As Safe as Safe Houses

We manage to subdue Fastar and her companion. Carrying their unconscious bodies as best we could we exit the room to find ourselves in some kind of sewer system. In an adjacent chamber we find all our possessions, and we all breathe a sigh of relieve.

The first exit from the underground tunnels alighted near the Ogre & Ogre, not exactly the best part of Travar. Before going very far we were spotted by a couple of city guards out on patrol, and they didn't buy our story that the two bodies were just drunk troublemakers. Not wanting to cause trouble ourselves, we let them take us for questioning.

We are questioned separately by Captain Skee of the guard, and each of our stories matches the truth. Jarl is silent. In spite of this we are locked in until the story can be verified and ambassador Varadi Farion contacted to vouch on our behalf.

In the middle of the night Jarl and I are awoken by approaching footsteps. Two guards are accompanying a robed figure, who Jarl later makes out to be a woman. They stop in front of the cell of Fastar and her companion, she recognises them, and to our horror they are set free. Jarl cannot take it any longer and makes a lot of noise and fuss. His efforts are rewarded by a sound beating by the guards, during which he continues to spite them. I heard the words "your mother" repeated often, but the sound of falling blows masked much of everything else.

The next day saw us being freed after the ambassador was finally contacted. It seems that the woman who came during the night claimed to have been the ambassador's own envoy, and had some sort of papers to prove it. It was very worrying that The Hand managed to track them down so quickly, but then again the watch house was the first place to look for missing persons...

We meet up with Varadi Farion and recount what we learned about the upcoming meeting at Black Rock Ridge. It was decided that we should go there to intercept / disrupt the meeting. As we are discussing this news reaches Farion that a safe most probably used by The Hand was discovered in Travar. Not wanting to take direct action, he turns to us. Of course we say, it's time to pay back for what we endured in the sewers.

The ambassador arranged for a diversion to draw away the attention of good- and ill-intentioned onlookers. We sneak inside the house. The ground floor is deserted. We climb up the stairs to check the other floor, while Ajisha scouts the roof and looks out for incoming trouble. I'd rather she'd been watching my back, as I was the last in line and suddenly feel a dagger embed itself in my back. Half in rage and half wondering why the cloaksense brooch failed me, I turned round to see Fastar grinning there. Mayhem ensued.

We outnumbered her, of course, but she used the doorways and passageways to her advantage. It takes us a while, but in the end we overpowered her, again. The bitch should have learned the lesson the first time round. She seems to be hanging on to life by a dwarf's beard hair, which I'd very gladly cut, but we restrain ourselves. This time we want to get some answers out of her.