Jean-Pierre shrugs.
"Merry is a good sort, but once he gets an idea in his head, it tends to stick there... Going to the city watch is certainly a good idea - I am sure than turning you over to them will help to get them to talk with us!"
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"I just thought there were no Nidelese slavers. Or at least not here. Maybe somewhere else? And Aespice aren't slavers? What about Pathfinder Chronicle... I forget what number, but Aspice are DEFINITELY slavers. And since you are Aspice, logically, you are a slaver too!"
Merry announces this triumphantly.
"Wait, what? We're not going to take him to jail? Even though he is a slaver?"
”Let’s get him taken to the city watch. They will make sure he is punished appropriately!”
Blaze slips over towards Dragox and relieves him of his rope, "Now you can carry more ale. Don't worry, I'll bring it back soon." He keeps his blade pointed at the Aspis and orders him to turn around, hands behind his back, guards always do this when they bust the parties at school, makes sense here. Better search him too.
Assuming Pluto complies, he slips his sword into its sheath and attempts to tie the agent up to make it a bit more binding of a capture. He does a quick search and attempts to remove any other weapons and useful items.
He looks at Merry, "Here, escort our friend to the city guard. Hack him in two if he resists."
Your ward thoroughly frightened by the way your squad has taken him into custody with such fluidity and grace. He resigns himself and stops speaking further choosing now to keep his lips tightly shut seeing as he is only angering the Paladin, Merry.
Blaze relieves the man of his affects piling them about the area so another may fetch them. The items of value he pulls are two potions of cure light wounds, a potion of cure moderate wounds, two potions of invisibility, a masterwork dagger, six darts, a pouch with 35 Gold Pieces and an even larger surprise am amethyst worth 250 gold pieces by its self.
Plutivarch Dremis looks to Tristan and gives the man a big knowing smile, his lips curling at the corners, but says nothing.
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The Arvensoar looms in the southern part of the city, high above the districts of Lowcleft and Naos. The tower itself is about 400 feet tall, with the lower portion built into the side of the Seacleft that splits the city in half. The watch officers stationed at the Arvensoar have busy schedules as you can see as those on duty move about with a fervor to get the job done.
A busy watch officer who nonetheless tries her best to make time for concerned citizens approaches you seeing that you have Plutivarch Dremis bound in ropes. "What brings Citizens such as yourselves to The Arvensoar tonight?" she greets with a knowing smile as she looks over Dremis. Seemingly a rhetorical questions the Varisian woman pulls a pouch from her belt loop and throws the pouch it to one of you holding tight to 'Pluto's' leash.
"I am Watch Officer Kasadei. On behalf of the City Watch I would like to thank you for bringing Plutivarch Dremis to us so late into the night." grabbing the lead from you she removes the rope and binds the mans wrists in manacles, calls out to another member of the city watch and orders the prisoner be placed into a holding cell to be booked. "Now that, that is out of the way, is there anything else you need of me this evening?"
"Actually, yes... we are trying to track down a woman named Natalya, formerly of the Tower Girls? She has something that does not belong to her, and we are (somewhat) concerned for her safety..."
Kasadei confirms "Natalya Vancaskerkin is known to the city watch—she’s a petty burglar known to run with the Tower Girls. Natalya having vanished is news to me and the watch—she hasn’t been picked up by any patrols, in any event. you get the feeling Kasadei’s not surprised that Natalya’s disappearance hasn’t been reported, "The Sczarni tend to try to solve their own problems. If anyone knows more... it would probably be the Tower Girls."
Jean-Pierre nods appreciatively.
"Where would we find them?"
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"Aha! So this scoundrel is a known criminal, is he! I just knew it, probably dabbles in all kinds of criminal activity besides slavery."
...
"Tower girls, huh? Are they dangerous, or nice. I prefer nice girls myself, ones that can cook. Do they cook?"
Merry is a bit hungry and his mind starts to wander to thoughts of food. Then he remembers the picnic vittles he packed away and pulls out some cheese. He rather hopes they can cook.
"Who did you hear of us from? What made you think we would be interested in the Nidalese slavers?"
Bumble is deeply suspicious, and his paranoid brain is jumping in every direction. Did the lady sell us out? Or is there a spy in her house? Is this an elaborate ruse to get us captured or killed? Who else knows about us and our mission?! I thought this was secret!
As Bumble Questions the man about his motives he shrugs "Everyone knows where there are disappearances and 'Slavers' there will be Pathfinders quick on the trail to find those missing and those who are committing the crime." Pluto smiles at bumble wickedly "Just saw an opportunity to make some money and fame with my bosses, since I was here in Magnimar city of Monuments home to The main Pathfinder Lodge of Varisia." you can almost see the venom dripping from his teeth as he mentions the Lodge.
As Jean-Pierre and Merry questions the whereabouts of the Tower Girls Kasadei scrunches her face a little responding "That could be a problem—tracking down any of the Sczarni gangs is tricky normally, but as far as I know, the Tower Girls themselves have recently changed their headquarters." She pauses to call out to those walking patrol wanting an update. Hearing a simple "Nothing to report." reverberates off the stone building back.
"No informants have yet been able to update the City Watch as to their new headquarters, but I do know that a few months back, the Tower Girls had a falling out with another Sczarni gang, The Wreckwash Blades. For several weeks after that, rumor was that the Tower Girls were slumming it in an abandoned warehouse in Underbridge that they shared with a disreputable local by the name of Fenster the Blight—he 'might' know where the Tower Girls, or perhaps Natalya, are located now."
Kasadei provides your team with directions to this particular warehouse.
Grabbing the rope and deftly returning it to its owner, Blaze smiles as the Aspis is lead away. Ah, capturing a known criminal. A good start. Not worthy of great tales, but will start getting the word out of our competence.
Blaze consults a city map... also known as his mind, "I can get us there, no problem! That's just down in the warehouse district by all the other warehouses, easy-peasy."
Jean-Pierre nods thoughtfully.
"Thanks for the advice - I guess that we will go track down this Fenster fellow, and see what he can tell us..."
Sense Motive
Dragox takes one of the CLW potions and puts it in a belt pouch.
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"Thank you Watch officer Kasadei We will follow up on your lead"
Once out of the watch house. "Ok team I think a little shopping is in order. Oh and Bumble please look after this for me. If one of the frontliners goes down such healing will be well worth applying to get them back into the fight. It will be the other frontliners job to ensure you stay protected as the healing is administered."
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"Shopping? In the morning, right? After breakfast? Please don't tell me you want to go roaming about the city in the middle of the night rousting shopkeepers from their sleep to buy potions we don't need. Paaancaakes, sauuusage. Mmmm. A guys GOT to eat. Say, is there a Denny's open near here? Maybe we DON'T have to wait!"
Merry looks positively disturbed at the idea that they are going to just ignore all that money, or worse, waste it on adventuring gear.
”I guess I could use another gallon of mead. What’s eight pounds when it’s possible you might just have to drink water for the duration of your trip? That’d be awful...”
Blaze looks at the two, "Food? Sleep? What is this, do you not want to seek your Destiny as the Greatest Of All Time? There will be sacrifices, but there will be rewards too. Let's just grab a bite to eat and a few useful items then head to the warehouse. We don't want to show up an hour after our enemies start cutting up our payday... er the innocents we are out to protect."
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Merry gives the gnome a dubious look, wondering where his energy comes from and hoping a stack of pancakes calm him down.
"Say, guard people. Do you happen to know of a Denny's near by?"
Assuming they indulge Merry, he gets out of his armor to make room and orders the grand delux breakfast with OJ and, just in case the gnome is serious, coffee.
The party is able to secure a small meal nothing of which is akin to the food and comforts of the Pig's Paunch of Absalom but it is enough to fill the hole as it were. Being Pathfinders the meal is on the house. Which you all have come to find out means it is literally on the house, House Hiedmarch, where the tab is being sent to be paid.
While getting your fill of food you are able to garner some information about Fenster the Blight. He is as unsavory as denizens of Magnimar’s most notorious slum get. He has lived in Underbridge for decades, although he’s changed homes many times over the years. His current haunt is a partially collapsed warehouse on the shoreline, in a particularly filthy stretch where tidal currents often cause the filth and refuse of the city to collect in stinking clots along the shore. The smell alone is enough to deter most persons.
Having arrived at the warehouse your team canvases the area and you all see in the corner of the dilapidated building, a sort of crude shelter having been fashioned from rowboats, one or two of which might still be almost seaworthy, and timbers leaning against the warehouse’s frame. The entrance to this hovel consists of a pair of skiffs leaning against each other to create a triangular “arch” from which a moldering remnant of a ship’s sail, its colors have long since faded from history, hangs like a curtain.
Sitting next to the entrance is an old sea chest with a broken lid. A sign leans against the front of the chest— Written in very poor Taldan stating “LEEV A GIF' AND WATE OUTSID.” A dented tin platter sits on the ground before the sign.
Bumble waggles his eyebrows at the team and murmurs a spell, working his fingers. Then with a snap and a clap a crude and colorless toy boat appears in the palm of his hand. He sets it in the basket and then knocks on the wood of the skiffs.
Blaze, about to pull a few coins out from his pocket to toss down watches as Bumble supplies exactly what was offered, on the cheap. He goes to say something, but thinks better of it and just watches to see what happens.
Dragox was about to discuss strategy with the others, when the nimble little gnome went ahead and announced the team’s presence. ”Okay, I guess we are taking the direct route then, eh? Don’t mention how stinky this place is...it might hurt his feelings,” the orc whispers to the others.
As Dragox attempts to speak under his breath to the party, the half orc gets an unexpected response "Ye get use ta the smell." can be heard from the rather nautical hovel. In a few moments time a wretched creature, more skin and bone than meat. His flesh clammy and gray in places, one of his eyes is clouded over with a white film, and his clothing is caked with filth. His breathing is raspy and gurgling and smells of bad meat. He is plagued by a wet, hacking cough as he shambles over to the toy boat. Picking it up he admires the rather crude looking boat lets out a huff and tosses it to the side of the warehouse and shambles back in.
"Not worth my time." echos from inside the hovel.
Blaze sighs and tosses three silver into the tin as well, "Alright buddy, simple enough. We have coin, no wasting of your time. More if you help us. Might be able to turn your luck around."