Michele Querini |
I turn to Sergi, "this was brought to me by an intermediary to keep the true owner secret. With a few coins I was able to find out who the true owner was. I like to know who I am doing business with. Christopher Dandolo is the name you seek." clasping my hands together I give a slight nod. "you will do well to speak with my cousin since he has your rent money. I still have not seen my share." I grin widely.
Storyteller Shadow |
Sergei looks to you and nods. "Very well. I will approach this Christopher. In the meantime though I have to have a meeting at your house this afternoon. In the meantime perhaps you can find this Gino so we can resolve the housing situation that has been created. After all we did pay to stay at your home and there is little time to find a new place to stay at least until I get my ducats back".
Andrew the Hardy, Lord of Moray |
"Appears we be in fer a bit o a wait, good time as any tah do so. Drinks iffen its not too much trouble."
Settles down in the reception hall, props his leg up on something nearby.
Fredirico
"Been talkin ta an associat o mine, he wants tha bring goods tah market, he was thinkin wit tha pipeweed goin out tah Scottlan tha maybe he could bring some o his goods in on tha boats, an will be needin a place tah store goods. Capellis wharehouse seems right tah my thinkin. But I promised Id ask iffen Cappelli had any customers tha was less tha pleased wit tha services they got."
Storyteller Shadow |
Andrew the Hardy
The Giovanni representative nods in asent and sends one of his employees through the double doors to retrieve refreshments.
Storyteller Shadow |
Andrew the Hardy, Lord of Moray |
Federico and Andrew
"I shall make an inquiry o him whenst he returns...mayhap I am presumin a bit too much talkin o ships laden wit pipeweed from yer farm headin tah mah homeland an returnin wit goods fer sale an profit here in yer homeland."
"I guess iffen yer gonna dream Federico yah ort tah dream big. I guess this family here started wit less at some point in time."
Enjoys a drink as well as some cheese.
Storyteller Shadow |
Venice by Day – Friday March 6, 1309
Michele Querini
Michele you head to Gino’s house but there is no sign of him. Knowing that he could be literally anywhere in the city you head home to wait for night to arrive. There are far too many important tasks to handle this night, Gino will have to wait until tomorrow.
Xing Shi
Traveling across the city you arrive at the home of Luigi Vespucchi. Using the front door this time his servants greet you warmly and sit you in a dining room to take an afternoon lunch. Luigi is somewhat alarmed by the fact that you were forced to bring his powerful father into his dealings.
“I did not wish to interact with the Patriarch of the family. I will send a representative to his home to arrange a meeting. In the meantime see if you can also get me a private meeting with Michele, what we have to discuss I assume he will not want his father to know”.
You spend the rest of the afternoon at Luigi’s home resting and eating enjoying tales of his adventures throughout literally the world.
Andrew the hardy
Federico nods in agreement at your declaration and you and your companions sit to wait for the arrival of the Giovanni Lord.
Venice by Night – Friday March 6, 1309
The sun goes down on another day in Venice and night falls upon the city. As with the day the night is calm and cool. The terrible storms of the prior day have moved on leaving a cloudless sky. The moon is waning though the part that can be seen and the stars themselves are clear in the night.
Andrew the Hardy
The traffic of clients seeking the Giovanni services dies off as the day ends and the night begins. The quiet stillness of the room is interrupted only by the snoring of Donnach.
The doors to the outside are pushed open by Pietro Giovanni and another shrouded figure. “You are certain of this?” Pietro asks the hooded figure.
The figure glances inside the room and sees all of you sitting there, he turns back to Pietro and speaks his voice strained and bizarre sounding, “Perhaps we can discuss this later M’Lord it appears you have guests”.
Pietro turns towards your group with a look of abject hatred upon his face. Just as quickly the frightening visage vanishes replaced by the warm smile he wore the evening before. “Lord of Moray, what a pleasant surprise. I did not expect you back so soon. Is this young man with you the one who wishes to do business with my family?”
Soon after the sun goes down you hear a knock at the door the familiar sound of Dr. Bene’s voice calls out, “Dr. Cappelli are you home?”
Xing Shi
Xing Shi you head home to change your clothes and get ready to move into the night to continue on with your assigned task. At least things are progressing forward now!
Luckily your mysterious contact is nowhere to be found as you arrive at your current hideout. What do you do this evening?
Michael Santo
Success! Somehow your fleet has been transformed in a single day by the carpenter’s with short notice. You rue the ducats that must slip through your fingers to remunerate these men for their work but that is a much smaller price to pay and quite a bit less risky than attempting to bribe dozens of the Doge’s men.
Your fleet slips out of your shop headed for the rendezvous point. You are about to man the last Gondola to head to your special meeting when you hear a furious slamming on the door to your slipway. What do you do?
Gunther Thesing
As night draws to a close you watch over Christopher and Jordan like a hawk. Christopher it seems is shirking his duties today to spend time with Jordan, mixed emotions swirl within you as you consider all that has gone of the last week. You keep quiet though knowing that to ramble on without a clear head would be a mistake. Fiona agrees to stay with them as you head out into the night to have a few words with Michael Santo.
As you arrive at the door to his slip which is closed you become even more agitated. This door is never closed! You pound your fist on the door taking out the frustrations on the wood cracking it with the force of your hammer blows.
Michele Querini
Once the appointed hour arrives you dress in your finest garb and head out to the rendezvous point. You can only hope that Michael has performed his part of the bargain properly. There is little room for error at this critical stage. This caper is without question the single most important endeavor you have ever set upon, a disaster now could set you back for a lifetime.
Alessandro Khadaji
Donning your disguise you take to the rooftops over Venice as Il Corvo.
Do you head to a particular location or simply look for unusual occurrences? If you prefer the latter make a Perception + Awareness check, the difficulty is multi-tiered, successes at certain difficulties will allow you to find jucier intrigues taking place this night.
Andrew the Hardy, Lord of Moray |
"Pietro Giovanni, sorry to intrude, young Fedirico has indeed seen much wisdom in sellin his smaller farm tah acquire a true plantation o size fer pipeweed. As God has seen fit tah bless tha young man, I recommended tha transaction be handled thorugh tha Bank o Venice. I ad intended tah fund Federicos ambition, yet seems I wilst not be needed in tha regard. Mine hope is Fedirico wilst export quality pipeweed tah mah homeland an some goods could come back tah market."
Andrew rises and walks over to shake Peitro's hand.
"Shall we set a date tah meet at tha bank?"
Considers the darkness outside.....
"Could you put us up fer tha evening?"
Lorenzo Cappelli |
Venice by Day
Surprised by his brother's affection, but certainly not unwelcome, Lorenzo returns Dominic's embrace. "Have no worries for me, Dominic. Make sure that you take care of yourself, alright?" he adds as his brother leaves.
Venice by Night
Nervousness and a tinge of doubt enter Lorenzo's mind as he calls out, heading for the door. "Of course Dr. Benne, I'll be right there."
Arriving at the door, Lorenzo welcomes his "guest" into his home. "Good evening, please come in."
Storyteller Shadow |
Andrew the Hardy
Pietro smiles and slides his hand into his pocket, "I fear that I injured my hand today my friend and a shake will further cause me pain. Trust that my word is enough for us to have an agreement in principle on this land purchase. Yes the Bank of Venice would be a fine institution to work through and I do have contacts there already. Certailnly if you wish to stay the night I can arrange that but I assure you the weather is not nearly as terrible as it was the night before and a trip home should be little trouble".
Make a Perception + Alertness check difficulty 7
Storyteller Shadow |
"Good evening Dr. I trust you have had success in your quest to find information?"
Storyteller Shadow |
Andrew the Hardy
His hand while bloody did not have any injuries that you could see.
"Murders you say? Why death is always good for business I trust this dead person has family members who will wish to see to it that the remains of their loved ones are properly cared for. I can see why this would be unsettling for typical travelers to this city who may assume that such a big place would grant safety in numbers. It is not so of course. I have found that the taller the buildings the longer the shadows that ne'er-do-wells may hide in to conduct their sinister dealings. I am surprised that these deaths unsettle you so, is your homeland not wrought with struggles to the death?"
Lorenzo Cappelli |
Storyteller Shadow |
Dr. Benne pauses for a moment and continues, "I suppose that the news concerning this foreigner is both good and bad. Now that we have eliminated our intruders as leads to investigate we should focus on the property that caught the eye of the intruder. You had stated that the contents were religious symbols. To whom did that space belong?"
Storyteller Shadow |
Storyteller Shadow |
Andrew the Hardy
"My apologies on the lack of hospitality. Our house is full of the dead and quite unsettling to most outsiders". His hooded companion gives a slight chuckle at Pietro's statement.
"The bank is by appointment only, I will arrange for the meeting to take place and inform you of the time when we will conduct our business. One of my servants will handle the procedures with the same care that I would. Once again it was a pleasure meeting with you, Lord of Moray. I am sure that we will have business beyond this small transaction. As time permits I would like to speak with you and Donnach about opportunities in your homeland. For now though I am quite busy and I must excuse myself". With that, Pietro and his hooded companion move through the front room and into the double doors at the back of the Giovanni reception area.
What do you do?
Storyteller Shadow |
Andrew the Hardy
"Yes I look forward to closing our transaction and starting something else anew".
Michael Santo
You have no window to the door which closes the building off, generaly you leave the door open, this is in fact the first time you ever closed and locked it. Do you answer the door or sneak out on your Gondola to get a bettr look at who is there? You can see the door from the water.
Storyteller Shadow |
As you gingerly make your way through to the rendezvous point suddenly the fog lifts. Sitting in port is the ship. It is quite still in the water, you see the eyes of anxious sailors on board. They have not dropped the gangplank yet and eye you suspiciously.
You wave your hand to get their attention but as you raise your arm it is gripped by someone from behind you!
Spinning you see the mysterious Captain of the ship who brought you through the, the... It was so terrible you can still barely think of it much less speak of it. You suppress your terror and look the Captain in the eye.
"Well where are the transports Nobelman?"
As you weigh your response the mists of the canal part off to your left. Nearly a dozen Gondola's with navigators break through the fog and come to a stop looking up at you expectantly.
What do you say?
Storyteller Shadow |
Dr. Benne pauses and stares at you indeed seemingly through you, "You seem tense Doctor, is something about this unsettling you?"
Alessandro Khadaji |
Il Corvo, will stalk the rooftops looking for anything unusual or interesting. He does however keep a closer eye on the docks, having been an area of recent activity and concern.
Perception - Alertness (physical), no? That's why I put 2 pips in it!
Perception + Alertness, docks and other: 3d10 + 2d10 ⇒ (9, 1, 1) + (6, 9) = 26
Lorenzo Cappelli |
Storyteller Shadow |
Alessandro Khadaji
As you stalk the area around the docks it is plain to see that the weather is acting quite strangely. Despitethe day being clear and the temperature being mild a thick fog has rolled in from the sea.
Make a Perception + Awareness check difficulty of 8
Michael Santo
Luckily the doors to the canal are already open so you will make little noise heading out into the water. Perhaps not so lucky is the fact that you will need to steer the boat out to get your closer look. As you do so you see Gunther pounding on the doors looking mad as hell.
Gunther Thesing
Make a Perception + Alertness check difficulty 5
"Yes, I should have suspected as much from you. You are an intelligent man Dr. Cappelli and I do look forward to what you will become under my tutelage. I find it fascinating that you have already made peace with the world. You assume a great deal here Dr. It will be some time at least a handful of weeks before I give you my final gift as I need you to be my daytime eyes and ears. In the meantime I will prepare for the second phase of your initiation into my order on the morrow.
Regarding Michele Querini I need you to find his home as we will need to speak with him together this time. I would have you witness my powers over the living as you will someday need to employ them.
Know that everything between us has been what you wanted, I have not used my powers to coerce you. I prefer one who is willing not one who is unwilling to join me. You will be the third person I have brought into my order and I suspect the best of the three.
Tell me before I leave you to find this Querini character, is there any question you have that I may attempt to answer for you now?"
Lorenzo Cappelli |
Storyteller Shadow |
Gunther Thesing
As you are banging on the door you glance to your left and in the murky darknes of the canal you see Michael Santo looking up at you from one of his Gondola's. He is making very little sound and it appears that he is considering whether he should yell out to you. What do you do?
Thesing |
Gunther Thesing
As you are banging on the door you glance to your left and in the murky darknes of the canal you see Michael Santo looking up at you from one of his Gondola's. He is making very little sound and it appears that he is considering whether he should yell out to you. What do you do?
Turning towards the figure in the gondola, Gunther takes a step towards Michael.
"Michael? That you?... A word with you, my friend.", Gunther shouts out to him.
Storyteller Shadow |
Andrew the Hardy
Andrew as you step onto the outside foyer with Donnach and Federico you expect that a Gondola will be by quite soon to pick you up. However, after fifteen minutes none pass by. Either the Gondoliers are quite busy or they are out of commission. Do you want to re-enter the building or simply wait longer for a Gondola to arrive?
Michael Santo |
Michael brings the gondola to the dock
"is there something wrong?" michael seems puzzled
"the fleet is just setting out to pick up the cargo to bring to the inn is everything ok? You seem like you were pounding on that door rather hard."
Will i have time to keet with Fahidi before the cargo i still need him to deal with everyones minds when done and to watch and make sure this transaction goes smoothly
Storyteller Shadow |
Andrew the hardy
Federico looks at the water below, "It is strange Signore that the only entrance to this building is on the water. We may be able to pass back through and leave by another entrance if you wish. I am sure if we wait though a Gondola will make its way past us".
It appears the other option is to dive into the canal and swim to the nearest dock, which is quite far away actually and the water is absolutely filthy.
Alessandro Khadaji
The slip where the fog is the most highly concentrated are public slips where merchants not affiliated with the city of Venetian merchants may put in to deliver their cargo. If the se slips belong to anyone it is the Doge and the Great Council as they are financially responsible for their upkeep.
As the Captain crosses his arms the right hand man of Santo steps off of his Gondola and onto the docks. "We have prepared for this little problem Signore. He reaches down and pulls out a false bottom from his Gondola. These have all been modified to fit your cargo. The faster we start the faster we finish no?"
The Captain nods to him, "Very well, begin then the process".
The Captain turns and bellows orders to his crew and you hear the sound of the ships hold being opened and the stairs dropping into the hold. The gangplank is lowered and the manacled slaves are led off of the ship and placed into the Gondola's.
Michele make a Perception + Empathy check difficulty 5