Tinderbox: S02E03 Part II - Here comes Linus!

General Summary

Diene 6th, 1870 Morning

The team decides to investigate the Cult of Solis base on Rookhelm Island: Priscilla Philomena Modesty Featherstone, Phineas I. Corwen, Theo Osborne, with the last-minute additions of Morgana Cornelia Selina Beaumont and Captain Maximus Orion Hawkes. Phineas ensures everyone is properly attired so they can blend in. The team boards the Starling, with Francine Weatherhorn at the helm, and flies from Streamrise Cove to the woodlands on the north-west side of Rookhelm.

They disembark and head toward the base’s location. Being mid-week, the busy streets of Rookhelm are teeming with activity. Where merchants and traders normally fill the carriage-crowded roads, now crowds swelling with political orators and muscle-flexing partisans make the streets unbearably loud and chaotic.

The team reaches the general area of the base and, after a brief investigation, deduces its precise location. They decide to split into two teams: Theo and Phineas will attempt to infiltrate from the hotel on the corner of the street, while Priscilla, Morgana, and Max head for the business building across the way.

Phineas and Theo negotiate for a hotel room with a street view, but are told none are available. They spend some time snooping around for alternatives and finally secure one.

Theo and Phineas end up having a nice drink at the Hotel's bar while waiting for their room to get ready while the rest are drenched in rain.

Meanwhile, in the other building, the second team quickly finds a way up to the rooftop. With the door locked, they employ some clever distraction tactics: Priscilla and Morgana stage a faux extramarital fight to draw bystanders’ attention, allowing Max to Pick the lock on the maintenance stairwell that leads to the rooftop.

Priscilla suddenly slaps Morgana in the face

Once both teams are in position, they discover the street is a cul-de-sac (from the Fermen term “bottom of the bag”: a dead-end street with only one way in and out, often with a rounded end to turn carriages around).

Priscilla quickly spots three suspicious men clearly posted to monitor who enters and exits the street and surrounding area. On her side of the street, she sees no sign of a hidden entrance.

A small mishap occurs when black dye, incorrectly prepared by Phineas, runs down in the rain and splashes over Morgana’s face and clothes, ruining her otherwise sleek appearance.

Soon after — while Phineas and Theo are still enjoying their luxurious cocktails — a carriage arrives. Linus steps out, opening a winter Parasol for a woman Priscilla and Morgana cannot yet see because they are too high up on the building.

Once Theo and Phineas are finally in position, they discover that on the side where Priscilla, Morgana, and Max are located, there is indeed a partially embedded door guarded by a man who pretends to be smoking casually, though he is clearly concealing a large wooden club behind his back.

Using Theo’s goggles, they observe that behind the door there are two rooms: one to the left and one to the right of a corridor that, a few meters deeper, leads to an elevator. In the left room, five thugs play some form of card or dice game, likely serving as guards. In the right, much smaller room, a lone man stands facing the wall; the door to his room is locked.

Theo, suspecting the man may be talking on a phone, asks Phineas to use Clairaudience to listen in on the conversation.

The rooftop team decides to move into positions that will allow them to follow and find where Linus or the mysterious woman go once they depart, while Theo and Phineas remain inside to stake out the entrance.

Morgana and Max head to a nearby coffee shop, while Priscilla sits at the very front of the street on the opposite side. Priscilla attempts to gather information from a young scoundrel; however, her lack of street savvy results in the kid relieving her of her wallet before bouncing off.

After several minutes, Linus indeed leaves the building. Priscilla attempts to tail him, but because of the large crowd and the safe distance he keeps, she quickly loses sight of him.

Ultimately, the team decides Theo and Phineas will stay there through the night, while the rest return to the Cove.

Max arranges for a couple of SEC Marine agents disguised in plainclothes to relieve the pair and maintain surveillance around the building, also pretending they are there on business.