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Rexus comes up to you all as you are standing around. "I have started decoding some of the documents, this is just a tiny tidbit of history about the original Silver Ravens but their story seems to be well documented."
Rexus finds one of his notes and clears his throat "The Silver Ravens were established in 4606 AR in the wake of the chaos that swept over Cheliax after Aroden’s death to help protect the city of Kintargo from oppression. It's not much yet but it gives you an idea of the original intent behind thier actions. I'll bring you more but it's going to take several weeks to do alone."
"Might be a decent idea for some, or all, of us to hit the tavern and see what was about there? That and collecting more information makes sense to me, better to know what we are up against.
"Agreed," Jack says simply.
"Wow, Tavern trip? Should i wear that low cut top i bought for that one guy who was... no wait, he was a jerk, this is a work mission right? I dont recall being at the Badger ever... hmm"
During the week, Canacha focused on finding space to build a workshop, and in that workshop she focused on things she thought would help their budding rebellion... but with a flair. Escape and evasion would probably be the name of the game for a long while so she took her old recipe book and starting working on smokesticks... but with a personal twist. She infused the alchemical essence of Mint into it, so it would not only obscure vision but also assault anyone whose nose was close in mint...
"A low cut top could help get information but I don't have any anymore. Kind of gave that up when Rebecca died, also I am probably better dressed for action if needed."
"I for one think you both should--"
Meliora pauses, looks awkwardly over to one side, and then scratches the back of her neck. "Erm..." Cough, cough.
"I mean, I haven't had nearly enough to drink lately. So. A good tavern trip for drinking would be good, and if we just happen to get information that just happens to aid our rebellion... hey, good for us."
"should?"
She asked wrinkling her nose just slightly.She tilted her head ever so slightly and removed her hat dusting the top of it off.
"I dont know we are talking about doing off with your head sort of things... is drinking the best idea? I mean I know we cant just ask for tea and try to rabble rouse the patrons but..."
She giggled and reset her hat just so.
"And they would have to be drunk to notice me.Why the last fellow whom diegned to pay me any attention said I was a mousey looking little bookworm at best when I told him i had no interest in going to that dancehall with him. I tried to explain that I had a meeting about the devil's bells but he wouldnt hear of it."
She paused as if a stray thought had struck her the fingers on her right hand rose up as if working a hanging invisible abacus.
"DO you think mint will grow underground if we have some sort of bright light source or will it need the sun? I wonder if i could cross it with some form of moss.... hmmm" She begandrawn completely off topic.... again.
"Ah, but he did ask you to the dance hall. That means he was interested. They're called sour grapes. Pretty sure it was a story about a fox that started that phrase... somethin' outta' Varisia, maybe? --Wait, why am I talking about this? Point is, we're not actually drinking. We're going there to get information." Meliora pushes on, conveniently ignoring what they should or shouldn't do.
As for that other question... "The daylight spell copies all effects of sunlight, that'd include nourishing plants. We'd need a long-term way to have it up, but it's theoretically possible... just not now."
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Clenchjaw’s was until recently a low-key dockworker’s drinking hall, but in the past few days the watering hole has grown rife with intrigue, brawls, and talk of insurrection. Though initially dismissed as a den of drunken sailors and foreigners known for stirring up trouble, the tavern is growing loud enough to attract official attention.
The tavern is named after a local variety of oyster, as well as for the owner’s strict policy of banning political talk from the tavern— until recently, that is. The tavern’s owner is an apolitical and practical sort named Rinston “Clenchjaw” Jon who normally ejects troublemakers, but seems unusually sleepy and distracted of late. The nightly brawls have all begun after Rinston’s passed out for the evening—itself a curious development, since until the Night of Ashes he was an energetic man.
"He had been reading some stupid journals hailing from Ustalav. He just wanted me to bite him... he seemed to think he could become some sort of powerf..."
Her eyes widened a bit and she covered her mouth for a moment before closeing it tightly shut. It was apparent on her face that she had... spoken too much.
"So are we heading there in the day? early evening? I dont know if I want to be there super late with the sailors... I hear horrible things about sailors."
She shifted again suddenly as was well... her usual speech pattern.
poop
Mic shakes her head. "I know I should know something about the place but it just isn't coming to me at present. Well can't be helped."
When Cancacha speaks of biting Mic smiles and pats her on the back.
"Been there. People get into weird stuff." she shrugs "I think we should head over early evening, maybe time it so we arrive right at sundown. I can see not wanting to be there once the alcohol takes hold."
Lena helps Canacha set up a workshop. "We need an area for weapons, and armor as well as the alchemial items you are working on. Does anyone else have crafting skills they need space for?" she asks the group as a whole.
"Never heard of Clenchjaw's but it sounds interesting. A drink or two would be nice." She gives Meliora a look. "Just one or two . It sometimes makes for easier information gathering if there is drink involved. At least that's what I've noticed."
"I make scrolls... but I can do that at home, or even at a desk around here. Doesn't exactly take up a lot of space, right?"
To Lens:
"I like to make armor, keeps my arms strong and back limber to do the work. Not sure if down here is the place for a fire though, I will go out as I am able I think."
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As the group gets ready to head out to investigate the tavern she addresses them.
"Best to conceal whatever weapons you can. We don't need to look like we are looking for trouble. I will leave gauntlet here as well. Let me know when you guys are ready we will need to break up a bit and keep our eyes open."
"This place is pretty big. I'm planning on living here. It's better than trying to find cheap clean lodgings."
Lena keeps a weapon, but tries to look inconspicuous as they head to the pub.
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After some debating and planning what to do with the hideout you start to move out to the tavern and investigate the rumors you've heard. You arrive at 5:00 PM just as the dockworkers are beginning to fill in and starting to relax. The tavern owner is standing behind the bar welcoming you and pointing you to a table with five chairs.
Meliora takes a seat and chuckles to herself, giving the entire bar a once over.
She'll leave the 'asking about things' to the people who are good at asking about things, and there's too many people in close contact for detect magic to really have a chance of working... so she just sort of keeps an eye out.
Mic smiles as the walk into the tavern. It is a damn sight better being above ground and in a tavern then sitting underground.
She scans the room for any known trouble makers.
Before going to the table she makes a point of going to the bar to get a drink, talking to the bartender loud enough for those near by to hear.
"Hell of a thing down at Aria Park the other day."
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Micheria doesn't spot anything out of the ordinary at this moment. "Indeed it was quite a mess, but I think we were lucky it was contained in the park. The whole city could have quickly spiralled out of control, as bad as things are now I bet if the whole city was a fighting ground it would be even worse for us than now. What'll you have miss?" the owner responds with a somewhat clenched jaw.
"I would grab a beer but it makes me sleepy sometimes, your the professional. How about a drink that won't make me tired, nothing worse then falling asleep too early right?"
Maybe that will get him to bring up he changed sleep habits.
Always curious, especially in new places she gladly looked about the place with bright eyes and excitement, though mostly she was looking for a table for them to sit at.
"drinks! Melly! We need drinks! And seats!
She began perhaps too loudly and announcing it certainly to nearby patrons as well.
"Well that is interesting. Maybe try drinking only things that you are sure of the source for a bit, see if it keeps up. I guess I will risk a drink, you can chose.
"I guess if everyone is so tired there is no chance of trouble here, if course if you see someone who starts things can you let me know? My group is mostly female, we don't want to be in some kind of trouble."
Depending on what he says Mic heads back to the group, drink in hand, and lets them know what she has heard. Suggesting the water supply may be something that needs investigating.
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"I'll try that but it's hard in these days, I get my fresh water and beer from outside the city normally, but with the marshal law in place I have to rely on what is approved by the goverment to sell. I would maybe take a bottle of white wine to share with your group, I have some old bottles from before Thrune took over if you want to be on the safe side." he finds a bottle he gives Micheria and starts laughing "You are safe here I normally toss people out before things break out." he says with a big smile.
Jack whispers to Mic that he's going to do his own solo investigating at Clenchjaw's but that he'll also be keeping an eye on the ladies' table. He instead looks for a card or dice game he might join and then slowly and subtly tries to learn more about the establishment itself and its recent problems. He also tries to win a bit of coin in the process.
"Well I appreciate the hospitality and helping me look out for my people. If I stumble on some old casks or kegs I will let you know."
She extendes her hand.
"Name is Mic Musca by the way. Family use to run a security company so you many know the name. If you ever need anything let me know, never hurts to be a good neighbor."
Lena takes her seat with the rest of the ladies. She looks around at the patrons, and listens to see if she can hear anything interesting.
She leans over to another table. "What time do people start to leave to beat the curfew? I don't want to run afoul of the authorities."
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Jack spends an hour talking with patrons hearing stories of strange occurrences like people falling down to strangely greasy floor, others are sure they hear someone whispering insults and a strange butterfly in the dark corners. You also find a table were people are playing odds and evens.
Lena doesn't notice anything. "It depends on where you live but the majority leave at 8:30-8:45 PM.
While the others are talking, Meliora is looking intently. She's staying quiet--entirely too much so for a bar--and past a single drink and a nod of acknowledgement towards Canacha's cry for seats and drinks (The locals, hopefully, would take it as her being a little sauced already... but she knew what was meant by it) she's busy looking around for possible sources of problems.
Unfortunately, she is too busy thinking about other things to really give it her all.
The sisters haven't reported back since they gave over the gold they earned... That doesn't sit well with her.
Canacha too was looking for problems ....though she was looking for the sort of fellows who looked like they could cause problems... for the ravens... versus Thrune. She did her best to try and eavesdrop and overhear if anyone seemed ... especially frustrated or shady.
What they needed... what were they called... smooglers smoglers.... no smugglers, though she couldnt just ask a guy if they were a smuggler. She needed to be smooth and shady too.
Rubbing her hands together in excitement for a moment she swallowed and approached the table nonchelauntly though when she got beside it she sat down as if she belonged there flashing her best smile... you know the one without the teeth showing to the world.
"Ahoy there mates... rough days in the city eh? Having a few drinks to relax eh? Me too. Name's Canacha Bais... of the Ustalav Bais' Buy a lass a drink and listen for a spell?
She began
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Canacha you don't seem ot be able to find any shady looking people, most in this tavern are dockworkers or the odd merchant from the burnt down tavern futher inside Kintargo.
But you do notice that the tavern owner seems to have fallen asleep, he is still standing but against the wall and it's only a matter of time before he falls. And what appears to be a patch of greasy surface has appeared roughly 10 ft away from you triping a patron to spill his beer down the lap of another patron, and a brawl begins between the two.
"Oh for the love of the gods he is asleep already and there is a fight. Lets see if I can get things calmed down."
She, stepping around the grease and quietely slipping on her shield, moves to the two men.
"Lads, give it a rest. We can only be here so long and you risk even that. Now calm down children!"
Slipping away from the fight and putting on her serious face she slid in beside Meliora and whispered in her ear.
"You can detect things that are magical right? that slippery stuff isnt alchemical in nature, has to be magic right? can you tell?"
She asked quietly, not wanting to alert anyone if there was a mad mage on the loose.
Before the fight breaks out, Jack takes a moment to whisper the few things he's learned to Mic; then he returns to his gaming, peering occasionally into the corners for the 'strange butterfly.'
When the fight breaks out, he initially allows Mic to intervene on her own, knowing how capable she is with her fists, knees, and elbows. Instead, he peers around the rest of the tavern to see how other patrons are reacting (or not reacting) to the outbreak of violence.
Lena begins to cast detect magic around the room starting with the sleeping barman, and working around the edges of the room in a clockwise motion. "Something is not right here. It's some kind of mischief."
Meliora looks at the grease on the floor. Something like this appearing out of nowhere is probably because of a spell she knows only too well... Is it the same sort of stuff as her own grease spell makes?
In other news, detect magic time. An instantaneous effect from a 1st level spell would fade away almost immediately, so... Starting with the old man, then she'll slowly back her way into a corner and take in the entire area with her 60 foot cone, giving both the full 3-round focus.
Enchantment, putting someone to sleep...?
Meliora is 99.75% sure she knows what’s going on here, since Sleep is the right school and the right effect. To test it, she tries shaking the man awake.
”Hey, wakey wakey. I need to ask you something.”
Still trying to insert herself between the fighters. Grabbing one of them if necessary Mic yells to the others.
"There is something small up in the rafters. Its causing this problem I would bet. Get it."
Martial Flexability for Improved Grapple
Moving closer to the creature slowly she held out her hands like someone trying to rescue a stray cat from a tree. She didnt hesistate to step onto a table to get close if she had too, nor did she take too much care to make sure the table didnt have anyone currently sitting in it though she did take care to not step in any food or spill any drinks.
"come here little one come on come on"
She tried cooing in common, elven and dwarven.
Lena moves up near to the little creature. "Come on down. We don't want to hurt you. Unless you are evil. Then all bets are off.