"Well, my friend, we are safe here. At least for now. Now tell us the whole truth," Lucius says, keeping his blade at the man's side to deter treachery.

"I have told you the truth," the man said.

"Let me rephrase that. Tell us the entire story. Why were you trying to attack the Knights, how exactly did you do it, and what did you find inside? You said that it was a trap. What exactly did you mean?" Marcus asks.

Gabriel looked over his shoulder and then grabbed the man from Marcus. "We're not out of the woods yet. Someone's following us. Lets get moving." He said urgently. Then to the freedom fighter he had this to add "Whatever it is you've done you better come clean. The Knights of Takhisis may have killed you for it, but the Solamnic Knights we could bring you to would throw you in a dungeon for years on end. I'd rather be dead than face that fate." the large warrior said to the man as he grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him further through the alley.

17:45, Today: Gabriel Uth Argus rolled 23 using 1d20+4. persuasion.

Marcus sheathes his dagger and draws his sword once more. If they are going to have to fight, then he would be happier having his more accustomed weapon in hand. He starts to follow Gabriel along the alley, looking over his shoulder to search for whoever is following them. "Are you here on your own, or did you have other helping you?" he asks the man.

Julian casually followed along from the shadows, content to see if he was going to have to kill more people for the sake of his extended family's safety.  It was grim business, being an Uth Argus, but on the upside he never really felt that bad about slipping a blade between a man's ribs when he's been asking for it.  That was just the way things were in Ansalon and you were trying to start trouble with righteous folk - you got stabbed.  In the back.  By Julian, preferably.

Maybe it wasn't how things were in Ansalon after all... since it seemed to mostly just be Julian.

Grinning, he continued to follow Gabriel and Marcus all sneaky-like and keep an eye out for trouble.

“There are no Solamnic Knights here,” the man said. “And even if there were, they wouldn’t imprison a freedom fighter like myself. And I was by myself. You have nothing to fear from me, so you can put away your weapons, and let me go.”

Marcus angles his blade away from the man, but doesn't resheathe it. "There are Solamnics in the city. We have seen them. But we can't let you go until you explain things to us. For one thing, we have ourselves been attacked by more than one group of Knights of Takhisis. We have been seen with you, so now we stand in danger when we try to leave the town. But we have also been trying to contact... those who are not necessarily allied with the rulers of the town. You may be able to help us."

Two boys approached you from the direction you came from.

[Private to Gabriel Uth Argus: Seeing them clearly, these two may be the ones following you.]

The boys continued to come closer.

"What are you doing to our dad," one of them asked.

Julian suppressed an ill-timed snigger at the growing complexity of Marcus' situation.  He half-wondered if it would have been better to intercept them with a soft-wrapped truncheon to prevent them intercepting their father's escape... or candy.  Candy would have worked as well, but he didn't have any.

He kept alert for the inevitable patrol of guardsmen, not wanting to be caught by them anywhere where he couldn't duck into an attractive woman's bedroom to make his escape.

Gabriel almost laughed, the ruffians who had been following them were the mans children.

"You would be wise not to sneak around like that. We could have killed you or worse." Gabriel said to the children sounding more menacing than he had intended.

"We are only trying to keep your father safe. Now I assume we have to make sure you will be safe as well." He finished answering to the children.

The boys, being 16 and 14 years old, looked both scared and angry.

"Our mother told us to follow him," the oldest one said, continuing to speak for both himself and his brother. "She doesn't like that he has started working for the Legion."

"Quiet," the father told his sons.

The Legion?" Gabriel questioned.

"Yes, The Legion." the older boy repeated.

[OOC: In this timeline, The Legion is what exists instead of the Legion of Steel]

Marcus starts to become a little exasperated as the boys arrive, but his eyebrows are raised as they reveal that their father serves the Legion. "Look, tell us everything. Your secret is out. Now, if we worked for the Knights of Takhisis, we would already have you in front of the torturer. But we are not allies of theirs, and we are not enemies to the Legion. So explain what is happening."

"You already know everything," the father said. "I tried to do a job to hurt the Knights of Takhisis, but it was a trap, and the place blew up."

Marcus sighs. He expects to learn little more from the man. He makes one last attempt, "Do you or the Legion know how to get in contact with the elves who oppose the Knights?"

Julian helpfully crept up through the darkness to render aid.

"Let's have this discussion on the other side of town in someone's basement or on their roof, yes?  We can pick up some snacks on the way or something."

He pointed in a random direction away from the burning rubble and nodded enthusiastically.

"I don't think so," the oldest boy said having mustered some courage. “I think it’s better if we take him home.”

The father nodded silently in agreement. “The elves have left,” he said. “But take this to Old Odmar’s Oddities,” he continued and gave Marcus a starjewel. “Talk to the half-ogre Klaudia. Perhaps she knows more. And tell her that Jacob sent you and she will give you a reward for helping me.”

"Thank you for your help," Marcus says, accepting the jewel. "Would this shop still be open? We are due to leave tomorrow, and may not have a chance to go there otherwise."

"She may still be there," the father said. "But you will have to hurry. It's that way." He finished and pointed.

Julian had no idea where the Oddities place was other than 'that way', but stewardship of a gem was something that had summoned forth courage and virtue from somewhere within him.  "You sure you're okay with that gem, Marcus?  It looks awfully heavy.  I, for one, will give my life for its safety."

He did not mention any care-taking involving the singed but fundamentally living man, guessing that his sons would look after his well-being or sell him out to the watch, depending on how they got along.  From their concern he was either worth quite a lot or they loved him - Julian took a running bound of logic and assumed the latter.

"Thanks for your help, kids."  Julian's smile was strangely electric and he nodded sagely, putting an arm around each of their shoulders before disengaging and patting their father's arm while chuckling at his foray into naive pyromania.  "And you, you nutty firebug, set a longer primer next time before firing the pitch.  And it never hurts to have a distraction fire set to go off about ten minutes beforehand so that you're sure that the water brigades are busy elsewhere."  He playfully punched him in the shoulder and shook his head, still chuckling while walking away towards the Oddities.

The boys clearly didn't want Julian to put his arms around them as they with the expertise of children wiggled out of his embrace.

"I didn't blow it up," the farmer said.

Marcus, Julian, Gabriel, Digorye, Gina, and Dove headed in the indicated direction.

“I know where it is,” Dove said. “I can lead you there.”

[Assuming that you follow Dove’s lead]

Dove led you to a shop about halfway to the town gate towards the Bazaar before getting to the shop in question. It was located in a small building that seemed to have nothing to do with the Legion, deep in the Merchant District, off the beaten path, in a back alleyway. A simple wooden sign hung over the door with the words Old Omar’s Oddities carved in Common, surrounding the symbol of a hand holding a skull.

As you entered the store, a tiny bell announced the opening of the door. A rather large female sat in a chair grinding a foul smelling substance into a paste, while consulting a book next to her on the table. The ogre blood in her veins were apparent in her yellow tinted skin and small tusks. As she heard the bell she looked up at you with a smile of pointed teeth.

“Can I help you,” she asked in clearly enunciated Common, her tone pleasant despite her deep, rumbling voice.

The inside of the single room store seemed even smaller than the outside. A brown curtain hung in the back doorway and demarcated the store from the back room. The walls in the store were lined with shelves stacked with books, jars, and containers.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:01, Sat 05 July 2008.

Marcus gives Julian a dirty look, and puts the starjewel into one fo his pouches. He follows Dove to the shop, and glances around before entering, checking to see any faces that don't look right. He examines the small shop at a glance, and then the owner. "Good evening. I assume that you are Klaudia. Jacob sent us. He gave us this to give to you, and suggested that we speak to you. We are seeking a group of elves that live in the area around the town."