Black Moon Hideout
With your foes vanquished and the guards sent on their way, you return to Stives, feeling confident about having completed a number of the items he had tasked you with. It was only when you arrived in his office that you realised that you hadn’t actually completed his primary objective - securing knowledge of the location of the Company of the Black Moon.
Talking amongst yourselves, Aldrich realised that Paul was looking more than a little shifty and called him out on it. Paul then announced that he had reason to believe the Black Moon were holed up in one of his friends gambling dens, which had multiple entry points across the city.
Amia Stives looked suspiciously at Paul and, merely mentioning that he thought he knew to whom he was referring. When Paul wanted to take Stives aside to talk about this, Smitty simply followed along, not giving Paul the peace needed to talk properly with Stives. Stives picked up on Paul’s desire to talk separately, merely giving an enigmatic statement about his path could have gone down a different route.
Stives, partly keen to get the group out of his offices before suspicision arose, explained that should you have some idea of where the Company were hiding, the following night would be an excellent opportunity to deal with them. A ball was due to take place at the Earl’s Court and many to the guards in both the Order and the Watch would be taken up with it.
As such, you returned to somewhere you could lay your head and spent the night. During that time, Paul spent some time investigating the dagger he he found and discovered it had some magical properties. Additionally, as Paul’s led you to the hideout you passed a stream of noble’s carriages and horse heading towards the Court. You also saw Ancalamie, the Elven woman you met in Wallowdale Curiosities, leaving the store being berated by a mid-20s human make. Though Smitty looked to (violently!) intervene, Ancalamie waved him off, her patience the only clue that it would not be necessary.
Moving on, Paul guides the party to an alleyway filled with scattered debris and broken items. Carefully passing across them, Paul pauses in front of a cellar door that is outlined with a fringe of ash and charcoal. Completing a series of complicated gestures over the door, moments before it opens - not swinging on hinges, but rolling away out of sight.
As the party followed Paul into this dark stairway, they began to hear voices, a found a room filled with opened and broken chests that have been stripped of all useful objects. Coming around the corner, the group managed to ambush a small force of soldiers, being forceably led by two with spears. In efficient work, you dispatched your foes and sent these forced conscripts scuttling back the way you had come.