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"No, he's somewhere hidden. He sent me a letter, but he was pretty vague about where he was. He said Sergeant Clovesh took him somewhere safe, but I'm not familiar with the area he was describing."
Akkina pays attention to bartender's mannerisms and voice inflections as she gives that answer...
She then asks, as politely as she can muster, "Could we take a look at this letter? Some of us may have far-seeing powers that could help find him before he gets killed like the Sergeant did earlier today..."
"Of course, let me go get it for you!" She turns and walks to the other end of the bar, digging through sheafs of parchment underneath.
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It's only a few minutes before Khāṇa has a tumbler of alcohol swirling with a vibrant hue.
Khāṇa calmly assesses the bartender while swirling her drink.
"Now that's a hell of a thing," She finally mutters before she swallows most of it in a single go, then uses whatever shiny metal or glass is handy to check if her tongue's a funny color now.
The drink does not turn Khāṇa's tongue to a new shade, but is of good quality with a taste she has not found anywhere else.
"Here it is!" The bartender returns, placing an envelope before Akkina. Then she stops, looking at Akkina with wide eyes. "Sergeant Clovesh is dead?!"
"Then Timinic really is in danger! You've got to help him!"
"I wish I knew where it was, but I don't know that side of town. I'd ask Sergeant Clovesh, but..." She shakes off the unspoken words. "Maybe you can ask around for directions?"
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Putting the mirror away with disappointment, Khāṇa looks over the map while finishing what remains of her drink.
"Oh. Follow me!" She says with a snap of her fingers.
"It's just like it said in Clovesh's papers!" She explains once they've left the tavern (and, hopefully, whatever was prying on them) behind. From there, she will attempt to lead the way.
"Thank you! If it helps, tell him that Ramyla sent you!"
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Hskomoro starts pulling out reference material, but the foolhardy half-orc has already narrowed down the location.
"Thank you" he tells the bartender. "We may do that."
Once they've left the bar, Hskomoro leans over and speaks in a low tone to Khāṇa. "If that wass a delayed poisson, nobody would connect it with the bar. And a dead outssider won't affect their bussinesss one bit."
Setting out for the safehouse, the slush packed streets make for a slow trudge. Some thirty minutes of walking through the sleet leaves you quite cold as you reach the outskirts of town, with another ten minutes taken up following the vague directions.
Khāṇa finally spies the cabin through the poor weather, the isolated home featuring sturdy wooden walls, with thick glass in its two small windows. A covered porch looks out over the banks of the Dagger River to the west, though the view is far too obscured to make out much.
There appears to be light inside, although the thick windows do not provide a clear view. The frame is narrow, enough that a Small creature would have to work to crawl through one if the glass were broken. No other entry can be seen besides the closed door.
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Ugh. And some people preferred to live here instead of someplace warm. Before they get too close, Hskomoro activates his wand of heightened awareness.
Once they find the safe house, Hskomoro also approaches, watching for movement through the windows. When everyone is ready, he knocks on the front door.
Khāṇa can detect a few scents, clearly old and degraded by the weather. Despite the light from within, she cannot detect a fire burning.
"Sorry, no solicitors please! I've caught a cold, you see, can't be exposing anyone to it. Good day!" The voice comes through muffled, the door remaining closed.
"Oh, thank goodness! I wasn't sure when you'd get here! Give me a second to get this lock open." There is a pause as the sound of heavy bolts retract inside the frame, before the door swings open. You notice instantly that the door frame is reinforced into the walls, which are several feet thick.
"Come in, it's not much warmth but better than out in all that." The gnome within has a shock of silvery gray hair up in spikes, garbed in adventuring clothes with an extra cloak against the chill. Filing in, you see the safehouse is cramped, filled with barrels of water and food supplies of clear military quality. A candle provides the light, barely illuminating the place. "Thank you all for coming, I am Timinic. What is the plan now?"
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Get out of here. A simple and clear plan. But first, a couple of questions, man. Berix speaks dryly and hoarsely. His huge, strange, slightly hunchbacked and disproportionate figure looms over Timinic while his tame but very ferocious cat sniffs the gnome. What did you find in the sewers that now you're hiding like that and several people have already died?
"I don't even know! I was getting a survey of the sewer tunnels, just an academic exercise that I thought would help Sergeant Clovesh out as well. Then I start seeing these folks hanging around in the tunnels and let Venture-Captain Bosk know about it, and he has me report to him after every expedition, if you can call them that. I come back one day to them both arguing over a 'broken oath' and...wait, someone died?!"
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"I come back one day to them both arguing over a 'broken oath' and...wait, someone died?!"
"Not just someone," Khāṇa announces after making her way in. "Bosk and Clovesh, in that order! Poisoned antidotes, both of them. Honestly, I'm surprised that isn't more common here - but perhaps that's got something to do with why it wasn't so much 'poison' as some kind of smothering quick-set glue. Pretty creative!"
She neglects to say anything about the list just yet - given what she's already said, the cumulative shock alone might kill the little man!
Timinic stares at Khāṇa for a long still moment, before exploding in a flurry of nervous energy, grasping at his hair and turning side to side. "Oh this is not good, no good, we have to get out of town. They told me to hide out here and now they're dead? Get me back to Absalom, I'll turn in my resignation to the Ten themselves!"
"I don't know! The sergeant marched me off to this place without explaining what they were talking about. But I can guess someone broke an oath to someone and now people are dying! We've got to get away before whoever it is finds us!" He pauses, his pale face some how paling even further. "And Ramyla! I sent her a letter so she'd know what was up. If someone goes after her, they'll find that too! Please, will you make sure she is okay too?"
"She runs the Dripping Wall Distillery. I asked her to let me use the entrance to the sewers there and as the work went, we became friends. And now I may have put her in danger too!"
"Not really, they never stuck around to say anything. Whenever we crossed paths, they would leave, so I didn't follow. I minded my own business until VC Bosk got interested, then I just made notes for him."
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"Could we ssee thosse notess?" Hskomoro asks.
"Both victimss we found drank ssomething to cure poisson, which triggered the hardening foam" he offers. "We don't know if the poisson wass made to react like that, or if the local curess are... tainted."
It wouldn't do to have the witness die to something stupid like that, would it?
"Venture Captain Bosk kept them in his office safe. I don't have the code to open it, but this seems like an emergency worth...extreme measures." Timinic pauses to think a moment, his panic obviously being suppressed by the puzzle of the unusual deaths. "It's nothing I've ever heard of, but alchemy isn't my main focus. I would check in with Pemak, she runs a shop called Pemak's Tinctures,to get an expert opinion."
"Okay. You're the ones sent to help, so I'll follow your lead. But we can check on her later, right?"
Timinic extinguishes the candle and follows you out into the weather, hustling to keep up with the party as you make your way back into the tight streets of Daggermark. After another miserable half hour, Timinic points out a wooden sign depicting a flask of blue liquid hanging over the door of a cramped building. A faint aroma of burning vinegar wafts from the windows, which remain open despite the sleet.
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You know, some of the folks back at the Lodge would sing the praises of a cheap spell they called "endure elements." Why couldn't they get some of that on this mission? Well, that's something to look into later.
"Watch your back" Hskomoro tells Timinic. They were out in the open here, and poison wouldn't be the only method available for assassins. And Hskomoro, in turn, would watch Timinic, just in case he turned out to be a traitor.
Hskomoro taps himself yet again with his wand and checks the area briefly. Eager to get out of the weather, he then approaches and knocks on the door.
"Oh, before I forget! Take these, hopefully it helps us get out of this mess." Timinic offers you his scrolls of mirror image and slow as thanks for your help, as well as his bracers of armor (only +1) and iron spike of safe passage.
Hskomoro finds the door open to the outside, spying a half-orc women inside. Seeing him approach, she breaks out a toothy smile and beckons with one hand. "Come in, come in. My shop is open, if not spacious, but there's warmth in here and cold out there. Always willing to offer a port in a storm."
"I am so sorry to hear of your misfortune. If my expertise can assist you in your time of need, I would be overjoyed. I myself have experienced hardship recently, though thankfully only of material damages." She bows in deference before continuing. "I am indeed Pemak, though much of what I have learned of poisons has come from treating unfortunate souls. Please, tell me what misfortune has befallen you and yours. If you require specialized medical care for an individual, I can put you in contact with an appropriate specialist as well."
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"They are beyond your help, ssadly, unless you have the ear of Pharassma."
One thing caught Hskomoro's attention, though. Before getting into the "foaming death" descriptions, he asks "Pleasse, tell uss about the "missfortune" you sssuffered." Did he have his poisons stolen, or is he just getting ahead of the ball by saying he had them stolen? Or neither.
"May they rest easy then. My own troubles are a hazard of business, as the shop was burgled recently. I have been looking into hiring some private security specialists to avoid future troubles. If you have any recommendations, I would be glad to hear them." Her eyes seem appraising of the party as she mentions this. "What can you tell me of the poison that has laid your compatriots low?"