[KAUAI]The Rod of Seven Parts: Of Hexes and Gems

Maelicent and Voadam follow the sporadic droplets of blood and lead the party further west, into the heart of the warehouse district. Brakkus follows on Chop Liver. As the rangers follow the blood trail, the droplets grow farther and farther apart and smaller, their splatter marks less forceful. This time of day, the district isn't too busy. Most of the merchants have set up shop fronts elsewhere in the city and don't deal directly out of their storehouses. In another two hours, however, the warehouses will be bustling with activity at the day's end as cartloads of goods are inventoried. The blood droplets disappear altogether on the western edge of the district, where the warehouses give way to city's Grotto Ward and some of the better middle-class residences on the lower terraces of the ward.

After the final droplet of blood, the group finds themselves on the last block of the warehouse area. Three large storage buildings abutt the street separating the warehouse district from the Grotto Ward. One of them, the largest building, has a sign out front that reads "Gest Textiles." The other two buildings are unmarked. One has a cart out front with a horse attached. A pair of human workers heft crates onto the cart while a driver sits up front, reins in his hand. The third building looks to be abandoned; one of the side windows is cracked and has a jagged hole in the corner.

"He could have a hidey hole in that abandoned warehouse or in any place in the city. If those are warehouse workers and not the cartman's men they might have been here all day and seen him when he went by. I'll go ask them. Anybody seen where the prodigal Forsythe was wounded? The better the description the better, I think."

"I'll take a look around." Maelicent spits and then trots off before the group draws the attention of the nearby laborers. Rounding the corner of the warehouse, the soft stepping Gudwulf warrior quickly disappears into the alleyway between two of the multistory structures. Moving cautiously and deliberately from cover to cover, Maelicent tries to gauge the relative size and layout of the three buildings. As he circumvents the three structures, the goblins notes the location of doors while checking to see if they're locked and peeks through windows to see who or what, if anything, might be visible inside the buildings.

The doors on Warehouse 1 are thrown open and the two workers go in and out as they load crates. The door on Warehouse 2 has a chain around the door handles and appears to be locked. All the windows on Warehouse 2 are shut, save for the one that is cracked and open to the elements. Peering inside Warehouse 2, Maelicent doesn't see much other than dust, some thick cobwebs along most of the interior windows, and what looks to be an office in one of the corners with the door shut. Gest Textiles is better secured and has only the front windows and main doors. Inside, Maelicent spies reams of cloth, miscellaneous crates, a row of offices along the back wall, and a guard sitting on a wooden bench lazily smoking a pipe and who seems totally oblivious to any goings on in the street outside. Gest Textiles is locked.

"He was stabbed in the arm, I think." Brakkus walks his horse over toward the workers with Voadam, but leaves the talking up to him. He uses the height provided by Chop Liver to see into the warehouse.

When asked by Voadam about whether anyone matching Rancid's description has passed by, the cartwright points at the abandoned warehouse with the cracked window. "Lex Brodie's old flax exchange. Maybe half an hour ago."

H.L. nods slightly as the workers speak. "Well, Lets get checking".

Lewit, assuming others follow him, make his way toward the warehouse with the cracked window. He tries to appear as peaceful as possible. If they should see Racid, he gives off the image that he means no harm.

"Thank you Goodman. Much appreciated." Voadam heads over towards the warehouse with the others. "He still could be spooked, we should have someone in the back in case he tries to jump out a window to run away. I'm going to talk to him, reassure him that Traven is dead and no threat now, but it would be best to be ready."

Voadam peers at the doorway and flicks his eyes over the windows as the group approaches, senses alert for ambush before stepping inside.

Once inside Voadam will call out "Hello! I'm one of the men from the Cockatrice. Your safe for the moment. The man who attacked you is dead. The spiders are dead. I need to talk to you."

Maelicent watches his giant-kin allies converse with the laborers from behind a drain pipe at the corner of the abandoned warehouse. When he sees them striding purposefully his way, heading towards the building's front door, the goblin quickly ducks down and returns to the cracked window he'd spied through earlier. He arrives there in time to hear Voadam's voice echo loudly through the cavernous interior. Slowly shimmying back into position onto the windowsill, the Gudwulf warrior tries to conceal himself while drawing an arrow and peeking back through the cracked glass.

The thick chains wrapped around the door handles of Brodie's old flax exchange bar Voadam and Lewit from entering outright. Maelicent, Voadam, and Lewit all three hear the distinct sounds of scuffling echo from inside the abandoned exchange. Maelicent, who can see through the cobwebbed cracked window, spies the corner office with its closed door. Though the goblin can see the office and inside the warehouse, both, the sound must be coming from inside the office for there's no other identifable source in the warehouse proper. Voadam doesn't spot any signs of ambush, but the chains on the front door look thick enough and relatively untouched.