Thadeus and Elizabeth step off the curb and into the shattered glow of Electric Avenue. The front window is intact, but the shop floor beyond it is a mess, and the air still carries burnt plastic and ozone.
Thadeus Jovanović
The break-in happened fast, and it was aimed at the evidence.
Inside, a strip of receipts has been shoved under the counter like someone tried to hide them in a hurry. One page bears the broken-star stamp. Another has Elias’s name on a supply line, then a second notation in red ink: VOIDED AFTER PAYMENT.
Elizabeth Bathory
That is not a shopping list. Someone is tracking him through paperwork.
A phone on the counter lights up with a text from Marla, sent from the car outside. She has pulled a photo from a ledger scan, and the same invoice number is circled three times. It matches the page in Thadeus’s hand.
Marla Brewer
Thadeus, it’s a trail. Same invoice, same stamp, same route. Elias is the hinge.
A narrow office door stands ajar at the back of the shop, its lock bent outward. Beyond it, a desktop monitor glows with a folder name: SPECIAL PROJECTS. The hidden network is not just tied to Elias, it is archived through him.
✓ Quest Accepted
Track Elias through the broken-star paperwork
“Thadeus thinks back to the Knight's End club, "Elizabeth, didn't we find a ledger with "Special Projects" listed at that club, too?" Elizabeth eyes light up, "You're right! We did. I don't think Elias would've gone back there, though. I don't think SoD is really concerned about his safety."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled -2)
Thadeus Jovanović
Elizabeth, didn't we find a Special Projects ledger at Knight's End too?
Elizabeth Bathory
You’re right. We did. I don’t think Elias went back there, though.
Elizabeth Bathory
And I don’t think Stars of Divinity is worried about keeping him safe.
Elizabeth’s eyes sharpen as the connection locks in, and the folder on the monitor suddenly feels less like a file and more like a route.
Thadeus’s comparison lands cleanly, but the strain of the moment costs him, the invoice pages crumpling a little hard in his grip and nicking his thumb on a sharp fold.
Marla Brewer
If that folder ties both places together, then Elias was never off the map. He was being carried through it.
Quest Complete
Track Elias through the broken-star paperwork
“Thadeus decides to search behind Electric Avenue. He outside into the alleyway and locates, Elias's truck, the keys sitting in the center console. Thadeus thinks, "That's really not good. Either he's on foot, or someone kidnapped him." He heads back inside to update Marla and Elizabeth. Thadeus adds, "Marla, I want you to go my home and stay put there. I have a good enough computer you can use to give us whatever Intel we need, and it will be safer for you there." Marla understands, waves goodbye and hops in her car and drives off. Thadeus turns to Elizabeth, "We're going to borrow Elias's truck for a bit." Elizabeth grins mischievously, "Please let me drive." Thadeus, raising his hands, states, "You don't have to tell me twice." Thadeus and Elizabeth head out into the alleyway, hop in the truck and drive way, destination yet to be determined.”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled -1)
Thadeus slips through the back and into the alley behind Electric Avenue. Elias’s truck sits crooked by the wall, driver’s door shut, engine cold.
The center console is open. Keys rest there, too neat for a panic exit.
Thadeus Jovanović
That's really not good. Either he's on foot, or someone kidnapped him.
He turns back inside with the keys and the smell of rain on his coat, carrying the answer like a bruise.
Thadeus Jovanović
Marla, I want you to go to my home and stay there. I have a computer you can use, and it'll be safer for you.
Marla Brewer
Yeah. Got it. I’m on my way.
Marla gives a quick wave, hurries out to her car, and drives off, her taillights smearing red across the wet street.
Thadeus Jovanović
We're going to borrow Elias's truck for a bit.
Elizabeth Bathory
Please let me drive.
Thadeus Jovanović
You don't have to tell me twice.
Thadeus and Elizabeth head back into the alley, climb into Elias’s truck, and pull out into Detroit with no destination chosen yet.
✓ Quest Accepted
Find Elias