She cautiously moves towards the bend ears perking up and eyes adjusting to her darkvision.
Spoiler: OOCDoes she hear anything?
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She cautiously moves towards the bend ears perking up and eyes adjusting to her darkvision.
Spoiler: OOCDoes she hear anything?
Spoiler: TunnelThe only sound is the muffled rustling of someone searching through haystacks two stories up.
Neither seeing nor hearing any danger she confidently turns the corner.
Spoiler: OOCAnd she's dead :<
"I believe our new employer mentioned something about some sort of Harper hideout on the outskirts of town, cherie." Beautiful retrieves the cushions from the seat and returns them to their rightful place and sets the tray on the counter. "You lovely folks are welcome to stay here until tonight, if you wish," Beautiful offers warmly, lifting herself up to sit on the counter and using a wet cloth to remove the remaining makeup from her work-apron. "If any of you beautiful people are new in town I can show you around when I'm on break, and on the way to the job."Quote:
Originally Posted by CinLee
Sam heads down off the loft, and loiters by the entrance to the tunnel, awaiting Moir's return.
Spoiler: TunnelYou turn the corner and see that the tunnel continues on about 15 feet before opening up into a small room. The room, however, is empty of the kegs of corn whiskey you thought you'd find.
This is the most peculiar whiskey storeroom I have ever seen, there's no whiskey!
He was not lying though, this is very peculiar...
She paces around the room, inspecting walls and whatever is there instead of the kegs that should be there.
Spoiler: OOCGoing to use your search roll now.
Spoiler: TunnelYou search the area and you find a loose rock on one of the walls in the empty room. Otherwise the tunnel and room have no remarkable features.
Talia perked up as Harper Collins offered the use of a wagon. "I'll collect that if you don't mind," she offered. "I'll be able to use it in the day-trade square, and hawk my services as an identifier. That way when Melberta arrives with the wagon, her entourage, and an aged identifier, I'll at least have been noted in the city."
Moir tries interacting with the loose rock in a variety of ways, pushing it, pulling it, trying to twist it and flip it over
Spoiler: Madame Freona'sThe Harper nods approvingly at Talia's plan, "Come with me, I'll show you to the Harper Warehouse where you can collect the cart."
Spoiler: The Harper WarehouseThe Harper leads Talia to a run-down building on the edge of town. The journey there takes you through the poorest parts of the city. He motions for you to follow him down an alley toward the back of the building. The pavement in the alley is cracked and the grey brick walls show here and there as if the building has not been maintained in a long time. Two cracked windows sit at precarious heights on the warehouse wall facing the alley.
"The cart's back here, you'll have to be careful bringing it out to the street, though. It's a tight squeeze."
Spoiler: OOCTalia may make an insight check.
Spoiler: TunnelYou are able to pull the rock completely out of the wall. Behind the rock, however, you find only dirt and smaller rocks packed together, much like the rest of the wall. You can place the rock back in it's hole the way it came out, backwards, and upside down, however, none of these methods produce any noticeable results. You twist and turn the rock in its hole which loosens the hole and sends a shower of dirt and dust to your feet.
Hmmmm, so his whiskey tunnel has no whiskey, yet nothing else seems out of the ordinary...
She continues to pace the length of the room
Spoiler: OOCCan I make an arcana check to see if I notice whether anything magical is up?
Spoiler: OOCGo for it. Moir makes an arcana check.
Spoiler: The Harper WarehouseTalia gets a very uneasy feeling. The Harpers are a pretty well-funded group. Why would they have a warehouse in the poorest part of town and why would they let it be in such disrepair? Talia isn't sure whether she should follow this guy down an alley.
Spoiler: TunnelMoir contemplates what she knows about magic and decides that this room's architecture is oddly circular. Like it would be very difficult for some confused farmer to dig out this perfectly circular room. Even the walls are rounded up and down, like you're inside a giant doughnut with no hole. Perhaps magic was involved in the creation of this room.
I feel this is the extend of what I can do, I better tell Sam, hopefully we have enough time toget someone better versed in the arcana down here.
She does just that, climbing back up into the barn and reporting her findings to Sam.
Talia surreptitiously pays more attention to Harper Collins, and the area around her. "This is a narrow bottle neck indeed," she admitted as she made a show of looking around. "An excellent hiding place," she comments, in Madam Ava's raspy voice. "No one would suspect the Harper's would lower themselves to use an area in such a state of disrepair as this. I think perhaps it would be best for me to guide the wagon out, rather than drive it out."
Spoiler: Harper WarehouseTalia looks around nervously. She doesn't see anyone in hiding waiting but she does notice inside one of the broken windows that the building looks fairly empty. There is an old stained mattress within sight of the window, but no other objects on the dark, dingy floor.
"You lovely folks are welcome to stay here until tonight, if you wish,"[/B] Beautiful offers warmly, lifting herself up to sit on the counter and using a wet cloth to remove the remaining makeup from her work-apron. "If any of you beautiful people are new in town I can show you around when I'm on break, and on the way to the job."[/QUOTE]
Oh, thank you for the offer. I will head back here just as soon as I am done talking with the Enclave. By the way do you mind if I call you Vanima?
Lexi exclaims to to Beautiful as she makes her way to the door. Once outside she orients herself finding the few land marks she knows. Once Lexi gets her bearings she scurries off to speak to the local emerald enclave members.
Beautiful, Gorgeous, Vanima, Q'th'klzz'ch!ng... so long as it's a compliment I'm easy. Beautiful responds as Lexi leaves the Kettle. It was about to become much quieter.
So something's up with the tunnel, eh? Sam says. We'll be careful, but I still think it'll be useful for us.
On the way out, "Abigail" stops by where Farmer Joe is working, saying Thanks so much! Moe and I really appreciate this! and giving the man a warm hug before heading off.
Spoiler: The BarnFarmer Joe gets a smile so big it hardly fits his face. But then, as you walk away, he shouts after you, "I don't know who y'are, but thanks fer the hug!"
You're welcome! Sam calls back. We REALLY need to make sure that barn stays intact. He's too nice a guy to get hurt because of other people's business, they add to Moir.
Moir strikes her companion with an incredulous stare
He just said he does not know who we are, there is a magically excavated room in the tunnel, something is... not right here. We need to let the others know, we need to put the screws on Collins.
Well, he never did get... Our... Names... Sam says. Okay. Agreed a hundred and ten percent. Come to think of it... Why don't we ask Reese about where this Harper guy is staying, and see if we can't search his room or something?
And sorry-I wasn't quite thinking where I should of been. That Joe fellow, he just seems so genuine and kind. It's rare to meet someone like that-and I pray that it wasn't just an act.
I do not feel like it was an act, I can not be sure but I feel he was magically befuddled, we should ehad back to the tea house and reconvene with the others.
Seeing how early it still is Moir leads the way back at a brisk but not exhaustive pace.
Sam keeps pace easily, fiddling with their clothes a little on the way.
Lexi skips on her way back to the Tea Kettle, feeling much more confident after talking to Mariah at the Enclave. A frown momentarily crossed Lexi's cheerful face, as she thought about the Harper. He had just not seemed to hold the authority or will power that tended to come with the backing of a strong faction. Then again she could be over thinking things. Collins could be a newer member of the Harpers, just as Lexi was new to the Emerald Enclave. She was sure she would appear just a nervous and unsure if she had been sent to mysteriously recruit, adventurers newly into town for a Enclave mission. Lexi push the worry out of her mind. There should be plenty of time for the Enclave to get word to her, should anything appear amiss after they contacted the Harpers about caring for the animals. Lexi also decided to see if Reese could give her any information as soon as she got back to the Tea kettle.
Talia guided the draft horse, back down the alley with contrived casualness. Upon closer inspection of the interior of the warehouse, she was certain someone (if not the Harper) was using it as their camp. ‘The good news,’ she thought as she made her way through the dilapidated area. ‘If someone surprises you, you’re likely to burn half the area down accidently. All these buildings would go up like tinder, should a fire break out.’
Before she cleared the alley, Talia thoroughly investigated the cart. She wouldn’t be able to have her shield on her person, nor her mace, for her performance. If there were too many access points into the wagon, she’d have to use the back of it as her trade area. While not uncommon for day traders, it was less common for someone hawking their skills.