With heavier hearts and a healthy dose of caution, the party made their way back to the tavern, or at least right outside it. Sounds from the press-ganged cleaning crew clamored from within (mostly curses or the occasional under the belt insult from the infuriated bartender). Aside from the removal of debris, the physical landscape hadn't changed one bit;
the open window on the second floor of the building next door to the tavern still stood with its ratted curtain floating on an invisible wind. However, the first floor's door is chipped enough in the upper corner that something tiny or smaller might have gotten out under it.
A casting of detect magic would find no more lingering auras, but Hanethes's senses took in every detail, from the texture to the ground to the scent of Talon's blood, still thick upon his clothing and armor, though now a benign hindrance, as Arasmes has patched him up quite well with the wand that had proven to be a very sound investment. The most belligerent of the rogue's senses was his hearing, though, as he caught wind of a hushed conversation taking place inside the room which contained the window where the party had last caught wind of what they believed to be the wayfinder's aura, as well as the distinct sound of cards being thumbed.
"-lucky we got out of there before he got us enslaved, too...,"
"-ks like he's not gonna get a piece of this one. Too bad. Always leaves the ladies for last-,"
"-been so long since...,"
"-that look she gave me, it was the best. Just wait 'til the others vanish, maybe she'll be alone, and then I'd show 'er a good time...,"
"Yaretogneit, she might be gone already. They might all be. I wonder what lucky bastard's got their stuff... Maybe if we notice, they'll share..."
"No, no. They're different than the others, I mean, usually their types try to coerce us or just attack on sight. They're smart. I'll bet they'll last at least the next couple days, maybe even long enough to leave...,"
"It's your turn, and I'd take that bet. Only three have ever left, you know, with the-"
"-yeah, him. Guy creeped me out... I don't care if he said he was just passing through, we haven't seen the last of him, ugh!"
"Well, let's just hope whoever takes these guys out leaves at least one shrieker, y'know, strings it out for a few days."
"Ha! Yeah, those are the best, they always make Gant so irritated, too, that smug bastard... Didn't he actually just kill that one tart when she was screamin' so nice for us?"
"Can barely stand 'im. And he says we shouldn't be attacking visitors unless he says to. If it were up to him, we'd all be eaten by now! 'Sides, the old coot spends so much time in his dumb trances. Doubt he's even paying attention most the time-and the Iris card. I win."
"You cheated."
While Talon is getting patched up, Petrova takes off her mask to wipe sweat and blood from its inside. Those who were unaware of her true identity probably recognize her now by name as the dancer from the tavern in Katapesh (assuming any of their gazes ever rose above her shoulders).
"If even the petitioners can't survive this rain, that means we have until it stops to retrieve our inventory. The thief has to still be in town. If we all look with detect magic, we should be able to find its aura with a systematic search, unless the thief puts the item in a shielded place. Why are you all staring at me?"
Perception:
Petrova shudders as she listens to the conversation. "Well, if we need info from those two, I can suggest an easy way to get it," she whispers to the others.
What, did you hear something? I thought I did, but it was garbled...
When Drovya sees her face, he says Dancer, you have such a lovely visage. Why do you keep it covered up so?
He grimaces at her words regarding the storm though. What you say is true, unless they are capable of traveling through this dread rain, or folding space and time to their wills, in which case, we have much bigger problems.
Arasmes nods "Indeed. The lady's loveliness knows no bounds, and a systematic search should turn up something...but perhaps interrogation can speed that process, and those two inside seem well enough informed to at least know who might be able to snatch such an item."
"Wait, Petrova? I know I recognized those uh.. eyes anywhere."
"I didn't hear anything. What is it?" He says to quickly change the subject.
"Mmmm hmmm. Here let me help," she says, taking the edge of her sleeve to wipe the corner of Talon's mouth. "Bit of drool there."
"Let's see if we can't find a way to burst in on those two. They may not know anything, but after hearing their filthy talk, it will give the multiverse justice for us to try to extract whatever information we can."
+2 to find traps
"Two cads enjoying themselves.... with a penchant for obscene and disturbing crimes. I am with you, dancer."
"Thanks."
"Well, I'm ready whenever you are to interrupt these guys."
Does anyone think they could climb up to that window? It might be a good idea to cut off any exit, and a bit of flanking couldn't hurt either.
Drovya looks up at the window, trying to gauge how difficult it would be to ascend to the window ledge.
"I can climb up there if you want." Talon stows his weapon on his back.
Drovya nods, I'll join you. Let's keep quiet though. No use spoiling the surprise. Kanthuun, can you cast that communication spell on us again? That certainly was handy.
Drovya sheathes Black Ivan and prepares to make the climb alongside Talon.
Petrova will lead the way to find a more conventional route to that room with the pair. As she does, she unlaces a ridiculous amount of her shirt to the point where she might as well not even be wearing it.
"A little distraction," she says by way of explanation, then angrily adds, "for THEM! Honestly!"
Kanthuun pauses to note Petrova, goggling.
"Yes...yes, not a problem, Drovya." He makes incantatory gestures and utters a phrase.
He glances sidewise at Petrova and says, "To be honest, I couldn't remember whether you or the shadow dancer came with us. I'm relieved to see you're one and the same."
Holding a wand in one hand, he mutters to himself, as is his wont: "I see how this place corrupts all those who tread upon it...makes you so damnably annoyed with these stealings and deceptions that you want to kill everything as well...worse than chasing a greased kobold through an overripe fish market...I could have been a blaster...what I'd give for a necklace of fire--" He stops, realizing everyone can hear him through the link.
Arasmes takes an appreciative look at Petrova and nods at Kanthuun's thoughts, thinking back at him "Indeed, it's hard to remember virtue in a place where nobody else possesses it." he unsheathes his sword again and adjusts his robes to appear more intimidating, and speaks in an amused tone "This should be interesting."
The main entrance was easy enough to enter; the door lacked a proper locking mechanism and the slightest pull on the handle removed it entirely, as apparently it lacked hinges, as well. The light, rotting timbers were easy for Petrova to put aside without making much sound, and stealing into the first room proved a simple matter for the Dancer, Kanthuun, Hanethes, and Arasmes.
The room had several clay pots lying about. Some held water, sludge(that looked suspiciously like the poison that Hanethes had the misfortune of coming into contact with earlier), and one held something that smelled like carrion, but the liquid it was in made it impossible to tell what the substance was. Other than that, though, the room was bare save for a rickety ladder leading up to a hole covered by a dusty blanket instead of a hatch.
Talon and Drovya were confronted with the sight of the two brothers grappling, the larger of the two using his position to thrust his smaller compatriot's head into a rickety table, sending cards flying everywhere. For this reason, the two didn't really seem to notice the two interlopers.
"Damned dirty cheat! You had it under your leg. Your leg!"
Two bedrolls that looked like they belonged to the living at some point were off in a corner, as well as a pile of lewd sculptures and discarded, dusty, and unkempt unholy symbols of Lamashtu(recognizeable to Talon from his time guarding caravans from the goddess's followers).
"You want the one on the right or the left?" Talon whispers to Drovya. He draws his weapon, preparing himself for a fight.
The big one's yours, Drovya whispered back, Black Ivan once again in hand. I'll take the one whose head just went through the table. Let's try to leave one of them alive though, eh?
Drovya slipped into the room, staying close to the walls to give Talon a direct line to the larger petitioner.
"I'm good with that."
Talon will rush the larger brother, attempting to strike him with the flat of the blade.
Drovya charges the grappled petitioner and smashes the back of his head with Black Ivan's basket hilt.
Hanethes makes ready to charge the two hostiles, but bursts out laughing instead when he sees the situation they've gotten in.
Kanthuun makes ready to throw a gob of protoplasm, his hand rippling and almost oozing in a strange way, although he does cast a smirk at Hanethes as if to wonder if it's necessary.
Drovya succeeded in finishing the braining of the smaller petitioner, causing him to go unconscious. In comparison to the enemies the group fought earlier, there was little resistance.
The cussing from the larger petitioner was incredible as he was startled by the intruders.
Kanthuun made it up the ladder before Hanethes and pushed aside the blanket covering to see the scene before them.
Petrova, standing at the bottom of the ladder, looks up to realize that Arasmes is looking in her direction, and that, from above, he is no doubt getting an excellent view down her shirt. Briefly considering whether a judicious poke from her scimitar might not get this line on the ladder moving a bit faster, she says through gritted teeth, "Eyes forward, Arasmes, or you may lose them."
She delays until the ladder is clear.
Arasmes chuckles and winks at Petrova and then gets to work. He steps off the ladder and into the room, circling around the Petitioners and waiting for his opportunity to strike.
The larger petitioner cringed as Arasmes came down on the back of his head with the pommel of his scimitar, much like a schoolmaster to a misbehaving child. Somehow, from his angle, the inquisitor had become larger than life. Demoralized, he placed his hands up in surrender.
"Spare me! Nu mă omorî!"
Drovya busies himself slicing through the smaller petitioner's clothes and turning them into bindings and a gag for his mouth. He proceeds to tie the poor soul up after stuffing the bunched cloth into his mouth, wrapping his wrists and ankles, then binding it all together. The petitioner ends up on his stomach with his ankles and wrists bound together by his belt, unable to do much of anything.
Nice of you to join us, Silvertongue. Try to get some answers out of that one before you rip out his entrails, eh? Or not, if he doesn't cooperate, we can always use this one instead. he motions to the trussed up, smallish one.
When Dancer enters, he almost needs to pick his jaw up off the floor.
Well now, that's certainly distracting.
"Why is it she waits until I'm gone to start taking off her clothes?" Talon whispers to Drovya.
Seeing as her distraction is no longer needed, she laces up her shirt: extra high, while simultaneously glaring at all the men folk, as if it were their faults that she was half-clothed.
Arasmes ignores Petrova (and everyone else) completely, focusing on his target to the exclusion of all else. He nods calmly at the surrendering petitioner's words and speaks in a voice like cold death itself
"Your destruction matters little to us, one way or the other...but you know this village, yes?
Who in this place is capable of a theft involving stealth, skill, and trickery, as opposed to more...blatant methods? Pickpocketing and such would be enough, I suppose. Tell us who those beings are and what you know of them, and your wretched existences might be spared."
Shaking, the petitioner blinked heavily several times.
"There are many here who fit that description, my brother dearest included! You want to find a thief, just stand in the middle of the tavern with your purse on a cord!"
The man gave an irritatingly (and obviously terrified) high-pitched laugh.
Arasmes sighs in an annoyed fashion, shakes his head, and glares at the man like a teacher looking at a recalitrant pupil "And did I ask how many there were? No. I told you to list them and their capabilities. Do so immediately, starting with the most accomplished, or I will be forced to conclude that you do not understand my words, and resort to other, less pleasant, forms of communication. Or simply kill you and ask your brother, I suppose." the last two are said with suggestive gestures with his sword, the first towards the petitioner's crotch, the second towards his throat.
"This is a time waster, Silvertongue. Let us kill them both and sift through their brain meats for the truth." Kanthuun's features darken with anger and ripple unsettlingly, his hair curling and uncurling.
Coming up behind Kanthuun, Hanethes only shrugs as if in agreement with the sorcerer.
Cowed even further by Kanthuun's Maelstrom-bred extraplanar tendencies, the petitioner laughed again, the sound more a screech than anything else.
"I-I don't mean to waste your time. The best 'sneakthief' anyone here knows of is Takek! He's a short, fat little thing, but he's quiet enough that he has wandered into the wastes and not gotten caught!"
The man squirmed some more.
"F-failing him, you might want to find the tieflings. There's only three here, but they're always coming and going. Might not have blood anymore, but d-drept, the devil's touch isn't gone. The barkeep is also pretty good with hiding and stabbing, but he won't leave his precious bar 'til it burns."
Although any further action the petitioner saw was imagined, he cringed.
"That's not even counting the ones we've seen with magic-! That blasted elf with the child due for culling can mess with your mind! You can get him to do anything, though, by threatening the boy. He and Lettis, the looker with the horns, are Gant's lapdogs, though, and he.. he uses magic for certain! Talks to the ground like it can hear 'im!
The petitioner stopped as if to search through his brain for any more information that could buy him a few more moments of precious life, but evidently he lacked much of substance, as he fell silent and pulled his hands over his head in submission.
Arasmes nods and speaks in a slightly less chill tone, his voice almost casual now "Excellent. Now, if you will be so good as to inform us where these persons are located, we can leave you with your existence. Needless to say, if we find you have lied, we will return, and your fate will defy description. You haven't lied to us, have you?"
"No, no, no! I haven't lied to you!" the petitioner defended, breathing heavily through his nostrils through force of habit more than an actual need for oxygen.
"Takek usually slums around the hut of Melise, a woman who shares some of her charms with him in exchange for whatever things it is he brings to her in his bucket from the Arrest. The tieflings are harder to find, though, aside from Lettis." the condemned souls's voice cracked into a panicked high pitch with the last words, but he steadied himself, eyes still shut.
"She's either attending to Gant, speaking to his other cronies upstairs in Baema's place, or walking the perimeter of the shield like she's some sort of sheriff.She switched up her routine not long ago, we think, to not get culled prematurely by those of us who don't like her kind upsetting our fun."
The smaller petitioner Drovya knocked out had one eye slightly open to watch the proceedings, but only a sliver so as to appear to still be unconscious.
"Nolan and Shadekill, the other tieflings, I-I haven't seen them for a while! This isn't the first time they've just gone and vanished, though, people say they have a secret cache of something that keeps 'em busy out in the jungle. If they've got a roof over their heads, they're probably just bunkering down, same as us!"
"Kyriel, the elf with the dumb brat, sometimes follows Lettis on her runs, but usually, he just sits with the kid on the second floor at Baema's, trying to talk to the oblivion fodder. I mean, why would he need to do anything when he can just get someone else to do it for him? Sometimes we watch, ya? I've bet my fantomă testicule the kid'll turn and eat the knife-eared freak. If he wasn't Gant's lackey, bet you the kid woulda been terminated by.. by now, at least!"
Arasmes nods judiciously "Very well, that should do to save your miserable existence. But, since we can'ty have you following us..." and with that he calmly thocks the petitioner on the head with the hilt of his sword.