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While the butler and the maids were busy clearing out the basement, and Mr Baro and his team of builders were working hard to make the tower floors more inhabitable, Gnosha, Aered and Thefvae spent their time doing numerous small but important tasks. Gnosha felt that he still wanted Thefvae to accompany either him or Aered, not that he didn’t trust her, but more just in case someone from her past would find her and try to attack her. He of course preferred that in such a case, Aered would be her companion, but he knew that she was quite able to handle herself. He also knew that he himself was not that shabby dealing with bad guys, even though fighting wasn’t his primary choice, but often no other options were available in such situations.
Gnosha on purpose, kept himself away from the castle and away from duchess Maimux. The work he was tasked to do, required that the person, or persons, spying on Maimux, should be confident that Gnosha no longer worked for the duchess. By doing so, he thought he could lure them out.
One evening when Gnosha, Thefvae and Aered had dinner at The Lonely Duck, which had turned into their kitchen and dining room while the tower was in the state it was in, Gnosha said to the others: – “I’ve been thinking that we should open up for business here in Erast, take investigation jobs, work for other people, like merchants or other highborn people. We should of course do some work for the less fortunate, which would not make us money, but give us something equally valuable instead, contacts and friends. What do you say?”
Aered, with his mouth full of a roasted turnip and chicken, looked up from his plate and said: – “Mr Gnosha, you mean we should help the townguard and people solving mysteries? This sounds like fun, can we arrest bad guys and bring them to Mr Woode or Mr Heskan?”
Thefvae looked a little surprised and replied: – “I think this is an interesting idea, doing good in the city of Erast. I know there are always criminals in a city, some armed with knives or knuckle dusters, others live in nice large houses, with servants, but they are all equally dark and rotten on the inside.”
Gnosha replied to them both: –”It’s settled then. As soon as the tower is inhabitable, we can post notes in the different inns and taverns, telling people that we are taking jobs. But, I want to make one thing clear, we will be picky in what jobs we take. The jobs have to be something we believe in solving, otherwise it will quickly go downhill. The worst crooks would gladly try to hire us to do their dirty work, so we need to understand the clients.”
When they were back in the rented room, Aered said to Gnosha: – “But the work we are supposed to do for Maimux?” Gnosha replied: – “Aered my friend, we will do that, but what is a better excuse to poke into the secrets of this city, than solving other people's mysteries and problems. The whole idea is to help duchess Maimux in a way that no one expects us to do.”
Now, when the basement had been cleared out and cleaned up by the maids and the butler, Gnosha thought it would be time to investigate the iron bar grate in the basement floor, the one that he suspects that the ooze came in through. Where does it lead? Could it be used as a secret entrance to the tower to leave and come back to the tower unseen?
He told Aered and Thefvae about his idea in the morning, and after breakfast, they geared up and brought some torches for Aered, so he could see in the presumed darkness. Both Gnosha and Thefvae were gifted with low light vision, which made them see pretty good in darkness.
They climb down the stairs to the now rather clean and tidy basement, except for the broken table with some heavy rocks on, laying in the middle of the basement, covering the great to prevent unwanted visitors from entering the tower this way. They move away the table covering the grate, and Aered tries to open it, but it’s really secured well. Aerd tried a second time, with the help from both Gnosha and Aered, but the grate just refused to move even the slightest. Gnosha shouted for Mr Baro to come down with a few men, and tools, and quickly described what he wanted them to help him construct. He explains that he needs to construct a simple winch using a block and pulley to be able to lift the grate. When the basement grate was finally opened, Gnosha thanked Mr Baro for the help and called for the butler, Mr Beniers, to guard the opened grate while they were exploring, to prevent any unwanted visitors from entering the tower through it.
The hole beneath the grate opening leads down to a wide sewer, with walkways on both sides and a stream of dirty water in the middle. It’s about seven feet down to the water, and as the opening is over the middle of the sewer, climbing down will make you have to step in the water before you can get to the dry walkways on the side.
Gnosha secures a rope and climbs down, followed by Aered and Thefvae. Looking at the main sewer tunnel, Gnosha says it’s going in an east-west direction, and as the channel is to the west, they head off in that direction first.
The sewer tunnel twists and turns a little and they can hear the sounds of rushing water up ahead. After a short walk they see a sewer tunnel connection from the south, with more water and also another iron grate closing off the exit into the channel. Gnosha inspects the iron grate and notes that this grate is secure, nothing except rats can slip through.
They decide to follow the sewer to the south, and now they really smell the foul scent of sewage. Gnosha’s sensitive nose is almost overloaded by the stench. There is also more sewage coming through this tunnel, and Gnosha realizes that they will pass the rented room and after that comes the bathing parlor. Pipes from the ceiling occasionally drop things down into the sewer making splashing sounds. After a while they come to a large four tunnel intersection, and Gnosha decides to first follow the route leading west, to the channel.
The sewer ends with another grate with iron bars, but Gnosha sees that this grate has some missing bars, so someone his size could easily slip through, while someone like Aered would have to make some qualified acrobatic moves, and first remove any armor or other bulky equipment. On the outside, on the channel side, there is a narrow edge that is walkable, that leads to one of the many staircases leading down to the water. Gnosha estimates that they are now, on a north-south line, somewhere between the rented room and the Lonely Duck. They decide to follow the sewer tunnel leading east, in the direction of the castle. After a while, the tunnel splits into two, like a Y, and Gnosha looks at the walkways and sees that there are several tracks here, both from small feet and from larger feet, following the more southbound tunnel. Several people have been passing here within the past weeks. Can this be the route used by the spies in the castle?
After some more walking in the sewers, the sewer opens up with a tunnel going north, and several smaller tunnels going in different directions. Some kind of battle has taken place here. There are scorch marks on the walls, even some of the pipes from the ceiling have been burnt. Gnosha realizes that they are now very close to the Lonely Duck. There is some kind of natural cave here too, but before Gnosha can investigate it, something grabs hold of his leg. Ghosha shouts: – “Aered!”
Thefvae reacts fastest and casts the spell Heroism on Aered, to make him stronger and better. The ooze, Gnosha sees that it is an ooze, attacks Gnosha again and he feels that the touch burns his skin, and the ooze tries to hold him in a tight grip with its pods, and squeezes. Aered attacks with his sword and his shield and hits the ooze pretty good. Gnosha tries to fight off the grip the ooze has, with his rapier. He successfully breaks free and steps a few steps back, to raise his crossbow.
Thefvae steps forward, touches it with her hands to do some magical damage, then steps back again. The ooze now tries to grab and attack Aered, and hits him and tries to grab him, but Aered resists. Aered counters by striking back at the ooze with his sword and his shield and hits it again.
Gnosha tries to see if he can make a precision attack with his crossbow, but he sees no opportunity, so he throws an Alchemist’s Fire on it instead and it starts to burn. Thefvae steps forward again and touches it and uses her magic to make the ooze to feel sick, then steps back again. The ooze attacks Aered again and gets hold of Aered, and Aered gets blisters on his arms. Aered attacks back and shouts: – “Be gone!”, but the ooze is still holding Aered and he tries to break free again.
Ghosha shoots again, knowing aiming at the ooze to try to find a weak spot doesn’t work. He hits but the ooze still lives. Thefvae casts the magic spell Chilling Darkness and the ooze freezes to ice and dies. Gnosha picks up his healer's kit and heals Aered and himself.
After they have taken a ten minute break, they decide to continue to follow the tracks in the sewers. After another short bit in the sewers, they come to another four way intersection. Looking around, they see that about a half dozen bodies are laying outside a small door in the sewer wall. Gnosha quickly investigates the corpses, and they have been dead less than a week, and judging from their clothes, they look to be bandits. Behind the door is a small hideout, a typical bandit hideout, but the hideout seems to have already been ransacked, probably by those who killed the bandits. Gnosha decides to try to figure out who this group might be, maybe something has happened recently
Gnosha looks around, and finds a few pieces of parchment, some kind of price lists, and they are signed with a name, Hallod. Ghosha thinks this Hallod might be some kind of leader down here in the underworld. He tries to recall what he knows and has learned, but the name Hallod doesn’t ring a bell. They decide to head back to the tower, and on the way back Gnosha designs some kind of ladder in his head, for the grate, so they could enter and exit more comfortably this way.
Gnosha decides that they will need to find some kind of map of the sewers. He will draw a map of this expedition so they have a starting point. He also needs to ask his contacts, Captain Woode, Lieutenant Didadee and Sergeant Auberg, if they have any knowledge about this Hallod person, or if they know someone who does. He also has some other contacts that he has collected during his time here in Erast, and maybe someone can give him some leads.
In the morning, Gnosha decides to meet with some of his acquaintances here in Erast, to ask about this Hallod person, and also to find out if there are any known maps of the sewer systems. He decides to take Thefvae with him, and leave Aered to help out with the construction, as he needs his daily exercises to keep his strength and fitness at peak level.
He decides to pay his first visit to the south gate, to have a little chat with Sergeant Thomas Auberg. When Gnosha arrives, Sergeant Auberg shouts: – “Bonjour Gnosha, what brings you here this time?” Gnosha says that he is investigating a person that might be engaged in criminal activities, and that might go by the name of Hallod. Sergeant Auberg says that he knows everyone who has ever passed through this gate by name, but he has never encountered anyone that goes by that name. He asks if this Hallod person is a merchant, and Gnosha replies that he might be, but a merchant in stolen goods. The thanks Sergeant Auberg and Sergeant Auberg replies: – “But where is my reward?” Ghosha looks a bit puzzled and says reward, but Sergeant Auberg just laughs and says that he was just joking.
Next, Gosha decides that they pay Lieutenant Gidaadee a visit at the west gate. They take another quick walk across town, and when they arrive at the west gate, Lieutenant Gidaadee sees them and comes to meet them. She says, a bit surprised: – “Gnosha and Thefvae, good to see you, but why have you come here? Has something happened?”
Gnosha returns the greeting and replies that nothing has happened, but he is investigating a case, and a name has come up, a person name Hallod, and he asks if the name rings any bells.
Lieutenant Gidaadee asks them to follow her into her little office and she looks through some books and papers and says that they think he might be a local fence. His name came up after an arrest of a small-time crook named Fastom Buck, who was talking a lot about a probably stolen necklace in his possession. We did not pay that much attention to Mr Buck, as we thought he might just have been pulling our legs with a load of lies.
Gnosha replies that his name was on some price lists of probably stolen items. We found those lists when we were searching the sewers for clues in a case. Your conception of this Hallod person is probably correct. Thefvae is feeling a bit uneasy, the office of a law enforcement officer is not something she enjoys very much.
Gnosha says to Lieutenant Gidaadee that he is keen to find a map of the sewers for his investigations, and wonders if she might know anything about that. She replies that those sewers are a maze of tunnels and they were built a long time ago, by different constructors, Dwarfs, humans and other races. The only thing they know is that they all end one way or the other at the canal. Gnosha seconds that and says that this is also what they have found so far. He thanks Lieutenant Gidaadee for her time, and tells her that every little clue leads forward.
They now decide to walk to the office of Captain Woode, which is located at the north gate. They can just follow the outer wall, and pass the old cemetery, and the slums south of the north gate. This was where Gnosha found the closed down shop The Silver Yeti several weeks ago. When they arrive, they knock on the door to the town guard’s office building and a guard opens the door. He looks with harsh eyes on Gnosha and Thefvae and asks:
– “Who are you and what do you want?”
Gnosha replies: – “Just tell Captain Woode that Gnosha Curosinei is here to see him.”
The guard says: – “Noshi Curi..”
and Gnosha quickly says: – “Just tell him Gnosha is here to see him.”
The guard replies that Captain is a very busy man, and does not have time for meeting complete strangers, but Gnosha insists that he just calls for Captain Woode. The guard finally turns his head and shouts: – “Captain! There is a Mr Noshi here to see you, he insists.” Captain Woode replies that he does not know anyone named Noshi, but when he looks out from his office and sees Gnosha and Thefvae, he walks toward them shouting: – “Idiot! Do they need to spell out their names for you, soldier? Gnosha and Thefvae, welcome, follow me.”
When they are inside Captain Woode’s office, and Captain Woode has closed his door, he looks at Gnosha and says: – “How is the work progressing?”
Gnosha replies that things are slowly moving, and that he has a lead he is following up, that might or might not be of importance. He says that he has just spoken with Lieutenant Gidaadee and that she had a note about a person, suspected fence, that goes by the name of Hallod, that is hiding in the sewers. Captain Woode looked a bit upset and replied: –”So she shared that information with you did she? Yes, I’ve heard that there are petty criminals in the sewers. What was he selling or buying?“
Gnosha replies: – “It is not so much about what he is buying or selling, but more about what he might have seen.”
Captain Woode replies that if he gets someone by that name in his nick, he will immediately inform Gnosha about it. Ganesha thanks Captain Woode for his time and Gnosha and Thefvae leave.
It’s getting close to lunch time, so they walk down the northern bridge and over the canal then up to The Lonely Duck for lunch. When they arrive, Mrs Ilyana Reyqen greets them and says Gnosha, what can I tempt you with? Gnosha replies that they take two today’s lunch, whatever that is, and then he says that he has a question. He says: – “I have to ask you, have there been any trouble, incident or debacle here the past one to one and a half week?”
Mrs Reyqen replies that no, nothing out of the ordinary. You know, the people here are mostly poor, but when you mention it, there was a group of adventurers here. I remember then as they did not want any nightly companions, and I haven’t seen them since. Gnosha asks if she can describe them, if there was anything that stood out. Mrs Ilyana Reyqen replied that they were an interesting group; a cat, a hyena, a goblin lady and a guy with a ventriloquist’s doll. Gnosha thanked Mrs Ilyana Reyqen and gave her two extra copper coins. Ghosha thought to himself, ah, it was that group who killed those bandits in the sewers, explains it, I might need to talk to them sooner than I thought.
They now head back to the tower, bringing some food for Aered and some sweet bread as a treat for the builders. After Aered had eaten, Gnosha says: – “We will need to visit Elchfrild’s alehouse, and maybe a few similar establishments this evening to ask some questions to various people. I want you two to be close to me, but now too close if you understand, if something happens. We will have supper there, and see if I can find someone that can lead us to this Hallod figure.”
While the others do whatever they have to do until supper, Ghosha thinks out a plan. This person seems to be interested in jewelry, so he decides to say that he has a friend who has got his hands on an old necklace that he needs to sell as he needs money. The “I’m asking for a friend” approach will be perfect, Gnosha thinks.
They walk over to Elchfrild’s alehouse in time for dinner, and Gnosha buys some ale and duck wings with mustard sauce, and shares with other patrons at the alehouse, while discreetly asking around. Gnosha does spot something that is out of the ordinary, a handsome, well trained man in very nice armor, standing in the alehouse, but he suddenly is gone when Gnosha asks around and is talking with people. Gnosha estimates his age somewhere between thirty and thirty five years old. Gnosha thinks that maybe that was a knight to replace the wounded Sir Benoît van Panhuysen, but he cannot be sure.
Gnosha talks with a man who introduces himself as Geuward, but sometimes says Geward, which makes Gnosha suspect that it’s a false name, which is good. Gnosha tells him that he has some jewelry he is trying to sell for a friend, and the guy replies that if Gnosha gives him ten pieces of gold, a man will come and meet him. Gnosha replies that ten gold, you will get that when the man comes here, not before. I can give you five silver up front for your work. The man calling himself Geuward replies that five now and five when he is here. Gnosha looks him straight in the eyes and says that Geuward is a tough negotiator, two up front and the rest when he delivers. And shall we say tomorrow at this time? Geuward replies, when the moon is high he will come, and you should sit on that stool in the bar, and it’s four pieces of gold upfront, and seven when he comes. Gnosha says ok, we have a deal. He sits on the stool in the bar, Aered and Thefvae a bit away, but still close enough if something would happen. At midnight, when Gnosha is chewing on his last duck wing, a rather short and thin man arrives and stands beside Gnosha, and orders a cheap murky ale. The man takes a sip and says: – “Ah, anyone having something of interest to sell?” and turns to Gnosha.
Gnosha turns to the man and says: – “It may be so, with whom do I have the honor to speak?” The man looks Gnosha straight in the eyes and replies: – “What do you want to sell?”
Gnosha replies: – “A friend of mine, has recently received in his possession an old necklace.”
The man shortly asks what era, and Gnosha replies that it’s from the age of the emperor. The man quickly says: – “Ok, does it have the seals? Can I see it? Or were you smart enough not to take it with you? In these allies you can easily get your throat cut, and the last thing you will remember is the life leaving you through an open wound in your throat.“
Gnosha replies: – “But of course not, where can we meet?” The man replies: – “Wolf hours, in the alley behind the Silver Yeti.” Gnosha replies: – “I don’t know if I can wake my friend up in the middle of the night, I can be there tomorrow night.”.
The man replies with a short nod, and leaves. Ghosha signs to Aered and Thefvae to shadow him, while he will follow at a safer distance to avoid being seen. He makes a few turns around the houses in the slum and then he is gone. Gnosha returns to the alehouse, and the man calling himself Geuward stands outside and says: – “You thought you could get away without paying me?” and Gnosha replies: – “No, I just saw a friend I needed to say hi to, and now I have returned to pay you.”
Now Gnosha tries quickly to see if anyone is selling black market imperial age jewelry, that he could quickly modify, and he gets an answer from a shady figure known as Addan, pointing to a man known as Geuward, or Geward. Damn it Gnosha says to himself, I cannot purchase from the same gang I’m supposed to sell it to can I.
They head for bed, very late, and in the morning Gnosha by himself starts to check at the local stores around Five Markets that could sell something he needs.
He starts off at The Mad Chimera, and Mr Varalei, polite as always, greets Gnosha with a welcome back to my humble shop dear Sir. Gnosha tells Mr Varalei that he is in need of an imperial age jewelry, a necklace, that he urgently needs to impress an older lady of noble birth. Mr Varalei replies that he sadly has no such item in his store, but asks if he could interest Gnosha in a small fine silver ring instead. Gnosha politely declines the offer and excuses himself and heads over to Mandelin’s Magnificent Store. He runs the same story, and Mandelin replies no, and what is important is the seals, they prove the authenticity of the jewelry.
As a last resort, Gnosha goes to Mrs Balzac’s wagon on Five Markets, where he bought that ring that hides his armor and weapons for the common eye.
Gnosha asks the same question, and Mrs Balzac replies that she does not have that, but she has a brooch, picks it up and shows Gnosha the seals and the symbol with an officer’s rank. Gnosha thinks this will do, and asks how much, and Mrs Balzac replies twelve pieces of gold. He also asks if she has a thin, 2 foot gold chain, and she has, for only one piece of gold. Gnosha buys both items, and walks quickly back to the tower, where he uses his crafting skills to turn the brooch and the chain into a necklace. Sadly Gnosha realizes that goldsmithing is much harder than he thought, so the work can be described as horrible, at its best, but it has to do. He rubs the ring he attached to the brooch for the chain over and over with a dirty rag, to make it look old and used.