Aiden and Catashlara both easily remember the lay of the city.
Pemak's Tinctures is 5 minutes away. Brandur's cottage is 10 minutes away but in the opposite direction. The Drippimg Wall Distillery is 10 minutes away in a third direction.
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"That is true though he may also have left some plans behind." Catushlara said as she asked for some container to store the remnants in the captain's cup.
Taking care to store the poisoned drink the cleric turns to the others, "Though if we go to the Distillery first we can find out what drink he used to cover the poison and I suppose the poison is readily available at the Tinctures."
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Squirrel says, An antidote won't do the captain any good now. I think it more likely that Timinic is still in contact with his friends at the Distillery rather than Brandur making notes where he his the man and then leaving them while he kills his captain. I think we should go to the Distillery. Or ... Maybe both?
Time: 10:50 am
Daggermark’s countless alchemists and poison-crafters release gaseous waste into the air, and the by-products condense on the cold stone of the city’s curtain wall. Dripping Wall Distillery mixes runoff from the wall into its whiskey preparations, creating unique flavors popular throughout the River Kingdoms.
Pipes line the rafters of this squat building, channeling runoff from Daggermark’s curtain wall into large collection barrels. Simple wooden chairs and tables fills the main room, separated from the barrels by a bar stocked with whiskey. A staircase leads down to a lower chamber with a floor of packed earth. ()
There are three other patrons in the bar. A half-elven woman () reads a book by the front window. A ruddy-faced dwarven man () is drinking at the bar. A person wearing a hooded cloak () is sitting in one of the booths with their hood pulled over their face.
In addition, a human male bartender () is working behind the bar.
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Narla will slide up to the bar between Voices and the dwarven patron.
"One for me, too," she asks the bartender, raising a finger, then shrugging and raising two fingers. "Actually, make it two, there's a friend I'm hoping to meet here. Gnomish lad. Probably sticks out like a sore thumb. He seemed to have good words about this place, though."
The bartender looks at Threesh, and then Squirrel. He dips a mug into an open barrel of warm beer, and then drops a handful of peanuts into the mug and places it in front of Threesh. The dwarf laughs out loud.
"Ish ... ish a dishtillery. Order whishkey," he warns Narla.
The bartender draws three whiskeys from the aged barrel behind the counter. He puts two in front of Narla and slides one down to Voices with a wink.
"Ramyla!" he calls out to the back. A woman pokes her head from the back room (). "Someone wants to talk to you," he says.
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Aiden steps up to the woman reading. He pauses to try and read the title of her book, glancing over his shoulder at the bar where Narla and Threesh start getting drunk.
"That looks like a good book. Apologies for the interruption." He smiles and thumbs back towards the bar. "What's the good whiskey at the bar? My friend Timinic suggested this place to me, but he didn't tell me what the good stuff is."
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Catushlara sniffs as she enters the distillery. Having never visited a distillery before she does not know if all distilleries smell the same or each one is unique but she does not find the scent unpleasant.
Seeing as her companions have already approached the bartender and the half-elf by the window the cleric decides to talk to the hooded stranger.
"Greetings."she begins with a nod as she joins the hooded stranger,"Do you mind if I join you for a drink?" she asks of the hooded stranger.
The woman smiles at Aiden as he engages in conversation.
"My name is Varney," she says. She shows you the book she's reading: Tracking in Cities: a primer for the urban ranger.
Aiden senses no deception overall and no reaction to Timinic's name.
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Catashlara sits by the hooded stranger. They do not react to her presence or her words.
She doesn't notice anything unusual.
The hooded person totally ignores Catashlara. Their cloak is worn, patched in a few places, dirty and wet but regularly so from the snow.
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Malaz doesn't notice anything outside of the face value of what's been presented. The half-elf is happy talking to Aiden, the hooded stranger is ignoring Catashlara, the dwarf is drunk, the bartender is calling Ramyla, and Ramyla is curious to see who's been asking for her.
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Seldiir doesn't notice anyone following, but there is a woman who looks like she's beelining for the bar. She passes by Beaky with an audible, "Whoa!"
The bartender greets her by name as she walks in. "Immy! The euge?" Immy nods. The bartender draws two whiskeys from the barrel and places them on the bar for her to pick up. She brings them to one of the tables and starts on the first.
Varney looks at Immy with a little disgust in her eyes and an audible sigh.
The hooded figure does not react to anything, not Catashlara, not Immy. They haven't moved a muscle.
The dwarf briefly acknowledges Immy on her way in.
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Ramyla takes over the bar and tells the dwarf to move over. The dwarf reluctantly shuffles down a few seats.
Ramyla is clearly cautious as you ask her questions.
"I know a lot of gnomes," she says diplomatically. "Which one are you looking for?"
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"Timinic!" Ramyla exclaims, before suddenly lowering her voice. "He's in hiding - someone from the Pathfinder Society put him up in a safe house. There's a price on his head. And apparently, now, mine too."
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Squirrel joins the conversation with Narla and Ramyla, It is worse than you know. Our boss who put Timinic in hiding has been killed by poison. We're pretty sure that killer is heading for Timinic next and then possibly you folks here. Do you know where Timinic is hiding so we can intercept the killer?
Ramyla: "He's northside somewhere. Nobody but Brandur knows where he is exactly. It's probably for the better - the assassins won't know how to get to Timinic either! You should find Brandur."
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Immy: "A drink? I have two! But I'll tell you what, sweetie - you can buy me lunch."
"A meatie pie from my sweetie pie!" she yells to the bartender.
"So, what are six strangers and a hippogriff doing in a bar in Daggermark?"
Aiden senses she's out of her routine. Perhaps someone took her regular seat, or she's otherwise doing something she's not used to doing.
Aiden also notices that Varney looks annoyed, and keeps looking at him and Immy.
"Brandur?! Let's go to the back." She gestures with her eyes towards the dwarf, who appears to be straining to her.
Ramyla beckons those talking to her to join her in the back room.
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Aiden chuckles at Immy, giving her a long look. "That sounds like the opening of a joke! By all means, a meat pie for the young lady!" He motions to the bartender.
He sees the others retreating to the back. "We're here to pick up a special bottle of whiskey for a friend. Hey, what do you know about that hooded fellow? Seems nearly catatonic." Aiden glances over and catches Varney's eye and winks at her.
Ramyla looks at Catashlara, confused.
"Danforth? He takes a nap here every morning."
Varney shakes her head when Aiden winks at her.
"I allowed Timinic to use the sewer access to map the Daggermark sewers. I think he found something down there - and I think that's why he's been marked."
You look into the sewer complex, but it's a very large complex - one that would likely take days to search. There are no immediate dangers (like anything that would jump out at you) but there's also no lead here.
"If Brandur is in on it, or if Brandur's been compromised, you need to find Timinic. The safehouse is on the northside of the city. Timinic's allergic to pine, so it can't be near any pine trees. But gnomes have a hard time drinking treated water, so he's probably near a river."
Catashlara: "Danforth? He used to be a ranger, I think. When he's awake, he's usually telling the same story about fighting an ogre in the woods. I think he mostly drops by because he gets lonely at home."
The time is now 11:40 am.
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Narla leaves her whiskey decidedly untouched and heads to the back. "Help yourself," she offers to the inebriated dwarf as she passes.
"Thanks for the help, Ramyla. Try and keep your head down," she offers. 'But you're in Daggermark and probably don't need us to tell you that.' she tacks on silently, shaking her head.
"We're pointed in the right direction at least. Let's get back to the group and go from there," she suggests. "Any first impressions? I'm not particularly familiar with this town's layout."
You exit the back room.
Catashlara, Narla, and Voices emerge from the back room.
"Ramyla! What are you doing back there? Are you handing out freebies?" shouts Immy.
The dwarf perks up at the word "freebies."
Danforth wakes up from all the noise.
The barkeep describes for Catashlara the process of distilling whiskey, how runoff from the alchemical fumes is collected, and detoxified, and used to flavor the whiskey.
"My good fortune is everyone's good fortune!" Immy declares. She calls everyone over as Aiden pours out some whiskey for everyone.
Immy hands everyone a glass and raises hers. "To strangers! You never know what they're thinking, but sometimes you end up with free drinks!"
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Seldiir walks round to Ramyla and chinks glasses, "To the host, cheers!"
He doesn't know his own strength, however, and clatters the glasses together, spilling the contents of both on the floor.
Well, that was clumsy... who cares, plausible excuse, that's all.
"Oh, dagnabbit! I'm sorry. I'll pay for another, I am sorry."
"You should have let her die," growls Immy. "Now you're all going to die." Immy's face melts away, leaving a grayish humanoid creature with a narrow head, gaunt limbs, and a sinister, noseless face.
Surprise round:
"Immy" slashes Ramyla across the neck, drawing blood.
Seldiir may act in the surprise round, but Immy will not be flat-footed.
Round 1!
Catashlara
"Immy"
Seldiir
Voices
Aiden
Narla
Malaz