Abathax remembers meeting similar people to the maid and gardener on a past adventure; they are Shadar-Kai, elves of the Shadowfell. Abishai then tries to replicate the otherworldly tune the Balowang made; he makes a wonderful noise with his lute, a marvellous display of his talents, but to his ear, it is miles off the creature's song. He has tried time and time again to try and mimic and play what he heard from memory, yet feels his renditions are always a poor imitation, a far cry from the unmistakable sound the Balowang made when he met it. 

As you share your memories of the beast, Brimbul takes the first sheet from his great stack of paper, and tells you 'Before you go off hunting, I believe it is best that you learn some more about the creature's identity, and collate some more features so you have a greater picture of the Balowang's appearance. Therefore, I have put out some social feelers, and received many, many leads from the public about the Balowang, although nobody knows about your mission to kill or capture it, rather they just believe you are working under me to gather some data for a supposed next book of mine, which helps you work without any interference from the people.' He looks down at the first sheet and says 'I have sifted through the options and found that an excellent first quest would be for you to visit the Cangtumble Home for Elderly Adventurers; as the name suggests, it is a retirement home for adventurers who have finished their journeys, and have now settled down in their old age. Most of the old folk there reckon that they have encountered the Balowang in the past, so it is your job to survey them on any qualities that they may remember, and then report back to me with what you find. This work, being rather tedious, will take a couple days, so the faculty there have agreed to grant you bed and board whilst you stay. A carriage will arrive in the early afternoon to collect you and take you there, so you have the rest of the morning to head into town, gather provisions, and so on!'

"Well... maybe it didn't sound quite like that. It's hard to replicate its sound." 

Listening to Brimbul, Abishai thinks the group is over qualified for an information gathering mission to a retirement home. "Any one of your servants could be sent to this... Cangstumble home to speak to these elderly people." Abishai pauses and looks around at the group assembled, an intimidating sight. "Surely our talents would be wasted there. Why send us?" 

Brimbul shifts awkwardly in his chair and clears his throat as he responds 'Well, this particular care home is a tad bit...volatile. A lot of the elderly there, although their adventuring days are over, are still eager to, umm, let off steam. I can assure you that it isn't any ordinary nursing home, and I fear sending one of my regular servants would result in them being overwhelmed. There's good reason why the home is kept so far away, and why nobody has gone in to question the people there yet.'

Silvosh nods, "I fear that I won't be able to restrain them, nor convince them to talk, but I will do what I can."

"Hm, I see. We'll need to take care not to upset them...and dodge whatever spells and such they might throw at us." Aralia crosses her arms thoughtfully.

Abishai takes in Brimbul's response, "I see." He then turns to Silvosh, then Aralia, and nods in agreement. "Well this should be interesting." 

After the group has exhausted their questions and Brimbul has finished answering, Abishai deciding to wait for the carriage to arrive, walks back outside and finds a secluded area in the garden where he can be alone. Abishai's hand slips into his tunic and pulls out a folded piece of paper. His hand flows over it lovingly before unfolding it to read it. He then puts it back into his pocket; his mood noticeably darkens as he retreats inward. Abishai takes his lute and begins to gently play a melancholy tune that only serves to compound his sadness as he pours his emotions into his music.

Rather than trying to fit into the carriage, Silvosh will just run alongside of it. She's used to running long distances, and is faster than most horses, so she doesn't anticipate any problem with keeping up.

Abathax wonders how these people came to work under Brimbul, but doesn't say anything about them just yet.

"Elderly adventurers you say, that should be interesting. Maybe they can learn some of us some extra tricks aswell. Depending on how long and we'll their adventuring life was." he says. After the conversations are over he asks for the loo before heading out. Hoping to see a bit more of the house before heading for the carriage. He will mostly look around for any hints that indicate more shadow fell influences.

Perception: 17 (if Insight or Arcana are more appropriate add 3 or 2 respectively.) 

As the group disperses from the office, happy with the details of their upcoming mission, Abishai heads outside and Abathax looks for a lavatory. The gardens are very quite, the gardener now moved on to some other part of the grounds, and the lush environment filled with songbirds, creating a pleasant atmosphere. Meanwhile, Abathax finds a small loo around the side of where the helter-skelter is in the main hall. It's very tucked away, and seems to be fairly untouched from it's original design. Perhaps the main bathroom is upstairs or through into the other room, and this one is just for guests or staff, which is why Brimbul has left it undecorated.

Overall, the room is drab yet sleek, simply holding the general furnishings that you would expect in a bathroom (a toilet, basin, mirror and small rack for a coats or hand towels), though each made from the finest porcelain or carved wood respectively, showing that you are still very much in a manor house. The frame of the mirror and wall-mounted coat rack have many intricate, elven designs of coiling shapes around the edges and in the corners, for example. Overall, the room isn't particularly intriguing, but Abathax sees that it is well kept and clean, although very restrained and minimalist compared to the whirlwind of colours and chaos outside. The walls are tiled with small, shiny grey squares, and everything is either in shades of bone white or ash grey. With the Shadar Kai staff and the aesthetic of their native plane fresh in his mind, Abathax believes this room is pretty close to what a Shadar Kai family might have in their home; gothic, colourless and devoid of anything too fanciful whilst keeping an air of aristocratic arrogance. Perhaps this room was made especially like this to give the staff a place tucked away in the house that has some comfort of home to it, or it was made this way just for guests in general, as you can't imagine anybody would enjoy having a stag head decorated as a clown mounted over their bathroom sink, even Brimbul. 

[You all have a couple hours before the carriage arrives, which I thought I would leave you just in case you want to do any shopping or get some bearings of town (for example I know Abathax wished for some new weapons!) However, if there isn't anything you'd like to do in town, you're welcome to hang around the house's grounds and wait!]

Abishai, seeing the gardener has moved on from this area, can't help himself and his curiosity gets the better of him. He moves back to the front of the home and using his musical magic imbues himself with the ability to levitate. He then uses this ability to easily climb up the 15 feet to read the inscription above the doorframe. After he's read the inscription, he dismisses the spell and gently floats back to the ground. 

[[ OOC: Abishai uses his doss lute to cast levitate on himself. ]]

Abishai floats up, and brushes aside the streamers over the engraved stone above the porch and door. The fully revealed text reads 'MAHOGANY HOUSE - 1254'. It's clear that the engraving shows the name of the manor, which is assumedly named as such due to the wood of the same name being used frequently throughout the building for doors, furniture and even the wood panelled walls or floorboards. The number is likely also the date of when the house was built. The current year is 1673, so the house has been standing for a solid four hundred years, which is dozens of generations for a human like Abishai, though comparatively recent for the longer-lived races, being just over a lifetime of the average dwarf, or only half the life of an elf. As he floats back down, his fingers coming away from the stone to allow the streamers to fall back over the inscription, he notices that there is no sign of the gardener, or any of Brimbul's servants for that matter, so it appears he has gotten away with revealing the hidden details on the stone.

Silvosh doesn't have anything she needs in the city, but with a couple of hours to go, she'll look around to see what's there (sort of window shopping) for future reference.

After wandering around the house for a short while Abathax heads out for some shopping. Looking for a Smithy or weaponry to buy better suited weapons. 

Aralia with also look for a Blacksmith or someone who can craft her a shield using the Primal Fruit pit.

Abathax suggests to Aralia to go together, as he believes it might be possible to craft two shields from the fruit pit (I think DM said?). On the way there he says

"What did you think of Brimbul, and his servants? I have encountered them before and they originate from the shadowfell. Quiet interesting I think."

"They're an eccentric bunch. They balance each other out, I suppose. He's a bit...different than I expected, but maybe that uniqueness is the reason he managed to remember three things about the Balowang." Aralia answers Abathax thoughtfully, wondering if insanity might be a type of counter to the creature's influence. 

You leave the manor grounds and quickly return to the bustle of the Alkton town centre, the midday activities now fully underway. Silvosh trots down the high street, and although the majority of the shops are built to cater to the townfolk, a few businesses have capitalised on the adventuring rush the Balowang brings to Ilkalith, like the general store in Walping did, and so there are enough shops around who provide everything an adventurer would need, as long as they shop around. [The high street shops stock everything in the Player's Handbook between them, at regular retail price] There are also some notable storefronts about, namely Dusty Anne's Antiques, being a cramped little shop filled to the brim with all sorts of curiosities, from what Silvosh can see from the window, and another tavern, though this one seems far more popular than The Dead Man's Wages, with the sign above the door proudly reading The Silver Tankard. Through the window, Silvosh can see a crowded inn full of merriment, with several entertainers already set up, and a gaggle of adventurers engaging in foolish shows of strength or dancing.  

Abathax finds a blacksmith tucked away in a corner, called Barrin & Sons, and when he heads indoors, he finds a pair of hill dwarves hammering away at an anvil and pouring hot iron into a crucible between them, their work station surprisingly open and close to the shop area, as usually blacksmiths tend work in a separate area to where they sell, yet it seems it's all the same here. The floor is just plain, unworked stone, and you notice as you enter that the wall to your left is also plain stone, and covered with a rack of pre-made weapons. The older dwarf doing the hammering, assumedly Mr Barrin, approaches you when you enter, asking you gruffly whether you'd like to get a weapon commissioned especially for you, or if you're just looking for something premade. [There is one of each weapon from the Player's Handbook available for immediate purchase at regular retail price]

Aralia follows him, though when she tries to get the pit of the Primal Fruit converted into a shield there, Mr Barrin informs her that she's better off looking for a carpenter, and so after Abathax has completed his business, they find one. It's a small shop on the eastern outskirts of town, the axe yard where the carpenter conducts some his work being out front and filled with woodchips and stumps, a path through it all leading up to a handmade shack, in which the woodworker is waiting around for work. When shown the pit, he informs you that once split and hollowed, the wood would make a fine shield alone, though as he traces the curious grain of the pit, he informs you that if he was to use some special oils, lacquers and varnishes, he can bring out some of the latent magic hidden in the wood's grooves and enhance its strength, although this will take much longer to do, since the polishes need time to ingrain and dry, and it will be much more expensive, due to the price of these finishes.

[It costs 10 GP to make one regular shield out of the pit, so 20 GP for both (the same price as a regular shield, however that is because the custom labour costs fill in the reduction in price that the carpenter would have gotten from having the material supplied for him), and it will be completed in 1 hour, ready for when you set off (as the pit is already the appropriate shape and size, and it just needs splitting, hollowing, and having the handle attached) or, you can pay an extra 50 GP per shield, so 120 GP in total, for the magical finishes to be added and the shields to be turned into [Tooltip Not Found], however this will take 8 hours and so you will have to collect it on return from your mission (buying a +1 Shield upfront would cost around 112 GP, according to what it say online, so you're effectively getting one for free this way)]

Aralia will excitedly order the +1 shield, asking about the best place to sell her Magnifying Glass in order to afford it.

The carpenter tells her that she's best off selling the magnifying glass at the Dusty Anne's Antiques, as he can't imagine it'll be bought at any general stores, and the antique shop is the best thing the town has to a pawn shop.

Aralia nods and heads off to the antique shop. Entering, she looks around curiously for a while, before approaching the counter and presenting her Magnifying Glass for possible sale.

Persuasion to get a better price: 12