Ziera casts Unseen Servant, and then addresses the girl.
Okay, so here's the thing. Alana here has an appointment with a friend. We're going to take her so she can talk with him. If all goes well, we'll be done in an hour or so. My friend here is going to knock you out. I'm sorry about that part, but he's worried that you are a liability. This is the best compromise we could come up with. It will be painful, but remember, you will still be alive.
When you wake up, I want you to go back through that door, get the jewels, and leave them on this side. Don't tell anyone about what you saw. If you do those things, then you keep your life. Unfortunately, if you choose differently, I won't be able to guarantee your safety. My invisible friend is going to stay and watch and make sure you do as I say.
At this point Ziera silently directs the unseen servant to pat her on the cheek.
Once the jewels are on this side, and provided you don't send the guard after us, he'll get them and leave and you'll never see us again. Do you think you can do that for me?
If she agrees, then Ziera nods to Gray to knock her out, and they leave her in the tunnel, alive. (Providing the others in my own group go along with her lead.)
Edmund takes the girl by the hand, smiling kindly at her, reassuring her that it’ll all be fine...meanwhile, subtly turning her so the back of her head is facing Gray, and distracting her while he does the deed. He then checks on her breathing to make sure she will recover.
I think we should see if Alana knows anything about the memories, and then get Drem to come here. Turning her over should fulfil our obligation. What do you guys think?
After having rendered another helpless victim unconscious, Gray was in a positively chipper mood, for him. He nodded his agreement to Ziera's plan for Alana, arching a brow. "We definitely need to disguise her...should I just carry her, after that...or prop her up as our drunken companion?"
The Azure Avenger recommends the back room of an inn, The Beggar's Purse. The place is seedy, cheap, and prone to crime, and most people don't ask questions. A simple coin to the bartender, and they can use the empty storage for a while.
The Azure Avenger sets up a chair for Alana to sit in, as well as some rope to keep her from moving. "When do you think she'll wake up?"
Not sure, but we can wake her up with some healing if needed. First we need to decide what we are asking her. I have an Elixir of Truth if needed.
Gray helped to secure the woman in the chair, though his eyes flitted over her uncomfortably. Before the group does so, he completely searched over her person for anything Alana could be hiding, weapons, wands, etc. Once she is tied up, he relaxed, turning to the others. "Our patron just wanted her dead, correct? Think she knows anything about the animagi or the House Contracts?"
Yeah, he just wants her dead, but if her house is in on it, she might know something about the memories. Also, I think we should invite Drem here and turn her over. My mind would rest easier if his hand were the one that took her life. Despite her offense against my father, I find that I prefer to let the responsibility for this act rest with the man that demanded it.
If you prefer not to wake her up though, I am also okay with that. Trying to get any truth out of her will likely be a chore, even with an elixir.
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”There is also the the danger that somebody will notice she is gone and use magic to scry on her. In fact, I should be checking for magic sensors right now,” he adds, casting detect magic to look for magical effects in the area.
He continues to scan for magic until his head aches, ignoring whatever else is going on.
Gray shrugged at Ziera's reasoning, nodding his approval at Edmund's activity before turning back to the aasimar. "Let's see how interested she is in cooperating. If she decides that being obstinate or lying is in her best interest, we can always scramble her brains again." The inquisitor's voice and demeanor suggested he would enjoy that possibility.
Ziera makes sure they secure everything that Alana was carrying, blindfolds her, and then pours an elixir of truth down her throat, makes sure that her aura is affected, and then immediately heals her back to wakefulness.
Alana Thrune, what do you know of an ability to take extended memories from people?
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"What do you know of Animagi?"
"Where is the Thrune House Contract kept?"
"What can you tell us of the Pit Fiend general who is here?"
"What do you know of us, personally?"
The Azure Avenger nods. "So the Pit Fiend was under some kind of contract limited to the tiefling? Good to know."
"So what kind of help are we going to need to get the contract, Alana?"
Gray arched an eyebrow at the noblewoman's response. "I'm assuming you don't know both, or you would have offered them by now."
”Sounds like she would be our best bet of finding out how to get their contract.” He sounds unhappy as he adds, ”You may need to find a way of making her more forthcoming.”
Still concentrating on his spell, he pulls a well-worn, creased piece of paper, containing a detailed drawing of a young man, his missing son Kris. ”Ask her if she knows this person and what happened to him.”
Gray took the illustration from the old wizard and stepped toward Alana, roughly jerking the blindfold up to her forehead. He held the picture in front of her for a moment before asking in a calm, steady voice, "Do you know this man? Or what has become of him?"
As Edmund sees the lack of recognition on her face, he slumped against the wall, somehow looking twenty years older, even through his magical disguise. He loses concentration on his detection spell as he pulls his son’s silver holy symbol from the inside pocket of his coat and just holds it for awhile.
Gray smirked at the slight twitch that gave away the woman's emotion to the inquisitor. Bending closer, his face inches from the noblewoman's own, he spoke in a low, menacing tone, "Tell us what you know, or I don't think I could stop my companion from doing something rash..." He glanced purposefully over at Edmund before glancing slyly back at Alana.
Edmund looks up. ”You mean she did recognize him? Are you sure? Of course you are, forgive me, my friend.”
Edmund pushes himself off the wall where he had rested his weight and crouches down next to Alana, holding out the silver holy symbol for her to see.
”Alana, my dear, this is my only son. I don’t know if you have children of your own, or if devil worshippers are even capable of loving the children they do have, but please understand that he is my life. My wife died many years ago, and I miss her every day, and now my son is all I have left in this world.”
”In a moment, you’re going to tell me whether or not he still lives, and it will actually go better for you if he is dead. I am a gentle, kindly soul, as my friends here would no doubt confirm with a certain amount of bemusement and frustration. I hold no interest in revenge. My son chose a life of risk, danger, and adventure, in order to help the helpless and make the world a better place. If he died living out that pursuit, then I will honour and celebrate his sacrifice, even as I mourn his passing every day I still draw breath.”
Edmund touches his magic cap of disguise, removing the spell and showing his true features. ”Perhaps it is not wise to let you see what I actually look like, but I need you to be able to see the truth in my eyes for what I say next, because if my son does still live, and you do not tell me...ex...actly...how...to...save him, which incidentally is how I will interpret your continued silence, my good friend here, whom I strongly suspect is a disciple of Zon-Kuthon...will find himself sickened by what I will do to you.”
He remains where he is, looking Alana in the eye with his own usually merry and warm but now cold and sharp as steel gaze. He holds up the holy symbol and the paper as her invitation to talk.
Ziera shoots a wary glance at Edmund, and then Gray, at the mention of Zon-Kuthon. What?? she thinks, but says nothing on that subject, for this is not the time for idle talk.
She asks the questions they need answers to in a different way, hoping for more than silence, but she almost doesn't care. She understands Edmund's feeling, since this woman killed her father as well. They needed to get Drem before she gave into the urge to beat her for her cavalier attitude, placing politics before life.
Where is the secret entrance to get to the Thrune Contract?
Follow-up: Who knows where it is?
How do you open the secret entrance to get to the Thrune Contract?
Follow-up: Who knows how to open it?
Do you know the location of any other houses' contracts?
Follow-ups: Which houses? Where are they? Who knows where they are? Who else has the information that we seek about the locations of the contracts?
Edmund’s face fills with weariness, but he simply says, ”I see,” and backs away. ”I believe Alana is ready for our friend, now. Put...put that blindfold back on.”
He makes as if to leave, but then stops and forces himself to put his disguise back on, recast the detect magic, and continue scanning for scrying sensors.
"One last question. How well did you know a man by the name of Silas Rench?"
More angered by Alana's silence than she was before, as well as being frustrated by the ethical conundrum of wanting her dead on one level but also wishing there were a way to save her, Marzela walks away from the blindfolded woman before she loses control.
I'm going to get Drem. I can't stand to be around the woman who murdered my father anymore.
Taking the usual precautions , Ziera leaves to get Dice Drem, telling him that they have fulfilled their part of the bargain.
When they arrive, she sends Drem in, and keeps watch outside, hoping that distance will salve her conscience.
Gray only smirked as Edmund mentioned his religious affiliation, not denying the statement. His young features settled into a satisfied smile as the older man threatened Alana with serious harm, though the inquisitor wondered if the book seller would follow up on it if needed. Perhaps not surprisingly, he hoped the man would. When Edmund reacted rather passively at the news that his son was dead, Gray reached forward and grabbed the blindfold and a few of Alana's hairs, wrenching it down over her eyes.
Frustrated by the woman's continued demeanor, Gray nodded his agreement with Ziera to fetch Drem. The young man's hatred of Thrune was fierce, but it was not relegated to any specific member, and he was able to stay his hand as the small group waited for the aasimar returned with their Leroung patron.
Ziera looks at Drem doubtfully.
What kind of help can you offer? I seem to remember that you weren't all that helpful last time, considering what you forced us to promise in return. We got the location of one contract, and one way in, with significant effort. The rest was just rumors and guesswork. ... I realize that you betrayed your own house. I get that. But we're trying to accomplish something bigger than that, and one contract is not even close to enough.
Ziera looks around the room at her team members, wondering if they should tell Drem their true goal. Was his help worth the risk?
Gray eyed Drem as he walked back in the room, suspicious of the quick turnaround. Shrugging it away as a certain level of paranoia, the inquisitor listened to Ziera's retort to the halfling's proclamation, nodding agreement. "Indeed. Let us hear of all this promised help, this time, and we'll see if it's worth the price you might seek."
In truth, another possibility was springing forth in his mind. An ugly path, to be sure. He glanced at the Azure Avenger and Edmund, and finally at Ziera, wondering if they would be willing to play along, should it come to that. Hopefully Drem would be as willing and helpful as he seemed, but if not...there were other uses for the man.
Gray thought about it for a few moments, wondering what Drem was surely playing at. He had no doubt the halfling was likely telling the truth, or at least part of it, but these aristocrats surely had multiple levels of the game they were playing. Still, the offer was better than aimlessly running around and hoping things worked out. The inquisitor looked at his companions and shrugged.
Ziera checks Alana to see if Drem killed her.
Then she sits down and lays it all out for Drem, the memory loss and everything. She figures they are all in deep enough to destroy each other already, so why not.
Something needs to be done about Alana before we continue this conversation. You asked us for her life. We have given it to you. What do you intend?