"Have you checked the wardrobe," Kiley asks, her voice muffled by the pillow. "as for Shayliss, she's the younger sister of Katrine, the girl that was killed at the mill. She keeps trying to seduce anything male that comes into town, though I don't know how that's going to work after all this."
Getting up on her suggestion and moving over to inspect the wardrobe he stops as questions come to him. "... Katrine had a sister? Has anyone checked in on her? Her sister's dead and her father's locked up, she can't be doing all that well..."
The next morning Ameiko's words are still resounding in Delendir's head. He wakes up with difficulty, but fully rested.
Once at the main room he assists to the singing perform "That was great and inspiring. It makes me believe we can do it."
He looks to one side and the other observing his companions "Let's do it, let's get to Magnimar and explore Aldern's family traditional manor. It is the only way we can discover what exactly happened to him and whom those Xanesha and the Seven are."
He stands holding his longsword at one side and looking at his friends asks "Who is in?"
"Yes. We need to check on her, as much as I'd hate to admit it," Kiley says, her voice only a little sour. "She made up some nasty rumors about me and Ameiko. Don't be surprised if she tries to seduce you."
Sunday blinks for a bit before speaking in the midst of searching for his clothes. "What does she have against you and Ameiko-san?"
"We still need to clear out the rest of Misgivings." Sunday dryly states while downing whatever spirit Ameiko has put out for him.
Coming to the seat with her friends, Jessica nods in agreement, "While we need to go to Magnimar to look into this some more I think Sunday's right, we should make sure that we took care of all of the ghouls that might have been in there. Besides, we might find more information about Xanesha and the seven there as well." She sits down and begins working on her breakfast while they discuss what to do.
Grace sits to breakfast as well.
"As it happens, last night was my last performance and the end of the current concert season. I am free of professional obligations."
Grace picks up a single grape and pops it into her mouth. She chews, looking thoughtful as she does so.
"Though I missed all the mind-wrenching fun so you'll have to explain to me what it is we are searching for."
"Ghouls, victims of a serial killer, correspondence to and from the people responsible, and erotic drawings of Kiley." Sunday states bluntly before finishing off his bottle.
Elisai also meets up with the others for breakfast, catching the tail end of the conversation while yawning hugely. "I'd rather visit Magnimar first, and investigate what we found before looking into Misgivings again. That house was creepy."
"Creepy, cozy," Sunday shrugs. "It was also a filled with ghouls and closer to Sandpoint than Magnimar."
Breakfast is served to the companions with the efficiency they have come to expect. Not that the Rusty Dragon is a well-oiled machine, mind you. The group notices that other customers usually wait at least a moderate amount of time for their items, mainly so the servers can focus on Sandpoint's heroes. Not that anyone seems to mind.
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Tal sleeps on, blissfully unaware of Jessica's prayers.
As he joins the rest during breakfast he he becomes a little nervous as the group talks about going to Magnimar.
"Are we sure we need to go there? There is still that evil under the goblin tower we could take care of first? Maybe someone else can go and ask around in Magnimar."
When Sunday mentions the erotic pictures he gives him a little slap on the back of his head, shaking his head disprovingly at his comment with a nod at Kiley.
After the knock Sunday turns and glares at Tal for a while before agreeing. "Yes, there's still the demons to take care of."
Delendir ponders the idea for a moment "You are right, that demon or devil or whatever is still laying there... as well as the goblins do"
"It will take us time to go through the goblins and face the demon. Meanwhile those Brothers might find out we killed Aldern and get a different pawn for their intends, erasing any hint of their connection with the murders we might find at Foxglove manor in Magnimar." Delendir looks at Tal's eyes directly "I am the last of you who wants to visit Magnimar, but Sandpoint is still in danger while those who made an assassin of Aldern are still free. On the other hand whatever danger the demon poses it is no greater than it was 20 years ago, and probably will remain the same for the next 10 or more"
He looks at Grace with worried eyes "You gave your word to the goblins we will leave them in peace and they made their part of the deal. Although I was against at the time, I understand now the dangers over Sandpoint come from other places. The goblins haven't been a problem since. Let's honour our word then."
"As for the Misgivings" Delendir looks at Daud "If what Jessica explained us about the ghasts, once Aldern is dead, any minion ghoul remaining is not of great danger to the town. At least nothing the mercenaries here cannot deal with. Whatever lies there in the mansion, is a secret from the Foxglove family it probably better remains buried in" and looking at Kiley sorrowful "Are you sure you want Kiley to go through all those feelings and shame again?"
Considering what Delendir points out Jessica replies, "I think he's right, it would be wise to find the greater threat and the quicker the better. It sounds like we're heading to Magnimar. The only question now is do we leave today or tomorrow?" Leaning against Jessica snuggles under his arm as best she can and looks at her friends once more, "You know, it'll be good to go home again and see my family. I can't wait to introduce you all." She looks at Grace and Elisai in particular, "And my brother would love to meet the two of you." Her voice turns wistful, "Still, it feels like a life time since I've seen them, I hope they're all alright."
"As for the Misgivings" Delendir looks at Daud "If what Jessica explained us about the ghasts, once Aldern is dead, any minion ghoul remaining is not of great danger to the town. At least nothing the mercenaries here cannot deal with. Whatever lies there in the mansion, is a secret from the Foxglove family it probably better remains buried in" and looking at Kiley sorrowful "Are you sure you want Kiley to go through all those feelings and shame again?"
"No." Sunday snarls at the half-elf, glaring daggers at the older man.
Grace reaches over and places a hand on Sunday's shoulder.
"Peace." she says.
"So, we are going to the City of Monuments. Excellent. That leaves decision on travel. By foot, by horse, by carriage, by ship. How much money do we have to travel there? That will dictate what we can afford. Likewise, what can we afford for lodging when we arrive in Magnimar? I would prefer not to stay in a hovel."
At Grace's touch Sunday slumps and he focuses his attention back on his bottle.
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"Somehow I doubt that...."
Tal mumbles something as Delendir mentions Magnimar again.
"I suggest we go on foot or hire horses. We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves. Aldern knew us and he might have shared that information already..." Tal responds on the form of transportation.
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"Darling, if you're worried this organization is so large that they have people watching the ports just to see if we come in by boat you aren't being paranoid enough." Grace points out. "Any organization that potent and concerned with us will be watching the home of Jessica's family in case we arrive there. They will have agents in town to send a message should we leave. There is no avoiding being known if our enemies are on that scale."
"On the other hand whatever danger the demon poses it is no greater than it was 20 years ago, and probably will remain the same for the next 10 or more"
"Twenty years ago whatever was down there didn't have a demon trying to free it, Senir." Sunday growls out.
He then shudders and stills once Grace brings up organizations that may be watching, making him cast furtive glances about the room.
"We have dealt with Nualia. The assassins instead camp free." Delendir checks the money bag then explains "We have around 3000 gold pieces at our disposal after the last selling. We should have enough for whatever we want, and might well buy some magical equipment in Magnimar. "
The half-elf looks at Grace and blushes "I have never travelled by ship and I fear I might not like it. But I am open to travel as you wish. As for the lodgement... I worked on a workshop for some time back at Magnimar. I don't know if my acquaintances are still around... but I may try to get something from them. I have no trouble sleeping even in the worst accommodations though. I am sure Jessica's family will be good hosts"
"We have dealt with Nualia."
"Correction, we dealt with her but the demon that continued her corruption, started producing the sinspawn, and helped her raise an army is still out there." he counters.
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"That's true... the mephit is still about. With Nualia gone, it might go to release the demon below the goblin base to further it's own goals still.
And still Grace, it doesn't hurt to be on the safe side and try to enter the city with the least amount of attention. I doubt the know about Jessica's family since she is basically a stranger here. If we have to, her parents place is a good option to avoid the inns where new travellers do get noticed."
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"I'm flexible about travelling, although I fear riding a horse doesn't particularly agree with me, there is something frustrating about convincing an animal to do things your way after all", Elisai puts in.
"Shayliss can be vicious when she believes she's been slighted," Kiley said, "I'm not sure what we did, but one day Ameiko and I overheard the rumors and it took us six months to squash them."
Kiley takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
"Have you found your pants yet?"
Kiley stays quiet, her mind wandering in the past.
Until the subject of horses come up.
"Uh, c-can't we walk instead."
Hearing that slight stutter come from her Sunday adds in "I've never ridden a horse before, I'd prefer to walk as well."
"Foot seems good to me." the half-elf finishes his breakfast then adds "I will go get Mosey Patiente ready, you can load the donkey with whatever you cannot easily carry. My bag is already prepared, so I think I will just go do some report to Sheriff Hemlock, so he knows about what we found in the Misgivings and our departure"
Later that morning, Delendir will update the Sheriff about the death of Aldern, his role in the murders, the visions at the house, the goblin ghouls, the varisian skeletons and the bat. He will then explain the party is leaving to Magnimar for further research.
"So, just to be clear," Grace says after finishing her breakfast. "We are assuming the demon thing under Thistletop won't be freed by the other demon thing that was under Sandpoint. We are going to Magnimar in hopes of tracking down a conspiracy of murderers. And we are doing so by foot because Kiley is afraid of horses."
"That's what's being suggested, yes." Sunday adds on flatly.
Delendir nods "We are a bit weird of a group" looking amazed at Daud's bedsheet kilt.
The half-elf offers the magical leather armor to the barbarian laughing intensely "You Ustalavians have different cultural etiquette it seems to us Varisians"
"My etiquette is perfectly appropriate when someone absconds with my pants and underclothes." Sunday says while waving his hand to politely decline the armor. He wasn't all that fond of chaffing.
"Darling, your clothes were disgusting. They needed to be cleaned and mended the way the shopkeeper's daughter needs to tumble every man she sees." Grace drawls.
"You should own more than one change of clothing. Obviously, we will need to stop by the tailor's shop before we leave."
Jessica thinks a moment, her thoughts wandering before she starts paying attention again. She looks at her friends shyly and says, "There may be a way that I can help save us some money on equipment. I don't know much about enchanting equipment, maybe Tal does, but there may be a way that I can take our more common items and make them into things better suited to enchanting. I recall hearing of a prayer that will do this, I believe it required materials that would make up the difference between it's common state and that of the improved state." She looks up at Tal, "Would that help us save money in the long run?"
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"H-here," Kiley stammers as she hands Sunday a thick, comfortable bed sheet while looking away, here olive skin growing darker and darker. For a second, while Sunday's back was turned, she steals a glance.
"Can we please not compare Sunday to Shameless Shayliss? And you could have left his underwear on," Kiley says, more embarrassed than angry. Interestingly, she doesn't deny that she is afraid of horses, though she doesn't confirm it either.
Wow, they really don't like this Shayliss lady...
"His small clothes were so caked with dirt and blood that they turned solid, Kiley. I could have used them to bludgeon a goblin to death. If the smell hadn't killed it first." Grace says, firmly.
"It isn't my fault you fell asleep next to him while he was naked now, is it?"
Opting instead of saying anything Sunday quickly starts nursing his empty bottle of spirits.
Kiley's face turns beet red as she hunkers down over her breakfast. A moment later she is out the door and dunking her head in a rain barrel.
"I did absolutely nothing. I was asleep. Nothing." Sunday murmurs into his bottle.
Delendir approaches Daud in an attempt to sooth him "Do not worry too much young lad. Women are just particularly worried about things. Even young ones like Kiley. Keep treating her well and things will be fine again" and he offers the Ustalavian some of his ale.
"As said, I have to leave. As no one said to need extra time, let's gather at Hemlock's office once we all are ready" and so, Delendir departs the main room to load the donkey.
Sunday thought of an insult or two to throw back at the half-elf, but he settled for downing the rest of his ale.
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"Let me grab what little I have in my room and I'll be ready to go." Jessica gets up and heads to her room, gathering what she has still in there and returns, "I'm ready if you are Delendir, shall we?" Jessica heads outside to the donkey to help organize the equipment for loading.