CH. 10: Hard Choices

[chese780]

(OOC: Inb4 Kendra tackles him.)

"Either way. You and I are the only ones who can see in the dark anyways. We're going to need to be fast about this though. We spend too long down here and something bad will happen."

[djhyland]

Arulia supresses her disappointment at the dragonman's reply. "Thank you for your help. I'll...I'll go and see if she's at home, then," she says with a gracious nod before hurrying back to William.

"They said that Kendra's off duty and figure that she's gone home," Arulia relates to William. "But since that's not so, she could be anywhere." She bites her lip and thinks for a moment. "Maybe she's out dealing with that fire. And even if she isn't, we could see the trouble for ourselves. Should we go?"

[Haahque]

She's cleaning? She's supposed to be telling the others to clean... oh well, whatever makes her happy. She is in charge now after all.

(OoC: Sort of waiting on Tulbas here)

[TristenC]

Grubnick nods. I'm certain as I can be the two whose lives I saved won't turn me in... I can't imagine the elf would either... the only one I'm unsure of is the redheaded half-elf... but I don't think he will. I don't want to... eliminate him either. I'll just have to be more careful. I'm going to see the guy we rescued, he hates the church and I think it's sincere. Maybe he can help us sow discontent... You want to come along?

Grubnick heads to the steel tankard to see if Tulbas or Haahque is around.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae and Tulbas (Steel Tankard, Common area)
Haahqae would note there is nobody for Cassandra to tell to clean. She is the only one present. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn't really seen any staff aside from the bartender and Cassandra since the occupation. They are the only ones ever working here anymore.

Kendra and Gregeddin (Prefect's basement)
Tethys regains his bearings, and chuckles as if finding the situation amusing. "I'm impressed you got out of your cell and made it this far. But I wonder, have you put any forethought into this at all? Even if you somehow make it past my guards and out of the mansion, how will you cross the checkpoints without ID? Even if you manage that, where would you go? My soldiers are everywhere in the city. The high priestess is capable of scrying your location, even if you did find some hole to hide in." He shakes his head in a patronizing way. "But let's say by some miracle, you somehow get around all of those obstacles. What then? Leave the city? Even if you could get past the gates, the dragonarmy controls all of Abanasinia--including all of the port cities. Don't be stupid. Submit and surrender or I'll have Kendra here put you back in your cell by force."

Arulia Seroth (River Way, Harbor District)
"Very well, that sounds good to me," William agrees. The two head toward where they had seen the fire. When they arrive, they discover that the fire has been put out but the building itself is damaged beyond repair. It looks like the fire didn't spread very far, so the buildings around it are still alright.

The area is cordoned off by the soldiers, but a number of citizens stand at the edge trying to see what is happening. Surprisingly, Arulia recognizes the building in question. It's not the brothel as she hoped, but rather the former lair of Belzor, or rather the building that concealed the entrance to Belzor's hideout.

There is no sign of Kendra around, however.

Grubnick (Haven Arms, Delharn's Room)
Delharn grins. "So you say, but if you really trusted them, you wouldn't have given them a fake name like you said, eh?" he asks. "In any case, if you want to go visit your pals, go ahead. But I'd suggest not mentioning me or what we're planning to them, just to be safe. I'm going to head back to the harbor district, see how that fire played out. Maybe see if I can learn the army's response and whether they suspect anyone yet."

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (Haven North Sewers)
Shima examines the dead end to the north. There's a large pipe, as wide as he is, moving from the wall into the floor. It's very old and corroded from rust. But he finds no sign of sliding walls or anything to suggest recent construction.

[TristenC]

Well, be careful. Someone could have noticed us leaving. He claps Delarn on the shoulder d heads off to the Steel Tankard.

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra looks less than amused as she crosses her arms over her chest. "Your actions," she says firmly. "Managed to get the whole trade guild arrested, including my husband," she explains. Her fingers tighten around her arms, turning her knuckles white. She is barely able to control herself from throttling Gregeddin. "And now you are trying to escape, which suggests to me that you don't really care what happens to the members of the trade guild. You're going back to your cell," she says.

[spyguy1503]

"Well, since you two can see in the dark, lead on."

[Chris1234]

Shima returns to the others and explains what he's seen, then adds, "Ne-Chanz, I think a torch burns for about half an hour. Are you going to hold off lighting the one we've got until a fight starts? Or what?" he turns to Felran, "Felran, would you be happy to open that door to the west? I'll be ready to receive in case anything charges out."

Edit (28/4): If Felran goes to open the west door then Shima sets his spear to receive a charge. Otherwise, he will advance and open it himself, standing off to one side to avoid anything charging out.
Either way, if nothing untoward the dwarf says, "If you stay here, I'll do another quick scout westwards and return in about 5 minutes."
Unless stopped he explores westwards, looking north and, if nothing untoward, then proceeding north to reach and look round any corner, and continue (max 240'), until something significant shows up, e.g. more doors, nest of rats, other monsters.
If there's a fork, he'll listen, and if nothing, will follow the left hand wall in the absence of anything else of significance..
If any dead ends are encountered, the dwarf pauses to examine for sliding/shifting stonework or recent construction.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae and Tulbas (Steel Tankard, Common area)
As Haahqae and Tulbas watch Cassandra clean things up, the door swings open. Gobax steps in.

Kendra and Gregeddin (Prefect's basement)
(OOC: Waiting on mgbevan's response)

Grubnick (Steel Tankard, Common area)
Saying farewell to his mentor, Grubnick leaves the Haven Arms and makes his way toward the Steel Tankard. Stepping inside, he finds that the place is nearly deserted. The innkeeper isn't present, either. It's just the head waitress, who is busy cleaning up after what looks like a minor brawl and Haahqae and Tulbas, who stand nearby watching her.

[TristenC]

Ah, just who I was looking for... Um... Grubnick/Gobax hesitates seeing the light damage to the common room. No trouble for you two I hope...

[BishGada]

Tulbas concentration is lost as he think of the spells in the book, but when they get to the common room he says quietly to Haaque, "I don't think many customers will come after the breakout happen before. People don't like trouble. If we are to help her, maybe you can advertise The Tankard as sponsor of your show. Something like customers will get discount or a peek at the best tricks before the others in the show..." Then he sees Gobax and wave him in. "No, not for us but the owner was taken by a group of Baaz with no explanation. And they punched the barmaid." he says angrily.

[mgbevan]

Gregeddin contemplates the cold words from Kendra and deduces he is definitely outnumbered, at least for the moment. He replies to Tethys "And wait for twenty or so,people to tell you that no conspiracy exists? " the bard shakes his head, "That could take forever. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not gifted with the best foresight. I didn't plan on coming here and trying to magically hypnotise The Prefect." saying to both, "it just happened since Tethys was not going to rebuke the taxes but to keep taxing even more! So I did something that might have persuaded you." adding a shrug as if it was no great offence and just a little misdemeanour. "I had to try something right? And the same with the whole 'breaking out of the cell' thing. Hadn't really got to all those bridges you mentioned but I'll cross them when I get there."

Gregeddin passes Kendra the knife while saying "I hope then that the trade guild members are being fed while arrested. A week of higher taxes in this winter and they'll starve if nothing changes." the bard echoing Kendra's firm tone. "Wouldn't you try anything to help them?"

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra looks between Tethys and Gregeddin as she takes the knife given to her before she finally says. "If handled correctly, I'm sure the prefect would have come up with a fair solution. Though, as it stands now, you made their position much worse rather than better because you lack foresight. The higher taxes are a strain for many of the business owners in Haven, but I'm confident that many of them would have found a way to make sure their families wouldn't starve during the harsh winter," she says. "Though, with most of those business owners in jail, their families will mostly definitely starve through the winter now!" It is getting harder and harder for her to hide her frustration with the situation. "So, if you want to help, I would suggest you cooperate from now on."

[mgbevan]

When Kendra suggests that Tethys could have found a fair solution the bards eyes roll quite obviously. Did she really just suggest that the Prefect that just arrested 20 or so merchants on a whim would find a 'fair solution'? He folds his arms while listening to her rant. Once finished Gregeddin counters, "I dare say you might be confident that the business people would find a way to make things work if you have the perspective of 'Greylock's Gorgeous Gems' bankroll and accounts. Your husband certainly thought he could manage fine, but I'll tell you there were a damn lot of others in that meeting that made it clear the current state meant bankruptcy and starvation. Now that the taxes are set to go up again you can obviously predict what will happen to those who are not as well off as Norris."