"It could be weeks before she comes back through the tunnels. Might be easier to see if she is around town first." Mainly Davian wished to have the backup of the town guards in case things went south like with Calmont.
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Roxie gives you directions to the Reliant Book Company, where Voz keeps shop. Davian likely has been shooed away from there himself, so knows the way as well.
As you make your way up, you see Fadelby Vusker, proprietor of Vusker’s Carts & Wheels, the go-to wainwright in Breechill. "Say, ain't you all the heroes what cleared out Citadel Alterein? Come on over, lemme buy you a drink!"
Davian spins around. "I don't know about Heroes, but can we put a raincheck on that for a few minutes?" He holds up a finger. "Actually could you do us a favor and call some guards to the Reliant Book Company. Please hurry!"
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Roxie puts her hand on Davian's shoulder. "You owe me a round, so don't be tryin' t' run out on, you gutter snipe."
Fadelby replies to Davian, "You're the youngin's what saved the townsfolk from the fire, ain't ye? I'd never fergit your faces..." he points at Gideon, "after you pulled me out of that fire. I figger a round of drinks and perhaps a bowl of stew be the least of what I kin do fer ye!
"As for callin' the guard, wut's the big rush? What did Voz do?"
"We don't know if Voz did anything but there ight be trouble there and we will need them." Davian grabs the man and ushers him along as he turns to the others. "Roxie said Voz had that tunnel built and is raising the dead. The guards need to look into this."
"Yes, there's no proof of anything yet, but it's awfully suspicious."
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Roxie gives Davian an obvious stink eye, as if he blurted something out that she was keeping secret and had told him in confidence.
Fadelby leans in, and says quietly, ”LIsten, I don’t know what sort of trouble you kids got yourself into, but if it were me, I’d check out the bookstore before I went to the guard.
“You done good by me, so I can cover for ya’ if you need, but I don’t know if anyone is gone be lookin’ fer ya. But, if need be, you were workin’ at my shop.
“Best you make your way there later tonight, and I’ll walk you through the shop.”
He drops a handful of coins down on the table, and says, ”A round of drafts and bowls for my talkative friends here. They’ll need to be fed, so I can get a good night’s work
“Thanks, Rox!”
Edjarha, annoyed by this whole business, smiles for the first time at the suggestion of going to the bookshop. "Yes inded, that sounds like an excellent idea. Let's get a look around that shop."
Gideon snaps out of thinking about writing a valiant summoning of the guards and nods to Edjarha.
Aragelda speaks quietly.
"Let's look around for her. We know she's up to no good. She may be hiding."
Gideon ponders out loud "Bad luck on our part, or suspicious timing?"
Letting curiosity get the better of himself he peers in all the windows he can, and maybe bumps into the door handle to see if it just happens to be unlocked.
"I am not even sure where to start looking for a trail outside of town with so many people coming and going." Davian sighs at their obvious dead end. "We may be better off going after that drink and asking around."
Davian looks around, not wanting to draw attention to himself picking the locks. "We break in and we could be the ones in a cell."
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Checking out around the store, you can see that there is the front door and a window on each side of the building. Given the location and lines of sight, you should be able to pick one without attracting attention, as it is in a secluded area.
As you case the bookstore, you do not notice anyone watching you.
"We'd better be quick and quiet about it then, hm?" Edjarha says, staring in at the books within.
"I'm not much for picking locks. Anyone else?"
Gideon mumbles something about dealing with stuck equipment and picks a seculded door to open.
"Shall we check the staff area first?"
Davian gulps and nods nervously. "Sure."
"...huh?" Edjarha says, looking up from the book that immediately distracted him upon entering. "Oh, yes, I suppose so." He sets the book down and, with a last, longing glance at it, follows after Aragelda and Davian.
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As Aragelda opens the door, spikes lance out from the doorframe!
The dozen or so spikes spray off of the dwarf's armor, causing no damage!
You find the room to be in complete disarray! After twenty minutes of searching through the mess, Ingraham notices some notes on the cluttered desk that Voz left. These notes are scribbled in a rushed hand, but clearly read, “Aha! Entrance to Alseta’s Ring—Guardian’s Way.”
Davian and Gideon recall that Guardian’s Way is the name of a long-abandoned military outpost that was used during the Goblinblood Wars, though Aragelda disagrees, stating that this is the marble-paved circle in the center of town where the statue of Lamond Breachton stands. However, none of you know where that might be (except Aragelda, who definitely knows where the status is).
"That must be where Voz ran off to!" Davian points to the paper mentioning Guardian's Way.
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Gideon sighs and goes to work opening it as well.
"Piddlespot I knew I shouldn't have bought these discount tools from that clown."
With replacement picks Gideon tries again.
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With his second attempt, Gideon unlocks the door.
You enter the room, to find it in shambles! The bed is unmade, a modest chest of drawers has been ransacked, the wardrobe is missing about half its contents, and a small desk in the corner is covered with miscellaneous personal effects such as archivist’s gloves, dented reading glasses, and several alarmingly large balls of lint.
Next to the disheveled bed is a small nightstand, on which lies a book titled Breachill, Outpost of Liberty and several loose leaves of
paper.
Aragelda carefully steps over to look at the loose papers, keeping an eye out for booby traps.
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It appears that the book is a history of Breachill!
However, Aragelda sees that the papers are Voz's notes about this history. The first things she notices of interest is a note that says
Ha! Rich! Idiot humans trusting that lying wizard
You think that it will take some time to search around the bedroom given the way things are just strewn around everywhere, but it seems it might be worth it!
Ingraham then realizes, 'Where is Alak?'
Edjarha helps to look around the room, but rather ineffectively as he is constantly getting distracted looking at the book and Voz's notes.
"What is Alseta's Ring and why is Voz keeping a history of the town?" Davian helps look around the two rooms.
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You also find some more notes like:
The fools put up a statue of that duplicitous charlatan — hilarious!
She has apparently learned some interesting information. She seems to be believe that Lamond Breachton was nothing more than an egomaniacal wizard who was trying to build a society of servants to appease his needs, and when he failed, he wiped the townsfolk’s memories before helping them establish Breachill. That he did so out of a sense of guilt, though, Voz got right—her notes here include commentary like, “Fool should have just left them to die—guilt gets you nothing!” The research also indicates that Voz has hit nothing but dead ends in trying to find out what happened to Lamond Breachton after he left the area—she suspects he is long dead, though.
After 20 minutes searching you are left with her discarded notes [ooc](also see slide #2 on Breachill for the official history)[ooc] and the book.
"This is interesting, but I doubt a quest to learn the town's origins would drive someone like this. What was she trying to find? Something connected to Breachton?"
"That's everything, right? There's not really any evidence of wrongdoing, just an interest in town history. What should we do now?"
Gideon shrugs, at a loss for what to do next.
"Maybe we can find out more at this Guardian's Waystation? It seems Voz was headed out there." Davian points at the entry.
"Sure, let's go to the Waystation."
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Aragelda leads the team to where she is sure that the Guardian's Waystation is located. You make it to the Monument Circle, which she swears is also called Guardian's Waystation, but after spending some time, realize there are no secret passages under the status... at least none that you can find.
"What are you doing?" asks Mayor Greta Gardinia. "You kids lost or something?"
"We're looking for the Guardian's Waystation. Isn't it here somewhere?"
"Ah, okay! Thank you very much!"
Davian looks to the group. "I could use a bit of rest before heading out. Don't suppose Voz is going anywhere anytime soon." He looks to the group. "Head out in the morning then?"