"No time like five minutes ago. Failing that, now will do." Doesn't mean she's not going to make you feel bad about it.

Off to the bank!

The Bank of Abadar at North Point is a vast and busy building. The low din of trade can be heard throughout. The Korvosan Guard have a strong presence here.

There's a long line, if they want to meet a banker without an appointment.

She doesn't have anything to do today, and she wasn't going to pay for a slot in advance when she didn't know if they would accept. Long line it is.

Time seems to slow down as the line moves like it's dipped in molasses. It's a dramatic contrast to their time in the Vaults.

Eventually, they're taken into a side room and seated with a well-groomed man. "Hello, how may we help you today?"

"The four of us will be opening a combined account, no withdrawals without agreement from all of us. We will be sending this contract to account 16927, and depositing the ring to be sent as per the contract in a safebox." She holds up a silver shield. "Anton here will provide the ring, and I will be covering the safebox fee for up to two hours. I will also be immediately available if the procedure takes longer than that. However, I anticipate the counterparty signing quickly, at which point I will accept the required Truthtelling."

Mother knew this was the plan, and that account number means she'll be notified of the offer. No reason this should take longer than an hour, but it's best to have the safety. She passes the contract over, followed promptly by the shield. If whatever's left over ends up deposited in the combined account, that's fine.

The banker pages through the contract. "Everything seems to be in order, give me a moment."

He takes the contract and the silver shield and leaves the room through a side door.

A couple of minutes later he returns with a small metal box, which he unlocks using a key. "The contract will be delivered to the holder of account 16927 shortly."

Anton removes the ring of protection from his bag and places it into the safebox.

The banker locks the safebox and takes it with him as he leaves the room.

"While we're waiting for the Truthtelling, what have you found about the book? My friend can read," as she discovered last night trying to find a better way to communicate with it, "and it's relatively disposable." As she discovered during their time in the sewers. "If the traps are the sorts of thing that just entrap or kill a reader, I could have it go through and trigger them, for a rate more reasonable than hiring Dispels."

"I have not looked at it again yet. I'd really not rather risk messing with the book until I know what it does. Your strange friend may be disposable, but the book itself is not."

He pauses for a moment. "Matei seems fond of explosives, inferring from the dresser."

"That was my worry. You are better positioned to distinguish Glyphs of Warding from Explosive Runes than I am."

Was that Julio taking a shot at her plans? No, not a chance. She'll ignore it.

"The offer stands. I'll be in the place we met next Starday, if you've figured anything out by then."

He looks at Anton. "I believe we're free next Starday around noon. I'll check if the Acadamae library has anything on permanent spells commonly bound to books."

"–and we can easily afford comprehend languages for translation. I've wanted that spell for a while."

It's not great pay, but the run is short enough for him to be back waiting for the next message quickly. He'll take it.

He knows the layout of North Point, of course, but it's too rich for his blood. He doesn't know any of the houses in the area. He can see this one from two blocks away, though. Only one of these has all its windows covered with black curtains. Is that really where he's going?

He double checks the address. It is.

When he knocks, the door slips open just wide enough for him to enter. Through the crack, he can see... darkness, everywhere. The only light comes from the sun falling through the cracked door, and in that light he can see a... giant sheet of cobwebs or something?

Then it moves. He flinches and cringes back, holding out the contract like food to an angry house drake. Something creeps towards him, out of the darkness.

She was expecting a message from her disappointing daughter! Perhaps not quite as disappointing as she thought, if this worked. She comes to the door and takes the contract. No changes? No changes. Perfect. She draws up an approval, indicating she'll be there within an hour. It's elegant, flowing, and almost incomprehensible to anyone who knows only one of Elven and Undercommon. The bank knows enough Elven to figure it out, they've managed.

...The messenger is still there! Good. Doing his inexplicable human nonsense, but that's easy. She shoves the message into his hand before pushing him out. He should be able to figure it out.

He's... not being eaten by a spider? He isn't! He's alive!

And he has the response he was supposed to wait for, even. The bank isn't paying him enough to not gossip, especially not going to that house, and it wasn't even folded. He looks over the paper.

...he can't make heads or tails of it.

Oh well. Still enough to get him paid the extra for the reply. And, at least as importantly, means he can leave without finding out where that web came from.

The banker returns. "Your counterparty has received the contract. We have a truthtelling available in one hour. You may wait in the lobby."

Another hour? They couldn't have been ready faster? Ugh. Fine. Off she goes to sit and wait.

In about an hour, a different banker calls Tencednil back into the room. She has a copy of the contract with her.

"Listen carefully. I will cast the truthtelling on you. You will say 'I attest under oath' and read this," she points, "section of your contract. Do you understand?"

"I will accept the spell and read the words I said I would read under Truthtelling, yes. Can we?" She reaches out her hand.