[IC] Port Lyalee
After returning to the bustling city, the group can pick up Sir Aberlayne from the Adventurers' Guildhall and go on to Volsh's promised feast. There are several fine inns, and Sir Aberlayne (being a devotee of Yondalla, a goddess known for watching over hearth, home, and kitchen) recommends the Griffon's Table as one with an excellent cook.
She greets Volsh with a hearty hug when she meets them, seeing the smile on his face and knowing what it means.
"I am very proud of you, Volsh! The hearth fire I kindled for you burned bright, every log, so I knew that was a good omen for everyone," she says.
The feast is a satisfactorily hearty one, with roasted ham, fried and baked fish, seaweed bread, wheat bread, and fresh herb salads with bright dressings of vinegar and oil. There's chowder with clams, fresh cream, and vegetables, roasted mixed roots, salted and spiced nuts, several different wines, ales, tonics, teas, and juices, berry tarts and fruit salad dressed in honey, even pieces of chocolate to share about.
Sir Aberlayne listens to everyone's stories as the meal progresses, of the resources of the Conclave, the spells that Haazheel and Dellas were able to find, the ritual for Volsh and how the others aided him, with careful attention.
"A good ending and a better beginning!" she says. She'll wait until the meal is over and everyone is enjoying a last glass of wine or bit of chocolate before telling everyone what she's been up to for a week.
"So I've been looking into Selbian Dross and whatever mysterious buyer wanted Pearl so badly that they were smuggling items in casks of wine. The Magistrate said the Watch had some cases of other missing items over the course of the last couple of years that fell into similar categories: unusual magic items or magic components, rare oddities, old and valuable texts, even the occasional exotic creature gone missing. Most of the missing items were chalked up to basic thieves, as they were often things being sold by adventurers or busy merchants. But since Pearl belonged to Madam ilk'Vale, who resides in town, she could make more of a fuss about it and could afford to pay adventurers to look into it. I asked the Guildmaster, and she said that not every adventurer made a full tally of their odd loot, and even if they did, not every one of them was going to quibble about one little odd statue or bone going missing. Those who made a report about it unfortunately didn't stay around long enough to pursue the issue, so the Watch didn't end up spending resources chasing thieves of items whose owners had moved on and might be back sometime next year or never."
She sighs as she continues. "I understand that there are only so many hours in the day, but those who were thieving (Dross and a few fellows who aided him in some sleight of hand) were careful to target mostly folks who would have difficulty in pursuing. But as to who hired them, and where things were going... That is where we come in. The wine was shipped out on a few different ships, but they had a common port, Gajin. Now, some of the captains also made port at a few islands further out to sea, so that could be a place where things were being sent." She spreads her hands, inviting questions. "So, a thought I had was that we could hire a ship, perhaps the Sea Lady, to go where those ships went and see if we can figure out who was intent on depriving the folk of Port Lyalee of their odd treasures."