" ...Near Ironside Quarter at some abandoned brewery... "
Blinking Onnello wonders if he misheard the dwarf when she'd spoke of the 'brewery.' Sipping his coffee, he looks from Thragg to Erryll to their host.
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" ...Near Ironside Quarter at some abandoned brewery... "Blinking Onnello wonders if he misheard the dwarf when she'd spoke of the 'brewery.' Sipping his coffee, he looks from Thragg to Erryll to their host.
" ...Near Ironside Quarter at some abandoned brewery... "Blinking Onnello wonders if he misheard the dwarf when she'd spoke of the 'brewery.' Sipping his coffee, he looks from Thragg to Erryll to their host.
"On second thought, maybe we look around the area for dinner ... at a less abandoned brewery."
Dunsmith pauses for a moment, as if pondering whether to continue lending the hats to you for a second (or, for the two of you as it may be, first) time, before responding.
"Eh, why not keep usin' the hats. They still decidedly aren't yours, unless you give me the 150gp for 'em, but I can lend you them for this job as well," she then makes a contented sigh as she eats the pork that she brought out for lunch.
...He looks around the table, "Anyone know a smuggler with a wagon that has a false bottom?"
Pleased that Dunsmith was generous with her 'gear' Onnello pours himself more coffee, "Thank you Dunsmith, that will be handy if we need to run him to all the way to the brewery."
As he sets the coffee pot down, he sighs, "Pity none of those fancy magics don't work, we could just teleport out."
Pausing he sips the coffee, "We'll need to look around to decide the best way to move him, but I was serious about a wagon."
He looks towards Dunsmith, "Do you know a smuggler we might be able to borrow a wagon from? Whether we use it part of the way, all the way, or just as a diversion. It would be mighty nice to have options."
"It would be easiest if there's a wagon nearby we can use, but if not, I know a guy who could loan us one."
"So we meet back here in a couple hours, case the neighborhood of the job, and then plan it for 2 days from today?"
"It's best you go with your guy," Dunsmith says, still clearly firing on all cylinders, "and the plan is up to you, just make sure to plan ahead of time. After four or so days, you don't have much of a chance any more. That's the only limit you've got on you."
Smiling as Narl said he 'knew a guy' Onnello reconned it was good to have someone in the gang that 'knew a guy.' Pausing, Onnello looked longer at Narl. Shaking his head, it was usually a 'pretty boy' who had all the friends, but if this Narl said he 'knows a guy' Onnello won't call him a liar.
Nodding in agreement with Told, "Yes, sooner would be better than later, let's just make sure we don't go off 'halfcocked'."
Hearing Erryll say they'd like to meet back here in a couple hours and Dunsmith's warning, Onnello turns and nods to Erryll, "the sooner the better. See you back here in a couple of hours." He nods towards the front room of the Barrel & Bullet, "I'll be waiting in the Saloon. If anyone wants to wait with me, I'll buy the first round."
Setting his cup on the table he stands, shifting his hat low and heads out the door to the Barrel & Bullet. Pausing long enough to find an empty table near the back wall, Onnello moves that direction, taking a seat with his back to the wall. As he sits, he adjusts the dragon pistol so it would be easy to reach and he pulls a couple gold coins out of his vest pocket. Tossing the coins on the table he waits for one of the girls to come over and let him order a drink.
Thraag also retreats down to the bar to drink and wait for the others as he is more interested in getting his hands on some of this new chemical over any current shopping needs.
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The Mana Wastes were a very long way from Kyonin. They were, in fact, a long way from a lot of places. They were most certainly a long way from anywhere that people would generally worry about, think about, or even recollect that there were “dark elves” in the world. That said, there were dark elves in the world.
Mostly a dark elf lived its life well below the surface world, deep in the Underdark, never to see the sun. Most were thrilled with this. They would never have to guess whether their magic would work any given day, and they certainly wouldn’t need to be wary of bigoted murder hoeboes. None of that was true in Alkenstar. In Alkenstar, anyone different basically had a target painted on their back, and the leading murder hoeboes were Lovelace & Mugland. They had gunned down Erryll’s great grandfather as though there were a statute citing “Thou shalt not suffer a drow to live.”
His family didn’t suffer insults to their dignity for long though; his great grandmother invented the “Snatschbissen” spell specifically to exact revenge, and a good number of casters at Kitty’s knew how to cast ‘Darkness’ because of it; neither Mugland or Lovelace exposed their nether region to the light, Granny Galandreyell had made sure of that. Laughed about it a lot actually.
For Erryll though, just having spidersilk against his body felt oddly like coming home … the bodysuit exposed and accentuated every part of his physique. Spidersilk in principle wasn’t “a drow thing” but it was somewhat of a tip-off, like his violet eyes. He had never felt better, he had never looked better. There might be some arguments that he looked better without the armour, but he hoped he had taken care of that also. He not only had his grandfather’s spidersilk rope, but he had also commissioned enchanted sleeves made of spidersilk as well. The translucent tubes of material easily fit over Erryll’s arms, and much like the hats of disguise they had used on their last job, Erryll could choose to transform the appearance of his current garments into any other nonmagical set of clothing he wanted. These new clothes fit perfectly, even possibly modestly, and would always be clean and mended unless he specifically designated otherwise.
There was work to be done; it wasn’t like his other heirlooms were going to buy themselves. He was ready. He had never handed that much gold & platinum to anyone. He for sure needed a drink, and possibly needed 2.
Smiling as Narl said he 'knew a guy' Onnello reconned it was good to have someone in the gang that 'knew a guy.' Pausing, Onnello looked longer at Narl. Shaking his head, it was usually a 'pretty boy' who had all the friends, but if this Narl said he 'knows a guy' Onnello won't call him a liar.
Nodding in agreement with Told, "Yes, sooner would be better than later, let's just make sure we don't go off 'halfcocked'."Hearing Erryll say they'd like to meet back here in a couple hours and Dunsmith's warning, Onnello turns and nods to Erryll, "the sooner the better. See you back here in a couple of hours." He nods towards the front room of the Barrel & Bullet, "I'll be waiting in the Saloon. If anyone wants to wait with me, I'll buy the first round."
Setting his cup on the table he stands, shifting his hat low and heads out the door to the Barrel & Bullet. Pausing long enough to find an empty table near the back wall, Onnello moves that direction, taking a seat with his back to the wall. As he sits, he adjusts the dragon pistol so it would be easy to reach and he pulls a couple gold coins out of his vest pocket. Tossing the coins on the table he waits for one of the girls to come over and let him order a drink.
"So if you buy the first, and I buy the second, what do we think the odds are that we could get both drinks to arrive at the same time?"
Erryll sat down next to his buddy Onnello, very ready for a drink.
"Kitty says 'HI' by the way."
Seeing his friend Walk in Onnello thought he notices a spring in the half elfs step. Kicking out the bent wood back chair opposite Thraag, Onnello Chuckles at the comment about drinks, smiling, "I recon We can find out."
Waiving at the waitress, Onnello's smile wains when Erryll comments about 'Kitty saying hi'. Shaking his head, "I owe that woman a debt I can't repay. But I'm not sure I'm able to give her what she wants."
Seeing his friend Walk in Onnello thought he notices a spring in the half elfs step. Kicking out the bent wood back chair opposite Thraag, Onnello Chuckles at the comment about drinks, smiling, "I recon We can find out."
Waiving at the waitress, Onnello's smile wains when Erryll comments about 'Kitty saying hi'. Shaking his head, "I owe that woman a debt I can't repay. But I'm not sure I'm able to give her what she wants."
Narl shows up at the inn and joins the others, remembering to keep his hood up to hide his features this time. He's not interested in a fourth round of drinks when he still has work to do tonight, so he buys some food for the group.
When the conversation naturally allows for a new topic, he speaks up.
"Right, taking down Mugland and Lovelace is one thing, but working for Ricia? This could be very good or very bad. Is she trustworthy, or are we trading one corrupt official for another?"
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A couple nights later, Narl can be found skulking through the night streets of Skyside. As he nears his destination, he ducks into a dark alley. Making sure he's alone, he grits his teeth and concentrates, willing the bony protrusions on his face and skull to recede. As he straightens his cloak over his armor and dons a couple pieces of jewelry signifying his father's merchant family, he ponders the clarity of thought he now has once he looks like his old self. Yet he also feels somehow... less than he does when his mutation presents itself.
Now in his old identity, he walks quickly to his destination, since Nevai Sige is wanted for weapons smuggling. While true, the fact that Ambrost Mugland is the one who is accusing him, because he wanted to buy Sige's smuggled goods for less than their agreed upon price is the very height of unjust hypocrisy.
Nevai reaches one of his father's storage yards, completely unphased when he's challenged at sword point after entering. He chose this location because the crew here are both loyal and easily cowed.
He explains that a hooded man will be coming by later tonight to borrow a horse and wagon. Nevai holds up his own signet ring, explaining that the man picking up the wagon will have that ring to show that the two men are working together. The crew is to have a horse and wagon ready, and to let the man take them with no questions asked.
If his father asks about the wagon, the crew is tell him that Nevai is using them and that they will be returned in a few days.
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Smilng at Tolds good natured question, Onnello pauses, wondering how much he should share about his own background. Deciding to play things close to the vest, he explains. "Miss Kitty runs a 'house' over towards the river. From time to time she lets me use her basement to repair firearms or craft cartridges for some of her customers." He nods towards Erryll, "That's where I met Erryll"
After explaining where he met his friend he lifts a hand, "I'll take you up on that third round when we're done for the night, I recon we'll need our wits about us if we're going to sort this out."
As Narl speaks up about Ricia, Onnello considers his very valid points. For himself, Onnello was only interested in bringing down Mugland, Lovelace, and whoever had been working with them to kill his father. As he'd been healing, he told Erryll he needed a 'job' that made more money than just scratching the serial numbers off of stolen firearms, this was what was offered. If Dunsmith and her crew were out to get Mugland and Lovelace that was just gravy. If she actually has the support of the Grand Duchess Trietta Ricia that means Dunsmith's pockets are even deeper than he expected.
Shifting in his chair slightly, Onnello leans forwards as he looks around the table. "I reckon no one in this line of work is 'true blue' but if she'll put a little money in my pocket and help bring down those two, then I'm in." He shakes his head as he sips his second beer "I don't see how any official can be more corrupt than Lovelace."
Thraag slides closer to the others as he is listening in and says, "People are people. If enough money and power are at stake they will toss you under the cart. Lovelace just puts an ugly face on it while cackling at you."
Snorting at Thraag's description, Onnellos smirks, "I reckon so."
Everyone having arrived at the designated time and Feeling the conversation had run its natural course Onnello stands, leaving most of the second beer in the mug. Adjusting his gun belt slightly he nods towards the door, asking as he moves towards the swinging double doors. "shall we scout the 'brewery' first or the alchemists house?"
Snorting at Thraag's description, Onnellos smirks, "I reckon so."
Everyone having arrived at the designated time and Feeling the conversation had run its natural course Onnello stands, leaving most of the second beer in the mug. Adjusting his gun belt slightly he nods towards the door, asking as he moves towards the swinging double doors. "shall we scout the 'brewery' first or the alchemists house?"
Erryll makes 'adjustments' also, although the glamoured outfit still looks fantastic. He seems ready to go.
"Based on what we know, Vashon has a good enough handle on his place, especially for a pick-up. But I'll be honest, whenever I hear the word abandoned, I worry. Abandoned is a word that busy people use instead of saying they don't care. That is why they don't use the word empty, because they don't really know. I suggest that we flush out the 'abandoned' brewery prior to thinking we can hold up there."
Stepping outside of the saloon the batwing doors swinging behind him, Onnello stands on the wooden walkway looking west to the sun setting, just barely visible over the walls of Alkenstar. The haze of Smokeside refracting the dimming light into greens and purples. Taking in the familiar smells of burning coal, smelting metal and other unnamable alchemical creations, Onnello tilts his head down and tips his wide brimmed black felt hat slightly forwards to cover more of his face. I think you both are right, we may be in for a late evening clearing out the brewery so it's safe to take the alchemist there, but better now than the day of."
Without turning, he recommends, "We should probably separate into twos or threes so it's less obvious that were together." turning to Erryll, he asks, "Shall we cross the street and walk on the other side?"
Waiting for a moment to see if one of the other four want to join them, he recommends, "Stay within pistol range, I don't expect trouble, but if someone jumps a couple of us, the rest should be able to get their quickly." Nodding to the others, he crosses the road and begins to head up the strat two the brewery.
Thraag gives him about twenty paces and then follows along.
Appreciating the group's sense of getting down to business, Narl readily agrees and walks with Thraag and Told. He uses his hat of disguise to resemble the garb one of the miners who works for his family with a knit cap pulled down low.
Erryll walks with Onnello; looking different ... but somehow seeming exactly the same
As Onnello and Eryll casually walk down the boardwalk, Onnello will occasionally glance into the 'store windows. Pretending to look at the shops wares, he's actually watching the reflections of his new friends, to make sure he knows where they are without looking directly at them.
Walking, Onnello notices something different about Erryll's outfit. He looks and then looks again, "Your cloths, they are slightly different, did you purchase a magical item to help with that?"
While his friend answers, he keeps his eyes focused on the street, watching for anything interesting.
As Onnello and Eryll casually walk down the boardwalk, Onnello will occasionally glance into the 'store windows. Pretending to look at the shops wares, he's actually watching the reflections of his new friends, to make sure he knows where they are without looking directly at them.
Walking, Onnello notices something different about Erryll's outfit. He looks and then looks again, "Your cloths, they are slightly different, did you purchase a magical item to help with that?"
While his friend answers, he keeps his eyes focused on the street, watching for anything interesting.
Keeping his voice lowered, Erryll says, "I did! Truth be told, I almost had to. The spidersilk bodysuit I purchased is very ... form fitting. Not really something anyone outside of Kitty's might be ready for. So I purchased a pair of bracers with magic very similar to our hats, and they allow me to have my clothing appear as anything I want. Much better than looking like I'm working at Kitty's on a night that I'm not."
Chuckling at the thought of Erryll's outfit only being acceptable outer wear in Kitty's inner rooms, Onnello continues walking slowly down the boardwalk. keeping his left hand resting on the cross-draw dragon pistol and a keen eye on both the road in front of him and the reflections in the windows he passes.
"Good luck on scouting a route," Dunsmith says as the lot of you leave the backroom. "Oh, and as for the trustworthiness of Ricia? She's the Grand Duchess, if we can't trust her, who in Alkenstar can you trust?!" she says with a hearty laugh.
As the days go on, all of you, disguised via your hats of disguise, go to scout routes one way or another.
Told realizes, in his first day of scouting, that Gattlebee’s house sits away from the road, amid an overgrown yard full of sedum: sticky, bushy flowers. A small shed sits in front of the house, facing away from the road. The property is enclosed in a chicken-wire fence.
Do you wish to do another day of scouting out a route, or do you wish to push on with the plan?
The Yeast of All Brewery looks like it’s been out of business for a while. All the windows are boarded up from inside, and the doors are locked. If you wish to (which I'm assuming you do) you can attempt to barge your way inside and then board the place back up on your way out, if you wish to take the risk of discovery.
Do you wish to do another day of scouting out a route, or do you wish to push on with the plan?
One the arrive at the 'brewery' Onnello knew he'd be no help 'breaking and entering' into the building. His skill set leaned more towards solving things with a pistol. However he kept watch as the others, with the skills to gain entry did their work. Once they'd gained access, Onnello follows the others in.
Thraag was not known for his stealth, but goes with Told to try and get into the building. He held his breath as they go through the window to try and keep his chain shirt from rattling to much as he enters and sighs with relief when he slips in and thinks he was pretty quiet.
As you succesfully break-and-enter the Yeast of All Brewery, you see tons of glassware containing various potions, extracts, elixirs, and poisons, all of them unlabeled. Some of them are threatening to fall over if bumped too much, even. Some tables seem unstable, others more so than others, and among the glassware you can find a few labeled glasses.
If you squint your eyes, you can see a few reactions still going, or the odd labeled glassware.
Staying near the front of the group, Onnello, being overly paranoid since he was shot, draws his 'dragon pistol' from his crossdraw holster as he moves into the brewery. Noticing the unstable tables, he makes sure he doesn't bump into anything.
With Onnello's keen eyes, all of you notice a potion of CLW lying around, labeled specifically as an "Elixir of Life", but not much else that is of use without more extensive knowledge of alchemy, both of the magical and nonmagical varieties.
Seeing the 'label' on the potion, Onnello picks it up. Holding it so the others could see he asks, "Anyone know what that means?"
Scattered about are more, but in fewer quantity, bottles, elixirs, and oils. Some of them are stored in barrels that were presumably left over from when the Yeast of All Brewery was... actually active, as a Brewery. If you look around closely, you can probably find some salvageable aged alcohols lying around that haven't been replaced with non-alcoholic liquids.
"Well, this might help lying low here for a bit." Thraag says as he looks over the barrels, "Unless all we have left is some bad vinegar."