Fourth Adventure 06: The Stakes are Raised

"Both in Al-Erat and Kheynth, the only apparent motive is lack thereof. In the former, they meant to exterminate two local tribes that hadn't yet been integrated into society. Failing that, they near-perfectly erased every trace of their involvement, living or otherwise. In Kheynth, it was some bizarre experiment with - again, no apparent payoff. Also, though this is even more speculation, the recent case of the Water Golem gone feral in Al-Ferin; it may not have been an accident at all. We've found evidence of possible tampering within the facility.

Whatever is being planned - by whomever, seems long and far reaching."

"This is all fascinating speculation, I do admit," the Colonel begins, "But from what you are telling me there is no evidence, of any kind, anywhere. Is this true?"

"sadly yes, we were ordered to bring the prisoners to you before finishing the investigation"

"Eh! Eh, nah, we still be havin' some." Snarg rests his hand on Tabran's shoulder.

Tabran

Spoiler:

Kolson clears his throat. "That isn't entirely so, Colonel. I did collect a sample of the Bloodthorn poison from the graveyard where we apprehended the Burun. It's here in my Bag of Holding."

He pats the bag.

"A pity the enemy agents stole the alchemical supplies. We may have been able to piece together their manufacturing process."

"I see," she mutters, eyeing the Gnoll warily now. "Do you have sufficient sample for us to examine as well?"

"I took enough to share. Half is yours. The other half is going back to The Order.

If you have proper containment we can do the transfer now. Do you have anyone aboard who is familiar with such things? If not I'll explain it to whomever you want."

The Colonel raises an eyebrow at Kolson. Without a word she gestures at her bodyguard, who tosses a Bag of Holding at Kolson. "Transfer it now then."

Snarg removes his hand from Tabran's shoulder.

Hanuel speaks up suddenly. "I wonder if I high enough level Scan spell might pick up traces of the poison. I mean, it's worth a shot right?"

Ashakel was still watching the magnificent sandship, looking around, trying to get a better look at it. "Now ain't ya a wonderful beast..." you could hear him murmuring.

"As you wish."

He opens his bag of holding, carefully pouring the Naverre's share of the sample into the new bag. When finished, he tosses it back to the bodyguard.

"Just so you know, the poison would turn the food quite bitter so I believe it's been laced with another compound to attract animals to eat it."

The Freelancer takes the bag without a word. You notice she is now clenching one of the Maglancers a bit more tightly, as if she's ready to be attacked at any second.

The Colonel is in thought. "I'm going to leave a few troops here to escort our prisoners back to the Fort... on foot." She makes a few hand gestures and within seconds a dozen armored soldiers in Naverre yellows come storming out and start grabbing the Burun and Sclavi. "If and when you have further evidence, we would consider it a personal favor of the Naverre Militiant from the Order if you were to share it with us." She turns and heads back to the Sandship, her bodyguard in tow.

Zeiss took the piece of copper out of his pocket for the third time today.

"Executor, Adjunct 113 here. Please respond."

tab nods

"well now that the prisoners or off our hands were do we search first the thorp? and what of you Z isnt your mission over now?"

"Before you go, is there any way we can contact you from afar? The fort is far enough away that reporting back may take too long for any action to be taken."

"That could have gone better," Rory says once the colonel was out of earshot.

He shot an accusatory glance at Snarg before giving his input on what to do next. "I'd like revisit the thorpe."

"I'm with Rory. There's something we want to check."

Kolson smiles at the bodyguard and tips his hat to her in farewell.

"What's that, Higaide?"

The Colonel responds, briefly and curtly, "No." before entering her Sandship which leaves just as silently as it came. What strikes those of you with knowledge of engineering as odd is that most Airships are not capable of going forwards and backwards with equal maneuverability as this ship is doing as it sinks below the sand, which sit as though it had never been there.

The troopers left behind attach a chain and shackle to both prisoners and begin their trek northeast.

Z looks pointedly at Tabran. "My mission is the exact same as yours. We are of the same Adjunct."


Gremlock's voice comes over the coin. "Gremlock here, report."

"Ya be gettin' sticks up ya bum? Sword's diggin' 'em out real good." Snarg growls back, "Yeah, we be visitin' afta hearin' what Executor's sayin'."

"Unfortunate." Hanuel turn to the group. "I'd like to head back to Al-Korinth myself. I want to check in on our Goblin friend, and see if I can get in touch with the archmagess from Praxis."

"then Z it seams we will be working together for a bit longer, lets see what our boss has to say maybe he has some info that may help"

"We handed the prisoners to the Naverre military. They are being escorted to the Fort. We also made a full report of what we learned to Colonel Yayojin of Sandfury. We need to rest, so we will go to Al-Korinth and prepare the next step of our mission in finding the ones who ordered the sabotage. Unless you have new orders or information."