The mask prickles Etam's skin and he moves his hands to remove it; the warrior stops short of it, however, realising it might not be the best idea to show reveal his identity.
"I honestly have no idea. I will not hurt the man, that's for certain.", he says, shaking his head.
He turns to Grompus with a bow, which makes the mask itch even more "Sir, we were sent by the Razmir cult to collect some illegal 'protection fee' and 'teach you a lesson', whatever that means. We do not feel at all inclined in doing either, so please bear with us for a second whilst we find a solution."
If we are looking for an alternative solution, we should likely break some stuff. I dont know that we would be able to find Regnar in time. Maybe we can offer to bring the funds to him when we come back? And we each have like 8gp from our little hustle in the town square, that would get us part way there.
Is there something easy to "destroy" that would make it look like we busted the place up a bit more than expected? Spread some flower around?
It is also good that if we are trying to not actually beat the guy that we do not have the half elf with us.
As the group tries to figure out what to do Finnrick quickly casts a spell on himself in order to better relate to the shop keeper.
"It seems as though you may not hold the cult of Razmir in high regard, but before I go making any assumptions as to how you feel. I should at least ask. Sir, we are here to collect 100 gold for, what we have been told, are missing payments. Would you like to pay that? Finnrick asks honestly.
"Ahh, the season's been rough what wif all those pirate we keep hearin' tell ov. People're less likely ta be wantin' me wares. But next week. Next week fer sure I'll 'ave yer money."
While the keep is engaged with the rest of the group, Sato prepares to play a little dirty.
"Maybe I could go and talk to Krant? See if he can extend the period a bit?" Finnrick asks the group.
As Sato works on his "alternative," Lily asks, "Ehm... how long have you been paying 'protection,' anyway?"
Arms crossed, Etam shifts his weight. His voice echoes from behind the mask "I doubt Krant would like that, master F…colleague," the warrior says, almost giving Finnrick's name to the baker. "I don't know what's our way out of this, but it's certainly not depending on Krant's mercy"
"Maybe Sa... our brother here," Jaed says referring to Sato, "can convince Krant to postpone the payment one week." And by then it won't be our problem.
Of course we could always break a few things!!!
Artair grabs a piece of pottery and throws it against the wall, to see if that has any change in the bakers demeanor.
We dont want to break things, but we have to make it look and sound believable, right? He says quietly to the others.
Grompus shivers and then looks confused. "What th'...what the 'ell's goin' on?" Then Artair knocks over a vase, and he gets even more flustered. "Now why'dya 'ave ta go an' do that then? Breakin' me stuff ain't gonna make me get yer money no faster! Ain't I earned a little leniency? Ye've practically been bleedin' me dry sine ya got here! I got mouths ta feed ya know." His complaints are said in a combination of whining and wheedling that doesn't quite mask his annoyance.
Sato frowns (not that anyone could see). That usually doesn't happen. He will pretend it totally worked as expected...
"Look." he begins, stepping forward. "You have to make your payments, at the least, this time. I'll be honest with you... if we don't get the payment, someone else will. Someone with little to no moral objection to doing more than breaking a few pots."
He moves to be directly in front of the man. His voice is quiet, somber. "I know you're being squeezed dry now, but this won't be the case for very much longer. I beg you, please 'play along' with us for today, and the near future we will make sure this practice stops."
Etam leaves the windowsill that he was leaning on and joins Sato. "My friend here speaks the truth, sir. We will make sure that this unlawful behaviour is stopped very soon," he says, trying to help Sato's appeal. His voice sounds less-than-comforting from below the mask, however.
The baker gives Sato a piteous look. "But I told ya, I ain't got th' money this week. Next week for sure."
Jaed starts to get anxious over that much talk.
"Cut the crap, please. We know you have the money. My friends are trying to be polite but don't think for a moment that you can fool us. I don't have any objection to tearing down this place until I find whatever coin you have. So, what's gonna be?"
"I can only do so much to restrain my companions, sir. I urge you to reconsider," says Etam, trying to help Jaed. The fact he feels completely ill at ease with the situation shines clearly through it, however. In the back of his head, he feels Asar bubbling up to the surface.
In light of the fact that the intimidation is working oh so well, Artair picks up another piece and stars as menacingly as he can at the baker.
Lily wrings her hands slightly, then quickly puts them behind her back to avoid looking too nervous over the situation.
The baker looks terribly unimpressed as the group tries to pull off its best 'bad cop' vibe. He picks up a rolling pin and begins brandishing it at all of you. "Now ya goes an' shows yer true colors. Tryin' ta act all nice like yer me mates only ta reveal yerselves as the petty thugs ye are. I ain't 'aving none of it!"
Sato sighs, palming the face of his mask.
"Ugh. Seems this was a breakdown in communication." he says.
Still wondering how it is possible that a 5'8'' skinny figure wearing a robe and a mask does not inspire fear on the baker, Jaed decides to unsheathe his swords.
"Put that down. We don't want to hurt you but I will cut your hand if you dare attack any of us." Maybe the view of steel may change his mind
Grompus' voice goes up an octave or two in a mix of fear and indignation. "Put it away? Now that y'ave that pigsticker out? Are ya daft?" He starts screaming shrilly for the guards, but there don't appear to be any in the immediate vicinity. The few pedestrians nearby that come to investigate are quickly turned away by Krant and his cronies. After a few minutes, the extra oxygen combined with a resounding lack of reinforcements seems to catch up to the man and his shoulders begin to slump. "Fine, I'll get ya blasted money. But! Ya gotta go outside'n turn 'round. I ain't showin' ya me 'iding spot!"
Feeling somewhat dizzy, Etam bows to Grompus, mortified "I am truly sorry, sir. I promise you, you will get your money back." Without even thinking about the truthfulness of the baker's proposition, the warrior goes to the door.
"Be quick," Jaed says feeling a mix of pride because he successfully intimidated the guy and annoyance because he had to follow Krant's orders.
He follows Etam through the door.
Artair waits to be the last one out, and sets the container in his hands down and backs to the door. Anyone else worried about there being a back way out of the bakery?
You all dutifully make your way out of the bakery. Krant, of course, immediately asks you if you have the money. When you reveal that the answer is something along the lines of "not yet," you're treated to his general annoyance. Any excuses you make are treated to the obvious answer of "just beat it out of him". Finally, after you judge a sufficient amount of uncomfortable minutes have passed, you head back in, but not before Krant reminds you to "trash the place to teach him a lesson."
Back inside, Grompus appears very downcast. Jaed promptly holds out his hand, and the baker reluctantly starts dropping gold and platinum pieces one coin at a time into his out stretched hand. Each coin seems to add a year to the man's life as his hard-earned cash is essentially stolen from him. The more good-inclined of you can't help but feel guilty as you realize this is, at a minimum and under rather optimistic assumptions, several months worth of his savings.
Finally done, he turns his back on you all, dramatically crying. "Now b'gone ya vagabonds. Ya've bled me dry!"
-Posted with Wayfinder
We were told to mess the place up a bit. And given the reaction of Krant I assume he is going to judge us. I would say we should have damaged a quarter to a third of what we were collecting, which was 100GP? Of course this would also include the stuff I smashed earlier. Do we need to specify and amount? I dont know how to calculate how much damage we did smashing some pots and knocking stuff around.
Finnrick turns away ashamed as his companios trash the place.
"the ones are I travel with are not truly bad are they? This must all be for the greater good? Saranrae I know that you are just and will show me the way. No Krant is the evil one, he cares not for those living in the city, only for himself. He must be brought to justice, he must be brought before you for judgment oh great goddess"
Jaed recounts the coins, still not trusting the baker completely. Once he is is done, he speaks to the group. "It's all here."
He then turns to Grompus. "Do you have some old or cheap goods we can throw around so we can make a bit of a mess? Look, that guy outside wants us to teach you a lesson. But, as my friends said before, we don't have any special interest in cause you more trouble. We just had to do all this because of... reasons."
The baker splutters at Jared, his eyes bugging out slightly. "What?! No! I paid up so git gone!"
The group goes about trying to make the place look messier without actually doing much lasting harm. Given that you're all now more or less acting like children but not doing much real damage, Grompus looks much more confused than any kind of upset. "They've gone mad..." you hear him mutter to himself.
When all is said and done, Sato goes to bring Krant and his cronies in to show off their handiwork, showing off the 'ruined' bread, the flour they 'exploded', and the couple of broken pots. Luck seems to be on the group's side as the cultists seem generally taken in, more by the chaos and Sato's smooth talking than the actual sight.
"And the money?" On cue, Jaed dumps the coins into Krant's hand, playing off of the baker's general flour-y appearance to "brag" about how he beat him with his own flour bags to get the money out of him. Krant grunts in a approval. "Let that be a lesson not to mess with the followers of the great Razmir!" he declares before walking out of the bakery with a flourish. The rest of you follow as you're led back to the temple.
The day continues as before with chores followed by the nightly transcription duty.
That evening, Lily whispers to her confederates once they have a moment alone, "So... what is our end goal? Every day we stay and do what the cult wants, we are just hurting people more. How can we take steps toward actually exposing them and taking them down?"
Jaed agrees with Lily. "True. We have been bullied, beaten and bored to death. We need to try something different. During my scouting last night I learned that anything interesting seems to be on the second floor. If Etam and Artair finish the transcription early tonight we could go to take a look. At least I could try to sneak in while you cover the stairs." He makes a pause to listen to what the others think. When they have reached an agreement he says. "While we wait we can have a word with our friend the half-elf. He may be useful." Even as a scapegoat if we get caught.
After the talk with Lily and Sato, Jaed approaches the half-elf. "Pardon my bad memory but I think we were never properly introduced. I am Jaed," he says offering his hand. "Are you already as bored as I am of all this church chores?"
Etam nods at Lilly's question "I agree with Mistress Lilly. We need to move, fast. I am not sure for how long I will be able to keep my spear's tip out of one these thugs' throat. I shall do my best to finish these damned transcriptions as soon as possible."
----
Later that evening, the warrior tries to focus to get the transcription done in the first try.
He fails miserably as hours pass and he keeps repeating his errors, first out of lack of attention and then out of frustration. He drags himself to bed afterwards, wondering if his companions had come up with any plans.
The half-elf snarls at Jaed, "Oh, nooooow you wanna be friends? After you and your lil' buddies all decided to gang up on me? Well, excuseeeeeeee me if I don't go and fall to my knees in gratitude that you even deign to speak to me." He spits at the man's feet before pointedly turning around and moving to a different part of the room.
"I am sorry that you got banged up, you smacked me a few times with club but I'm not crying about it. They told us to fight and we did. It was nothing personal how about we put that all behind us?" Finnrick asks.
"let's start with where are you from, lived long here? "
Jaed shrugs at the half-elf's answer. I would probably feel the same way if I were him.
Hearing Finnrick's soothing words, Jaed adds: "Yeah, I remind you that the only one I wanted hit was that Krant," his hand closes in a fist, "... and I will, eventually... It was nothing personal."
After a while waiting for Etam, and worried that they won't have time to explore the second floor, Jaed goes back to the transcription room. Seeing that he is struggling with his task, Jaed quietly sits by him and pretends to read some of the holy texts. Actually, he starts transcribing the harder parts for Etam. When he is done, he tries to pass the transcribed documents back to him without anyone noticing.
The half-elf continues to glare at Jaed. "Nothing personal? It was three on one!" While it looks like the only thing stopping him from attacking the rogue is fear of a repeat performance, he does at least seem slightly less hostile towards Finnrick. Whether that's due to his calming words, some half-elf bond they both share, or simply the fact that Finnrick had started rather than muscled in to what was supposed to be a one-on-one fight between them, it's unclear.
He waits until Jaed gets bored and walks away before actually answering Finnrick. " 'Put it behind us'? Bah! You're friends act like they're all better than the cultists when they're just as bad! It was a practice fight. The only one who could have done any real damage was that brat with his mace!" He jabs a finger at Jaed. "Yet your buddies decided I was somehow a threat that needed to be put down. Even after I did as you wanted and left the woman alone! They're nothing more than a bunch of g%@*$+n bullies! And don't think I didn't hear what you did to that baker-man! Don't pretend you're any better than the rest of this cult. At least Krant gives me food and a warm place to sleep." He seems to wrapped up in his little rant to have noticed there was also a question asked of him. His anger about this has probably been stewing since the fight.
~~~
When Jaed comes back to the transcription room, the guard expresses some surprise. "Wut you doin' back? Ain't ya finished already?" Jaed gives some excuse or another, and the guard just shrugs. "Cut into ya sleep in ya wants. Ain't no skin off my nose if ya want to go be all buddy-buddy wid yer pal." After a couple more hours, Jaed manages to finish Etam's portion of the work and sneak it to him without the guard noticing.
Once they're in the bedroom, Etam thanks Jaed "I…deeply appreciate your aid, master Zandorias. I had the feeling this was going to be a very long night again. How did it go with the half-elf?" Upon hearing the update, the warrior shakes his head "He has every right to hate us. We acted in a most dishonourable manner. I will personally excuse myself with him tomorrow."
"So is that why you're hear? Food and a place to sleep. I see you heard anout the bakery, that was most unpleasant. Has Krant sent you on any jobs like the bakery?" Finnrick asks trying to see if his group has been singles out. "And again I apologize for the others who attacked you. I am not usually one for fighting but I guess I got caught up, I can't really hold my own and when my friends saw you beating me they came to my aid. We are a pretty tight knit group and they knew i had bit off more than I could chew when I challenged you. You're quite strong for half elf, where did you learn to fight like that?"
"So is that why you're hear? Food and a place to sleep. I see you heard anout the bakery, that was most unpleasant. Has Krant sent you on any jobs like the bakery?"
The half-elf shrugs. "Pretty much I guess. And no, I've just been doing run of the mill chores. I clearly haven't impressed anyone yet." The last comment is dripping with bitterness.
"And again I apologize for the others who attacked you. I am not usually one for fighting but I guess I got caught up, I can't really hold my own and when my friends saw you beating me they came to my aid. We are a pretty tight knit group and they knew i had bit off more than I could chew when I challenged you. You're quite strong for half elf, where did you learn to fight like that?"
He seems a bit skeptical of Finnrick attempting to apologize for the other members of his group, but puffs up with a bit of pride at the compliment and then a bit of annoyance at the "for a half-elf" qualifier. "You should better than most that we're not as frail as our elven ancestors. But yes, you pick up a few tricks living on the street, even if it isn't for long. Have to, if you don't wanna starve."