Ryssa helps Meghan in getting the crowds to get off their butts and putt out the fire!
"If this city goes up in flames because of your inactions today, I can be sure that the Savored Sting herself will be as enraged as these raging fires! But if y'all get off lazy arses and put out the fires I'm sure Calistria will bless y'all with much fortune in your lives!"
The tiefling hisses a bit as she flashes her holy symbol around for added measure.
Tural examines the book and finds its a book written in a language he doesn't understand.
Meghan starts ranting and raving at the crowd, reminding them who's stuff will be burning if nothing is done. The people move quickly, though clunkily as they get pails, buckets, whatever will carry and work to put out the fire.
Ryssa adds to the metaphorical fire in the people's hearts so they can put out the real fire, and after ten or so minutes of frantic movement, it seems the worst is put out.
The robber's lie unconscious on the ground, most likely assumed to be victims of the fire.
And then the guard shows up.
"Who's responsible!? Anyone see anything!?"
You all start to hear muttering and a somewhat uncertain consensus of folks who saw some of you exit the burning building.
Elea had been silent and had helped the now started bucket brigade when the guards came. When the guards asked for information she stepped out of the line, passing on one more bucket.
"We came here looking for a friend but he was gone and someone had broken in to his home." Elea points at the crone, "When she saw us she cackled something I didn't quite get and then set the whole room on fire. We dragged her out because we wanted to know why."
Taton stands there imposingly, trying to project a sense of being an imposing individual with whom one does not trifle, but also the sense that he didn't actually burn down the building. It's a delicate balance that takes many years to master. Taton had not quite mastered it, but he at least didn't look the sort to resort to arson.
Expert in the ways of the world, and of words, Taton keeps his fool mouth shut for the present.
"As Elea said, a friend of ours is missing, and when we arrived at his home, these people-" he indicates the restrained looters "-were looting it. We stopped them, and the lady lit the building on fire, out of spite, I guess."
"Aye, they've the right o' it," Meghan chimes in to the guard, wiping some sweat from her brow with one hand while holding an empty bucket in the other. "There was a bit o' a tussle, but we dragged those trespassers out o' the flames an' then organized a bucket brigade to put out the fire."
"Its true my good guards. These people were trespassing and it was the old crone who lit the fire. And we did organize the fire brigade so if y'all ask me, we aren't at fault here."
The group's explanation seems to be enough to win the guards over, but to your dismay they heft up the unconscious thieves by their arms.
"We'll take it from here. Thievery you say? I'm sure the town seer will get down to the bottom of it. Now all of you, on your way!"
The guards start to send away you and the bystanders, as four guards escort the thieves to the jail, and the rest securing the burning remnants of Larur's apartment.
"Wait!" Tural calls, "Can we ask them a few questions first? We are still looking for our friend, and it would be nice to know if they know anything before you take them away. We won't take a minute, and then they're all yours, if you wouldn't mind, most noble and vigilant guardsmen."
In hushed tones and mostly to the group, Taton adds, "He said town seer. We might be able to gain some information from such a person. Maybe some clues or hints?" Looking around at the charred remains, he finishes, "As there's little enough here of use."
"And we can always follow up with that Smeed fella Larur was s'pposed to be meetin'. What was 'is name again? Lemon? Lymon? Somethin' like that."
The guards look at each other, not expecting to be held up by some random-seeming do-gooders.
"You can visit him all you like after we've processed them and before they're sentenced. If what you say is true, they'll likely be sent to the salt mines down south. Come by tomorrow at the earliest."
When the guards lead the looters away, Tural shrugs, then turns back to the group, "So, what say you? Shall we investigate Smeed, then? Should that prove unsuccessful, we can visit those three in prison tomorrow."
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Meghan replies to Tural. "Hmm...Lymas Smeed.... Name sounds familiar...now where is his place of business?"
"Well, we could certainly ask around. Either we'll find him, someone who knows of him, or his people will find us for asking around after him." Taton suggests, not really having that much information himself.
Ryssa assisted Taton in trying to gain some information.
It takes a while, and many possible muggings (staved off from size of your party and the weapons you keep) but you eventually find Lymas Smeed's place.
Rat Street is dark and narrow, with random buildings jutting out into the path. It seems an unlikely location for a high-end loan shark to occupy, but then most of Riddleport looks like this. You see a sign out front showing a stack of coins above block letters that read "Rat Street Loans". A sign on the door itself reads "By appointment only".
Tural knocks on the door, then checks to see if the door is locked.
"Tell Saul that what he owes me is gonna double if he ever dares send his thugs to my place again!" you hear a nasal voice shout from inside the building.
"What do you mean by again?" Meghan calls through the closed door, trying to sound nice-ish and open a conversation with the skittish man.
"Excuse me, sir. I think you have us mistaken for someone else! We're not here for any money, we simply would like some information." He pulls some coins out of his pocket and starts jingling them, "And we can make it worth your time if you would just talk to us for a few moments of your time."
"You lot! Get off my property! You're either here for a loan, or you're wasting my time."
The door is strongly reinforced as a nasty debt collector lives inside the ramshackle building.
"Ah, sir, we are here for a loan. Just... not how you think. Rather, we are confirming that a payment was successfully delivered to you. I can elaborate out here, if you care to have sensitive information concerning you spread to the whole world."
"We're not thugs! We're here to make sure our loan was paid off!"
Ryssa didn't like dealing with lowlifes like Smeed (having already paid a huge loan to him before signing up to help the Gold Goblin), but sometimes you had to deal with scum like Smeed in order to get things done.
Meghan frowns and makes a circular motion with her finger after pointing to Smeed's place. Leaving the others in charge of 'negotiating' with Old Crankypants, Meg circles the building quietly, looking for other entrances/exits or any sign that Larur may have been here.
Taton takes a page from Meghan's book, but rather than going around looking he takes a guarded stance out in front of the building to ensure this isn't a trap.
He promptly spies a few ladies who completely draw his attention away, and misses anything of notice.
Meghan, as you look around the building you notice something odd, stuffed behind an old barrel. It takes a bit of pulling, but eventually you wrench the thing free. An old cloak. Larur's old cloak. And it has a large puncture in the middle of it, with blood frayed around the edges.
Tural and Ryssa's honeyed words seem to strike the right chord, but the door remains shut and Smeed's words crass.
"I've recieved no such payment. If your boss wants to do anything other than pay, he can come himself. The next time I see any of his lackies things are going to get ugly, and his loan will triple..."
Meghan emerges from the alley, remaining a distance from the front door just in case it has any peepholes, and then grimly and wordlessly holds up Larur's rent and bloodied cloak for the others to see. She shrugs as if to say: "What's our next move here?"
"Sir, we do not mean to cause you any trouble. The person who was supposed to deliver your payment has gone missing. While we are not accusing you, any information you might be able to provide us would greatly aid our search and in turn get you your money sooner. Surely you want that?"
"Boy I'll give you some advice for free. Something I rarely do. Why would a debt collector want to collect the debt early, if the interest keeps going up the longer it's out? Next time I hear any of you lot, it should be about the payment in full. Now get off my property."
And with that, you hear him walk away, a secondary door shut, and a series of steps ascending.
"For the record," Taton says, "I'm still in favor of busting the door down, breaking his fingers one by one until he tells us what we need to know, or detaining his employees in recompense for the loss of one of ours. Of course we also can't discount the possibility that a certain person we saw recently at our establishment. Zincher could be trying to brew up bad blood between us and another rival, let us never forget that while the wheels turn slowly they do turn." Taton's paranoia especially regarding Zincher is well known, and much like the boy who cried wolf he may be simply spouting the name of his favorite boogeyman, but he also gives a fairly credible point.
"Maybe a couple o' us should go back to the Goblin an' have a quick chat with Keypaw...er, Saul, an' see how he wants us to proceed. Findin' Larur's bloody cloak here proves a connection between him an' Smeed, but like Taton says, it coulda been planted--likely by Zincher or one o' his crew--to frame him. I'll make the run back if ya want."
Taton shakes his head. "For the time being, I think we should travel as a group. Individually we're vulnerable, like Larur. Together we're at least a formidable group."
Tural says nothing until he pulls out his well-worn coin and flips it
"Well, I say we go after Smeed and confront him with the cloak. If he has a problem with it, we go to the town guard. And if he is innocent, he has to have an interest in finding whoever has framed him for murder. So, who's good with locks?"
"Hmmm...not sayin' I won't have yer back, but...possibly havin' to explain ourselves to the gendarmes for a second time inside an hour might not cast us in the best light."
Meghan falls silent to consider the group's options and the risk/reward associated with each.
Meghan, you get the sense that Smeed has one goal in his mind. Profits. You lot showing up on his door definitely made him concerned, and he sincerely did not wish to talk to the apparent "thugs" from Saul.
The party is outside Smeed's place ,considering a plan of attack. There is a backdoor, but it seems just as reinforced.
Tural looks at his companions, "Well? Anyone have any ideas?" He looks around (are there any windows?) for anything of note.
Meghan shrugs at Tural. "I haven't a clue how to proceed 'ere," she confesses. "We bust in on Smeed an' we're likely the criminals."
After thinking silently for a few seconds, she throws out some more thoughts. "Assumin' we don't wanna break in on Smeedy...our only source o' clues are them three mugs we caught lootin' Larur's flat. If we're right in assumin' this is a set-up by Zincher, he might try to eliminate that li'l flaw in 'is scheme. I say we visit the jail, make sure them three goons we caught ain't been sprung already, an' enter Larur's cloak into evidence while we're there."
"Hmm... Well, I would much rather take a more... direct approach. But let us see how luck would have it, shall we?."
Tural consults his coin, the ringing noise barely audible against the background provided by the city.
"And so be it. Lead the way. Should we wait until morning, as the watchmen said?"
"No," Meghan answers Tural firmly. "This town's just corrupt enough that they told us to come back tomorrow to give themselves time enough to let them mugs walk today. Besides, we've got Larur's cloak to enter into evidence."
The party heads to the local lock up and are met with the guard. Here, in their domain ( which is vastly smaller than the crimelords territory) the guards are a bit snobbish and power hungry.
"You want to see who now?" the guard with the reference book asks, for the third time, clearly enjoying running you around in circles.
"The three folks brought in earlier today for unlawfully entering and attempting to rob the flat of Larur the Dwarf at ...a dwarf who's still missing and whose bloodstained cloak we found in an alley outside of the place of business of the moneylender Smeed," Meghan says pleasantly, showing the cloak to the guard. She then gives a description of the three thugs..."the ones who also set fire to the place and nearly burned down an entire city block. You know--those three major criminals."
The guard seems nonchalant at best, even at the mention of someone being stabbed. Most likely a regular occurrence in this town.
'Yeah, we had em locked up, but we concluded our investigation. The misses was obviously of degenerate mental health so we had her committed. She's in lock up until we arrange transport. The other two were sent to the medical center to treat their injuries. You can interrogate them all you want when they return, but I doubt they'll accept you as a visitor. Provided they're conscious yet.
"Tell me," Tural pulls a gold coin out of his pocket, and starts twirling it between his fingers, "Do you know anything about Smeed? Anything that might prove...." He pauses, and lets the light catch the coin he's fidgeting with, "Valuable to our investigation? We'd be more than happy to attempt to find a murderer for you, perhaps get someone annoying out of your way, and give you full credit for an excellent takedown of a murderer."
"Can't condone vigilante actions," the guard mutters, as he eye's the coin Tural twiddles between his fingers.
His face hasn't been shaven in a couple days, and those close can smell the stink of stale ale on his breath. His armor seems warn, but it fits well on his muscular body.
"And I know a Smeed that likes to file reports about threats against his life. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you? I don't have time to help with an investigation or whatever detective work you lot are playing at, but I better not find you in the middle of some trouble. Especially on my shift."
"Vigilante work? Of course not. Lawbreakers no better than the criminals they go after. We would be consulting detectives. We gather your evidence, do the heavy lifting, and you get all the credit. No threats against anyone's life, but perhaps saving a few." Tural meets the man's gaze, "It's a win-win situation."
He pauses for a few seconds, "After all, the whole reason we came here in the first place was to avoid being vigilantes. We could have easily stormed his place and taken him as a captive, but instead, we elected to come and involve the city guard, to avoid even the appearance of vigilantism. If you prefer, though, we could simply return to dealing with it ourselves- but, of course, I don't think any of us want that, do we?"