Doumane nods weirly, "Very much so, and it is all my fault." The halfling glances over at his friend, the poor man who came to him in his hour of desperate need and now? Things were worse.
"I can't help but feel you'd have been better off visiting someone else on that dark night, Mihail. I haven't gotten us any closer to your son and if anything, got you tangled up with another mad, blood thirsty gang."
"I'm sorry."
Mihail looks genuinely surprised at Doumane's apology. He shakes his head adamantly, "No, you have nothing to apologize for. In fact, I should be apologizing to you. I'm the one who dragged you into this. Now you're working for someone who's sanity is questionable and that's all my fault."
"And you're wrong. We are closer to finding my son because of what you planned for tomorrow. If tomorrow goes well, I will gain a higher level of trust with the Dragomirs which will get me closer to my son."
Mihail attempts a smile to make Doumane feel better. "So, what's the exact plan for tomorrow? We need to be on the same page so this goes well and no one gets too hurt."
"Well, on one hand, our job tomorrow is a bit easier. We only have to fool one of the side, the Dragomir's and not Jarvyrce as well. So, you said you know the route and the boy, yes? Let us select his second stop, and I'll go ahead and set up an 'ambush' there. When you both arrive I'll attack the boy, non-lethally of course. Then you show up, we fake a fight, and then I retreat."
The halfing stops, musingly, and rubs his chin, "It would be best, I suppose if I knocked the boy out in the first assault. That way, assuming we have no other watchers, you can be more free with the details and it would make it enhance how dangerous I am. Still, even without it, we can fake a scuffle and I retreat, making you look the hero."
Mihail looks apprehensive and doubtful. "Do you really think it'll be so easy with Wallis dead?"
The man falls silent as he wrestles with whether or not to ask his next question. Finally he asks, "Did it really happen like you told Jarvyce? It seems a little out of character for you to take a life for an organization you have no loyalty to...or at least out of character for the Doumane I used to know."
Getting back to business, he poses another question to Doumane, "What is the plan if there is added security?"
Doumane hates this. Any moment the insane gang leader of the Black Chypers could be watching, arcanely spying on his every move. Did scrying take long? Was there any way to counter it? Could Jarvyrce hear as well as see? Could he talk to Mihail freely at all? Was it safe or would a single slip of the tongue seal their dooms?
Doumane finally decides on bluntness, "Let's save that for later. Gods only know what conclusions Jarvyrce might jump to depending on what he hears. Just trust me to do what is best for us and your son. Some day, perhaps, all can be explained?"
Mihail ponders what Doumane says and nods slowly, "Of course I trust you. If I didn't, I wouldn't have ever shown up on your doorstep...or more literally, in your bedroom. I don't really need an explanation but...I do need to know what to do if Razvan adds more guards tomorrow."
Doumane nods, "It might be a problem. I have a feeling the Dragomir organization will be busy tomorrow. The war with the Black Chypers will likely take lots of resources, Razvan and Flavius will want to...send a message. Still, on the other hand, we might be unlikely and perhaps our target earns beefed up security during such a crisis. A list of names, I wonder..."
"Anyway, if there is more then one other guard, I want you to signal me. That way I just won't attack and we can think up a new plan. It will not help your cause, but at least I won't have to worry about Javryce skinning me alive. Do you have any problems or suggestions?"
Mihail remains solemn, "Considering Razvan added security when the boy was just approached, I think a death in the organization will put everyone on high alert. Hopefully they'll funnel resources into offense but you never know. Are we using the same signal as we planned before? If I'm alone leave my jacket unbuttoned and if I'm not then keep it buttoned?"
"And I agree that it would be best for the boy if you knock him out during your attack. I think it'll be less traumatic for him that way. That and it'll guarantee our stories don't conflict."
Night is one of the longest ones ever experienced by Doumane even though it is early morning by the time he crawls into bed. He tosses and turns as he is tormented by dreams of Jarvyce looming over him as he sleeps. Numerous times he wakes with a start and sits bolt upright only to realize he's alone. By the time the sun has risen high enough to make it impossible to stay in bed any longer, Doumane is physically tired but mentally prepared for his day. He has to be because there's too much at stake.
He quickly gets dressed and isn't surprised to see that Mihail is already gone. Even though they aren't encountering each other until later, he needs to shadow the boy this morning as well.
Discovering that he has been so busy the last few days that he hasn't had time to buy any food, Doumane decides to go out and get a late breakfast. As he sits and eats his food, all anyone is talking about is the murder that occurred at Usher's Hall last night. There is a lot of information being shared, very little of which is true. However, what is concerning is that he hears that an employee is also missing and the Council of Ushers is looking for her - to make sure she's okay or to question her, Doumane hears all kinds of reasons as to why they want to find her.
He decides to wander the streets of Magnimar to clear his head. Some people find the quiet of nature or the peace of the country to relax, but not Doumane. Nothing is more comforting to him than being in the midst of his city. As he walks, he can't help but wonder if Jarvyce is watching him at this very moment. Maybe he should try to find out a bit about the magic Jarvyce spoke of but he is a little uncertain where to start.
Finally, he makes his way towards the brothel to scope out the best place to 'ambush' the boy. The alley looks like any other alley in the city except that the backdoor of the brothel is kept very clear. There are no items within five feet on either side of the door.
Worry, stress and anxiety melt away (somewhat) as Doumane walks the busy streets. It is something that, no matter what, fishmongers and rag salemesmen were still bleating to passerbyes, that pickpockets were still working the crowds and that street performers were still preforming minor card tricks. It made everything seem......better. Perspective, maybe. If a smarmy rug shopowner was still gouging old ladies, how bad could the world be?
Doumane begins idily patrolling the area around the brothel. Looking for anyone keeping watch, someone a bit too casual. There could be anyone here ranging from a Javryce lackey to Dragomir security or even the brothel's own staff or even someone hired by the city (highly unlikely).
Doumane keeps an eye out for anyone looking like they're a little too interested in the people bustling through the streets. He's easily distracted by the people and part of him wishes he had the time to just sit and watch the crowds.
But as he watches, he catches the glint of something shiny above him and when he looks up, he sees someone patrolling the roof of the brothel. It seems the metal of the arrowhead caught the sun and Doumane had been fortunate to catch the glimmer.
Doumane eyes the man on top of the roof, glad the sun is shining today. Squinting, he guesses it is a brothel guard. It is unlikely the Dragomirs or Jarvyce have got a man on the roof. Likely just someone to keep the property in line. That said, this entire brothel is probably in league with the Dragomir operation to some degree, so the distinction is probably meaningless. Still, the roof was a long way off, better then someone out here on the street.
Doumane then looks for a place to hide while he awaits his ambush.
Doumane spots a shadowy corner behind a rain barrel about six feet from the door of the brothel. It's too small for a human to hide in but perfectly sized for a halfling. He figures that from this spot he'll be able to see the opening to the alley but won't be readily seen either from above or the street.
Douamne sighed to himself. It was also a barrel or a crate or some container. being a halflign had advantages and finding good hiding spaces was one of them, but it did get samey after awhile. Fleetingly Doumane wondered what it would be like to live in a city designed for people of his size.
Better?
In any case, the rogue sidles up to the barrel and, watching the guard on the roof, gets inside.
From years of practice of getting in and out of tight spaces, Doumane easily maneuvers himself into the barrel. His nose wrinkles at the slight smell of mold on the inside of the barrel. He inwardly groans as he realizes there's just enough water in the bottom of the barrel to make his feet wet. The barrel was water tight at one point in time but years of weathering have caused enough cracks and holes in the wood that it no longer is capable of holding liquid. However, this is advantageous for the rogue as he is able to easily watch the alley.
Doumane patiently waits, keeping himself busy with thinking about everything that's transpired over the last few days. Has it really only been a couple days?
Finally there is movement at the entrance to the alley and Mihail walks into the alley with his coat buttoned even though it is on the warmer side this day. He does a cursory scan of the alley before signaling to someone behind him. Then the boy that Doumane first encountered at the Red Swan struts into the alley like someone of great importance followed by a man whom the halfling hadn't seen before.
Mihail circles back around to the entrance of the alley making the other man take up his guard on the other side of the boy, his back conveniently facing Doumane.
Doumane eyed the set-up, thinking quickly . One extra guard? That was doable, if he took the man out quickly. As for the man on the roof, even armed, he was unlikely to influence things too much. It was best to strike now, before the boy stepped inside the building......
Doumane ghosts out of the barrel, silently moving among the shadows of the street corner. No one hears or sees the halfing sneak behind the turned guard, even Mihail is left in the dark.
Suddnely, Doumane lashes out with twin daggers at the man's neck. He feels no remorse for killing a man willing to work the Dragomirs, to use kidnapping as a method of recruitment or order a woman like Fara killed for no reason then paper pushing.
Doumane is as silent as the grave before he strikes from the shadows bringing death to his prey. Even the man's studded leather armor that he wore under his coat couldn't stop the rogue's blades from skewering his neck. The man's blood spurts onto the wall as well as onto Doumane. The man crumples to the ground, a gurgle on his lips, leaving the halfling to face the boy and Mihail. The boy lets out a frightened squeak before trying to hide behind Mihail.
Mihail pushes the boy against the opposite wall of the alley. "Stay there and stay quiet. There may be others." He then draws his weapons, a longsword and a shortsword, and advances towards Doumane.
The man's eyes watch Doumane closely, allowing the halfling to take the lead on their fight. Was the plan to still knock out the boy somehow or were they just going to fight? Mihail trusts his friend to make the right call and would act accordingly.
Doumane notes from Mihail's words that it implies there are no other guards or secret Dragomir sentries. So only one extra man....maybe the move against the Black Cyphers really was taking up Razavan's manpower. In any case, Doumane would like a witness or two.
"What that lad has is mine!" Doumane shouts, loud enough for the boy and probably the guard on the roof to hear. "Get out of the way or you'll meet the same end as your friend!" Doumane waves his daggers. He also spares a glance upward at the roof guard.
It's obvious from the look on Mihail's face that he isn't as enamored with the idea of witnesses as Doumane. In fact, his face seems to ask What are you doing?
Mihail takes another menacing step forward, "You are mistaken. Now run along before you get hurt." He takes a defensive stance in front of the boy, continuing to block the boy's view while appearing to protect.
However, Doumane's shout gets the attention of the guard on the roof. As the halfling glances up, he sees a head pop over the side of the building followed quickly by a bow with an arrow aimed downwards at him. The woman sounds less than ladylike as she barks, "Oi! Shove off or become a pin cushion."
Doumane frowns a bit, thinking We have to sell this a bit better then that, old friend.
Doumane darts forward, daggers held low. Waving them dramatically he mimes a few attacks at Mihail's torso and arms, doing his best t keep hos friend safe as well as appearing dangerous.
Mihail makes a few noises of pain as Doumane's flurry of mimed attacks fall on the man.
He growls at his friend, "Have it your way. My boss will enjoy torturing you - and if you happen to give up information in the process, so be it."
Mihail uses the blunt-edge of his weapon to swing at Doumane. First he goes high with his longsword and then low with the shortsword.
But Doumane nimbly dances away from the blows.
Doumane allows one of Mihail's blows to hit him on the side of the head, and Doumane staggers back reeling. Stumbling he falls back onto the cobbled stone street, rather near the dead man. He pauses a moment, knowing this might hurt, but wants to give the archer a chance to send an arrow. Such an attack might give his flight more evidence of success.
As soon a Mihail's sword hit the side of Doumane's head, the guard from above loosed her arrow at the halfling.
The arrow finds it's mark in the back of Doumane's shoulder and she lets out a victorious cry as she nocks another arrow.
The boy's eyes get wider and wider as the fight before him unfolds. Obviously from his reaction, his role with the Dragomirs has not yet progressed past that of courier. At the moment, he appears rooted on the spot after being told by Mihail not to move.
Doumane winces in real pain as the arrow lances his shoulder. Still, the blood added to the effect. The halfling staggers to his feet, brandishing his knife. He looks past Mihail and stares at the courier.
"Next time, boy, you won't have your bodyguard!" Then Doumane whirls and flees down an alleyway.
As soon as Doumane gets about ten feet from the boy, the boy regains his bravado. He steps in front of Mihail and shakes his fist at Doumane's back. "You better run!"
Another twang of a bowstring sounds distantly behind Doumane.
The rogue feels burning pain in one of his legs letting him know he's been hit by another arrow as he retreats.
Douamne darts down a side alley, wincing in pain at the two arrows.
They hurt but the pain also meant victory. Surely that looked like a real enough attack, even without the corpse he left behind. Worse case, he removed one more thug from Dragomir's arsenal. Still, he had to hide.
Doumane scans the area trying to find a hiding place. The first arrow is still sticking out of his shoulder making him look conspicuous. Thankfully the second one had just grazed his leg but he still needs to take a look at the wounds.
Just as he's about to think he needs to try another side alley, he spies a cellar door partially hidden under some crates. Hopefully that means that whoever owns the cellar doesn't go down there very often.
Doumane slinks into the cellar, enjoying the damp, cool air.
The halfling is generally happy with how things went, during the 'ambush' and just hopes the Dragomir organization goes along with the narrative. They will never trust Mihail, but they might think he is thoroughly cowed and broken while remaining a useful tool.
Meanwhile....he starts to draw the arrows still sticking out of him.
Luckily the arrow heads are barely sunk in and the halfling removes them without tearing any more muscles. That done, and after a short break to catch his breath, he heads off to the Black Chyper headquarters.
Just as Doumane exits the cellar and begins to replace the crates, one never knows when one needs an unused and forgotten cellar to hide in, he sees Dru walking towards him.
She gives him a curt nod, "Jarvyce thought an escort back to him may be warranted after seeing you get hurt. Come on, get moving."
The walk through the streets of Magnimar is a quiet one with his companion, or was it guard?, as Dru only spoke when spoken to. Not that the city is quiet, it makes up for their silence with the usual bustling street noise. Her pace is casual but Doumane can tell that she is very aware of her surroundings.
"Ah, so the Boss was watching?" Doumane says to Dru, shaking his head. "Doesn't he have enough to do today? But yes, lead on."
Dru answers without looking at the halfling, "Yes. The boss is always watching. The sooner you accept that, the better things will go for you."
She leads them back over the bridges and casually looks behind them a few times. Doumane notes that even with his talents, it would have been much more difficult to follow Dru than it had been Skaxes.
When they get back to the warehouse, she takes them in a different entrance than the one he had previously gone through. She leads Doumane to Jarvyce's office and then waits until he enters, closing the door behind him.
From the looks of his desk, Jarvyce has a lot of work but he stops as the rogue enters and shuffles some papers into a pile and puts them into a drawer. He looks at Doumane expectantly, "So? What news do you bring Jarvyce? Do you think your plan worked?"
Doumane shrugs, trying to remain at ease despite the throbbing pain from the arrows and the brisk walk through the city. He eyes the room, looking for clues into the surely dangerous mind of the gang leader.
"I think it went well. I ambushed the group, killed the other guard, fought my friend and got a few arrows in my back for my trouble." Then Doumane smiles, "But Dru told me you already knew all this, correct? You probably know more then me about the whole thing."
Then Doumane winces as he shifts and re-opens a cut. "You wouldn't have any healing for staff, would you? Like I said, two arrows to the back."
Doumane isn't sure whether he notices more items in Jarvyce's office now because he isn't quite on edge being his second visit or because Jarvyce has unpacked more items as he has settled in. Either way, as Doumane focuses more on his surroundings, rather than on not dying, he is quite disturbed to see a taxidermied orange cat prominently displayed on a shelf behind Jarvyce's desk. The eyes seem more realistic than Doumane would like especially since they seemed to be looking at him.
The halfling is so unnerved that he almost misses the small picture propped up beside the cat. Doumane notes that the parchment looks aged and has numerous creases as if it's been folded and carried around. The picture is of a beautiful Varisian woman who is dressed as a fortune teller. In fact the picture looks more like a flyer that may be handed out to people to drum up business. The name, that would be at the top, seems to have been carefully removed.
Jarvyce grins at the rogue, showing all his teeth. "It was quite the show." Then his smile disappears and he looks crestfallen, "But Jarvyce thinks it was over too soon. Surely someone of your talents could have taken more arrows, yes? Or maybe a sword slash from your friend?"
Jarvyce blanches slightly as blood blooms around Doumane's wound. "Jarvyce finds blood so, so...icky. Don't you agree? It gets sticky as it dries and it is nearly impossible to remove blood stains from clothing and furniture."
The tiefling pushes a bottle towards Doumane that is sitting on the corner of his desk. "Here, drink this before you get blood on my chair."
He tents his fingers and leans back in his chair, "What next? You have three more days to get Jarvyce his names but Jarvyce also doesn't want Doumane sitting at home." He fixes the halfling with a steely gaze, "That would be an insult to Jarvyce, no?"
Doumane is careful not to look too long at the faded drawing, but he does wonder. A lover? A wife? If the parchment was old enough, a mother? Gods only knew what jagged past lay behind the tielfing.
Doumane takes the bottle and drinks is slowly, knowing that if Jarvyce wanted to hurt or kill him, he wouldn't waste time with poison. Dru would just march in her and stab him to death.
After carefully putting the bottle back he says, "My friend didn't want to cut me, which is hardly surprising. Besides, I left a corpse behind, that shows I was serious to anyone who looks. Worse, maybe if the fight goes on longer it becomes obvious I'm a terrible actor?"
The halfling listens to what Jarvyce says about sitting around, then shrugs, "Course not, I've never been one to hang around. For one thing, we have to figure out how to get that list. Secondly...how is the war with the Dragomir's going? Have things escalated?"
Jarvyce claps his hands with glee. "Yes, that was a good death. You are an artist with your blades." He looks at Doumane critically then shakes his head, "You were a decent enough actor but your friend was terrible. If Jarvyce could have, Jarvyce would have used a giant hook to pull him out of the alley and out of the show."
The tiefling raises an eyebrow, "Will it take you three days to figure out how to get the list?"
He waves his hand dismissively at Doumane's question about the Dragomirs. "Razvan doesn't know where to find Jarvyce so it hasn't been much of a war. They raided our decoy hideout and the good news is that the traps work very well. They lost eleven."
"As for us, Jarvyce's people are tasked with scouting. Jarvyce wants to know where Razvan will amass his people when threatened. That tells Jarvyce where Razvan has something to protect. The preliminary reports are...encouraging."
Jarvyce forms a fist and hits his desk with a loud bang. "But the Black Cyphers will also go on the offensive. We have to keep the Dragomirs off kilter. Razvan will experience pain tomorrow."
Doumane shrugs about the list, "Not sure. I will meet up with my friend tonight and talk tactics. Much will depend on their reaction to his victory. I have a few ideas..."
The halfing listens to the gang leader's plan, wondering if he should help or hinder the madman's schemes. Or even if he could, due to the scrying that seemed to follow him around like a damnable shadow.
"Anything I can help with?" Doumane says, hoping to sound casual.
Jarvyce laughs heartily, "Good, good. Ideas are good. Jarvyce appreciates someone who can think and not just do." He eyes narrow slightly, "Unless those thoughts plot against Jarvyce. Then Jarvyce will be...displeased."
The tiefling makes a show of looking thoughtful and tapping his chin with his finger. "Help? You help Jarvyce with getting him his list. However, if some of the information pans out about Razvan then Jarvyce may have another assignment. Jarvyce will be in touch. Jarvyce is never very far away from those who work for him."
Doumane can sense he has been dismissed. Jarvyce motions to the door, "Anything else for Jarvyce? Otherwise, you and your friend have much to discuss."
For a moment, Doumane hesitates. He is armed and alone with the Black Cypher leader, and would probably surprise the teifling. What would happen if he tried to attack the madman? This strange gang leader who seemed to delight in causing and pain and suffering in others. Would not the city itself be better off without him? Doumane's life would be easier....
But no.
Doumane stands and says, "Good luck tomorrow. You will need it, judging by the reputation of the Dragomir's."