Dagger Silent: Krow

[Prince Toad]

Nah, he doesn't have four fingers. You figure he's probably the actual Baron trying to just get some sleep, and the woman's his wife. (Could be otherwise, but just now you don't really care.)

Well, there's some clothes lying around, and some trunks, chests, and dressers. You think you see a dagger lying on one of the chests nearby, but you don't know if that'd do you much good. There's a cunningly crafted screen door leading out to the southwest onto a deck, and there's a door leading north into some other room. (You came from the east.)

Do what?

[ZIPPYDIPPY19]

Grab a trunk and slide it in front of the door as fast and as securely as possible. Then is it possible to grab the guy from behind and use him as sort of a hostage?

[Prince Toad]

The guy with the big-ass sword? I would not recommend that. At least, not without knocking him out or something first.

You manage to grab a nearby chest, throw the door closed, and slide the chest in front of the door. The guy behind you demands just what the hell you're doing here, informing you you have three seconds before he runs you through. He begins to count.

[ZIPPYDIPPY19]

"I've come to do away with a traitor in your ranks, a guard with four fingers that goes by the name of Yldor."

And just for the effect, while I say it I'll use echo.

[Prince Toad]

The man seems a bit taken aback by this, as he's never seen you before and doesn't know why you know his guards by name, plus the effect of Echo.

Man: Yldor? He's no traitor! Ye better have some decent proof, or your guts'll be on the outside in a matter o' seconds!

[ZIPPYDIPPY19]

" Yldor has been taking part in certain acts that would be legally debatable within this province. The city knows of these excursions and sent me to weed him out before he attempts anything that may come to harm you. As evidence of his devious acts, two guards lay dead outside this room, both slain by him over a petty argument. I came just in time to witness this occur, but I knew both guards to be dead immediately from their grievous wounds, but I tried to aid them regardless, and in the process Yldor fled down a staircase. Now he is en route to kill me for a crime his own hand committed, surely with more men."

Its a pack and a half of bold-faced lies, but it's basically fight, flight, or bluff at this point.

[Prince Toad]

(Good roll for you.)

Man: Is that so? Well! Show me to this traitor-- I'll bring him to justice myself!

The door is being pounded on by people hungry for your blood. The man (who you assume is the Baron) shouts above the din.

Baron: MEN! AMONG YOU IS A TRAITOR!

The crashing slows and stops.

Baron: Yldor Four-Finger! He must be brought to justice! His good nature was a veil for lies and illicit acts! He will be brought to court as soon as possible! Stun him!

Stun him? That's not your mission...

[ZIPPYDIPPY19]

"That is a wise act, sir"

Then bow deeply.

"Be sure to shackle him well and I shall take him to the judge myself, it was my mission and I have already disrupted enough of your precious time."

[Prince Toad]

Baron: ...yes, very well. Guards! Is he subdued?
Voice (from outside): Yes, sir.
Second Voice: What is this about? I... I've done no wrong!
Baron: He lies. Shackle him and leave him to this bringer of justice. The rest of you may return to your beds or posts. We'll have something extra tomorrow for your good work, men. And the maids too, assuming they're out here.
Second Voice: LET ME OUT OF THESE!
Baron: Here.

The baron opens the door, revealing several men, one of whom is in some rudimentary kind of chains-- primitive, but they appear sturdy enough. You quickly notice his telltale missing finger, the left pinky. You nod at the men, who start to retire to bed or reassume their posts.

Now what? Hardly stealthy, and very lucky, but his life is now in your hands...

[ZIPPYDIPPY19]

Luck's my middle name when it comes to lying

Well, first things first, can I gag him to shut him up? He's eventually going to die but I don't want him waking the whole town in the process.

And second, would I get extra if I actually brought him back alive, or do they want him dead asap?

[Prince Toad]

Yeah, you could find some rag or something lying around and gag him, or, if worse comes to worse, tear a strip off of your own clothing.

It's a blood note. They want him dead. The only thing the Tong cares about is that you should make as little commotion as possible, and stay out of needlessly dangerous situations (obviously some danger's inherent in the job, but don't create times when you need to... say... pull off a flagrant bluff to live *cough*). There may be a very few times when the person who paid for the blood note-- almost always anonymous-- will say who they are and tell them to be brought back alive. That's not really the Tong's domain, though, so you'll probably never see a mission like that.

Do what?

[ December 30, 2004, 05:42 PM: Message edited by: Prince Toad ]

[ZIPPYDIPPY19]

Walk away from the manor, turn a corner out of sight (still acting official), then go to any secure place and slit his throat. If they need proof I'll cut off the hand with four fingers on it.

And hopefully then I can just stealthily slink back to the Tong compound.

[Prince Toad]

You carry that out without any interferences. You choose a bush somewhere off the road between the Baron's manor and the town as the place. You slit his throat, and he dies still trying to scream denial.

You hear a popping sound, a lot like the one you heard when you first got the blood note, and notice a little flash. Reminded of the note, you take it out. It reads: Place hand onto symbol to teleport back to headquarters. There's a small symbol, a white snowflake with red drops falling from it. Do what?

[ZIPPYDIPPY19]

Take whatever he may have, if anything, and teleport back.

[Prince Toad]

You check, but the other guards disarmed him. He's got nothing of any worth on him.

You place your hand on the symbol and are teleported back to headquarters.

Mission complete!

You gain +150 EXP. +5 for getting lucky on the roll that basically allowed you to complete the mission. (That doesn't level you up or anything... I just feel like it.)

The paper blinks out of existence momentarily; almost immediately, it (or another exactly like it) returns to your hand, once more perfectly folded. It's heavier than the other was. Unfolding it, you find five 100-gold pieces falling in your hand. When they're off of the paper, you look at it again and read: Buldrod the Swindler. In the lower right hand corner, you see 900 gold written. Do what?

[ZIPPYDIPPY19]

Go pay off my debt and get two smokeballs, then find out anything I can about this new guy.

[ January 03, 2005, 04:02 PM: Message edited by: Zippy ]

[Prince Toad]

Done.

Ask Eysa or something else?

[ZIPPYDIPPY19]

Before ditching the shop I'll get two iron daggers too.

Then Yeah, first ask Eysa about him, then head over to the map maker to get whatever maps I need.

[ January 04, 2005, 05:31 PM: Message edited by: Zippy ]

[Prince Toad]

You buy the daggers. Puts you at 300 gold.

You go into Eysa's office. She's busy now, but you have nothing better to do, so you wait in line for a while until everyone ahead of you-- five or six people in all-- is helped. She glances up at you tiredly and asks what you need.

You: I'll need some information on Buldrod the Swindler.
Eysa: Sure. Hold on.

She does her usual rummaging around and pulls out a file in short order. She scans it and reads.

Eysa: He's a merchant... in Brytagg's Point, that's a fairly large port city on the southeastern coast of Vodefskjal... suspicious activities... not a well-liked man. Nor an honest one, if these reports are accurate. No immediate family either, but he's a wealthy one, his house is probably well-guarded. A few places may even be trapped. Lucky you, I even have his house number. 301 Hawker's Way. His shop and house are there. Large, but we've no inside information. It's in Munsjif Province, which Vargadon'll have a map of, but he should have a map of the city proper as well. Need anything else?
You: No, thank you.
Eysa: My pleasure.

You head to Vargadon's and inquire about the maps. He does indeed have maps of both Munsjif Province and Brytagg's Point. As usual, the province map costs 50 gold, and the city map costs 100. He's even got a map of the Sea Quarter (near the docks) and the Merchant's Quarter (Buldrod's map is in the Merchant's Quarter) available for 150 gold each. What do you want? (Remember you'll need money for teleportation as well.)

Which reminds me. You owe the bank 125 gold. I'd recommend paying up now, or it gets really steep really fast. Maybe just 200 next time, but it ramps up like crazy.

Do what?

[ZIPPYDIPPY19]

I said pay off the debts a couple posts up, but paying the bank back was what I meant if you misunderstood.

And I'll buy the two maps I need, putting me at 25 gold I think