Liara greets Allister with a warm smile while answering the fighter, "Hello to you as well my good friend. There is no voice that comes out the other end of the message send via the stone, so there's no way to tell what the other sounds like. It's a mental connection that you have a few seconds to reply to - you must be quick. All of my phases are to start with the word 'blossom' or Laskilar knows to destroy the other stone. I only really send messages when Horace is setting sail. I can't say I really enjoy the pirates' company so I try to avoid them as much as I can. I have only been to their cove once, but I would estimate their numbers to be around 40 when I was there. They command three ships: Laskilar is captain on the Stirge, Elok is captain on the Dragonfang, and Worlo is captain on the Emerald Eye.

The bay itself is fortified by natural rocks that are hard to navigate and the waters are infested with sharks. The cove itself is protected on land by a one-way-in pass through some of the mountainside. You can be sure this is watched carefully since the cove takes care of any sea invasions. They go where they want and I tell them where Flaming Fist patrols will be so they are not caught. I can't say where they patrol. The cove is beautiful and well protected. If they aren't out pirating, they live a life of luxury in a place where no one will question it. I guess I can see the charm in that."

Gruta tells Allister that communication to Horace can be done via birds, which she intends to do very soon, informing him to return to the fort. She estimates he will arrive within a tenday. She also says that any communication to Baldur's Gate is usually done magically or is slow to travel along a ship passage. With that she adds, "There are two rooms here for esteemed guests. Your party is welcome to use them while you are here."

Allister leans against the wall and scratches his skin. After a few seconds he collects his thoughts. "I know all I need to know for now. We have to decide how to proceed with our newfound information. First order of business should be to get the fort secured and make sure no one sends messages to Port Nyanzaru without Gruta´s authorization. We need this to stay amongst us as long as possible or the pirates will get wind of the new situation. And what do we" he looks at his companions "do next? If we wait for Horace´s arrival we lose valuable time and the curse might spread beyond our control. This pirate business is a personal matter to me, and our plan didn´t include a lengthy overland expedition. Let me think about this outside." He walks towards the door, but turnss the group before leaving. "Be assured I will not kill Liara. It´s not my place to be judge or executioner for a prisoner, I will not become that man again." With that said he steps outside.

And returns a few seconds later. "Liara, when was the last time you contacted Laskilar? And what did you tell him where Horace was patrolling?" Allister closes the door again and takes a walk.

"Ten days ago. The outer banks."

ooc:  this is for when all questions have finished

“This is a delicate matter.  I suggest we leave Horace to decide her fate, he would be better placed to administer proper justice.  I do not believe it is our place to take that role.   She could rot in a cell until he arrives, but that has its own problems.”  

He gestures at Gruta. 

“Liara seems we’ll loved by the garrison, if she just disappears questions will be asked.  The priest and the quartermaster May start guessing at what has happened too.  Does anyone have Disguise Self?   If we are seen to leave with her on a mission, it could buy time for Gruta until Horace arrives.  It would be up to Gruta to select guards for the task of looking after her!”

Gruta thinks for a moment before answering the small bard, "If Liara was to leave with your party on some small venture it wouldn't be unheard of. Quite the contrary, she has visited the dock west of here many times. It's a 14 mile trek and I could assign two or three of our best men to go along for the trip and send a letter with you for Horace that explains the situation. In Liara's current state, it would be incredibly easy to fool the entire garrison until we sort this matter out."

The dreary afternoon greeted Nenne indifferently as she left the commander's presence, not that the eladrin woman noticed much. There was only the oppressive heat of Summer at war with the perennially-cool symbol of the Fair Judge against her chest. And the zoetrope of seasons past playing in her head.

She walked and walked, aimless, until she found an isolated spot on the fringes of the fort. There, she leaned her back against the wall and let her gaze drop to her mace.

It hadn't seen much use, these past decades. In fact, her intemperate outburst earlier was the first time that it had served its purpose as a blunt instrument rather than a symbol of authority. Perhaps she was fooling herself and it always was a weapon. Its use in spells and rituals, merely a childish lacquer. Perhaps it wasn't the only thing with a veneer of artless camouflage.

Her eyes traveled down the mace to where she held it. Dark red fingers gripped the leather-wrapped pommel. She'd seen that shade countless times throughout her days; a red so potent, it was nearly black. She'd seen it on the cheeks of comrades and the hands of friends. Never on herself.

So this was Summer. 

____

She curses quietly in her native tongue, stows her mace, and begins to pray.

Funderburk left after Nenne, but not before Allister and Boosey asked their questions. Information about the cove and the messaging stone had him thinking.

After some time spending with Dunk, even though it was at late evening, he set out once more to find his friends. Once he found Allister, Boosey, and Sthara, he told them of his plan- which he would also tell Nenne once they got back. 

"I believe we should send the message for Horace, but leave Liara to Gruta's hands. We need to head to the cove as soon as the morning sun tomorrow. We cannot let the curse get out of hand and it seems that the pirates have a lot more information about this temple than anyone else."

"Using the sending stone may be a good option for us. Liara said that she uses it so that the pirates may avoid any patrol groups from the Flaming Fist. Knowing their code now, I can send a message detailing that a patrol group is scouting wherever we decide to arrive at the cove; therefor giving us less of a fight to deal with when navigating through the cove."

"Liara said there is about 40 pirates. 40 pirates split amongst three ships; Stirge, Dragonfang, Emerald Eye." With that, Funderburk looked at the commander one last time, with his final question. "How may we differenciate these ships from one another. And do you know any of the captains' daily ruitienes? Such as when Laskilar alone. In his quarters."

"They have names on the sides of them displayed for anyone to see. I don't know what they do."

After about an hour Allister returns to the fort and heads straight to the interrogation room. When he hears about the plan to meet Horace he smiles his toothy but toothless grin. "That makes things a lot easier. We get that ***** away from the fort and can discuss or next steps. We just have to make sure she doesn´t plan anything stupid once she regains her senses. Probably she will have to be gagged. Should we help keeping watch?" He walks over to Liara, the look on his face less hateful then before. "Dear commander, when you visited the cave, from which side did you come? The mountains to the west or along the northeastern mountain range through the jungle?"
Speaking to the rest of the group he asks "Where is Nenne? Anyone seen her since her outburst?"

"I arrived with the Dragonfang the one time I went there. Their base of operations is a large cave in the face of a sheer cliff side. The land passage comes into the cave on the eastern side."

At Gruta's suggestion the party asks Liara to come with them, which she does so happily. Dunk is all to eager to move having eaten all the surrounding ferns where he was tied up. Gruta relieves the commander of her armor, commander's seal, and assigned weapon before they depart, giving her a set of armor in need of repair so the ruse works better. Under the cover of night no one seems to notice the commander's out of place armor and the party makes their way towards the coast. The path is mostly flat and well maintained but Sthara's charm spell wears off before it comes to an end. Liara's only sign of aggression is a primal scream that is caught somewhere between anger and sadness. Horace arrives at the dock near the end of the second day, having heard word from Gruta's bird messenger.

Horace disembarks the ship flanked by two other sailors and the party informs him of the treachery at Liara's doing. Liara hangs her head in shame and Horace's face turns red. He tells her that he will personally see her delivered to her superiors as immediate as he can make it so. Listening intently to the description of the pirate cove in Jahaka Bay, Horace says, "I have sailed near that bay before and avoided it for the very rocks you mention now. I'm not about to sail into it, but I'm fond of the idea of your land invasion. What if I were to ferry you to the south side of the bay and you could walk around? It'd be a hell of a lot closer than walking the whole way and much safer than trying to scale any mountains. There is also a mountain pass that cuts through the Mistcliff mountains. It'd be a longer walk, but there'd be zero chance any pirates would spot an incoming vessel coming from there."

 Allister looks puzzled at Horace. "Having protection while we approach is a great advantage. But uhm,... did you mean you take us to the bay, and the five of us take out a fortified position with at least 40 hostile pirates? That´s pretty optimistic. I mean we have to go there anyway but some sort of additional support would improve our chances greatly."

"You misunderstand. I intend to pull my weight heavily. You say you have this stone - what if we were to correlate a message that gets the pirates to return or leave the cove? I can have my own ship and another schooner there waiting to attack. That would sum up a large portion of their force, wouldn't it?"

“That’s what I wanted to hear. But this time your ships should be better equipped. If we make it back alive after this whole Death Curse thing, you and I will have a long talk about turning your company into a formidable pirate hunter force. But first things first. We need to send a message that will have them sail south. Once they leave you block the bay and we deal with any ship left in the bay.“

"Do you have the means to send such a message? I say we leave at once."

"We do, though I feel you would prefer not to learn how we obtained it."

"It might be a good idea to have your two ships begin the ambush before we start our land invasion. Having that kind of distraction of the start will give us another advantage when we too hit them. Either way, we need to figure out what to say in the stone, and most importantly when to say it. Timing is everything here. I'm just glad we have four days of preparation before we arrive." The Vedalken produces out of his cloak the stone, showing it to Horace. "We have 25 words to say within this stone. However, it is knocked down to 24 since we have to say the code word before the actual message. We," with that Funderburk outstretched his arm spanning over his friends, "know the code. So if I were to be unable to... operate the stone, we all know how to."

Horace nods grimly as the task becomes all too clear to him. He orders Liara locked away in the brig and calls for two watchmen on her at all times. The captain says, "This is a terrible thing that you have uncovered, but I must say I am glad to see the snake cleared from the weeds before anymore fall prey. Also...that beast...." He inclined his head to indicate Dunk before continuing, "I do not have room for it on my vessel. Perhaps one of these fine soldiers can watch it for you at the Fort until a day that you can return?" He asks about magically contacting the Harbormaster to notify him to gather up the crew for the second schooner and set up a rendezvous point somewhere along the coast.