I do want to ask about other missing people Master Tagec. We keep hearing about an epidemic of young people especially - we found some to be not so mysterious, but there are mysteries left. Do you have an opinion? Do you know of some that can be, uh, ruled out as not mysterious because a more mundane explanation is known? Would you call Mr Huark part of the same problem?

(ie did you kill some or drive them off or know that someone else did, without actually accusing)

(EDIT: Tagec smiles at Del.  "I can tell you what I know when the job is done.  I warn you, it isn't much.  I'd love to put an end to that matter--the police have been very active lately, and it is messing with everyone's business. I doubt Huark is involved. He is much bigger than the usual targets. Much, much bigger." )

The lifts on Locust which aren't broken are scattered among the branches haphazardly, and unlike on Willow, there are no helpful tree vines: a self-service cranking device is inside the wrought-iron lift cab you rode up on, and you have to take it down to the third branch, then enter the interior of the trunk to climb the narrow, unlit stairs that spiral around the graffiti-marked core of the tree. The stairs up from the fourth branch are blocked, so you exit the trunk and climb an outer walkway circling the trunk.  It seems poorly maintained, many of the boards warped or even cracked, and you have to carefully avoid the sharp spines protruding from the bark.

Branch Five holds twelve houses. Numbers 11 and 12 look about ready to fall to pieces. Four of the others have 'For Sale' signs on them, which look like they have been there for a very long time.  There are signs of life in several of the other homes, and small touches show that people are trying to maintain them, though the occasional splash of fresh paint, sad flowerpot or window box just tends to bring out the wretchedness of the whole.

Number 8 is silent, its windows dark.  You can see some small recent repairs made--a new board nailed onto the half-rotten doorstep, parchment glued over a cracked window--but it is pretty dilapidated.

"Wait here a moment..."  Raven says, nodding to the group.  "I am going to scout around back..."  She will then go into stealth mode and try to see if she can sneak around to the back of the house.

Stealth: 8

Raven slips through the gap between houses silently. The back of the house hangs over empty space, with a long, long drop below.  Still, Raven edges out onto a beam and peeks cautiously in through the dirty windows.  She sees nobody.

"Seems empty..."  Raven reports back to the group a moment later.  She moves up to the door and checks to see if it is locked or not.

The door is locked.

"If you want a magical search let me know and I'll start casting." Quentin tells Raven as he approaches once the all clear is given. 

Raven pulls out her thieve's kit and tries to unlock the door.

Unlock check:  6

Elwin nodded at Raven's report, but after watching her brazenly skirt the edge of the house, he remembered just how high up he was.

He found himself sincerely hoping the ogre wasn't home.

Raven easily opens the lock.

"Well here we go..." She says softly to herself as she almost opens the door.  Her training comes back though and she pauses to check for any traps.

Perception: 9

The warlock bit his tongue as Raven opened the door. He edged closer to the entrance, and found himself crouching a little as he did so. He hadn't planned on entering the house unless there was trouble, but he was still quite tense. Even Pim, tucked against Elwin's chest, was frozen in fright, feeling his companion's heartbeat. Deciding to be safe, Elwin quietly donned his shield and summoned his pact spear as Raven crept in deeper....

You look into a room.  It would be a modest-sized living quarters for an elf.  For an ogre, it must have been a little cramped. A threadbare rug of dull green covers part of the greyed wooden floor. On a cracked stone hearth there is a small iron stove that serves double duty for cooking and heating, a metal stovepipe going out through the wall.  There is a huge but battered wooden chair, and a smaller, newer one, with a table between them.  Next to the stove is a small counter, with drawers and a cupboard beneath it. Overhead on shelves are a set of shiny, new dishes.  A few battered pots hang from the wall, and short ropes of garlic and sausages dangle from the ceiling. A corner of the room seems to have been recently (and inexpertly) walled off.  There is a door into this partition, and two other doors on the wall.  A shiny new broom leans in a corner: it seems it has not been used yet.  The floor is dusty, with small tufts of what looks like animal hair gathered around the corners.

Somebody just moved in, looks like Del just has his shawm out in these close quarters, but a free hand not far from a dagger

"Looks that way."  Raven says, moving over to check out the other doors.

Every dwelling in the city is issued a magical commode by the Free City Department of Sanitation. This device transports waste products to an area far below the earth, where, theoretically, the tiny organisms living in the dirt can naturally process it into healthy soil. (Or, potentially, there is some place in the Underdark with a very unpleasant odor problem.) It is very important not to accidentally drop anything into the device, because you will not get it back easily.

Anyway, behind the door of the newly partitioned corner, you find one of these, none too clean.

On the back wall, the door on the right opens (barely) into a room with four old beds lashed together side by side to form a single ogre-sized bed.  There is no room for any other furniture.

The door on the left opens into a room just as grungy as the rest of the house, but the furniture here seems incongruously new and nice. There is a bed, a chair, and a simple desk here.

"Suppose we best search the rooms for anything that might tell us where either of these guys are at currently."  Raven says and starts with the room with the newer things in it.

Perception: 14

The blankets on the bed seem new, warm and fluffy. Under the bed is a wooden box containing a ball, an inexpensive looking stuffed cloth doll with the head of a cat, and three simply carved wooden horses. In the desk's only drawer is a slab of slate (probably from Del and Elwin's home town) and a chunk of chalk. These all seem quite new as well, though Raven is just barely able to see the faint chalky remains of some erased words on the slate...."Skul sux.' There are traces of animal hair on the floor and the blankets in here, as well.

“I’m going to look for anything magical besides the washroom.” Quentin says as he starts the process of ritually casting detect magic. 

"Probably a good idea."  Raven says as she comes out of the first bedroom.  "That one looked almost like a kid was staying here..." She comments, moving to the other bedroom.

Perception:  14