”Wait a second. I bet these guys can drive the sheep. We get them to take me and the animals out. I can meet you later” Trail says gesturing at the prisoners
Annelise rolls her eyes. "If you're left alone with Vark, he and his crew will gut you, skin you and turn you into gloves." She speaks with certainty, because it's what she would do in his place. Or at least, would have done until a few weeks ago. "Which would be interesting, I guess, we'd find out if there really is more than one way to skin a cat."
She moves to the door. "Just so you remember, I'm the one rowing the boat and it is leaving NOW. Come with me or get left behind."
Svetozar Lanezra shows empathy with Trail-in-the-Woods, but wholeheartedly agrees with Annelise. "There are many wrongs I wish I could right but alas, sometimes we just don't currently have the capability." He gets back down on the rowboat ready to leave. "You've calmed them a fed them a bit; that should be a good start and perhaps we can get back here to help more, later."
Upon seeing the logbook in Honeylyn's possession Svetozar Lanezra politely asks if he may see it.
Milton nods to Annelise then says "Yes. Let's get out of here." He then moves toward the boat.
Trail looks at the animals and his heart rebels at the thought of leaving them.
But first, he needs to try and calm them down by appealing to their spiritual nature.
Assuming that succeeds in calming them down, he turns to his companions
"I need to free these and get them to the jungle where they can live. Can we please row them out of town?"
Honeylyn blinks and gives Trail an "Are you CRAZY?!" look before the others talk some sense into him.
Upon seeing the logbook in Honeylyn's possession Svetozar Lanezra politely asks if he may see it.
Once they're boarding the boat, she nods at Svetozar's request.
"Once we're back on dry land, sure. Don't want it to get wet."
As they're rowing away, Honeylyn smiles to the others.
"Well, that went rather well, I think. We're gonna make a pretty good team!"
Very, very reluctantly Trail joins the rest of the group in the boat.
They're right that there is no good solution, that freeing them is impractical. He contemplates trying to put them to sleep and cleanly killing them but that is probably beyond his abilities (one maybe, but not all of them). And besides, he doesn't know that death is better for them than whatever awaits them.
He tries to push down a resentment of Annelise for forcing him to decide so quickly, for her apparently deciding that she is his boss. Nobody is his boss, nobody gets to order him around. But the time isn't right to directly challenge her.
As they're rowing away, Honeylyn smiles to the others.
"Well, that went rather well, I think. We're gonna make a pretty good team!"
"Agreed." Annelise nods but keeps her reply short, mostly focused on rowing them back to shore safely. The rest of her focus is in wondering what Vark is going to do as payback. She really should probably have killed him and been done with it.
No. I've spilled enough blood the last few years.
She frowns and concentrates on slipping the oars through the water as quietly as she can.
The little boat heads to shore, gliding through the water quietly. The group did not find the missing siblings, but a strange menagerie, a mysterious log book, the name of an artist, and a group of armed thugs. They reach the shore and tie the boat off.
It is past midnight, and most of Sasserine is asleep. There are certainly a few taverns, gambling dens, brothels and the like that are still doing a brisk business at this hour, and a few bakeries and such where work is just beginning for the next day.
Svetozar Lanezra is back in the Sunrise District after having worked with his new friends, a task from the Halfling Kora.
Still no great epiphany on what crucible for the Cause of Good he has been reincarnated for. 'Can he really save his soul?'
He looks at the Shrine of Mayaheine ahead of him. He understands why the Paladins and Warpriests therein do not trust him. He prays to Mayaheine nonetheless. His stomach growls in hunger; he doesn't notice.
Walking to a covered corner at the bottom of Emerald Street, looking up at the Shrine of Mayaheine, he lies down for the night. The embers of a small campfire remain in the spot; some children must have constructed a small fire for oysters or frogs or a pigeon. Svetozar Lanezra runs his hand above the scorching heat. It burns. 'Why does that feel wrong? Fire's not suppose to burn.'
He speaks to that twinkle, deep inside the flickering flames, "I seek to save my soul from infernal damnation." It's not said in jest or with a smirk; it's sincere. But exhaled with a breath of capitulation. He asks himself, "You think finding a noble with a menagerie of illegal beasts will convince Mayaheine I'm really a good guy?" He curls up and employs his hands as a pillow. It's a rhetorical question. His stomach growls again.
Milton looks to the others and says "So we meet up in the morning? I've got a floor anyone without a roof over their head can use to sleep for the night." He then heads home and eats and reflects on what he accomplished today. Being able to hit someone with a bolt of force might come in handy. Less likely to be seen too. How would I go about that?
Trail turns to Milton
"I take your floor. Thanks"
He turns over in his mind everything that has happened since he came to this evil, awful place.
"Oh spirits, why did you send me here? What is it you want of me?"
Svetozar Lanezra awakens and nods in thanks to Milton McMurray for allowing him to rest here. For even a little breakfast, a verbal thanks is enthusiastically, hungrily given. The rest and reflection the night before helped, yet once again Svetozar allows his hand to brush past the coals boiling the morning's cooking pot -- it just feels so unnatural that he should be vulnerable to flame. But it is a good sign; he is not a Devil.
Working with the others in the morning, Svetozar Lanezra once again takes a long read over the logbook Honeylyn carries, and discusses at length the society and geography of Sasserine, as he's still relatively new. Hopefully we all can determine our next step: finding out more about the financial hold on The Blue Nixie, finding out who hired Vark to guard the boat, what anyone would want with the beasts *And* how to rescue them if we can. But of course, mostly, to find a new lead as to where to search for Vanthus and Lavinia Vanderboren.
"Uh, everyone, there is something else I can try but I hesitate to bring it up. Hopefully only if we get completely stuck on a dead end." Svetozar Lanezra looks on his person briefly, nervous to see where his Hellish Birthmark is, and what form it looks like as he talks about himself to his new allies. "In my previous life of Evil," he admits as a confession, "I used Arcane power for the cause of Hell. Uh, though it sickens me -- literally -- I can try to use Divination magic for an augur or some minor divination. Again, I don't ever want to have to use this 'ability' -- but if we are truly stuck -- I guess I can try."
Honeylyn yawns as they land, handing off the logbook to Svetozar.
"So where are we meeting you lads? I've got some pocket change to put us up at an inn or somethin'...I'm on the outs with my parents right now..."grounded" you might say...so they'd probably be disinclined to allow you the use of our guest rooms...at least for now. Once they've cooled down a bit, I'll happily put you up for the night!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, she reunites with the crew and listens to them chat amongst themselves.
"Huh. 'Previous life of evil,' you say? Sounds like an interesting story...though probably better left as a summary. I'm spoiled and greedy, I'll freely admit, but we Erkenwalds prefer to make opportunities for ourselves and others so we both profit, rather than take them at others' expense. I'm more of an illusionist myself, as you saw last night, but that's mostly talent, still gotta build skill."
The night passes. Milton hosts Trails and Svetozar at his place, and Honeylyn and Annelise go their separate ways.
Morning comes, a clear day that promises to be hot. You are faced with the task of tracking down Vanthus and Lavinia by asking around.
Honeylyn yawns as they land, handing off the logbook to Svetozar.
"So where are we meeting you lads? I've got some pocket change to put us up at an inn or somethin'...I'm on the outs with my parents right now..."grounded" you might say...so they'd probably be disinclined to allow you the use of our guest rooms...at least for now. Once they've cooled down a bit, I'll happily put you up for the night!"
Annelise rolls eyes in sympathy. "Family, can't live with em, not allowed to stab em." She actually cares deeply about her mother and sister, but feels they depend on her a bit much. Maybe if she hadn't felt so obliged to support them, she would have made different choices. She cuts off that line of thought. What she did, she did because she was good at it. That trail of blood she's spilled is on her, not on anyone else.
She returns to the present. "I've a place, but it's not in your bit of town. Cheap, though." Honeylyn might prefer spending money on an inn to a night in Shadowshore.
Eoither way, Annelise doesn't get much sleep as she thinks about choices she has made, both more recently in sparing Vark and more distantly.
The next morning she is at the agreed meeting point nice and early. "What's the menu for today? Try to find Brissa and get her to spill? I think that's the only solid lead we've got for now."
Honeylyn shoots Annelise a concerned grimace.
"Wouldn't say my folks are THAT annoying," she finally says. "I mean, they certainly put up with ME."
But that gets her thinking, thinking about how prepared she was for all this. It looked like this little adventure was shaping up to be much more of an entanglement than she'd expected. Maybe she should rush to patch things up with them more quickly. As much as she wanted to prove herself and step out of their shadow, giving her new friends a place to stay so they could stick together might be an advantage. But on the other hand, the way Annelise spoke about the people they'd encountered and given her familiarity with them, she wondered if she'd be inviting danger to their door.
"Agree that she's our best bet for more clues. The logbook raises questions, but ones I don't think we'd be able to easily find the answers to."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
With the circumstantial clues found, Svetozar Lanezra heads off to the Azure District with everyone willing to come -- like last night, he'll need all the help he can get (Kora feels it's more than a one-hero job.) and thinks out loud of a gambit along the way.
He converses with the group:
'We don't want it to seem as though we're hunting for Brissa Santos, and I don't think I would vote for it being known we're searching for Vanthus and Lavinnia. .... Maybe we should treat it as though we're interested in incredible Beasts. She likely has an interest and maybe if we ask the right questions, either someone will point her to us, or us to her. If there's no contradiction among you all, I'll go with something like this':
In the Azure District, Svetozar Lanezra begins inquiries, wielding a thumb in the direction of Trail in the Woods, "My friend here and I managed to capture an incredible beast, a cross between, how to describe it, an Owl and a Bear. I've heard that around this District is a Brissa Santos who would like to buy such a creature. Can you point us in the right direction?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Honeylyn immediately dashes after Svetozar and Trail.
"Wait for me, boys!" she says. "I think I've got a few connections that can help in that regard."
She begins escorting them to some of her parents' business-partners who are big in Sasserine's art market, introducing them while embellishing and massaging "the owlbear story" into something that actually sounds plausible.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Annelise follows along, aware that she really doesnt belong in the world they are now moving into. She does her best not to draw unwanted attention.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Milton eats a basic meal and when the all join up he listens intently. He finally says "That sounds like a good idea. See if we can find the artist."
The bartender at the Empty Grave is a bristly mustached veteran of countless brawls. The tavern itself is surprisingly lively, despite its name, and full of sailors and others who have no qualms about getting properly drunk in the morning. A fiddler keeps a shanty playing, despite his audience singing at least four different verses at once.
The barman raises an eyebrow.
"You've got an owlbear?" he says. "Alive?"
He shrugs his shoulders.
"Sounds like something for the arena to me, but you say the painter might want it?" He doesn't give it much thought, apparently deciding that housing an owlbear would not be too eccentric to put past an artist.
"I haven't seen Miss Santos for a few days," he says, shrugging. "She's like that, though. Once she gets working on something, she won't leave her studio til she's done. Not like certain cooks I could name."[b]
[b]"Shut up," comes a cheerful reply from the kitchen.
"You could try her at her studio," the barman offers. "Just look for the sign with the octopus and the mermaid."
"Thanks, Barkeep -- again, we're just following a rumor she 'may' be interested. Figured we'd ask around." If Svetozar has a few coins, he'll buy a drink and leave a tip, if not he'll offer more appreciation and assure the man that when he needs a drink this'll be the place he comes.
Heading back out of 'The Empty Grave' Svetozar Lanezra looks to his allies for thoughts -- and suggests that instead of just going straight to the studio with "The sign with the octopus and mermaid" to speak with the 'artist,' Brissa Santos, we find the studio and casually keep an eye on it for a day to see if we see anything first. But he reiterates that if the rest just want to find it and knock on the door right away without scoping the place out, he sees no problem there at all.
Finally, Svetozar Lanezra asks if anyone saw any 'too curious' eyes focusing on us as we casually spoke with the barkeep at The Empty Grave (or if anyone appears to be following us).
Milton thinks for a moment and says "It might be a good idea to look around the studio and watch for a little while, but I don't think we need to for a day."
"I draw lots of looks wherever I go. It's as if you furless ones have never seen a real person before"
You reach the sign with no trouble. It takes a moment to realize that the mermaid has sharp, almost sharklike teeth, and then it starts to seem as if it is she who is grappling the octopus, and not the other way around.
For an hour, or a day, nobody goes in or out of the door under the unmistakable, slightly unsettling sign. Neither does anyone go in the backdoor, which opens into a narrow alley full of flies and refuse.
Svetozar Lanezra considers Milton's opinion and agrees; time may be important if the thugs last night start talking too much.
He briefly touches Trail's shoulder in empathy, and wonders where his own Infernal Birthmark has moved -- he saw it on his forearm earlier, clearly Devilish in appearance, but now has moved somewhere else again. If it is on his face, he hopes it's just a livid blotch rather than Demon's visage. He knows how Trail in the Woods feels; people often look at Svetozar Lanezra as a Fiend.
He quietly joins the search in the painter's shop-- looking with the others to find the source of the flies, looking for the most recent or unfinished painting or work of art for style and clue, looking for footprints, anything.
He even asks some neighbors if they've seen anything recently.
With the group, he approaches Annelyse Wykes, "I hate to be intrusive, but it looks like our search is heading to the direction of someone in your past. Do you mind if I ask you to tell us about Soller Vark?"
Annelise shrugs slightly. "Not much to tell. He's a thug, we crossed paths a while back. He had a knife, I got away when he decided I wasn't worth the bother of killing." She smiles, tightly. "I think he probably regrets that."
Her look is critical as she gazes at the tiefling. "Not sure how much you know about life on the streets, down in Shadowshore. But life is cheap. Peopele like Vark, like me, we came up the hard way. If you want to survive that, you make a name for yourself as someone not to be crossed."
After about an hour Milton says "Ok there is nothing going on here. Let's go in and see if anyone is there. If it is a shop it should be open. Someone may want to watch the back door as we go in the front."
Honeylyn joins Svetozar in buying a drink and paying a tip.
"Thank you my good man, may your tables always be full and your overhead costs low!" she says cheerfully.
She listens to the conversation idly and shrugs.
"Seems you proved that in more ways than one last night. Tough enough for people not to wanna cross you, but smart enough to know when someone's cheap life is not worth spending and thatmetaphorgotawayfromme," she rambles. "It WAS a compliment!" she qualifies, pointing upwards.
Then she hears the tail-end of Milton's suggestion, and nods.
"Aye, smart there! I'll keep an eye on the back!"
She looks at the building to try and see which way she needs to go. That was part of what casing a joint entailed, right?
Milton tries the front door and finds it locked. The buildings windows are covered inside by heavy curtains that allow no glimpse of what is inside. The back door, though, is not locked.
It is dark inside (the curtains keeping the sunlight out) and there is a slightly musty smell, as if no one has aired the place out for several days. Underlying that smell are strange scents that are eventually understood to be the various pigments and other ingredients used to make paints. The paints that seem to have spilled everywhere. Not out of sloppiness, though.
The place is trashed. The furniture is broken. The paints poured out. The mattress cut open and the stuffing ripped out.
Annelise seems unfazed by the mess. "Thorough. Someone was after something. Wonder if they found it?"
She has a quick look around, not in the hope of finding much but you never know. If they were in a hurry maybe they left a clue about who they are. If they were sloppy, maybe they even missed something useful.
"Is it just me, or are we making less progress than when we started out?"
After no one comes out the back door and she hears rustling from inside the building, Honeylyn lets herself in and gapes at the mess.
"Garl GLITTERGOLD!" she swears.
She joins Annelise in searching the place.
"If it's any consolation, this appears to have occurred before we were called in to investigate the disappearance of the Vanderborens, so we can't be accused of negligence."
"I agree with Honeylyn's logic there. Hey, does it look like there was a hollow spot in the mattress? I mean, if we take a moment to put 'all of the feather-stuffing' back in, does it look like there will be a hole still?"
Upon completion of the search and heading back out Svetozar Lanezra looks to his allies again, "Well, a big part of me wants to go to the local authority and report the painter missing and her studio trashed -- at the very least, we don't want to be seen as a group that both "raided" The Blue Nixie and also a group that destroyed the art studio. At the very least, I'd like to mention all of this to the Paladin-Priests at the Shrine of Mayaheine."
"But mostly, I would like to track down Annelyse's old enemy, Soller Vark -- and try to parley." He looks to Annelyse Wykes for approval or disapproval (or another idea).
Milton searches the room with the others. He looks questioningly at Svetozar "Vark has nothing to do with this. We got everything out of him on the boat. We should see if we can find any other places Brissa hangs out or lies low in."
Trail just investigates the room, hoping that his improved sense of smell will perhaps pick up on something the others are missing
+1 Stealthy Tabaxi, +1 very observant
What catches Annelise's eye is the folded paper on the floor by the front door. It's on top of the paint, so it couldn't have been there when the room was being trashed.
"Vanthis - yew and yore frend stil ow me four the bote yoo took. its bin ovar a munth and yew sed yoo wuld pey me bak in too weiks. wen wil yu pay up?"
"It Still Floats."
Annelise will recognize It Still Floats as the name of a boat shop in Shadowshore, specializing in repaired wrecks.
Trails notices the key is still in the front door - someone locked it from inside, and much have left through the back door. There is another, more ornate key on the same ring.
Annelise straightens up, trying to pck the dried paint from under her fingernails. "Glad to have something to show for all that." She shows the others the note. "This was dropped after the place was trashed, so either Vanthis was the one trashing it or he was here afterwards."
She frowns as she tries to decipher the writing. "I know that shop, it's in Shadowshore. They repair boats, I don't think they're fussy about ownership or paperwork."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Oh, thank the gods," Honeylyn comments with a sigh of relief. "Read a scary book once about a shapeshifting clown obsessed with floating things."
Svetozar Lanezra follows Annelyse to Shadowshore, "To the 'Still Floats' we go."
Milton nods I'm learn alot about parts of town I knew nothing about.. He says "That sounds like a good idea. Maybe we can offer to let Vanthis know he owes them payment. It might get us more information. We still need to verify the harbormaster's hold on the boat too. Vark may have been lying."
The harbormaster's office is in the Azure District, so it's an easy stop on the way to Shadowshore. There is a clerk in the front office who seems in grave danger of being buried under the mountains of paperwork that have already taken over his desk. He mutters with the barest possible level of civility at your queries, and shuffles off to fetch the harbormaster himself.
Lord Keltar Islaran is a nobleman, but the man who steps out of the back office is elderly, sleepy, and confused. After several attempts, you make yourselves understood, and he disappears into his office. When he returns, he holds a ledger. He makes a bit of a show of opening it and finding the entry for the Blue Nixie, as if he wants you to be impressed by the lengths he's going to.
"There," he says. "Two month's harbor fees and repair work. Five hundred gold."
---------------
Shadowshore isn't really that dark in the midmorning sun. It does feel dangerous, however. The streets are almost deserted, and the few people you do see moving about have a furtive look about them. It is clear that poverty is the norm here, as nearly every structure shows signs of needing repair, and the repairs that have been done seem inadequate, though creative workmanship does make up for some of the universal lack of quality material.
It Still Floats embodies this perfectly. The boats that are tied up to the dock are barely floating, and there are several more wrecks pulled up on shore, waiting for repair. The proprietor and apparent sole laborer is a dwarf, short and broad shouldered even by dwarven standards, with rough, callused hands and his beard braided into a long rope that falls to his knees.
He scowls at you, shaking his head before you've even asked your questions.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Honeylyn greets Lord Keltar with a showy curtsy, and looks inquisitively at the ledger entry indicated.
"HmmHMM!" she mutters. Her eyes shift over to the others, clearly wondering what their thoughts are. She knew the money was there on the ship. But if she let that slip, the next question that Lord Keltar would naturally is ask was how exactly she knew that.
Once they're in Shadowshore, Honeylyn lets Annelise take the lead. This was her home after all. She takes one look at the surly dwarf and immediately remembers the negotiations with dwarven miners from Cauldron that her parents let her sit in on once. She knew how to get that stone face to crack a smile.
"Good morning, my good man!" she says. "Always a pleasure to meet a fellow entrepreneur! Honeylyn Penabwa Uani Erkenwald, at your service. Though of late, my family's name is not something I'm able to trade on, regrettably. I'm, as a result, embarking on some ventures of my own and had heard rumors that you're well known in Shadowshore for both your business savvy and your...discretion. As well as the fact that certain individuals have not paid you for your services yet. And that got me to thinking...maybe we could help each other out in those regards. Businessman to businesswoman."
Annelise rolls her eyes as Honeylyn launches into the sort of posh talk that will get her stabbed in this part of town.
She gives the dwarf a hard stare with her unblinking green eyes before gesturing at the chattering gnome. "You may not know her, but you know me. Or of me. Annelise Wykes. You did some work for Han the Loner, that scoundrel, so we know people in common. You can relax, by the way, I'm not here for you. I'm just after information about Vanthis. If you can help with that it'd be appreciated."
She is aware that her reputation might be against her here, she is known as someone who breaks legs rather than someone who asks questions and politely walks away afterwards. But she's working on being someone different, now.
There is no mistaking the sullen contempt in the dwarf's eyes as he regards Honeylyn. What hardens and sharpens that edge, though, comes right after she speaks of discretion. The moment where she casually reveals that she knows more of his business than she ought. His nostrils flare and his eyes manage to squint more than before without actually closing.
Then Annelise steps in. Nothing in the dwarf's expression changes, but his eyes start jumping. Her face to her hands. Her hands to her companions. His brow tightens, and you can see the thought-bubble forming the question of why Annelise Wykes is keeping company with a cat-person and a trio of softsiders. But he knows better than to ask.
"Yeah, ok," he says, with a last glower for Honeylyn. "Here's what I know. It ain't much. He comes by six weeks ago with that scumsucker Penkus, looking for a cheap boat to carry barrels of wine. We come to an arrangement. Half up front, half after he's made his delivery. I tell 'em when I can have it ready, and we shake on it. They come back a week later with the first half, and a couple of barrels, and off they go. Was lamp oil in the barrels, not wine, or my name's Honeylyn Penabwhatever. That was the last I seen of Vanthus or Penkus."
Milton stands in thought for a moment "It seems like we are playing catch up and one thing just strings us along to the next. We have a new name to try and follow up on. Anyone know anything about him?"
Having followed along quietly Svetozar Lanezra has had little to offer; going to find Penkus seems next -- at least we're getting closer as we have discerned two weeks' activity in our first full day.
When we all are alone, with no one else near, Svetozar suggests that Kora the Halfling who hired us -- and worked under the Vanderborens her whole life -- should make the decision whether to use the money on The Blue Nixie to pay the fee or not. Her choice, not really ours.
And Svetozar is ready to continue for Penkus.
Annelise gives a quick nod. "Penkus is a name I know, he's a smuggler. Would have been a good one if he didn't drink so much. Last I heard, he lost his temper with a client and beat them into a coma with a broken oar. Not good for business."
"As for what we do now, I'm not sure. Look for Penkus, I guess?" She shares Milton's view that they're being strung along a chase from one thing to tne next with no real progress.
"I understand it feels like being strung along, but really, he's been missing for months but we've narrowed our search down to within a few weeks. We learned about the lamp oil smuggling that occurred about a week before the other Vanderboren ship burned down, and have found out that a smuggler with a temper was maybe the last person to see him, only a few weeks ago. I think we're doing well. .... Not that I couldn't be wrong, of course.
"I vote we go find Penkus."
Milton listens to Svetozar and suddenly stops walking. "That didn't occur to me before. Is it possible that the oil had anything to do with the Vanderboren ship burning?"