They woke up in the morning, close to Caldrithen village, ready with a plan to pretend to be Merdelainian inspectors that had been expected to visit, but had been missing. They intended to infiltrate in, while Effie would invisibly plant a magic ring, that they would then 'discover' and be quite outraged, prompting a thorough search that would hopefully allow them to gain the sextant they were looking for. [Nealeth], Tiaumil's sister, brought the group more suitable clothing for the endeavour, so Effie was able to work her skill and disguise them all. To get around the language barrier, they had Tiaumil dressed as a servant who would speak on behalf of his 'superiors'.
Heading down, they were able to convince the guards, but no sooner than they were introduced to the captain and the overseer, the worst thing happened. The actual inspector came. A tall, intimidating figure wearing black leather, and black plate armour, looking as if he would brook no insubordination. There was immediate tension between the two parties, and disaster seemed to loom, but after Siax spoke, the demeanor of that inspector changed entirely. That inspector was, unknown to them at the time, [Kael], who had been looking for the party, having donned a disguise himself in order to do so.
Still not entirely knowing what was going on, nonetheless both parties worked to convince the overseer, and you were invited to go to a meal with him. During this time, Arya was able to take a glance at the captain's diary, discovering that not only was the overseer cruel, not only an addict, but also corrupt. Using this knowledge the group pushed him, and in an attempt to diffuse the situation, he invited them to his chambers to show a magical gift he'd been given. It turned out to be a towering magical suit of armour, more statue than anything, one that just felt really wrong to the group's senses.
While they were there, Siax's keen eyes spotted a small hidden treasure trove in the chimney, and using the imperiousness of the inspectors, he stepped forward to try and open it. Unfortunately for them, this triggered a trap, the door slamming closed, and poisonous gas filled the room, one that did not affect the overseer, or his massive suit of magical armour; something that came alive in defence of its owner.
As the group fought, Effie managed to sneak in invisibly to try and get the sextant, while the overseer attempted to get the aid of the local guards. Thankfully this backfired when the captain sided with the group, having had enough of the overseer and convinced that the group were who they said they were.
The fight was brutal. The gigantic golem was quite the foe, and it was when Siax knocked a few arrows through it that they discovered that it was no mere animated armour, but it looked like there was a trapped sorrowsworn inside. Seeing the tide of battle turning against him, the overseer attempted to grab a few villagers as sacrifices or hostages, but before he could do so, arrows phased through the walls of the tavern he'd gone in, and ended his life. The animated armour continued fighting, but after Arya realised that there should be some sort of controlling device on the felled overseer, they found it quickly and crushed it, and the armour fell still and silent.
Captain [seras valen] was still utterly convinced that you were who you said you were, and was able to secure the group lodgings on the 'Pickled Bones' inn's second floor. Effie back in attendance, the group had recovered the sextant and some other items, and they settled into their room, glad that despite all that had gone wrong, that they had come out successful.
In the relative calm in the aftermath, Tiaumil spoke with his sister, and while most of it was general catching up, she did give them a way to contact the resistance in and around Merdelain; elves that did not agree with what Merdelain was doing. Notably one of the members was his elder sister. In return, Tiaumil used his magical talents to create scrolls to her in return, mostly additional transportation, but also some for defense.
It was also a time when the group spoke to Kael, who, much like them, was not actually a Merdelanian inspector, but actually a human in disguise that seemed to know far more than he should about the group, and their history. He told them that Merdelain needed anchors to pull it back into the material plane, and that their group could help disrupt that. He knew where one of those anchors was.
In the aftermath of the discussions, the group decided that their next main action should be to convince the captain that he was the new overseer, and then take the boat themselves and slip into Merdelain in order to meet up with the resistance there.
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