"What? I don't know what he looks like? I thought you knew what he looks like! I assume he looks official or important or... something?" she whispers back.
Asoka finds a few people who know about what mercenary work has been done in the past few days. They’ve guarded a few other businesses, especially during the riot. They’ve hunted down a few people who didn’t repay loans and ‘taught them a lesson.’
In at least one case, someone knew of a tailor who’s most prominent rival in the neighborhood has disappeared.
Asoka starts formulating a plan with the various bits of information she has dug up. She grins to herself and then heads inside the shop.
"Good day gentlemen. I must say I'm quite impressed by the help you have been providing to the city. It made me think that perhaps you could help me with something. Perhaps I could talk to whomever is in charge about the night’s special cuts?"
The guard closest to the door nods, and closes it, locking the door and heading back around the counter.
The portly one says, ”Whaddya need, miss? I’m in charge of our special cuts. There’s a few different things we can provide; just ask and maybe we can help.” He grins, sickeningly, his breath stinking a bit as he wheezes out this affirmation. ”We’ll give you a special rate on account of yer prettiness.”
"Why would I--- he's a bucket head" the street kid term (or at least hers) for the guard "You don't know the other bucket heads?!?" the cat rattles off a kind of meow drawing her attention "why are you asking me now? Ugh, fine" she looks back over at Kali. "He REALLY wants to see what is in that pen, so I'm going to check..." stopping and looking a little apologetic "And sorry, he can really be an ass at times. The bit about ... well I don't wanta say, just he shouldn't have." then she slides out to look at the pen.
Asoka quirks a brow at the man "Do you mind if I ask your name sir? I want to ensure you are who I need to talk to."
Magda looks between the slats of the pen. This large cattle pen is open to the air, and the stink of manure, mud, and animal is strong, despite the breeze that wafts through the stockade’s wooden fence. To the south stands a roofed shed containing a straw-filled wagon. It appears that a pair of double doors lead into the shed.
The man frowns, ”eh? Name’s Malder. This is Baldrago. Not sure why that matters, or what you heard miss, but I am in charge of the special cuts.” He squints at Asoka, appraising her more seriously.
Curiosity getting the better of her, the half orc decides to look at the shed as well.
Asoka gives the man an earnest smile "Oh I'm sorry, no offense but I heard the one in charge was someone named Vancaskerkin or something like that? I would really prefer to speak with your leader on this matter as it is of a delicate nature with a sizable reward."
Kali will silently accompany Magda, ready for trouble with an arrow still sitting between her fingers.
Magda peeks into the shed and sees the wagon, stone flags , and another pair of double doors that lead into the building. The room appears more or less clean.
Malder appraises her, ”well, you heard wrong miss. I’m in charge of the cuts. And our boss dunnit want to be dirsturbed.” Baldrago moves over to Malder and watching Asoka, whispers at the other man’s ear.
He then unlocks the door and opens it, Malder says ”kick off miss, if you dunnit want to talk to me.” Baldrago gestures at the doorway.
Asoka scowls slightly as she gives the feeling that she is hurt by the man trying to dismiss her "No need to be rude. If what I heard was wrong then I will talk to you instead."
Taking a deep breath and giving the man a smile once again she moves in closer and talks with Malder "So here is the deal, I need several men for a discrete cleanup job before it attracts the wrong kind of attention. Let's just say a building I have an interest in has quite a mess of bodies in it after the recent chaos and I need it cleaned up. If you don't mind me asking what sort of rates do you and your men work under? Also, how many men do you have that you could put to work? I will pay for as many men as you can spare to get it done as quickly as possible!"
Malder's frown softens as he responds, "aye, bit below us, but if the coin's good, we've got four strappin' lads, including me. Just tell us where. We'd charge you" he screws up his face and counts on his fingers, "50 gold per corpse we clear, more if it'll take longer than the night, double if there's hazards or it was bloody. Half now, half on completion." He extends a meaty hand towards Asoka. "Deal?" His subsequent grin is eager, and unpleasant.
Magda creeps a little closer to the back door to the building, listens to it and checks its lock. Then she'll head back Kali.
As Magda is watching, she hears the sound of the inner doorknob turning. She looks behind her and rounding a corner from the alley is a teamster leading three animals, one bedraggled cow and two pigs. The teamster is about 400 feet away.
Asoka nods with a smile "Perfect!" She extends her hand and daintily shakes the brutish man's hand. As she moves for her coin purse she stops to ask "When do you think you can see to the work? Can you do it now? Should I just wait here until it is complete or what do you suggest?"
She gives him a sheepish smile as she notes "I'm sorry for all the questions it's just, I've never really done anything like this before and I oh so appreciate the assistance!"
Kaliyah watches Magda approach and gives her an inquisitive look as she approaches, curious as to what she just saw. When she motions that there is something behind her, she spins and notes the approaching trouble. She pushes her back up against the wall and readies her bow. She whispers "Fight or flee?"
Malder waves his hand and then extends it, waiting for the coin to be put in. ”oh, tonight if’n it pleases you. Just give me the address and we’ll take care of it. Meet us here in the morning with the rest of the payment, and it’ll be done. Say 10:00? And you owe us for each body. If there’s more than you’re saying, you’re on the hook for them, and we’ll expect to be paid” He says this last part threateningly, but the effect is somewhat muted as he’s idly scratching his ruddy, pocked chin with his non-extended hand.. ”Deal?”
She nods and pulls out 100 gold handing it over to the man. "Thank you so much for doing this! There are two animals that need to be disposed of and two men. I will be here first thing in the morning to pay you the rest once I've confirmed you've completed your work."
She tells the man the address, giving him the location of Lamm's hideout. Unless otherwise stopped she will give them a slight bow of her head and a smile as she turns to leave and find the others.
As Asoka returns, Vera is seen fidgeting with her harrow deck. "So, any luck getting the audience we want? Otherwise, once the others come back, I'm ready to go kick down his door. I mean, it's great that they're giving out free meat and all, but they can do that and still do their jobs."
When Asoka finds Vera and Krovax in their discrete location out of sight of the store or the men inside she purses her lips "Well... not exactly. They weren't going to let me see Vancaskerkin or whatever his name is, but I paid them for a job that they will do tonight, and it should be most if not all the men out of there so we can break in unhindered. Even if they leave someone behind at least their numbers will be significantly less."
"run! quietly!" Magda and the cat will move as quietly and as fast as possible.
Getting around the building and back where the others are sitting and chatting. "There is a window in the back, second floor. A pen full of cows and double doors in the alley leading into the place. I didn't get a chance to check the lock though."
Once everyone is together, Krovax nods at the intel and says ”Several of them will be leaving on an errand across town. We wait ten minutes after they go to make sure they are well away, then we go in. Bring Vancaskerkin down alive, and get the rest of his men to yield as well.”
Kali was ready to fire the arrow but Mags says they were running. She doesn't second guess the half-orc and falls in behind her and runs as fast as she can. When they get around back, she catches her breath and adds "And teamsters."
"What are teamsters? Do you mean the guy with the cow and pig? Why are they called Teamsters?"
Despite her confusion on the naming of things, Magda agrees with Krovax's plan, with the only addition being "We should go through the back. In case there are people on the streets here that might think something is up and gather up another mob to protect the meat handouts."
Marcus pushes off the wall with his back. "If Krovax and I are going in, means we're going in loud."
Kaliyah looks to Magda to see if she's joking. "Yes. I don't know. Think of it a controller of animals. Hows that?"
Kali agrees with Mags but rolls her eyes at Marcus's comment. "Men."
Asoka nods giving Magda and Kali a smile and brief bow of her head to acknowledge them after not having seen them in a couple days, since running out of the fortune teller's house crying. She notes "I can back you up with my bow if you like, though... I should probably be discrete about it so as not to give up my cover of working with you. Maybe it is better if I stay outside and run interference if needed and you get me once the place is secure?"
Magda cocks her head to listen to something then suggests "We could knock on that back door, like the TeamSteer did. They answer I can try to charm them with magic. If that doesn't work you two can hammer in, not killing him. Then we take care of any others, by not killing them, and then other stuff" her plan fuzzes a bit at the end "This lady can do whatever discreet means."
"Sounds like a plan to me. You do your secret knock, we'll wait and see if we can make friends with the person who answers the door. If there's trouble, I can always try to put them to sleep like I did with the alligator."
The party, having a plan, waits patiently nearby until dusk approaches, busying themselves with conversation at a nearby cafe, and talking to locals. The party finds the people of the district are tired, but kindly. Offering to share things with each other in the aftermath of the riot. It seems as is often the case that the worst people, who make the most noise, get the most attention. Citizens salute Kaliyah and children occasionally ask to pet Falcor and Cat. People seem to be wary of staying on the streets for too long, but in the comfort of cafes, it is easy to forget the chaos and death of the recent week.
Nightfall approaches, and Magda takes up a position in line of sight of the rear doors, with Asoka and Shi watching the front. As soon as the sun sets, the rear door opens and four men emerge, two pulling a cart behind them into the alley. One turns and locks the double doors behind him. The four men talk quietly to each each other, the largest pulling the small cart with them. The cart has cloths and sacks in it, as well as rope and miscellaneous tools such as saws, chisels, awls, and butchery tools.
Low sounds of animals shuffling around in the pen can be heard, but the lights are off in the building, other than in the second floor window, where a lamp seems to be light soon after the sun’s rays retreat from the city.
Magda moves up to the door, making sure everyone is where they intend to be, then knocks on the door.
Kali observes Asoka for first time, taking note the fox is gone. Right before Magda knocks on the door Kali stops her "Wait, wait. Where's the fox? Why is she here? She didn't come see the Queen? She should go home, we have this under control."
Turning to Asoka she dismisses her "You can leave now. No need for innocents to get involved in this."
Asoka just shakes her head when Kali calls out from the corner of the building for her to leave "Shi needed me to help."
Kali looks around for Shi to ask why all of the sudden they needed her help. "Where is Shi?" she asks, curious. "Is Shi even here?"
Asoka, again shakes her head, "No, she wanted to gather some information about the Vancaskerkin person and would meet up later. Thought I could help with a more diplomatic approach since the muscle trying to intimidate them didn't seem to work."
Kali scowls at Asoka's response, but drops the issue for now. She narrows her eyes at her before turning away to focus on the task at hand. She would bring up this abandoning the group during their time of need thing with her later.
"Where is who? Is who even here? Who's on first?" Vera chuckles at her own remark, thinking it quite funny.
She looks around the corner of the building for a moment to see if anyone was noticing this, then turns her attention back to the door, waiting to see who might answer Magpie's knock.
There is no response from the door when it is knocked on. The animals seem slightly agitated by the noise.
The door appears to be locked, after a brief examination, it appears to be a simple lock.
"No one is answering, and the lock... I... don't know if I can open it..." she whispers back to the group. "I can sometimes, cause they are like traps, but this one is tough. Where is Shi? She's butter to a lock while I'm sticky gunk filled with nails."
"I might be able to open it, do you want me to try? We don't need that stinky fox!"
She pulls out her picks and sets to work on the lock. She doesn't do it quickly, but after several minutes of work she hears the satisfying click and turns back to Mags with a nods.
Kali spents a little while working the lock, relatively quietly, to the door to the pen. She and Magda wordlessly open the door, and creep in.
In the shed area, there is another closed double door to the east that seems to lead into the building, as well as a pair of doors to the north that lead into the animal pen.
Asoka continues to wait outside the front of the shop acting as a lookout for the returning deserters.
Vera gives the quiet ones a little bit of space, keeping them in sight but not wanting to make noise that would give away their break-in.
The floor of this grim chamber is strewn with blood-stained straw, and the reek of slaughter is almost overpowering. The room is a killing floor. Meat hooks dangle from a metal track affixed to the ceiling that allows the hooks and their gory loads to be moved easily around the room. In the northwest corner, a large hammer sits on the floor amid a permanent bloodstain. To the south, a bloodstained grill covers a wide hole in the floor. Just north of the grill sit two large vats of water, one boiling and one cold. Two large butcher blocks stand to the east next to barrels of salt, and in the southeast corner sits a reeking vat of cast-off meat and bones.
Kali and Magpie get the impression that the detritus from the abattoir is primarily sluiced through the grill.