"I mean is there anything else we need to do?" Mirann closes the safe and spins the combo idly.
Lotti smiles, then gestures for Konstantiana to open the door. As she does so, the disguised gnome barges out in a huff. "And that's the last time I let you touch liquor stronger than cheap ale," she snaps over her shoulder at Mirann. "I'd make you pay the good Earl back for all you drank - if he hadn't left us sitting here high and dry in drydock! You two!" She snaps her fingers at Rose and Marcius. "We're leaving. I don't care if you had a royal flush and were about to win back enough to buy your poor auntie's freedom - out the door, now. And you!" She turns her furious gaze on the poor Rusmonya. "If the good Earl still wishes to win me over, tell him he's welcome to stop by The Stalwart Seagull the next time she's in port!" Without another word, she storms off into the night.
Rusmonya is unfazed by Captain Lotti's display of temper and simply shrugs as the party storms out of the door, seeming only a little disappointed that the game of cards was interrupted. A discreet note has been tucked away in a place where only a cleaner would spot it.
Out on the street, the early evening fog has cleared and the light of the waxing moon shines through the broken cloud cover. Muffled music and raucous voices can be heard a few streets away, the unmistakable sounds of a dockside tavern.
Marius figures about an hour's walk to St. Lymirin Street Bridge, or 20 minutes by carriage.
Once they're a safe distance away, Konstiantina turns to the group with a relieved smile that breaks her normally stoic countenance.
"Well, I believe that venture went exceptionally smoothly. And to think there was a command word! Thank you, Marius. We weren't faring well against that miniature vessel and its elementals."
Moving to stand alongside Lotti, she peers down at the papers. "And what did our troubles accomplish? Anything incriminating? Regardless, we should proceed to the bridge."
And once they are ready, the paladin flags down a late night coach large enough for them all.
Rose nods with Konstiantina. "It went very well, but we also got very lucky. If Rusmonya hadn't let us into the backroom by herself or suddenly started about that command word during the cardgame, I'm not sure what we'd have done."
Lost in thought for a moment, she looks to the side and mutters to herself. "She was a bit too helpful, yes... so... does that make her...?"
She shakes her head and looks down the street, to where Adriel walks off with a hand on her neckwound. "I hope she can really make it back to the physician by herself, but I trust her judgment. Let's go over those files on the way to the next stop."
As Konstiantina calls the carriage, Rose quickly walks off to a nearby Docking pier and produces her bag from where she'd hidden it prior, then carries it along with her inside.
"And what did our troubles accomplish? Anything incriminating?"
"Not on it's own, no," Lotti answers as her disguise melts away. "But if you look in this column, it's the ship's name. If we pick one... let's say this one, the Zephyr Sign. And then this column is how much they spent on supplies. If we go back a ways, there's some mild fluctuations in their spend, but it's nothing compared to what suddenly happens ten months ago." She flips to another page and points at a number. "What else happened ten months ago with regards to this chandlery? It's not proof, but it's certainly suspicious." She turns the page again. "And look at this column - it's where the supplies came from. A while ago, most of these were coming from the lands of one Count Zespire. Now though? 'Forest', 'The Countryside', or just blank. Quite odd, one might think."
"So, not only does it strongly hint he's indeed involved with the theft of Zespire's ships, but he's also selling those same goods for exorbitant prices, which the taxpayers unknowingly pay. And he presumably bribes the navel officers to keep quiet about it at that club. While, of course, also stealing artefacts because why not at this point," Rose surmises. "What a vile , despicable man."
She sighs, closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths, slowly shaking her head. "And these people are supposed to be our leaders...? It's no wonder the nation is in decline," she mutters.
Konstiantina sighs. "And poor Neffrey cast into the ignominious role of unwitting fence for the earl. His liberation shall be but another silver consequence of our deeds tonight."[/b]
She stands thus, hands on her hips, glorious cloak drawn back, her rich raiment such that she seems almost to smolder like a yet living coal pried from the heart of a dying hearth, her golden hair refulgent and betraying her divine ancestry.
"Those documents will bring a smile to the magistrate's face," she says at last, glancing at the papers in Lotti's hands. "Along with whatever else we discover tonight. On to the bridge then, and the further perfidies of our quarry."
The carriage drops you off a short distance from the bridge. This far from the center of the town the street illumination is sparse, but the clouds have mostly cleared and the moon provides enough light that even those not gifted with night sight can see well enough not to trip over their own feet.
The weathered stone bridge arches over the main canal that flows into Ridonport, allowing passage over the murky waters. Muffled thumps echo from the stone walls of the canal, and low voices in a terse exchange.
When the carriage stops, Rose requests the driver to stay for a minute or two and for everyone to give her a bit of space to re-dress in private. "I trust you all to be decent, but just in case," she adds, then closes the carriage's curtains with a small grin.
When she reappears, she's wearing dark leather armor beneath her heavy cloak, along with a rapier and a shield of some kind on her back.
"What? I'm not stupid enough to head into the enemy's lair in nothing but a dress, amusing as that image is," She says, but the mirth soon slides from her visage as she tightens her gloves and tests the grip on the sheathed rapier's head.
Appearently satisfied, she turns to Konstiantina and Marcus. "So, you're up. The two of you are probably our best fighters and coincidentally also the ones against subterfuge here. I'd say it's fair if we lean on you to pull us through this? I'm not much of a combatant, myself. The best I can do is try and talk us out of it if things go bad... so let's hope they won't."
She waits to see if there are any objections, then takes a position somewhere near the front, slowly scouting ahead. "Any of you good at moving quietly, come with me. Let's see if we can take some of them unaware."
Marius is pleased with how the evening has gone. "I'm thoroughly impressed with you all! Though I'm beyond pleased at our progress, I confess I'm more than a little dismayed at the depths of the Earl's criminality. I suspect these documents are are the missing link--our river pirates steal the goods, and after being fenced more than a little of the contraband makes its way here to be sold at inflated prices to our naval officers. It's enraging, but we're one step closer to putting an end to this little conspiracy thanks to your clever ruse, Lotti."
+ + + + + + +
He gives the armor a curious second look. "Where the devil did you find that, hanging from a museum diorama? What are those hooks for?" The nobleman grins to show he's teasing, draws his dagger. Giving Konstiantina a small after yougesture, he creeps through the darkness in her wake.
Lady of Ebon Wings, wreathe us in shadow. That they may see Justice, blind them to its servants.
"What? I'm not stupid enough to head into the enemy's lair in nothing but a dress, amusing as that image is."
"Suit yourself," Lotti answers, shaking her own skirts to relax the creases from sitting in the carriage. "I'll follow behind a ways and watch you young folks stir up trouble then."
The group manages to approach undetected, although there is one tense moment when Rose accidentally kicks a pebble and a sharp "Shh!" is heard from under the bridge followed by silence, but after a few moments activity resumes.
"Suit yourself," Lotti answers, shaking her own skirts to relax the creases from sitting in the carriage."Haha. Come now - you have magic. That's cheating!"
When Marius asks about the armor teasingly, Rose merely smiles. "Very good eye. Curious, are you? Well, if you want to know more, you'll just have to stick around! Or not, and wonder forever."
She winks and brushes past Marius, moving forward into the dark, until hearing the voices. When the activity resumes, she looks around for some kind of cover, but doesn't find anything other than the railing of the bridge. She lowers herself and walks over to it, kneeling low, then very carefully rises to take a peek over it.
Rose and Marius creep to the edge of the canal and glance down, spotting a barge moored partially under the bridge. It seems to be a standard, 40-foot long canal bridge, with an iron lantern pole at the stern. The lanterns is currently closed and does not emit any light, but under the dim nocturnal sky the two are able to discern three human men currently busy unloading crates, bales and parcels off the barge and onto the ledge that borders the canal. A human woman seems to be the fourth member of the illicit crew, currently leaning against a stack of crates, a longbow propped up within easy reach.
"Hurry up, you louts, I thought I heard something earlier."
Marius doesn't spot any other creatures, but he does notice that both the men and the woman are wearing components of Navy uniforms - standard issue jackets, trousers and the like, mixed and matched with civilian clothes.
One of the men responds to the admonishment. "Ahh, stop sweatin', you know there's no patrols here."
Another chuckles roughly, adding. "'s funny, we now steal more from the Gar than we did before he got us discharged." Two of the others chuckle and grunt in response, while the third spits over the side into the canal. "F@## the Gar and that stick up his ass. Ruined me life, he did."
Rose inches back to the group. "Looks like it's the navy suspects. How do we proceed now? We could pretend to be men sent by the earl to help them, under the pretense he's aware people have been investigating recently. That might get some of us on board for a close quarters surprise, but they'd give up the high ground."
Konstiantina inches up to the railing, palming Marius' sap as she draws close. Suddenly the drop to the barge below seems far greater than the fifteen feet; she's never attempted a drop this precipitous, and despite her love for crashing down on her foes, she can't repress a moment of panicked regret.
But then she thinks on Saranrae, her faith in her goddess, and her moment of panic subsides. A wild endeavor this might be, but it's one in the cause of justice, and thus she can't help but feel that the odds are in their favor.
A moment as she catches Lotti's eye, signaling for the halfling to begin the ghost sounds, and then she calls forth blazing daylight, centering the startling light upon the barge below, so that those up on the bridge and street might benefit from being outside the light's center, and thus adding a modicum of gloom in which to help in their ruse.
The moment the daylight floods the river and underside of the bridge, Konstiantina hops over the railing, and then she's falling, thick golden braid trailing behind her, stomach rising up against her diaphram, a wild whoop trying to escape her throat - before she comes crashing down upon the closest bandit.
Her sap cracks across the bandit's scalp, delivering a painful wallop, and then she falls into a crouch as she lands hard atop one of the crates.
There's no time to doubt.
Rising to her full height, praying that Lott's illusions and the shock of the moment will play to her advantage, she calls out, voice ringing with authority, eyes flashing with her divine heritage:
"You are surrounded and under arrest! By the authority invested in me by the courts of this city and the blessings of Saranrae herself, I demand you lay down your weapons before you suffer the consequences!"
Surprised exclamations ring out as Konstiantina's divine power bathes the barge in blinding light, turning into surprised yelps and angry shouts as the paladin comes crashing down amongst them. The one she walloped falls to his knees, arms above his head. "Aaaaah! Don't kill me, please!"
The other two men seem both frightened and uncertain until the woman draws her shortsword, growling "I ain't going to prison!"
Konstiantina, Rose, Mirann, Marius
?
Lotti
Pirate leader
Rising to his feet, Marius sweeps back the hood of his cloak and levels his crossbow at the woman with the bow near her. "I am Lord Marius Erallan, no doubt you know my family. We are authorized to bring you in, surrender or tonight will get much worse for you."
"I was not bluffing." Sh*t, sh*t, please don't be dead!
Lotti keeps out of sight under the edge of the bridge, conjuring the sound of running footsteps and shouting guards.
"Let's be smart about this. I go in with Mirann and we pretend to be sent to help them, which could get the two of us in close while-"
Konstiantina jumps, followed by a large crash and panicked cries below.
Rose freezes mid sentence. "Oh gods. Please tell me she didn't just-!"
She quickly glances over the railing and balks at the height. "Damn! This is such a dumb, DUMB idea and I'm more the fool for not letting her do it alone!"
Swallowing her nerves, she quickly throws herself over the railing too!
She lands in a graceful roll that somewhat cushens the blow, draws her shield while jumping out of it and attempts to strike the other man near the front!
...Unfortunately, the huge leap and quick recovery leaves her off balance and the swing goes wide. "You three surrender as well, before the rest of the guards decide to shoot!" she then says.
Of course, it was easy to lie and make such claims when the pirates were already getting shot at quite succesfully...
Another figure jumping into their midst seems to persuade a second pirate to throw up his hands in surrender. Their leader snarls "Cowards!" as the one other remaining combatant draws a rapier and lunges at Rose
As she attempts to defend from the attack, her own swing goes wide. Marius's bolt takes the leader in the chest, and she stumbles, almost falling to her knee. "Damn... it."
With events suddenly moving quickly, bolts flying, and true violence on the cusp of breaking out, Konstiantina moves to solidify their advantage, darting across the deck of the barge to leap atop another crate and stare down at the third bandit with the blaze of daylight silhouetting her from behind.
"Drop to your knees and surrender," she demands, voice clear as a clarion call. "I've been using my sap thus far. Don't make me draw my sword."
"Aw, I hope I'm not too late to join the fun!" Mirann's voice sounds from up on the canal bank.
The rapier falls from the third pirate's sudden nerveless fingers as the imposing figure of the paladin looms above him. "Aah, this isn't what I signed up for!"
The entire barge begins to shake violently as something starts climbing on it. The canal waters running in sheets across its flanks, a hippopotamus clambers up onto the deck, training its small eyes onto the closest foe. Its maw yawns wide as it snaps at Konstiantina's legs.
The barge keeps swaying from the movement and the unbalanced weight.
Lotti hitches up her skirts and lets the sound of armored footsteps continue behind her as she carefully makes her way across the grass past Mirann and Marius.
"Down, Hypatria. It's over." Blood streaming down the front of her leather armour, the apparent leader of the canal pirates throws down her shortsword with a disgusted grimace. She glowers at the other three as she raises her arms in surrender, or at least attempts to do so - one side is visibly pained by the bolt in her chest, and she has limited mobility in that arm.
"Alright. I hate to lose profit, but we have coin, if we can come to an understanding. Or supplies, if you prefer."
"An understanding, yes. There's a great deal I wish to understand," Marius replies languidly, reloading his crossbow and pulling his hood back up. "Your operations here have raised a lot of questions, Gayleigh Knar, and depending on what else you know this may not end with you in a cell."
Konstiantina can barely believe her eyes as the monstrous hippopotamus lunges up onto the barge, causing the entire boat to tilt precariously, bringing with it great sloshing waves of canal water which make the footing even more precarious.
Suddenly desperate at the prospect of fighting such a foe, Konstiantina does her best to hide her relief as Gayleigh throws down her blade, and composes her face to once more reveal little more than stoic displeasure.
Still, she doesn't turn her back on the hippo, nor does she lower her guard. Sap held loosely in one hand, she stares bleakly at the ringleader.
"Speak freely of your operation and its backers, and you will no doubt find greater clemency with the courts. This smuggling and banditry operation has now drawn to a close, Ms. Knar. It's all over. There's no hope for anything but a lighter sentence. Come. Tell us who organized this operation, and where the goods are stored, and we'll put in a good word with the magistrate."
With a moment to breathe and take in the scene a little better, the hippopotamus is revealed as a rather young specimen, certainly not grown to its full size. It lumbers by Gayleigh's side, who has gone down to one knee with blood still dripping from her wound. It pushes its snout under her arm, nudging her and almost bowling her over as it snuffles and snorts.
"Alright, Hypatria, it's alright. You're a good girl." Gayleigh looks up at Konstiantina, her head craning back. "You have authority to... I don't know, make them go easy on us?" Once that has been established, she sighs. "Ah well, it was too good to last, I suppose." She shifts her gaze to Marius. "You stuck me but good, your lordship. Care to fix me up a little, before I bleed out all over the deck?"
"Looks like she's a fine specimen. Well-trained, too," Rose replies, smiling slightly at the affection between the hippo and her master. "That said, if you drop your weapons, we'll see what we can do about the wounds."
She then gestures towards Konstiantina. "I'd suggest taking the lady Justicar up on her offer while it lasts, too. You realize you've been systematically robbing the ships of count Zespire, don't you? The same local hero famous for his ruthless persuit of bandits all the way up the river kingdoms? You'll need someone to protect you from the courts, him, and the people themselves too, since I hear the folk here are somewhat infamous for taking matters into their own hands. If they ever found out about this... well, it probably wouldn't be pleasant. You're in a bad spot in a lot of ways."
She scratches her chin with the back of her sap-hand, glancing over the men as if considering something. "Of course, we can deal with those... 'additional problems' too. If, of course, you're cooperative and forthright with us."
The blood drains even more from Gayleigh's face as Rose stacks up the implications. She looks to the three men for support, but they are avoiding their gaze and trying their best to appear non-threatening.
"I mean, yeah, we've been robbin' the Gar, he kicked us outta the Navy, so at first it was for revenge, you know. Then we found a fence in the city, who was payin' us to drop the stuff here in the tunnels." She frowns. "We didn't think much of it when the fence disappeared, figured they'd been caught or sumthin'. But the payments kept appearin' at the dead drop spot, even better than before, and not jus' coin either, but weapons and armour, and good quality, too."
"Not just paying them, but arming them," Marius hisses in disgust. Clambering down to join the others, he kicks aside Gayleigh's weapon(s) and gives the hippo a wary look before placing a hand on her shoulder. With a whispered prayer the young nobleman sends Kelinahat's grace flowing into the captured bandit, closing up the worst of the bolt's damage.
Rose muses over the new information while Marcus works his magic, ready to jump in and continue the fight, but secretly hoping that wouldn't be the case.
"Hm. Weapons and armor, you say. When did this fence of yours disappear? Where is the drop-off point, and have you ever been offered an unusual helm? An open-faced one with cheekguards and a crest down the middle? Or a scabbard the size of a longsword with a golden sunburst?" she then ventures, remembering what Cincia told them about the missing magical items.
Of course, it was unlikely the drop-off point would be the Earl mansion, but maybe a case for proximity could be made, adding to the pile of evidence against him.
"Thanks, your lorship." There's a trace of sarcasm in Gayleigh's voice, but for the most part she seems cowed as she turns to Rose.
"The fence, lesse... about nine, ten months ago? Can't rightly remember." She nods towards the recessed and barred entrance of a tunnel visible on the underside of the bridge. "We offload the stuff here and pick up our pay." Her eyes widen a little at Rose's descriptions, and she hesitates for a moment before pointing with her thumb over her shoulder. "My satchel, by that crate there. Helm's inside. Was left as payment two weeks ago. Don't know about no scabbard though, I swear!"
Inside the satchel that she points out, among personal effects there is indeed a helm very much resembling the one described by Cincia, bearing the symbol of Aroden's Eye on the front under the crest.
Rose nods and trudges over, putting away the sap and drawing her rapier on the go. She traces a single, slow cut along the indicated backpack to make the contents fall out, ready just in case it was a trap of some kind.
When the helmet comes into view and the thugs don't attack, she hangs her shield on her belt and rolls it along her free arm into her hand.
"Looks like the missing piece, all right," she calls back to the others, displaying it. "So, now what, your Lordship? My lady?" she asks Marcus and Konstiantina respectively.
Mirann breathes a deep sigh of relief that the conflict is over, and idly begins combing her hair and humming gently to herself.
Konstiantina's expression is far from pleased. She stares gravely at the exposed loot, and slowly shakes her head.
"Looting museums to fund brigandage? How base and disgusting. The symbolism is galling. And I imagine the fence disappeared roughly at the same time our suspect formed a business alliance with the chandler. A very neat and despicable operation."
Coming back to herself, she snaps her head back up to stare bleakly at Gayleigh and her crew. "Still, you have assisted us with this information. We will inform the magistrate as promised. Please accompany us back to the prison, where you will await the magistrate's summons and what justice shall be meted out for your crimes. This cargo will be returned to its rightful owners. From whom did you steal it?"
She turns to eye the barred entrance to the tunnel visible on the underside of the bridge. "I have a feeling we'll be returning here promptly. However. Ms. Knar. Was there any other aspect of this operation you are omitting? Signals to indicate you were making a shipment? Codewords? Identities of others involved?"
Marius gestures for Gayleigh to answer Konstiantina's questions. "These are things that interest us greatly, Ms. Knar. Let us speak plainly: your crimes, while significant, are tertiary to our foremost concerns. We seek the one who employed you--your best chance for clemency is to give us something we can use to find this person. Where is this dead-drop, and when precisely were you to make your next delivery?"
The canal pirates do not seem thrilled with the idea of heading to prison, but after a few exchanged glances and pointed looks at all the weapons on display, they grudgingly comply.
Gayleigh is a little cagey with Konstiantina's and Marius's questions, mostly shrugging and looking sullen, but then one of the others pipes up. "I'll tell you all I know, jus' tell the magistrate to give me a light sentence, y'see, I'm corporatin' 'ere." Shifting slightly behind Marius to break line of sight with Gayleigh, who is shooting him murderous looks, he continues. "Well, alright, so we've been stealin' mostly from the Gar, y'know, Count Zespire, and just whatever barges sailed past an' looked like they might have nice stuff on them, supplies an' the likes, not like, lumber." He points to one of the barrels on the deck of the barge, in which a brand has been burned - the stylized image of a scaly gar.
"But we never hurt nobody, I swear! Just swipin' the stuff when they wasn't payin' attention." He glances at Hypatria, smirking in his beard. "Mostly on account of her rockin' their boat, heh heh heh."
Gayleigh hisses at him. "Carlo, you idiot!" Carlo hides even more behind Marius, continuing almost breathlessly. "Anyway, 'twas simple - drop the stuff here in the tunnel, then come back for payment. Sometimes there'd be little notes, with what they wanted pinchin', like, like... rope an' sailcloth an' provisions, like these barrels we have here, they's full of salted pork. I had me a nibble, heh, heh." His toothy grin peeks again from behind his full beard and moustache.
"An' you know what I think? I have a cousin in Oppara, see." The other two pirates groan in unison at that, as if they were hearing this stuff for the thousandth time. "So this cousin of mine in Oppara, see, smart girl, she was trainin' to be a senator's aid, an' she keeps tellin' me, she says "Carlo, these nobles an' these senators, they's backstabbin' each other like jackals", she says. So I figure, right, I figure that this person who's been payin' us for erm, for contraband, right, I figure they must be working for the Earl." His eyes have become a little wild as he winds up his lengthy theory, gazing intensely at Rose and Konstiantina. "On account of this political sense that I got, you see. It just makes sense to me, because the Earl don't want no-one to overshadow him, and the Gar is kinda famous, y'know."
Sorry, I wasn't suggesting we let Knar and company go and tail them, I was thinking that we (quietly) turn them over to the guard and then watch this drop point. Whoever turns up to collect the goods and drop off payment is who we should follow.
"Well, that's a theory," Marius says drolly to Carlo. "If that were the case, it'd be a thorny problem well above any of your pay grades, wouldn't it? Good man, Knar could learn from your example."
Lotti keeps up the sounds of clanking boots and armor, not wanting to let them drop until the pirates are tied up or otherwise restrained. We've found our looters, she muses to herself as she sustains the magic. And our own patron's wishes were to turn public opinion against the earl, not to break into his house and search for incriminating evidence. If that was the case, I would have just asked if he was hiring a new washerwoman. Can't count how much dirty laundry I've found that way. She grins, both at the double-entendre and the memories.
Rose grins slightly. "I see. Interesting indeed, Carlo. Your opinion is duly noted."
She reached into her backpack for a length of rope. "Now, I believe the men on the bridge are getting impatient and want to go back to their homes and wives. Why don't we tie things up here and take a stroll? Can't keep the good judge and her guards waiting. We'll hold to our end of the bargain and speak on your behalf."
She cuts the rope in a few decent lengths with her dagger and hands it to Konstiantina. "Lady justicar, do you wish to do the honors?"
Escorting the four pirates to the building that houses both the courthouse and the jail provides no challenge. At this late hour the magistrate is not present in her office, but the warden on duty is happy to take the pirates off your hand and put them in a holding cell until they can be tried. Carlo shouts after your retreating figures to not forget your promises, after which the four start bickering among themselves.
"It's been a long day, certainly, but I still think we should have eyes on that drop point. It likely won't lead to the Earl's feet but I'm content to harry this operation further."