Zarta shakes her head. Tamrin smiles. “I don’t know any details, but the guards will, so ask nicely. My hunch is you’ll see traps, locks, and anything else that doesn’t require steady pay.”
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Pinball frowns more and more as more is said. Locks and traps, oh joy. Frowning is sort of Pinball's natural expression.
"It would be very difficult for you to pass for me," she says absently to Blanmieux. "You're much taller, for one thing. Alright. I'm going to have to do a lot of shopping."
Pinball frets with her strand of prayer beads, counting to herself and budgeting in her head.
"I'll make some quick purchases from Arcane Lane," she decides. "Beyond that, I'm ready to travel..."
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Pinball gives Blanmeiux a blank look.
"....why would you want to tell everyone that? I'm under the impression we're trying to operate under a low profile. If you go around announcing your, ah, 'title' as a Hellknight... and that name becomes associated with the prison break of a political prisoner... I would think that would negatively impact your future career as a Hellknight. Of course, if you're content with explaining to your own Hellknight superiors why you were anywhere in the vicinity of a prison break, I suppose that's your own prerogative."
She turns back to Zarta and to Tamrin. "Is there anything else you think we ought to know about the situation?"
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"Yes, Mister Tamrin's plan is perfectly solid. Tamrin, do you have soldier uniforms already or should I get some when I shop?
"Once we're in disguised as replacement guards, per Tamrin's plan, we subdue the one left to oversee us and get the information as to Zefiro's whereabouts. So... no killing him, at least until we have the information we need, though of course we'd be better to leave as few bodies behind us as we can help, as Tamrin says. Hopefully the supervisor will see reason once he or she realizes the situation, but if not, coercion will have to do... I like your idea, Garret, of trying to get the information from him before we subdue him. I can try that-- I'm decent at talking.
"Anyway. Once we know Zefiro's location, we go directly there, get him out, and get out as quickly as possible. I'm going to get a scroll of invisibility-- should we run into patrols or problems on our way out, I could make Zefiro invisible for up to three minutes, at least."
Tamrin shakes his head. "No uniforms. Freelance Aspis mercenaries wouldn't have them and if we try to counterfeit a merc troop, we run the risk that they see through the ruse."
Just before you leave, Zarta calls Theleb, Manius and Blan over.
damning evidence about Ianareth they can find in the Bloody Nail. She specifically wants anything that ties Ianareth to House Thrune (or another rival organization) and anything that connects her to opposing the Society’s interests or harming its agents.
Tamrin hands out Bronze Apsis badges to each of you. Tamrin leads you board the Queen Gale, a merchant vessel that sometimes assists the Bellflower Network in transporting both people and goods. The Queen Gale smuggles you into Ostenso Harbor the next day, where Tamrin hastily leads you through Dockside’s winding streets. Dozens of guards oversee the construction of stages, the hanging of banners, and the steering of extravagantly decorated floats in preparation for the upcoming Loyalty Day events.
Despite the spectacle, Tamrin wastes no time bringing you to a rectangular stone building capped with an octagonal pyramid. Each side of the pyramid bears the painted image of a red nail, though rain has made the paint run, so rivulets of red stain the roof and make the image appear to be bleeding. As is common with many state buildings, Asmodean symbols are common here, though a red-crowned spike piercing a golden ring seems to be prevalent, too.
Tamrin instructs you to wait outside, then disappears into the building for nearly half an hour. He returns accompanied by a retinue of soldiers, led by a lanky interrogator with manacles at his belt. Tamrin gestures to you, prompting the interrogator to size you up. The interrogator beckons to one of his guards and then asserts that you lot are to help watch the facility while he tends to Tamrin’s emergency, and that Galvar — the guard he summoned — is in charge during his absence. You are not to go anywhere or touch anything without Galvar’s permission and supervision. Tamrin flashes you a subtle wink before leading the interrogator and his soldiers into the city.
Galvar gives you a once-over, but it's clear he's looking at weapons, armor, how you stand, confidence, etc, and not at your faces. "Alright, you'll do. Listen I'm sure yer not happy about playing guardsmen during the Festival and I'm not happy me men have been trundled off to put down another damn riot. Let's work together and we'll be just fine, eh? We're all jus' putting in the time today, ready to get off work and t'the festival. Step inside."
He leads you inside and gestures around. Four statues of snarling hounds stand in the corners of the Nail’s entrance hall. A red rug covers much of the floor, although stone peeks through the holes worn in the severely trodden carpet. A man stands at attention here, watching you carefully. Galvar nods to him and he relaxes visibly. "This here's Straven. At ease, man." He steps to the double doors and opens them.
Iron bars separate the Nail’s southern hallways from the northern ones. Basic lanterns hang from the ceiling in each corner surrounding the central prison, lighting the halls. The fortress seems to be built around a central octagonal area with wide hallways surrounding it. You can see four guards walking short paths around the inner octagon. You can surmise this octagon is what they're really guarding.
Galvar walks in and to the NW. He pauses beside a door in the SW wall and opens it. "Lounge, barracks and storage in there." You can see the lounge through the doorway. This cozy chamber features wooden chairs arranged casually around two tables. Two blazing fireplaces warm the room—a western one facing in toward an open door and a southern one furnished with kitchen utensils and cook pots. Playing cards, dice, and other diversions litter the tables. A gamey smell wafts through the room. Five guards are currently lounging in here, clearly taking a break.
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Pinball nods slightly at Manius's explanation. "Good to know..."
She walks at Galvar's elbow, nodding attentively here and there. "Understood, sir! Are there any.... problem prisoners we should know about? With the riots and all-- that rabble outside seemed worked up. Do we have ourselves any 'celebrities' as guests right now?"
Galvar shrugs. "No one of any particular import. Just got a few new ones in the last week or so. They're in the interrogation chambers." He makes a gesture toward the center octagon with a sort of grim pride. "A couple Bellflower operatives and some librarian probably read the wrong book. They'll be broken soon enough." He shrugs as if this is just another day on the job.
He gestures to the southeast. "The Archives. Prisoner records, release schedules. Nothing to worry over."
He gestures to the northwest corner of the prison. "That there's the offices. Records, files, et cetera. Nothing to worry about there." He gestures toward the northeast corner. "That's the Vault," and you can hear the capital V, "Nothing to worry about there neither. It's protected well 'nough on its own." He pauses and scratches his chin. "Alright, let's have you lot walk circuit around the jail proper. Course, afore that let's introduce ye to the residents."
He walks to the north, nodding at guards as he passes. He opens the first set of doors, revealing another octagonal room surrounded by prisoners chained to the walls all around. The stink of unwashed bodies permeates this narrow corridor, illuminated by violet prisms set into sconces on the inner corners. Iron bars isolate the hall’s outer perimeter, where the walls are lined with manacles set into the stone. Dozens of filthy prisoners lie behind the bars, each one wearing a sign around his or her neck bearing an identification number, a crime, a red “X” next to the word “Interrogation,” and a release date. Two sets of iron double doors lead deeper into the building.
Galvar nods to the prisoners, a few of whom politely nod back. You notice a lot of petty crimes are housed here, but none of the release dates seem to have passed. It would seem that once a sentence is served, the prisoner is always released.
Galvar nods at the violet prisms with a pleased smile. "Magical doo-dads. Keeps the screams from the interrogator's room, " He gestures at the inner octagon, "from bothering the rest of the prisoners out here. Clever things."
He stops and puts his hands on his hips. "That concludes the tour. Any questions before ye get to work?"
Garret, the guards on break make a grunting noise and gesture toward the pot in a 'help yourself' sort of manner. The stewpot has a thick beef stew boiling in it, clearly a batch made some time ago and kept warm for lunches for the guards.
Galvar shrugs. "Pay, sensitive documents, evidence confiscated. The sort of stuff we don't want to leave layin' about."
Galvar looks around. "I'll have you lot on circuit, just making the cycle 'round and through the prison area. I'll stay with ye, since yer my responsibility."
You don't spot Zefiro among any of the prisoners in the cells. But... you cannot see inside the interrogation chamber, either.
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Once the party is off by ourselves ... Theleb scratches his head ...
"I am not much from plans, but it seems like we need to get into the interrogation room? Perhaps we should start with the vault though to try and secure what ever evidence they have against Zefiro first? Unfortunately my 'vault' opening skills are fairly blunt. What say you all?
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Once the party is off by ourselves ... Theleb scratches his head ...
"I am not much for plans, but it seems like we need to get into the interrogation room? Perhaps we should start with the vault though to try and secure what ever evidence they have against Zefiro first? Unfortunately my 'vault' opening skills are fairly blunt. What say you all?
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Pinball tries to keep Galvar busy and distracted so that the others can surreptitiously handle some scouting and possibly dosing the soup.
"What of our schedule-- how long until we and these current guards are relieved? The end of the day?" Pinball asks, trying to get a sense of how much of a time window they would have before a new shift would arrive, should they subdue all the current guards by means of the oil of taggit. "This librarian sounds like not much of a threat. Is he being interrogated today, or just held?"
Galvar begins talking to Blan about benefit packages and advancement in the fruitful world of Chelish prison guarding. Turns out, it's not so good, actually. He completely misses Garret slipping away.
As the conversation drones on, Pinball asks him about interrogations and shift changes. "Well, we got about four hours before shift's changed and we're able to finally get out of here and enjoy the day. Interrogations? Well, the interrogator was one of the men who left to take care of the riot, so it's whenever he gets back, I suppose things will start up. Honestly, I try not to pay much attention to that side of things."
The Archives door proves to be unlocked and slightly open. A woman's humming comes from inside.
Galvar looks impressed at the possibility of a job not involving housing prisoners. He nods slowly.
A woman sits at a desk, organizing stacks of papers. She's humming tunelessly, then stops and rubs her eyes. She looks distracted.
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Pinball listens to Garrett's intel with a sober little nod, while Blanmieux is distracting Galvar with talk of the potential for opportunities outside the Chelish prison system.
"Probably an archivist or clerk," she murmurs. "Okay. We have a four hour window before a shift change arrives, according to Galvar. Can we get that oil into the stew? Give the guards a nice nap? As for Galvar himself... it'd make our lives simpler if he was... cooperative. That love elixir might do the trick."
"Sir, I grabbed you something from the mess too-- no reason you should have to wait until end of shift to eat or drink something. Hope you don't mind," Pinball says with disarming, clear-eyed innocence.
Pinball stirs the stew and she's reasonably sure no one saw her slip a little extra spice into the mix.
Galvar looks at the stew and smiles. "Well, I was planning on taking a break before this whole riot situation... Don't mind if I do, thanks!"
He slurps down half the bowl and doesn't seem to suffer any ill effects... But you suddenly hear a cry of alarm from the cantina! "Somethin's wrong with Thrick and Inetra! They just passed out!" Galvar looks suddenly down at the bowl of stew, suspiciously...
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Pinball's expression of earnest innocence only grows at the cry from the cantina.
"Oh no!" she says very seriously. "I hope it wasn't anything in the soup. I just had some, and it tasted fine to me. Do you feel alright, sir? We'd better go check on the others at once-- I have some training in the healing arts."