021: Girls just want to have fun

[Sierra]

<Cidward> The Red Rose is a three-floor townhouse built in a sturdy, no-nonsense style. Curtains at every window shield the patrons from view, and those outside from the activities within. The entrance to the establishment turns out to be in a narrow alley out of sight from the market bridge. Inside is all colorful wall hangings and alluring tapestries, smells of incense, sounds of music and laughter echoing from other rooms. The front desk is staffed by a slender woman with ebon skin in a tasteful but suggestive red dress. There's no one else immediately in sight, though the desk itself is flanked by a pair of marble statues--one male, one female, both sculpted nude and the epitome of physical perfection. "Good evening!" the woman says with a smile. "Welcome to the Red Rose. How can we help you ladies tonight?"
<Stephanie> "Oh, hello! Is Mercedes available? We're here for business, not pleasure." Stephanie pauses. "Um, I mean, we plan to keep our clothes on."
* Franceska palms her face.
<Cidward> "That is right!" Rosemund eagerly blurts out. "We are only here to talk!"
<Julia> Julia chuckles a little into her hand.
<Cidward> The woman laughs. "That's not so unusual as you might think. But wait right here, I'll go and fetch her." In a swish of silk, she turns and disappears through a door to her right.
<Stephanie> "Oh, I heard of escorts like that! They're paid to talk!" She blinks. "I wonder what kinda clients they get."
<Cidward> "Let us not ask?" Rosemund suggests. The woman reemerges a moment later and beckons you to follow her, leading you through a short hallway with just two doors. She opens the first door and ushers you into a modest office. Expensive, glossy wood furniture, subdued lighting, and a Mercedes behind the desk in a respectable business outfit. There's a closed door in the corner behind her and a set of ledgers on the desk before her.
<Stephanie> "Hello! We've got some good news!" exclaims Stephanie, stepping inside. "Can we trust you with secrets, possibly of an intimate nature?"
<Cidward> "You could say that's precisely my business," she says with a smile once her employee has left. "Sit down, please. Ah, I'm afraid I only have chairs for two. I don't normally entertain crowds. Not in my office, at least."
<Franceska> "I can stand," Franceska says curtly.
<Julia> "I can stand, it's fine," Julia demurs.
<Cidward> Rosemund sits down, since it seems a shame to waste a chance to rest one's legs on this world.
<Stephanie> "I can stand, but I'd rather sit," adds Stephanie, sprawling over one of the chairs. "Anyway, we found out who hired those crazies! And we worked the crazies over a bit, too," she adds, with a happy grin. "Well, we beat up like half of them. And now one's rather breathing-impaired. More importantly, though, we wanna try and find their boss, and we got a name. Think you can help?"
<Cidward> "Possibly," she says, closing up her books and shelving them. "It's only good business to know everyone and everything of consequence in town. What have you found?"
<Stephanie> "Her name's Pheretima Kyriazis. She's totally one of Granville's friends- oh, and as for Granville, we figure she's back on some place called Azure."
<Franceska> "We are in the process of confirming the latter," Franceska adds.
<Stephanie> "By which we mean we might go there someday, it sounds like a cool place."
<Cidward> "Oh, I remember her," she says, leaning back in her chair. "Skinny girl, fearsome glare? She was nosing around the Storm's Eye a few weeks back. Asking questions. Feeling out local politics, I would say. Had some business with the trademaster. If you ask me, she wanted to know who his enemies were. Didn't come out and say that, of course, and she didn't tell me why either." She grins. "I think she concluded I'd be of no assistance to her once she discovered my occupation."
<Stephanie> "Fucking amateur, right?"
<Cidward> "Please, I am no amateur."
<Stephanie> "Hey, I'm talking about her! I know where to go to learn important shit," retorts Stephanie, in a huff.
<Julia> "Yes, what we learned from the mercenaries was that she seemed to want the Dao at a disadvantage in later negotiations," Julia fills in. "Negotiations over what, though..."
<Cidward> "Of course," she says to Stephanie with a smile. She nods to Julia. "She had what I would characterize as a demanding personality. It's no great surprise to me if she couldn't simply convince them to give her whatever it was she wanted."
<Stephanie> "I don't suppose you'd have any idea how to track her down?"
<Cidward> "She didn't leave me her forwarding address," Mercedes says. "But she shouldn't be difficult to find. Unusual shade of hair, black but with a greenish hue in the right light. And while she had the good sense not to bring it into the restaurant with her, I gather she has a pet serpent with her. I don't imagine that qualifier applies to many others in Peridot."
<Stephanie> "If she's still in Peridot," mutters Stephanie. "Well, she will be, sooner or later, if she's here for the Dao."
<Cidward> "Perhaps," she says with a shrug. "If all one wishes to find are Dao, then there are a multitude of places on the plane of Earth to find them. They're only one player in Peridot, much as they might aspire to be the only one. Ah, but where are my manners? I've not offered any of you a drink. Wine?"
<Julia> "Oh, I could go for a glass, thank you," Julia nods.
<Franceska> "Alright."
<Cidward> Mercedes draws a bottle from a drawer in her desk, fills a pair of glasses with deep red wine, steps around the desk to hand them over.
<Cidward> "Nothing for me," Rosemund puts in.
<Stephanie> "Hmm. I suppose this could be just one part of a larger attack on Dao interests..." muses Stephanie, sounding intrigued by the idea.
* Julia takes hers and has a few sips while they converse.
<Cidward> It's very rich and flavorful, and no doubt commensurately expensive.
<Cidward> "You look excited by that prospect," Mercedes says as she returns to her seat.
<Stephanie> "Bah! They shame all true merchants with their ruthless and unethical success!"
* Franceska takes a long sip, before she feels she has to bring this up. "Should we still try to track this woman down?" she asks. "If we give her name to the dao, they can do all the work. They can be harmed in other ways, I'm sure, that would not involve pointless attacks on unrelated people."
<Cidward> Crystal clear laughter echoes around the office. "Ah, yes, my perspective exactly. It's easy to make a profit when you don't pay your employees, isn't it? It's just brute force, really. Very unseemly."
<Cidward> To Franceska, she shrugs. "I have no doubt that she will still be in town if she has not achieved whatever it was she desired here. But I cannot vouch for that one way or the other."
<Franceska> "We know she intended to organize another attack. Just because her contract went sour with one mercenary band doesn't mean she would stop." Addressing Rosemund, she says, "It might as well be the dao who works to stop her."
<Cidward> Rosemund shifts in her seat. "Well, perhaps, but...what do the two of you think?" She looks to Stephanie and Julia.
<Julia> "To be honest, I sometimes find myself getting a little bit lost with all of our shifting plots and schemes," Julia admits. "Are we going to bring the Dao's enemies before them as leverage for finding our captured heroes, or are we wanting to weaken the Dao with other concerns so we can better force the issue?"
<Franceska> "The former sounds like our best plan," Franceska asserts. "Then, once we achieve our goals and they no longer have any leverage against us, we can see what might be done against the present mayor and their interests in town."
<Cidward> "The mayor?" Mercedes says with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, are you plotting a coup? How delightful."
<Franceska> "If all goes well, those freed heroes can do their best to stop the practice of slavery here without us doing a single thing," Franceska says proudly.
<Stephanie> "Oh, come on! They don't have any leverage against us to start with!" replies Stephanie. "And this is our best chance. She's gotta have a ton of information on the Dao. She'll know how to cause them maximum trouble. They're slavers, you know?" She shrugs. "We can buddy up to this chick, help her out against the Dao without, you know, blowing up regular people, figure out what leverage *she's*
<Stephanie> trying to get set up on them, and hijack it for our own cause," points out Stephanie. She snorts. "Why are you so proud of that?"
<Franceska> "It is a beautiful plan!"
<Julia> "Wasn't that what we were going to do with the mercenaries until we decided to fight them at the last minute?" Julia asks Stephanie.
<Cidward> "Could we perhaps speak to her first?" Rosemund suggests to Franceska. "Otherwise, we do not know exactly what she wants?"
<Stephanie> "It- well..." Stephanie scratches her head. "But those guys were assholes... and kinda scary," she mutters.
<Franceska> "And she is the one who hired them. And let us not forget that they quit because they were not extreme enough for her tastes."
<Franceska> To Rosemund, she says, "We could. But we might also decide to try and hurt her after listening to her. That would just lead to pointless fighting on our part."
<Cidward> Rosemund nods. "That is true..."
<Stephanie> "What? That's stupid. Maybe we'll decide she doesn't deserve to be hurt after listening to her, eh?"
<Franceska> "No, I sincerely doubt that."
<Julia> "I don't think she'll sell herself very positively," Julia adds.
<Cidward> "If we go to talk to her, then we have to help her or fight her," Rosemund reasons. "Because if she finds out we know about her and the mercenaries, she cannot afford to simply let us walk away, can she?"
<Stephanie> "I'd rather kill her myself than leave her to those fuckers, even if she is a royal bitch," mutters Stephanie.
<Cidward> Mercedes fishes a nail file from her desk and goes to work on her claws. "If you're going to kill anyone, I'd suggest doing it outside the city limits. The watch frowns on that sort of thing. Not that I'd know about this firsthand."
<Franceska> "See? It is illegal to kill people here! As it is in most places!"
<Julia> "Yes, we are sort of rambling now, aren't we," Julia apologises to Mercedes as she's been mostly forgotten in their debate.
<Stephanie> "All our plans are like this," mutters Stephanie. "Well, I wanna go talk to her, but I suppose we could just throw her at the Dao instead. Though they'd better give us what we ask for first. What's your vote, Julia? Rosey?"
<Julia> Julia doesn't even know what she wants! "Talk to her?" she at last concludes uncertainly. If they kill her themselves she or her snake might make interesting undead, she can hope.
<Cidward> Rosemund studies her feet. "I cannot say that either plan holds great attraction for me. I would like to talk to her, and hope that she can be reasonable. Maybe we can, I do not know, introduce ourselves in a way that does not suggest we know everything, so she will be less wary of us?"
<Franceska> "Could you find a way to introduce us, if we were to track her down?" Franceska asks Mercedes.
<Stephanie> "Yeah, we'd need a pretext..."
<Cidward> "Mmm." She leans forward and considers this, fingers laced together on the desk before her. "I don't think it's unreasonable to let her believe I've only inferred she has some personal grievance with the dao and would be interested in meeting like-minded parties? It was quite plainly why she loitered around the Storm's Eye after her arrival. I could 'coincidentally' encounter her and perhaps suggest introducing you as possible allies?"
<Franceska> "It sounds like a way which might somehow avoid needless combat."
<Cidward> "That way we don't have to be specific about what you do or do not know, yes," she agrees.
<Stephanie> "Sure. She's around regular enough that you'd see her again?"
<Cidward> Mercedes shrugs. "Well, she's never visited us," she says, sounding mildly offended. "I'll have to make inquiries. The girls hear all sorts of things, you know?" She's quick to add: "Of course, it is a point of professional distinction to maintain the secrets of our clients! But this would be a matter of common gossip, so I'd see no harm in passing it on. If all else fails, I'll make inquiries at the Storm's Eye."
<Cidward> Mercedes tracks you down around lunchtime the next day. "I found her at watering hole called The Bolt. Dreadful little place, just the kind of dive for unwanted persons to lose themselves, you know? It's not far from the trading outpost. Keeping an eye on her investment, I gather. I talked her round to the subject of complaining about the slavers and suggested I may have some friends with a personal grievance of their own to remedy." She grins. "So if you don't genuinely have one, make one up before you head over."
* Franceska pats Rosemund's shoulder. "This is where you get to talk."
<Cidward> "We do not have to lie about that part at all!" Rosemund says with some relief.
<Franceska> "Maybe only a little bit."
<Cidward> "I will let someone else speak when it is necessary for us to lie," Rosemund concludes.
<Julia> "We can make it more dramatic if we care..."
<Cidward> Rosemund dons her armor before heading out. Just in case. The Bolt turns out to be little more than a shack aboveground, a stairwell leading to an underground gambling den thick with smoke and the smell of spilt beer. Mercedes accompanies you in at least far enough to point out your target. In one dark corner a small group sits: a slim, almost gaunt woman in a formfitting thigh-length tunic and black tights; a handsome blond man with a strong chin; two cloaked figures.
<Stephanie> "Uwah, they're a party. Ok, I'm all about avoiding the pointless fight," mumbles Stephanie.
<Franceska> "I often find myself hating you," Franceska tells Stephanie through her fixed smile.
<Cidward> Rosemund musters all her courage and walks boldly up to the group! "Excuse me, I cannot help but notice that there are empty chairs at your table," she says. "Might we occupy them?"
<Stephanie> "But I love you, Franzy. I'll bake you a cake for your birthday, and I'll use real cream!"
<Cidward> The woman--greenish-black hair, perfectly center-parted, cut chin-length; emerald green eyes slit like a serpent's, cheekbones you could carve ice with--observes Mercedes in the back of your group and nods, pushing a chair out with one boot.
<Franceska> "There is such a thing as fake cream?" Franceska asks warily, choosing to focus on that.
<Stephanie> Stephanie blinks. "Probably? Let's go sit," she adds, heading over to join Rosemund.
<Julia> Julia gingerly goes into a seat with next to one of the cloaked figures, eyeing the serpent woman curiously and wondering what advantages she might hold over a weak boring human...
<Franceska> There is no point in arguing, and Franceska claims a seat by Rosemund for herself.
<Cidward> OOC: got K:N ranks handy, Julia?
<Julia> OOC: nope!
<Cidward> Julia's curiosity must be unfulfilled for now!
<Stephanie> "It's... Ms. Kyriazis?" asks Stephanie, as she takes her seat. "Mercedes referred us to you. Said we might have some common interests?"
<Cidward> "Common inconveniences, more like," Pheretima says. There's a hard edge to her voice, albeit sinuous as a whip. "Someone in this town is in possession of our property. We wish to claim it. You are in similar straits?"
<Cidward> Rosemund nods. "A man and a woman--not our property, of course, but it is important to us to see them freed. We do not know precisely where they are, only that they are slaves. There is one organization in Peridot to oppose if one wishes to free a slave, is there not?"
<Cidward> "You're not with the abolitionists?" Pheretima assumes. "I spoke to most upon my arrival here and found them wanting for the business at hand."
<Franceska> "We are from out of town," Franceska responds. "As are you two, I presume?"
<Cidward> "Oh yes," she says. "I look forward to my return to civilization. But let's to brass tacks, yes? Have you visited the trading outpost? Attempted to negotiate for what you seek? I have. I found the trademaster an astonishingly stubborn entity. I am prepared to consider alternative solutions to our problem."
<Franceska> "Are they refusing to sell because your property is that valuable to them, or because they don't want to sell you specifically?"
<Cidward> "The former," she says. "Pomerand is exceedingly fond of his prize. Money would not pry it from him."
<Franceska> "Who is it?"
<Cidward> "'Who?'" she asks, sounding surprised.
<Stephanie> Stephanie blinks. "Um... it's not a who?" she asks, slowly. "Oh! We just... you know, assumed you were looking to free some slaves, too..."
<Franceska> "The prize. Your lost property," Franceska responds. "Perhaps we could manage to trade for it. And if we are successful, perhaps you might be inclined to do the same for us? When personal feelings are eliminated from the process, things tend to become far more effective."
<Cidward> "Local politics are of no consequence to me. I thought perhaps aiding the abolitionist cause would be of mutual benefit, but this has not been so and half of them seem to have slunk back to their holes to hide these past days." She sounds disgusted. "So here we are, entertaining other offers. No, what I seek is a relic of...cultural significance to us. I do not imagine simple negotiation will afford you a change of ownership any more than it did us."
<Franceska> "And you are certain the dao have it?"
<Cidward> "Our auguries located its resting place on this plane. By the time my team arrived to retrieve it, it had already been excavated. Yes, we are certain he has it--he could not stop his fat lips flapping about how enamored he was of it when I asked." She sounds disgusted. "The dao *eat* gems, you know that? All it takes is one fit of pique on the trademaster's part and our journey here has been pointless and a ritual centerpiece lost. So you understand that time is a pressing concern for us."
<Stephanie> "Um. Do you know where they're keeping it?" wonders Stephanie. "I mean, I'm pretty good at sneaking in and out of places..."
<Cidward> "Are you? I have made my own exploratory foray. Compound security is heavy. Golems and elementals are everywhere. The item *could* be in Pomerand's office, given how vocally he expresses his joy in admiring it, but..." She snorts. "I don't taken him for a *complete* fool. I would wager blood that it lies in their vault."
<Franceska> "Do you have a plan of your own?"
<Cidward> "Logistically, the situation is terrible," she says, audibly seething with frustration. "We weren't sent in numbers to stage an assault. The Eye was supposed to be buried and unattended. My wish has been to render the trademaster cornered and desperate enough for economic imperatives to overcome this irrational hunger of his, but no one I speak to in this town is willing to apply direct pressure against them with us."
<Franceska> "And it would be impossible to get more in the way of numbers?"
<Cidward> "Not impossible. But time-consuming. It could be weeks to months before my brethren arrive in numbers sufficient enough to matter. I may not have that time to wait."
<Stephanie> "So... direct pressure? Did you have anything in mind?"
<Cidward> "The abolitionists count two notable arcanists in their ranks. I thought one or both would prove a valuable asset, but neither proved willing to openly flout whatever local balance has been struck here. And now Aria is dead for all I know, and this Sark fellow has just vanished or something. The city guard is hopeless and I won't even bother trying the priests." She shakes her head in disgust. "A degree of subterfuge seems the most reliable guide, I think."
<Stephanie> Stephanie taps her head. "What we need is to know where a couple slaves are... most likely sold to some other bidder. We can't really take that information by force, we need to get the Dao to tell us. Basically, we need leverage, too. Um, can you help us with that at all?"
<Cidward> She considers this a moment. "Pomerand is a businessman, and he operates on the sufferance of the local government. He's obliged to follow their laws--at least on the surface. But the man is also a bottomless well of greed. If his records contain evidence of something inconvenient, we could possibly use that."
<Stephanie> "So you're thinking we could sneak into his office, or their filing room and try going through it?" Stephanie rocks on her chair. "That'd be tricky, you'd need a lot of time without being disturbed..."
<Julia> "Or you could disguise yourself as someone with a right to be there..." Julia suggests.
<Cidward> "Someone would need to maintain a distraction," she agrees. "I consider myself quite capable of infiltrating his office, at the least, but not so much for providing the distraction. He won't meet with me anymore, isn't interested in seeing anyone but bounty hunters at present."
<Stephanie> "We could talk to him easily enough, but he takes his meetings in his office..." Stephanie cricks her neck. "I suppose if we asked him to show us his wares," she mutters, with distaste.
<Cidward> A smile quirks her lips. "Yes, that might do."
<Stephanie> "Alright, we'll try and set something up for..." She shrugs. "Would tomorrow morning be fine? Just watch the front entrance for when we head in, I suppose?"
<Cidward> "The plan, insofar as it helps you, makes sense," she observes with an incline of her head. "But if the Eye is not in his office, I have made exactly no progress in achieving my goals here."
<Stephanie> roll 1d20+12 in theory I am an expert
<Rei-chan> 6,0Stephanie rolled :6,0 1d20+12 1,0in theory I am an expert --> 6,0[ 1d20=18 ]4,0{30}
<Cidward> roll 1d20+10 Pheretima
<Rei-chan> 6,0Cidward rolled :6,0 1d20+10 1,0Pheretima --> 6,0[ 1d20=5 ]4,0{15}
<Cidward> roll 1d20+12 quiet blond man
<Rei-chan> 6,0Cidward rolled :6,0 1d20+12 1,0quiet blond man --> 6,0[ 1d20=2 ]4,0{14}
<Stephanie> "Well, if it comes to that, we could help you break into the vault, presuming you get the evidence we need," replies Stephanie.
<Cidward> "Very well," she says at last. She stands up. There's a quiet slithering and hissing beneath the table that ceases when she shushes it. She reaches out a hand to each of you. "Tomorrow morning. I'll be right behind you. You may not see me...but rest assured that I will be there."
<Stephanie> Stephanie shakes it. "Sure!" She tilts her head. "Why do you guys need this gem so bad?" she asks, curiously.
<Cidward> "It was an object of ritual importance in times past," she says. "Lost for an age. It is simply of personal significance to us to reclaim a piece of our heritage."
<Stephanie> roll 1d20+11 SM?
<Rei-chan> 6,0Stephanie rolled :6,0 1d20+11 1,0SM? --> 6,0[ 1d20=8 ]4,0{19}
<Cidward> "She's lying~," Mercedes sing-songs once you're out and down the street. "I couldn't guess why they want this thing, but I don't believe it's some bookend they came all this way for."
* Franceska rolls her eyes. "Oh please, does one really need your specialized training to get that?"
<Cidward> "Well, someone just wriggled her way out of getting a discount," she counters.
<Franceska> "A discount? A discount for what?"
<Julia> "It probably summons a demon lord or brings down plagues of pestilence upon their enemies," Julia muses.
<Franceska> "My money would be on undead. You use gems to make them, do you not?"
<Cidward> "Oh, you poor dear," she replies. To the others: "You know, you all should really see that your friend here receives some education some day."
<Julia> "Yes. Oh, if it is can we steal it?"
<Franceska> "This is a terrifying suggestion, Julia."
<Cidward> "Franceska is very well-educated already!" Rosemund insists.
<Stephanie> "No, I bet it's one of those gems that talks to you inside your head, and makes you build gigantic monuments everywhere!"
<Julia> "Well I wouldn't want that... it's just that zombies are so dull!" Julia pouts, resolving to practice hard and improve her corpsecrafting skills.
<Stephanie> "They called it 'the Eye'," muses Stephanie. "How many gems can be named after eyeballs?"
<Julia> "Or an eye of a storm!"
<Franceska> "It could be the eye of an ancient monster that got torn into pieces? And the last piece they need to reassemble it!"
<Cidward> roll 1d20+13 K:R Rosey
<Rei-chan> 6,0Cidward rolled :6,0 1d20+13 1,0K:R Rosey --> 6,0[ 1d20=2 ]4,0{15}
<Cidward> "Um, a lot?" Rosemund guesses.
<Stephanie> "Maybe it's just worth, like, a billion gold pieces and the Dao don't actually know that?"
<Cidward> Mercedes just shrugs, and gives everyone a respectful curtsey as she splits off to return to her establishment. "Good luck with all your dangerous business on the morrow," she says in parting. "Of course, if anyone wishes to make her potentially last evening a more exciting one, you know our doors are open to you!"
<Stephanie> "I'm not into girls," Stephanie is quick to say.
<Cidward> "Well, of course we have men on staff," she adds. "It pays to diversify, after all."
* Franceska waves at Mercedes as she leaves. Even though her personality is annoying, she did help them while asking for no reward for herself.
<Stephanie> "I can't!" hisses Stephanie. "I have to set a good example," she mumbles.
<Julia> Julia would rather spend her money on making the dead walk than on experiencing the little death.
<Franceska> "It is a terrible thing," Franceska tells Rosemund quietly. "When people dig themselves into holes and then keep on digging."
<Cidward> "Ahh, is that it?" Mercedes adds with a surreptitious look at Rosemund and then a pitying glance for Stephanie. Then she slips away.
<Cidward> "But is the entire town not fundamentally in a hole?" Rosemund says as you walk away.
<Franceska> "That... does take the example quite farther than intended, but do you not want to just leave after finding yourself here?"
<Cidward> "I think that I would very much like a bath and cannot reason why," Rosemund admits.
* Stephanie storms ahead, muttering something about fun-hating bores.
<Cidward> ~