Erix held still. There was little he could do to help Sebastian - and they'd hoped to recruit Weren's voice in his defence. 'Does he even know what the father is plotting, or is this just to get us to back down?'
Regardless, he realised he had to trust the others.
Alua knew when she was beat. Inclining her head as graciously as she could, she reached for the envelope. "We will take this information, and the 50 Galifers. Thank you."
This is why we need Sebastian back. He wouldn't have made such a mess of this.
As they left the Agency to meet with the Huntsmaster, Phin cautioned Lupi as she saw that the goblin-elf intended to accompany them. "Make sure that you keep quiet and under no circumstances are you to let the Huntsmaster know that you were part of the initial transport team that failed in delivering the kamadan. It's risky enough that we are bringing someone with us now who wasn't with us when we initially met him."
-------
Another rich and powerful person of importance treating everyone else like pawns. Phin's pale blue eyes were as cold as ice and she stood watching everything unfold. She crossed her arms to hide the fists that formed in anger as Werem talked of Sebastian's life with such indifference. It took every ounce of willpower to not storm out of the room. She wondered in passing where the Huntsmaster lived and what kind of security his place had. She would love to be able to steal something from him that he would want back so badly that he would become her puppet and see how he liked it when the tables were turned.
As she stood stewing in her dislike of Werem, the words of her colleagues cut through bringing her back to the present and she looked over in appreciation of their words that were more flattering than Werem deserved.
The elf was relieved when Alua accepted the offer because that meant that the unpleasantness was almost over and they could leave.
Alua knew when she was beat. Inclining her head as graciously as she could, she reached for the envelope. "We will take this information, and the 50 Galifers. Thank you."
”Excellent!” the Huntmaster exclaimed, standing up to hand out the letter to Alua. As if my magic, the secretary chose that precise moment to open the office’s door from the outside and Werem gestured at the upper-priest. ”My secretary will take care of the monetary part of your reward. Now, I have a lot to do to prepare for the ritual, but do have my gratitude for your part in making it possible. Perhaps there will be future opportunities for me to make use of your your talents. Now, I bid you good day.”
As there was no doubt the audience was now over you allowed yourselves to be shooed out of the office by the severely-dressed secretary who, once the door was closed behind you, produced a somewhat smaller pouch of coins from a locked cabinet and without a single word raised his eyebrow at you in a very meaningful manner to suggest you might want to take your business somewhere it didn’t get in the way of his own very busy schedule.
As you stepped outside the temple the cries of a middle-aged woman selling the day’s paper caught your attention. ”Oakbridge Murdered Hanged!” she shouted out, handing out a rolled issue of the Sharn Inquisitive to a passing gnome. ”Thank you, kind sir. Blackfeather Slayings Solved by Local Inquisitive! Read all about it!”
Phin stopped in her tracks as the newspaper headlines were proclaimed by the woman selling papers. Oakbridge...Ziki
Immediately Sebastian's words flooded the elf's mind, Phin, help out this young entrepreneur and buy him a newspaper. It's good for business to stay informed. Phin approached the woman and procured a newspaper for a few coins. She needed to know what happened. Or at least what the officials were telling Sharn.
She didn't wait until getting back to the Agency. She moved out of the way and unfolded the newspaper, skimming the words to learn what had happened and who this local inquisitive was that was competition.
-----
With all the pressing matters behind them, Phin finally had time to focus on opening both the small wooden box and the chest that they had found in the fallen tower. It was more imperative now than before that something of value was contained within the boxes since Werem had managed to pay them less than they were counting on. Yes they obtained possible help for Sebastian's situation but that didn't help them pay the bills.
She closed herself off in Sebastian's old office, with Alua's permission of course, to remove all possible distractions from her as she worked. She spent hours examining the locks and gently moving tumblers with her tools in order to hear those satisfying clicks of everything falling into place.
Alua stopped with Phin, her eyes wide. She wasn't surprised to hear that Ziki had been killed for her crimes, but it was a shame that it had come to that.
"What do they say about us?" she asked, as Phin read.
**
Later, sitting at her desk, Alua carefully opened the envelope they'd received from the Huntsmaster. "You better be worth it, Mr. Guard," she said, as she examined the contents.
**
Over the next few days, Alua did her best to ignore the festivities going on around her. Ziki's death, and Sebastian's fate hung over her like a pall, and she couldn't enjoy the athletics and feats of strength going on around Sharn. Too often the competitions reminded her of the war - people shouting and screaming, threats and often blood in the air...it was too easy for her to fall into the past, reliving horrors in her mind.
Instead, she asked Baran to take her to the university and show her the library. "If we're going to be dealing with the nobles of Sharn, I need to be better prepared to deal with them."
She spent a few days holed up with musty tomes and a notebook, trying to sort out the major religions and people who thought they ruled Sharn. It was boring and made her head hurt. At least the spirits took pity on her, and didn't make too big a mess in the libraries.
The oracle also spent a few days back in Fallen, helping the vulnerable who made the temple a temporary home. She spent hours staring up at the spire that hung suspended in the ceiling, too high to reach. What was up there? Could there be creatures, undead or otherwise, who've been alone up there since it fell? How many of the spirits around here are ghosts attached to their former home, now in our ceiling?
She spent so much time contemplating the spirits around her that Alua found herself shedding her physical body for seconds, then minutes at a time. The first time it happened she hadn't even realized it until a young drunk man accidentally wandered through her as she sat cross-legged on the floor. The wounds he'd been bearing from a fight the night before vanished, and Alua shrieked in surprise as he came out the other side of her.
Sister Shal, one of the oldest preistesses in Spirestorm Temple, surprised Alua by laughing out loud. "Oh, our little Alua. You've been on the brink of this revelation for some time. I'm so pleased I was here to witness it."
The next time they all gathered at the office, Alua was proud to show off her new trick. "Guys! Check it out! Look what I can do!" When she had their attention, she concentrated, and her body transformed into a pillar of pure life force, white-gold and not unlike a fire elemental. "Walk through me!"
As they left the Agency to meet with the Huntsmaster, Phin cautioned Lupi as she saw that the goblin-elf intended to accompany them. "Make sure that you keep quiet and under no circumstances are you to let the Huntsmaster know that you were part of the initial transport team that failed in delivering the kamadan. It's risky enough that we are bringing someone with us now who wasn't with us when we initially met him."
Lupi nodded to Phin and was only too happy to keep quiet during the conversation. Lupi did not like Werem at all, all business and no kindness or caring. Sometimes Lupi hoped she could have some person on a higher standing to support her ideas to improve the life of common goblins, but Werem surely wasn't that guy.
Once the deal was sealed Lupi followed others to the agency. She was interested to see Phin and Alua drag the chest all the way to the agency and was curious on what is inside. She was curious about the elf as she had tried to avoid elves all her life, yet she found her strangely familiar. She tried to keep quiet, so Phin could concentrate, but her curiosity took over eventually: Phin, what do you do for living? ... I mean, I do wood-crafting, spoons and plates and even chests...
Baran smiled a weighted down smile as Alua and Phin's attention were drawn to the paper. Something was happening but it didn't seem the moment to pry. "Alua, everyone, I have to be getting back to the university. I have some little work and my studies to get back to. This was, well, it was amazing. A kamadan! and an audience with the Huntsmaster. May he get all he asks for and more. Thank you for taking me on. I've learned a lot. I will drop by in a couple of days to see how things are going." He tipped his now grimy scholastic beret and separated from the team.
As he walked towards the plateau he remembered the face of the flamboyantly dressed man fill with poisonous fear and fall backwards. Baran shook his head trying to fling off the memory and it worked, for a bit. The vision started again but this time it was a front row seat to the falling archer who struck the side of the spire as he fell, a rag doll before he hit bottom.
Was this what life was like out here, out of the shelter and erudite competition of Morgrave, out from underneath his father's shadow? Were the events of Fallen a forerunner of what Baran was becoming?
_______
When he woke his brain was itching and he pulled out some of his notebooks to made notations on gestures and the verbal directions that he was getting quite good at. They were alike to a stage writer's notes. He wrote in several places 'exitus', 'egressius', 'exeunt' and contemplated the words.
He lifted himself from the spartan worktable and headed to classes. Political science and a debate on sovereignty and the boarderlands. Next, maths and musical meter. It was after lunch that the boy had his first opportunity to go down to the morgue.
_______
"Of course Professor."
"Where were you off to yesterday. I saw you in the library. You were in a great rush and then took-off at a jog. Running in the library, hm."
"I was in Tavick's, and then, um, Fallen."
The Professor arched one eyebrow but didn't look up, "Good, good to get you where the mess is. Must of seen and done a thing or two. Come-on, out with it, and none of that flowery language."
"I, um, I killed two men", Baran said abruptly and waited for the Professor to spin around in shock and dismay but the old man just went quiet. Baran started organizing the drawings.
A moment later but still looking down at the mummified hand, "Things get confusing out there - but break the word down. 'Con', to oppose. 'Fuse', to join together. It's where new knowledge starts boy. So, you took everything two souls were and everything they're going to be. Remember it! It's no small thing. Make sure it reminds you ‘that can happen to you’! Staying trussed up here where you can only learn what's already known isn't going to stop it.", a sigh of deep regret issued from the old man, "It'll just make it more boring. Now come over here and look at these shrivelled prints."
________
Then he audited engineering and architectural classes. He had become intensely interested in the floating spires. What influenced the design elements? How did they incorporate the arcane floating sigil’s and mechanisms?
And, he visited the ir'Brock Agency. His first time back Alua was going on about the great houses and she made him promise to take her to the library at Morgrave. So he did, and he did his best to lead her through the beginning of her inquiries. It turned out he was quite knowledgable at times.
While Alua continued to study Baran turned his eye towards machines with arcane power sources. He stayed close should anyone complain about a non-student using Morgrave resouces, "Oh, sorry, she's assisting me with a question of succession."
A string of expletives came fast and loud from Sebastian's, now Alua's office. Her years of being on the streets had given Phin a deep pool of colourful language to draw from and she must have exhausted every single word as she was first suprised and then hurt by the complicated trap on the chest. The emotional pain compounded the physical as she was reminded that it was Sebastian who had been good at finding traps and that he was gone and may not be coming back. This caused the swearing to start all over again as she paced angrily around the office.
Phin, what do you do for living? ... I mean, I do wood-crafting, spoons and plates and even chests...
Phin picked up her lute and lovingly ran her fingers over the strings before playing a short melody for Lupi. "I don't just carry this for show. I perform as often as I can in the evenings wherever they pay. My regular place is The Forlorn Elk. I have been known to busk during the day if I have the time. That's how I originally met Sebastian.
So Phin's a musician, I guess that's nice, Lupi thought. Now the tough one... Are you from Sharn? ... I mean I am from Darguun originally, but I got sort of stranded in Sharn... ...Please don't say you are from Valenar...
Hearing the strange "zorch" sound and Phin's cursing, Alua ran into the room. Seeing the black marks on the woman's hand and her wild tangle of hair, Alua cried, "Oh no! Lightning trap?" Calling the spirits to her aid, she took Phin's hands gently in hers and and summoned forth a healing energy to her.
Soothing away the worst of the damage, Alua looked at the chest. "Damn. Without the boss, I guess we're not getting into that thing easily. I guess we could try smashing through it, though that might damage what's inside. What do you think?"
Erix snorted at the headline. "Great. Were we supposed to be running quiet on that one?" He noticed the look going round "Hey - we did good work. She killed people - don't feel sorry for her."
Soothing away the worst of the damage, Alua looked at the chest. "Damn. Without the boss, I guess we're not getting into that thing easily. I guess we could try smashing through it, though that might damage what's inside. What do you think?"
Erix walked in, gnawing on three toffee covered apples impaled on a stick. "S'm'ne say sm'sh?" he mumbled.
A second later he caught sight of Phin, made a half-laugh, then started trying to choke and laugh at the same time."Hair!" he gasped, struggled to cough up the piece of apple, and fell to his hands and knees, helpless. Finally the piece dislodged wetly onto his hand and he gasped out "Like a porcupine!" as he struggled to stand up.
Erix stumbled through the door.
His 'light' outfit had been replaced by his jersey, and he had five penants from different events draped around his belt as a sort of kilt. He was wearing shoes, bit only one sock. Dirt and blood was smeared over his body, a smear on his right arm looked like like a tear, and a smear on his cheek looked like lipstick.
To say Erix was keen on sports was to to say adamantine was a bit tough. The Carinval was the high point of his year, and he'd not managed to make last year.
he crashed down drunkenly into a nearby chair, the 'kilt' flapping up to reveal he was wearing an extremely tight, small set of shorts. "Whoo!" he called happily.
The next time they all gathered at the office, Alua was proud to show off her new trick. "Guys! Check it out! Look what I can do!" When she had their attention, she concentrated, and her body transformed into a pillar of pure life force, white-gold and not unlike a fire elemental. "Walk through me!"
"You got it, boss!" he shouted enthusiastically, and did his best to crash tackle her.
In his defence, he'd been crash-tackling people all day, and none of them had gone incoporeal.
Baran continued to audit engineering classes and attend to his regular studies. He was becoming quite keen. An hour a day in the morgue still left him a little time on his own.
He went about the spectacles and watched what was going on. Once he stopped to see a four-on-four wrestling match where one team had cheated, rubbing themselves down lightly with a fine charcoal power that made their limbs slippery. The cheating team still lost. Baran contemplated this. It wasn't some judgement on them for cheating. It was their lack of conviction.
He looked at the shouters, sellers, and duelist's wracks. He could surely use a replacement sword but even the plainest rapier was twenty galifars. He had to make some little money and the score they had from the last job, his first job, was sure to go to debts ... and to aid Sebastian.
He went looking for an offical to inquire about a busking licence.
Every second or third day Baran checked in on the agency. Once to see Erix crash into a chair he had decided to tackle it for some reason. Baran called out deadpan, "I must admit I always thought that chair looked crooked?" Alua was standing in the middle of the ... Alua ... she was glowing like a bonfire reflected in silverware. Baran's mouth was agape. He circled her and muttered, "Miraculous, I can preform some spectacular 'tricks' but this ... this is a holy thing! Ahem, excuse me. Hey, did Phin get that chest open yet?"
Are you from Sharn? ... I mean I am from Darguun originally, but I got sort of stranded in Sharn
The elf nodded, "I've never even left Sharn so I'm as much from Sharn as one can be."
Hearing the strange "zorch" sound and Phin's cursing, Alua ran into the room. Seeing the black marks on the woman's hand and her wild tangle of hair, Alua cried, "Oh no! Lightning trap?" Calling the spirits to her aid, she took Phin's hands gently in hers and and summoned forth a healing energy to her.
[dice=CLW]1d8+3
Soothing away the worst of the damage, Alua looked at the chest. "Damn. Without the boss, I guess we're not getting into that thing easily. I guess we could try smashing through it, though that might damage what's inside. What do you think?"
The burning sensation was just starting to leave Phin's body thanks to Alua's healing, when she heard Erix's choking laughter from the door. She glared at him in such a way that he knew if he continued there would be worse in store for him. Through clenched teeth, from anger and not electrocution, Phin hissed, "Glad to see that my pain brings you such joy. I have half a mind to drag you over here by your ear and stuff your various body parts into the lock and see how you like it.
The rogue contemplated their options due to her failure, "I think it best to take the chest and what's left of the portrait to the House of Handling and see if they'll offer a reward. If they don't pay, it should still build up good will with the House for the future. I think it would be in better form to take the chest as is instead of trying to break it open."
Erix stumbled through the door.
His 'light' outfit had been replaced by his jersey, and he had five penants from different events draped around his belt as a sort of kilt. He was wearing shoes, bit only one sock. Dirt and blood was smeared over his body, a smear on his right arm looked like like a tear, and a smear on his cheek looked like lipstick.
To say Erix was keen on sports was to to say adamantine was a bit tough. The Carinval was the high point of his year, and he'd not managed to make last year.
he crashed down drunkenly into a nearby chair, the 'kilt' flapping up to reveal he was wearing an extremely tight, small set of shorts. "Whoo!" he called happily.
Quote:
The next time they all gathered at the office, Alua was proud to show off her new trick. "Guys! Check it out! Look what I can do!" When she had their attention, she concentrated, and her body transformed into a pillar of pure life force, white-gold and not unlike a fire elemental. "Walk through me!"
"You got it, boss!" he shouted enthusiastically, and did his best to crash tackle her.In his defence, he'd been crash-tackling people all day, and none of them had gone incoporeal.
Unlike Erix, Phin didn't have any interest in sports. However, she did like this festival because there were a lot of drunk people around who were easily unburdened of their coin. She could make more in a couple hours than she normally could working for a whole week. Although there was also an increase in her bookings due to the celebrating which also increased her tips so all in all Phin was making out pretty well financially during the Carnival.
She had just had enough spare time to swing by the Agency when Alua wanted to show them something. Phin was going to intervene to keep the girl from getting squashed by a drunk Erix but could only stand and gawk as Alua's body turned to air. "That's incredible! Does it hurt?"
She didn't wait until getting back to the Agency. She moved out of the way and unfolded the newspaper, skimming the words to learn what had happened and who this local inquisitive was that was competition.
The article concerning Ziki's fate was rather short and sweet. She had been tried for her heinous murders, and she had admitted her guilt. She had provided no reason for her actions, and her verbal attack at the two witnesses (her surviving targets, who were not named in the article to protect their identity) had required the guards to intervene. The verdict had been death by hanging, and it had been carried out immediately (something that feels somewhat peculiar to you - why the rush?). The article ended in a small note that the Council commended Sergeant Viduk of the Sharn Watch for his prompt and decisive actions to bring run down the killer despite the difficulties of catching a vile shapeshifter in a city of hundreds of thousands of souls.
The Blackfeather case featured one Victor Saint-Demain, the acclaimed master inquisitive of Sharn for cracking the case that had baffled the best minds of Breland's criminal investigators. All in all, 12 Brelish nobles had been slain by a mysterious criminal known as the Torchfire Wraith, suspected of various homicides over the last 15 years. Thanks to Mr. Saint-Demain's efforts, the identity of the killer had finally been determined - Aldem ir'Shorem, a former actor and playwright once rejected by the famed Blackfeather Troupe.
"We never suspected a thing," said Werick Faldren, captain of the Menthis Plateau garrison of Warden Towers. "He killed thirteen young men and women in cold blood and left the Torchfire district paralyzed with fear for a long time."
Aldem, the heir of the ir'Shorem estate, is now in the custody of the King's Citadel and faces a dozen charges of murder. The family of Aldem ir'Shorem, the aristocrat from Ocean View whose guilt was brought to light by Soneste's investigation, could not be reached for comment.
The article hails the case as the magnum opus of the veteran inquisitive, a masterpiece of an investigation he is unlike to ever best, no matter now long he continues on his chosen career.
Nymm (June) 10, Zol (Tuesday), 998 YK
Sharn – City of Towers, Khorvaire
Later in the day
Your evening activities were briefly interrupted by a knock on the Agency's door - another courier awaited beyond, this one delivering you a small wooden box and a letter. Inside the box rested an ornate silvery medal showing the Sharn coat of arms, the triple connected towers and a pair of golden keys on the crest, supported by twin blue pennants. A second-degree medal for distinguished service to the City and State. And the letter, a short note signed by Sergeant Viduk.
"We both know who deserves this in truth, even if some people won't admit it."
Can she use her disable device skill to possibly open the box another way other than using the lock such as removing hinges or the like? Or does the trap encompass the whole chest? Granted I'm not even sure the hinges are visible. I just don't know how successful we'll be trying to break open an iron chest that has a magical trap
The elf nodded, "I've never even left Sharn so I'm as much from Sharn as one can be."
Lupi was visibly relieved on Phin's answer She is not on of those Valenar elves that murdered my parents, good.
Alua shrieked in delight as Erix crashed through her spirit form. "Gotcha!" she cried, her voice echoing in a strange hollow fashion. A few seconds later and her physical form coalesced around her spirit, and the flamey look vanished. Grinning at Erix, she said, "How do you feel?" The cuts and bruises on his face had vanished, though his journey through her spirit did nothing to clean up the dirt.
Phin was going to intervene to keep the girl from getting squashed by a drunk Erix but could only stand and gawk as Alua's body turned to air. "That's incredible! Does it hurt?"
Grinning, Alua sank back into her office chair. "No, it doesn't hurt at all. It's a bit tiring, though. I can't maintain it for very long. But it hurts undead things to touch me when I'm like that - would have been helpful in the glass tower."
As Phin recapped the story, Alua frowned. Victor Saint-Demain? She tried to remember if she ever heard the boss mention him.
[dice=k local]1d20+
"Have you ever heard of this guy?" she asked Phin.
The burning sensation was just starting to leave Phin's body thanks to Alua's healing, when she heard Erix's choking laughter from the door. She glared at him in such a way that he knew if he continued there would be worse in store for him. Through clenched teeth, from anger and not electrocution, Phin hissed, "Glad to see that my pain brings you such joy. I have half a mind to drag you over here by your ear and stuff your various body parts into the lock and see how you like it.
The rogue contemplated their options due to her failure, "I think it best to take the chest and what's left of the portrait to the House of Handling and see if they'll offer a reward. If they don't pay, it should still build up good will with the House for the future. I think it would be in better form to take the chest as is instead of trying to break it open."
Erix holds up a hand and clambers to his feet. "Fair enough." he says, chastened. "Sorry, I didn't think you'd gotten that hurt - just that your hair..." he trails off.
Erix groaned and pulled himself from the wall behind Alua. "Pretty good. My head hurts less, and I think... I'm sober?"
Phin knew that Ziki had to pay for her crimes but she was still saddened by the whole situation. She wasn't sure if it was because of that or if there was something truly hinky about how quickly Ziki's punishment was carried out. "Looks like the officials got everything wrapped up in a neat bow and...quickly." The last word was said with a hint of bitterness.
"Have you ever heard of this guy?" she asked Phin.
Erix holds up a hand and clambers to his feet. "Fair enough." he says, chastened. "Sorry, I didn't think you'd gotten that hurt - just that your hair..." he trails off.
Phin's hand reflexively moves to smooth her hair with Erix's comment. It felt extremely staticky and so it stuck to her clothing more than laying flat. With Alua's healing, the pain became a fleeting memory so her mood quickly improved. She no longer glared at Erix and said quietly, "Well it did hurt...a lot. I'd be knocking on death's door if Alua hadn't been here."
The rogue examined the outside of the chest to see if there was a way to open it without dealing with the lock. She focused on the hinges and decided that she should be able to loosen the lid and if Erix applied the right pressure in the right place then they may still be able to open it. She related her findings to the group before asking, "So should I proceed with a chance that we wreck whatever is inside by trying to force it open? Or do we take it as is to House Vadalis?"
Nymm (June) 10, Zol (Tuesday), 998 YK
Sharn – City of Towers, KhorvaireLater in the day
Your evening activities were briefly interrupted by a knock on the Agency's door - another courier awaited beyond, this one delivering you a small wooden box and a letter. Inside the box rested an ornate silvery medal showing the Sharn coat of arms, the triple connected towers and a pair of golden keys on the crest, supported by twin blue pennants. A second-degree medal for distinguished service to the City and State. And the letter, a short note signed by Sergeant Viduk.
"We both know who deserves this in truth, even if some people won't admit it."
Phin was visibly surprised that a city official would act with such integrity. Or was it just out of guilt? "The sentiment is nice but it would have helped us more to have our Agency's name in the papers like Victor Saint-Demain's."
Blackfeather murders is something you would all have heard about, over the years. Every time a new murder happened and was tied to the same unknown killer, the papers would print about it for some days and weeks, but as every time the law failed to run down the killer and he chose to bide his time before the next murder, people put the unhappy thought aside and went on with their lives. But no reason why you players should know about it - it's not a major part of Eberron lore by any means.
Victor is a name known to every aspiring inquisitive in the whole of Breland. He is Eberron's answer to Sherlock Holmes, and like his fictive counterpart, he's an eccentric sort. He has an absolutely flawless track record - every single case he takes, he solves, but he only accepts the cases that tickle his fancy. Those of the very highest profile of them all... and more importantly, and being in the business you'd have heard the rumors, cases that other inquisitives or Watch investigators have tried to solve... and have failed. He really, really loves to prove his better at his job than anyone else who has ever lived could be, and while the public respects him, people in the same business know he is a VERY bad winner.
Nymm (June) 13, Far (Friday), 998 YK, early morning
Sharn – City of Towers, Khorvaire
Malleon's Gate
As Lupi once again made her way down to the slum district to see what she could do to help her adopted people this fine day, she was greeted with utter chaos. Bodies dead and wounded lying in rows, local goblin healers doing what they could to help the survivors, with armed bugbears standing guard, although what good their presence amounted to at this very moment Lupi could only guess, as it was painfully clear whatever had happened was already over.
The goblin-raised elf hurried forward to see what she could do to aid her people, and as she worked she put together bits and pieces of stories and rumors to make sense of what had happened. It had taken place at night, as close to midnight as anyone could tell. Armed strangers, humans, scores of them, had marched in to Malleon’s Gate. At first, the locals had thought them as Sharn Watch officers – the law generally left the not-quite-citizen denizens of the slums to their own devices, and on the rare occasions they did come, they did so in great numbers, almost like an occupying army. But these had been no Watch officers, here to chase criminals or punish the goblins for crimes they felt they could blame those no-one in the City truly missed or cared about.
No, at first these strangers had moved in to secure a perimeter, blocking streets and occupying several buildings at key locations. Then, a feral cry of a hunting beast had shattered the uneasy quiet, and a beast out of the goblins’ nightmares had suddenly roamed the streets, ripping through the ranks of the locals too slow to move out of its way, claws slashing, teeth crushing, horrible snakes that grew out of its shoulders snapping. At first, in the initial panic, there was no stopping to find reason for what was killing them, but after the fact it was deemed the beast itself was trying to escape. And soon enough after it began its rampage, mounted humans clad in the same brown robes as the sentries, armed with spears and bows rushed after it. In their careless haste, the hunters caused almost more harm to the goblins than the terrified beast ever had. The chaos lasted for less than half an hour, all told, yet it left dozens dead, maimed and wounded behind. Nor did the human hunters escape unscratched – several of their numbers were carried or helped away by their kin. The body of the slain beast was carried away on a palanquin, and the goblins had been left to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.
While none of this made any sense to the locals, it did to Lupi. The tentacled beast could surely be nothing else than the Kamadan she herself had delivered to the Huntmaster – a worshiper of Balinor, whose vestments just happened to include robes of browns and greens, colors a hunter might don to hide himself in the wilds. And hunting a hunter was a powerful symbol, well fit for a grand ritual the Huntmaster had told he had planned to secure his victory in the coming election – this Lupi had heard from her new friends, as her original mission’s backgrounds had never been explained to the people charged with the transport of the slumbering beast.
This day Lupi came rather late to the agency. She was very quiet and visibly shaking, but once she could calm a bit she told her story to others. "It must have been the Kamadan. If I would not have cast the Color Spray, the other group could have killed it and none of this had happened." Lupi did not want to blame anybody else, only herself. She was way too familiar with how things are in Sharn. Earlier she had not liked Werem, but now she clearly hated him.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Nymm (June) 14, Sar (Saturday), 998 YK, evening
Sharn – City of Towers, Khorvaire
His God had spoken to him!
The revelation had shaken his very being. As a child, he had inherited faith to his God from his parents, was led into the rituals like he imagined most of the other children all over the world were, even though his faith was a secret one, inherited from father to son, with no grand temples or weekly sermons to the masses. But until now, there had been at least one thing they had all shared – no matter how one cried out in anguish, how fervently one prayed, their gods never answered.
Until now.
The night before last, the voice had whispered truths to him in his sleep, and the following morn he had, half on impulse as if following a dare, he had to admit to himself, done as instructed. And the results had been exactly as he had been promised. Exactly! The oaf of a customer before whom he had had to abase himself had paused to pick up the coin he had dropped at the very moment the pile of fertilizer sacks had collapsed on him, jolted by the tremors of a decelerating cargo lightning rail at the station across the street, crushing his never-to-be-sufficiently-cursed body. And as he had pushed his own boss away mere seconds before, saving him from sharing the fat oaf’s fate, he had been rewarded with profuse praise and a promise of a foreman’s position.
Sure, there had been a price to pay for that divine help, but that only seemed fair, right? And the task had been simple and easy enough to accomplish – he did not know why the man had had to die, but the filthy addict had made it easy to plat a dagger in his back, never even waking up from his deep slumber when he bled out, and he made it out with the item wrapped in his cloak, as unseen as he had been when entering. Not that his God had commanded him to do as He directed. No, He had asked instead. As if from an equal. Trusting, not demanding, not expecting obedience as His due.
The thought brought with it a fresh surge of pure wonder.
And a being like this had chosen to speak to him! What did that make of him, he wondered. A priest? An apostle? A prophet? What he knew was, there was a lot to be done.
”Oh, my Lord,” he breathed as he fell to his knees before the hidden shrine. ”First among the Fallen. Will of the oppressed. Speak to me, Lord, and tell me what you desire.”
And in the silence of his mind, a voice not his own gave answer.
"So should I proceed with a chance that we wreck whatever is inside by trying to force it open? Or do we take it as is to House Vadalis?"
Hearing no overt objections but seeing Lupi practically drooling over the possible contents, Phin took that as a consensus to proceed in trying to open it. She got her tools out and studied the external parts of the chest in detail, looking at the hinges and the seams and any possible structural weaknesses that could be exploited. She loosened the hinges using her intricate thieve's tools.
She then motioned at Erix to come closer. Seeing his hesitation she laughed at him, somewhat mockingly, "Don't be such a baby, Cub. I'm not actually going to shove any part of your body into the lock." She motioned at the chest with both hands, "I need a large tool, a hammer actually, for the final step." She motioned back at Erix, "You're the hammer. So come here."
She pointed at one of the corners of the chest, "I need you to pick up the chest and drop it on that corner. Just drop, don't smash. If you do that, it should pop right open." The rogue shrugged, It's a risk to damaging the contents but there's no way to get anything between the seams to get enough leverage to pry open the lid. Fingers crossed that if there is anything breakable inside that the owner had enough forethought to wrap it well."
"Then they started hunting the beast... they did not care about the goblins, they just killed them too... finally they got the Kamadan killed and carried it away like a kind of sick trophy" the last words were filled with disgust.
"I knew many of those goblins, not they lie in the streets in bits and pieces. I had just carved wooden plates and spoons for one of them..." Lupi had to sit down and begin sobbing.
Nymm (June) 17, Zol (Tuesday), 998 YK
Sharn – City of Towers, Khorvaire
Morgrave University
Jurian Jonz stepped smartly back to avoid the sudden spray of tea, then offered his employer a handkerchief that had appeared in his hand as if by magic.
”Tell me you are joking, Jurian,” professor Rand ir’Morain said, absently wiping tea from his beard with the kerchief, green eyes intent on his assistant.
”I’m afraid not, Sir. The contact who came up with the information has always been highly reliable,” Jurian said, hands busy returning the breakfast table back into order.
But... but... how could she know about it already? How? We only got the news two days ago, for Sovereigns’ sake!”
”I think we should consider her having an informant at the source, Sir,” Jurian said as he poured the professor another cup. ”You do know her reputation better than anyone.”
”Don’t I just!” professor ir’Morian huffed, taking a deep breath to calm himself. It didn’t help to panic, oh no it didn’t. Nor would be help to scream, or smash things. No, he had to take things calmly, analyze the new bit of unwelcome information, craft new contingencies.
”Right, I’m calm. Placid. So go ahead and give me the rest.”
”The information we have is that she has already secured herself a sponsor and is likely to move quickly. We do not have any time to waste if we want to contest her claim.”
”Ha! Her claim? We found the place. We began the preliminary excavations. We, I could remind you, we found it. And I’ll be damned to Dolurrh if I’ll let her get her greedy little fingers on it!” The professor began pacing around the table furiously, his gaze roving right past the display cabinets taking up most of the room, full of artifacts from previous dig sites and discoveries, things and stories lost in the mists of time, only to be rediscovered by him and his teams. Brought out for all the world to see. Not locked in some wealthy collector’s private vault for another eternity, thank you very much!
”That woman is a bane to my existence! The thief! Scoundrel! Mercenary” he ranted, the last word loaded with such loathing deserved for entities lower on the scale of humanity than dung beetles. ”We must work swiftly if we want to salvage anything from this. Jurian! Go and fetch your kit. I need to dictate a letter to the d’Lyrandar enclave. We need fast transportation more than anything, even if they’ll charge an arm and a leg for it – those sharks can smell blood from 50 miles, but I think we can make them an offer they’ll bite at! And another letter to Lhesh Haruuc Shaarat'kor. We need his cooperation, again no matter the cost. And we need able hands – both to swing shovels and lead several teams. We can’t waste the time to do this by the book, or she will rob us and all the people of Khorvaire of the very last pot shard!”
Baran listened to Lupi carefully. If we hadn't found her ... if she hadn't joined us ... we would never have known
"I assumed his ritual would have taken place in someplace more secluded. I never imagined, or dared to imagine, he would have set the kamadan completely free ... on people.", He thought it over for a moment. "I don't know what manner of divine magic the ritual would have required but it makes sense. Balinor would require the beast to be set free for ..." Baran halted his academic diatribe, he was being heartless and he could feel it. "Lupi, I'm sorry. I mean to say, 'I'm so sorry'. For what happened. For my part in it all. Is there anything I can do? I have some modest medical training."
Alua felt blood rise to her cheeks in fury as she understood what Lupi was telling them. She had assumed that the beast would be sacrificed in some sort of religious ceremony, in a temple. This sort of wanton disregard for life had never even occurred to her. Sebastian would never have fallen for that murderous huckster!
Kneeling beside Lupi, she said, "I am so, so sorry about your people. We will help them, however we can. And we will be much more careful about our future clients."
Lupi's heart warmed on Baran's and Alua's words "Thanks... I think goblin healers have healed all they can by now, but we could check in later. It would be great to choose customers, wouldn't it... But we can't really do it, we need to pay for the bills too... And we can't be sure which kind of obscure monstrosity the next customer does behind our backs..", she paused for a while to take a breath.
"It's just that I am tired of all the injustices in Sharn like this... I want to make Sharn a better place. For goblins, yes, but also for all others that are poor and hungry... I want to help people of Sharn the same way Lhesh Haruuc does in Darguun to help his goblins." Lupi looked at the others and was starting to feel slightly embarrassed of her ranting. All others had their troubles in life and now she was pouring hers to them. "Um, sorry..."
Lupi's heart warmed on Baran's and Alua's words "... It would be great to choose customers, wouldn't it... But we can't really do it, we need to pay for the bills too... And we can't be sure which kind of obscure monstrosity the next customer does behind our backs..", she paused for a while to take a breath.
"And if we are picked to do a job by a powerful person how do we refuse without repercussions. Werem's job wasn't a request. We were pawns. I think Alua has been working on a solution to that. I'll help her with what knowledge I can give."
"Sure." he agreed amicably, wandering over to pick up the box - with a well-hidden wince of anticipation. "This corner. Got it. How high do you want it when I drop it, and what surface?"
Once Phin had given her answers Erix carefully waved everyone away, held the box out, angled it carefully, waited for a nod from Phin and let go.
The moment it had left his grasp he jumped back. 'Who knows what that lightning trap is going to do when the box breaks!'
It took Erix a couple good tosses to add enough damage to the chest Phin could try off the lid's hinges, but other than a lot of sounds of metal in anguish, nothing untoward happened, and after a few minutes you could finally take a look at the treasure inside.
Scattered all over the chest were a double handful of golden Galifars, spilled out of the purse that had held them. In addition to the coins, you found a heavy leather-bound journal inside, detailing its past owner's work at breeding and training blink dogs, including page after page of information about their preferred diet, diseases and breeding habits, as well as a comprehensive thesaurus to teach oneself to converse with the beasts - it turned out blink dogs were rather intelligent and fluent in Sylvan, but their canine shapes prevented them from forming the normal sounds of the language - thus, they had learned to talk back using the sounds their vocal cords could naturally manage.
And, at the very bottom, beneath the journal, a carved wooden wand topped with two tiny pink Eberron Dragon, one of which had been cracked, but Lupi could still see the wand clung to the dweomer that had been wrapped around the surviving shard.
Alua leafed through the journal, wishing it were more useful. "Seems like that chest was a bit overkill for these," she said gesturing at their find. "Still, unless anybody sees blink dog training in their future, we can bring the journal back along with the painting. We might get a reward, and if nothing else, we'll get good will and it'll help our reputation."
**
Alua stared at the blank sheet of paper with a feeling of hope. Dear Mr. Guard. I have received your name from a mutual friend, whose star in the church of Balinor is rising. I have an opportunity I'd like to speak to you about. We are at your disposal - name a time and place that would be convenient to you, and we'll meet you there. Discretion assured.
Best regards,
Alua Riversong
ir'Brock Inquisitive Agency.
Hopefully he'd answer soon, so they could do something to help safeguard Sebastian's life.
Alua leafed through the journal, wishing it were more useful. "Seems like that chest was a bit overkill for these," she said gesturing at their find. "Still, unless anybody sees blink dog training in their future, we can bring the journal back along with the painting. We might get a reward, and if nothing else, we'll get good will and it'll help our reputation."
"That's a good plan", Lupi said. "That wand would probably be for Baran, I am not very good with animals..."
As the chest finally broke open, Phin smacked Erix on the arm approvingly, "Nicely done, Cub. Good to know you can still follow my orders."
"Seems like that chest was a bit overkill for these," she said gesturing at their find. "Still, unless anybody sees blink dog training in their future, we can bring the journal back along with the painting. We might get a reward, and if nothing else, we'll get good will and it'll help our reputation."
Phin handed the gold over to Alua, "This will help with the bills so it's worth it."
She picked up the journal and flipped through it quickly, "The House of Handling will probably be most interested in this and not just for sentimental value like the portrait." The elf propped herself on the edge of the desk while looking at the journal thoughtfully, "Alua, I agree that we may or may not get a reward but it would be beneficial to have an amount in mind in case they ask. In my limited experience, I don't think blink dogs are a thing in Sharn so this would be lost knowledge they'd consider valuable. We'll have to make an appointment to see someone from House Vadalis and see what happens."
"Maybe we can down two pigeons with a single arrow. We go to House Vadalis to return the painting and book. While we're there we use the visit as an introduction, a first knock on the door. Alua, you've been looking into the noble houses. We might be able to find a patron if we're lucky, someone to help keep us from under Werem's boot. It won't be easy. We'll have to prove ourselves useful and non-malicious. We also want to suss out a good patron. We don't want to trade a Kamadan for a Dragon."
Computer problems over, I'll try to move things forward tomorrow...