Planning & Preparation

[Corwin]

...and how it would correspond with the layout of that part of the city, from what we can tell (taxidermist's hall, surrounding buildings, etc). If it's not too much trouble, that is. Should help with planning if we don't die to snakes~

[Ebiris]

Apologies for the poor quality, I'm still getting the hang of Gimp. Hopefully future maps will look better, but this covers the basics well enough I hope (not to any particular scale).



Funny looking twisty passage in the middle is where the ladder up to the taxidermist's is, it extends further right than you explored. Bottom left is mess hall, bottom middle is training room, bottom right is the Lady's sitting room (with rhagodessa guard and war room between). Upper right is the waiting room/dock, big almost pepsi logo is the cistern.



Red dot is taxidermist, blue dot is well. Bridge to Merchant district is Southwest and off the map. The North is the mainland.

[Ebiris]

Obligatory post of 'what are you guys going to do now' so I can prep stuff for next session or make use of the play by post thread.

[Carthrat]

I'm going to city hall/local council/fantasy equivalent and attempting to secure architectural documents related to the sewers, canals, and other underground areas that are in the whereabouts of the Lotus Lair.

[Ebiris]

Make a diplomacy check, Rudy?

edit: er, that is, when I'm around to see it.

[Carthrat]

[10:04] <@Janson> Rat! Are you around?
[10:07] <Rudy> Yep
[10:08] <Rudy> Ah, I see
[10:08] <Rudy> roll 1d20+12
[10:08] * Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+12 and gets 28." [1d20=16]

[10:18] <Rudy> roll 1d20+7 engineering will do, I hope
[10:18] * Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+7 engineering will do, I hope and gets 11." [1d20=4]

[Ebiris]

Castle Teraknian is the administrative centre of Salerno, and knowing the way from the recent trip to Lavinia's vault, Rudy heads over there! While initially he gets given the run around with officious talk about appointments and references and procedures and questions such as "Why do you need these plans?" and "Who are you working on behalf of?" and "What are you doing in my office?", dogged persistence and a winning smile eventually pays off when a homely young clerk is sufficiently won over by Rudy's charms to bend a few rules on his behalf.

Taking Rudy to a large archival store below the castle (but above the vault level), she sneaks him behind the stacks for some fun and espionage, bringing up the relevant documents. From perusing the reports, a few things become apparent. The cistern that he just escaped from is visible on the plans, set under the well servicing Dead Dog Alley. It connects to one of the city water purification units further North, at the edge of the 'island' - these are small automated magical devices spread throughout Salerno's waterways to combat the pervasive filth that tends to accumulate in them in the absence of a full developed sewer system. The pipes used are all small ones no more than a few inches wide. The only exception is a single storm drainage pipe of two feet wide that connects to a small cavern system under the very Easten extent of the island. As of last year all waterfront accesses to said caverns were sealed by the Lord Kellani, who holds the title on the streets above, citing structural concerns. It should be completely dry if it was properly drained prior to sealing, but what's shown of the caverns matches up with where the underground dock was, and they're shown extending farther South, about as far as the Taxidermists, Rudy thinks. The primary opening which was sealed up is shown on the diagrams, so Rudy could locate it easily enough now provided he didn't mind getting wet.

That's all he can see. There's no sign of any underground complex or network of tunnels large enough for people to walk around in, at least not officially.

[Carthrat]

After that, I'll go see Lavinia and enquire about this Lord Kellani.

[Corwin]

So who is this mysterious Lord Kellani? Assuming Rudy checks in with us, I'd like to give Lavinia an update of the situation and ask her about this highly-suspicious man. If she doesn't know enough for us to act upon, I'd settle for where it would be best to look for more information on him ourselves.

[Ebiris]

Lavinia always has time for her valued employees, and possibly even their unpaid tagalongs!

"Lord Kellani?" she repeats once everyone's settled in her sitting room on comfy chairs, provided tea and cakes by Kora. "That would have to be Baron Hendrick Kellani," she nods to herself, going on, "He's something of a mirror to my parents, actually. They were nobles who spent much of their time 'adventuring'. He's an adventurer who bought his way into the nobility. Although if you listen to certain rumours it sounds more like he was a pirate. It's true that most of his interests tend towards the nautical - he even tried to usurp Lord Islaran as Salerno's harbourmaster shortly before I was born, but I gather he didn't have enough support. It's poor to speak so of the dead, but I'd hazard Lord Islaran was a rather more formidable figure in years past than he ended up..." Lavinia looks momentarily guilty as she dwells on that.

"As for specifics," she continues after a moment's reflection, "He owns an estate in the Azure District comparable to my own... although perhaps better appointed," she smiles self deprecatingly, "I've met him a few times, and he always seemed quite charming as an older gentleman, but he carries himself as one accustomed to fighting to get to where he is. He actually has a daughter my age as well - Rowyn Kellani. I recall we both debuted in the same season, and I was quite jealous of her skill as a dancer," she allows a whimsical look to pass on her features.

"That aside," she brushes past the matter, "Despite the rumours Lord Kellani has never been legitimately linked to anything underhanded - and for that matter, far darker rumours float around many of my fellow noble houses. You must not make accusations without evidence - he could make life very difficult for you, and it would reflect poorly on me as your employer. But... if he is behind the thieves my brother has fallen in with, it makes the situation all the more tangled. Such a scandal would destroy his house, and perhaps without his support the Lotus Dragons would crumble. But a man with nothing to lose can be driven to do terrible things."

[Corwin]

Henrietta stirs the sugar in her cup methodically, placing the spoon down on the tray once she is confident it has been mixed properly.

"I do not want to bring this up," she says, taking a sip of her tea to check its temperature, "but what if... what if, perchance, this ties into the recent events in Salerno?" Her hand twitches nervously, and she places the cup back for the time being, lest she spill anything. "If the baron wanted to get Lord Islaran out of the way before, but did not have enough support... what if he has decided to try a different way? And a pirate's roots would fit decently with, well, with smuggling and that sort of business. Maybe that is what the Lady of the Lotus meant when she was talking about taking over everything that gets brought into Salerno from the harbor."

Henrietta pauses briefly to take a breath. "Maybe we misunderstood the Lotus Dragons before? What if this is how they intend to take over the city, and... and not through eliminating every rival gang? If this is the way everything is connected, we might learn more from finding out about Lord Islaran's replacement or, umm, by receiving information from the guards about their investigation into his death."

[Ebiris]

"It makes a great deal of sense, doesn't it?" Lavinia agrees in a resigned tone. "A new Harbourmaster has yet to be chosen - the new Lord Islaran is an artistic sort with no head for beauracracy or for that matter interest in the role. I believe he only inherited the title because both his sisters are more interested in marrying into other families. Islaran's star is likely to fall further in the coming years, and the Kellanis are well placed to fill the void, at least in terms of running the harbour. From there a place on the Iron Council is quite a natural step."

She picks up her steaming porcelain cup and sips on her tea, holding the cup before her in a contemplative manner. "The Lotus Dragons could be sacrificial pawns. Use them to consolidate organised crime around the harbour, then 'defeat' the ascendant gang in some manner of staged confrontation? Who could doubt his qualifications after such a display?" Setting the cup down again, her expression turns pensive, thoughts clearly turning through her head but unspoken. When she does at last speak, it's with an air of resigned determination. "This goes far beyond my selfish desire to have my brother returned to me, and if I'm to be worthy of my station I can't ignore it. At any rate, it doesn't sound like you can infiltrate the Lotus Dragons after what they just tried doing to you. I will speak to Lord Islaran and the Iron Council to try and learn of any moves from Lord Kellani. You should try to learn what you can from other sources if possible - but at the core we need evidence, and I believe there's only two places it will be found; Kellani Manor, or the Lotus Dragon hideout."

[Corwin]

"There... might be another way," Henrietta muses, blowing on her cup and then taking another sip. She gives Lavinia a contemplative look of her own. "Lady Vanderboren, you said that the matter of a new Harbourmaster is one of choice? In that case, well, does it mean any noble can submit herself for the post? I would not have mentioned this if you were not already someone the Lotus Dragons have an eye on, but since things are as they are... perhaps a third way of learning more exists by nominating yourself and awaiting for Baron Kellani's offer to pay you off so that you would stand aside?"

Henrietta takes another sip of tea, feeling her nerves settle down, bit by bit. "If our suspicions have anything to them, whoever is after the job would not be able to stand idly by in such a case. An outright assassination of a candidate for the post so soon after Lord Islaran's murder may actually be unlikely, or people might eventually connect everything, so we might succeed in drawing the mastermind of all this, if one exists, of course, out into the open."

[Ebiris]

Lavinia looks caught off guard by that suggestion, her eyes widening and her mouth falling open before she composes herself and puts forward a proper genteel appearance once more. "They would laugh me out of the door, Baroness or not," she shakes her head gently. "I have no experience in nautical matters nor in managing a harbour. There are already enough unkind whispers about my ability to manage the Vanderboren estate, simple as it is. It would damage my name greatly merely to have asked. And even then, backroom politicking over a prestigious appointment is no evidence of wrong-doing."

[Carthrat]

"Dreadful position to hold anyway, I'd say," replies Rudy, withdrawing a notepad and taking a look at the sketches he made of the plans. "I suppose evidence would take the form of contraband or papers linking the two parties in question. They'd smuggle it in through the waterfront somewhere, to that underground port. We could try and keep an eye on it.

"Infiltrating the hideout might not be completely impossible, either. We just need to figure out a way to make sure they're too busy with something to worry about someone sneaking in. I thought of looking for structural weaknesses within their caves. It may be possible to cause a few to collapse, which would no doubt have those underground in a bit of a panic. It could provide ample cover, even for a bunch of standouts like ourselves."

"If we go after Kellani himself, we'll need some sort of cover to infiltrate his mansion... ah, he has a daughter, you mentioned? I don't suppose you know if she's attending any parties or the like in the near future?"