Exploration

Huddled in the shadow of a grimy fish-oil shack, you peer across the muddy alley at the decrepit two-storey warehouse slumped against its fellows on the riverbank. You're a couple of miles from the bay but you can still smell salt on the breeze.

Father Anselm said this warehouse is where Bartoz has been secretly hoarding silphium, the wild herb desperately needed for treating the mysterious plague ravaging the city's poorest quarter. He's asked for your help.

Fahlasi is no stranger to Bartoz's cruelty. The man used to be a minor noble, oppressing the peasantry in the warrior woman's homeland. That was before she taught the simple folk to use farming implements as weapons so they could rise up and chase the tyrant out. As fate would have it, they both ended up here. She, as a mercenary, and he, as the leader of a rapidly growing smuggling operation. It seems all roads eventually lead to this city.

The east wall looks like it might be scalable. If you can get through or over the iron gate into the loading bay, a set of stairs leads to a door on the upper floor. One of Father Anselm's patients, a local urchin, says there's another way into the warehouse from the sewers. Judging by the smell, there's a manhole nearby.

Earlier, you watched some of Bartoz's men unload a wagon and leave. There doesn't seem to be any activity now—not even a guard posted outside—though it's a sure bet the place isn't empty and unprotected. You reckon there's about an hour of daylight left.

What do you do?

"Barthelme and I can handle this one, Fahlasi!" Alner says, his owl familiar perched on his shoulder. Alner whispers something to the owl, feeds it a tiny biscuit, and it takes to the air, flying over the wall. Alner's gaze goes blank as he looks through Barthelme's eyes.

When the owl crests over the wall, Alner will check to see if there are any windows in the building that face into the east courtyard. He'll ask Barthelme to do a fly-by and take a peak in any windows to see if there's anyone watching. Then he'll have the owl land at the back of the wagon and see if there is anything inside.

Fahlasi stands watch over Alner as his eyes go slack. she knows he can't see in both places, so it's up to her to watch for trouble on this side of the wall.

Elsewhere on the docks are abuzz with activity. Stevedores and sailors and merchants all finishing up the day's work and eager to carouse. But not on this street. Honest folk give this place a wide berth if they know what's good for them. Activity around here roils under the surface, like cockroaches under a floorboard, waiting for dark to fall. A cutpurse near the other end of the street sizes you up and decides there are easier pickings elsewhere and slips away.

Barthelme circles the warehouse, allowing Alner to survey the structure through the owl's eyes. Fahlasi has chosen your lookout post well; it's just outside line of sight of the north-facing windows on the upper floor.

There's no lock on the wrought iron courtyard gate, just a heavy bar that you might be able to reach from the outside. The wagon's empty. The horse is still bridled but unhitched from the traces. The chestnut-maned beast swats flies from its hocks as it drinks from a nearby trough.

Through skylights in the roof and large southward windows overlooking the water, you get a good peek inside the warehouse. The floor is stacked high with crates, barrels, and other containers. A wooden catwalk runs around the space and connects the office overlooking the street to the loading bay in the southeast corner. The bay doors have been left open, the large loading crane still burdened with a crate and poised over the boat moored to the wharf.

One smuggler that you can see has just come up from the basement and hoists bottles of booze in the air as his buddy cheers him on from the catwalk. Another man, slightly better dressed, pores over documents in the office. On the boat, a figure descends below deck.

What do you do?

Alner relays this information out loud as he sees it.

"Looks loose, I think we have a good chance. If we're going to make off with a decent supply, we'll need to load it in that wagon. How d'ya want to do this, Fahlasi?"

Fahlasi thinks for a bit.

"Here's the plan: we go through the front gate. I'll hitch the horse to the wagon and get it ready to load while you keep watch. Then we get that crane up to the loading bay doors, load the silphium, and drop down to the courtyard. We load the wagon and get out."

Alner cracks his knuckles. He hopes he gets a chance to pop a sleep spell on some of Bartoz's lugheads tonight!

"Hey, how do we know which crates' got the silphium?"

Fahlasi quietly unseats the bar of the gate and opens it. She makes her way to the horse.

"Look, I'm making this up as I go. We'll figure it out once we're inside," she whispers as she starts hitching the horse to the wagon. She sees Alner nod and switch to Barthelme's senses and gets to work as quick and quiet as she can.

It took two men to heave that beam into place. Then again, Fahlasi has bested many men in contests of strength before. Still, lifting this beam is no trivial task.

As Fahlasi rolls up her sleeves and spits on her hands, ready to lift the beam, Alner pipes up.

"There's gotta be an easier way!" he whispers as he switches to Barthelme's eyes to scan the area around the gate for some kind of bar to lever the beam out.

There's a block and tackle lying atop a stack of rope in the corner. Fahlasi might manage the lift without the apparatus, but it certainly couldn't hurt! While Alner conjures a spectral, disembodied hand to fetch the gear, Fahlasi tests the bar out of curiosity... and she does it! She hardly even breaks a sweat! With a grin she pushes the gate open.

The two of you slip into the courtyard and prepare the wagon as planned. The workhorse nuzzles Fahlasi's hand and doesn't make a fuss. Your getaway wagon is ready to go.

A seagull screeches from its perch atop the crane. Apart from that, all is still. What now?

Alner takes refuge behind some barrels while stuffing the block and tackle into his back pack. Then he returns to Barthelme's eyes in the skies and watches the warehouse for a clear moment to move forward.

Once Alner says the coast is clear, Fahlasi will move quickly to the crane and move the platform into the bay (or in front, however she can get it to work). Then she will lead the way up the stairs to the loading bay.

It's a tricky thing, as the two men on the catwalk settle down with their booze and their dice in the southwest corner, from where they have line of sight to the loading bay.

Judging that the men are too intent on their merrymaking, Alner decides to chance it, and gives Fahlasi the signal. The warrior woman unlocks the hand-crank and works the crane mechanism, causing the arm to swing slowly into the loading bay. It seems to take forever, and you're convinced the mechanism's clickety-clacking and ratcheting is loud enough to wake the dead, but it's probably just your nerves; none of Bartoz's men are the wiser as Fahlasi gingerly lowers the crate onto the floor.

The two of you skitter up the stairs and out of sight just as the man on the boat pokes his head out. The man half-heartedly scans the courtyard before returning below, from where the sounds of an off-key fiddle float up, followed by tittering laughter.

The door to the loading bay's unlocked. You crack it open and peer inside. You find all sorts of cargo, some covered with burlap. There's a trolley parked against the south wall. The dingy interior makes Alner want to sneeze. There's plenty more stuff on the ground floor, 15 feet below.

Silphium requires special handling; it must be kept dry. Which means you're looking for specially-made barrels sealed against moisture. You'll recognize them when you see them. They're not up here in the loading bay.

What do you do?

Fahlasi motions to Alner to sneak down to the basement. That crane that overlooks the main floor sure looks useful but Bartoz's men are having a party right beside it. Curses!

Well, first things first: locate the waterproof barrels. She leads down to the main floor and starts searching quietly.

Alner follows Fahlasi. He keeps his wand at the ready to cast sleep on the agents. He also armors up, casting mage armor on himself. But, he holds to the shadows and crevices as his first line of defense, hoping to avoid a scuffle.

As you descend the stairs to the main floor, Fahlasi's chain armor catches on a box of metal ball bearings, sending the box toppling from atop a bench. You catch the box, but the bearings spill across the floor. You duck for cover but the two drunkards are arguing loudly about their dice game and don't even notice. You'll have to pick your way carefully through those bearings if you don't want to slip and break your neck! (new terrain feature added)

As Barthelme watches from the rafters near the skylights, you search the floor but don't find any silphium. Could it be on the boat? Or down in the basement?

What do you do?

Alner quietly laughs at Fahlasi after they recover from her mishap. He's having a great time with this cloak and dagger stuff. After failing to find the silphium, he motions to the basement to check next.