2 Days, 13 Hours, 36 Minutes
Chateau Malchance, Quartier Marchand, Port-a-Lucine, Mid-Morning on April 22nd, 770
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Spelunking in the sewers, sounds great!" Cerise exclaimed, bouncing up to Eisenwald. "Let me just go get my walking shoes... and jasper warding bracelet... and a bunch of crumbs to appease the knockers!" She was off at the speed of thought, running upstairs to feed the cat and weigh herself down with a pound of mystic jewelry.
"Well. I suppose I'll head to the University," Lessard said, wiping his glasses as he watched Cerise vanish. "I
should have been there anyway, but the Secret Police have a way of taking precedence. I'll take the opportunity to check in on Professor M." He stood up, neatly picking up his dishes and taking them into the kitchen.
"We found the girl Reine in the Quartier Ouvrier, and the flat of Perrine in the Vervain Rookery. They are squalid and unfriendly places," Katja informed, putting her sword away. She slid her eye over to look at Nicolas, rumpled, unshaven, and possessing no sign of fashion sense. "We should be fitting right in, ja?" she said, with something akin to humor.
The two Blackwood siblings looked at each other for a fair moment.
"I'll, I'll go to the cathedral, and Ste. Madeleine's," Richard finally broke the silence. "I'll take, I'll take a carriage, Sis," he said to placate her. "I don't know if, if it will be helpful, but it can't hurt. I won't exert myself talking, talking to priests. Perhaps I, I can find this, this mysterious Sister you mentioned."
"I shall go ask the Halans at the Hospice, then," Alice sighed, accepting what she could get. "It should prove itself to be a rather dull and predictable trip - though it seems such things never turn out to be! Given we were attacked just last night at that very place, I shall have to hope Mr. Boucher does not see fit for a return visit. Still, should Dame Fortuna choose to maim us, I shall at least take solace in that she had to work for it."
2 Days, 12 Hours, 25 Minutes
University of Dementlieu, Port-a-Lucine, Mid-Morning on April 22nd, 770
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The University of Dementlieu was nearly a paradise in the spring sun. It was green, vibrant, and filled with people going about their daily business. There were a few signs of just how grim things had gotten with the city, such as the rounded buildings containing the elemental guardians, but in general it was a peaceful, pleasant place to be in. A welcome respite from the catacombs and graveyards of yesterday.
You also found that someone, at least, was there to meet you. Professor Theroux, most recently seen departing very rapidly rather than meet the Marquis of Montmort, was outside when you arrived, sitting next to a tree and generally enjoying a pleasant lunch. When he saw you, however, he rose to greet you.
“Remy! Hello Mme. Viardot, M. Agale.. ah... M. Mercator, was it?” Andre said, giving Remy a quick handshake and regarding the rest of you. “I take it you managed to avoid having our pale-faced and slightly creepy superintendent of police throw you into Montmort? What brings you to the University, or should the high concentration of academic eccentricity lead me to guess?”
“Listen, I've been talking to some people. While I haven't come up with a better idea for separating our dancing friend from his new companions,” Andre said, taking a breath, “I
have come up with an idea for preventing a repeat of March's catastrophic chaos. I think I know how to contain all those wraiths, if we can get them away from Thanatos.”
2 Days, 12 Hours, 25 Minutes
Vervain Rookery, Quartier Ouvrier, Port-a-Lucine, Mid-Morning on April 22nd, 770
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Vervain Rookery was bad.
None of the Quartier Ouvrier was anywhere you'd ever want to live, but here and there throughout most of it you could see glimmers of hope. Volunteer hospitals, soup kitchens, poor houses, all were set up throughout the place - nothing special, but they had generous donors, and they were run by dedicated people. There was a sense of community humming in the streets, a sense of charity, a camaraderie between people who had little enough between them. You weren't sure if it had been there before, but it was now: a solidarity between Port-a-Lucine's poorest, and people doing what they could to help each other out.
There was none of that here.
Filth caked the broken streets. Urchins were digging through piles of rotting garbage looking for something to eat - they traveled in packs, some with makeshift shivs, looking to stave off other, adult predators. Dead animals lay rotting openly in the gutters, covered in masses of dark black flies. The stench was incredible; you suspected that the group in the sewers likely had better air than you. And worst of all was the people. Diseased, festering, sunken-eyed, hopeless, and wretched, glaring at you with desperation and hate. There was no community here, only boiling resentment. They were people who knew that life would give them nothing unless they took it at knife-point, and they were quite willing to do so. They knew you didn't belong here - you weren't broken.
You were standing outside the building where Perrine
had lived. The room had been rented to someone else a long time ago, her possessions either stolen or sold. No one had seen her since March 11th, and no one knew where she had gone. No one particularly cared.
"Stay in a group, don't let anyone get near you, and keep any weapon you have visible and ready," Katja commanded you quietly, her blade blatantly unsheathed and her shield strapped to her arm. She regarded the Rookery with cold professionalism - it seemed Katja, at least, was no stranger to such ruin.
2 Days, 12 Hours, 25 Minutes
Sewers, Port-a-Lucine, Mid-Morning on April 22nd, 770
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The waterways beneath the city were not all that difficult to find, and Tomas at least had the advantage of having been there before. They were of impressively solid construction, heavy brick and stone, numerous walkways and arches. It all smelled about as bad as could be expected.
“This is fun. Maybe we'll meet a marikith? They live in the sewers, you know, though mostly in Paridon. They can impersonate your voice and crawl up through your water closet pipes though. That could get sort of messy.” Cerise said, wrinkling her nose. “Where are we going?”
This was a good question. The Port-a-Lucine sewer system was probably the largest and most elaborate of it's kind anywhere in the world. Moreover, it connected to the Catacombs, as well as to old limestone quarries and to basements all over the city. The Dementlieuse capital was quite simply
riddled with tunnels and passages, all looping about, with blind-alleys and dead ends, which could lead one to get hopelessly lost beneath the city. It was a labyrinth, and moreover, it was as you had seen a most dangerous labyrinth indeed.
DocBeard, since you alone have been here before, send me a Dungeoneering Check.
