B6: The Veiled Society - IC

[jkason]

Barek Fhald, half-orc bard

In the bakery the halfling replies "Very good choice! Here, try one. I call them 'dough wheels'. They cost a copper ... erm, I mean, they're a copper each ... uh ... how many do you want?" He hands one of the small cakes to Barek.

"Oh, one for now," Barek says, taking a dramatic whiff of the cake before nibbling a small bit and making sure it's apparent he's savoring the taste. "Mmm, though I'm sure these could grow quite addictive."

The watch men turn slightly red. One of them remarks "I don't know what you've heard but we don't have time for a regular breakfast, and these are portable if we need to move out." He takes a bite. "Tasty, too."

Barek shakes his head and assures the watchmen, "You misunderstand. I meant what I said: the watch of this town does an exemplary job, and deserves every small reward they can get. And whatever satisfies men of such high caliber is something I'd care to taste.

"But I'm afraid I may be about to increase your burden," the half-orc says, frowning slightly. He takes a few steps closer and lowers his voice. "In doing a favor for a poor goodwife of your town, my companions and I have uncovered a literal underground intrusion in your fair city. We've just rescued three poor souls enslaved by villains tunneling beneath the homes of your citizenry."



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The innkeeper replies "The door's in the kitchen. I go down there all the time, never noticed anything unusual."[/QUOTE]

 

[ghostcat]

As the others move out of the inn's common room, Caridoc joins at the back and keeps rear guard as usual.

 

[Rhun]

Celythia stands quietly at Barek's side as he speaks to the watchmen. The bard was much more eloquent than she.

 

[kinem]

The inn's kitchen, as you might have expected, contains a lot of pots and foodstuffs. A covered stove provides heat, with the smoke channeled up to the roof.

The innkeeper opens the cellar door and Kynar, Rezak, and Caridoc head down. This cellar is larger than those of the houses, and contains various dry foods, as well as a couple of oil lamps, a shovel, and some rope. There is no sign of secret tunnels.

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The watch man replies "Is this some kind of joke? Did Sergeant Sorton put you up to this?" He looks closely at Barek.

"You're serious, aren't you? Very well. Tell us everything. Are these criminals still at large? Where did you see them? And where are the victims?"

 

[ghostcat]

Expecting the others to start searching for hidden doors, Caridoc positions himself halfway down the stairs such that he can keep a watch over the cellar.

 

[jkason]

Barek Fhald, half-orc bard

"You're serious, aren't you? Very well. Tell us everything. Are these criminals still at large? Where did you see them? And where are the victims?"

Barek nods. "Sadly, I'm all too serious," the half-orc continues. "The goodwife I spoke of came looking for someone to look for 'ghosts' in her cellar, where we discovered the tunneling, and a pair of hobgoblins forcing three men to do said tunneling. The hobgoblins we defeated, but the poor slaves tell us they aren't alone, and that there are kobolds underground, as well.

"We thought it best to look after the safety of the victims, whom we brought back to the inn up the way. We'd be happy to take you."

 

[HolyMan]

Sighing with relief Rezak takes the apple he got from the goodwife's cellar out of a cloak pocket and takes a bite. "Sure 'munch' as glad tain't nutin 'ere, 'munch'." he says while chewing the fruit. "Buts it be safer ta 'munch' checks it ever couple days, 'munch'."

Discarding the core in a refuge barrel in the kitchen Rezak heads back to the common room.

 

[kinem]

"We'd better take a look. Any idea how many hobgoblins and kobolds are left? Who are you, by the way? Call me Larry." He's apparently the most senior of the three watch men, who all appear young. Despite their lassitude, they do seem eager for a little action.

The watch men sigh, finish their round cakes (though they do bag a few for later) and don their armor. They take their leave of the halfling and accompany Barek and Celythia back to the Tea Rex Inn.

Having found no secret doors or tunnels in the inn's cellar, the rest of the party returns to the common room of the inn before the watch men arrive.

The watch men take statements from everyone privately, including the inkeeper, Goodwife Thanato, and the freed men, writing a few notes down using an ink quill and paper.

ooc: If your PC wishes to add anything in particular, you can put it in an sblock.

When that's done Larry says "It does sound like you've done the watch a favor. We're not going to charge you, under the circumstances, but unbinding and using your weapons is illegal even underground.

"Now, we'd better inspect the cellars. Show us what you found."

The watch men go down into the cellars with you all, carrying lanterns borrowed from the inn. Everything seems to be as you left it.

In the second cellar, Larry takes note of the recently turned earth. "Looks like something was buried here. The men you freed said they didn't know anything about it, and the hobgoblins always kept them in sight. We'll have to dig here, but first, I'm going to see what's in the house upstairs. If you hear me scream, come up to help as fast as you can!"

He climbs up the ladder and into the house above. After a few minutes, he returns. His expression is grim.

"Violence occured upstairs, that much is obvious. Come have a look. Don't touch anything"

Upstairs, the house looks to have been well furnished, but is now a mess. There are a dagger and bloodstains on the floor, as well as broken dishes and furniture, and torn clothing.

"This is out of my league" Larry admits. "I'm used to bashing heads, not figuring out who did what. I can guess what's buried in the cellar, though. Are you sure you have nothing to say about it?"

 

[Rhun]

"We never even considered that the brutes might have went upstairs into the house," says Celythia, with a shake of her head. "Perhaps you can question the hobgoblins, if any are awake yet. We left them unconscious and bound in one of the other chambers."

 

[ghostcat]

Caridoc is aghasted but not surprised when the guards all but accuse the party of been involved in the mayham. He also knows that whatever he says will not help them but could make things worse. The trouble is they will also interpret silence in the same way. Caridoc decides to remains silent and let Celythia and Barek do the talking.