By the early afternoon, everyone had mostly recovered their strength and gathered downstairs once more. Sitting around a table near the hearth, each wore the previous night's excitement differently. Kael had slept the entire morning and then gotten up before the others to clean off his sword and armor. Elara had done the same, although she slept in a little longer. Theron was openly debating with Eya about whether it was too early for a beer but neither seemed to be stumping for the 'anti-beer' side very strongly. They apparently came to a consensus and Eya got up from the table. Liriel was intently clutching a mug of coffee, her face bathed in the steam coming off of it.
"You going to drink that or just inhale it one sniff at a time?" Elara prodded her when she didn't participate in their discussions. Liriel glanced up from her reverie and shot her a signature look.
"Port towns always have coffee. It almost makes up for the stench." She pointed out. "Now leave me alone with my vice."
"Which one?" Theron looked toward her just long enough to jab her. She reached over and flicked his ear without looking up from her caffeinated daydreaming. Eya returned with a pair of small, steaming mugs and put one in front of the wizard. "What's this now? I thought we agreed that beer was acceptable on account of Catha being a waning crescent...or something?" Eya clutched her mug closely and blew on it to cool it.
"They make a Zemnian mulled wine here. It's a little secret about the Ebontide that most don't know. Do you want to try some?" She offered her mug to Liriel, who glanced up again.
"Why?" She glowered.
"Because...it's good? And its...Zemnian?" The cleric offered. "I figured since you covered my room I'd...never mind." Liriel pointed at her cup once again.
"Vice. Mine. Alone." She warned them all and went about her business, finally lifting the mug for a long drink. Eya and Theron shrugged and began carefully sipping their hot, spiced beverages. The wizard pulled away, impressed.
"Ohhh tha's the stuff. I dinnae fancy myself a wine drinker but this I could do." Beside him, his drinking partner shimmied in her seat with a smile. "So," he continued to the table, "what's the plan, hey? Hopefully no' another stakeout?" Elara shook her head, mirrored by Kael.
"It's the only lead we've got right now. We might not have a choice." She said. Liriel finished chugging her coffee and put the half-drained mug down. Her face instantly changed, she became more animated if not more friendly.
"No point. That pond scum will probably lay low or try to run now." She blew on her coffee again and held it up to her lips. "If it was me and I was a liability to all of my lowlife friends, I'd probably try to hop a ship out of here until things cooled off."
The table quietly absorbed this and began formulating alternatives. Kael crossed his arms over his chest, Elara drummed her fingers on the table, and Theron mostly just occupied himself with his mulled wine.
"Oh!" Eya's exclamation caused them all to jump and Theron cursed under his breath as he wiped the hot drink from his beard. The cleric put down her own mug and began gesturing excitedly while talking in a hushed tone. "I've always heard that you should stay away from the- the easternmost slips at the wharf. No one ever really said why but I just assumed it was, like, smugglers or whatever. Maybe that's where they'd stick him on a boat?" She looked about the table excitedly while her four employers met each others' eyes. A collection of shrugs signaled their silent vote.
"Okay Alia," Elara leaned forward and rested her hands on the table, "looks like we're headed to the docks."
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After finishing their beverages, it was a short walk to the port control gate. The entry point once again stood wide open with a pair of city guards lazily watching the busy foot traffic. Here inside the wall, the smell of the salt spray dominated and seagulls could be seen and heard drifting on the breeze over the wharf. The CKG and their healer worked their way down a winding path that cut back and forth as it descended into the bowl that encircled Marisfall's port. Weaving through pedestrians and around carts laden with merchandise, they could see a bustling gathering below.
At the base of the path they stepped onto the wooden planks of the wharf and were immediately in the thick of a busy, open-air market. Elara quickly began guiding them toward the eastern branch of the crescent-shaped cove. The amount of people here made her skin crawl and she was obviously eager to find their stakeout point. Theron felt a tap on his shoulder and looked back at Eya.
"Tell them to go ahead! I'll catch up." She spoke up, trying to be heard over the din. Theron made a questioning face but she just shooed him off.
The now-foursome easily found their way out of the market and toward their destination. Kael took note of the natural security afforded to the port. The walls that looked twelve feet tall on the outside were closer to 50 feet tall from inside. Even if someone scaled them to get in, it would be incredibly difficult to get out again. He silently catalogued the buildings that hugged the wall, opposite the water. It was the expected mix of bait shops, sailmakers, net weavers, warehouses, and other assorted nautical merchants. He picked up on a billboard with postings for crew openings, travel schedules, and skilled trade advertisements. These normal sights began to peter off as they approached the last slips until the end of the boardwalk was empty. The rocks at the edge were littered with broken glass floats, ripped nets, and tangled heaps of rope and fishing lines. Elara turned to face the others.
"Looks like this is the place." She offered, gesturing around.
"It definitely has a 'you shouldn't be here unless you need to be' feel." Kael added and Elara nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I'm getting that impression too. Eya may be on to something." She placed her hands on her hips and looked around. "I see plenty of spots to set up, but that one looks pretty cozy." She pointed to an empty lot between two warehouses over which someone had rigged a sail as an ad hoc sunshade.
"Dibs." Liriel ran off.
"Di- ah shite." Theron dejectedly slumped off toward another spot, opting to tuck himself into a doorway with partial shade. Kael jerked his head toward the roof of the last warehouse.
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"You going up?" Elara nodded back and gestured toward the same warehouse.
"Around the corner behind those barrels?" He nodded as well.
"You know it. Good hunting." They exchanged a quick fist bump and set off to their respective lookouts.
While each of them settled in for a long afternoon, they watched as new ships arrived and others departed. Their target slips remained empty, though the occasional longshoreman came by to drop off the odd crate or coil of thick rope.
The warm sun, the sound of the waves under the boardwalk, and the cool sea breeze conspired to lull each of them toward nodding off. Even the seagull calls added to their difficulties, making it harder and harder to concentrate. Liriel would randomly stick her head out and toss a pebble or a shell at one of them if she saw them nodding, but even she wasn't immune to the soporific effects of the shore after such a long night.
Luckily it wasn't long before Elara spotted something from her rooftop perch that caused her to perk up. It wasn't Garven though, it was Eya. The cleric was walking down the wharf in full view and carrying a covered crate in both hands. Stunned, Elara watched her traipse along the waterfront without any pretense of stealth. She was smiling brightly, searching about for them and conversing with the dockworkers as she went. The ranger moved toward the edge of the roof and signaled Liriel. The rogue followed her gesture, rolled her eyes, and darted from cover to retrieve their healer.
The others converged on the covered alley just as they returned and gathered behind some of the crates and nautical detritus piled there.
"Okay," Liriel hissed, "what were you doing?"
"Lunch." Eya's matter-of-fact tone and shrug further confused the experienced group. She nodded toward the crate in her arms and Kael pulled back the folded cloth covering. The smells immediately hit them, the crate was full of food from the market they had passed through. The scents of freshly caught seafood, bread, and a steaming urn of tea quickly caused a chorus of grumbling stomachs. "I don't know about you all but I'm beat, even with that nap. Can I put this down now? It's not light."
Unable or unwilling to argue with the offer, Kael took the crate from her and they began setting up a makeshift picnic right there in the alley. Through a mouthful of scallops Liriel poked Eya's shoulder and nodded back toward the waterfront.
"Appreciate the food, but next time try to be a little more sneaky, yeah? Garven's buddies might have seen you and those swabs-" she jabbed a thumb toward the nearest dockworkers, "were leering at you like they wanted to-" Elara jabbed her in the ribs with an elbow and finished for her.
"Just watch your back." Eya smirked as she tore open a roll, laid a piece of breaded fish inside, and took a big bite. She chuckled knowingly and spoke while chewing.
"Guys...I'm a cleric of the Everlight. There's nothing strange about me being here and talking to everyone. It'd look suspicious if I was skulking about in broad daylight!" She swallowed and took another big bite. "You're the ones that look weird."
Kael finished off a large shrimp and shoved the tail through a gap in the boards beneath them. "She's got a point...do as the locals do." He retrieved what smelled like a breaded crab cake. "Thank you for grabbing lunch. I completely forgot in the excitement."
"I got you." Eya playfully tapped his knee and went back to her sandwich. Theron finally spoke up after initially being too preoccupied with his meal.
"Kael...why have we been eatin' tha' tavern slop when they had all of this?" Kael shrugged.
"I didn't hear you complaining before."
"I'm complainin' now!" The wizard cleaned the calamari off of an entire skewer in one swipe. "How is this the first time I've tasted this...this...manna of the sea?" Theron retorted and Eya passed him a cup of the steaming tea.
"You guys never asked. Here, drink up, we're going to need a boost." When she reached across the crate to hand it to him, Liriel perked up and pointed at her bandaged hand.
"Hey, I thought you were gonna take care of that." She tore a chunk of warm bread off with her teeth and chewed on it, but did not drop her eyes from the cleric. Eya looked down at her wrapped right hand for a moment before looking back up.
"Oh! Oh yeah. Guess I forgot in all the excitement too." She chuckled and contemplated the remains of her fish sandwich.
"Well...? Don't mind us." The rogue verbally nudged her. Eya cleared her throat and set the last bites of her food down in her lap. Brushing off her palms, she clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and concentrated. They all waited a moment, slightly concerned at the appearance of sweat between her eyebrows, until she finally released her breath and opened her eyes again. She unwrapped the bandage and turned her palm toward Liriel.
"All better, see?" The rogue cocked an eyebrow and nodded. She grabbed some of the tea and washed down her bread before acknowledging it further.
"Uh huh."
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The afternoon passed by for them uneventfully. Despite their refreshed outlook, they were disappointed to find that nothing even potentially criminal cropped up. Aside from the eastern slips having fewer patrols and remaining much less populated than the rest of the wharf, nothing obvious crossed their sights.
When the sun slipped behind the edges of Marisfall's bowl, Elara signaled them all from the roof once again. Back on the boardwalk, they huddled together in the same alley.
"If he's planning on running, they've lost the tide." She gestured out toward the empty berths. "He's not going anywhere for several hours." Crestfallen, they finished the last of the cold tea and packed up.
"Sorry about that." Eya said as she hoisted the crate. "I'm not exactly an expert on this kind of stuff." Kael took the crate from her and led the way back up the wharf. Liriel gave her a light shove as they walked.
"Don't sweat it Cherry, just means we get to slog around the sewers some more." She sardonically teased the cleric. Elara interrupted her chiding and squeezed Eya's shoulder.
"It was the best lead we had. Besides, these things never go smoothly."
Eya took the remains of their lunch back from Kael and headed toward one of the market stalls that was closing up for the evening. She returned the crate, urn, and cups to the vendor and chatted with him while her group waited. Her animated conversation with the bronze dragonborn took longer than a simple goodbye and the adventurers began to get restless. When she turned and joined them, the friendly man in simple linen pants and vest waved to them. Theron eagerly waved back and Kael did as well, but with some hesitation and confusion.
"That's Valdros, he appreciated your compliments." Eya said as she passed them. She looked back over her shoulder and continued walking toward the gate. "He said if you come by tomorrow he'll cut you a deal on the shrimp."
"Oh hells yes we'll be back tomorrow!" Theron practically leapt to her side and the group made their way back up the hill. Kael spoke up from behind them.
"Seems like you know everyone in this city." She turned around and walked lazily backwards up the path.
"He's got the sweetest boy. They caught almost everything you ate earlier in that little skiff." Eya gestured down to the distant north end of the wharf. Her voice hushed and she leaned toward the aasimar. "Poor kid once had the worst case of wyrmscale pox I'd ever seen. Awful stuff, but he's better now." Distracted, her heel caught a loose stone and she stumbled but managed to catch herself. She cleared her throat and turned around, trying to ignore the slip up.
As they emerged from the gate and stood at the intersection, Elara reached out suddenly and stopped Eya dead in her tracks. Before Eya could say anything, the ranger shushed her and pointed into the thinning foot traffic.
"Son of a..." Kael mumbled under his breath and Eya finally caught why.
Garven Duskridge was working his way through the intersection...headed right back in the direction of the Crooked Compass. All four of them turned to Liriel at the rear. The rogue watched their target saunter toward his usual watering hole with a look of shock and irritation. Finally, she threw her hands up in exasperation.
"Well how was I supposed to know he's a slaver and an idiot? Those two things usually cancel out!"