A discovery, between the barracks and the winery

With the threat of the guards lessening, you and the saintesses relaxed your pace and observed your surroundings. The tunnel had proven a useful escape route, but for what purpose had it been built? The captain was the kind of guy who swaggered confidently about town and didn't worry at all about what people thought of him. He didn't need a tunnel if he wanted to take a lady out on the town-- he'd just bring her back to his room. The placement meant that he was deeply connected to whatever secret lay at the end of this tunnel... but what could it be?

You half expected to find some sort of holding cells or cages down here, to keep the city's dissenters out of the public eye, but you encountered nothing of the sort. Trying to figure out what you ought to anticipate, you began to search through the documents you'd found scattered on Mertz' desk. They were generous proof of his wrong-doings. Poorly balanced books, gifts from suspicious sources, and that sort of thing.

One consistent element jumped out at you: the wine. Although the brands didn't seem to match anything he was drinking, the ledger was covered in movements of vintages from Wiseman Winery. Each of them were signed on the sending end by one Jules Wiseman. Unfortunately, this was starting to feel like a dead end. Jules Wiseman was a noble, a sommelier of note, and probably had his hands in some dirty money, but there was one thing he wasn't: a woman of marrying age. There was no way he was the false saintess you were looking for. Furthermore, he had no family and kept little staff. It was highly unlikely you were going to find the saintess working under his employ.

You grit your teeth. Had that whole barracks infiltration been for nothing?

Just then, your attention was snagged by the outburst of a saintess.{if Belit = True}

"Ooooh boy! We hit the motherload, Vin! Would you look at all this?! Anybody mind if I drink from the tap?"{endif}{if Helmid = True}

"Barrels upon barrels... my word! All stored down here in the cavern?"{endif}{if Bangaal = True}

"Ha ha ha! Are you a wine-lover, Lavender Vin? This may just be your wish come true!"{endif}{if Amulette = True}

"A commendable collection of corks-- and an appetizing arrangement of **** to go with them."{endif}{if Rosary = True}

"S-Such a place existed beneath the checkpoint?"{endif}{if Liens = True}

"This many? Geez. A pretty penny. I'd bet. But nothing illegal. Right?"{endif}

You joined the saintesses in marveling at the great collection of over-sized barrels, wine caskets, and even bottle shelves that littered this area. It was clear that this was hidden stock belonging to the winery. But why? No way they were just trying to avoid taxation on all of their inventory, right?

A thought occurred to you, almost like a premonition. You suddenly warned the saintesses not to drink any of the stock.{if Belit = True}

The party's thief had already uncorked one bottle and raised it to her lips; she looked over at you with an amusing expression, looking caught in the act, before replacing the cork where it was. "Eh heh... Who, me?" she giggled. "Aw, c'moooon! Just one bottle! There's like a billion bottles here, right? Who cares if I drink one?!"{endif}{if Amulette = True}

"You'd better have some brilliant backing for that bull-headed bark, Squire," Amulette sighed. She'd been ready to break into the bottles here and now. The witch placed it back into its rack and frowned. "I can't help questioning why you'd keep me from downing a delectable Dark Forest Brew." The witch was usually aloof, but it seemed that booze was one thing she took seriously.{endif}{if Rosary = True}

"Well, this would hardly have been the time or place, regardless, right? I'm not much of a drinker, besides..." Rosary pitched in. "Outside of church functions, of course."{endif}{if Bangaal = True}

Bangaal turned to face you, while holding a wine-bottle in each hand by their necks. "Oh, but your human spirits are one of Bangaal's favorite parts of humanity! Do you think them dangerous? But what danger could they be to an immortal djinn, hmmm?" she questioned, then began to idly juggle them over her head as she waited for an appropriate answer.{endif}{if Liens = True}

"As if I would drink any of this. Randomly drinking on a mission? Who'd be that stupid? Belit? Belit would," Liens remarked, nodding thoughtfully.{endif}{if Helmid = True}

"Sir Lavender, what is the trouble? Do you suspect some sort of danger?" the lady paladin questioned, raising an eyebrow as she placed one hand upon her sword. "Apart from the obvious danger that becoming drunk on royal red would pose to our current endeavors, of course."{endif}

The train of thought was thus: the conspiracy out here at the checkpoint town was too vast to be simple tax evasion. The way this wine was stored didn't seem particularly good for the wine either-- this was not a climate-controlled warehouse, but rather, a simple tunnel dug under ground. While these might look like fine vintages, no one would seriously store wine this way for safekeeping. It was also way too much to be the theft of a few winery workers or even Mertz.

The wine was down here for some reason... and with everything else ruled out, you had one guess left. The wine wasn't intended to be kept "in good condition" because it was contaminated with something. What, you couldn't say, but given the forces at play and the amount they had to lose, it could even be lethal poison.

The saintess must be connected to the tainted **** somehow. Was she the one contaminating it? And after that, then what? Mix it back with the actual wine stock? That would be far too random, wouldn't it? You could take a gamble and go find Wiseman, question him on it, try to take in Mertz and get it out of him, but you thought you knew a more fool-proof way to get your answer than any of that.

"Guard Captain Mertz! My good man. You're looking a bit frazzled, if I do say so. Spot of wine to take the edge off?"

A woman's voice-- posh, high-born-- spoke to the familiar figure of Mertz as he arrived through the tunnel entrance. He seemed to have lost some of the swagger he had when you first met him at the checkpoint gate. By this point, he would have found that you all had ransacked his room for clues and he would know that you were hot on his trail as a conspirator.

"There have been setbacks. A squire and two saintesses arrived into town earlier today. Those bitches have taken things from my room. They're on to me-- on to you!" he complained, swiping one gloved hand. It seemed he had a sense of urgency the woman lacked. "I know they've been through this tunnel. Has anyone been through Wiseman's? Any sight of them?"

"Nothing of the sort. They can't transform into rats, can they? Oh, should we check the barrels, my darling?"

"Enough jokes! I've stuck my neck out pretty bloody far for you this time and I think it's time I got some reassurance!"

"Your reassurance is that we're moving the inventory out to the church at this very second for the first initiation. The saintess and her gracious donation of wine to community leaders at the outreach banquet, as we've discussed. Even if those pests are on your trail, it will soon be too late for them to intervene, unless they want to turn their swords against their own people." The woman's voice was dripping with all of the self-assurance that seemed to have fled from Mertz. "Shall we toast, to celebrate?"

This was definitely your woman. She and Mertz were in on it together. The only question now was how best to apprehend her? Unless she was just being way too cocky, she must have something up her sleeve for the possibility of a run-in with your party. Her form was still hidden by the shadows cast by a line of tall caskets, but you could see her shadow: a shapely woman in a nun's habit. More a... conventional type of shapely than the pear-shaped sister Rosary was.

As for your party, you were all sticking to the shadows yourselves, hidden inside one of the emptied out casks just as she'd jokingly theorized you might be. You could spring the lid any time, once you'd thought of the appropriate way to gain an advantage.