"Yeah, yeah, I'll be around. Heck, you tell me when and where and I'll meet you there. Or leave a message with Anna, that seems to work. Be careful with Vanthus though, that guy scares me. Do you know where Parrot Island is? It's off the western coast, maybe half an hour on rowboat. You can't miss it, island full of birds."
"We'll find it alright. Just, remember, if they know we are coming, it'll be on you. Only you and us know we are going to the island. And I don't think we are going to be telling them we are heading in that direction."
"What ya think? I'm gonna grow wings and fly there and beat you to it to warn Vanthus?! I'm not tellin' a soul."
Baolo nods, "Ya mon, I know dis island." He waves at his arrows. "Some o' mi fethahs come from deh. Do ya have a map to di tunnel entrance? An' how many entrances are deh?" He gives Shefton a long hard look...or at least as long and hard as you've ever seen from Baolo yet.
"Map? I look like a carto...carto..ya know, a map maker? There's only one entrance and exit I ever used, the stone trap door in the clearing at the center of the island, with the rope ladder that leads 30' down. Afta dat, you go down the corridor to the west, into the hallway and then east to the counting room. The room where we counted our coin and the pearls. The rest of the place all boarded up. Vanthus told me it was 'cuz of flooding. Dat's it, dat's all I know."
Shefton seems very straight forward and honest to Baolo.
"Thanks Shefton, ya been very helpful. Mebbe ya haf dat reward soon."
Aeronniell fidgets with an arrow while she awaits the others, wondering just how many men are pursuing them. Relief washes over her face as she sees Ialda and Baolo enter the alley without injury. Climbing down, she makes a final leap onto the cobblestones, and arches an eyebrow.
"Well, did you find your tail?"
"We did indeed. Shefton was most helpful, and although he is probably leading us into a trap, gave us lots of information. Apparently Penkus and Vanthus hide on a little smugglers island, called Parrot Island. Of course, if we find any pearls there, we need to bring a few back to Shefton. Baolo even got Shefton to tell us where the entrance is to the place. I think it was very productive. He might even be telling us the whole truth...it's a shame when smugglers argue with each other."
Baolo listens to Aero and Ialda and chimes in, "I thought so too, but di bandalu seemed to be tellin' truut. Ima sure he's got some game. The day is still early. Should we aks around di mahket to learn more bout Parrot Island?"
Aeronniell nods.
"Helpful, indeed. While I'm never one to look a gift centaur in the mouth, is it possible he was too helpful?"
"Hrmm, perhaps you should have 'insisted' that he come along. Afterall it is in his best interests to help recover those pearls?"
Baolo shrugs, "Mebbe. Wi ca always track 'im down agin' if wi nuh likey what wi see a' Parrot Island. Or before. Ya hab another idea?"
"There's no tme like the present. Should we head out to the island now? We can rent a rowboat or two, and get on with it, if everyone is ready."
"Ya mon, leggo. I tink I know a guy down by di watah." he says with a wink.
"Well, I must say I would feel pretty vulnerable in a rowboat. Could we not rent or charter a small single sailed boat. Having something with a bit of speed would be nicer. Do we have anyone who knows how to work sails?"
For the two rowboats that you need, the owner charges you a deposit of 100 gp. If you bring back the rowboats intact, he will return 85 gp back to you. If you do not, you bought both rowboats.
Baolo laughs, "Ya mon, sea an' salt are mi blood mon. Rowboat. Sailboat. If it floats on deh watah, Baolo know it mon. Ya radda sail, wi find a sailboat."
"Sorry Chez, sailboats seem to be quite a bit more expensive than good ole rowboats. On the bright side, you can loosen up your sword arms while working on those oars!"
Baolo shakes his head sadly, "No mon, Baolo spent da last o' his bupps on deh bribes. I ca' swim tho."
"Don't worry, Baolo. I've got your share. You can pay me back, heck maybe even if pearls, if this goes especially well!"
"Tanks Ialda. Ya dread mon. Baolo will pay ya back soon I hope."
Chez scans the horizon for the distance they need to row. He then looks at the oars with a dreadful look on his face.
"Alright, how about this. The rowboats will cost 15 gold, but the sailboat costs 35 gold. So here is what I would like to offer, in the interests for our increased security as we cross. I will cover the 20 gold difference. I will still pay my share of 3 gold out of the 15, and then 20 on top of that. Of course first we need to come up with deposit money. I will attempt to talk the merchant down in price, but I can pay 150 gold towards the deposit if the rest of you are able to fill in the difference."
Chez will approach the ship merchant alone and in a friendly manner. He will try to engage him in conversation a bit, talking about shipping business in general and moving into pleasantries such as the finer assets possessed by the women in his group. Chez will then insist that they can be trusted with his ship and will try to negotiate the deposit amount down.
The merchant, by the name of Garras, in his late 30s, engages in pleasant conversation with Chez for about 15 minutes, regaling him with sea and sex stories and finally, seeing the air by which the young man carries himself agrees to take 150 gp as a deposit but only after he is promised that nothing will happen to the ship and he will have a date with the beautiful Aeronniell.
Chez will accept the deal but will make sure he understands that he can only agree on Aero's behalf for a conversation over a dinner. If he wants anything more out of it, he will have to rely on his own charms, as anything forced would end up with the most unpleasant of circumstances. Assuming he's fine with that...
Chez walks brashly forward and says matter-of-factly, "Okay Baolo, you've got a ship to sail. No more gold is needed, I have everything covered. Arionel, remind me that I have something important to ask you if we manage to live through this and return to shore."
Chez grins innocently, turns away and continues walking down towards the ship.
"Impressive job, Chez. Much respect on your negotiating skill. Now let's get Baolo to ferry us over, and go find that Vanthus!"
Baolo's experience as a sailor is enough to ferry the small boat safely through the choppy seas. After a fifteen minute ride, heading west from Lower Harbor, you spot in the distance a small island that looks a little more than a rocky outcropping surrounded by 30-foot-high cliffs. On the eastern side, however, there is a narrow beach that affords an easy approach for the party. As you disembark near the beach into the 3' deep water, you notice the isle is thickly vegetated, the trees above serving as a roost for hundred of noisy, brightly colored parrots. It appears you are in the right place!
Baolo steps from the boat and pulls it up onto the beach checking for signs of high tide to make sure the boat is beached far enough to be safe. "See mon, wi sail an' Baolo ih da man. Now, let's see what dis island holds. Drink deep, tink fast." On the beach, Baolo considers what Shefton told us about where to go, checking for tracks leading to the center of the island.
"Something important? Certainly, I can remind you..." Aeronniell responds as she regards their rented sailboat.
"A sailboat? This must've cost a pretty platinum," she remarks while studying Chez closely.
Such is the folly of a noble, renting a sailboat when a simple skiff would have done the job.
Once upon the island, she also works to see what kind of foot traffic can be uncovered.
"If they're really stashing their pearls on the island here, we should certainly see some evidence of it if they've been here in the past few days..."
Baolo finds the worn trail leading to the center of the island, while both he and Aero see two different sets of tracks leading to a clearing and a particularly heavy-looking trapdoor that open up. Other than the parrots, Aero feels safe no one else is watching them.
Chez will help secure the ship. If there is any chance to camoflague or hide the ship, then Chez will take some extra time to do that. He is quite concerned about both, ensuring he has a ride back and that he gets his money back.
With blades drawn, Chez will then approach the trap door. Chez will give it a quick visual inspection and will stand there staring at, almost waiting to see if it will open itself.
"Let's do this, everyone. You remember the directions Shefton gave us, Baolo?"
Aero did spot a rowboat on the beach, cleverly hidden in the sand, but not too well for her keen elven eyesight.
Ialda's great strength lifts the stone trapdoor with much difficulty and exertion but it finally opens, revealing a rope ladder descending into darkness.
"Well, this is ominous. I guess, I'll go first. Everyone be careful, last thing I need is one of you falling on my head."
"Ya mon, he said dis rope laddah leads 30' down. Aftah dat, ya go down deh corridor to deh west, inna deh hallway an' den east to deh counting room." He pulls on a leather thong around his neck, revealing a large, sharp tooth. "Ya mind if I make some light?"
"Not a problem. I can see better than most, but in the dark, I'm as blind as everyone else. Ah yes, that sounds right. Let's go see what kind of trap Shefton is leading us into," Ialda mutters, as she climbs down the ladder.
Baolo grasps the tooth and prays, "Wind an' Waves, bring deh light to ya mon Baolo an' guide our travels in deh dark below." The tooth, obviously a shark's tooth begins to shine with a torch-like glow and Baolo follows Ialda down the ladder. At the bottom, he prepares his bow and nocks a yellow-fletched arrow to the bowstring.
Her eyes finally spotting something on the island, she waves to the others, "we have a rowboat over here!"
The elf walks slowly towards the vessel and gives it a closer inspection.
"Maybe the boat belongs to Vanthus? This would help validate he's inside the smuggler's hole."
You descend down the rope ladder into a cramped tunnel, given there are five of you, and you see a passageway heading west then north then west again.
Ialda leads the group down the hallway moving at a crawl, fully expecting there to be a trap waiting on them.
The party methodically makes its way down the corridor with no traps in sight, then north, then west, and then north again, to find a closed wooden door. As Ialda is about to investigate it, the party hears an authoritarian voice yell, though muffled by the distance, from behind the door and to the east, "Who the hell goes there?"
"Who's asking," the barbarian responds gruffly, hoping that her response might give the person behind the door some pause.