"Yes, we've heard relations between the lady and the guards seem... ah, 'strained'. Still, thank you for willing to look into this matter again, and we will be happy to stand guard outside in case something strange happens," Estelle says, giving a brief smile, and opens her notebook with the notes on the stolen jewerly. She then shares the descriptions along with which ones the group believes are there.
"Aye." Brunhild added, perking up at the mention of standing guard. "If we can be of help, we'd be glad to. As for the jewelry..." She described it, so that when the guard went in they would know what to look for.
With a quartet of guardsmen, you make your way back to William's Woodcraft & Supplies.
You know of the dwarf on the balcony, who overlooks the street and the shop in particular.
You notice him particularly alert when the guardsmen are approaching the shop. As they enter, he stands up to reach for what looks like a tied line, that goes across the streets, and pulls it a few times.
"Good mornin' craftsman, a momen' of yer time please."
Conversation between the shopkeep and the guardsmen starts.
You hear a door slamming shut, and the guardsmen yelling to open and surrender.
Any ruckuss inside quiets down, and some minutes later, the guards are heard having a serious word with the shopkeep.
They exit with one dwarf in manacles, held by the arms by 2 guards.
"No' a total loss.", the one leading them says, looking at you.
"This one was no' quick enough. Two go' away through some hidden passage. Didn' take everythin' with em, too. Walk with us te the station, ye can sor' all ou' with the lieutenan'."
He holds with him a ledger and a satchel, the latter does ring from content.
Astella asks the group if she should stay behind to keep an eye on boyfriend, or whether they want to do that later.
Estelle slows her pace a bit at this question, falling slightly behind the guards to talk more freely. "We don't know for sure the Ravens themselves are involved with the theft. They're supposedly a planning and moving operation, or at least that's what our source tells us. And even if they're both part of the same criminal organisation, I don't see why they'd extract him from his dayjob so quickly. The ones who got away allegedly didn't see us, and they probably don't know we were at the bar yesterday." She reasons. "So I say we go back with the guards first and then visit the market."
Okay.
Astella goes along with the rest to see what the guards came up with, leaving the boyfriend issue for later.
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Brunhild completely missed the sound of a door slamming. Once again, she proved to be as perceptive as a rock. She happily walked along the guards, pleased to be on the right side of the law. Even if they hadn't accomplished everything they wanted, they were moving in the right direction. Stone City wasn't carved in a day, as they said.
"Ye know, as a wee lass I had wanted to join the guard. Used to play that game with the lads, ye know? Guard and Kobolds. Of course, me father wouldn't hear of it, had to carry on the family's craft he said. But it feels good to do this with ye. Makes the young one in me happy." She said, to the guard that she was walking alongside. "So, what was found in there? And what can ye tell me of the lieutenant?" She asked, her voice innocent in its eagerness.
#1: "Kobolds?"
He gets a slight shove from his colleague.
#2: "Ye know the game. One party guards the checkpoin', the other plays the short lizard things. They started callin' those kobolds later on.
I recall someone sayin' " what if those ugly palm sized little buggers were bigger, and armed with spears."
On the question what kind of man the lieutenant is,
"The lieutenan' is a level headed and pragmatic man. Butted heads a few times with folk who worked on gut and emotion. Could make captain material if the captain retires."
The question of the content of the bag,
"Some money, small arms. And some ledger. You'll see a' the station, maybe."
-------------------------------------
You find yourselves at the lieutenant's office, who is sitting behind his desk reading a written report, before looking up at the party and guards. Two guardsmen escorted the captive scoundrel to the cells.
"Well?"
Guardsman: "We made one arres', he's in the cells, two fled. The conten' of their items that they left behind, we have in this bag. Likely some ill obtained goods."
He empties it upon a nearby table.
3 potions of CLW
Coin pouches with a total worth of 300 gold.
Four fancy looking gemstones.
The ledger's first page is read through by the lieutenant, but he has the ledger's back towards you. The angle is down briefly, as he looks at the guardsman, "Not the jewelry, but at least a lead, it would seem."
You can lean in just enough to attempt to look at the info on the front page of the ledger, without drawing attention for sneaking a peek.
It is upside down from your perspective, but there are a number of notes with and without check marks at their end. A few draw attention.
[Recent inventory]
Rich woman's bracelets. Inset blue gemstones.
......
......
Rich woman's necklace.
[Planned sales]
Bracelets. Exchange meeting at Feb 2nd. +3 for insurance.
.....
.....
Necklace. Feb 2nd evening, sell to B.
Estelle's face falls when the search apparently did not turn up the requested jewelry. She looks up when the information is mentioned and waits on deliberation from the guard, assuming this 'lead' would be shared with their group, as it had been a collaborative effort.
When this seemingly doesn't happen, her face lights up, as if only just realizing something important had been said. "Really? You mean we did find something! Oh, you guards are just amazing! Well, what is it? Let us see!" She says, walking forward excitedly with less regard for personal space as might be expected. After looking, she blinks. "Is something wrong?" She glances around at the stares. "O-oh, sorry. Is that not how we cooperate here? I'm from a simple human farming community and we're a bit less formal about things... sorry if I offended you!"
She quickly steps back, hands up in apology.
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Astella leans in for a peek, tries to memorize what she sees, then retreats to a corner, getting out her journal to copy notes into.
She writes
_______________________________
[Recent inventory]
Rich woman's bracelets. Inset blue gemstones.
Rich woman's necklace.
[Planned sales]
Bracelets. Exchange meeting at Feb 2nd. +3 for insurance.
Necklace. Feb 2nd evening, sell to B.
_______________________________
She waits to see if the group can get anything else out of the guards, but if not, at least they had something to show Lady Greenbriar.
She wasn't going to be happy though.
In addition to fearing what Lady Greenbriar will say, Astella is starting to think that the whole job is way too annoying. She didn't have the patience to keep chasing people all over town and come away with nothing, yet again.
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While the letter B, in the same sentence as selling stolen items, could indicate anyone with that letter, it rings a potential bell with you.
No merchant would buy stolen items, or items without background info.
Only a very particular kind would, a fence. And you have visited this particular curiosity shop, named after its owner, Bruno.
Rumored to be a fence, unconfirmed of course...
When Estelle makes her way past the two guardsmen to look at the ledger in the lieutenant's hands, she gets awkward stares.
The lieutenant chimes first.
"Oi, lass, wha' de ye think ye'r doin'?
Civilians are no' so casually privy te evidence in our custody."
O-oh, sorry. Is that not how we cooperate here? I'm from a simple human farming community and we're a bit less formal about things... sorry if I offended you!
(serious tone)
"Mus' be some lack of order and discipline, if yer folk walk inte yer guard station so casually. Way i' works in the city, is evidence is handled by the authorities."He eyes her, then looks back to the two in front of him.
"Pu' the items inte the evidence, and look inte the ledger."
He opens a cabinet, and takes a pouch of coin out.
"There was an open reward, fer the tip tha' would lead te the jewelry. They were absen' at the site of arres', bu' the ledger is a good lead."
Astella is much less annoyed after the guard hands over the reward.
She also has an insight about her list... that B had to be Bruno, the fence at the curiosity shop. Maybe they could recover the necklace from him... or just tell Lady Greenbriar where it was sold, depending on how they wanted to do it.
She waits until they are out of the guardhouse, then fills everyone in so they can talk about what they want to do next about this... and also about the boyfriend problem.
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Daniel sighs. Seemingly having no further leads on their quarry for themselves. But, at least something was getting done now, and, they had not gone unrewarded for their law abiding. Clearly good things come to those that are just.
Daniel does defend Estelle however.
Not all cities and towns are as big as your home here, good sir. There are many small towns where nearly everyone knows everyone else. In such places its not entirely a lack of discipline that brings such tendencies about, but a feeling of familiarity and companionship. Often times people will come together to help others accomplish a task. Even if it has nothing to do where their daily regiment. We thank you for your understanding.
Once outside and filled in on the details Daniel is again at an impasse.
If we do anything, I think it should be to watch and see. If they are selling it to this man, it would be better to not cause a scene until they leave. Then we can confront the fence alone, and return to the guards with faces and descriptions of those at the meeting. Along with someone who likely knows much more about the groups in the area.
The lieutenant nods slightly at Daniel's comment.
"True, differen' place, differen' customs. But it is for tha' specific purpose, tha' one gets a' leas' somewha' informed on the customs and laws, when going te new places. Practical, make sure you will no' run inte unfavorable situations."
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"Well done in there." Brunhild said. "Law and order is important around here, and outsiders aren't readily trusted. Locals too, for that matter." She added, after a moment's thought. "So aye, as usual Daniel has the right of it. Slow and steady will do this right, especially as the mark will likely be on edge after all that has occurred."
"...He could also just have shared the information with us, given we were both working together and giving him the lead, so I wouldn't have to try and pass myself off as a ditzy fool to get it," Estelle grumbles once the group is outside and moving through the street. "Still, I got a good look in!" She says, brightening "The note said..."
She stops as she sees Astella with her journal, displaying some rather familar text... "Oh no. Please don't tell me that was for nothing?"
"...It was, wasn't it?"
"...Okay. Um..." She blushes. "Can we pretend this never happened and move on? Say... to the market to try and find and tail that boyfriend involved with the thieves?"
After she fills everyone in, Astella responds to Estelle, going with her suggestion that they pretend the awkwardness never happened.
We definitely should tail the boyfriend, but what do you guys want to do about Bruno at the curiosity shop... want to send the guard to do that too, or are we going to handle it? If we're getting the guard involved, might as well tell them now.
Astella raising the matter of investigating Bruno themselves, or tipping off the guard, it leaves something on your minds as you head for the market. Intent to see if the girl's new boyfriend is legit, or is just someone from the wrong crowd.
Mr. Copperbeard described the young man as with short brown hair, with a set of short mutton chops. One of his ears had a scarred earlobe. Back then he wore a dark green shirt and black vest. He was introduced at dinner as called Art.
---------------------------------------------
*murmer of market crowd*
The market is in full swing. It is by no means the biggest that any of you have seen in large cities of the elves or humans, but the dwarves are a busybody people for sure, and make it look crowded doing so.
Stall keepers promote their assortment of clothing, imported goods, foods, among things. The smells of buns and apple pie coming from a stall some 20 ft away, are nigh mouth watering.
You have been noticed, it would seem, as a few heads scattered around here and there, are watching you directly. Young dwarves. Nothing else is happening just yet, but you have drawn interest.
Some 30ft away, near the direction from the smell of baked goods, you see a dwarf with mutton chops, short hair, and a chip in his right earlobe.
(fail)
(pass)
Astella spots a likely-looking dwarf with mutton chops, short hair, and a chip in his right earlobe. She isn't sure why he stands out to her, but perhaps it is a sign from the gods, or her dear departed mother.
She casts message so they won't be overheard and tells the others who she sees. She whispers is that him?
As she does this, she walks towards the stall and buys a kolachi bun with something sweet inside.
"Can't rightly say." Brunhild said. Unlike the others she couldn't look over the crowd quite so easily. She couldn't see the forest for the trees, as the elves would say.
Daniel and Estelle confirm that the dwarf pointed out by Astella, fits the description of the supposed 'boyfriend'.
As you stroll past the stalls, ever closer to his person, you see him working on repairing a damaged portion of a clothing stand. He has not noticed you at all, and if he has, is otherwise too focused on his job to bother.
*sound of hammer hitting nails*
*him talking to stand owner when picking new nails*
Astella thanks the group for the confirmation, and proceeds to wander around the place doing a little shopping and just checking on him from time to time, sure that the group as a whole could keep eyes on him easily.
She is sure to renew the message spell as needed, since it only lasts about 20 minutes at a time, and makes sure that everyone is still in the area whenever she renews it.
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For her part, Brunhild tried to get close to the 'boyfriend.' Close enough to overhear him should he start talking to anyone. She wanted to know if he was involved in anything shady. Just getting sight of him wasn't enough.
The stand owner is busy hearing the guy and hearing the people come by, that his attention not at all falls on Brunhild, giving her perfect opportunity for eavesdropping.
Stand owner: "Thanks fer patchin' tha' up.
Say, ye were seein' some girl, weren' ye? How'd tha' turn ou'?"
Art: "Kinda, yes. It's sorta tricky te describe, ye know.
Supposed te meet las' nigh' fer a group get together, a' The Hard Corner. I couldn' make i', so 't was jus' her, some random youngsters, plus Mac and Sue."
Stand owner: "I see. 's no' polite te leave a girl by herself, ye know. Though i reckon ye'll be gettin' some of tha' from her."
Art: "I know, i know. Bu' i'm sure those two can fill me in on anythin' interestin' from then. Though i'm no' expectin' world revelations, te be honest. Her old man runs tha' courier service. Good rep, tha' service. Good rep gets one to various places, if ye catch my meanin'."
Stand owner: "Aye, it can indeed. As soon as ye see em again, send over Mac and Sue, ok?"
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Brunhild's ears perked up. The lad certainly had an interest in the courier service, and she had a hunch that he sought to exploit it. But how? She held her position to see if she could overhear anything that might give her a clue. Otherwise, she'd extricate herself and report the findings to the group. Because if nothing else happened now, they'd have to follow the dwarf to investigate further.
"Sure i'll send them over. Catch ye later, sir.
I've go' te deliver the latest bit of 'know of' te 'her' anyway."
When he's done talking, he heads into the crowd.
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While following Art, Brunhild and Astella warn the others to take cover or hold on time, avoiding the poor moments of attention from a few specific onlookers.....as well as a pair of dwarves you had seen the evening before.
The broody looking lass and the lad with the goatee gruff. They seem to exchange some words, but from a safe distance yourself, they are too hushed to make out, but the bit where he points backwards. "..is looking fer ye. See ye two later."
The duo walks away, and your quarry ducks into a side street. Beyond the lower housing that you face right now, you notice some taller couple of houses.
Carefully sneaking yourselves, you see him duck around the corner of one, but you hold briefly, as you make out a few obvious lookouts watching from behind some dirty windows, from time to time. But you know for sure, now, this is the, or -a-, safehouse or adress they might do business at.
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Pressing her luck, as nobody else seemed like they wanted to, Brunhild tried to get closer. She didn’t want to get in, rather she just wanted more information so she could know what they were getting involved in. The last thing she wanted was more blood on her hands. The death that she caused at the last safehouse still weighed on her mind.
Still using the message spell that she has been renewing from time to time, Astella whispers to the party that she is going to move around to the back of the house to observe the exit.
Then she goes around, looking for a rear exit.
Having observed the intervals of the lookout behind the window, Astella and Brunhild easily move across towards the side of the house and, making sure nobody else was onto them, to the back of it.
The backs of these sort of houses have modest tiled porches behind them.
Not that it is needed against hot weather, as the sky is most often gloomy, but it adds to the stature.
Brunhild sees no signs of 'secret' entrances, but the set of steps upwards indicate a back door. There is but a single dirty window here, street level. No watch seems on duty here.
As far as she is aware, these houses' residents are generally the well off folk, among the merchants, this close to the commercial zone.
They are not as frequent as the lower houses, and as such are wider, longer, and higher.
From a quick observation, you see the door has one of those sliding panels one speaks through.
There is a rainbarrel awaiting to be filled, and a thin rainpipe starts some 10ft off the ground. A fair estimate, is that it would hold only so much weight.... if any such daredevils ever tried climbing that.
Astella whispers to her friends again, letting them know her status and asking them to tell her if they see someone coming around from the outside.
Since no one is observing, she moves up, crouching low to avoid being seen through the window, to try to open the back door.
Brunhild waited for Astella to go in, knowing that she was far more stealthy. She waited until the signal was given that the coast was clear, and then went in after her.
Some careful fiddling with the lock, it opens eventually. She cautiously pushes the door open slightly, holding it so it does not make any obvious sounds of opening.
The sounds of multiple footsteps ascending a slightly squeaky staircase in a corner are the current single source of sound.
Whereas the smaller hideout you went to prior was decorated, if but humbly, the interior holds less furniture than expected of the amount of space available. It is seemingly less decorated for leisure time, and more practical for a meeting and working space.
A table with several chairs around it stands to the left center, a corner with writing materials and a bin with crumpled papers in another. Whatever passes for a kitchen corner is very humble in utensils and supplies.
A set of clothing racks, lined with an assortment of colored vests, shirts, and pants.
Multiple voices are speaking upstairs, 3, 4?, behind a door by the muffled sound of it. Any further details would require careful eavesdropping at the door itself.
[ooc]Acrobatics 14: You nimbly make your way past the faulty steps.
(fail)
Astella motions Brunhild in, then shuts the door quietly.
She gathers the crumpled paper, not trying to uncrumple it since that might make too much noise, but just pocketing it to read later in case it has anything interesting on it that might help them know what is up here. She also raids the clothing rack, getting herself a couple of extra sets of clothing.
--If she hears anyone coming (hopefully because the staircase is squeaky she will have warning), then she will silently retreat, motioning Brunhild back out as well.
--If she doesn't hear anyone coming back down the steps, then she searches the first floor a bit more , hoping everyone is upstairs and she might be able to find other clues about what they are up to.
Brunhild moved in, after Astella. Seeing the elf searching through the room, Brunhild went in, keeping to the shadows.
This she did well, moving without making a sound and keeping out of sight. If anyone was going to come while Astella was focused on searching, then Brunhild would know.
Perception Stairs: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12
Of course! So this means that I can't open the spoiler? I would think that going up the stairs is thus out of the question.
Anything distinctive about this clothing... is it normal clothing or some kind of uniform or costume?
The clothing Astella picks from the racks has a little length difference from clothing of her own, around the sleeves and ends of the pants, but nothing either a tailor or some stretching by hand or wash can't fix.
(If there is more... is this place all one big room and we can see the front door from here, or is it a different room?)
Something that seems absent, at a thorough search of the ground floor, being a gang hideout, is any sort of weapons. Save for a small bundle containing means of misdirection and obstruction.
A receipt is tied to it.
[Hope it serves the customer well.
B.]
Underneath the seat of a few cushioned seats, Astella finds a small flat box. It holds not one, but two locks on it, on opposite sides of the box.
Astella takes the bundle of misdirection and the flat box, and then retreats out of the house, not wanting to start a confrontation that could end up with them back in the custody of the guards.
She whispers an update to the rest of the party using the ongoing message spell.
Once they leave and are in a safe place where she has time, Astella will attempt to pick the locks on the box.
And seems likely that she failed on that second lock of the flat box and so if she can try again, here is a second try:
Astella inspects the cylinder with the three digits, ranging 1 through 4 on each digit. No thieves tools will be of use here, she concludes. This thing will be a trial and error.
The flat box itself, proves devious. She successfully manages to open the first lock, and gets the second with another attempt, but then she hears a sudden *click*, upon which the first one locks up again.
Still, whatever warrants 2 locks is bound to have something of interest within.
Astella is both intrigued and frustrated when after unlocking both locks, the first locks again. On failing the second one, she figures that might have made sense, but after failing and then succeeding? That seems strange. She casts detect magic to see if something else magical is going on.
As to to the combination lock, she tries 111, since a lot of people left this type of lock at the default setting, and if that doesn't work she tries 123, since there were a lot of people who thought that was easy to remember, even though it was also easy to guess.
"Can't wait to see what's hidden in that box. Really hope its incriminating evidence, and not anything that would make us into criminals." Brunhild muttered, to herself more than anyone else. She paced around the room, doing her best not to distract Astella's work as she did so.
The box gives off no magical vibes, leading to the conclusion that it is pure mechanical in nature.
With 6 minutes of work, the cylinder eventually comes unlocked, having gone through 64 combinations.
In it, is what appears to be a note, correspondence between whoever in that 'abandoned house' wrote a report on pilfered items and the money it got from sales, and addressed to someone by the name of -Bern-. There is mention of a deaddrop location near the edge of the commercial zone. It not having been sent, due to your intervention, it may well still be there.
The deaddrop's location is described in fair enough detail, any could find it.