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Pavo finishes using what remains of Laszo's shirt as a pressure bandage over the bloody wound. "I hadn't thought of this," he says, "But the Aspis have the local authorities on their payroll, so turning him over isn't going to work."
The rake stands, speaks an arcane limerick, and the blood disappears from his hands. "He'll be out for a while, and it'll take him a while before he's back on his feet, but the rats might eat him if we leave him down here." Pavo looks over at the gnome. "Do you want to help me scout the less reputable parts of town for a place we can stash someone without anyone asking questions? Or we can try to cart him to our ship. Either way, we need a wheelbarrow and a tarp."
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A difficult decision for sure, a man this despicable, is he even redeemable? If it was up to me, from what I've seen here, the scales of judgment find him wanting. But alas I'm no magistrate, and as you say Pavo, the local authorities would likely not give him the justice he deserves.
Kane lingers a few moments in thought. Getting him onto the ship may prove problematic; I vote for stashing him away in the city, until we finish our business with the Aspis turncoat.
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"I am on board with stashing him somewhere and then moving him to the ship after we complete our business with the turncoat. That said, I think it is more important that we get these beggars to somewhere that can take care of them. Does anyone know if there is a temple to a goodly god nearby?"
Is there a temple to a good god nearby?
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Agreed, we just leave him here. But take or destroy all his equipment so if he does get free, he can't restart his business without considerable effort. And I agree with Zyrethian we should get these poor people somewhere charitable. Kane adds.
Can gathers up any remaining alchemical equipment we did confiscate and starts to smash it.
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"Here. Give me that rope. I'll do it." Kirrote takes the rope and ties Laszo up. He is none too gentle in the process and does his best to make sure that Laszo won't be getting free any time soon. Once the man is tied up Kirrote reaches down with a hand and grabs the rope. He lifts Laszo with little effort and hauls him back towards the statue. He drops him with a thump on the ground. "There. Now let's go."
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Once Kirrote ties up the alchemist and Kane destroys his equipment, everyone makes their way back to the Sixwing Drake. On board, Captain Zendrani invites you into her quarters and passes everyone a container that you presume is a glass covered in dirt and stains you do not want to know. After pouring herself a drink, the captain pushes the bottle of rum to the center of the table.
"Report, Pathfinders. Did you do as this rogue Aspis agent requested?"
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Pavo blows in the glass and wipes the rim with the corner of his shirt. "We did," he says as he reaches for the rum. "We managed to disrupt the meeting between Aspis and Kortos, and we took down the alchemist making the drug."
He pours a finger of rum into the dirty cup and adds, "We tied the alchemist up in the sewers. He might have information that we could use on the Aspis if someone can go retrieve him."
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Around noon on the next day, Captain Zendrani calls a meeting on the deck of the Sixwing Drake. “An urchin boy delivered this note just a few minutes ago. I tried to keep him here so we could talk to him, but he slipped away without a word and ran off into the city. I haven’t looked at the note—but it seems to be from Delroya.” The captain hands over the note.
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Captain Zendrani does not know the location, but Pavo knows the general neighborhood, and is able to narrow it down by chatting with a couple of locals. A large warehouse looms into view at the end of Gull Street. Its main level sits at the edge of the street above a ten-foot drop to the harbor’s waters below. A door in the western wall of the warehouse opens, and a woman clad in simple leather armor steps out. Her features display a blend of Taldan and Mwangi heritages, and her crisp accent is difficult to place. “I am Magali Delroya. You must come quickly, Pathfinders. We do not wish to be seen.” Delroya moves briskly, waving off protests or interruptions, and speaks with the rhythm of her steps. “Questions later. Much is at stake. First you must listen.” Her outward display of authority does not entirely mask her fear.
The small room through the warehouse’s western door features a round table and several chairs. “This room is for the guards. They are all too busy dealing with our disruptions, so no one is here for now. That door leads to the docks below,” she says, indicating a door in the southern wall. “Come this way. I will show you the warehouse.” She opens a door in the northern wall, revealing a cavernous storage room. Haphazard stacks of barrels and crates almost reach the ceiling twenty feet above. Two large skylights in the ceiling provide ample light during the day, and a dozen unlit lanterns are spaced around the room. To the east, a wide opening in the southern wall looks out over the loading bay ten feet below. A freight elevator platform rigged to a complex set of pulleys and ropes and a staircase both lead down to the loading bay.
“As you can see, the Aspis Consortium maintains a sizable operation out of this warehouse, which they rent from the Kortos Consortium’s Locosta family in exchange for alchemical goods. After tonight, I hope that the relationship between Aspis and Kortos will be irreparably damaged.
“We may have delayed the shipment, but my sources tell me that both the Kortos and Aspis consortia are likely to investigate the warehouse later tonight. I had hoped for more time, but I will not able to move the goods until after midnight. I need your help in holding off the agents until everything is in order. They are not likely to work together, so you should prepare for multiple groups of agents. While I have no qualms about fighting the Aspis agents, if possible we should avoid further antagonizing the Kortos Consortium. Their agents may be willing to look the other way.
“Because the agents are on high alert, you should stay at the warehouse until they arrive. We wouldn’t want anyone spotted or attacked out in the city before we’re ready. That gives you several hours to prepare. Most of the items in the warehouse are simple trade goods designed to make this outfit look legitimate. You may want to take some time to look around, though—you never know what the Aspis Consortium might have stowed away here.
“I can stay here briefly, if you have questions or need assistance.”
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"Us needs something say Kortos, so they attack not? Any hints? Make them look away, we have offer?" Anastasia asks Delroya.
Then, she looks around the warehouse. "Fight here, need trap. All them together, spell, win. How make them together? One route, narrow? Where?" she wonders as she walks around.
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“The warehouse and many of the goods inside it belong to the Kortos Consortium, not the Aspis. We do not want to make them our enemies, if possible. As for the drugs, they are mixed in with a large number of goods that belong to the Kortos Consortium. It would take days to sort through all these crates—something I intend to do later, once they’re moved to a secure location. But there’s no time now. As for destroying the shipment, that’s out of the question. The drug is far too unpredictable. There’s no telling what effect it might have if we burn it or dump it in the harbor. No, we must deal with it later, in a way that puts no one in harm’s way.”
"If I had intelligence to give, I would have given it. You are on your own; do as best you can. But if you haven't even been trained to spot an Aspis badge, then I was right not to have joined your Pathfinder Society."
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Kane looks abashed and is quite frankly a little angry.
Perhaps you were right not to join the Pathfinder Society, ma'am. One of our tenants is cooperation. That typically means being trying to help each other out, in any way we can. If you don't know how to tell the difference you could just say so. Appearance is only one small way, only one characteristic, besides it may be difficult to discern appearance in a darkened warehouse. But perhaps there are other ways. I certainly know about the Aspis, but the Kortos not so much. Perhaps they all carry a specific weapon; maybe they always travel in pairs or threes; maybe they wear red caps; maybe they will use the front door, while the Aspis will slink in the back. Madam, I don't know but if you feel like this has all been a mistake. If so, cut the crap, and we'll gladly leave.
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"Well then, since there's nothing else for us to talk about." Delroya tosses six smokesticks on top of a crate and says, "Use those, and I've marked a couple of secret doors for you, in case you don't notice them yourselves."
A quick search turns up some potentially useful items: a bear trap, human sized cage with lock and key, magical wand, potion, and a broken loading platform that almost looks like a trap.
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After Delroya departs Kane furthers his rant, I don't trust her one bit, I feel like we are being set up to take the fall for some Aspis criminal plot. I say we ignore her instructions, dig through the crates and dump any of this drug straight into the sea below. Letting it ever leave this building is a mistake.
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"She's pretty prickly, but she's turning on the Aspis, so I'm not surprised she's defensive," Pavo says. "However, looking at all these crates, I would agree that it would take us--especially not knowing what we're looking for--more than a day to search through them."
He searches the warehouse. "Can any of you think of any reason I should try to get that lift working again?"
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Kirrote spends a few minutes to walk around the area, investigating the crates and the entrances. He comes back to the group while they're still talking about Delroya. "You can't trust any officials." Painful memories of home threaten at the edge of Kirrote's mind. Officials being bought off, false accusations, small-minded pettiness. He shakes it off. "Let's get back to business. If these guys are coming in a few hours, let's just set up our own ambush. I've been looking around. I think we can move some crates in front of the main entrance and force the agents to come in a side door. We should block off the stairs too."
He notices the pile of items that the others found and instinctively picks up the bear trap. "Hmm," he growls, "I wonder if we could use this." When Anastasia explains the wand, he points at the potion. "What about that?"
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"I agree with you, Kane. But let's get this site defensible before we start searching.
I am on board with blocking as many entrances as possible. Forcing them through 1 entrance if possible.
We could set up that cage so that they enter it as they exit the office. Forcing them to move the cage should slow them down and while they are moving the cage will be able to fire on them with impunity.
Alternatively we could allow them to come in the the dock entrance. Rig up the lift to come crashing down part through lifting them and set the cage at the top of the steps."
Ultimately I will go with what the group decides, but we need to decide quickly we only have a short time to get set up."
Zyrethian helps the others move crates and set up how the group decides.