Those Led Now Lead

## **Synopsis**

In Chapter 47: Those Led Now Lead, Orba and Erland made an important trip just outside the city to have the mysterious ring unbound from Erland's foot.  Kohar Langolis was happy to oblige, as he had already been prepaid by Jillian – and we avoided a prolonged conversation with Teo Hendry's brother who was just leaving as we arrived.  The procedure was simple and fairly painless, though Kohar recommended waiting until tomorrow (or at the very least late tonight) to remove the ring and avoid discomfort.

As this was happening, Graven and Safira had wandered down to the main square – where Graven was looking for insight from Weddu about his egg message and Safira was in the market for some kind of truth-telling potion.  At Trinketry we learned the name of the spell Lady Sengri'la had used – and at the Bauble Shop, Wesley offered up a questionable lead on obtaining contraband items, but rather than press the issue Safira backed off from her request.

For the purposes of keeping her options open, Beezaura busied herself renting rooms at both the Scalehouse and the Lakeside Inn.  Verk'Keelan was able to impart some additional wisdom about the chess board drawing – and offered to point out the authors later in the day when the evening crowd came in.  This intrigued Beezaura, but before acting on anything else – she found a private moment alone to take a closer look at something she'd been keeping in her bag: a first edition copy of Grahmari's Giant Grimoire.

The infamous page 216 had changed – but only slightly.  Embedded in it was the suggestion that Marvyn Bishop was being carted off to Urin-Chupa, and the final paragraph seemed to be a plea to get the attention of the authorities so they could intercept his captors.

As Beezaura mulled over what to do with this information, Erland and Orba were chatting with Mica Denholm – who staunchly denied having a library in his basement, and who seemed to have little if any association with Josco Tibbets.  It was a confusing and disappointing exchange, though Mica's caginess gave Erland the impression that while he may have been honest about his disinterest in scientific tomes – there was something about the basement of his home that he wasn't being upfront about.

Using a bit of newly acquired coin, Graven greased the wheels at the offices of the Broken Crown – picking up a few new contracts before following up on an old one that tied into his previous "visit" at the Temple of the Laqha'Phuyu.  Solomon Wyland was happy to run down his findings regarding the disappearance of Lady Sengri'la – but a certain someone else was not quite so thrilled, and Graven was forced to make a hasty exit after getting as much information as he could.

After grabbing a bite to eat, the party reconvened at the Scalehouse and started the conversation that everyone knew was coming: where do we go from here?  Safira expressed her interest in hiring the rest of the group to assist in her investigation.  Orba came clean about her escape from the Halls of Transmutation.  And we all took a moment to acknowledge that we were probably better off traveling together than separately – at least for now.

With the northern settlements firmly in our sights for a variety of reasons, the debate shifted to our plans for the coming days – and as we went back and forth over the merits of making a stop in Tuktu.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: no natural ones were rolled in this Chapter.