After spending the day making discreet and not so discreet inquiries regarding the whereabouts of Vanthus Vanderboran, the party reconvenes at a local tavern to compare notes.
A few weeks ago, Penkus and Vanthus were spotted at a boat shop called "It Still Floats!" where they got in a huge argument with the proprietor, a dwarf named Panchi. Neither Penkus nor Vanthus has been seen since.
Voronwe arrives at the inn early and shakes his head as the others enter, "No luck, I'm afraid." The elf leans back in his chair and sighs, "He's well-known but everyone assumes he's still living at the estate. I'm sure he's happy for them to assume that as well."
As everyone else gathers, Voronwe passes around some mugs of spiced ale, "Anyone have better luck?"
"Cheers!" Kellan's exuberant quaff does nothing to wash down the disappointment of the days investigation and he shakes his head, no. "Not a thread to be pulled, nor turd to be polished I'm afraid. Apparently this town is bigger than the haunts of my childhood and the academy. I've only just scratched the surface of Azure, perhaps a return tonight may be profitable, when tongues are a bit more lubricated." Kellan raises his mug demonstratively and proffers a wink to the table.
"PAYDIRT MATEYS!" Exulted Jon after bursting into the room.
After he grabbed a mug, he sat down and dished what he found.
"Vanthus himself has been in and around Shadowshore; probably stood out there as a rich boy slummin'. More than that, he's been seen in the company of a known smuggler named Penkus." He said.
Gulping down his drink, he waived his mug around for a refill.
"After that, I poked about askin' about Penkus. He's a real famous fellow 'round Shadowshore; known fer his drunken binges and real mean temper."
He slammed another round.
"Get this; A few weeks ago, Penkus AND Vanthus were spotted at a boat shop called "It Still Floats!". They got in a huge argument with the proprietor, a dwarf named Panchi."
He leaned back in his chair, balancing on the back legs.
"Ain't neither Penkus nor Vanthus been seen around there since."
Not being one for social interaction, Ukufa had mirthlessly accompanied Voronwe on his information gathering in the Noble District.
As the companions share their lack of progress, the Jasdian barely registers any disappointment, merely sipping her wine.
Upon Spinnaker Jon's clamourous proclamation she frowns disapprovingly, but holds her tongue.
Tsk. Buccaneer speaks too loud. Tell everyone here our business.
In a low voice she addresses her companions;
"To the shop yes? See what the dwur can tell."
Bhru crashes through the tavern doors taking in the crowd, looking for his companions. He hears them first and finds them through squinted eyes second.
'Lads! Lassies! I made it t' every pub 'n town and tasted all the ale 'n em. Alas, I din't come to find our quarry. Where to?'
Coming to realize there are new members at the table Bhru nods,
'I see miss 'vinia has hired some more 'elp. Welcome!'
"Sit yerself down an' have a drink!" Says Jon, and pours him a mug. "I got a line on our fish down in Shadowshore!"
"Well done good sir! I'm with Ukufa, a trip to a shop seems much more desirable than heading back to Azure." Kellan downs the rest of his pint and pushes his chair back making ready to stand if the others also give exit cues.
Voronwe, who has little more than sipped at his beer, rises without giving it a second glance, ”Oh, yes, after our fellow. No time like the present.”
With only the one solid lead so far, the party decides to pay the proprietor of It Still Floats! a visit.
Returning to Shadowshore, a few polite inquiries turns up directions to the boat shop and soon the party finds itself outside a fairly shoddy looking storefront down by the water. Inside, the shop is fairly small and decidedly nautical themed. A sour-looking dwarf glances up from a ledger at your appearance, not looking particular excited at the sudden appearance of so many customers. "What can I do you for?" He asks suspiciously.
"Oh, erm, hello. This is a nice place, isn't it. Charming. Yes." Voronwe stops himself, "Sorry, babbling. We were hoping you might be able to help us track down Vanthus Vanderboren. Apparently, he was in your shop a little while ago."
Ukufa hangs back, allowing Voronwe and no doubt the nautical knowhow of Spinnaker to take the lead.
She instead keeps a keen eye on the shoppe, wary of potential threats or unseen staff;
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The dwarf's eyes narrow. "Lots of people come into my shop. It's hard to remember them all, and they don't all leave names. You're going to have to jog my memory a bit."
"Well now darlin'," Grinned Jon. "This 'n be an upper crust fellow; he'd stand out from yer Shadowshore regulars. Mebbe y'd seen 'im in company of his good matey Penkus; I hear he's a local big man."
Jon shifted his hand on the table to reveal the edge of a ten crown gold piece. "Jog yer memory maybe?"
The crusty dwarf gets a gleam in his eye at the flash of gold. "Ah, your asking about the lad that was with Penkus then. Why didn't you say so in the first place? The pair of them were in here nigh on a fortnight ago. They bought themselves a dinghy and loaded it up with all sorts of oil, lanterns, and rope before they set out. They were all excited about something and keen to shove off. Not seen hide nor hair of them since."
Ukufa breaks from her overwatch to stonily add a question;
"No talk of their destination?"
Hmmm, Wonderd Jon. Where could they go in a dinghy with rope and lanterns? Someplace accessable by sea that needed artificial light? A sea cave perhaps?
Jon considered carefully if he knew of any place like that locally.
Kellan is content with the current line of questioning and recognizes the glint in the dwarf's eye as he spots the gold. This fellow looks like he'd sell out his mother for a fistful of copper. Hopefully he's got something more for us.
Kellan isn't particularly good at judging motives but he focuses in an attempt to sense the Dwarf's motives.
Voronwe, unsure of himself, dithers at the back of the group.
The dwarf shakes his head, "No. They was tight lipped about it. Up to no good, I'd wager."
Leaving the gold piece on the table, Jon led the way back to the Vanderboren manor.
Lighting his pipe, he blew out a smoke ring and poured himself a drink.
"I feel it in me bones. They have to be explorin' a sea cave. Thing is, there's just so MANY of 'em hereabouts..."
He waived the bottle at the rest of you, offering a dram for you as well.
Voronwe ponders Jon's words, "Hmm, perhaps Lavinia can make a connection. Her family might own some coastal property? Or there might be a place he has mentioned?"
"Perhaps tomorrow we can speak with Lavinia, then try to gather information in the rest of the city's districts?"
Having left the talking to the more talking folks the dwarf continues in tow,
'Agreed, miss 'vinia may have an idea, i'll be leavin' the talkin' to those with a tad more tact.'
These new folks sure have their heads on right, miss 'vinia found the right ones fer the job aright
"Aye perhaps Lavinia has some knowledge to confer but if the lady does not have any thoughts on, errr, sea caves, perhaps a return to Azure to find this supposed lover of the brother's should be our next investigation." Kellan is too distracted by the night's events and unclear lead to offer any winks.
Ukufa nods in agreement;
"Lady Vanderboren may have key."
She shrugs;
"Brother's heart and sea cave both?"
You arrange for another meeting with Lavinia the following day to report your findings so far. She is encouraged that you've managed to find some trace of her brother, but doesn't have much to add. As far as she knows, the family doesn't have any coastal holdings, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist. There were many journals and other documents stashed in the family vault that may have some clue and she promises to look through them while you continue your search.
Returning to the azure district, the party is able to pick up a few more traces of Vanthus. A few people remember seeing Vanthus drinking in the local taverns, often in the company of a woman named Brissa Santos, a notorious pickpocket turned semi-legitimate artist who's had her fair share of brushes with the law.
Widening your inquiries to include Brissa goes nowhere. No one has seen her any more than they have seen Vanthus in recent weeks.
After another day of dead ends and false leads, a small street urchin runs up to Bhru and hands him a piece of paper before running off again. Scribbled on the paper is a brief message. Steel Urchin. Tonight. Be discrete.
Bhru reads the message before crumpling it up and shoving it into his belt pouch. After rendezvous with his companions he fills them in,
'Got a message fram a lil pup told me where to be an' when to be. Steel Urchin, night time. See to it you git there ahead o' time 'n keep 'n eye. I'm gunna go find Katigar and head there the two o' us.'
The dwarf heads out to the city streets in search of Katigar in her usual spots before heading to the Urchin.
"Um, Steel Urchin?"
Kellan lifts a finger and opens his mouth as if to speak... pauses... Turns away and turns back.
"I have not the foggiest but it sounds like a tavern name no? I'll ask around and meet you all there? Probably best we arrive separately."
Jon dressed more generically, gets there early and tries to blend in with the rest of the drinking crowd.
Ukufa gives no indication of knowing the place or name either.
"I know it not."
Once the locale is settled upon the Jasdian Huntress does not immediately enter, instead moving around the building or location, attempting to gauge ways in and out...
When Bhru (and Katigar?) enter(s) the tavern, the barman catches his eye and nods to the a back corner of the room. Seated alone at a small table is a nervous-looking half-elf with messy black hair dressed in a ragged suit of leather armor. When he sees Bhru, he raises a hand, beckoning the dwarf over to come join him at his table. Once seated, he leans over and begins a whispered conversation.
Jon tried to hear what was going on over the noise of the tavern.
Luckily he was already pretty close.
Kellan sees the Dwarf saunter towards the waving half elf and moves to get closer but bumps into another patron splashing some drink to the floor. He murmurs a brief apology and elects to remain in sight of Bhru at the bar with what is left of his drink.
Ukufa opts to remain outside, hugging the shadows of the building as she keeps a low profile...
Barely sipping at his ale, Voronwe reads the man's lips.
Interesting...
Bhru takes a long swallow of his ale and wipes his beard with the back of is hand,
'Aye lad, I got some coins, but how do I know what ye have to tell me is worth any coin at all? Ya look like you haven' seen much of anythin' lately'
The dwarf reaches across the table and grabs the wrist of the skittish fellow, giving it a hard squeeze with his iron grip,
'If ye tell me what you believe to be true, an I find out it's not...'
Bhru makes a slashing motion with his other hand thudding against the table,
'Well, maybe you get the picture lad. An this one over here.'
He gestures to Katigar, and then toward his groin,
'She's even worse.'
Listening quietly to the conversation at hand Katigar leans back, arms crossed, taking in the man,
At the mention of the simple dwarf's suggestion that she would castrate the man she leans forward takes a short breath,
'....hhmmph.'
She leans back again, makes a discreet chopping motion into the palm or her hand, gives a wink, and glares at the man.
The man winces at Bhru's grip, but doesn't seem overly concerned by the threats. You're meeting on his turf after all. He looks past you and gives a slight shake of his head.
"Now do you want to keep acting tough, or are we going to do business?"
Having lost interest in trying to listen in innefectively, Kellan notices some activity at the meet has attracted more than just his attention.
May as well lean into the clumsiness, buy Bhru and Katigar some time alone.
Kellan affects a drunken stumble and moves towards his selected target, weaving as he goes. He bumps into the table hard and leans on it heavily spilling his drink yet again and slurs through a slack grin "Ya'eard th'one bout the one legged goblin?"
One of the men at the table gives Kellan a shove. "Back off. You'll find no easy marks here."
Bhru releases his grip,
Seemingly not noticing whats going on around him...
'A'right lad, what's 'ur price. I'm after 'im and you know where he is then?'
The fellow leans back and smiles, revealing a mouth full of yellow and broken teeth.
"There we go. That wasn't so hard. Fifteen gold will get the information you're looking for. For another fifteen, I'll take you there my self."
Listening carefully, Jon is foiled by the passage of a gaggle of girls laughing as they gossiped.