POVERO Chapter Eight

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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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Adam wrote:Alfonse stands up, pointing at the guard. "Excuse me," he says, "That's not yours. If we're under arrest, place us under arrest. If we aren't, then you have no right to take our things."
The guard with the note shakes his head.
"From what I heard, you fellows admitted to burglary and woman-stealing. The only reason you aren't in a dungeon cell is somebody important put in a good word for you. Don't push your luck."
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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He grimaces. "Very well, but know this. I've already advised your supervisor that this is a matter between nobles, which is the reason for all of this differential treatment," he gestures to the food. "If the contents of that note go to anyone other than your commander, he will know who is to blame."

With that he sits back down, slapping the book shut in irritation and stuffing it into a bag.
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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Adam wrote:He grimaces. "Very well, but know this. I've already advised your supervisor that this is a matter between nobles, which is the reason for all of this differential treatment," he gestures to the food. "If the contents of that note go to anyone other than your commander, he will know who is to blame."

With that he sits back down, slapping the book shut in irritation and stuffing it into a bag.
The man's scowl vanishes, replaced by a wide smile. He begins laughing.
'' The food? That's our rations. Gubbio thought it would smooth things, keep you guys from making trouble, if we ordered extra from the kitchen so you could also eat."
He jerks his thumb at one of the other guards.
"That's Gubbio. You think he's the commander?"
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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Alfonse rubs the bridge of his nose. "No, you twit, I meant the watch leader. The man to whom we spoke before being brought here. He's the..."

He trails off, before finally coming to a decision. "You know what? To the hells with it." He turns to Thom and Gertie. "Aldron Folbre is behind this. He hired us to get the girl to Richard Savelle, but he apparently only wanted us to get her away from her home so he could kill her and pin it on the Savelles. That's why there was someone in Richard's cloak waiting with the assassins at the pub, and why there was another in the same cloak when they attacked us at the vineyard. He even told one of them to leave the cloak behind to make sure the crime was pinned on the right patsies. I tried to be discreet and handle this delicately, but I forgot who I was dealing with. And, frankly, Lord Folbre and his reputation can go to the Abyss, at this point."
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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IN THE GUARDED CHAMBER WITH THE ROUND TABLE
Adam wrote:Alfonse rubs the bridge of his nose. "No, you twit, I meant the watch leader. The man to whom we spoke before being brought here. He's the..."

He trails off, before finally coming to a decision. "You know what? To the hells with it." He turns to Thom and Gertie. "Aldron Folbre is behind this. He hired us to get the girl to Richard Savelle, but he apparently only wanted us to get her away from her home so he could kill her and pin it on the Savelles. That's why there was someone in Richard's cloak waiting with the assassins at the pub, and why there was another in the same cloak when they attacked us at the vineyard. He even told one of them to leave the cloak behind to make sure the crime was pinned on the right patsies. I tried to be discreet and handle this delicately, but I forgot who I was dealing with. And, frankly, Lord Folbre and his reputation can go to the Abyss, at this point."

''Master Folbre? Oh!"
The less-than-friendly guard now hurries out of the room.

The other three watchmen continue guarding the doors.
Gubbio, a youth with the beginnings of a black beard and mustachios, smiles at GERTIE if she happens to look his way. But none of the men attempt to engage the party in conversation. They simply watch and wait.

The party gets a chance to eat and drink, even to nap on the floor if they like.
Gem sleeps.

Minutes pass...

And then, after the party has been held in limbo for about an hour, the noise of an argument or some other commotion starts up beyond one of the two doors.
What exactly is being said is hard to make out from the table where the not-quite-prisoners are seated.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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FILD


IF HE RUNS, I WILL EDIT THIS.

The watchmen take the gnome south on a long walk through the denser part of the city, to a large, two story stone building, semi-fortified like the guild house of the Thief-Catchers but with more ornamentation on the façade.

The interior , at least the foyer, looks quite plain apart from a colorful and well-executed fresco depicting a winged woman and some other figures at some sort of feast, which takes up part of the wall behind a desk and counter that appear to be some sort of registry station or clerk's workplace.
Multiple doors appear to lead to other parts of the large structure.
The watchmen instruct Fild to leave his arquebus and other weapons with a clerk in the foyer to be locked in a closet. They also ask him to remove his armor.
"You won't need that. Just got to talk to some people, answer questions. You aren't being clapped in irons. Maybe you won't be if you cooperate."

One of the men collects polearms and moves those down a side hall.
The guards retain their poniards and their armored jacks.





TITUS



Trailing the watch party for many blocks, TITUS sees the group take the gnome inside a strongly-built house.

Damien says,
"That's a Watch station. The main one I think. I remember seeing it the first day in the city."

City traffic has picked up as the morning sun climbs higher. Now a growing stream of pedestrians of all descriptions, sedan chairs, wagons, and riders pass by the pair of men, coming and going down Bay Road.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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the other three watchmen continue guarding the doors.
Gubbio, a youth with the beginnings of a black beard and mustachios, smiles at GERTIE if she happens to look his way. But none of the men attempt to engage the party in conversation. They simply watch and wait.
Gertie does listen to Alfonse, but says nothing. Iniside of her she is furious for having been taken advantage of. She wonders if the mugging of Forbre was a ruse as well.

She smiles slightly at Gubbio, and nods. But makes no ouverture to make conversation.

Stretching, she moves over to where Alfonse is. "Do you think he even arranged for his own mugging? Mr Folbre that is."
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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Alfonse starts back awake, having nodded off during the hour of sitting.

"Hmm, what?" the young mage says. "Oh, yes. Probably. Everything else he told us was a lie, so why would I expect this to be any different?"
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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"Thanks," she says and goes off to sit with Gem, falling asleep with the dog.
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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The commotion in the hall falls off.


A couple of minutes later, the doors (which are set at opposite ends of the chamber) open almost at the same time.

Two parties enter; two well-dressed ladies on the right and a gentleman on the left, both parties including mailed bodyguards, scribes with writing tablets and valets.

The two women on the right show an obvious familial resemblance to Elissa Holbin, which is especially strong in the case of the younger and slimmer one.
ALFONSE , at least, will recognize her as
VIEW CONTENT:
the young woman he spoke with at the bookshop, whom he mistook for Elissa. His previous mistake is now obvious, if he had not already realized it.
The older woman of the pair looks to be in her late thirties or early forties. Gray streaks run in her auburn hair, carefully arranged under a sheer veil of moth-gray lace. A gold ring gleams on her left hand.

The gentleman stalks into the room and looks about, his dark eyes seeming to soak in every detail. When he stares at the party, he fondles a stiletto.
His black and gray ensemble looks well tailored, fitting his long lean build. When he turns his saturnine face on the party, he fondles a dagger.

The matron speaks first.
"You abducted my daughter and burglarized my home. What have you to say about that?''

The maiden with her glowers at Alfonse in particular. She leans in to the older woman and whispers something.

The dark gentleman does not wait for the group to answer the woman's question.
"Where is my son? If you have information about Richard and you are holding out..."


The chamber is now pretty crowded.
Gertie may catch glimpse of Gubbio wiping sweat from his face.

The retainers of each party glare at the other group, or else studiously ignore one another.

The watchman behave in a most deferential manner toward the gentleman and the two ladies.
Last edited by ewancummins on Mon Jul 11, 2016 10:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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If Gertie catches Gubbio's look, she'll smile at him, mouthing "relax" to him. She waits for Alfonse to answer.
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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At the watch station
While Fild cooperates, he warns the guards:
"I have done nothing wrong! I am an important member of the gnome community in a very important trade partner city of Povero and if harm comes to me, people will know. You'll be directly accused when velvet, silk and precious gems stop coming to Povero and the nobles have nothing new to buy!" Fild says in one of his outrageous lies. He's not aware where velvet, silk and gems come from but he's pretty sure the guards don't know either.
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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alhoon wrote:At the watch station
While Fild cooperates, he warns the guards:
"I have done nothing wrong! I am an important member of the gnome community in a very important trade partner city of Povero and if harm comes to me, people will know. You'll be directly accused when velvet, silk and precious gems stop coming to Povero and the nobles have nothing new to buy!" Fild says in one of his outrageous lies. He's not aware where velvet, silk and gems come from but he's pretty sure the guards don't know either.
The watchmen all laugh at Fild's joke.

The sergeant in charge of this small detachment grins through his bushy beard.
" Okay, little fellow, weapons and armor off. If you can write, you can sign for it all in the tallybook. But get a move on, because you are about to meet some real nobles. They won't take kindly to being made to wait for the likes of you."
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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Tom studies the nobles for a moment they are clearly worried which is understandable. He doesn't reply though, he believes that Alfonse is their best bet to reply their questions.
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Re: POVERO Chapter Eight

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Alfonse sighs, steepling his fingers. "Alright, let me tell you what I know. My name is Alfonse Debusin, and these are my compatriots," he gestures to the others, "And the things you accuse us of happened at the behest of another Lord, Aldron Folbre. He contracted us, supposedly, on behalf of Richard and Elissa, to facilitate their wedding. We were to take the girl tonight and bring her to Richard so they could be married. We had contacted the girl prior to our arrival, so she went with us willingly. However, when we arrived at the appointed place, we were beset by assassins intent on killing us and the girl. They were costumed as a priest and wearing a cloak with the emblem of your house." He nods towards Lord Savelle. "We escaped them and took the girl someplace we knew to be safe, with an easy means of escape, the vineyard. At the same time, I returned on my own to Lord Folbre. Ostensibly, I was to be checking in with our employer but, at the same time, I was attempting to confirm one of my suspicions."

He sighs. "Lord Folbre's actions gave him away, unfortunately. He was far too concerned with the location of the girl, and far too unconcerned with who had betrayed the plan. He didn't allow us to see to her safe return on her own, insisting on bringing a cadre of his men with us instead. And, of course, there was the ultimate giveaway: one of his men was careless cleaning the black from his blade, leaving a smudge that I spotted. It was then I knew that Folbre was the viper who had set us and your two respective houses up. I traveled with them back to the vineyard, buying time to make my escape and warn them of our arrival. Thankfully, my comrades spotted the rogues early and foiled their ambush, raising the attention of the watch by simulating a foiled burglary and escaping through a hidden passage below the house. The brave men of the watch arrived, interceded, and ran off the villains."

He nods to Lord Savelle again. "I'm afraid, however, that if Richard is missing, he is likely in Folbre's hands. His motives seem clear: turning your houses' rivalries into open hostilities, presumably to advance his own agenda in Povero. I hope it is apparent that our actions were done only for love, throw ourselves upon your mercy, and place ourselves at your disposal to see this matter resolved."
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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