Zyrel holds his hand out to Kris for the paper, then changes his mind and simply grabs hold of Kris to help him run.
Erick growls under his breath. "Could have gone better, could have gone much worse. Let's hope they don't connect the dots tomorrow." The man is obviously not a fan of this type of work.
Kristleifur has a broad grin on his face.
"Lie low? Yeah, I'll manage that! Great work folks!", he says, clearly assessing this as a job well done.
"I found a bunch of papers, think I grabbed more than we needed, might be worth a look.", he adds as an afterthought.
Erick looks unhappier still. "Well, better than just taking the one we wanted, since you got spotted. Let me see, I'll look through them. If there's anything illegal going on that needs to be brought to the attention of the city guard, I'll make a few notes and turn it over to my local chapterhouse, so it can make it's way to someone who deals with illegal stuff. If not, we can just burn the excess."
Elsa grins and puts away the bottled lightning. She joins the others.
No plan every works unchanged. We did well, I think.
Looking through the documents, they are mostly administrative documents. The letter, however, is notable. Most of it is fairly dry, discussing business matters, but the end is most interesting. It reads, Delay the Wach and Heldonpinder shipment for as long as possible. The Conclave of Niln will pay whatever is needed. If transfer of assets to the Conclave is possible, ensure it happens.
Awaiting your correspondence,
Bramwell
"Hmmm..." Erick frowns. "Something here in this letter. Much as I hate to say it, might want to let our new boss see it. May have something to do with business. Not sure I like the idea of a shipping company holding up other people's packages for a third party. If you're paid to transship something, you took their coin, you do the job." He waves at the rest of the papers. "Those we can burn, just business records, and we don't want to be caught with them. This last page we'll turn over to our employer for more information. Can't say I'd lose any sleep over a transshipper losing business if it gets out they delay shipments for competitors. Elsa, you and Armanus and I will go pick up the package this morning. Probably a good idea for Zyrel to keep an eye on Kris as he keeps a low profile." He raises an eyebrow at the other two, and hands Kris the letter page with the information about packages being delayed. "Why don't you see what our employer has to say about this while the rest of us get that package."
sounds like a plan. Do you want me to burn the other papers?
"The plan is sound, Erick", Armanus bows slightly. "Let us away."
Erick hands her the rest of the papers, and folds up the one letter sheet and the invoice separately, and secrets them on his person, hidden in amongst the other four dozen pieces of scrap paper he has on his person at any given time. "Yes, don't care how flashy you do it, as long as you don't set the place on fire, and you don't leave anything legible to be traced back to us." He shakes his head. "To one it is a sound plan, to the other it sounds like a plan. I'm beginning to think I'm surrounded by wannabe bards."
"We could use more bards!", Kristleifur adds cheerfully.
"Me and Zyrel can find somewhere to keep quiet, the papers get fired or delivered as appropriate, and we get paid. I'm all for it!"
"If we want to keep quiet, we hardly need more bards." Zyrel points out in what might pass for dry humour. "Let's away then, Kristleifur, and see to getting you a new face and delivering the note."
Elsa puts the papers on the ground and burns them (burning hands spell). Once they are ash, she kicks them.
done
With the contract secured, the party heads back to Wach and Heldonpinder. The half-elf receptionist is polite as always as the party goes upstairs. They find Sedik in his human guise in the sitting room of the office. He smiles as they come in, "My newest agents! I trust your assignment went well. I have heard nothing, which in our line of work is the goal." He is pleased when given the contract, noting that it'll be proof that the shipment needs to be delivered. When he sees the letter, he scowls deeply and says with barely restrained anger, "The Conclave is involved? Damnation. Sons of bastards. Always meddling in our affairs." He rubs the bridge of his nose and exhales deeply, "You have done an exemplary job. The shipment was likely stymied by our chief rival, the Conclave of Niln. That is not of great import now, however." He sets down the papers and says, "I believe your payment is due. There is a bank here in Alkenstar that is affiliated with the Tetrad, you may go there to receive your payment with these promissory notes." He pulls several slips of thick paper from his pocket and hands them to the party.
Once they have the notes secured he continues, "As this was something of a trial mission I must then ask you all, will you continue your association with the Tetrad? It would be quite the shame to lose agents as promising as yourselves."
Erick shrugs. "You've heard my concerns, and my limitations. I have no issues doing an honest day's pay for an honest day's wage, provided the people employing me are honest. Or at least as honest as can be, given the way the world works. I'm not a paladin, so I'm not worried about good, just ethical. I've found ethics to be better than morality. Morality is slippery. Ethics are much firmer. As to continuing as a group..." He shrugs. "I've found this group is, for the most part, above the average, so I'll defer to the group as a whole. If some want to continue, and others not, I'll decide for myself which way to go. If the rest wish to continue, I'll abide by that."
"A new face? Now *that* gets my interest!"
Erick looks at Kris as if he sprouted a horn from his nose at the apparent non sequitur. "A new face?" He asks, sounding somewhat bewildered.
Once they have the notes secured he continues, "As this was something of a trial mission I must then ask you all, will you continue your association with the Tetrad? It would be quite the shame to lose agents as promising as yourselves."
Standing straight, like a true Cheliax noble, Armanus states, "An association with The Tetrad appears to hold some promise. I would prefer work with this team, opposed to others, though", the tiefliong thinks, "..well, maybe not the gnome."
Kristleifur entirely misses Erick's reaction, still keen on what Zyrel was talking about.
"I'd be delighted to continue in this vein." Zyrel affirms.
To Erick he explains "A metaphor. We'll look at changing the way Kristleifur looks, in case his description is being circulated; rest assured we will not be taking anyone's actual face. Such magics are abhorent."
it seems like a ok idea. Not forever, mind. Lot's of the world to see.
Erick suddenly grunts. "Oh, what you said earlier." He nods, muttering under his breath about 'reaction times' and 'no wonder caught' and such.
With the group seeming to have reached a consensus, Sedik smiles widely and claps his hands together, "So it seems you all have agreed to continue your association with the Tetrad! You have made the right decision, I am certain." He looks toward Elsa with a sly smile, "You mention a whole world to see. Well, I must tell you that your assignments shall take you to various exotic locales. For convenience's sake, I shall give you the next three jobs you are to complete, for you to tackle at your leisure. Is that acceptable?"
What're the jobs? And what's the pay?
"Definitely want to hear all this!"
Sedik looks about in a leather satchel on the coffee table and finds some papers. He then says, "There are three jobs I have for you. The closest is here in Alkenstar, a merchant across the city has been selling counterfeit Tetrad wares. Do what you can to stop it."
He pauses to look over the next paper, "One of our contacts on Jalmeray, a mystic named Suradesh, has gone rogue. We suspect he may be spreading Tetrad secrets. If you are able, convince him to return to the Tetrad. If that is not possible, then at least get him to stay quiet. We do not know where he has gone, so go to our Tetrad contact in Ridwan and track him down from there."
He then says, "And last but not least, a new drug called Slag has become distressingly popular in the slums of Katapesh. It's effects are quite severe, withdrawals turning people into raving lunatics. It endangers the stability of our interests there, so we need you to sort out who is distributing it and put a stop to it. As Katapesh is one of our bases of operations, you will have a bit more support there than you might have otherwise."
"What type of wares is this merchant counterfeiting in Alkenstar, and do we have any idea of the merchant's identity?" The tiefling questioned.
Erick frowns. "The drug seems higher priority than counterfeiting. The former costs reputation, money and lives, while the latter costs reputation and money." He grins and thumbs his sword's rings, making them chime. "Plus it'd feel pretty good to deal with something like drug dealers, there's almost always a bounty on their heads, so you get to do something good for the people, and get paid a handsome bonus to do it."
"Taking down drug lords sounds more fun!"
"Well, you'll have to complete all your assignments to receive your pay. Let me see, should be 2000 gold pieces each."
He pauses and turns to Armanus, "There is a series of fairly powerful household appliances, top of the line wares, that is being counterfeited. I do not know the merchant's name, but his shop is off of one of the markets in Graeson's Fingers in Skyside."
"We will need to see the Tetrad mark so we have something to compare it to in our investigation", Armanus continued.
"And the original appliances, so we know what they are!"
"The exact details are in the folio I have given you, what you ask about should be there."
Indeed, the mark of the Tetrad subsidiary that makes them and schematics for the appliances are there when someone goes to look at them.
"Okay-dokey.", replies the gnome, as he reaches for the papers.
"So we must do all three assignments before being paid. Will you be providing transport?" Zyrel says, looking ahead.
”Yes, all three assignments must be completed. There are Tetrad-affiliated captains in most major ports, I believe the Trade Wind is still in Katapesh, and there are riverboats leaving for Nex daily. There are a few ships there.”
Erick nods. "Very well then, let's load up. After the last two days, it's probably best if we get Kris out of town for a few weeks, in case anyone recognizes him. So let's hit the Trade Wind and go deal with the drug issues first. Then we'll hit Nex, and finally come back and deal with the counterfeiting. Keep Kris' faces out of the lime light for awhile that way." He suggests, raising an eyebrow to the others.
Erick nods. "Very well then, let's load up. After the last two days, it's probably best if we get Kris out of town for a few weeks, in case anyone recognizes him. So let's hit the Trade Wind and go deal with the drug issues first. Then we'll hit Nex, and finally come back and deal with the counterfeiting. Keep Kris' faces out of the lime light for awhile that way." He suggests, raising an eyebrow to the others.
Armanus's eyebrows raise as he clears his throat, as if he just remembered something.
"Before we leave, perhaps it would be better for all parties involved with you or another member of the Tetrad could draw up a contract, laying out the duties required and our payment, thus protecting both our mutal interests."
"Sounds good!"
Sedik smiles and says to Armanus, "Mercantile thinking, I like it! If this were an entrance assessment, you would have passed with flying colors. I do not have the materials for a contract on hand but I can arrange for it to be sent to you as soon as possible."
Elsa smiles. A contract would be good.
"Yeah, I'll be ready to head out tomorrow. Got to do some shopping."
Erick takes his pay stub to the bank, gets gold, and then goes on a small shopping spree. It takes him all afternoon to find all the components he wants. He's very meticulous about which cylinder, which handle, which receiver, and which barrel he chooses at each shop. He also buys a bag of cartridges and components to make powder, and lead to make bullets.
Erick will also do a little snooping around to see if he can find an armorer who knows how to make exotic armors (Kikko Armor).
When Erick starts muttering about gold and parts and guns, Kristleifur gets keenly interested.
"Erick...would you mind making me a rifle too? They sound really, really good. I could even help you make the ammunition!"
Erick nods. "Yeah, I can do that. You want a rifle?" He thinks, and takes out some paper and begins to sketch on it. "Hmm, maybe meld a custom rotating cylinder to a rifle stock and barrel?"
Erick thumps his forehead. "Speed loaders."