What he can see indicates that this was probably where the Bellflower's freed slaves and agents resided during their stays in the Wasp's Nest. There's more than a few tables and chairs, chewed and torn to pieces - they are both human and halfling sized. It seems likely to him that the dire corby from earlier was tearing this place apart - though he cannot fathom why.
Furthermore, if Nan had only arrived here in the past week - after the Night of Ashes, then it stands to reason that Laria would have kept this in better condition prior to his arrival. So how did the corby get in and start tearing the place up?
What he doesn't see is any other signs of dire corbies - or indeed, any other threats at all. Though he does spot a few feathers here and there, they're probably just from the one that's dead now... right?
If only I could see in the dark. ”I do not see any other threats. This place is trashed. Unless Nan hit on an unrealized market for illegal smashed boxes in Kintargo, I believe the feathered one was tearing crates apart looking for something.” The Raven says on his return to the ladies. After the divine healing, the Raven was a whole and hearty has ever, but the others were clearly spent, at least on the magical side of things. ”I am quite tired, however, and I think it best to retreat with our newfound information for now. Laria might have some ideas as to where the corby came from.”
The Ravens retreat back into Laria's cellar, where they are faced with another question - do they bring the dire corby corpse (as well as poor Nan's) up to the main building, or do they go and fetch Laria separately, to try to get her advice on what to do next?
As they retreat, Nyxra's keen ears catch the sound of shuffling footsteps and quiet voices from deeper in the Wasp's Nest.
"- dead? Who were they?"
"Guards, probably. We have to get out of here."
"Calm down, girls. Chough and the beast got them good. We might be able to take them."
Someone else is inside the Wasp's Nest. If she had to guess, there're probably four sets of footsteps.
The Raven hears something as the group moves through the door - the soft shuffling of feet. Only one pair, by the sound of it, though.
Jessibel takes a few moments to freshen herself up with a prestidigitation spell once everyone's back to the relative safety of the coffee house's cellar. Crinkling her nose, the bard comments on the corby, "This thing stinks! It must've bathed in the sewer water! Though...if it had, it probably would've been eaten by the gator."
Next, the bard uses the same spell to clean the blood off Aisling and the Raven before tidying up Vantine and Nyxra as well.
"Want me to head topside to fetch Laria?"
Nyxra draws her blade again. "Four pairs of steps. They're shadowing us." She informs the rest of the party before turning to the darkness.
"GET OUT HERE! We're not guards, and we know you're watching us!"
A female bird-woman steps forwards, lingering just at the edge of the bright light for the humans in the group. ”Who the Hell are you and why the f@@! are you here, if you’re not guards?” Her voice is as much caw as speech, but it is quite intelligible, though its accent is definitely not local. She keeps her blade at the ready, clearly cautious.
In the dim light beyond, there are several shadows, but the humans cannot make them out clearly.
The Raven places himself and his shield between the two parties. He cocks his head as the bird people make themselves know. ”My my. There are many ravens in the Kintargo underground today!” He is a bit shocked that tengu show themselves moments after he mentions them, but hides his surprise. ”But why are we eating our own today and, more importantly, why did you kill poor Nan?” The Raven keeps his shield readied for an attack, dagger hidden in hand behind the protective metal.
Nyxra's eyebrow arches when she finally sees who's addressing them.
Tengu? Huh...
"We were sent here by a friend--we were looking for the poor guy your gator ate." She replies, her sword still readied but not making any hostile motions. "We weren't expecting someone else to have already moved in."
"We didn't kill Nan. Chough did, and you already killed her!" The tengu retorts sharply before rounding on Nyxra. "Besides, it's not our gator. It killed three of us before we started avoiding that area - and it'll be back again after it recovers." She gestures at the water.
"We didn't want to come here in the first place, let alone stay." She says, not lowering her blade in the slightest.
”Why does Chough kill everyone she meets?” The Raven asks of the very aggressive and now dead bird.
As inattentive and borderline ditzy as usual, it takes Jessibel a few moments to realize that the Silver Ravens are not alone. She spins to face the entrance into the Wasps' Nest and stares wide-eyed at the tengu. Realizing the situation's touch-and-go, the bard lowers her glowing blade to appear less threatening.
Wow! Could these be real Riddleport Pirates? Jessi wonders, recalling a song from a play she'd been in last year, before Thrune ruined Kintargo and her life in general.
The tengu’s eyes flare somewhat wider at the Raven’s question, but after a moment, she tightens her shoulders. ”She’s always been temperamental, and losing our sisters didn’t help at all.”
Vantine steps forwards. ”Please, calm down. We don’t want to fight you, and maybe we can help you. What's your name?
The tengu looks on warily, before shaking her head. "We're not close enough to share names. Chough's dead, and we'd like to leave this place."
"I'm afraid that may be easier said than done: The city's under martial law thanks to its new ruler," Jessi informs the female tengu. "But tell us: How did you come to be down here in the first place?"
"... Nan brought us here." She says, seeming unwilling to share any more information at the moment.
Jessibel gives some thought to the tengu's reply and the situation in general. Nan's supposedly a smuggler, yet this time he's apparently moving people. Smugglers are criminals, so it's more likely than not that he's moving criminals, since Laria seems to know nothing of the tengus' presence. If this had been on the up-and-up, Nan would have been honest and trusted in Laria's people-moving skills. Proceed with caution!
"Where did he bring you in from?" Jessi persists, trying to remain neutral in tone. "And where did he plan to move you next?"
The tengu grips her kukri tighter, lifting it somewhat threateningly. "We're asking the questions here, thank you. You have several bows aimed at you, and you're tired. We're not."
"You said the city's under martial law - do you know of any way out?"
"We never tire of defending our city!" Jessibel retorts, hoping that sounds like something a vigilante named 'the Magpie' might say. Nonetheless, she also starts mentally calculating how quick she and her friends can get back through the doorway and into the coffeehouse's cellar.
"A way out?" Nyxra tilts her head and starts to think...
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Nyxra nods. "There're a few captains in Kintargo that are known to do a bit of smuggling from time to time--spices, luxuries, people who got on the wrong side of Thrune."
"If I remember right, there's Captain Emilio Garath of the Saintly Wind and Captain Riva Farrah of the Lion's Pride." The elf continues. "But, in case they're not in town, there's also our employer Laria. She'll know better than I whether or not there are captains in harbour that'll get you away from here."
The tengu lowers her blade slightly, eyes narrowing, before she sighs and sheathes it. "Alright. You look like trustworthy enough sorts. I'm Korva Fushi. We're from Riddleport, originally." She looks back at the dimness in the deeper Wasp's Nest.
"Girls, come here. Maybe these people can help us..." Three more tengu emerge from the darkness, each wearing a curve-bladed dagger and slinging a bow over her shoulder. All four sisters move closer to the Ravens. Korva indicates her sisters one by one. "That's Jay," she indicates the tengu with a scar on her face, "and next to her is Maggie," the smallest of the tengu sisters bows with a flourish, "and finally Treep." The last sibling simply nods her head in acknowledgement.
"The four of us - along with Chough, Rak, Arra, and Shi - were smuggled here with some Varisian clothes." Korva waves her hand vaguely towards the other end of the Wasp's Nest. "But Chough was... well, she hated being cooped up, and when Nan couldn't get us out fast enough for her, she killed him and dumped him in the water. Then the alligator came and we lost Rak, Arra, and Shi... and now Chough's dead."
She swallows, shaking her head in genuine anguish.
"She was getting worse, Korva." Jay says softly, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You heard her tearing up the bunk room. She might've turned on us next." She looks at the Silver Ravens. "Look, I can't say how sorry we are about Nan. He seemed like a good enough guy, and a skilled bargainer. Maybe..."
She looks to her sisters. "Maybe we can help you out for a bit, before leaving? As... reparations, I guess."
Maggie nods enthusiastically. "We don't have anywhere else to go yet, do we?" She looks at Korva.
Korva taps her fingers on the hilt of her kukri, apparently thinking. "Treep?" The silent sister shrugs slightly, before making a few swift gestures. "Alright." She says, nodding.
"I don't know whether you'll accept us, but... please don't turn us over to the law. We've all heard stories of Chelish punishments." Jay takes over again.
"I would never turn in a fellow tengu." The Raven says, lowering his shield slightly. A shame he was not wearing his full mask; they might take him for a giant of their own kind. "But this is not our place, and you killed the owners friend. You'll have to discuss staying here with her, I think." That was the problem with smuggling people. You never really knew who you were dealing with. "In the interim, what are you doing here and why did you come to Kintargo if you wish to leave so quickly? You say you will help us. How do we know you are not child killers or the like?"
"Have you ever been to Riddleport?" Maggie snickers sardonically in response. "It's not much better than Cheliax."
Jay shakes her head slightly. "Chough killed someone that had a lot of power in Riddleport. We had to leave. Nan took us here - it was meant to be a stopover before we moved on to someplace else - someplace safer."
At his implicit accusation, Korva tilts her head, looking somewhat annoyed. "We only ever killed to - well, we certainly never killed any innocents. Or anyone who didn't provoke us, for that matter." After a moment, she sighs. "I am not going to claim we are good people by any means - we're thieves, and damn decent ones. Thing is, in Riddleport, the only people worth stealing from are those who aren't innocent."
The other sisters nod in agreement with their seeming leader's words.
Jessibel listens stoically, sharing some of the Raven's concerns about the birdfolk. She suggests that Vantine go and fetch Laria, since the business's owner should indeed have a large say as to whether or not a band of self-professed thieves ought be allowed to stay on her property...even if part of the Wasps' Nest was technically beneath other people's property.
Vantine nods and takes her leave, heading through the secret door (carefully shutting it behind her) and ascending the ladder.
Nyxra sheathes her sword. "Nice to meet you all."
"We've got every reason to hate the guard." The dark-skinned elf grins. "We're not going to turn you in."
Aisilng listens as stoically as she can, but even with the magical healing sh'es lost a lot of blood. It's been a long and crazy day. She looks at the others, unwilling to tell what she's thinking in front of strangers. But at the very least, these sisters have not been sensible in their choice of friends.
"The fact is that accidnent or not, Nan is dead and the person who's shop we're about to go back through was a friend of his. I'm not sure what to say, but I'm not comfortoable with lying about it."
She's at a bit of a loss how to proceed.
Korva looks at the Iomedaean. "Who would you be lying to?" She asks, genuinely puzzled. "Tell your friend the truth, and that you've killed Chough."
"Maybe she means to the guards?" Jay suggests. "Who don't know we exist in the first place - we were smuggled in, after all."
Jay tilts her head in an unsurprisingly birdlike gesture. ”Wait, you were fighting the alligator, weren’t you? I think that if we work together, we can get rid of it for good. That way, even if you don’t want to work with us in the long term, we can help you in some small way.”
Korva makes an angry noise. ”Killing that thing would be a pleasure.”
The rest of the bird-women trill their agreement.
"Heeeeeey...I think I see where you're heading with this!" Jessibel chimes in enthusiastically, her suspicion of the birdfolk already put on the back burner. "With your bows--and Nyxra's--we should be able to skewer that beastie from a safe distance! All we need is some sort of bait...."
The Raven shrugs. "We have to get poor Nan out of here somehow. Can't do it with an alligator guarding him and we do have a lot of bows now." Once everyone is ready, the Raven draws one of his daggers and moves back towards the pool to give the alligator a target for its wrath. His little dagger has small chance of penetrating the beasts hide when thrown, but it was worth a try and it would give them some idea of the tengu's competence with their bows.
Korva looks at the Iomedaean. "Who would you be lying to?" She asks, genuinely puzzled. "Tell your friend the truth, and that you've killed Chough."
Aisling tilts her head to one side as seh looks at Korva for a long moment. The story is hard to hear, and she's glad none of that happened to her. On the other hand, she's pretty sure that she wouldn't have stood idly by and let Chough jump out from ambush without at least shouting a warning. On the other, other hand it's easy to judge. Certainty is nice, but friends are hard to come by. "The truth is a great and terrible thing, as I heard onece. It's certainly not something you hear a lot in Cheliax. I'm sorry for the loss of your sisters to that crocodile. Let's avenge them."
The tengu look at one another, then at the Ravens. "It'd be quicker if we could surround it and slash it to pieces... but we'd need something to ensure that it doesn't snap us in two when we're doing that." Korva says. "It's probably safer, if not faster, to use bows. Girls?"
At this point, it becomes obvious that Korva is not wearing or holding a bow. The other three sisters look to one another. Maggie shrugs slightly. "I guess we can. I really wanted to sink my beak into it, though..." She grumbles.
Jay slaps her lightly on the beak. "Behave."
Treep looks back at the water, before tapping Korva on her shoulder. Korva looks at her sister, who signs a few gestures to her. Korva squawks in annoyance, and continues with a few more sharp noises. That's... probably their language.
Korva looks back at the Ravens. "Sorry about her - she's very pragmatic."
Nyxra retrieves her bow. "Right."
Kinda hate that we gotta turn this gator into a pincushion, but... they have killed at least one person. They've got a taste for human flesh now, and if we were to let them go, they'd probably kill others before someone else puts them down.
The ensuing battle is swift, as Jessibel lures the reptile out of its hiding place in the water, and Nyxra along with the Fushi sisters pepper it with arrows as it attempts to chase them around. Though Treep does get bitten, it is not a severe injury, and the group have finished off the alligator within a minute.
It is, naturally, at this point that Vantine and Laria come through the secret door. Laria looks around at the mess that the combats have made of the Wasp’s Nest, before her eyes fall on Nan’s ruined corpse. She takes a sharp breath, but says nothing for a few long moments before eyeing the tengu with sharp eyes. ”So, who are you and why are you in my hideout?”
The tengu hastily explain themselves, and Laria looks to the Silver Ravens. ”They want to help, and most of my contacts are missing.” She swallows. ”While I hate the idea, I think we should use them. We need all the help we can get.” The halfling turns her eyes to the Fushi sisters, her expression hardening. ”But I’m warning you - waste this chance and I’ll make sure you don’t have another.”
The sisters bob their heads rapidly. Jay bows deeply. "Thank you, miss. We will try to live up to your faith in us."
"I knew the alligator wouldn't be able to resist me," Jessibel comments airily. "I always suspected I'd taste delicious!" she adds with pixie-like grin.
"So...what's first on our agenda--exploring the rest of the Wasps' Nest or dealing with the dead?" Her eyes bounce from Nan's remains, to the white gator, and finally back to the entrance to the cellar where she dragged Chough.
The Raven contemplates the current situation and their current state. "I am not entirely certain I am comfortable leaving naught but a few planks of wood between this hostile cave and miss Laria and her customers. It should not take long to check the rest of the 'Nest' with the help of the Sisters." He concludes. "As for poor Nan... I do not think now is the best time to find a hole in the frozen ground in the middle of a city to bury a wanted man or a... a Chough. They may need to stay here for now. A large crate or two could serve as makeshift coffins for the moment."
"I knew the alligator wouldn't be able to resist me," Jessibel comments airily. "I always suspected I'd taste delicious!" she adds with pixie-like grin.
Aisling, who was chompd almost in two by the gator and stll has the blood on her clothes to prove it, gives Jessibel a long, slow look - before giveing a very, very slight smile. Or it might be a grimace. It's probably a smile.
Jessibel catches the look Aisling gave her and fidgets a bit before saying, "Sorry. That was rather flippant of me."
Something's up with that apology. Not that Jessibel didn't mean it; more like she feels it was needed to keep on Aisling's good side for some as yet unexplained reason.
The bard then gives the Raven a confident nod at his suggestion that the Silver Ravens explore the rest of the Wasps' Nest now. "Are there any other surprises down here we ought to know about?" she asks the tengu she believes to be Maggie.
Nyxra doesn't pay Jessibel any attention.
"We should see if the rest of the Wasp's Nest is free of occupants."
Laria sighs softly. "I think that Nan can wait a bit. At least until we've managed to ensure everything is safe around here."
She looks at Nan, eyes shining, but she swallows and takes a businesslike tone. "Nan used to wear magical boots - ones that helped him get out of trouble when he clicked his heels together. I... I think you should have - oh." She rubs her face wearily. "If you want to look for the other one, good luck. I'm not thinking to well right now. If you could give me an hour or two to myself, I'd appreciate it." With that, Laria turns and - well, she doesn't quite flee, but she certainly doesn't linger overlong.
The Silver Ravens, working together with the Fushi sisters discover their "haul," so to speak. They took Nan's satchel from his corpse before Chough had dumped it into the water, and now they give it to the Ravens. In it, there are several items of note.
First, his personal notes, which seem mostly mundane, but might have information on his contacts and other helpful things if one sat down to read them. Second, his ledger, which doesn't seem terribly interesting. Third, there's an alabaster key - easily identifiable as the holy symbol of Abadar. Finally, there's an assortment of gold coins there .
The tengu sisters also turn in five sunrods, as well as a deck of Harrow Cards that they'd been using as entertainment. "Please, take them. Use them, sell them, whatever. We want to make things up to you and to the halfling woman." Jay says, offering them sincerely.
Korva herself takes out five bottles from within her clothing. "These two are healing potions." She gestures to each . "I'd like to give them to you all - you look like you need them more than us. The others are Korvosan brandy that Nan smuggled in earlier."
Finally, and perhaps ironically, there are indeed two intact crates - each full of finely embroidered Varisian clothing - presumably smuggled in, as Nan had said he was doing. They are the exact sorts of clothing that only a privileged few can wear in Kintargo these days, but are still quite valuable.
Jessibel listens to Laria and appears a bit surprised when the halfling scampers off, perhaps expecting her to be stronger emotionally. Maybe Nan was more to her than just a smuggler who passed through on occasion.
The mention of magical boots also catches the bard's attention. "If the other boot is nearby, my spell will suss it out!" she tells the others confidently. She has two likely locations in mind, so she casts detect magic and sashays past the dead alligator before scanning it and the water near the dock.
Later, she helps the others try to figure out the value of the goodies.
The Raven takes the bottle of brandy, hefting it in one hand and examining it. Alexius was known for his consumption of alcohol, but was not exactly known as a connoisseur with fine taste. "This looks... good." He announces. "A sign from Nan, maybe." The Raven leaves the subterranean rooms and makes for the kitchen, looking for glasses.
Jessibel scans the gator corpse, moves to the water's edge to scan there, and then returns to the dead reptile. "I believe Nan's missing boot is inside the alligator's stomach and will need to be removed before I can magically clean it."
Turning to Nyxra, the bard says, "This looks like something you might excel at! Remember to be careful with your cutting--we'll need large swaths of skin intact if we're to make any boots from the hide!"
Nyxra shakes her head and moves to cut the alligator's belly open, fishing out the errant boot from the ensuing viscera.
"You can learn how to skin your own damn alligator." She shoves the gore-covered boot into Jessibel's arms.
Nyxra's actions leave Jessibel slack-jawed and speechless...maybe for the first time ever! The bard recovers her poise and uses prestidigitation to clean off the nasty boot, herself, and then the boot that Nan was wearing.
She's unusually quiet and crestfallen as the party gathers up the goodies to take upstairs, to claim or prepare them for sale.
Maggie snickers at Nyxra's blunt refusal, but Jay smacks her beak again, and she grows silent.
Jay sighs. "I think we'll try to salvage what we can from Chough's rampages in the other room. I-if you don't mind, I mean."
"There will be time enough to discuss how things will go in the future." Korva says firmly. "We'll do what we can, yes? It won't be much, though. And," she hesitates, "could you give us Chough's corpse? She was our sister, even if she was... well." The tengu shrugs helplessly.
Nyxra looks at the tengu sisters and nods her head. "I'm sorry for your loss. If there had been any way to save her, I'd have taken it."