Ariana sat on the rooftop overlooking the mayor's mansion trying to take in all the details that she could. She scribbled the common language onto a piece of parchment counting the number of guards on the gate, when they appeared to go on break, and when they appeared. They all wore the same dark gray breastplate armor with a deep maroon cloak the covered their head and ran down their back. Most were practically indiscernible by appearance alone, but Ariana was able to tell people apart by the gait in which they patrolled the compound.
About half way through her watch she witnessed a horse pulled cart roll up to the front gate. A head poked out from the wagon to speak with the guard and the gate was promptly opened. Ariana only saw the back of the figures head, but she figured it to be a male medium sized humanoid. The hood of his dark cloak was down, and he had short dark hair. She kept her eyes on the front door waiting for him to exit as the horse and carriage remained by the door. An hour and a half later the gentleman, definitely human, but no other distinguishable features, returned to the carriage and left the mansion. Ariana jotted down everything. She wasn't sure if the man himself was suspicious, or if the fact of a long late night meeting was causing unease. After finishing her notes Ari continued her careful study of the mansion.
"Ari!" Ciara called out to her and looked down at the parchment. "Are you writing a novel?"
Ariana jumped slightly to the intrusion. "Oh, no… notes."
"Busy night then?"
"Not particularly. Master long stride and lady hops her step just took their leave to be replaced by lady espresso and master large gut over there. There was one visitor that left not that long ago, that could be considered devious, but I have not enough information to make that claim. He came by carriage, but I am not sure where from."
Ciara nodded, impressed by the thoroughness. "We can give a description to the town guard and have them follow up, or we can spend a few days at this and determine any patterns. Either way, right now it is just the observation that matters. You have done great work, go rest, and allow me to take it from here."
"Very well, I will leave you the parchment and ink." Ariana replied noticing that Ciara had not brought any of her own. Ciara looked through the notes, amused by Ariana's use of monikers for those serving on the guard. The lights from the posts helped to illuminate the grounds but she had a hard time noticing the nuances of detail between staff as Ariana had.
"A lady such as yourself should not be seated all alone." She heard a voice approach from beside her. She looked over to see a man of approximately thirty with black silklike hair tied back at the base of his skull but otherwise very plain appearance holding out a wine goblet for her.
"I have been told not to accept drink from a stranger." She replied back.
"Why do I feel that you are not one to do as they are told?" He questioned, still holding out the glass waiting as she took it and offered him the seat across from her and introduced himself. "Sylvain Lassard."
"That all depends on how much I enjoy what it is I am advised to do." Ciara countered after introducing herself. She took a drink, and waited to see if there were any ill effects. "What brings you to this establishment, new to town?"
"What makes you think that?"
"Usually those with roots in a city are not found in the middle of night at the inn's tavern."
"I arrived within the last moon from north of here." Sylvain replied.
"North of here is the sea."
"North of that." He chuckled. "I suppose I can assume that you are new yourself? What brings you here?"
"A storm." Ciara replied vaguely. "But I have to admit, this place has peaked by interest. Did you come of your own volition?"
"I did. I work as a locksmith typically catering to home installation. I heard of some opportunities here to make some decent commissions and decided to check it out."
"You're a lock smith?" She questioned, feeling like there was more to this encounter then a chance flirtation.
"I am. What about you? Any aptitude in this department?"
"Not much experience in crafting and installing the devises, but I have a certain aptitude for using alternate methods of unfastening them. It comes in handy when individuals get locked out of their houses or safes. Although, I do admit that I have a certain interest in learning the craft."
"How interested are you?"
"Unfortunately it's not something I could dedicate a substantial amount of practice to at this time." Ciara explained. Deciding carefully on what she was willing to inform him on the nature of her business in town. "I have joined with a small party of adventurers in hopes to route out the source of the storm that carried us here."
"If you wish to accompany me, I am commissioned to do an install at the mayor's mansion on the marrow. Nine and thirty in the morn if you are available?"
"I could be available." Ciara replied coyly.
"I will meet in front." He responded. "Have a good evening, Ciara."
She hoped that she didn't have the flush of excitement in her checks as he left and she returned to her post. Ever since its mention, she wondered about the thieves guild, who they were and what they wanted, and if its existence was to pray upon the weak or bring balance to the classes. She wasn't sure of much, but she was certain that she had just met her ticket to finding it out. Silphid surfaces shortly after as Ciara continued drinking her wine.
"You do realize that you are still on the clock?"
"One glass." She replied. "Do not tell me you will not do the same."
"How did you afford…"
"It was given to me by a member of the thieves guild. I'm to meet up with him tomorrow for a job in the mayor's mansion. And, before you say anything, this is not about me abandoning our cause to join up with some underground organization. This is about figuring out how much influence this new guild has in town and what connection it does or does not have to the mayor."
"It sounds good."
Ciara was taken back by his response gearing up for more of a fight after his declaration that he would not be a party to her unlawful behavior. "Are you certain you are fine with this? I have no idea what he will request of me, and I cannot promise that I will not steal."
"There are a lot of unknowns in this town, and if you can gain certain knowledge by stealing from the shifty diplomat I won't stand in your way. But, this thing is entirely yours."
"I think it would come off as a bit awkward if I had a bulky body guard and tree hugging elf following me in to a lock installation." Ciara agreed.
"Lock installation?"
"Yes." She replied without explanation, finishing her wine and returning back to the room.
Silphid tried to hold off from buying an ale in order to prove the girl, thief… what did his mother call it? rogue, wrong, but after looking out at the brightening sky for what felt like hours he finally relented and ordered a tankard. He wasn't seeing much over at the compound, a few on duty appeared to have nodded off sometime during the early hours. He looked at Ari's notes noticing the exquisite detail. Ciara had jotted down a couple things, but hers told of no coming or goings. In the early morning horse arrived carrying a robed cleric, robes recognized as from the temple of Torm who seemed to once again be turned away at the gate. It didn't feel like too long after that when Ariana and Eboni joined Silphid on the roof.
Silphid asked about the others. She explained that Meera was in meditation, and Geera went out for 'personal business'. Ciara was in the room readying herself for her meeting. She was eager to order hers and Eboni's breakfast after finishing her own meditations to Chauntea.
"Where was it that Geera went?" Ciara asked standing in front of the mirror braiding her hair back out of her face after Meera finished her meditation.
"My brother is buying us time from our would be capturers. I am afraid in order for me to continue this journey he is not for long in this world." Meera answered her.
"That's awful, is there anything we can do to assist?"
"Those who wish to do us harm possess great power. A confrontation would end in tragedy. It is best that we continue forward in our quest." Ciara recognized the acceptance and melancholy of Meera's voice in her reply.
"I am sorry." Ciara offered.
"Do not inform the others. It is Geera's wish to keep this quiet."
"Of course." She agreed, and struggled to voice her next question. Since her first meeting of the strange fey creatures she had been meaning to ask about the dreams she received prior to the shipwreck. "Your punishment, was it because you warned me?"
"The carnage of this evil, should it come to pass, will be extensive. I knew not if we would meet. A message had to be delivered, regardless of the outcome."
"Your elders certainly are a piece of work, I can tell you that much." Ciara shook her head. It made no sense to her that the fey community would punish these sprites for trying to do a good deed. She wasn't certain what the oracle was thinking coming to them with this task. She was a nobody that could barely shoot an enemy with an arrow, but regardless, Meera's intention in delivering the message was good.
"Our ways are different than yours." Meera replied vaguely. There was much that Meera did not understand about the customs of the planet Abeir-Toril. She missed her home, her family, but she knew there was no going back. The creatures here were odd, and she knew they thought the same of her, but when she saw the devastation that was to become of Toril she knew it was up to her to do something to stop it. Most in her tribe did not agree. They told her to stay quiet, only Geera had the courage to stand up with her.
"I am not all that certain of that. Pompous, self serving, hypocrites for leaders, a majority of the population going about their daily business, and a select few ready to stand up for what they believe to be right. It appears similar enough." Ciara thought she saw the cloudy eyed sprite smirk at her description. She cinched in her corset, and tied it off in the back. She decided on the skirt and corset look rather than the studded leather armor she had been sporting while traveling with the newly formed party. On one of her thighs she strapped her dagger, her lock pick set on the other.
"You care not for your own law makers?"
"From what I have observed most in that position do so for the benefit of gaining wealth and power, and care little for the citizens in which they represent."
"You believe the same of the mayor here?"
"Of that, I am certain. What I am not sure of is whether or not he is connected to the person or organization responsible for turning the citizens into zombies." The timing of the mayors appointment and the formation of the thieves guild was suspicious. She didn't want to believe that the necromancer was merely a member of the guild involved in an insidious plot. She didn't want to believe it because there was something handsome and charming about this Lassard character, and although he might not be the best of people she still hoped that he wasn't the worst. "I must be off, will you be all right on your own?"
"I am not to die this day." Meera answered with a sing song quality to her voice. Ciara let the comment pass as she left to meet her appointment.
Sylvain greeted her outside the gate as promised and the gate was immediately opened upon her arrival. The guard pointed the locksmith in the direction of the front door with a casual, "do you know where you are going?"
Lassard assured him that he could find his way to the East wing without assistance and led Ciara through the main hall. She passed several display cases filled with bladed weapons and finely crafted vases and pottery on route to the stairway. On the top of the staircase Lassard set down his tool set and handed Ciara a rolled piece of parchment and pointed her down the stairs whispering that the installation should take about 20 minutes.
Ciara raced down the stairs to the first landing before unrolling the parchment containing a detailed picture of a single chest with approximate dimensions. She followed the steps down watching out for any traps along the way while keeping her eyes pealed for guards. Once she was all the way down to the basement level she followed the hall to an iron bound door. Ciara studied the lock after checking for any discernible traps and pulled out her 2 and 5 pick. After fiddling with the lock for a bit she opened the door to a room of what looked to be filled with over 80 chests covering the floor and shelves.
She studied each, looking for the chest that best matched the picture finally spotting the mithral case on the southern side of the room. As she began to climb some of the larger chests to the reach the middle shelf. She stepped up and noticed a tiny wire just barely a millimeter above the surface of the shelf extending its length across. Ciara was careful not to drag the chest into the wire, picking it up and noticing it was substantially lighter than it looked.
She locked the door behind her and snuck her way up the steps. She reached the landing where she had left the locksmith and it appeared that Sylvain had moved on. Not knowing exactly where he would have gone, Ciara stowed the stollen chest and strolled casually down the hall. Sylvain was installing the last lock of the day as he mouthed 'did you find it?' Ciara nodded and returned to the stollen good. She ducked behind the door of the staircase as butler walked by and once out of view she returned with the case in hand. He had her hurriedly put it into a sack as he finished.
They walked out of the mansion as easily as they came in without so much as a glance at the mayor and after leaving the front gate Lassard turned to his young protege. "Did you steal anything for yourself?" She figured he must have caught her checking out the display cases.
"No."
"Is that because you weren't given direct consent to do so?"
"Yes." She answered honestly.
He smiled. "That is precisely the type of person we are looking for. I understand that you may be kept busy with other endeavors, but if you care to assist further I can be found in the jeweler's ward. The store is Lassard locks." He handed her 2 platinum pieces and walked off.
Eboni was chewing on a steak bone when Silphid and Ariana heard a high pitched shriek coming from the floor below. Silphid pulled out his sword and ran through the halls to the source of the shrieking. Silphid bashed through the door, which was locked from the inside, to find a young woman cowering away from a pale man shambling toward the disruption. Silphid swung with both hands on the hilt at the creature and within a matter of seconds the man lay motionless on the ground. Ariana caught up shortly after to take stock of the situation.
"I will stay here, tell the High Priest of this." Silphid instructed the elf and he approached the scared woman in a defensive manner setting his sword in the floor to demonstrate his intention. Ari took off with the wolf to the temple. "Did you know this man?"
Nervously she bobbed her head as she stood shaking staring at the severed head on the floor.
"Did you know him well?"
She nodded again and responded with a shaking voice in obvious hysterics. "M… My hus, my Fran… Francis."
"Your spouse?" He confirmed with another nod. "My condolences for your loss; however, for the sake of this city I must ask that you take a seat, compose yourself, and answer my questions as completely as possible."
The woman continued to bob her head as Silphid took her arm and guided her onto the bed fearing that she was going into early stages of shock. "W…we were just wed in the house of Helm. My father provided us this room for privacy on this night. I… I…" She looked toward the corpse.
"When did you notice that he was in the state that he was in?" Silphid questioned as he moved in front of her to block her gaze.
"This morn. I awoke from my sleep and Francis was slumped over against the wall over there." She pointed to the side away from the window. "I got up to check on him when he started to claw at me. He was fine, I swear it, last night was the best night of our lives, and then this morn…"
"Was that window open?" Silphid pointed to the crack in the pane.
"It was warm, we opened it only a crack."
"And you heard nothing last night?"
"I am a sound sleeper, my father always said that another great storm could pass and I would not awake." She stated apologetically. "This is my fault, is it not? Helm did not approve of this union, I should have known. I was not as pious as I should have been. He was the dutiful guardian, but not me. I was strong-willed and impulsive…"
"Do not blame yourself." Silphid assured her. "This is the cause of some great evil bent on destruction, and I will find it and slay it. Do you have somewhere you can go at this time?"
She nodded, only then starting to tear up. "I may go back to my parents home."
"Do so, and have your father border all entrances, any cracks in the foundation, any ventilation. Do you hear me?"
"What of my Francis?"
"My ally is acquiring services from the temple of Torm to examine your spouse. Once this is done we can have his remains transferred to Helm if that is your wish."
She agreed before leaving the premises. Moments later Ariana returned with a low priest of the who was sent to cover and transport the body. The party was allowed to follow in order to obtain a sample of venom if present.
Ciara returned to the hotel room to be greeted with an explanation from Meera as to the location of the party members as well as summary of events as best described to her by Silphid before their departure to the temple. Quickly she changed into her armor before inviting Meera to go with to meet the others. Silphid was seated alone in the waiting quarters sipping on a mug.
"Where did Ariana run off to?" She questioned.
"That girl that was here yesterday invited her to the orphanage to assist with the ill children." Silphid explained.
"That's… good." Ciara replied knowing that the city was starting to get to the druid. At least this way she could focus her attention on helping and healing. "Meera was a little vague on the details…"
"I told you what I knew." The sprite interrupted and pointed to Silphid. "He was the vague one."
"In any event, what it sounds like is whoever is turning people is changing their trend. That hotel was just outside the center of town and highly populated."
"The victim also wasn't alone. There was a witness. Sort of. Not particularly a good one." Silphid added, thinking back to the poor young widow. "Were you able to find anything in your quest?"
"Nothing to implicate the mayor, but I have just made a contact in town." Ciara explained.
"I suppose that could come in handy." Silphid replied. He thought about asking if she was required to do anything nefarious, but decided that he rather not know the answer. "Were we able to get a sample of venom, could he assist in the identification?"
"It wouldn't hurt to ask."
The pious faired skinned half-elf, whom introduced herself the as Taraqui Kyian, guided Ariana through the great cathedral into the courtyard leading to the orphanage. The building was grand with two wings, the boys and girls Taraqui explained. The second story was dedicated to the infants through toddlers who were usually kept separated due to the germs acquired by the school aged children. They entered into the large great chamber where only a couple of children were found lounging, half asleep on the furniture. One early teen peered towards the pair and offered a brief wave before returning to the book he was reading. Only offering a double take glance to the wolf at the heels of the elf.
"This is the sitting room." Tara explained. "This is where most of the kids hang out, play games, draw, color, etc. Right now the older kids are just starting their daily hygiene while the younger ones are getting ready to leave for school. You'll see a few more of the secondaries filter through as they finish up, right Carver?"
The kid offered a thumbs up in response, before she led them into the dining area where approximately twenty children between the human ages of 4 and 8 where chatting and finishing up their breakfasts.
Taraqui noticed a young halfling, perhaps eight years of age, picking at a barely touched plate. "What's wrong, Ana?" She questioned.
Ariana watched, impressed with the fact that her guide appeared to know all the kids on a personal level.
The girl shrugged. "Not hungry."
"She's not feeling well." The gnome next to her happily replied for her.
"Is that true?" Taraqui knelt down beside her to check her temperature. "You are warm, perhaps you should head back to bed."
"But, I want to go! You weren't supposed to say anything Quessa." Ana cried. The gnome next to her looked grumbling something about the cleric being able to figure it out anyway. "It's show are share day at school and… and I was going to bring the griffon feather you gave me."
"Sweetie, you go to school today and the only thing you are going to share is that bug you picked up." She reasoned with her.
"Couldn't you make it go bye bye?" Ana begged. "There's that spell you've been working on that can make me feel better so I can go."
"You know that we can't do that in every case. We don't have the resources to heal everyone, and need to save what we have for the serious ones. Best we can do is give you something to help fight it, but you really need to take it easy."
"But this is serious, I have to go to school!"
"No, you have to go lay down."
Ana pouted and stood from her seat grabbing a sick pail on her way to the sleeping chambers. The staff kept the cleaned out pails readily available to assist with the cleaning process.
"Who's that? And is it friendly?" Quessa pointed to the big dog trailing behind the elf, a bunch of the other kids looked over for the answer.
"That is Eboni." Ariana answered. "And she is highly sociable to those who do not pose a threat. She likes to be pet, but do not pull on her tail."
As children started to get up Taraqui yelled out for them to sit down. "Finish your meals, and I can ask Ariana if it would be okay if you play with Eboni in the sitting room before the carriages come to pick you up."
Ariana agreed and sent Eboni into the grand chamber before she was shown the kitchen and then the girls living chambers. There were three large bed rooms, each containing 15 beds and broken based on amongst the primary (aged 4-8), secondary (9-13), and tertiary or pre-vocational (14- graduation) schools. Each of the bedrooms contained a separate toilet room with its own bath. Adjoining each room was reading/play room consisting of material suited for that age group. Most of the day staff remained on the second story which held its own rooms and kitchen and dining areas with the youngest; too young to enter the education system.
"Tara, I could use some help in here." Anya called out from the primary room, noticing the half elf in the hallway. Anya was alone in the room sponging down a fevered dwarf girl as Ana sat at the edge of her bed gulping with her pail at her lap. There were three others in the room; two sleeping fitfully, and the last seated resting in bed with a book. Tara sat down next to the young halfling and rubbed at her back.
"Tara, I don't feel good." Ana explained.
"I know, sweetie." The fair skinned half-elf patted down the sweaty brow with a damp rag. "You heard what the high priest said. This is a virus that will pass with time."
"Make it go away. Please!"
Ariana felt the plea pull at her heartstrings but didn't know what to do. She was reminded of how Ciara had comforted her friend on the boat, and wondered if these children would be better off with her here instead. She started to back away to the kitchen where she could help with the tea when another child, a human of six, moaned for help nearby. Ariana looked at Taraqui with fear in her eyes.
"Just sit with her." She was instructed noticing the hesitation.
Ariana helped the girl sit up and grab the pail just in time for the gagging to start. She followed the cleric's example in rubbing the girls back as she continued to heave, and held her up as she started to slump into the elf.
"It's okay Deana." Taraqui offered comfort to the girl from the neighboring bed.
"How do you know this place so well?" Ariana questioned.
"I grew up here." Taraqui explained.