|
"I would advise being very cautious, Ameiko. We do not know how much the enemy knows."
Heng pauses to consider Maeve's suggestion, "I would also like to ask Kelda's advice. I do not think we should be hasty with such an important decision. A local may have better insight into the best way to go about finding a reputable guide."
Maeve bites her lip, glancing about the table. Obviously, Ameiko's own objection makes sense, but..."I guess you can. If you're going to go out I guess I'd rather have you with me than obviously looking for a caravan to Minkai."
Maeve bites her lip, glancing about the table. Obviously, Ameiko's own objection makes sense, but..."I guess you can. If you're going to go out I guess I'd rather have you with me than obviously looking for a caravan to Minkai."
"Hell, no! She's not wandering around this city with just you. After all your caution about asking around, you want to take the object if their search through the city?! Uh uh."
"It's not as if they know what she looks like Parity. If anything she's safer with Maeve in a city full of Tians than sitting at the caravan with Koya."
"Plus I'm not proposing going by myself. I was bringing Shalelu and Mal with me because they're both able to handle things in case of trouble from a long ways off and up close."
"It's foolish! You don't drag her around because she's bored! You keep her safe ... gaaahh! It's about being seen, Harlan, it's not about who's protecting her! And how do you know they don't know what she looks like. That city full of Tians is the perfect disguise. An assassin won't even have to wear a MASK!" Parity is in a complete rage ... near incoherent, and he stutters a bit, spitting out a few vowels that don't form sentences and then finally turns to Ameiko, "Ame, you do what you want, but wandering around this city is STUPID!"
"Shhh! Calm down, Parity," Ameiko says in a soft voice, giving a furtive look around the tavern, hoping no one took notice of the tantrum. "Control yourself... Not exactly helping the cause by screaming in public." She stares everyone in the eye, deadly serious. "I'm aware of the danger. I can hide in plain sight, or take cover at the caravan, and it doesn't matter because we don't know what they know. But, the safer bet is probably laying low. I'll get a room by the docks, and I'll stay out of sight. You can get rooms in the same place, if you like, but you'll have to do the investigating without me. And stick together, for Shelyn's sake."
"Yeah, sorry about that ... I just worry. Let me share your eyes while we're gone at least, so we can check on you every once and a while." Parity sits back, heart still pounding from the tirade, yet ears flushing red with embarrassment at the same time.
Ameiko shakes her head. "No one needs to appologize except me. As much as I'd like to just sit back and relax in this tavern, or go and see the sights of Kalsgard, we're not on a shopping trip. My situation is risking all of your lives, and I am only creating trouble by avoiding what needs to be done." She sighs again, then speaks to fill the uncomfortable pause. "Maeve has a good plan. I'll stay at the inn. Sound good?"
Malnival sits and sips on his rice wine as he listens to the others
Good stuff. bet it will clean any rust from a weapon also. I wonder if the sale it by the keg?
Maeve frowns slightly at Ameiko's choice - it's obvious that any solution Ameiko isn't happy with isn't 'ideal' from her perspective even if she can see the sense in it - but she does manage to mostly sound sincere when she says "That works."
Cast chain of eyes on Ameiko before departure. Other than that, Parity is read to go.
After finishing the delicious meal at the tavern, the booze and fatigue catch up quickly. You part ways with Ameiko and Shalelu and head back to the caravan to sleep. The rest of the night passes uneventfully. You wake the next morning refreshed and ready. The air is misty and cool, but noticably warmer than the last few.
It doesn't take look to find someone that recognizes the name Fynn Snaevald. The man is still alive, working as a trader of whale oil and amber, and is a well-known collector of Tian antiquities. His home is in the Amber quarter, and you're able to easily get directions there. A knock at the door brings an ancient man to answer. He is slender and wiry, with blue veins crawling across his arms and neck beneath a shock of white beard and long hair. He wears a thick fur cloak of high quality. Although obviously very old, the man's eyes are sharp and fiery with suspicion.
"Who are you lot? What do you want?" the old man asks in clear Taldan.
*
The search for a guide is much less rewarding than the one for Fynn Snaevald. You walk your feet sore criss-crossing Kalsgard on a seemingly fruitless hunt. Early on, you discover that this is the off-season for travel over the Crown due to the deadly morozko storms. Through the rest of the day, you learn that all of the guides familiar with the route are retained by the merchant guilds and are not free to go on an unsanctioned journey. For your queries, you earn more than a few laughs and even a couple doors slammed in your face.
Finally, as the sun settles on the western sea, a kind-eyed merchant sends you to a dimly lit grog shop not far from his stall in the Fire quarter. With a shrug and shake of the head, he says you might find a possible guide there, a Varki woman named Uksahkka. You find her there, but she is well into her cups and doesn't even notice your entrance, staring forlornly into the bottom of her mug. She has long straight hair colored a mixture of black and brown, and she has the dusky skin and features of the Varki people.
"Well, this is disheartening. Hopefully this Uksahkka can help."
Harlan limps into the tavern, then up to the table and sits by Uksahkka.
"Hello, my name is Harlan. I have been riding a dog all day looking for you."
After a day of acting totally casual in her searching, Maeve cautiously looks over her shoulder for a moment before speaking. "I understand you're a collector of . . . unusual items? I was looking for one in particular that I believe came into your possession about thirty years ago."
"Hello, my name is Harlan. I have been riding a dog all day looking for you."
Uksahkka looks down at Harlan, blinking a few times. She looks up slowly to see the rest of you standing there, and her eyes widen in a flash of wariness. Her right hand moves clumsily towards her dagger."Wha...? A dog? What do you want with me?"
"I understand you're a collector of . . . unusual items? I was looking for one in particular that I believe came into your possession about thirty years ago."
The old man frowns at Maeve, tugging his beard with an idle hand. He lets out a grumbling sigh. "Speak plainly, woman. I've collected hundreds of 'unusual items' in my day. Are you after something from Tian-Xia?"
Maeve nods to that. "May we come in?"
|
|
Heng agrees with Harlan's assessment. "It is unfortunate for us that the merchants seem to have retained all the more reputable guides. I am not overly optomistic about who may be left. I hope Uksahkka is not a disappointment."
perception
His initial disapproval of the prospective scout softens as he sees that the woman is hiding injuries. "We mean you no harm. We are seeking a guide. I see you are injured. Let my friend here assist you."
know geography about Varki
Maeve nods to that. "May we come in?"
The old man grunts again, then inclines his inside his home. "Aye. I'm always happy to speak with potential buyers," he barks, but you can tell he's playing along. He opens the door wide to let you in, revealing two tall Ulfen guards with blades drawn. He waves them away and leads you into a large den-like room with a blazing fireplace. The old man settles down into a thickly-padded chair while well-groomed servants rush in with mugs of warm ale and long loaves of bread for all. "Now, you never bothered to ask, so you must know who I am. Who are you? What is it you want from me? I take it this is about... the sword." Fynn's clear blue eyes bore into you.
"A guide who likes to drink and obviously has a sad story of some sort. Nothing to lose traveling this time of the year. My kind of woman. We're probably going to get along famously. My name is Parity. Yes, I'm blind." Parity shouts for an ale and then sticks out his hand.
Uksahkka squints at Heng and Parity, backing away clumsily, hand still on her dagger. "Keepaway!" she hisses. "Toush me and you loosh a hand!" Your words register slowly through her drunken mind. "A guide fer what?"
Maeve keeps herself from squeeing at seeing the rather lush surroundings. But at the look, as she takes a sip of ale, she turns serious again. "I'm afraid it is. The blade is rather important to certain people, who will probably stop at nothing to get it. We were looking to get it first, whether purchasing it or trading something for it. But....I guess you already figured all of that out too." She sighs. "Figures. We know the other group after the sword has a presence in the city, but our only clue so far is this." She takes out one of the lions-head bands and sets it down on the table. "The men working for our enemies were all wearing these. Do you know anything about that?"
Fynn nods and leans back into his cushions, taking a long draw of ale before speaking. "Suishen," he says, letting the word hold for a moment, as if tasting a fine wine. "I knew something about the sword was brewing, like seeing a storm gather over the water, but this old man didn't know what to expect." He lets out a sigh, then gestures to the empty rack above the hearth. "Sorry, lass... whatever your name is. The sword's already gone. Taken... stolen, about a week ago. Some masked thugs broke into my home, killed several of my people, and it was the only thing they took." His lips tremble with bitter anger.
"But that..." he points to the golden armband with a crooked finger, "gives me an idea of who the culprit might be. One of my servants survived long enough to say the leader of the thieves was especially tall, and he said 'paying the lion's due' with his last breath. I thought he meant some dreck about avenging his murder, but that armband belongs to a local ringgiver named Asvig Longthews, a man known to be extremely tall." Fynn gives you a knowing smile, but there is no humor in it.
"Maeve Haela" the girl replies in introduction. "And...a week ago? That's...interesting. I'm not sure how to put that together with what we know."
She takes a breath. "Doesn't matter, I suppose. But...Asvig Longthews. And they didn't take anything else..." She gets very uncharacteristically quiet for a minute. "Well, I have to get Suishen back. It's a very important piece of . . . the puzzle."
"Mmmm, indeed," Fynn says, nodding and looking into his mug. "Never much cared for the sword, but it made a nice trophy I guess, collecting dust for five decades. I tried carrying it around in my younger years, but it always made me uncomfortable... felt like I didn't deserve to hold it, like I'd stolen it."
He looks up, eyes afire. "But I paid good money for it, and fairly. I didn't even ask the price; the man just came to me and near begged me to buy it from him. The sword is rightfully mine. It's been stolen, and whoever stole it invaded my home and murdered my people. By law and tradition, I'm entitled to weregild. Of course, none has been offered, so blood vengance is my right."
"I'm too old to pursue these thieves, but I can appoint proxies to do so." Fynn looks at each of you. "Find the criminals who perpetrated this crime against me and mine, exact blood vengeance upon them in my name, defend my honor and property rights, recover Suishen for me... and I'll give you the sword in payment."
Maeve nods. "That's very generous. And while I am not casting aspersions on your rights to the sword legally, especially after fifty years, there might be a reason you felt that way. You see, Suishen isn't just any blade. The man who approached you as 'Kaijitsu Rokuro' was actually Amatatsu Tsutoku, at the time the legitimate heir to the throne of Minkai. And Suishen is the family blade. It wasn't really his to sell. It was probably some magic on the blade to prevent those without legitimate claim to the family legacy from wielding it."
"Easy there, easy. We're not here to hurt you, we want to hire you, as my friend says. We need a guide to take us over the Crown."
Harlan's reassurance visibly calms Uksahkka's fear, but she still appears miserable as she retakes her stool. She grabs her mug as if to drink, but then just pushes it away with a bitter laugh. "I'm not the guide you're looking for, then. You want my friend and partner, Ulf Gormundr. He's the best guide this side of the Crown. The problem is he's missing... or dead... or both." Uksahkka lets out a shuddering sigh, seeming on the verge of tears.
Malnival listens to the exchange while nodding his head before speaking.
"It seems we both count this Asvig Longthews as a foe. His men attacked our caravan but paid dearly for doing so. It only seems right that we strike vengance upon him. Where can we find him, and more importantly what can we expect when we do?"
Harlan nods at Heng's words, and almost reaches out to pat the distraught woman before thinking better of it.
"I agree, tell us of Ulf and we will help you find him. I swear it by...by...by my secret recipe for snow ice cream!"
Well, it's not a great secret I guess. Take snow, eat. *sigh*
"Ulf is a bit of a tough person to get along with," Uksahkka explains. "He's his own man, and though he's a great guide, the guilds don't like that he won't work for one exclusively. He's burned a lot of bridges here; black-listed, and work is hard to come by."
"Then, last week, we get a job to develop a new route through the Grungir forest for a local chieftain, named Asvig Longthews. The money was too good to turn down, so he went out to see this employer to sort out the details before picking me up to depart... but he never came back."
"I got worried, so a couple days ago I went out to this chieftain's farm to find out what happened. This Asvig told me Ulf never showed up for the job, and then had his men throw me off his land. They weren't gentle about it."
"I came back here, our local spot, to see if Ulf would come back. But now I really believe he's gotten himself into trouble." Finally, Uksahkka takes a long quaff of her ale.
Fynn shakes his head in wonder at Maeve's words. "I always figured as much. That sword was too fine to be the weapon of some knight, or [/i]samurai... ronin[/i], whatever they call themselves." He lets out a short bark of a laugh. "All this time. I've had that sword for more than fifty years. Why now does it get stolen, and you come looking for it, within a few days?"
To Malnival, "I don't know where Longthews lives, or much about him, but he's a big enough name that you can find out easily."
"Time to find this guy, then. Wanna take us to this Asvigs place? After you've sobered up, of course."
"Well, do you think the chief was lying or maybe Ulf really never made it? Let's gather the others and we can go find him. There are not a lot of other guides out there right now and I feel as if the Goddess has led us to you. We'll head back to my brother's caravan and wait for Maeve."
Harlan stands up now that a decision has been made and limps his way to the hitching post where Prugk waits.
"I should warn you about my brother, he's very tall, so don't hold that against him Uksahkka. I think mother fed him too much."
Maeve grins. "Maybe my friends and I discovered its' sister blade, or some other clue that pointed to it. And...well...maybe we kind of alerted people who wanted that to stay buried. Really not sure how they came to look here, mind."
Uksahkka nods to Parity, "I can show you the way, though I don't think you'll have any better luck talking to him."
To Harlan's question, she shakes her head. "Ulf may be a bastard at times, but he sticks to his word. If he said he was going to meet the chieftain, he was going. I think they killed or kidnapped him, but I can't imagine why."
"I'm happy you'd like to help," she adds, her relief visable. "I don't know why you'd even get involved, but I appreciate it."
Maeve takes her time on the way back, making discreet inquiries into the location of of Asvig's...estate.
Maeve quickly goes over her story. "Right. This is bad. They knew exactly who we are, when we were going to get here, and even had information they shouldn't have any way of knowing. We have to assume they know everything we do at this point. We're going to have to move fast. I don't think it's going to be safe to leave Ameiko alone again, either. Or in the same location. But we can't all go everywhere together."
Maeve grins. "Maybe my friends and I discovered its' sister blade, or some other clue that pointed to it. And...well...maybe we kind of alerted people who wanted that to stay buried. Really not sure how they came to look here, mind."
Fynn grunts. You're not entirely sure he buys your explanation, but he says nothing about it. "If you find out for sure, I'd be curious to learn the truth, but more important to me is that you find Suishen and punish those that stole it."
Koya makes a sour face. "It doesn't sound good, certainly, but I don't buy that they know everything. If they did, why haven't they come after us again? We should be cautious, but wanton paranoia will paralyze us."
"That's what I was thinking." Maeve grins broadly. "Before I thought they couldn't know...well, a lot of things they do, a lot of them are really weird. If they knew about Suishen why didn't they strike years ago? Why now? And how the heck did they find out?"
With a deep breath, Maeve calms herself enough to continue. "At any rate, I also found out about Asvig's place of residence, which is well outside town. I think I can find it, anyway. I'd like to go tonight."
"That's what I was thinking." Maeve grins broadly. "Before I thought they couldn't know...well, a lot of things they do, a lot of them are really weird. If they knew about Suishen why didn't they strike years ago? Why now? And how the heck did they find out?"
"You think, maybe, they saw the same visions we did and just got here faster?"