Blinking, you emerge into the light of a warming, suddenly sunny spring day. The weather this time of year is temperamental - there is of course no guarantee of sunshine much longer.
West Dock, as you know, is a largely industrial area. Warehouses and fisheries, dye factories, and other businesses cram the streets leading up to the dock; the types of places that the rest of Korvosa prefers being kept far from their living arrangements, due to unseemly smells, sights, and danger. Those that do live by - the destitute, unhoused, addicted, and immigrants - are hardy, quiet souls. They make no notice, and in turn notice nothing.
From a distance the Old Fishery looks as if the place is still abandoned. Only on getting close - and knowing what to look for - can you see that the double doors on the street-level entry and the doors to either side of the building are reinforced, and fitted with very good locks. A clear indicator that whoever is inside does not want to be disturbed, but wants to be subtle about it. The street is more or less empty, apart from the occasional wandering vagrant or pack of drovers hurrying to and from who-knows-where.
As 7 o'clock approaches, however, the nature of the passersby changes; a small group begins to loiter surreptitiously in front of your target building, waiting. They don't converse with one another: their gaze is fixed on the front doors.
Eventually, the doors swing open. The small crowd that had gathered rushes forward, to be met by two half-orcs - Bonekrak Brothers to be sure. The Brothers wear the loud, swirling style of Szarni clothing, all patterns, scarves, and layers. They are obviously armed, but their hands are empty.
They check each individual briefly, before allowing them inside.
That lot is small time mercenaries. Won't go against Lamm. I know one of 'em on guard, not friend, but not foe either. Lorick considers the two. The gang's been around for a while, they ain't fools, maybe we can talk them out of this if they know Lamm ain't happy about it.
"Right there, friend." Darius agrees. "If there's a way to avoid a fight with Bonekrak Brothers, we should take it. There's many of them in the city, and they don't like when one of their kind gets hurt."
The varisian adjusts his hat to shield his eyes from the last rays of the setting sun, and studies building in detail.
"There's also the side entrances. If someone is good with lock - and I mean opening one without proper key, we might be able to sneak in. But then there's the trouble of preventing the guards of getting in as well."
"And if it comes to fighting with those two... I do have a spell that might knock them out without hurting them. That could prevent retaliation. Or not."
Stumbling out the murk of Gaedran Lamm's lair into the spring sunshine is a little like being reborn; Cathy squints and holds one hand up to shield her eyes from the light. She gives a quick nod to the rest of the group, and then she's away "Alright. Catch you later."
She spends the time available before their heist in one of the city's public baths; she pays that bit extra to get the steam room all to herself, and sits for as long as she can to allow her memories of last night to dissipate from her system. After that, she stops by her home for a clean set of clothes before moving at speed along the rooftops of the Shingles towards her destination.
The cat-burglar drops lightly down behind Lorick and Darius as they finish their conversation. She looks very different from the bedraggled wretch they saw earlier, more bright-eyed, and smelling a lot better. "Why go inna front door, if ya don't hafta? There's gotta be a place we can get up to the roof from here, drop right in." As ever, her pattern of speech is wildly at odds with her Chelaxian appearance: in the right clothes, she could walk down the swankiest street in the city and look like she belongs. Right up to the point she said anything.
Her eyes narrow as she looks up, trying to find a good way to break into their target that doesn't involve the front door.
Shadows stretch across the street, the sun begins to set. Somewhere distant, a church bell begins to ring.
However, there is something else. There are two levels in the warehouse at street level; the level with the doors and one that sits atop it. This is not uncommon on West Dock, where the buildings that line the Jeggare River perch higher than the river itself, a way to use the natural topography of Korvosa to ward off the river's spring floods. There could be a scaffolding, decking, or even a third floor below street level, which would be used to load and offload ships. And, squinting down the gangway between the Old Fishery and the building next to it - another derelict warehouse - you can just perceive the whip of canvas in motion, the slightest changing of shadow in the deepening night; a sail, most likely, from a ship moored behind the fishery.
Cathy chews on her lower lip as she assesses the situation. "Nah, the upper floor ain't any good, them windows is tight shut. But, looks like there's a boat down there, we could maybe jump on that and get across into the lower level of the fishery, yeah?"
She gives the others a slightly dubious look. She's not sure how many of them are exactly used to going unseen.
Kaio carefully tucks his hat into his coat. Like Cathyriel, he had taken the opportunity to freshen up a bit. And take a nap. Now feeling a bit better about this cosmic joke he pondered his newfound career as cat burglar and kidnapper. "We should have dressed down instead; pretend to be just another customer when this all goes horribly wrong."
Squinting off into the distance he tries to make out the ship. "That does sound 'non-violent' to me." He wasn't quite comfortable to take on such feats of derring-do but these were strange times indeed.
"Boat sounds good. As long as we don't have to swim." Darius says, peering into the murky water.
Cathy flashes Darius a quick grin. "I'm a cat-burglar, I might get my paws wet sometimes but I ain't gonna be swimming anytime soon!"
She keeps to the shadows as best she can as she leads the group towards the boat that is hopefully their key to a clandestine entry.
I really should be better at this Lorick mutters, his lack of grace a constant sore point between him and his former tutor.
"*Not* my element but eh, how hard can it be ..." Kaio pops a s~@!-eating grin.
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Darius wasn't heavy-built, nor he was wearing anything that made noise. It theory, he should have no problem moving stealthily. The only problem was his mouth - it was impossible to keep it shut.
"Oh that mudak of a seagull! It almost shat on me!" he yells, leaping away from the bird droppings that landed just next to his boots.
"I'll create a distraction and meet up with you in a bit," Annalise murmurs, and slips away down a nearby alley. Soon, the sounds of yelling and crashing echo down the street. The Bonekrak Brothers look at each other, and one, shrugging, jaunts across the street, leaving only one of the Brothers remaining to work the door.
Despite the seagulls and Lorick and Darius's very apparent lack of stealthiness, Cathy guides you down the gangway between the Fishery and the warehouse next door without issue, and slipping into the deeping shadows, you find yourselves at the dockside of West Dock. Korvosa, as a general rule, is higher in elevation than the water below it, and in West Dock this is particularly true, with much of the dock, and the buildings fronting it, attached to the side of a small, at times crumbling embankment that drops precipitously into the water. The Fishery is built out from the embankment, a hidden lower level built on wooden piers. Faded decking, built on barnacle encased-piers, stretches from the lower level out into the Jeggere River. In its better days, fishing boats would have docked here, and their catch would have been received on the lower level, and then processed and moved throughout the city from the warehousing above.
The ship Cathy spied is moored to the decking. The small fishing vessel is no doubt no longer seaworthy, though it still floats. Obvious signs of weathering show on the deck as well - whole planks are missing, and the wood is bleached with age and sun.
To your left, disused steps wind down to the decking, which leads to a small door into the fishery, itself in disrepair. Waves lap at the wooden piers, the water black in the deepening night. In the distance, a second church bell rings, joining the first which hasn't stopped, come to think of it...
"Right, this being our first gig together and all... I'd just like to point, that whichever way we're going - I'm not going in first. So... you pick whether we go here," he points his finger at the ship, "or there.." pointing at the back door. He somehow manages to keep his voice slightly quieter than normal, even if it not quite whisper either.
After a moment of pause, he continues. "What's with the church bells, is it a holiday or something?"
Kaio shrugs. That wasn't his thing; unless it was any of the major ones and that poison had really messed with his head. Which was a worrying thought ...
Cathyriel nods at Annalise's plan, although she can't help thinking that the scarily-determined woman would have gone ahead regardless of anyone's approval. She rolls her eyes as both Lorick (stoically) and Darius (flamboyantly) fail to conform to her ideals of stealth. Luckily neither of them has drawn attention.
She hopes that lasts. "Keep it down will ya! I dunno or care about them bells, long as they're noisier 'n you lot are." She focuses. The first day after the drugs is always the best, there's just enough left in her system to keep the withdrawal away, but her mind is clear enough to think.
"Right, that way." She points to the fishery. The boat can wait; Lamm certainly can't.
Looking over at the not very heavily muscled profiles of the remaining group Lorick sighs. I'll be going in first. Stay behind me you two. Cathy you going to do your sneaky stuff?
"Sure, the bells are noisy enough. There's some temple or church near where I bunk. I swear they have some zealous bell-ringing fervour every single morning following a night I was out drinking. Every. Single. Time. Must be Calistria or some other vengeful deity."
As time of going-in-uninvited approaches, Darius reaches for a small pouch in his pocket. This contains the required materials to fuel his arcane arts, and it's important to keep it ready for action. Of course, at the moment the pouch contains mostly sand - which is a good material for an impoverished spell caster. But one day, who knows what bizarre and rare component will be in there.
Then he pats Lorick on the back. "Very good! A volunteer! Go ahead, we'll be right behind you."
Ignoring the ship for now, you creep forward, and find the back door of the fishery to be as weather-worn as the decking outside it; it is little challenge for Cathy to slip a shiv into the door and pop it open, its rotted framing coming apart with a soft crack.
The door flings open, you rush in. A loading area lies beyond, a dim rectangular chamber lit by a single sputtering torch. A chair scrapes across the pitted wooden floor as a Bonekrack Brother rises, surprise playing across his gnarled face. His fists clench, the cestuses wrapped around them glinting in the torchlight.
Behind the Bonekrack Brother struggling to get to his feet and into a defensive posture, stands another door, constructed of what looks to be a heavy wood like oak, this one in much better shape than the one you just pushed your way through.
"Oh, I know that one. He's Karl. You don't want to be meeting his fists..."
Cathy grins as the door pops with a minimum of fuss, and slots the shiv back into its rightful place on a belt somewhere under her cloak. She doesn't even flinch as the room proves not to be as empty as they might have hoped. Keep moving, always. She nods as Darius mutters his warning, before looking straight at the Bonerack Bro.
"So, Karl, yeah? Gotta say I weren't expecting you guys to be muscle for this one. You know he dunt pay his dues to Lamm, right? He sent us to fix that, and you know you don't wanna get inna way of that. Cos if you do, you might take us down, but then you'll be on the s***list for the next group he sends out." Course, if that happens, they'll all be dead, so she hopes that's not on the cards.
That was a bit too honest for his tastes. But eh; the truth was quite compelling. Lightly salted at least! With a disarming smile Kaio fixes on Karl. "So yeah, I'm sure it's all a little misunderstanding. We'll talk a bit, sort things out and poof! Like magic, everyone keeps their teeth and just paycheck."
You BoneKraks ain't known to be fools. Be smart now.
Lorick crosses his arms and fixes Karl with a threatening stare.
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Karl Bonekrack straightens and looks around at you, eyes flicking from each of you and ultimately settling on Lorick. Ignoring the rest of you, he strings his words out, long and low, his voice rumbling like an approaching storm.
"Oi, Lorick the Jaw, Little Lamb. I take it you're here, Lamm ain't so pleased. I dun't know nothing of The Principle not paying dues or whatever, but we dun't want any trouble with yer boss. If it is what you say, then Mr. Principle ain't too smart, is he?"
As he mentions the words "The Principle," Karl's hand raises, and waves, as if naming the cook that lies further inside the fishery.
"So, I'm gonna let youse through to have your conversation. One thing though: don't hurt none of my brothers, chinny? And the second thing: tell anyone we let you through without a fight and we'll make sure youse all have got one - on our terms, at a time of our choosing. Chinny?"
His hand still raised, Karl wraps five times on the wooden door; one long pause, followed by three more quick taps, and then another long pause before the final knock. Nodding to Lorick, Karl Bonekrack skirts around you, ducking out the now open door, his last words hanging in the night air.
"Good luck with youse conversation, Lambs."
The stonger, wooden door swings open with a creak, a stout raven-haired woman holding an axe behind it. Confusion plays across her face as her words die in her throat. "What is it, Bone--"
Behind her, at the far end of the room, another guard, this one a balding man with olive skin stands at attention, his eyes widening. Between them, bent over a small, bubbling pot, is the man that must be The Principle. A wiry man with olive skin and the wearing the flowing garb of a southerner, his attention is firmly on a vial of a brilliant blue compound he is slowly dripping into the blue pot.
"No fire in here, ok? Otherwise that stuff is going to explode, big!" Darius whispers a warning to the others.
"So, I'm gonna let youse through to have your conversation. One thing though: don't hurt none of my brothers, chinny? And the second thing: tell anyone we let you through without a fight and we'll make sure youse all have got one - on our terms, at a time of our choosing. Chinny?"
Cathy grins as she breezes past him. "You got it, big guy." She doesn't even blink as the door opens to reveal the axe-wielding woman, instead launching into a blur of movement that ends with her foot striking the woman's leg just below the knee.
The woman's face pinches - more confusion? pain? - and she falls to the ground, sprawled out in the doorway. You have a moment - just a moment - to step over her and get into the room.
Behind her, the Principle's head snaps up, a growl of annoyance cutting through the nearly silent room. Behind him, the other guard stands mouth agape, one hand fumbling with a sword in his scabbard.
The bold may act:
Surprise round:
Kaio, Darius, Lorick
Round One:
Lorick
Principle
Cathy, Darius, Kaio
Stout and Baldy (Stout is prone)
Kaio does a quick gesture of agreement and gratitude to the half-orc before they proceed to the next scene. Be courteous if you can. Might help you in the future.
It'd be better for everyone if these guards too stayed out of the way. After Annalises shove he adds a Daze spell to the pile of annoyance, willing the psychic magic into existence. If he happened to be within 25' of Baldy he'll go for the standing guard - otherwise Stout.
"Right, let's wreck this place!"
Darius' momentary confusion is gone, and he follows Cathy's assault. With a wave of his fingers he sends two magic missiles flying. One hits the Principle, and the other one the bald guard - both with surprising force.
Seeing Baldy fumble with the door triggers Lorick's suspicions and he moves in to try and subdue him fast.
Then he continues with his flurry of attacks which might just be hard kicks to a prone figure.
The stout woman lies on the floor, her mouth slightly ajar, eyes glassy, as Lorick bounds over her. As the Jaw runs, streaks of force circle by him, one landing with a harsh crack into Baldy, who with a huff gets knocked off his feet just as Lorick's fist connects with the man's face. Groaning, Baldy flails on the floor, as if his body is trying to will him to stand.
The Principle fairs a little better; Darius's force missle thuds into him, but the man keeps his feet. Snarling, the shiver cook pulls a small vial from his satchel and drinks it. For a second, his form flashes with a clear light, as if encased in invisible armor.
The Principle then flips his worktable with a grunt, providing cover from those in the doorway, and presses against it, arms raised as if to ward off attacks.
Soft music drifts through the ceiling above you and chair legs scrape across the floor.
Initiative:
Round One:
Lorick
Principle
Cathy, Darius, Kaio <-- You are up
Stout and Baldy (Stout is prone and dazed, Baldy is prone)
Cathy does her best to steer clear of the melee. From somewhere inside her clothing, she produces a pair of blades which she flings with a practiced motion at the principle. She imbues them both with a small amount of her magic, to improve the accuracy and give them a bit more edge when they strike.
Cathy's first knife spins through the air, slipping off the Prinicple's neck and clattering to the ground, red-stained. The Principle's eyes widen as he clamps a black gloved hand to his neck.
Setup: Stout is dazed and prone. Baldy is prone. The Principle has soft cover from everyone but Lorick. Lorick is in close combat with Baldy. Everyone is one move action/close range from the Principle. The Principle is in a defensive posture (fighting defensively).
Initiative:
Round One:
Lorick
Principle
Cathy, Darius, Kaio <-- The bolded are up
Stout and Baldy (Stout is prone and dazed, Baldy is prone)
Kaio takes another few steps forward and focuses on the prone guard by the door. Might as well keep him down!
Darius grabs a small handful of fine sand from the pouch on his belt, and starts chanting mysterious words. Probably a lullaby in some long-forgotten language, he has always thought about the rites of this particular spell.
Annalise sprints into the loading room, taking in what is happening in one quick, appraising glance, before springing into action ()
Stout shakes off Kaio's magic, but as soon as she does, her eyes go slack again, her willpower putting up little fight against the mesmer's daze cantrip.
Baldy struggles to his feet, and the ruffian leaves himself open to a brutal knee courtesy of Lorick. Baldy's eyes roll back in his head and the man collapses to the ground, hand twitching as he drifts off into unconsciousness.
Initiative:
Round Two:
Lorick, Annalise<-- You are up!
Principle
Cathy, Darius (casting sleep), Kaio
Stout and Baldy (Stout is prone and dazed, Baldy is unconscious)
Lorick moves in and punches the Principle, non lethal.
Annelise returns from her breif errand and sees that things are wlel in hand. She unhooks the spiked chain from her belt and moves towards the target. "Yer guards are gone. Bonekraks dealt with. It's jsut you, and us. My orders are to put you out of business, which means it's your lucky day, becuase there's two ways of doing that. Dead, or alive. So what's your preference?"
She glares at him. "Don't make me wait for an answer. i don't like to be kept waiting."
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Fear crosses over the Principle's face, and a trembling hand draws a vial from a bandolier crossing the man's chest. Perhaps it is the fear, or perhaps it is his natural voice; a shaky voice, high pitched, climbing higher as the man monologues.
"Do you think I need guards? Do you THINK I didn't plan for this? This vial in my hand? It can blow this whole lab, and you in it, into the water below. I've toughened myself. I'LL probably live. But YOU? YOU!!! You'll be CHU--"
The Darius's sleep spell goes off. The Principle yawns, his eyes flutter, and he topples. The vial in his hand hits the ground with a clink and rolls, stopping gently against the overturned table.
Cathy takes that sort of threat to life and limb seriously (at least, when she's sober) - even as the man falls, she is a blur of motion, diving forward, rolling and grabbing the vial as she rises back up to her feet with a grin on her face. "Saved us all! Nothing to worry about."
She does the sensible thing and puts the vial carefully back on the table swiftly puts the vial into one of her inside pockets, making a note to investigate it later. Explosives can solve problems as well as cause them. You never know when it might come in handy.
She looks around at the others. "What now? Best do something with this lot afore they wakes up."
"We only really care about that one. I assume." Kaio points at the snoozing man. His eyes flicker back to Stout, refreshing the spell every so often. But maybe there were less motivation to fight alone - especially after that 'I'll explode ya' spiel. "Let's grab em, the notes, the stuff and ditch this place."
Lorick binds the Principal with rope and then searches him over thoroughly. Don't want any other tricks popping us off he says We have to hand him over to Lamm... The others I don't give a toss about... What do you think is behind that door he was trying to open?
Annelise rolls her eyes. "They always want to boast." Then she's all businsss again as she looks around. "Right. Daruius, you take a sample. Then we dump the rest of the drugs in the river. Acutally, Lorick and i will do that. Cathyriel, you focus on destrying the lab. Smash evertyign." She looks at their target. "Lamm said to shut him down. nothing about killing him. Could do that of course. Prefer not to."
Once he and his goons are safely tided up, she unhooks her spikde chain from her belt and gives the principle a rude wake-up call by smaking him across the face with it. She justifes this to herself that he's a bad person and his products spread misery across the city. But still, she's trying to be a good person. At least a better person. "Hey! Wakey wakey. What you need to know is, this city alreay *has* drug dealers. We don't need another one. If I ever see you in this town again, i will hit you with this until I know what your insides look like." Sje waves the spiked chain in his face.
"Are we clear? Just nod. Or I can gut you right now, put you in the river, let the devilfish eat you. I'm good either way."
"Ha! Good old sleep spell. That svolach didn't stand a change." Darius looks smug as he walks into the room.
"Right, bossman wanted the secrets of the coloured shiver. I'll grab samples, but keep an eye open if you'll see any notes or recipes." he says, and pockets a few vials of the blue drug. Then, he begins searching for anything of interest in the lab.
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Cathy is about to argue furiously about being kept away from the drugs - she wasn't going to steal much, just take a wrap or two as a "souvenir" of this encounter - but her eyes meet with Annalise's stare and, in a rare display of self-preservation, she shuts up.
She takes her feelings out on the laboratory equipment: Annalise's threat is accompanied by a counterpoint crescendo of things breaking, badly.
The Principle's goon's avoid your gaze, but as for the cook... he glares, sizing each of you up, before turning to Annalise and spitting at her feet.
The Principle's lab contains a plethora of chemicals, the blue shiver making the rounds, and along the west wall, a large terrarium teaming with dream spiders, their silky threads shimmering the lab's torchlight. Of course, they'll need to be destroyed, but Lamm didn't say anything about what was on the guards and the Principle himself.
It takes hours to clean the lab. As Darius realized when the fight started, there's a lot of flammable chemicals in the room, many of them volatile, and under Darius' direction, carefully disposed of. It seems the Principle was not bluffing - he would indeed have blown the lab if he managed to smash the vial of alchemist's fire before the sleep spell took hold.
Next you move onto the ship. Kaio's sharp eyes notice the tripwire before you detonate the alchemist's fire rigged to the hull of the ship, which would have certainly sunk it - with you inside. There is little related to the drug trade aboard the derelict vessel; instead, it seems to have served as the makeshift lair of the Principle. Tucked under a disheveled cot, you find a lockbox, and prying it open some additional loot.
You move back inside, into the upper part of the Fishery. The reinforced door that Baldy was trying to open leads to a narrow flight of stairs. Junkies lay about in various states of bliss, any signs of Bonekracks - as the Principle deduced - gone, as if they were nothing but flicker of a dream. Which is just fine for the addicts lounging on the street-level floor of the fishery, who seem to have gotten the stash left behind when the Bonekracks vacated the premises. The addicts, many of them deep into a stupor, prove more difficult to rid of the site then the noxious chemicals below.
----
Eventually, the laboratory is wrecked, the addicts are sent on their way; your work here is done. You gather up your newly-acquired belongings and return up to the streets from the depths of the laboratory.
The first inkling that something is wrong - badly wrong - is the smell of smoke on the air, and the distant (and not so distant) sound of screaming, mingled with the frantic clanging of alarm bells, the clash of steel against steel and even the periodic detonation of arcane power. The glow of flames on the horizon is your second clue.
Amid the chaos, you hear the voice of a Korvosan herald cutting through the din: “The King is dead! Long live the Queen!” - only to be shouted down by ragged cries of “Hang the queen!” and “The usurper whore must die!” Through an alleyway, you even spot a contingent of Hellknights clad in dark iron armor and horned helms pursuing a small gang of what appear to be looters.
On you rush, and a couple of blocks away, a wing of of Sable Company griffon riders swoops overhead, angling toward Castle Korvosa at a breakneck pace. One of the badly wounded mounts rains blood down on the street around you, before it succumbs and crashes headlong into a statue, the griffon's end coming in the crunching of bone and the toppling of the statue - of the now dead King, fittingly. The others in the flight do not even pause to check on their fallen ally.
The rider gasps and rolls on the ground, his leg shattered. Across the street, a group of young men - likely looters - stop, and eye the Sable marine, before gathering their courage and starting towards the wounded guard...
While wrecking the place, Darius keeps pocketing anything and everything that looks either valuable or useful. Coins, vials, and that one brooch especially looks nice.
"But as a token of goodwill, perhaps you would care to share how you get the blue color to your shiver. I'd be interested to try it out myself."