"Oh, I'm sure there's tieflings that can be trusted, it's you that I don't quite trust yet." The white-haired warrior says with a quick smirk. "I'm sorry for what they did to you but I'm sure we can handle the prisoners from here. Why don't you visit the Harpells, I'm sure they will appreciate your scathing sarcasms more than me." 

"Why did I join the Zhentarim?" Anita seems to reflect for a while, as if uncertain... then she sighs and says, in a rush "Because I've always lacked everything. Because on the farm, I saw my parents practically kill themselves with the effort to earn their living honestly. And still there was never enough bread for everyone, given that brothers continued to be born in the family as if they were rabbits. There were people, however, who without working so much, could afford such beautiful, comfortable, practical things as I could never have dreamed of. I wanted to be those people. I wanted to have something. To be worth something. I chose a different path than my parents'. Trying to get it by force and cunning, what I wanted".

"I was part of some gang of bandits" the girl with the pony tail goes on. "Then, one day, I came across the Zhentarim. They were better organized than the bandits... and still unscrupulous anyway. Why shouldn't I join them? I always got the impression that they weren't taking me too seriously... but if in the end they chose me for this important mission, maybe I was worth something, in their eyes, right?" the light of hope in her eyes betrays that she desperately wants to believe this.

"But now, if, by working with you, I can maybe get something... but without having to risk being hanged and without having a boss whipping me... that will be a further improvement, don't you think?" the Zhentarim girl forces herself to smile "Plus... Plus, maybe my parents would be more proud of me like this. The work you do, after all, is a honest one, isn't it? I mean, Bounty Hunters are usually no less 4ssholes than the scum they hunt, but they are... legal, right? Plus, you are an exception. You aren't 4sshole in the least. You are good".

"The Harpells?" Solitude laughs bitterly, as she limps away "Sure... They would surely keep me... As a test subject! And don't worry, white hairs... There will be some for you too! Can't you see the looks of your 'comrades'? They fear you, white hairs. They don't love you, they fear you instead. Ordinary people will be worse. You're different, white hair. Not as much as me, but you're different. I notice it. And people notice it too. In this world, there's no place for us, white hairs. Only sorrow. You may not trust me. But deep down, you're no less cursed than me".

The female tiefling slowly retreats to the kitchen...

Her mind slowed down by weariness, worry, and the rapid pace of recent events, Spira stares at the place Elky vanished.  Under normal circumstances, she would probably have realized by now that the halfling butler seemed to come back every time someone was in the basement long enough and therefore there is no rush to get him back.  Instead, she sits staring numbly at the spot for a long moment (Arcana 5, INT 2 in log), and then begins to dash down the stairs to find him again ... and the pause gives just enough time for Rash to come with news of her brother's discovery!  "Thank the gods.  He's always been the woodsman ... well, lately , anyway, I knew something was wrong when he didn't track us down and catch up. n Where is he?"  

On entering the room where he is, she walks straight over to her brother. and looks him in the eye.   "I told you you were going to wind up in jail one day if you didn't mend your ways, ya big idiot!"  The strength of the hug she gives him the next moment completely belies her rough words, of course.  Then she turns to Solitude.  "I hope he didn't talk you into any dice games while you were ... ah ... roommates."

"Forgive my not introducing myself sooner.  I'm Quspira Inirali, pleased to meet you.  Would you like me to look at that leg?  I'm a healer of Angharradh, and that limp definitely looks as if you could use some medical attention."

Gaer reciprocates the embrace with the same ardor and replies: "And I told you that staying in my company would corrupt you to the point of feeling compelled to free me!"

"I noticed they were following us" he then explains briefly. "Too many for just the two of us. I tried to get them to follow me and divert them. I was successful in the former, but not in the latter".

"Did you find Dobbian, anyway?" Gaer asks "And my mirror? He had it, didn't he? And what trouble is he up to anyway?"

(OOC: Oh,  by the way: update your signature! Quspira is level 2! Don't give me the dark renown of a Dungeon Mistress who doesn't allow her players to level up their characters... 😉)

In the meantime, Solitude rolls her eyes, replying to the tiefling cleric: "Your brother would have had to be very convincing indeed, to get me to play dice in the conditions we were in, i.e. bound hand and foot".

"Anyway," she sits down, "thank you if you want to check my leg... When they captured me months ago, I've been shot there by a crossbow. The bolt was extracted (I think more for the value of the bolt than for their concern for my health) but they didn't even take a look at the wound. And I haven't been able to walk properly since that day".

(OOC: Spira needs to make a Medicine check!)

Spira chuckles as she sets about seeing to Solitude's leg.  "He had  it, certainly.  His fiancee' said he told her that a 'very special person' gave it to him when he made it his engagement gift to her.  She seems to think she'd reformed him, but her relatives weren't quite so charmed.  In fact, she told us they were so mean to him at the rehearsal dinner that he got upset and choked to death on the roll he was eating.  So of course she had a diviner figure out a way to bring him back, which apparently involves hiring us to look around this place for some sort of bead.  Only we have to be careful not to touch the wrong one, according to a second divination we had the fellow do so we had more to go on than 'some place with a marble arch somewhere in these hills."

=======================

Medicine 17

"I understand," Rash tells her gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I come from rather humble beginnings as well... I never fit in very well with orcs or with humans. Orcs always found me too contemplative, and humans tend to look at anyone of orc descent as a bloodthirsty butcher itching for a fight. So I've had to make my own way in this world."

Rash Insight check: 13

"Alright, now let's get your friend here to the prison room," Rash tells the girl with the ponytail. "I'm going to go ahead and put your gag back, as you are still a prisoner for now. I have a few things to discuss with the others, so you can go ahead and wait with the gentlemen there for a while, okay?"

Rash lets her answer him, then give her a drink of water before tying the piece of cloth over her mouth. He takes another few moments to make sure that she's still able to breathe freely and isn't too terribly uncomfortable, before he hoists Mustache Man onto his shoulder and carries him to the prison room. Once Mustache Man and Skinny Boy are in the prison room, he lays out the bedroll from his pack (since he's planning to sleep on one of the actual beds tonight) for Anita to have somewhere a little more comfortable than the solid stone or packed-earth floor to wait for his return. Then he'll close and lock the prison room door (partly to make sure the prisoners don't get out... but also partly to make sure the two vengeful tieflings don't get in lol)

Roxana had followed along to gather the prisoners, relay to Spira the informative about her brother, and get the captives back to the closet they were going to evidently leave them in. She checks on each of them to make site they are in stable condition before they're moved there.  (Medicine roll for each: 19, 20)

Hearing a bit of Anita's story, Roxana starts in with one of her own. "My family had a farm. And I know what it's like when you can't quite get ends to meet. Like one of the times our rabbits - actual rabbits, my folks only had me, my two sisters, and my brother - got killed by a fox. Fox... well, think it was wolves that time.  The fox was the hen. Anyhow, it meant no meat for quite a long number of weeks. It was awful, thin broth all the time and a few vegetables. My sister and I got sent to find jobs in town.  Ended up cleaning up the tavern after hours. If I was lucky the the me into the kitchen to clean."

Roxana pauses a moment, looking straight at Anita. "I do understand wanting to leave the farm behind." Left unsaid is her thought, 'I'd be glad to leave my stupid job at the tavern behind too.'

She then continues, "But there're options. Rash seems a good fellow and you could follow him if you like.  Not everyone's cut out for wizardry though. My mother always said be careful with magic."

To DM:

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence," Rash says with a forced laugh.

Though he tried to laugh it off, the red-headed girl's comment about how not everyone is cut out for magic stung quite a bit, and it isn't hard to see the pain in his eyes and hear it in the fake laugh.

Roxana gives Rash an odd look at his response. "It's no offense. You have amazing talent - and do things I can hardly fathom. Surely you realize most people can't do magic? Sorry if I was discouraging your new apprentice though."  She gives the half-orc a shrug. "Anyhow, we should probably all chat once the prisoners are set."

Rash sighs tiredly.

"It's just... My father told me the same thing when I started showing an interest in the arcane... He made no secret of his distain for orcs using magic... always said it just isn't what our kind are made for..."

"Oh, so I should feel honored twice, it seems..." Gaer comments "Both because he thought my mirror was a good gift to give, and because he called me a 'very special person'..."

But then, finishing hearing the story: "Dead? Bring him back? Quspira... not that I want to question your abilities, dear little sister... Your god allows you to do amazing things, I know... But to bring a boy back from death? What bead could be able to do such a thing? And why such a thing should be hidden in a Zhentarim den? Isn't that they sent you on a red herring?"

Meanwhile, Spira manages to figure out Solitude's problem: the crossbow bolt had broken a bone and it has welded together badly, so now the leg is slightly deformed and weaker.

Sadly, the solution is unpleasant: the bone must be broken again and subsequently kept fixed in the correct position so that it can be welded in the right way...

Anita's interaction (Persuasion? deception? Who knows...): 16 

Roxana pauses, turning back to the half-orc and nods. "Rash, that's really unfortunate he felt that way, since from what I've seen you are quite adept. It is certainly something I am not capable of. I don't think you have to worry; I think we all appreciate your choice to learn magic." 

She then again tries to get the group members together, out of earshot of the prisoners and recently freed prisoners. 

Rash is convinced that Anita is now completely honest with him... What more should she do, poor girl? She also revealed to him all her past as a criminal ...

The prisoner Zhentarim, for her part, shows that she appreciates the half-orc's attention more and more... Evidently, the difference from the Mhurren Flick method is having an effect on her!

"You'll do your own way in this world, Rash, believe me!" she encourages him "And the world's gonna know your name! I'll be with you and I'll see to that!"

The girl with the ponytail is surprised by the friendly attitude that now Roxana also shows her, but she clarifies, laughing: "Oh, I don't think I'm capable of becoming a wizard! I think I'll make myself useful to Rash in other ways.. maybe planting crossbow bolts in the ass of those he won't be able to put to sleep! Or I can keep his equipment in order... Or help him negotiate better payments... No, I don't see myself gesturing saying strange things... It's already a lot that I can speak in Common, imagine if I can cast spells!"

To Roxana:

When the half-orc talks about his father and his opinions, Anita takes her orc-like face in her hands and forces him to look her straight in the eyes: "Your father didn't understand shit about you, Rash! But together we'll show him - and to everyone else too! Don't doubt it for a moment!"

With a last grateful smile and nod of thanks for the bedroll, the assistant-to-be settles down as best she can and looks confidently as the closet door closes... Her two former companions are still unconscious, next to to her.

Rash locks up. Solitude is in the kitchen, where Spira is taking care of her... Everything seems fine.

"Make sure these two behave themselves," Rash tells Anita as he helps her settle in with her two unconscious former associates. "I'll try to be back within an hour, two at most, to bring you some dinner."

He then closes the door, slides the key into his pocket, and joins Roxana in trying to rally the party for a meeting out of earshot of current-and-former prisoners.

As the tiefling leaves, the white-haired warrior mutters something but does not really respond. Of course they didn't love him, he didn't seek love, didn't deserve love, nevermore. He was indeed cursed.

As Rash and then Roxana arrives with the remaining prisoners he stands back, having a watchful eye on the zhent girl desperately trying to ingratiate herself with the half-orc. He relaxes somewhat as the zhents finally are all locked up and returns to the kitchen, finding a seat to rest, taking a bite of the dried meat. "So, are we any closer to finding out what we are supposed to find here?" He asks bluntly as they are all gathered together again.

"No, not any closer," Roxana replies to Obidiah. "While the prisoners are taken care of, we still have Solitude to deal with. What did you find out Spira?"

She looks to Spira, who she noticed was examining the former captive. "If she needs aid we should tend to her first. I can help you perhaps."

She then looks to the rest of the group. "We then should make sure we've checked out all of this level. Maybe search the sleeping area to see if anyone had written notes? I'm starting to think we won't find anything to help us on the password though."

"Alright, I'll make a sweep of this level while you take care of her." The white-haired warrior says with a small smile to Roxana and Solitude. With much of his rage spent he felt more relaxed and found the company of others surprisingly comforting. He hoped it would last a while before the curse took hold of him again. The white-haired warrior then gets up and starts making his way slowly through the level, checking the rooms for anything they might have missed.

Perception: 17
Investigation: 7

"Well, we know it's a six-letter word and that we might be able to figure out what it is by looking at the keeper's forehead," Rash says. "But if the security measures are as 'drastic' as that strange kids says, I certainly don't want to risk walking up to the keeper and not seeing our mystery password scrawled across his face."

Rash then turns his attention to another problem... specifically, the goblin waiting for them outside.

"We've also still got Wumgu waiting outside for us... after all, we made him a promise that we would find him a new place to call home. I do wish he'd just come inside already instead of waiting out in the forest where he might get himself into trouble. Anyway... just like asking the Zhentarim, it may be a longshot, but I suppose it's possible that he would know something about the password, and it can't hurt to ask."