Jorlak returns to the temple without incident. Ruleyr d'n Zarnadar is, as usual, on sentry duty at the entrance.

"Where have you been", the knight asks, "We've been looking everywhere for you - Nuildal wants to see you".

Jorlak

"I was finding something of interest to Zardor. Is Nuildal in his office right now?"

"As far as I know, yes", the knight replies.

Jorlak

"Excellent. I'll report to him right away, then."

When he gets to the office, his first impulse is to blurt out his discovery, but he realizes that he should give the high priest a chance to speak first.

"Jorlak, where have you been?", says Nuildal, "We've wondered when on Kalyr you've been. With all the assassinations happening around the city, we've been worried about you!".

Jorlak

"I am sorry," begins the priest. "Zardor gave me some additional instructions, and I did not think to mention them before leaving.

"If you noticed the airship that fell on the other side of the river, it seems to have dropped an artefact of the ancients in the water before it hit the ground."

"What sort of artefact?", he asks, "And exactly where? Were Zardor's instructions to recover it? And can that be done without attracting the attention of the Karazthan?".

Jorlak

"Zardor's instructions were to find out as much as possible about any artefacts the Karazthan have discovered. In this case, that would seem to require retrieving it from the river.

"I can lead others to the exact location. Avoiding the attention of the Karazthan will be the difficult part. Whoever bends down to pluck it from the river bottom," as he holds his hands to indicate its size, "will be completely immersed; they may consider such a sight suspicious. Their attention was not on that section of the river bank, but the possibility may occur to them given time."

"It does sound as though Zardor would want us to recover it, whatever the risk. I would take all necessary precautions, but the will of Zardor cannot be denied.

Jorlak

Jorlak nods. "The current situation with the bridge might make it difficult to obtain a boat for this use, but if that turns out to be possible that would seem to be ideal for avoiding notice."

"In that case, you should confer with Ruleyr over the best way of recovering things without attracting the attention of the Karazthan guards. You make take a couple of the temple slaves with you, although a larger party might attract too much attention. I'll leave it to you and Ruleyr to come up with a plan of action.

Unless you want to confer with Zardor himself?"

Jorlak

"I would not want to annoy Zardor with the details of this. Of course, if we do retrieve the artefact, I am certain Zardor will want to be notified upon our return."

Once dismissed, Jorlak proceeds to Ruleyr. "Ruleyr, I will need your help with something." He checks that no one is close enough to overhear them. "Zardor instructed me to learn as much as possible about any ancient artefacts the Karazthan have discovered, and it seems that one such artefact fell out of that airship before it hit the ground. It is currently in the river near the far shore, and we need to get it back here without being noticed."

"How long have we got?", asks the Knight, "If we wait until the Karazthan have dismantled their airship and left the scene, it will be easy. But that will not be for days. If you fear it will not still be there by then, we need a plan to distract their attention, or a cover".

Jorlak

"That is an excellent question, to which I do not have the answer. If just one of the Karazthan thinks to check whether something might have fallen before it crashed, they might be able to discover the artefact. Of course, it is in the river rather than on the bank, and any such search is likely to focus more on the damaged buildings than the water.

"For now, their attention is on the airship itself and its immediate surroundings. They did not seem to have the manpower to watch the entire path. If we had a small boat and a couple slaves, we might be able to proceed directly to the artefact and grab it without being noticed. With the bridge gone, that would just be one more boat crossing the river."

"Couple of slaves", he says, "Let's think - Allor Ni would be ideal if we want someone strong. And he's level-headed in a crisis. He should be one of the two. Now, can we think of another?".

Jorlak knows Allor well enough for it to seem a fair assessment. There are three or four other temple slaves who might be suitable candidates.

Jorlak

"Do you know whether we might be able to get a small boat? If so, one with boating experience would be ideal."

When the message from the gate arrive, he adds, "I hope this will not take long. You will need me to point out the location."