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Message: <blockquote data-quote="peteyfrogboy" data-source="post: 1175213" data-attributes="member: 5677">Unearthing The PastSnick crouched down behind the counter and opened a large trunk. "I guess whatever your job was worked out for you; I hear that Verlaine's dead."Parika drummed her fingers on the counter. "Oh, is he? How tragic."The shopkeeper rose again, a smirk on his scruffy face. "Whatever you say." He placed a leather bundle on the counter and unrolled it, revealing a wide assortment of picks, rakes, probes, and other tools. "Here you go.""Perfect."***Reed looked up from his desk with his usual sour expression. As he saw Rachel come through the door his grimace transformed into a grin that was, if anything, less attractive. "What can I do for you today?""I need some information on this symbol." She produced a small piece of parchment with a rubbing of a small raised image on it. Reed held the picture up to his nose and squinted. "What is that, a bird?""I think it's a wave, but I'm not entirely sure," replied Rachel. "Do you think you might be able to find anything out about it?"The archivist scratched his stubbly chin. "Not really my sort of thing, I'm afraid." He handed the parchment back to Rachel. "What did you find that symbol on?""It was on a key."Reed nodded. "Ah. Well, your best bet would be to check with the Locksmiths' Guild, then. They produce all of the high quality locks in the city and keep excellent records."***Rachel returned to the inn to find Parika and Nevroth sitting at a table in the common room. Parika waved her over. "Nevroth was just showing me his new toys."The polished steel cap on the end of Nevroth's forearm was crowned with a round socket. On the table were a hook and a needle-sharp blade, each with a pair of studs at its base. He picked the hook up and inserted it into the socket, turning it until the studs clicked into a set of corresponding holes."Nice," said Rachel. "Where'd you get them?""There's a place up in Drac's End called the Second Hand Store." He nodded as the others groaned. "I know, I know, it's a bad joke, but they're supposedly the best place in town." He stowed the sword blade in a sheath on his belt. "So what did you find out?"Rachel laid out a map of the city on the table. She pointed to a marked building in the Old City. "Reed said to check with the Locksmiths' Guild, which is here." She pointed to another marked spot. "This is the inn." She grinned. "Reed talked me into buying a map."***The Locksmiths' Guild, unsurprisingly, was a sturdily built stone building with ornate bars on the windows and a heavy reinforced door. No guards were present outside, so they simply went up to the door and knocked. After a moment, the sound of a number of slides and latches could be heard from within. Finally, the sounds stopped, and a small peephole opened in the door. A pair of eyes peered out. "Yes? What can we do for you?"Rachel held up the key. "We need to find out some information on this."The eyes looked down at the key. "I see. Come in." The peephole swung shut again. One final lock could be heard before the door opened. A well dressed, slender man gestured for them to come inside. The room beyond had a number of different locking mechanisms displayed on tables. Parika fought the urge to take them apart and inspect them.The man sent an apprentice off through a side door. The boy returned a few moments later carrying a thick book, which he deposited on one of the display tables. "May I have a look at your mystery key?" asked the man. Rachel handed it over.The locksmith inspected the key closely. "Hmm. This is an old design. Might I ask how you acquired it?""I inherited it," Rachel lied."Ah, I see. Interesting." He went to the book and opened it. "Let's see now..." He began flipping through the book, going further and further back as he compared the design on the key's handle to pictures in the book. Finally he stopped and nodded. "This key was commissioned for the Wavecrest Inn back in... 1123." He copied the address from the book, then took the key over to a nearby workbench. He took a rag and rubbed at the back of the key, removing the thick patina that had formed there over the years. "Aha, as I thought." He handed the key and address to Rachel. The back of the key, now clean and shiny, was engraved with the number "22".***"All this running around town is making me hungry," said Parika as they returned to the Goodhearth Inn. "Let's get some lunch and then check out that address." The others agreed and went to see what was on the day's menu.Parika looked around the common room; it was the usual low key crowd that she expected to see. Delthic was sitting in the middle of the room like he often did, his songbooks laid out on the table. This time, though, he was chatting with a little girl dangling her feet from a chair opposite him. No, not a girl, thought Parika as she noticed the hair on her bare feet, a halfling.Delthic waved as he saw Parika looking his way. The halfling leaned around the back of the chair to look at her. "We've got a new neighbor," said Delthic. "Parika, I'd like you to meet--""Seraphim Teahill? What in blazes are you doing here?""Parika?" The halfling hopped off the chair and ran over to wrap her arms around Parika's legs. "What a happy happenstance!"The bard smiled. "Never mind, you seem to be acquainted already."Parika came and sat down, while Seraphim climbed back into her chair. "Sera and I were friends back in Averdane during my misspent youth. We lost touch years ago." She shook her head and smiled at her old friend. "But really, what's a good girl like you doing in a place like this?"The halfling giggled. "We were never good girls in those days." She shrugged. "It turned out that I had some other talents." She snapped her fingers and the tip of her finger began to glow with magelight. Another snap, and it was gone. "I started getting odd jobs here and there, making money and learning new tricks as I went along. It was a lot less work than our old fun and games."Anyway, there I was doing magical research for hire in Cahiedra when I was approached by an agent from Rhodes of Freeport to do arcane appraisals for them.""Rhodes is an insurance company," explained Delthic."Right," said Seraphim. "So they paid my way out here and pay me to be on call to identify magical artifacts people want to insure. Pretty easy work compared to some other things I've done." She leaned her arms on the table and smiled. "So that's my story; what have you been up to?"Parika shrugged. "Oh, you know, treasure hunting, fighting monsters, saving the city from time to time.""Sounds like fun. Can I come?"DM Notes:* Seraphim is being played by Parika's player. When they met, she said, "They catch up, blah blah blah. I'm not having a conversation with myself."</blockquote>

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