“So we’re going through sewage?” Quentin asks to make sure, the street slang confusing him, his eyebrows raised in a you have got to be kidding me gesture. 

(So, Raven goes off solo?  You are more or less all headed for the river, though.)

Meio leads you to the riverfront and points across. "That side. You gotta boat, or we swimmin' across?"

Drain pipe Del jibes Q totally different from sewer. You'll be fine. Del resumes once we know we are crossing - we don't have to really be at the waterfront - No boat, no need to swim. We can fly Del counts We six (is Ethan with us?) but Sister Raven heading off - unless, is the other side of the Arasrok is a better vantage point for her? Plus Sister Meio, you want your own owl, or ride with me? But either way we are within the number If we agree Del can summon the usual eight giant owls to get across

You've made a considerable number of kid's eyes bug out with your stories, gold and general awesomeness, but those bugged-out eyes fade into insignificance compared to the look on Meio's face when you make owls appear and tell her she can ride one.

(Ethan is with you.  Skizzix is with the mounts--are they at the abbey, or in the tapestry? The ships are in mid-river, Raven could watch from either side. The other side is less populated--fewer to see her, but for the same reason, she would stand out more.)

You fly across the river and land on the rocky bank, some distance form the freight dock.  The river here is lined with broken chunks of slate too jagged or uneven to be worth splitting and selling.  Above the bank, the ground rises into hard, bare clay. 150 feet away, you see a large, plain warehouse, and can see ogres standing guard on the entrances, and patrolling the area.  They pay you no attention.

Meio points to a spot on the beach.  Among a few stunted bushes and sprigs of tall, wiry grass, you can see a rusty metal pipe emerging form the clay and angling down into the water. From what you can see of the pipe, it's large, with about a 5 foot diameter at the wdest point.

"The opening's under the splash," says Meio. She reluctantly leaves the owl and dives under the river waves.

((we got the animals settled at the Abbey, Skizzix with them, because we thought we might need the tapestry empty to rescue kids))

Del will set the owls circling the warehouse, high and wide but not out of sight. Maybe the guards will be nervous and looking out rather than in, and depending how long stuff takes maybe we can call them to help us. Then Del will follow Meio

Quote from Astalda >>

(So, Raven goes off solo?  You are more or less all headed for the river, though.)

Meio leads you to the riverfront and points across. "That side. You gotta boat, or we swimmin' across?"

Yep Raven was going off on her own.

It's getting to be about noon.  Raven slips unnoticed among the river crews, cargo crates and dock merchants to watch her prey.  The Serpent's Tooth rests at anchor, midriver. Occasionally small dinghies move between the ships, or between the ship and the dock, as pirates come ashore.  Three smaller ships are anchored upstream of the Tooth, three more downstream, all straining against their anchor chains in the river current.

You can easily tell the pirates from the river elves.  The pirates swagger and speak loudly, laughing and joking, bragging about past fights and lovers, and they bristle with weapons: it seems to be a point of pride to carry more blades than they can possibly use. The locals are quieter and seem to avoid the pirates, intimidated. They rarely carry more than a single knife or short sword, and are frequently unarmed.  You see no particular conflict between the groups, though.  From what you overhear the pirates saying, Captain Spilwake is responsible for the killing of the bronze dragon who guarded the river mouth.  And in spite of Tagec's warning, you hear nothing from the pirates about plans to ship out any time soon. You also hear that their captain is planning to attend the council meeting in the evening - possibly making for an excellent time to rob the place.

----------------------

Del plunges into the river (which, by the way, is pretty darn cold) and follows Meio into the end of a submerged pipe, and swims upward to break the surface inside. The pipe angles up for a short stretch, then levels off. Meio sits on the level area, waiting. The inner surface of the pipe is rough and flaking.  The air is filled with the weird echoes of waves splashing against metal, and the air smells of rust, rot and raw sewage.

Watching Meio and Del dive into the river, Elwin decided he wasn't suited for a swim in his armor.  He glanced at the distant warehouse, then an idea formed in his mind. He began to fly up--higher, and higher, determined to become no more than a speck to the guards below. After a few minutes, and a couple thousand feet of altitude increase, he moved until he felt he was directly over the warehouse, then began to descend at a somewhat slower pace.

(( Elwin will try to land on top of the warehouse, provided there are no guards up there. If there are, he'll hover a couple hundred feet above them, waiting to see if anything happens. ))

There are no guards on the roof of the warehouse.  It has mildly sloping sides, with a broad flat strip down the middle.  There are a few small capped chimneys, apparently for ventilation, but if you want to enter the building from here, you will have to make a hole.

Del kind thought others would come too. Maybe E is the only one going off the reservation and M&Q are right behind? Otherwise he might have to go check on them? Or, ought to be close enough, he'll message "you all coming? It's all ok, straight up the pipe" 

"I'm above the warehouse," replied Elwin. "I''ll find a way in, then meet up."

Mindartis followed Del, "So, we going all in? Or more subtle?"

Examining one of the chimneys, Elwin looked for a crack or opening in the cap. Upon finding one, he visualized a long glaive, one shaped just so, then put his hands into position and summoned his weapon. Appearing in the form of the glaive--partially jammed under the cap--the warlock found his pact weapon provided plenty of leverage to apply toward opening a way into the building.

(( Any checks needed? Stealth, Athletics, etc? ))

We are following Meio, but I do not imagine we need to be too subtle. The guards expect kids not us. But watch if this is where the hags make their pick-up, then there'd be something tougher than ogreguards.

"Good," Mindartis says, "I need tough right now."

Quentin sends back to Del, “I’m going to join Elwin on the roof, much more my style.” He then says allows to Mindartis, “You should join Del I’ll be with Elwin.” Before he casts Fly on himself and joins his brother on the roof. 

Elwin's grip on his glaive tightened a second before he realized who had landed beside him. He exhaled slowly, then gave a weak smile. "Good to see you've joined us, brother!" he said in a low voice. "I believe I've opened a way into the warehouse for us."

The warlock looked around quickly for a suitable spot, then left his weapon in a position so it wouldn't roll. He quickly donned his shield before gently rapping it and adding, "I should probably take the lead here. Stay close!"

(( Presuming the chimney is wide enough, Elwin will slowly descend, while trying to keep an ear out for company. Perception Check: 2 ))

Those two are going in through the roof Del tells Mindartis and Mieo (and presumably Flitterbug? and maybe Ethen?) Hopefully we meet at some opportune moment. Lead the way, Little Sister

The chimney would be a very tight fit, unless Quentin has some way to enlarge it or slim you down.  But as you look down through the foot-wide hole, you can see that the room below is filled with clear, crystalline blocks, stacked nearly to the ceiling. In each, a figure is embedded. Just below the chimney, you elf children encased in sugar...some of them dressed up as if they had been playing pirate.  You can also hear voices...angry-sounding hags' voices.  It sounds like an argument...

------

Ahead of Del, Mindartis and Flitterbug, (Ethan is keeping watch outside)  Meio crawls through the pipe.  After a while, you come to the end to find yourself standing on a stone ledge. To the south, the ledge turns into a wide staircase leading down into dark, murky water.  It looks like this was once the lower level of some ancient building, possibly abandoned when it flooded, and now used as a foundation for the warehouse above.. Ornamental stonework is still visible on some parts of the walls: in other parts, it has been chipped away or covered with growths of algae and moss. Eight heavy stone pillars support the arched ceiling above. The drainpipe behind you is embedded in what once was a full doorway, its upper part filled in crudely with bricks and mortar.  You see doors to the east, west and south...or rather, the tops of doors.  Judging from the part that still stands above the water, you would guess that the depth is around six feet. An occasional drip or splash from above sends ripples across the water.  Meio points to a square, metal tube about two feet square embedded nearby in the ceiling. Its lower end is about five feet above the surface of the water. "I came down through there," Meio whispers, and her voice echoes eerily through the flooded structure. "There's a floor drain, and the grate was loose. I nipped in and splashed down. Noone else'd come, they was all bushy-tailed to be sea-hawks. Me, too, but, Will 'n' Boof needed me."

Elwin squirmed back out of the chimney after nearly getting stuck trying to go down. After quickly cleaning the soot off himself, he turned to Quentin.

"I thought I heard the hags down there. I don't suppose you have a convenient way down, maybe teleportation? I'm not suggesting we go now though; we should probably wait until they leave the area, or we hear the others."