Tristan sighs wistfully. "Merely thinking aloud, 'Bishop'..."
Honestly, what am I even doing with these people? I suppose I can't return home. If one of the tavern patrons gave the Hellknights my description, then the Via Siltpetra isn't safe for me right now...
"I did mention it was a long story." Bishop then turns to Lucius. "This must be some kind of coincidence then."
"Where are my manners, Miss Amelia. I'm sorry about your boy too."
Ember elbows Bishop in the thigh.
"I think we're going to have all night at least to trade stories. Likely going to be an increase in patrols tonight as they search for the lot of us. Best to lay low until tomorrow at least."
Tristan nods at Ember's suggestion. "Smartest thing I've heard all day."
The witch looks around the dilapidated room. "Looks homey."
"Ow, what in tarnation.." Bishop looks down at Ember while rubbing his thigh. "Yea, we'll figure out what to do in the mornin'. So darlin, where do ya want me to begin?"
"Start with how you got kicked out and what you gotta do to get back in."
Amelia hesitates a moment and then relents.
"If you were with them, you would have killed me already. My son's name was Grimm, Grimm Sharpest. He was friends with another boy by the name of Orsin. Did you know him?"
Tristan's ears perk up at Amelia's questions.
"The opera singer?"
"So you've heard of him?"
"Not many knew it but he was more than a performer. He was a member of the Children of Westcrown and a novice Pathfinder. He aspired to leave this damned place behind but... he died after the Fall."
"...I remember seeing him at a brothel where my mother worked when I was just a child. He was with a group of people...I wonder if they too were among the Children?"
The dwarven woman shakes her head.
"Some of them, yes. I'm afraid I don't know much more. I only know them by name. That's all Grimm used to tell me."
"Sorry Ma'am, can't say I did."
"Alright, so a few years ago, I was on this mission. We had your typical group. Kyra - the priestess of Sarenrae, Ursus - the brawler, and a wizard by the name of Daxter. Now, Kyra is a sweetheart and Ursus is a good old boy. We've drank many a pint together. But Daxter, was sinister. Calling him ruthless would be an understatement. So we were fighting this horde of undead, and while we did our best to fight them off, they were still spawnin'. So our "pragmatic" wizard decided to drop a ball of fire right on our heads. Now Ursus barely took a scratch, but the spell took me out. It almost damn near killed me. So after the fight after Kyra healed me and I woke up, I was furious. I grabbed that Cheliaxian and beat him within an inch of his miserable life. And long story short I got kicked out for Pathfinder versus Pathfinder violence. He convinced the hire ups that he did what he had to and it wasn't personal. While I broke one of our three tenets. That bein' Cooperate." Bishop takes a flask out and sips from it.
"So I spent the last few years not really doin' much. Spending the last of my pay drinking, whorin, and gamblin'. Oh and fightin'. Til I got a letter from the Decemvirate tellin' me that they want to give me one last chance. They said if I investigated Westcrown and "secured" Delvehaven, I could be an agent again. And here I am, talkin' to you."
Aleixica snorts quietly to herself when she realizes Amelia's son had the same name as the wolf.
Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh...
"Strange. I'm curious about Delvehaven too. Trying to help a friend out. Maybe we can work together."
"Well, I think I'd be upset too if someone went and dropped a big ball of fire right on top of me. So I can't blame you for wanting to take a few shots at that wizard. Also sounds like the Pathfinders view you as expendable now if they sent you on that kinda mission here all alone.
Any chance that if you succeed the Pathfinders will actually set up a base here again and maybe help smuggle slaves out of the city? "
"Anyone got any ideas as to where this "Delvehaven" place is?"
"Well, I still lost my temper and we're not allowed strike one another barrin' magic shenanigans. The only reason he got away with it was becuz he ended up winnin' the fight for us. I didn't have to take this mission, I wasn't one of them anymore. I wanted to do it. I think that if I do good here, they would want to reopen the lodge out here. As far as helpin smuggle slaves out, even if they don't help, you can count on me. I'm no Andoran, but someone once said 'Freedom is the right of all sentient beins'."
"No idea where it is, but if anyone does, I'm also interested in checking it out. Like I said, I owe a favor to a ... friend."
"Thanks, I'd rather be able to abolish slavery, but helping some escape is the best I think I can manage."
"Sometimes that's all anyone can ask fer." Bishop starts ponderin. "Hey, there's got to be supplies around here somewhere. The safe houses always had resources fer trapped agents." Bishop starts searchin the place.
"So Melia, who were the others that paled around with your son before all this went down? You said you knew their names right?" Bishop asks while searching for hidden caches.
Amelia nodded.
"I swore I'd never forget them in honor of my son. There was the warriors John, Lucrezia, and an Orc named Truk. And then there was the spellcasters, Andrea, Faelyn, and Orsin. He said there was others too but that they were less involved."
"I imagine most of them are dead now", she said sadly.
"That's a shame, I'm sorry Ma'am. Any idea what they were up to exactly?"
She shakes her head.
"I... I shouldn't say. It's not that I don't trust you. It's just that you knowing would put a friend in danger..."
"C'mon, we just saved you from Hellknights. You'd probably be in more danger if you didn't tell us. " Bishop looks to his more charismatic and pretty comrades in the room to take over.
"Perhaps we can help your friend?"
"It's obvious that we aren't with the HellKnights or anything. I can promise we aren't going to go around shouting out that kind of information."
Lucius perks up at his sister's name. Did you say Lucrezia? What do you know of her?
Amelia hesitates and before looking at each of you.
"Maybe you can help him..."
"My friend is waging a personal war on the nobility of Westcrown. I think he believes they're responsible for what's happened here - for all the pain and lives that have been lost. For years now he's been stalking and killing members of the noble houses living in the Holy sector... when he isn't watching over me."
"Only now I think he's gone too far. The young man he's after is innocent in all of this. I tried explaining that to him but he wouldn't listen. He stormed off swearing that 'He'd have his Justice'."
Lucius perks up at his sister's name. Did you say Lucrezia? What do you know of her?
"Just her name and that she was a fighter. I think her and the Orc were lovers. Grimm said he was her stud."
"Who's yer friend and where can we find him? Who's he after?"
"Do you know who the man is?" Aleixica asks. "Perhaps we can get him to safety? Or use him as a way to capture your friend?"
Ember will search the place as well. "Wonder if there are any hidden compartments in this place? Seems like there would be, it being a secret lair and all."
Lucius lays off the questioning once he knows the lady doesn't know anything.
Amelia gives the sigh of a person that's already gone too far to turn back.
"His name is David. He's the last living heir of the Grulio family. He lives in what's left of his family's holdings in the Priest's sector but you can't go, it will be very dangerous."
"Even if you could get to him before my friend does you'd have to get past his security and the Hellknights."
While the discussion is underway, Ember, Alexica, and Bishop make a few discoveries, namely a handful of additional hidden doorways in the walls of this chamber. The doors are hinge-less and there appears to be immediate way to open them. The biggest of these hidden doorways is on the wall with the glyph of the open road.
"Well if your friend can get to him, so can we."
"We can handle ourselves. I'm sure we'll be fine. Also, is anyone here capable of dispelling magic? I am incrediably curious about the hidden compartments, but they appear to be quite well guarded with both magical and mundane traps."
"Who's yer friend and where can we find him?
"You wouldn't know him. He usually finds me."
Bishop just shakes his head. "Nah, darlin. The only magic I do is with my hands. Not the kind useful for gettin rid of traps though."
"Yer hidin somethin, Miss Amelia. We can't help ya if ya keep secrets from us."
"I can ask Desna to handle the magical traps, I suppose. Every once in a while she does something I want her to. I can't do much about the mundane traps, though."
"Desna?"
"Can you send him a message that you need to talk to him?"
Desna answers Aleixica's prayer and grants her the means to try to disable the trap. Something goes wrong and a blast of magical feedback slams into her.
Ember looks at Bishop's hands. "Well, now I wonder what sort of magic you can do with them..."
Looking over at Aleixica: "I can try to deal with any mundane traps. Heck I can even handle some magical ones, but these look real tough and nasty if I fail."
"Heh. Just let me know when you'd like to find out darlin."
"Can you send him a message that you need to talk to him?"
"Even if I could, I don't think he'd listen to me at this point."
"I don't think it worked," Aleixica says with a moue. "But it might have disarmed it in the attempt? I'm not sure..."
"I'll give it a try Aleixica. Keep your fingers crossed. As for you Bishop, don't worry, I'll be sure to let you know when.'
Ember makes an attempt to disable the trap.
Ember feels like she's making progress but has to stop when the glyph starts to glow and get warm under her hands.
"Lookin forward to it."
"Oooohhh kay.......Maybe we will try this again later. That was a close one."
Ember feels like she's making progress but has to stop when the glyph starts to glow and get warm under her hands.