Peri:

After meeting up with the others Peri fills them in on Bede, Grotten, and Melody. "Sounds like I'm stuck here til tomorrow anyhow. That Grotten seemed to know somethin' about Kei, or at least the makeup thing, so I figure she'll either have a location for us, or there'll be an ambush when we go to meet with her. I also told 'em where I was stayin', so there's a chance someone might try something tonight. We should all keep on our toes. 'Course the way this town is we should probably be on our toes all the time..."

Thwack 

Trotting behind Peri, Thwack stays quiet as they enter the Hog. He scans the room as Peri divulges what he learnt from their recent encounter. 

Constable Jute listens uncomfortably to Gerrard. She watches for anyone surreptitiously listening, but finds none. She is initially reticent when first asked by Gerrard about the Lantern Ghost case, but clearly has mixed feelings about it.

"Look, you're not out to make the militia look bad, right? They've warned us about this. I'm already in hot water; I don't need any more trouble. But yeah, I found Jarme in the area of the Alchemists’ Quarter known as Hemlock Pit. Jarme was cooperative when we apprehended him, which was surprising considering.... considering the state of his mutilated victim..."

Gerrard:

”On the contrary, good Constable, I am confident you found the one whose hand committed the murder—I have nothing but respect for those in the militia trying to hold this city together,” responds Gerrard.

”I do think, however, given the recent events, there remains a dark influence that has either orchestrated the ongoing murders or even directly mind-controlled some of the perpetrators…and that malevolent will behind the murders is what I want to expose and destroy.  I am hoping we can help each other out and get justice for Janore and the others lost,” he concludes.

She lowers her voice. "I found Jarme crouched over his victim. I can show you where if you want. There's not much to see. Don't repeat this, but I really don't believe Jarme was the sole killer — if he was the killer at all. You heard about this new murder, right? This morning, after Jarme’s execution? I can show you that site, too, if you want - it was in the northern end of the Alchemists’ Quarter. Its investigation has already been dispensed with – I think they ordered an immediate cremation of that mangled body." She lowers her voice further. "I don't know why my superiors are acting the way they are about this. I suspect powerful interests must be involved. Not my place to cross them."

Peri:

Peri would have preferred a quiet night in a decent inn, but they were unlikely to find that in the squalid dump they were staying. He looks to Gerrard. "It's your quest. If you wanna go see this scene I'll tag along."

Gerrard:

”I have a feeling I will get more rest this night on my feet than in the establishment where we rented rooms,” quips Gerrard.

”Master Fenwader, Master Thwack, good to have you back with us.  I know not where this investigation will lead, but let us go see what we can see and perhaps be of some use to the people of this city,” he adds.

”Constable, it seems ever the way that those vying for power care little for the common folk their machinations overrun.  I have seen it in my own hometown, and it appears you have experienced it as well.  Let us work together to see if we can uproot some of the rot that plagues this city.  Lead the way to the murder sites and we will see what we can find,” the young noble concludes.

"Tonight?" asks Jute. "Can it wait until tomorrow morning? It's been a long day. I have duty at noon, but I can meet you in the morning. Do you know where North Bridge is in the Alchemist's Quarter? Can you meet me there tomorrow? There's a tea shop on the lower end of the bridge I can meet you at. Best keep my name out of it." She continues to keep an eye out for eavesdroppers. 

The night is black. It is nearly midnight.

Gerrard:

”Fair enough,” says Gerrard, listening carefully to the directions, “thank you, and see you in the morning.”

Qivys stays in the background, listening to the exchange.  He is relieved that the constable was about to convince Gerrard to postpone their endeavor till morning.
Time fer some sleep," he mutters as the constable turns to go.
"She mentioned a murder this mornin', though?" he says. "An' her superiors are coverin' it up by cremating tha bodies quick. Are they just scared what tha folks will think or do or is there someone they are coverin' fer?" he says thinking out loud. 

Unless you have further business tonight, the group retires for the evening upstairs in the squalid "room for five", which has only one dingy bed and a door that won't lock. But with careful precautions and some creative camping arrangements, you survive the night. The morning comes – you are tired, filthy, irritable, but safe and marginally rested. (You may take the benefits of a Long Rest.)

What is your plan for the morning? You currently have two appointments, both in the Alchemists' Quarter. A morning meeting with Constable Jute at a tea shop near "North Bridge"; and a meeting with Grotten two hours before noon at Melody's junk shop. From what you have learned about the city, they are just a short walk apart - a few blocks, maybe five minutes walking between. Thornwell also wanted an update sometime today.

Gerrard:

Getting out of the Stinking Hog as soon as possible, Gerrard says, “Let’s meet the Constable for breakfast at the Tea shop.  We’ll learn what we can from the murder scenes and then head off to visit your new acquaintance, Master Fenwader.”

Qivys takes the opportunity to use Prestidigitation  to clean up, and offers the same for others.  The he heads out with the party. 

The morning light is dim and hazy. Smoke drifts across town. Everyone has a mild cough, a building film upon their skin, and itchy eyes. But Gerrard's eyes are particularly red and inflamed today, and his vision has become somewhat blurry. (Gerrard will take a -1 penalty to attack rolls and ability checks that rely on sight for the time being.)

The party works its way across town – through the morning patrols in the High Quarter, across the bridge, through the ruins, another bridge, and deep into the Alchemist's Quarter. Here, black smoke and acrid stenches plume from iron chimneys, as pipes discharge foul-smelling goo into the open sewers, dribbling into a system of barred drains and clogged oily canals, within which desperate human scavengers hunt for anything of value.

The party eventually finds the tea shop, and Constable Jute. She wears street clothes – a grey cloak and dirty trousers – and holds a ceramic mug which she drinks from with a long metal straw. "Ready?" she asks quietly. "Need some tea first?"

Gerrard:

As they walk, Gerrard says, “It seems my attempt to rescue Priestess Janore from the toxic waters yesterday has infected my eyes.”  

He looks to Boko and Qivys, saying, “Perhaps you can help me, or at least make sure it doesn’t get worse?”

When they arrive, Gerrard answers, “Indeed, kind of you to offer.  We left before breakfast.”

Thwack 

Thwack wakes to find himself slick with some form of residue. "Snarf! This place worse than Doug swamp" he complains as he tries to wipe the oily substance from his scales. 

He follows along through the city as they head to their first meeting. At the offer of tea he shakes his head, more from fear of how the tea was made than his lack of hunger. He instead pulls food from his pack and shoves the tasteless biscuit into his mouth.

"Hold on a bit" Qivys says to Gerrard. "I want ta examine yer eye." he tells the noble.
Once Gerrard sits, Qivys will take a look then hold his hand over the noble's eye and grasps his holy symbol:
"May tha healin' hands of tha Gods aid ya." he says as he expends 5 points of healing to cure any disease that may be affecting Gerrard.

Whatever Qivys did seems to work. Gerrard's eyes clear up – his vision is returned to normal, and the itching stops. (And the penalties are voided.)

She hands Gerrard her mug. "Smoked pine. Try it." Then she points her thumb over her shoulder. "Not bad teas here. A copper a mug. They have at least three kinds, I think. They used to have a blackfish tea but I don't think they sell that any more."

"Alright. Let's take a walk. Follow my lead and try not to attract attention. We're going to the edge of Hemlock Pit."

(Unless you have further business at the tea shop, she will begin to lead you east through a maze of back streets in the Alchemists' Quarter.)

Gerrard:

”Excellent, Master Qivys, I am truly blessed to have friends such as you,” says Gerrard earnestly, his step livening as he can now see clearly the path before him.

”Thank you for the taste,” says Gerrard to Jute, circumspectly avoiding mentioning her name as she has asked.  After procuring a mug of tea for himself and his friends if they desire one, he says, “Let us proceed to the first site.”

After a few minutes walk through the twisted alleys of the Alchemists’ Quarter, Jute stops at the edge of a large swath of green-grey mud, perhaps 150 feet across – like a small landlocked pond filled with ooze, punctured by fat drainpipes, fouled canals, and short stone jetties. The city surrounds it, nearly to its edge, on all sides. Further to the north you can see a three-story stone stone warehouse, roofed in slate and dotted with iron-barred windows. A huge, rickety crane protrudes from the wall of the warehouse, its limbs rusted and bent. Dangling from it is the dripping hulk of a ship, hanging some fifty feet above the greasy mud.

"This is where I arrested Jarme. Here at Hemlock Pit. Right there." She points at an empty stretch of nearby pavement, about twenty feet from the edge of the mud pit. "Not much to see. He was right there, hunched over the body. It was horribly mutilated. Rats and gulls probably finished the clean-up. Nothing left anymore." She bends down and rubs the empty, mismatched cobblestones with her fingertips.

"Want to see this morning's crime scene? It's not far from here."

The smell emanating from the pit is nearly overwhelming.