"Well Calistria is the goddess of lust after all. The trickery and vengeance are usually done in private."
"I figured. I don't regret tagging along, really." Therric shrugs and adjusts his grip on Zith's cage.
When he asked about the powder Nessa replied, "It's used as an aphr...affro..." it was obvious that Nessa couldn't remember the term as she continued, "...you share it with your lover and it enhances the sex drive and endurance. If you're not careful or weak of will it can cause you to lose control of your sexual inhibitions and become a complete slutbunny for up to twelve hours."
...huh. Really, I should've realized that. I mean, just about everything else about that place involved sex, so I don't see how I could've--
--wait, how long did she say it lasted?
Therric pauses in his walk as Nessa finishes.
TWELVE HOURS?!
"...wouldn't that hurt after a while, though?" He says after clearing his throat and moving to catch up with her. His gait is slightly wobbly.
Nessa and Therric, having finished their business at the Temple, go back to Caithlin's place. They had some rewards, and some informations. Maybe it wasn't the rewards and informations they expected, but it's better than nothing.
In the Gold Goblin, Saul takes an hour to take whatever he feels important from Felrur's small office, and then let Zahel search the place, with Cameron and Krucina if the elf needs help.
Zahel starts to search the office.
Cameron asks one of the bar staff if they saw where Zahel went, and eventually finds out he's checking Larur's office. He enters the room with Krucina and just as Zahel starts his work. He looks around and notes a fair bit of clutter in the small office. He suggests, "Seems you're searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack, for that kind of thing it helps to be lucky. I can't promise too much but I can put a good word in Lady Luck's ear for you."
Assuming Zahel agrees, Cameron offers a blessing, "Even the longest journey starts with a single step. Oh great dreamer if you would be so kind to show us a thread from your tapestry and guide our first steps, we shall work with diligence to see your design come to fruition."
After a bit of searching Cameron notes, "You know, what isn't here might be just as interesting as what is..."
[ooc]Mechanically Cameron casts Guidance on Zahel, giving him +1 on the roll. He also uses bit of luck to give him a second d20 roll.
Once Therric & Nessa return to Caithlin's home, the squire turns to her and jostles Zith's cage.
"Where do you need me to put this?"
Entering the house Nessa said, "Back this way, we'll go to the room that Sylee and I share." As they came through the house Nessa called out, "Sylee, I'm home and I brought someone with me!" She lead the way through to the bedroom she and Sylee shared. It wasn't large but it was fair sized, certainly big enough for the two of them with a dresser, queen sized bed, small table with chairs, and a wardrobe. She gestured to the small table and said, "Put it down right there Ther." While he did that she took her pack off and puled out the pouch of powder and nearly just set it down. She realized at the last second that might not be a good idea with Sylee here and instead put it back for now. She'd see if Caithlinn had a safe place to store it for her.
Therric shrugs and sets the cage down where Nessa requested.
He gives her a dubious look as she takes out the powder pouch she received from her boss, but relaxes when she puts it away. "This is a nice room you've got here--a lot more kid-friendly."
Saul stays on the threshold of the room, watching you searching the place.
There is not much to find in Larur's office, the only thing that seems odd is a small book of dwarfen poetry.
Who could have thought that the manager of the Gold Goblin had an artistic side?
"You know, what isn't here might be just as interesting as what is..."
As you say that, you glance at Saul, who is suddenly tense before regaining his composure.
You find no account book in Larur's office, no staff listing, and that is very strange in a manager room. Of course, Saul said that he would take everything concerning the Gold Goblin before you check the room, meaning the books are probably in his possession by now. Or very well hidden.
Once the cage was in place Nessa heard Sylee come running in saying, "Mommy! Ahhhh, you brought ZIIIIITH!"
Nessa looked down at Sylee and said, "Well of course I did, I couldn't leave her there alone could I, she's part of our family too." Nessa carefully coaxed the snake from her carrying container and let the viper wrap around her arm.
There was a bulge where the snake had swallowed the mouse and this drew an, "Ewwww! She ate a mouse," from the little girl.
Holding the snake carefully at the base of the head Nessa let Sylee pet her a moment, the girl very careful to stroke with the scales, and then said, "She's very tired honey, let's get her into the cage so she can sleep for a while."
"OK mommy," Sylee went and opened the top of the cage allowing Nessa to set the snake down inside of it. Zith uncoiled from her arm and slithered into the cage and a splotch of sunlight.
With the snake safely in her cage Nessa took out a lock and, after closing the lid, locked it shut. She looked at Sylee and said, "Now remember," she and Sylee said in unison, "No touching Zith without me(you)!" She gave the girl a hug and then asked, "Have the others come back yet Sylee?"
Sylee answers joyfully, trying to mimic Alayna's way of speaking
Ahoy, Matey! There is a blonde piratess on the lower deck! And Captain Caithlin is here too!Arrrrrr!
The young girl burst in laughter
'Well now that was interesting.' mused Cameron. He was enjoying the role reversal, where Saul was nervous of him. Then the thought hit him, 'Why in blazes would he be frightened of me? Or rather of the missing ledgers. What was in them? Would it explain what you're really up to Saul? All this is obviously a front, but for what?'
With a shrug he tells the others, "Dwarfish poetry? No I don't think we need to hear any of that! However if the book was his then maybe it could be used as the focus of a seeking spell, we could hire a mage to track him down." Almost as an after thought he added, "And perhaps the money."
Cameron turnd away as if searching one last time and thought bitterly, 'Naw odds are we'd find what shallow grave poor Larur got flung in. I wonder did you kill him Saul or did you get somebody do that for you?'
Nessa laughed too as her little girl finished her speech and said, "You sound just like Aunty A. honey." She knelt down and hugged the girl tightly before releasing her, "I love you sweetie." She stood then and said, "Why don't we go see if Caithlinn can use our help getting things ready." She took Sylee's hand and looked back at Therric, "Coming?"
Therric has a smile on his face as Nessa & Sylee reunite and play around.
"Right behind ya."
"Thanks. It's been a long time since I've heard a follower of our Lady's blessing."
Zahel flipped through the book, just in case something odd stood out.
"Maybe. Finding someone fluent in dwarven could help, too. Just in case."
Nessa, Sylee and Therric find Alayna chatting with Caithlinn in her living room.
I was sure I heard you upstairs, Sylee
says the old elf
Did you find what you wanted in the temple, Nessa? I hope she didn't misbehaved too much with you, sir Therric..
Saul let you go with whatever you found. He doesn't seem too much happy, but it's too late.He goes back to his own office and slams the door. Twice.
Therric shakes his head. "No, she was actually on her best behaviour, really."
He blushes slightly. The trip to the temple is clearly still fresh in his mind.
Dwarf poetry? This I MUST see!
Krucina lightly takes the book from Cam's hands.
I cannot make sense of this either...but I may know someone who can read this...
Other options would be to take the time decyphering the book or ask if someone in the Gold Goblin staff knows to read dwarf langage.
You have seen dwarves customers too in the Gold Goblin, so maybe you could rig a game and ask for a service in exchange of their debt... But Cameron won't like that, probably.
Nessa took a seat and said, "I'm afraid not, no one had heard anything about Larur. Since he only went missing today that's not a big surprise." She looked at Alaynathen and continued, "I also spoke with the First Sting, she won't pay out a reward until we're sure we got the only killer but we did earn some goodwill for avenging the conversion of one of the sisters into a ghoul."
Cameron hands Krucina the small hand-written book and was about to say something but stopped. He didn't want to talk in front of Saul.
Later after making their excuses, Cameron says, "Oh you know somebody who can read this? Great!" The he hears who and crestfallen he signs, "Oh... This Daruk Blackadder doesn't sounds terribly reliable. I half expect he'll demand we score his next hit in payment. Still I don't really have a better idea, unless one of you has a dwarvish dictionary and a lot of patience!"
"Well, I could translate it," Zahel admitted. "A dictionary shouldn't be too hard to find. But that would take at least a full day of work."
Cameron looks the half-elf up and down and smiles. To Krucina he suggests, "I think I'd rather trust Zahel with a dictionary rather than some pesh fiend. Shall we see what Zahel comes up with?"
Cameron, Zahel and Krucina go to Caithlinn's home, hoping to have more information from the others.
Cameron was almost at the verge where he wanted to cut ties with the Goblin, but there where a few loose ends to sort out first. He suddenly asks, "By the way does anyone know of a friendly cleric able to perform an exorcism?"
"I know several clerics. Let me think..."
Yes, Blackadder was a bad idea, I shouldn't have brought him up. He's the only other dwarf I know in this city though...their people seem to avoid me normally. I'm sure Zahel is more than capable of making sense of all this.
Krucina offers after a few moments...
I do know a few other languages, maybe I can help some to speed things up?
Caithlin serves some wine in her dining room, while people work in the kitchen.
She adresses Zahel and Krucina.
I do have some books on the first floor, in the library. Maybe some of them can be useful to you? Feel free to check later. So what are you seeking now? What new mystery do you have to unravel, if you don't mind an old woman asking?
She sports a new (at least to your eyes) dress, both elegant and close fitting, and brings a glass of wine to Cameron.
Cameron accepts the wine gladly and shares his fears with the group, "Our Boss Saul is up to something. I gather he expected us to kill the money lender and was kind of shocked when he realized we hadn't. Seems we've built something of a reputation." Cameron found that galling and there was an edge of bitterness in his tone as he continued, "Anyway Saul's position is he entrusted Larur with five hundred big ones, to be kept at Larur's overnight despite it being a dodgy neighborhood with zero security. He says Larur made off with the cash. I promised to find Larur, but I'm pretty sure I don't buy Saul's story. Here's an alternative one: The Goblin is a front for something, money laundering perhaps. Anyway Saul needed a lot of cash and he came up with a sure fire plan: Take out a loan with the oh so charming Lymas Smeed and then send us to kill him. I somewhat doubt Larur was in on that, unless I seriously misjudged him. So where does that leave us? Well unless there's a surpise in that book of Dwarvish poetry we have diddly squat. However look at things from Saul's point of view, he went to great lengths to remove Goblin related materiel from Larur's office when Zahel asked to look. Interesting eh? Also consider how jumpy the man is, it's as if he's expecting an assassin in every last shadow! Why? The man has something to hide, something big. The thing I'm wondering is, what if in Saul's mind we know too much, what then? We already know he tried to use us to kill Smeed, what would stop him from doing the same to us? For what it's worth, the omens suggest we are in grave danger..."
Alayna deadpans, "Well color me surprised as a crib house whore that 'er Johnny boy skipped out a' payin'." She sways her thigh with her gloves as she gathers her thoughts. "As far as danger goes, I'd rather sail to it than run from it. I dinnae trust our dear ol' Cap'n, not for the s&&~ stains in 'is hair or the way he couldn't keep 'is one good hand off our lovely demon's heavenly ass." The pirate winks at Nessa, giving credit where credit is due, But does the lass take credit? Nah, that's nae here nor there. Now grinning, "So, we seem ta' 'ave two choices. One we jump ship while we be here in port. An' ta say somethin' I 'ave been thinkin' fer more than a moment, Tha' ol' buggered sod don't deserve so fine a crew as us. Or, two - and this could be much more fun - we could confront the f~&@in' bilge rat, chase 'im to 'is dirty hole and chase 'im out wit' sword and scourge. Right now, I be well and truly partial ta' choice two. He is hidin' summat, and it may be a fair score ta' us if we can suss it out." Sliding the gorgeous black and yellow banded whip Caithlin gave her between her hands, Alayna says with a grand finality, "I stabbed the last lout tha' tried to f+@& me without my say-so, why should Saul get off with a mere warnin'? Besides, tha man's hide would look better with some new stripin'."
After a moment of thought, Alayna asks, "Does he have anyone at the Goblin that'd prefer 'im ta us if it all came to blows? I get the impression tha man aint got a friend in the world. 'Cause 'e burns 'em all as soon as 'e can."
Nessa considered whether Sylee should be around for this and decided that the answer was no. She had one of the house servants take Sylee outside to play for a bit while they talked so there wouldn't be a need to sugar coat anything. When Alayna gave her compliment Nessa couldn't help nut say, "Not heavenly ass Alayna, sinful ass." As they voiced their opinions the tiefling said, "I agree he's up to something, but everyone in this city is up to something. As for the staff, I don't believe the girls care so long as they get paid, the bouncers might though. As for confronting him it would be better to know what we're confronting him with and I'm sure he'll try to kill us now. At least we know to watch ourselves."
Alayna laughs at Nessa's correction, "Bet if you ask our priest," she indicates Cameron, "He'll assure you it's the stuff of dreams!"
Getting serious again, the piratess points again, "Nae, I'd rather go after him 'afore he 'as a chance to stab us in the back, one at a time like."
Therric glances briefly at Nessa's backside before turning his attention back to the matter at hand.
"If he's trying to get us to kill people on his behalf, I'm all for making sure he can't do something like that again. I'm a squire of Sarenrae, not a murderer."
Zahel nodded at Cameron when he stated that they couldn't believe Saul:
"I do think that is very unlikely, if not impossible, that Larur stole the money. He contacted me a week before the theft, already afraid for his life, and there was strictly no point in hiring an investigator to watch his back if his plan was to leave discreetly the town with Saul's cash."
He patted the poetry book:
"Besides, he gave me indications concerning where to look at. My instructions were to check the Gold Goblin after his place, suggesting that some clues were still there. We have yet to see what we could find in it, but I do think that it is linked to Larur's disappearance in a way. If Saul wanted to hide compromising clues, he certainly wouldn't have thought of a poetry book."
Nonetheless, he appeared as somewhat reluctant to confront Saul:
"We know that he is hiding something, and I do think that he is genuinely desperate about finding his money. It is the only argument which made him give in, back when I was trying to persuade him to let me enter Larur's office. Nonetheless, we don't really have anything against him yet. Only assumptions. And unless we are particularly convincing, he could make use of that. The poetry book have to be translated -perhaps that we could also find a way to sneak in the Gold Goblin (preferably when the chances of getting caught are limited), and search the place a second time. If Saul moved things, then there are probably hints that we didn't discover. Or we could return to Smeed's place and search it. After all, he likely plays a role in this whole business."
Caithlin looks at you, and listens to everyone, quietly
I'm sure you will find a way to get back at him. You are wise and sharp. And young, something Saul isn't anymore. But remember that for all his vices and despite his age and infirmity, he's still alive. He's tough, and experienced. Strike when you are ready, when you're sure he won't be able to strike back. Dinner will be ready soon, so have a last drink if you want.
She goes back to the kitchen
"As for the exorcism, Cameron, I think I know someone who could help us. His name is Gherybar. He lives near the Cyphergate. Heavily interested in occult, especially when it comes down to how to get rid of it. He may be exactly the man that we're looking for, but his help won't be cheap. I heard he accepts to be paid with books and magical items though."
Considering Caithlin's words he murmured, "You know she's right. What to do about Larur? I wouldn't know where to look, well there is Smeed's place but I doubt here's there. The man may be a slimeball but I don't think he was lying."
When Zahel mentions Gherybar, Cameron smiled, "My thanks Zahel." A sudden thought occurred to Cameron, "I wonder if he as a taste for Dwarvish poetry?! You'd better go check it isn't something in disguise first mind you."
"Don' be so quick to give up our only clue, dear Cap'n. Let's fish wha' we can out o' it afore we sell it off."
Therric shrugs and rubs his stomach as it growls. "Let's go looking for this Gherybar fellow once we've had a chance to eat, eh?"
With most of the conversation wrapping up Nessa rose and said, "I need to go help with dinner." With that said she scurried out of the room.