Saturday, July 9, 1066 SE, continued
Returning to the South Gate Hotel, Branna, Marigold, and Mon discuss several topics. They should talk with Hennadii about the missing items, and Branna plans to give him a copy of the list. Mon suggests they should also ask him whether he knows the building’s history. They want to meet with Mykola and talk to him as well.
They hand him the list of missing items. He will compensate the crew members who lost items, and he apologizes profusely for the lapse in security. Ever since one of his cooks left, he has had to perform kitchen duties and has neglected his duties of touring the hotel and ensuring that no unwanted guests are present.
Mon asked Hennadii what he knows about the hotel’s history. They tell him that a secret society most likely owned the building for some time. He promises to hire a few off-duty royal guards to provide security services at the hotel, but he is depressed to hear of another black mark against his hotel. Marigold suggests that perhaps he could use this information to attract a refined clientele who appreciates being able to come and go without being seen. He appreciates the thought, but she can tell from his face that these are the clients he does not want to attract. Curious as to whether there is, in fact, a secret passage, and considering that the Hotel is filled only with Legendary crew members, Hennadii hands Marigold a master key so she and her friends can quietly search the hotel for this secret door.
Mon and Marigold compile the list of rooms mentioned in the 1039 journal, and who is currently residing in each. Marigold will start with room 201, once Joseph leaves. Mon hands her one of his cufflinks, so she can become invisible.
Room 201: Currently occupied by Joseph, the accountant.
Room 212: Currently occupied by Albina, Luba’s understudy, and Lilia, stage manager
Room 301: Currently occupied by Solomiya, the conductor.
Room 304: Currently occupied by Anya and Dhuka.
Room 308: Currently occupied by Mon and Herald, though he is currently not residing here.
Room 404: Currently occupied by Ioulia
While Marigold and Mon search the hotel, Branna walks outside and skirts the building, looking for anything unusual that would suggest a secret passage. Not finding any, she returns inside. She explores the basement.
Branna basement. Storage, cold room, coal room.
Marigold enters Joseph’s room using the master key after the accountant departs the room. His room is very clean and organized. She searches for secret entrances or compartments but finds none. Branna joins Marigold. Secret cubby in 212, spring-loaded. It is empty, and has been for a long time. She covers the raven painting on her way out, so she can come back. She goes to Anya’s room next. The sconce has a small space where a ring would fit as a key. Using the Black Sun ring, she unlocks a portal that reveals an extradimensional staircase. Anya starts packing and will move into Marigold and Branna’s room, Room 302, while the halfling and the elf move to her room.
They go downstairs, and after a descent of six floors, come to a reception room. Five cloaks of a fine silk dyed a midnight black are hung on a rack mounted on the wall. There are two comfortable leather chairs.
Realizing this is more involved than they thought, they leave and return to the Royal Grand Opera for tonight’s performance, arriving just in time. The performance is sold out, and the buzz is that the parade’s performance increased interest. In a nod to their dress rehearsal catastrophe, returning patrons have started identifying the Easter Eggs that the crew has left in their performance to acknowledge the failed attack. The bar serves a drink called the Easter Egg, and those in the know take a sip every time an egg is revealed.
Mon sends Pavel a message about the tools he found for the carpenter.
After the performance, Marigold fills Mon in on the afternoon’s happenings.
Returning to the hotel, they see Hennadii has hired two security guards, who are retired Royal guards. Searching the common rooms, Mon sees that the sconce in the back corner of the dining room has the same symbol. They wonder whether it goes to the same place or leads to a different staircase. Mon tests the door and discovers that the passageway leads to another place.
Marigold and Branna finish moving into Room 304. At the next opportunity, they will return to the other rooms and check the sconces. Marigold will also make a brooch out of garnets that will closely resemble the symbol of the Black Sun and use it as a display piece to trigger agents of the Black Sun.
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