The Manor in Shambles (More So Than Usual)...

Our heroes have returned to the manor to discover it has been ransacked.  Furniture has been overturned and pillows ripped to shreds but after closer inspection it appears nothing has been taken. In the middle of all of this chaos, Jeremiah is calmly sweeping up some of the mess. Narcel'Uss fears that perhaps Vani has been practicing her acrobatic tricks indoors and demands someone fess up to the deed. Jeremiah pipes up that it was an outsider. In a disgusted rage Narcel'Uss punches the wall above the mantel and Iskandar's container of ashes wobbles precariously. She catches it as it is about to tip over and sets it straight before it clatters to the floor. 

Wanting an answer, the TIP question Jeremiah. He confesses he was hiding ("peeping" as he would describe it) and only saw a general outline of the figure but not the gender or race. It was a figure of medium build and... box shaped. This person left about three hours ago. Narcel'Uss wants added security after the home invasion but the rest of the team isn't really sure how to go about it considering the broken-down state of all the doorways. Vani suggests some kind of magical trap system from Narcel'Uss but neither of them have any detailed ideas about how this could be done.

The team starts to debate what the intruder could have possibly been looking for. Narcel'Uss considers the golem box. Vani suggest that “the box person” may have been looking for the code book. She is dismissed by Narcel'Uss, who rarely listens to anyone shorter than her anyways. Either way, Ren is convinced that this is Lucian's doing. After some more thought, Narcel'Uss thinks that they could head into town for more supplies, to question people or to use spells to divine more information. The group agrees and they all head back to town, arriving midday. 

Splitting Up is Always a Good Plan...

On the way in, Vani and Ren decide to sneak past Lucien’s shop out of curiosity.  He’s inside, sweeping up a ton of feathers, tossed books, and broken knickknacks. He seems perfectly calm and is even sporting a little smile - which is not unnerving at all. Ren suddenly gets the idea to report the break in to Danger the paladin and consulting detective, in hopes of getting some kind of lead. Ildan likes this plan and they head off together. Narcel'Uss walks towards the center of town to use a spell to locate the ring. Vani and Bird Girl decide to work some coin from the commoners by busking in the main square.

Ren and Ilden find Danger helping an old lady lift turnips into her cart. Ilden graciously takes over which frees up Danger to talk to Ren. She expresses the recent break in at the manor. Danger asks how far from the city the TIP are located, wondering if this is an issue for the City Watch. There is some discussion about the politics of the area, and while the TIP is within Malkara's borders, the Manor is not exactly within city limits so the Watch would be reluctant to come out that far. Plus, Ren slips that the Manor is a little bit cursed and has all manner of spooky objects inside, which again would cause the Watch to not want much involvement in our case. "Well, it's only a little bit cursed", Ren concludes. Paid guards are an option but may be too expensive over time so Ren declines for the time being. She instead turns toward the subject of the young dwarf girl that was rescued a little while back. Ren is clearly concerned about her and Danger seems forlorn at the thought of another young kid caught up in the trouble of the town. Ren’s heart drops and she wants nothing more than to help.

While hauling turnips, Illden’s thoughts turn to having someone else do this meaningless labour for him.  This gives him an idea of the TIP bringing on squires - perhaps evens ones that pay us for the privilege for learning under our tutelage. He will bring this up over dinner later tonight >> [see forum discussion].

Divination Using a Floaty Stick...

Narcel'Uss has found her way roughly to the center of town. She pulls out a forked twig from her pouch and places it gently in her hand. With a magical incantation it gently floats upwards from her palm and hovers there. After a moment, it quivers and spins as if trying to focus on one direction. It suddenly focuses, pointing steadily towards another part of town. Narcel'Uss begins following, cautious of her surroundings and making sure does not fall into some trap. Not many take notice except for an oddly flirtatious fellow doing street magic that winks at her. She hastily continues along her path. She is lead down some twisted allies and she finally stops in front of an apartment building. There is an old man sitting on the stoop, drinking a glass of red wine. Narcel'Uss scans for a white feathers and finds several attached to market stalls nearby but there are none at the building the twig is pointing to. She decides to approach the old man.

The man is more wary than he appears, moving with a causal alertness.  He seems to be sizing up Narcel'Uss somewhat but is not about to take any action, yet.  As much as she wants to barge in, she knows it may ruin her chances of finding what she wants. She moves closer, the old man finishes his wine and puts down his glass.  

“Got any more of that stranger?” she asks.  

“No.”

“Hmm, you seem like you’ve lived here a long time. I am new to Malkara and was wondering...”

“Where the whore house is? It’s up the street. Lots of men, lots of women, some sort of octopus thing.”

“No, you read me wrong sir, there are more powerful things about town that one may want to acquire.”

“Ah drugs. Three houses down. Drugs for men, drugs for women, drugs for octopus things.”

“No no no, items of power. I have heard that the best of these are not to be found in the main parts of town. My contacts told me that that perhaps this building may have something of that sort”.

“Yeah, it does. Third floor. Turnips, carrots, drugs.” He gets up to kind of move out of the way so Narcel'Uss can head inside.

She realizes that as the man moves, so does her twig, which is still magically imbued to locate her ring. It follows him and points down. Narcel'Uss grows dangerously still. Her eyes narrow and her mild expression hardens into icy iron. She says in a low and threatening voice, “Listen to my words very carefully. You need to decide between you alliances and your life.  You are holding something that belongs to me... you can give it to me now, or you can die.”

The man stiffens. Narcel'Uss continues “I know that nobility means little to people of this town but where I come from it meant everything. Perhaps you can appreciate the act of returning an item to its rightful owner. Perhaps you know that there is honour in such a choice."

The man stands up, groaning like an old man. The street has grown surprisingly still and people have parted away from the building.

“I make it my business not to know much”, says the man and he walks inside.

Narcel'Uss will not let this man get away, not with the ring so close to her grasp. She yells, "Halt!", and her voice booms and swells with magic.  The man casts a look over his shoulder but keeps walking. Narcel'Uss, angry at being dismissed in such a manner, channels all of her rage into energy. She speaks louder again “HALT!”. This time, it stops him at the foot of the stairs and he is bound temporarily. She approaches him quickly and frisks him for the ring while he’s still bound. Under his bulky coat, she realizes that the man is very well armed. The man shudders and breaks free as the spell dissipates. He draws a hook from under his coat and brutally slashes her face twice. As he is a monk, he then strikes her prone with his palm and flees up the stairs. She can't help but notice his figure seems rather boxy from the shape of the coat. Getting up, she considers her options. Narcel'Uss does not know what could be at the top. The monk lying in wait? Reinforcements? She decides she herself needs back up and stumbles her way back to the center of town in hopes of finding the rest of the TIP.

As Usual, the TIP Finds a Way (to Turn a Bad Situation into a Worse One)...

She finds Vani and Bird Girl first, who have been busking in the square. They have made about a gold coin collectively and Vani had just finished using this newly earned cash to buy fish sandwiches for everyone for lunch. Just as she is about to hand out the sandwiches, Narcel'Uss comes flying in, and with one swipe, knocks the sandwiches out of Vani's arms. In one fluid motion Vani manages to catch and toss one to Ildan who snags it and cradles the food like a valuable object. Vani is so mad she jumps up in the air to punch Narcel'Uss in one of the lower reachable regions but then realizes Narcel'Uss' face looks a little more cut up than usual. Vani fumes, “I'm still mad about our lunch but what happened to you??”. Narcel'Uss grabs Vani by the shoulders and shakes her, yelling, "There is no time to explain! Follow me!". She runs off again into the streets. Ren runs off without hesitation. The rest join in with Ildan taking up the back, trying not to choke on his sandwich while running. They reach the apartment and Narcel'Uss stops them at the doorway. "There is a monk inside, wearing a large coat and he has the ring!". 

The group erupts into a flurry of activity. No one stops to talk or think. Vani scrambles up the building to the second floor and scares a family of gnomes who are eating lunch. Ilden bursts into the building, running up the stairs and kicking down the first door he finds. A clay jug on the far wall falls and shatters on the ground. It’s the same gnomish family, who are now really wondering what the hell is going on, faces flicking from the strange face in the window to the sweaty fighter in the door (covered in sandwich crumbs). The father gnome runs to the wall grabbing a battle axe, ready to protect his family. “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”, he yells. Illden just turns and leaves. 

Bird Girl flies up and lifts Vani to the third floor, while continuing up to the fourth floor herself. Vani breaks into an empty apartment on the third floor. In the apartment on the fourth floor, there is a old woman home, baking pies and singing. Bird Girl starts signing along, perfectly mimicking the woman's voice. She stops, turns and sees Bird Girl perched in the window. She starts screaming in a high shrill tone. Bird Girl matches the pitch and the collective sounds start to resonate. Glass objects in the area waver and few small sherry glasses pop and explode. Meanwhile, Ren storms her way up to the third floor and tries to break down a door. It's barred from the inside and the door won’t budge. This happens to be the room Vani is in so she unbars the door discovering a confused Ren on the other side.

Outside, Narcel'Uss once again tries to divine the location of the ring using the stick. It hovers for a moment then flops back down, meaning the object is out of the 1000 foot range. She calls out, "He is not here anymore!". With their sharp hearing, Vani and Bird Girl hear her message. Bird Girl stops screaming, smiles at the lady, steals a tart and flies back down. Vani shares the news with Ren. Ren has heard something important too, bells chiming in the distance, signalling the approach of the Watch. It is definitely time to leave. They both dive out the window. Vani flips acrobatically and lands gracefully with a roll. Ren barrels out of the window, hurtling down and crashes through the stoop. 

Unfortunately, Ildan has not heard a damn thing. All he heard was struggling (Ren trying to enter the room upstairs) and thinks Ren may be in danger. He runs up the next flight of stairs, ready for a fight. He sees the empty room but thinks nothing of it. He bashes in the next door he sees, creating an Ildan-shaped hole. There are two halflings "in flagrante delicto" and they are rather shocked at Ildan's appearance. He covers his eyes and slowly backs away. The group is outside, unsure of what has happened to Ildan. Narcel'Uss bolsters her voice and it booms magically, “Ilden, to me!”. He hears her call and fearing she is in danger, he rushes though the open apartment and out the same open window that Ren and Vani flew out of. He lands in an epic superhero pose into the street.

The TIP Try to Talk Their Way Out...

The City Watch is just up the road, they stop running and slow their approach. Vani takes the opportunity to slip into the crowd. A man and woman guard approach. Narcel'Uss knows that their reputation is on the line so does her best to explain the situation while ignoring the finer details of their trespassing. She looks a mess, with the gashes still bleeding on her face. Ildan smirks behind her. Vani has vanished into the crowd. Ren is slightly crumpled in a heap on the ground. Bird Girl hands one of the guards the custard tart. Unfortunately, while Narcel'Uss tries to explain, all the residents of the building are calling down and pointing to Ildan, "That one! That one!”. The woman on the upper floor has marched down and walks up to the guard, comedically snatching the tart out of his hand before he can take a bite. The conversation goes back and forth as the group desperately tries to convince the guards that they had just cause for ransacking the building and scaring the residents. The residents are coming down and arguing about the damage down to their places. "There is an asshole-shaped hole in our door!", yells one of the halflings. Narcel'Uss thinks Ren's honest demeanor may lend them some points and pushes her forwards. Ren takes the cue... "We were looking for the ring". Narcel'Uss wants to cry. The guards are intrigued. Ren beings to recount the tale of Lucien taking the ring and how the TIP have been searching for it.  Narcel'Uss face-palms.

"So let me get this straight. You were looking for an object that was stolen and hidden in this apartment? A ring? And the ring was in there?"

"No", Narcel'Uss says with a groan, still with her face buried. 

The group sheepishly stands in front of the guards as they suggest "we continue this conversation down at the guard house".  Narcel'Uss rallies and attempts a rousing speech to swing the circumstances back into their favour. She speaks of people being oppressed, of being ground down under someone else's boot heel. She looks around for sympathy and says that sometimes in such circumstances decent people need to do bad things. Vani attempts a slow clap from somewhere in the crowd. Strangely enough, the crowd is actually sort of nodding. Some of the words are getting through to them. Narcel'Uss feeds off this and says that they were simply looking for one man who had something that doesn't belong to him. The TIP will offer coin for the damage done to these people, and would appreciate any information that could be given to them. However, the TIP will still pay back what is owed, regardless of whether they opt to help or not.

The Watch Sargent suggests that “accelerating the wheels of justice” is not legal and is not something that can be ignored. She is no longer addressing members of the TIP and turns to ask if any civilians were hurt during the shenanigans that just occurred. Narcel'Uss slowly puts up her hand which earns her a glare from the Watch Sargent. No one is hurt, just imposed on. A few people validate the story about the grue cleric getting attacked by a man but they shy away from giving a description of the monk, sometimes even giving inaccurate information. They are obviously afraid of this man though owe him no loyalty.

As the TIP gets marched off by the guards, Narcel'Uss calls back, hoping Vani is still somewhere nearby. "If only one of us could stay to talk to these people, to find out more about the Monk". The guards agree, "Yes, that would be nice wouldn't it? But right now you are coming with us". Vani is indeed nearby and understands what Narcel'Uss is implying. She will further question these people to see if anyone is brave enough to offer more about the man. Perhaps even the TIP can offer them protection? (Though what help can they be with more than half the members possibly in jail?). 

Find out more next time in Game the 15th!