Telvir purses his lips, then responds. "We're certainly not adverse to providing our services if it is mutually beneficial, but I hope you don't deign to command us. We've made ourselves useful to Bloodlord Haldoli and she would be most upset if we were imposed upon."
"It is not a command, though if you refuse to aid me, I shall report your intransigence to my superiors in the Tax Collectors Union. If you do aid me, you will earn the good will and support of my faction.
"Do you see this painting above me? This was my wife, Nepenthe. Gorgeous, was she not? She was a member of a coven, along with Sahni Bride-of-the-Sea. But Sahni betrayed her, years ago, and murdered my wife in her submerged lair. I think of Nepenthe every day as I rest, and I miss her every night as I hunt. I want you to bring me my beloved’s ring, her heartstone, which I gave to her at our wedding. I believe you will find it in Sahni’s underwater lair. Sahni kept my wife’s corpse, though I don’t know why—perhaps a misplaced sense of obligation to her coven."
"I'm sure your wife would be impossible to forget. We'd be happy to retrieve her ring. If we encounter your wife's remains, we'll make sure they are safely disposed or, or return them to you if we are able."
Telvir recalls all of the uses that corpses have been put to in Geb. It takes a while.
Ceceka twitches when the man muses on why Sahni kept Nepenthe's corpse. It's not for a man of his station to voice his thoughts when they doubt the person in charge, so he doesn't.
"Do you want us to return the favor? Throw Sahni in a box, so you may store her body in a forgotten cellar?"
Tobias scoffs. “Revenge is for peasants. Love is eternal. Just bring me the ring.”
Aily looks at her strangely silent mistress, and her also strangely quiet... whatever-he-is. In a tone of deference, she asks from behind her lady (like she is asking for her lady), "Sir, do you have any information about Sahni's lair that you could impart to us, to make our favor to you as quick and efficient as possible?"
Ceceka bites on the inside of his cheek to stifle the urge to snarl. Revenge would mean you need to get your hands dirty, alright. I can see how that ain't your modus operandi. He nods and takes a step back, indicating he's done and has no further questions.
"Alright, as you wish."
Mithralline snarls, showing her fangs, as she approaches Tobias.
"Mithralline Cort is not in the habit of taking commands, especially not from ... tax collectors!" she snaps. "Nor does she appreciate your little tests!"
She glares at him.
"Fortunately for you, we also have business with this Sahni, which is why we approached. You must have known her well if your wife was in a coven with her. Tell us everything you know. We shall see if we can find your wife's trinket as we deal with our own matters in return."
Tobias turns a withering glare towards Mithralline. "Mithralline Cort thinks very highly of herself, it would seem," he remarks. "Sahni is an active member of the community, well-known as the town’s lawyer. This label has an unusual meaning in Sallowshore, however, as there are no courts, no judges, and no real legal system or authorities. Instead, townsfolk who seek justice for some misdeed against them, or even a perceived sligh, engage Sahni as a sort of vigilante. The sea hag strikes a bargain with her client, securing them the vengeance they crave in return for something dear to them. Sahni doesn’t need the prices she collects for her services; she collects them because she enjoys inflicting suffering and believes her skills have value."
The vampire shifts his gaze to regard Aily. "Sahni's lair is entirely submerged. The quick among you will likely need to find some method to be able to breathe while down there. The temple is defended by undead and construct guardians, which hopefully you'll be competent enough to be able to defeat.
"That is all the information I have for you. Now, go, and return with the ring."
There are few times that Aily appreciates her mistress's outbursts, in truth she barely can tolerate anytime the tiny tyrant opens her mouth, but this time she finds it appropriate. This man is a pill not easily swallowed.
She does find the new concept of lawyer fascinating, and considers it for when she retires. Until then, the servant does her normal curtsey, just MUCH shallower this time.
When they get back out of the ostentatious mansion, Aily will inquire about shops or services dealing with breathing underwater.
Aily quickly learns the names of a few merchants in the fish market who can sell you scrolls of water breathing, potions of water breathing, or sea touch elixirs.
"Yes, let's collect these -- and anything else we might need for fighting underwater and be on our way," Mithralline says.
Caraid barely seems to be listening, but once Mithralline has stopped wasting everyone's time and air he ignores her completely and steps up to the vampire, turning on the charm as he does so.
"Nepenthe must have been very dear to you sir, my commiserations for your loss. I'd like to hear about her, if you wanted to talk."
"If we are to expect underwater combat, I will need a new weapon. Something like a halberd, or a spear, will do. Hrm, or a trident."
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"Nepenthe must have been very dear to you sir, my commiserations for your loss. I'd like to hear about her, if you wanted to talk."
"I do not. Not to you," Tobias says, giving Caraid an imperious look of disdain.
It seems that a lack of courtesy is a vampire trait so Caraid leaves the situation alone and retreats without another word - although he makes mental notes to a. investigate the matter further and b. crisp Tobias Highridge if the opportunity presents itself.
Before you head to Sahni's lair, you decide to pay a visit to Grand Master Stana Keystone of the Builders League. The Builders League lodge is an impressive stone building, square and solid, constructed of flat, gray stone blocks and roofed with black slate tiles. The building must have once towered above others in town, but at least two floors lie fully submerged in the sea. A wooden boardwalk supported by ancient tree trunks sunk into the watery beach leads from the fish market to the lodge’s middle floor, where a balcony was rebuilt into a double door. Most of the windows are covered with black curtains, but a lamp burns dimly on the uppermost floor.
Knocking on the door elicits a greeting from a ghoul butler. He escorts you into a reading room and asks you wait there. The room is musty and contains shelves lined with dusty books. Classical literature is present, but most of these books are treatises on architecture, engineering, and design, including records from decades of Builders League meetings.
After a few minutes, Stana arrives in the reading room, bearing a lamp. “I’m told you wish to see me,” she says. “Please be quick about
it; my son is ill, and I am tending him. I can’t long be far from his side.”
"Yes," Mithralline Cort says, pulling her attention from the books with a shiver. They were all too familiar. "We've heard about your son and his deal with Sahni. Tell us about it and perhaps we can provide help."
"I would be happy to look at your son if you wish." Caraid offers. "I have some skill in medicine and the healing arts."
"He is a quite skilled physician, Grand Master Keystone. To be more efficient with the use of your time, my mistress and her companions could converse with you in your son's chambers, allowing you to stay by this side, while our doctor looks over Blavket?" the maid asks in subservient tones.
Stana's expression softens as you offer to help her son. "Yes, please. I would welcome your assistance. Come with me. Come see what that hag has done to my beautiful boy.” Lamp held high, Stana leads you to a room on the lodge’s fifth floor.
A large four-poster bed is covered in thick black quilting and concealed by a black velvet shroud. Tucked in the bed is a frail, dark-haired man. Portraits of distinguished family members in formal clothing and stiff poses line the walls, and black velvet drapes frame a window that looks over the town.
“This is my son, Blavket,” Stana says as she hangs the lamp from a black iron fixture in the shape of skeleton. “He longed to escape the family’s shadow and have a prosperous business of his own. So he made a bargain with Sahni Bride-of-the-Sea. Oh, his business prospered, but for every new client and customer, he grew sicker. Now his coffers are full and his body is dying!” Stana, overcome with grief, sits wearily at the bedside and takes her son’s listless hand.
She turns to you with a desperate look in her eyes. "A Builders League lodge contains many secrets, and this one’s secrets are known only to me and my son. In the keystone at the base of this building, now deep under water, is a secret compartment where we hid many treasures. Records of this cache have been lost, but I’ve scoured those that remain. A potion there might cure my Blavket of his illness. If you bring me the potion, everything else within the keystone is yours. None of it matters to me now."
The emotional weight of the moment is wasted on Ceceka as he can't but be fascinated by the family's apparent wealth. All that art on the wall: just how rich are these people? A sense of dread chases his thoughts, nagging at him that no matter how hard he tries, no matter how successful he'll be, he'll never acquire this much wealth in his lifetime.
And then Blavket is introduced to them. Ceceka scowls, mostly at himself for having those stupid thoughts, and then at the sick man. "We can do that. Has this Sahni taken the entire region hostage with her schemes and plots?"
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Aily is pleased Ceceka has accepting, since this is an excellent opportunity to strengthen bonds with allies and gather potential weapons against their prey. And since she is just a servant she couldn't accept herself, instead would have to manipulate the lady cort into it, which she wanted to roll her eyes or groan at the prospect.
Oddly she actually FEELS something for this woman's plight. Not the son's, cause he is an idiot, just the mothers? She is rather irritated at whatever it is, so mentally stomps on it repeatedly.
"Many in Sallowshore have turned to her for so-called justice. The town would be much better off without her. But she is far too powerful for any of us to take on alone," Stana replies.
"Who else would take similar actions to yours?" Mithralline asks, wondering who else she can get in her debt. She can claim this place for her own too -- a true tyrant should rule in a way that no harm comes to her people, unless it's harm they have brought on themselves. This Sahni clearly is no true ruler.
"I know Tobias Highridge of the Tax Collectors Union bears a grudge against Sahni. Beyond that, I cannot say for sure," Stana says.
Ceceka scowls when the woman confirms the town and its people are firmly under the hag's control. Can they even trust this woman? Sure, her son is sick, but she wouldn't be the first Gebite to not give a toss about their family when there's gold and power to be gained. "How disappointing."
Caraid takes his time examining the young man, although he knows too well by now that he has to discount the sudden return of colour to the man's cheeks and the steadying of his pulse. Unfortunately these positive signs are side effects of his own presence, not true signs of recovery.
There isn't much he can do but he reaches out none-the-less, with magic rather than physical hands, and pushes a little of his own overwhelming life into the young man. That strengthens the pulse a little more and Caraid pulls back with a frown.
"He is a little better now I think." He addresses Stana, "But your potion is likely the best chance, unless killing Sahni will break the bond and cure your son in the process."
Leaving Stana for now, you seek out the last of the important personages you learned about, Gishkar the Fishmonger. Gishkar the Fishmonger lives and works in Sallowshore’s customs house, a rambling wooden building south of the fish market.
The wooden boardwalk along Sallowshore’s rocky beach extends into the water to a long, low building with a flat wooden roof and small upper story. Large open windows on the lower floors allow the sea to flow in and out with the tide. A few longboats are tied to the building’s wooden porch or to nearby posts, and a half-dozen merchants loiter around the building, chatting as they wait to process through customs. Aquatic ghouls and a few lizardfolk swim in and out of the building’s lower floors, conducting business before returning to the ocean.
With a bit of smooth-talking, you are able to convince the other people waiting in line that you have urgent business and avoid having to wait. The customs office lies half in and half out of the water, with a small dry platform under a low roof and a ladder that leads to the flooded portions of the building. A second ladder leads to a dry records room on the upper level. Soon, the sleek, hairless head appears as an iruxi glides through the water. He reaches the ladder and climbs up, shedding water easily off his scaled skin. “I’m Customs Officer Gishkar,” he says, wiping his head with a towel and donning a wide straw hat. “You don’t appear to be merchants declaring customs, so how can I help you?”
Aily introduces "My lady Mithralline Cort, and her esteemed companions." going on to name each, but not herself. "As etiquette demands, my mistress calls on each person of importance so they might take each others... 'measure'"
"Yes, we have arrived in town on business, but thought to take in the sights," Mithralline says imperiously. "What can you tell us about the waters here, and any dangers that might lurk within?"
Gishkar grins. "Welcome to our humble town. Hopefully you'll have a pleasant stay! The waters round these parts are pretty calm. With all the traffic in and out of the port, we keep a close eye on any potential hazards or critters that might come our way. I'm happy to say that we've got none of those round here right now! If you're looking to go for a dip or a dive, you'll have a pleasant time."
Aily's mouth drops open, just slightly and just for a moment, her eyes on the back of her mistress's head in shock. Rational, almost polite (well as polite as a noble would ever be to a commoner), Who Was this person.
That split second of a cracked mask is quickly squashed and the maid is once again humbly standing at attention behind her better.
"We have heard tales of Sahni. She will not attempt to bother us?"
"Sahni? No, I don't think so," Gishkar says with a hint of confusion. "She's a frequent client of mine. She regularly ships crates of caviar. It’s not an especially large amount, and the tariff on caviar is low, and she’s never missed a payment. I have no quarrel with Sahni."
"Good!" Mithralline says.
Aily prompts "Miss, isn't the hag, Sahni, the one involved with poisoning the food supply? Smuggling in contaminated ingredients?"
"Poison? That's ridiculous," Gishkar scoffs. "Ingredients like that have a very high tariff. If any was being shipped out of Sallowshore, I would know about it."
You provide the records you claimed from Iron Taviah's cottage to prove your claims. The iruxi's anger is a cold fury. "That clever old sea witch! She’s been hiding tremor paste in crates of caviar for months. Right under my snout! And she’s cheated me in the process—and the Export Guild, and the royal treasury of Geb—of incredible sums! I need to find out exactly how much gold Sahni’s cheated me out of; then I can present everything to the Export Guild to balance the accounts. She’s no fool. She must keep records somewhere, probably in that ruin she calls a house, the old temple to Urgathoa. Bring me her financial records and I’ll make it worth your while. You’ll earn some favor with the Export Guild while you’re at it."
Gishkar offers 150 gp for Sahni’s records. This price is firm, and he pays only on delivery. However, to facilitate your mission, Gishkar gives you four potions of water breathing from some excess stock he commandeered.
"We'd be happy to. She seems to think that she's above the law, a dangerous misconception." Telvir makes a mental note to find the records.
Mithralline nods in agreement of the deal, and turns to begin their mission. "Get what supplies we need, and then we shall start with the Builders Lodge."
Once you are ready, you return to the Builders Lodge. Stana Keystone tells you that the submerged basement is blocked by a door, but she describes a secret way to press on its surface to open it. You swim down the stairs and find the double door of black stone, which opens easily on well-made mechanisms.
The lodge’s lowest level is filled with cold, black water. Mounds of coral in green and blue line the walls of this large chamber, and fish glide back and forth. Opposite a set of stairs that ascend to the black stone double door is another double door, but its doors lie fallen to each side, overgrown with barnacles and seaweed.
Aily and Ceceka notice that three of the coral mounds are actually creatures in disguise! Indeed, the mounds rise up and unfurl their wings to reveal themselves as bulky aquatic gargoyles once they realize they've been spotted!
Before arriving at their destination, Aily stops quickly at a couple of stalls. She purchasing a couple bottles of the sea elixir, since she has never been one for swimming, and then slips into a clothing shop. After a moderate time later, she emerges and NOT in her typical heavey black and white dress, but in breeches and a tunic with her light leather armor over it, tight enough the water won't pull and distract.
When the other warrior points out the creatures, she follows him toward the one he is going to dispatch to aid him, pulling her dagger from a sheath on her hip, since she lacks an apron bow to hide it in.
HP 84/84
AC 23 (25 with shield raised)
Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +11; poison resistance 3
Hero points: 2
Focus Points: 1/1
Effects:
Mithralline raises her shield and rushes in, her wings working just as well in the water as if she were in air. Her scythe slashes toward the gargoyle.
Telvir gestures at the creatures, attempting to instill doubt in their minds, while Smoke paddles over and bites at the gargoyle Aily is attacking.
for
Caraid, who is not overly enjoying this whole 'underwater' malarky despite imbibing an elixir of the sea, throws a shard of light through the dark water.
Ceceka moves in on the nearest gargoyle, stabbing it twice! The stony creature's hide is resistant to physical damage. Mithralline swims up to the same foe and slices it with her scythe, then Aily moves in and finishes it off with a stab to the back!
Telvir uses his magic to frighten the remaining gargoyles. Smoke doggy-paddles over to one but fails to hit it. Caraid's spell goes wide.
The gargoyles ignore the hound as they swim up to Aily and Mithralline. Thanks in part to the fear Telvir has instilled in them, Aily is able to nimbly dodge their gnashing teeth, and Mithralline deflects their claws with her shield.
Somehow the thief manages moves enough through the water to not die, and thanks the bloodthirsty beast for swimming over to her by stabbing it.
Caraid sends another lance, aiming much better this time! Then he incants a spell of protection, just in case it got the gargoyles' attention.