Bertie smiles warmly at the halfling, "Why yes, and the walls down there are quite thick, dear.  He would have a hell of a time to try and dig himself a way out."  she chuckles to herself as she then turns around and starts cutting up some vegetables.  She peers over her shoulder as Archie and Corlith talk, and during a lull in the conversation as it isn't polite to interrupt, she asks, "That is quite impressive, what you can do there.  Would you mind using it to clean up when you get ready to leave?  Would almost be like a holiday for me!"

She looks a bit abashed, "Please don't take that as a push out the door!  I am enjoying your company quite thoroughly.  Here, let me put on some tea."  and she busies herself with that.

Corlith nods at Archie, "Yes it was a university, and quite an unusual and special place at that. I have often wondered how one such as myself got invited to attend, but as my folks said, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I never did understand that saying though. And now you mention it, I am not sure they did specialise in artifice there. They had lots of theorists, but possibly not the practical angle covered. Of course my education focussed more on eloquence than science anyway".

He looks off into space for moment before focussing back on Archie.

"Anyway, your alter ego, it kept asking us to identify ourselves and state our purpose. When I asked it the same in return it seemed unsure, but called itself Iron Maiden. And then said it's purpose was unclear, that it was missing from it's source logic", he explains, watching Archie to see if it meant anything to her. "It then seemed to get confused as to whether it was you or not".

"I have to confess, I assumed it was all just the armour's magic glitching, but who knows".

When Bertie does interject, he laughs. Not a mocking laugh, but a good natured one, quite unlike him in fact. "When I volunteered to clean up the city, this is not what I had in mind, but you have been generous enough to share your food and hearth. How can I refuse?", he says with a bow.

"when you look a horse in the mouth it's to see whether the pedigree is good or not, to be gifted a horse and then to look that horse in the mouth is considered rude because you're valuing and judging a gift!... Uh basically don't be ungrateful ha!" Archie takes her legs down and slouches further in the couch nodding to Bertie when tea is offered, "what the heck is a source logic? It uses my magic so am I it's 'source'?" Archie thinks for a moment and then crosses her arms closing uo her body language, "Thell went away to try to find a good enough source to power the suit, it was supposed to be unmanned, half sentient like the homunculi. Sh*t. I AM its source, and it couldn't find purpose in me..." Archie buries her head in her hands and let's out an exasperated groan.

“Ok, that does make sense, not that…hold on. Did you just say that this Thell trapped you in that suit as a power source!?”, Corlith asks, his mood turning darker at the idea.

”Where even is Thell? How did you get mixed up with him?”.

Virro sits and waits as the others go upstairs, his head is throbbing and he’s in a horrible mood.  His hand seeks out the sore spots, and as the others leave, he slowly pulls out his dagger.  “Your men back there, they nearly killed me.  So, I hope you understand if we are not going to be friends here.  We really needed to hear more about your mother.  And about Odious.  You know, filling in all of the gaps.  But, you know what?  I really don’t care.”  His hand goes down to his dagger at his side, pulling it out and he leers over the man.  

“Here’s the thing.  You clearly admit that you are with the Dead three.  And involved directly in all of this business.”  He looks down at the pouch, patting it.  “The pouch must be satisfied.  I hope you know that.”  With a sudden swift move, he brings his dagger down hard on his right thumb, slicing down hard and biting into the thenar eminence, nearly hitting his radial artery.  He comes very close to cutting his hand off completely.  Quickly he pulls out a rag from his back pocket and wraps it around his wrist and the stump at the base of the thumb.  He muses to himself, “I don’t think I wiped my ass with that before.  Don’t think… did I?”  He wraps it tight and staunches the bleeding, putting the thumb into his pouch with a smile.  

“That’s it.  I’ll leave you to Roo to ask any further questions.  Time for cookies!”  Virro hops up the steps upstairs, already feeling just a little bit better.

"I don't care if your mother is the most powerful corn kernel in the shithouse.  Buck."  Roo says as he watches Virro set to his grizzly work.  He has the extra set of manacles that Archie had offered him just moments ago, and goes ahead to slap them around Amrik's ankles before Virro starts subtracting from the man, ignoring the protests that it would be unnecessary.  "I want you to remember the way you laughed about the death of someone I love for the rest of your days, as few as they may be."  

Roo watches Virro go, then looks at Reya.  

"I'm choosing to trust you.  If I had my way, I'd peck his eyes out next.  I might do it anyway."  

And then he goes bouncing up the stairs with haste.  

"Oh, there's cookies?!  Virro, save me some!  Buck bagop!"  

Archie lifts her head and is immediately brought out of her angst spiral as she tries to stifle a laugh, "no, no, no, Thell is a woman, and a master artificer. She left to find an energy source for this suit, I don't know where she went. I was apprenticing under her at the time, but I wasn't ready to go with her, so she left me to look after her shop. Anyway after three, and a bit, months I got bored, and I put the suit on myself, thinking I could channel my magic through it, use it like a tool. But then it latched on and now I feel like a damned tool... So no, we don't need to go and find Thell on some karmic ass whooping quest. The very, very intelligent dumbass responsible for my predicament is right here, though I do want to find her, I think she could help take this thing off."

Corlith relaxes a little, "I take it you have read the manual? Was there even a manual? If we get to speak to the Iron Maiden again, is there anything you want me to say or ask?'.

As they speak he wonders about the group he has become embroiled in. Looking at Reed, he wonders about the conversations he has with people that only exist in his mind. Or at least seemingly anyway. And the others in the basement, they all had their issues, eccentricities or troubled pasts.

"theres no manual, it's a prototype, one of a kind... One thing that I would like you to ask it is; If the source, me, can be ejected? ..and if not, what happens to the source after prolonged exposure?..." Archie retracts a little bit pondering each and every possibility of what happens to her if the suit us never removed. Then she tries to shrug it off, or at least pretends to not let it effect her. "I suppose we're gonna be going to the Vanthampur place sometime soon. I think I've got a disguise in mind, something special. It'll be a surprise!" She seems to be amused by that, and very obviously trying to change the subject, she opens her new book that she seems to have acquired after the boat incident, and skims a couple of pages as her and corlith continue talking.

Roo eyeballs the plate of cookies from the floor, then leaps off the floor and onto the table and right into the plate.  His head jerks from side to side as he leans over, eyeballing the delicious treats.  

"Delectable!"  He says as he steps on one, crushing it, before kicking crumbs everywhere, all over the table, all over the floor.  He starts pecking, picking up the pieces and looking about the room.  "Oh, these are marvelous!  Thank you Old Bertie for such a scrumptious treat!"  

As the tiefling responds to Bertie and gives a little bow, she waves her hand at him, "Oh you!" and chuckles, clearly delighted.

"Wait, wait" Amrik's eyes go wide as Virro holds out the dagger, "With the Dead Three is not exactly accurate, I was merely helping to fund them!  Cause some turmoil for the Flaming Fists!" His voice rises as he watches the dagger that Virro lords over him.  As his thumb is expertly removed, he gives a little scream of pain and then hangs his head.

"Oh my!  I hope that awful business is done." Bertie clutches a towel to her chest, looking down the stairs after the scream is heard.  Virro soon appears and she looks a bit more relaxed as he reaches for a cookie.  As Roo follows a bit after, she hears him hollering for a cookie, so she takes the biggest one off the plate and meets him with it at the top of the stairs.  

Reya looks away as Virro takes his prize from their prisoner, unsure of what to think of her new companions.  Apparently this man's goons really did a number on them and she tries to start piecing together the situation.  Not really in the mood for cookies, she leans against the cool basement wall, just her, Amrik and Wilfred remaining.  She looks at the fighter with the bloodied pirates hat, "So, I don't think this man could be much more defeated.  Might want to ask your questions now before he passes out again."

Reed, his good humour back now that he’s in the kitchen, happily takes as many cookies as Bertie will let him, thanking her for each one.

”So are we off to see how the rich live after this,” Reed asks the group, waving a half eaten cookie at the stairwell down to the basement.

He pauses for a moment, listening to something only he appears able to hear.

”No. It’s Wilfred’s now and you’re not getting it back.”

"Can do", Corlith replies to Archie, just as the scream comes from downstairs just as the scream is heard. He looks across to the opening of the basement and calls across to Old Bertie, "I suggest we just stay up here for now, and not think too much on what is going on downstairs".

He had worried that leaving the others alone would result in something nasty occurring, and he briefly wonders which one of them had done it. Having been stabbed twice by the man, he doesn't give it too much thought though.

"Hey Reed", he calls across. "I'll bite. Are you actually talking to one of those pirates we killed the other day? You know that is bit strange right? Although maybe not for this group".

Wilfred has been seated along the back wall. He looks up as Reya speaks "Oh good, it seems like everyone is done with questioning." He gets up and shakes some dirt off. "Would you mind giving me some privacy? I have some personal matters to discuss with this fella." He moves closer to Reya and whispers "Don't worry, I won't kill him down here. I wouldn't do that to Old Bertie, she'd be half scared to death seeing a dead body."

Wilfred puts down his bag and starts to go through it, looking for something. 

Reya shrugs, "Suit yourself." and she bounds up the stairs, ready to have one of Ol Bertie's cookies.

Bertie just nods at what Corlith says and then starts handing out cups of tea.

Reed smiles at Corlith and nods.

”His name is, was, no I guess is, Dead Eye.” Reed says. “Ever since we came out of that dungeon, the spirits of the people we’ve sent on their way have been stopping by to say hi. Dead Eye is the chattiest.”

Reed pauses and looks to the air beside him for a moment.

”No, you were a crap person and deserves what you got. it’s time to grow up.” Reed says to the air before turning back to Corlith. “Despite them being evil monsters alive, they’ve turned out to be useful dead. All sorts of skills they’re willing to share and they’re able to get inside the head of someone we’re fighting and cause some havoc.”

Reed hums a tune to himself as he has another cookie.

“Cool!”  Virro walks over, stands close to Reed, wiping off his dagger and then putting it away.  “Really cool!  You can do that?  You can see them, and hear them?  The spirits?   Awe cool man!  I wish I could see them… “  Virro holds his head down, obviously jealous of Reed.  He looks lost, in far away thoughts.  “How many have you seen?  Since we were in the sewer?  Did you… did you recognize anyone?”  He sways back and forth slightly, like he has to pee, but he is holding it until he hears Reed’s answer.  

After a short bit, Wilfred comes up and joins the rest of you, and you all finish polishing off the rest of Bertie’s cookies.  After you all feel much more refreshed and ready to go, Bertie hands Wilfred a little bag with a wink and adds, “If you could stop by again soon?  I’ll try and find out more on this Skadric fellow.”  She shivers at the thought of the man.

When you're ready to head out, Wilfred, Virro and Reya head downstairs to grab hold of their charge.  As they head back up the stairs, Virro and Reya assist Amrik and Wilfred brings back the chair.  He looks at Corlith a bit sheepishly and you can all see why.. there is now a wet stain on it.  Corlith rolls his eyes, but does indeed clean all the messes the party made while at Bertie’s and she gives him a tight hug for it as well.  “Ooh!  Can’t say I’ve ever hugged a tiefling before!  What a treat!  Wait till Maisy hears about this!”

Before leaving Bertie’s, Archie removes the restraints off Amrik's legs at the disgruntled cluck from Roo 'Stor, readjusts Amrik's cloak so that his bound hands were still behind him but under the cloak as you all walked down the street together.  Amrik does keep his head down and does his best not to garner any attention as you make your way to the Upper City.

You head to the nearest Upper City Gate, which has at least twenty guards swarming around, some are staring off into space, some are picking on locals as they walk by, a few actually look as though they care about their job.  The heat of the day is reaching it’s peak and as you get closer, you can hear the annoyance in most as they talk, ready for their day to be over.

Reed was right, as soon as he produces his Flaming Fist badge, they don’t even look at Amrik and usher the eight of you through the gate.  Amrik does indeed help lead you towards the direction of his family home.  Whether he believes you’ll let him go once you get there or that his mother will smite you all, is up for debate, but as his manor comes into view, he points it out.  “There.  The Vanthampur Manor.  Now what?”  With the house in sight, his earlier temperament appears to be finding it’s way back…

Corlith says his goodbyes to Old Bertie having done as he promised and cleaned up after himself and his companions. He feels a little better after having spent the short amount of time doing chores that would have taken the old lady far longer. Bertie herself had reminded him of his own grandmother, and in turn all his family in Baldur's Gate who would be in danger if they didn't stop whatever plot the Vanthampur's had underway.

As they reach the gate to the Upper City, he is a little nervous due to the obvious injury Amrik now carries, but fortunately between their captives good sense to stay quiet and their Flaming Fists badges they pass through without incident. And it is like a different world, one of opulence instead of degradation. He had lived in the city his entire life up until he left for his studies, but he had never walks these streets before.

"How the other half live", he mumbles as they walk.

When Amrik points out the Vanthampur Manor and asks what their plan is, he turns to their captive and smiles. "You invite us in of course, for a nice parley with the rest of family Vanthampur". As he emphasises the work parley, he gives Reed a nod.

Standing to the side considering, tapping his chin, Virro says, “Do we really need him?  Will dear ole mummy invite you in to chat, Amrik?  Or should we just enter on our own.  I’m trying to find a way that you are not just a liability, Amrik.  Mommy may want to put some ointment on your boo boo.  She might be angry with us…”. Virro stands there, considering.  He turns to Reed.  “What do “they” say we should do with him?”