Kartakass: Interlude in Martira Bay

[steveflam]

Martira Bay, port

Delsenora makes her way unnoticed to the old port of Martira Bay from Balfours residence. Soon she is at her Base[/u], so to speak. Enterring, she quickly finds her table and sitting back, plops her feet on top of the table, sighing. She may appear relaxed, but she is far from it. The characters following her fathers party trouble her. Sure, they've gained reknown for their exploits abroad. But why are these new people so interested in them? It is only an amulet and ring, after all. Her contacts would tell her, that she knew as much.

Seeing none of her contacts, the drowess isn't deterred. She rises from her table and takes the stairs to her room. Once alone, she flops down on her bed and enters a state of elvish reveillee.

When she awakes an hour later it is close to two pm. Opening the window she peers outside to see the time of day. Refreshed, she stretches and gathers her wits. Some of my contacts should be here now and I could really use some info for the party.

Exiting her room, she descends to the dining room and grabs her usual haunt. As always she keeps hooded, her back to the wall so she can see everything going on in the Inn. Sure enough, once she is seated, a man approaches her. She recogniozes him as Ralph the snitch. Most of the time his information is useless. She rather hear him first, then judge for herself after if he was spewing the truth or not.

The middle aged man sits at her table, after spying her nod to welcome him. After sitting, he looks around, nervous.

"How goes it, Snitch boy?, you staying out of trouble?" she says in a low voice so only he can hear.

"I be doing fine. I got that info ye bin askin for. Gonna cost ya, o course."

"Cost me? Last time you gave me information, I was almost caught by the city guard and gutted. I'll tell you what." and even as she speaks her handcrossbow appears in her hand, aimed at Ralph. He sees this and straightens up, trying not to show his fear but failing.

"Tell me what you have learned. I'll use this info and if it proves positive results, you'll be payed handsomely, ok? There is no yes or no here, Ralph. You've known me for a few years now. I am a nice person in general. Cross me and you pay, as you've seen more than once. So here it is for real. I Look into your information. Happy, I pay in full, unhappy you don't get paid and you live to regret it I assure you."

She sits back, tiny bow in hand aimed at the thug. He knew of her reputation as fair, but vicious to traitors. Swallowing more than once, he settles in and spews his findings. "All right. This band that has been followin these people are not the only ones involved. Some people I've only heard of before, are interested in them as well. You might know of them as the Kargatane or Kargat for short."

The snitch looks around quickly now, eyes darting from left to right. Turning back to Delsenora he continues. "These newcomers, from Barovia, 'ave been hired by some high muckity muck to track these people. Don' know the details, mind you. Tha woman seems more interested by some book on this Dilisyna family. I heard it from Tess the Mouth, lass week. Dunno what it means, mind ye. I juss wanna be paid fer me troubles, ma'am."

Del takes in the information and rolls it around her mind. Ralph seemed to be true enough to what she'd asked him. Fair enough. Reaching under the table, she removes a small pouch and slides it across the table quickly. Even before the pouch can travel to the end of its trajectory, it dissappears into Ralphs hand.

"Thank ye, mum! I be goin now."

"Fair enough. Get out of here and don't go too far, your talents might be needed again, Ralph."

The tiny man exits the Inn, leaving Del to ponder this new information. Two minutes later, she exits the Inn and heads for the center of the city.

[steveflam]

Temple of Ezra

Van and balfour part commpany. The older man returns to his home whilst the mage retirns home to begin working on his magical headband.

Lucius departs the Temple to find himself at the park. Deari is nowhere to be seen. The man receives a mental message in his mind Lucius, this is Rizzen, Master Jacob's friend. Mistress Deari is gone along with the Masters daughter but a few minutes ago. The master has informed me that you and your party are being watched, or perhaps followed? No matter it is imperative that you get somewhere safe, now. There are eyes everywhere and it be best if you get to friends. I suggest you make it to this address*

* Given the Weathermay safehouse address


____________________________________________________________


Hobert sniffs around and comes upon an odd scent. The scent he smells in unnatural to him. He doesn't move too far. Thinking that his mistress might be interested in the scent, he comes back to wherte she left him and, just like a good watchdog awaits her return. Soon enough, his mistress does return. ... along with the dwarf Cornelius.. He barks loudly and walks up to her wagging his tail happily. He licks her hand and then the dwarfs, barking once to get her attention. When she looks at him, asking him what is wrong, he barks again and sniffs the ground, then looking at her. Wagging his tail faster he moves in the direction of the odd scent.

When Deari and Cornelius finally follow, Hobert lead them quickly. Soon enough they are at a Cemetary. Hobert stops, as the scent stops after the entrance. He looks back up at his mistress, confused as to his findings. He whines and moving up to Deari, plops at her feet, big puppy eyes looking up at her for guidance.


Same day, Martira bay

Van receives a telepathic message. Master Van. It is I, Rizzen. You should join Master Lucius and William and Lucius as soon as possible."

The familiar gives Van the address to go too.

[A G Thing]

After she had prepared, Deari was more than ready to follow Hobert, and with only slight looks, and some explaination to the house staff of her being somewhat busy, she returns outside. As they stop at the cemetary gates and Hobert looks at her, she smiles slightly, kneeling down to pet and hold him. She looks over to her companion with none of the gentle look she had worn in the past seconds.

"Cornelius... What would come from the graveyard to watch over Lucius home here in Martira Bay?"

[ewancummins]

After she had prepared, Deari was more than ready to follow Hobert, and with only slight looks, and some explaination to the house staff of her being somewhat busy, she returns outside. As they stop at the cemetary gates and Hobert looks at her, she smiles slightly, kneeling down to pet and hold him. She looks over to her companion with none of the gentle look she had worn in the past seconds.

"Cornelius... What would come from the graveyard to watch over Lucius home here in Martira Bay?"

Cornelius pauses to consdier a moment, then says-

''That's a very good question, Deari. I'm afraid I've not got a good answer for it...''

[A G Thing]

Deari takes her time to make a good search of the area, looking for anything out of place. Perhaps some sign or clue to anything or anyone that could have left the scent that Hobert picked up... Looking over at the dog in question she has a smile that while he is working with her, when ever he brushes against the dwarf his tail wags happily.

Not looking at Cornelius she talks even as she examines the area...

"You know Cornelius, I have been meaning for a while, to ask if you would do something for me... I wonder if for some reason that I or Lucius might not be able to... If you would take care of Hobert? I only ask because of all I have ever seen him with he has taken to you perhaps the most..."

She works at examining and waits for an answer thinking of the grim thoughts that brought this to mind, and hoping not to have imposed on their friendship by asking.

[Ail]

Temple of Ezra

Van and balfour part commpany. The older man returns to his home whilst the mage retirns home to begin working on his magical headband.

Lucius departs the Temple to find himself at the park. Deari is nowhere to be seen. The man receives a mental message in his mind Lucius, this is Rizzen, Master Jacob's friend. Mistress Deari is gone along with the Masters daughter but a few minutes ago. The master has informed me that you and your party are being watched, or perhaps followed? No matter it is imperative that you get somewhere safe, now. There are eyes everywhere and it be best if you get to friends. I suggest you make it to this address*

* Given the Weathermay safehouse address

Lucius doesn't even have the time to wait for Deari. He was sure the chimes hadn't sounded the 12 yet as he arrived to the park, but Rizzen talked to him even before he could see Deari was not there.

His face closed immediately and his smile disappeared as he heard the message, but he tried not to make it too obvious. He tried himself to answer Rizzen
thank you, Rizzen. Please, is Deari safe? Is everything fine with her? Tell your master I'll go to this place at once.

There was not much point in being dissimulated but he turned his steps from the park, after casting a quick look around to try and look for any suspicious character, then proceeded to go to the address indicated. He mentally drew a sketch of the way, and choosing a twisted and longer route, he began to walk in the shadow of some houses. Suddenly, as he turned a corner and few people were passing by, he turned from a street and seemed to not appear in the next one.

He didn't know what kind of people were watching him, but at least he hoped they were not following him too close nor actively detecting magic. Perhaps this small magic trick would at least make them lose his trail. He hastened his step and quickly joined more crowded streets to disguise his footsteps and his walking noise. His spell would last only 5 minutes, but that should be enough to plunge his pursuers in a maze.

Shortly after, already visible, he reached the vicinities of the address indicated by Rizzen.

Having reached this spot early, his thoughts drift again to Deari and the rest of the party. He intimately feels she's not in danger, but how much of that is wishful thinking he does not know.

Since Van was with Balfour he doesn't feel for his safety, but what about Cornelius and William? Will they be ok?


(OOC: cast invisibility, as he's in street clothes probably today. Also Mage Armor at some point later during the walk. He still is carrying his mace concealed.)
(OOC: I would post more but I'd need a bit of description of what Lucius sees)

[VAN]

Same day, Martira bay

Van receives a telepathic message. Master Van. It is I, Rizzen. You should join Master Lucius and William and Lucius as soon as possible."


The familiar gives Van the address to go too.

Van scowls for a second since he has to stop the craft process. Sighing he says:

"Tell them I'm coming Rizzen. Thank you."

Looking back at the materials gathered on the laboratory's table he sighs again and then exits his house and goes to join his friends.

[steveflam]

OOC: I am presuming that Deari will cast Speak with Animals here.

Cemetary
Martira bay, same day

Though Deari pays particular attention to the tracks and the grounds of the cemetary, it is Hobert who spots something extra. Deari does spot several tracks. These tracks are of several people, heavy in nature. Or are they really heavy. Perhaps the feet drag?

Deari casts her incantation and asks Hobert what he has seen and smelled. "Mistress, these tracks do not smell natural. Especially these ones." And he paws the ground where a lighter, nearly imperceptible set of tracks now become apparent to Deari. "They smell not living. I won't enter this foul place. The scent alone frightens me. Not withstanding I feel fright from the within."

Hobert lies at Deari's feet and whines.


Park/Weathermay safehouse

Master Lucius, Deari is safe with the dwarf Cornelius elsewhere. I shall tell my master of your response. Keep safe.

As Lucius arrives, so does Van. Not a coincidence as both men relate their message from Rizzen. Lucius knocks at the door, unsure of what awaits them. The door opens to reveal Gennifer Weathermay! She appears to be surprised then recognition sets in. "Lucius and Van is it? Well how in the name of Ezra do you find yourselves here?"

From behind Gennifer comes the voice of George "Who is it, Gen?"

To which she replies "Van and Lucius, William's friends, Uncle." She appears to be uncertain as to what to do. "Well, invite them in. They must be here for a reason."

The young lady moves aside and lets Van and Lucius pass, before closing the door behind her and escorting the men to the library where William is. George follows close behind.

[A G Thing]

Deari is rather taken aback by the statement from Hobert along with what has been found here. Still she pats his head and smiles trying to ease the fear he spoke of to her... "Thank you my friend... I won't ask that you enter this place now! But still it may come to that should the others decide it is neccessary and I believe it may. But you did very well."

Hobert wags his tail but still is quite tense otherwise. "I hope we stay far from here!"

Still petting Hobert to comfort his fear, she turns her head and lets her smile fade some as she begins to try and tell Cornelius what was said. Forgetting the spell at first, it takes her a second to end the magic so that her voice is more than dog barks and whines. Still once it clears she repeats the details of the heavy dragging foot prints, the lighter foot prints with the accompaning un-natural scent, and the fear it struck into Hobert.

"He also mentioned something about fright from within... I think that perhaps we should head to meet the others..." She rose to her feet and looked at Cornelius in deep thought, hoping that the mage had some thoughts on what all this meant even if they were unclear.

She knew she needed to talk to Lucius once they arrived... She hoped he was safely there already.

[BigBadQDaddy]

Park/Weathermay safehouse

Master Lucius, Deari is safe with the dwarf Cornelius elsewhere. I shall tell my master of your response. Keep safe.

As Lucius arrives, so does Van. Not a coincidence as both men relate their message from Rizzen. Lucius knocks at the door, unsure of what awaits them. The door opens to reveal Gennifer Weathermay! She appears to be surprised then recognition sets in. "Lucius and Van is it? Well how in the name of Ezra do you find yourselves here?"

From behind Gennifer comes the voice of George "Who is it, Gen?"

To which she replies "Van and Lucius, William's friends, Uncle." She appears to be uncertain as to what to do. "Well, invite them in. They must be here for a reason."

The young lady moves aside and lets Van and Lucius pass, before closing the door behind her and escorting the men to the library where William is. George follows close behind.

William, seeing his two friends enter the study does the only thing anyone could do in his situation. So, with a puzzled expression, William replies with a flat, "Huh."

Raising his eyebrows he then asks, "What are ye doin' ere?"

[ewancummins]

in the cemetary-


Cornelius-


''Yes, I'll take care of Hobert, Deari, if anything ill should befall you and Lucius. I'm honored that you'd ask me. ''

The dwarf frowns.

''As for this other matter....Hobert is a dog. Dogs and some other beasts are known to be sensitive to the presence of unnatural things. It's probably best if we move on- quickly- and join the others.''[/u]

[Ail]

Lucius is rather surprised when he meets with Van outside the mysterious house he had been led to, but rather schocked when a young woman opens the door and seems to recognize him. He soon recognized Gennifer Weathermay, but he certainly was not expecting to find the family here... much less his friend William.

He balks a bit at the sailor's address, and then replies.

"I'm as surprised as all of you, it seems. I was given this address by Rizzen, Jacob's familiar. He never said who'd be here, just that I was in danger and being spied upon, so I should retreat to near friends."

He looks around somewhat disappointed.

"I was rather more hoping to find Deari here. Does any of you know of her?"

[VAN]

Van looks at Lucius with the same surprise as he did. He is more surprised when Gennifer opens the door and even more when he sees William. Looking at all of them he says:

"I...I got Rizzen's message too. Guess the others may come as well and hope someone can explain us what happened. I just hope everyone to be ok."

[steveflam]

Weathermay safehouse

Gennifer frowns. "That Jacob must be keeping an eye on you William.I mean that in a good way, not degrading way, ok? I doubt the house is compromised but we can talk
about it later. I have to do some reading, excuse me gentlemen. Ah Lucius I haven't seen Deari today, sorry. Although I think your previous locvation wasn't at all far from here, come to think of it."
And she turns her attention to an open book before her.

Cemetary

Cornelius and Deari receive a message from Rizzen. Master says there is a place where only dwarves go in the city, the Tin Tankard. Cornelius knows of it. He will agree it is a good place for the party to
meet. Cornelius looks at Deari, nodding. No words are spoken as they move through the streets of Martira Bay, keeping to alleys and the mazes of the Merchant Sector. Nearly an hour later, the dwarf, woman and Hobert are in front of the Tin Tankard. Cornelius turns to Deari to tell her that Hobert will need to be muzzled and leashed inside, no ifs ands or buts about it. He appears to be comfortable and happy to be at this particular establishment, which seems to reassure her. He holds the door open for her and Hobert, entering after them both. Deari can see they are in fact the only non dwarven presence inside the place! An elder dwarf with a dirty apron approaches and when he sees Cornelius, he smiles and stops before the dwarf. "Where ye bin, laddie? Ain seen yer face in a while. Glad ta see ye be in good health. Yer gonna 'ave ter muzzle an leash yer dag, ma'am." He moves behind a counter and emerges with a leach and muzzle, hading them to Deari. "There ye go. Bah, Cornelius Ordman, ye don introduce ye pals ta me? Ye rude mongrel! Ma'am, I be Garn, Garn Hammerstone. Welcum ta me pub." When Deari introduces herself and Hobert, he grins. "Well I be glad this young varmint bringed ye 'ere. We dun get no non dwarvish in me pub. A lil culture won do ye no harm, lassie and lad. Now, what kin I git ye both?" He leads them to a table and waits for their requests.

Weathermay safehouse

Lucius, Van and William get the same message from Rizzen, telling them the location of the Tin Tankard and to go there to meet Deari, Cornelius and Hobert. He also gives them the proper directions to lose pursuit of any would be tailers. Soon, the three men arrive at the pub, and push through the door to survey the place. It is indeed a typical dwarvish drinking hole. They spy the others and approach them. Garn intercepts them as he exits the kitchen. "Oi. More 'umans? Cornelius Ordman, ye goat! Ye brigning ye non dwarvish pals to git some dwarvish culture!" He guffaws loudly. "Awright, sit ye down at tha table. I get ye some grub and some dwarvish stout! Fergit yer orders o ales. Ye drinkin with dwarves today!" He laughs to himslef and moves back to the kitchen, humming to himself.

[Ail]

Lucius hurries the whole way as they leave Weathermay's cottage soon after arriving there. He isn't even very concerned that he might look impolite to the twins as he alarmedly sets to depart again as soon as Rizzen informs the group of the meeting place.

Agreeing with Van and William that they should go, he leaves the cottage without even noticing George or, indeed, learning anything about Rudolph at all. He's not even sure they'd care, as Gennifer had practically dismissed him already and Laurie had been as silent as she had been talkative on the first time they met.

He set the pace at the front of the group and was so anxious to arrive at the Tin Tankard that the other two men had some difficulty in following him, and William had to bring that to his attention, and force him to make an effort to calm down and not to attract so much attention. Eventually they reached the tavern, and as Lucius first descended the stairs and adjusted to the dim light, his eyes immediately set to look for their companions. He didn't have to search much, as Garn made his jest in the direction of a couple of very familiar faces.

He at once jumped the remaining steps and ran to Deari, holding her in his arms and while looking to make sure she was not wounded nor hurt in anyway. Kissing her, he added lowly
"Deari, my love, Rizzen said you(*) were being followed, are you alright? Has anyone hurt you?"

It's then that he notices Cornelius and blushes.
"Oh, hello Cornelius. Sorry, I hope you understand my precipitation and forgive my bad manners. Are you two alright? Rizzen has told us to meet you here, that we should be on the lookout for something" he says to the one dwarf he knows in a very low voice.

Hearing a low whine, he notices Hobert, wearing a sad face behind his muzzle. He pats the dog with some pity.
"Rules of the house, is it, my boy? Fear not, when we get out of here, Deari will let you go hunt a rabbit."

He then sits by Deari and speaks to her alone
"I was worried about you. After you told me last night you had something important to tell me, I've been wondering for long what it might be. And when Rizzen spoke to me, I was anxious to know about you. Did you know of this already, or is it something else? Could it be that Hobert smelled someone spying on us last night, and not just an animal as we thought?"

The questions crowded in his mouth to get out, but he kept them for himself. He had asked plenty of them already, and looked at Deari beseechingly.


(OOC:
(*) I know Rizzen did not say exactly that, but a man in love has a bit of a selective memory )

(edited: just to avoid three consecutive paragraphs beginning with 'Then he'. Even in a PbP, style matters a bit )