Act 2: Upheaval III - The Master Weaver and the Arena

"Me too." says Steve to Fluffle, before heading into the lobby of City Hall to try to see Administrator Zawistowski. He'll try to head straight to her office.

Konrad stops just short of throwing a punch at her. He drops his hand.

"Wait to be tied up and there won't be any more trouble," he explains, in his usual florid manner. "Got it?"

Mihai and Konrad

The woman tries to struggle free, but she has no chance while Mihai is grabbing her. "Plea—please, just take the money! I just work here!"

Tears are now rolling down her face.
_____________

Steve

Steve climbs the stairs until he reaches the third floor where the Administrator's office is located. Just like before, he passes by a first set of doors that leads into a small waiting area where some people are already waiting. Behind the only desk sits Zawistowski's secretary, the same one he and the rest of the party met yesterday.

"Hello," she says to Steve in Imperial with a flash of recognition in her eyes. "How can I help you?"

Mihai fights to keep is annoyance off his voice.

"Not taking any money, not hurting anyone, just need you to sit quiet for a while till the authorities come in. Then you can go about your business."

Konrad shakes his head. "We're not here for your money. You can agree to be tied up and wait for the lawmen to detain you, our I can knock you cold and you will wait for them regardless. Now, will you comply?"

Deception 30
If she looks like she's pretending to comply, I'm going to knock her out.

"Hello again." says a smiling Steve to the secretary in Imperial, "Is the Administrator in? We must see her. It's an emergency, but in a good way."

Konrad and Mihai

Although she's still frightened, the servant has somewhat calmed down. She's still crying and trembling in fear, but she has now stopped yelling. "...You're Defenders?" she asks.
____________

Steve

The secretary considers the black mage's request for a moment and then finally stands up from her chair. "She's in a meeting right now," she informs Steve, "but I'll tell her you're here and see if she can receive you."

She then walks around her desk and steps into her boss' office before closing the door behind. A minute later, a man dressed in a stylish outfit comes out of the office with the secretary in tow. "Miss Zawistowski will receive you," she tells the adventurer.

"What?" a man protests in Wytrwaly. Judging by his scowl, he's been waiting for a long time. "Since when do foreigners like him get in first!?"

"Sit back down Gendry and wait your turn!" the Administrator yells from inside her office. "Or I'll burn your precious permit myself!"

The man clenches his teeth and closes his fist, but chooses to sit back down and grumble under his breath instead of yelling back at the Administrator—and in the process, incurring her fiery wrath.

"Close enough. Like i said, we're working with the Administrator's office. Once she learns of our situation, she can send whoever she wants and we'll be out of your hair. You'll be fine."

Konrad nods. "We're going to secure this building and wait for reinforcements. Until then, we can't trust you to wander around freely."

Steve wastes no time walking into the office. He feels a little bad for line jumping but it really is an emergency. He shuts the door behind him and tips his hat in greeting before saying, "Ma'am, I have good news. We managed to track down the source of the kidnappings and raided the Goodman Estate. Here's what happened and why..." Steve explains the events of the day in concise, no-nonsense detail, answering any questions the Administrator has in the same manner. "...and so, with the prisoners freed and their former jailers now in prison, we really need more orders and what support you can give."

After the explanation, Steve feels his fatigue for the first time. He'd been casting magic all day in almost back to back battles. He was ready for food and a nap but sighs when he realizes that's unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Mihai and Konrad

The servant sniffles and stares anxiously at Konrad—since Mihai is holding her from behind—but says nothing in response. Konrad observes her and concludes that it's unlikely that she'll try to run away again.
____________

Steve

Anastazja Zawistowski listens attentively to Steve's report and she interrupts him only twice to clarify a few details about the battle—such as the runes woven directly into the skin of the kidnapped citizens. Once he's stopped talking, she leans back in her chair and begins massaging her temple. "This is worse than I expected," she says in a low voice. "...Did he have any notes about his research?"

"I think there were, yes. I didn't have time to check yet."

"Hmm." She joins her hands together and takes a moment to think. "...I will relate to the Szefowie what you told me and send the Defenders to the estate. Before they arrive however, I'd like you to gather Tristan Goodman's research notes and deliver them to me."

"And what are you going to do with them?"

"Probably get rid of them," she answers frankly. "What I really want to avoid is for the Defenders—and the Noze—to get their hands on that kind of knowledge."

"There's a good girl." Konrad points to the doors. "Where do those lead?"

"I definitely agree with that. I'll get moving then. Anything else before I go?"

Konrad and Mihai

The woman avoids Konrad's gaze and stays silent, refusing to respond to him after this derogatory comment.
____________

Steve

"Nothing I can think of at the moment." She sighs and stands up from her chair. "You should have a little more over an hour before the Defenders show up. Please hurry."

She walks around her desk but suddenly stops in front of Steve.

"Oh, and Mr. Oldturn? This was a job really well done. Thank you."

"Konrad, go see if there was an Orb back there. We totally forgot about that."

"Oh, you're welcome." Steve smiles at the compliment, but says, "We probably shouldn't start patting each other on the back just yet until the stink bombs have well and truly gone off. A bit of pranking wisdom you see. Anyway, I'll get moving. Good luck to you." He tips his hat, opens the door, says goodbye to the secretary, and makes his way out of City Hall with all haste to track down a carriage back to the Goodman Estate.

"Crap, I totally spaced out on that too." Konrad exits through the hallway south.

"We're good for now," he tells Amber.

He speaks to the survivors in Myrzen. "Stay with the girl and her lovely canine assistant, but defer to the other fluent Myrzen speaker in yonder room," he gestures with his thumb towards Mihai in the kitchen behind him. "I'm going back down to check something really quick."

He heads downstairs towards the body of the master of the house.

Mihai waits till Konrad is gone before addressing the woman. - "I apologize for that. I know this situation is terrible for you and you can hardly understand what's going on besides a heavily armed man just barging into your kitchen and grabbing you. There's not much more i can tell you right now, but i'm sure once the authorities get here and i can explain things properly, you'll understand why we're on edge. For now, i just want my party to get through the next hour or so without any more trouble with the house staff. So, it'd help a lot to know who else we'll be running into."

Diplomacy 29

Mihai

"It's just me!" the woman replies loudly, clearly disinterested in what Mihai has to say. "I'm the only one who works here. So get your hands off me!"
____________


Konrad

"Okay, we'll stay here for now," Amber tells Konrad.

The ex-captives are a little agitated by what just happened, but since the party seems to have things under control, they continue to follow the instructions they're being given.

When the red mage arrives in the lab, he finds Goodman's corpse where they've left it; in two different places. The ice that Waterglass left on the neck has melted by now and a pool of blood has started to form under the body. Konrad approaches the head and extends his hand above it in an attempt to extract an orb—just like Fedler did back at the Asylum—but nothing comes out.

"Looks like he was empty-headed after all."

Konrad looks around, sighs, and heads back upstairs toward the kitchen.

Mihai unhands the woman - "Just please stay within my sight for now, that's all i ask."

Still making sure to have an eye on the woman at all times, he goes back to the island, picks up Waterglass and sheathes it.