The next morning, on coming down to another breakfast of pickled fish, you can immediately feel the nervousness of the refugees. Themolin almost jumps in his seat when there's a soft tapping on one of the ground floor windows. A small sparrow is tapping away at it insistently.
"That's odd", Vurna says, opening the window and letting the bird come in. It perches on her finger, before seeing the group of you at the table and jumps on it, perching itself on Marta's mug.
A familiar voice speaks to you from the bird's mouth, whispering softly:
"Gods, that took long enough. Wasn't sure if you'd be here. This is the third one." It's Guaril. "Listen up! The Rolanna's Prayer is at Shard Cove and will be there until nighttime. It's pretending to be a fishing boat, so it has a cover, albeit a weak one. Get the clients there. Oh, I hope you got Themolin. The money he's paying—" The voice of Valais Durant interrupts "Get them onboard before the ship leaves. It doesn't matter who. None of them are more important than the other." Guaril grunts.
The sparrow then flies off through the open window and disappears into the cloudy sky.
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Quindul grins at Themolin. "Good news, Themolin! You're hanging out with us all day to keep you safe. You go with Aloysius and I to go get the artwork."
She points at Daffrid and her family. "You're on the first boat out of here with Seddy. But you've gotta be nice and quiet about it. You're leaving on a fake fishing boat and travelling through the sewers to get there, so be ready to stink! It's happening!"
She looks at her companions. "Vurna and at least one other person -- probably two -- have to get them there through the sewers. Who's volunteering?" She looks at Bryc, Iqu, Klaakz, and Marta when she says this. "And whoever doesn't bring them there has to go head off to talk to this Garrla person at the Emerald Guard."
"Sound good?"
Inspired and pressured, you create three sets of forged travel papers. Some looking quite better than the others.
On hearing the news that he'll be spending the day with the pathfinder agents, Themolin's face is confused, but he nods. "All right. It's for the best.", he says, resigning himself to more talks about mice, or rats or whatever the small bundle of energy will go on about.
Daffrid's family is ecstatic on hearing the news that they'll all be going together. Vurna and Yuleg smile, the dwarf innkeeper hugging his daughter and kissing her on the forehead.
|----|----|----|----|
Early in the morning, the party splits up, off to do their chores, and perhaps with the Prayer in their minds. Aloysius, Quindul and Themolin arrive at the warehouse without any issue, having borrowed Yuleg's cart. You are stopped by a patrol asking why foreigners are carrying about merchandise, but your cover story, papers and Themolin producing a writ of sale leaves them satisfied. You return to the Rockfish at around 1 pm.
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Bryc, Klaakz make their way to the Emerald Guardhouse. Upon arriving, they are greeted with the vanity of the ruler of Xin-Edasseril. Columns of this wide building are carved in minute detail in the likeness of Runelord Belimarius. Its wide courtyard is filled with practice dummies and other evidence of martial training. Guards are beginning and ending their shifts. A short line has formed outside the door of a recruiting area, where a handsome male guard stands stationed.
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Vurna leads Iqu and Daffrid's family through the sewers, the kids are clearly excited about this, and even happier when Seddothrum comes down, complaining about how cramped it is down here.
"Yay! Seddy, you're here!"
"Hello rockman! Are you also getting on the boat?", Maffrit greets Seddothrum.
, his gravely voice rumbles in the sewers.
|----|----|----|----|
When you arrive at Flitch's lair, Vurna is overjoyed at seeing the young thief and goes over to hug him. "Oh, Flitch, you're all right! I've missed you so much! Have you missed me?" Flitch is taken aback as he's hugged by the dwarf and his eyes grow wide as the family comes in and they grow even wider at the stone giant hunched over the main chamber.
, booms Seddothrum.
"Oh wow! This is awesome!", says Taffrit.
"A secret base! I want one, too!", adds Maffrit.
The kids begin running around and looking at everything Flitch has with interest.
"Oh, uhm, hello Vurna.", Flitch manages to croak. "And these are?"
Flitch pales, "With her father?!" He groans then stops as Taffrid has got hold of one of his throwing knives. "PUT THAT DOWN BEFORE YOU CUT YOURSELF!"
|----|----|----|----|
The guard looks at Bryc and snorts. "I'm not your pal and there's no one here with such a stupid name. You want anything else?"
Asking around, you quickly learn that none of the guards stationed here have heard of this 'Garrla'. As you continue moving and asking questions, Klaakz is bumped into by the female guardswoman you've run into before. "Today's a good day to recruit, goblin." She then moves towards one of the towers where a crude hand painted sign reads "Recruitment".
The queue for recruitment is unsurprisingly empty. The guardswoman is the lone recruiting officer at the desk with another guard stationed at the door within earshot. When you approach her, she points at her uniform. "If you like it and you have what it takes, it can be yours one day soon. Just tell me the time and the place.", she emphasizes.
"May I see your travel papers, please." Once you hand them over and she checks that everything is in order, she casually mentions, "You leave tomorrow. Excellent. Ellvard is scheduled to work the docks tomorrow." She eyes the guard by the door. "Knowing when to hide in plain sight is a good guard quality. Being unseen is important" she says as she surreptitiously slides over a small black notebook, as it allows us to hide things from the Runelord's enemies." Her eyes are almost pleading as she points at the notebook and then the door with them only. "Hope you have what it takes. Just tell me the time and place of your recruitment and I'll be there to sign you up."
|----|----|----|----|
Meanwhile, back at the sewers, Flitch, Vurna and Iqu have the rafts ready by the shoreline. "Here's a map of the Cove", Flitch says as he hands Iqu a sketch of the surrounding area. "´Ware the shards. They're crystalline and sharp and hidden by the water. Those things can tear through a ship's hull in passing." He eyes Seddothrum dipping his hand in the water. "Might want to be careful with the reefclaws, too. You get near one of them and they'll tear you apart for food. Especially since you'll be swimming, miss. There's no space on the remaining rafts."
|----|----|----|----|
Aloysius, Quindul and Themolin will have arrived to the Rockfish around the same time the group at the Guardhouse returns.
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"I think you would look quite fetching in that uniform, Klaakz. Perhaps it would be wise not to delay. We can meet tomorrow. We are staying at the Rockfish Inn. Perhaps 3pm? I think Klaakz should be ready then."
As she is talking, she slides the notebook into her lap.
With a bit of fidgeting she gets it to stay in place and is satisfied with her efforts.
Iqu meanwhile has gotten the families on the rafts, Flitch, thinking ahead, has provided some planks to serve as oars. In the distance, you can see the Rolanna's Prayer. You keep an eye out for any possible danger as you help navigate the family and Seddothrum through the Cove.
|----|----|----|----|
The guardswoman nods as Marta informs the Klaakz of his destiny to become a goblin with a captivating allure in uniform. Marta then strides outside of the recruitment area without the stationed guard none the wiser.
Once back at the Rockfish, the group would find that the black notebook is a ledger that records a transaction by a guard named Ellvard who recently sold an expensive piece of art to Belimarius.
Themolin perks up. "Oh! Why yes! While I was able to catch Ellvard through the absence of a paper trail and doctored books and receipts, this is the missing piece. The actual writ of sale! Why with the affidavit, we could process him in... oh. I just remembered. I'm not going to be here anymore for that." His enthusiasm subsides.
Iqu returns to the Rockfish Inn, soaking wet and with several cuts on her. Flitch and Vurna are with her, the young dwarf fidgeting about her wounds. Apparently things did not go so well. After swimming alongside the refugees' rafts for five minutes, they ran afoul two crystal shards, which tore up both rafts halfway through the Cove. Daffrid panicked for her children as the rafts came apart and they were thrown in the water. Seddothrum almost drowned fighting a reefclaw that on seeing the easy pickings, went after Maffrit and Taffrit. While Iqu held off an attack from another reefclaw going after a hysterical Tellith. If not for Iqu and Seddothrum, the family might not have survived.
Thankfully, they all got onto the Prayer, a little worse for wear. After recovering her breath, Iqu had to swim back across the Cove. Flitch, showing some measure of bravery, met her half-way with a spear in hand and together they made it back to shore.
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After getting back to the Rockfish Inn, Aloysius would have started to prepare the empty crates for smuggling - putting in discrete air holes and padding the bottoms with straw and/or blankets.
"We'll need to hide Garrla in one of these crates. We have enough papers for everyone else who's left, but is there anyone among the remaining people that we should hide on the Mayfly?"
Themolin coughs into his hand, "Well my lady, I did discover his involvement in the counterfeit and had him sign the affidavit. As for being wanted, goodness gracious, no. Although to be honest, I never thought of Ellvard willing to try and kill me for it!" He seems uncomfortable with the thought of someone trying to kill him for doing his job.
Flitch, who has been avoiding looking at Yuleg responds immediately, glad to not have to deal with the dwarf's poisonous stare at the moment. "Uh, yeah, but I can disguise myself! I'm quite good at it, too. You won't even know I'm there.", he nods sure of his skills.
"Uh, sure. Just give me 10 minutes!" Flitch heads into an empty room to prepare himself.
"I'll help", Vurna eagerly volunteers, but is stopped by the firm hand of her father on her shoulder. "Nay, you stay here, daughter of mine."
Themolin rubs his chin at Aloysius suggestion before sighing resignedly. "If I must."
Yuleg and Vurna agree with the plan. "Yes, that can be done", Yuleg says with a fierce grin. "It isn't that hard, being we're already merchants to begin with!"
When Flitch comes out, he's unrecognizable, his dress, mannerisms and face are those of an older, worldly traveler. At most Bryc can barely see through the disguise and that's by squinting and remembering Flitch is in front of him.
"Ta-da! I'm ready to deal in... art? Books? Pickled fish?"
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"Thank you for understanding, Themolin. We really can't risk a confrontation with Ellvard or anyone else."
Looking at Flitch, Aloysius concedes "Not bad. Alright, stay like that until we're well underway on the Mayfly."
To Marta "Maybe we should make a set of papers for Themolin anyway. If the guards find him in the crate, we can produce the papers and give them a story. For instance - he has to ride like that to prevent horrible sea-sickness or a better story if you have one."
You all ready yourselves for you last night at Xin-Edasseril. The remaining refugees are restless. Yuleg stays awake most of the night, speaking with Themolin in hushed tones. They're worried about the future that awaits them outside. In another part of the common room, Flitch and Vurna drink tea by the window, discussing their plans once they're free. When they all go to sleep, it's almost dawn.