"There is a degree of safety in numbers." Cynthia observed as she stepped out onto the docks. "At the very least, we may wish to find local clothing to help us blend in with the crowds." This didn't seem like a city where it would be very good to stick out.
Thalion stretches as they disembark from the boat. He looks around with great curiosity. At Cynthia's words, Thalion looks over his own wardrobe and compares it against those he sees about him. "Adrianna, do you think we stick out? What supplies would we need?"
Victor thinks back to what he has read of Riddleport, and quickly attempts to recall what the current fashion is.
"I think a place to stay is more important than clothing at this instance, blending won't be a problem if we have a room."
"Riddleport features all kinds of folks from all over but is also known for being run by criminal gangs and is a common hangout for pirates. Traveling together as a group should keep most at bay but you can never be sure. Openly displaying wealth is a sure way to invite trouble here unless you have strong bodyguards with you."
Thalion gives Adrianna a mischevious look, and leans in to whisper to her. "You mean like when you held out that bag of gold for us to take?" With a wink at the guide, he steps back and continues to look about in wonder at the port. "I like Riven's idea about getting a place first. Perhaps there's a temple of Erastil here with someone I can talk to."
Cynthia, meanwhile, was simply thinking back to each scrap of information she'd heard about the local attitudes and behaviors of citizens. With enough information of that type, she ought to be able to blend in quite convincingly, and she could always quietly observe people in order to get more.
Flare looked down at her own clothing. Armor in the Hermean colors, peaced both under and over her working uniform, still somehow tattered with with bits and pieces of plaster, despite the long trip.
"I'm not so sure I won't fit in here." She shrugs lightly. "A well-armed craftswoman seems at home here, right..?"
Dressed as you are you should be able to not stick out to much so long as you don't do anything to draw attention to yourselves. You look like a band of mercenaries or adventurers which are common enough here.
Thalion stretches as the group continues away from the dock. "Well, shall we go find..." The cleric pauses in thought. Then, he turns to Andrianna. "Er, I think I'm lost." He frowns as he continues. "In fact, I think I've been lost ever since we set foot on that boat. Do you know where things are in this town? Like a safe place to stay? The temples? Food?"
"I am not familiar with this place other than what I learned about it during my studies of politics."
"Then I guess the best thing to do is pretend that we know what we're doing." Flare slipped off the ship, and began immediately looking for any stones that happened to be hanging around; she'd been without any sort of stone to work for... it seemed like forever.
Cynthia, meanwhile, was going around inquiring about work - most any task that needed doing and could at least pay for somewhere one could rest their head. Her explanation for this - when she was closer to the others - was simple. People who were looking for basic labor tended to not be rich to start with, and would be less-tempting targets than richer interlopers. So the theory went, anyway.
You head into town and you manage to not draw to much attention to yourselves. A few eyes linger on your group but seeing you move togheter they move on to look for easier targets. You eventually find a decent place to stay you rent some rooms and Andrianna settles in her room.
Riven is relived when they get their own room away from the eyes thay scanned them earlier.
"Now what?"
"Find Sloanne and Malcom?" Thalion answers immediately. Then, more sheepishly, he adds. "I know, I know. What do we do to find them?" The young man shrugs helplessly. Suddenly, he frowns at a thought. "Ooh, and would we just be leading the bad guys to them, if we try to find them ourselves in so direct a manner?"
"That is a distinct possibility, yes." Cynthia said, continuing to think. She had a few ideas for what to do, though some of them would require them to split up... and instinct told her that such a suggestion wasn't a good idea right now.
Flare nonchalantly carved a random piece of brick-work she'd found, mostly oblivious to the world. Someone would 'wake her' when they'd decided on something. She could be a leader. She... could. But she didn't have the smarts everyone else did. She needed them to have the ideas, before she could push for one of them. If she was even going to be a leader. It was a lot easier to just be a friend. And right now, it was a lot easier to just zone out with art than be angry.
Thalion gets up and starts pacing. "I mean, we know nothing of this place nor anyone here. How do we go about finding someone as strangers in a strange place, without letting people know we're trying to find that someone?" He pauses as he sees Flare carving away at the brick, and peers over to see if he can work out what she's carving.
"What if we, er, um...What if we go visit a few taverns? Someone may have something to say, and a drink or two always smooths the way for some chitchat! Nevermind, that's a stupid idea." He peers over at the brains of the outfit, to see if they have anything more reasonable in mind.
Victor shrugs slightly "Actually, visiting a tavern isn't all bad, I'm sure innkeepers keep records as to who stays there...although then again he could be using a false name in which case we could never find him, unless he left a hint somewhere for Andrianna to find him"
"You can also hire a local." Cynthia mused, glancing up. "There are always men who know how to... find other people. It usually costs a few coins, but I'd be very surprised if we couldn't find someone who knows the city well and can help us track down just about anyone."
"Wouldn't that raise questions as to who we want or why? I think it's wise to keep quite on the subject but I don't know if we could find him on our own so it's hard to say."
Thalion looks wide-eyed at the brains of the group as they ran with the idea. "Actually, I was just thinking we should be, well, less like strangers here, and frequenting taverns and markets would be a good way to start getting to know this place." The cleric grins at his friends. "May be we should get some food and drink and take in this town for a night. It might inspire us to further ideas!"
"Food sounds good." Flare said, not looking up from her work.
Riven nodded.
"If that's what you think is best, I'm far from my element here."
"We all are." She continues chiseling. "I'd guess just about anywhere will work. If we're going to try to blend in."
Thalion smiles at Riven and winks mischievously. "I do think food is best, but you all come pretty close." Then, with a more serious tone, he continues. "I feel lost here, too. I hope I'll feel less so after tonight, even if it's just a little bit less." The cleric stretches before heading toward the door. "Come on. What are we waiting for?"
You go down to the common room of the Inn were Andrianna is staying a place called the green table. This place is in one of the more reputable district of riddleport near the runemage academy. You order some food and drink and continue to discuss your options. How does one go about finding an old master and his student that most likely don't want to be found in a place were asking to many questions can get you stabbed.
As the group chats over food and drinks, Thalion looks about, and tries to find some more sociable folks who might be open to a bit of chitchat for a drink or three.
"Hey, mind if I have some coins? I'd like to mingle a bit, and, um..." Thalion flushes, embarrassed by the need for the request, "...I'm rather short on coins right now."
Watch the Marks, Victor mutters to himself as he keeps a close eye on it. If nothing else, it would act as an early warning alarm system if they ran into a Mantis agent.
Flare headed down with everyone, dressed in her oddly half-work, half-military attire. Anyone looking at her as a potential mark would likely have a hard time figuring her out. The inattention to her surroundings would likely mark her as an easy hit, but at the same time, her posture, and her constant small and precise movements in working on her art, coupled with the strange polearm she still had in easy reach would likely dissuade them from risking jostling her. Hell hath no fury like an artist whose art was just damaged irreparably.
She continued to work slowly at the piece, given that it was a brick, there was a lot more real-estate to work with than had been in the pewter figures. Details were a lot harder than the pewter, and the inconsistencies of the materials made things slightly more difficult, but multiple individual shapes were 'coming to life' so to speak, in the bas-relief carving in the brick's face.
"Good idea Thalion, we should each carry some in case someone gets robbed."
If Riven had the coins she would try to divide it without being seen.
With a boyish grin on his face from the new found wealth, Thalion looks around for potential new friends willing to share some drinks, and hopefully gossip about the town and its happenings.
Cynthia quietly made a few rounds through the area, asking a question here and a query there in an apparently nonsensical pattern that still seemed to make sense for her - and she didn't seem to be doing a terribly bad job of finding out what she wanted to know, either, so there was probably a method to her madness. Oooooor she was just messing with everyone's heads again - always a possibility.
Meanwhile, Thalion looks for the happiest looking group, and offers to buy them a round and invites himself to their table to chat, letting them carry the conversations and find out what are the naturally occurring gossips around town.
Flare continues to work on her art, looking up from it occasionally, and keeping her ears open, as it were. She's certainly not her normal jubilant self.
Cynthia hummed slightly as she returned to the common area. "Well, I found out some interesting things." she said cheerfully, once she'd made sure there were no outsiders listening in. "It looks like we need to talk to the leader of the Cyphermages - might be hard without an appointment, but I think we can convince them to let us in."
Flare nodded perceptibly, but didn't look up from her bas-relief. Sure, she was thrust into this quest... but it didn't seem to be making her decide to thrust herself into it.
Thalion draws a blank on the Cyphermages, but trusts Cynthia and others either knows or will work out some idea of who they are. In the meantime, Thalion continues to balance time at the table and time mingling with others, doing his best to befriend the locals and catch up on their news and gossips.
Once the gold was taken care of everyone went their own way she would stay with flare hoping to figure out what they were going to do with all that's been dropped on them.
"I've about as much idea as you." Flare said, perhaps reading Riven's mind, without really looking up. "I'm never gonna be the brains. And with all this... crap... it just stacks up. I have no idea what we're doing... or even why." She shrugs a little. "All I wanna do right now, is grieve in peace."
After a brief pause, she spoke up again, "But... I'm just so angry all the time. I know I shouldn't be... but everything was taken from us. We don't even know whether we passed our test. Now we're in what's considered to be one of the roughest places in the world, looking for people we've never met, to do something we know nothing about. If someone had bothered to tell us anything... it might be different." She continued to take her time with the artwork, even though it was clear that her emotions were turbulent, at best.
"Well, I see no reason to give up just because something's a challenge. The world doesn't always roll over and do what you want it to." Cynthia observed. "What did we train for if not dealing with the unexpected?"
"Good question. What -did- we train for?" Flare asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Thalion scratches his head a the question. "I thought it was to pass the test so we can be citizens. Wait. But now we got booted anyway. Kind of."
The cleric scrunges his face at the thought. "If we want to make connections, I hear there are pirate problems. Some sort of turf war, from the sound of it."
"I still would like to find someone of the Erastil Order. It'd be good to check in, and see if they can help us with...anything. Actually, I'm not sure what we need help with."
He sighs in obvious helplessness. "I don't know what we're supposed to do..." He downs the rest of the mead, and heads off to find more to drink, and hopefully more news to go with the drinking and socializing.