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alhoon
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Post by alhoon »

"A bit emotional, aren't we?" Draxton said with a cocky smile. "So you're not interested about who fell or fled that night at all, but you seem to know that the other Borcan was alive, not one of the traitors or victims. You're interested in him. Very well, if you believe that him is the man you look for, I can help you."

OOC> What does Draxton now about Crow? And also, you made yourself a slip here. Showed too much interest in the man. "Curwin" was about to leave when he thought that Draxton might now about Crow. :)

As about my slip... No Draxton didn't mean he had dealings with Van Rijn. With "not among us" he meant Dead or Traitors.
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

alhoon wrote:"So you're not interested about who fell or fled that night at all, but you seem to know that the other Borcan was alive, not one of the traitors or victims. You're interested in him. Very well, if you believe that him is the man you look for, I can help you."
The seaman shot Draxton a dirty look.

"Jumping to conclusions again, are we? If I knew which of those four I've got a score to settle with, don't you think I'd've said as much? Think I like haggling with a smug skinflint like you, for my entertainment? As if you'd not wasted enough of my time already!" He shook his head in disgust.

"Honestly, if you hadn't just admitted to knowing something of one of the four, I'd chase you out of this room, and have done with it: you've given me nothing but mainlander's arrogance and threats, from the first. Good luck tracking Salivan down on your own, if you push me any farther, old goat.

"Still, you must've had some words with that pretty-boy, to name him a Borcan and a secret-seller like yourself. So what's his tale, and how do I run him down? And you were awful quick to settle on him to tell of, and not them other three: why's that, then?

"Last name's yours, old man, if your words are worth it; for Salivan's address, of course, you'll pay with another man's tale."

[OOC: Bluff 34 to throw the blame for selecting Crow's name back on Serd himself. Draxton's own remarks implied it was the "pretty-boy with the guitar" that Serd was about to trade information on, rather than one of the others (who were Dementlouise, Darkonian and Vaasi). That 'Curwin' asked specifically about Crow only shows he thought Serd knew something about the musician -- i.e. alleging that he's a Borcan and a trader -- not that he singled out the bard over the other suspects.



alhoon wrote:OOC> What does Draxton now about Crow?
OOC: Actually, merely referring to Crow as "Borcan" proves the merchant doesn't know a darned thing about the bard (who has never claimed a particular nationality to the FoS; indeed, he's not sure where he's from! :wink: ). If Serd wants to make something up about Crow to try to fool 'Curwin', he's welcome to.

As for real information, the Richemulouise couldn't possibly know more than his alias (Crow) and perhaps how the bard spent most of the original Manoir adventure defending the library, then dropped down into the dining hall and disappeared via teleportation of some sort.

alhoon wrote:And also, you made yourself a slip here. Showed too much interest in the man. "Curwin" was about to leave when he thought that Draxton might now about Crow. :)
He was about to leave, because he'd decided Draxton didn't know a thing about any of the four. But then, he recalled Serd's claim that he'd been talking about a Borcan other than Buchvold, and he let 'Curwin' falsely assume Serd was talking about the "pretty-boy musician": the only one of the four suspects who might have been Borcan. Crow knew Serd was lying when he denied he'd been talking about Buchvold, but it fit his plans to let 'Curwin' appear to be fooled by that.

alhoon wrote:As about my slip... No Draxton didn't mean he had dealings with Van Rijn. With "not among us" he meant Dead or Traitors.
I knew that, but Crow isn't sure if Draxton is secretly working with Van Rijn or not. His primary goal now is to find clues to the lich's location or agents, and Serd's book hints that the Richemulouise is interested in necromancy. If the bard didn't start suspecting the worst of the merchant at that point, he wouldn't be doing his job! :wink:
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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Post by alhoon »

OOC> Crow is convincing, but Draxton expected exactly that respond from Curwin at that point. More or less to the word. So while he doesn't pierce Curwin's lies, he doesn't believe him. (Not to mention that Draxton prefers to avoid explanations that show he may be of blame. :) )

IC> So the "sailor" was good in lies. Skilled and convincing. First he manages to pass of as an uneducated rough while he was a skilled academic, and now turning the tables on Draxton. Probably the man didn't want to share anything more about Salivan, or even didn't know. With a skilled liar like him it was difficult to tell.
Let's see if the man is as good in detecting lies as spilling them out. Few in the dread realms were as skilled liars as the Richemulotese noblemen and merchants... and he was both.
Taking a smug smile, Draxton said:
"Good try sailor-boy. You don't raise your value with me that way. You either know or you don't. I'll share a bit of info about the man Crow, and then you tell me what I want to know as we agreed.
He is a Borcan scholar. He has been with us for a little time, brought on the fold by an exalted brother whose name I don't know. He has a couple of strange habbits that make him seem odd. One of them is the guitar, not many of us have such earthly pursuits. The other habbit I know of is a bit more... should I say "interesting"? I wouldn't accuse a brother of infernalism or anything like that, but rumor has it that he knows much about fiends in our world, and creatures of the nether planes. He is said to have some scrolls with names on them. And you know what kind of names I speak of."

OOC> As you see: total bu...t. Bluff DC 29 if Dadrag is overhearing with a -4 because he cannot see Draxton's face. I guess Crow doesn't deal with demons at all, so he doesn't need to roll. In case he does have books with fiendish names or about fiends etc, then he has to roll.
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

[OOC: Welcome back, alhoon; I hope you and VAN both had a nice break! And Draxton's BS answer is actually pretty funny: given what Nathan's said about the bards Crow meets later on, in the "Evening of the 9th" thread, it sounds like your PC combined rumors about Paolo Dilisnya and Buchvold, this game's two real Borcan FoS members, to come up with his story! :lol: ]


Even without the mercenary's immediate presence as a complicating factor, the game was becoming amusing once more. When the smirking merchant-mage all but openly accused 'Curwin' of lying -- Well, it's about time, old man... -- only to turn around and serve up a ration of hogwash as his own "contribution", the spy's training alone kept him from bursting out laughing!

But the Richemulouise's not-very-oblique hint that the fictional 'Borcan Crow' dabbled in demonology was a bit over-the-top. (The pot calling the kettle black, perhaps?) And the way Serd's remarks had disavowed the obvious notion that 'Borcan Crow' was a bard -- despite how everyone in the Manoir had surely overheard his use of the Sound Blast wand, that night -- impled that Draxton either didn't have a clue what had really transpired in the Library, or was concealing that information for purpose of extortion ... a prospect the spy could live with, so long as his true motives weren't suspected by the trader and the Fraternity as a whole remained ignorant of his pilferage.

(Of course, 'Curwin' couldn't be allowed to betray Crow's satisfaction, that he'd already learned all that he really needed to. And the bard still had to extricate himself from this gambit cleanly, without giving away his game or retaining any inconvenient 'tail'. So it was time to let the Hawk believe the Hare'd been cornered.)

The seaman leaned back in his seat, squinting doubtfully at the merchant-mage. His jaw worked briefly, as if literally 'chewing over' the tale which Draxton had told him; the fingers of one hand idly drummed the tabletop, their heavy burden of rings rattling annoyingly against the wood.

"A fiend-binder, no less.... hmm. Seems I've heard tell there was some Brother in those parts, got a bad reputation for meddlin' with such. Nasty business, that. So it's him, you say? Bloody abyss, but that little weasel didn't look the type ... then again, who does?

"Fair enough," 'Curwin' muttered at last. "One man's tale earns you the name, as agreed. Salivan Iskarios, by birth; Salivan Gravespeaker, so the locals nicknamed him. A right spooky character, him, to earn such a moniker, even in Darkon."

The bard ceased his fingers' drumming and leaned in toward Serd again, eyes narrowed.

"But that name'll fetch you nothing but dusty rumors from the Shrouded Years, before ol' Salivan was run out of town. You want to find the blighter, you got to give me word on one of the others! That brain-doctor, now, he's one I'm mighty curious about; or the horse-lover rube from down south. And Donovan: him, I've had no luck at all in tracking down; it's like he vanished off the face of the Land. Where did he wander off too, after that mess was over?"

Curwin's glare was questioning, impatient, and obviously not in any mood to brook further stalling. Also, by all appearances, totally oblivious to the fact that he'd been conned.


[OOC: Bluff 31 to appear unsuspicious of Serd's tale; even if Draxton sees through this, of course, it might only mean that 'Curwin' is hiding his doubts to keep the merchant talking. (Salivan Iskarios is a real NPC, so no Bluff roll to 'sell' that part of his story.) Feel free to have Draxton bail out of the conversation at this point, if Serd wants to check out 'Curwin's' story so far; of course, Crow might not be here when he gets back. :wink: ]
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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Post by alhoon »

OOC> Draxton is quite ready to accept he has conned someone. I give him a -4 to the roll and obviously fail. Also the name Salivan Gravespeaker sounds somewhat familiar... have you thought it up, or it is from somewhere?
Also while Crow gave a real name... Draxton is not convinced it is true. :)

So the man got the bait. Let him chase after infernalists in the fraternity. He will find more than a few obviously. The name and nickname was enough for scrying spells if it was true. Testing will show. Still Draxton loved trafficing in secrets.

"Donovan? Well Donovan is not among us now. The poor guy met his end that night. May his soul rest peacefully because not much was left of his body" Makes a gesture appropriate that is done in funerals.
"Still, the name and the description are enough for some spells to locate your friend. I would like to know something else. About someone of us. Someone I would know. You certainly have some secrets to share about the one that initiated you perhaps? Perhaps about a rival in our ranks that you know something he would prefer you didn't? What about ... a she? Do you know anything about Getrude Kingsley except the common facts? Something she would prefer you didn't know?"

OOC> Tell any secret about anyone. :) It will be OK with him.
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

[OOC: AFAIK, I made it up. But "Gravespeaker" is such a cheesy nickname :roll:, it could've appeared in a video game or somebody's sig or whatever, and I just don't remember seeing it before. What the heck, we already know Crow steals people's names all the time, anyway.]


At Serd's words, Curwin laughed his donkey-bray snicker again. "Think Salivan's not got the wit to shield himself from finding-spells? Fine by me; go waste your time divining for him, old goat. Maybe I'll still be in town, to trade you his location, when you give up trying."

The bard snorted dismissively at Draxton's badgering for dirt on his own colleagues. Clearly, the merchant-mage was infected by the nationalism that afflicts so many Richemulouise of late ... at least, so far as his upstart homeland's custom of rampant extortion is concerned.

"Dirt on Brethren? Sure, I've got dirt on a Brother: that long streak of ill-temper Buchvold's got worse taste in opera than his bloody Sef does! As for Kingsley, all I've got to say about that stuck-up battleax is that her name's 'Gertrude', not 'Getrude'. I've met enough Zherisian traders, itchin' to buy up foodstuffs these days, to know how they pronounce their home-port doxies' names!

"Go away, old man: it's plain you've nothing else worthwhile to tell me. I've paperwork to finish, and you've likely already made me late for appointments with a client or three."

And with that, the maritime-clad spy shoved the Ancient's text into Serd's hands, slid his chair away from the table, and sat with arms impatiently crossed, his chestnut-haired head nodding sternly in the direction of the doorway.


[OOC: Guess that's about it, alhoon! This was fun, letting Crow exercise his 'rudeness act' for a change; hope you enjoyed it, too. :D

[Unless Serd's got something more up his sleeve, that can be it for these characters' conversation. Feel free to give Draxton the closing insult, as the bard is content to let the merchant think he's smarter than 'Curwin'. I'll tell you via pm what the real deal is about Salivan Gravespeaker -- Hint: the euphemisms that our PCs had to use around Dadrag, and Serd's wish to keep his real interest in necromancy from the seaman, means that one relevant question never actually came up... :twisted: -- and post a denouement for Crow's doings in this thread.]
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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Post by alhoon »

"You didn't told me anything for the info of poor Donovan's demise. Still, we will speak again. You'll find out that some diviners are better than others Curwin. Certainly better than druids."

And with that Draxton stood up, nodded his greetings and left the room.

In about an hour he was back in the hotel with the guards. As a nobleman he has convinced the local sheriff that there was a smuggler in the inn, trading in bad things. Draxton has claimed that the man named Curwin has approached him through his bodyguard. As a honorable lord and an honest merchant, Draxton Serd could not of course buy smuggled goods! Some would probably be stained with the blood of Curwin's victims!
A few coins given in advance to the maids made sure that they confirmed his story and that they made a slight ... slip "forgeting" to mention that Dadrag visited Curwin's table first.

OOC> Let me guess, Crow has disguised to another persona already?
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

[OOC: Hah! Guess we think alike in more ways than I thought, alhoon: not only are you correct that Crow'd ditched his 'Curwin' persona as soon as Draxton left his hotel room, but Serd's calling in the cops actually beat him to the punch! :lol:

[Since this is the bard's 'sign-off' from this particular thread, it ran pretty long again. I hope you'll like it, even so. :wink: ]


Peering at the Riverview Rest through his spyglass, from the deck of the river-barge at anchor on the ruddy Vuchar, the bard didn't bother to restrain a chuckle of irony. Though he'd not had time to completely divest himself of "Remington Curwin" -- his hair hadn't fully recovered its curl as yet, though he'd rinsed out much of the dye -- his disguise-spells ought to suffice in lieu of a proper masque, at least until the dusk's fog thickened and he could disembark unnoticed on his Phantom Steed.

Ironic, indeed, that Draxton had opted to call in the Baron's guards on the smuggler. Had the merchant-mage not done so first, the VRS spy would've had to pen an anonymous missive to Redtree's law-wardens himself! Shame how his maritime persona's activities on Graben Island had rendered that particular identity largely useless on the eastern sea -- this 'cameo appearance' was the first that he'd allotted to "Curwin" on this coastline in two years -- but given how he'd needed some excuse for the 'smuggler' to vanish anyway, he might as well take advantage of the reward the Grabenites now offered other ports' law officers, for the nautical boor's extradition.

Crow wondered, in passing, if the Richemulouise would bother trying to track the source of the (outdated and useless) shipping-documents he'd left behind, when he dimension-hopped from the hotel room to the secure supply shed in which he'd hidden his guitar-case and other telltale accoutrements. (Handy, that the elves lived so much of their lives out-of-doors; buildings in Nevuchar Springs, as in other fey communities, were seldom occupied by anyone, serving primarily to keep stored goods out of the rain.) He wondered, too, if the man would notice that the mass of paperwork still in the room had been rendered lighter than what the 'smuggler' had shoved into Serd's arms earlier ... more reduced, even, than by the few pages he'd used to wrap up the remaining cheese and fruit, not caring to purloin the Riverview's serving-platter.

(Buchvold might well be a pompous ass, but the illusionist offered more tolerable social company than Draxton Serd, by far. And the Borcan fence's arcane trinkets came in handy at times, also....)

The spy collapsed the spyglass, then packed it away in the saddlebags, alongside the thick sheaf of paper he had brought back from the Riverview. Curious how wizards thought, with regards to the production of enchanted items: no doubt, the one who had manufactured the copy-pen had considered it a mere scholastic convenience, to speed up dull transciptions, and scarcely more potent than a cantrip-wand as magical wares were reckoned. Too bad the pen's maker had been such a poor whistler -- no doubt, Buchvold had thought it amusing to stick "Mr. Crow" with an item that used painfully off-key notes to activate its function, in lieu of a spoken command-word -- but even so, any item that could duplicate a book's contents upon nearby blank parchments, without any outward sign it was doing so, was a resource to be prized. Have to make a note to help dear Raphael forget I'm expected to give it back, the bard mused, and chuckled once again.

Bloody Dwarven, of all things! First Zherisian, and now this! He really would need to buff up his language-skills further, one of these days ... either that, or steal himself a new translation-wand, to replace the one that living gargoyle had snapped in twain in Falkovnia last summer.

Ah well, yet another item for the 'to do' list. As if he didn't have enough to do, between now and Souragne, even discounting his belated jaunt west to inform Nathaniel Hawke that the Borcan's blood-contract had been revoked. And Mortigny, of course: mustn't forget Mortigny; he needed the visit to the Sorrows even more than most years ... and he'd promised Tiahn.

Might as well see to this also, the spy reminded himself, as he drew the glass vial from his vest pocket and peered inside it. The two grape seeds it contained -- the only two he'd been able to find, even with the hand-lens and forceps from his lockpicking kit -- had still smelt faintly of ale, when he'd collected them from the outlet of the hotel kitchen's drain-sluice. (Another convenient quirk of classical elven culture: a race less accommodating to Nature wouldn't have bothered to segregate the outflow of soap-free waste liquid from washwater, nor to channel the former to sate the parched roots of vegetable gardens.) No guarantees that the seeds had retained any trace of the merchant-mage's poison, of course -- the staff could have poured any number of other things down the sink, along with the drugged beer -- but if even a vestige of the drug lingered upon their surfaces, Crew knew of a Lamordian chemist, now residing in Mordent, who could surely isolate and identify it.

(No fear that he'd found the wrong seeds: solid wastes in elven kitchens went to compost, not drains. And grapes in January really were a rare treat, so it's unlikely anyone else at the hotel would have been eating them at mid-day.)

Intriguing, that the Richemulouise was so very self-absorbed, beneath his cunning. Near as Crow could tell, Draxton Serd lived his life snugly in his own head, secure among his own familiar habits of thought! Such a man might, indeed, think himself so untouchable as to play with fire -- the necromantic text proved as much -- but would he really have the arrogance to traffic with the likes of Van Rijn? The bard would keep the merchant-mage on his suspect list of possible FoS traitors, albeit not highly-placed ... unless, of course, the drug turned out to be more virulent, or the text (once translated) more vile, than he expected they would. If Serd was that reckless, all bets were off.

Ironic, yet again, that Draxton had scoffed at druidic divinations; it didn't take world-shaking power to detect the presence of poison on someone, only the right spell. And even though Serd seemed willing to risk being caught red-handed with toxins on his person, the possibility that Curwin might be carrying such wares -- like the chance the seaman might be armed -- never seemed to cross his mind.

Even if he hadn't feared for the elves' delicate constitutions, Crow could not have allowed an innocent bystander to sample that ale. Had an investigation resulted, everyone at the table would have been examined ... and while Serd might've had some way to shield his person from detection-magics, the bard's mundane possessions had not been screened in such a fashion, only his magic items.

(The VRS spy liked to believe he was better than the villains whose networks he infiltrated, employing those unscrupulous skills he'd inherited from his pre-amnesiac self solely in a worthy cause. Hard-pressed though that belief sometimes was, he still held out hope of vindicating his dubious methods -- his countless lies and thefts and (admittedly) betrayals of others' trust -- by leaving the world just a little brighter, its innocents perhaps a little safer, in the course of his efforts. But the line between Crow and those he fought against could appear very thin, indeed, unless and until motives were taken into account.

(And it was motive, not methodology, which had most distinguished Crow from Draxton Serd, this day. The merchant-mage had, in truth, been wasting his time, in speculating about turning 'Curwin' over to the Kargat. For the bard, like Draxton, carried poison upon his person at all times ... and while Serd's had likely been a mere soporific, his was unquestionably lethal.

(What made Crow fundamentally different from Serd was that, unlike the merchant's, the VRS spy's poison wasn't intended for anyone else....)




[OOC: See you guys in the Souragne thread, alhoon and VAN! It's been real. :D ]
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Post by alhoon »

In his room, Draxton threw the useless parchment to the fireplace smiling. A pity that "Curwin" was not near enough to get caught by the locate object spell in the scroll. A "walk" in the town and the docks hasn't proved fruitus even, the man has taken his precautions either magically or mundanely walking away from the range of Draxton's locate object spell.
Still Draxton could find him again in the Fraternity's halls. And then he could look for some secret among those that Curwin asosciates with. The guards seemed surprised that after all the inn confirming Curwin has moved to the room and didn't come out since, it was found empty. Draxton was almost sure that would happen.
Perhaps he should found who Curwin cared about. A man probably has emotional attachments... attachments that can turn him in a marionette.

"What we do now?" Dadrag asked.
"We go to sleep and then leave, only to return a few weeks later after we ask around and divine a bit on this Salivan Gravespeaker."
Dadrag just shrugged uninterested.

"You know something, Dadrag? Your skills have been appreciated. We should discuss about your payment so far. As you already know, I'm a spellcaster. Do you want any enchantment placed on your things?"

Dadrag (predictably) frowned a bit. Why Darkonese were so afraid of magic even when they are loaded in magic items?

"How about something in this cloak of yours? To make you better able to hide in the shadows? Or when following someone? An enchantment to make you easier to dismiss. What do you think?"
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Post by VAN »

From his chair, Dadrag looks directly at Draxton's eyes. The wizard has surprised him. The mercenary knows that he has earned a good payment but he cannot imagined that he merited so much. In a few seconds gets his mind what he had to do to take the rest of his magical items. He has payed them almost with his life or giving a lot of money at the wizard Eldon who was travelling with him. The ex-assassin has never believed that Draxton can pay him in magical items. It seems he really appreciated his services or he just want to keep him at his side. Dadrag smiles at this second thought and says:

"I accept your offer, thank you. It's...interesting working for you Draxton Serd. Have you learn anything else about Curwin?"


OOC> Dadrag is very happy about the cloak and has decided to tell Draxton that Curwin was disguised.
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