CH. 13: Consequences

[BishGada]

As the tension wears off, Tulbas takes the golden ring and the pendant and put them in his pocket. "I don't recognize your master name. Is he also wearing black robes?" Tulbas asks incidentally and continues searching the room. While very close to Selowen he whisper in her ear, "She might turn us in, so beware about her actions and be ready to cast sleep on her." Then after Jinali answers him he asks her, "What did you find so far?"

[JadedDM]

Kendra Greylock (Market Street)
The parade continues toward the center of the city. Kendra keeps an eye out and sees several dwarves in the crowd, but it's difficult to say whether they are the one she is looking for or not. If only she could get off the float and look closer, but that would disrupt the parade and likely ruin the trap Tethys has set.

Speaking of Tethys, there is no sign of him. But his elderly butler climbs up onto the float and stands off to the side, keeping an eye on Kendra. What possible defense the old man could give is left to the imagination.

Tulbas Erogund (Tower of Wayreth, Unknown Floor on AT 15)
Tulbas places the ring and pendant in his backpack. In answer to his question, Jinali says, "My master no longer wears a color anymore. None of us do. Unless you just want to look fashionable, I suppose."

Selowen looks skeptical at Tulbas' claim. Sleep spells aren't known for being very effective against those with elven blood. But nevertheless, she nods her consent after his whisper.

"Just some trinkets," Jinali replies. "They might be useful. I'll let our masters decide on whether they are or not. Are you ready to move on?"

Arulia and Gobax (Steel Tankard Inn, Common room)
"I think his name is Jaymes," Cassandra responds. "I can rarely get more than two words out of him, so I can't tell you much about him. He's a loner, so I was surprised to see him talking with anyone, much less the gnome." The name does not sound at all familiar to either Gobax or Arulia.

Ne-Chanz and Shima (Central Haven Sewers)
Shima sneaks ahead and once he is out of the torchlight, he can see much better. The passage opens up to a ledge, surrounded by swamp water. The voices he hears are coming from two men on the other side of the sludge. One is a soldier, a kapak. The other is a man wearing a heavy black cloak, concealing his face. There doesn't appear to be any way for Shima to reach that area from here, unless he'd like to take a swim. The two men don't see him in the darkness, and continue their chat uninterrupted.

"And what makes you think we would tolerate this?" demands the kapak.

"Think about it. What better way to control crime than control the organization who runs it?" asks the cloaked man.

"My solution would be to exterminate all criminals!" says the draconian.

"You know that won't work," points out the cloaked man.

"Maybe I should start with you," the kapak says threateningly.

"Uh..."

"But I may have a proposition for you. That organization you dream of replacing could be a real thorn in our side if it ever gets up and running again. We have not been able to track down anybody of their inner circle. Soon as you start asking questions, everybody in the city becomes very silent. Mind you. We know how to ask questions and get answers. I'd have you on your knees, ready to tell whatever I'd wish to hear, within an hour. At most."

"Are you done threatening me?" asks the cloaked man.

"Think of it as a reminder not to fail us. Apart from beating up a few beggars and drunk sailors, your little gang hasn't achieved anything, so far."

"Not true. What about the recent operation?" asks the cloaked man.

"We've killed a bunch of lousy thieves. Like you are one."

"Hrmph!"

"But maybe you're less stupid than you seem. Find out who runs this...organization. We want those who pull the strings. Find out what you can, and report to me immediately. If you manage to do that, we may speak about your proposition again."

"We'll need money to bribe some people."

"Money's not an issue. Just find them, and give me their names. And don't fail us..." The kapak then walks off into the darkness.

"Asshole..," the cloaked man mutters before walking off, as well.

[TristenC]

Speaking to Arulia, I can't really think of where else we can go... There was that gnome girl that helped us as well... Ismene i think her name was... I went with Haahque to pick her up at the Masked Dragon that day... mabye she'd be willing to help?

[OOC: I couldn't recall if Grubnick knows where Ismene lives... I went back and looked in the chapter and it turns out Grubnick accompanied Haahque to find her at the Masked Dragon. Not sure if that is something Grubnick would remember from so long ago, so if you want the goblin to make a wis or int check or something to recall it i'm good with that.]

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra continues with her waving and smile at the crowd. ~If Tethys is going to be here, he will probably be here during the speech. Both of us would be the best bait,~ she thinks to herself.

[Chris1234]

Shima returns quietly to Ne-Chanz, opening and closing the door as quietly as he can, befire saying =, "It was a cloaked human human talking toe a kapak." He spits. "Seems they want to infiltrate and take over the thieves guild." He shrugs. "Make sure you tell the woman that we're doing this for. OK, that's dead end unless you want to swim in the toxic looking water. We go this way."
The dwarf turns his attentions to the south door, listens at it, then checks for traps (and attempts to remove any found) before trying to pick the padlock.

If successful, he asks Ne-Chanz to shield the torch light as efre and then quietly cracks open the door to try and get the lie of the land. {OOC: i.e map segment}

[BishGada]

"Are you going to search more rooms or go to them right now?" Tulbas asks.

[djhyland]

Arulia shakes her head. "I don't know any Jaymes, either. I do remember the gnomish woman, though...and I remember that Haahqae seemed very interested in her. If you know where she's living, that's as good as anything to go on. Let's see if he's there."

[TristenC]

Grubnick agrees and leads on to the Masked Dragon.

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz makes a mental note, then does as Shima asks.

[JadedDM]

Kendra Greylock (Marketsquare)
The parade continues as before, until at long last the grand market comes into view. The entire square has been decorated for the occasion, with streamers of red, black, green, blue and white adorning the stage that has been rebuilt from Haahqae's performance. It is now much more elaborate and sturdy looking, in addition to the new decorations. Many of the vendor stalls have been cleared away, to make room for the crowds of men, women and children who have all come to see the Hero of Haven.

When the parade comes to a halt, the elderly butler offers his hand to Kendra to assist her in standing up. "I shall escort you to the stage. Are you ready?" he asks.

Tulbas Erogund (Tower of Wayreth, Unknown Floor on AT 15)
"No, I think we've found anything worth finding on this floor," Jinali says. "Now we should head back up to meet with the new masters. You two can then pledge your loyalty to them, and to our deity, Sirrion, God of Freedom."

Arulia and Gobax (Masked Dragon Inn, Common room)
Arulia and Gobax make their way over to the Masked Dragon, a much nicer and luxurious inn than even the High Hand (and certainly more so than the Tankard). Despite this, there are still a gaggle of baaz drinking and carousing in one corner of the common area. A minstrel plays music on a small stage. A lone kapak enters right after them, nearly shoving them aside, and heads to the bar. Haahqae sits at a table with two humans. One matches the description Cassandra gave them--a dark and broody man in a heavy cloak. The other is a muscular woman with bright red hair. There is no sign of Ismene anywhere in the room, however.

Ne-Chanz and Shima (Central Haven Sewers)
Shima places his ear to the south door, but doesn't hear anything on the other side. He searches it for traps, but finds none. So he begins picking at the lock. It's fairly easy, and he soon has it unlocked. Opening the door, he peers inside. It's another corridor, leading southward. It looks like it might open up a bit more after about fifteen feet or so. The corridor appears empty from what little he can see.

===========

Shima listens at the south door [TN 45%] (1d100): 76, fail. He hears nothing.
Shima searches the south door for traps [TN 20%] (1d100): 99, fail. He finds nothing.
Shima attempts to pick the south door lock [TN 50%] (1d100): 7, pass.

[Chris1234]

While Ne-Chanz is shielding the torch light with his body, Shima slides quietly as he can be through the doorway and sneaks along the eastern wall.
At the corner he'll freeze {Hide in Shadows} and have a listen, then peak around the corner. If all clear, he goes back to fetch Ne-Chanz up to that corner.

[TristenC]

There he is... he looks busy, should we wait for him to finish whatever he's talking about?

[HorizonsDream]

~This is my protection? A butler?~ Kendra thought to herself. Though, she takes his hand as she stands from where she was sitting. "Here comes the hard part," she mutters.

[Haahque]

Myriam’s words turn that painful knife once again. Betrayal. Why must people up here be such scheming villains or incompetent sods? Why couldn’t there be someone up here who was actually helpful the way that Ismene was? Was it just that gnomes were smarter than everyone else?

“Yes, I know. I know. People are jerks, even if you think you can trust them they’ll stick a knife in your back and take all your money. I’ve been trying to stop that from happening by bringing a smaller group of more-trusted individuals now, and the two of you have proven to me to be honest and charitable at the very least.”

Having abated the pain just a little, Haahqae leans in and lowers his voice to address Myriam’s question.

“But for a job, I’m afraid I don’t have much. I’ve spent nearly the whole last week trying to help Ismene in any way I could possibly think of, but I haven’t even been able to find her. All I’ve heard are rumors that I’d rather not recite here.”

As he talks, Haahqae glances about the room to see if they’re being observed, and notices the three new arrivals. While the Kapak concerns him most, his next comment refers to the other two.

“Those two were companions on my last job with Ismene. While they didn’t betray us and others on that mission and others did, I would advise caution. One of them has been asking for free money recently, and the other one’s a goblin.”

[djhyland]

Arulia nods her head in agreement with Gobax's suggestion. "That's probably for the best. Besides, it looks like he's seen us already. He'll know where to find us when he's ready."