Kassah finshes her map and turns to Artaxes. "Hm.. I don't know. I know the Council would be interested in catching those traitors inside Makan. But she said this Arass is a noble. I don't know if you know this, but it is very hard for noble lizar to hide their status. Noble lizar generally have brighter scales and more defined patterns than us commoners. It is really hard to hide one's nature. It can be done with makeup or illusion to pass from a distance, but it wont hold up under scrutiny. It is usually used to portray nobles in the theater. "
The female interrupts Kassah "Pardon me, m'sa. But I can tell you, because of my....profession...that I got close enough to him to tell that his scales really were of nobility, and that he wasn't wearing scale paint, nor did I see the shimmer of illusion." she says meekly.
Kassah nods at the female's revelations. "So. He could just be an errant heir who failed his hsssir test and sought to get back at those who rejected him. But he also could be a liason for an entire House, or even part of the Council. I would hesitate to inform the Council until we know if this "Arass" is acting alone or if the corruption has spread to a whole House, or farther." she tells the mercenary.
She stares at her map for a few seconds before shaking her head. "And even if the Council is'nt affected, it can be very hard to get them to stir for anything outside of their direct interests outside of the city. Like I said before, they would be all for catching the traitors actually in the city. But to actually attack the camp...I don't think so. The only reason they even sent any units out to join with you humans to wipe out those "bandits" was because they were directly affected due to the bandits capturing or destroying caravans carrying their luxuries or trade interests."
Thiy opens the bag and peers inside. The female speaks up "In there is a sealed envelope. I was to open that when we got to Makan. In it is directions to the safe-house we would be using, and the name of our Makan contact. Also, there is a blueish crystal stone. Don't touch it! It is what I use to communicate with my superiors. It has a partner, back at the camp or wherever my superior is, Im not sure. If either stone is grasped in a fist, the partner stone emits a chime. If both stones are held, an image of the person's face holding the stone appears in the air above the partner stone and vice versa. I have already made my report for last night, saying that Sssaar was moving to slow the caravan at dead-night, and that we suspect there is at least one runescholar on board. They will not expect another report until this evening."
The monk pokes around inside the bag. Ther is some clothing, camping gear and wrapped iron rations, a bluish stone that looks like a rough chunk of unpolished blue quartz about the size of a hen's egg, with a rune of OH inscibed on it, a large envelope, what looks like the charm around the drover's neck without being on a leather thong, two vials of some liquid, and a small leather pouch, a crystal rod about 3 inches long, and a rolled sheet of reed-paper. In the very bottom is an extremely worn piece of reed paper, folded up to be a tiny square. It is very old and dirty.
While Thiy examines the bag, the female thinks over Artaxes' question. "Now, I don't know Kelt well, and we werent allowed outside of the safehouse. And when we went to the caravan, a windowless wagon took us to the yard. I guess they didnt want the yard seeing us arrive blindfolded."
"The windows of the safehouse were heavily curtained, with the curtains being nailed to the windowframe so they couldn't be moved. But I did get a few glimpses outside, and also when we were climbing into the wagon to go to the caravan yard. The neighborhood we were in looked a bit run down, but not quite a slum. The roads were lightly cobbled, although still prone to mud. Most of the houses were rowhouses right up against each other, with no sunning area
(yard) or fences, or rooming houses that had once been single-nest houses that had been partitioned off. They were done in many different styles, although the one we were in was done in the traditional Keltian two floor style, with the second floor being an open loft surrounding the main floor. There were a few local shops, some of which catered to other races besides Keltians. Most of the traffic was on foot, and there were quite a few serpentus, lizar, and other races wandering around, although there were still a lot of Keltians. There was two city walls close by, and I could see a main road a few blocks over before I was hustled into the wagon. I wish I could tell you more, but other then describing the colors and shapes of the nearby houses, I really didnt get a good look."
"That sounds like the Foreign Quarter, or at least the Southwest corner of it." Kassil murmurs. "I guess it makes sense, a bunch of lizar wouldn't stand out there if they rented a nest for a while."
Kassah nods. "And was there anybody else in there? Or just you and Sssaar?"
"No, there were 3 other lizar. One of them was my Keltian contact, a male. His name was Dolaatss, and he was squat with green and black patterned scales. He was the one who drove us to the yard and gave us the items we were to use to sabotage the caravan, as well as our orders. He ran the safe-house as well."
"One was a young yellow and gray striped female, Ssorakass. She seemed like she was barely out of the nest, perhaps just old enough to begin to dream about mates
(In human terms, about 15). She was fanatically loyal to Dolaatss and the "cause". Any conversation with her always ended up being about how much better it would be when everyone followed the New Way, or something like that. She acted as a runner, ocassionaly carrying missives from Dolaatss elsewhere and going on the general errands keeping the safehouse running such as bringing food and supplies."
"The third was another male, with the blotchy dull coloring of a swamp lizar. He had brown and black blotches and was a huge scarred brute. He had a scar on hi ssnout that disfigured his mouth, making it look as if he was showing his teeth all the time. I think his name was Issn. He didnt speak much and always wore a huge sword. Sometimes he left for a few days and then would show up again. He didnt seem to be an operative waiting for a mission. Perhaps he was some kind of bodyguard, I don't know. The few times I tried to make conversation, he just grunted and ignored me." she tells Kassah.
Kassah writes the information down on the map that she made. "Alright. One last thing. Kasssil, if you will hold her please?"
Kassil steps forward and grabs the females shoulders. The fugitve looks scared, but doesnt resist.
"This will be over soon. We aren't going to hurt you. We just need to make sure of something." Kassah tells the shivering lizar, as she steps forward.
The pathfinder quickly undoes the ties holding the traitor's shirt closed and pulls the shirt down, exposing the female's chest and back. Although there is no SAR symbol or any other noticeable pattern or lump, her sexless chest is riddled with scars, a few as long as 3 inches. On her back, the scars are even worse, some like deep pits and craters where terrible burns were not treated. Kassah steps back and hisses her breath out through her teeth when she sees the horrific burn marks and other scars.
The pathfinder gently traces a claw along one of the marks. "They did this to you?" she asks gently.
The female nods, looking down at the ground and blinking her nicitiating membranes across her eyes. "Yes. They hit me, cut me, whipped me and burned me when I fought them, or sometimes even because I wouldn't recite or learn the things I was supposed to in their "classes". That is why I gave up and quit fighting them. At least then, you didn't get hit so much. Its a hard thing to understand, but I started to believe in what they were saying, believe taht it would be better if their Lord came to power."
Kassah nods "Did they ever do any rituals or anything where they put anything inside your body?"
The traitor looks at the ground again "Um, well sometimes during or after a ritual the males would..."
"Wait, I don't mean someone's
erit'ohss, or that you
nahli'ohss with them! I mean something that isn't natural, like putting an object in a wound anywhere on your body." Kassah hastily interrupts, looking slightly embarrased.
'Um, no. They never did anything like that" the female says.
Kassah tells Kassil to continue holding the female and steps out of earshot, motioning for the humans to join her. "I don't think she has anything like that on her. After all, it makes sense that if she was watching Sssaar, the other cultists didn't trust Sssar to be stable. Perhaps she was a failsafe or a guardian if you will."
So, Stockholm Syndrome much? The females name is Pahhhtee Hurrsst, btw 
(not really!)
One thing I want to mention is I love how you guys give me a general idea of what happened based on how bad or good your rolls are (ie Thiy catching her sai in the robes, the loud smacking noise as Artaxes thwacks the lizar in her face). It totally gives me ideas of what to do, cuz I try not to control the PCs reactions as much as possible so the fact that you guys make your own reactions to obvious bad or good rolls (or even middling ones) gives me a lot more to have the NPCs react to.
