With Sabert and Fethril joining the others at the table Na'alu smiles fiercely. "Excellent! You five are the last we'll be taking for the day then. Time to get busy, hahaha!" He directs you and the other five to a crew leader. Finding the dock where the Aspis Consortium’s riverboats are being prepared is a simple task, as the operation is large enough in scope to have most of the city talking about it. Three large sailing vessels sit in the river slips. All three are serviced by a large warehouse, which contains pallets of food and barrels of water.
The dock is bustling with porters packing supplies into crates and building pallets to be loaded onto the boats using an overhead winch. While working alongside the dockworkers guarantees you access to look around, opportunities to actually sabotage the operation in a meaningful way without being seen are slim. You must wait for the workers to leave, which they do either at the end of the workday and shortly after midday (when the jungle heat becomes too great for manual
labor).
While moving crates around each of you notices a small locked chest tucked out of the way in a warehouse.
|
During the workday, Aura would spend her time working, but also making a count of guards, what their patrol routes were, and their faces. Things might be different at night, of course, but this kind of information would always be helpful. Aura would also take the opportunity to mark the crates she moved with a small symbol on the bottom using a palmed dagger.
When the lunch break occurs, Aura will share the symbol she marked the crates with and then whisper "Cover for me. Tell them I was going to use the bathroom if they ask." then slip into the warehouse, relying on her training in stealth and perception to guide her back to the chest. Moving quickly and quietly, she would pick the lock on the chest and then open it.
|
Despite the unbearable humidity of the jungle climate and the sun bearing down on the team, Sabert does his best to keep spirits up throughout the work day. He sings his songs and tells jokes, trying to make the grueling work easier for everyone. Come lunch, he finds himself sitting in a small group in the shade and drinking from his waterskin. He keeps his ears open, hoping that his antics through the day would put some of the locals at ease enough to speak freely.
Aura manages to make it back to the chest, only throwing herself against a wall once to avoid the guards and their pet hyena. Unfortunately her picks keep slipping off the tumblers in the chest and she can't quite make it catch.
There appear to be five different guards, one of which has a hyena on a leash. Luckily none of them have caught sight of Aloysia...yet.
Aura safely makes it back to the group and opens the chest in a quiet corner. The chest contains 10 doses of wolfsbane poison and a small chest containing a potion of barkskin[I/] (CL 9th) and an [I]elixir of swimming. This all may come in handy considering your need to cripple the Aspis Consortium's expedition.
Aura slips upstairs avoiding the wandering eyes of the patrolling guards, their watchful captain, and their hyena. She filters through the papers, and finds that they are very...discrete about the destination. The papers also reveal that the consortium is sending a lot of manpower along with the expedition, and gives some final numbers as to how many supplies are going to be put onto the ship. Luckily the amount of scratching out that has occurred on the page means it can be easily changed.
|
|
Sabert gives an aggrieved look to Fethril. "Of course I am!!" he exclaims "Its this damned heat and humidity! My heads swimming in all the vapor in this air, and it affects my vocal chords!!"
He gives out another sound.. more akin to a caterwaul this time.. and loud enough that those close by have to cover their ears at the atrocity. If I can just get those guards over hear.. He clears his throat, then gives it another go.
Sabert's caterwauling and screeching, so unlike him, bring jeers and boos from all corners, even from Aura as she slips back into the provided lunch without bein noticed.
The rest of the day goes by relatively quickly and it doesn't look like anyone has noticed the changes made by the time you receive your pay.
|
|
Sabert finally finds his voice on the way back to the tavern.. and acts like he's going to give Fethril a kick in the rump for his comment. He does this with a smile though, before launching into one of the elf's favored tunes.
Back at the tavern, he relaxes a little while waiting for a serving girl to bring his dinner over.
With the day successfully completed everyone has a chance to relax and slip into their cover stories again, playing the parts of merchants, big game hunters, and so on.
|
|
Sitting back in the tavern, Sabert thinks back over the note posted on the wall, wracking his brain to figure out what is so odd about it.
Reward: 342 Gold Pieces to be paid by the bounty poster, Kreighton Shaine, upon return of his valuables.
DC 10 Intelligence:
Terra Fas DeQuere is not any language known
in the Inner Sea. Also the reward amount is both too small for such a job and strangely specific.
DC 12 Intelligence:
The words “mixed up” in the listing are a strange addition, and thus significant.
DC 14 Intelligence:
The words “search every part of Bloodcove” could be suggesting that the answer is a location in the city.
DC 16 Intelligence:
Merchant-owned buildings in Warehouse Row and Free Trade Square are assigned numeric identifiers instead of names, as they change hands frequently. In Bloodcove, these tend to be two or three digits long
After spending most of the evening's relaxation musing over the board, he thinks he has it figured out and catches his friends eyes one by one. As he gets their attentions, he motions in the general direction of their rooms. Once everyone has indicated understanding, he moves towards the stairway affecting a huge yawning stretch.
"I'm off to bed.. Don't be up too late now, lady and gents!"
Reaching his room, he lights a candle and waits for the rest of the group to show up so they can speak freely!
Awareness level: Minor
Sabert explains the next morning, Terra Fas DeQuere,” is actually an anagram of “Free Trade Square". The gold value, being so specific, is likely the market stall where the dead drop for the information is. You're looking for market stall #342 in Free Trade Square.
You remember Venture Captain Aya mentioning a potential ally in Novaria of House Cartahegn. Asking around you easily locate House Cartahegn's headquarters and head there forthwith. House Cartahegn is based in an imposing two-story trading post in the northeastern part of the city. The storefront bustles with citizens and merchants alike, most purchasing staple commodities such as sugar and rice. A busy clerk greets customers as they enter and provides helpful directions to any who ask.