The group rounds up the smugglers, tying them to each other, but you aren't sure if these makeshift manacles will be able to control them all the way back to Saltmarsh. Even disarmed, it is not unthinkable that one of them could slip his restraints and make a run for it.
Wolfram, an old hand at helping out around the docks, knew dozens of knots. He quickly bound the men together in a fashion they would be unable to escape without a knife.
Shall we disembark? If none of us knows how to sail a small boat, we can probably get the smugglers to do it for us under penalty of being thrown overboard.
"Yes, and that is reasonable."
Allysen doesn't have anything to do with the prisoners they have. She helps load the boat, but she does her best to avoid looking at any of the smugglers lest she give away how greatly the others' treatment of them bothered her.
Katherine assists as necessary but keeps stealing glances over at Allysen to see if she is holding up.
Allysen appears to be holding up for the most part. It seems that the manual labor helps her a bit.
With Belros' help, Wolfram pushes the boat into the shallows and then gets the smugglers organized inside and waits for the others to join them for the short sail back to Saltmarsh.
Grace helped with the loading of the goods and prisoners, and is now patiently waiting to set sail.
Katherine offers Allysen her small hand and urges her towards the boat.
Allysen takes Katherine's hand and follows her to the boat.
You pack everyone on board and take along a few bolts of silk, but have to leave most of the smuggled goods behind in the cave for lack of room. The trip back to Saltmarsh takes a few hours as you maneuver around several outcroppings of land, but finally pull up to the docks. Several fisherman busy on the wharf give you a strange look, while one of the town guards stationed there comes running out to greet you.
"What's all this then? Coming back from a picnic?" he asks wearily from up on the dock holding his loaded crossbow protectively.
"Not quite.", replies Belros as he gestures to the captives to disembark.
The guard spots Wolfram in the boat and seems to relax a bit, but still looks very suspicious. "I know you, Father, but not the rest of you. What's going on here?"
"Joffrey, good man. I trust the missus and the dogs are well. Throw me the line, if you would." Wolfram secures the boat and is first to clamor atop the pier. "A bit of bad fortune, I'm afraid. You may know that these fine folk arrived to Saltmarsh a few days ago and I agreed to be their guide into the narrow wilds outside town. We had travelled north and then circled around to the coast, and our timing was coincidental, as we aroused this group of smugglers stowing their ill-gotten goods along the shore. We arrested them and commandeered their small boat. Now we plan to take them to the constable's office and have them properly imprisoned until such time as they may stand trial. As always, I appreciate your concern in these matters. Would you care to escort us?"
He waves for the rest of the party to bring up the smugglers from the boat and prepares to march them into town.
Allysen does her best to not draw attention to herself, not having the best experiences with guards before or after her time with Ma Belladonna.
The guard seems a bit overwhelmed by the news of the captured smugglers. "Why, er, yes, shouldn't I get the sergeant and some more men? Might need a bit of muscle to get these blokes into the stocks."
"We should be fine.", replies Belros, indeed focused on making sure the smugglers do not try anything foolish.
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"Ah, let not thy heart be troubled, Sergeant," Isagoras pipes up, extricating himself from the boat to the undying gratitude of his stomach.
"These men have been properly chastised and will now conduct themselves as well as might a chaste Devoted of Propoket."
He turns and levels a look at the smugglers. "If they do not want to share the fate of the their former leader, they will now accept each day as a new-found blessing, knowing that their lives will only be counted sweet if they turn their hands to more acceptable professions."
It was legend that Propoket got his start as a deity of merchants, that is why his symbol is the spinning coin. He is even said to have all the power of the coin, which is to say, many powers. The Order reflects this, believing persons of evil can become good in their eyes by servings others, including, and even expecting, generation of wealth via needed goods and services.
The Order is always at odds with taxmen, and that has lead to them not being overly welcomed by agents of crowns...but that is another story.
Grace silently watches over the prisoners, making sure that they see her sword is in her hand and pointed in their direction.
The guardsman seems fine with letting the group act as security in order to transport the smugglers to lockup. He helps each bound man out of the jolly boat, making sure they don't fall overboard and drown.
Once everyone is safely on the wharf, he leads the group into town to the Count's castle. Many people stop and stair at your strange procession, with the braver stepping forward to ask who the shackled men are and what their crimes might be.
One in particular is a young man who looks to be about 13 or 14, who stares at all of you with wide, adoring eyes. "Did you capture priates?" he asks breathlessly.
"Smugglers, caught in the act."
Allysen is the last out of the boat. Instead of the stocks, she heads for a tavern and orders the strongest drink they have.
Katherine notices that Allysen separates and decides to follow her. When she arrives at the tavern, Katherine waits unto Allysen has ordered her drink to join her. Katherine crawls up onto a stool next to the half-elf. "I'm sorry," she says.
"It's not your fault," Allysen says. She waves off the apology and lays her head on the bar, using her arms as a pillow. "I guess I can't blame them for being who they are, but it's disturbing when people you consider allies, maybe even friends, use torture and murder to get what you want when you've always seen those as tools of the most evil person you've ever met."
She takes in a deep breath. Her voice begins to crack as she buries her head into her arms.
"I didn't want to go there," she tells Katherine, "I didn't want to see the horrors places like that hold. Finding you was a pleasant surprise, but the rest of it... I never thought I'd be afraid of my own companions."
Katherine sighs, unsure what to do. For a moment, she remains quiet, but her nature gets the better of her. "Allysen, I... I understand. I don't like killing anyone either. I hope that you don't feel that way about me. I... I mean, we've really only just met, but..." She sighs heavily. "I'm no good at this." She takes Allysen's hand in her own.
Allysen squeezes Katherine's hands and even manages a smile.
"I don't" she tells the ha'folk. "And you're better at this than I am. I don't know what it's like to know everyone you knew is long dead. I've always been alone."
The group (minus Allysen and Katherine) deliver the smugglers into the care of the Watch headquartered at the Baron's castle. You are met there by Captain Phllipa of the Watch, who after ordering her soldiers to take the captured men into custody, takes statements from each of you separately in person.
Lord Belros is happy to describe the entirety of the incident and the background. How their wizard leader was accompanied by gnolls and tried to assail them included.
Wolfram gives an accurate account, leaving nothing out except when and how to signal the Sea Ghost, which he thinks he knows how to do, but won't know for sure until they try, so best left unsaid as it is pure conjecture.
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Isagoras will follow suit, telling things as he saw them.
So too, when their captured leader sought to escape to freedom, Isagoras had no choice but to keep him from committing more evil. Alas that he had no time to extract secrets from him, and all he knew went to the grave with him.
'I should send a message to the Order informing them of my lead,' he thinks.
For when Katherine is called to give her statement:
She gives an accurate accounting of the event from her perspective. omitting the threats that were made to the bad guys by Wolfram (as she does not consider that relevant, as much as to avoid upsetting Allysen).
"You don't have to be alone anymore. Katherine says quietly, turning red. "I'm here."
"Thanks Kat," Allysen says, equally as quiet. She looks at the mug rotgut she'd ordered and wonders if it'd help. She takes on sniff and decides against it, pushing it away to one of the men at the bar. She is about to say something else when the guards to collect them.
Allysen keeps herself calm, surprising herself as she retells what happened and what led up to the capture of the smugglers. She leaves out the visit from the elves, the thief they had found, how they'd found Katherine, and anything about Ma Belladonna. Once she's done, she waits patiently for them to tell her she can go.
Back with Katherine, Allysen looks like she needs a drink and is all too happy to return to the tavern and order some mead. After downing half the mug in silence, Allysen turns to Katherine and holds up a finger.
"Y'know what we should do," she asks, "We should steal ourselves a couple of pirate ships! We keep one and then have a bigger one for the tavern! Then I don't have to worry about pushy bards tryin' sneak into my room, 'cuz they're all on the other ship, y'know? 'S a brrrrilliant plan!"
Grace details the interactions with all the people and/or creatures they saw at the house, and how those interactions ended, as far as she knows.
Katherine smiles unconvincingly. "Pushy bards, heh. Yeah, that's... that's a bad thing." She thinks for a moment, then brightens. "I really think that this inn thing could work. Sure it will be some work fixing the place up, but if they allow us to keep what we found, then we've got a good start on things."
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"...and furthermore, I am claiming the house we have just liberated from the Forces of Evil, and all its contents, under the Rite of Conquest," Isagoras states to the law enforcement officers with the air of one who is dallies with forces beyond the normal ken.
"Thusly, whereas the local constabulary was unable to exert control and did, through action or inaction, allow such an abode to become feedstock for entities of super-natural origins and including skuldugerous intent and action, and, whereas, a group of pugna persecio with the auspices of the Order of the White Angel did eradicate said evil without aid or assistance of an agent of primary ownership, aforementioned property is hereby seized.
You may list Father Argyle as primary full title, with all arrears now forgiven, but governmental fees going forward will be attended to.
Your cooperation is appreciated..."
"...unless you want to cross a wizard...."
Allysen hesitates as she notices Katherine's forced smile and looks at the halfling.
"I've been an idiot, haven't I," she says more than asks before putting her elbows on the bar and her face into her hands. She rubs her eyes for a moment. After a few more seconds, she looks at Katherine again.
"You're a bard, aren't you," she asks.
"Well, I... me, a bard? No. I can't sing a note, though I can whistle a pretty good tune. I just... well, I don't want to come off as pushy, but... Allysen, do you... believe in love at first sight?"
Allysen raises a questioning eyebrow as she hears the odd question. Her mind, muddled by the mead, isn't so quick to pick up on what was left unsaid.
"I, uh, I've never thought about it," she admits, "and I don't think you're pushy. You've been nothing but kind. The guy I was talking about just barged on in without so much as a please or may I."
She goes to take another sip of her drink, but hesitates before lowering it again.
"Do you believe in love at first sight," she asks Katherine something in the back of her fuzzy head prodding her about the question Katherine had asked.