'ave as much to 'ide from prying eyes." As she talks, she half-listens to Rexus.
Maggie stands there aghast with her mouth open. She ponders for a moment to enlighten that special ignorant individual, but then decides that getting accepted as a lady might leave her in the same bunk room as Meliandri. She shakes her head and turns back to her former activities.
Jhen makes his way back to the basement hide out just in time to catch the tail end of Rexus' request. "Morning," He nods his head at Mels and the Tengu. He moves next Rexus and places his hand on his shoulder, "Sorry about your parents mate. I can't speak for the others but I'll take a look about and see what I can find out."
Salonius, after greeting everyone, casts a longing look at the documents, time is the cruelest sister of them all, but I think Rexus better suited to the task, probably.
"I will gladly go Rexus, but I am not sure you should, or at least maybe you should adopt some form of disguise, just for the sake of caution? We can have Peeko do some aerial scouting for us to try to identify gaps in the Dottari's patrol schedule."
He pauses and glances at Saul,
"Ahhhh, and while we are all together can I suggest we exercise caution with the deployment of the literal Silver Ravens. While it, fortunately, unlikely anyone is looking for signs of that organization now, some still remember the name, and as we step up activities that may well change. I would suggest having them wait only in places out of the public eye, ideally with discrete means of entry. Maybe each of us could establish a spot we check regularly for messages? I might set up a bird box on one of my trees so that the raven is concealed."
"Oh, and Meliandri I promised to scribe you a scroll yesterday, for waiting around for me. Did you have anything in mind?"
"I think I could help, as I know my way around the building. As for disguise, I don't think there is much needed. I've been no public figure of our family and I don't look the part nowadays anyway. But if you have some specific advice about how to be more cautious I'd appreciate them." Rexus replies.
"Shave, how long have you had a beard?" Salonius asks peering at Rexus appraisingly, "maybe change your clothing for something more peasant that noble? Anything that throws off an instant recognition just in case they have a description, and is not especially problematic, is probably worth doing."
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"Sounds like a plan! I have business in the Greens in any case!"
Saul hops up, ready to do something practical, being the sort of person who rarely sits around. He considers something, though, for a few seconds, before he turns to Mels.
"Ma'am, I think it is only fair that you are aware of something.... A week ago, before I really had met you, your mother approached me with a case. She asked me to follow you and make sure you remained safe from mortal danger, and I am to report on your activities to her. Now that we have banded together in a more important way, I don't feel right keeping this from you. She gave me this ring, which continues to tell me of your general location and well-being.... My question for you is... what would you have me do? Continue the job with your mother? Or return the ring and excuse myself?"
"What? Was it something I said?" Meliandri watches the tengu leave, then when she's gone, she nods at Rexus's request. "I could go back, as long as I am not going 'ome. Mother will not be 'appy that I brought Ashana 'ere instead of bringing 'er back 'ome."
As she gathers her equipment and straps herself into her armor, she ponders Saul's question. "Maybe you should keep the ring and give 'er false information. Tell 'er I am spending most of my time in Old Kintargo with friends, or something to that effect. The ring seems useful for if we separate." She pauses. "But...'ow does it work?"
Salonius glances anxiously at Saul's fingers, "Ahhhh, that was only true for Meliandri right? I really would not put it past my Mother. I wonder if I could somehow instill the same ability in the Ravens? Though it would certainly be along way off even if I could, I bet there is apiece of hair, or a toenail clipping embedded in the ring somewhere, a sympathetic binding like that would probably be the easiest way to achieve such an effect, like calling to like as it were."
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"It's not a bad idea, S, working with the ravens to see if we can make them more useful. You might have noticed, I tried mine out for kicks, and it wasn't too bright. And no worries, your Mother did not hire me. Though, it would be an easy way to get a few more gold each week..."
Saul falls silent, consider the possibility.
"Anyway, shall we need at the gate to the Greens? We probably don't want to travel as one big group. Talk about suspicious!"
Saul will start heading that way, after the conversation dies.
As all are together again and support Rexus request, he packs the documents away and readies himself to leave. "That beard is a newly grown change on my appearance and I stopped wearing my better clothes after the night of ashes. I could add a cloak like you suggested to the Fushi sisters. Would that help?"
Once he is disguised enough for the party's taste he leads the way to the Victocora Estate in the greens, a few minutes after Saul. Intelligence collected from air shows no signs of dottari patrolling the area any more. It seems that they have lost interest. The former estate is now only a pile of rubble and ash.
Fhingle does as Laria asks him the night before, in the morning Fhingle takes his time to sleep in, swaying back and forth in his hammock.
After getting up and having breakfast, which is fish that Saul provided, Fhingle makes his way into the same room as everyone else.
"What is going on this morning?"
"I just cannot understand." Meliandri half pay attention to the rubble she's sorting through. "I did not insult the tengus' mothers or something, I only asked a question." She pulls on a few half-scorched beams, trying to see what was below them. "Only dirt and ash."
After a few moments of checking the beams, she moves over to the Victocora Manor's fireplace, or what's left of it. "It is strange that there is nothing 'ere, is it not?"
"The house didn't have a basement." Rexus replies. He looks disappointed. "You can say my parents had that coming. But it is a great injustice nonetheless."
"My parents were part of the Sacred Order of Archivists, and I suspect that they were targeted by Thrune’s agents for this reason." Rexus answers. "I wonder what the other buildings burned for."
"If we have Peeko scout and exercise due caution that sounds like a plan. Hopefully we can find a clue as to where those of the respective religion can be found and build an alliance. Lead on Saul."
"Guys Wait up!?" Fhingle calls out as he follows behind everyone trying to eat just one more sausage.
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"Little Mac! Rear in gear, shorty!"
Saul leads them to a place that he once knew well; the Thrashing Badger in the Harbor Region.
"You know, I was here that night. The night this pub burned down. I saw the monsters coming, so I hid in the outhouse. All night long. I couldn't believe my eyes! Devils running about Kintargo. I think that is what set me on this path."
"Where can we find more of these Archivists" Jhen asks the young noble.
"What monsters?" Fhingle asks seriously, "I might know about them"
There is not much left of the Thrashing badger. It burned through the boardwalk and and collapsed into the water below. Only the outhouse still stands.
Only the ruins of the Silver Star yield more than charred stone. The site is now a sinkhole filled with scorched rubble — the building collapsed into the chambers below when it burned.
Jhen halfheartedly searches through the ash trying to stay as clean as possible.
Salonius takes up a position nearby attempting to discreetly watch for any Dottari or citizens who seem to take note of their search. He instructs Peeko to search thoroughly.
There are no dottari around and no one seems to care too much about the group standing in front of that ruin. After about an hour of flapping around the place Peeko comes up and reports of finding a metal box, buried under the rubble.
Salonius moves over and after instructing Peeko to keep an eye out for watchers attempts to extract the box and secrete it away in his cloak. Glancing to the others he nods and begins making his way back to the coffee house tapping the box with a knuckle as he passed the others to indicate he has something.
Once back in the basement he sets the box on a table and casts detect magic giving it a scan.
Salonius earns a deprecating stare from Laria for putting the box out on the table in the public room. The box is of course locked.
Fhingle looks at the ruins of both buildings feeling sad that his happened to someones home.
"I lost my home as well, not that it was great. I have found a better home now though." Fhingle waits for someone to open the lock box. going about and doing some painting will he waits.
By the looks of it this hidden basement will be the secret lair of of the light-gray vultures as painted by a child, as the bird painted on the wall denies to look like a silver raven.
"Careful! There is something magical inside, it might be trapped!"
The lock is of course not good enough to withstand the skills of a master sleuth. The box contains a scroll of cure moderate wounds, a scroll of daylight, a scroll of remove blindness/deafness, and a scroll of remove disease. The potions include three potions of lesser restoration and four potions of cure light wounds.
The potions are labelled, the scrolls are not, but can easily be deciphered with read magic.
"With no clues, we may 'ave to do some thinking." Meliandri puts a hand on her chin and kneads it, similarly to how a wise man might stroke his beard, as she sits on the stone floor of the basement hideout. "Which groups might Thrune come down 'ard on?"
After a bit, she looks up. "The teiflings 'ave always 'ad a 'ard time in Cheliax. Maybe we should ask them if they need 'elp."
"Ashana, I need you to bring some suitable bedding 'ere from 'ome. I do not think I will be moving back in for a while."
As it is still before noon there is plenty of time to test Meliandri's theory.
"Archivists would imply literate and knowledge seeking individuals, do you know anything else about the organization Rexus? The only place that spring to mind is the Alabaster Academy, but I am not sure how I would go about finding them even if they were there. I belong to a Philosophy group called The Alabaster Mirror, I might try sending them sort of message, to see if any were interested in helping, or knew of others who might be. But it would be a risk, last time I tried to make a drop off I got arrested - though I am fairly sure I was not actually discovered, it was just a curfew thing," Salonius says, ruffling a hand through his hair and leaving it rather wild.
"For the moment Mels idea seems the most likely to bear fruit, does anyone know a prominent tiefling?"
"Where would we find a Tiefling? In a drinking hall?" Fhingle directs his voice towards Maggie and her crew
"That sounds like a great idea, but first let me take a look at these scrolls... Hmmm, mostly divine, some quite formidable, in certain specific circumstances. I am going to suggest we sell the curative scroll and potions, Fhingle seems to have us covered there, keep the lesser restorations, remove blindness, and cure disease - if we still have them when Fhingle can cast them we might reacess. Sell the daylight its a third level spell, but honestly probably a third rate one ninth nine per cent of the time, and even when it isn't its only okay. What do you think? We could place all of the ones we keep as party items perhaps - you see I am keeping a ledger in the back of my spell book, splitting all our spoils into six with a portion each and one for Silver Ravens funds..." Salonius flips open his spell book showing them the back cover where he has recorded a simple account of the groups finances.
"Hmmm, that is reasonable I suppose," Salonius says slowly, obviously mulling over whether he in fact thinks it is, "Mmmm, yes, Fhingle was not there, so yes. I'll just take it out of the group fund if that is agreeable to everyone?"
"What about the rest? Does anyone want, or wish the group to keep anything else, or think we should sell anything I suggested keeping?"
Meliandri taps her fingers on the floor and leans back. "I would carry one of the 'ealing potions, but other than that, the other stuff 'as more value for the party."
"The scrolls of healing magics I can use to help us out just in case something comes up?' Fhingle says a little apprehensive. "That is if everyone is ok with that?"
Salonika looks pained, "Only one scroll of magical healing, the rest are potions. It would heal what three times your bursty thing, and not even that since it would only effect one person. If we sell it we should get about 75gp, you and me could sit down and scribe six scrolls of cure light wounds with that money, or a tenth of the price of a first tier wand. So I vote neigh, its not efficient."