Huntarr shook his head slowly, now convinced more than ever that His Lordship is an idiot. These people were exactly what he was talking about. They had information this 'group' lacked. There was no time for posturing and possibly missing yet another chance to get the information they needed without their own unearned arrogance getting in the way.
"You got it, Lordship."
He turned to the new arrivals.
"Good luck to you. If you want to parley with a professional, you can find me. Otherwise, I'll leave you to this.... Acolyte."
Huntarr slowly draws a grapnel so that everyone sees that it is not a weapon and fires it to a nearby rooftop, letting the winch pull him up and away.
"I would have to care what you think in order for you to hurt my feelings. Sorry, but I don't. You may be a big-shot arbite judge mucky-muck wherever you're from, but you haven't done jack about husbanding your resources. So here we are. It speaks for itself, I think. You don't have enough information to figure out how to draw your target to you. You don't have enough information to lead you to your target. What's missing in both instances, Chief?"
Huntarr looked between the others, and then back to Lord Aurillious.
"Sorry, Your Lordship. That's above my pay grade. You wanted to be in charge. You got it. What are your orders? If you haven't got any, I would humbly suggest we consult the intelligence sources that haven't already been compromised by idiocy. Maybe you'll get lucky and can salvage something from this debacle."
Huntarr bemusedly followed them to wherever they wanted to talk, but his mind was already focused on where he was going to sleep that night, since this debacle had quite obviously burned a bridge.
Huntarr simply waited for Lord Aurillious to ask the obvious question. While he waited, he looked for any sign that the Masterminds behind this attack were in the crowd, observing their handiwork.
Huntarr scoops up the body of the Judiciary and carries it out of the burning building in an attempt to preserve any evidence. He lays it gently at the feet of the highest ranking Arbite that he can find.
"This man was killed at extremely close range. He knew his killer. Based on the lack of resistance, I would say he considered them a friend, or at least, not a threat."
Huntarr drops the combat shotgun as the zombie enters melee, and draws both auto-pistols with the speed of a striking cobra. He fires one into the chest of his attacker, at full-auto.
1d100 ⇒ 5 vs 52 + modifiers
Hit with 6 rounds
Head 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Head 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Arm 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Body 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Arm 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Body 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11
Huntarr followed along quietly. He had already decided that he didn't owe these people anything and was going to remain quiet throughout the proceedings. Lords Aaurillious and Dragorus will have to do the talking.
Huntarr would have informed Illidan on the trip back to the tower of a nagging suspicion.
"I suspect we may be looking, not for multiple items, but for multiple parts of the same item. Like the pieces of a very large jewel, that someone wants to reassemble."
"Thanks for the info. We'll get out of your way now. Though since you did me a solid, I'll return the favor. The same people who killed Callisto are also the ones killing nobles. And they're using daemons to do it. Be careful. And double your watches."
If there's nothing else, Huntarr will head to the Arbite for the long ride to base.
"Well, you heard His Lordship. I personally think we should find this other group of Acolytes and exchange notes. They might already be closer to the culprits if they've been following similar clues. Besides, the last thing we want to do is step on each other's toes."
Huntarr nods and smiles at the Rag Queen in return. He turns and exits the way that he came in, getting well away from that room before turning to Illidan as they walked.
"We'll need to let Lord Auraxis know that we aren't the only players in the game. I'll leave that to you."
Huntarr cringes inwardly. He hadn't planned to lay everything out for the woman without getting equal measure in return. Now they had no bargaining chip with which to elicit her information in exchange. He hoped Illidan had a plan, and remained silent.
Huntarr radioed the Arbite to tell him to return to HQ, and that they would arrange a pick-up as soon as possible.
Once in the Throne room, Huntarr glanced at the armed men, assessing weaponry and armor, before turning his attention to the Rag Queen.
"We have been charged with finding the killers of Bal Grey, Priator, and several others. While chasing the most promising lead, we met your men. They asked that we meet with you, and we have agreed."
(Huntarr would have asked Georg about the Rag Queen as far as preferred terms of address as well as preferred behaviors in her court. Do we bow? Do we wait until she speaks? Do we identify ourselves in a specific way? Who, exactly, is she expecting? Anything to ensure this meeting goes smoothly. Will await your reply before posting.)
Huntarr nods his thanks and turns to the head Scum.
"Alright. Take us to see your boss. I'm sure we can come up with a reasonable exchange where everyone comes out happy. But please, understand that this will be a meeting of businessmen. We are not your prisoners. We will conduct ourselves appropriately as long as you do the same. Kindly inform your boss that we would be honored to make his acquaintance. I'm sure that he has the information we seek."
Huntarr directs the Arbite to park in an alley out of sight. He gets out of the car and moves to the mouth of the alley, quietly, using all of the equipment at his disposal to observe the area, looking for people and other possible security measures. He also uses his Auger to see if there is power in the building, and where it's going.
Huntarr nods and backs away from the table, his eyes on the guy holding the gun. Once he is sure he won't be shot in the back, he signals Illidan before leaving the bar. Once outside, he arranges to rendezvous with their ride and gives the Arbite directions to their next stop.
"Bal Grey was a squared-away, military type. Everything in it's place. The red cloth got me thinking that he was really killed for whatever Priator gave him, especially since it was missing. Honestly, I expect to find Priator in parts just like all the other victims. That item. That's gonna be the key to solving this whole warp-spawned mess."
