The Return of Molly

Part 10 ~ An Interrogation

The Mighty Nein had reached Zadash in record time. Their horses were exhausted as were the various characters riding said horses but the sight of the tri-spires sent adrenaline pumping as the mere thought of Mollymauk made them eager to find and help him.

That was much easier said than done. Zadash was huge and while an ostentatious tiefling isn't usually hard to find, there was no trace of him in the streets. A few fruitless discussions with crownsguards left them frustrated until one particularly helpful guard recalled the tiefling with great excitement.

The young guardsman's directions led them to the familiar shop of Pumat Sol. It was like following a trail of breadcrumbs. Pumat had no idea where Molly had gone. That made them check in on the Gentleman.

THAT had been an adventure and a half as they wandered into the criminal underworld, received no information, barely avoided a brawl, dragged Nott away from the bar, awkwardly avoided Cree, the tabaxi, and made their way back to the streets of Zadash, with no leads.

Jester tried to pull them all to the pillow trove but after a few moments of deliberation, they decided the Leaky Tap was best and so they made their way to the familiar tavern.

The mood of the group was somber and the few drinks of alcohol didn't quell any of it.

"Alright, let's organize what we know," Fjord offered.

"He's alive," Nott offered, taking a large swig of booze.

"We know he made it to Zadash," Caleb pointed out, in a soft voice. "We know he was... he was in the city a few days ago. A-and he know he was alright. What happened from when he was at Pumats and now is anyone's guess."

"He's a fucking purple tiefling with a fucking rainbow coat. You'd think people would recognize shit like that!" Beau yelled.

"Shhh, we're trying to stay discreet," Nott hissed drunkenly.

"Have you see us, we're not discreet," Fjord announced knowingly.

Yasha had her arms crossed as she leaned back in her chair, staring at the table. Caduceus sipped his tea knowingly and eyed everyone's tense faces.

"I mean... I can scry on him... but when I tried it last night while we were camping I didn't see anything," Jester murmured.

Everyone looked to her and nodded slowly, not knowing what else to do.

"You know Molly?" a small voice asked making everyone at the table jump. They whirled around to see a small girl standing between Fjord's and Nott's chairs.

"Uh... uh yes," Yasha murmured, the words of her dream returning to her as she leaned forward across the table towards the girl. "Do you?"

"He's... he's purple," the girl offered, nervously. She shifted on her feet uncertainty, "And very nice... with pretty things on his horns."

"Yeah... you've seen him?" Fjord asked.

The girl shook her head. "The cloaked people took him."

Everyone at the table stopped breathing.

"Cloaked people?" Caleb asked slowly.

The girl nodded her head. "I saw them... he was hurt and bleeding and stuff...they... they took him to a house in the tri-spires."

"Do you know which house?" Beau asked urgently, getting to her feet.

The girl nodded. "No one believed me..." tears stung her eyes as she looked to the hopeful faces. None of them cared about her fraying clothes or the bruise on her cheekbone... she doubted they would care about the ten gold she had pickpocketed collectively from all of them (but she wasn't going to tell them that).