Pillars - wizard's tower
Chapter 1: Battle's End
As the red wizard fell, Inman doubled over, grabbing his knees, coughing to expel the gas from his lungs. Having fought by his side, Nevil drew closer, holding a hand to his shoulder, using her mace as a crutch, while she gasped for breath as well. I can't breathe. Thank the goddess for Atalaya.
"Inman sputtered between coughs, "Maggie...I... can't..." She searched him for injury, taking a knee, parting his hair with her fingers, to see his pale face beaded with sweat, and blood at the corners of his mouth. No, shit, I can't lose him… Sliding her other hand to his chest, she locked eyes with him as she began to heal him. "Breathe, just breathe," she choked out. Her own breathing ragged as her body heaved with restrained coughing.
After a moment, the two stood, just looking at each other, still absorbing the weight of the moment. It's ok, we are ok… Tears began to fall from the corner of Nevil's eyes as she brushed blood from Inman’s lips. "You can't do that to me. That was too close.”
"I'm alright, Maggie," he says softly, his voice scoured. He spits into the corder and clears his throat. "I'm alright. We're good." He brushes the tears from her eyes. "You won't be rid of me that easily." He shakes his head and takes a deep, cleansing breath. "Cloudkill's a nasty one, though. Are you alright?"
“I'm better now,” Nevil barks through coughs, placing her hand on his chest.
Atalaya gives the wizard’s body a nudge with her toe as she coughs to clear her lungs of the poison. When it appears that she is truly dead, she leans in and pulls out the arrows. Keeping the intact one, she shakes her head at first and then breaks off the arrowhead, which she keeps. She tosses the split shaft to the side. Looking up she sees Nevil and Inman coughing. Realizing that Inman looks really hurt she makes her way over to them.
“Let me help you, she says as she lays her hand on Inman’s shoulder and casts Cure Wounds. She feels her hand warm briefly as the healing energy moves through it to Inman. While he looks a little better to her, she still doesn’t like how he looks.
Nevil watches Atalaya healing Inman with conflicted watering eyes. I want to heal him... but I'm running low on strength. If we encounter another wizard... but he could die in the next battle if I don't... we all could…
Opening her pouch of Goodberries she pulls out two handfuls of them and watches carefully as he eats them. After about ten berries he seems more like himself, although all three of them still have occasional moments of coughing.
Nevil looks a bit more relieved but still watches Inman closely, ignoring her own discomfort.
“Rest here for a bit. We can take care of the aftermath of this encounter,” Atalaya says as she helps him to a slightly more comfortable seated position. She eases his pack off his back and positions it as a backrest. “Just sit here for a bit.”
Cirilli has made her way into the room and Atalaya motions her to come and sit with Inman. “Keep him still please,” she requests.
Cirilli looks around the room and her eyes fixate on the dead wizard. “What are those marks on her head?” she asks Inman.
Inman looks over at the wizard and then turns his attention back to Cirilli. Inman explains that they have to do with mind control and antimagic fields. He adds that warriors have markings to make them easier to control (they don’t do magic). On the Red Wizard they were most likely for protection.
Atalaya, Vaz and Nevil loot the bodies and recover the rest of the spent arrows. They find another 40 gold pieces on the captain and more of the silvery pearls. Atalaya removes the Thayan pendant and what appears to be the wizards magical focus and places them in the bag of holding.
Finding nothing more of note on the bodies or in the room itself, they make their way back to Inman and Cirilli.
“We need to rest,” says Atalaya.
While she has regained her breath, Nevil looks ragged. "I agree, we can't take another battle like that in this state." Nevil adds, " we should clear this room and perhaps return to check on our "guest" and take a short rest and some nourishment?" At least the other room was designed for habitation."
“What do you think”, she asks, gesturing toward the metallic crab, "he's not going anywhere."
“It shouldn’t, as long as no one else enters through the water. I think moving up to Arcadianus’ living quarters is a good idea. We can close and block the doors into the room. And we don’t want to leave that sea captain alone for too long. We haven’t really questioned him and should do that before too long. We haven’t tended to his wounds either, and I guess we need to do that, since we accepted his surrender. Not going to use any magical healing on him, but I can at least clean and bind his wounds.
Atalaya looks around the room again, to make sure nothing is going to be left. Seeing the captain’s scimitar and dagger she picks them up and places them in her bag of holding.
Chapter 2: Recovery and Surgery
“Let’s go.” Atalaya hefts her backpack onto her shoulders and looks over at the metal crab again before heading to the door. Listening for any sounds of movement, she starts her way up the stairs with the others following. Peeking into the room she sees no one and continues up and into the room. She waits for everyone else to enter.
While Cirilli and Boz secure the door the group originally entered by, Nevil clears the parts of the room hidden from immediate view over by the fireplace and behind the table with the second set of stairs. Oh, this place still smells of burnt flesh and rubber. Thank goodness this is a short rest.
Atalaya watches Vasilya and Cirilli securing t[he door, she helps them push the desk in front of the door. She then lifts the trapdoor and recovers the opening for the spiral stairs. Afterward she pulls the rug back over it.
Inman begins inspecting the serviceability of the hearth. He looks up the chimney and checks for the draw of air. Running his hand over the base of the hearth he can still feel the remnants of heat and the walls are not soot stained. He finds a few rags and spare pieces of wood among the refuse in the room. Placing them in the fireplace he stokes the coals and uses a cantrip to light a small fire. He then opens his pack, digs out a small kettle and begins to heat water.
He looks to Nevil across the room, and the two exchange knowing glances. Nevil nods, then Inman places the poker in the flame. Let's hope we don't need it. This group is too dangerous to exclude options.
Closing the door to the straight stairs and sliding the wooden table on top. Well that's about as good as we can do. Nevil turns back to Atalaya, "shall we check on our guest?" The two approach the door and open it.
Atalaya waits for Nevil to be ready with her morningstar and then opens the pantry door. Looking in, she sees the glaring eyes of the captain as he starts struggling again to pull out of the ropes binding his hands and binding him to the chair. Atalaya pats him on the shoulder as a wicked taunting smile crosses her face. “Let’s get you out of there, shall we,” she murmurs in his ear and then spins the chair around and drags it from the cupboard tilted backwards on the back two legs of the chair and brings him to the center of the kitchen area, near the kitchen table, but not at the table. The captain looks rough. His wounds had not been tended to prior to our stuffing him into the pantry. Several swallow gashes across his body and arms were still bleeding slowly and the places that Nevils morningstar had hit were already starting to bruise. His wrists were also bloody from where he had tried to break free of his bonds. Atalaya shook her head. “You are a mess. You just wait here a few minutes and maybe we can see about helping you out a bit.”
Atalaya moves to the sink area and runs some cold water and gratefully washes her hands and then throws some of the freshwater on her face to wipe the sweat and zombie nastiness off. She finds a rag to wipe the table with and then opening her pack, she pulls out some trail rations of bacon, cheese, bread, some apples and her canteen of water. She then calls everyone over to the table to eat.
Cirilli comes over to the table and tears off a piece of the bread and looks over the bacon picking out 2 “perfect” pieces. She sits down on the bench on the opposite side of the table and watches the prisoner as she eats. Finally she leans over and asks Atalaya, “Aren’t we going to heal him? He’s bleeding.”
Atalaya places her hand over Cirilli’s. “Yes. Of course we will take care of his wounds. We can’t use any healing spells right now. We don’t know what else we are going to face today, but we can bind his wounds and I’ll do that in a moment. And then we can have a friendly conversation with him.”
Inman brews some coffee and sits on a stool with his back to the fire, facing the back of the still bound capitan. Nevil brings Inman some dried meat and bread. He eats while he watches the captive closely. We have to be careful what we say. So much silence.
Nevil pours two cups of coffee, adds another small log to the fire, and refills the kettle. She passes by Inman, handing him a cup on the way back to the table. She offers the second cup to Boz, who looks quite pleased. “The kettle is small, Atalaya, we are next.”
Nevil remains standing as she nibbles on the provisions, her stomach is unsettled from nerves, replaying the moments with the previous battle. She stares coldly at the capitan as she fails to look relaxed. I want him to think I hate him. Sorrow is not here to play the heavy hand. I don't think Atalaya could stomach it and I don’t think Boz would do it in front of her or Cirilli… Cirilli, fuck she's going to have to leave if this goes dark. This whole thing is too much for her.
After a few minutes, she returns to the coffee kettle, glaring at the captain as she passes. She pours the last two cups, returning to present Atalaya with her cup. Standing beside her, “If you can suffer black coffee.”
Atalaya reaches for the coffee, a genuine smile crossing her face. “I can. I prefer it with sweeteners and cream or milk when I can get them, but when I can’t… Any coffee is better than none.
Atalaya finishes eating and then goes back to her pack and pulls out a healing kit. Looking through the materials she gathers up some of the clean linen bindings, suturing items, a clean cloth for washing and some soap. Taking out her dagger, she walks over to the sailor and cuts off his shirt. “Well you are a mess, aren’t you,” she remarks to the sailor as she looks him over. Finding a large bowl amongst what must have been left by the Thayans and the demon woman, she fills it with water and turns to the tied up man. Choosing the worst of the slashes she quickly and efficiently cleans the wound and noting that it probably needs stitching moves on to the next. The others seem like they can be cleaned and bound without the need for stitching. Atalaya does so. Cirilli comes over and watches as Atalaya works. Atalaya, deciding that this can be a teaching moment, starts to clinically describe what she is doing and shows her the difference in the depth of the slashes explaining why the one will need to be stitched to heal. She is paying no attention to the sailor as she works, ignoring any sounds he makes.
Noting the blood and slashed clothing on his leg she takes her dagger and cuts off the pant leg several inches above the wound and looks at it. Cleaning it more carefully than the others she points out, “See Cirilli. This is deep like the other slash, but it didn’t manage to cut the main artery in the leg. He’s lucky or he would have bleed to death by now. This mostly cut into his muscle. But see the bruising. I think one of Nevil’s blows landed here. That is going to complicate the healing. We will do the best we can, but I don’t know…” Atalaya continues to clean the area. “This is going to leave a scar.”
“Nevil, have you helped someone suture before?”
Nevil walks by the table grabbing some dried fruit and cheese with her shield hand. She pops it into her mouth as she walks over. Her shield hand and forearm are the cleanest spot on her having been guarded from splashes and sprays of battle. While Nevil had wiped a clean swath through the grime and blood on her face earlier, the sweat and water have rinsed trails of filth down her neck and tunic. She laughs while walking over, "Yes, but only when I was the one being sutured. Why are you giving lessons?"
“Atalaya laughed. “No, but I was hoping for someone to help me. This will be easier if someone can hand me things as I am working. I think I am still going to press you into service for this. Looking at Nevil’s hands she adds, “Why don’t you wash your hands and get them as clean as you can. I think I’ll do the same, and then we can start.” Atalaya heads back to the sink and washes the blood from the captain’s wounds off her hands. Drying them she heads back over to the man. Looking down at him, her face softens slightly for the first time since starting to work on him.
“These two slashes need to be sewn if they are to heal. It will hurt, there is no getting around that. And I don’t carry alcohol with me when I’m working. She looks over at Vasilya and Inman. “Do either of you have any ale or wine with you?”
Both Inman and Vasilya shake their heads.
“Well, I didn’t think that you would, but I had to ask.”
Nevil snarls as she washes her hands as instructed from across the room, “No, no ale for him. He can take the stitches plain and be thankful.”
Turning to look at the captain she gives him a long look. “I’m sorry. This is going to hurt, but as you know it has to be done. Biting down on your gag will help you control the pain.”
She turns to Nevil. “Will you get some of the boiling water and pour it into a clean bowl? Swirl it around and dump it and then fill it again and bring it to the table here near me.”
As Nevil hurries to do that, Atalaya looks at the captain again. “I’ll give you the choice of which wound you want me to sew up first. Your leg or your side? You can show me by tapping your other foot. One time for your leg and twice for your side.” She waits for a response from the captain. He looks at her with fire in his eyes, but finally she sees a single tap. Atalaya nods and takes the sewing needle and the coil of sinew and places both in the boiling water.
As she waits she turns to Cirilli. We need to sew these closed. It is a good skill to learn as there is not always clerical or magical healing available after a fight, as is the case right now. You may choose to watch or not. Not everyone wants to learn healing skills. It’s a hard thing to do at times. Our captive is lucky that I chose to learn as much from my mother as I did.” Smiling to herself she adds, “Actually he is lucky my mother forced me to learn as much as I did.”
Cirilli looks scared, but remains near Atalaya. “I… I will try to watch.”
Atalaya gently lifts Cirilli’s chin so that their eyes meet. You don’t have to. If you start feeling dizzy, sit down on the bench by Inman. Or if your vision starts fading away, sit with Inman. I had both types of reactions as I started watching my mother.” Cirilli solemnly nods her understanding.
Taking a mug and scooping up some of the boiling water, she pours it over both sides of her dagger and brings it back to the table. Using the dagger blade she fishes out a piece of the sinew and works it gently with her fingers. “You want the sinew to be softened so that it can bend easily as you pull in through the flesh and make the knots,” she says, maybe to Nevil and Cirilli or maybe to herself. She separates the strands of sinew, putting all but one of them back into the water. Again, she uses her knife, this time to help slide the needle out of the hot water. Showing it to Cirilli, “The needle is curved like a fishhook. It makes it easier to control as you pierce the flesh on one side of the wound and then come back up and out on the other side.” Threading it, she looks to Nevil. “Alright. He’s tied to the chair, which will help keep his leg still. But I need you to help hold it still. Vaz, come stand behind the chair. I don’t want it to tip over while I’m working.”
Atalaya waits as they get into position and then asks, “Are you ready, Nevil? And questions?”
Nevil stands near the side of the chair and draws close menacingly. "Glad to help," she said gruffly." While Nevil's position looked awkward, it was exceedingly effective. Nevil places a knee on the top of the man's thigh, placing herself chest to chest, her body weight on his leg. If he struggled she could hug him into the chair. This is going to hurt at first, but with luck the nerve will deaden from compression. This left Nevil to lord over the man, staring deep into his eyes, "Ready, take as long as you need to make it perfect." While he suffers, Nevil does her best to feign heartlessness. I am glad Atalaya and Cirilli can not see my face through this. She looks up. But Inman and Boz can.
Atalaya takes a deep breath, pinches the skin together and says, “Bite now,” as she pushes the curved needle into the flesh on one edge of the slash. Quickly pushing it back up through the other edge she forms a knot and using the dagger, cuts the sinew. She mutters to herself. “One done, many to go.” She feels the leg tense beneath her hands as the sailor readies himself for the next stitch. Knowing that dragging the process out won’t help anyone, herself included, Atalaya continues on, working swiftly, but still taking care to get good closure. The pressure from Nevil’s knee makes it a little harder to hold the wound closed, but it did seem to stop most of the bleeding. Finally finishing, she looks up, to see Cirilli still present but with a very pale looking face.
“Sit down Cirilli. Sit with Inman before you black out and fall down.” Her voice gentled, “You have done well child, but you need to learn your limits. Sit for now.” She then turned her attention back to the leg and the sailor. “How’s he doing, Nevil? Is he still with us?” she asked as she reached for a bandage to wrap around his leg.
Nevil released her pressure on the man. "He's barely hanging on, but he's got some fight." As she stepped to the side, his head rolled, and sweat poured down his face. Nevil turned her back to the man, and her expression changed. The hint of pained fatigue showed. God I hate this. She looked at Atalaya, "let's get his side done. How do you want to do that one?"
“Damn. I wish he had passed out. That would make this much easier.” Atalaya reached for her coffee mug. Finding it empty she looked longingly at Inman. Inman, correctly reading her glance, quickly poured her some more of the hot bitter brew. Atalaya sipped thankfully as she studied the slash. “It’s longer than the other, but there isn’t all the damage from the morningstar that the other had.” Atalaya experimentally tried to hold the slash together with one hand and absently shook her head.
“Nevil, I need you to hold the skin as close together as you can, right here.” Atalaya indicates where she wants Nevil to hold. As I get the sutures tied, you need to work your hand towards the end of the slash. Vaz, I need you to continue to brace the chair.” Atalaya looks at Nevil. “Can you do this? And are you ready? Vaz, are you ready?”
Vaz nods grimly. “As ready as I’m going to be.”
Atalaya returns her gaze to Nevil, taking another sip of the coffee as she waits for her answer. Seeing the captive trying to look at her, she grimaced. “I’m sorry mister. It would have been better for you if you had passed out. Don’t fight it, if you feel that coming on. It will be easier for you.” Looking at Vasilya’s position, she moved his hands slightly on the man’s shoulders. “Try to keep him as still as you can.”
“Ready Nevil?”
Nevil gathered herself, then turned with a stoic expression to the half-conscious man, placing herself as instructed. "Yes, let’s get this done.”
Threading another piece of sinew, Atalaya took a deep breath and reached for the edge of the slash. This is just one of the many reasons I didn’t want to be the healer my mother wanted me to be. May all the gods and goddesses help me get this finished quickly. Atalaya tested the first knot, releasing her hold on the man’s skin and hoping that the suture would not tear through the skin. She noted pressure, but it did not pull through the skin. Nodding to herself, “Yes, that should hold when the next stitches are made,” She moved on to the next stitch, forcing herself to not listen to the groan coming from her patient. After placing several sutures, she looked at Nevil. “Okay, ease your hands back a bit.” After Nevil repositioned her hold on the cut, Atalaya continued to sew the wound closed, knot by knot. After repositioning Nevil’s hands several times, she was finally reaching the end of the slash. She had not heard any groans or felt any movement of the man’s body for several stitches. “Okay, you can let go, Nevil. I’ve got the rest of this.” Atalaya completed the last several stitches and as she cut the sinew to complete the last suture, she sighed. “It’s done. Thank the goddess.”
Fishing the last of the sinew out of the water, she coiled it and set it on the table to dry and stiffen in the coiled position. Using the water of the now empty bowl she rinsed the blood off the needle and then off her hands. Sinking onto the bench, her whole body started to shake. “Inman, will you clean this bowl, add more of the boiling water and put the needle into it? I’ll put it away later.”
Nevil looked blankly at Atalaya, "as soon as he's awake again we start our "chat." Let's hope that's not as hard." Then she turned and took several moments to herself at the other side of the room.
Atalaya nodded to Nevil. “We need to rest. I hope he stays out for a long while.”
“Cirilli, please watch our ‘guest’. Let me know when he comes to.” Pushing herself into standing Atalaya looked around for a place away from everyone. Wearily she said, “Vaz, I need you,” as she stumbled across the room.
He gets up and sweeps an arm around her shoulders. "Come, sit. Rest." He settles her into a chair and kisses the top of her head. "Good job."
Atalaya huddles into him as they sit, her body still trembling slightly as she fights to regain her equilibrium. She whispers so that only Vasilya can hear her. “What if I did something wrong? What if I should have sutured more of the slashes? … I never wanted this responsibility. I chose to walk away from this life. … What happens if I didn’t do the right things?” Atalaya grows silent as she feels Vasilya’s arms tighten around her at her words.
Inman approaches Nevil, holding a cup of coffee in one hand, he draws his free hand around her shoulder. She turns into the embrace and leans her head on his chest for a moment of peace. This part was never easy.
Pulling back, and taking the cup of coffee, Nevil whispers close to Inman "... It's been a while since we've done this work together... I need help... walking a thin line. You know there is a strong likelihood that this man has information that we need for our mission and apparently also for the security of the realm." Nevil pauses to sip the coffee, "Atalaya and Cirilli have no capacity to apply pressure... Boz maybe... " I hope he understands and does not judge me.
"For as much as I detest him, I can not hurt this man without cause; however, if his words are not helpful and show his continued wickedness... there is a greater good in this case that frees me from this obligation." There is a detached darkness in Nevil's eyes that Inman has rarely seen. [we can Blackbox it if it goes that direction].
"He will be most stressed after what we have just done. If the zone of truth fails in combination with Atalaya's soft approach... Can you walk the line with me?"
"I don't think it will come to that," Boz says. "We have means other than brute force."
"Sorrow." Boz turns from where he is sitting with Atalaya and intones the name. "We can always take him back to the ship. Sorrow can be very persuasive." He raises an eyebrow.
Atalaya finally raises her head enough to look towards the others. “We’ve applied enough brute force for the day. You are not going to undo all the work I just did. If we can’t get him to talk and Sorrow can’t get him to talk, we can take him back to Riverport. We can get help there. Either from a cleric or some of Inman’s friends from his school.”
Nevil softens and looks relieved, "I truly hope so, because this is the best lead we may have." After a few more moments by Inman's side, Nevil walks to the table and sits for the first time, her legs facing away and towards the unconscious man. She bends over with her elbows on her knees, her hands before her with her fingers of one hand rubbing over the new leather prayer focus. Inman sits near.
After a moment of studying the man, Nevil looks a bit embarrassed, "I was a bit too eager to... Not the best example of my faith, but there is so much on the line…”
Atalaya looks over at Cirilli. “Are you still okay to keep watch?” Seeing her nod, Atalaya continues, “Thank you. If that man starts coming back to consciousness or you hear any noises outside of this room, anyone trying to get in, you let us know. We need to rest, or sleep if we can for a bit. We need to let the healing we have done have a chance to take hold and bolster us for whatever may come next.” Atalaya brings her meditation focus out of her pouch and squeezing Vasilya’s hand, moves off his lap to sit on the floor next to a wall. Slowly she visibly relaxes as her eyes close and she finds her way into her trance state.
Chapter 3: Interrogation
Time passes as the party rests in what had been the tower’s living quarters. Atalaya pulls herself out of trance when she hears Cirilli calling as she shakes her shoulder.
“Atalaya, Atalaya! He’s waking up,” she calls softly. Seeing Atalaya’s eyes open and the beginnings of a stretch she turns to the others in the room, making sure that they are awake and alert.
Atalaya looks around the room and finds Nevil, catches her eyes and nods towards the captive. Locking her gaze onto the captive she strides across the room and stands over him and takes in his appearance. He is sagging in his bonds, but his eyes are open and they followed her movements when she approached. Reaching out, she felt his pulse which sped up as she was taking it. Reassured by his pulse rate, she checked his forehead for fever, shaking her head slightly as she noted there was an increase in his temperature. That’s not unexpected. No real healing was done, no antiseptic used. I tried to clean out the wounds but… but I’m not a healer. He looks resigned, almost as if he is expecting the worst. I know that Nevil is ready to take a hard stance questioning him, but let’s see what he is willing to just give us first.
Atalaya stepped back slightly so that she could get a better view of his body posture and face during the coming questioning. “Care to tell us your name?” she asked.
“Captain Christopher Skarne of the Blade,” he responded.
Atalaya pressed, “and the woman that you were talking with?”
“That was Pencheska. I see no reason to lie to you,” he responded.
Atalaya held his gaze and pressed again, “and what is your business with her?
“Well, I owe her,” he replied.
“Well seeing that she abandoned you, she clearly has no loyalty to you. What is your business with her?” Atalaya pried as Nevil loomed menacingly against the wall.
“It's true, we have no loyalty to each other. So, I have no reason to lie when I say, piracy is what is going on. We are providing services.”
“We do a bit of smuggling,” he added. Then squinting his tired eyes, he takes a hard look at Boz. “I’ve seen you around the docks a good bit. You know what I mean.” He turns to Atalaya, “what are you doing with his sort?”
Atalaya responds calmly but defensively, “Reforming him.”
“Good luck,” he laughed.
“Where is your ship?” Atalaya asked to change the subject.
“The ship is offshore. We don’t keep the ships in.” He explained looking undaunted at Atalaya, “It will be around in a couple of days.” He looked over the rest of the group assessing their composition, “ and what ship are you with,” he asks with suspicious curiosity.
“Just a ship, it's not your concern.” Nevil tersely replies, stepping forward. Like hell we are going to give you information.
“Secrets huh. Alright.” He said, glaring at Nevil. “Is it the crown that sent you?”
Nevil slyly grins, “No, we are self-employed.”
“It's dangerous work you're in.” He retorted, raising a skeptical brow. “It's not wise to cross the Red Wizards.”
“We are well aware.” Nevil replied, gesturing to her bloodied attire. “If it’s SO dangerous, why do you work with them?” Really, you have no idea how aware we have become.
“Some of the pirates have discovered that the wizards have similar aims. We have a shared dislike for the kingdom.” He weakly grins, “and we want to be able to do our work without the interference.”
Nevil challenged with obvious disgust as she rolled a pearl between her fingers in front of his face, “the Red Wizards are bad enough… but you trade in human cargo.”
“There are none on the Blade at the moment.” He replies slyly. “No evidence, I’m afraid.”
“At the moment.” Nevil retorts, balling her fist in anger. “You didn't care to ask what fate awaited them on that little sandbar?”
“No, I didn't. Because I can grit my teeth and do what I have to do. Maybe turn a profit.” He adds.
“Allow us to tell you, Nevil responds.”
He shakes his head, “No, I don't want to know details.”
“They turn them and some ship’s crews into undead servants, Atalaya instructed, glaring at the man. He has to know that nothing good can come of leaving them on a tiny little spit of sand with not even a hut on it.
Nevil followed, “But we ended that operation. Freeing the souls turned and killing the sea witch in her den nested in the reef.”
“I don't want to know their workings. They are Red Wizards and I don’t want to get on their bad side.” He spits. “and you don't want to either.”
“It's a little too late for us.” Nevil offers.
“And it's in your best interest to help us if you want to survive this.” Atalaya added. Because, I don’t think that surviving the fight that took place here and then receiving medical care from the ‘enemy’ is going to go over very well with them.
“I knew you just patched me up for this talk,” He said with acceptance. “I assume you'll just slit my throat when we are done.”
“No, we just don't have the healing to spare right now. We will heal you fully on the ship.” Atalaya added. I would love to leave him like this, but he will be easier to care for until we can safely get rid of him if he isn’t about to die on us. Or need constant nursing.
He grunted with a nod. “They have more than one wizard in here.”
“We know,” Nevil quipped, gesturing to the spiral staircase, “we’ve already killed another.”
“Did you find Lythra? that small female one downstairs?” He asked.
“Yes, shall we drag her corpse up here for you to confirm her identity?” Nevil asked gruffly.
“How many are left?” Atalaya asked.
Looking pretty grim he adds, “I am more afraid of them than you. They have dark ways. When they approached me, I didn’t think I could say no. I don't want to be more involved than I have to.”
“Well, you're knee deep now too because they will know you spoke with us.” Nevil offered, withdrawing to the table to sip her coffee.
“Tell us more about Pencheska,” Atalaya asks, stepping forward.
“You've seen her.” He chuckled with a mixture of fear and awe. “She is a demon and shape shifter and is pretty wrapped up with the Duke.”
“To what end does she have business with the Duke?”Atalaya followed.
“She was keeping several of the court busy. Had her claws all over.” He grinned.
Nevil adds leaning on the table, “I have little love for the duke myself. How long has Pencheska been influencing the Duke and his court?”
He replies, shifting with stiffness beneath his bindings, “a while, but it's done. Her nature was made known and she fled.”
Atalaya laughs gravely and looks to Boz, “Yes we know about that.”
Silence for a time.
“And Captain Jade Hawk, what do you know about her?” Atalaya asks.
“She's a good captain”, he said with a smile. “Well respected by many including myself. Though she's mired in debt having to acquire a new ship, the Shalarin. She lost her previous ship, you know.”
Atalaya pressed, “and what is she doing for the Red Wizards?”
“That's just it, she's not,” she replied with a relaxed expression. “She's resisted working for them and has been collecting things for Captain Zendros in Salt Marsh.” He shakes his head, “but she has acquired something they want.”
“And what do they think she has in her possession?” Atalaya follows.
“I don't know. Something to do with dark magic, he said, trying to gesture with his bound hands. “Again, I don't ask questions to stay off their list.” He considers, “But I don’t think she knows they are coming after her.”
“We are already targets for the Wizards and do not fear further antagonism. If you respect her, tell us where we can find her. So we can warn her,” implores Nevil.
He sighs, “my guess… she's not near Riverport. There is a bounty on her head there. She's also not in Saltmarsh, or the artifact she found would already be with Zendros and the Wizards wouldn't be after her.”
“Nothing better than that?” Atalaya asked.
“Really, I don't know.” He said raising his brow as affirmation. “Maybe further south or near Waterdeep. She has people all over looking out for her… you know connections. She is a wiley one.” He laughed, “I don’t know if you have ever dealt with her, but good luck catching up with her if she doesn't want to be found.”
Atalaya pressed, “How big is her current crew?”
“She was well crewed last I heard.” He said appearing bored. “Around a dozen, I think. Like I said, she's well liked.”
So a ship that is about our size or slightly larger.
“And what was your next job for the wizards,” Nevil asks in quick succession.
“More of the same. Harass the ships coming out of Riverport. Not any ship in particular.” He rolls his head with impatience, “Again, both the wizards and the pirates want to make it difficult for Daggerford, the Duke, and to be sure that the crown stays busy.”
“How many crews work for the Wizards?” Atalaya speedily tag-teamed.
“Countless.” He grinned. “It pays well and we have at least one strong mutual interest.”
Inman finally speaks, standing from his lean against the wall, “so, the Sea Princes as a whole are working with the Wizards.”
Captain Skarne laughs, “You catch on slow boy. The Sea Princes have been ruling the piracy business along the Sword Coast for years. With that many crews involved… yeah they are intentionally working together.”
For several minutes, the group glances between themselves, unable to think of other pressing questions.
Nevil ends the pause and threatens him, “You seem to have been relatively open with us… but we will be asking these questions again on our ship with some additional measures. If we find you've lied about your knowledge, it will not go well.”
“You may fear the reach of the wizards, but I would worry more about the immediate threat before you and less about what may be.” Nevil threatens again.
Chapter 4: Post Interrogation
Nevil and Atalaya look at the Captain with concern. He looks spent, his face is beginning to flush a bit with his fever. Nevil asks, “Are you hungry?”
“I could eat,” Skarne replies.
Atalaya, looking him over, makes her own decision. “Are you thirsty?”
“Yes, very.” Skarne replies.
Atalaya turns to Cirilli requesting, “Cirilli, get him a cup of water please.” Cirilli hurries to get him some water and brings the cup to Atalaya. Atalaya then brings the cup to his mouth, providing him with small sips of water until he has consumed the entire cup. “That’s enough for now. You can have some more before we leave. We shouldn’t be long, but we have a bit more to do before we leave.” Smiling down at him she lowers her voice even more, “And since I’m sure you don’t want to be meeting up with your friends right now, I think that it is best for you to return to the pantry closet for now.” Atalaya quickly returns the gag to his mouth as he glares at her. “Sorry, but you will be safer in there where you can’t be seen.
“Vaz, Inman, will you please drag him back to the pantry.” They both look at each other and then each take a side of the chair, pulling him across the room and into the pantry.
The group moves away from the kitchen area and talks quietly. Inman asks, “Why are the Red Wizards using Sea Princes?”
Nevil responds, “because it distracts the crown by playing into a preexisting narrative and provides cover for the workings of the Red Wizards. The Sea Princes are pawns.”
Atalaya is the first to address what the whole group has been wondering. “What do we do with the captain?” she asked.
“Do we take him back to Riverport?” Nevil asks.
“Who do we trust there? We don't know who has been compromised.” Atalaya responds.
The group shares glances. Nevil offers, “Well, Stamfort is too small to handle this.”
“Is Blue Haven big enough?” asks Boz.
Inman looks at Nevil and considers, “We might can dig up some reliable contacts in Blue Haven.”
Nevil adds, “We need to contact Seraphina, send word down the networks of both the Harpers and the War Wizards. We have to share what we have discovered.”
Atalaya looks skeptically at Nevil, “It can't be that easy.”
Nevil chuckles, “It's easier that you think if you know the system. Ease of communication and safely identifying local contacts is critical to organizations that live on underground information.”
“But how? Will it take long?” Atalaya asks.
Nevil looks warmly at Inman, who no doubt can read through her eyes. I haven't spoken the code in years. Never thought I would again. “I'll need Sorrow’s help. He has the songs, I know the words. With luck, we'll have a contact by the end of the first night in Blue Haven.”
Boz and Atalaya looked shocked. Atalaya asks, “Is he…” Of course Sorrow is involved. After all, he has been friends with and traveling with Seraphina for a long time and was the Master’s student.
“No, he's just better at singing. We use bards in taverns all over to send messages. He's probably sent a few before and didn't know it was anything more than an odd song request.”
As everyone thinks about the implications of that Vasilya finally turns to Atalaya and asks, “How much more of this place is there to check out?”
Atalaya thinks back to the last time she was in the tower. “There is the wizard’s lab. That should be down the other staircase here. We cleared it of whatever we could recognize as useful things the last time I was here. But I don’t know, there may be things that Inman would like to collect from there, if the Red Wizards have left anything down there. But who knows? They may have left some of their own stuff down there, and if so, we had better retrieve it. I can’t imagine that anything of theirs would be a good thing to just leave with them.”
Atalaya thinks some more. “I don’t think there is anything further down in that direction. If we don’t find Lythra’s chest down there, we are going to need to take the submersible down to the sunken chest. We need to remove any resources that they have here. It might not be that much to them, but not having ready cash may put them in a bind for a time, or at least make the Sea Princes question their allegiance to them.”
“And then, of course, there is the stuff outside on the top of the pillar. There was a shrine to Pelagia up there. We get there through the column we opened up in the first room.”
Nevil looks confused, “Wait, Lythra's chest? sunken chest?”
“The same Lythra from the note, the same our guest asked if we had killed? What do we know about her?”
“From that letter we know that she has a chest to use to pay Captain Skarne and another captain. We haven’t found it in any of the rooms we have searched already. So if we search the lab, and they have left that stairway open, and don’t find anything, and I am correct about there not being any more rooms, then the chest must be the one hidden in the seaweed. They have the submersible crab so getting to it wouldn’t be a problem. Anyway, they have wizards who can probably know the same spell as Inman.” Atalaya’s thoughts turn inward as she tries to remember the last search she had made here.
“Yeah, outside on the top of the pillar is too easily accessed to be a good spot to hide things. And the doorway out of the pool room should lead to outside the tower. That leaves the lab or the kelp forest to hide the chest in.”
She grows silent again as she remembers. “There is something different about the kelp too. It’s why we thought to hide the artifact there. It’s going to try to ensnare anyone who swims into it. Hence the great big metal crab.”
Nevil looks like she was slapped. Holy shit, this woman is amazing. I didn’t catch any of that on my own. She looks around at the others and no one seems surprised. OK, well maybe it's just me… “I'm glad you're here. Apparently I'm in dream land today.”
“Actually we should check the elevator again. If it has another down button I may be forgetting something.” She shakes her head as she tries to remember more about her first trip through this tower. “I feel like I should be able to remember this place better. It’s only been a few months since I was here. However, it seems like forever ago. Years and years ago.”
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