A neverending field

[Anastasia]

Sure, quick Diplo check for GI.

[Corwin]

It will be 120 this time, I'll use divine insight.

[Anastasia]

You find out a few interesting things.

The city itself is a special administrative zone. It is ruled directly by the Lord of the Second through a special general-governor named Grolas. It's said he inhabits the body of a powerful iron golem. It's also known that this fiend has a great deal of latitude to set his own policies for reasons known only to Dispater.

Economically, beyond some trade that you gather comes from within the Iron Tower, most of this seems to be built around no particular industry. Strange, as it's a mish mash of things rather than a focused sort of effort. However, anyone who sells more than 222 gold or 2 souls worth of goods must be duly registered as a merchant with the city, and the penalty for non compliance is 2,222 years of hard labor.

Taxes are high - there are very quiet murmurs against them. They seem to be high even by the standards of the area, and the ruler seems to be why. It's not mentioned much, but it does come up.

Grolas is assisted by two lesser generals, Halus and Zaphara. Both are pit fiends who rose from his mentorship. Halus is greedy, cold but relatively fair as far as devils go and obeys the rules. So does Zaphara, but she has a more unpleasant sight. Entombment in liquid iron is said to be her favorite punishment, to the point where she's mockingly called Zaphara of Belial.

[Corwin]

Incidentally, would assassinating a shitty devil for 10k gold be against the law? Or is that not something that's sold and taxed?

As she waits for their contact, Seira turns her attention towards the trade within the Iron Tower. Locations and their makeup are the important thing; she seeks to build a better picture of whether other special zones exist, or even regular cities. While it's possible that Yemimah is hidden somewhere fully isolated, Seira doubts that. The infrastructure to ensure she is taken care of, provided for and guarded must be substantial, if rumors of Dispater's focus on Yemimah are true. And if he had isolated her totally after all, that forbidden area would be a black spot on an otherwise mapped out Tower and could be found out that way.

[Anastasia]

It's against the law. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

You don't hear mention of any other special administrative zones nearby. While not said outright, you get the impression this one is unusual.

[Corwin]

Okay, let's skip ahead for an hour. It's probably been that long for GI anyway.

[Anastasia]

A spinagon comes up, and without preamble, lays out a small sheaf of papers.

[Corwin]

Seira peruses them, likewise without preamble! And without letting any prying eyes catch a glimpse of the content.

[Anastasia]

Wilcora works for the city government as a minor official. She follows a routine, working 22 hours then resting for 2, then repeating. Looks pretty straightforward as far as that goes, at least. She stays in her office save for the occasional trip to various shops on her down time.

[Corwin]

Seira nods, and puts the papers away before leaving the establishment. Once she's shared the information with the others, they'll rest at their inn until an hour until Wilcora's projected downtime to explore some of those shops. If they hide the targets with visits to other stores along the same lines, it should camouflage their goals and provide a chance of contact with Wilcora. Then they could decide on their next move.

[Anastasia]

Okay, that's all easy enough. Gimme a quick d100.

[Corwin]

21:30 <Corwin> roll 1d100
21:30 <Penuche> Corwin invokes Penuche's magic: < 90 > [d100=90]

[Anastasia]

You wander about - the shops are filled with various sundry goods as well as a shop for magical items and souls, if you care to explore any of that, or merely stay on target.

[Corwin]

Seira explores the magical items on display, while clandestinely keeping an eye on the souls.

I presume detect good could help find any souls that don't belong here if they're not shielded, but would my divine nature and powers give me better insight here? Without outing me to the staff, of course.

[Anastasia]

They would, and it shouldn't out you to mere common devils.