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" Next we must deal with rumours and general information: 1) Firstly there has been a woman asking about you and the Silver Ravens. She has been asking questions all over town. She looks of Tian origin and has dark hair. She was seen carrying a rapier and wearing studded leather armour. 2) Lictor Octavio has suspected that the previous lord mayor Jilia Bainilus never left the city and she's been captured and imprisoned by Thrune. 3) There are rumours that Thrune is planning on throwing a masquerade ball in the near future as a way of currying favour with Kintargo's nobles and artists."
"The majority of Thrune's guards come from Cheliax, mainly from the capital. Lady Docur recommends that you try and shore up support for the rebellion in more outlying areas which seems like a good idea to me. Moving on to item two, so far we have rallied and recruited followers and secured a stronghold the time has come to gather regional support, It would be foolish to launch a full scale attack on Bazillai and his minions when he could reach out to Cheliax itself for support. By taking steps to counter or minimize the ways Cheliax could lend support to Thrune we bolster our chances for a successful revolution when the time to strike comes. As I see it we have a couple of options: 1) Following your rescue of the sea elves from the town of Acisazi we have the opportunity to secure an alliance with the aquatic elves of that remote village- an alliance that would be a significant asset in defending Kintargo from any naval response from Cheliax. 2) While technically a part of Cheliax the city of Vyre has long been treated more as a free city by the government, which values the city of Vyre as a place where officials can go to unwind. Maintaining good relations with Vyre is important to the Chelish government, and thus securing Vyre's support for Kintargo's independence would be a significant boon. 3)While the Menador Mountains aren't impassably rugged, there's only one navigable pass through the mountains as far as troop movements and trade with the rest of Cheliax are concerned: the Menador Gap. If this pass were to close, Cheliax would be unable to send additional ground troops directly to Kintargo, and would have to move around the mountains through Nidal or up through Pezzack-both significant detours through areas fraught with their own political troubles."
A few days later Laira organises a meeting in the tunnels beneath the coffee shop. Aside from yourselves there are: Haetamon
Laira calls the meeting to order, and says, "We have done well securing support in Kintargo amongst the general populace, however we need to strengthen our position in Cheliax as a whole or the rebellion will be wiped out by armies in other regions. Therefore I suggest the following agenda for us to discuss. 1)Firstly Haetamon has been approached by Lady Mialari Docur 2) We need to look at improving our regional support 3) General rumours that may be of interest 4) Looking for alliances among the nobility. Does this all seem reasonable and would anyone like to start?"
Laria intervenes at this point. "What did you find down there, were the Gray Spiders still in hiding?"
"I have heard that some of the Hellknights from the Order of the Torrent are imprisoned at the Holding House, but their leader Lictor Octavia has fled somewhere else. If you're able to find him he might be able to help you break his fellows out of prison."
Unfortunately Kira you are unable to break the code. After several days in hiding Laria comes down and tells you of developments within the city and what she's heard in rumours, etc "So, there are a couple of leads that may be worth following up: 1)The Scourge of Belial has been moored in Old Harbour for several days. Her captain Cassius Sargaeta isn't that much of a fan of Thrune. 2)Another murder victim's been found somewhere near the south wall in Old Kintargo, slashed up the same way Professor Mangvhune carved up his victims back in the day. 3)The Order of the Torrent was banned by Thrune after he found out they were actually minions of Norgorber and had been operating as a thieves guild. 4)Thrune's been using the Holding House as temporary jail, but there's more to it than that. They've got some sort of fiend in there too-something that's been working to extract intelligence and more from the prisoners."
"You seem to have done well so far. I have heard of some other opportunities that may help the rebellion. First there is a region in town called the Devil's Nursery, where the tieflings are forced to live. There have been rumours of murders and killings there and I fear that the killings may be the work of the church of Asmodeus. If the murders can be stopped and it can be shown that the Silver Ravens are helping then the rebellion's support can only grow. Secondly, there is a tavern known as Crackjaw's, a low-key dockworker's bar. In the past few days it has grown rife with intrigue, brawls and talk of insurrection. It's growing loud enough to attract official attention, all of it bad. It may be possible you could find allies there."
"There are several areas you could start at. Your primary goal should be to gain recruits by aiding others. I have a few leads that may help you. 1) Decoding the documents: These were made by the original Silver Ravens, Rexus is working on this but it may take some time. 2) Investigating the Fires: During the Night of Ashes, three buildings mysteriously burned to the ground. The consensus is that these buildings were specifically targeted by Barzillai Thrune. The three affected ruins were the Victocora Estate, the Thrashing Badger Tavern and a music store called the Silver Star. Its possible that there are clues in the ruins that would explain why those buildings were targeted. 3: Prisoners of Salt: A group of mercenaries are being held in the Sallix Salt Works in Old Kintargo. They are led by a man named Forvian Crowe. The guards stationed at Sallix Salt Works are not official members of the Cult of Asmodeus.
Kira, you find a case that is about the right side for a body. The rest of you bind and gag the tengu and carry her back to Laria. Laria is deeply upset at the death of Nan but acknowledges that it wasn't directly the fault of the tengu. As a result she is willing to employ the tengu under the aegis of the Bellflower Network, doing minor tasks for the time being. As a reward she pays you 200gp. "You need somewhere to hide out while you make plans and recruit followers. I would suggest that the Wasp's Nest is probably the best place for you to use and I willingly give it to you. Using it will also ensure that your families are safe. I think your first step would be to perform small missions, taking small steps against Thrune's occupation.
I have not been down there for some time, I know the tunnels link with the sewers so please be careful. I need to wait up top, i have heard rumours that the dottari will be doing spot checks of business' today. You head down into the cellar. The basement contains numerous crates of cooking ingredients, sacks of coffee beans, and other supplies needed to maintain a thriving business. With Laria's advice from earlier you find a secret door which seems to lead into a smuggler's tunnel. This long, damp hallway opens to the southeast into a large reservoir of calm, dark water. A wooden pier extends twenty feet into the water, while another twenty feet out rises the top half of a statue of a beautiful elven woman. A foul smell, like that of rotting meat, comes from somewhere near the pier. Two holes have been knocked into the northwest walls to provide access to chambers beyond.
Laria turns to Rutilus "Ah yes Patch, last I heard he told me was investigating something to the north to do with the slavers. Not heard from him for a while but that's often the case with Patch so I'm not overly worried as yet.
"I appreciate your candour. I think that the Silver Ravens can be a symbol to the citizens. They can help deal with the worst of Thrune's excesses. And who knows we may be able to get all the city back, at least away from Thrune, if not from Cheliax itself. I myself run another Secret Society the Bellflower Network. Our network was set up to release halfling slaves and give them their freedom. However the network is currently in hibernation. After the Night of Ashes there were some concerns that we had been compromised. I sent the last fugitive slaves to Varisia. The city itself is in trouble under Thrune. I do't buy his claim that Lord Mayor Jilia Bainilus fled Kintargo for Arcadia. I suspect that Thrune imprisoned her (or worse) somewhere in Kintargo. Then there is the Order of the Torrent. The smallest of the Hellknight Orders, they've been mysteriously silent over the past week and their leader Lictor Octavio Sabinus has gone missing. I had a contact within the Sacred Order of Archivists - Porcia (Rexus' mother) but I rarely made use of the Order. I often traded tactics and techniques for maintaining secrecy with her. I know that the celebrated opera singer Shensen was a devoted worshipper of Sarenrae, and the cult of Milani has been active in the city as well, operating under the name of Rose of Kintargo. Unfortunately both of these underground religions have gone silent. I offer you the bunkroom in the Long Roads as a safe place to hide. I use secret tunnels below the coffeehouse to hide fugitives and stolen goods. I call it my wasp's nest. I've recently been allowing a friend of mine Nan Comerivos to smuggle a load of textiles through the tunnels. Nan arrived a few days ago but hasn't been seen since. Would you be willing to investigate the tunnels and ensure that Nan is safe for me?"
"Of course, my apologies" Laria replaces your coffee with a cup of hot tea. You can all sense that Laria is using the idea of chatting about old times as a ruse to get you out of an area where you could be overheard. You follow her into an office and she closes the door "So Rexus tells me you're interested in rebuilding the Silver Ravens. Why do you wish to do that?"
"Greetings, greetings. Come into the office and we can catch up on old times"
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