"Friends, please keep level heads, did this man attack us? Yes. Is he at our mercy? Yes. Is he speaking from a place of false bravado? Yes. But the most important question, Will he tell us who he works for now when he can still walk out or will he hold out for, Well I honestly don't know what waiting will gain, " he leans in close "The tiefling is very good at what he does."
Sandu leans back, "Who is offering this bounty? Tell us and you are free to go.
"The Aspis Consortium would be willing to pay a good price for a collection of Pathfinder agents."
From his crouch Sandu drops onto his butt, his head dropping to his hands. "...ing snakes."
Olander thinks of what he knows of the laws of magnimar.
Perhaps we should go see the city watch, turn him in. His suggestion that they might know more is true.
"Where would you have taken us if you had captured us, who is the Aspis contact?"
He looks to the others, "There is no need to turn him in, he was just trying to make a living. He is going to tell us where to find the Aspis and we can let him go, Right?"
"Everyone knows where the Aspis Consortium offices are in Magnimar." the sorcerer replies in a town he might use on slow schoolchildren.
"I'll tell you who I was going to cut a deal with if you let me go." he says grasping at a chance to extricate himself.
Olander looks at Nocki and nods, A merc willing to capture or kill us will do the same to others. Best to let the guard deal with him...
You also think that handing over a criminal might be a good introduction to the city watch if you want to try them as a source of information on the disappearances.
Olander whispers to his fellow pathfinders, I stand by what I just said. I've got a hunch its the right thing to do and our murderous friend over here is just spitballing to get free... which makes sense
"We could break his fingers and set him alight, wait to see-see if he burns or extinguishes before expiring. But that would make us-us the bad guys here, yes-yes. He tells us who to talk to. Find the girl, and we go our own way-way, I say."
Sandu looks to the ratfolk."Friend, ours is not to to dole out punishment," then he turns back to the prisoner. "I am losing this argument, you had beast speak up soon."
"Time is up friend, time to do our duty as citizens and turn this man in."
Sandu says lets do the right thing, everyone thinks he is a standup guy. I say the same thing, nothing.... tiefling life...
"Well, that was a dead-dead end. Stupid wizard and his rainbow spell-spell, now where do we go look? Anyone know where that gang she was run-running with hangs out?"
"Mikkitar, I am not sure it was a dead end, if the Aspis is in town trying to cause problems for the society they may have stumbled on our girl and and grabbed her as a target of opportunity."
he looks down at the wizard, "Oliander, what do we do with this finger waggler?"
We take him to the Arvensoar, the watch’s barracks and fortress. 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.
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Nocki pauses with wide eyes and says "I didn't know you were so committed to locking him up somewhere so secure. Very well, let us go" Nocki leads the way taking the man to the tower Olander commented and wonders what they shall do afterwards. It is late and he didn't know whether the Aspis Consortium was up at that time.
You kill some time in the abandoned tavern, so that you aren't showing up at the Arvensoar in the middle of the night.
You make your way through the city with the sorcerer tied up with his bonds covered by a cloak so he doesn't attract attention.
A little after dawn, you approach the watch fortress with the sorcerer held firmly by Nocki and Sandu.
As you approach, several guards notice and move to intercept you.
It doesn't take a lot of perceptive ability to notice the dark looks they cast towards Olander and Mikkitar.
Olander attempts to hang back, hoping that those who will recieve a friendlier reception will announce our intent.
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Nocki steps up to the guards and says "Good morning, dutiful guards. Me and my group are Pathfinders as can be attested by Lady Sheila Heidmarch. We have been attacked without provocation by this brigand here, wielder of magic, which is why he is gagged. As is our duty as citizens, we bring you this criminal to be locked up."
In order to rest the guards' concerns, he continues saying "The fiendspawn and wererat have already proven their worth." He, then, comes closer to the guards and says in a quiet voice "I was a little suspicious of them at first too."
Sandu keeps looking up and down the street, more than a little worried someone will see him glad handing with the turnkeys.
The guards seem a bit suspicious at first, but then one of them recognizes your captive.
A burly watchman wearing a steel cap and with a cudgel hanging from his belt exclaims:
"Eh! I know that 'un. That fella's name is Plutivarch. He's been wanted for questioning."
At this, the sorcerer begins shaking his head negatively behind his gag, as if he's trying to deny the accusation.
"You're going to have to explain what you're doing here to our officer, but we can stick this slippery fish in a cell for the meantime." he says.
"Hey Truman, stick this neenker in a holding cell until Kasadei tells us what to do with him." the guard says to one of his companions.
That guard steps forward and takes hold of the sorcerer, giving Olander and Mikkitar a stare as he does so, and then pulls the sorcerer away, through a heavy door that apparently leads to the cells.
Then the steel-capped guard turns back. "You'll have to wait for Captain Kasadei to tell her your story and talk to her about the reward."
"It'll be better if you wait in one of our empty offices. You'll attract less attention that way."
He guides the group of you to a room with a table surrounded by a number of chairs.
As he does so, he looks at Nocki and Bear and asks "Is that a cat?"
After the group gets settled in the office, he nods and takes his leave.
"I'm sure it'll only be a few minutes." he says as he walks out.
...
Twenty minutes pass and then the door opens and a Varisian woman with gray hair enters. She wears a mail coat over a green tunic and has the emblem of the city watch on a badge at her breast.
She looks you over for a moment and then says:
"So you're the lot that drug in Plutivarch this morning? He's been quiet for a while, but he's caused problems in the past. Tell me how you came to have him tied up and in your custody."
Olander thinks of opening his mouth, but realizes once again, this story would be better coming from the non hell-spawn pathfinders.
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Nocki is delighted to be informed that their captive is a wanted man. At that moment, he readies his pipe, lights it and keeps smoking it until they get into the empty office.
He tells the others "Now this is a fortunate turn of events. Yesterday at this time we were fumbling for answers with some gypsies and now we're waiting for a reward! Hey Mikkitar, are you sure your kind is supposed to bring bad luck?"
As Captain Kasadei enters the room and starts asking questions, Nocki is about to spill his guts when he remembers that the guard may know something about the disappearance of Pathfinders. He holds his tongue for a while as he sees Olander's hesitation. He keeps the information to a minimum saying "Captain, we were conducting Pathfinder business in Dockway and your now newest prisoner attacked us from the shadows. He managed to knock out most of us, but little Sandu here was able to punch him unconscious. I helped, of course."
He checks Sandu for signs of embarrassment then continues "So, as our duty as citizens, we've brought the culprit to the guard. But we would also like the reward. Hmmmm, as a matter of fact, if you are feeling helpful today, we could use some information at your disposal. Say, do you know anything going on about Pathfinders disappearing? Maybe something to do with the Aspis Consortium?"
All in all, he ignores the question about Bear and feeds him some leaves.
"No-no, you heard wrong again. Cats, especially black ones, they are the bad luck-luck ringers, yes-yes."
Mikkitar seems impervious to the shade being thrown his way, remaining quiet and off to the side.
Sandu's eyes spark with irritation when Nocki first mentions his name, but it is gone quickly.
"My friend has the gist of it, we are looking into something for "The Society" and we kicked up enough dust that we drew a target from Plutivarch. His question about the Aspis is in hopes of helping us complete that task"
The grey-haired woman considers your story for a moment.
"Well ... it sounds as if you folks have had a busy night."
"First let me introduce myself." she continues. "My name is Kasadei, I'm captain of the watch for the first shift."
"Along with the responsibility for taking Plutivarch off your hands this morning, I have the pleasure of handing over this one-hundred gold piece reward."
She hands a sack, jingling with coins, over to Nocki.
"The reward is for past crimes that Plutivarch has committed. If you would like to press charges against him for assault, then you'll be needing to fill out some paperwork after we talk, swear to your statements in front of a priest of Abadar, and then return to speak your case before a judge in about a month's time when there is time available on the docket."
"Now, I take it from your statement that you lot are members of the Pathfinder Society?" she asks. Seeing nods of affirmative, she continues: "The Society and the Aspis Consortium have always been rivals. This wasn't ever a problem here in Magnimar, because the Society hasn't had a permanent presence here until recently."
"I can't imagine any organization like the Consortium having Plutivarch on their payroll. They have much more capable agents of their own who would be smarter than to try to take on five versus one odds without backup."
"My guess is he is making up stories or trying to stir up trouble."
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Nocki gladly takes the money pouch to be distributed with the group.
Nocki acquiesces to filling out the paperwork for the charges. He wasn't particularly fond of such bureaucracy, but it had to be done. Still, he focuses on the information. He answers the captain "If only Magnimarians were as competent as you, we'd have a more incredible city to live in. Your information is helpful, but... Say, if Plutivarch is not in league with the Aspir Consortium, then he must have been sent by Blackjack from Mook's Meats as a set up. I think we'll eventually have to go back there to settle some scores."
As if shaking off the dark thought, Nocki asks the captain "Say, you wouldn't know anything about a Natalya Vancaskerkin? She's been helping the Pathfinders and seems to have disappeared. We seemed to have botched the only clue we had."
"Hmmm .... Natalya Vancaskerkin is a name we know around here." Kasadei says when Nocki brings her up.
"That's she's working for the Pathfinders is news to me. I thought she was just a petty burglar."
"I know we don't have her in custody currently." she continues.
"If she has disappeared, then it's no surprise it hasn't been reported to us. The Sczarni tend to try to solve their own problems. If anyone knows what happened to her, it's probably the gang she runs with, the Tower Girls."
Her brow furoughs in thought and she tells you: "Finding a gang like the Tower Girls won't be easy. We know here at the watch that they recently changed the location of their hideout. None of our informants have been able to tell us where yet."
"A few months ago, the Tower Girls and the Wrechwash Blades had a brief war. For several weeks after the fighting, the Tower Girls were slumming it in an abandoned warehouse in Underbridge that they shared with a scumbag named Fenster the Blight."
"It could be that Fenster might know at least how to find the Tower Girls if you're still set on tracking this woman down."
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Nocki sits down. So many gang names makes him dizzy. He strokes Bear's head and lets him sit on the table. After a while he gets up and says "I think that's the best tip we've had since we've started this quest. Thank you very much for your help. Now, if we're done here, about filling those charge forms...?" He looks at the others.
Nocki feels that they've finished their business with the guard. If no one else has anything more to say, he offers to take the captain and her second in command for some dwarven beer when they're off duty and goes see about the form.
Do you have detailed directions to the abandoned warehouse in Underbridge?