"I'll try to find something suitable for my spellbook, then. I don't have any prohibited schools."

"Perhaps we can find a Hat of Disguise," Safiya suggests. "I don't hate hats."

Sheva leads them into a nearby home, unlocking the door. Inside are Magda and her actors. The actors are talking loudly; Magda shouts over them, "Pipe down, you rogues, and give some thanks to the women who saved our lives!"

"Alas, our thanks are all we have to give, for a cruel-hearted dwarf hoards our meager profits," calls one of the actors.

"Aye! And squanders our earnings on love potions, to steal the heart of Sweet Wallace!"

Magda sighs. "Honestly, milady, it's like chasing a pack of dockside waifs with a broomstick. And that's when we're not trying to put on a play. Mistress Whitefeather, what brings you to our little hideaway?"

"Ciaveth, here, had some questions for you," Sheva says.

Magda turns to Ciaveth. "Well, ask away."

"Ah, first... The Red Wizards made it to Lienna before we did. I'm sorry." Mostly because the bitch had some serious questions to answer, but also just in the general sense of being annoyed that she couldn't save someone. Still, Ciaveth has the class to give these people that probably knew her as a friend some space to mourn. "She... didn't suffer for very long, deciding to take her own life rather than surrender."

Magda nods sadly. "It's hard, but I thank you for trying to save her."

Ciaveth nods, because saying 'You're welcome,' or something seems disingenuous. She's not, actually, sorry that Lienna's dead, precisely. She's sorry that she didn't get to question her. Or maybe throttle her herself.

"I actually came to the Veil to ask her some questions about... some things she was involved in," she continues, trying delicately not to brutally trample all over their memory of their dead friend immediately. Yes, question about some things she was involved in. Like kidnapping her, cutting open her chest, and stealing a shard of a sword. Like dumping her in a prison at the bottom of a barrow that held something that is probably inside Ciaveth right now. Like that. "... Did she do anything strange in the past, ah, week or so? Meet with anyone, hang out for extended periods of time in her secret room? Something?"

"Thought you might say something like that," Magda says heavily. "There's not a one of us who didn't love that woman, but she'd been acting mighty strange of late, 'tis true."

"And the blood, Magda," one of the actors says luridly, "those ghastly droplets of red upon her white robe!"

"I hadn't forgotten the blood, Wallace. I was building up to it." Magda breathes in, then out. "No more than a few days before you saved our hides, milady, Lienna comes bursting out from that shadow-door of hers, all covered in blood."

"Covered in blood, aye, and not a drop of it hers!" says another actor.

Magda hisses him silent. "And before that, I saw the other woman hanging about... the red-robed lady, bald as a squalling babe. The both of them were up to some sort of mischief - that's all the red lady was good for, if you ask me - probably behind the doors of that secret room..."

The half-elf carefully folds her hands together to keep her fists from clenching. Covered in her blood, and not even bothering to clean any of it up. The bitch. She carefully exhales a breath through her teeth. She does not want to explain whose blood it was and why she's so personally offended, and she wants the actors' pity even less. There will be no lingering on Ciaveth's victimhood; she will simply just not tell them.

"Do you know anything else about the red-robed lady? Did Lienna meet with her regularly?"

"I know only what my eyes have seen. Her face was like Lienna's, so much alike that I thought them sisters. And her head was all covered with runes."

"I wonder if she was from my Academy," Safiya muses. "This might explain how Lienna was known to my mother."

Magda looks at Safiya as if seeing her for the first time. "Aye, so it might, for you look as much like both of them as they did each other. A little prettier, a little smoother of the skin, but I'd believe that you were Lienna's daughter... or that red woman's." Safiya looks poleaxed. Magda continues, "I saw her but twice - no, make it thrice. The first time was years ago... I awoke to voices in Lienna's bedroom, so I peered inside, thinking it might be robbers again. But instead, who do I see but a red-robed lady, chatting away with Lienna. I'm certain they knew I was watching... Scared me silly, you understand. Red robes mean naught but trouble. But Lienna trusted her, so I let the matter pass. I saw her the second time, maybe a few months ago, before the two of them disappeared for a good long while. And the third time was just before the wizards came. I saw the red lady near the portal, when Lienna came bursting out of her room, all covered in... whoever's blood that was." She looks at Ciaveth meaningfully.

"Mm," hums Ciaveth, ignoring the meaningful look. Yeah, congratulations, you have figured out the big mystery, Magda, you get a cookie. The cookie is 'Ciaveth is not acknowledging her trauma right now because she's working, but at least you understand why she's acting weird.' Enjoy.

"Would you mind if I were to go through her effects? To look for other secret rooms, or find keys to locked doors in the Plane of Shadow, or the like? I promise to be respectful and not to pick through her things like a vulture. It's just rather important that I get to the bottom of... all of this."

"Of course," Magda says, going through her pockets. "All you'll need is the key to her private chamber, and I've got it right here. When the wizards came, Lienna pressed it into my hands and bade me keep it safe. I'd half a mind to swallow the damned thing and make those Thayans go picking through my guts for it... but I've no doubt they would have. Here's the key, anyroad, but I'll not vouch for your safety if you're bent on going inside. I've never so much as peeked beneath the door."

"Thank you very much," says Ciaveth sincerely, taking the key. "You've been very helpful. Again, I'm... very sorry for your loss." There, that was honest, she is not sorry that Lienna is dead, but she is sorry that those who cared about her have lost her.

Magda nods. "We'll carry on. Is there anything else you need from us? Mistress Whitefeather wanted to keep us here a spell, but once we're back at the Veil you're free to rest there as long as you like. You've brought us naught but good fortune, and I'd tip any of these rascals out of their beds for your sake."

"No, that's all right, but thank you," she does not want your pity or your charity, and also doesn't super want to sleep in a theater with strange actors instead of a nice inn room with a door that locks, thank you, "I just might need to visit a couple of times to look over things, that's really all I want."

"Well, you're always welcome at the Veil whatever your purpose," Magda says. "And if you should wish to see one of our performances, you'll get in for free. Consider it payment for saving our lives, if you must."

"That'd be fine, thank you," says Ciaveth. Okay, free stuff for being heroic is fine, but she's still not sleeping here.

"This has been very enlightening," Sheva Whitefeather comments. "But I'm sure we all have other business to attend to."

Safiya nods, still slightly dazed. "Yes... yes, I believe we do. Shall we go, Ciaveth?"

"I imagine so," says Ciaveth, dryly to Sheva.

"Yes, I think that's everything for now. Thank you again." And then they can go. Preferably to find an inn. She does not want to have to do things for a little while. There have been enough things.

Safiya mutters to herself as they walk towards the inn that Sheva recommended, the Sloop. "For my mother to come all the way from Thay to visit this woman... on a regular basis? Nefris could hardly ever leave the Academy without some ambitious bastard crawling out and trying to depose her, so why would she visit in person multiple times instead of just going once and handing her a Stone of Sending? It boggles the mind. And why did that woman say Lienna looked like her? My mother never spoke of any family..."

Ciaveth gives Safiya her space. She listens, but she doesn't have any commentary to add. There's not much to be said, really. Accordingly, Ciaveth is very quiet on the way to the inn. They can get two rooms, because Ciaveth would like some privacy, and because while she finds Safiya surprisingly reasonable and likable, they're not up to room sharing levels of trust.

And then, when she has privacy and a locked door between her and the rest of the world, she carefully sits on the edge of her bed, buries her head in her hands, and lets herself cry. Frankly, she's a stranger in a strange land, and she's been holding back the urge to curl up and cry about how she thought she was done with the stupid annoying mystery solving quests. Not to mention... all of the other stuff, of which there's plenty. Apparently the rainbow bear god is going to show up with an army tomorrow? She doesn't have an army anymore, she left hers back in Neverwinter at Crossroad Keep, and it's not like she can go and fetch them. Probably they wouldn't even listen to her anymore, now that the thing she'd had them for is gone. Maybe she could just run, but she has the sneaking suspicion that running will not solve her core problem, so frankly she'd like to get the investigating what the fuck out of the way so she can be done. Maybe. Eventually. She wants so badly to be done.

She is scared, and alone, and angry, and tired, and tired of being angry. There's the niggling feeling that she's not alone, that she can't relax, can't let her guard down because something will crawl out from inside her and swallow her whole. Ciaveth is an eldritch knight, a brilliant wizard and a talented duelist both, stubborn and driven and capable of defeating at least one impossible, unkillable foe, and. And there was nothing she could do to stop any of this. She wasn't strong enough, she didn't have enough foresight, her allies sucked at defending her while she was vulnerable almost as much as they sucked at emotional management, it just. Happened anyway. Because some assholes were more concerned about the lump of magic silver in her chest than the feelings of the woman they were hurting to get whatever it was they wanted. They didn't care if they threw a good, innocent woman who has spent most of her energy for the past year trying to save as many lives as possible to some horrific thing in a barrow, and the bear god that wants to kill her for it. Whatever it is that she used to kill that—that—poor spirit wolf that didn't deserve oblivion, but got it because Ciaveth didn't know that there was a monster inside her she needed to stop.

It is quite a while, before she stops crying and sleeps. It is not a particularly restful sleep.

But in the morning she's.... better. Somewhat. She's somewhat better. The sleep helped, as did the space and the crying. Back to problem solving.

Problem solving for today is starting with shopping. There's a market, here, right? And would Safiya like to come?

Safiya would love to come! She has a magic hat to purchase.

"The disadvantage to a Hat of Disguise, of course," she says as they shop, "is that if someone sees through the illusion then they have reason to be suspicious. But if I just use it for minor features - hiding the unnatural sheen of the make-up on my forehead, giving myself hair - they'll think I'm merely indulging in," her voice drips with sarcasm, "feminine vanity. "

Ciaveth snorts, a little. "The horror. Personally I need new armor... or, hm." She considers. "... Maybe just enchanted clothes, the armor might be slowing me down, now. And also a new cloak."

Safiya finds a Hat of Disguise in the form of a simple skullcap and purchases it, putting it in her pocket for later. "If you think the armor's slowing you down, it probably is. As far as enchanted clothes go, we should be able to get you something that can stop a blade - you dodge very well, but it never hurts to be prepared. And for the cloak... resistance, maybe fortification if it's in the budget?"

"Let's see how much is left available in my budget after I find clothes." Her lip twitches. "Pity that my bag of holding was taken with my sword, I'd had a spare cloak in there. Among other things. Like potions, which we should also get."

"Yes, I imagine we should. I've got two hundred platinum pieces left after buying that hat; feel free to use that in addition to your own funds. It's all going to the same ends."