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

"Sure Mihai, I'll keep her company." He leaves the kitchen to do just that.

"Sure."

Konrad goes into the basement to find the control station and deactivate the fence. Once it is done, he joins Mihai outside the manor to meet with the Defenders—half of them are patrolmen armed with crossbows, swords and axes, while the other half consist of mages and investigators. They have already unlocked the gate and are now marching through the garden toward the building. Leading them are Anastazja Zawistowski, the Administrator of Odwaz, and a man who Konrad and Mihai do not recognize.

Around the same age as Zawistowski, he wears a white tunic under a burgundy overcoat, clean gray trousers and a pair of leather boots. He walks with a swift and formal gait, and his sunken but fierce eyes give the impression of a hardworking bureaucrat. He approaches the mercenaries and stops two feet away from them, right outside the manor's main entrance. His subordinates come to a sudden halt and wait for their orders.

"I am Kosma Pokorski, High Chief of the Defenders," the man states in fluent Imperial. "Is the situation under control?"

He glances at window through which he can see Amber, but then refocuses his attention on the two adventurers. The Administrator greets them with a nod and waits for their answer.

"Mihai Lowick."

"Got some survivors in the lounge, a witness in the dining room. Some of the hostiles we were able to spare, seems wearing Woven Shackles may disrupt their brainwashing. Hope you brought some of your own, we didn't have enough for all of them. And we'll be needing ours back before this is over."

"In a word, yes. The building is secure."

Spellcraft 14
detect magic

"I see. We'll make sure the handcuffs are returned to you." He looks over his shoulder and signals to his men to enter the manor. He then looks at the window again. "I assume this young woman I see is Amber Windscarf. What about Steve Oldturn? Is he here?"

The Defenders enter the manor, one by one.

Konrad:

"Yes, he's here."

Konrad holds up the keys. "The areas of interest are on the basement level. These keys unlock the doors down there. The door in the wine cellar leads to a hallway, and the first room to the left in that hallway is the control room for everything on that level."

"Three of the survivors should be cooperative. The fourth we didn't have any Woven Shackles for, so i don't know what condition he'll be in. May have a hard time subduing him if he's regained consciousness. Also, strong Raw Magic emanating from behind one of the doors. Generator down there."

Konrad and Mihai

Pokorski takes the keys from Konrad and says, "Thank you. This will be useful."

He then immediately gives it to his aide and then faces Mihai again. "Raw magic?" he repeats. "This is worrying. Tobiasz, I want all access to this area restricted."

"Yes sir," his aide replies before following his colleagues inside.

"We'll also need a statement from the four of you, so how about we—"

"High Chief Pokorski, if I may?" Zawistowski interjects. "These brave mercenaries have done this city a great service by eliminating Tristan Goodman; if not for their swift response, he might have gotten away with his crimes. But it's obvious that this battle has exhausted them, so how about we let them rest and an investigator will take their statement at a more appropriate time?"

The high ranking policeman stares at the administrator and clenches his teeth. A few seconds pass before he faces the adventurers again and says, "Yes, you seem to have gone through quite an ordeal. I will send one of my aides to meet you at your ship tomorrow morning. Is this acceptable?"
____________

Steve

Two patrolmen and an investigator enter the dining room and set their eyes on Lucyna.

"Mr. Oldturn," the investigator says. "We are here to relieve you. I believe that High Chief Pokorski wishes to speak with you; he's right outside the building."

He gestures toward the main entrance. Meanwhile, one of the patrolmen speaks to Lucyna and reassures her that they're only going to ask her a few questions.

"It is." - he replies - "Now if you don't mind, i'll be tending to the rest of my team."

"Of course, I'll go there right away." He leaves the dining room to get Amber and walk out to the others together.

Konrad begins to sweat beneath his coat when he realizes who, or what, he's speaking to.

"We appreciate the concern, and I will gladly accommodate for the brave men and women who keep our streets safe."

"Very well then," Pokorski says. He slightly bows to the adventurers and follows his subordinates inside the manor. A moment later, Steve, Amber and Florolf step outside and join their companions.

"Uh, there's no Defender here," Amber remarks.

"Yes," Zawistowski says with a smile. "You won't have to speak to them until tomorrow morning."

"That's fine with me. I'm beat." His stomach growls. Loudly. "And hungry." Steve adds sheepishly.

"Thank you." - he says to the Admin - "The survivors down in the basement need help, though. Those Runes will have to come off, and i'm guessing it won't be easy."

Florolf yelps at Steve's implicit mention of food, agreeing that they should go eat something.

"This is worse than I thought," Anastazja says. "I'll assign our best weavers and white mages to them; hopefully, they'll manage to remove the runes without hurting the victims."

Steve bends over and rubs Florolf's head and neck. "Don't worry, I'll make sure we stop after we are done talking."

"Just need the shackles back and we're outta here."

Florolf closes his eyes when Steve pets him, happy to get some attention after this dangerous battle.

Anastazja answers Konrad's question first. "Right now, if you wish," she says in Imperial.

She then faces Mihai and says, "You can wait for them if you want to, but I wouldn't be surprised if they held onto your shackles for as long as they can; the High Chief wasn't very happy when he learned that I stepped onto his jurisdiction."

"Under different circumstances i'd have loved to have been a fly on that wall, Madam Administrator."

Her lips curl into a lopsided smile. "It was an interesting meeting."