[ooc]Activities noted! I'm going to have the party meet back up late tonight (IC) then to report what they learned. Afaik, this wasn't set up for you guys to expect each other to spend multiple days apart. It'll take a little time IRL to finish Stealth Optional but they're very close to done.
Mel watches silently as Hal casts the spell.
For a few minutes she starts going through the papers more thoroughly; but the words slide past. After reading the same passage three times and failing to retain any meaning from it, she sets it down again.
"I'm going to try to catch some sleep," she says, pushing her chair back from the table. "If I can. It's been a busy night."
She ascends the stairs to her room -- as much hers as anything else in this city. In this world.
Her hat lands on the bed with a soft thump, and Mel stands there in her own form, with her own face. She scrubs her fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp. "Ahh," she breathes out.
Inviting though it is, she ignores the bed. She pulls a chair to the window, swinging it about so the seat faces the room, then sits backwards in it. She rests her arms on its back and gazes up through the window to the night sky above the city.
Thoughts tumble through her head, fleeting and incomplete.
Susy Nolton, face twisted in frustration with the arrows she just could not make come out right.
Hal warning her of 'ineffable dread' on entering the house.
Therian Windfall's hands, old but firm and skilled, examining the armor she brought him.
Gertrude van Beem, furious and vital, ordering her ill-fated crew during the assault on her ship.
Elrin Weh, flinching at the rebuke in Mel's eyes on the way to Helm.
Arthur Harcourt smiling shyly at her, the first tutor who's treated him like a person.
Brolin and Tiyeri, heads together over a chart, plotting the Sonder's course.
Alice McHenry, smiling as she delivered some drinks to the table at the Cozy Badger.
Perrin, his voice trembling with conviction as he swore to her that Brookside needed Haagenti.
She shudders a bit.
"Voi Ostara," she prays. "En tiedä mitä enää pyytää sinulta. Maailma on niin täynnä! Ihmisten käyminen: elävät, haluavat, pyrkivät. Tee niin monia valintoja, hyvässä tai pahassa. Joten... en pyydä mitään. Luotan sinuun, jumalattareni, että lähetät apua, kun luulet minun tarvitsevan sitä."
She sits a while longer and stares up at the sky. Then she slips into bed, and swiftly drifts to sleep.
”…I get it. Ye be afraid that if ye talk the Reaps will kill ye. But think of it this way. If ye don’t talk…well. Your boys ain’t here. We are, and ye saw what we can do. The smart thing would be to start talking, aye? Tell us what we want to know and we’ll be sure to make sure there isn’t anyone left alive to make trouble for ye for talking.”
The man nods and grunts "Fine. None of the bosses here now, anyway. Most we know about that" he gestures vaguely to the unconscious women "is that the third page starts with the phrase: 'The sickle smells of sulfur'."
The town guards show up shortly, due to the MASSIVE disturbance. But Turick's men arrive a minute earlier and vouch for you, giving you the chance to prove that this was a Reaper base before you were arrested. Pounds and pounds of high-end, illegal drugs are found without much trouble and the agents packed off for questioning. Given the codeword, you decipher the coded documents with little to no trouble.
You find three main topics of interest:
1. Details on the running of the high-end drug rings on the Palatine
2. Indications that the Reapers have noticed that Duke Roger Beaumont is, very quietly, subsidizing two prominent playwrights.
3. A reference to the large amount of inventory lost in the treasury heist, the need to track down and eliminate those responsible, and a reference to leaning harder on the council member whom the Reapers are blackmailing. There is also a reference to looking for dirt on other council members and some leads regarding a collaboration with the late pirate queen, Gertrude van Beem.
The barkeep succumbed to the spell (7 on his will save) and is telling the truth about knowing no more about the documents. He probably knows more about the drugs side of the operation but that wasn't your focus or your question.
The madame's mouth turns up in a slight smile. "He will be here tomorrow night, I am quite certain. He does keep a fairly regular schedule. If you can keep my involvement a secret, I am entirely in favor."
Isabella considers Turion's words and, after a minute, nods quietly. The play finishes and it is quite late.
Kazador threw the door open and stomped in. "Oi!" He said, loudly. "We're back!" Closing the door behind him, he walked forward, with all of the subtlety. "And before ye ask, I'll give ye the all the rundown on what happened." He said, looking at Mel and Hal. "I'll keep it simple. Walked in and busted some heads, but didn't kill anyone. Good thing to, as Turick's men cleaned things up right good, with the two of us walking out and the guard getting a fook-ton of drugs. Got this!" He held up the documents that they had retrieved. "Coded, but we got the codeword. The quick of it is that there be a high-end drug ring on the Palatine. The Reaps have noticed that Duke Beaumont is subsidizing two prominent playwrights, but is doing it on the low. And, eh...lots of cash was lost in the treasury heist. The Reaps aren't happy and are looking for those responsible. They also be leaning hard on some council members using blackmail. Also seems like they were working with the dead pirate van Beem." Putting the coded documents down on a table, he said "So that's what's what. How about ye, what've ye got?"
Hearing the door open, Mel leaps out of bed, hand going to her bow. But moments later she hear's Kazador's unmistakable voice from down below.
She dresses quickly, knuckling sleep from her eyes, and comes downstairs to hear what they've been up to.
"Playwrights?" she says, puzzled. "Huh. I wonder if that's a way of laundering money. Either drug money or funds from the treasury."
"Wait, did you say the Reaps are upset that the treasury was robbed? How odd. Unless they were angling to do that themselves, and someone else beat them to the punch, I suppose."
"As for us, well, Harcourt was definitely behind Gertrude van Beem. He bought a house from Tyron Alabaster, paying far more than it was worth. Then Alabaster turned around and used that money to hire van Beem to terrorize the Bishopric's shipping lanes. Harcourt was working on a decree to take control of Helm based on its inability to defend against her attacks. There's apparently Iustian legal precedent for that sort of thing. But van Beem got captured and publicly executed, as we know, and that put an end to both her piracy and Harcourt's plan."
She sits down and rubs her forehead. "We still don't know why he wants Helm so badly, unless we just haven't found the reason in all these papers yet. Count Aral thinks that absorbing Helm in this way would probably be counter to Iustia's broader interests, suggesting that Harcourt is driven by some kind of personal interest. Or possibly he's just an idiot. I don't know. I was really hoping to get to the why of things here, and we haven't. We've got more details about the mechanics of one plan, but still no real indication of what the hell he was trying to accomplish."
She sighs, dropping her hands back to the table. "Furthermore, we didn't find any evidence for Harcourt being involved in the drug ring. I spotted a magic aura in his office on the first night there -- transmutation school -- but when I robbed the place this evening it was gone. That could have been important, or it might have been nothing."
A thought occurs to her. "Wait, was there supposed to be a basement at the Harcourt estate? I think I forgot to check." She looks abashed.
Hal is reading through a book as Kaz enters, and drops it as the door bangs open. He goes to the kitchen to get tea while Melia comes down.
Hal whistled quietly, stowing the teakettle on the hook by the fire to keep warm. Quietly he profers a plate of what appears to be some form of choc-chip charcoal briquettes to Kazador.
"That's a lot. Impressive. Let's see. So..."
"Well, first off gives us some leads on Reaps. That means more Reaps to take out - seems like a good plan, given they'll be huntin' for us. I assume they're upset because someone nicked the treasury off them. Wouldn't want to be those poor bastards." He smiles grimly at the last.
"If we can prove the blackmail, might be we can get the Crown to take action? Guards're normally pretty useless, but they might do somethin' if they think the kingdom's on the line."
"I reckon the Palatine drug ring is pro'lly linked to the drugs in Beaumont's cellar. Seems a bit unlikely there'd be two?"
"If Beaumont thinks the other nobs're spyin' on 'im, he'd be keen to move those drugs out, right? We should be on the lookout for deliveries. We need to organise proper surveillance, too."
"Which means we need ta know 'bout the cellar as soon as bloody possible. Might be we need to break in right now and find out? Can't imagine we can port in, but we might be able to use that crazy elemental plan we had for the other place?"
He shruggs, and offers the plate around "Biscuit?"
"Alright, so the man's gettin' desperate, right? Have ta be pretty desperate ta hire a pirate. Not known for their discretion when caught, after all. Now he's sittin' on a drug cache, bein' blackmailed, his new nanny just disapeared, and he's got threats left in his study."
He takes a biscuit, breaks it open to reveal a not-quite-cooked centre and throws it in the fire.
"If this were a con, this's where I'd send in the rook ta have a chat with Beaumont, but that's a bloody death sentence. Unless..."
Hal suddenly sat up, and started flicking through his book. "Here! I c'n yuse this ta make a temporary doppelganger. I c'n see and talk through it! So what's the play? A Reaper come ta talk ta the man about his breach of security? Threaten 'im? Crown agent here ta ask him why he's tryin' to kick off a war?"
"Otherwise we could kidnap this Alabaster guy, he might know why he was hired? Or go after the playwrights? I'm guessin' there just a way of funnelin' cash though?"
Turion shares several key pieces of information that he has learned:
1. From studying documents detailing land purchases, he concludes that Count Harcourt has overpaid Tyron Alabaster on several purchases of land (somewhat redundant with part of what infiltrators learned).
2. From those documents, Turion also learned that Count Harcourt has bought up a significant amount of land in the Bishopric of Helm holding darkwood trees. By the laws of the Bishopric, these slow-growing, valuable trees have to be harvest at a slow, sustainable pace such that Harcourt will not see a profit in his generation, should the Bishopric's legal structures remain the same. If these trees could be cut all at once, however, Harcourt would earn a windfall several times the cost of his princely investment.
3. From going to a play, Turion learned that the themes of such plays are essentially nationalist propaganda. For example, Count Aral is mocked as a senile coward, thinly veiled under a character name. Nationalist, expansionist nobles, however, are applauded as courageous and noble; the exemplar of such virtues is one character who likely corresponds to an actual, current, Iustian noble but Turion wasn't able to conclude whom.
4. By talking to the Madame of a brothel, Turion determined that Tyron Alabaster frequents that brothel but is loathed by the Madame, who has agreed to turn a blind eye/subtly assist with an attempt to abduct Alabaster from the brothel.
Here is the main, thread of information you have against Harcourt:
1. From stealth optional: The Reapers are looking for a way to blackmail him as they know something about his dealings with pirates. They already have a way to blackmail whichever council member was in on the treasury heist.
2. From research: Harcourt stands to profit from Iustian hegemony over the Bishopric of Helm because he will be able to cut down large stands of his darkwood rapidly.
3. From infiltrators: Mel has obtained a draft resolution Harcourt wrote for the council proposing to extend Iustian hegemony over the Bishopric because it is overwhelmed by the depredations of Gertrude van Beem.
4. From research: Turion has documents on land prices indicating that Harcourt has overpaid Tyron Alabaster, repeatedly, for low value lands here in Iustia. From infiltrators: Mel has also obtained evidence that Harcourt knowingly overpaid Tyron Alabaster for these land parcels.
5. From a long time ago when the party fought pirates: Gertrude van Beem, before her execution, confessed that Tyron Alabaster hired her and coordinated with her to launch massive attacks on shipping near Helm.
From research: Any cooperation with pirates is considered treason. However, the link between Tyron Alabaster and the pirates has not been established except on the word of a dead pirate.
Fyrtor tries to keep up, but as all the information comes to light he gets a headache trying to keep it all straight. "So, what's our next step. Turick will know of our discoveries, or at least that we raided successfully. I think we'll need to meet with him soon. What all do we want to tell him? I think perhaps he could be an ally in preventing the war. If we can show him convincingly enough that the people he's been listening too are motivated for selfish reasons.
"what do you guys think?"
"I think that the truth is what we tell him. He can't help if we don't give him that, and to be honest, we can't fix all of this ourselves. So aye, we should meet with him as soon as we can."
"I believe a reasonable next step would be to go after Alabaster, before all of this blows up. The moment Turick makes a move, Alabaster will vanish. And he is both a key figure in what has taken place in the past, and an ambitious ally of Harcourt that would probably act on his behalf from the shadows, if not neutralized swiftly."
Túrion ponders how to proceed. "I would be in favor of attempting to capture him at the brothel. By definition, he would likely be unarmed, unarmored, and with a limited retinue of guards that are only nearby, not with him. But if you'd prefer not to involve the locale, we can replicate the reapers tactics and simply jump him in an alley. But I am strongly convinced that we want to deal with him NOW, not wait until he's gone underground."
"Hmm," Melia says. "It's the dead of night right now. In just a few hours Harcourt is going to wake up and discover his papers have been taken. And he'll also find a little present I left for him ..."
She describes leaving the diamonds on his desk blotter, arrayed in something vaguely approximating the house symbol of Duke Beaumont.
"So we have very little time before Harcourt is going to know that his secrets are out. Janus, if you think there's going to be time to ambush Alabaster at the brothel, then that sounds like a prudent move. Getting him out of the picture would take one wild card out of the deck, so to speak."
She reaches into her haversack -- newly emptied of books -- and extracts a small tin. "If you would like, I believe I have a very subtle way of taking Alabaster out. This ..." she gestures at the tin "... is dreamtime tea. I acquired it before we set out for Bannerhold. Brew this up and get him to drink a little, and he will be out cold for a short while. Possibly as little as a couple of minutes if he's particularly hearty, but more commonly a quarter hour or so. Plenty of time to bind him, gag him, and then carry him off by whatever means we'd like."
"I have enough for three doses. People claim it lets you dream of the future -- but I wouldn't put much stock in any such dreams. And it's addictive, so I don't recommend trying it yourself. The main problem in getting it to him is that it has a highly distinctive aroma. Either we would need to convince him to drink it anyway, or else mask the odor magically. Perhaps Fyrman could help with that."
"All of which is predicated on having enough time. Unless I miss my guess, things are about to start happening very quickly once Harcourt wakes up. We should go report our findings to Turick very soon. She sighs, glancing out at the dark of night, with only an hour or so of sleep. "Perhaps right now. The dawn will bring ... developments."
Hal, still looking confused, speaks up "I would like ta just head off any suggestion we split up again. Or if we do, only briefly. Like, one of us could run a message over to Turick 'n' come straight back?"
"Túrion, d'ya know if he's at the brothel now? Or a way of knowin' when 'e does turn up?"
"That...complicates matters. If he was at the brothel, I was unaware and the Madame made no mention of his presence. We may be unable to act now, but even if things are set in motion, perhaps we can convince Turick to leave Alabastar out of it for now...make him feel safe. If he does not feel threatened, he may maintain his regular lifestyle, assuming he has more options to influence events than he would from the shadows.", Túrion seems slightly worried, but quickly regains his composure:"In that case, we could possibly set the trap as planned, at a more fitting time. Right now, we have limited options, so we may as well report to Turick and see how things play out, then decide on our next steps."
"That's our next move, then -- talk to Count Turick and tell him what we've learned. Perhaps he will have some useful information for us, as well."
Unsure whether Turick would want you to wake him, you surreptitiously arrive on his doorstep at dawn. You are quickly shown in to a private audience with the Viscount who nods in greeting. "My men confirmed that you cleanly captured the smaller Reaper base. Well done. There was also some indication that you removed a quantity of papers?"
His tone seems one of genuine inquiry, not accusation.
Before leaving Hal takes a few minutes to run through contingencies, passwords and rendevousz with his new companions.
"We meet back here - unless it's compromised. If there's a chalk mark on the - everyone's got chalk right - if there's a chalk mark on the lampost up the street it's compromised, and we meet at that Brothel ya just mentioned instead. If ya think we're under surveillance, and don't want ta tip 'em off, mention "pigeons". Shapeshifters are rare, but they're a right bastard, so if any of us mention a pie, the other has ta claim a particular pie is best." he points round the room "Peach, Apple, Pumpkin, Sheperd's and I'll take Mince. If ya dream about me it's a spell, not a nightmare, and I'll only do it in an emergency. Sound good?"
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"Chalk on the lamppost means the townhome isn't safe, pigeons means speak no secrets, and my favorite pie is peach. Got it."
"Yes, my lord. We have several batches of papers, in fact. These came from the Reap base that Khaz and Fyrman raided." She passes over a folder. "They are written in code, but we deciphered it and have included notes on how to read it. The papers contain several pieces of information. First, they detail the drug smuggling ring on the Hill. Next, it seems the Reaps are extremely angry that we recovered much of the contents of the treasury, and are leaning harder on their compromised Council member in order to locate us."
"And finally, they were looking for leverage they might use to blackmail other Council members. They had two leads for that. One was that Duke Beaumont has very quietly been subsidizing a couple of playwrights of strongly nationalist plays. Certainly not blackmail material in and of itself, but the secrecy with which he is doing so piqued their interest. Their other lead had to do with Count Harcourt; and it is a good thing, my lord, that we got to Harcourt first."
She pulls out more papers. "These are the results of Janus' research in the legal archives regarding Harcourt's recent transactions." She passes over a second folder. "And these are a series of documents that I retrieved from a hidden compartment in the bottom left drawer of Lord Harcourt's personal desk." She passes over a third folder.
"I am sure you will want to examine these in detail yourself. But allow me to give you the overview."
"Some time ago, Lord Harcourt purchased several large groves of darkwood trees located in the Bishopric of Helm. He wishes to clear-cut them in order to realize the full profits of his investment immediately. But Helm has laws strictly regulating the harvesting of Darkwood: only a small number of trees may be cut each year, and they must be replanted afterwards."
"He does not want to wait. And so, he embarked on a scheme to arrange for Iustia to annex Helm. Some 90 years ago, Charles II issued a hegemonic decree to annex the Feld Islands due to rampant piracy that Feld had shown itself unable -- or unwilling -- to curb. Harcourt sought to use that precedent to allow for an annexation of Helm."
"Of course, Helm was not being used as a pirate haven. He needed it to be plagued by pirates. And so, he hired some, using one Lord Tyron Alabaster as his agent. In order to transfer the funds, he purchased several properties from Alabaster at vastly inflated prices. Alabaster then took that money and hired Captain Gertrude van Beem, a notorious pirate captain out of the Serpent Isles, to attack vessels in Bishopric waters. Although we have found no direct evidence of this among the papers, I suspect Harcourt and Alabaster may have fed van Beem information about which Iustian vessels carried the most valuable cargoes, so that her depredations would quickly become a genuine crisis, thereby forcing Iustia to act."
"The endgame was meant to be something along the lines of the King calling Council to discuss the issue of piracy in Bishopric waters. Harcourt planned to point out the hegemonic decree of Charles II and suggest it as a model. His Majesty, acting on the advice of his Council, annexes Helm by decree, sending in the army to secure the place, and the navy to scour the seas free of pirates. With Helm absorbed into Iustia, Harcourt would be free to harvest his trees, which Iustian law does not protect. Harcourt seems not to have been troubled overmuch by the cost to Iustia in treasure and lives that would rise from absorbing a neighboring nation against its will."
"We are uncertain how he meant to keep van Beem from blackmailing him. Perhaps he planned simply to continue paying her, accounting it a cost of business, and direct her piracy towards elven shipping instead. Or perhaps he had some agent on her ship with instructions to quietly sink it. Who knows?"
"Unfortunately for Harcourt, his plan failed. According to Count Aral's sources in Helm, some of the Bishop's agents destroyed Gertrude van Beem's ship. They captured her and returned her to Helm, where she was put to the question, tried, convicted, and executed. With his cat's paw dead and the Bishop very likely aware that van Beem was working for Iustian interests, Harcourt's bid to engineer an annexation was dead in the water. Much of his assets are tied up in Helmian darkwood groves or sunk along with the piracy plot. He is likely skating on the edge of financial ruin, and anyone with knowledge of his actions would be in a strong position to blackmail him in order to influence the Council. And once he finds that his personal papers have been stolen -- which he is likely to discover this morning -- he will no doubt become even more desperate than he was before."
"Beyond the papers, we have a lead on an opportunity to quietly abduct Tyron Alabaster from a brothel he is known to frequent. No doubt he would be able to corroborate and fill in details, either under threat of torture or if he were offered a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony."
"And, lastly, I note that there are four council members: yourself, Duke Beaumont, Count Harcourt and Baron Cust. The Reaps have compromised one of the Council. We know it is not you. And we know from the papers recovered from their base that they were interested in Beaumont and Harcourt, but had not yet found material for blackmail on either of them. That suggests that Baron Cust is the Council member who is currently compromised."
Turick's face grows paler and paler during this accounting but his jaw remains set in a firm line. He refrains from speaking until Melia has finished then stands up and paces. "This is far worse than I imagined. Not only has Cust likely stolen from the treasury itself, but Harcourt is a traitor as well!?" He shakes his head, as if trying to clear. "And Duke Beaumont... The magnificent, brilliant, patriot... What is he playing at? My father always said that where there was one secret, there were more." He slumps back in his chair suddenly. "I wish he were still here." You clearly see the viscount for his youth now, a man still in his twenties, caught up in a large game.
He leans forward and begins speaking rapidly while he grasps the papers firmly. "Do what you can with Alabaster. I will prepare to present the case against Count Harcourt directly to King Stephen, as soon as possible. In the mean time, I will direct my men to begin investigating one of these connections." He looks over the group of you, wondering. "You seem a capable group. Which should my men investigate? Duke Beaumont or Baron Cust?"
"Your father sounds like a wise man," Melia says. "I am sorry for your loss."
"As for next steps, Baron Cust strikes me as the most logical target. If he is indeed compromised by the Reaps, then investigating him may well give us further leads on them as well. If we are lucky, perhaps we will find a way to put an end to their operations here in Bannerhold. At least temporarily."
She looks to the others. "But I am willing to be persuaded otherwise, if any of you think Duke Beaumont would be a more fruitful avenue of investigation."
Kazador reveled in the feeling that he was useful, for he was half of the group which uncovered important papers. But then Mel’s silver tongue and deductive reasoning put him to shame. He listened in silence as she succinctly and eloquently laid out all that had occurred in a way which kept the focus on what was important, with as little personal glorification as possible. He knew in his heart that he could never match that. All was good, until she asked for input. The dwarf shook his head. Investigating Baron Cust did sound reasonable…but he feared that if he spoke out as towards why then he would just risk embarrassing himself. It was as the old adage said, better to be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt!
Túrion leaned against the wall as Melia started talking, and kept talking.
He didn't even try to hide the smug smile.
They had uncovered a LOT, and laying it bare like this was certain to put whatever spies and informants the court had to shame. That, and Melia was very eloquent.
Not classically charismatic, but the flow of her speech still had a draw to it.
When it all was said and done, and it was time to join the discussion, he clears his throat, then speaks up:"I concur. If Cust is the one likely compromised, then investigating him will be more fruitful. If the Reaps have not found dirt on Beaumont that they consider sufficient, then there will not be enough for us to find to build a case against him on short notice."
He thinks for a moment, then adds:"We may not know the extent of Beaumonts ambition at this point, but we do know that Cust, Harcourt, and Alabaster are implicated and real threats. We'll leave Cust and Harcourt to you, and will try and secure Alabaster. I believe that is our best course of action right now..."
The Don stands quietly, mouth open, as Melia talks.
Initially his mouth is open to scholarly refute some faulty assertion, but as the facts are clearly laid out his open mouth transitioned to one agape in astonishment. His hard-pondered conspiracy theories are revealed to be little more than the delusions of a madman under the piercing light of Melia's revelations.
It takes every ounce of his self control not to break character in front of the Viscount, and he takes the opportunity to pour himself a drink with shaking hands.
"Indeed." he finally agrees "I concur. Alabaster first, while the scoundrel still leaves himself open to interception. Then Cust. Then Harcourt. However, I would caution you on another possibility, Lord Turick. That the fight is brought to us."
The old man sighs "The Reaps have seen many setbacks recently. They are likely to become desperate. Desperate people do desperate, foolish things. They have been careful to avoid attracting the ire of the Crown - in this they have failed. If they believe the Crown a threat, they may well move to strike at the King, or council members beyond their sway. While my lord's bravery is well known, I urge not just caution but outright paranoia regarding your own safety. After all, should you fall it seems likely that the council will be entirely populated with ambitious, foolish, and/or treacherous men."
The Don scowls, shrinking in on himself "Further still - while an assassination attempt on his Majesty would be suicide, history shows us that an assassin prepared to die for their cause is extremely hard to entirely stop. I hypothesise that a number of such assassins striking at once may be able to overcome defences thought unassailable."
"I fear that the inevitable end to this contest is a shadow war between the Reaps and the Crown. A war that can end only if that Damned order is utterly destroyed."
The Don smiles hesitantly, and shrugs "Forgive an old man for harping on about an issue my lord Viscount has undoubtedly already considered."
The viscount listens solemnly then stands up when Melia finishes and claps his hands together once, sharply. "To action, then." He slows for a moment to listen to Don then smiles slightly. "Thank you for your concern. I will double my security and ask the King to treble his own." The interview concluded, he rushes off to business.
You head to the brothel to plan with the Madame. She smiles with satisfaction when she hears what you want to do. "How can I assist you?"
"The first task is to lure him someplace private, I think. After that I don't believe we've settled on the exact means."
She glances at the disguised arcanist. "Janus, perhaps you have some ... suggestion?"
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”Lure him someplace private? Well, if ye expect me to seduce him, then know that the plan is right out. While it would undoubtedly be effective, I have standards.”
"I doubt we would even need to go there... Serena - an otherworldly ally of mine bound to my family - can easily pass for a very young female human. Which would be exactly what he desires. She could also pass for one of the other races, which would allow Madame to uphold her ethics while providing something tailored to his tastes. My plan, when I did not know if you'd be available, was to use her to lure him into one of the private rooms. He'd be isolated, distracted, and empty-handed, and surprise would be on our side. I'd expect him to go down decently quickly."
Túrion answers, then adds after a moment:"The only issue may be that Fennith REALLY dislikes being in any physical contact with others. But I don't think that would be a show-stopper for Alabaster, if he even notices."
He turns to the Madame:"So for that, we'd need one private room where we can prepare to jump him, and for someone to notify us when he arrives. You can then advertise your new employee and we'll send her out. Of course you can also meet her first, if you'd like, to make things more believeable."
He looks to the others, one after the other:"Or at least, that was what I had come up with - I am of course open for other options. We are here to plan, after all- "
"I don't like this but if we must do it, let up at least be close enough to prevent trouble. Though I suppose Serena can take care of herself well enough." Fyrtor seems uncomfortable with the situation, but doesn't complain.
The Madame taps her chin thoughtfully with a single finger. "Alabaster has made his... distasteful preferences... known to me. While he can meet these at other establishments, men like him would feel the most... validated by doing so at a high-end establishment like mine. If I send him a messenger that I am prepared to do such business, he will likely be willing to make an appointment." She waves her fan in a dismissing gesture. "I'm sure I can devise a suitable reason for a scheduling constraint."
Melia giggles at Kazador, caught up in a momentary vision of the burly warrior dressed up in high heels and a bustier, making kissy faces at Tyron Alabaster through a dwarven beard.
Melia makes a face at Fyrman. "I agree, it's distasteful. But I think it's a reasonable plan, provided Serena is willing to play bait. The rest of us just need good hiding places close by. Once he's in the room, we rush in and knock him out. Then all we have to do is tie him up and depart. Preferably without attracting undue attention or damaging the furniture."
The don shivers slightly. "This skirts the very edge of my morality. I can easily see this going very, very wrong." 'Spent too much time around the Fae to like the idea of feeding someone to them - even someone like this' "But I accept that your understanding of Serena far surpasses mine."
"While I am sure it goes unsaid, I feel I should insist on one additional step - we have someone, disguised or illusioned to look like Alabaster - be seen after this event. Should it be necessary I will undertake the mission myself."
He straightens "I was considered quite the actor in my younger days. I admit impersonating a young girl would be a stretch, but sadly a degenerate old scumbag is right in the middle of my repertoire."
"As for the actual acquisition - my new spell blocks sound, allowing me to sleep tight while the students carouse next door. It seems... overkill. On the other hand blocking his ability to flee seems well worth doing. I suggest my role be to try to block any single-use items he might employ."
The madame raises an eyebrow as you scheme. "I will send the messenger now? When should I ask Alabaster to come?"
"Well, Madame, that is to some extent up to you. We will require a room with reasonable sound proofing, and where a number of us can remain hidden. As well as a door that can be secured, ideally from both sides. If we can rely on you to deal with any additional people brought with the scoundrel, I believe all of us should remain there."
"I took the liberty of acquiring a few consumables during my recent sojourn, specifically silence dust . I'll need, perhaps, half an hour to prepare myself and measure out the dust into bags - so any time after that. I suggest we all have one, and use our best judgement to choose between deploying the dust and incapacitating the target when the opportunity arrives. Is there any chance Serena could deploy such a bag? If not we'll need a signal. In fact, we'll need a number of silent signals to deploy in the area."
The Don looks to Turion, carefully avoiding using any names. "Once the man is unconscious, I suggest one of us move him directly to our final destination. I'm happy to do so, but will then need someone else to act the thespian - or wait until I can return."
"I would suggest at least some of us stay here in case something comes up, and to deal with any remaining companions. Ideally we'd have a communication mechanism, though we'd have to consider the distance."
"With the exception of our final deception - him leaving - I believe that will covers the basic plan?"
The don turns to the Madame "Once the message is sent I suggest you find a room, show it to us, familiarise yourself with Serena, and we wait for a response. Remember we'll need at least half an hour - an hour would be better - to prepare."
The madame nods. "Yes I can provide such a room with a small closet that could fit two of you. I will send the message."
The madame sends out her messenger. Within an hour, the messenger returns, letting you know that Alabaster will return to the brothel later tonight. Turion and Kazador cram into the closet while Fennith perfects her disguise and heads into the room.
Shortly, Tyron Alabaster walks into the brothel, flanked by a large man and a thin, short, woman with sharp eyes.
Melia disguises herself as a bouncer, using her Hat of Disguise to make herself appear as a short, heavily muscled human woman with short, dark hair, a scar on one cheek and a cudgel hanging from her belt. She stands at the back, attempting to look simultaneously alert and unobtrusive.
Kazador's armor allowed it to feel like his armor was as comfortable as regular clothes and to take on such an appearance. However, this did nothing for others who were in physical contact with it. He felt somewhat bad for Tyron being stuck in a closet with him, but there wasn't much he could do about any discomfort he caused.
The Madame smiles and nods, welcoming Alabaster to her establishment. She motions him into the room with Fennith.
The two bodyguards take up positions on either side of the door, resting their backs against the wall.
Melia notes that the large man is muscular and wears hand-wraps while the woman has a slight bump under her clothing and a small, leather strap around her neck. Melia's sharp eyes determine that the bump under the clothing is in the shape of a miniature hand and sword.
That is the holy symbol of Szuriel, goddess of armsdealers, looters, and mercenaries.
Fyrtor stands with Melia trying to fit the part of a bouncer. He nods to the bodyguards, but doesn't say anything just cleans his nails with his "dagger."
A well dressed but somewhat tipsy old man grunts as the girl he's drunkenly 'courting' subtly drifts him out of Tyron's path. he half stumbles, clutching at his cane to stay balanced, then dropping it anyway. "Can you get that, love? I seem to have..." his conversation drifts off into a giggle, mumbling some vague single-entendre about a rod.
Bouncer-Melia rolls her eyes at the tipsy patron.