Hugh plays the role of slave to a tee, remaining silent, passive and submissive.

Weapons sheathed, Cole silently follows his comrades into the warehouse, keeping a watchful eye around the area during the negotiations.

You step inside the doorway and find yourself in a narrow hallway built by stacking crates along both sides and over the top to form a low ceiling.  The passage quickly turns to the left.  As you turn the corner, you find a lit candle on the floor.  It is otherwise quite dark.  The crates are not all flush, leaving gaps in places that look like they could be effective improvised murder holes.  Staring into some of the gaps you can see eyes reflecting in the candle light at a distance.

You follow the winding path deeper into the warehouse.  It is very difficult to maintain a sense of direction with all of the twists and turns.  Eventually, you reach what appears to be a makeshift elevator.  A large crate stands on its side at the end of the passage.  Looking up you can see it is at the bottom of a shaft lined with crates above you.  A child's voice calls from above, "Get in."  The crate is large enough to accommodate the entire party.  You can see ropes lashed to the "ceiling" of the crate to allow it to be hoisted up.

You all squeeze into the crate and it begins to slowly rise in jerks.  It is hard to gauge how high you go up based on the irregularly sized crates you pass, but you are pretty sure you have risen at least a story when the crate stops at an opening.  You exit the crate and proceed down another winding corridor.  This time, however, there is not a ceiling.  Looking up, you can see the path is lined with children staring down at you.  All of the children appear to armed with some sort of weapon, many with short bows or crossbows.

The children take no action against you as you weave your way through the crates.  You finally come to a large "clearing" where you find a small gang of larger children waiting for you.  One of them, a boy you guess is maybe 14 years old, is sitting in a gaudy chair with the others standing in front and to the side of him.  The child in the seat is dressed in a motley assortment of cast-off clothes, is fairly dirty, and only appears to be armed with a long stiletto.  The other children standing in front of him are also quite dirty and wearing a hodge-podge of miscellaneous and mismatching garments.  They are all armed with nasty-looking melee weapons -- cleavers, small morning stars, short swords, and the like.

All of the children in the clearing stare at you with hard, merciless eyes.

The boy in the chair says, "We don't see Gambinis down here very often.  I'm Henry.  Why do you want to speak with me?"  His tone is pleasant, but the vibe in the room is very wary and tense.

Anthony takes in the room carefully. He had always expected to go underground a lot with a group of adventurers, but this was something else entirely .

He reviewed the "king" and his honor guard stoically. He kept the idea of offering them gifts as a back-up just in case this went poorly.

With an even, calm tone, Seline takes a position slightly ahead of her comrades and answer's Henry's question. "For the sake of saving time, Henry, we are here to see if you have any information regarding Oswald. My friends here take offense at anyone willing to enslave another person, and some take an even larger offense at those who are willing to enslave children. We wish to rectify that situation, and to do that we need information on Oswald.  We are hoping that you would be willing to acomodate us."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:16, Thu 26 Jan 2017.

Inwardly, Elwood marvels at how the children, abandoned and left to fend for themselves for various reasons, managed to form their own community - a 'family' of their own making.  Deep in his soul he senses that Flyspamon would be greatly displeased at the abduction and exploitation of these young ones, and Elwood reaffirms his resolve to put a stop to this horrid Oswald and despicable clients.

Outwardly, Elwood lost count of the number of arrows and crossbow bolts aimed at him, and makes sure his hands are in plain sight.

He waits to hear Henry's response.

Not sure what she should do until it is time for her to pose as bait, Dreya waves and smiles again.

Cole is silent,taking in the surroundings as he listens to the negotiations.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:48, Fri 27 Jan 2017.

Henry tells you, "If by 'rectify', you plan to kill that bastard, then you've got my attention.  We don't know much about Oswald.  Timmy!"

A ridiculously small little boy steps out from the shadows and stands by the throne.  Henry gestures for the boy to speak.

"Gee, misters, we was down by Mean Betty's meats stall looking to snag us some breakfast and her dog kept growling and that dog is SO mean and Billy said to go around back so the dog couldn't watch everybody and I said I didn't wanna 'cause I always have to go around back and Billy said he didn't care and I should shut up because I'm the littlest and I said he should shut up and then he hit me in the arm and that hurt so bad so I told him his momma was a troll and he get really pissed but he deserved it so I don't care and then I ran around back because that's what I wanted to do, not because he told me to, I'm not afraid of him and anyway I slipped down the alley and got behind the shop and started going through the trash and I found a whole apple that was only a little rotten and a jewel rock and that was way better than anything Billy ever found so I went back around to the front but he wasn't there but I heard a yell from in the back so I ran back there again and I saw this big guy with tusks stuffing Billy into a burlap sack and another guy was there and he was really ugly and smelled like that cop who keeps hassling us orphans down by the Pigeon Street Park and I'm going to get that guy someday because it's not right that he keeps picking on us orphans he'll see what a jerk he is when I'm big and important you can bet that for sure and anyway this ugly smelly guy tells the big guy, "By the Pain God's furry nipple, will you shut that brat up already" and the big guy swung the sack so it smashed into the wall and Billy stopped yelling and then the big guy, Oswald, he says to the ugly guy 'where's the other one?  It likes the little ones" and I'm smart I knew he was talking about me so I hid in some trash while those two biggies looked around and they sure was mad when they couldn't find me but I hide better than anybody no matter what Lisle says she's just jealous that I'm better at sneaking candy from Old Jane's Shoppe this one time I got 3 suckers and some taffy without her catching on at all just ask Maxter he'll tell you just like he told Lisle-"

One of Henry's bodyguard whacks him on the of he head and Timmy finally stops to take a breath.

Henry says, "Just tell them where Oswald and the ugly one went."

Timmy starts up again, "They looked and looked for me and then the ugly one said, 'Damn it!  We're going to be late.  Let's get the hell out of here.' and they started down the alley toward Center Street and I followed real good because I can hide better than any of the other kids just like I told you and they didn't see me or nothin' so I just kept sneaking and sneaking and they finally ended up behind this big building that isn't built yet but some of it is and they banged on this door in the back and it opened up and the two guys took Billy inside and down the stairs but then the door slammed shut and I couldn't get in but I'm smart so I went around to the front and took a look to see what the building was and there's this sign and I took a stick and scratched the letters onto my arm so when I ran back home one of the big kids read it and said it said Temple of Pain and I was like what's that because I ain't never heard of that and they just told me to shut up because only someone dumb could be as small as me and I --"

The bodyguard smacks the back of Timmy's head and he shuts up again.

Henry continues, "That was two weeks ago.  A bunch of us have been snatched up, but Timmy's the only one who's seen anything.  We've kept an eye on this new temple, but we haven't seen Oswald.  No one has seen him for sure, but we've overheard people talking about a half ogre in the area.  That might be Oswald.  You kill him and bring me his head and we will be more than grateful."

Elwood mutters "The new temple being built on Old Cobble Road."  He tries to recall what he knows of the Pain God and his cult.

OOC:  As someone theologically inclined, would Elwood have inherent knowledge of the Pain God, or would this require a SEIGE check?

Anthony smiles. He leans in to whisper to Seline, "Tell him we'd be happy to oblige him. This is precisely the kind of opportunity we're looking for."

Dreya moves, drawing closer to Hugh's side, eyes of gilded amber turned up at the man.  Once his gaze looks her way, she says to him, "I think we just found out where we will be taken.  Where we need to be 'bait'."

She knew the role the two of them would soon be playing was not an easy one for either one of them.

Then she lays one dainty hand on his forearm. "Together.  We'll stick together.  No matter what."

It was a promise she intended to keep, regardless of what would happen as the next part of their plan began to unfold.

"Well, Henry, you are in a bit of luck as I have a few aquintances that want nothing more than to detach Oswald's head from his shoulders.  In fact, it's only been by luck I have managed to stop them from tearing apart the city. Now I've always felt slavery was the weak way out, but just killing Oswald is only a temporary solution.  We need to stop the reason he is collecting you." Seline pauses and looks at Timmy. "We will need to deal with this Pain Guy or god or whatever they feel like he is. As for delivering his head, that will cost a fee, it's not easy to just walk through town with a half oger head in our bag. I'll make a deal with you, if we deliver his head to your warehouse, you owe us a favor."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:53, Sun 29 Jan 2017.

In reply to Elwood (msg # 35):

Elwood has definitely heard of the Pain God, but has not encountered any of its followers or temples.  The Pain God is new to Rotter. Although the Pain God sounds sinister, its theology is pretty similar to Flyspamon's.  The Pain God takes people’s pain away.  It seeks out the emotionally damaged among a city’s population and does outreach such as soup kitchens and therapy sessions.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:38, Sun 29 Jan 2017.

The monk has remained silent for a while, but breaks his silence to respond to Dreya.

Hugh nods at Dreya and whispers, "That I promise Dreya. Our fate will indeed be the same. And, I have no intention of this becoming anything more than a ruse."

Elwood speaks quietly to Seline "Timmy mentioned something about one of the men smelling like one of the city guards.  Is this an avenue we should look into before checking out the Temple of the Pain God?  Could this guard connect us with Oswald?"

Henry says, "One head, one favor.  Deal."

Time to come up with a plan.

Anthony nods to Seline. "Let's talk more. But not here," he whispers to Seline.

"Yes, we should find a more secure area to discuss our plans."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:49, Thu 02 Feb 2017.

Assuming no one wants to speak with the orphans further, consider yourselves back at the Filthy Unicorn where you can presumably speak freely.

"Well that was a fun escapade into the warehouse. If I remember right our initial plan was to try to get into the inner circle of Oswald by posing as slavers and using Dreya and Hugh as bait?"
Sipping on a glass of mead Seline continues on " I still think that part is good just getting to him and talking our way in that will be difficult, I will gladly let someone else step up and do the talking I'm more skilled in the silent actions than the talking ones."

Dreya shifts in her seat at the table between Cleric and Ranger, gaze flicking around the table at those that were becomming...friends?

"Could Sir Hugh and I, well I mean is there a way," she continues, gesturing at the wizard in their group with a weird sort of wave  "What I mean is...let me try again."

Drawing a fortifying breath, the Druid forges on.  "If Sir Hugh and myself go out and let ourselved get taken, is there a way to follow us? I am not very familiar with arcane magic. Or pay someone to find us? Locate us? Then...uh...come to where we go?"

Dreya seems to deflate a bit, knowing she always tends to butcher what she is trying to say. Wasn't the common tongue supposed to be easy??  "Hopefully that...made sense."

Anthony leans back. "There certainly are ways to do such a thing with magic. I do not possess such an ability at this stage of my development, however. We are more likely to be able to follow you with simple stealth."

Dreya flops back in her chair, smacking a hand against her forehead. With eyes going wide, she exclaims, "Stealth!"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:33, Tue 31 Jan 2017.

Elwood considers Dreya's proposal. "They seem to be interested in young children, the smaller the better, so they may not take you.  If you are taken, you and Hugh will be bound in ways that won't allow easy escape, plus the there's a risk that we'll lose you, although it looks like you'll be taken to the temple to the Pain God that's being built.  But it will still end up that the two of you will be held inside while the rest of us are stuck on the outside.  Dreya, I greatly admire your bravery, but I do fear for your and Hugh's safety."

He pauses a moment to collect his thoughts. "We can still stick with the original plan.  Maybe wait around the temple for Oswald to show up.  We can then approach him, with Anthony explaining that we've heard about Oswald's undertakings - Anthony's a great wizard, they have ways for knowing these things." Elwood says with a wink towards Anyhony.  "Anthony can offer Dreya and Hugh, but we'll need to see the main guy to get paid."  Elwood takes another sip of wine.  "Anyway, those are my thoughts.  Others may beg to differ."