August had gone out in a tempestuous rush, a full week of torrential rainstorms pounding the city and flushing some of the grime down into the labyrinthine undercity. With the prior month's departure, the weather had begun to become bitterly cold even as the rains eased up, and the wan and feeble rays of sunlight that attempted to penetrate the dark gray clouds overhead started to cause the massive amount of rainwater to evaporate, only to fail in the transformation about half-way up into the air and radically increasing the characteristic fog in the city of Paridon to the point where buildings a few hundred feet away appeared to be large blobs of varying shades of gray. Apart from cold and a massive amount of precipitation, though, there was other, stranger phenomena taking place in the boroughs.
Five cards found their way across the city, working their way into the personal effects of as many personages of relatively low repute in the city. Each was hand-painted, with hyper-realistic facial expressions on the subjects of each card; indeed, the pictures were so realistic that they almost seemed to follow the viewer from their peripheral vision. The edges were gilt in bright silver that seemed to sparkle a little and reflected the light sources that they were viewed in. The card backs were a bit worn, but it was obvious that they were a masterpiece in terms of their construction. The wear on their backs from repeated shuffling and drawing were quite plain, but something more interesting was of note upon closer inspection: an address had been inscribed on the card-back, giving a location on the far south-east side of Southshore, as well as the words 'noon today' and 'please'.
The first card somehow found its way into a book on ancient Darkonese idioms, tucked on the small table in the cell-like room of a Celebrant of the Divinity of Mankind; the image on the card was a shepherdess in simple clothes and carrying a staff with a crook at the end, tending to her flock beneath the rays of the massive, shining sun.
The second ended up wedged between the cock and the striking plate of a well-designed pistol set near a wicked-looking fighting knife; the image on the card showed a grizzled military man inspecting three blades (one white, one grey, and one black) hanging on a series of racks, a slightly frustrated look on his face as he examined them. His right hand hesitates, poised over the grey blade in the middle.
The third of the fifth ended up wedged between the big and second toes of the right foot of the woman it had been delivered to, underneath the blanket on the bed she'd been sleeping in; the image on the card was that of a robed woman with her back turned to the viewer, a massive pattern that looked like an aureole of energy on the robe's back. Her arms were outstretched towards a darkened, star-filled sky as she stood in a pool of water, surrounded by vegetation.
Finding a home atop the carrying case that contained a very well-cared-for set of locksmithing tools, the fourth card couldn't have been in more open view of its recipient; the imagery painted upon its surface was that of a robed man standing on one side of a long, wooden table, his face completely obscured, while a merchant's hand reaches for coins the robed man had put down, even as he pushed a box wrapped in cord to the robed man.
The fifth and final card ended up in the boots of the final recipient, standing on its side. On further inspection, the card revealed an image of a warrior girt in shining plate armor, a massive shield, and brandishing a flaming blade as the figure stood atop a pile of black-garbed corpses that had an evil cast to their slack faces.
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For those who were brave, daring, or perhaps simply foolish enough to take the instructions on the backs of the cards to heart, it wasn't very difficult locating the property in question, though the locals in Southshore were wholly unwilling to direct the others. Wenson alone was able to walk through the area relatively unmolested, though nobody came to any harm, especially as the fog started to boil off a little and visibility improved as more sunlight began to stream through the fog and cloud-cover. The home was relatively small, even by Southside standards, only a single story and perched relatively near the water, made of rough brick like most of the surrounding structures. On the door, a small note had been nailed to it with a small, slanted script, stating, "Thank you for coming. I had to step out for a bit, but I should be returning shortly. Please, have a seat while you wait. The basket under the table inside contains bread and drink for you."
OOC: Actions? Remember, open carrying of weapons is forbidden in Paridon, so any exposed weapons will be peace-bonded (by the constabulary, if not by the character themselves)
