29/07/5-10

The party started the day with planning their schedule. Valeyo asked Shiek to come with him to the bank to transfer the money to Raya. He also wanted him to speak to Yorhaza about buying the Spirit Board. Valeyo wanted to look for Simona with Otto and see what her deal was. The others had no plans, but considered looking for some job postings. As they went downstairs, they were informed that there was a visitor waiting for them in the conference room. There stood on one of the chairs was the Baron of the Deep. He asked the group to come in and flip the switch to isolate the room. Shiek did so and the asked them for all of the information on the assault that happened in the Temple. Valeyo praised him for being such an upstanding citizen, helping the watch. The Baron appreciated the irony, but asked for the details, as preventing crime in the top two levels was kind of his job. Otto and Cassini began describing the events and the Baron was interested in the identities of the assailants. The two of them mentioned that they were likely a cult opposed to Sehanine. Cassini said he provoked them by meddling with what they might consider heresy. He thanked them for their help and on the way out, he asked the Baron if a woman matching Simona's description was still in the Broken Chain, which he confirmed.

Following that encounter, the group got the money sent to Raya and they split up to handle their business. Shiek made his way to Worldwares Shipping, passing by the Penance and Co Auction house. With the auction closing in, there were many people buzzing around the building. Most looked as if they belonged there, in the nicer layers, but some looked quite out of place, leaving Shiek wondering as to how they got there. At WWS, it didn't take long for Shiek to be lead to Yorhaza's office by Ignaminius, where he found  a tired looking Yorhaza who greeted him. Shiek told him he wished to discuss one of the auction items - the Spirit Board. Shiek explained that a friend of his needed the item to not fall into the hands of a particular person. He also wanted to know about the sharing of the profits from the sale of the Ring. Yorhaza said that once the Ring is sold, the auction house would take their 20% cut, then the rest would be an even split between the two of them. The money would be transferred to an associate of Yorhazas and them send to him in a week's time. Yorhaza wanted to know who he is bidding against and Shiek told him it was  Khert Drahzen Novosel. Yorhaza stood up and grabbed a ledger, saying that he doesn't have the full access to the company finances, since there are other shareholders, but he could stretch a personal purchase up to 25k, any more and he would need to acquire money elsewhere. Shiek told him that was fine and said that any more should be taken from his share of the ring, which was agreeable to Yorhaza.

Otto and Valeyo approached the broken chain, where the clientele was scarce this early in the day. They soon spotted Simona tucked in to one of the corner. Valeyo had See Invisibility up, but saw nothing of now in the tavern. Otto's detect magic on the other hand, was picking up many signals from the various customers. Simona looked startled at their approach. Otto noted the magical auras that she had on her:

1. Glaive - Necromancy, Illusion.
2. Amulet - Abjuration

Valeyo sat down and mentioned that they kept running into one another, to which she gave a nervous laugh. Valeyo asked what brought her there, asking if Vasil didn't trust him to do the job himself. She said it wasn't that and that she was there to see the Legendary Pickaxe. Valeyo told her that they were interested in the auction as well, as went over the items to see if they had any overlap. He stopped over the ring being sold by one Raynar Valova. He then asked if there was any relation, which made her narrow her eyes and ask why he wanted to know. Valeyo mentioned meeting Raynar in Konskirav and wondered if they were siblings. Simona asked why he was curious more forcefully and Valeyo put on his serious face telling her that he is spinning a dozen plates at once in this city and can't have her ruining things by doing something stupid as part of her contract, like ruining the auction or killing the Emisar. Upon mentioning killing the Emisar, Simona's face was momentarily startled, before resuming its stoic appearance. She said she wouldn't do that, she just wanted to see the Pickaxe. As for the ring and Raynar, it was her sister to whom she often gave things covertly so she could scrape by. Her sister didn't know she was alive and Simona wished to keep it that way. Valeyo told Simona not to interfere with the Auction, as it would end poorly for her and he didn't wish for them to be at odds. She agreed that would be unfortunate and Valeyo went to leave. Before getting up, Otto told her there is always another way out of these deals, she could still turn her life around. She just nodded and he headed out.

The remaining party was looking around for any jobs they could do. The search began at the Drop tavern, where they approached the small barkeep who told them there was a listing from the crown about a fort to the west. Another about fire giants hassling traders up the road, they scheme has been quite clever and discreet so far and have evaded capture. He also spoke of more work being available at the docks soon. After the auction, there was also a noble called Janske, who wished escort up to Moratopp. Cassini and Sapphira decided to head to Janske, with Milivoj staying behind to avoid his family.

The group managed to meet up in front of the elevator at the 3rd layer. There they told each other about their various discoveries. On the topic of Simona, Shiek offered to keep an eye on her for the next couple of days to see what she is doing and who she is meeting, in case he could deduce how she plans on assassinating the Emisar. Sapphira and Cassini headed to Janske and soon after Shiek went after them, wanting to use his connection to Janske from his life as Omar. The rest talked about what they would do, with Milivoj itching to fight something.

Up at the top layer, the three approached the door of Janske's estate which was being guarded by two Novosel guards. They showed them the job posting and were told Janske would soon be with them. Suddenly from behind them came a voice, which said "Omar, got some new friends there?". Shiek asked what it is to them and the halfling sighed saying "Whatever, I don't care. Come with me, let's get to business." and began walking around to a side entrance. On the way, Shiek tried to recall about Janske, but it seemed that Omar didn't know him very well, though recognized that this halfling was indeed Janske. The side gate was hidden in an overgrown mess of vines, which made it almost impossible to find if you didn't know it was there. It lead to some vast gardens where multiple creature could be seen. On one side was a winged lion and an young owlbear, while on the other were more mundane animals, such as bears, Elephants and tigers. On the side of the more exotic animals, was a baby wyvern being moved by a member of staff, as well as a displacer beast. He lead them to a patio area, where there was a small table at which he sat down and lit up a cigarette. He looked them three up and asked what Omar was doing, as he usually didn't travel with people, instead he acquired stuff. Janske asked Omar if he trusted these people and he confirmed. Janske explained that they are headed to Moratopp to pick up an egg, a Roc egg. Shiek asked if he was joking, but Janske said he wasn't this one was a special job. They were to head up the mountain to a Roc nest, stealing an egg and running away. Shiek asked if he had a plan, but Janske said that he was hiring people for. He intended to go most of the way there, then leave them to climb the mountain and retrieve the egg. Shiek asked how much the pay is and Janske said that if they got the nicest egg, there would be "big Gs". Shiek asked how he was sure there would be eggs and Janske explained that his scouts had been watching the bird roost for weeks. Sapphira asked what other threats there were and Jaske said that in addition to all the normal dangers of a mountain climb, they would go through Hill Giant territory deal with the Roc and in an unfortunate event, deal with a Cloud Giant. Shiek said they would need more people and he would look at getting a group together and come back to him. Janske warned him that there was another group looking at the job and Shiek asked who else in this town would be mad enough to take this up. Janske said that they were from out of town, coming down the coast just for this job, but if his "friend" Omar was to take it, he would have to tell the poor sods to go back home. Before leaving, Sapphira asked about his business and how much a winged lion costs. Janske told her that the one he has is already sold, but it went for around 7l. If they do this job, they would be looking at a payment of around 30k. Shiek asked where the competition was from and Janske asked one of his assistants, who said it was from Klipperkant - the Stromstrike Clan. Shiek tried to offer his Beholder Stalks, but was told the alchemists would be a better fit. He also asked about the price of the displacer beast and was told it would be 4k gold. After thinking about it for a bit, he told Janske he would take it. The halfling was a bit taken aback, asking if he was serious, but after having it confirmed prepared the paperwork. Janske then lead Shiek to the cage of the displacer beast and told him to get in with it. He couldn’t sell it to a person that the creature didn't respect. Shiek asked if they respect him and Janske pulled out a skull shaped amulet and said that any animal that attacks him will be obliterated. He warned Shiek that displacers beasts have a malevolent intelligence about them. Shiek entered the cage and much like the one in Konskirav, it appeared to be scared of him. Shiek sat down in the cage and over a few minutes, the creature became more curious and started investigating him, before sitting down around 10ft in front of him. Shiek was told he would need more time with the animal fist, but it was going well. They went to take their leave and as they did heard a gruff voice asking Janske "Who were they?". He looked back and saw a large man, whose face bore a striking resemblance to Milivoj. Janske said it was an old friend he was doing business with. The Khert said that he didn't want people coming and going while he was around, but Janske told him his friend didn't care about the Khert, he was very busy. After thinking for a bit the Khert said that will be fine, but to keep his presence to a minimum. Janske said he would only come in the evenings, as he was looking to buy the displacer beast. Janske went to take his leave and the Khert headed to the winged lion cage. He stepped in and began talking to the animal.