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

Winking back, Konrad sloughs the ink into the vase, and turns to push the other door open and enter. "Just waiting for your invitation."

Mihai tilts his head at her, not believing that for a second. But he takes the everloving slippers, and puts them on.

Amber grins and then follows the two mages inside the next room.

The adventurers find themselves into a luxurious living room illuminated by magical lights; the floor is made of hardwood, the walls are covered with elegant wallpapers and the furniture has been handcrafted by expert carpenters. The multiple doors on the western and eastern walls of the room are all closed, except for one which appears to lead into a bathroom. Curtained windows cover the northern wall, preventing anyone from looking into the Szef's quarters. There are three couches and two armchairs at the center of the living room that surround a small table on which stands a few plates of food.

Nadzieja Zerva is sitting on one of the armchairs, freshly bathed judging by her wet hair and fresh clothes; a white tunic and gray trousers. She doesn't wear any slippers.

"Hello," she says in Imperial. "Please, sit down."

Steve walks over and throws himself down on the couch. He looks pleased. "How did the meeting go?"

Konrad reclines on a couch. "Coming down after throwing down, if I'm any judge."

The carbuncle approaches the monk and slowly climbs up on her chair before sitting in her lap. She doesn't seem to mind it in the least and she even pets the small animal, who voices his approval by purring loudly. Amber and Fluffle sit down next to Steve and they both gaze at the desserts with obvious interest. Nadzieja smiles and tells them, "I've had them prepared for you. Come on, dig in."

The two teenagers say, "Thank you," and start with a blueberry jam cake.

The Szef returns her attention on the other adventurers and answers their question with a sigh. "It lasted longer than I anticipated. Just when we were ready to adjourn for the day, Administrator Zawistowski requested an audience and told us that you've found the culprit behind the recent disappearances and that he was unaffiliated with the werewolf."

She grins and serves herself a glass of wine. There are other glasses if the adventurers wish to drink too.

The black mage thinks it over and decides to take a cup. He sips it. "Thanks for the wine. It's been a long day."

"Yes, it has."

She leans back in her armchair, obviously tired.

"Oh, that sounds even worse. Good thing we're in town and being badass in general." Konrad takes a plate and leans back, getting openly comfortable as he takes a bite.

Mihai sits down - "The High Chief of the Defenders is a Green Mage. And he was live this afternoon, when he got to Goodman's Manor."

"Don't eat everything," Nadzieja says to Konrad. "I haven't had dinner yet."

She leans forward to take a chicken sandwich and freezes mid-movement when Mihai tells her about the High Chief.

"...A green mage?" she repeats. "Are you sure?"

Fluffle and Amber stop chewing on their own food and focus on the conversation at hand instead.

"So said Konrad. He's the one that usually picks up on these things."

Konrad sighs. "It isn't difficult to notice, but yes, so say I. I sincerely hope that bit of news doesn't spoil your appetite. As for details on Goodman's experiments, the Administrator may fill you and the others in on the footnotes tomorrow. We don't know much beyond what we saw."

"We know enough about what that madman was doing," Nadzieja says. She then stands up and walks to a table. "The Elementals have infiltrated the highest levels of the government. And so did the Imperial agents apparently."

She opens a drawer and brings back the letter Konrad forged. She gives it back to him and tells the adventurers, "I've examined it to the correspondence I keep with the other Szefowie. This is Wanda Makara's handwriting."

Mihai narrows his eyes - "No other reason she'd want to meet us."

"Does that mean our meeting with her is a trap then?"

Konrad says nothing. He just looks at the letter sternly, before folding it up and stashing it in his secret pocket.

"Hmm..." - he thinks - "Doubt it, if she wants to meet right here. Most likely, she wants to know what's going on. No harm keeping our eyes open, though - i didn't see the last one coming either."

"She couldn't kill us here anyway," Amber says. "Right?"

"Correct," Nadzieja replies. "Three of you are now considered heroes. If you were to disappear, people would start asking questions."

"Would we need to disappear? They are holding our friends hostage. They could honestly make any demands they wanted at this point."

"We don't know what she knows about us right now. We start demanding things right off the bat, she'll know something is wrong." - then looks at Nadzieja - "If she wants our help for whatever reason, you know what it'll be for."

"Yes," the monk says before taking another sip of wine. "She might want to stop the Elementals from seizing power, but I wouldn't trust her as the First either."

"If we lay all our cards on the table, she'll either be our enemy or try to bribe us with her help tracking down Edward. And we need her help. Question is, will she be able to work under you if you're First."

btw, Konrad is now sitting up straight.

"So, we'll put on a ruse and let her make the first move? It's not a solid advantage, but it's all we've got, isn't it?"