"Let's go find Flitch!"
"Sure! ... Who's Flitch?"
After deciding on a route through the sewers to take, you set forth. It's slow going picking your way across potentially slippery footing. At least it's clean - as far as sewers go.
Coming to an unexpected intersection throws you off the trail. As Illnore and Dolan compare notes, Yakuthiel's keen eyes notice a faint scuff mark in regular intervals along one wall. You follow the side passage, and while it winds for a bit the wall's pattern leads the way.
Then it stops. Yakuthiel taps the wall. Oddly hollow. You find a seam and a section of the wall comes away revealing a hidden stash of goods. There's some foodstuffs that have turned to mould, but a pouch of silver coins (25) and a silver-banded shield have held up against time.
The excitement of the find dulls slightly as you realise the detour has thrown off Dolan and Illnore from their tracking.
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Illnore shakes her head. "In a fight, probably. They look like bullies who aren't used to much actual resistance. BUT--and this is the kicker--we can't guarantee that there won't be witnesses. And having the rest of the soldiers and the local government aware of us will mean we won't have time to do what we came here to do. So seriously: No fighting. Not yet. Not until there's no other choice. We'll have to hurry back to the Inn in the morning, though. I feel rotten for abandoning them." She ruefully thinks of the antiplague vials she purchased, knowing that time is running out.
You retrace your steps through the sewer, emerging into a now-shadowed street. The tone of the city turns as darkness begins to creep into the shade of tall buildings and stillness finds once-busy streets.
There's less traffic now as people look for their evening meal, but you see different patrols of Emerald Guards on the streets now: they're quicker to deal with - thorough, efficient, interrogating you with practiced ease - but more numerous. Avoiding their notice post-curfew would have been more difficult than you anticipated compared with the day patrols.
The Rockfish Inn is more pleasant now: Yuleg has a fire going in the hearth, and there are tempting smells emerging from the kitchen.
"I figured you might want to clean off a bit after the sewers," he says, popping his head around the kitchen corner. "There's a small washroom down the end of the hall, might need to stoke the fire there a bit to keep the water hot. If you're hungry, there's stew on the boil - makes the pickled fish better eatin' - and baked spiced rolls."
Once you have had time to clean up and eat, he broaches the topic of his daughter: "Did you get that cure for her? She's been about the same, managed to get her to drink a bit of tea while you were away, but otherwise still quite out-of-it. Let me know if you need anything from me to help."
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Before leaving the sewers, Illnore gives Chiselnits a fond farewell, then dismisses him sadly. "Miss you already, buddy."
Back at the Inn, she settles down near Yuleg as Dolan treats Vurna's fever. Knowing how worried he is about her health, Illnore tries to occupy Yuleg's mind with conversation and stories so he doesn't wear a groove in the floor with his pacing.
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Darius happily takes advantage of the wash room and spends the time while Illnore talks and Dolan treats Vurna's fever looking at the various new odds and ends he had picked up, then emptying out his many pouches and arranging and rearranging the varied contents in differing configurations, softly talking to himself the whole while.
DAY TWO - MORNING
Yukathiel and Darius get some rest while Dolan sets to work and Illnore keeps the fretting Yuleg occupied with chatter and tasks. It's touch-and-go for a while, but Dolan's expertise manages to break the fever wracking Vurna's body, and a little before sunrise she wakes with clarity in her eyes. Yuleg is estactic.
"Don't got scaring your father like that again," he admonishes Vurna with tears in his eyes. "We're leaving this city and you're all I have to remember it by."
Vurna smiles weakly: "It'll take more than rat-bite to keep us here. Now how about some breakfast for a starving lass." She blushes as she notices Dolan. "Well now, sorry to meet you looking so poorly. As my father has probably introduced me, I'm Vurna. Not normally so sweaty or sickly."
Yuleg pops to the kitchen to bring her some breakfast, which she devours as politely as a starving woman can be.
"Listen," she says between mouthfuls. "I can help you folks get us out of here. I know where Flitch is hiding in the sewers if you haven't found him yet, and I even discovered the way to Shard Cove, and as much as my father will protest I'll lead you to them. I'm sure you'll keep sharp eyes out for any rats."
Yuleg grumbles in the background. He pops out again to go retrieve something.
"Shard Cove looks dangerous. I'm not much of a swimmer - never had cause for it - so we might need something to help us get to any ship that arrives. Might be too dangerous for them to send a boat to shore not wanting to risk sinking it on any rocks. Something to think about."
"Here you go," Yuleg buts in, returning to the room. "You've obviously got our best interests at heart, so here's the organised payment for getting us out of the city." He hands over a pouch containing a mixture of gems and coins. "Just let us know when it's time to go. And feel free to keep staying her over curfew if you need."
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Illnore smiles warmly at Yuleg as she accepts the payment. "Thank you Yuleg. We're deeply grateful for your generosity. The Rolanna's Prayer arrives in Shard Cove in three days at dawn. There are some other folks we're trying to get out of town and more than one ship to take all of you out. Once we've made contact with everyone we'll assign ships, but it's good to know that you're our backup guide to Shard Cove, Vurna. We'll see what we can do about getting a means to make it out to the ship. In the meantime, we'd like to meet up with Filch, if you'd be so kind as to escort us, Vurna. Then we need to see about our other contacts here. How about we give you a few minutes to freshen up, while we put our heads together?"
Beckoning the Pathfinders to join her in another room, she begins recapping what they know. "Okay! We have four days left, including today. The Rolanna's Prayer can only take five passengers, and we've got three between these two and Filch who know the way there. Of the others on our list, there's a family of four, one individual, and one individual who may want to bring an unknown number of others. Whoever doesn't get on Rolanna's Prayer has to be led out past the guards on the docks. Without knowing what the Shard Cove situation is like, the docks sound extra tricky with the kids. I'm still inclined to have the family of four go with Filch."
"So for today, I suggest we go see Filch first, then stop in at the Arcanium Abjurant. Tomorrow we can head across town to the other two locations that are closer together. Then we'll have two days left to deal with random things that crop up, like finding a way for the Shard Cove folks to get out to the boat. What are your thoughts?"
DAY 2 - MIDDAY
Vurna leads you through the city back to the - now-familiar - sewer entrance. Along the way she points out this-and-that, memories from her childhood growing up here: a stall that used to sell the best stuffed fried dough-balls (the new owners didn't pay enough for the recipe), a narrow alley between tenements she used to sneak through as a short-cut to school, a small park where they found a dying dinosaur-like creature that must've escaped from a wizard's laboratory. Though she speaks of them fondly enough, her eyes light up and her tone brightens when she asks about the wider world of the Inner Sea.
You apparently had made it most of the way to Flitch's hiding spot. Vurna shows you the couple of turns where you went wrong. "Too clever for us, Flitch, made this map so only he could understand it. He'd told me the way so I knew how to find him, wouldn't have figured it out on my own."
The narrow tunnel emerges into a small maintenance chamber, lit dimly from sunshine through a sewer grate far above, and a small campfire where a - possibly rather handsome - human man is cooking eggs on a skillet.
He is obvious to your approach, and only looks up when Vurna shyly calls out: "Hey Flitch, I brought you visitors; the people who are supposed to get us out of here."
Flitch almost loses his eggs as he startles upright and fumbles for a weapon. Finding none close at hand he seems to think for a moment about brandishing the skillet, but puts it aside carefully to try regain some composure. "Don't sneak up on me like that. Who are these people? How do you know they're-could be Emerald Guard in disguise - uh, do you have a message for me, strangers? Perhaps from some family member?"
Flitch relaxes at the mention of his uncle's slippers: "Well, it seems you were right to trust these people, Vurna. I don't know the story behind the slippers, just something that Guaril said would be our code-word. My uncle's Frallino back in Magnimar, real professional fellow. The man's probably forgotten half of what I know about work."
"Still, I learned a thing or two from the old man," he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a set of papers. "Check them out. Made them myself. Official travel papers. Will get me out the docks and onto the ship as easy as a morning coffee stroll."
Vurna mouths "wow" as she looks at the papers: "You're so talented, Flitch."
You pass the papers around, checking to see if they look legitimate.
"Oh, before I forget, though I'm not paying Guaril any fees for getting me out, I've got some supplies that might help you out. I'll hold here until you let me know what the plan is - I know Vurna probably wants me to come back to The Rockfish Inn - but it's just not safe for me out there. I'm a wanted man." He brushes his hair back dramatically, before handing over a bundle of items.
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Dolan waits until everyone else has had a chance to check out the papers before selling in for a thorough examination and some note taking.
Excellent, we should have an easier time now.
A moment later, he gives Flitch an odd look.
But why are you refusing to pay now? Seems a bit late to renegotiate.
Flitch: "I'm not renegotiating, I came here on one of Guaril's crews to help locate people in distress who wanted out and to figure out how much they'd pay for it. I'm a city kid from Magnimar, not a Xin-Edasseril native. Finally getting out of this city. It's getting far too dangerous for outsiders."
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Illnore glances up from examining Filch's documents. "Well, Guaril didn't say folks couldn't pay with items. (Except pickled fish.)" She winks at Vurna. "These'll sell for enough to cover his passage."
"By the way Filch, I remember something. At the last checkpoint one of the Emerald Guards was using his thumb to check a couple of the spacings between items on the papers. When I compare yours to ours, which were done with a block print, the spacing is a bit different. See here, if you measure? Otherwise your papers are really good. Would it be too much trouble to re-do them so you don't get caught? How long does it take?"
After the conversation about the papers is resolved, Illnore will ask: "So, you mentioned going out by the docks. There's also the ship coming in to Shard Cove. It can take up to five people. Aside from you, Vurna, and her father, there is a couple with two young kids, a single man, and a mystery person who are trying to get out of here as well. We're trying to figure out the best way to get everyone out, and it seems to me that it may be more difficult to get the family with the kids out by the dock. We were thinking it may be better for you to escort them to Shard Cove. Then we'd need papers for the others. Maybe we could copy yours? What do you think?"
Flitch is initially caught off-guard by Illnore's revelation: "What? Nah, I've forged lots of things, and this is some of my best work. See here-" he retrieves the papers and scrutinises them for a minute.
"Besmara's britches, you're right. Lucky you seen that happen. I'll fix up a new set of documents for myself. Takes a little bit, but I'll be ready to leave when required."
"Shard Cove? I had a look. Don't fancy that route since my documents (thanks to you) will get me onto the docks. I like to board ships without swimming out to them. You can keep those papers to copy from, I'll make new ones."
DAY 2 - EARLY AFTERNOON
The Arcanium Abjurant stands in stark contrast with the rest of Xin-Edasseril. While great efforts have been undertaken in other areas of the city to combat any damage caused by the city's isolation out-of-time, here seems to have been left to rot and ruin. Cracked and fallen columns line the entry-way path to the school of wizardry. Its white marbled exterior is cracked and crumbling. Shredded vellum banners flap in a faint breeze. There is, of course, a bright bronze statue of Belimarius that looks freshly restored.
Only a few people scurry about campus, keeping well to themselves. Your presence is completely unquestioned, and the typical questioning of the Emerald Guard utterly absent as they seem to not patrol this area of the city.
A tired old man in the foyer looks up from some idle knitting and directs you upstairs to Daffrid Cahverly's office.
Two young children (a boy and a girl) announce your presence with loud stage-whisper voices: "Who are you! Visitors! You look strange, where are you from? Did you come here in a ship or did you fly? Mother says we can't shout in the office so we're WHISPERING."
Daffrid looks over from a blackboard where she has been outlining some thoughts about the "new gods." She's a human woman of middle-age, thin, with heavy glasses and a calculating gaze.
"Taffrit, Maffree, don't bother them too much, they look like they've come a long way. Welcome to the Arcanium Abjurant - or what's left of it - can I help you?"
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Illnore remembers how her little siblings would repeat anything they heard at the absolute worst times and to the absolute worst people, so she's concerned about having this conversation in their presence. Oh, if only I could summon Chiselnits to play with them, but they'd probably blab about him too! Hmm... What do I have to distract them... Oh!
She puts on a bright smile and winks at Daffrid. "Well, they're doing a much better job of not shouting than my younger siblings ever did. Say kids, do you want to build a fort? While I'm here, you can use this. How about over in that corner? See what you can do." She produces her pup tent from her pack and hands it over to the children.
Once the children are focused on building a fort (or whatever they decide to do with the tent), Illnore introduces herself to Daffrid with a warm smile and a volume and tone that both won't carry to the children and will sound like boring grown-up talk if they do hear anything. "The less they hear the better; little pitchers have large ears. I'm Illnore Thornbriar. My associates and I have been sent by a green-eyed mutual acquaintance to discuss travel arrangements for you and your family. He's terribly sorry that he can't come himself, but he was concerned that the increased scrutiny he was receiving would compromise your goals. We're here to finish what he started."
The children's tent-fort plans suffer a swift demise when Taffrit throws the canvas across Maffree's head and the little boy grabs a tent-pole and chases her blindly around the room swinging it with reckless abandon. However, it does leave you free to talk.
Daffrid grins tiredly at your introduction, and seems to relax for what might be the first time in a long while: "Illnore - and company - I am so glad you managed to make it. We've been trapped in this city for far too long, and the kids won't leave me alone as to when we'll escape 'that mean old prunelord', which you can only laugh at in a 'oh kids are so hilarious' in front of an Emerald Guard a few times before they start wondering where they get it from."
She reaches into her desk and retrives a small pouch, looks inside, nods at the contents, then hands it over.
"Payment, up front like he wanted. Let me know what the plans are, we're ready to leave at a moment's notice. Taffrit has assured me that if it comes to a fight she's capable of at least three kneecaps. Honestly though, I don't care if I have to crawl through the sewers to escape this city we'll do it. There's four of us, remember. Myself, my husband Tellith, and the two kids."
At Dolan's subtle comment she laughs: "My lesson plans are well-rehearsed, and I hope that's tuition enough."
Taffrit runs outside onto the small stone balcony overlooking the courtyard, forcing Daffrid to turn and yank the tent off of Maffree's head as he gives chase. She hands it back with a shrug that reads well, it worked long enough.
"Don't tumble through the railings kids. I'd have to send a whole team of archaeologists to unearth you from that rubble, and their brushes really tickle."
"No! Not the brushes!" they giggle. Maffree says: "We're looking for the stone man. He looks so sad." Taffritt responds with: "It's just a bit of rock that looks like a man, and it could be a woman, don't assume."
"They need a change of scenery," Daffrit sighs.
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The children's tent-fort plans suffer a swift demise when Taffrit throws the canvas across Maffree's head and the little boy grabs a tent-pole and chases her blindly around the room swinging it with reckless abandon. However, it does leave you free to talk.
"They need a change of scenery," Daffrit sighs.
"I totally understand. Our ship, the Merry Mayfly, leaves from the docks in four days at high tide. We'll see to getting your papers in order so you can show your kids the world. A lot has changed since your maps were drawn. A whole lot, actually."
Daffrit grasps Illnore's hands as she thanks her profusely: "Desna smile upon you. I cannot communicate how happy we would be to see outside this city."
people looking sick then well.
Asking Daffrid about it she shrugs and says you're welcome to keep it.
Darius follows the rampaging kids out onto the balcony. They're fascinated by the various knick-knacks that you've acquired and the mysterious stories that hold meaning to many of them.
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”Ok, let’s head inside.” Darius rumbles, leading the kids inside and attempting to assist them in making a little fort with the tent supplies. Once they are engrossed in an activity we moves back towards the adults and mentions in a low voice, ”Its no fairy tale about the kids “stone man”, there’s something out there watching. Either shy, or trying to hide, since it didn’t want to be seen.”
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"Huh. That's...troubling. Could it be an informant of some kind? I hope it didn't hear us." Illnore excuses herself and steps out onto the balcony, nonchalantly explaining: "I just want to make sure I get all my tent pieces back." She looks around on the balcony floor--and over its edge--before pausing to take in the view (and surreptitiously look for this "stone man") before returning inside.
Illnore peers out over the rubble and remnants of the once-mighty Acranium Abjurant's grounds. A few bright birds preen the fallen torso of a statue. A lizard suns itself upon a fallen column. Not much moves otherwise.
You take your leave of Daffrid and her children - the latter are very excited to take part in the subterfuge of escaping the city - and make your way out the building and towards the passage back into the city proper.
Darius stops the group about half-way down the main road. Something isn't quite right. He points out a bas-relief panel inlaid with immense figures raising the walls of Xin-Edasseril, beneath an immense dome of protection from many wizards.
At your notice, the stone giant trying to disguise himself as part of the mural steps free, drawing himself up to his full twelve feet of height. The giant presents the typical, lean, hewn built of its kind, though it seems uncertain about standing so tall, casting nervous glances about for any other passers-by.
"My name is Seddothrum, and I need your aid," its voice rumbles like a landslide. "I know Daffrid is to leave this city, and you are her means. I beg you-" he lowers to a knee "-take me too. I can cower here no longer."
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Whoa. Uh... Guaril won't like not getting payment, but it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission. It's not like they can really send him back, right? Quite taken aback, Illnore manages to tamp down her surprise and respond with feeling. "We hear you, Seddothrum. I can see you're nervous. If you like, we can have this conversation right up next to the mural so you can blend in at a moment's notice. Yakuthiel, can you warn us before anyone notices him? Thanks!"
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Darius stares in dumbfounded silence for a moment. Of all the things he thought he'd run into right at this moment, a stone giant was pretty low on the list.
Thankfully Illnore stepped in with her smooth words while the thaumaturge was flabbergasted, and he lets her take the lead on the conversation while he immediately has to suppress a million and five questions he'd just love to ask a stone giant who wasn't trying to kill him.
"Er, yeah, lets move a bit and keep an eye out while we talk."
Seddothrum happily returns to his rather well-disguised pose as part of the carved panel, enough so that a sparrow flits down and hops around on his shoulder for a time. You merely look like a group of tourists admiring the grand ruins of ancient Xin-Edasseril.
"This is indeed safer," he says as quietly as possible, voice emerging like a scree of pebbles rolling down a mountain. "Please, I have sought a way to leave, but the docks swarm with Emerald Guards - angry wasps buzzing about without a queen's guidance - and the walls are too high and too thick. I had braver friends who thought to try those ways. They are rubble now; growing moss and hiding rodents from the sun."
"Uh, how well can you swim?"
Seddothrum mulls the thought over for a moment. ”Well enough to not drown, but the nearest islands are too far to swim for. Believe me, some have attempted it.”
You size up the giant. Though true to his namesake he is a tall creature, his height is offset by how lean his figure is. Passage through the sewers - while a bit of a squeeze - would definitely be manageable from the tunnels you’ve seen.
”The Emerald Guard will not let me leave this city, so legal passage is unquestionably impossible. Unless you have the means to craft such a magical disguise that it would fool even the most careful of detection and scrutiny.”
Seddothrum nods vigorously, disturbing dust and pebbles from the wall he’s pressed against: ”My mouth might run like a river of complaint at the confines but my heart will know it will be worth it in the end. Just tell me when and where I might find this freedom.”
Seddothrum’s head droops: ”I have nothing material to offer. How should one who has been stripped of all possessions own something to use as payment. All I can do is plead to your conscience that you are a good person at heart.
DAY TWO - LATE AFTERNOON
You leave the stone giant to his hiding wall and continue back to the city proper. Noise, bustle, and smells both pleasant and toxic hit you as you’re not longer protected by the Arcanium’s ruined walls. Another horridly slow trip occupies your time to the Ministry of Tithes.
Inside the immense stone building - which seems almost hewn from a single giant marble block - numerous well-dressed bureaucrats tend to reams of paperwork piled upon the dozens of desks. The desks are overshadowed by a prominent stone likeness of Belimarius. Also within the statue’s shadow sits a neatly dressed woman at a reception desk. Next to her stands a well-manicured man, also in fine attire, who is leaning over her. The two are engaged in animate conversation.
At your approach the two break of the conversation and the receptionist turns to you with a well-practiced deadpan stare: ”Ministry of Tithes. Who do you owe, and how much.”
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Illnore plasters on her most innocent, pleasing smile. "Hello. We've been instructed to speak directly with Themolin. Apparently there are some unique particulars about our account that he's already worked out, so he's the most efficient person to handle it. Can you please inform him that Alera of Kliraug Merchants, Inc. is here to see him? --And company, of course." She indicates the others clustered around her. Oh, I hope that name is just the right amount of subtle for only him to notice!
The receptionist’s frosty exterior cracks into a smile: ”For once someone opens their mouth and politeness spills out instead of veering straight into the complaints and vitriol. People underestimate how necessary the tithes are to the running of a city as great and complex as Xin-Edasseril.
She pages through the hefty book on her desk, until locating Themolin’s schedule.
”A busy clerk, Themolin, he doesn’t have anything open until four days from now, but…” she runs a precise finger down the page ”-the Salazar account is a complete mess and I’m sure letting them squirm for a few days more might do wonders. Looks like he’s now free tomorrow afternoon.”
The well-manicured man stops fiddling with his nails and enters the conversation: ”Mesolin, you do perform magic sometimes.“ He punctuates the word with a flash of sparks from his fingers. A basic cantrip but he seems impressed with his abilities.
He nods towards you all: ”Barralbus, aspiring practitioner and head of numerous accounts. I’ve dealt with more contracts than Themolin has hairs. Are you sure you need a man like him for your case?”