A day about town

3 November, 595
Part 1

The next morning our four heroes decide to stop by the Lantern Street Orphanage, from which the children disappeared, and interview the staff. Kyladrian opts not to accompany the rest of the group, as he has too many bad memories of the place.

The door is answered by an elderly halfling woman, who is skeptical of the group's intentions. After she is shown the potions with the symbol of the church, the group is let in and the woman introduces herself as Gretchyn Tashyyk, the headmistress of the orphanage. She apologizes for her reaction and explains that other parties have taken interest in the missing children as well, particularly a strange pair of half-elfs named Fario Ellegoth and Felian Shard, who claimed to be working for the mayor's office. The group interviews a few of the staff and the children and uncover a new lead when they discover that the locks on the orphanage were made by a local locksmith named Keygan Ghelve.

Later that morning the group pays a visit to Keygan's shop. They are greeted in the shop by an older gnome apparently walking around on stilts. When questioned about the locks from the orphanage, Keygan gets a bit defensive and evasive in his answers. The party presses him further but something keeps him from answering their questions outright. Finally, he invites the group to join him for lunch at the Drunken Morkoth Inn.

Over lunch, Keygan reluctantly reveals that he has been blackmailed to create a set of skeleton keys for all the locks in the city. His familiar, a rat named starbrow, was kidnapped by creatures originating from the ruins below his shop, and they forced him to create the keys. He suspects that the creatures, which he describes as "tall ones" and "short ones" emerge from his shop at night and use the keys to perform various kidnappings and misdeeds. In return for this information, he asks that the heroes attempt to recover Starbrow and return him safely to his possession. Before he leaves, Keygan gives the party an old map of the underground gnome ruins beneath his shop and lets them know that he will leave a window open in his shop tonight, so that they can enter discreetly.

After lunch the group heads to the mayor's office, in hopes of learning more about the half-elfs that were mentioned by Gretchyn. The receptionist has never heard the names Fario or Felian, and when asked if they can speak with the mayor, they are told to come back in two weeks, when his schedule is more free.

The party decides to investigate the locksmith shop later that night. A window on the second floor has been left open and Karnak and Kyladrian decide to go in together and scope it out. after climbing in, they find themselves in a dark bedroom. Silently leaving the bedroom, the two scouts make their way down a staircase, but are ambushed by a tall grey creature which seems to blend in with its surroundings. Both Karnak and Kyladrian strike together and cut down the attacker before it can even land a blow. After briefly searching the rest of the building, both Baxtor and Salla are brought up through the window.

The group finds a secret entrance built into the staircase in the store room, and so begins the expedition!