Interrogation of Urstul resumes after a long rest [ding 4]. Enhanced by a zone of truth, Urstul reveals some juicy tidbits:
- Lady Gralhund is (or was) financially supporting the Black Network a.k.a. the Zhentarim. There was no friction until her recently acquired nimblewright nearly incinerated Urstul in a premature conflagration while his crew cornered Stone of Golor carrying Dalakhar.
- Urstul did not leave the fireball scene with the Stone of Golor as initially suspected; in fact the nimblewright retrieved the stone and brought it back to Lady Gralhund.
- The permanent teleport circle in Lord Gralhund’s study goes to a Zhent lair, grandly called a castle, at a couple of towers in the southern ward.
- The Stone of Golor was an ancient creature turned into an artifact.
Under a separate zone of truth, Lord Gralhund fills in some gaps:
- The Stone of Golor appears to be an oblong, green stone. Lady Gralhund attempted to activate it by speaking with it. It replied telepathically but evidently without revealing the location of the gold dragons, its claimed purpose.
- The Zhent “castle” is called Kolat. The teleport was installed about a year ago.
- The Lady’s nimblewright has no name or unique designation but answers to a variety of insults. Its whereabouts or destination are unknown to Lord Gralhund.
- The Gralhunds procreated Zartan and Greth.
A private party huddle ensues to explore the limits of moral and ethical boundaries, per the code legal, of how to best dissociate from, or dispense with, their two kidnap victims. Ideally, both would pass of conveniently and timely natural causes in the next twelve hours or so, but a solid plan B to fall back on will probably be necessary.
Smoll, guarding Urstul in the basement, receives a snake Zhentagram:
“I would like to know more about what happened at Gralhund Villa. If you can spare the time, meet me at Ahghairon’s Statue in the City of the Dead at highsun tomorrow. You’ll be paid generously for your time and trouble.”
Depending on how these messaging snakes find their recipients, it may be irrelevant to further conceal the party’s identity or location from Urstul.
Janky answers a knock at the door. The city watch is canvassing the neighborhood for any information regarding certain overnight criminal activity. Smoove Janky assures them Lif’t has not been affected by anything more than his own rowdy night out, nowhere near wherever the issue occurred with the black-clad fugitives. The watchmen depart with no time for breakfast.
Vincent Trench enters minutes later to check on his investment and remind everyone that he is an available asset for hire.