Galyna groans as she gets up off the floor, blinking her eyes a few times to get rid of the last spots dancing before them.
One of the crates outside the door turns out to serve as a reasonably serviceable coffin, with Plutivarch's own cloak acting as a shroud. In a bizarre parody of a funeral procession, the group makes its way through the darkened streets of Magnimar to one of the few still-active buildings in town: the Arvensoar, the headquarters of the Magnimar city watch and possibly the most recognizable element of the Magnimar skyline after the Irespan itself. Built into the wall of the Seacleft that separates the upper-class Summit districts from the lower-class Shore quarters, the tower of the Arvensoar stretches almost 200 feet into the air even above the edge of the Seacleft itself. At night, most of the grandeur is lost, however, as shadows wrap around the stones of the building and shroud even its glory in darkness.
When you reach the gates of the fortress, a set of four guards flanks the wrought-iron barricade - almost never used, by the look of it - and they turn questioning eyes to you as you approach. One steps forward, nodding her head politely, although her expression remains quizzical. "Yes?" she asks, eyeing the motley group before her.
Ellantera helps carry the crate and does not immediately reply when the guard approaches. She looks at Uraisa to see if she will do the talking.
"Good day Watchpeople my name is Miet Silverback" Miet giving a polite if somewhat overdramatic bow as she speaks."My assosiates and I have come across A man we believe the watch may be looking for we also have an accomplice of his but she did survive the scuffle that broke out when they assaulted us."
Diplomacy
The guard looks surprised, glancing at her fellows before looking back at the gnome. She studies Plutivarch for a moment, who smiles crookedly at her, before looking back toward the rest of you. "One moment, please," the guard replies before stepping into the gatehouse and disappearing.
About two minutes later, the guard returns with a second woman, this one wearing a nicer version of the same uniform - most likely an officer. She sends the guard back to her post before turning her attention to you. "Good evening," the officer says. "I am Lieutenant Kasadei. And you've brought me Plutivarch Dremis. Such a pleasure to see you again, Plu. What did you do this time? And what's in the box?" Although the words are friendly, the tone is sarcastic in the extreme; while it is clear Plutivarch and Kasadei know each other, there is quite clearly no love lost between them. Plutivarch does not answer her, looking at his shoes - and apparently only in that moment noticing there is a rather large hole in the toe of one boot - leaving the lieutenant looking to the rest of you. "So what's he done now?"
Lifting her end of the crate a bit to indicate it, looking very unsure, Ellantera says, "Um, the accomplice."
"Other than try to kill us, spread rumors that he's selling good citizens to slavery, and wanting to join the Aspis Consortium by committing murder? Not much, but he's probably wanted for various other things as well. Do you want to take him and his dead friend?"
Kasadei looks shocked for a moment, lifting up the box to look herself, then spinning to smack Plutivarch on the back of the head. "Well done, you idiot, you managed to get your partner killed," she snaps. "And for what? Mugging a bunch of adventurers who cleaned your clock instead?"
"They took my things!" Plutivarch shouts, but Kasadei is having none of it.
"And left you alive," she throws right back. "Which is more than Melethiel can say. And since you're not protesting your innocence to the Empyreal Lords and the whole city, I'm going to assume you did in fact attack these good people first. So here's the deal. If you want to make such a fuss about it, I'll be sure to expedite your case - you'll be on the docket first thing in the morning. Except... that's Justice Tironius' docket. You might want to think about that. He's the one who replaced Justice Ironbriar, and he's not as... forgiving... as Ironbriar was."
Plutivarch pales. "No... no, that's not necessary," he stammers. "I withdraw the complaint."
"Good," Kasadei smiles coldly. She gestures to the guard who met you. "You. Take Mr. Dremis inside and start getting him processed. You two, take the body down to the morgue." While the sorcerer is lead away and the makeshift coffin carried off, Lieutenant Kasadei turns back to the group. "He's been a pain in my ass for years. His partner, Melethiel, was a newer addition, but she was more than enough extra headache even so. Unfortunately, neither of them did anything to earn them an 'alive or dead' bounty, so I can't give you any reward for her, but I owe you 100 gold for bringing him in alive. Also, you have my own personal gratitude. If you need anything from me or the city watch, you've just to ask. Now, hang on for a moment while I get your money." She turns and heads back into the gatehouse, leaving you waiting outside while the one remaining guard continues his curious study of your unusual group.
A few minutes later, Kasadei returns, holding out a gold pouch to Miet. "There you go," she smiles. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Um, not that I can think of," Uraisa pipes up, uncomfortably, ready to get out of the reserve of the guards.
"Well actually the reason we got involved in this situation is that there is someone were looking for that seems to have gone missing and that man ended up being one of our leads. I dont suppose the watch would know anything about disapearences recently?"
Kasadei frowns, shaking her head and looking down at the darkened pavement stones beneath her boots. "I'll tell you what I've told all the others who want to know why we're not doing anything about these disappearances: we have confirmed that the rumors of Nidalese slavers are false, and in fact, the majority of those who vanished have actually been found. (Rumormongers don’t find happy endings nearly as fun to gossip about, I suppose.) Regardless, news that the vanishings have been solved isn’t nearly as gossiped about as the vanishings themselves have been. Most of those who went missing have been found, with the few remaining missing cases likely the results of mundane misadventure. Also, despite what many have claimed when looking for a reason to blame our 'lack of service,' many of those who had disappeared were not vagrants, but rather were gainfully employed merchants, fishermen, shopkeepers, and laborers. In many cases, they were found days or weeks after they vanished, living as homeless wretches in the city slums. When we questioned them, they turned out to have amnesia and had no idea of where they had been during their disappearance. They seemed none the worse for wear other than their amnesia and the effects of their deplorable living conditions." She shrugs, adding,"Truth be told, I have no idea what may have caused the amnesia, but since most victims seem to have returned safe and whole otherwise, the watch has declared the spate of vanishings to be a closed case."
At this point, Kasadei lowers her voice before continuing. "The thing is, I'm worried that whatever’s been going on with this, we haven't actually seen the last of it," she tells you. "Given that you seem a capable group, I'll make you an offer: if you can figure out what’s been causing hard-working citizens to abandon their lives and become amnesiac vagrants, bring me proof and I’ll see to it that you get a reward. How does two hundred platinum sound?"
"Sounds very good I would say."
"Like music to my ears."
Ellantera's eyes widen and her jaw drops. A quick nod is all the confirmation she seems able to provide.
"Excellent," Kasadei grins, seeming to take the rest of the group's agreement as given. "Now, who was it you were looking for? I can check the file and see if they were listed among the disappearances."
Oscar does a silly little dance, and a giant smile crosses his usually stern face.
Ellantera shakes her head to get herself together. "Her name is Natalya Vancaskerin. We've heard we are not the only ones looking for her. The other seekers may wish her ill, so we hope to find her first."
"Vancaskerin?" Kasadei says, surprised. "Actually, I don't need to check the file on her. I know she's not been reported missing, at least not in connection with the other cases; her name would have stuck out. She's a member of the Sczarni, the burglar gang called the 'Tower Girls' - but then, maybe you already know that. Regardless, I don't know where they are right now. Until a few months ago, the Tower Girls were sharing a headquarters with another group called the 'Wreckwash Blades,' but they had some kind of falling out and the Tower Girls left to find their own space. None of our contacts have their current location, but the rumor until a couple weeks ago was that they were slumming it as 'guests' of a man named Fenster the Blight. Fenster lives in the remnants of a crumbling warehouse in Underbridge, right on the edge of the bay. If anyone might have a lead on where they went, or where Natalya might be, it's probably Fenster."
"I can taste our quarry growing closer". "Let's go pay this Fenster a visit". "Have any of you heard of him"?
Uraisa looks around at the others, glad they could get out of view of the authority figures. She's afraid she might screw up and get put behind bars with that devious mage.
The rogue appears out of the shadows as the group gets some distance from the Arvensoar, "Ah see you didnah manage ta get yerselves put in chains. Find anything interestin'?
"Oh most certainly my esteemed associate. A new lead for one as well as a reword and promise of a future reward."
Shiv chuckles, "Ain't no one called me that 'fore. The chance ta lace my pouch with more coin is always welcome news."
"Well, it's late, but we are still up. Anyone else want to go to find this Fenster right now?
"Fenster sounds familiar." To her brother, she asks, "Remember that time? Is he the guy? I'm kind of sore after those darts the mage threw at me. I think I'd like to rest first."
"Aye, he's not right in the head. Put some pennies on his plate and he's useful 'nough. Should nah be much trouble if'n we give him a hands worth o' gold." He turns and punches his sister square where she got hit by the magic bolts, "Stop yer bellyachin'. Ya've got worse from blade practice."
"Let's pay him a visit and get done with it now."
*gasp* She rasps out, "Y'better watch yer back, Sev, 'r I will remind you won the last blade practice. Let's go find Fenster, then." She glares at her brother's back as she rubs where he struck here.
"Well I would bet he won't be cooperative at this time of the morning...but then again, he might just tell us what we want to know so we'll go away, and let him sleep". "I'd wait till morning...but am good either way".
_
"More n' likely he's spry right now I reckon, Salt. I imagine he don't exactly keep Abadar hours." Followed by a smirk as he says, "'Sides, it is mornin'"
"I'm good to go unless some of you need fixing up. In which case I'm good to go after I've done so."
Sullenly, "Let's just go."
With a look of exasperation, "Whatcha waitin' fer then dwarf? An invite from tha palace?! The lass just said she did. We've been walkin' 'round with burns since we shook them two wizard-y types down. That an' Salt took a blade himself. Difference is I'm not complainin'. O, we'll live either ways. All that changes is how we go 'bout doin' it." Glancing toward Ellantera, "'Sides, she's gonna sulk 'til ya do."
It takes about another half hour to reach the slums beneath the Irespan, where the darkest shadows in Mangimar hold the deepest secrets. As the group heads toward the location given to you by Lieutenant Kasadei, you all become uncomfortably aware of eyes on you, of lurkers watching and considering you. Perhaps it is the size of your group, though, that keeps them from doing more than consider. You travel through the near pitch-black streets unmolested.
Unmolested, that is, until just a few blocks short of your goal, when you turn a corner and find a man crouched in the middle of the street, cringing back from a tiny, bat-winged figure that hovers over him. "No! I won't! I won't! Not again! No more!" the man shouts, but the words are feeble, weak, and carry an unmistakable note of insanity. The figure hisses something, raising a taloned finger to point toward you, and the man looks up, wild-eyed. "Them? But... will they be the last?" The tiny figure hisses once more, and the man raises a shaking hand in your direction.
Glancing toward Ellantera, "'Sides, she's gonna sulk 'til ya do."
Ellantera sticks her tongue out at her brother.
Shiv sticks to the dark corners of buildings and alleys slightly ahead of the group as we make our way through the slums.
Initiative
Salt steps slightly behind and to the right of Ellantera, his warhammer, and shield prepared for anything.
He growls deep in his throat and prepares to charge.