Hi again,
This Captain Gulos did not seem a hard man to find so Ahappi and Orsattus cooked up a plan. First, they found a night market stall selling foreign drinks and bought a lead container holding a full draught of trollish Rainbow Delight, plus they procured some common wine that Orsattus added some sleeping drug to. Then they walked across town to the Guards' Hall where Ahappi had met with Gulos before, but the guards outside said that Gulos was not in. However, the lead guard said he knew where Gulos could be found, and you gave him the silvers he clearly expected for the favour. So he took you to the Excelsiinn and made small talk with Orsattus while Ahappi got bathed and scrubbed and dressed up in finery, by this guard's urging after catching a whiff of the captain.
The two of you were then led upstairs to a private meeting chamber in the inn, attractively decorated with lacquered woodwork, and imposingly featuring the squat, smirking figure of Captain Gulos at the far end of a table, attended by guards and a shadowy figure in the corner that must be his Zzaburi. The Captain Gulos was not happy to see you but was at least willing to hear you out. He responded curtly to Ahappi's questions about Froalar religious site(s) and possible pre-emptive strikes against Rokari and mysterious visiting mercenaries who'd spoken of the Dripping Beards, more often asking you more questions than he answered. He didn't really answer the Froalar questions, merely would repeat his loyalty to Baron Ron (and his local Baronet) when asked about the Rokari – and said that New Arvonesse would surely see many emigrants if Seshnela did invade, then closed that discussion by stating that Ahappi was not the “proper authority” to speak to of any action – then eventually admitted that he knew something about these strangers that he'd met with earlier.
But Gulos turned that latter conversation to a problem that he faced with one of his top men, the Sergeant-At-Arms Lesoncurre (who called himself a Lieutenant now and often acted autonomously, even as if he worked for Fort Mudlark too). Captain Gulos complained that this man Lesoncurre was scorned by many on Giraine, known for hating Giranois and (suspected of) committing certain atrocities as well as rumoured to keep bad company. Gulos noted that this Holari-gone-astray was fond of a Lur Horn (a crude barbarian instrument) and that he'd “sooner die than part with it”. It was easy for Ahappi to read between the lines that Gulos wanted Lesoncurre disposed of before he'd help any more– Gulos knew Ahappi's reputation as a deadly man, and had quickly assessed Orsattus as having similar proclivities. Finally, Gulos agreed to share some drink with you, and found the Rainbow Delight you brought to be enticing enough, so you three enjoyed a quaff of that. But he and all but one of his men did not want any of your wine so you gave up and left. Ahappi explained to Orsattus that he hoped for Gulos to drink the wine and fall asleep so he could take his signet ring and gain power over the Stonefish. Orsattus had noticed Gulos rubbing his ring thoughtfully and had seen that it was an old ring with copper and aluminium wires wound together to form shapes of a serpent and eel crossing in the shape of a Truth rune- not a familiar symbol to him, but still interesting in its ophidian connections.
Your team was more than pleased to see you again at the Baronet's manor in town; they almost shoved each other out of the way to leave that place and its almost obscene tastes in “culture”. But you had to find this Lesoncurre chap, and so you went down to the Night market area where Maugis worked his charms on an itinerant merchant who knew Lesoncurre had been visiting the sewers often lately. With some convincing against his fearful reluctance he divulged that the sewer entrance was nearby, underwater at the harbour's edge, and that some dangerous types that might know his whereabouts lingered in there. Your course was now very clear, and you found the spot quickly then prepared magics to aid you in the dark watery depths, with Fraud Shaven leading you inside. There was an entrance sea cave past an old broken bronze grate, and amazing ancient sorcery that dried you off of all water as you entered that cave. There were plenty of signs of people having passed through this cave, probably for centuries but especially in the past few years since resettlement. But no one was there at the moment.
A passage headed back to the south, downwards, into water again; another (western) passage curved and sloped upwards (you investigated this and found it ended in a trapdoor that must lead to the surface); a third, northern passage narrowed quickly into a crawlspace that was slick with water dripping down into it (you relented to go further, for now); and a fourth passage headed east, with the smell of sewage prevalent. Your watery magics were still active so you explored the downward southern passage, with Orsattus panicking early on in your tunnel-swimming and needing Fraud's help to struggle back to the surface for another try. Finally you all made it down that tunnel which led into a great old sea cave, rich with ocean life such as fish schools and swimming feathery sea-lillies (crinoids) dancing over a vast bed of corals, which glowed softly with phosphorescence. It was a gorgeous sight but you pushed onwards, with Fraud immediately spotting all three main, submerged tunnels leading onwards.
One tunnel went straight south, a second travelled eastward, and the nearest zigzagged back westward, with sorcerous power strongly evident in it to Maugis's senses, and no life evident within. This tunnel proved to be a bizarre and extremely hazardous one, with magics that drained your mana and your spells (even, gradually, a strong one that Ahappi recast). Ahappi went the furthest in but soon became blind and then totally asensate, barely able to turn around and get back to the rest of you by the entrance. It must be, he explained once you'd helped him get back to the air supply of the first sea-cave (Fraud Shaven having had a similar scary experience at first), a place that traversed the planes and led to some node that was either faulty or just unfathomable to you. Even the water there had become non-water, with no wetness or flowing properties. You thought that this was a Bad Place and you'd better try elsewhere.
Dry land now seemed an attractive place, even if it was the sewer-passage, and that indeed led to a cave where a sorcerously maintained sewer pool full of acrid fluid gathered sewage from tiny tunnels that came down from above. It was an impressive creation but even with the skin-of-life magics' protection you did not find the nasty air there to be welcoming. A side-pocket cave held nothing of interest so you took the only accessible tunnel outward, to the northeast. That quickly joined an east-west corridor, made of stonework that must be original Second Age work, that sparkled faintly with magical presence and whose energies distorted your vision. You could see that the corridor turned to the north at both ends. The corridor was wide enough for two of you to walk abreast; most prior passages were at best large enough for one man.
Boamund explored to the east first, seeing the passage beyond lead to a dilapidated archway into a crumbling room. He then explored to the west and saw torchlight in a room accessed through another, more intact archway. It was then that he saw figures standing inside the room, and they had swords at the ready, calling for him to “hold on there!” but he spun around and hurried back toward your group…
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