Session 3

In the morning, we head off in search of Ilyana at the Old Strass Bath House. Farlin wants to stop at a bookseller to find a decoy for the black book, but I point out that we need to know what the original looks like if the decoy is going to be believable.

The bathhouse staff insists we leave our weapons and armor in their changing rooms, as the place is meant to be "neutral territory", with violent behaviors left outside. Kriv'n starts asking questions about robes and towels and other apparently unrelated things, and I stop paying attention.

Once inside the bathhouse proper, it's fairly easy to spot Ilyana, despite her attempts to keep herself hidden. The corner she's chosen is somewhat isolated so when I sit on the floor near her, she's not quite sure what to make of me when I greet her by name, she tries to pretend I've got the wrong person. When I mention Grigori, Underhill, and the code phrase Grigori gave us, she relaxes slightly, leading me to one of the bathing pools, near a waterfall. Clearly, she doesn't want to be overheard.

When I explain to her that all we want is the book she stole, she's quite upset - Grigori wasn't supposed to mention the book to anyone. Turns out she doesn't have the book here at the bathhouse - she hid it in Iskra's room at the Silk Scabbard. And the only ways she can think of to retrieve it would be to sneak in through the cartways or to get Iskra to take one of us back to her room. Unfortunately, Ilyana doesn't know how to use the cartways to get in.

Harbek comes in the room and alerts me to trouble with Kriv'n and Farlin. I tell Ilyana to stay here at the bathhouse and extricate myself from the pool. It seems a fight has broken out; I wonder how it started, but more important would be to stop the fighting. We should probably just get our things and go, since we have what we came for.

Kriv'n manages to frighten several combatants into fleeing, but Harbek drops one when his knee-jerk reaction is to cast a spell. He's able to keep the guy from dying, but we're in trouble now - and it's probably no longer safe for Ilyana, either.

We need to get Ilyana someplace safe, and determine that a friendly temple would probably be best. Farlin insists that he wants to visit a bookstore now, before we know what the stolen book looks like, and runs Off when I reluctantly give him directions. The rest of us head for a temple, seeking sanctuary for Ilyana.

At the temple, Harbek requests a room to rest in, and we're led to a small room with two narrow cots. It's rather cramped in here, so I leave Ilyana with Harbek and Kriv'n and go wait outside for Farlin. As I wait leaning against the building a black cat decides it wants to be my friend.