"The Salt Works it is, then, but Zea--can you send us word if there's any sightings in the Nursery? We seem to be chasing ghosts quite a bit," says Corian with a mild frown. "You'd think we'd hear about some opera members around here. If they were picked up so rapidly there was hardly a stir...that is problematic."
Wilhelm nods.
"The salt works does, indeed, seem like the natural next choice. We might have the element of surprise if we wait until dark, but I know I would have an easier time of it if we go during the day. My night eyes are not nearly as good as some of yours. Unfortunately, most things that make it easier to see also make it much harder to not be noticed."
Voreni stays out of the planning for now, lost in thoughts of his own failure and of Lily. I really need to check up on her. There is just so much going on.
"Salt Works? Yes, sounds good," he adds in an absent-minded tone.
"It's not often that mercenary companies are hired out to capture one another. They must have some wealth of information that someone wants hidden." Ignati nods to no one in particular. "Sounds simpler than dealing with fey at any rate."
Morning finally arrives; sleep wasn't easy in the cramped interior of Zea's flat, so you may want to recover back at the Longroads Cafe.
Ignati does recall the location of the Salt Works, and it's possible that more information could be gathered at the cafe, or through other contacts on the street.
The cafe seems more or less as it has previously, with a bustling morning crowd of students and regulars. Laria smiles broadly when you arrive and greets you, carefully sliding a small envelope to Voreni.
"This came for you; I found it last night while I was cleaning up, it's addressed to the Silver Ravens." she whispers.
When at last you are all rested and can read over the letter together, you find the following:
My Dear Ravens,
You are not alone in your fears for the nest we share, but for now, my Flock and I must remain quiet and hidden. The time will soon come when we must meet, but until then, keep building your contacts and resources. Do not rush into opposition against our common enemy. The time to retake Kintargo will come, but to strike too soon will be to lose the war before it even begins. Recruit. Prepare. Remain strong in your patience. We shall speak soon.
-- The Rose of Kintargo
Corian is alternately excited and serious, examining and re-examining the note. "Milani be praised; we shall bloom again," he says quietly. "Well, then. Recruiting and preparing is what we do," he says, regaining his composure with a beatific smile. "I wonder if my former colleagues are among them."
"Recruiting and preparation are all just fine," Wilhelm points out, "but I don't think we should abandon our intent to check out the salt works. If there are prisoners being held, time may be of the essence for them. I know if I were in their shoes, I'd prefer to be liberated as soon as possible. It's good to know there are other organizations potentially on our side, but I suggest we not rely on their assistance until it becomes more than just words on paper."
Morrigan is also excited. "I knew they weren't all killed. There's still hope..."
"I agree with Wilhelm, we should continue our plan to locate the Salt Works. I'll start working the crowd upstairs to see if anyone can point us in the right direction."
Voreni is less enthusiastic than the others. "It could be a ruse. We must watch this development carefully. Regardless, Sir Wilhelm and Lady Winters are correct: Let us not lose focus on our most immediate task."
"The Rose!" Ignati nearly shouts as he reads the letter. "Could Fausta be alive?" He seems lost in thought for a moment before turning his attention back to his companions, trying not to let his excitement over ride his reason.
"Yes I agree though, we should make our way to the Saltworks as soon as we have a better handle on the situation, I will go help Morrigan canvas the locals."
Ignati quietly asks around about the Saltworks situation; as it turns out, Laria is quite familiar with the situation.
"Yeah, they grabbed Forvian Crowe and his boys about a week ago, got 'em held at the Sallix Salt Works. Forvian is a decent enough guy, and he trains his mercs well - not a bad guy to have as an ally, if you catch my meaning. From what I hear the guards are all mercs as well - no Asmodeans or Dottari there, so I the blowback shouldn't be too bad. Still, I'd be careful if I were you--"
You are both interrupted by the sound of a loud crash that shakes the ground beneath you. Laria vaults over the bar and runs towards the storage cellar.
"That sounds like it came from the Wasp Nest. C'mon!"
Voreni glances about ensuring the group is not being watched before following the others into the Nest. I am beginning to jump at every shadow. It is not paranoia if they are really out to get you, correct?
With the sudden crashing noise from below, ostensibly their secret hideout, Wilhelm springs after Laria. As soon as they're out of general sight, he makes sure his spear is ready and tries to get ahead of their Halfling benefactor. If something down there is hostile, he would prefer it get to him before it gets to her.
"If its not one thing, its another." Morrigan rushes with the others back downstairs.
"It seems we're destined to live exciting lives!" Ignati cries happily as he follows the halfling woman into the Wasp's Nest, sword drawn and hand digging into one of his pockets for one of his prepared extracts.
Rushing down into the Wasp's nest, just beyond the secret door, you can see what caused the noise: part of a wall has collapsed, crushing someone underneath. Korva Fushi and two of her sisters arrive at about the same time you do, and gasp with horror at the sight.
Wilhelm takes a quick survey of the scene. He had been expecting some sort of beast, not a cave-in. It's lucky that none of them had been down there yet when this happened. The fact that somebody way is troubling however, since this place is supposed to be a secret.
"Did you see anything?" he asks the Tengu sisters as they arrive. The answer's probably no, but it doesn't hurt to be thorough. The one with the answers is the one under the rubble, and there won't be any answers if he stays there, so Wilhelm begins shifting some of the heavier stone blocks to try and free the person, though he keeps his spear close in case there's hostile intent.
Morrigan helps lifting rubble.
Voreni frowns, wishing he'd studied more engineering under his mentor. The only thing he can do is try and help the currently unproductive effort to free the trapped individual. While he lifts, he tries his best to recall what little he does know about physics and engineering and apply it to practice.
Morrigan is stunned by Voreni's impressive display of strength.
"Wow, Voreni! Look at you, Mr. Muscles."
"Mr. Muscles indeed, the brain is the strongest one after all!" Ignati joins Voreni in using their smarts to work their way around the rubble and help clear it.
"We came as soon as we heard the crash. We've had some of the Ravens' supporters down here, but I think we're the only ones down here right now--"
Korva's voice cuts off suddenly as Voreni, aided by Ignati, manages to lift the largest chunks of the rubble away, revealing the crushed remains of Maggie, one of her sisters. Korva, Jay, and Treep choke back their sobs and rush forward to check on her, searching for some sign of life, but it's a lost cause. Maggie is dead.
Voreni looks sheepish in response to Morrigan's playful comment and thanks Ignati for his assistance before turning to the sisters. "I am very sorry for your loss."
"Aw jeez. These poor birds. It's just one tragedy after another. What was Maggie doing over there?"
"Indeed," Wilhelm grimly agrees as he dusts himself off. With all their attempts to uncover the buried Tengu, it's probably far too late, but it never hurts to see if he can find some answers from the site itself since gaining answers from the dead is beyond his capability. Could this have been an accidental collapse or are there signs of a sobeteur?
"Is there any particular way you handle your dead?" Ignati asks the remaining sisters, patting Korva gently on the back. "We will take care of everything if you need us to."
Our first loss and we've yet to even start rebelling, I hope this is not an omen for things to come.
Wilhelm examines the wall, his familiarity with stonework drawing his attention to a group of small markings consistent with stoneworking tools. This would appear to have been caused intentionally.
Meanwhile, Korva lays a hand on Treep's shoulder to comfort her. "Thank you for your offer, Ignati, but we should tend to her ourselves. We will carry her out the back way and burn the body outside of town."
"I'm pretty sure this wasn't an accident," Wilhelm says quietly, trying to keep the distraught Tengu sisters from overhearing. He uses his spear as a long pointing device to show the marks he's spotted. "Those were definitely made by some sort of tool. It seems we have an informational leak, though I'm hard pressed to think of who it could be since there are so few who know who we are and where we're hiding out."
"S~@$!" Morrigan beckons her allies close so she can whisper. "Do you think we have a spy or saboteur already? How well can we trust those we've brought into our fold so far? Whoever did this, may also still be down here. Do you think it'd be a good idea to run out and purchase scrolls or detect evil and see invisibility and sweep the place? Those Thrunes are crafty. I wouldn't be surprised if that last encounter with the tooth fairies was a setup to lure us out and then have something follow us right back to our homes."
"I wouldn't be surprised if that last encounter with the tooth fairies was a setup to lure us out and then have something follow us right back to our homes."
"The killings have gone on longer than we've been an organization." Ignati pauses and rubs his chin. "And what have we done to warrant a spy? Other than the protest, we've hardly done much to agitate the Thrune’s, or even the local authorities. It doesn't make much sense."
"Unless someone saw us skulking around the ruins from the Night of Fires. That must be it. We should be more careful in our investigations."
"I think we should assume this location has been compromised and be ready to prepare a new headquarters right away. We can monitor this site and reclaim it in the future if needed."
"Even being more careful may not be enough at this point, if our hideout has been made. As Voreni says, it may be worthwhile to establish a new base of operations somewhere else in the city, that only we few know, but as gracious as Laria has been, perhaps we should give her a raven figurine to contact us rather than the new location. If nothing else it should help plug the leak. I hope it's as you suggest, Ignati, that we're not betrayed but rather have been coming and going around too many eyes."
"I'm still concerned that even if we move, the mole will move with us."
"Bacon, see if you can sniff out anything unusual."
"I still can't fathom how we'd have garnered enough fame or infamy to have a spy in our midst but you're right to be cautious."
Ignati frowns and turns to Laria. "Have you seen anyone suspicious here in the past day or so? Do you think you'll be in danger? Our hideout is right under your establishment, if someone has truly figured out our motives somehow, you will be complicit."
"I can detect evil, or other affiliation with the planes of morality, such as the Maelstrom, at will, Morrigan," says Corian, using his ability as he speaks. "Perhaps we should go find out who hires stoneworkers to sabotage."
"And our mole doesn't have to be a person. It could be a device planted upon us. The whip...anything."
Corian turns to the tengu. "Your sister will be avenged. What is you tradition of burial? If you need clergy to preside over a service, I would consider it an honor to do so."
"Hum... there is just one thing that is bugging me... why would someone loyal to the Thrunes infiltrate our base to use some tool in the wall in the hope that someone would pass underneath it? Why not just burn the place to the ground like they did before?" She pauses before also inspecting the tool marks. "Perhaps these marks where not made with the intention of making a trap... perhaps someone was just trying to reach something on the other side of the wall or hide something... the cave in might be still accidental, even if the cause was not natural..."
"That is an excellent point. Perhaps we need to recheck the entire area in minute detail."
Wilhelm puts a hand to his chin. "I admit, that possibility had not occurred to me. Perhaps I was over-hasty in my assumptions." He begins sifting carefully through the rubble and the area around it for further clues as to the nature of the collapse. "If this is, in fact, just a coincidental scare, then it may be a blessing in disguise, excepting of course the tragic aspect of Maggie's death. It may still be worthwhile to establish a separate base of operations, so we put Laria and her cafe in less risk of being obviously associated with us, and thus a target for the Thrunes, when we start to incur some more significant notoriety."
After a thorough search of the Wasp's Nest, the group finds no hidden assailant, but you do take note of the following:
- An increased number of rats in the area.
- A scrap of clothing near the collapsed wall, likely torn from whoever performed the sabotage.
- A tiny set of pan pipes hidden in a small nest lined with old clothing and straw.
"Perhaps this isn't the work of the Thrunes after all," Wilhelm says frowning. "I still think this is intentional, but as Valleria points out, and the evidence seems to agree, this just isn't their style. This seems more like the fey nonsense we've been dealing with the last few days. I'm not sure what could be nesting here, but we should keep an eye on it in case whatever it is comes back. In the mean time, we should all -- Fushi sisters included -- watch the walls closely for signs of sabotage before stepping down here."
"I'm starting to really hate fey. I also don't trust these rats."
Detect magic on the pan pipes and the rats.
"Bacon, do you detect anything unusual?"
"I'm starting to really hate fey. I also don't trust these rats."
"Yeah... there is actually some correlation to where we find them... in the nature, lots of laugh, music, food and happiness... in the cities, rats, vomit and freaking teeth stealers!"
"This whole intrigue thing is making me completely paranoid. Now I'm thinking one of these rats could by a shape-changed intruder. I'm seeing eyes and ears everywhere. I just want to go back into the darkness where it is safe."
Morrigan uses her binding darkness ability to give herself a hug. "Much better." she sighs in relief.
"We need a scent-tracker to find the wearer of this clothing. And did rats chew the wall down?" Corian is deep in thought. "This is damned mysterious. If we can't find anything now, perhaps the Salt Works will help us connect the puzzle together."
Voreni raises an eyebrow at Morrigan's actions, then shrugs. Everyone has their own methods of coping with stress.
"I think you may want to get used to feeling paranoid, Lady Winters. Operational security would demand that we all always assume we are being watched at all times and take appropriate precautions. I know that some may find such a mode of thinking as, well, unsettling, but it is more likely to keep us safe as individuals and as a group. Until this is over, our personal comfort will need to take a back-seat to the needs of the honest citizens."
"Yes, Corian is right. We need to stay focused. We should continue to the Salt Works as planned."
"We need a scent-tracker to find the wearer of this clothing. And did rats chew the wall down?" Corian is deep in thought. "This is damned mysterious. If we can't find anything now, perhaps the Salt Works will help us connect the puzzle together."
"I doubt the two are related," Wilhelm responds to Corian. "But unless Bacon finds something more tangible with his nose, I agree we should still head to the Salt Works. The way the world keeps seeming to try to distract us from it leads me to believe it must be very important."