Once those scattered details had been pieced back together in his mind, following that trail further led inevitably to Amicali, the newly appointed Merchants' Guild director responsible for coordinating trade in White Harbor.
She must have lent her assistance. Or rather, Amicali must have been an indispensable part of the operation. Only through her involvement could the Saltbone Marquis have brought the Pickle Barrel, a ship under his command laden with corpses, into port under the guise of routine maintenance on a guild merchant vessel, then reinforced it while preparing for an ocean voyage...
Moreover, when Renato had fought the Necromancy Mage who worshipped Myrkul aboard the ship, his opponent had let slip clues about the mastermind. All of this had been orchestrated behind the scenes by a Chosen One of Bane-the Tyrant's Hand...
Admittedly, judging solely by their descriptions, the "sacrificial ritual" and the supposed "opening of the island" mentioned by the Necromancy Mage did sound remarkably similar to charging and activating the Key of the Two-Breathers.
Yet all the signs the pirates had displayed made it clear that the followers of the Dead Three were not holding their ritual in White Harbor.
In fact, before Renato launched his surprise attack, they had shown no intention whatsoever of remaining here for long...
Had Renato not intervened ahead of time, the Necromancy Mage, with support from Bhaal's pirates, would certainly have held out until Amicali arrived now. The followers of the Dead Three could then have worked together to overcome the bureaucratic obstacles within the Governor's Mansion and secure permission for the Pickle Barrel to set sail...
Although several questions remained unanswered, that brief bout of brainstorming had allowed Renato to quickly connect the various clues and reach a conclusion.
The elegant, renowned gray-haired swordswoman before him was far more