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

Steve stretches out his arm. Good as new. "I'll give you a hand dragging them ot the cages," he says to Konrad. He waits patiently for Konrad to finish shackling them and for Mihai and Amber to start opening the cages.

"Here." - Mihai lends Konrad his.

Konrad cuffs the last one. "That's the idea. Fluffle, when you're finished, please come and make sure these unconscious mindslaves are stable before they expire in their new cells."

"Oh, will do," the fairy replies. He continues to heal Mihai while Amber uses the key to unlock the shackles. Now free to move, the woman sits on the gurney and covers herself with the coat, tears streaming down her face. Amber tries to comfort her with a hug, and it does calm her down a little, but it's clear that she'll have to leave this place before her mental state improves.

Fluffle is visibly tired by the constant healing he's had to do, but he ignores his fatigue and now uses his magic to stabilize the experimental subjects' condition. Once he's done, the party members carry them into the unused cells and then free the other three prisoners. Now that they're able to talk, they thank the adventurers for saving them from this mad weaver, and for giving him what he deserved. The oldest man of the group then asks in Imperial, "Wait, you're not Myrzen... Where are the Defenders?"

Amber has stayed to the woman's side, and from time to time, she glances at all of the research notes and weaving books that are cluttering the long table.

"Long story. We're working for the Administrator."

"Calm," Konrad answers gently. "What matters is that it is over, and we'll do our part in making sure it never repeats. Did he speak to anyone? Did he ever say what all this was for?"

"No," the same man replies before spitting on the ground. "This dupek never spoke a word to us. He barely said anything to the people who kidnapped us. And then, he did... this."

He points at the unconscious warriors in the cells. The two other men look away from them with pained expressions on their faces.

"Steve, why don't you and Fluffle get word to the Admin. We'll move the people to upper floor till this place is secured."

Steve looks like he might protest but his brain catches up with his mouth in time and he says instead, "...All right. We'll take care of it. Right Fluffle?"

"Yes, I saw," Konrad replies in their first language. "Nasty form of weaving that most don't practice for good reason. Listen, we have to clear the rest of the property. We'd like to make sure nothing happens to you, so could you follow us for now? We'll look for proper clothes for the lady."

The fairy lands on Steve's shoulder and tells Mihai, "Of course! You can count on us."

The oldest of the prisoners listens attentively to Konrad and then nods at him. "Whatever you think is best," he says. The other two men agree, and Amber signals to her companions that she'll make sure to stay with the woman at all times.

Mihai nods at The Fluff, then at his sister.

"All right then. We should be back in an hour and a half. Two tops. Good luck."

"Wait."

Konrad pulls out his cloak and hands it over to Steve. "Cover up with this lest anyone notice that you've been in a scuffle."

Steve looks down at his ruined, bloodstained shirt and vest. "Oh right, good idea. I probably wouldn't have had much luck hailing a carriage looking like this." He accepts the offered cloak and puts it on. "How do I look?"

"I think we'll manage not to draw attention," Fluffle says.

"Yeah," Steve agrees. "And we are really off this time." He tips his hat to everyone and leaves with Fluffle to find a carriage to City Hall.

Mihai hands him Goodman's Rune Key - "Guessing this one will do it. Just do it from a distance though, to be safe."

Konrad takes the key. "That's fair. I probably should have led with that."

He moves to the body and checks for magic.

Spellcraft 22
Search for magic on Goodman

Amber keeps company to the woman, who now has managed to compose herself by ignoring everything in the room except for the young teenager. Florolf stays by their side, determined to protect them despite his recent beating.

The other three men wait patiently for the party members to be finished with this room, but the glances they give to the unconscious experimental subjects make it evident that they're quite eager to leave.

Konrad studies Goodman's corpse, and although the emanations of raw magic radiating from the other room disturb his magical inspection, he's pretty sure there are no other traces of magic coming from either the head or the body.
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Fluffle hides in Steve's front pocket and they leave the wine cellar and step outside into the afternoon sunlight.

"There's nothing else of use on him. Everyone, follow us closely."

When they get back into the hallway, Konrad holds his hand out expectantly for the keys, a few feet to the side of the door to the right of the way they came from, currently on their left.

He will try to match a key to the door and use his cantrip to unlock it from a distance.

The three men do as told and silently follow the adventurers' lead. Amber gently nudges the woman forward and they stay at the rear of the line with Sunny and Florolf.

Konrad uses the key Mihai gave him and unlocks the door without a hitch.