It was a short walk to the Carowyn's manor given how close it was to Griffin's home. Griffin took the time walking to explain to Falenas and Verik who the Carowyns were and the relationship they had with his family. The two were already familiar with the contribution the Carowyns made to the arts and so Griffin spent his time going over how he personally knew Ausio and Olauren Carowyn. He had to admit that the nobles were more friends with Tiran than they were with him but that was nothing new. While Griffin appreciated the arts, he couldn't help but feel that the Carowyns spent too much time hosting galas when they had more important work. He still hadn't gotten over how they thought a plague was the best time to host another although he figured that the Carowyns wouldn't like that to be brought up.

Eventually, the trio arrived at their destination, a two-story manor with a hedge wall toward the backyard. Unlike the last time Griffin visited the Carowyns, the manor was completely silent without any guards around the front door. Like Deyanira had told him before, the curtains had been drawn to cover the windows, not giving the group a chance to look inside. Griffin frowned, recognizing that even if the party was over, the manor was still too silent. Something was wrong, and when he walked over to the door, he decided against knocking and lightly pulled the door handle.

"Locked," Griffin said quietly. "Something's not right."

"Should we maybe go back and wait for the others?" Verik suggested, looking around the area. "I have a bad feeling about this place."

"It's likely that the Carowyns, along with their guests and entertainers, are too sick to answer the door," Falenas told the others with a frown. "I don't expect any danger. I say we proceed as normal. Griffin, do you have any lockpicks for the door?"

"Of course but I don't think that's a good idea," Griffin answered. "I'm not dressed as Indigo right now. It would cause quite the scandal if Griffin Vossler were found picking locks, especially towards a noble's home."

Falenas shrugged. "It's not like anyone's out in the open. I can keep you covered if it makes you feel better."

"While you do that, I'll look around the manor for a way to get inside," Verik told the others. "Maybe there's an unlocked window we can get in through."

"Fine," Griffin sighed. "Let's see what I can do."

Griffin pulled out a lockpick from his sleeve while Verik walked around the corner of the manor. Falenas stood in front of Griffin, blocking the noble from sight in case of anyone walking by the nearby streets. Hesitantly, Griffin set his cane against the wall, knelt down by the door's lock and did his best to unlock it with his lockpick. However, minutes passed by without the door's lock budging. Griffin knew firsthand that the locks for noble manors were the best around Korvosa, and even with his training, he wasn't certain if he could pick the door's lock.

Griffin's lockpick broke off when he jumped up, startled by the sound of glass shattering nearby. Although he and Falenas were worried about a potential ambush, they realized that the shattering sound came from around the corner that Verik walked around. Griffin grabbed his cane and followed Falenas toward Verik and found that the archer had broken one of the first floor windows. Verik pushed the drapes away, careful not to cut himself on any broken shards of glass. Griffin coughed into his arm to get Verik's attention, who jumped up and looked at the pair.

"Verik, you fool," Griffin shook his head and sighed. "We're going to get in a lot of trouble if someone finds out you broke that window."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Verik said, throwing his hands up. "That window was broken before I got here. I think it might have been broken by a noble that had too much to drink during that gala I heard about."

"Those nobles can get rowdy," Falenas chuckled. "I'm sure if anyone was paying attention, they would have called out about the broken window."

"This is a terrible idea," Griffin crossed his arms. "We need to be subtle. I can't risk-"

"It's not like you were going to pick that lock in a timely manner," Falenas said with a shrug, watching Verik climb inside the manor through the broken window. "If it comes down to it, we'll force Verik to pay for repairs. Now let's stop wasting time and get to work."

Griffin held his hand to his head, sighing to see Falenas follow after Verik. Once again, he was reminded that he wasn't as good of a leader as Alexander and Viera were. Verik and Falenas would have thought twice about breaking and entering if either Alexander or Viera were around. Still, going back for them wasn't an option now. With little other choice, Griffin followed after his companions, grateful that most of the glass had been cleared away by the others before him.

The trio found themselves in the den of the manor, and much to Griffin's surprise, there were others in the room. Two nobles, a man and woman wearing bronze suits and a lion and lioness mask respectively, sat by chairs in front of an unlit fireplace. A servant wearing a green-and-blue suit with the back of a peacock stood between them, holding a silver tray of empty glasses. Griffin blinked in confusion at the sight, unsure of why they were silent. The servant turned to face the intruding group, the upper part of his face but allowed them to see the lower half of his face, which was rotting and gray.

"They're undead!" Griffin called out with a gasp. "Defend yourselves!"

Verik took out his bow, Falenas his dagger, and Griffin pulled out the sword hidden in his cane. The archer fired two arrows, striking the peacock-dressed servant in the shoulder and the lioness noble across the shoulder, killing her as the lion-dressed servant stood up with a groan. Griffin stepped forward, jabbing his sword through the undead servant's mask. The servant fell, defeated, and Falenas charged at the remaining noble, stabbing him in the shoulder. The noble pushed on, uncaring for his wound and slammed Falenas into the wall. A shot to the undead's head finished him off and allowed the alchemist to push the noble off of him.

Griffin took a deep breath and pulled his blade free. He frowned to see that in addition to the rotting skin, the undead servant's face was covered in red marks.

"Falenas, you may have been infected with blood veil," Griffin warned the alchemist and motioned to the symptoms the servant displayed.

"Is that so?" Falenas knelt by the dead noble dressed as a noble, taking off his mask to see the red marks across the zombie's head. "How peculiar…"

"Now hold on," Verik held a hand up. "Since when has blood veil turned the dead into zombies?"

"It doesn't, and this isn't blood veil," Falenas stated matter-of-factly and stood back up. "The markings are attached to the skin as if they were scratched off scabs but they look too fresh compared to the decomposition of the corpses. At first glance, it would seem like they died from blood veil, but the symptoms were manufactured."

"How could someone have done that?" Griffin questioned.

"My guess is magic," Falenas said. "I imagine that there is a spell that could do that and it would have taken magic to raise the fallen as undead."

"But if blood veil didn't kill them, what did?" Verik asked.

A silence fell over the group as they thought over what exactly happened at the manor. Griffin understood that someone had to have been behind killing the party guests and servants and bringing them back as undead but he couldn't tell why they would make it so that it seemed the undead were killed by blood veil. Something strange was happening at the manor and he didn't like the idea of continuing on without the rest of their companions.

Before Griffin could suggest going back and telling the others what they had found, music came from the open doorway leading to the great hall of the manor. Cautiously, the group proceeded toward the sound, any thoughts of leaving fading away in favor of investigating what had happened. The floor of the great hall was covered in blood and nobles dressed up as different animals danced around in pairs to the sound of the music. There were six dancers altogether and it was very likely they were undead like the trio they fought in the den.

There was no sign of any musician playing the dim song and Griffin, Falenas, and Verik glanced in the direction of a woman who stood on a table, waving a hand as if she was a conductor. Unlike the dancing nobles, the woman was clearly alive and dressed in a colorful red-and-yellow jester outfit completed with a cape. Her blonde hair was braided into a long ponytail that fell down across her back and revealed pointed elven ears. She lowered her hand and the music faded away completely. She turned to the trio of adventurers, her green iris taking up most of her eyes like Falenas' eyes. Griffin spotted that she carried a loaded hand crossbow in her hand and her red lips curled up into a smirk.

"Welcome, visitors!" the elven woman greeted cheerfully despite the grisly scene she found herself in. "I take it you're here for the masquerade? Unfortunately, you don't meet the standards of the dress code. It's such a shame, really. I would have loved to dance with one of you but now I have to kill you instead."

"How about this?" Verik said, nocking an arrow on his bow. "You don't kill us and we kill you instead."

"That would be my preference," Falenas nodded in agreement and took out one of his bombs.

"I'd suggest you surrender," Griffin pointed his sword cane toward the woman. "This won't end well for you otherwise."

"Ooh, is that a sword cane?" the woman asked, looking in mock awe at Griffin's weapon. "You should really let your archer have that though on account of his bad foot."

Verik blinked in confusion. "I don't have-"

The woman aimed her hand crossbow and fired. Verik let out a loud scream when the bolt pierced through his boot and into his left foot. The archer fired an arrow in retaliation but the woman avoided it by jumping off the table with a back flip. Verik shot one last arrow in her direction only for a zombie to step in the way. The arrow pierced through the undead's skull and ended its reanimation only for the remaining five zombies to lurch toward the adventurers.

Griffin lunged forward with his sword, knowing that it would be up to him to keep the undead away from Falenas and Verik. He wasn't as formidable of a warrior as Alexander and Viera were but he could hold out long enough for his companions to deal with the undead. He stabbed his sword into the first zombie's shoulder and Falenas threw his bomb to the zombie behind the one Griffin stabbed. Griffin felt the warmth of the golden waves the bomb emitted wash over him and saw the zombie he stabbed collapse. The zombie Falenas struck advanced forward along with the two others, slamming their bodies against Griffin. He found himself pushed back by the zombies, battered and bruised by their careless strikes.

Gritting his teeth, Griffin pushed through despite the pain and took advantage of the opening he spotted. The undead didn't care to defend themselves, allowing for him to stab one through the throat with his sword. He pulled his blade free in time to stab another zombie through the eye, ending its reanimation as well. Griffin turned to look at the remaining zombie, but before he could strike it, an arrow fired by Verik pierced the dead noble through the eyes. The undead monsters were defeated but the woman that had raised them to begin with escaped into a hallway with a cartwheel. Griffin blinked in confusion at the woman wasting energy with such an elaborate maneuver and came to realize that she thought of the fight as a game.

"She's crazy," Griffin muttered and turned back to his companions.

"You can say that again," Verik nodded, his expression one of pain. "I can't move my damn foot because of her."

"The bolt must have pierced through your foot completely into the floorboard," Falenas noted.

"How wonderful," Verik groaned. "Can you do something about it?"

"I can get the bolt out of your foot but time is of the essence," Falenas told Verik as he glanced toward the hall the elven woman fled from. "Whoever it is we're dealing with, we need to take her in alive."

"Alive?" Griffin frowned. "She likely killed everyone in this manor and you want to take her alive."

"Don't you find it odd that she would bother to disguise her victims with symptoms of blood veil?" Falenas asked as he knelt by Verik's foot. "Ever since we found out Andaisin may be involved with blood veil that the plague we're dealing with was a weaponized infection. It could be possible that this jester we're dealing with is involved with Andaisin."

"The records Ishani gave us showed that not a lot of nobles were becoming infected," Verik quickly added with a grimace. "Do you think that this could be connected to that?"

"Perhaps," Falenas nodded, gripping onto the shaft of the crossbow bolt embedded in Verik's foot. "The only reason that she would go through so much effort to cover her massacre would be if she was trying to hide something."

"So you think this is some sort of coverup?" Griffin asked. "What could she be hiding?"

"I haven't the faintest idea which is why we need to capture her," Falenas answered. "We get the answers we need from her, and from there, we can decide on our next move."

"It's too late to go back and get the others," Griffin said with a sigh. "We push on, just the three of us."

As much as Griffin wanted to go back and get Alexander, Viera, and Takota for help, that wasn't an option. If they were to leave the manor now, there would be no one to stop the strange elf from escaping or unleashing the undead she had risen to the streets of Korvosa. Even recognizing this, he didn't enjoy staying and fighting against the elf now. She had been in the manor for however long and had time to prepare for battle. They would have to be careful moving further along the manor especially since Griffin knew he wasn't much of a frontline fighter compared to Alexander and Viera.

Griffin stood guard as Falenas carefully removed the crossbow bolt from Verik's foot. The alchemist offered Verik one of his healing extracts which the archer took to help deal with the pain. Falenas also took a quick moment to take out one of his own extracts to drink, relying on the magical effects of his alchemy to help against their mysterious enemy. Griffin wished he had some of the equipment he kept with him as Indigo on him as he only had his sword cane to rely on for now. With little other choice, Griffin led the way through the hallway the elf fled through with Falenas and Verik following behind him.

The one advantage Griffin had that his enemy may not realize was that he was familiar with the first floor of the manor after attending several galas. As such, he knew that the hallway they were in led to the dining hall. Aside from the way they came from, there was one other way out of the dining hall, giving them a chance to continue following the elf. Griffin stepped into the dining hall, and while the table was finely decorated, the rotting food was far from appealing. There were eight corpses seated at the table with four of them turning their heads to face the adventurers.

"More zombies," Griffin said and held out his sword cane. "Brace yourself for-"

Griffin was interrupted by a loud scream coming from beneath the dining table. He caught a quick glimpse of a crossbow bolt, the source of the scream, flying out from underneath the table. Falenas gasped in pain when the crossbow bolt struck him below the knee and Verik brought one of his hands to cover his ear closest to Falenas. Griffin steeled himself from the screaming, which faded shortly after it struck the alchemist, and focused on the undead that rose up from their seats at the table.

Falenas and Verik were best in a fight when they could stay away from their opponents, and as such, Griffin charged toward the undead. He stabbed his sword into the torso of the first zombie he came across when one of Falenas' bombs struck the undead across the head. The undead monster was torn apart by golden energy while Griffin felt its warmth over him once again, healing some of his aches. He turned to face two zombies coming from his flank only for Verik to take them down with two well-aimed arrows to their skulls. Griffin pivoted to face the final undead only for it to slam against him. He grunted when he fell against the chair and stabbed his sword through the undead creature's neck, ending its reanimation.

The elf jester rolled out from the dining table on the other end of the room and threw a small ball on the ground. The dining hall became enveloped in a thick black smoke and Griffin's first reaction was to hold his breath. The smoke didn't harm his skin and he imagined that it was meant to give their foe another chance to escape. The smoke cleared away, and with the elf no longer in sight, Griffin turned back to his companions. Falenas knelt down to remove the crossbow bolt and worked on covering his bleeding wound with an arrow. Verik had blocked the way they came into the dining hall, leaving only one path for their foe to have escaped.

"She's really starting to get on my nerves," Verik cursed under his breath.

"She knows she can't take the three of us on in a straight fight and is going with hit-and-run tactics," Griffin explained. "It doesn't help that she always strikes when we're distracted with her undead minions. We're going to need to outsmart her somehow."

Griffin and Verik both turned toward Falenas, who stood up straight after patching up his injury. "Fortunately, I've been thinking of ideas on how we can capture her ever since I took that extract of Fox's Cunning. Griffin, where else could she have gone."

"There's the recital hall, and then the kitchen, but then she'll have to loop back to the den we came in through," Griffin answered. "There's a door that leads to the yard but she won't be able to escape through the hedge wall easily."

"So if she intends to flee, she'll have to go through one of the windows or through the front door," Falenas said with a nod. "You two continue the hunt. I'll backtrack and cut her off there."

"Are you sure splitting up is a good idea?" Verik questioned with a frown.

"It's all part of the plan," Falenas stated with a grin and tapped his forehead twice. "Now, do any of you need any healing before I leave?"

Verik shook his head. "I can heal myself with a potion. My foot's sore but I'll be fine."

"I could use a little something," Griffin admitted. "The undead are mindless but they hit hard. I don't have any of my healing potions on me to help with the pain."

"Then you can take one of mine," Falenas offered.

Griffin nodded in agreement to the plan and took one of the healing potions Falenas offered while Verik drank from his own potion. The noble chugged down the liquid contents of the vial, feeling the pain he felt fade away, and dropped the glass to the ground. Falenas had already stepped out of the room, leaving Griffin and Verik behind. Griffin wasn't too comfortable with splitting up but he recognized Falenas must have had more in mind for his plan. He would have pressed for details if he didn't think that their enemy could be listening in on them. It was best to leave the alchemist to his own devices so that he could have the element of surprise with his plan.

Once again, Griffin took the lead heading down the hallway the mysterious elf fled through with Verik following behind him, nocking an arrow on his bow. They soon stepped into the kitchen, a room that Griffin has never been in before, and discovered a disturbing sight. Two undead cooks were pantomiming carving up a corpse of a man dressed as a pig and turned to face the adventurers. Griffin charged at one of the cooks, cutting off its hand with his sword. The zombie growled and was silenced when Griffin drove his blade through its skull. The final undead cook was brought down by Verik, who shot it in the throat.

The two adventurers continued on through the door on the other end of the kitchen, coming across the grand recital hall. An audience of corpses looked on as a zombie dressed as an angel with blue wings played a broken harp poorly. It stopped its music to charge only for Verik to shoot it in the eye with his bow to kill it. Griffin looked at the small audience, and after making sure that they weren't reanimated, lowered his guard with a frown.

"She's not here," Griffin said quietly. "She hasn't tried to attack us yet."

"We have been doing a good job dealing with her undead minions," Verik pointed out. "Maybe we scared her off."

"I don't think so," Griffin shook his head. "I think she's too insane to be scared of us. There-"

Griffin was interrupted by the sound of an explosion coming from the direction of the front entrance. He turned to face Verik and the two nodded in understanding.

"Falenas," they both said at once with Griffin leading the way toward the alchemist.

Falenas knew that splitting up from Griffin and Verik was a dangerous prospect as it made him the perfect target for their attacker to ambush. She had already injured him with her screaming bolt which he figured was magical based on the unnatural fear that overwhelmed him when he was injured. He was determined to stand his ground against her and give his allies the chance they needed to capture her. Even though Falenas knew that he was going to be attacked, he would need more than knowledge to turn his enemy's ambush against her.

When Falenas made it to the front door, he turned around to look down the hallway. There was a set of stairs to his right but Griffin would have said something if there was more than one way to get to the second floor. He chugged down the contents of one of his extracts with one hand and took out one of his frost bombs with his free hand. After being dragged along to fight the wererats, Falenas made sure to stay stocked up on bombs in case he had to be brought to another fight. Now, it was only a matter of waiting for his enemy to show her hand.

Several seconds went by with Falenas standing his ground, anxious for the attack. He imagined that Griffin and Verik were working their way through the rest of the manor and wondered if they were the ones to be ambushed instead of him. The alchemist shook his head at the thought. With his enhanced intellect, Falenas knew that his enemy wouldn't pass up a chance to kill him. On the surface, he appeared to be someone who wasn't much of a fighter other than his alchemical creations. Many of his enemies had made the mistake of underestimating him and he knew that the elf jester would do the same.

It was when eager and violent thoughts flooded his mind that Falenas knew it was time to strike.

"I see you," Falenas smirked.

The violence of the thoughts faded away to surprise when Falenas chucked his frost bomb down the hallway. It slammed against the ground and exploded outward in a hail of ice shards. The surprise he felt within his mind turned to pain, and much to Falenas' surprise, a hint of lust, and the elf jester appeared in his view. The blast of the bomb was enough to break the magic that turned her invisible and the alchemist noted that several of the ice shards were embedded into her skin, drawing blood.

The thoughts Falenas felt turned to anger when the elf glared at him. "How did you know I was coming?"

"One of my extracts gave me the ability to read your thoughts," Falenas revealed and tapped his forehead with a smirk. "It would have taken great effort to break into your dark mind but your surface thoughts allowed me to detect your presence when you stepped into my sight. It was only a matter-"

"You talk too much."

The elf took out her hand crossbow and fired a bolt at Falenas. The alchemist jumped to the side but the bolt tore through the side of his arm and he grimaced in pain. He was quick enough to throw another frost bomb towards his foe but his foe was quicker. She jumped up, completely avoiding the ice that expanded outward, and grabbed onto the railing of the stairs. She threw another of her smoke bombs between his feet and he became blinded in a dark cloud of smoke.

Falenas dropped down to one knee, thinking that she was going to try to shoot him when he emerged from the smoke cloud. However, his mind picked up the worried thoughts of his companions and he closed his eyes for a second to hold back on reading minds. He would be able to reactivate it for the next couple of minutes but he had no intention of prying into his friends' secrets. It was only when he heard the elf woman scream that Falenas stepped out of the smoke cloud. He caught a glimpse of his foe fleeing upstairs and turned to look at the hallway. Griffin ran up to the alchemist while Verik lowered his bow's aim.

"I got her in the leg!" Verik announced. "We have her now!"

"Falenas, are you okay?" Griffin asked with a frown. "We heard your bombs and came running."

"She got a glancing shot at me with her crossbow but I was able to surprise her with one of my frost bombs," Falenas reported. "We should proceed cautiously. She has a way to turn invisible."

"Wonderful," Verik sighed. "Just our luck."

"How were you able to spot her if she was invisible?" Griffin questioned.

"One of my extracts allowed me to detect her surface thoughts," Falenas answered. "As long as you two don't mind me reading your immediate feelings whenever I glance in your direction, I can keep checking for her thoughts."

"Do so," Griffin nodded. "We have her cornered. Let's keep this up."

Griffin led the way up the stairs with Falenas falling behind him, no longer holding back the power of his magical extract. He could feel Griffin's determined thoughts come into mind, and while Verik was behind him, the alchemist imagined that he had similar thoughts. Falenas didn't want to rush his companions when their enemy was clever and dangerous but he knew it was important to capture her as quickly as possible. He could turn the power of his extract to look deeper into her thoughts. It was possible that she could resist the intrusion into her mind but he believed that her willpower wasn't strong enough to do so.

The trio made it to the top of the stairs to find themselves in a gallery with numerous paintings on the walls and alcoves for musicians to play in. The gallery was quite large, and during any other time, Falenas would have enjoyed the chance to look at the paintings. Instead, he took note of the corpses scattered across the ground and three shambling corpses moving toward the stairs after the adventurers. Falenas took out one of his bombs containing positive energy while Verik nocked two arrows on his bow by his side.

The elf jester was at the end of the gallery, waiting for the adventurers after having pulled out the arrow Verik landed. She fired another screaming crossbow bolt, and while it struck Griffin in the shoulder, it was Falenas who felt panicked from the loud screaming. He shook his head, trying to ignore the supernatural fear that tried to overwhelm him, while Griffin charged toward the elf, who fled into a separate room. Her undead minions moved to intercept him and the noble called out to his companions behind him.

"Cover me!"

Verik let his arrows fly loose and they each struck two of the risen corpses in the head to end their reanimation. Falenas threw his bomb at the final undead monster and the direct hit overwhelmed the zombie with the warmth of positive energy, practically disintegrating it. There was nothing left in Griffin's way as he made his way into the room the elf fled into. Falenas and Verik ran in that direction when they heard sounds of violence. While Verik may have expected that Griffin was fighting the elf, Falenas felt her thoughts in his mind. He could feel her triumph and realized she had turned invisible again.

"The doorway!" Falenas told Verik. "Shoot at the doorway!"

Falenas tossed one of his frost bombs and Verik let out a barrage toward the doorway but they both missed their mark as she didn't turn visible from being struck. It was only when Griffin stepped out of the room, his sword coated in the fresh ichor of an undead he slain, that their enemy made her move. Griffin screamed out in pain and the elf turned invisible, having stabbed him in his side with a flimsy dagger. Falenas, growing tired of chasing after the elf, knew it was time for a change of tactics.

Verik fired at the elf, striking her in the shoulder, while Griffin shoved her into the gallery wall. This gave Falenas the opportunity he needed to take out another of his extracts to drink before he turned to the jester. He spat out a large glob of liquid toward her and the spittle struck her. The adhesive nature of the liquid pinned her both against the gallery wall and the floor she stood on. Her thoughts turned to fascination when Griffin held his sword cane to her throat. The noble left himself exposed to the dagger she still carried but Falenas could tell that she realized she wouldn't make it out of the manor alive if she stabbed him.

"Drop it," Griffin commanded.

"Do as he says," Falenas said as he took out another extract. "Even if the adhesive spittle wears off, I have another extract to keep you pinned."

"And so the fun ends," the elf sighed and her dagger fell to the ground with a thud.

"We'll need to restrain her," Falenas told his companions and reached into his bag of holding. "I'll search her for any other weapons she might be carrying. Griffin, Verik, if you would tie her up for me, we can see about questioning her."

"Verik, if you don't mind, but you'll have to secure her yourself," Griffin said. "Let's not forget that we came here to find Ruan."

Falenas blinked when thoughts of recognition crossed into his mind. "She knows Ruan."

"Do not!" the elf snapped."I thought you said 'ruin.'"

"Please do not try to lie to someone who can look into your mind," Falenas warned the woman and handed Verik a coil of rope. "I'll see if I can get into her memories while my extract is still in effect. Griffin, if you run into any trouble, find us."

"Will do," Griffin said and turned to the stairs.

Falenas clasped his hands behind his back and looked over at the elven woman as Verik tied her hands up as the spittle keeping her pinned started to wear off. He would search her person for any weapons or other items of note and make sure she didn't bleed out from her injuries before reading her mind. From what little he gathered, she was insane, but with any luck, that would make finding out what was on her mind all the more easy. One way or another, Falenas would find out what the jester was up to.

Griffin spent the next several minutes searching the rest of the manor after bandaging his injured shoulder from where he had been shot. He kept his feelings in check when he went through the various corpses of both the dead and the undead. So far, he had yet to come across any other undead and soon felt that they had destroyed all of the jester's reanimated minions. Some of the corpses he looked through were familiar but Griffin wasn't close to those that had been killed. He regretted the loss of life all the same and didn't envy whoever it was that had to deal with the aftermath of the attack.

However, none of the corpses had any Varisian features and Griffin couldn't help but wonder if there was more to the jester's knowledge of Ruan than recognizing his name.

During his search, Griffin came to believe that no one had survived the attack until he came across the cellar beneath the first floor. The racks of wine were well-stocked with different bottles and there were plenty of casks but it was the wooden door tucked away in the corner of the cellar that caught Griffin's attention. He tried to open the door to find it locked. With a frown, he thought about reaching for his lockpicks when the door flung open suddenly. Griffin was quick enough to back away from the door to take up a defensive stance with his sword when he realized the mistake he made.

Standing before Griffin, garbed in tattered fine clothing, was Ausio Carowyn, who was quite alive. He clutched a dull knife in his hand and trembled when he advanced only to recognize Griffin. He lowered his knife and sighed in relief.

"Thank Shelyn," Ausio muttered, his eyes tearing up. "I thought you were that mad harlequin. What are you doing here, Griffin?"

Griffin slowly lowered his sword. "That's a long story."

"Since when have you carried a blade?" Audio questioned. "And where's your cane?"

Griffin took a deep breath. The mistake he had made was showing who he really was to Ausio by taking up a defensive stance. His disguise as Indigo gave him the cover he needed to fight alongside his companions without earning further scrutiny from the nobility of Korvosa. Now, Ausio had seen the truth for himself, and there was little that Griffin could do to keep him from telling others. The older noble wouldn't be able to keep who rescued him a secret. There would be consequences for Griffin down the line, but for now, he had to focus on learning what he could from the only survivor of the attack.

"Never mind that," Griffin shook his head. "What happened here?"

"Truth be told, I don't know the whole story," Ausio admitted. "I was greeting the Westerkiers when one of the acrobats we hired fired into the crowd with a crossbow. I heard screaming from all around the manor along with her shrill laugh, and well, I ran. I've been hiding for days, and anytime I try to sneak out, I run back when I hear her laughter. Is she dead?"

"She's been dealt with," Griffin answered. "Ausio, do you know where Ruan was when the violence started?"

"He was up in the gallery with Olauren…" Ausio started to trail off. "Did you find my wife? Is she okay?"

Slowly, Griffin shook his head. He didn't have it in him to tell Ausio that he had cut down Olauren, who had been risen as one of the elf's undead servants. Ausio bowed his head, understanding Griffin's answer, and started to cry terribly. Griffin took out his cane and sheathed his sword into it before moving to pat the older noble on the back in a comforting gesture.

"I'll escort you out of your home," Griffin told him quietly. "Go to my home and tell Tiran what happened. He'll let you stay with us for as long as you need."

Ausio continued to cry but Griffin saw him nod in acknowledgement of his plan. He led the noble upstairs and toward the front door, not bothering to fake a limp now that the truth was out. Although Ausio wasn't a friend of Griffin's, he wasn't the worst of Korvosa's nobility. He had lost everything and the least Griffin could do was make sure he had a safe place to stay until his affairs were settled. Of course, there was nothing stopping Ausio from telling Tiran of the way Griffin walked or the way he handled a blade, but that was something he would deal with later.

After ensuring Ausio was on his way to the Vossler estate, Griffin made his way back upstairs and into the gallery. The elf was tied up with her back against the wall and she hummed rather loudly. Verik stood several feet away, his spear out in case she tried to escape, while Falenas paced around the gallery, shaking his head. Griffin frowned, realizing that something had gone wrong. The alchemist turned to Griffin, and with a sigh, stepped toward him.

"I'm afraid that I have some bad news," Falenas said quietly. "Her mind… it's more formidable than I anticipated. She resisted all of my attempts to read past her surface thoughts and she refuses to speak now. We've learned nothing from her so far."

"Damn it!" Griffin cursed. "We need answers, Falenas!"

"I know but there's very little else we can do," Falenas shrugged.

"What about torture?" Griffin asked. "She killed an entire manor of people and we need to find out why."

"I don't think traditional torture would work," Falenas told Griffin. "I think she has masochistic tendencies."
"Vee and Alex probably wouldn't approve of torture either," Verik added from where he stood guard.

Griffin took a deep breath and nodded. "Forgive me for the suggestion. This whole day has left me quite frustrated. What do we do now?"

"That's actually a disagreement Fal and I have," Verik told Griffin. "I think that we should take her back to Citadel Volshyenek and turn her in while letting Cress know that she has vital information that we need to find out."

"A reasonable idea," Griffin said with a nod. "Falenas, what do you suggest we do with her?"

"I am not making a suggestion," Falenas stated firmly and reached into his pockets. "I am taking her back to my clinic since Citadel Volshyenek isn't equipped to deal with her."

"What could you possibly mean by that?" Griffin questioned with a frown.

"I found this in her pockets."

Falenas held in his hands four small vials that each contained a tarry and chunky black paste. Griffin sighed, recognizing the substance only through his partnership with the alchemist after they had finished working for the Korvosan Guard. Pesh was an addictive drug originating out of Katapesh. Together, Griffin and Falenas had dealt with several criminals that sold pesh and destroyed the supply. He was aware of the alchemist's stance on drugs after his brother's overdose and knew that Falenas was incredibly stubborn when his mind was set on a plan.

"Falenas, this woman is dangerous," Griffin told his friend. "Do you truly believe that you can keep her locked away at your clinic?"

"I have to try," Falenas said, shaking his head. "During our time working for the Korvosan Guard, I had time to study the way they treat prisoners. For the most part, it's humane except when it comes to those addicted to drugs. You can't cut someone off completely without consequences. I've already tried to convince Cressida of what to do but she's understandably busy implementing these methods."

"She's a murderer," Griffin pointed out. "She deserves to be locked up."

"She's sick, Griffin," Falenas shot back. "I've seen plenty of patients in my life to know the symptoms of pesh addiction that she's showing. It is my duty as a healer to do what I can to help her."

"And what of the plague ravaging this city?" Griffin argued. "Wouldn't this distract you from that?"

"Perhaps, but I've seen what drug addiction can do to someone from personal experience," Falenas reminded Griffin, his eyes growing soft. "I have to do this, Griffin. Taking down drug dealers like Gaedren isn't enough to help those they've left to rot."

Griffin considered Falenas' words for several seconds before crossing his arms. "Do you think that if you break her addiction, she'll reveal why she attacked the manor or what happened to Ruan."

"It's quite possible," Falenas answered with a nod. "Breaking an addiction can be painful and I don't think she would find joy from such a pain."

"Then do what you have to, get the answers we need, and turn her in to the Korvosan Guard," Griffin said and turned to Verik. "Go with Falenas and make sure that she can't escape from us. Afterwards, I want you both to head back to my home. We'll need to let the others know."

"You've got it," Verik nodded and holstered his spear.

"Thank you, Griffin," Falenas bowed his head. "This means a lot to me."

"I'm not doing this for your personal crusade but so that we can find out what happened."

Verik pulled the elf up onto her feet and held onto the rope keeping her bound. "Griff, are you not coming with us?"

"Not yet," Griffin answered with a sigh. "I'm afraid I have something to take care of back home…"

A/N: When I first started writing this chapter, I knew it would cover a lot, but I didn't expect it to be one of my longest chapters for any of my stories on this website. I hope it's one everyone enjoyed.

I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter as it is the one chapter I've been excited about since I've planned out this story. It might be a little bit before it comes out but I hope it'll be worth the wait.

Until next time.