"You'll have to be persuasive if they balk. Remind them that this is my last run and if they want out from under the Runelord's grasp, this is their best chance. And make sure they bring payment. This is a good deed, sure, but it's not for charity. Bribing guards and arranging merchant transport is expensive. As for their families, the only ones I know of that has any is the innkeeper and the teacher, and they've already arranged for their kids' transport. Anyone else is up to you, but every body increases your chance of getting caught, no matter how small they might be."
Ava knows that Edasseril is the western kingdom of the nation of New Thassilon, which was founded by the two surviving runelords of ancient Thassilon. Edasseril is the domain of Belimarius, the Runelord of Envy. Xin-Edasseril, the nation’s capital, is located on Peridot Isle.
Thellira, Nali, and Ava discuss among themselves about the Runelord Belimarius, and how she became the tenth and final Runelord of Envy upon the murder of her predecessor. Over five thousand years ago, Belimarius ruled the Thassilonian realm of Edasseril, a nation of bitter rivalries, byzantine bureaucracy, and enslaved giants, until shortly before Earthfall. As the result of Belimarius’ efforts to avoid the catastrophe, the ancient city of Xin-Edasseril became trapped outside of time, allowing the runelord and her citizens to survive the worldwide calamity known as Earthfall.
Half a day later, you arrived at the port of Xin-Edrassel, a city of gleaming architecture and beautiful vistas, though its skyline still bears scars from the events that brought it forward in time to the present day. Most of its structures stand as grand displays of the wealth and power of ancient Thassilon. Public construction projects dot the city, slowly erasing damage caused by its shift through time.
You arrive at the city docks without incident, and are immediately met at the bottom of the gangplank by two Emerald Guards demanding to examine your travel papers. A cursory glance tells you the guards are well-armed and look to know how to use those weapons. A more careful inspection shows that their gear is well-worn, though in good condition. These are no show guards. They have seen action!
After scrutinizing your documents carefully, one of the guards sternly informs you that there is a curfew in effect for outsiders, and anyone caught out of doors between dusk and dawn will be arrested and sanctioned. The guards also place peace peace bindings on all of your visible weapons, informing you that drawing a weapon in the city is a crime resulting in jail time and fines.
Ava learns that the Emerald Guard is the city guard for Edarassil. Highly trained and capable, they are used for customs and curfew enforcement, policing, and the core of the city's army should need arise. People also tell you that the Emerald Guard is as crooked as a mountain trail, and that the only Guardsman who isn't corrupt still has a trainee badge.
Nali made good with a lot of the locals, but they all told her the same thing. If you are caught without citizenship papers after curfew, the Emerald Guard will either arrest you on the spot, or shake you down for money and arrest you if you aren't well financed. They also tell you that very few locals move around at night either, mostly to avoid harassment by the Emerald Guard.
It took about 5 minutes to find the directions to Envy Row, which is where Flitch had his apartments. It took another two hours to walk there through the press of people and the twisting roads. Finally, you found the alley you were looking for. A lock in poor condition closes the thinly made front door of the tiny-looking apartment. The windows are boarded over, and the fragments of a flowerpot lay shattered beneath one sill.
The alley is silent, as if no one is home...or pretending not to be.
The poor quality lock was still stronger than the door it was attached to. When Thellira put her giant boot into the door, the hasp the lock was attached to simply tore through the flimsy wood. The door slammed back against an inside wall, and rebounded to nearly closed again.
A thin layer of dust covers the floors of this sparsely furnished wood-walled apartment. The northern wall bears crude etchings, graffiti, and other odd markings.
Thellira saw no signs of trapdoors or stairs, though she did see something. Scanning the northern wall of the small flat, she saw Flitch's name hidden in the graffiti there, along with odd markings that looked like a coded message.
The markings that first looked like scribblings finally made sense as Nali thought about them more. They read
"Guaril, I am in the sewers near Valgara and Blink's. Come find me."
It was another couple of hours before you found the apothecary shop named Valgara and Blink's. In an alley behind the shop, there was a grate leading into the sewers. A large, and heavy-looking lock held the grate firmly closed, until Ava noticed that the hasp seemed to be bent in an odd place. Thellira yanked on the lock and it popped open easily, the hasp held together by a thin collar of metal instead of a heavy, solid shank of metal.
Down below, your lights revealed walkways and tunnels stretching off into the distance. Graffiti covered the walls, and at the first intersection you came to, you saw another tag of Fitch's symbol. The coded message was easier to decipher this time. And it pointed the way.
Thellira was able to follow Flitch's trail easily enough. Along the way, Dahros stumbled over a pile of trash that was hiding a silver shield and longsword, along with a small pouch of coins. The treasure went into a pack, and you continued along. The trail eventually led to a small sewer maintenance chamber, where someone - presumably Flitch - has set up a small campsite.
The man in the chamber looks too clean and shiny to have been down here long. His wholesome face is accented by dark hair and a single curl hanging over his forehead. He looked up and immediately drew a dagger in each hand. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"The man lowered his blades and looked confused. My...uncle? You work for Guaril? I thought for sure he was done for, and I was s%*@ out of luck, when the order for his arrest came. Spent my time forging some travel papers to try and make my own way out. See?"
He shuffled through a backpack and held out some papers.
The papers are close to the same documents you held, but are obvious forgeries. The original names had not been removed cleanly, and Flitch's penmanship wasn't the best. Still, you could probably clean these up, and they might come in handy. later
The man looked a bit crestfallen. "Really? You don't think it just looks like the clerk smudged it a bit? Well, I suppose it could be better. Well, okay maybe a lot better. Thanks, I guess, for keeping me from trying to pass these off at the docks. Speaking of the docks, when are we leaving? Guaril didn't say if we were going out on a ship at the docks, or taking the sewers to a smuggling ship in Shard Cove."
"Okay, I'll be there. Here, you guys take this. I don't think I'll be going topside between now and then, and you can probably use it more than me."
Flitch handed up a bundle that contained a disguise kit, a repair kit, and an invisibility potion.
"Umm, I've been down here a while, so I don't know what time it is, but you definitely don't want to be caught outside during curfew. you should find a place to stay. I'd say you could stay here, but..." He just gestured at the small room that wouldn't even sleep half of you.
Flitch gave you some directions for getting to the inn underground, and you went that way, putting up with the stink and filth as a tradeoff for not having to force your way through the crowded streets above. You surfaced in an alley three buildings away from the square where the inn was situated.
This was in a fairly nice part of town, and the inn was easy enough to spot on a corner of the square. Where an hour ago a market likely stood, now the square was rapidly emptying of people as the sun slid towards the horizon. The curfew would be going into effect soon, and if the rapid dispersal of people was any indicator, the citizens and visitors took it very seriously.
The modest inn was a sturdily built stone building with a meticulously thatched roof, marked by a hand-carved wooden sign with silver inlays that declared the building to be to Rockfish Inn. A sign on the door read
In response to the banging on the door, a grumpy voice shouts from inside, "Can't you read? The sign says we're closed. There's sickness here, so unless you're a particularly charitable cleric - and I can't say I've run into many of those - you probably want to leave before you get sick too!"