"You all attacked us! We just are defending ourselves is all! Who are you, anyway? Come on - let us go, and we will go back to Galt and never return, we promise!"
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Hinkle will go and stabilize any of the fallen men that are still breathing as they round up the men they were fighting. "Seems like a very aggressive defense for burned out building. If you are from Galt then please explain why you are ferociously defending a building in Adoran that has little to no value. If this is some sort of invasion force we have no choice but to turn you into the local authorities."
"Umm, you better talk to Enderios."
They lead you inside to meet their leader.
This charred husk of a structure was probably once beautiful. Stone bas-reliefs depicting Aroden and Chelish military victories line the high reaches of the walls, though what little remains of a second floor is now sealed off by the collapsed roof. Despite the rest of the house’s decrepit state, the floor is swept clean yet water-stained, and a stack of bedrolls and knapsacks are piled just beside the stairs.
A fair-featured human woman in her thirties with curly black hair and a fashionable sky-blue Andoren dress, sits on the lowest stairs with her hands tied before her, with a man holding the other end of the 30-foot-long rope. She is reading a book. It appears this is Thalia, and you assume the man to be the leader, Enderios.
Enderios stands guard with his sword drawn but lowered. He is an olive-skinned young man in a long red woolen coat. In a thick Galtan accent, he says "What is going on here, men?"
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Ēoswulf eyes the hidden door for a moment before disregarding it and turning to the captain of the thugs. "We have bested your men and we can easily best you as well. I suggest you surrender and hand over the captive unharmed."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Very well, I'll not need to be fightin' you, be tell me who do you be?"
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"We are agents hired to locate Thalia Andares, heir to the Sauerton Red wine fortune and daughter of Consul Tercio Andares. We presume that is who you are, lass." Dunbar firmly states shifting his gaze from the leader to the young lady.
"Lass, we would like to return you to your family, so if you wish to grab your copy of the essays of Alysande Benedict and any other items these bandits allowed you, we could be on our way..."
"Yes, I am Thalia, but I don't think they believe me," the girl says.
Then the man says, "We are taking this prisoner back to Galt to stand trial."
He goes on to say that he is detaining an escaped fugitive from the Red Revolution at the request of his employer, who has insisted on remaining uninvolved for security reasons.
"And what is your intention with her?"
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"To free her. I expect she will return to her father, but she is a free Andoren woman after all."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"OK, very well then. She is free to go. I was not really convinced that she committed the crimes we were supposed to arrest her for. Something just isn't adding up."
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"Sounds like you were being manipulated. Tell us who hired you and we'll gladly make them pay for it."
-Posted with Wayfinder
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"Indeed. If someone else is pulling the strings here we want to deal with them so this doesn't happen again."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Listen, I am sure this lady is lovely, and I am willing to let her go, but I am into this for too much money to walk away. You pay 50 gold for my expenses and I will walk away, and tell you the name of my employer."
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"You have a lot of gall to negotiate with us in this situation... Lets make it 25 gold."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Sorry, I am in too deep..."
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Ēoswulf gives the man a stern glare, then looks to his companions, as if to get their permission to pay the man.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"It was a brown-haired Taldan man and giving the name Alfree Bunglot. Here, I think I have the contract you can examine as well."
He hands you a piece of paper. It has written instructions which bear a few trace smudges of alchemical reagents. The letter contains instructions on how to slip into the Andares house unnoticed and where to hide Thalia until further notice.
You recognize the reagents enough that you know how to ask the right questions. Make a successful DC 15 Diplomacy or Knowledge (local) check to know more.
With a little deduction, and some quick questions around the neighborhood, Eoswulf is able to determine that there is only one shop nearby that specializes in the reagents used in the letter.
Thalia asks if she can join you, interested in learning who orchestrated this plot.
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Ēoswulf frowns. "It will be dangerous."
"But first, what is behind this door..." he approaches the door and almost opens it, then pauses. "Do you think it's trapped, Fillia?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
The door is not trapped, and does indeed lead to an obviously forgotten cellar. Damp, moldy rafters barely hold up the ceiling of this 15-foot-square cellar, and already the supports sag under the weight of the earth above. The few remaining shelves and wine racks in this room are equally decayed but still support several dozen bottles of decades-old wine of good vintage.
You notice that a section of the wall is plugged up with slightly different colored earth than the rest, and much of the walls have crumbled. With a little effort, you find a leather sack tied shut, and inside, a locked iron box.
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"Who owns this property? I can probably fetch a good price for this wine; if I can take it."
-Posted with Wayfinder
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"All's I know is, tis good te back in te warm embrace of mudder Earth..." Dunbar exclaims when under ground again.
"AN wha is dat der?!" the fighter says questioningy, pointing at section of the wall is plugged up with slightly different colored earth than the rest. He approaches and investigates, picking with his thick, calloused fingers at the abnormality.
With a little effort, Dunbar finds a leather sack tied shut, and inside, a locked iron box.
"Wonder wa's inside?! Or if its trapped?" looking at Fillia.
You find no trap, but the lock is a little rusty.
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Ēoswulf has neither the skill to open locks nor any oil. "I can perhaps force the lock if we can't otherwise open it."
-Posted with Wayfinder