Clarissa gives Hammond a genuine smile, her first of the evening. She goes to Janus' room and wedges something to keep the door secure.
Why did I tell him that? she wonders as she drifts to sleep.
Janus looks thoughtfully at the Woman in black; then says.
"So you broke the Empress' Peace? They only use that charge when they don't have any real evidence against you. Just who's porridge did you piss in?"
The Woman in Black sniffs as she leads the way up the stairs. "Went the wrong place. Said the wrong thing. Does it matter? I pissed off the wrong person, and now they want me dead. I hired you to protect me. That's all you need to know. "
Janus studies the Woman in Black for a moment deciding if he believes her.
Then leans against the wall and says.
"Listen sweetheart don't worry. Dames like you are always hiring guys like me for jobs like this. Besides my reputation, not to mention my purse would take a big hit if I lost a client. I gotta contact the others. Hammond and Gio are good people and your bestie Clarissa could be a big help in certain situations. You should be safe here for a couple of hours. I'll be back before you miss me."
He gives her a wink and adds.
"M'Lady."
The woman sighs and looks around the brothel. "I don't have much choice, do I?" She scowls and turns, heading deeper into the shadows of the flophouse, her dress making her disappear into the dark.
Janus exits the brothel and carefully scans the street. Looking both for anyone suspicious and for the local pack of street kids. The ones who are always hanging around.
Once located Janus approaches the pack while flipping a silver coin and says.
"Okay, who wants to earn two of these?
Once someone agrees. Janus gives the child a note and directions to the bar along with the promise of another silver once the message is delivered. Additionally he tells the kid that if the delivery is not made he will put the word out. That the kids on this street cannot be trusted.
Note:
J.
With this done Janus finds a good spot to keep watch the brothel, until it is time to meet the others.
Janus exits the brothel and carefully scans the street. Looking both for anyone suspicious and for the local pack of street kids. The ones who are always hanging around.
[dice=Perception]1d20+9
Once located Janus approaches the pack while flipping a silver coin and says.
"Okay, who wants to earn two of these?
Once someone agrees. Janus gives the child a note and directions to the bar along with the promise of another silver once the message is delivered. Additionally he tells the kid that if the delivery is not made he will put the word out. That the kids on this street cannot be trusted.
Note:** spoiler omitted **
With this done Janus finds a good spot to keep watch the brothel, until it is time to meet the others.
The boy gulps when Janus hands him the note. "Gee, Mister. You aint' gotta worry about me. The streets are straight down here!" There's something about the way he says "streets" that makes it seem like he isn't talking about the thing beneath Janus' feet.
He scurries off into the alleys.
*****scene change*****
As Hammond and the others are regrouping after the Hellknights left, a small dirty urchin appears at the bar. "I got a message for Hammond."
"Uh, thanks" Hammond said as he passed the kid a few coppers.
"What da you mean a silver? Why I outta..." He didn't bother to finish the sentence aloud. Instead he daydreamed about the different ways he would throttle the man when next they met.
"Here" he said begrudgingly, as he passed the kid a silver.
He harrumphed loudly after reading the note. He offered the note to Gio. Obviously annoyed at the turn of events, he muttered "south market, soon" not really caring who may have been eavesdropping.
Looking up at the sun Janus figures he will have to leave soon to meet the others at the market.
And on that point his annoying inner voice chimed in. "You know the big man is going to be pissed about the silver. Well at least he and Clarissa have something in common now, they both dislike you."
He had been watching the brothel for some time now and was actually a bit surprised that the Woman in Black hadn't slipped out when he left. He had given it a 1 in 3 chance. He would watch a little longer before slipping away. He carefully scans the area looking for anyone or anything out of place.
Janus never saw the Woman in Black leave. But, after waiting for close to an hour by the brothel, he figured he was pushing his luck at not getting spotted himself. He hurried towards the south market where he met up with Hammond and the others..
"Don't tell me after all of this you lost her?" Hammond asked through gritted teeth. He didn't like being away from the bar during the day, he had stuff to do. The bar didn't clean itself, the shelves didn't restock themselves, and the floor didn't sweep itself. And he liked being played the fool even less. Most of all, he preferred to make money, not spend it.
"And you owe me a silver."
Clarissa keeps her eyes moving. Her cloak is pulled up and wrapped around her body and she keeps her hand near the grip.
"Whatever she's into, it's deep and just being in that bar last night means we were dragged into it. What's the play, guys?"
Janus just smiled slightly and shook his head at the others. Having arrived prior to them allowed him to take up a position with the best lines of sight and his back to to a wall, it pays to be careful. He spotted Hammond first; the guy's is hard to miss. Songbird on the other hand has some skills but her killer gams gave her away. He knew exactly what Hammond would say first, that is if he didn't punch him. Now one never knew just what the Songbird would say. He did however know that it would be said with not so thinly veiled dislike of him.
After hearing them out Janus says.
"Don't worry I got this.
The inner voice could clearly be heard smirking as it said. "Now he IS going to hit you."
Ignoring the voice Janus continued.
"The Woman in black is in a Safe House; right next to a Dotarri station in fact. Okay we need to all be on the same page about what's going on... We're screwed. The WIB is a noble, one that is without a doubt is playing us. But she is also the noble who picked our lucky asses to help her. She's been targeted by someone even more powerful and connected than her and that is no mean feat because the D'Aeril family has both to spare. The real question as I said before is why she came to us for help? What is our next move is another matter. Walking away is probably not an option. Playing along with her game seems to be our only choice. For now. So Songbird you are obviously more at home running in her circles than me. How about running down some of those leads, maybe the restaurant or the opera? Hammond, my friend...Okay I'll pay my tab. What would you say to smuggling our WIB back to the bar? I mean it is the last place the Coppers would look."
He pauses for a moment to allow them to process, or for Hammond to punch him. Then says.
"Or what do you think we should do?"
'I got this'? Clarissa scoffs.
"We know why she came to us, don't we? She needed expendable assets to be patsies. Best way to get ourselves out of this is to push through it." She turns and looks over Gio. "We might need to scrounge up some clothes. A lady shouldn't go about without an escort. If there is a bar at that restaurant, we can speak with some of the rich old drunks see what gossip there is on Janiven. And then we might need to find the actors after opera rehearsal. They are likely to grab food or a drink."
"What choice do we have? We have no idea what's going on or even who's involved. The broad is the only one we know about so I guess we have to start there."
He looked at Gio and Clarissa. "So you two are going hunting for information? Well then get going. I don't like being out here in broad daylight. Too many eyes and ears."
He smacked Janus hard in the chest with the back of his hand. "We'll take the broad back to the bar and hide her out, assuming she's even still where ever you left her."
Hammond looked back at the other two. "If you get into trouble, run back to the bar. If you can't, send word. If you do that either, nice knowin' ya."
"Ow! I keep saying you don't know your own strength."
Janus says to Hammond. Then turns to Clarissa and Gio.
"If you get pinched by the Dotarri mention my name. It is usually good for another 5 minutes of beatings." He says with a wide grin.
Hammond smirked. "I know how strong I am."
His smirk spread into a smile as he imaged himself speaking Janus's name out loud and proceeding to beat on the man for a good 5 minutes.
"Yeah, I can see that" he said.