Search Posts
"Someone who can access someplace that isn't all that accessable to the Bazaar. That could be a bit tricky to pin down on short notice. Doesn't sound like there's much choice in the matter, though. I guess we'd better get started. Thanks for the tea and the atmosphere," Devlyn says as he settles up the tab. "Good fortune to you." Ogiva collects the tab then moves towards the bar's main counter
"Rumor on the street says they are looking for someone who can access a particular place not easily accessable to the Bazaar. Perhaps you should try and find this person before they do."
Ogiva's brow narrows. "You've misread me. I have heard of her and her mercenary band, The Company of the Ebony Harlot, but I have no direct dealings with her. It is rumored she has another high priest who attends to the flock, a devotee a herlot-goddess of misfortune and black luck. They say Decca is very selfish and possessive of her chosen, whenever and however she gathers them." "I deal with only information and cyrptic knowledge, and sometimes what I learn isn't good enough. I believe the cleric is in her service and he worships a deity called Beshaba. That's what I've heard. And no one operates the Tunnels. They're too large and too deep to garnish total control. More Tea?"
Ogiva's brow narrows. "You've misread me. I have heard of her and her mercenary band, The Company of the Ebony Harlot, but I have no direct dealings with her. It is rumored she has another high priest who attends to the flock, a devotee a herlot-goddess of misfortune and black luck. They say Decca is very selfish and possessive of her chosen, whenever and however she gathers them."
"Yes sir. I take it this is one piece of information you actually didn't want, is it?" Devlyn asks, noting Ogiva's reaction . He rolls his tongue in his closed mouth. "It misfortune to speak her name and misfortune if you've crossed the path of those that serve her. That symbol belongs to a demon queen. She calls herself Decca, Queen of Ruin. She despises faiths and deity worship of all kinds. She servants are called Ur-Priests. They steal from the divine and use the magic for themselves."
Once Delvyn finishes the symbol, Ogiva looks at it for briefly then his eyes widen. He hisses deeply from the depth of his throat. "Are you sure that's whatyou saw," he says through clenched teeth.
"She was accompanied by two minotaurs, one of which was the color of ivory, and had a strange symbol on her necklace." "What did this symbol look like? Can you draw a description for me?"
"Any clues to her affiliations? I need something solid. Did she have any distinguishing marks?"
"Why with the simple inquiries. It's obvious if she were a drow she would answer to a certain Queen of Spiders unless of course something made her stand out from the rest of her violent ilk."
"Only tangentially. I understand the owner has started his own investigation into that little mess, but my interest is more in the tunnels themselves and the folks who use them for home and highway. I've also heard tell of some...active trading, let's say...going on down there as well."
"Sounds like you're digging for some information. I'll tell you two things for free. You'll never find an entrance to the Tunnels unless it wants you too. The slavers, the fences, and the cutthroats who run the Tunnels have an informal pact about their particular real estate. So don't scour the Tunnels searching for something you're not going to find. You'll end up dead in trouble, or worse." He continues to serve to each of the four, although slowly. "Now, what else can you tell me about the robbery. Anyone involved I should know about?"
"Tea will be fine, sir, as well as some pointers for seeing the more 'interesting' sites of the city - like The Tunnels, for example." Cups, a sugar bowl, tongs and a tray with mint tea guides effortlessly through the tavern and places itself gently on the table. Ogiva, like a trained professional, begins preparing their drinks. "The Tunnels you say? Hmmm, seems to be generating a bit of interest in the past day or so. It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the robbery at the jeweler's shoppe would it?"
"Tea it is," he says. "The sir and the lady, they will have tea as well or do you seek something else?"
Through his sources, the Dalesman comes to expect what the tavern is and most of all, its clientele. Discretion and shadowy deals reign openly in the tavern. In far corners of the tavern, muffled voices from cloistered booths and veiled fences haggle over stolen goods. Flagons, tankards, and mug spill with liquidity contents, some identified and some not onto the floor. Ordered chaos, an appropriate oxymoron, roosts this proverbial henhouse of scum and infamy. “Ah, new visitors. Welcome. What is it you wish to drink?”
...As Mouser concludes his story... "Ha! Lad, that's a fine tale. I'll need to remember that one in the future, but that's hardly payment." He quickly draws its picture on the bar top. "What I am looking for is a book and in it is a seal, a symbol used long in the past. There is a woman, a cartographer named Jyssill the Farwalker and she has something I want. The problem is that she says she doesn't have it or she's misplaced it, but I know she has it as she will not sell it to me. I want you procure it for me, then I will be able help you somewhat in your task. If you're successful in acquiring this book, then I can spare the time to learn about this house and what secrets it once held." He glances around the bar again. "To show that I do know something, if the woman you seek is a dark elf, its "The Tunnels" you must find. I know not how to access them for their entrances are hiding in secrecy. The Tunnels are used by every scum, murderer, and thief in the Bazaar. Watch what you say and who to you say it." He scoops the coins.
"Lad, I already have enough gold coin," he says as he looks at Grey Mouser with an amused smile. "I deal in information and knowledge. If you're seeking answers, then I need information in return, rumors perhaps, or the outright facts will do."
"Aye, your friend is correct," he syas as he places the amphora on the bar. "And keep your blades sheathed. I do not allow bloodshed in my tavern." He looks at the duo and continues, "this isn't a social visit, I take it. You're here for something else?"
The nightbinder etches a new geometric seal onto the floor of the tavern and speaks aloud an incantation. "From blood and passion torn,"
"I call upon thee, Nnoq the Six-Fingered Merchant. The seal awaits thee Demon-Merchant. Let us haggle." Soon a gust of wind blows through the tavern and the candles flicker. Up fromt he seal rises a large intellect devourer that feverishly paces the circumference of the seal. Ethereal and transilluminate, it convulses until its central neural mass ruptures and out rises and a cerebrilith with distinct human features. He gazes upon Ogiva and says, "you wish to bargain from power? Do you wish a pact?" "Yes I do Demon-merchant. I am expecting visitors soon. I wish I never encounter that little boy." Soon the lights dim and the binder and the vestige fade from view.
With business crawling to a halt, Ogiva cleans the tavern bar and unknowningly waits for unexcepted events.
"At Once," says the Nightbinder. In minutes, the barkeep sends a waiter with a LIIT to Alaina. She takes a look around As Alaina looks around, the place is somewhat deserted save for a few luckless thieves and the unemployed leg-breaker. Those that wish not be seen or heard keep a considerable distance away from the Herald of Sunny G. Her aura, to some, is that obvious.
Then, through her divinely enhanced senses, Alaina can hear something outside, behind the tavern. A commotion of sorts, and of snarling goblinoids..."
"Nothing else, no.""At once. Is thre anything you wish?" Like a contraption, Ogiva's palm opens and out from a dimensional pockets rises a brewed cup of mint tea. "Enjoy your privacy." With that he departs.
"At once. Is thre anything you wish?"
It would be simple for him to gouge another customer for drink money, to cover his losses. Ogiva mumbles something incoherent, giggles to himself, then resumes serving customers
Upon entering the tavern, the floors, the tables, the walls and the ceiling are decorated with intricate geometric circles. All have symbols, glyphs and arcane writings etched into their surfaces. Some appear to be constellations, others eccentric works-of-art, and others are undecipherable. They never intercept or overlap each other and none are the same size, even down to a quarter-of-an-inch. They seem to garnish the attention first to any one who enters the establishment. "Welcome good patrons. My name is Ogiva Demont and this my establishment. Many comrades and good clients also know me as Ogiva the Nightbinder, Ogiva of the Ten-Thousand Pacts, and Ogiva of the Many Chains. It honors me to have you in my establishment. Please make yourself comfortable. Empty chairs, tables and booths await. Have my cheerful employees fulfill your orders."
|
