Crimson Sands of Time

"I cannot speak for the others as I am a recent addition to the group, but a way to navigate the eye of the authorities sounds intriguing."

Taking an idle look around and not seeing any obvious bodyguards Trisk will presume they are either in an adjacent room nearby or probably not needed.

"You can count me in." He responds, looking around to see if the others agree or what their general demeanor is concerning Gafna.

Gafna explains that the main way that she and her associates can move around Eltabbar freely is through the sewers deep underneath the city. The authorities never venture down and into this network of old sewers called Deep Canal unless they absolutely have to.

Gafna further relates that recently members of her organization have disappeared while traversing the sewers. While the occasional monster in Deep Canal is not heard of, it has not been outright hazardous until of late. She would like you to investigate, discover, and hopefully eliminate the source of the danger in the sewers. Finally, she believes that the missing persons were heading generally south from Pheldanther’s when they disappeared.

At thaat momemt, with a mighty growl, the caged hyena bursts through the improperly locked door of its cage and rushes in a rage towards the characters.

Gafna’s guards pull her towards the back of the cavern where there is a passage that eventually leads to the sewers in the city. They will not fight the hyena unless absolutely necessary. Their job is to keep their boss safe and with the you as a convenient buffer, they can slip away if it looks like the you're in trouble.

"Watch out!"

Trisk jumps back away from the hyena.

"The hound is loose!"

“Im agreed.”’ Tet says.  “Sounds good to me”. 

“Ahh-  A Hyena!  loose!  I don’t want to kill it..”. He jumps back for safety. 

Tetrevess casts hold monster on the hyena (DC 22 wis) 

“If this works, we wont have much time… need to drag it back to it’s cage and get it secured before it wakes.  That way we wont have to reimburse someone for their pet, I hope”. he says quickly as he watches if the spell takes affect..

Wis save 4

The hyena freezes, yelping as Tetrevess concentrates on holding ir in place.

<you can go in any order>

“well, grab it someone.   Wrestling Hyenas is not my… err.. style.   I have some rope, i think..”. Tetrevess holds his hand out, keeping the hyena still for the others..

Oli reluctantly walks behind the hyena and starts pulling it by its hind legs by hand back towards the cage. "Are we sure the cage can still hold this guy? Guess we'll find out once we look at the lock on this thing." he says, not sure if it's going to do any good putting it back in the cage. Then adds, "How long does your spell last by the way?"

"The thing is, who on earth had this genius idea of locking this poor creature in a cage in the first place? I mean, I'm not an animal person but..." Randy points out before he quickly approaches the cage to check for any broken sections. He then turns back to the hyena, out of sympathy, rather than disgust. "...Just look at it. Its eyes are content with rage. And pain. Even I can tell just by imagining it; its time spent inside this confined space must have been so long, that... it can't bear to live like this any longer. It reminds me of myself, when I was locked in my room for months because, uh... Anyways..." He snaps back to reality. "I've rambled on for too long! Ethan! Help them hold the poor African predator long enough so I can restore its cage! Then you can put him back where he belongs... not that we all want to anyway!"

Meanwhile, if the cage does appear to be broken, he at least came prepared. Using his new gadgets, he Quickly repairs the broken linkages before gesturing the others to bring him back in there before he locks it up again.

"Need some, help?" Ethan calls out as he reflexively grapples onto the hyena... with his normal arms, not his lobster-like appendages; It's too soon to be revealing his actual form to people he doesn't fully know yet. (Grapple: 13) He then hears Randy showing a bit of sympathy for the poor creature and gasps; This is son not like his brother at all. Since when did he start to show some love for something that he initially disliked when he was so young? Anyways... "Hurry up will you?! It would take at least 2-3 of us to shove this poor, insane hyena back to its place of origin; I know I just want to free it and give a new life as much as you do but, I don't know if we can do so without permission! Just... just get it done and over with! I can't.. Tetris... we can't hold forever you know!"

Trisk will help the brothers get the hyena back into it's cage and suggest holding the cage door shut until the Mending spell fixes the lock.

"We'll secure it for now as a show of good faith." He nods to the brothers in understanding that he also doesn't like this current situation that everyone suddenly finds themselves in the middle of either.

Turning to Gafna, Trisk with will ask with a raised highbrow, "Unless this is one of those little jobs you were just promising that you would pay us for?"

Impressed with the speedy and discreet way the situation was handled, Gafna responds,

"No, It's not part of the interview, but if you are accepting the offer, I would certainly reward the quick work with a bonus.  That lock would have been 10gp and a new hyena or similar creature perhaps 500(gp).  This one is nearly used up, but being the generous soul I am, I will reward you the replacement value.  Furthermore, I am willing to provide you all with rooms upstairs (Pheldanther’s has a section of rooms set aside for high rollers) for as long as you are staying in Eltabbar and helping her with my tasks. If these terms are amenable, can I count on you to investigate the cause of the disruption in traffic through Deep Canal?"

"Sewer work can be nasty, and I am not just referring to the obvious. Can we avail ourselves of a good night's rest before we begin... that is of course if the others agree to your proposal?"

Trisk again looks to see and judge the others dispositions as he did before he was interrupted.

"It does seem to be a mutually beneficial arrangement."

“seems like the best offer we will get in this town, considering.  Nice work, all.  Im in agreement.*.  Tetrevess smiles and releases the hyena from the paralysis

Sam grins at the words deep cannel being said “sure thing” 

"What?" Randy bluntly huffs when he feels a swarm of stares being homed in on him and Ethan. "What are you all looking at me for?! I only tagged along to do whatever you're supposed to assign us just to avoid the chaos everyone else dragged me into. What else do you want me to say, huh?!"

"Of course you may avail yourself of the rooms, I'm sure youve had a lomg day of travels. And. Should you wish, you can also try place bets."   Gafna points out the passageway leading down into the sewers.

She does not have any further information about what could be causing these disappearances other than the fact that no signs of the missing people have been found anywhere.

Following a night's rest, you explore the sewers.

The sewer network that makes up Deep Canal is a winding maze of passageways that run the length and breadth of the city above.

Other than heading generally south, the characters don’t have any other information. And, as they head away from Pheldanther’s, they are confronted with many intersecting and branching passageways.

A successful DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check locates the most heavily traveled option that heads generally south.

<I'm just assuming this is a success. Additional info can be discovered with a higher roll>

"Idiot! Can you not be so dastardly impatient?!" Ethan hisses as he forcefully elbows his brother for his rude remark before he turns to the lady and bows as a sign of thanks. "We all appreciate your hospitality. Thank you. And... pardon my stupid, hothead brother; He's highly unpredictable, hence why I have to keep his mood swings in check." He says before he leaves with the rest to head through the sewers. Survival: 11

Tetrevess is rested and refreshed, almost unrecognizable as he’s clean-shaven- his formerly bushy beard gone.   His faintly glowing floating head of a wizened old wizard accompanies him.   he seems cheerful.   “Ahh,  nice to have a good rest,.  to the tunnels…You know, tracking is something of a skill of mine, actually.  and survival.  Did I ever tell you  about my time in the astral?  It was very strange place to survive-  ahh look-  here- you can see…”.  (tolled a natural 20 (27) survival in the log)