Saul Vankaskerkin's page

"Chatham's house is the westernmost one in Windward District," Saul informs them, still looking worried. "You take the road toward the Cypherlodge, but the house itself is set just over the top of the ridge; gives it a bit of privacy. There's a walled garden, as well. You can't mistake it; he had the house built himself with a huge bay window facing southwest so he could be the first to see his ships approaching the harbor before they reached the Cyphergate."

"Or my badge. I mean, honestly, "Package for Lynley Chatham", with any old oddment in hand... or that tramsmuter's text of Tendal's? "

"No, Harington was the mage," Saul corrects Gristav. "Chatham's a ship owner. News from the harbor of one of his ships might be carried to him ... if the messenger wasn't aware he was out of town."

"Keep in mind," Saul points out, "if Lil's there, Bojasc's likely skulking about as well. You're not going to fool him if he sets eyes on you."

Saul still looks troubled. "If she's at Chatham's place, it's up in Windward, on the footpath to the Cypherlodge, a big place right on top of the ridge with a wall of windows looking west out of town. He had it built himself. Hell of a view."

Saul looks alarmed. "Justice? This is what passes for justice in Riddleport." He waves his stump. "But killing Lil? Shorafa doesn't stand for justice; she stands for revenge, and if you kill her girl, nothing will stop her coming down on you -- on all of us. Bojasc, hells, yes, no one will raise an eyebrow at killing a mate who betrayed you, but Lil...." He shakes his head. "Riddleport would be way too hot to hold any of us after that. If you've got a safe bolthole over the Crown of the World, well, that's one thing ... maybe."

"Though there is some merit towards advertising that the Gold Goblin will be open for trade as usual..."

Saul looks alarmed at the prospect. "Makes us a bit of a target, doesn't it? If we're to open tomorrow night, they'll be expecting people in and out all day. Open doors, plenty of foot traffic...." The mercenary side of his personality seems to take over. "Still, if Free Coin is closed, we'd be the only game in town...."

Saul nods. "Married a Magnimar girl a few years back. From what I hear, she never took to Riddleport society; prefers the shopping and occasions in the big city. They summer there every year, but she spends most of the spring and fall visiting friends back home while Chatham sees to his shipping business. She's in town long enough to hostess Chatham's usual party for the Windward crowd in the off-season." He chuckles. "You might just as well say she 'winters' in Riddleport."

Saul chuckles. "Those names take me back," he comments nostalgically. "Movers and shakers in Riddleport in their day."

Saul gives a slight shudder and fingers his stump idly at the mention of the Calistrian priestess. "If anyone knows where someone in Riddleport might be hiding, it's Shorafa. Unfortunately, I don't imagine I could just saunter in there and ask her where Bojasc is."

"I held council with Marce Washburn, looking to put slips ears to any rumours pertaining to yourself Saul. I'd hope if there are whispers in Free Coin or at the docks we'll hear of them. That may help to give us direction, but Magnimar is right... sitting idle and waiting for the doom foretold is hardly planning."

"What do you have in mind?" Saul asks. "If worse comes to worst, we could barricade ourselves in the Goblin for a while, but that's not really a viable long-term plan. What we need to do is to find Bojasc and put an end to him."

"I don't imagine that you ran into any of our other employees here?" he asked obliquely, after a few moments of silence in the kitchen.

Saul splutters, half choking on his coffee. "I would hope if they'd met Bojasc, they'd have led with that bit of news," he turns an anxious gaze on Phillip and Snake.

Saul shrugs a bit nervously. "Bojasc reckoned he'd pay a bounty to have me in hand, secretly: a bit of payback for Orik killing his brother. I don't know if he'd broached a deal with Cleg yet. Gods, if he had, I'd love to see his face when he got back and found me gone. Promised Cleg a treat and then unable to deliver: that's not a position to relish being in."

Saul arrives in the kitchen, drawn as much by the smell of the coffee as by the halfling's call. "Ah, that'll hit the spot," he sighs, taking a hot mug in hand. "I don't suppose you picked up a tipple of anything stronger?" he asks hopefully. "Just a shot for a little pick-me up. Bojasc cleaned out my liquor cabinet."

Saul looks relieved to hear he won't be alone in the Goblin. "I'll see if I can find some coffee or tea that stayed dry on a high shelf in the kitchen," he suggests helpfully.

He then looks to Saul, "And I'm thinking Raccoon's got it right, bub. The less you're seen, the longer you'll remain alive. Probably best you stay hidden," he says in a matter of fact way.

Saul tests the weight stacked atop the trap door. "Aye, I'll stay indoors. But hurry back."

So that's Braddon and Gristav to find Arnando and Phil and Snake to look for Marce?

"The Goblin's Bojasc's only home in Riddleport as much as it's mine," Saul adds. "Where else might he go, if he's not with Lil? And Lil's always come and gone through the tunnels. I presume she has someone conversant with the tides to tell her when it's safe."

"I suggest putting something heavy on that trap door," Saul interposes. "The tunnels may be flooded now, but once the water has receded, there's nothing stopping Bojasc from getting into the Goblin this way." He kicks at the door in the fighting pit.

Saul looks intensely relieved that no one has suggested he brave the flooded tunnels. He climbs back up quickly before anyone can.

"Was it dry down here before the tsunami?" Tendal asks, turning to cast the question at Saul.

"Drier than this," Saul shrugs. "Damp though. There's a tunnel over that way," he waves across the dark pond that fills the center of the room, "sinks a bit. I ran into seawater that way, but it must be passable when the tide's right."

"Down there," Saul adds unnecessarily, as the group stands staring down the dank shaft. "It opens out into a good-sized natural cavern. There's a tunnel slopes away toward the east. I followed it once when I first got in here and ran into seawater; high tide, I imagine. I expect it opens out in the cliffs on the coast east of town somewhere." He turns to Gristav. "Larur didn't go farther than the cavern, though. Wrapped in a rug in a niche on the left when you get to the bottom."

I believe you guys were planning on getting Braddon's strength restored at some point. Do you want to go down without doing that first?

"Hmh.", Gristav nodded as Saul was logically correct, if not factually innocent. "All the way? Then the water will still be there. Or if there's a drain, then we need to know that, too.", Gristav tried to logic, but it was no balm.

"All smugglers' tunnels lead to the sea eventually," Saul points out.

The party carefully descends the slippery steps. The floor of the corridor at the bottom is thick with a mixture of river silt and wet sand. As the corridor passes the kennel and turns toward the arena, sand predominates.

Entering the fighting pit, Saul nods toward the center of the arena. "There it is." Where the sand either floated away or was cleared, a trap door is exposed in the floor.

"If he'd 'carried him off,'" Saul reminds Gristav quietly, "he'd have left me out of his sight so I could spill the beans. I know precisely where he put the body, because he took me with him -- though as the lad says, if the river came through...." He shrugs fatalistically. "Down the stairs ... all the way down."

Once to the Goblin, Gristav says to Saul, "Larur. Where?"

Saul sighs heavily. "Downstairs, lad, though the basement's likely wetter than the ground floor."

Saul groans quietly. "...brand new carpet...," he can be heard to mutter.

"Saul, analysis? Can you tell from here, is the Goblin underwater? Or so close, the cellars would be?"

Saul gives a low whistle as he looks down on the town. "Never seen two waves so close together," he murmurs. "Depends on how far up the river got flooded. Last time, you'll recall, we were high and dry, but this time looks bigger.... The tide could have come up in the tunnels as well. With any luck, Bojasc could have been caught down there and drowned like a rat," he ends on a cheerful thought.

"Safe?" Saul repeats with a shaky laugh. "Orik ran to Sandpoint, Is he safe there? There's no safety in Riddleport unless a man's beholden himself to one of the bosses; maybe not even then, if they get a better offer."

"Does Bojasc know of your hidden vantage?"[/b] thinking that it could be a place for Saul to remain obscured.

"The catwalk? Aye, he knows about it," Saul nods ruefully.

"It must be Riddleport Beacon," Saul responds eagerly. "South of the city, outside the eastern ridge. Supposed to be haunted. A ghost's a smuggler's best friend; spread the story that a place is haunted, and it not only discourages people from poking around but anyone you have to kill only adds to the -- ahem." He grins nervously as he clears his throat. "Well, those days are behind me now, boys. I wonder if Tammerhawk knows about the tunnels...," he goes on half to himself.

"The deed to the Goblin... Now that we know she's been involved all along... where is it?"

"Hidden," Saul says firmly. "Back at the Goblin. She never asked me about it; I couldn't have told her."

He shakes his head. "They're not safe if you don't know them, and I'm no spelunker. Parts of them flood at high tide. I ran into seawater once looking to satisfy my curiosity and never went any farther; I've no interest in drowning in the dark. If you know the tides and you know where you're going, I suppose they'd be safe enough. Lil must have ... or known someone who knew. Her pirate friend, maybe."

"Where is his body?"

"The smugglers' tunnels under the Goblin."

The latch of the rusty lobster cage proves less an impediment than the physics of Saul's body squeezing out of the less-than-generously-sized hatch. He was shoved in unconscious and limp, and angry scrapes testify that the one doing the shoving was indifferent to the damage that might be inflicted. Now, he is awake to every jab and poke and his joints stiff and clumsy. Finally, however, he extracts himself, the puckered skin at the stump of his arm red and bare in the absence of his prosthetic key.

"Listen, not just his papers. The gods know she owes him, and I do, too. He deserves a return on his investment. If you can find her, stop her, take the money from her...." Saul's spirit, indomitable for good or ill, reasserts itself now that he is free of the cage; he looks at the party with a hopeful challenge in his eye.

"She's got your wages, son," he tells Braddon. "Go take them from her."

Speaking to the gaps in Saul's knowledge he adds plainly "It's Starday, six days past from the Goblin's second night with doors wide. Last we saw Bojasc was Fireday in the Goblin, he passed over a note in the devil's tongue harking to negotiation in the boneyard for Larur's release... was that a truth or fabrication to lure us aside?"

He shakes his head. "You'd be negotiating with Pharasma for Larur in her own Boneyard. He was never there. My guess is she meant to lead you into Ziphras's territory and have his gang put an end to you. They're all wererats; do you know that?"

"There's much paint to put to canvas, and I fear we won't necessarily know the picture we're painting until the last... but we still lack colours... Daub us in scarlet tones - from first to last of Lil's role." pausing a moment, before reaching into his pack to find a few skerricks of biscuit to pass over, and offering Saul a draught of water to slake what thirst he has.

Saul accepts the food and drink eagerly, although he spills much of the water on himself trying to fit his mouth under it in the cramped conditions. "All right," he sighs, appearing marginally refreshed, "I had decided to open the Goblin ... or was that her suggestion? It's hard to keep track of what was my idea and what was hers all the time. At any rate, the Goblin was to opened, and Lil suggested I reinvest the profits in a little venture she'd picked up on the side. Skymetal. Somehow Lil got wind someway or another of a trove of skymetal on Devil's Elbow, this little island out in the gulf. Someone knew it was there, apparently, but didn't have the money to mine it, and if word got out, well, you can bet that someone with the money on hand, say Cromarcky or Tammerhawk, would snatch it up before anyone else could commission a boat. The idea was, we would put our money in to pay for the necessary equipment and labor in exchange for a share of the profits when the skymetal was sold to the Gas Forges."

"The robbery opening night -- that was her, all right. She wanted all the money, so she arranged for that group of stooges to hold up the place, grab all the loose coin and jewelry, and keep anyone from cashing in their chips. She wanted me to disappear: opening night would be closing night; we'd take the money, turn it over to her contact, and hide out somewhere exotic, waiting to collect our returns."

"But you lot put an end to her robbery. Oh, she didn't like that, not one bit. But I said, 'Lil, darling, the Goblin doesn't have to be just a front; it can be a going concern.' I'll tell you, what that night meant to me! To stand up in front of everyone that thought I was a has-been and show them Saul Vankaskerkin wasn't licked yet!" He sighs wistfully. "Well, that must have been the moment she started working at Bojasc. She couldn't trust me to do what she said anymore, so she set him up to spy on me, make sure I toed the line."

"That was a nasty moment, when he killed Larur and the rug was pulled out from under me. That's when he told me how it was. I was to do as I was told and keep quiet or he'd kill me, you, anyone around town you'd connected with." Thuvalia, Lexy, Samaritha, Jaelle, Ethel, Liry: the faces swim through his listeners' minds. "No one would suspect him, any more than Larur did, before it was too late."

"Then you wanted to be off to the Cove; she wanted you gone. It seemed safest all the way around. But as soon as you were gone, Bojasc could stop playing bodyguard. There are smugglers' tunnels under the Goblin. She used them to come and go. He took me out that way. I've been underground ever since. I can only guess Lil wanted Bojasc to keep me in the wind until she's cashed in her investment. After that, she's got her money and the wide world to hide out in if Cleg decides he wants revenge on her as well."

Tendal mein becomes as flat and grey as the waters under the Irespan. "You sir, are a coward and a fool." the words dripping from his lips to spatter on the floor like acid.

"A fool, aye," he agrees. "Like Orik, killing for her. Like Falk, dying for her. Like Weatherby, thrown in prison for her. Like Bojasc, betraying me for her. Like Shorafa, yearning to take her back under her wing. A pack of fools, the lot of us."

"And if the gorilla plans on selling you out, that means he'll be back. Don't suppose he happened to mention when he'd be back for you, did he?"

"I don't know how long I've been here," Saul points out, "or entirely sure where 'here' is. Is it night, or is it only dark because we're underground?"

Without Phillip's awareness of the tension in the air, the disoriented Saul continues to ramble, "Damned fool thing to do! I could have talked him around. I was that shocked when he delivered the blow. Then he told me.... I thought he was still guarding my body, but she had set him to watching me to make sure I didn't let her secret out. From my bodyguard to my prison warden ... he wouldn't leave me alone a minute for fear I'd tell you...."

"What else you got, bub? Any idea where 'her' and her pet gorilla might have gone?"

"Devil's Elbow with Captain Grudge," he replies helpfully. "That's where she's heading at any rate, to pick up the rewards of her investment. Hers, and mine, and Larur's, and that damned scribe Weatherby as well, from the sound of it. Had us all feeding her coin, but she's the only one reaping the profit."

"Actually, I doubt she's taken Bojasc," he frowns muzzily. "Two lovers on one ship isn't a recipe for smooth sailing. That's right. He's planning to sell me to Clegg Zincher for revenge." He chuckles wryly. "Revenge without Shorafa's even hand standing between between us."

"It was Bojasc ... he killed Larur ... I'm sorry, lad; he's dead," his bleary eyes seek out Gristav for a moment. "Killed him right in front of me ... he was asking questions about the money. I didn't know he was working for her! Never suspected she'd turned him...."

"I...," he squints into the bright arcane lights in the otherwise dark room. "Bojasc! It was Bojasc. Don't trust him! He's not here, is he?"

Saul groans weakly, tries to move, is restrained by the cage. "What...?" he stammers in confusion, clearly disoriented by the return to consciousness.

"Excellent!" Saul responds as Snake approaches and volunteers. "I'll leave you lads to it then, shall I?" He separates from the two and crosses the floor back toward the stairs, with Bojasc in tow.

"If you'd set several of us, all in sight of others, then we might with discretion converge, to any of our silently signalled summons. Or if a magic for messaging, is in Tendal's repertoire, he might let, some number of us, whisper to each other, across a noisy room."

"I think, in short, that planning and thought, will yield us more than brute force, even magical force. But yes, I have that. Some of each."

"Aye," Saul waves his hand distractedly, "you lads put your plans together. That's what I'm paying you for, after all."

"Keep it as quiet as possible. I expect you have some method of dealing with things short of shouting and brute force?" He twiddles his fingers in a manner suggestive of magic.

"I had wondered", Gristav says to Saul, "If there was time for other errands. But there is smoke here-", he observes, his eyes flicking toward the lass with the oversized birdcage, then following her glance to Tendal. "So, fire soon? I'll put this back.", he offered, shrugging from the slung mapcase, "And then, how might I best serve? At large and alert?"

Saul's gaze follows Gristav's only momentarily; he seems to have little interest in Tendal's conversation with the Ghoulette girl. "Hm?" he replies distractedly. "Oh, aye, keep a weather eye out. Say," he begins to take his leave, then steps back as a thought strikes him, "Larur used to keep an eye on the cashiers' cage. The Beyar boys are back there, of course; not really worried about anyone getting past them to the vault -- but perhaps you'd take his place outside his office tonight, watch out for scuffles and pickpockets in the queues?"

Saul smirks. "We could wrap a scarf around those ears, and you'd make a great Varisian bravo. Go upstairs and see Fiora about it."

"En la provizejo de sia logxado areo, inter iuj kestoj, kvazaŭ eble haste Malplenigi, kiel ni blovegis. Plejparto de la kestoj enhavantaj nenion de intereso, la escepto estis alportita tie, packable ponto de ŝnuro kaj ligno. la ekspedisto la marko estas iom fadis, sed, nu ... "

Gristav obscures with one hand a part of the door, lifting his hand away with a burst of chalkish dust, most falling away, and out of the world, immediately, but the rest remaining in reflection of his recollection of the bundle's trademark. "Tio estas tre proksima. La pakaĵo estis de grandeco eble neverŝajne ŝtelita de poŝoŝtelisto trovaĵo de l, sed eble via propra trovaĵo de l venigos vin pli detale."

"Kiel al la pruvo, lia persona objekto. Mi ŝargita kun ricevado al nia nana familio, se li perdis al ni. Tio estas kiel mi rekonos ĝin kiel sian. Tiel, ĝi estas fonto por espero. kaj maltrankviligi. Sed espero. "

"Mi alvenis, por alporti al vi ke espero."

Saul frowns a moment at the mark on the door. "Halflings? What halflings? We're giving out free drinks or something to halflings tonight. You think Larur was handing out tokens?"

Returning to the doorway, Gristav says, "Mi aŭdis vin argumentante dum mi proksimiĝis. Mi volis sia foresto do mi estus konvinkita ke ĉiuj estas bone, ne estis pri kio mi volis diri, sed pri kio vi eble volis diri, sed estis nekapabla. Mi mi ne trankviligis li ne povas elfa cant; ĝis aŭdante la argumento, mi ne estis certa ke li povis paroli. Ho, kaj mi ne super aŭdas, mi ricevis nur du voĉojn, sed nulo vortoj, kiel mi staris antaux la pordo kaj punkte, tedi vin, aŭ ne? ".

"Mi alportas vorton de alia batalo via trupoj estis en, duono viro prenita, alia duono elvenus, kaj trovis inter liaj aĵoj, pruvo ili estus renkontita vian partneron, ĉar li forlasis tie. Via duono viro povus esti farante malpli de ilia, kiel ni parolas. vi povus atendi raporton pri tio, sed mi ne kredas ke neniu alia decidis sciigi vin pri la batalo, aŭ la nova espero. mi sentis ke vi havis rajton al tio. Tiuj . Ĉiu.

"Se vi iam devus bezoni min, rekupero, insultas mian barbon kaj brovojn, kaj mi prenos ĝin kiel peto."

Saul listens with equanimity. "Proof? What, and where was it found?"

"You've misread the question, Bojasc. I said I've words, for Saul. If you won't allow them..."

Gristav gives Saul a sympathetic glance, and leaves, raising his voice to be heard as he sings, descending the stairs, "Tied a 'tater, to a tree... Could not make it, apple be..."

"Wait," Saul calls after Gristav as he turns to depart. "You speak Elven? Because Bojasc doesn't. If there's something you need to tell me you don't want him overhearing, tell me in Elven, and you'll both be doing your jobs."

"You could have gone with him, if you don't trust him," Saul answers a little sharply. "Besides, it's not like Larur kept the key to the vault in his office."

With a short nod Phillip offers "Aye... just a couple more errands and then I'll be here for the lead in." he moves forward to slide the two borrowed keys across the table and back to Saul.

Saul reaches for the keys, giving them a glance that's just a bit more than casual, to verify that Phil is returning the same keys he borrowed. He gives the halfling a nod. "We're a few men short," he reminds Phil wearily. "The more eyes we have on the environs, the better."

Phil climbs the stairs to the owner's office once more to return the keys. "Find what you need?" Saul asks.

"Oh," Saul responds a bit sullenly. "Suppose that's right. Never mind. Here," he removes a pair of keys from his ring and slides them across the desk to Phillip. "Larur's office key and the one to the key cupboard. It's on the wall; you can't miss it. You may have to stand on a chair to reach it, though." He offers a distracted grin.