After the confrontation, they still have another day before they have to meet up with Vittore Vargas and Emelio's sister, so Renee decideds to follow the antique's dealer, Issak Geissler home, at a distance behind him to keep an eye on him. Along the way, Geissler just looks down and plods along, but Renee notices that the gang that had attacked him seems to "show" up occationally, but seeing Renee, go back into hiding, knowing that they can not get Geissler while she is keeping an eye on him. She decides later to have him come back with her to the inn, so that he can be watched.Rebecca and Rowena decide to go shopping, as Rebecca has decided that she needs to have a smaller concealable knife available to her, along with her long dagger. They check out several stores, but don't find exactly what she is looking for, so head off to another area. It is during that time that they see some of the Iron Watch dragging a body out from the river, and a small crowd has gathered to watch them. It catches the womans attention and they go and join the crowd. The body is of a man, that looks like he was first beaten to death, then stabbed several times beyond that. He was wearing good quality clothing, that looked like the type a wealthy Vodacce would wear, and still had his sword attached at his belt. The woman watch for a bit, then leave to find a new dagger.Seig and Emelio meanwhile, were still at the inn. Seig relaxing with a brew, and Emelio wearing out a hole in the non-existant rug, until Seig tells him to sit down and have a drink, to help calm his nerves. A couple of brews later, they decide to go and find the woman, and see what they bought, just to help wear out some of Emelio's nervousness. They catch up with the woman, and ask how the shopping went. Rebecca said she finally found a decent knife, that could be hidden away, to which Emelio replied after looking at her and winking"So, do you want me to hunt for it?" She smiles up at him, but shakes her head no, at least not for the moment. But they inform the men of the body that was drug up from the river, and Emelio and Seig go pale, when she describes the clothing the man was wearing. Rebecca and Rowena had not gone with Seig and Emelio when they had delivered the money, so had not know that the man they described, sounded like the man that they were supposed to meet tomorrow night.The four of themdecide to check back where the man was pulled out of the water, to see if they could find out where his body would have been taken. Rebecca reconizes one of the Iron Watch that was there, and with a bit of money, was informed to where the body had been taken.They get to the morgue, and after talking to the mortician, along with a donation, are led and shown the body, which they claimed was Rebecca's cousin. It had been stripped of all possitions, but with a bit more of a donation, they were given over to the group, and plans were made to bury "her cousin".In the possions of the man, was a letter on thick parchment, that had actually survived the dunking in the river. It was written in Vodacce, and Rebecca read it to the group, after they left the morgue, not wanting to read it in front of anyone but the group. (Yes, Rebecca does read and write Vodacce, she had several years on La Bucca to learn!) This is what the letter said:Ilario, I have secured all the evidence against Georg that we need. Tell him that his offer stinks of the rubbish that is his little retreat south of the city. If he asks, and he will, you can tell him that I have gone personally to visit. That should get his attention.Then tell him my original offer still stands. However, should he decide to refuse this time, his 'little secret' will, unfortunately, get out. I will meet you at the property once you are finished. By then, I should have our guest well in hand. VVWith this information, they decide to check out the public records, to see if they could find a Georg, with property south of the city. What they do find, after a bit of a search, is that there was a real estate dealer named Georg Waldemarr, that owned a bit of real estate south of the city, and that his office wasn't too far away.They arrive a bit later at the office, and Rebecca and Seig can smell a funny smell in the air, and Seig notices that there is blood spilling out from underneath the door. He checks the door and it opens. Inside they see a man sitting at a desk in a way that if he was alive, would be veryuncomfortable, and a trail of blood that looks like it pooled off of the desk and down the floor and gathered at the lowest point of the room, which was right under the doorway. The room itself was in amess, as if someone had gone through it fast and hadthrown things around looking for something. Going and looking at the body, they discover that the man had only one wound, straight into his neck, through the voice box, and into his spine.Rebecca mentions that if they had been in Vodacce, evidence would have shown that this man must have "talked too much" or "said the wrong thing" and was taken care of, sohe wouldn't do it again, since he was killed the way he was. She said if he had been a thief, they might have found him with his hands cut off, but sincethe death wound was in the throat, she thought otherwise.But they diddiscover, that the man hadsomething clenched in one of his hands, and after they retrieved it, found it was a bill of sale of some property,south of thecity, an oldmine, that was sold to aFiorentino della Dionna.Now they have to decide what to do. Their contact they are supposed to meet with tomorrow is dead, the last man who probably saw him alive is also dead. They can either wait and hope that Vittore Vargas will bring Emelio's sister to them, or go and look up the owner of the property listed on the bill of sale, that Rebecca states is Vittore Vargas, that his full name isVittore Fiorentino Vargas della Dionna , and he is know as L'Incubo della Strega, the Witches Nighmare, to the Strega. Sothey would have to hunt for the Hunter.Deciding not to take the chance and wait, to see if he would show up, they grab up a few horses and head for the mine. It takes them about a quarter of the day to get to the place, and by then it is dark, with barely a sliver of moon showing.Once there, they dismount, and Renee and Rowena scout ahead to see what they can find, while Seig, Rebecca and Emelio wait for them with the horses. There is a small shack that is fairly well depreciated, and looking like it will collapse at any moment. Renee happens to be at a right spot to see a person huddling close to the ground, covered in a dark cloak, and is able to sneek up on the person and punch them. They grab for a weapon they had lying on the ground, and Rowena shoots them with an arrow, putting them to sleep. They find out it is a woman, and the weapon was a staff. Leaving her, they head farther into the territory, using what little light they have by the moon. Ahead is a small stream. If they jump over it they will be seen, so Renee hikes up her pants and slides into the water, which is fridgid, and starts heading over to the other side. Rowena meanwhile happens to glance ahead and sees the opening of the mine shaft, and also sees that there is someone standing inside the shaft, and shoots an arrow at them, but misses, shoots a second one and hits. The body falls and disapears deeper into the shadows of the shaft, until they reach it and find another woman asleep, this one with a sword. Renee stands up to wave at Seig and the others waiting back with the horses to come on, now that things were safe.We head into the shaft, after tying up the other woman and taking her sword. The floor slopes downward, and is covered by a lot of tumbled rocks. As she heads down, Rebecca notices that there are a bunch of trip wires and informs the others. Taking time to be careful, several climb the rocks and find a easier path, hopping from rock to rock, while Rebecca walks around the trip wires, that they find were attached to small cans holding embers, that when tripped, would fall into a bunch of gunpowder, exploding and bringing down the walls. Not having the knowledge to un-trip the wires, they leave them alone, and go around, or over the rocks to avoid the trap, and head farther into the shaft, around a corner, where they can see a light come from, and hear a bit of speech, spoken in Eisen. Before they get much farther, Rowena mis-steps and knocks a rock skittering down the shaft, and the people talking stop, and the sound of swords coming out of their scabbards is heard.That is where we left off today

--------------------------------------------------------------
Fate, a four letter word, with a lot of strings attached.
-------------------------------
"We Pay to Plunder!!"
-------------------------------
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.
Henry David Thoreau
--------------------------------
Do not mettle in the affairs of Dragons...for you are crunchy and tastey with ketchup.