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Cith nods, then says to Bahram “Hopefully disrupting the other parts of the operation will get in the way of any shipments as well.”
“Well, I guess we just need to wait for the ship to get going. Once in Diobel, we have a plan.”
“Sayuki since you were suggesting it, did you have a plan for how to prevent the meeting at the tavern? I imagine we would want to gather whatever local information we can first, but beyond that did you have any thoughts?”
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Sayuki grins. "We need to stop two people from meeting, and we need to do it without being identified as Pathfinders. The second part is simple; we simply do not carry our Wayfinders. We hardly have a uniform beyond that, after all."
She leans back and gives a delighted sigh. "That leaves our options limitless. The simplest way would be to prevent one of the agents from arriving-- a distraction or an obstacle, essentially. The only challenge there is that we do not know who we are stopping, so we would need to cast a broad net."
"Alternately, we could disrupt the meeting place ahead of time. Oh, we could discretely shorten one leg of each chair in the establishment-- except for a single one left unhindered! Or we could each take up an instrument and practice too loudly for them to hear each other-- and pay too well for the bartender to kick us out. Or I could whisper gibberish from a hidden place from afar. We could quietly administer something foul to their drinks-- although that's more likely to make them stop drinking than to stop talking, I'll admit."
"We could get the tavern shut down, but I prefer to withhold that option until we've determined if the owner is unkind."
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Captain Zendrani and the crew of the sleek Sixwing Drake steer the ship up to the massive barrier of broken war-barges, crumbling walls, and jetties of iron and wood that protect the port of Diobel. “Well, here we are,” says the captain. “I’ll make sure everything is in order with Diobel’s inspectors and charter you a barge to the port. You aren’t carrying anything particularly valuable, so you shouldn’t draw much attention from the inspectors or pilots, so long as you don’t run your mouth. My crew and I will wait here with the ship. You can return here to rest, if you need to, but remember—there isn’t much time!”
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Not sure whether to frown or smile at Sayuki's ideas, he can't help but add, "since we will be confiscating this hallucinatory drug before disrupting the meeting at the overflowing oyster, we could always spike the drink of those trading secrets. who knows what cockamamie secrets they will make up once drugged. They plan a little more down to earth, but probably more successful, would be to purchase some pearls from the owner of the establishment and proclaim them to be fake. We could bribe him to shut down the inn for a day, and in return, not turn him into the authorities."
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Sayuki taps her chin. "I would prefer to work with poisons we already know the effects of," she points out. "For all we know, it may simply make the meeting go faster."
"Our timetable has shifted, though-- we will not arrive before Oathday. Let us start with the tavern, then."
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"Thank you kindly, Captain," grins Sayuki as they step off the ship.
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Pointing to the letter from Magali Delroya, Cith says “According to this, the bartender is making fake pearls. We could probably pressure the bartender to allow us to disrupt business using this information.”
With a sad look, he admits “It would likely be a performance no one would want to remember if I were to try to play a musical instrument.”
With a look at the others in the group and all the religious symbols displayed, he suggests “Perhaps if we pretend to be a bunch of evangelists trying to convince everyone to follow a god? Impromptu religious services can be quite loud. Even more believable if we were to claim it was to get rid of evil spirits!”
In a very firm voice, he adds “I do not like the idea of drugging any of the food or drink. Too much of a chance we would hurt someone not involved with Whip!”
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Bry Anne frowns. ”This man clearly is no saint if he is selling fake pearls for the price of real ones,” he states. ”Such men often bow under the pressure of keeping their secret hidden. I can apply such pressure and keep the proprietor occupied for a time, giving the rest of the team more freedom to act. Is this acceptable?”
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Bry Anne frowns. ”This man clearly is no saint if he is selling fake pearls for the price of real ones,” he states. ”Such men often bow under the pressure of keeping their secret hidden. I can apply such pressure and keep the proprietor occupied for a time, giving the rest of the team more freedom to act. Is this acceptable?”
"I'm partial to this plan," admits Sayuki, "but those who are in need of funds have all sorts of motivations. Why, even the kindest people you meet might steal a ring off of your finger just for fun!"
With that, she proffers Bedisa's ring. "Speaking of which, I believe I've held onto this long enough."
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Sayuki shrugs. "Five singers singing badly are easy to tune out, and one's lungs might get tired, and we will be far less believable. For a handful of coin, we could look proper and even convince the barkeep to let us play... starting right at noon. He will have no reason to suspect we are not, in fact, skilled players... and if he is hard on his luck, he may even believe it to be a boon to his establishment. Yes. Yessss."
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Bedisa looks at Sayuki when she proffers the ring. "Feel free to hold on to that. Perhaps the Warrior's Ring () will look kindly upon you."
"As a jeweler, I have some experience with pearls. Do we have any samples of the pearls he's been selling so I can inspect it beforehand? Maybe I can act as a potential buyer, then expose his fraud."
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Looking at Cith and Bry Anne, Bahram seems taken aback, "didn't I already propose that we shut his tavern down for a day?". Nodding to Bedisa, he continues,"I too know the value of a pearl. We could introduce ourselves as merchants and say that we have heard that he has quality pearls for sale. Then that is when we could threaten to expose his fake pearls and have him shut down his tavern and payment for our silence. Easy peasy.
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“When we have the discussion with the barkeep, we can always back down to him only closing down for a few hours. Making concessions is a great way to make someone think they are getting out of something much worse, especially when those concessions are something we don’t care about,”
“Sounds like we only need it closed for an hour or two around noon.”
——
Once they finally dock in Diobel, Cith says “I am going to see if I can’t find out more about local events. Shouldn’t take me more than an hour or so, I will be at the tavern in time!”
He waits a moment, in case there is an objection, then if there are none goes off to collect gossip.
inquisitive banterer
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Cith's digging around yielded some background info from some low-level thieves that keep tabs on the local fences.
Paltus Flynter, asks the regulars to call him “Pal” and is always willing to lend an ear. Aside from Pal’s mute younger brother, Gregon, who tends the kitchens, the Oyster has no additional staff.
While the fake pearls decorating the Oyster are clearly cheap fabrications, Flynter recently discovered that a little extra labor could yield more realistic fakes, and that these “pearls” could provide a tidy supplement to his struggling tavern’s income.
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Sayuki smiles as Cith returns and gives them some good information.
"Shall we, then?" she asks.
She tugs on her sleeves, and her clothes transform themselves into something... decidedly middle-class, and appropriate for the town, if a little worn. Perhaps she is the wife of a dock foreman, or a customs agent.
"I believe this should help sell the look," she offers as they head toward the Oyster.
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With the intel you picked up from Cith's investigation and your trained knowledge of valuable tradegoods, you are able to determine just how much Pal is ripping off his trade partners: very badly.
You make your way to the Oyster in whatever time you'd like to make up to an hour before the appointed meeting.
The Overflowing Oyster is a dirty, broken-looking building that barely fits between the fishing tackle shop to its north and the junk shop to its south. Hanging over the door is a creaky sign that shows a painted oyster with pearls spilling from its gaping shell. The interior of the Overflowing Oyster displays a mix of rickety furniture and gaudy decorations, from strands of obviously fake pearls hanging over the kitchen’s entrance to wooden carvings of sultry mermaids and cheap paintings of ships at sea.
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“Well, no time like the present. Shall we?” Having said that, Cith leads the way to the Overflowing Oyster.
Arriving there about fifteen minutes later, he looks the place over briefly before entering. He checks if there is an open sign on the door, and if there is he switches it to closed as he comes in.
Wandering up to the bar, he then greets the bartender. With a growl in his voice, he tells the barkeep “Hello Palter. We wanted to have a private chat with you.” He playfully swats at one of the fake pearls hanging above the bar.
“Might want to tell your customers that you are closing. Safety reasons.”
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Following behind Cith, Bahram takes note that threats have already been made. No time to pretend to buy pearls now. Improvise time.
He takes a look around to see if there are any bodyguards, or customers that might give them trouble.
Barring that...
"Yeah, say Pal. Our boss is rather peaved at having been sold fake pearls... At a very real pearl expense. I think that we can sit together for an hour or two to hash things out. It certainly doesn't have to be a vengeance thing. Let's make a deal."
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Sayuki flits from table to table like a social butterfly, helping folks spoon hash into pouches for later consumption and shooing them out. "Fret not, the Overflowing Oyster will be open for dinner and tomorrow and the day after that."
"Now, now, I know you can drink faster than that, friend."
"Marty, if you do not terribly mind, it would make me ever so happy if you could give us just a few hours of time here, yes, yes, I know you hate to leave me!"
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Pal stays out of it while you usher confused patrons out of the Oyster. Tables with half eaten food scowl at you as they pound their ales and scoop their food into hollowed loaves. The drunkards that came early are disgruntled to say the least. Bry-Anne has to get rough with a few of them to get them out the door. A lone pair remain, having just seated and ignoring you for the moment. They look up as Sayuki comes over to escort them out. They shoot a look at Pal, he returns a shrug and a nod to the door. They begrudgingly leave and separate when they exit the building.
A maze of broken ships forms an artificial reef blocking Diobel’s harbor. This treacherous and erratic terrain teems with laborers, barge masters, pilots, and port inspectors, who busily conduct their business ferrying goods to and from the Bristles. Beyond the Trawl, seagoing ships wait their turn to offload cargo or pick up new goods. One ship stands out among the others—the freshly touched-up paint on its hull, blue with streaks of white lightning along the hull, marks it as the Blue Dragon’s Bite. It sits moored to a dock jutting from the Trawl, with several crates already offloaded nearby, and many more waiting piled on its deck.
From a safe distance you can see an officer or two on the deck with a couple deckhands working.
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Delroya’s directions lead to an isolated alley in the Bristles, and then down into the sewers beneath Diobel. The stench of sewage mixes with the sharper odors of chemical fumes and decay and permeates the damp tunnels. From this intersection, tunnels lead west and south into the darkness. A third tunnel heading east is filled with detritus, filthy beddings, food scraps, broken glass, and rotting furniture. An alcove lies beyond a collapsed portion of the tunnel’s southern wall, and further east, a statue of a giant rat rests in the dead-end passage. Countless empty flasks and discarded alchemical ingredients lie on the floor around the statue. On a nearby workbench sit several organized but empty flasks and jars.
Lazso
Bedisa
Bahram
Carlin
Cith
Beetle
Bry Anne
Sayuki
You turn the corner and see a few sickly individuals leaning against the walls, seemingly restrained. Laszo attends to his lab while a small beetle crawls along the walkway. Lazso hears your approach and drinks out of a vial. Who are you? Get out!!!