|
Cassynder rises and follows the rest of the group. It seemed this Janiven had been building a network and must have offered Quirri the out she'd been seeking. He hadn't expected to stumble upon allies so soon upon returning to Westcrown, but it was a welcome surprise.
"I have not taken any specific vows regarding alcohol, but I abstain from intoxicants as a general rule, just so you know," he says. "I presume there's alternatives?"
"I'm sure they do coffee." suggested Everett, "Although I wouldn't say no to a drink myself."
Once they where in the private room Everett glanced around and remarked with a grin, "My aren't we a motley crew! I wonder if it's chance or design that brings us together?"
"They have a splendid tea." Nita says, not commenting on the motley part, since a bleached gnome and her dog will potentially always turn the norm into a motley. She sees a chair and moves toward it.
Calseinica taps Sanchia on the shoulder. "Come on--it's bound to be much quieter in the VIP lounge."
-----------------------
The interior of the VIP lounge is, indeed, quieter than the rowdy common room; it's dominated by a large round table in the centre, with two counters along the walls holding several drinking vessels and beverages ranging from wine to tea and coffee.
Seated at the round table is a well-dressed pale human gentleman, clad in a fine, soft brocade doublet with images of golden flowers woven into the sleeves, brown pantaloons and brown boots. His greying, well-groomed beard and hair suggest he's somewhere in his early-to-mid sixties.
His pale grey eyes crease with a smile when he sees Nita and her adorable Waldorph. "Hello again."
Waldorph WOOFS a greeting in return. A deep low woof that ripples the very air, even though it is obviously a happy sound. To punctuate that obviousness, the big fluff ball bounds toward the seated gentleman like he was greeting a long-lost friend, instead of a man they met for less than ten minutes this very morning.
Nita sighs at her guard dog's behavior. She takes a seat at the round table, and in her customer tone says "Greetings to you again, sir. Was the map to your liking?" even though she instead wants to snap, why did you disappear?
Sanchia follows Calseinica into the private room. She takes a moment to look around and see who's there and what's happening.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
For reasons known only to Whisper, the friendlier the dog acts toward everyone, the more it unnerves her, and she skirts the room as far as she can around it to head for the table in the center of the room and--based on her learnings from multiple unauthorized visits to the House Mezinas wine cellar--picks out a wine, aiming for something reasonably good but isn't completely (only mostly) taking advantage of her host's offer.
She will offer anyone nearby a glass (with gestures toward the bottle and a glass) and pour herself one before finding a seat.
Everett allows Whisper to pour him a drink, he takes a sip saying, "To your good health!" before sitting down. He looks around the table at all the faces and he said with a grin, "Can't say I've ever seen a less likely group! Yet I wonder if we have something in common... Out of curiosity how did you all come to be here tonight?"
"Shadows." the gnome sips her tea and then adds "And a compass" in answer for why she is here.
Waldroph woofs out WALK!
Aidonis scratches the enthusiastic Waldorph behind the ears. "Yes, the map was quite what I needed."
And a very adorable fluffy dog making a fuss over the aforementioned gentleman.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Everett allows Whisper to pour him a drink, he takes a sip saying, "To your good health!" before sitting down. He looks around the table at all the faces and he said with a grin, "Can't say I've ever seen a less likely group! Yet I wonder if we have something in common... Out of curiosity how did you all come to be here tonight?"
Whisper answers his toast with a raised glass.
To his question, she answers, "Curiosity."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
|
|
Everett allows Whisper to pour him a drink, he takes a sip saying, "To your good health!" before sitting down. He looks around the table at all the faces and he said with a grin, "Can't say I've ever seen a less likely group! Yet I wonder if we have something in common... Out of curiosity how did you all come to be here tonight?"
Cassynder sips his tea.
"Quirri invited me. As you might have guessed from our earlier conversation, we're no friends of Palaveen. Not anymore at least. I haven't been friends with him for more than ten years...after he betrayed me."
"Curiosity."
"Likewise" murmured Everett, after all he'd come here seeking information about Palaveen.
"We're no friends of Palaveen."
Everett nodded, "I may have upset Palaveen, or at least his gang. A pair of them tried to shake down an art shop, I wasn't going to stand for that, I pursauded them to move along. A temporary victory though, they'll be back."
Just how big things are is sinking in for Whisper. She's stumbled, not to mention, tossed marbles, into something fairly huge that she will likely not survive alone and that her mother would quite possibly give her over to the Hellknights if she had to, so there was no point in pretending she had protection there. She decides to give up on the idea of selling information and offers it, gambling on earning her usefulness with this group, however odd it may be. The friendly young man might be naively trusting but he was right that something was bringing them all together anyhow. So she drops her information:
"If Palaveen leads the Bastards, the Bastards are working for the Hellknights. Not just extorting. They're looking for rebels." She looks at Janiven.
|
|
"Curiosity.""Likewise" murmured Everett, after all he'd come here seeking information about Palaveen.
"We're no friends of Palaveen."Everett nodded, "I may have upset Palaveen, or at least his gang. A pair of them tried to shake down an art shop, I wasn't going to stand for that, I pursauded them to move along. A temporary victory though, they'll be back."
"A similar story to mine. I'd just returned to the city after completing my training in the Upper Reach. Quirri approached me, presumably to invite me here, but we were interrupted by another "old friend" from the gang, Nikrus. He tried to start something and I...well...I broke his jaw. Guessing he ran straight to Palaveen after that, so now Palaveen not only knows that I'm still alive but that I'm back in Westcrown."
Just how big things are is sinking in for Whisper. She's stumbled, not to mention, tossed marbles, into something fairly huge that she will likely not survive alone and that her mother would quite possibly give her over to the Hellknights if she had to, so there was no point in pretending she had protection there. She decides to give up on the idea of selling information and offers it, gambling on earning her usefulness with this group, however odd it may be. The friendly young man might be naively trusting but he was right that something was bringing them all together anyhow. So she drops her information:
"If Palaveen leads the Bastards, the Bastards are working for the Hellknights. Not just extorting. They're looking for rebels." She looks at Janiven.
Cassynder's eyebrow rises at Whisper's statement, and he nods.
"That...is not surprising. Palaveen's always been an opportunist who'll back anyone that can help him fulfill his ambitions to crown himself King of the Trash-Heap. That's probably why his gang's been able to run rackets outside Rego Cader."
"Rebels?" Nita raised an eyebrow behind her glasses at the quiet girl, unconsciously mimicking the horned tiefling, "Oh. My." the older woman says without a hint of worry.
She quirks her mouth a bit as she thinks, weighing, worrying, and then decides not all information is good to share with strangers, despite the current trend in the room, AND she does have a dog to look after. So no compasses will be placed on the table.
"The hellknights are hunting 'malcontents' and here we are strangely collected in a tavern owned by two well-known ones." well that is something to share she decides, something anyone listening as they wander the streets might have heard.
She sighs and sips some more.
Sanchia finds all the conversation swirling around distracting, and possibly disturbing. At the very least she hasn't the slightest idea what people are talking about.
She turns her attention back to Calseinica in hopes they can finish up whatever it is that this lunch is supposed to be about, so she can get on with the more pleasant parts of her day.
She points to the script.
"So, where were we with this?"
"The hellknights are hunting 'malcontents'..."
Everett sighed inwardly and under his breath he whispered, "Must be Toilday..."
"Oh--" Calseinica turns her eyes to you, finally somewhat distracted from the banter going around. "--yes."
She points to a passage on the first page. "See, we're currently looking for someone to play the part of Istania--the Winter Queen's handmaiden. Here..."
As talk turns to the subject of Palaveen, Janiven clears her throat and takes a seat at the table.
"Yes. He's one of a whole myriad of problems facing Westcrown today, believe me." She starts with a wrinkle of her nose.
"Anyways, first of all let me thank you all for coming here. I wasn't sure how to make contact with most of you--but, fortunately..." She gives Aidonis, Quirri and Calseinica a smile. "...I knew people who could."
"Thanks for the drink. But as your tavern is the Order of the Rack's target, maybe... get to the point?"
Nita nods in agreement with the quiet one, "Exactly what do you want 'us'?" her voice has a hint of doubt. So far she could see an actor, an artist, a mapmaker, and... whatever the other two were.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
whatever the other two were.
Whisper is wearing a uniform jacket and carrying an over-the-shoulder satchel typical to a professional messenger/courier.
Nita adjusts her glasses and peers at the quiet one, finally noticing the bag and coat. A messenger, she notes, correct her internal list of unknowns.
Janiven purses her lips. "...yes, that's another point of contention. Thank you, Whisper."
"I'll be direct--I'm someone who knows that Westcrown was once a much better place to live than it is now. As strange as it sounds, there was once a time when people didn't have to cower in their homes after dark, for fear of shadow beasts dragging them into oblivion. There was once a time where Westcrown didn't even pretend to need people like the Order of the Rack--people dressed in armour modelled after the Hells, marching in lockstep over people's bodies and rights alike."
"And I especially remember a time when the men in uniform who claimed to have sworn an oath to protect and serve the public were not, at very *best,* turning a blind eye to people's suffering--and, at worst..." Janiven's eyes narrow and her tone turns venomous. "...helped cause it."
"Westcrown used to be a place where people could be proud to call home--it used to be a place of storied, reverent history and not a hive of hateful shadows and meek, jackbooted compliance to infernal forces." She stands up and looms over the table. "Arael and I want it to be that way again."
Sanchia would try to press on and get the semi-audition she seems to be caught up in over somehow. But, there are some dots that are starting to connect up which are hard to ignore given the turn of conversation in the room, and Calseinica's almost certain prior acquaintance with the woman named Janiven.
She side-eyes Calseinica and asks "why are we really here, specifically in this room at this time?"
Calseinica swallows, a guilty look in her eyes. "I..."
"...Miss Sanchia, I've seen the few times you've been up on stage." The understudy sighs. "Even in bit parts, you looked like you'd rather be anywhere else."
"I thought you might want to..." Calseinica trails off for a moment and she looks down at the table. "...I thought you might want to do something that had no relation to your family name."
Janiven's eyes turn to Sanchia, softening a little along with her tone. "The reason you're here... it's because I was in search of like-minded people."
"People who know what it's like to be looked down on..." Her eyes linger on Whisper and Cassynder.
"...people who know that Westcrown used to be something wonderful..." She looks at Nita and dear Waldorph.
"...people who dream of making this city better instead of letting things continue as they are." She glances at Everett before turning back to the actress.
"And I've noticed that such feelings come more naturally to those who don't quite fit in." She looks at Aidonis, Quirri and Calseinica again before settling on you. "To people who'd rather be remembered for something they were passionate about, and not something their family or colleagues or anyone else compelled them to do."
In the silence that follows the speech, Nita sighs "Kids." a simple word drawing attention "They used to play in the streets, even in front of the shop. One of my partners would give them leftover ribbons, and they would run about with the bright colors waving after them."
"That was a long time ago." the older gnome pulls off her glasses to clean them.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Waldorph lets out a little whimper of agreement.
|
|
Nita nods in agreement with the quiet one, "Exactly what do you want 'us'?" her voice has a hint of doubt. So far she could see an actor, an artist, a mapmaker, and... whatever the other two were.
Cassynder's crisp, clean robes and the prominent holy symbol of Iomedae worn around his neck mark him as a holy-man of some sort.
Janiven purses her lips. "...yes, that's another point of contention. Thank you, Whisper."
"I'll be direct--I'm someone who knows that Westcrown was once a much better place to live than it is now. As strange as it sounds, there was once a time when people didn't have to cower in their homes after dark, for fear of shadow beasts dragging them into oblivion. There was once a time where Westcrown didn't even pretend to need people like the Order of the Rack--people dressed in armour modelled after the Hells, marching in lockstep over people's bodies and rights alike."
"And I especially remember a time when the men in uniform who claimed to have sworn an oath to protect and serve the public were not, at very *best,* turning a blind eye to people's suffering--and, at worst..." Janiven's eyes narrow and her tone turns venomous. "...helped cause it."
"Westcrown used to be a place where people could be proud to call home--it used to be a place of storied, reverent history and not a hive of hateful shadows and meek, jackbooted compliance to infernal forces." She stands up and looms over the table. "Arael and I want it to be that way again."
Cassynder's brow furrows a bit at Janiven's words. The Westcrown she spoke so fondly of was one he'd never experienced. He wondered if there was a place in the Westcrown she envisioned for people like him.
Calseinica swallows, a guilty look in her eyes. "I..."
"...Miss Sanchia, I've seen the few times you've been up on stage." The understudy sighs. "Even in bit parts, you looked like you'd rather be anywhere else."
"I thought you might want to..." Calseinica trails off for a moment and she looks down at the table. "...I thought you might want to do something that had no relation to your family name."
Janiven's eyes turn to Sanchia, softening a little along with her tone. "The reason you're here... it's because I was in search of like-minded people."
"People who know what it's like to be looked down on..." Her eyes linger on Whisper and Cassynder.
"...people who know that Westcrown used to be something wonderful..." She looks at Nita and dear Waldorph.
"...people who dream of making this city better instead of letting things continue as they are." She glances at Everett before turning back to the actress.
"And I've noticed that such feelings come more naturally to those who don't quite fit in." She looks at Aidonis, Quirri and Calseinica again before settling on you. "To people who'd rather be remembered for something they were passionate about, and not something their family or colleagues or anyone else compelled them to do."
"I'd...be lying if I said that wasn't inspiring. I returned to Westcrown because I wanted to fight back against the darkness that had shadowed my life for so long...but I don't look on the city with the same sense of nostalgia the rest of you probably do. I grew up squatting in an abandoned apartment, in a Rego that has all-but-been abandoned itself. I had to steal and beg just to survive, just because of what I am. I want to bring Iomedae's justice down on the rot that's sunk its roots so deep here...but I wonder if there's anything left here besides that anymore..."
"So. A rebellion. We... street rabble and crafters and entertainers, somehow," she pauses to chuckle, because she does find this idea laughable, "We kill the corrupt. All. Houses. Hellknights. Then what? Who fills the power gap? You?" She sneers, but also pauses as though all this talk makes her tired. "You will feed all hungry, relieve all from want?" She chuckles again and spreads her hands. "Or, the truth: you plan to become the next tyrant. Building your power off those of us, who are, as you note, dis-pos-a-ble."
Whisper lives in a world--indeed, the Westcrown as it is--where no one does anything from the kindness of their hearts, so one hopes others will forgive her some day for her cynicism.
She cocks her head at Janiven. "Be honest: offer pay, not ideals. You are resourceful. Canny. I respect that. But I know you will plan to be rid of me. So give me good reason to risk it. One worth my mo- House's wrath."
She sits back, sucking on her lower lip, worn out from all that talking.
|
|
Cassynder frowns a bit at the way Whisper phrased her rebuttal, but...she had a point...Her description of tyrants using people and disposing of them reminded him of how Palaveen had used him and Quirri...Then he notes how that little speech had tired her out and the frown becomes more concerned.
"Are you alright?"
Everett listened to Janiven's words and he felt sudden excitement. She was describing a noble cause, this wasn't at all what he'd set out to find but deep down her words resonated.
"We kill the corrupt. All. Houses. Hellknights. Then what? Who fills the power gap?"
"Woah there!" cried Everett, with a lopsided grin he replied, "That sounds like a Milani worshiper's fever dream! I think our host is looking for people to clean up the streets, not start a civil war."
"But I know you will plan to be rid of me."
This level of paranoia took Everett aback, he didn't know what to say.
Cassynder frowns a bit at the way Whisper phrased her rebuttal, but...she had a point...Her description of tyrants using people and disposing of them reminded him of how Palaveen had used him and Quirri...Then he notes how that little speech had tired her out and the frown becomes more concerned.
"Are you alright?"
She nods. Pulling up her upper lip at him--not a sneer, but like you do at the dentist's office--she shows him the complex array of sharp teeth in her mouth, hoping he'll get it--it's just a lot of work to talk for her.
Everett listened to Janiven's words and he felt sudden excitement. She was describing a noble cause, this wasn't at all what he'd set out to find but deep down her words resonated.
"We kill the corrupt. All. Houses. Hellknights. Then what? Who fills the power gap?""Woah there!" cried Everett, with a lopsided grin he replied, "That sounds like a Milani worshiper's fever dream! I think our host is looking for people to clean up the streets, not start a civil war."
[dice=Diplomacy to put this as nicely as he could]1d20+7
She shrugs. She gets that she's jumping way ahead, but isn't going to describe the baby steps along the way. Ultimately, as far as she knows, the only way to clean the streets is to install an entirely different order. "How else to take Westcrown?"
"How else to take Westcrown?"
"I'm not sure if that's the right question." replied Everett hoping to change the subject slightly, "Take it from whom exactly? I'm sure you mean the Hellknights and all the devil worshipers. Certainly Thrune's lot seem to run the place, but do they really?"
Everett sighed, "I've lived here for years now and as I'm sure most of you have noticed, there's something off about Westcrown, it's not like other parts of Cheliax. I'm no fan of House Thrune but they are somewhat effective if brutal at dealing with crime. Yet crimes happen here every day that would be shocking elsewhere in the country."
He takes a sip of his drink before saying, "A while back I heard a wild theory, which went like this: Many years ago the fabled Council of Thieves ruled Westcrown, only to be purged. But went the theory, this was merely a ruse. They saw the way things where going and it suited them to fade into the shadows and rule in secret. Of course there was no proof, but to me it would explain an awful lot if it was true. The struggle to take back Westcrown would play out in the shadows, rather than some Galtian nightmare..."
At the talk of the Council of Thieves, Everett has Whisper's silent and undivided attention.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Cassynder scoffs a bit.
"Brutal, yes. Effective? Don't make me laugh! None of that tromping around in scary-looking armor and beating the people bloody has ever lessened crime. The only way it can be done is to solve the problems that make the crime happen; the poverty, the inequality, the fear and hatred of those who are different. Problems Westcrown's powers-that-be and House Thrune above them don't WANT to solve."
Nita sips her tea and looks from speaker to speaker without comment. Her dog simply revels in the attention of others.
Acknowledging the point, Eliott replied "You're probably right they don't want to solve such things, but none the less I suspect House Thrune has far less say about what goes on in Westcrown than they let on."
He sipped more of his drink before adding, "Anyway I'd be curious to hear our host proposes should be done."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sanchia blinks rapidly a few times. Her mouth opens and closes a couple of times, as if she would say something to Calseinica if only she could get her voice to work.
If the particulars of the place and the people around her were different, Sanchia would think Calseinica was finessing her way toward offering her work as a courtesan, a typical fallback occupation for failed actresses. But, when the woman Janiven takes over speaking for Calseinica, she knows it must be something else.
Donations for some charity or cause? Probably, but the jokes on them because I don't have any money myself. Or maybe some sort of neighborhood watch? Why would they conceivably want me for that? I'd only end up needing to be saved from anything I happened upon wandering around in the streets.
Unable to think of any useful skills she could bring to the table, and unable to craft a response that will let her squeak out of the place and back home, Sanchia is resigned to reflex. She fumbles in her bag to find her mirror. She grips its comforting handle and draws it out to look into it. It is both a way for Sanchia to soothe herself and buy time before having to reply.
Janiven pauses, letting the debate sparked by Whisper settle down before she begins to respond.
And Whisper's assertion that she intends to get rid of her has offended her. Deeply.
"...yes, Everett put it better than I could." She nods at the artist. "It's not a bloody revolution I seek for Westcrown--I know that sort of dream would never truly come to pass, at best. Such a thing would get lots of innocent people hurt, or Gods help me, killed."
"But look around!" She waves a hand around the room. "Thrune cares nothing for what happens to Westcrown's people--especially not those of infernal descent. We can't rely on the Dottari or Hellknights or anyone else to stand up and take action to help..."
"...especially if this 'Council of Thieves', as Everett says, is behind all of this." She blinks several times. "We can only rely on ourselves."
"What needs to be done, is Westcrown's criminal elements need to be brought down--and then the shadow-beasts need to be stopped."
She's about to say more when a loud BANG comes from outside the VIP Lounge.
Sanchia lowers her mirror and stifles a squeak when she hears the bang.
Nita listens almost distractedly. She had made up her mind at the memory of the childred... well no in truth at the moment she realized it was Bobble's shadow.
So distracted she was, she almost missed the loud BANG until Waldroph tugs at her coat tails and whined. "Oh, what was that?"
Listen. It seems to say.
Whisper's cynicism blinds her to Janiven's good intentions.
At the noise, Whisper jumps into a standing position. "Bastards."