The collapse is just a part of a wall between the storage room and the privies. It was built there as an addition and was no part that was essential for the statics of the basement or the building.
Logan also finds nothing out of the ordinary.
Fhingle comes rushing into the room.
Saul are you breaking things again? " FHingle smiles. "I guess I can get a broom and clean up in here."
"Yeah, walls don't tend to just collapse like an elf trying whiskey ..." Cassius looks around the privies for any evidence of something that could have caused this.
Fhingle goes and returns a few moments later to see Saul crouched near the rubble.
"DO you think something is wrong?"
"Not me no, I can paint it once we get a new one up." Fhingle says while trying to help look.
Saul finds scratches that point to tool usage at the wall. And close by Cassius finds a chisel and a hammer sized for a small person, which was hidden behind the wall when it was still standing.
"That short woman!" Vendalfek calls out.
"She is not a short woman, she is taller than you." Fhingle blurts out, then covers his mouth.
"What?" Laria asks and follows Saul downstairs.
Seeing the collapsed wall she cries out "I allowed you to use the basement. I didn't allow for rebuilding it or taking down walls!"
|
"It wasn't us, ma'am! We were standing here, talking, and the wall fell down, nearly hitting our regal majesty Vendalfek. Look, we found some tools scattered about that are possibly halfling sized. Do you know of anyone else who has access to this basement, perhaps from past activity, who bears you a grudge?"
"No one comes in through the coffeehouse, that's for sure." Laria replies looking at all the new occupants down here with suspicion.
Saul finds rat tracks.
Maggie and her sisters go for a ththorough search of the basement, but besides one or another track of a rat there seems to be nothing. Of course there are tracks of boots all over the place. Which doesn't really help. Only in one spot there is half a foot-print that looks different. Like from a chicken, but not really.
|
|
With nothing to be done about the intruder, Saul asks the Tengu sisters to stick around the basement that morning and keep their eyes open, bids Cassius to explore and have free reign of the place, and heads back to the office.
The morning in Kintargo dawns bright and cheerful, despite the incident downstairs. We shut those Red Jills down hard. The Chelish Citizen Group will likely have retaliation against them, and maybe a straight up gang war will start up. I'm not sure else how to start a rebellion in the city. We are too few and too weak. The Thrunes are too established and too strong.
As he walks, Saul keeps his eyes on the cobblestones but his ears perked up to pick up any rumors or talk of Red Jills or the CCG.
Taking a detour to get past the temple area, Saul sees that some dottari are patrolling the area, and some clerics of Azmodeus are there, probably for taking care of the bodies.
Nosy bystanders get to hear that some people were hurt during a minor collapse and that the old temple and orphanage of Aroden and the surroundings are now closed to the public.
But the dottari were not the first to arrive on the scene and so details, like all but one victim being tieflings. And the other one a strange winged creature, but for sure no angel.
|
Logan decides to follow Saul's example and heads to work, hoping maybe he'll hear something about last night's raid (or anything else useful) from the other dock workers.
He spends the day loading and unloading ships, carrying boxes and stacking crates.
During their few breaks, Logan passes his hip flask around, hoping to loosen some lips.
Fhingle goes about cleaning up the basement and painting some more.
Fhignle tries to gather any information from the Patrons of the coffee house.
Logan only gets suspicious side glances as he asks around.
Fhingle manages not to annoy the customers but he hears only gossip that he is alreday aware of.
After a while a sailor sits down besides Logan. "Got something left in that bottle?"
Cassius wakes up late and changes his disguise, using a blond wig and a large hat and artisan's outfit. He then hits the bars, as is his wont, trying to find out the current scuttlebutt.
Cassius, or, rather, "Franklin," takes another swig of his ale. "Can't say as I blame them. And I bet their sailors are about to go mad with buggery!"
Fhingle goes about his day, bringing Rexus food and drink.
"Not much going on around here today." Fhingle tells Rexus
"Yes. Wan tto help with the documents?" Rexus replies.
The sailor takes a swig and hands the bottle back.
"Interesting you say? Nay. But driving everyone crazy? Aye. That new decree hit our Captain like a brick on the head. I'd say he just needs ta get laid more. But he only wants that one bird he can't get ta anymore. And that bird doesn't come to him either. He's going to sink the ship with his running in circles. The floor is getting thin already."
"And we can't have fun either with all the new rules."
"I would like to but I don't know if I can, nothing you have here looks like it makes any sense to me." Fhingle replies.
"Lucky you. To me it makes sense, I spend an hour on transcribing it, only to find out at the end of the page, that my assumptions were wrong and I have to start over again." Rexus replies with a sigh.
"How come the captains don't just sail off for another port? Are they being kept here?"
"You're from behind the hills? We got cargo to deliver and reload the ship. How are ye going ta do that from afar?" the sailor asks with disbelief on his face.
"Never been a seaman myself, guess that's obvious. My ...deals are on land, once you brave boys get the goods here. The captains able to communicate with each other? Seems men on ships got an advantage on lubbers if they organize."
"Ye got no advantage once yer off the ship. But ye talk as if ye can do sumthin. Do you?"
"That's quite possible. Like yourself, I'm a man not too happy about the way things have been going here. And the fact is, more people are unhappy than are profiting. We just have to work together. They letting anyone else on the ships?"
"Want to come along? Maybe a landlubber can get my captain what he needs to stop driving everyone crazy."
Cassius slams the rest of his ale. "Let's roll."
Looking at the small tools, Fhingle has Saul put them up so someone cannot get to them again.
"What about that devil we found under the Livery he could be up to this could he not?" Fhingle asks.
Well I can read Celestial if that helps[ Fhingle offers
"What devil?" Vendalfek inquires. As he is really set on being the unchallanged ruler of this realm.
The sailor gets up and leads the way to the ship. On the way he wants to know more about what that landlubber can help with. "I'm not sure, what our captain would need from you. But it is nothing he'd trust us with, for fear of retaliation from that Thrune. So what makes you worth his time to listen to you? Just to make sure he doesn't whip both of us off his boat."
"Little devil, Lemure, there was something else down there but we never found out what it was, playing a flute or something." Fhingle offers
|
|
Saul arrives back at his office after the already eventful morning. He makes sure the "OPEN" sign is flipped on his door window and plops down at his desk.
Clearly there was someone down in that basement, but none of us had the eyes to see it. That is a very problematic security breach. Someone like that could merely be pulling a prank, but could also expose our whole operation to the Dottari! I can't let this go.
Sitting at his desk and waiting for clients, Saul begins to dream up possible traps to catch the intruder.