”Excellent Toramin! We should attempt to get some maps of the tunnels,” Rilka says. ”I’ve been thinking that a few people with bags of holding or a hauling spell could take hundreds of pounds of ore with only slight difficulty. Even if they’re doing it a different way, it shows much planning.”
Rilka contemplates the empty glass in her hand. ”You know, we should also check into people that have arrived recently with a large amount of money, or someone who’s lived here for a while and suddenly has a surprising amount of wealth. It may be related to the drugs...or some other criminal activity.”
Days later, Rangar reviews the information he’s gathered on the independent alchemists. It was surprising that none of his targets had any known connections to the underworld. They were either all innocent or the criminal population of Grastle Hollow was impossibly good at covering their tracks. Refusing to believe the former, he assumes the latter even though that level of secrecy is difficult to fathom in a city so large.
Needing to start somewhere, he pegs Banmyra as his first person of interest. The gnome’s status as an outsider put him in a better position to get involved in the drug trade and his lack of extended family meant that it’d be harder for rivals to get leverage on him.
Ianna eventually finds the good paladin at a private location as he takes a shortcut through an alley. As she approaches him in disguise he gives a friendly but official smile. "Hello ma'am. Can I be of assistance?"
Rilka leaves an alley disguised as a male teenager gnome. After a bit of time, making sure she isn’t followed, she finds Tosscobble. ”I was told to tell you Chibi needs a map of the transport tunnels. The ones that lead to and from the mines. City should have something like that, yeah?”
Fosco looks a little taken aback, but at the name Chibi he gives a careful nod. "Yes...of course." With a narrowing of his eyes, Rilka is relatively certain from watching Toramin that she was just scanned for evil.
Dalton exhaled as the reconnaissance was laid-out before him. I can see why she's so highly-regarded in the Aestherics. Between Rilka's padfooting and Toramin's elemental, they had eyes and ears in many places they shouldn't.
In theory, the scry could help with that. But these are powerful people; an operation this widespread under wraps requires a strong hand. Targ operated in the open, but this was a fist as tightly clenched in the dark. [i]I would not like to be on the receiving end of it.
"If you would like to place a token to scry upon, I certainly can do that. I needn't a large pool of water, just an uninterrupted room. However, we may be detected in the process. Tiasar and Koriat both had such defenses about them, and a shadow operation is likely to have some similar abjuration in effect."
"I would like to point out earth-moving is one of my specialties. If Toamin's elemental is able to find a hotspot of note in the mines, I could bestow the ability to burrow upon some of us to join him. It would certainly be unexpected, and I suspect something is amiss in that place."
Bjorkus groans as he reviews the pages and pages of information he’d gathered during the last week. Aestheric training or not, sorting through paperwork was not the bull’s strength. The bits and pieces of background he’d assembled on the city’s independent alchemists was surprisingly lacking any useful leads. Grastle Hollow’s citizens were either squeaky clean or they were very good at covering their tracks and tying up all their loose ends. Gnomes or not, he and others might have been thrown into a den of the world’s greatest cons and criminals.
Making his way to the folder full of information the city’s law enforcement had assembled already on the city’s crime spree. ”Huh. It looks like the watch never tried bringin’ any of the low level goons in to press ‘em for information. It’s no wonder Calios was able to move in and muscle everyone else out so easy. Is it gunna trip anyone up if I grab a couple toughs off the street and lean on ‘em?”
”I’ll tell him what you said,” the young gnome says. ”Chibi said I’d get 5 coppers if I was back within half-an hour.” He runs away, weaving through the crowds.
”Huh. It looks like the watch never tried bringin’ any of the low level goons in to press ‘em for information. It’s no wonder Calios was able to move in and muscle everyone else out so easy. Is it gunna trip anyone up if I grab a couple toughs off the street and lean on ‘em?”
"Lopa" shrugged. "Fighting fire with fire is a workable solution, I'd say. Let's just not make a scene of it." He swallowed. "That edgy smallfolk I met earlier was an observant one, and though the guard seems to have trouble finding their fingers and wits with any regularity, it's clear this place has a few who are a notch brighter than that."
"Master Dalton, shouldn't we go find customers for that metal? You are the merchant after all."
"Yes, you can. I come bearing a message from Ziza. Do you know any such woman? She wants to know if the name, means anything to you."
"We should. I've already made contact with a smith who could use a substantial supply of it. Given the way he handled the negotiation, I'm sure most vendors of the stuff made of the metal will be willing to obsequious in nature if we mention it. Customers shouldn't be hard to find."
"The metal itself, however, seems to be disappearing in the tunnels between the mines and the town. I suppose it's possible the material in the mines simply vanished, though that seems quite unlikely by comparison."
Chibi reaches the dead-drop they’ve arranged with Tosscobble to pick up the map.
------
In their inn, as they discuss how their various enterprises are proceeding, Rilka says, ”I think looking for a pick pocket or burglar to be an informant is a good step. Better than an assassin at least. I could pretend to be a variety of people, getting a few gold pieces here and there taken,” she glances at Dalton, knowing he doesn’t like losing money. ”That and people stealing food. Desperate people that might be more willing to listen to us. I could also attempt to get jailed to find if anyone in there feels like turning over a new leaf. Any other thoughts about this?”
Toramin, Dalton, and Ianna will go look for buyers for the metal.
"I think that getting jailed is too low a reward and too high a risk. Once we have buyers, I think you and I should explore the tunnel system."
Dalton's guilt over his relative comfort in Akropash at the party's expense came to a head. "Absolutely not, Miss Featherfeet! It's too risky." He was a brush angry with himself. "You can't rot away in some cell. Talent like yours can't go to waste. Toramin is right; the tunnel system would be an excellent place to apply them."
Fosco frowns. "Yes. Smearg has always been an abrasive man. I was only an entry-level guard when he was in charge, but they say he was quite the ruthless bastard in his day. Why does Ziza ask? Smearg is retired."
”Hmmm,” Rilka says. ”That is a fair assessment about prison. Okay, once you have a buyer for the metal, we’ll explore the tunnels. In the meantime, I’ll look for an informant.”
"She didn't tell me. I'm just the messenger. She just wanted to make his acquaintance. Do you have an address?"
Fosco wiggles his nose in dissatisfaction. "He values his privacy. I try not to let people know where he stays. But if it's for the mission..." The gnome paladin gives Ianna directions to a hovel a few hours outside of the city. "I would be careful though. With everything that has been going on, going out of the city might not be the safest route. Give Ziza my regards."
Bjorkus buys some drinks and asks some questions in the seedier part of town, then ends up in an alley with a thin little gnome wth greasy black hair held up against the wall. "Hey, I didn't do nuffin! That whole bust was...wait I don't know nuffin!"
”Save your b*++~*@! for someone that wants to hear it”, Ragnar growls as he tightens his grip on the gnome’s collar. ”The Audit’s movin’ in and they don’t take kindly to fools workin’ their territory.”
”But I’ve got better things to do then waste my time breakin’ your legs. Tell me about this bust and the fools that called it and maybe I’ll be distracted long enough for you to limp out of my sight.”
"I would not know anything about trouble," the older gnome woman says tightening her shaw. "I'll pass on your warning though."
"Audit? Never heard nuffin about em!" He squeals in protest. "Just a deal gone bad is all, I had nuffin to do with it. I just move the stuff, I wasn't caught or followed I wasn't. Boss is mad about the loss though, first time we lost any product in weeks. Nuffin was my fault though!"
”Your boss sounds like a b@&+@ if he’s got two rivals musclin’ in on him”, Ragnar scoffs. ”Who gives a damn if he’s mad about the loss”, he adds.
”Tell me about this deal. What s@&$ are you peddling on the Audit’s territory and who was stupid enough to buy it?”
"I don't know nuffin about this Audit guy. Well it's Villichi, idn't it? Kinda obvious who's runnin' things nowadays. All going to him, but I don't know nuffin about what he does with it all, I just move it!"
Ragnar looks at the squirming gnome in his grasp with suspicion. "Oh I know all about him. How were you gunna get him his money before Villichi's boys screwed it all up?"
"Nah ya got it all twisted up, it was Villichi's crew that got hit! I don't handle the money, don't know nuffin about it!"
Ragnar scoffs and drops the gnome roughly. "You'd better not be lyin' to me and I'd better not catch your sorry ass around here again."
Bjorkus and Ianna follow Tosscobble's directions outside the city. It's a rigorous walk through the rugged mountains, but there's a well traveled path and it's surprisingly crowded with travelers. As the two get further and further off it gets more and more deserted until they reach a little grove of trees in a small valley where a winding path leads up to a cozy-looking hovel. There is a well-tended garden surrounding the back and sides of the house as well as a few fruit-bearing trees and a stream of bubbling fresh water. A dog lays down motionless on the porch, looking like it's probably asleep. A big, floppy eared dog that looks to be pretty old. Smoke billows out from the chimney, light comes from the windows, and there is movement of what appears to be a single individual inside the building.
Ianna mutters a quick prayer to her goddess to lend weight to her words.
"Good afternoon, Smearg. My name is Ziza and I would like to speak with you."
As Ianna approaches the hovel, the window slams open and a crossbow protrudes from it. "You be getting out of here, I don't want no strangers on my land!"
"I cannot be a stranger, since I have just introduced myself. Please, come join use for a pleasant chat. You will not need your crossbow."
Ianna and Bjorkus hear the sound of a hard spit and a bark of laughter. Meanwhile the old dog slumbers on. "Don't play word games with me, missy. We can chat plenty fine from right here. What the hell do you want?"
"I will not beat around the bush, Smearg. You seem like a gnome who prefers direct speech. The city you once protected is in grave danger. Most social systems can survive a certain amount of decadence. I'm not sure that the Hollow can survive what now infests it. I believe you have information that can help me help the Hollow."
"The whole city can rot for all I care! Never did me any damn good anyhow!"
"If you don't care, one way or the other, then this can be quit easy. I'm willing to pay for your expertise. Isn't that appropriate? Paying someone for their special knowledge and skills?"
"At the very least, with some coin, you can ride out the end of the world in comfort", Ragnar adds supporting Ziza's stance.
The crossbow recedes in and the window slams shut, waking up the old dog with a start. The dog sluggishly scans the area, raising his nose in the air, then yawns and goes back to sleep.
"Come now, Smearg. We cannot be both corrupt and criminal unless we were already members of law enforcement. Corruption would imply that we were betraying our true duty. Because we want take over and tamper the current excesses makes us criminal, but hardly corrupt."
Ianna says with a smile. She suspects from his laugh earlier that he was actually a fan of word games. Gnomes often have a weakness for cleverness.
After a ten second silence, the window slides open again. "You both leave your weapons right there, and if I smell a hint of magic I'll make you look like a cheese grater." With the sound of numerous locks opening, the front door creaks open.
"You have nothing to fear from me on that count; I never carry a weapon. Talking is so much more agreeable for all parties involved."
Quite fearlessly, Ianna (cum Ziza) enters the tiny hovel.
Ragnar puts a hand on Tyrantbreaker's hilt and frowns. "I'll just wait outside. If I hear any trouble I'll break down his soddin' door."
Bjorkus glances around and sees a couple options. There is a shed in the corner of the valley and there is also a tree with a lightning-burned hole in it.
Once inside, Ianna looks around.
Ianna slowly walks inside the hovel, ducking at the low overhang. The inside is a quaint little cozy interior. Farming tools in good condition adorn the corner, and overhanging a warming fireplace is the crossbow Ianna saw earlier. The small building is filled with the smell of parsley and garlic, most likely coming from a steaming pot in the fire.
A grizzled gnome stands next to a burgundy armchair, longsword held down by his side. He has green eyes and wispy grey hair. He is old and somewhat bent over, but he looks like a piece of meat that has been boiled down to nothing but gristle; tough as nails. He gives Ianna a suspicious look and gestures to one of the wooden armchairs. "Suppose you should have a seat. I made some stew if you're hungry. All I really do these days is cook and slowly die." He snorts and steps over to the pot. "So who the hell are you, what are you trying to do, and why should I help you? For that matter what is it you want from me?"