Chapter 2: The First Seal

Painfully aware of the man's threatening — nay harmful! — intentions, Laurent swallowed hard. There were any number of protective runes he could call forth, but he was woefully unprepared in the field of forced persuasion. As he pondered his options for a few moments, beads of perspiration forming on his brow as he looked at the door standing slightly ajar. "Yes, well... coming as soon as I get my papers in order..." he answered in an equivocal tone.

That is when — surprising him as much as she must have surprised the two men behind the door —, Tilma burst out of the alley and began trying to push him away from the door, her strong hands tightening on the young man's shoulder. Shocked and confused, Laurent wasn't sure if he should attempt to pursue his ruse. At first he tried to follow up on his plan.

"Unhand me, woman! Are you mad? How can I be your kin, you are an elf! The labor of the Eye-bab Waaaah!", he cried out, as the elf warrior's iron grip tightened. "...it mustn't be tampered with," he added, in an incoherent groan.

As he exclaimed loudly, he looked at the elf with confusion plain in his expression. "What's happening?", he whispered, in a hissing voice, just as the front door banged shut, his eyes locked on Tilma's, "change of plans? I can still get them to open..."

Turning to the door, he added loudly again "Gentlemen! I don't want to have to come back here with the guard to enforce the Bureau's writ!". Following his veiled bureaucratic threat, he made a series of complex, swift hand motions and spoke words of power under his breath, as in a lengthy, forced exhale.

"Calm down." Tilma says as she literally shuts his mouth with her hand. "There's at least 4 of them in there and the mean business. There was a corpse below. And one of them, probably the leader, looked quite strong. I personally don't want to risk my hide for something or someone I don't know. We can simply come back later, when they're gone. Or if you want to play good Samaritan we can call the guards. But that would complicate our investigation as well. What do you want to do?" she releases her hand from his mouth, slowly.
"I hope Berry is all right..." she mutters and looks at approximately where he should be. Wondering if she should go and warn him.

Berry waits a few moments for Tilma to burst to door open and start taking names, but it doesn't happen. Slowly, quietly, he closes the skylight, leaving it unlocked. Perhaps we can come back later.

Calming down and breaking free from Tilma’s grapple, the young scholar turned to face her. "A corpse?", he murmured, dumbfounded. He looked at the door, now hoping they would not come out to investigate. He looked quickly at the windows as well, trying to see if they were being observed by the occupants of the warehouse. He pulled out a short copper wire that he entwined around his right index finger, before pointing it to the roof while murmuring a few words. In the gnome’s ears, Laurent’s voice whispered softly. "Timbers, are you well? Folks inside mean business, see anything up there?"

The black-cloaks get those deadbolts locked tight.

Amid the arguing, Laurent gathers information about the situation with his keen senses. You can tell the men inside are retreating away from the door from their boots - these are hard soldier's boots, not the soft-soled boots of thieves. But, you also hear faint sounds right behind the door: a blade being drawn, then repeated whispers. You surmise that one man is staying behind to deter pursuit and buy the others time to escape, either out the back or through some other route. It's unlikely he can see you, but he can hear your conversation.

Berry remains unseen from the rooftop. He closes the window and watches as on of the men darts down the hall to the stairs and zips down, out of sight. The other stays by the door. With a blade drawn, he is counting on his fingers with his other hand, counting out loud the seconds as they pass. Probably meant to discourage pursuit or buy the others time while they retreat.

"There were couple behind the door," Berry whispers, "And a corpse. They didn't want you inside. We should come back."

Breaking from Tilma's vigorous, protective embrace, the young man seemed to have taken back a measure of control. Eyeing her strong hands warily, he whispered to the elf "He sees them falling back, from up there. I wonder if they're taking the corpse with them, or just leaving it there. I also wonder if they're fleeing through the back alley, or... you know, down the VGEC. They could be coming around right now! They also sounded nothing like the ruffians from the stories I hear: hard boots made for marching, seemed coordinated, orderly. No drunken thugs, this lot. What should we do?"

Even before she can answer, he uses the same copper wire a second time, whispering a new message to their roof-wandering ally. "Wait a second, before we all fall back. Are they taking the body? Can you still see them?"

Berry continues to peer through the glass to see their movements.

Berry sees the body has been left behind.

After counting to sixty, the man who stayed behind makes a run for it, following after the others. He gives the body and pool of blood a wide berth. You haven't seen any sign of the others. Berry visually sees this, while Laurent notes the heavy, receding footfalls through the door.

Hearing the heavy footfalls, Laurent points again towards the position he imagines Berry is, and whispers again "Sounds like the one at the door has moved away. Can you see him?", and then, turning to Tilma, he added in a slightly louder voice, "I might have a way to open the door from outside..."

"Let me see if I can make this work," the young magus said, dusting his robes before stepping cautiously towards the bolted door. As he took those soft, cautious steps, he intoned a strangely dissonant verse under his breath, the only recognisable part of it being a chanting reference to 'Niveral, lock-keeper of the Unknown'. After a few brief moments, he closed his eyes in concentration while gesturing swiftly with his right-hand and speaking words of power. He set that same right hand on the door delicately without pushing and began to breath in a measured pace, as perspiration began to form on his brow.

After a few moments, he exhaled deeply, frustration readily apparent. "I thought I could do this... I was wrong."

Disappointed but not entirely discouraged, Laurent pointed towards the roof, dispatching yet another message. "Can't get the door open from here. Should we try to enter now? Through the back alley? Roof?".

As he whispered these things, he looked at Tilma, the question obviously being directed at both partners in not-as-of-yet-crime.

"How about we try to join up with Berry. Being unable to hear him is weird." and with that she heads off to where her gnome friend is.

Tilma leads the way up to the roof by way of the orphanage. In a similar experience to Berry with children of various sizes jetting about and generally causing chaos. The level of supervision on these kids is terrible!

You drop down onto the roof, where you find Berry. He's seen no sign of anyone coming or going from either the back or the front. Its possible there is an underground exit tunnel, which when you think about it might be a desirable feature for a warehouse to load in or ship out clandestine goods.

Laurent had never scrambled on the rooftop of some warehouse; he would be far more thrilled if it weren't for the gnawing sensation that there was still much danger below.

"Should we try to enter the building immediately? Do you think they realized you were observing from here?, Laurent asked Berry, still in hushed tones. His gaze moved from one top the other of his new companions. "You're the adventurers. You know best..."

"Adventurers?" questions Berry, as if hearing the word for the first then looking at Tilma with a smile, "We are adventurers, aren't we?"