Losing interest in the officers' quarters, Dingus thinks that surely the Captain's quarters might have something of interest. He heads up to the weather deck to try and sneak past the sailors on watch and into the Captain's room.
Stealth.
Double-dipped with illusions, Dingus quietly creeps on slippered feet topside and around a pair of sailors on watch over to the captain's door. He carefully opens the door to find the captain at her desk inside. The weathered woman looks up at the breeze that lifts the corners of the charts and notes on her desk. Frowning, she passes Dingus to the door and looks out. Not seeing anyone, she shuts the door and checks the latch.
Corliss works fairly slowly, messing up once in order to give Dingus more time to execute his secret investigation.
Dingus looks around the room. The new ship is still sparsely outfitted. The walls are bare. Besides the large desk cluttered with papers, there is a dining table and built in cupboards and cabinets in this part of the room. The room is partitioned off by a screen that obscures the other part of the room, but Dingus sees part of a large bed and wardrobe there. Dingus reckons that he is about halfway through the invisibility spell's duration.
Happy enough with his info, but yet to formulate what to do with it, Kaul exits Otuk's abode makes for the shadows of Riddleport... and mulls if what he knows should be in the hands of Croat or his crew...
...mulls if what he knows should be in the hands of Croat or his crew..
Dingus sneaks into the bedchamber portion of the cabin. If there is room to hide under the bed he'll do so. If not he'll see if there is room to hide in the closet with the door cracked so if the Captain leaves he can quickly search the cabin.
Dingus finds that the bed is bolted down, but raised enough to slither under. He hides beneath it and Richard takes the opportunity to sniff around while Dingus waits.
*************
Kaul needs some brain lubricant and finds a dive nearby with cheap rotgut. He orders a couple rounds and sits drinking with a strained look on his face as he tries to decide what to do next.
Even with groggles on, Kaul's beady eyes note the hench-orc on the hunt.
He mulls trying to slip out, then decides to hold fast...
The brute bosun requests another drink and leaves it sitting at the seat opposite him...
Scrag ambles into the dive and gives Kaul an alarming grin considering the dense thicket of jagged tusks protruding from his lower jaw. He sits and takes a swig of the drink waiting for him. "Looks like we're celebrating a successful mission. Learned something, did you?"
***************
Dingus waits impatiently under the bed listening to the scratching of the quill as the captain writes something. Alarmingly, he also realizes that he needs to pee. Just before things get desperate, there's a knock at the door and a sailor tells the captain that chow is ready. Dingus hears the captain finish up whatever she is doing and then he hears the door open and close as she finally leaves the room.
First Dingus looks for something to relieve himself in and does so. Then he quickly looks through what the captain was writing, and anything else interesting before once again assuming his invisibility and leaving the room as he found it... except for his urine in a jar or something and absconding with anything interesting. He'll make his way off the vessel at this time renewing invisibility as needed.
Dingus slithers out from under the bed as soon as he hears the door close and finds a spittoon attached to the desk that will serve for a chamber pot. Now able to focus, he looks over the desk and sees a variety of charts.
He also spies a letter half buried in the pile of charts.
There is also a gold serpent bracelet lying on a nearby shelf.
Profession: Sailor
Dingus commits the letter to memory, and hastens out of the room, taking a moment to peak through the cracked door first, then if clear turns invisible and departs. The contents of the letter remain foremost in his memory, and he quickly forgets anything revealed by the charts.
Dingus makes his way to the city proper to share his gleaned information with the rest of the motley crew.
Dingus makes his way to the city proper to share his gleaned information with the rest of the motley crew.
Kaul nods with a equally jigsaw grin;
"Hur. Did indeed mate. Accordin' to our snitch she's planning on stealin' sumthin' from Cregg. Magical like. Ain't sure what."
He takes a draught with a grimace;
"More interestin'ly Otuk reckons she's a shapeshifter or doppler or sumthin'..."
The brute eyes Scrag, trying to gauge his drinking partners reaction;
Dingus finds that the other sailors must have gone to eat below with the captain and only one sailor stands watch.
Although Dingus grunts as he nearly trips on a rope, the sailor can't see anything amiss as Dingus invisibly slips off the ship and wanders off into town not remembering where everyone else went.
Meanwhile, Corliss putters around below decks until Temeera tells him that it is time for the lunch break but the job is finished so he won't be needed any further. She gives him three silver shields for his efforts and a receipt to take back to the labor hall.
Scrag seems to honestly consider Kaul's intel. "Lixy may have a trick or two, but as far as I've ever heard, she's human. What makes him think that she's a shifter? Like a wererat or something? I guess that could be but they are more likely to be low-level bottom-feeders. I wouldn't expect one to take such a prominent position. Possible I guess."
Kaul shifts, beady eyes narrowing;
"Hur. Otuk seen 'er leave an office or somesuch, then when he looked in she was there... Now I seen things... this stinks o' daemon or somesuch. Maybe a doppleganger... Unnatural regardless. An' dangerous. Could mean they are sneakin' themselves into every organisation come time. Nip it in the bud says I. Killin' Lixy means they ain't got her as a cloak..."
His scarred brow furrows
"Our singin' bird also reckons someone is backin' Lixy's play. Could be this Madam Pamodae... some o' her girls been see at the Golden Gob speakin' with trixy Lixy... or her double... Hur."
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As Dingus wanders towards town... he remembers that he left Corliss on the ship, so scurries back to find him. He then uses invisibility again to sneak back on the ship, reappearing to collect his pay for the work.
"Whew! Lifting stuff is hard". He mutters to Corliss as they're reunited. "When are we supposed to meet the others again... and where"?
By the time Dingus remembers to ask for his salary and returns to the Orchid, he finds nobody remaining in the hold. He does hear voices in the galley though.
Scrag squints at Kaul. "I have no idea what a Dapper Goner is. More than likely there are devils in the Golden Goblin though, they used to have an imp flying around the place named Old Scratch."
"Madam Pamodae, huh? Now that is interesting. Nothing but bad blood between her and Clegg. See Clegg had a brother named Falk. Falk was involved with a high class prostitute named Lavender Lil. Then another gent got involved named Orik, he was the brother of the former owner of the Golden Goblin named Saul. Something went down between Falk and Orik and Falk ended up dead. Orik fled town fast and Clegg turned his wrath on Saul and Lavender Lil. That's how Boss Croat and Clegg joined up to try and take down the Golden Goblin. Ended up some of Saul's hired muscle turned on him and he was out of the picture before we had a chance to finish him. Lavender Lil saw the writing on the wall and went to work for Madam Pamodae who offered her protection. Clegg doesn't like that one bit."
"Not sure how Lixy got in the middle of this."
Kaul runs his knarled paw over his equally weathered skull with a frown;
"Dapper Goner? Reckons they is shapeshifting corpses o' dead nobles..."
He emits a hoarse chuckle, then continues;
"Right so this could be a con-speer-issy... Pamodae makin' her move? With Clegg down she's go after yer Boss maybes?"
The thug shrugs his no-neck;
"Don't care what Trixy Lixy did. She's gettin' split like a log. Both o' em."
Scrag chomps his heavy jaws trying to follow Kaul's line of thought. "So if I'm following, you think someone or something looks just like Lixy and is working for or with her? Like a decoy or something? Not an unusual tactic if you know someone with the right magic. But like the Boss says, Lixy ain't that big a player. Hmmmm, unless it's Lixy that's the decoy."
Kaul nods sagely;
"Maybes the bigger player is wearing Lixy as a disguise? Them sort'o glamours tend to end when ye hack 'em to pieces. Trust me Ol' Kauly's seen stuff."
The brute seems to momentarily look for Lopper at his hip, then glowers;
"Iffen's magic's at the heart o' this then I'll need me mates. One o' them specialises in such matters..."
By the time Dingus remembers to ask for his salary and returns to the Orchid, he finds nobody remaining in the hold. He does hear voices in the galley though.
If he can get close enough to overhear the voices he will. If not he's pressed his luck enough for today.
Scrag's big head wobbles in a nod and he finishes his drink in a gulp. "Do appreciate the information, Kaul. I'll recommend Boss Croat keep a closer eye on Pamodae at the Silken Veil. Can't take any direct action without the Overlord's leave but pass word if you find out more. Boss Croat might see to it that you're rewarded for anything useful."
The door to the galley is ajar so Dingus can listen surreptitiously as he slips past the door on the stairs. He overhears Temeera reporting to the captain. "We'll need to stop in Korvosa to get some proper wizards from the Acadamae to set up the traps. Mr. Zincher only seems to care about the departure time, once we're at sea he doesn't seem as interested. The local Cyphermages have been utterly unreliable. That weird southern sorcerer just disappeared after saying he had to use the bathroom. He seemed pretty reliable up to that point. Now I'm wondering what he was up to."
Lyshna jumps in. "Oooh, definitely need to question him. I just love an inquisition!"
Dingus starts in horror as he uncovers more of the plan... especially the part about him being a subject of an inquisition. He immediately finds a crate to hide behind, and casts "Disguise Self" on himself, to appear as a grizzly drunk sailor, and makes his way back to town to try and find Corliss and fill him in on everything he found out.
Dingus skedaddles!
Kaul nods and knocks back his own drink;
"Right ye are. Anythings me ears 'ears will let ye know. Til then Scrag."
The brute nods and heads off...
Outside his thoughts turn to Lopper and his efforts to burn down the Goblin and butcher the Lixy's being stymied.
His demeanour turns black and thoughts red.
Hur. Need to find the lads. They always 'ave a solution or someone needin' kill'd.
Kaul braces against the cold winter night and shuffles back to the ship only to find his mates already asleep in their berths. A bit buzzed on cheap booze, he turns in and sleeps through Jim's attempt to rouse him for the arena in the morning. By the time Kaul finally wakes, only the watch remains aboard so Kaul grumbles as he waits for lunch and his mates' return.
"Pirates know a few tricks, hey?" Jim retreats before the other fighter, trying a hands-free backflip and putting a little extra into it.
Jim flips backwards, not a perfect flip, but he lands on his feet at the ready. He hears Jaravo laugh. "Oh, ho! This one knows more than one trick, Sveteski. Better watch out."
Sveteski looks to be having a hard time controlling his anger as he advances on Jim!
This time, luck is not with him.
Jim takes a murderous stab at Sveteski although this is supposed to be battle practice. Fortunately, Svetski easily side steps and retaliates with a two-handed strike, still agile even with the stiffer hold.
Jim feels the odd-looking long, curved blade squeal over his blade and send a dangerous vibration through his body, but he retains his grip on his borrowed blade.
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Jim murmurs to Sveteski, "You're good...." Then he shouts, "BUT THERE'S AN OCEAN OF BLOOD IN MY WAKE, AND YOU LOOK LIKE ANOTHER DROP IN IT!"
A shadow of doubt crosses Sveteski's face and he grits his teeth, but before he can offer any response, Jaravo's booming laugh is heard. "Well done! Well done! That's enough for today." He crosses the sand to stand between Jim and Svetesky grabbing your nearest shoulders in a heavy grip. "You're both on the mission tomorrow with eh, yeah, you two." He points to a pair of tough looking gladiators. " Meet just outside the Bone Gate tomorrow shortly after noon. Don't wear your fancy boots, Svetesky. It's going to be boggy."
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Jim relaxes as he sheathes his sword and turns to his onetime combat partner and the other two gladiators. "Feck, that's thirsty work. Who's for a drink? I'm buying."
Good thing Kaul found another way in, 'cause he would've tried to take someone apart.
Svetesky scoffs, "Drink with a pirate and you're likely to end up drugged and sold off in Cheliax." He turns to the other two. "I'll buy drinks for proper gladiators. The pirate can go hang."
"Now you want to buy us drinks? Get over yourself, Svetesky." The guards promptly lead Jim to the bar he visited the previous night leaving Svetesky scowling behind. They don't seem particularly talkative, but are happy to drink free booze.
Jim will pay their tab, but nurses his own drinks before making his way back to the Bloody Fortune. He doesn't have the magic or stealth skills of his shipmates, but he'll still take a circuitous route in case he's being followed.