15 Vester Dunlan's Estate

A carefully laid cobblestone path led up towards a large double oak door. Two smaller paths broke off the main walkway. These two paths weaved around the sides of the estate. Choosing not to attempt to open the front door Rothox instead navigated along the western edge of the large estate, checking windows as he did. Nothing was unlocked, everything was shut tight. The path led towards a lower patio door. He went to check the door but stopped. Noticing a thin wire attached to the side of the door that trailed off into the room. He could probably untrap the door but that would take time and there still is the possibility of whatever that string activated going off. There was, however, a balcony with second-floor access. Nimbly he climbed up to the balcony and checked the door. Locked, but there was a place for him to pick it. He removed his lockpicks from his pocket and began to gently work them inside the lock. With a slight click, he had it. The handle turned and he pulled the door open.

Alissa and Erigos waited patiently in the shadows as their friend scampered up the balcony. After a few minutes, they started to worry.

"Where is he?" Alissa asked.

"He'll be back soon." As Erigos finished speaking the window in front of them opened and Rothox's hand waved them over. Erigos helped Alissa into the window before pulling himself up afterward. They stood in a small dark reading room.

"What was wrong with the door?" Erigos asked.

"It's trapped, figured best to leave it that way just in case. I haven't seen anyone inside, so the only guards are the two on the street."

"What took you so long?" asked Erigos

"I'll show you." Rothox led them out of the room up the nearby stairs and back around to the room he had first entered. It was a large elegant bedroom. Large enough with a seating area and a small desk in the room. A giant armoire was open. "In here." He entered the armoire with the other two right behind him. At the back of the closet, he pulled a hidden lever revealing a false wall.

"How did you know that was there?" Erigos asked.

"I didn't, the door to the armoire was already open and so was the false wall."

Erigos examined the now open false wall, the lever that Rothox had grabbed was slightly visible now. "What's in the room?"

"You'll see." Rothox motioned for them to enter the hidden room.

The room was dark but being an elf Erigos could see in the darkness. Alissa couldn't see in the dark so she spoke a few words and the room lit up from a couple of glowing orbs she summoned. The light showcased the two dead bodies on the floor.

"Oh…" She gasped.

"Exactly. I'm guessing one of these is Vester Dunlan," Rothox said.

"I thought the Sultan said he was out of town?" Erigos walked around the two bodies inspecting them. The one Rothox thought was Vester was the well-dressed man with many rings on his fingers and large claw marks on his back. The second body was similar to the vampires they fought. Erigos repeated his inspection of the vampire as he had in the sewer, peeling the lip back to reveal the fangs with the tip of his dagger.

"Vampire?" Alissa asked.

"Afraid so. It seems Vester might not have been in league with the vampires either. By the looks of it, he killed this one and either died to his wounds or there were more." Erigos inspected the body of Vester. He didn't smell, yet, so this was recent. He still had his jewelry and the lack of the ransacking in the other rooms gave evidence that the vampires weren't after money. He noticed something, as he turned the body over to inspect his front side.

"Strange," he said.

"What is?" Rothox stopped inspecting the simple study with ledgers and books pertaining to Dunlan's business ventures and looked back at Erigos.

"This here." He pointed to a bite mark on the chest of Vester. Half a crest was torn away with the fabric that had been ripped off.

"What about it? It's a bite mark."

"The symbol matches the fabric we found in the tunnels, doesn't it?"

Rothox knelt beside him, "Hard to tell. If it is a match that means our new boss isn't being totally forthright with us."

"Let's explore the rest of the house first, see if the shipment is here."

For the next hour, the three sect members investigated the estate. They found ledgers of raw metal shipments. Dunlan was a mine owner. They also discovered a few encrypted messages with the initial TS on the bottom. The same initial that Rothox had seen on the slip from the slavers. A name came to mind, 'The Sultan'. It seemed that he was involved in many things. They continued to search the home but there was no sign of a shipment meant for The Sultan. Alissa found a message that mentioned a certain artifact and the finding of this artifact in the mines of Culku. Most of the material was in that secret room. Even though the house was large, it appeared Dunlan kept his work hidden. There were a few trinkets and bubbles in the house that the Sect took for themselves. Dunlan wouldn't be needing them anymore. The search took over an hour as they moved together room to room until they were back at the first room.

Garrok sat and waited for an hour wondering if his companions were okay and when they would be back. He didn't mind being alone in the dark but he still felt a sense of protection towards his new companions. After a few more minutes he saw a magical light flash from behind the guards, the signal. He grabbed a few pebbles off the street and tossed them to the right of the guards. They clattered across the stone. Both guards turned at the sound, long enough to see drunk Garrok return.

"This fucking guy." The guard said to his partner.

"Gentleman, *hiccup* gentleman. I juss wanted tou commend you *hiccup* on your great work." Garrok's imitation of a drunk speak.

"Oh do you now, don't remember what you said to us an hour ago?" The guard said.

Garrok looked surprised, "I was ere, an hour *hiccup* ago?"

"This guy has no idea what's going, let's just ignore him, he'll go away."

"Fine, but if he comes near me I'm hitting him."

Garrok stood there wavering slightly before stumbling in the direction of his friends. Once again out of view of the guards he dropped the act. He felt a little gross, acting that way. He wasn't a fan of drinking in the first place. He preferred to keep his mind clear. He heard chuckling from the darkness in front of him.

"Found that funny? If it wasn't for me you might have been caught." He was a little annoyed.

"Oh come on Garrok, you did a great job. It made us laugh," Rothox said,

"Whatever. Did you find anything?"

"Probably best to talk back at Trixia's. There may be people watching us out here," Erigos said.

The group spread out all the papers and information they found on the bed. They kept the few trinkets they had taken for themselves a secret as to not anger Garrok since he was against the break-in in the first place. They also informed him of the bodies and that they expected the one to be Vester Dunlan.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him," said Garrok angrily.

"He is a powerful underground figure and he survives by not telling people everything," said Rothox.

"Either way I don't trust him. I'm going to confront him about this tomorrow. Get some straight answers."

"We won't stop you, just be careful, we don't really know who we are dealing with." Erigos gave him a stern look.

"I'm giving you the option to not be there if you want to keep your relationship intact. This could ruin it," Garrok said.

"Where you go, we go, that's what it means to be a team." Erigos reached up to pat him on the shoulder but thought better of it."

"We should get some sleep." Garrok had enough of today.

They went to their separate rooms, their beds welcoming them, taking them to their various dreams and nightmares.

Rothox chose to stay awake and climbed onto the roof of the home. He looked out over the dark city, admiring the size of it. From here he could see the tiered rings of the city and with the moonlight make out the camp of travelers outside the city. As he continued to stare out he saw a figure jump from the wall between the Holy Ring and the Cratertop. Intrigued he followed with his eyes as the figure skulked across the road, heading in his direction. Rothox slowly removed a dagger and waited. The figure reached the stables then moved on to the east side of the home, along the volcano wall. Rothox went over to the edge of the roof and jumped.

He fell two stories, landing on the figure who grunted beneath the impact and the sharp knee digging into his chest. A dagger at the hooded throat.

"Who are you?" Rothox snarled.

"Easy friend, I have come to talk." The figure while on his back removed his hood revealing two curled horns.