You did some shopping and bathing and information-gathering, splitting up. Ahappi went to the Ophidi Inn to see if he could spot anyone, and used a fear spell on Ayk the Great Troll bouncer to get in with his harpoon. He was left alone inside until Zefeddi the Friend-of-Sinners-Saint came and told him that Miguel had been taken away from the market by Lt Heloise (the 2nd-in-command here; a tough red-haired Seshnelan woman) of the guards. Ahappi went off to find out about this, and came to Excelsi Inn after Lt Heloise had interrupted Boamund and Fraud finishing their bathing. She had brought the news that Miguel had been found asking odd questions in the market/harbour, and she wanted to know more while he was under safe keeping. You gathered she was a very Law and Order-ly type who wanted the authority of Gulos and the Baronet to be rigidly followed here, and didn't appreciate Miguel “making a law unto himself”. But there was the undertone that the seal pelt trade was profitable for the town during tough times, so unusual inquiries about it had her on edge. She agreed, though, to allow you to proceed with investigating if you kept your search narrow and orderly in town, and if you brought her physical evidence that these were not seal hides but Ouori pup pelts being traded, which she agreed would be disgusting and illegal.
Miguel was brought to you in fine shape, and explained the circumstances of his capture; also that he'd learned of one trader named Horchmel, of Hard Bay along the Orninior Coast, who was the single seller of these exotic white furs (and you thought only Ouori pups, raised on ice floes, had these colours). Lt Heloise added that this Horchmel frequented the Ophidi Inn. So you went there, finding that Ahappi was now banned from entering so he waited outside with Boamund while Fraud and Miguel left weapons with them and went in. Miguel immediately spotted Horchmel at the bar, and she was looking at him, so he went over and talked. She expected him to want to buy furs, and they bargained to get her to lead you to the hunters who sold them to her. You went back to the Shadow, rested, and then met her the next day, bringing Micaela and Baelulam in tow as you didn't know what else to do and the Shadow was leaving.
Horchmel was uneasy about Miguel's armed companions but led you through the flooded, rainy swamp for a couple of hours northeast to a lonely spot where a square hut sat atop some stout log stilts, surrounded by floodwaters that bubbled with stinking mineral springs that coated the area in a slimy mist. You went up the stairs to the hut's door, with Horchmel remaining behind, and Miguel knocked. The door swung open but Miguel's eyes couldn't adjust to the shadows within and didn't see who opened the door. As he paused, a jolly voice spoke to welcome you to come in and talk-it was Skrimton Nodeal! He was clearly unsurprised by your visit, and was sitting with the two other Brown Vadeli companions of his (Iirkon Backdoor, the nasty “witch”, and Zridge the Tart, the hunchbacked, filthy sailor/slaver), each squatting atop the backside of a filthy person who was crouched downward to form a “stool”. But also, stepping forward to you with a big grin and sporting fine white fur leggings, was Ciddar Blacksail!
Miguel was pushed inside by Boamund and almost fell into the central pit dominating the hut's floor, which led into a steaming pile of “nightsoil” under the hut. You demanded information about the hides, and Ciddar wouldn't say anything except that he expected to make a good profit to buy his own ship soon. Skrimton too was unforthcoming, and Zridge traded barbs with Ahappi, unfazed by the threat of death (making reference to his family history of incest and sin; Vadeli don't worry about Solace, apparently believing that God wants the world destroyed so it can be remade without Error). Skrimton claimed that perhaps these were not seal or Ouori hides but rather the furs of Pamaltelan sea-worms, which at first sounded unusually convicing to you but everyone except Miguel shook off the powerful lie (Miguel, confused, did only later). Ahappi plunged his harpoon into the floor by Zridge, and Skrimton begged for there to be peace and parley so that laws of hospitality would not be broken. You did learn henceforth from him that slaughtering of seal pups was not the Nodeal family way, that the Agrippi family was more of the sort to do such things, but that's as far as you got. And that was not enough for any of you, so the furious Ahappi wielded his harpoon against Zridge!
As violence broke out, Iirkon turned into a foul cloud and slid out of the hut's floor, Zridge drew his saw-edged shortsword and brutish cudgel, taking a blow to the forehead that glanced off magical protection (but still made him blink!), Ciddar cautiously drew the Tear of St Tutrys, facing Miguel and Boamund, while Fraud began casting Curse Chaos. Yet Skrimton managed to cast his powerful Brown Vadeli magic of Create Choking Cloud, and the stinking brown fog enveloped you all, leaving you vomiting yourselves unconscious. You awoke unharmed in the hut, but everyone and thing had been cleared out. Recovering, and finding that Micaela and Baelulam were OK outside (but also had gone unconscious; and were none too happy about it), you seethed with anger and frustration. Boamund burned the hut down. Horchmel was gone, and you found that not too much time, less than an hour perhaps, had passed. Miguel tried finding tracks of your foes but found no clear trace in the swamp. So you returned to New Arv.
Lt Heloise met you outside the gates, asking for news- she was convinced enough that the Brown Vadeli were involved in the Ouori pup hide trade, but still hoped for physical evidence to show others. She remarked that like all Vadeli the Mortal Laws prohibited them from entering Malkioni ports, which meant that the unlawful/contrary nature of Vadeli compelled them to stay only in Malkioni ports-but somehow, sometimes Skrimton's family strayed further. She had not seen them nor Ciddar lately, but said if you kept your search judicious you could proceed. Ahappi learned at the harbour that Ciddar had been asking around, about a week ago, for ships to purchase perhaps by the year's end. Boamund and Fraud rushed to the Excelsi Inn to wash off the Vadeli stink that covered all of you but Miguel (and the two girls, which he surely Cleansed). Micaela was very upset about the experience, demanding safety soon, and Miguel listened, knowing that this was now a crisis situation-and he was very lucky that Micaela was not taken away by the Vadeli when you were incapacitated. Baelulam, on the other hand, told Fraud that it was rather exhilarating and she really didn't like those Vadeli! Some of you now had a new hatred for them, too.
That anger fuelled Ahappi to sit on the docks and drink heavily, soon joined for a tipple by Miguel. As night fell, the two hatched their plan: Miguel had spoken to Zefeddi about trying to find Ciddar if he came through town, and Zefeddi said the Friends would help but only if, since Brown Vadeli were involved, the Captain Gulos was embarrassed first in return; the town had become too serious of late and needed lightening up. So Miguel and Ahappi snuck close to the Captain's home in the barracks on the north side of town. As they neared, they found that a patrol of five guards had noticed their subterfuge and confronted them, while three door guards were becoming alert. Feigning drunken sickness while Miguel fast-talked, Ahappi let loose a Slumber spell that felled all eight guards. The two heroes snuck closer and Miguel went around the building trying to spot any more people inside, but snuck right under a window where a guard was watching, and who then spotted him in shock. The guard climbed out and held a sword out on Miguel, shouting for more guards and demanding information why Miguel was sneaking around the barracks; suspecting thievery or worse. He didn't buy drunken stories of someone else sneaking into a window. Ahappi took the opportunity to creep into the main door, release Darkness on the halls, and proceeded up the stairs toward Gulos's chambers, where the plan would at last succeed or fail…
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