The elvish woman tilts her hear, glancing at the key in Xarian's hand. "One of the private boxes? Very well, follow me." She turns on her heel and leads you further into the building, through an archway and down a hall to the left. "Leaving the gold lying around for any to take would defeat the purpose. And well..." She pauses, glancing over her shoulder, eyes flicking up and down as she sizes up your group. "Appearances matter to our typical clientele."

At the end of the wall you come to a metal door with no obvious way to open it. A twisting and elegant relief decorates the door, which is flanked on either side by two guards in full plate, holding flamberges point first into the floor. The elvish woman steps up to the door, blocking your view as she does something to it with her hands. You hear three loud clicks in sequence, and the door slowly swings open.

You are lead into a relatively small square chamber, filled from floor to ceiling with numbered metal storage cabinets. There's a few polished wood tables standing in the open space of the room, and a total of six guards line the walls. The woman turns to you, looking at Xarian. "And the number for lockbox?" 

Krizira tries to ignore the woman's gaze as she sizes up the party. "Judging just by appearances, this place is impressive. I would have thought your usual clients would be more interested in the functionality though."

She then follows the woman through the metal doors and into the smaller chamber. She again glances at Xarian to provide the response about the number.

Somehow, Xarian had expected to keep the number secret, thinking it the key to some combination lock.  He looks around for a moment at his companions to gauge whether it seems right to speak the number out loud.  Ah, appearances are important...  I wonder what I appear like right now?

Seeing Krizira (and presumably others) looking at him expectantly, Xarian tries to avoid gulping, then speaks the memorized three-digit number aloud.  Just loud enough for the elven woman and his companions to hear, but no one else.

"Wealth and intelligence are not a one-to-one relation," the elf comments dryly. "Though I can assure you, our vaults are the among the safest you could find in the empire."

With the number in mind now, she smiles and gives a polite nod. "Thank you." Moving to the west wall, she pulls a container from the second row above the floor. Carrying it gently, she walks over to one of the tables and sets it down. 

You fit the key into the hole on the front, unlocking the lid with a small click. Within the container, you find a brown satchel bag, covered in faint arcane runes. After you retrieve it from the box, the elvish woman closes the lid to the box and returns it to the proper storage unit.

She walks back over to you once more, "is there anything else we could assist you with today?"

"Thank you.  I believe that's all we need," Krizira says politely to the woman.  "Should we open this here or take it elsewhere?" she says as she looks to the group for their thoughts.

"Well we are inside a bank vault, seems as safe a place as any." Richter says with a shrug, curious to see what the old detective had left them.

"Sounds reasonable to me," Krizira says. "Let's see what help Orlan has provided." 

Xarian is one of those rare wizards who is not proficient in Arcana, having received limited formal training.  As he peers over Richter and Krizira's shoulders at the satchel, his eyes are drawn to the arcane runes upon it.  As he stares at them, mumbling, they seem to fill his uncomprehending vision and he stumbles backwards, making an embarrassingly loud clanking noise as his armored elbow braces against the floor of the quiet and pristine bank hall.

Xarian Arcana:  3 (Natural 1)

Xarian's focus is too narrowed onto the runes, making his head spin as he tries to draw the exact meaning from them. As the bag is flipped open however, it begins incredibly clear what their purpose is. This, is a bag of holding. Without know exactly what's in it, there's only one way to actually find out what's inside...Krizira and Richter look at each other, then dump the bag over.

The contents spill onto the table, each item has a simple fiber string tied around it to attach a parchment label, describing the item and its function.

• 6x Potion of Healing
• 2x Dust of Disappearance
• Emerald Pen
• Eyes of Minute Seeing
• Finder's Goggles
• Gloves of Thievery
• Wand of Secrets
• (Communicuffs) A pair of magical ear cuffs, used for communicating

((For simplicity, I added the bag of holding and contents to Krizira's inventory. Distribute how you see fit.))

"Wow, this does seem very useful," Krizira says as the contents fall out and they start to go through the items.

"How should we divide things? Potions we can split up amongst all. But the rest? I'd maybe like the Finder's Goggles. The gloves to someone who can pick locks?" She glances about the group, not actually sure who that would be. 

(OOC - Finder's Goggles requires Mark of Finding. Is that being waved for this campaign?)

((Correct))

Once everyone has the items they're going to take, Krizira returns the rest of the items into the rune marked bag and picks it up. "Alright, shall we get on our way now? See how far we can get before the day is done?" She is ready to head out of town. 

Since you intend to take the path to Kelna, your party exits the city from the Council District Gate, heading south to loop around the southern end of Lake Cresdiac. Biting winds from the west assault you shortly after leaving the safety of Caelor's enchanted walls, and the temperature drops to a cold chill. 

The roads are quite busy this close to the city. So much so that for the first three days of travel, you're able to join a sort of impromptu travel caravan with others heading north. It's relatively small, about two dozen individuals altogether or so. There's a few experienced traders heading out from Caelor to the smaller towns in the valley. Most are the opposite, returning to their hometowns or villages after visiting the city. The size of the group is enough to deter wild animals, and you're able to sleep soundly at night multiple people able to keep watch at any given time. 

On the fourth day You pass through the town of Pirn - smaller than Caelor for certain, but a large town nonetheless. Like every population center that sits on the lake, Pirn serves as hub for several mining outposts tucked away in the mountains to the east. Astralight ore is brought back to Pirn, then shipped across the lake to Caelor. The docks, storehouses, and shipments themselves are all guarded by attachments from the empire's own army. While some are native to the valley, many are brought in from elsewhere in the empire.

As you push on further, your group is alone once more. You pass other travelers on the road between Pirn and Kelna, but gone is the safety of large numbers. Daylight hours are short this far north at this time of year, so despite it only being a few hours past midday the sky is awash in the colors of twilight. The terrain is flat out here, and save for a few scattered trees and wilting bushes there is little in the way of cover. The road is about 3 miles from the lake, and 6 miles to the east you'd be aware of a wooded area leading up into the mountains. You're alone on the road, when a distant, terrified scream pierces the quiet...

(OOC - Krizira intended to go to Pendle first.  (Her comment in Post #47) We could pass through Kelna on the way back. I think Richter was the only one that voiced an opinion, and it was to agree with Krizira to pass through Kelna. 

Given the previous post, we can probably just go with what was posted.  Perhaps that was what Richter intended and we all agreed to go that way.) 

Xarian's head snaps around and his hand drifts to the haft of his maul on his back at the unexpected scream of fear from the east.  His face and posture betray an almost comic mixture of two parts eagerness to one part trepidation.  He and his owl Ash on his shoulder both scan for any visible source or cause.  The familiar circles up thirty feet to get a better view before returning to the big man's shoulder.

Xarian Perception:  21
Ash Perception at advantage due to owl's Keen Hearing and Sight:  13

He unconsciously takes a few steps eastward off the path as he turns to his companions.  "We, ah... we have to investigate that, don't we?"

Unless called back, he continues to move east, towards the source of the scream.

Krizira also quickly looks about, trying to pinpoint the location of the scream. She moves a few cautious steps in the direction Xarian went. "We should investigate. But let's not run too quickly into trouble.  Just be cautious."

(Perception Check: 5)

Sylnora jumps slightly as the scream rings out, turning her head in the direction. "R-right." She says, beginning to follow the others.

"Definitely don't like the sound of that," Richter says. 

"Could be somebody in the process of getting d'isappeared', so yeah I'd say we have to investigate that." Then, with a quick glance towards Krizira he adds, "Cautiously of course."

Even with his eagle-eyed perception, Xarian isn't able to make out anything in the immediate area. Krizira likewise isn't able to pinpoint the source. Flat as the terrain may be, the world itself still curves. Ash however, is able to make out a singular figure about three miles out, retreating towards the trees to the east.