15. Questions Report

General Summary

14th Eyre, 998 YK

• The party spoke to Bal and Zae Tarkanan on the lift to Deni'yas.
• The House Tarkanan members confirmed the identities of 2 of the corpses found with Jode, Rasial Tann and a half-orc named Korlan. Both of them had aberrant marks.
• Rasial had a lethal touch, and Korlan had "fire in his blood".
• Zae, through a rat, also reminded Bal that the head wounds on the corpses were likely a cover up. Someone named Fileon had autopsied them, and noted they were missing their brain matter in it's entirety.
• Terfel asked how he could get in touch with them if they needed to discuss it further. Bal said to simply tell a rat or other vermin and it would make it's way back to them.
• The Tarkanans departed from the lift in the Middle city.
• The party alighted in Deni'yas, and were a little overwhelmed by the storybook nature of it.
• They were approached by a gnome who gave them a letter.
• Find the gardener in burgundy and gold, politely tell him that, whilst you don't want to tell him how to do his job, he should really look out for thorns.
• They asked around about how they could find Alina Lorridan Lyrris, but no one would talk to them once her name was brought up.
• Terfel tried to threaten someone, but they are more afraid of Alina than they are of him. This was noted by other gnomes in the district.
• Eventually they found the gardener in burgundy and gold, tending to flaming roses.
• Warden told the gardener that while he doesn't want to tell him how to do his job, he should really look out for thorns.
• The gnome grunted and lifted the illusion, revealing a staircase.
• They descended into the tunnel and Warden immediately went through the illusory wall at the end.
• They emerged into Alina's room, a room lined with mirrors and a large window overlooking the Dagger River. It also had 6 exotic birds in extravagant cages.
• Terfel and Warden noticed that their reflections were not present in the mirrors, though the birds were.
• They all also realised that they were on the wrong side of the towers to see the dagger river from here.
• Alina Lorridan Lyrris emerged from one of the mirrors and offered them a drink. They didn't take it.
• They spoke to Alina for a while. She has a theory that her missing dragonshards, if properly prepared, could house a mortal soul with a dragonmark, but you'd need some way of extracting the mark on death and storing it.
• She also extrapolated that such an operation would require a lot of space, this isn't being run from a tent in High Walls. Given that this group seems to be operating in High Walls exclusively, it would indicate they are based in the Cogs below High Walls.
• She wants her shards back, or what's left of them, in whatever shape they may be in. She maintains the offer of payment for them, if they are returned to her she will still pay Daine, Lei and Pierce, and will give the party Jode's share. Terfel managed to haggle her into throwing in an additional 50 platinum for them.
• They returned to High Walls, and warned Lei that this villain is specifically targeting people with Dragonmarks and to be careful.
• Terfel spoke with Teral to inquire about lifts between High Walls and the Cogs. There are several service elevators that some of the refugees use that work in the Cogs.
• Dax' Athla checked Warden's gatekeeper stones, which were cold.
• They then found a service elevator and descended into Blackbones.
• They went to the Red Hammer to speak to Blue and see if she knew of any abandoned workshops or warehouses, or if she'd seen a man with red skin.
• She hadn't, and mentioned that those kinds of places don't stay abandoned for long.
• She did mention that Khyber's Gate extends below Blackbones, and when asked if there was a direct route down to Khyber's Gate from High Walls, Blue mentioned that most of the Cogs, including Khyber's Gate, is plumbed.
• The Sewers!
• They asked about the sewers and who might know more, and were told to look for goblins. There seem to be a community of them that make a living from looting the sewers.
• The party asked around for Rhazala, but nobody they spoke to knew her. They were told that if they're looking for a specific dar, they should check in Malleon's Gate, a predominantly goblinoid district.