Corvin leads you through a small alley between the two houses. After tripping over some animal food dishes, and hearing shouts of keep it quiet out there, you emerge outside the Trick Door. Corvin gives the password, and slips inside to look for Enard. Fortunately, Enard is still there although his stack is considerably smaller than what it had been when Corvin had left. It seems Desna had turned her gaze elsewhere for a while.
As you return to the Rich Fox Tavern and Inn you bring Enard up to speed with your encounter at the warehouse. First you stop by the temple of Pharasma to drop off the former prisoners for care by the clerics of the temple. Then you continue on. All is quiet.
When you enter the tavern, you spy a familiar face at the bar...
Savendir scans the tavern for familiar faces. Particularly the companions of the missing traveler.
While he looks, he likely spies Urzur, sitting at the bar and having a drink. He looks back, and lifts up a hand. "...There you guys are. The hell took you?"
Flavia gives a whoop and dashes over to give the big guy a hug, wincing when doing so pains her various injuries. "You missed all the fun. You'd have loved it! We lived, mostly."
He gives Flavia a short hug back, patting her on the back somewhat stiffly. "Nah, you're the ones who missed out. River doesn't have a damn crocodile left in it. Made damn sure of it."
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Rokuro sees Flavia dash across the room and he gives Urzur a nod. Walking more calmly towards him than Flavia did, he catches the last remark about crocodiles.
"I am very glad to hear that, it bodes well for our journey home. You have returned to us just in time, for we have just caught our first real break. Although figuring out how to follow up on that break is going to be difficult it seems".
"We should speak somewhere privately," Savendir suggests.
Flavia looks around the bar to see if the gentlemen she and Mason had spoken with earlier were still around.
"I don't remember this guy at all... Was I there? How drunk was I?"
As Flavia looks about the bar, she sees one of the gentleman whose companion they found earlier come in from outside. Savendir sees a table in a corner that seems far enough away from the few other patrons that you can speak without being overheard.
"Well, hey, Urzur. You missed a heck of a time this evening." Mason winces.
Flavia approaches the man who is just entering. "Excuse me, but we may have found your friend. We took him to the temple of Pharasma for healing, as he was unconscious, and left him under their care. He was being held captive."
"So I've heard. You guys gonna' tell or do I just get to wonder?" he replies with a nod to Mason.
The man looks started and relieved as Flavia informs him of the fate of his friend. He turns and hurries back out the door. Urzur's mug is about empty.
Savendir tells Urzur of what they found in the warehouse. He explains that is appears this group, whoever they are, is abducting people to meet some sort of demand. He references the ledger they found in the warehouse.
"Now it remains to be determined where they are taking the prisoners. We have little in the way of leads beyond the warehouse. Perhaps we can observe their operatives and find out more of what they are up to."
"We could always start breaking heads." Urzur comments, looking solemnly into his nearly empty cup of ale. "If you kill enough of the them, someone important'll show up to investigate. Then ya' lop off an arm or two from them and get information out of 'em."
"We could always start breaking heads." Urzur comments, looking solemnly into his nearly empty cup of ale. "If you kill enough of the them, someone important'll show up to investigate. Then ya' lop off an arm or two from them and get information out of 'em."
"I could always, uh, just squeeze 'em for information."
Flavia joins the group at the corner table in time to hear Corvin's remark. She looks between him and Urzur. "Are you guys related? You sound a lot alike."
She sits carefully to avoid jostling her incompletely healed wounds. "We're close, friends. Three days - we have caught up a great deal from the cold month we thought we were delayed! That's encouraging. But where from here? I doubt they'll continue their operation now that it's been disrupted. Some things are bothering me about the whole incident tonight."
"First, that nasty cleric had two holy symbols, one that he was really using, I think, the other of Pharasma. I wonder if he was in cahoots with that 'oracle', or at the very least taking advantage of the pilgrims."
"The other is that the town guard never showed up. Maybe we were far enough out of the way that they didn't hear and didn't have a patrol. But still... do we report what happened, or keep it quiet?"
"The other issue is that the town guard didn't seem to take these things seriously or follow up on them, despite the many disappearances. We're here for an evening and find it. They are either grossly incompetent or actively participating." Flavia's expression doesn't leave much question of what she thinks of gendarmes.
"Some of the tracks I found at the site of the skirmish lead to the temple of Pharasma. They were standoffish when questioned. I am not sure if they can be trusted, either. Especially when there are folk about who wear the sign of the spiral but serve another master."
"You tracked people back to the Temple of Pharasma... where we left the injured man? I have a bad feeling about this!"
Flavia joins the group at the corner table in time to hear Corvin's remark. She looks between him and Urzur. "Are you guys related? You sound a lot alike."
"Nah, but I like this guy already. Speaks my language."
Urzur listens quietly to the debate, offering his input only just now. "If you guys think we got a fake church, we should raid it. Just to be safe."
"I'm too injured to go out again tonight, and I think that goes for most of the rest of the group here, besides you. I hope Mason has learned a lesson about going off alone! Maybe we should hit the hay and reconvene tomorrow morning?" Flavia drains her mug and sets it on the table with a thump.
Corvin heads back to his room early in the conversation. Once there, he makes a mental note to find another cloak in the morning, props himself up in a corner, and tries to sleep.
"Sounds good. Mug's empty anyways. See you guys tomorrow." He stands up, stretches, and heads back to his room for a good night's sleep.
The sun rises, and the inn begins to stir as breakfast is made. Most of the tables are taken by pilgrims who have come to hear Cerpera the oracle speak. There are two tables near each other that can be pulled together to make a space large enough for all of you. As you make your way to the table you can hear snippets of conversation.
"...Cerpera speaks at noon. I want to go early to be near the front."
"...does the Korvosan leadership not even care what she..."
"Are you going to finish that bacon?"
"Where do we go from here?" Savendir asks. "We could learn something by hearing this Cerpera, but I'm not so sure whether she the abductions are in any way connected to her activities. It is probably worth checking out."
"Or do we head back to the warehouse and see what has transpired since we were there?"
"Why not do both?" Flavia offers cheerily, "We could split up.... Nah, just kidding. But we could stop by the warehouse first, then go see Cerpera. I'm interested in seeing if we recognize anyone there. I'd also like to check on the fate of the guy we left at the temple of Pharasma. But then there are the lovely local gendarmes. Should we stop by and speak with them, maybe after we check out the warehouse?" She hums happily while she crunches her bacon. "This is so much better than real work!"
As the others focus on figuring out what to do, Urzur sets to the task of practically inhaling his meal. Finishing with a belch, he chimes in with an idea he doesn't think anyone brought up yet. "How about we talk to the guards, too? Weren't they needing to explain somethin' or... somethin'? Maybe after them gender-arms or whatever."
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Rokuro eats a small breakfast of scrambled eggs and water.
"I agree that we need to go and watch Cerpera speak. Both to find out what she is about and to see if we recognise anyone there. But we should also swing past both the Temple and the Warehouse to check on things as well. Which order should we do it in? I would probably say the Temple, then Cerpera, then the Warehouse".
"Mmm, Cerpera starts at noon, right? I'm sure we can swing by both the Temple and Warehouse before we go see her, don't you think?"
"Indeed. Let's visit the temple first."
Flavia pushes back her chair and grabs an apple. "Right. I'll be ready in a jiffy." She returns to her room to grab gear and then meets the rest in front of the hotel, ready to move out. "I should swing by the stable with this apple, too, if it's on the way. It'll keep, though."
As the others focus on figuring out what to do, Urzur sets to the task of practically inhaling his meal. Finishing with a belch, he chimes in with an idea he doesn't think anyone brought up yet. "How about we talk to the guards, too? Weren't they needing to explain somethin' or... somethin'? Maybe after them gender-arms or whatever."
Corvin staggers downstairs half an hour after everyone else, dropping himself on a stool in the corner. At Urzur's pronouncement, he turns to Flavia.
"Somethin' tells me this kid's a few bricks short of a deck of cards."
He grabs several apples from a bowl, and eats every part of them, including the cores and stems.
Flavia nods in agreement at Corvin. "Yeah, it's been going around."
"Decks of cards don't have bricks..." Urzur mutters to himself, before going to go grab his stuff for the day as well.
18 Lamashan 4711
You finish your breakfast and head out toward the temple. It is about mid morning and the streets are beginning to get busy. You make your way toward the fountain.
When you reach the town square, you can see a small crowd has already begun to form. Vendors have already set up their stands and are selling all types of wares.
Velvet ropes define a lane between the Temple of Pharasma and the fountain. You make your way around the other side of the fountain toward the temple.
Corvin wraps a horse blanket around himself before heading outside, and keeps an eye out for anyone selling proper cloaks.
"Wow, it's getting crowded already. Maybe we won't have time to stop by the warehouse, not if we want to get close enough to see the speaker," Flavia frets, "Let's hurry and find out how our 'friend' is."
She'll wait long enough for Corvin to get a cloak, then knock at the Temple door, or enter if the door is open for all to do so.
As the group circles the fountain, Corvin spots a tailor. The tailor has a nice array of clothing available. Traveler's outfits are 1 gp for a complete set. With a little haggling, he may be willing to sell you just a cloak for 2 silver.
A few moments pass after Flavia knocks before the door opens. An elderly female cleric opens the door. "May Pharasma send her blessings upon you. How may I help you?" she asks.
As the group circles the fountain, Corvin spots a tailor. The tailor has a nice array of clothing available. Traveler's outfits are 1 gp for a complete set. With a little haggling, he may be willing to sell you just a cloak for 2 silver.
Corvin slams two silvers onto the tailor's counter.
"GIMME A CHEAP ONE."
Haggling really isn't his style.
"Er... good morning, Sister. We left an injured comrade here unconscious last night and were stopping by to check on him. May we speak to Samlin?"