"Barely a hello? No catching up? Always in such a hurry in ou...your profession, I suppose. I don't miss that."
Tai Leng then takes a sip of herbal tea and mulls over the questions of his old companions.
"Well, you know I'm new to the city myself. But some of my patients have been known to chat. Been thinking of branching out into information services with all the stuff I hear..."
"Still, you've not given me much to go on. Orcs ARE rare, especially civilized seeming females with expensive jewelry, but I've not heard anything specific. Maybe someone along the waterfront would know more, they see all the traveler that come and go, and she seems one to stick in someone's memory."
"I hear there's a golem-man named Glasseye who sees much and remembers all around there. He may be your best bet, since he was certainly in the city however many years ago she came through."
"As a last effort, maybe the notary office? You'd need some kind of official sanction though, as a naval officer or some other city official."
"That's all I know. So who wants some more tea? I grew the leaves myself."
"Mmm. I'd love more tea. I suppose we're in no real rush...what've you been up to? I imagine this work can be fairly occupying sometimes...Oh! Where are my manners? This is Frederick and Jaazkara. The orc in question is Frederick's mother and Jaazkara is from the Boiling Swamp. She wants to see the world and gave us a hand with a job Ayren got us. Which actually turned out pretty profitable." Cyrus ends with a big smile and clinks the still heavy coin pouch on his belt.
He goes on to give a shortened story of the party's most recent adventure and how we're waiting to see how the elixir made from the Moon Rose turns out.
Frederick waves to Leng.
"You've actually SEEN a Moon Rose? They're supposed to be incredibly rare..."
"Maybe I should have come along."
Jaazkara bows at Cyrus' introduction and enjoys her home-grown tea.
"You could possibly make the journey. The mysterious guardian didnt seem to have a problem with folks just looking in it's garden. I recommend bringing some magic to speak with it. And earplugs."
Jaazkara looks puzzled, and scratches her scaled head.
"Golem...man? A creature of flesh and...metal? Or stone? What mean you by 'dis?" she says after a moment.
"Warforged, they're sometimes called. Sentient constructs, apparently very rare."
Well I suppose we must be going. If you ever need anything Tai Leng, call upon me. I'll do everything in my power to assist."
While Jaazkara is aware of constructs(painfully aware,) the idea of a truly sentient and independent one is new and strange to her.
After catching up with Tai Leng and finishing your tea, you head to the docks, seeking the construct known as Glasseye.
It takes quite some time asking around to find him... Glasseye is very well known, but while most people know of him, few know anything about him other than his appearance and even fewer know his location with any accuracy beyond "somewhere in the docks".
After almost 4 hours looking, your search finally yields results... Someone who recently met Glasseye tells you to check by the western lighthouse. You find the place quite easily, but no one there can tell you where to find Glasseye, making you wonder if you're indeed at the right place...
It's while you're talking to the 6th or 7th person giving you directions that you finally glimpse a humanoid figure near the shores... The burly creature is indeed by the lighthouse, but not anywhere you'd expect to find them... He sits on a rock, about 60 ft way from the shore, looking at the sea and the docks, with his back turned to where you are.
The creature wears navy blue overcoat and cap, typical of ship captains and navy officers, and a pair of black boots. Although not very well kept, these vestments seem completely unaffected by water and remain perfectly dry.
"Perhaps we should hire a dinghy?" Brother Cyrus squints his eyes as he looks over at the rock, shading them from the sun with his hand.
He is clearly unexcited about the thought of getting wet again.
Jaazkara looks out to rock, inundated now and then by salty spray and surrounded by foam. She thinks for a moment before turning to Brother Cyrus and grinning. She takes her magic bag from her pack and gestures to the priest, then towards the golem-man's perch in the waves.
"I can take you to him. Put you on 'dee rock, so you can ask him to come talk to us?"
Brother Cyrus glances at the transdimensional entrance of the bag for a moment then looks at Jaazkara.
"Aren't there a bunch of swords in there? Sounds...painful."
"Wouldn't be the first time we got stabbed."
Jaazkara shrugs, then says "Well, if you like, I can go and try to get him to speak wid' uss...?"
Why not? if he prefers to stay there we could then rent a boat or something
Jaazkara nods, then begins removing her armor and pack and places them in a neat heap at her feet. When she is finished, she moves towards the waters edge. She then backs up 15 feet or so, and with a short sprint runs and jumps, diving into the waters. The lizardwoman looks as though she's a natural swimmer as she makes her way towards the rocky outcropping.
Brother Cyrus sits down on the side of the docks and basks in the sea air.
Jaazkara quickly reaches the rock. As she approaches, Glasseye turns around revealing the reason of his name...
The warforged has an extendable spyglass in place of its right eye. Although it remains mostly compact, Jaazkara can see it twisting and turning to better focus on her. Unlike most of his steel-like body, the metal plates in his jaws are silver, giving the impression of a grey beard. His left leg is copper-colored, though.
Glasseye wears nothing but his overcoat, hat, gloves, boots and belt... Where Jaazkara notices many pouches and (obviously magical) pistol and saber... The warforged rests his hands of the latter's handle and speaks, his voice completely devoid of emotion.
"Warning: This area is dangerous for swimming. Organics are easily wounded by rocks and reefs. Advice: Choose a different spot for your exercise."
Jaazkara pauses a moment, unsure how to proceed. Finally, she swims a bit closer to the rock and its occupant, and begins to speak.
"I...'tank you for your concern, sir. But I do not swim for healt'. I come to ask a moment of your time. Would you mind speaking to me and my companions in a more...stable setting...?"
Glasseye replies coldly...
"Question: Who are your companions? What do they want from me?"
Frederick waves at Glasseye from the shore.
"My companions await on 'dee shore; we seek word of one who is dear to one of us. A relative. And we have been told you know many 'tings, see many 'tings. We wish only to find my friend's lost loved one."
Jaazkara tries hard to seem as sincere as she genuinely is, but the metal-man is even harder to "read" than the warmbloods.
"Question: Why do you need 4 armed individuals to ask me a question?" he replies with his hand firmly on the handle of his saber.
Despite the complete lack of emotion in his voice, Glasseye does sound a tad bit paranoid...
Jaazkara nods at Glasseye's words, and tries to make a reassuring smile.
"We are adventurers, sir. We did not bring arms for aggression, only because we rarely leave behind 'dee tools of our trade. We have faced many foul creatures and wish to remain prepared to defend ourselves and 'dee city from 'dese and worse, should 'dey come.'Dee odders were not so keen to swim, so I have come to request an audience. Humbly request. I come to you unarmed and unarmored."
Glasseye stares at Jaazkara for nearly a minute... His spyglass twisting and turning all the time.
"Acceptance: Very well. I'll grant you a meeting." he says. "Warning: Should you attack, I will slaughter you."
He non-challantly takes a step ahead and falls feet first into the water, completely disappearing underwater... Only to reappear a few moments later, walking out of the sea. His clothes remain completely dry.
Jaazkara, who swam to accompany the warforged, comes out right after him, doing her best to look trustworthy.
Glasseye stops about 5 ft from your group, his hand still resting on his saber's handle. He stands in a mix of formal posture and defensive stance.
"Greetings: I am Glasseye. Sailor. Watcher. Merciless to ambushers." he speaks with his monotone voice. "Question: Who are you? What do you want?"
Glass eye stares at you, unblinking...
Brother Cyrus glances at Frederick to see if he wanted to offer any more specifics about his mother's description then shrugs.
"We're looking for our friend's mother. An orc woman. Has or had a distinctive sapphire bracelet. We heard you see just about everything that happens on the docks so we were wondering if you might've seen her."
The warforged listens to Brother Cyrus' words attentively (as far as you can tell) and then steps forward and silently stares at Frederick for over a minute, extending his spyglass-eye so much it's just 2 inches away from touching the half-orc's nose.
Frederick is about to voice his discomfort when the odd construct steps while simultaneously compacting his extendable eye.
"Apparently you speak truthfully. Good. We can talk, then." he says, this time with a very subtle, but existent voice tone. And lacking the characteristic description of intention. You can even hear a very, very faint touch of Chellian accent.
Eitylen is about to point out this inconsistency but Glasseye answers before the elf has a chance to enunciate his question. "People are far quicker to leave me alone when they think I'm just a brainless machine."
He turns around as to face the sea and speaks while standing in a perfectly straight, with one hand at his back and the other raised near his face, gesticulating, as a captain would speak to his crew.
"I watch it all. Even when I don't look, I still see. For 26 years I have watched. I saw all of it. I saw a young man leaving a nameless merchantile ship and talking to a red-headed girl before accepting one of her pamphlets. I saw an wide-eyed elf step on dry-land and almost immediately be contacted by a shady half-elf. I saw a half-orc come out from a Hermean ship looking completely lost and then heading to the market only to return hours later, looking even more lost. I see it all... And I remember."
You are so cool...I would love to hear about the stories you have collected, would you mind!? - The elf seems excited but then remember why the came there -oh, but first comes first, have you seen an Orc like the one described?
"Every orc fits that description." he says, not quite as mechanically as he did at first, but still quite emotionless. "Four female orcs arrived in Blue Shell during my watch. Two of them were accompanied. Only one had a human companion. None of them got jewellery. Or at least, none of them were daft enough to openly display it by the docks."
"The human and orc duo talked to a woman with a toddler in her arms and two young children running around her. After a few minutes, they followed the woman to the market square."
Frederick has remained largely silent out of fear of screwing things up.
"Can you describe this woman from the Golden Plaza?" he finally chimes in, comfortable his questions probably aren't going to set the construct off.
"She was a blond blue-eyed woman carrying toddler that looked very much like her. Both wore very well-crafted purple dresses. They also wore 7 purple ribbons on their hair, like nearly all girls at the time." he says seemingly without making any effort to remember the scene. "The children 'following' her were different. One had golden-coloured eyes and long, light brown hair. The other had green eyes and a head covered by a navy blue hood with cloth fin on top. Both wore navy blue overalls complete with a matching hooded cloak. Both carried empty shopping bags and gawked and touched every moon mask they could."
Are you willing to share more information about other things?
"Might be." he says with his monotone voice. "What do you want to know?"
I would like to know more about a ship called the sea rat and the people involved with it, specially about a man with the following description... - Eitylen Describes the Albino man we met when we killed Cadore.
Jaazkara marvels at Glasseye, and feels a sympathy at his fear of being looked at strangely.
"The Sea Rat is a ship of smugglers. They get in and out in the quiet of night to avoid the Blue Shell Armada. 4 times the Wavebravers came close to sinking the ship, but the Sea Rat is nothing if not slippery. Its relatively slim frame allows it to navigate around the rocks quite well, so the Armada ships can't follow. They don't push their luck either. Never have I seen them appear at times when the Wavebravers were on constant patrol."
You notice he uses "Wavebraver" and "Armada" almost interchangeably. As far as you know, that's not completely accurate, but it isn't too far from the truth either. The Wavebraver family does have a very wide presence and influence on the city's navy and sea trade, with many of the family's members becoming officers in the Blue Shell Navy. They are, after all, the second wealthiest family in the city.
And do you now something about the albino?
Jaazkara begins donning her armor and pack, though she does so slolwy to prevent any "misunderstandings."
"2 albinos appeared by these docks during my watch. One of them arrived aboard the Sailing Seal during the Purple Moon Festival. He left after the festival was over. The other one killed an young couple and ran into the night. Never appeared on the docks again."