Candlekeep Mysteries Group 2

"Llmar now we'll see whose side you're truly on."
"Well, i'd rather tell you who i'd rather be INside, honestly." he mutters to himself, looking casually at Isa. 

He clears his throat. "What do you plan on doing? Perhaps I can help? Provide a distraction? Are you talking about Saeth? He trusts me. Perhaps I can earn your trust this way?"

"Going down...always seems like a good plan to me!" Hino smirks...

To Llmar, "Yeah, that seams reasonable.  Could you distract Saeth long enough to allow us to grab all our equipment and hightail it outta here?"

"And by the way, what does your friend Sylvarie look like?  And the three hags...what have they camouflaged themselves to look like?"

And after a minute of staring off into the distance, Hino follows up with "...and might you have anything useful to help us in our search for your friend?"

"Sylvarie is a moon elf. The hags look like elves of different flavors. You will know them when you see them. They live in the tower." Ilmar says.

Literal smoke starts gently wafting out of Hino's ears, as you can see the gears are literally turning inside her little pea-brained head.  She suddenly shudders like a lightbulb just appeared behind her eyes.  Turning to Emporious, she excited yelps "Wait!  You said you saw broken mirrors in the shrine?  Llmar said his vision of Sylvarie was as if she appeared reflected in a broken mirror!  I BET Sylvarie is in the SHRINE!"

Oh my. Seems it a full service kind of place then. Thank you Emporious. Im not sure how to proceed. And llmar? We trust him?

"Llmar now we'll see whose side you're truly on."

Isa crosses her arms (was that a flicker of flame in her eyes?) and shoots Emporious a glare that, if you didn't know better, would probably have burned him from the inside out.  Without saying a word she shoots him a Message "How dare you say such things?!?  Can you not help him find a friend after all of us helped you save your town?!" and she ends the spell before he can reply.

"Well, i'd rather tell you who i'd rather be INside, honestly." he mutters to himself, looking casually at Isa. 

Blushing a bit as she hears his comment, she looks at him with a flirtatious smile "Shhh, that's later..." she mutters quietly to him.

He clears his throat. "What do you plan on doing? Perhaps I can help? Provide a distraction? Are you talking about Saeth? He trusts me. Perhaps I can earn your trust this way?"

"Oh, that's a fabulous idea!" she says excitedly.  She leans in a bit closer to Llmar "I trust you!" she remarks loud enough for most to hear as she turns her gaze back to more of a glare/scowl at Emporious and wonders what foolish words will come from his pie-hole next.

"Wait!  You said you saw broken mirrors in the shrine?  Llmar said his vision of Sylvarie was as if she appeared reflected in a broken mirror!  I BET Sylvarie is in the SHRINE!"

"Hino, that's brilliant.... good thinking.  Maybe we should start in the shrine then, but how do we get in if it's sealed shut?"  Noticing Emporious walking away to find the others she follows him and addresses him "So Emporious, did you happen to notice any other way into the shrine?  Possibly a crack in the wall or a hole in the ceiling or anything?"

"Llmar, how much freedom are you granted about this place, are you allowed in to the shrine?"  Mav ponders some options.

Well into the salon and out of earshot Emporious fails to hear Llmars or Hinos comments. Isa's message only causes him to shake his head in disappointment at the lack of logic. Of course they'll help find Sylvarie, should she exist. She's most likely being held right next to Falthrax, he thinks. However, before he can reply to the message he is with the dwarves and must begin to relay the current status of information.

When finished Barbär s question takes him right back to Isa's message and he explains his doubts.

"Honestly it's hard to say. It follows all the points of a classic con. He shares a similar plight only after knowing hers to gain trust. He uses the unprovable assertion that he's a member of a trustworthy organization. Which again gains trust. He shares details that only seem secretive. Of course he has no problem telling us everything about the hags. By now he knows we're not leaving and we'd find them here eventually. What better way to gain trust than to give up a piece of seemingly important information. All this trust puts him in the perfect position to betray us at a critical point. It's almost like a text book scenario from the book of Lloth. So " Do I trust him?" you ask...No, not at the moment. Until I see him attack his masters I'll be keeping one eye on him. However, for the sake of an impetuous girl who has obviously ignored logic for the fluttering of her heart, I hope I'm wrong. As to next steps. Since I have a scout in place in the shrine let us go see what's in the tower. Of course I can always send the scout into the depths of the shrine as well. But enough talk. Our presence hear is obviously known as is our goal. Time to dispense with formalities and be direct. So take up arms and lets gather the rest." 

Ilmar turns to Isa after hearing her friends talk. "Are they always like this?"

'Honestly' Isa thinks to herself 'this poor old coot needs to get laid' 'I wonder why he trusted me so quickly when I first met him?'  "Really, a con?  That's the best you can come up with?  you really do have a trust issue.... even worse than I do" she continues to follow Emporious shaking her head "So, you never did answer my question about the shrine... is there any other way in, like a hole in ceiling or a crack in the wall - anything that isn't sealed, no matter how small?  Anything??"

"Are they always like this?"

Isa leans in and whispers "I think he needs to get ******"

(There is indeed a hole in the ceiling of the shine, yes.)

Isa leans in and whispers "I think he needs to get ******"
Ilmar says, "Ah!" and nods sagely.

Away with Emporious

Well i tried to push it before without brandishing any weapons and i was outright ignored. I assumed as much. Some insider, trying to work both sides, only to come out ahead in both fields. If we are to push again, we need everyone to have their heads clear, and not in the clouds. What do you suggest, aggressive actions, or firm diplomacy? Or do we lay all the cards out and force this façade?

Emporious ponders Barbärs proposition for a moment before replying, "If a hag has created a coven here then I doubt any negotiations would work until at least some show of force is demonstrated. Either way you're correct in you're assessment about being conflict ready. Which as of now only a few of us are. So lets deal with that first." Emporious turns and heads towards the lockers containing the belongings of the others. He disregards any protest from Saeth. As he walks he tells Isa, "Yes I saw a large opening in the ceiling." The thought suddenly causes him to pause. "What if the shrine was a prison and the hags escaped? Would explain the disarray and the sealed doors. Also would mean that they are most likely in the tower. I think we should go there first. As a group. In force."

You hear Isa's voice as she has been trying to catch up with Emporious (who moves dreadfully fast for an old guy) "You haven't answered my question.... Emporious, just stop with all your conspiracy.... damn-it, now where are you going?!?!" she continues to follow Emporious even though he gave her an answer about her original question "What the heck is wrong with you?!  Walking away from people when they are speaking is not going to solve anything and is quite frankly rude.  We need to work together and devise a plan... which we already started but you up and walked away." she states staring at him with hands on her hips and then suddenly realizing that her robe is starting to come a bit loose she quickly grabs it before revealing anything inappropriate and pulls it tight against herself arms folded.

Orvok mulls over the information provided by his friends…

’I suggest we all get dressed and armoured…’ he coughs significantly, and then continues ’I think you’re right, Emporious, the tower is the place to try first…’

The cough throws Barbär a bit,

Still feeling well, Orvok? Nothing to bad right?

Ilmar looks at the camera like he's on The Office.

Slowing enough so that the young sorceress can catch up he replies in a very even tone, "Just keeping on task young lady. I doubt any plan we devise includes you or the others continuing in such attire." He raises an eyebrow and nods towards the robe just a Isa pulls it closer about herself unintentionally accentuating his point. "So if my haste seens rude then so it must be. Hopefully the time wasted in our dalliances has not had adverse effects on either Falthrax or Sylverie."

Isa was feeling a bit frustrated by the way Emporious had been acting and purposefully ignores him and his latest comments and now Orvok coughing and suggesting different attire "I think it's best if we get dressed as I feel like it's a bit of a distraction right now." with that, she turns and approaches Llmar

She heads off to her dressing room where she changes back into her regular attire before coming back out and re-joining the group and taking her place next to Llmar again.  "So," she looks at them "What's the plan?"