"Dingus, how do you feel about crafting? And would you mind spending a few days dressing a mite less flashy? I'm thinking that for this one it's best if we're unmemorable...and it'd only be for a few days."
Corliss gathers Jim to Kaul's bedside so the swashbuckler, too, might benefit from a healing channel.
Purged of poison and with a healthy pink to his scar tissue, Kaul mugs a grin at Corliss, then eases himself out of his bunk;
"Hur. Me thanks matey. Ol' Kauly was a bit shakey like for a while... stabbit me with poison the sneaky fecks..."
He pauses, thoughts turning venomous as he catches up;
"So... Hurrr. Tell me we showed up in force... burned that sh1te'ole down an' every feckin' one o' them in it...Hurrrrrr."
Corliss winces at Kaul's final words. "I'm afeared that be 'Plan B' at the moment," the priest explains. "Them Lixy ladies an' whatever devils they keep also caught Jim, so Dingus and yers truly had to be diplomatic to get yas back. Had to sign a contract to promise to complete a mission for the lovely Lixy lasses to get you an' Jim back. They'll hold onto yer weapons--an' Ed and Grund--'til we complete her...hers?...their?...Dang--pronouns be confusin'! ...Er, the Lixy twins' mission."
After taking a quick step back so as not to be a convenient recipient of Kaul's expected rage at the pronouncement, Corliss adds, "Plus, the Cap'n seems to think there might be some truth to the charge that our two lunkhead crewmen might've indeed tried to cheat the joint...."
Dingus mouth drops open and he looks down gesturing at his shiny black satin robe with the hot pink fur fringe. "So maybe this would be Okay if I didn't wear a Boa or a contrasting hat? I'm not sure what you mean by flashy. I just dress stylishly... Still I'll let you pick my wardrobe for the extent of our foray... though I can't guarentee I'll perform as well without being properly accessorized".
He then thinks again for a moment. "I guess I'll have to leave Richard here for the duration. Perhaps someone is trustworthy enough on the ship to care for him... or keep him out of trouble".
"Also, I don't have a lot of mundane skills. Perhaps I could perform some translation, or scribing duties"?
Kaul takes in the story as his brow furrows pushing his beady eyes deeper into his skull.
"Those feckin' witches... Lopps ye say? Kept ye say..."
The thug's hairlip curls in disgust before he nods;
"Aye. One of the hags pitched me a deal concernin' another crime boss name o' Clegg. Somethin' 'bout him 'avin' a magical e-lixir from Garund. Somethin' they want us to steal from 'em..."
Kaul glances sideways where Lopps would typically be, providin' affirmation on his notions. He glowers at the invisible wound, then chuckles;
"Seems they are playin' down his threat. Bettin' Clegg is a bad basterd... I like them types. So Ol' Kauly plans to throw in with Clegg. Play the witches, an give him a leg back up the totem pole when we butcher them uppty Lixes..."
He eyes Corliss, and speaks - voice cold and hard;
"Don't try an' talk me down nor round either lad. They got Lopps, so they is all dead walkin'..."
Jim scratches his chin meditatively, then shakes his head. "Not yet, I'm thinking. See, once we're done up north, we're going to have to come back this way, and I'd prefer they don't roll out the big guns when we show up. Besides, I don't know anything about this Clegg--might be even worse than the whatever-they-were, and there's no guarantees he won't double-cross us. So I'm thinking we do just what we're asked...fetch the elixir, get our gear and crew back, keelhaul the pair of 'em for getting us into this, and sail off north.
"Once that's done, though, well. Plenty of trouble we can get into coming home, hey?"
Kaul looks unconvinced by Jimmer's gunboat diplomacy;
"Clegg could be the worst basterd in RIddleport for all I care. 'E ain't wronged me... We do this, then when we come back we got Clegg an' them witches tae content with. Bad odds."
The bosun flashes a devious grin;
"Tell ye what. Get the measure o' this Clegg. Iffin' he's agreeable to the deal, we can fashion some nasty poison instead o' the elixir. Let one o' 'em down it an die slow... Slow enough to see the other lopped til they is but a lump o' chum. Iffen he ain't we do the job an' kill 'em all after. Hurrr."
Corliss looks very nervous at Kaul's bloody suggestions.
"Two problems," he says after coughing a bit to clear his throat. "First--an' likely least important--me, Jim, an' Dingus signed a contract to do this deed. Whether said contract be legal when what it details is, in itself, illegal, be another question altogether. I'm with Jim--we do our end o' the deal an' see where things stand then."
"Second--an' more important in me eyes--we be on a holy quest fer Besmara. We needs to bring some sort o' justice to Red Aesha. Might be a whole lot more difficult iff'n our crew's bein' hunted by all o' Riddleport, eh?'
Kaul chuckles harshly at the conundrum;
"Hur... Fine you an' Jimmer complete the plan. Remember Ol' Kauly is damned an' didn't sign feck all... Sides' we ain't being 'unted by all o' Riddleport. Iffin' my plan works, be one less fraction to deal with by the other crimelords. More tasty swill fir the riddlepigs..."
The brute bosun rubs his no-neck with a slow nod;
"Red Aesha will get 'ers... But if we let this lot bend the Bloody Fortune o'er a barrel, then we's fair game. Word will get out. Just sayin', will get a lot redder just to get our rep back."
He nods toward Dingus;
"Ding... What say ye on all o' this?"
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Dingus rubs his chin and tries to look like he's wisely considering the situation.
"Well... this is no simple situation, with no simple solution. So we know the the Lixes are terrible, and I hate them and want them to die a horrible, painful death... I don't know if the Cleggs are even worse. I think we need to know more about what's happening and try to find out more about both groups. Perhaps getting closer to Clegg will allow us to make a more informed decision".
He then gets his normal confused vacant look in his eyes. "What's the biggest frog you've ever seen"?
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Corliss finds himself silently disagreeing with Dingus: He doesn't necessarily believe the Lixies are terrible. In fact, he's in the process of forming a plan in which he and his magical copycat go on a double date with the Lixy twins....
Kaul listens with a malicious glint in his beady eyes at Dingus' affirmation that the Lixes we're to die a horrible, painful death.
"Hur... More we know, better we can plan our red 'anded revenge."
He pauses, deep in thought at the snake question;
"Hurrr. Seen a fat bilge toad once. Bigger than a piss pail. That count?"
As soon as Kaul is conscious again, the mates gather in the Officers Quarters to bring him up to present and plot. Jim suggests that himself and Corliss pose as mercenaries and, assuming he can stay focused long enough, Dingus could offer skilled trades services. Kaul seems convinced not to immediately burn down the Golden Goblin for the moment, but his plans for the interim are unclear.
Fortunately, the mates have the remainder of the afternoon and the night to prepare, explore, or rest after an already eventful day before their follow up at the Stevedore's Union office on the morrow.
"See, there's one thing you're missing, Kaul. We double-cross the b1tches, who's to say they don't toss Lopper in the drink? And consider something else...for me and Corliss, signing that contract was the only way we got you back. Food for thought, hey?"
Kaul's beady eyes narrow as the reality of Jimmers words sink in. Curling his hairlip, the bosun nods;
"Fine... I'll tow the line, but once Lopper be back in my paw, all bets are off and them b1tches lives are forfeit. Hur.... Better we're damned together eh lads... Ol' Kauly don't mind the company hurrrrr."
Dingus nods vigorously at Kaul's stirring speech and starts to reach out for a high five before remembering that Kaul tended to reward that gesture with a slap of his more painful appendage. "Yeah! One enemy at a time".
He then looks at Kaul Puzzlement on his face. "Exactly how big is a piss pail"?
Work travel till Thursday afternoon. Feel free to DMPC character to not hold things up.
Kaul's scarred brow furrows at Dingus' question... before he chuckles with a nod;
"Hur. 'Bout size o' a human 'ead mate. Same sorto dimentions... just more buckety than a noggin..."
The travels and trials of the day quickly catch up with the mates and they spend the remainder of the day relaxing and engaged in diverting and sometimes hard to follow banter. After a restful night's sleep, they are up and ready for the task at hand, but not until after partaking of the hearty breakfast Estabo has prepared, with the rest of the ship's crew minus Ed and Grund.
Fairweather has fished out a basic rapier for Corliss who has loaned his high-end weapon to Jim, and a hatchet and leather armor for Kaul. Everyone wishes the four officers good luck as they disembark and make their way through the morning crowds on the docks over to the Stevedors Union.
The barn-like building is still busy as mobs of workers are hired out by captains and merchants to move crates and barrels on and off the ships moored in Riddleport harbor. The newcomers push their way through the throng to the back of the hall where a line forms outside the door to the recruiting office.
It isn't too long a wait until the queue shrinks and the mates find themselves before a desk where a rather broad shouldered man crouches behind a desk with a pencil clenched in a beefy fist.
With an impatient tone and a dubious glance, he eyeballs the crew and taps the pencil tip on the ledger before him. "Yeah. What's your trade?"
"I am a scribe...clerk... and filing expert... and fashion consultant extraordinaire.
Kaul mugs a grin and raises his loaned weapon;
"'achet man. Chop stuff good."
"Jack o' all trades--guard, stevedore...I can even manage a touch o' healin', thanks to the Pirate Queen."
"Sword for hire."
The man points at Corliss. "Alright, you I can get work for right away. We take a percentage for dues off the top." He writes Corliss' name into the ledger once it's given and looks at the others. "The scribbler and the sell-swords- we do get requests occasionally for accountants and guards, but it'll take time to set that up." He pauses, eyeballing the men. "If you're in a hurry though, you could try up at the arena. Wouldn't likely be long-term work, but they are looking for extra bodies right now."
At the prospect of work Kaul chuckles;
"Hur. Bodies. Bodies I can give 'em... Right 'atch?"
The hatchet in his non-claw paw bobs in agreement.
"Sounds fair 'nough."
The Besmaran steps to the side so the recruiter can finish up with the others (but not so far away that he can't easily overhear what transpires).
"Okay. Thanks... Dingus takes off like he knows where he's going, then realizes he doesn't so stops to wait for the others.
The man looks askance at Corliss. "Don't you want to know what the job is? Ask for Safarzi out in the hall. He needs warehouse workers. The rest of you check back in two days and I'll see what I can find. Of course, you're welcome to try at the Arena as I said."
Jim nods and heads over to the Arena.
Kaul holds, affixing the recruiter with a beady eye;
"Hur. Ye mentioned percent-age dues. How much ye taken off o' his coin? Would 'ate to see 'im too out o' pocket..."
"Warehouse work...Safarzi...got it."
As he walks toward the hall, the priest turns his head and raises his hand in a friendly gesture. While his eyes are on the recruiter and his brief words of thanks are directed toward that fellow, his little half-wave is for his crewmates.
"Hur. Ye mentioned percent-age dues. How much ye taken off o' his coin?"
"Five percent. It's off the top so nothing coming out of his pocket 'cus it never goes in."
Corliss identifies more of a system to the flow of people in the hall. The workers are knotted around a couple men on short crates that are scattered about the floor. Jim passes through the groups to head for the door and the arena.
Dingus stands impatiently as Jim finally approaches. "Do you know where the Arena is? What do you think we'll do there"?
He then skitters along in Jim's wake.
"Not sure yet. Maybe fight some people, maybe play guard. We'll see, hey?"
Kaul shrugs his no-neck, then wheels back towards the departing arena bound contingent.
He returns Corliss' wave;
"Anyone give ye trouble Blackboots, ye send 'em my way. Hur..."
As he trudges along he chimes in his black thoughts;
"So how we playin' this then lads? I'll tow the line so longs as when its done we put them harpies to the sword an' burn down that sh1t'ole they run."
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Jim murmurs, "Play it straight for now. Best way to impress the folks here, I'm thinking, is to be good at killing." He gives Kaul a sidelong glance. "Think we can manage that?"
Kaul hacks a rough chuckle;
"Hur. Reckon so mate... Reckon so."
The crew are familiar with the immense arena that stands immediately upland of the docks. Jim leads the way as Kaul and Dingus follow. A guard stands at the ticket office at the main gate and eyeballs the approaching trio.
Jim steps up to the guard, keeping his hand away from the hilt of his borrowed rapier. "Morning! We all asked after jobs back there--" He points a thumb at the person who sent them. "--and they told us you might have some short-term work. What do you need?"
Jim points back toward the Union Hall which is just out of sight down the street. "The Union Hall?" the guard asks. "Yeah, OK. You two would pass for guards, I guess. " He points to Jim and Kaul and stands aside to let them pass. "Try-outs are on the sand."
"You don't look like guard material," he points at Dingus. "Crafters are over at the Boss' tenement." He waves to the northwest beyond the Golden Goblin.
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"What"! Dingus looks insulted by the insinuation that he doesn't look like guard material.
"Well I can be quite crafty. Is it Okay if I watch the fights for a bit before I go to boring work"?
Diplomacy.
"Pretty Please"...
Kaul mugs a grin and leans in toward Jim;
"Try outs fir bein' a guard... What stand still an' look bored... Hur... Feckin' mooks the lot o' em Jimmer...."
The guard chuckles at Dingus. "You wanna see a show here, you pay regular entry price- 10 silvers."
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"What! I better get a good seat for that".
Dingus reluctantly hands over the entrance fee.
I can always get a job tomorrow. I deserve a day off.
Jim chuckles. "Aye, feckin' hated standing watches when I was regular Navy. Well, let's go show 'em what we can do." The Taldan heads for the sand.
The guard waves Dingus through to follow after Jim and Kaul. The tunnel opens to an enormous oval field covered in sand. Steep seating ascends in rings around the field. The seats are currently empty. A small section of the arena floor appears set aside for a training field, where mercenaries spar and practice on dummies. In another area, Tall flightless birds with long legs, short wings, and heavy dangerous-looking beaks strut around a corral.