The guards give you a once over before one of them says, One minute, please wait here." They head inside the factory before returning a short time later with a middle aged human male.
The gentleman introduces himself as Heward Sechim. "Now what business might you have with me?"
"Thank you for agreeing to meet us Sir. I'm agent Buchannon with the RHC" said Preach as he presented his ID for Mr Sechim to inspect.
He then went on to say, "I regret to inform you that one of your workers, a miss Nilasa Hume, died yesterday in suspicious circumstances. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about her? What did she do exactly? Was she a good worker? Did she have any friends?"
Heward grimaces, then nods , as you deliver the news. He takes a moment to collect himself, and then invites you to come up to his office, giving his guards a light reprimand about having constables of the RNC wait on the doorstep. "Sorry, we've been having some troubles down here, as you can see, and I'm worried about sabotage from the competition.'
Moving inside, you see a wide open factory floor with catwalks and chain pulleys twenty feet up. Several teams of workers hustle about, bringing in raw materials from the lakeside of the factory, where a heavy pier juts out into the water, or working on the purifying and refining procedures.
A stairwell leads up to a second floor some thirty feet up. You walk past a common lounge area and what appears to be small bunkroom, before passing into what appears to be more of a personal residence, then actual office space.
Heward gestures for you to sit. "This seems a bit more of an appropriate place to have this conversation." He wipes away a tear before continuing, "My uncle warned me about this, but it's still hard." Seeing the questions on your faces, he adds, "My uncle is Nevard Sechim, you may have heard of him."
For decades Nevard was one of the most prescient and respected skyseers in Risur. With the rise of industry and the fading power of the skyseer’s visions,
his star waned, and he withdrew into the Cloudwood east of Flint.
"Anyways, he's a skyseer. He's getting on in years, to put it mildly, and doesn’t have many visions anymore, but just a week ago he told me that “an adopted daughter will blindly ride the wind to her demise.”
"As for Nilasa, she was a good worker, she did what was needed around the factory, and she lived here in the factory. And to cut through your coy questions, I don't know who her friends might be, but I know that she had been trying for years to befriend Gale and the fey terrorists. That's really my own fault, I guess she took to much to heart, when I would rant about how horribly other factory owners treated their workers. I just wanted to instill a sense of
pride and allegiance in my people, but I think Nilasa wanted to punish harsher owners"
"I should have paid closer watch, but I had so much on my plate already. There's the protests on either side of us, the government pushing for me to lower my prices so they can get the arcane etchings they need for the Coaltongue II, or whatever, and now there's some strange men trying to buy my product off the books."
He stops himself and shakes his head, "Poor excuses, really. I was warned, I should have done something."
As the party is taken through the factory, Dr. Runemace idly studies what he can see of the factory's processes involved...
The young woman nodded at the name of Nevard Sechim and wrote down in her book as they continued through the factory to Heward's living quarters and listened to the man's out pouring.
She considers a moment and adds, "A, parent can only do so much, Nilasa seemed to be her own woman and made her choices. I hope you do not dwell to heavily on what might have been. I am sure you had many good moments as well."
Hopefully that eased some of the man's pain but now to work, "Would it be too imposing if we looked at where Nilasa stayed? There is more to her, passing, and we wish to have all the facts of this, incident."
Preach listened respectfully as Heward talked about Nilasa and when the man had finished, he added a questions of his own. "Mr Sechim Sir, what was Nilasa's job exactly? What did she actually do?"
Heward gladly shows you to Nilasa's small room. There nothing much of note to be found, just some clothes, a few coppers, and a lesson book for learning how to speak elvish.
To Adam, he says, "Nilasa's wasn't involved in any of the refinement or concentration of the alkahest. It's delicate work, and dangerous, and I employ well trained specialists to take care of that. She was involved in the general labor mostly, unloading deliveries, packing shipments, that kind of stuff. I tried to get her involved in more of the business side of things, but she didn't have any real interest."
"Have you noticed any shortages of inventory? Working shipping and receiving would make it easier for her to smuggle goods in and out."
Alsah says little but looks around with interest.
Then she asks Can we speak to your uncle? I have always wanted to meet him. He is a greatly revered Skyseer
"I tried to get her involved in more of the business side of things, but she didn't have any real interest."
Saddened, Adam shook his head ruefully, "You tried sir, you can't blame yourself. Like they say, you can take a hoarse to water but you can't make it drink. It seems she had something of a self destructive streak."
Adam didn't have any further questions but he was interested to listen to the questions the other constables had.
To Bryn he says, "I can't imagine that she was stealing from me, but I guess it's theoretically possible. That being said, I can say that all the finished alkahest is accounted for. It's a hazardous material and proper documentation is required to maintain our government contracts. Like I was saying earlier, I've recently turned away men trying to buy my product, off the books. Though I doubt I could be tempted to sell alkahest to shifty eyed individuals reeking of burnt grease, even on the books."
To Alsah he replies, "Actually, I was going to suggest as much. I think whatever Nilasa was involved with is just the tip of the iceberg. I can understand both sides of this conflict about the soul of our country. Sticking to our traditions versus looking to the future. For my part, I've been on both sides, have gotten into my fair share of trouble from either end, and cant really say that either side is wrong."
"My uncle has the respect of the radicals like Gale, but he’s always promoted non-violence. He might be able to arrange a peaceful meeting between Gale and yourselves, and perhaps you can put an end to this before any other misguided kids end up getting themselves killed."
He gives you directions through the rough roads and trails in Cloudwood to the henge where Nevard and his followers live. "I do hope that you make the time to visit sooner than later, though. Nevard’s an very old man, ancient really, and if he dies perhaps one of the best chances for reconciliation dies with him."
"Thank you for your time Mr. Sechim." the woman says in earnest. "And again, sorry for your loss. Should you recall anything that you believe is relevant or any other matter, feel free to leave a message for us at the Royal Homeland Constabulary Headquarters. We will follow up with you as soon as we are able."
She looks to the others to see if they are aslo done with there questioning or if there is anything else they wish to look at before departing.
Preach didn't have anything more to add, he mostly felt the situation was desperately sad. Nilasa could have had a better life, but for whatever reason she'd thrown it away. There were many out there who where no so lucky, assuming you ignored the terrible aftermath of the heist.
Once they'd said good by to Mr. Sechim and left the premises, Preach said, "Do you think we should pay the Danorans another visit? I doubt they'll be pleased to see us but Dr. von Recklinghausen was trying to get a visa..."
I think we should move on to finding Nevard. We would be more likely to find out her motives if he can allow us to talk to Gale. If we can do that we will be able to find out why she did what she did. And maybe stop further incidents that led to Nilasa's death.
She shrugs
And I think it unlikely we will much more from the Danorans. I mean, what else can they reasonably add?
And to meet Nevard...I would like that
Preach acknowledged, "We should speak to Nevard I agree. Still the Danorans where not I think as forthcoming as they might have been..."
...Though I doubt I could be tempted to sell alkahest to shifty eyed individuals reeking of burnt grease, even on the books."
...Though I doubt I could be tempted to sell alkahest to shifty eyed individuals reeking of burnt grease, even on the books."
Looking around, hardly paying attention to the conversation, gradually something Mister Sechim said rang a bell.
"Wait. Didn't Mister Sechim mention something about someone reeking of burnt grease? We've found traces of..." He said, kneeling down and searching through his case. He pulled out a waxed folder holding a stained handkerchief."...burt grease and human blood?"
Yes, that is right.
Alsah turns to the factory owner.
This man who smelt of burned grease? Can you describe him to us?? And when was he here?
"Not one man, ma'am. The first visit was maybe a week ago, or so. There were a pair of them that wanted to buy the alkhast. They had the coin, but insisted that the sale not go in my books. As I was saying, I declined their offer. They seemed the types that weren't used to people telling them no, and made some heavy allusions to the fires that have been striking around the district, but then left quick enough, saying they’d be back. A couple of days ago, two different men came. Different faces, but carrying the same stink. They were a little more insistent this time, so I stalled, instead of just flat refusing. I told them that I needed some time to arrange the sale if it were to be off the books. When they left, I had one of the lads follow them. They went to a seedy part of the district, away from the lake and nearer to the Nettles, but that’s where my tail lost track of them. Nothing good comes out of that part of town."
"They don't seem like the types to just give up and I'm sure they'll be back. Probably should hire on a few more men to watch the factory, in case they were serious about those fires."
"Mmm. Sounds like we've got ourselves a new mission." remarked Preach, "I believe we should interview these 'individuals'..."
The practicalities of this were vexing however, a stake out meant they couldn't be doing other things, perhaps the local constabulary could be prevailed upon...
As they began to exit she thought about their next plan of action. Along with the Skyseer in the Cloudwood and the Danoran Consulate. There was a mention too of a document of a contraband raid from the Parity Lake law enforcement.
Millicent moved with Dr. Runemace and the i formation gleaned was interesting yet there was no easy connection to Nilassa. She jotted down the information before asking, ”Mr. Sechim, was there a day and time when these buyers were to return to conclude the sale?”
"They didn't make an appointment, just said that they would be back soon and that everything better be ready when they show up."
With the business with Heward Sechim concluded for the moment. The party takes their leave to follow up on his request to visit his uncle. Flagging down a carriage, you set out for the outskirts of the city.
In the steep, tangled terrain of the Cloudwood only a few roads are well-maintained enough for carriages to travel, and most traffic is on foot or horseback. Four miles from Parity Lake, Nevard’s henge lies near the end of one of the roads, close to a community of musicians who act as the main contact this region has with outsiders.
It takes a few hours to travers the distance and as you near Nevard’s henge, you're nearly two thousand feet above sea level, and the humid, sweltering air is thick with low clouds that cut visibility to as short as a few feet at times.
The road ascends on switchbacks toward a forested plateau, and out a of bank of drifting cloud you hear the panicked neigh of a horse galloping toward them. The driver pulls the carriage up short, to prevent a collision. As the animal streaks past, you notice an arrow in its shoulder and a snapped carriage harness trailing behind it. In the relative quiet of its thunderous passing, you hear a woman’s muffled cries and intermittent sounds of gunshots from up ahead.
Somethings happening ahead Alsah says. She quickly casts mage armour on herself with a scroll
"We need to help!" Dr. Runemace declared.
Dismounting, he grabbed his cane and case and moved to the sound of trouble.
Alsah joins the good doctor, moving with him. As she moves she casts whispering lore.
whispering lore
Adam nodded to Alsah and loosens his pistols in their holsters.
"We'd better check." he said as he advanced towards the sound of the screams and gunshots.
Millicent was reviewing her notes humming a tune as the group made there way into the Cloudwood. As the carriage comes to a stop she joins the other exiting trying to gauge what was happening. With a cry of help, Dr Runemace and Aslah moving of she draws her short bow and moves after them
”Let us see what the trouble is.” the woman says quietly to those around here. When she spots motion ahead that might be causing the issue she moves into the foliage and tries to hide.
It takes a few rounds to get within view of the unfolding battle. A carriage leans precariously at the corner of a switchback, its wheels stuck in undergrowth. The door to the carriage hangs open and three men huddle near it, reloading poorly-made pistols and looking around as if trying to spot their enemies. A fourth man, the driver, sits dead atop the carriage with an arrow in his chest. Just as you arrive, an arrow streaks in from the south hill and kills one of the men, and the other two scramble to the opposite side of the carriage. The woman’s screams continue from within the carriage, which seems to slowly be sliding toward a thirty-foot plunge.
Two men oversee the attack from a outcrop to the south and two more are atop another rise to the north. From the northern pair, there is a swirl of magic and a swarm of rub-red, shimmering hummingbirds bursts into existence. At your arrival, the pinned down men begin shouting for help.
Combat Round 1
19 Kortemir
19 Bryn
16 Baddies
9 Alsah
5 Adam
4 Millicent
Tactic / Deployment (Ex) You can direct allies to get into advantageous positions quickly. All your allies you can see gain a +10 ft. enhancement bonus to their base movement if they take a double move or run action.
"Comrades! Road iz death trap. Ve must first neutralize snipers." Dr. Runemace shouted at his companions in his thick Drakr accent, pointing at the nearest archers on top of the hill.
He took off running, weaving back and forth and keeping close to the hill to limit the archers firing arc.
Alsah moves up, taking cover as she can
She casts guidance on herself and pulls out her crossbow
The Hummingbird swarm descends upon the men huddled behind the carriage.
The men scream out as the fanciful birds pierce flesh and begin to suck blood. One flails about in terror, but the other lashes out with a sword , which has minimal effect of the swirling hoard before moving out of the swarm, and out into the open.
From the south, one of the men launches an arrow at the bleeding and exposed fellow, while the second man shouts, "They've got reinforcements!"
On the northern rise, a man raises his staff and the whole area around you explodes into masses of twisting, grasping vines. Entangle (DC13)
Pistoleers: 5, 9
Preach yelped in alarm as grasping vines and roots suddenly erupted from the ground. He leaped out of the way and rushed forwards!
The bard seems to take in the scene and considers her action just as she and her colleagues are hit by the entangle spell. Millicent does not fair well, but slowly moves forward a short distance before calling out to inspire the others, "We can get out of and through this together!"
Fully entangled, Alsah is stuck
Attempts strength roll to move
"I vill attend to ze carriage." Said Dr. Runemace.
He double moved rapidly up the roadway until he was just behind the mist.
He will maintain the tactic and double move this round.
The swarm continues to assault the one man,
The man in the swarm flails futilely, as the creatures drain his blood. He looks pales and starts to totter on his feet.
His partner, seeing his sword has no effect on the birds, launches a desperate shot at the archer that hit him
It strikes true, eliciting a curse from the brigand, who launches another arrow:
It connects with a wet thud, sending the pistoleer sprawling.
The other man on the southern hill shouts, "Don't let them get to the carriage!"
The drifting cloud bank obscures activity on the NE hill, but no arrows fly blindly from there.
Amid all the action, the carriage slowly creeps towards the edge of the switchback.
Pistoleers: 11,
Dr. Runemace popped a catalyst into a bomb case and tossed it into the swarm off center (Marked).
To hit that square.
The target center 5' square takes fire damage. The outer squares take 4 points fire splash damage.
He then moved up to the carriage, grabbed it and looked inside.
"Iz anyone in need of aid?" He called out.
With great effort, Alsah rips herself free and moves out of the entangle
Damn Druids!
The woman agrees with Alsah about this druid spell for sure. As she tries to slide out of the vines grasp and is able to do so. She then then moves a short distance forward in an attempt to escape.
Preach drew the twins, adding a special cartridge to one which was 'extra spicy'. He took careful aim at the archer and he squeezed the triggers. With a deafening retort they both fired, one ball went wide, but the other was deadly accurate!
Almost there...
Kortemir's blast singes feathers and drops birds by the score, but fails to dissipate the swarm. It moves to envelope him, as well as the remaining coachman.
The last man by the coach tumbles beneath the piercing bites of the hummingbirds, as two more brigands come into view.
Preach's second shot clips the archer, but does not drop him.
"Now you die, outsider." Growls the man who appears to be leading this attack, as he and his wounded companion loose arrows at Preach.
Swinging round the hill, Bryn sees another swarm magically appear, as the archer turns towards him with an oath and looses an arrow.
Pistoleers: 11,
Archer:11
Swarm: 9