Leaving the warm comfort of Heidmarch Manor behind, you step out into the rain…at the elevation of the ‘Summit’, it almost feels like you walking though within grey clouds that are drenching the city. The gutters running alongside the gleaming cobbles of the streets are full of gurgling rainwater keeping the roadway itself mercifully free of standing water. Even though it is the mid-morning, there is hardly anyone out and about in the affluent districts atop the Seacleft; those who can afford to do so have clearly taken the decision to stay indoors.
Walking down the slope to the ‘Shore’, you are faced with rain being blown directly in from the harbour…a cold and unpleasant experience made worse by the treacherous footing of slippery cobbles. Whereas yesterday, the roads in Dockway were hard packed dirt and quite navigable, today the continual rain has now turned the same thoroughfares into a quagmire. Picking your way along the edges of these roads, it is a struggle to retain both your footing and your footwear…and, turning right at Carent’s Camp, you make very slow progress towards the shadow of the enormous Irespan.
The Irespan, sometimes called the Giant's Bridge, is the largest and most impressive monument in all of Magnimar and overshadows the city's poorest district known as Underbridge. The Irespan is actually the remains of an enormous bridge that stretches into the Varisian Gulf, standing over three hundred feet above the sea and over a hundred feet wide. It is, like most of the monuments that dot the Varisian landscape, a remnant of ancient Thassilon…and today, it is providing precious little shelter from the rain blowing in from the sea.
The Underbridge is everything that Officer Kasadei and Sheila Heidmarch warned you it would be like, a ramshackle collection of tents, boarded up warehouses and shoddily built shacks, leaning against each other for support. If anything, the rain here is worse as holes in the Irespan above, create small waterfalls that pour down upon the muddy ‘roads’ that criss-cross the district. Every now and again, the wind picks up and redirects these waterfalls onto the rusting metal roofs of the warehouses…the resultant discordant sound echoes around the area and makes it hard to hear conversations…
As in the ‘Summit’, down here in the ‘Shadow’, the rain has kept all but the most desperate indoors…and your journey across the district is only noted by a few people; sly glances from beneath shelters, whispered words and the occasional call as to your business. The ‘Swift Dolphin’, a large warehouse towards the north and close to the shoreline, is boarded up and closed for business…and, true to Officer Kasadei’s word, just beyond is a partially collapsed building.
The only entrance to the building is on the shore side where, to gain entrance, you are forced to paddle ankle deep through detritus and filthy clots that have washed ashore. In the far corner of the otherwise empty building, someone has built a crude shelter from rowboats (one or two of which might still be almost seaworthy) and timbers leaning against the warehouse’s frame. The entrance to this hovel consists of a pair of skiffs leaning against each other to create a triangular “arch” from which a mouldering remnant of a ship’s sail hangs like a curtain.
Sitting next to the entrance is an old sea chest with a broken lid. A sign leans against the front of the chest, “LEEV A GIFT AND WATE OUTSID”, a dented tin platter sits on the ground before the sign.
"And this I why I avoid Underbridge," mutters Zee as the party picks its way through the squalor. "Keep your eyes open and your wits about you. There are people who'd just as soon shiv you as look at you."
* * *
Standing before Fenster's hovel, Zee looks about nervously, although she tries to hide her unease. Zee taps the tin platter loudly with the heel of her boot. "Fenster? Are you home? We wish to talk." She then drops two silver coins onto the platter, letting the sound of the fallen coins ring through the place.
Great. Why do we let things get so bad that it becomes this?
Joanna keeps on hand under her cloak and on the hilt of her dagger.
"I really wish you were joking, Ziomarra," she says quietly as she follows the Varisian.
"Will that be enough?" She asks quietly, her hand still tight around her dagger.
The sound of the coins clattering into the plate echoes around the warehouse and, for a short while, everything remains quiet…there is no movement within the hovel to suggest that it is even occupied.
And then, with a loud hacking cough, a face peers out at you from behind a filthy piece of cloth used as a curtain. Seeing you, the face gives a leering smile and disappears behind the curtain again… A moment or two pass until a man shuffles through the skiffs that form the entrance to the shelter.
Murmuring under his breath, ”Hmmm…what’ve we got here?…what do they want?…everyone comes to ol’ Fenster, don’t they?...”, the man approaches the plate…
If this is Fenster, he truly is a wretch of a man; his clothing is filthy and torn, his flesh is mottled purple in some patches and stone grey in others whilst his breathing is raspy and gurgling. With one good arm, he picks around in the plate…holds the coins up to the light…licks them...and then, throws them back in to the plate...
With barely a sideways glance at you, he starts to shuffle back to his tent.
”Bah!!! Couple of silvers, Ol’ Fenster doesn’t work for silver…silver doesn’t buy you nothing these days…take me for a fool…”
Teldon carefully observes the paths and 'landmarks' as they make their way to and through Underbridge. In the warehouse he notes the apparent structural shortcomings which lead to the partial collapse. As the others speak, he absentmindedly adds, "wouldn't it be faster to just move some of those boats and see if he's in there?"
Joanna sighs and pulls out a few gold coins, dropping them into the platter.
"Is this more to your liking?" she asks as gently as she could.
As the coins noisily drop into the plate, the man stops and starts to walk back towards you. A few metres from you, he bends over double and starts coughing loudly and painfully, as his body heaves, you see several large flies actually emerge from his clothing…the cough eventually subsides and, spitting a gobbet of bloody phlegm, he finally walks over to the plate.
The man launches into another audible monologue, ”One…Two…Three…Gold….Well then, I suppose I could at least talk to them…See what they want”
Pocketing the coins….somewhere beneath those rags…the man clambers onto his chest and, with his one good eye, looks at you for the first time.
”What yew want ol’ Fenster to do for yer?”
Joanna tries not to think too much on what was causing him to cough like that.
"We're looking for a woman named Natalya Vancaskerkin, or the Tower Girls. do you know how we might be able to get in touch with either of them?"
Perhaps it's the rain, but despite Ziomarra's warning this place looks somehow less dangerous than the "carnival" had been-- dirtier, but not deadly. Nalathi turns up her nose at the sight of old Fenster, and she begins to see why he's called 'the Blight.' He looks as though he's contracted more than a few blights in his time. She hopes she won't have to get too close to him.
Nalathi, it seems that Fenster is suffering from Filth Fever, a wasting disease that is spread through the bite of infected vermin
As you talk, the wind picks up outside...several of the roof panels lift and start flapping in the gusting wind as rain starts to pour into the building. Fenster curses and looks anxiously back at his ramshackle abode.
”You want to be knowing where peoples are then? Hah!!!!! You come to the right place anyways, Ol’ Fenster be their landlord. Gave them a roof over their heads I did…they’re staying here with Fenster you know”
Fenster grins toothlessly at you, ”Why yer wanna know anyways?”
Looking around the rest of the warehouse, there is no sign of anyone else living here.
"Why is none of your concern. I can't help but notice that you seem to be the only one living here."
Joanna shakes her head, clearing the line of thought that was getting her sidetracked from her mind.
"Do you happen to know where Natalya Vancaskerkin is?"
Teldon continues to stand around quietly. As he does he ponders what condition might be afflicting the filthy man, and what manner of salve might bring some relief.
At Joanna's observation that noone else appears to be residing in the warehouse, Fenster looks around and then shrugs, "Oh well....they'll be back...they always come back to Fenster"
When Joanna asks about Natalya Vancaskerkin, he looks thoughtfully into the middle distance for a while and then stands to scratch his bottom, as he finds and scratches the itch, he sighs in relief, "Maybe I know something about that Vancaskerkin girl, maybe I do...I just can't seem to remember right now...maybe something shiny will help Ol' Fenster's memory"
Ziomarra fishes out another 5 gold coins and tosses them onto the tin plate. "Does that help your memory?" she asks with a note of sarcasm.
Fenster looks into the platter and then looks up at Ziomarra, one eye clouded over, "See, Natalya was a nice girl...sweetest voice she had...figure you don't mean good things for her especially as you ain't the first to be asking after her...but maybe's if some more coins fell into my plate, I could remember something or....", Fenster breaks out into a coughing fit...when he is done he spits out what looks suspiciously like a tooth, "or maybe you've got something precious to put in my chest...Ol' Fenster's always looking for treasures"
Teldon slowly grows frustrated by the diseased man's evasive answers and constant weaseling for more coin. He tries to contain it but quickly snaps, "I have 3 question I need answered. Tell me what your going rate is for straight answers so that I can pay you and get what I need or be done with this farce."
Teldon cuts across Fenster's conversation and posturing, "Oh!...oh, this isn't how we do it....no, no, no...not at all...we talk, we haggle, we agree a price...but Mr Clever here wants to get on with things...ain't got no time for poor Ol' Fenster...okay, okay, okay". Counting with his good hand, he mouths ten....twenty....thirty....fifty something...hunnerd
"Yeah, Hunnerd....you give me a Hunnerd, I'll tell you what I know"
"One Hundred?!?" Teldon exclaims, "you were up to 8, how long did you expect to continue haggling? Here's a counter-offer: 10g for each of my questions you answer satisfactorily. If your information proves truly useful I'll figure out a way to treat your... condition, though that will take a considerable amount of time... If, on the other hand, you betray us I'll come back here and incinerate this facility, which will not take very long. What say you to those terms?"
At Teldon’s suggestion that he may burn down the warehouse, Fenster bristles and reaches into his rags, ”Threats…threats…threats...”, and then relaxes when Briana starts to talk…
When she has finished, Fenster noisily clears his throat and smiles lasciviously, ”Okay, but only cos the pretty lady asked…ten gold answers each question…and when you’ve done and caught that Vancaskerkin b***h, you come back and see to Ol’ Fenster’s ailments”
He spits into his one good hand and offers it to Teldon, "Deal?"
"I'm afraid it won't be as simple as coming back and seeing to your ailments... The ability to remove diseases is beyond my current skill, it might take months, or more, for me to develop a cure for you... But if your information leads directly to us finding Natalya alive and with her mind intact I will return one day with a cure." Teldon clarifies.
"if this is acceptable, then we do have a deal," Teldon says making no attempt to shake Fenster's fetid hand, but rather fishing in his coin purse... "where is Natalya Vancaskerkin?"
Fenster looks forlornly at his offered hand and then watches Teldon root around in his coin purse. When he is finally given the ten gold pieces, he merely shrugs at Teldon’s refusal to shake upon the deal, ”There…that wasn’t so difficult was it?”
Hopping back up upon his chest, Fenster clearly enjoys ‘holding court’, ”Yeah, that Vancaskerkin girl…she ain’t hanging around with the rest of the girls no more. She wandered off a whiles back…drove Javeski crazy that did. So Ol’ Fenster has a little look around on the quiet like…nothing gets past my one good peeper yer know…’specially down ‘ere in the Shadow”
He pauses for a moment, enjoying the attention, ”I seen ‘er a couple of times as it happens…she’s holed up in a shack over near the Harpy…not five minutes from ‘ere...thing is, the way she’s been skulking around, she don’t look like she wants to be found”
Holding out his hand for more money, ”So what else yer wanna know?”
Dropping 10 more gold in to Fenster's scabby outstretched hand Teldon asks, "when did you give this information to whom?"
"no, that's one very well worded question. Besides, you got 8 gold with 0 answers before you and I got started, so why don't you answer this whole question and I'll be simpler in the future."
If Fenster noticed that was two questions, he makes no show of it, "One of the Tower Girls, I told...she paid much better than you lot" and then , scowling at Teldon "Better manners as well"
"It was that cold-blooded one...Terisha...told her yesterday so, chances are, Natalya might be pushing up the daisies by now"
"Who in this town is capable of supplying Swampseer's poison?" he asks retrieving 10 more coins and readying himself to leave.
Fenster pockets the ten gold quickly, "Poisons? There's a few that would use poison in this city...not so many who would sell...you want to know where to buy a special kinda poison, you'd best be asking the Sczarni or them Night Scales"
Apparently pleased with himself, Fenster asks whether you have any further questions, "Otherwise, I'll be seeing ya when you come back from finding that girl...if she's still alive, tell 'er Fenster says 'allo"
"That is not a satisfactory answer," Teldon says surprisingly sternly, "I'm not interested in buying posion... that specific one may be being employed by those responsible for all the disappearances in this area. Who could be supplying them with it?"
"Alright, alright...keep ya hair on...I'll tell ya what I know; over Ordellia way, there's a gnome goes by the name of Billivin...he's got hisself set up as selling 'Benevolent Balms and Effulgent Elixirs'...but most folk reckon he's supplying other chemicals and all...poisons for sure...probably Pesh as well...", looking directly at Teldon, "that enough of an answer for ya mister? Fenster always comes good with news and suchlike"
Before he starts to hobble back to his shelter, he takes a look at the case Briana has been carrying, "Say, there's a bit of meat on that vermin...I'll give yer fifty silver fer it"
Regarding Fenster with a look of guarded pity, Zee reiterates the essence of what he'd just told them, "So, Natalya is living in a shack near the Harpy. I know where that is. The Tower Girls are looking for her, and, yesterday, you told one of them where to find her. I hope she is still alive."
She retrieves another 5 gold from her purse, and tossed them into his plate. "You may need that more than I do. Good luck to you."
She turns to the rest of the party, and says, "I think we're done here."
Teldon nods in agreement with Zee, "from the sound of things we should rush right there... if it's not already too late then it seems very likely that we don't have much time..."
"We're all very fond of her"... That's being a bit generous. She stifles a smile. Nalathi, for one, hardly knows the cat. "Right. Well... thank you." Lacking the finer points of social interaction, she makes no effort to lower her voice as she turns to her allies. "Let's go, I don't want to catch his filth fever."
"Waste of good eating if yer ask me...", shuffling back towards his hovel, he dismisses you, "I'll be seeing yer later then...less that Terisha kills you an' all"
Leaving Fenster behind, you make your way through the rain towards the Irespan pillar closest to the cliff. As you get closer, the warehouses and shacks start to thin out and, fairly quickly, you are able to identify the building that Fenster believes Natalya is hiding within. The building stands near the stark wall of the Seacleft, and scree from several decades of minor rockfalls has piled up along its southern face...it presumably stands alone due to the small river of raw sewage that is spilling from a rockface uphill from you.
The building itself has seen better days, its clapboard sides are dark with mildew and marred by scorch marks. In places fire has gutted portions of the roof ’s moss-covered tile shingles, but the building appears to be structurally intact.
There are two doors into the building whilst the windows themselves appear to have been boarded up. Above the noise of the wind and the rain, you can't hear any signs of life.
As the surprisingly large shack draws near, Teldon retrieves two small vials from one of the readily accessible pockets of his explorer's outfit. He lifts one as though about to drink it then pauses and asks, "So, what's the plan?"
She screws up her nose at the smell of the sewage. All the same, she's glad to have found the place at last. Finally. All this run-around they were being given had started to get on her nerves. I just hope she's still in there. She shrugs. "Knock? Get this job over with? Unless you think she might run if we do..."
"Let's check out the building from all sides. If we're going in, we'll need to know where the exits are, in case Natalya decides to run. Given the open area around it, there doesn't seem to be a way to do so without beeing seen, so let's hope she's not watching at the moment."
Cautiously making your way around the shack, you don’t see any windows or other holes that might provide an escape route from the building. There is a chimney towards the north of the building but it isn’t of a size that would allow an adult human to use it as an exit. Miraculously, you manage to circumnavigate the entire building without falling or slipping on the treacherous mud that surrounds the shack.
However, your interest in the premises has not gone unnoticed and, as you move back towards the west of the building, a door swings open…and out of the building steps a man, heavy cloak pulled up around his neck to protect him against the weather, he calls out to you, ”Hey You!!! This is private property…Clear Orf!!!”
Joanna steps forward and puts on what she hopes is a pleasant and pleasing smile, which is surprisingly difficult given what happened at Fenster's place.
"I'm sorry sir. We did not know that this place was private property. You see, we were told that we could meet a Natalya here to discuss some business. Would she happen to be around?"
A voice calls from just inside the building and the man replies, "Yeah...someone 'ere to see Lady Vancaskerkin....what d'ya reckon? We expecting anyone?". The voice inside the building laughs and tells the man to stop being a chump...
"Yeah, the Lady ain't seeing no visitors today", and then pulling his cloak back to reveal a crossbow, "Seein' as you were polite, I'll give ya one warning...now go back to whatever dusty old mansion you come from"
Hehehe! I wonder if Briana and Joanna could actually manage to talk their way through this encounter....before Teldon threatens to torch the place
Teldon tosses the two vials in his hands against a dry bit of wall. As the flames expand and begin to engulf that wall he says, "well, that should get her out of the house."
Sensing that trouble might be immanent, but still hoping they might reach Natalya peacefully, Teldon slips his alchemical vials back into his pocket so he can put both hands on his longspear.
Oh, no. No way. Nalathi pulls her trident from behind her, brandishing it in the old man's direction. "Now look. I didn't traipse around in the rain all day just to have a crossbow pointed at me. We're not going to hurt Natalya, we just want to talk. Now if you don't mind, we've got business to discuss. Nobody needs to get hurt today."
"As the young lady says, we don't want any trouble, and you have my word that we do not wish any harm to befall Natalya. We've simply come to discuss a matter of business, nothing more." Joanna's voice is still pleasant as she speaks, but when she raises her hands to show them empty, the cloak opens enough to show Iomedae's symbol emblazoned on the white, crimson-trimmed tabard she wore and the sword at her side.
"Perhaps a compromise, sir. As we say, we only wish to talk, and we would very much like to do so without having to resort to violence. Would one us, unarmed and unarmored be allowed to see Ms. Vancaskerkin?"
Zee whispers to Joanna, "If we could get his friend to show his face, I could try to hex them both into escorting us all to her." Zee moves so as to look past the man in the door to see if she can see his comrade.
She brings the words to a hypnotism spell to mind.
"They're really very insistent!!!", the man calls back into the shack...there is a bunch of grumbling from the other voice; having to come out into the weather, the pay that hasn't happened, the continual disturbances to his card game...and then a second cloaked man appears at the door.
"Right! You lot need to sling yer hooks...cos if you don't me and Piotr 'ere are gonna use you for target practice", emphasising the point, he raises his crossbow and aims it at Teldon.
The other man sneers and points his crossbow towards Joanna...who is clearly making a bit of a show of herself...
"And what happens if that fails?" Joanna whispers back, "No if they agree to this, I will uphold our end. If not, well I guess we'll have to leave it be for now."
Joanna's words were soft, but under them is a hint of the steel she'd shown before. Of course when the men pull crossbows on her and her friends, that steel becomes quite a bit less hidden.
"I have tried to be polite and courteous by offering what I believed to be a reasonable compromise, yet the two of you see fit to not only raise your weapons against me, but one of my friends as well," she says, her voice cold and hard, "Very well, I have another offer, lower your weapons, and I won't have to get cross with you."