Zuza opens the lock. She finds it's actually... pretty easy to open.
Inside the chest are three folders with the names Mafika Ayuwari, Kassi Aziril, and Zarta Dralneen written on each respectively in a crisp, tight handwriting and a crude map of the settlement with names over several of the buildings in the same script: the Crafter, the Pathfinder, and the Thief. The dossiers inside provide skillfully painted images of each target with coded notes. The code uses words in Elven and Mwangi, so someone who speaks one or both of those languages would have an easier time interpreting it.
The chest also holds a small diary. Several later pages have been ripped out of the journal, but earlier intact entries are encoded in the same way as the dossiers. Enclosed in the diary, is a black key with a note attached, which was used as a bookmark.
The journal entries detail Rowan’s youth in Ilizmagorti and her early desire to join the Red Mantis Assassins. She studied with criminals, mercenaries, and assassins alike until she was skilled enough to gain the attention of a Red Mantis Assassin seeking to recruit her. But she decided that she would not give her devotion to some god’s rules and structure and murdered her wouldbe benefactor before escaping to the wilds of Mediogalti in search of a more profitable arrangement. At some point she met and joined forces with a ghoul named Sotroz. Though it begins to tell how she never truly trusted the ghoul, any further information has been ripped from its pages, except for a note attached to a black key used as a bookmark: “Sotroz says this key can be used to enter their courtyard if need be.”
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"These notes detail the habits and travel habits of these targets, as well as their known allies." They then point at the journal. "Rowan the Whispering is from Ilizmagorti. She was a recruit, but decided she didn't like the structure, so killed a Mantis Assassin who was recruiting her. Then there's a bit of a gap, until she met up with Sotroz. They don't trust each other. This black key, according to this note, can be used to enter their courtyard." Peat frowns, and looks around at the others. "I'll be honest, this is very unusual ... Leads like this don't just fall in your lap like this."
They shrug. "Perhaps, then, we should advance to the courtyard?"
The courtyard key is a cold, black key in the shape of two intertwined thorned roses. It radiates cold and is annoying, but not painful, to hold.
At one time, this cobblestone and marble courtyard must have been the pride of the inn, with a towering statue of a hero on a barded warhorse standing in the middle of a recessed stage. And though the weakening evening sun still finds its way into the open-air courtyard, its light only falls on the crumbling remains of the once great statue strewn over what was once a symbol of triumph.
There are three ghouls here sifting through the rubble of the broken statue. At first glance there appears to be a fourth ghoul, one wearing a blue robe who stands far out of the way of the manual labor, watching the workers. It becomes clear after a moment that the fourth ghoul is not actually present, merely an imperfect illusion that's a little fuzzy.
When they notice the Pathfinders, the illusory ghoul wordlessly points at them. The laborers drop what they're doing and move to attack.
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BOLD IS UP!:
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➤ Clides
➤ Zuza the Scout
➤ Blueberry Peat
Red Elite Ghoul Stalker
Jared
Yellow Ghoul Stalker
Zisiro
Blue Ghoul Stalker
Agate Stark
DC 25 (crit success), second success by another PC, or DC 17 as second check after first success:
