Eya looked around the street as she emerged, peering through the waning foot traffic to find her companions. Nothing stood out immediately; just a few people closing up their shops, walking home, or navigating to one of the nicer bars. Liriel joined her shortly after, and stood silently behind her. The cleric turned and looked up at the rogue. She opened her mouth to ask where the others went, but Theron's deep chuckling emerged from around the left side of the building. The pair turned and followed his laughter toward the alley.
Rounding the corner, Eya nearly ran into a lanky young man with dark, greasy hair. He was turning to say goodbye to Theron and hadn't seen her standing there. After an awkward bump, they exchanged apologies and she gestured toward the dwarf.
"You know Theron?" She asked, amazed that the wizard seemed to be able to make friends so easily.
"No!" The young man smiled absently. "But he's been giving me the best advice tonight. Really gave me a lot to think about, y'know?" She smiled and nodded along.
"Oh yeah? That's wonderful! I just met him the other day but he seems like a real smart cookie." They both started to get animated and distracted.
"Truely," he said enthusiastically, "I think I'm actually going to head back up north now and go help my parents out on their fishing boat. He made such a great case for it too. I'm Byron, by the way." He held out his hand to her and she took it eagerly.
"Alia," she answered, "and that sounds like a wonderful idea. Would you like the Everlight's blessing for your trip?" He shrugged and smiled wide.
"I have no idea who that is, but sure!" Eya placed a hand on his shoulder with a giggle-snort. She closed her eyes and prayed with an amused smile.
"Everlight, keep Byron in your gaze as he makes his way home. Protect him and guide him, so his family may accept him as you accept and renew us all." As she spoke, Byron felt something unfamiliar flow through him. A divine spark, a warmth that just confirmed that his new friend's advice was the right decision.
"Thank you!" They exchanged farewells and Eya moved on deeper into the alley. She was unsure why Theron seemed to be so amused by the whole exchange. She was also unsure why Liriel, who had watched the entire conversation, was uncharacteristically silent.
The last members of their group now present, they all huddled around Garven's sleeping form. He was seated, propped up behind a crate against the side of the pub. Elara looked up to Liriel and smirked while she buttoned up her cloak.
"I heard it went smoothly." She held out her hand. Liriel deposited a silver coin as she walked past with a distracted look. "No comment?" The ranger chided her, but she kept walking as if deep in thought.
Theron walked over to Elara, muttering an incantation to himself and contemplating a seagull feather he'd picked up off the ground. Without breaking stride, he reached up and tapped her on the forehead.
"Boop." He said as he kept moving toward Garven. Elara crossed her eyes and looked up at her own forehead, wiping it confusedly before looking at her hand. Theron approached the unconscious slaver and rapped his knuckles against the man's forehead without the gentle playfulness that Elara had gotten. "Boop." He repeated, deadpan. He then walked over to Kael and held up a hand, unable to reach the aasimar's forehead. He cleared his throat and waited.
"You do remember that I can just..." Kael made an 'up-and-over' gesture toward the wall. "Right?" Theron cast a mildly annoyed look at his partner.
"Oh aye, I forgot the part of our plan tha' called for ya to draw even more attention to us." He left his hand up and waited. Kael rolled his eyes, leaned down, and tapped his forehead against the dwarf's hand. "Boop." Theron finished and crushed the seagull feather in his fist with a brief flash of arcane energy. When he opened his hand again, it was reduced to ash. Elara and Kael nodded to each other and picked up Garven under his armpits.
"Now what?" Kael asked. Elara pointed upward with her free hand.
"Yeah, how do we, y'know...?" Theron looked at the three of them and shrugged.
"Hell if I know, think happy thoughts or some shite." He turned and offered his arm to Eya, who took it happily. Liriel tailed behind them.
"Wait, you've never done this before?" Kael's voice rang out toward the departing members. Theron stopped and turned back to him.
"I'm a dwarf, Shiny. Why in the name of Moradin's big, swingin' All-Hammer would I willingly do somethin' like tha'?" He shook his head and looked up at Eya. "He's got a good heart but sometimes I swear he's got cotton 'twixt his ears." She chuckled at the wizard and they departed into the street to make their way around.
Kael looked at his partner, but Elara just offered him an amused smirk and a shrug. He shook his head, looked skyward, and thought Up. It took another minute of coordinated learning, but the three of them soon drifted up and over the wall, gliding silently down toward the wharf.
Eya turned to her companion and patted his arm. "Did I hear you two start singing when you went into the basement? You've got a wonderful voice, what song was that?" Theron's deep belly laugh echoed down the dark street.
"Oh lass, tha' was a classic Uthodurn folk song." He turned to her, eager to share the stories of his home. "It's a lovely tale about a dwarf, two sweet elf girls, and a blue ribbon. Would ya like me to sing it for ya?" A small rock bounced off of the back of his head and drew a flinch from him.
"Absolutely not." Liriel finally spoke up from behind.
"Aww, why not?" Eya asked, looking between the two of them. Theron snorted and tossed his head back.
"Daggers was born with a rare congenital condition. No sense of humor or whimsy. Very sad, very tragic."
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When the trio was within sight of the wharf's entry gate, Eya leaned over and whispered to Theron.
"Hey, tell me a joke, quick!" Theron looked at the two guards and then back up at her.
"I cannae jus' whip it out like tha'! It's an art, it's organic! It's-" She pouted at him. "Fuck it. Did I tell ya about the flock of cows we saw on the way into Marisfall?" Eya screwed up her face.
"Umm...herd of cows?" She asked.
"Ah course I heard of cows, we saw a whole flock of them on the way here." He waggled his eyebrows furiously for effect. She just stared at him as they got closer and closer to the gate. The two guards noticed them approaching and curiously watched them.
Eya snorted loudly and doubled over laughing when the punchline hit. Liriel groaned as if her appendix had just burst. By the time they had closed the distance to the gate, the cleric was red-faced and crying. She let go of Theron's arm and staggered over to one guard, laughing hysterically.
"Sister Alia?" The woman asked, intrigued. "Getting the night started?" She nodded and wiped her eyes.
"Oh, Mara! I didn't know you were working this end now. Just touring about with some new friends, showing them the sights. When do you get off?" The guard shook her head and sighed.
"Not till dawn, we just got on." She then leaned in toward Eya and whispered. "Hey...do you have any more of that stuff? For my toe? It's back." Eya winced in sympathy and dug into her satchel.
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She handed the guard a small cluster of oily green leaves.
"I don't have any prepared, but if you mash these into a paste and put it on with a wrap while you sleep, it should do the trick until I can make some more." The guard nodded and accepted the herbs.
"Thanks Alia, you're a life saver." She spoke up again and gestured through the gate. "Enjoy your night, Sister, try to stay out of trouble please. And don't let Brennan see you down there, alright?" Eya rolled her eyes and swayed dramatically back to Theron's waiting arm.
"Ugh...it was one time!" She called back. As the three of them made their way back down to the docks again, Liriel's sharp ears picked up the guards conversing.
"How does a dwarf get two ladies like that on his arm?" The other guard asked, his voice carrying the high pitch of youth.
"Didn't you hear her?" The woman answered. "He makes 'em laugh. I keep telling you, you just need to relax." Down the path, Liriel slumped theatrically and pictured exciting new ways to torment Theron.
They arrived at the warehouse without running into anyone on the eerily desolate eastern arm of the boardwalk. Liriel found Elara's missing board in the wall and slipped inside after Eya and Theron. Kael turned to look at the noise, holding a single oil lamp aloft.
"This is all we found for light in here." He explained. Theron and Eya each set about casting a Light cantrip on two pieces of random debris. The three light sources were enough to light up their little corner of the abandoned building. Eya looked around and took in the scene. Piles of nautical detritus, abandoned furniture, broken furniture, and crates of skeletonized seafood were randomly scattered about. Kael's judgement seemed to be spot on, no one had been in here in months. "Also, problem." Kael interrupted her observations.
"Problem?" Liriel asked, arms crossed.
"Problem." Elara elaborated. "Our source is going to sleep through his own interrogation." Garven sat, tied to a chair in the center of the lit area. She yanked up on his shaggy hair to raise his face. His eyes were rolling about under half-closed lids and a line of drool dangled from his lips.
"Ah farts, guys. How much did you give him?" Eya rushed in and began looking him over. She pried one of his eyelids open and the eye underneath lolled around, unfocused.
"Might've slipped and given him the whole thing." Liriel emerged from the darkness and handed her the empty glass container. "But it's just a potion of sleepiness, right?" Eya sighed and rolled her eyes at the rogue's insinuation.
"Fine, here." She stood up straight, put one hand on Garven's head, and closed her eyes. She concentrated, murmuring a prayer under her breath. In the dim illumination, the others saw a golden glow pulsate under her palm. A moment later, the slaver snapped awake with a jolt. Eya backed away in a hurry and clutched her staff to herself with both hands. Kael walked up behind her and clapped her on the shoulder.
"Nice job, what'd you do?" He asked, approaching Garven. Eya waved her hand dismissively.
"Nothing special, just a basic Protection from Poi-" She looked over at Liriel, who had a dangerous smirk plastered across her face. "...Potions spell."
"I don't know who the fuck you all are, but you're so far beyond fucked you couldn't find it with a map. You might want to hop on the first boat outta here tomorrow, give yourselves a head start." Garven's sneering bravado pierced the darkness. He looked toward Elara and chuckled. "You couldn't buy your way outta this cock-up." He looked to Liriel. "You might be able to, if you can put on a good show." He then set his eyes on Eya. "And you...you're gonna wish you nev-" His head flew back when Liriel's fist smashed his nose.
"Quiet, grownups are talking." She spat at him disdainfully. "I fucking hate it when they monologue." Kael walked up next to her and the pair considered their captive. Elara pulled Eya and Theron toward a crate under the oil lamp. She had spread out the papers recovered from the basement, having arranged them to the best of her ability.
"Let's see if we can get anything from these while they work on him." She pondered the collection and Theron leaned in close. Eya leaned in as well and furrowed her brow.
"It's in common but...none of it makes sense." Theron grunted while he scanned the lists and tables on the documents.
"Prevents magical decryption." He said absently. "If they'd tried using an ancient language or even some substitution ciphers I could suss it out with some soot and salt...but translating this gobbledygook will just get me magical gobbledygook. Admittedly, its pretty smart for a bunch of human-shaped piles of otyugh crap." While they worked, Kael addressed Garven.
"Look, we're not here to take on your whole crew. We were hired to find one kid. Give him up and we can all go our separate ways." The aasimar kept his arms crossed over his broad chest and kept his tone measured and reasonable. Garven leaned back and launched a gob of spit that landed on his chest plate.
"You're all dead, you just don't know it yet." He glowered back. Liriel leaned in and sniffed at the wet splat on Kael's armor. She curled her lip in disgust and looked back at the slaver.
"Why's it smell like your crotch? How flexible are you??" Garven sneered back at her, though he couldn't hide the fact that her implied insult had landed.
"Fuck you elf." Liriel's own sneer melted into a dangerously oily smile. She stepped away and kicked another old crate up next to him.
"Tell you what...let's start things off with a joke, yeah? A half-elf walks into a pub and she sees a sack of crap sitting there. She sits next to him and says 'You're never gonna believe this job I landed! They even gave me a fat advance in gold!' anyway I forget the rest of the setup but the punchline is I beat you with a sock full of gold coins until it stops being funny. Ha! Get it?" He glared at her, so she shrugged. "Well, I guess you'll have to be there, crapsack." Elara came over and dragged her away by the hand.
"Come on, give us a hand with these and let Kael work." Liriel followed, but threw a glare back at their captive.
"See you soon, dick-breath."
Kael then moved her makeshift seat around to face Garven. He pulled out a rag from his back pocket and cleaned off his armor. After making sure the spot was gone, he considered the rag again and tossed it into the other debris with a hint of disgust.
"As I said, we're here for a kid. Thing is, we stand to make a good amount from this- so we're not leaving without him." Garven rolled his head and groaned in annoyance.
"Spare me the 'it's just business' crap. You shoulda thought about that before you carved up my boys back there. Never mind that shit that went down in the sewer last night. Word is, Maruk wants your fuckin' heads for that. Not a position I'd want to be in... So cut the crap, choir boy. There are bar maids in this city more intimidating than you playing at being an interrogator." Garven then sat back, satisfied with himself. Kael shook his head and put his hand up.
"This? I apologize, this isn't an interrogation. This is them humoring me," he pointed back at the others, "letting me check if you'll see reason first. No, the interrogation won't start until my dark friend back there gets to exorcise her own demons on you first." He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward again. "So what'll it be?" The slaver looked back and forth between Kael and the others. He scoffed again.
"Go hide behind your lady friends. Not like you're gonna be able to protect them when my crew gets their hands on them..." His predatory grin pierced Kael, and the aasimar felt a familiar call echo up through his blood.
Back at the meeting of the minds, Liriel was able to confirm it was a cipher, and that the tables appeared to be a manifest of some sort. Theron brightened up at that.
"Ah, of course...they're using farming implements to stand in for their cargo- err...captives I mean. Look, hand tools, agricultural supplies, feed...I'll bet with enough time we could figure out which ones represent what people." Elara nodded, but her tone remained dark.
"We may not have time to work it all out, it looks like they're gathering up their 'farming implements' for transport. We need to figure-" A wet crunching sound came from behind them, accompanied by a grunt and a pained groan. Kael walked up a moment later and nodded to Liriel while he wiped off his fist on a scrap of sailcloth.
"You're up." He said simply. The rogue smiled semi-sarcastically.
"Aww Kael, I didn't even get you anything." She immediately departed and Elara picked up where she left off.
"We need to figure out when and where the transp-" She was cut off again by Liriel, behind them.
"Hey dick-breath, fancy meeting you here! Let's dance." Her greeting was followed by another wet crunch. Eya winced at the sound, but concentrated on Elara's words and spoke up.
"We need to just intercept it, right? We can just grab everyone and find Jory when we're safe?" She looked at them hopefully. Elara nodded at her and she smiled. "I like that plan, we'll help a lot more people by the looks of it." The ranger patted her arm.
"Me too, but we need to hurry. This could be going down at any time and we have no idea where or how. For all we know, it might not be a ship. They could be trying to move them out with a trade caravan."
"Out of a port city? Tha' feels like the hard way." Theron spoke up while keeping his nose buried in one of the documents. Liriel walked up behind them and wiped her fist on the same scrap of sailcloth.
"It's the last place I'd look." She shrugged. Kael looked at her, his surprise at her presence was evident.
"You're done already?" He asked. She dropped the sailcloth back in its pile and smirked.
"Hells no. I just wanted to check: What's the feel for me cutting on this crapsack? Just a little." Eya looked horrified, Elara shrugged, and Kael's head dropped.
"No." The aasimar said, but Liriel shot him an incredulous look. "Not...yet." He acceded, and she seemed to accept that. As she walked away, she stopped and turned back again.
"What about cutting things off this crapsack?" Eya gagged and Kael spun around.
"No! Really?" The rogue put up her hands and continued back to her 'exorcism'.
"I've got good news and bad news, dick-breath!"