They brought these people out when we gave them the money. Carl here said they we homeless and snatched from the street to be sold as slaves. The men we met also offered to hire us for a different organization if we were interested.
"Yeah, this whole criminal thing is a lot bigger than you government types thought. I'm going to need more money if you want us to go deep undercover."
Mercenary lout! But I'm sure he has had his own share of struggles, I shouldn't judge him. And he could definitely be useful.
Before we get into investigations, we must provide comfort and aid to these poor folk. To start with, how are we going to unshackle them? Apparently we were too astonished to think to ask for the key. And let's get them some food and water. Now then, I will happily do whatever is in my capacity to bring the fiends responsible for these atrocities to justice. And as for my compensation, I wish to donate my wages to start a fund to help these poor stricken beings, and others sharing their fate. Rubin glances self-righteously in Kraull's direction.
I'll get them some good stew and bread made. Fill and warm their bellies. I'm no good with locks but maybe the blacksmith?
Chef will start making some food for the men and women.
Man, that bard guy must be rolling in the gold if he can just toss good money away to poor people.
Kraull either ignore Rubin's look or doesn't quite grasp the meaning of it, "I can try to rip the shackles off of 'em, but it might hurt a bit if my fingers slip. You government types have any lockpickers on the payroll? Well, I guess you probably wouldn't, huh?"
Pat Trone, will have a former "contact" meet him at the shop, who after an hour or so will have everyone unshackled. Pat than turn to you all,
While that is noble of you Rubin, I insist you keep the extra coin given to you to help fun whatever you may need to go deep into the organization and help us rip them apart from the inside. I would hate to think your generosity ended up getting you killed due to lack of preparedness on your part, but if you are dead set on it than I am not going to argue with you.
He than looks at Kraull, an eyebrow raised at his "demand" for more compensation. He strokes his chin for a moment, then replies with a very stern look, Let me check with my superiors and I will get back to you with an actual number sir. Until then, as always keep your heads down, and if possible stay down here for an extra night or two.
A few days go by, and Pat returns.
So, I spoke it over with my boss, and given all of your talents, and more importantly willingness, albeit financially driven, are willing to help root this evil out of our city and surrounding areas; are able to pay you each an additional 550 gold pieces each to help fund your cooperation. Does that seem enough for your pockets sir half-orc?
Ready and willing, sir! Do we have specific orders, or are we just going to make it up as we go along? Do you have any information on this group?
Hmm.. I could get a good light mace in case we get into a scrap, what do other people think we might need? In fact? Just how would we go about 'taking them apart?'
Kraull's eye positively light up at the thought of all that money, "Yeah, I'm definitely in then. Can we get an advance? You know, for better equipment for being undercover."
We will be able to give you each 400 or so gold, as we are still trying to budget everything out to get you each the summation of the 550. Do you wish to purchase anything in particular?
Three days go by, and you receive a knock at the secret entrance you used to shuffle the potential slaves in through. Behind is a thug, the sae thug who told you "he would be in touch".
He looks around, than says in a hushed voice just in case Taidus is around, Shitty conditions you got here boys. How about you get some "better accommodations"? Follow me if you're in, otherwise stay the f*ck outta my way!
He leads you through the tunnel system, but instead of leaving the same way you entered, outside of town, he pulls a very well hidden lever, and goes down a side tunnel. You are taken through winding, twisting, sometime slick stone and dirt filled tunnels. After an hour of walking, you reach a trapdoor in the ceiling.
Ladies first, as he motion you out the tunnel network.
You exit, the sky if filled with stars, and the moon is half full, allowing you some visibility in the otherwise dark of night. Before you stands a man, 6'1" tall, black hair slicked back. He wears what appears to be studded leather, but it is died the the same color as the night...pitch black.
He looks at the 3 of you, So, these are the new recruits you spoke to me about? Hmph, they look like they can barely take a punch, let alone operate in MY organization. You know, that if they fail...YOU fail right Jamison?
He pulls up a flame, and lights a cigarette, take a couple puffs, and than looks back to the 3 of you, So, here's the deal ladies. I will send you on a run with 3 of my best men. You get the goods, WITHOUT raising any alarms, then you very well might make it my organization. By the way, you refuse and I kill you right now.
The boss, gives you all a moment to think it over.
Now wearing a more well made breastplate in lieu of his old chain shirt, Kraull speaks up first, "That's what we're here for boss, let's get it done."
Umm.. Chef looks intimidated. Yes, boss. I'm in.
Man, this crossbow is way easier than a regular bow, just point and squeeze. I don't know what Leafly has against them.
Rubin also sports his brand new set of studded leather, of the finest quality. He spends an hour a day polishing and oiling it, hoping that he will soon be seen and admired in public, rather than rotting away in a dank cellar.
Aarh, what we be waitin' for here, flappin' our gums? Let's get on with the show!
The boss lets out a hearty laugh, Eagerness, lets see how that holds up
He motions for two of his crew to gather you, and begin the mission.
A half-orc looks at you 3, and then puts very bluntly, Follow my orders, and don't argue with me. Follow me
He takes off in the night. After 15-20 minutes of a hustle, you come to a very small hamlet. There appears to be a dozen or so homes, a few torches are lit around the perimeter of the place.
Boss wants one thing from this sh*thole, a root that is kept by the eldest. His shack is over there as he points to a shack with a lit torch outside. It is about 100 feet from your current location.
While I doubt there is something special about it, he has told us to have YOU 3 get it for us. HE mentioned nothin' 'bout how to go about it or witnesses, so you can do whatever you want. Now, get the root, it is somewhere in there and is called Xander Root.
"Either of you guys good at sneaking? I guess I could take my armor off, but I'm still not good at it." Kraull asks his compatriots in a low voice.
well I could try but I'm no ranger or thief.
Not to worry, I'm practically invisible. Just one problem, what the "F" does a Xander root look like? Rubin adds under his breath to his compatriots Stand by the door. If I get caught I'll try to run out, then you bash whoever comes out behind me. Just try to incapacitate them, please, I'd really rather not kill anyone.
Rubin deftly creeps up to the shack and peeps in the window, then very carefully tries the door, to see if it will open. If it's locked, he goes back and tries to go through the window. If he gets inside without being noticed, he searches for the root.
As Rubin carefully lifts the door latch, he accidentally bumps his loaded crossbow, which fires a bolt into the wall of the shack with a loud "THUNK". He jerks in surprise and slams the door on his fingers. OW!
Kraull stands by the door as directed, drawing his greatclub as Rubin makes a racket. He can't help but smirk at the situation.
Maybe invisible doesn't mean what I think it means.
Chef winces at the noise and stands next to Kraull. Remember, we don't want to kill them.
Kraull rolls his eyes for whatever reason, but nods his assent to the chef's statement.
Despite Rubin's crossbow going off, he hears a large snort from inside the hut, but then the relaxed snoring continues as if nothing had happened.
He sneaks, into the hut, and pokes around. He finds a sack on a table. He gently opens it, and inside is a fuzzy root like object. Dirt covers it, and it smells like Kraull after the week long stay in the old basement.
As Rubin leaves, he also notices another root, behind the hut door. He grabs it, but as he stands up, he notices a pair of eyes, staring back at him in the moonlight. He startles at first, unsure what to do, but then a small purr comes from the cat, as it weaves in and around Rubin's legs, demanding attention.
Nice kitty. Ssshhh!
Rubin tiptoes out of the shack and signals Chef and Kraull to follow. Okay, I think we got what we came for. Luckily the guy sleeps like the dead. Here, hold on to this one. He gives the extra root from behind the door to Chef.
He meets back up with the thugs, holding up the single root in the bag. Is this what you're after?
The thug takes the bag from Rubin and hands it over to the boss. The boss takes a look at the root, and gives a firm nod. That's it boy, fine job you did. Now one more thing before we call this a wrap...I want you to kill the village elder. I know I didn't mention anything about it, but I hate to leave loose ends around in my line of work.
The boss send you with the same two men from before, and you head back to the elder's hut. There is one slight problem, the elder is up, and there are 6 other men around the hut trying to get this sorted out.
The "lead" thug looks at you Rubin, and in a whisper, you first kid
Er...There enough of us here? Plus six dead men is gunna make a lot of heat. It'll be a massacre and that brings sherrifs.
The thug looks at you Chef, Look around kid, we are in the middle of bumf*ck nowhere. IF, a sheriff happened to stumble here, there ain't gonna be no credible witnesses about. One of you either got to killin, or we get to killin...you.
Kraull scratches his head in confusion, and looks to the others for some guidance on how to proceed.
Ah..well whole lotta killen seems just overdoin it how about we juzt crack em sensless..mumble mumble..but we gotta do what we gotta do.
The thug looks at you Chef, then back the couple hundred feet back to the boss.
Just hurry up then! If WE have to get involved then it turns ugly, he says in a hushed command of authority.
Rubin begins spinning a tale.
It's a good thing you brought me along instead of attempting this yourself. I met this Elder Benzennir once, and I know he has the attention of at least half a dozen lords of this land, and manages their business in these parts. Dispatching him would certainly bring plenty of unwanted attention on your heads, if you even got around to killing him. I know we three would not survive the attempt, because that guard on the right I recognize as "Bones" Murfy, who I saw single-handedly wrestle a minotaur to the ground in an arena fight in New Stetven. Even our Kraull is no match for him (no offense, Kraull). The one standing next to him I don't know, but he's bearing the standard of the Order of Vengeance, who are known for their skill in defending nighttime ambushes, not to mention their strict oaths of vengeance against attackers of their protectees. Do I need to go on?
Is that so?, says the man thug as he looks at you. Look kid, I know you wanna make a name for yourselves in our gang, The Authority. But spare me and the boss all the tall tales and fabrications...okay. Look, take them out or we do.
Sigh..Let us go get them Rubin. We gotta work together on this take each one down together.
"Listen, I've been around the block a few times, so I'm going to handle this my way. Whether or not the guy has to die, depends on what we find there. Either way, he won't be a problem anymore. I'm on it. You guys gotta a problem with that?"
Chef waits tensely, his eyes darting between his group and the other ones.Well, we best get over there, right?
Rubin blanches at his being called out by these meathead hoodlums. He swallows his pride and his morals, and readies his bow, still stalling at this dirtiest of deeds, waiting for their reaction to Kraull's ultimatum.
The two thugs set to essentially babysit you three, turn to each other and start to speak in a language none of you understand. After a few tense moments, they turn to the three of you, and in a shaky voice respond to Kraull's ultimatum.
We...we don't care what you do. So long as none of this gets traced back to us. If you think...that we are good to go, then I ain't gonna fight with you on this. But god help you if this goes south, we will tell the boss it was all your idea. Got it?
With everything settled, you head back to the boss, and report that is has all been taken care of. The boss looks to the babysitters, who also report the same.
The boss looks at you, Hmm, impressive indeed. You are in, and the only way out is through the grave. Welcome to The Authority. Now, follow me ladies.
-------------------------
The boss, the two bodyguards, and you three all head out by horseback, miles outside of the small podunk hamlet you were just in. The sun starts to creep up on the horizon, and you come to a rock face. You are led inside, as there are no discerning marks or indicators where the entrance may be.
You are taken to a 4 bunk room, to sleep off the hard night you just had. You wake several hours later, after you are rested, and find the door to be locked. About 30 minutes after you try the locked door, you hear it unlock and the same "boss" you wet last night enters, this time with no bodyguards with him, but they outside just in case.
Hope you had a good night sleep, today you train to be a USEFUL member of our organization. He looks at you Rubin, so what are you good at kid? How can we hone your raw talent?, he than poses the same question to both you Kraull and Chef.
Well, I am fairly handy with a knife, got a keen eye for the quality of stuff, I know my way around the local towns, and um...cook real good.
I don't think he wants to hear about my glorious singing voice.
I can be pretty sneaky, I got that root thing for you didn't I? Good thing that guy was comatose. I know a lot of people and I'm good at finding information. If you're out of beer I've worked quite a bit as a brewer. My trade currently is making arrows and bows.
"Scaring people off, then if that don't work, beating them down with my club. Sometimes I mix it up to keep things interesting." Kraull answers simply.
The boss looks at you Chef, think it over kid. If I wanted a chef, I would make my old lady cook. Think about what you wanna be in life, I will give you 5 minutes to think it over.
He than turns to you Rubin, Hmm, I noticed. I may be able to work with that. I will get you set up with one of my better infiltrators to see what he thinks about your potential.
He finally looks at Kraull, I can already tell that big greenie. So, I am gonna have one of my enforcers give you a workout, see what he thinks, too.
Well I am good with mixing things and just think of all the flaming bottles I could make if you wanted things to burn! I'm sure I could make other kinds of stuff as well.
I guess I'm just kind of a jack-of-all-trades.
"Bring it on!" Kraull says with unnecessary enthusiasm.
The boss, set you each up with "associates" for various skill and degree. You each are tough tricks of the trade.
Rubin, for a few days you are trained by scout, but his teaching just don't seem to stick well with you. You are able to take off a few bells from a dummy, but always fail sooner rather than later. You try to disable a simple lock, but seem to jam it more often than not.
After a few days, you feel that you would rather inspire your comrades to greater things than they thought possible. The boss set you up with a local minstrel, who teaches you that the right words and the right time can lift up any and all to greater things. And with the right gestures, people will fall over the words you say, and not even seem to care that you are simply using them as a puppet for your own nefarious needs. After a week, you feel better about your skills learned, and how to handle potential issues.
-----
Kraull, you are given a brute of a man, who stands nearly 6'6" tall, fiery red hair and a beard to match. He proceed to beat the crap of you, but you dish it back pretty well. HE tries to make you fly into a rage, but to no avail. He than gives you a longsword, but it just feels unwieldy in your hand. He than hands you cestus and shortsword. It feels easier to use, and you don't feel uncomfortable.
After a few days, the big burly man, gives you to a less burly man, but whenever you try to attack him, he either trips you, disarms you, or makes you look foolish in some other manner. After a week or so, you have picked us some serviceable skills to help physically defeat any for you may come across.
-----
Chef, after telling the boss you like to cook, he thinks for a moment, and a wicked smile comes across his face. You like to cook. I will put you through my version of cooking school. Just don't blow yourself or my place up, 'kay.
The next day, you are given to an apparent senile old man, you tells you to stands in the middle of a circle...barefoot He than breaks a lot of glass around you so that if you took a step, you would cut yourself deep with jagged glass. He grabs a small vial, tosses a few components inside it, shakes it and even from the distance of 10' you can hear it cackle and sizzle. He tosses it at your square, but manages to hit right before you. It explodes into a wash of flame, and melts all the glass which was surrounding you. After a few moments, he tells you to walk out towards him.
You don't hurt yourself , but it still feels weird the rounded glass on your bare flesh. HE than gets to teach you the finer point of alchemy. The precise amounts you mix with each other so you don't blow yourself up. After a week as well, you feel comfortable in your new talents, to be able to burn whatever life throws your way.
-----
A week goes by, and the three of you seem more comfortable with your various talents; Rubin with inspiring others, Kraull with how to better take people head on, and Chef with the knowledge to create volatile cocktails bit with precision.
The boss brings you all back in before him, in the same room room you were in when he all addressed you a week ago.
Well, my guys tell me you have all picked up your various talents fairly well. Now let's put your new talents to good use shall we?
He takes a sip from his flask, then looks at a few papers on his desk.
You are gonna go take care of a little problem for me. There is a man, who has gone into hiding within the city. Find out where he is hiding, and bring him to me...ALIVE. His name is Tsai. He has a gambling problem, "medication" problem, and has gone into hiding. Go he waves his hand to dismiss you.
You are led to a secret entrance to the complex, and are shoved out onto the street when the coast is clear.
You are in an alleyway, leading both north and south. You appear to be in a large market area. Wares are being sold, items are being bartered over, and a few arguments can be heard occasionally between seller and buyer.
You ask around, and you are told there are 2 inns/bars in the immediate area; The Happy Witch Inn and Sleeping Lizard In