Finders Reapers

## **Synopsis**

In Chapter 73: Finders Reapers, there was time to spare before Orba's appointment to prove her legitimacy to the wizard Selas – so Erland requested they stop by "Bottled", an alchemy shop owned by Niels Bagas who we suspected had some role in the Mycrawl business, or at least had something to do with the mutant that was spotted south of Leopold's Garrison.

On the shelves we spotted pouches with the embroidered "N", presumably the same kind that shocked the mutant into a moment of lucidity, but Niels gave nothing away and we didn't have anything concrete to accuse him of – so we exited his storefront and spent a bit of time theorizing in the thoroughfare before heading back to the Upa Alehouse for some food and reflection.

As it turned out, it was taverns for all as Beezaura and Graven had arrived at "All Hands on Deck" looking for leads.  The place was packed but thankfully the barkeep was not immune to a bit of bribery – giving us the room number for the private investigator we'd heard about earlier that day.  We found Villepont Willoughby mired in his own vices but quick to prove his competency – as he'd already learned of Graven's visit with the cleric in Na-Garwas.

His services were more helpful to Graven than Beezaura, as an apparent falling out with Senka Uberti meant he generally tried to stay out of her business – but he still had plenty to say as long as we could spare the coin for it.  For the first time we had found someone who professed to know Pockets, though his current obligations were an obstacle to taking on new clients.  If we were willing to lighten his load, he'd see about setting up a meet – so it was off to Wilson Cleaver's house to get him to drop his round-the-clock retainer.

Before that, however, Beezaura scoured the bar for "Hatchet" – a known Mycrawl dealer who had been spotted talking to Mr. Two before he went missing.  Like others we'd run into in Navika-Pura, Hatchet was hardly an open book in the presence of outsiders – but he did imply that a good way to "get to know each other" was to indulge in the potent drug that he was peddling.

It seemed like a dangerous proposition, so we asked for time to think – and at the opposite end of the city, the chatty bartender Sotiria was giving the others plenty of information to digest as well.  She told us that Rudhiran Elves had reached out to Khlyff Ironcloud hoping to relocate their people, which was of particular interest to Erland – who had promised them help and money prior to our scouting mission in the Chaki Mountains.

Sotiria's other topics of conversation were thankfully more lighthearted.  A traveling musician was set to perform tomorrow at the alehouse, a hedge maze was open to the public at Boffin Estates and perhaps most interestingly – weapons expert Sarn Darrow was giving a demonstration with his graduating students at his training grounds.  Erland and Safira found their way there and were both impressed by the scope of his expertise and shocked by how openly he advertised the use of Myconid Extract in his accelerated programs.

It was apparent that the dark sides of extract use were either less known or better hidden in the north – and as the elves pondered what this might mean for our respective missions, the sun had set… which meant it was Orba's time to take a trip outside the city.  Her magical detection guided her to a door in the forest – where she finally stood face-to-face with Selas.

Allowing her inside, Selas presented Orba with a book containing symbols and sketches very much like the ones on the page she'd been carrying since her arrival in Anti-Suyu.  He showed her how the book was a cipher and explained that if she was meant to speak with Khlyff further – she would be able to read her page as she held it up to the key.  With bated breath, Orba held the paper to the light and spoke the words she saw appear.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: one natural one was rolled in this Chapter, by Riley.