CH. 10: Hard Choices

[TristenC]

Yes... I suppose we could get some help without revealing our clerical ties, but... He watches Delarn's face closely. The last thing he wanted was to disappoint his mentor, but he fears he is preparing to do exactly that.

There... uh... there are a few people who know about me already... At first the words come slowly, but as he explains the relief of confession forces them out in a rush, I was trying to get close to some mercenaries to learn how the church here operates and maybe undermine it. Well, you remember how I told you about the group I went with the first time? Well they were looking for their friend who had been captured. The Gnome got shot in the chest with an arrow and blacked out, then the bard got knocked out. I barely made it out of there, but I had to use healing on them, so they know now. Eventually we rescued their friend and I went back to meet them yesterday to find Belzor and put him down for good. Grubnick takes a deep breath to calm himself and tries to continue more slowly.

The Elf we rescued, Tulbas, had been tortured... well, maimed really. He's almost as ugly as I am now, he laughs mirthlessly. He said some things thay convinced me he hates the church and what they've done, and I thought we needed every able body to takw on Belzor... so I healed him. He had a complete emotional experience after... I think he's been searching for something a long time and Sirrion is perfect for him. He has a deep passion and a just anger against the church. He's a mage and could be a powerful ally. I also healed another guy named Felarn. He's on the run from the army, so I really doubt he'll expose himself to turn me in... He was with the Minotaur at the High Hand when you showed up. He looks like a half-elf with red hair... I, uh... I didn't give any of them my real nsme though... Finally the flood of words subsides and he watches his mentor carefully, waiting for the fiery response...

[spyguy1503]

"No, none of that. But I can track by scent." He climbs in and grabs his gear, checking the swords for quality.

[Haahque]

"If someone attacked them?" Haahqae's eyes somewhat widen with terror "That would be horrible for business. Return customers don't often happen if someone died in the show the first time they went there. I should probably see if I can hire some guards to make sure the customers aren't attacked. Maybe some goblins from the army would be more trustworthy then those backstabbing mercenaries from bars, and cheaper... Or wait a second, the audience I'm performing for ARE soldiers. Maybe I should tell them to bring their weapons in case they get attacked. Hmm, that doesn't sound right either. I'll figure something out."

"So about this helping, what do you plan to do to help? We need to figure these things out beforehand."

[djhyland]

Arulia shakes her head at her mother's question. "I couldn't find Kendra. Maybe she's on duty somewhere, but her husband wasn't at his shop to ask. I thought I'd come here and see if I could find anything, but it looks like you've already asked." She thinks for a moment. "If they didn't bring Father here, where would they have taken him?"

[BishGada]

"Well... with Cantrips of course. Or I could make someone fall asleep while you 'Hypnotize' him, but that might be boring for a show... I could make a fog appear around you for dramatic exit or appearance, or I think one of the top tricks can be creating a hand that floats in the air and help you juggle or pick pockets from afar, although I'm not very good with juggling or picking pockets." Tulbas says absentmindedly, all the while flipping through the spellbook Haaque had given him. "Whom did you say this book belonged to?" He asks while closing it. After Haaque answers Tulbas asks, "So, what do you plan to do in the rest of the day? Wanna check on Gregeddin and ask him to query about the incident in the bar when he goes to the prefect?"

[JadedDM]

Haahqae and Tulbas (Steel Tankard, Room 15)
Tulbas looks over the spellbook. It's the book of a beginner, much like him. Probably someone who had not yet been tested or only just recently tested.

(OOC: The Test will be on the Night of the Eye, when all three moons are in alignment and magic is at its peak. This is on Autumn Twilight the 15th, which is in exactly one week from today.

Sekla's spellbook contains the following spells: 1) Protection from Good, Armor, Read Magic, Magic Missiles 2) Stinking Cloud, Scare 3) Monster Summoning I)

Kendra Greylock (Prefect's basement)
Tethys leads Kendra through the kitchen and down into the basement. It's pitch black down here, and as soon as Tethys reaches the bottom, Kendra hears a crash and some swearing. Tethys conjures up a globe of light, and they are both surprised to see none other than Gregeddin himself. He's free, and holding a knife, with a frantic look in his eyes. "What in the..." is all Tethys can say upon seeing the bard.

Deeper in the dungeon, Kendra can hear people shouting over something.

Gregeddin (Prefect's basement)
Gregeddin opens the door and stumbles forward into the darkness, blindly trying to find the stairs in the darkness. He bumps into someone quite solid and staggers. A light suddenly springs into existence, and Gregeddin realizes he just walked into Tethys himself, having conjured up a small globe of light. "What in the..." he says, upon seeing the frantic bard. Behind the prefect is none other than Kendra. She is wearing her normal civilian clothes and appears unarmed.

The two baaz can be heard yelling something in the back.

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Arulia Seroth (Old Fort, front gate)
Vera shakes her head. "I have no idea," she admits. "Somewhere safe and secret, maybe. But I'm not sure where that would be." She takes a deep breath, trying to steel herself. "I'm going to return home and wait for Niniva. Hopefully Cassilda is okay. At this point, I don't know what else to do." Her voice cracks slightly, and it's apparent it's taking all of her will to not fall to pieces at this point.

Grubnick (Haven Arms, Delharn's Room)
Delharn chuckles a bit. "Fake name, huh? If any of those fellows decides to turn you in, I don't think that will help much. How many goblins are in this city that aren't soldiers? You stand out like a sore thumb as it is!" Sobering up, he scratches his beard. "Well, do you think any of 'em will betray you? If so, we should take them out before they get the chance to. In the meantime, you might want to be more careful about revealing yourself to others. You can't rightly trust anyone in this city, no matter how earnest they seem. The Dark Queen has spies everywhere, and most of them will pretend to hate her and the army in order to get your trust."

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (Warehouse C)
Felran looks out a window and guesses it would be around Eighth Watch (2 PM).

"There are lots of rats and things," the woman says. "The monsters that nearly wiped out the last group we sent in were horaxes--really big insects. They were slain, but there may be more in there. As for telling time, not that I can see. You'll just have to use your best judgment."

Having heard her answer, Shima and Ne-Chanz climb down into the sewers to pick up the gear. It's pitch black down here, so the dwarf has to rely on his infravision. He finds himself standing on a little wooden bridge that covers a putrid, greenish liquid. The smell is quite noxious, but overall bearable. In the distance, he can hear the squeaking of rats and the creaking of old pipes. The liquid under him is still, save for the few drops of water from the ceiling that drip into it, causing small ripples.

On the other end of the bridge is a stone ground. They can see a steel portcullis to the right, blocking a doorway. It has a padlock on it.

Sitting in a pile near the ladder are four long swords, a great sword, a spear, a staff-sling, 3 rocks, and a torch. All of the items are of mundane quality.

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[Haahque]

'Okay then, cantrips to help the performance. I'll have to go over that later today to come up with a routine that we'll have to rehearse. Putting on a performance isn't something that you just do on the spot, you need to go over these things so everyone knows what everyone's going to do. The book came from that spellcaster we knocked out in the iron mine recently. And no. I mean going to visit with Gaheris might be nice, but I don't have enough time. No, not at all. I need to write jokes, come up with a juggling routine, figure out how we're going to get drinks to the event. Damn those baaz and cutting off my main supply of booze, I'll have to try going around to other taverns and see if any of them want to supply the drinks for the show."

"That's good, I guess. I need to go around to the other taverns anyways to advertise. I also need to come up with an advertising routine, although the one I gave in front of the baaz at the fort worked pretty well, maybe I'll use that as my advertisement. Should I try and fit in talking to Ismene at some point? I might have a little bit of time for that. Talk about history, invite her to the show, stuff like that."

Now that the book was delivered, Haahqae will make his way back to the common room and see how Cassandra's fairing.

[Chris1234]

Shima stows and equips his kit, longsword, slingstaff, rocks and spear and then hands the other items to his companions.
While they're quietly getting ready, or at least, possibly not clomping around, he tries sneaking south, spear in hand, to have a look round the corner {MS 65%}.

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra peaks around Tethys, and her mouth drops open slightly upon seeing Gregeddin. "You've clearly lost your mind," she says in dumbfounded awe.

[chese780]

Felran takes the greatsword and a longsword, "So... any of you good at telling time in dark places?"

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz grins. "I can just fine. My time in the army taught me to tell time well and sleep anywhere." He grabs the swords and gives them a test swing.

[djhyland]

Arulia hugs her mother tightly for a long moment. "Go home and take care of the girls. I'll keep looking, until curfew if needs be. I'll do whatever I can to find Father, either with Kendra's help or without."

Once her mother leaves, Arulia ventures up to the guards. "Excuse me," she asks respectfully. "I'm looking for one of your fellow soldiers. Do you know Kendra Greylock? If you do, do you know where she's stationed today?"

[JadedDM]

Haahqae and Tulbas (Steel Tankard, Common area)
The pair descend back to the common room. Nobody is here except for Cassandra, and she is currently cleaning up the place after the draconians burst in. Picking up knocked over tables and cleaning up any drinks that were spilled in the innkeeper's struggle. There are no other customers or staff around.

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

Arulia Seroth (Old Fort, front gate)
"Just be careful," says Vera before leaving for home. "The last thing we need is for you to be arrested, as well."

When Arulia speaks with the guards, some baaz, they seem to know exactly who she is referring to. "Yeah, the new Fire Snake recruit; the human. She reported in this morning, but the commander gave her the day off. Haven't seen her since. Figured she went home."

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (Warehouse C)
Shima sneaks forward, moving south across the bridge and reaching the stone ground beyond. He sees some white substance smeared on the ground. It's guano. Looking up, he sees a couple of bats perched upside down on the ceiling.

The south tunnel turns eastward after thirty feet. Another thirty feet after that, it becomes an intersection going north and south. The north side is a dead end, though, so he turns south instead. This tunnel winds a bit to the west before opening up into a very large chamber. There are brown rats scurrying just about everywhere in this room--to the point that it may be difficult to cross without stepping on some. They have clearly made this chamber a nesting ground of some kind.

There are two ways out of this room, not including the way he came from--they can head south or west.

Meanwhile, while Felran and Ne-Chanz discuss what is going on, they both realize that Shima has completely disappeared. Ne-Chanz couldn't see him even if he were right in front of him, though. He has no infravision and so cannot see down here at all.

[Chris1234]

Shima returns to the others, pausing in the northern dead end to examine the stonework for anything moving or sliding construction, and explains what he's seen.
"So which way do you want to go? Or happy to leave it to me?"

[mgbevan]

"Blaaahhhh"
A shriek of surprise leaves Gregeddin's lips as his mind processes this face of Tethys. Kendra, is a further surprise to the bard.

After a moment's composure, Gregeddin begins in his most charming voice "So glad that you've come down to see me, Prefect Tethys. I've had a lovely stay in your accommodation, have thoroughly learnt my lesson and will be on my way out of your hair... or wings" Trying to wander around the Prefect to get to the stairs, the bard continues "Oh and how kind and gracious you are, bringing Kendra to escort me home." Now in a overly friendly tone he holds his arms open for a hug, "Ah Kendra how glad I am to see you! Or, wait, Kendra, why exactly are you here?"