Sarek hadn't finished processing Saul's betrayal when he and his friends took action. It was hard to believe that a man who supported him did so with some malicious plan in mind, and when Saul was finished with him, he discarded him like a pawn. Sarek wanted answers from his former employer. He wanted to know the truth of why Saul betrayed him when the sorcerer looked up to him. Sarek hadn't had much success before working with the Gold Goblin and wanted to give Saul a chance to explain himself. Sarek wasn't sure if he would accept any apology or explanation from him or if he wanted to kill Saul himself.
Before he could get a chance to decide, Belar killed Saul, and Sarek wasn't sure what to do now. He saw the injuries the dwarf took fighting Saul and heard that Tess was nearly killed by him as well, meaning that there wasn't much of a chance to reason with him even if he was there. The sorcerer supposed that he had closure to the betrayal, even if he wasn't able to make a decision for himself. The best thing he could do now was move on from Saul and decide what to do with his life now.
At the very least, even if Saul turned out to be his enemy, he had made true friends at the Gold Goblin. They had their differences but he was genuinely glad to have met Keya, Ryland, Belar, and Madia. He was also glad that Tess stood by his side even when he wasn't the best friend. He had brought her to Riddleport and discarded any plans of finding the purpose behind the blot when he found success at the Gold Goblin. Sarek knew that he needed to apologize to Tess for what he put her through and try to do better. He knew that the druid wouldn't betray him like Saul had.
So far, he hadn't had a chance to talk with Tess over his recent behavior. She was insistent on finding out more on Saul's elven patron so that they could report back to Kwava. She led a search in the lower levels of the Gold Goblin with Belar and Madia joining her. Ryland was searching Saul's records in the upper floors while Keya roamed the gambling hall, looking for a keyhole large enough for the key Saul had attached to his stump arm. Sarek found his way into the night vault with the keys he took from Saul's office but he wasn't interested in searching for gold.
Instead, Sarek found the deed to the Gold Goblin locked away in a strongbox. Under Riddleport law, possession of a building's deed was enough to count as ownership, regardless of how one came to get a deed. No one would bat an eye at Sarek and his friends claiming ownership of the Gold Goblin despite killing Saul and a number of his employees. He imagined that Keya would want to get the casino back in business but the sorcerer also knew that his friends needed somewhere to stay as some sort of base. They were familiar enough with the Gold Goblin that it could be where they operated out of against Saul's patron.
Sarek was reading through the deed when Keya appeared at the vault door, carrying a large key. She frowned and shook her head in disappointment.
"So much for Saul's key being used for the night vault," Keya said with a sigh before noticing the paper Sarek had. "What'd you have there?"
"The deed to the Gold Goblin," Sarek said, skimming through the legalese of the document. "We're officially owners of the Gold Goblin now."
"So much for waiting a year for ownership," Keya smirked. "Is there anything there about a 'D.A.' in the deed?"
Sarek looked up briefly. "I'm still reading through it but I haven't found anything yet. Why do you ask?"
"Ryland told me that according to the financial records, Saul has been funneling most of the Gold Goblin's profits to someone called that," Keya revealed, spinning the large key in her hand. "He's going downstairs to talk with the others and see if they know anything."
Sarek glanced back at the deed and blinked in confusion. "Huh, that's strange."
"Don't keep me in suspense," Keya said, stepping forward to take a look at the deed.
"The deed goes out of its way to state that while we own the Gold Goblin, ownership of any smuggler tunnels underneath the building belongs to the city of Riddleport," Sarek said, reading from the deed.
Keya shrugged. "So what? It's no secret that Riddleport owns the smuggler tunnels as a public function."
"Saul never mentioned that the Gold Goblin had smuggler tunnels," Sarek pointed out, thinking it through.
"You're right," Keya nodded, catching on to what he was thinking. "Belar and Tess caught Saul heading to the arena that he never told us about."
"We might have a lead," Sarek said and stuffed the deed back in the strongbox for safekeeping. "Come on. Let's find the others."
Keya nodded and walked a step behind Sarek out of the night vault and towards the stairs. Why Saul ran downstairs was still a mystery the group was trying to solve and Sarek may have accidentally stumbled onto the answer. He wasn't sure if there were any clues to be found from the tunnels if they even existed but searching for them (and through if they existed) would be more entertaining than dealing with more legal documents.
When Sarek and Keya stepped into the cellars, they were quick to note Belar walking out of the wine cellar while gagging. The sorcerer didn't think there was any evidence to be found with the wine and decided that the dwarf was trying to find something to drink from to celebrate Saul's death. Down the hallway, they also saw Madia emerge from the stairs leading towards the kennels. She was walking towards the trio as Sarek and Keya turned to face Belar.
"The good stuff is upstairs," Keya told Belar with a grin. "It smells like something died in there for a reason."
"It's troglodyte musk," Belar told the two with a frown.
"What?" Sarek gasped with Keya blinking in confusion. "How do you know?"
"I fought a few during my mercenary days," Belar said, crossing his arms. "I still remember their stench."
"A troglodyte couldn't have walked into the Gold Goblin," Keya said. "But if there are smuggler tunnels, they could have gotten in through there."
"Smuggler tunnels?" Belar asked, although he was nodding. "That makes sense. We need to let Tess and Ryland know. I heard him passing through."
Madia joined the group with Sarek noting that she carried a small signet ring. "Where did you find that?"
"In Pigsaw's kennel," Madia said, referring to Bojask's pet boar by name due to the time she spent in the kennels. "It belonged to Larur…"
"Damn," Keya cursed quietly. "That solves that mystery."
The four adventurers bowed their heads out of respect for Larur. The floor manager didn't do wrong by the group even though they moved on from his disappearance after their investigation led to a dead end. It made sense that Saul had Larur killed. He would have discovered his boss funneling gold away from the Gold Goblin and brought it up to him. After killing Larur, Saul then had his partners investigate the disappearance by pointing him towards a moneylender he owed gold to, solving two problems at once. Even if Saul was working for someone else, Sarek was surprised by how twisted he truly was.
No one said a word when Sarek walked toward the arena where Saul made his final stand. The others followed behind him, still processing that Saul was responsible for Larur's death. Tess and Ryland were down in the arena with Sarek and his friends above them in the bleachers. Before beginning the search, Belar moved the corpses upstairs to the casino floor, having looted them. From what Sarek recalled, the dwarf was intending to dispose of the bodies by tossing them into the harbor at nightfall. It was a fitting end of Saul's legacy for all the trouble he put them through.
Sarek was surprised to see Tess and Ryland cleaning up some of the sand in the center of the arena. He was less surprised to see that they found a hatch, knowing what he did. Tess and Ryland looked up when they heard the others approaching with the druid waving.
"We found something!" Tess announced with a smile. "This must have been why Saul ran downstairs when we attacked the Gold Goblin."
"It's probably a smuggler tunnel," Sarek shouted back. "He might have tried to escape through there."
"It's good that I found him," Belar said with a chuckle. "By the way, we're dealing with troglodytes and Saul had Larur killed."
"We're going to need to let the other employees know," Madia said, unable to hide her sadness at the loss.
Tess closed her eyes to mourn Larur quietly while Ryland remained focused on the hatch, even though it didn't budge when he tried to open it. "It's locked."
"Catch!" Keya said and threw her key down at Ryland.
Ryland caught the large key with one hand and knelt down to the hatch once again. He inserted the key into the padlock and nodded after turning it.
"Good thinking," Ryland said and stood up. "We should investigate and see where the tunnel leads."
"It'll be dangerous," Belar noted. "If that's where the troglodytes came from, there may be more monsters."
"We have to go down though," Madia said, determined. "If there's any chance that there's more to Saul's operation, we need to find out."
"Shouldn't we talk to Kwava?" Keya asked with a faint smile. "I wouldn't mind getting his help on this."
"Kwava was worried about Saul's patron finding out about him," Tess said, shaking her head. "We should investigate on our own."
` "If we're expecting a fight, we should take the rest of the night to rest and head down into the smuggler's tunnels first thing in the morning," Sarek suggested. "My magic has drained me from the fighting already and it'll take some time for Saul's patron to learn of his death."
"Good idea," Tess nodded in agreement. "We don't have to rush at this point. We'll head down tomorrow morning after tending to our injuries."
"Should we set up a watch?" Madia asked. "If the troglodytes got into the wine cellar, they could come up tonight."
"I'll take watch for the full night," Ryland told the group. "I have a spell that will keep me awake without leaving me exhausted the next day."
"Sounds like a good plan," Keya said with a yawn. "I'd like to stay up and talk, but after all that fighting, I could use some shut eye."
"Dibs on Saul's room," Belar said, turning to the exit with a chuckle.
"No fair!" Keya shouted after Belar with Madia following close behind her friends.
Ryland started to chant in the corner as Tess walked over to the rope, climbing out of the arena. Sarek stuck around to help her onto the ground and felt warm inside when she smiled in thanks. The sorcerer thought about taking this moment to apologize for the way he acted but noticed how exhausted his friend was. Truth be told, he was tired from the spells he casted and could use some rest as well. He decided that the apology could wait until after they finished searching the smuggler tunnels.
Sarek and Tess walked upstairs to their quarters. Saul betrayed them but there was more to the conspiracy. If Kwava was telling the truth, and with most of the group believing he had no reason to lie to them, then there was still his patron to deal with. Sarek had a feeling that tomorrow, they would leave the conspiracy behind them. He wasn't sure what he would do next with his life but he promised to himself that he wouldn't be used again.
A/N: So, I actually finished writing this chapter yesterday but forgot to post it with how busy my schedule was, hence why we have a surprise Wednesday update. I'm looking forward to wrapping up this story.
Until next time.