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[howandwhy99]

Upstairs in The Wyvern, Ben prayed. It had been some time since he had the chance to kneel in private for several hours. He prayed for the village of Orlaine. And the city of Kera. And all the slaves he saw in the streets, though no one called them that. Ben prayed for the capture of Lavinia. For the safety of his teammates and their followers. He prayed for the souls of all the people in Kera who had no temple. And he prayed that somehow a temple might be built within. Afterwards he began to meditate on the abbey he had left only a few short months ago. He thought about his family back home as well. This reminded him of the family his parents had run from so long ago. The ones he was not allowed to talk about. He reflected on what he knew of them.

Benedict’s family in Kera consisted of his father's much older sister... Celestia Wainwright (formerly Szelskin) and her husband Sebastian Wainwright. And their 14 children.

The horsetraining part of the Szelskin family in Margrave had dealings with the Wainwrights of Kera. And the union was a good match.

Kera was the fiefdom of the 5th Earl Barthol Kera. He owed allegiance to Count Margrave. Kera's main resources included wood obtained from the Greenwillow. Which was in turn manufactured into lumber and wagons. This accounted for 40% of the Gross National Product. Another 40% came from mining and smelting. However, the ore from Kera was very poor. And as such was usually made into cookware or flatware or as decoration. The remaining 20% came from various ‘other’ services and/or natural resources. The land there was less fertile than in Margrave.

There is a reason Kera was away from County Margrave and not right next to it. The land was poor. The resources were poor. And yet Kera still seemed to keep up its regular taxes...

After a few hours it occurred to Ben that no one had stopped him to let him know what was going on for the day. Stretching his cramped legs he got dressed to go find out.

Darius and Pax arrived back at the inn. Inside the common room Grog was napping and Dalin sat well fed, but bored. “Pax, you’re on guard duty. Make sure the rooms upstairs are safe,” ordered Darius. Then he woke Grog. “The three of us are going on a special mission,” he whispered. As he, Dalin, and Grog were about to leave Father Ben came down the stairs.
“Where’s all the food?” he asked. The waitstaff was busy clearing dishes. Darius told him to stay inside and help Pax. Ben agreed and they left. He picked up some spare food off a platter and called the innkeeper over. “Are you the concierge? I seemed to have missed breakfast. Perhaps you have something in the kitchen?” The innkeeper grimaced and held out his hand. Ben handed over a gold. Then another. And another. Eventually he paid to lodge the team and Grog for a second night. Before the innkeeper could get away Ben asked another question. “Are there any shrines in town?”
”Yeah, the jakes around back.”
”No, no,” laughed Ben. “Places of worship?”
”Yeah. That’d be the plopboxes round back!”
Ben considered. “But where do people go to pray in this city?” Sadly, this exchange went on for several more minutes.

Darius, Dalin, and Grog went down an alleyway near the inn. After a short walk Darius stopped, knocked on a window, and asked for Bobb. “Zontor sent me.” Further down the alley a nondescript doorway opened. Inside they found a small room with stairs descending off to one side. A strong, surly man sat behind a desk in the center. “Hand over yer weapons,” he said. Many were already in weapons racks alongside the walls of the room. Dalin offered to stay behind and keep watch. Darius agreed. He and Grog placed their weapons in the racks, then handed their sheathed swords over to Dalin. With Grog bent over, the two descended down the long stairway.

Kayla, Diedra, and Rose left the alchemist's shop. Rose suggested they go looking for her husband’s contact the wainwright. “That is the smart way of doing things,” said Kayla. After asking for directions they found the local wagon maker close to the entrance of the city. A salesman came right up to them and started his spiel. The three women listened graciously as he tried to impress them with all the newest deals on wagons. It was obvious he was very eager for a sale on what he called “your standard, four wheeled, covered wagon”.

“What about places to hide things?” asked Kayla.
“Coin? Oh sure, under a panel in this model.” The salesman opened a secret compartment.
“What if we wanted to hide larger fair, like people?” asked Diedre giving the man a stare.
“Okay. Okay. Over here this larger model’s seat opens up. See? Whaddya think? I can sell it to ya today!” The compartment could hold one full sized person.
“Hmm…What if we wanted to hide LOTS of people?” asked Kayla. The salesman squinted at her for a second and asked to see some gold. Kayla obliged pulling out a large pouch and removing a few coins. The salesman led them around to the back of the lot to a very large wagon. A full team of horses would be needed to pull it anywhere. Removing a detachable lever he inserted it into a secret hole and began to winch. The entire covered bed tilted backwards revealing a compartment in the chassis underneath. Two people could fit comfortably lying down inside.

“Okay…”said Kayla. She decided to be direct. “We were told to come to Kera seeking the wainwright and to ask about sneaking people out. But this is obviously wrong.” The salesman went stark white. Rose giggled. “He’s at a loss for words!”
“Oh,” said the salesman. “You want the OTHER wainwrights in town. They are close to the center of the city.” He was slowly backing away from them. Kayla pulled out a gold piece.
“You never saw us. Understand?”
The sales man nodded. “Perhaps another gold for my time?”
Kayla handed over another.
“Perhaps one for my silence?” pressed the salesman.
Rose howled like a wolf and barked at the man. He took off running from his own lot. The three ladies left. They decided to find out where the other wainwrights lived.

The stairs were dark, but Darius could see them descend deeper and deeper under the city. When he and Grog reached the bottom a narrow passage continued forward for a distance. Then space opened up to either side. A massive room held dozens of living men stacked and stored like cordwood waiting for the forges. Other men with whips and torches moved amongst the chained bodies. A clear path led forward from the passageway across the space and into another room. It’s interior was lit by flame and a crowd of figures huddled around a man shouting numbers like an auctioneer. “We need to get Dram down here”, growled Darius.