"It contains property stolen from another merchant," Dante retorted, claiming the bag. Ready to dodge if the man attacked, he rolled back to his feet. "To which end I will be glad to stay here and hand it over directly to the guards now chasing that wizard."

He made no move to draw a weapon or conceal the pouch.

"Stay here a moment while Pelskin and I take a look" Lantamori said quietly to the dwarf and water weird.  "Back us up if any of those start to move."  She waved in the direction of the larger fungi near the hole.

Slinging her bow over her shoulder to leave her hands free to climb, the elf crept quietly closer to the hole.  Peering in to see how far off that giggle was.  She could always use her diadem to see by if necessary.  Perhaps allow just a sliver of light from a closed fist about the central gem.

"I have means to find Pearl without your help," Farian says to Selbain between breaths. "I give you this chance to earn leniency by telling us where she is."

Market Square



At the mention of the guards, the man with the bung mallet hesitates briefly, eyes darting over Averdante's shoulder to look for any guards.  Not immediately seeing them, he firms up his chin.  One of the young men who had been wiping out mugs attempted to slip something out of the belt pouch with clever, clever fingers.  And he nearly did it, had not Averdante been skilled at spying danger.  Prreet yowls as Averdante spies the boy's fingers a cat's whisker away from the pounch, and jumps on the boy's head, weighing him down too much to try more mischief.

"Pa!  Be reasonable!" a young woman pleads, tugging on her father's arm.  He hesitates again, and then relaxes his grip, dropping the mallet on a barrelhead.



"Gone by now!" Selbian says, and then presses his lips together and brings his chin up in defiance.

Captain Tare doesn't look impressed by the mage's arrogance, and brings the man's bound arms up a few uncomfortable fractions and he begins to frog-march him back down the aisle.  "Your friend see Dross dump anything?" Tare asks Farian in an undertone.

--

Mushroom Grove



With a careful ray of light neatly aimed to avoid the danger zone for the shriekers, Lantamori sees something of interest down the hole: fresh scratches and drag marks... and a toppled basket.  Another giggle issues from somewhere below, and a faint groan of what sounds like pain.

Pelskin clicks her tongue slightly as they ease themselves back.  "Saw tracks a bit farther down, like dwarf, but barefoot," she whispers.  "Drag marks too, like you did."

Ooolorn says, "I can summon a creature to go below and come back up; something small that perhaps the shriekers would not notice?"

Thulon shudders a little as Pelskin describes the giggle and the footprints.  "Methinks it might be derro.  Bad, insane dwarfkin, driven out of the clans generations before because of their dark ways.  They turned insane down there, worshiping their crazed gods."

"Doubtless he knows something that we do not," Farian replies quietly to Captain Tare. "Oh how I dislike the 'hard way'," Farian sighs heavily at Selbain. "But it is your choice after all. Let's go see that merchant that you were haggling with, shall we?" As they walk back, she casts Detect Magic and scans the wizard closely for anything that might be dangerous, or have multi-dimensional properties.

Spellcraft modifier is +8.

"Go ahead and summon something to scout for us," Lantamori whispered, agreeing with Ooolorn.  "It definitely looks like he is down there.  Let us see what else is down there."

Market Square



Selbian Dross has a few things on him, some magical.  He has a jeweled dagger (common amongst the moderately wealthy), a smaller eating knife, a large pearl in a clasp on silver bracelet (a pearl of power), some tools for working metal and wood in a leather roll within his sleeve, a wand of color spray in his other sleeve (an acceptable disabling spell for use in a city), a small amount of silver and gold, and a scroll of some kind of abjuration spell wrapped around his forearm.

The wand and pearl look normal, the dagger and eating knife look mundane but good quality.  The scroll is tightly wrapped with a seal of a skeleton in the wax.

--

Mushroom Grove



Ooolorn steps back (glides back, rather) to do her chanting and gesturing needed, and soon enough a swirl of air with eyes appears.  It quickly drifts over the top of the ceiling (out of the range of the shriekers) and slides down the hole.  It stays there for a few seconds, then returns, whispering to Ooolorn in a language that seems to be all airy, breathy sounds.  When it vanishes, Ooolorn speaks quietly.  "There are drag marks down the hole and into the tunnel, down a passageway and into a small room.  There are several small gray dwarves with wild hair, at least four, down there, one of which has a young half-orc bound and is poking him with knives."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:19, Tue 15 Oct 2019.

"A half-orc boy?" Lantamori whispered in mild confusion.  "I was expecting a half-elf.  This may not be the one we're looking for, but the trail leads down there regardless.

"Pelskin and I might be able to slip down the hole," Lantamori whispered, "but the two of you are not quiet."  She nodded at the dwarf and...  Ooolorn.

"Unless you have any better ideas, I suggest Pelskin and I slip down and prepare ourselves.  The two of you count to thirty once we're gone, then do the best you can.

"We'll try to surprise the Derro and hold for your reinforcement."

She looked around to see if anyone had a better plan.

Farian lays no claim on Selbain's things, they are for the law to deal with. She does inform Captain Tare of the magical items. She keeps a close eye on him as they quick march back to the market.

Relieved that the merchant's daughter had intervened, and thanking Prreet for keeping the conniving boy under control, Dante gives the girl a nod. To the merchant, he says politely, "Thank you for being willing to wait for the guards to sort this out. My companion, a priestess of Pelor, is with them, and she knows I am here, so they should all be back quickly. I don't wish to inconvenience you too greatly."

And with that, he settles in to wait -- keeping a firm grip on the pouch and a close eye out for any more reaching fingers.

Mushroom Grove



"Adopted, maybe," Ooolorn says softly.  "And yes, Thulon and I will wait."

"Might set the shriekers off, but that might be a good way of surprising 'em as any.  Derro favor poison weapons and are madder than cut snakes, so be warned.  We'll follow ye," Thulon murmurs.  He pulls his axe free and moves into a crouch.

Lantamori and Pelskin can muster all of their stealth and creep along the walls, clinging as the shift around to stay out of the shriekers' range before getting to the hole.  With care, the two slowly make their way down, finding some suspiciously well-worn hand-and-footholds carved into the rock.  The two carefully climb down, Lantamori nearly slipping once, but then catching herself and easing down the rest of the way.  Down there it is as dark as the inside of a hat, though Pelskin doesn't seem to have any trouble moving around.

"Corridor ahead, opening ahead on the right, another one further up on the left, bend at the end of the corridor off to the left," she whispers to Lantamori.

--

Market Square



Selbian Dross is closed-mouthed and stiff-spined as he's marched through the market to glares from many of the people he disrupted, and a particularly sour glance from the fruit-seller whose wares of apples and plums have mysteriously vanished in vast quantities before they could be recovered.  With Selbian blindfolded he cannot see their ire, though he seems to realize that the grumbles and spat curses he hears do not bode well for him.

The guardswoman who caught him keeps Selbian moving while Captain Tare keeps up a quiet commentary of, "Disruption of the market, disturbing the peace, vandalism, abuse of lesser creatures, not to mention the charges to be brought forth about your theft."

From the way Captain Tare ticks each thing off on his fingers, Farian gets the idea that each of these charges could be adding up fines or other penalties.



The family of brewers looks tense and unhappy, particularly when Captain Tare, Farian, the guardswoman, and Selbian Dross arrive.  The other members of the guard are setting the market to rights and keeping people away from the brewer's stall.

"Ah, you must be Sister Farian's companion.  My thanks on keeping any evidence from vanishing.  I am Captain Tare," the man says, an older man of strength and military bearing.  "May I see the belt pouch?  Thank you," Captain Tare says.  He gently spills the contents on the counter.  It has a few gold, silver, and copper coins, a few small semi-precious gems, a few common spell components, and a little cloth patch of a pearly-hued skeleton inside a small stoppered glass vial.  "Destren, don't tell me you're up to no good again?" he asks of the older man at the booth.

Selbian starts to hiss, and the guardswoman takes him a short distance away so he can't interfere.

"Destren, what is the meaning of this?" Captain Tare asks dangerously.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:52, Tue 15 Oct 2019.

Farian gives 2 gold coins to the fruit seller. "Pelor's Blessing on your next harvest!" she says.

Confronting the merchant, Farian let's Captain Tare do the questioning. But she prays quietly in the background. After a few moments, her eyes glow with the dim yellow light of the sun through the trees.

Casting her second Detect Magic, paying close attention to the cloth.

Glad to hand off the wizard's pouch to the very official looking guard, Dante calls Prreet back to join him and quickly ducks back under the table again. It's interesting, listening, to discover the merchant himself appears to have been involved in trouble before this.

Dante gives a quick nod to Farian, then as the guardsman in charge presses the merchant for answers, studies the boy sticky fingers. Maybe there's more than one family business going on here....

"Where are they?" she whispered back to Pelskin, straining to hear that giggle they'd heard earlier.

She wanted to know which of these corridors they'd be coming from before going further.

Market Square



The fruit seller is most grateful for the coin, and gives Farian a good plum for her kindness.

The cloth has a decided transmutation aura about it, and upon close examination, looks very much like Pearl's description. 



The family of brewers looks rather nervous as Captain Tare continues to question Destren, the boy Averdante had thwarted looking very sullen, as if he were denied a treat.

"I'm only running a business!" Destren says.  "Man's got a right to run a business the way he sees fit."

"Only inside the law.  Receiving stolen goods, transporting them...  If I find out you're involved in this, you know it means the loss of your license, your stall space, your Guild standing, probably also jail time and expulsion from the city..." Captain Tare says, raising an eyebrow.  With the presence of a priest, several guards, Selbian in custody, and evidence right in his stall, Destren cracks.

"He offered money too good to turn down!  Had a plan and all!  Said he'd put it in a little bottle and we'd stick it in an ale cask and get it out of town with nobody the wiser.  Wrote it down on his papers and all!" he says, almost shouting, pointing at Selbian.

The mage sags in the guardswoman's grip as Captain Tare plucks the scroll from the objects seized from Selbian up from the counter and begins to read.

Then it explodes in a burst of pure force!  Averdante and Prreet dodge it with catlike agility, while Farian isn't so lucky, but has the sturdiness of her combat studies to thank that the wounds were not grievous.  Captain Tare is on the ground, badly hurt, as is every member of the brewer family!

OOC: Farian take 17 points of damage, Averdante and Prreet take none due to Evasion.

--

The Mushroom Grove



"Probably the closest one, on the right," Pelskin whispers.  She'll take Lantamori's hand and slowly move them over to the right wall so they could move up it without sight if need be.  "Fifteen feet ahead, opening's small," Pelskin says.  You can hear her hand on something flexible, and the soft chink of sling bullets.  In the distance you can hear soft cries of pain.

A few moments later the shriekers begin to scream, and you hear the heavy tread and wet sloshes of Thulon and Ooolorn as they come down the hole.  Ahead of you, the derro begin to laugh and shout, giggling insanely as you hear them begin to chant...

Farian checks first to ensure that Selbain is restrained, then kneels beside Captain Tare, quickly reciting a healing prayer, her hand glowing as the rising sun as she touches the Captain's wounds.

Spontaneous cast Water Breathing as Cure Serious Wounds. 16:47, Today: Farian Raymellie rolled 16 using 3d8+7 ((2,4,3)).

"Get us behind them if they come out," Lantamori whispered.  "We will surprise them from behind if they emerge to face the others."

She clutched the silver dagger in one hand and the light of the diadem hidden in her other.

As Dante rolled back up to his feet, he looked first for the tiny thing that was Pearl, to be sure it was still present. That was of foremost importance to him; with Farian present, he knew the wounded would be quickly attended.

Market Square



Farian's healing magic radiates warmly from her hands like the sun's rays, closing up the worst of the wounds on the Captain.  He slowly blinks his eyes as he winces in pain, but doesn't seem to be in danger of death.



The brewer family seems to be mostly scattered and hurt from the blast; most are unconscious.  However, as Averdante looks around, he sees that Pearl has been blasted into the brewer's stall.  And in the stall is Selbian, unsinged by the blast as he had been at the end of the row, scrabbling around on the floor.  He grabs Pearl, pops her in a hip flask, and is about to drop her into a tiny cask of what looks like wine.

--

The Mushroom Grove



The sounds of the derro grow louder, and Pelskin grabs Lantamori's hand and tugs her against the wall flat.  She has the sidle against the wall, pressing into niches as they feel the rush of air of people running past.  The smell is that of musty caves, unwashed bodies, and a bitter, medicine aroma.  Finally Pelskin tugs Lantamori away from the wall when a final squelch indicates that Ooolorn has made it to the bottom of the hole.

"Light!" Ooolorn cries, and unleashes a barrage of bright colors of magic.  In the glare, Lantamori can see six of what must be derro, dwarves built upon more slender lines than Thulon, with wild tufts of white hair.  Some have daggers, others bear short, gleaming spears.  Four go down in the spray of color, while two more stagger, clearly disabled in some way by Ooolorn's spell.  The light goes out, and Pelskin and Thulon makes their moves, both converging on one of the standing derro, from the sound of Thulon's axe and Pelskin's blade being introduced into a body that, by the thump, rapidly becomes a corpse.  More staggering as the last derro seems to struggle to find a target.

Behind Lantamori, she can hear the crazed giggles of a couple more derro, and the soft, pained moans of someone in great pain.

Letting the others finish up the larger group, Lantamori put on her diadem and moved quickly in the direction of the painful moans.

Farian is torn between helping the family and saving Pearl. She wordlessly puts her faith in Averdante, Prreet, and the guards to save the shrunk construct. She turns her attention to the family, especially any children, conducting a quick triage to identify the most in need. If there is time, she will use a Cure Minor Wounds to save the most grievously injured.

Triage Heal check: 09:38, Today: Farian Raymellie rolled 14 using 1d20+9 ((5)).

Annoyed and a bit bewildered by the wizard's obsession with the construct, Dante decides the game has gone on long enough. He shrugs his bow into his hand.  Either the flask or the cask would be small enough for the stone cat to snatch up in his leopard form.

A moment later, as the wizard drops the flask, Dante fires his arrow not at the Selbian, but at the upper part of the cask. Hopefully, Pearl's flask would sink enough in that first drop to be below his arrow -- and an arrow sprouting by his hand would startle Selbian enough to flinch away from it for an instant... but if it didn't, Prreet's sudden lunge at him might do the trick. The container holding Pearl could then be easily snatched away.


16:34, Today: Averdante rolled 24 using 1d20+10 ((14)). (plus any bonus the bow has to hit)
Shooting the cask to (hopefully) startle Selbian away from it a moment, so Prreet can snatch it away from him.

The Derro Caves



Lantamori's diadem illuminates the corridor and caverns, and she quickly heads into the side chamber where the moans are coming from.  Inside is a natural cavern not much bigger than ten feet around, and barely five feet high.  There are a couple of shelves of various plant matter, potions, carvings, and tools arrayed on the walls, and an altar-like stone table made from what looks like polished black granite against the far wall.  On the wall above it is a carving of what looks like a leering, toothy maw with wild, mad eyes... all three of them, the third eye a polished, faceted crystal.  Strapped to the altar by heavy leather straps is a young half-orc man, gangling and awkward in the manner of someone barely out of adolescence, who is cut and bruised.  Behind the altar, leaning over the young half-orc, is a wiry old derro woman with her braids sloppily arrayed in a coil all around her head, with a dozen hair sticks poked into the arrangement.  She wears sleek black leather and jangles with charms as she touches the half-orc's face with talon-like fingernails.

There is more yelling outside as Pelskin, Thulon, and Ooolorn continue to battle the derro.  More shouts from further along the corridor prove that reinforcements have arrived.  It sounds like most have joined the fight in the corridor, but at least one is attracted to the light shed by Lantamori's diadem.  A wild-haired derro with a jagged blade gives an angry shriek at the light and lunges at Lantamori's stomach, missing her by a mere whisker!

--

The Market Square



The children seem to be the most hurt, and Farian quickly goes to pray over them, imparting a small prayer of Pelor's healing power to stop them from bleeding.  The guards who were more distant are wounded, but not nearly as badly, and begin to surround the brewer's stall to stop any further violence, looting, or opportunists from taking advantage.  The guard who was holding Selbian blows sharply on a signal whistle and then jogs up to the stall, crossbow in hand with blunted bolts at the ready.



The arrow hits precisely where Averdante intended it to, and Selbian Dross flinches backwards with a shout of dismay.  Prreet takes advantage by pouncing on the cask and shoving it to the far side of the tent, then standing guard over it like a mother cat over a kitten, hissing softly at Selbian.  At that time, the guard who had been holding Selbian arrives, pointing her crossbow at the errant wizard as well.  Seeing as Averdante has the weapons situation well in hand, she switches it out for her sap, leans over, and thumps the wizard squarely on the head.  His eyes roll up and he keels over.  She spits on the ground in disgust before turning to Averdante.

"Bloody good work. Just keep anyone else around here from getting any stupid ideas, and reinforcements should be here soon.  What was he doing?" she'll ask.

Assuming Averdante tells her about the shrunken construct in the flask in the cask, she shakes her head slowly.  "I think we have a ring of smugglers on our hands."

Reinforcements arrive in the next few minutes, and with Farian's aid, no one has died, though most of the brewer family are hurt, as well as Captain Tare and two of the other guards.  The wounded are carried off to the nearest Watch station to be both tended and questioned, and Selbian Dross is trussed up like a fowl to be roasted before going to the Hall of Justice.  Averdante and Farian are asked to come along, Prreet carrying the re-capped cask in his jaws as if it were a prize.

The wounded but undaunted Captain Tare asks Magistrate Hadlin to witness the statements of himself and the two guildmembers within the zone of truth so that all could be recorded correctly for the record.

OOC: For the sake of brevity, I shall assume you both speak your piece truthfully and in full, but if you have anything to add, or withhold, please do.

Upon hearing the story and seeing the evidence of the little cloth Pearl in the flask in the cask, the Magistrate and the Captain exchange looks.  Magistrate Hadlin says, "You Guildmembers have helped us uncover an end of a smuggling ring that has been the cause of several hitherto unsolved crimes within the city.  Using a spell that reduces some desired goods in size and then shipping them out in a cask of wine, which can go nearly anywhere without anyone inspecting inside, is a most devious way to go about it.  We had suspected a magical practitioner was involved somehow, but did not have any specific leads.  Likely Selbian Dross had some buyer who was willing to pay a great deal of money for Pearl or something like her, which was why he took such insane risks."  The Magistrate broods for a moment, and then directs his clerk to describe Pearl in detail and draw her as well.  The clerk writes up a receipt, which he gives to Farian.

"Let Pearl's owner know she can come to the Halls of Justice with this and Pearl's plans to legally reclaim her.  Both of you have done the city a great service in your unstinting desire to help above and beyond your own interests, and to see the cause of justice done by both the spirit and the letter of the law."  Magistrate Hadlin reaches into an inner pocket of his robes and pulls out three small iron and silver medals.  "For your dedication to justice," he says, pressing one into each of your hands.  He hands the third to Prreet, who takes it between his teeth with a feline grin.

"It may be that the ends of this smuggling ring may take someone of your talents to untangle.  If that is the case, could the city call upon you for such employment?" he asks.

Farian thanks Averdante and Prreet for playing key roles in apprehending Selbain and recovering Pearl. It shows that she is proud to be in the company of such companions.

She indeed tells the entire truth when giving her evidence. She accepts the receipt and award with a courteous bow. "It is the will of the Shining One to bring all things to the light. I don't doubt that La Dorva ilk'Vale will be here presently to reclaim her servant. As to further aid in tracking the smugglers, I cannot speak for the entire company. Each of our members have their own motivations, as I'm sure that you can understand. But I don't doubt that the aid of the Adventurer's Guild will always be at your service."

On his trip back, Narthian (in wolf-form) and Thunder hunt some fresh meat to fill their unusually growling stomachs (sharing with Sir Aberlayne, of course). He does so without the aid of his druidic magic (except maybe to spontaneously summon more wolves), living in the moment of scenting, circling, and the chase. (I imagine that he went after a deer, or some old and sickly water buffalo straying too far from the mud flats.). He returns to elf-shape once he catches the scent of the city, making his way to the guildhall. Finding none of the Leafblade Company there, he inquires after them, curious as to what they have been up to.