CH. 7: The Viper's Nest

[TristenC]

Grubnick laughs abruptly. Hardly. I actually only arrived after the city was taken... I've been trying to... augement my income doing freelance work. Anyway, I've secured a position with a couple of mercenaries. Very... off the books, you might say. At any rate, some additional assistance would ease matters. What sort of work were you looking for, specifically?

Grubnick flags down a waitress and pays for a round of drinks for the three, taking an ale for himself.

[Ooc: common room population and mood?]

[djhyland]

Arulia motions for Cassilda and Cassandra to sit down with her father, then goes to help Niniva and her mother finish dinner and bring it to the table. Setting down a large bowl, she says "You must have told them, Mother? But maybe things won't be so bad. We went out looking for work, and while Camilla and I still need to find something, Cassilda is going to apprentice for Una the weaponsmith! Maybe that will make up with the extra income?"

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Steel Tankard Inn, common area)
"Feel free to perform, this place could use some cheering up," the barkeeper notes. "Before that, though, I wanted to ask...what you meant yesterday at the trade guildhall about a profitable business opportunity you had."

When the gnome mentions muscle, the two women sitting at the bar both turn their attention to him. One is in her thirties, with jet black hair, green eyes and fair skin. The other is in her twenties with brown hair and eyes, but black skin. "Muscle? What sort of muscle do you need, little one?" asks the dark haired one. "My companion and I might be of use...if the money is good."

Kendra Greylock (Osred's Armory)
Osred looks at Kendra like she's an idiot. "Well, if it normally takes 10 weeks and I can cut that time in half, then it would take...five weeks," he says, shaking his head. "Women," he mutters with an eye roll. "Come back in five weeks and it'll be ready for you."

Tulbas Erogund (Unknown location)
Tulbas puts his old robes back on and starts taking the coin, potions and an ink vial. Just as he has finished, the door suddenly unlocks and opens, revealing the three priests. "Well, what do we have here?" asks the one with snake hands, noting the broken chest. "A thief as well as a spy." He searches Tulbas, easily finds the coins, potions and ink vial and confiscates them. "We'll have to find a new place to put these, thanks to this little troublemaker. Now come along. Your 'interrogation' is about to begin." They usher him out the door where three Histachii guards are standing stoically. The guards follow the priests and Tulbas as they lead him to the shrine.

Arulia Seroth (323 Three Forks, Seroth residence)
Thoron looks at Arulia with surprise. "With Una...?" He blanches a bit, then shakes it off. "I heard she's pretty rough on apprentices. I hope that's just a rumor."

"But that's good news, isn't it?" asks Vera with a smile. "Every little bit of coin helps."

Thoron nods in agreement. "True. But it's still not enough. Your mother wasn't an apprentice, she got paid much more." He sighs. "There's really only one solution here. It's something we've spoken about before, but always put off. We need to find you girls husbands. Good, wealthy ones. They can take care of you...and us. And it would mean fewer mouths for Vera and me to feed, as well."

Niniva leans in closer. "You mean...with nobles?"

"Preferably," Thoron says with a nod. "You girls are all lovely, intelligent and pure. I'm sure there are plenty of aristocrat or merchant suitors who pay quite the dowry for any of you. I can put the word out and they'll come to us."

"Wow, imagine," Niniva says. "Living in the noble district, up on that hill...a big mansion, a closet full of beautiful dresses..."

Grubnick, Felran and Ne-Chanz (High Hand Inn, common area)
Grubnick looks around the room to get a feel for things. There are four humans sitting near the fireplace (eating dinner), three more sitting at the bar (having drinks), three baaz sitting near the back (getting pretty drunk and kind of rowdy), and a single kapak standing up on the balcony above, peering down at the room lazily. He doesn't seem to be paying Grubnick any particular attention, but watches the whole room instead.

[Haahque]

Responding to the bartender Haahqae explains how scatterbrained his plan actually was, "Oh yes, I'm sure a couple of smart people can come up with something profitable to do with our talents. Who has money to pay for goods and services in this city? The army, and the church, what do soldiers like to spend their money on? Usually drink I think. Or maybe weapons, or girls. So we could set up a woman smithy with an expensive drink bar for while they wait. How about the church? I'm sure they need to get those strange purple candles from somewhere, and they write a lot of stuff down, how many candle and paper makers are in this town? Is there an opportunity to get an edge in there? Maybe a little bit of convincing could get them to want statues of themselves or the goddess or whatever, and we could find someone to make that statue and charge a decent sized marketing fee."

To the girls Haahqae replies "The kind of mustle that could hopefully swing a sword and do it right. Also stay discrete about the business, and can withstand pressures of at least 15 psi. Once upon a time I heard that a soldier could expect 4 steel in a month's wages. I'm offering 5 steel for a day job."

[BishGada]

Tulbas follows but tells the priests, "You are making mistake. You would better have me as an ally."

[HorizonsDream]

"Works for me," Kendra says. She as so flustered about being fondled that she didn't catch the the fact that the time would be halved with extra men. "If you will excuse me," she says with a small bow of her head. Though, it doesn't take her very long to the hell out of that place. She decides to go see the weapon smith as well since she was all ready out to get her swords. She had to waste some time before she could go tell Sadron what was going on.

[djhyland]

Arulia's sense of guilt comes rushing back when her father speaks of Thoron's treatment of her apprentices. "She...she seemed fair to me when we spoke with her," she stammers.

Having just bitten off a mouthful of a bread crust, Arulia chokes in surprise at her father's mention of marriage as Kendra's assessment of her own marriage rings uncomfortably in her ears. "Marriage?!" she coughs. With a sharp look at her mother, she asks, "And do you think that this is a good idea as well?"

After recovering from her surprise and calming down a little, Arulia decides that a different approach might be more persuasive. "I suppose I could get married, but I don't want to marry someone I don't like just because he can take care of us. And really, how many nobles are going to want to marry commoners like us? Especially me--Cassilda, Niniva, and Camilla have good parentage even if they are commoners, but who would want to marry...me?" Although she imagines that referring to herself as a bastard would be truthful and more likely to dissuade her father from arranging a marriage for her, she can't bring herself to do so--both out of fear for her mother's feelings and because Querida's cruel words are too fresh in her mind.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Steel Tankard Inn, common area)
"Oh...uh...right," the bartender says, having difficult following Haahqae's train of thought. "That makes...sense." He pulls out a rag and starts idly wiping down the bar while trying to figure it out.

When Haahqae mentions the wage of 5 steel pieces he is offering, the women immediately lose interest. The black one snorts and goes back to her drink. The white one frowns and says, "Perhaps you should hire soldiers then. No adventurer would take such a low offer, even an amateur one. And we are certainly not amateurs." She, too, turns away from him, back to her drink.

Kendra Greylock (Querida's weapon shop)
Kendra heads down to the weaponsmith and collects her two masterwork long swords without any issue. They are both expertly crafted and probably worth a small fortune. They are certainly of far better quality than the mundane ones the Holy Guard issued her (and garnished her wages to pay for them). Neither is as good as the elven blade she has, however.

Tulbas Erogund (Unknown location)
"If you would be our ally, you can start now," says the priest with the flexible spine. "And tell us what we want to know." Once inside the shrine, they close the door. The three Histachii stand near it, on guard. The priestess with the snake head gets a chair and sets it in the middle of the room, gesturing for Tulbas to sit.

"Now then," begins the one with snake hands. "Tell us who those men were looking for you. The human, the goblin and the gnome. We want their names and where we can find them. Prove you are our ally and not just a spy and a thief."

Arulia Seroth (323 Three Forks, Seroth residence)
Vera blanches at Arulia's question and looks away, unable to meet her gaze. "Well...I think your father knows best," she says quietly.

"It's worth remembering," Thoron points out calmly, "that although we call them nobles, they are really just very wealthy folk. Abanasinia has no royal families, so 'lineage' isn't really that important. Beyond that, we won't know unless we try. It may not be possible to find husbands for all of you, for whatever reason. But at this point, I don't see we have much choice. We've put this off for too long as it is. And even if all four of you get jobs, and your mother finds a new one, we still won't survive winter with this new tax. This is really the only way. We have to at least try, don't you think?"

"Do we get any say in who we marry?" asks Niniva.

"Of course. I won't force anyone to do anything, but keep in mind what is at stake," Thoron replies. "We'll be interviewing these suitors just as they are interviewing you. I want to make sure you will be treated well, after all."

[Haahque]

R should be given time to think. He's got a lot to think about, coming up with a good business plan and such. It'll do him good, take his mind off how his inn isn't full up at the brim all of the time anymore.

Meanwhile these girls seem to think they're that far above the common people? Haahqae can relate to that sometimes, so let's try humoring them. "Ah, so you think you're too good for the wages of fourty soldiers? If you prove it I might even offer you a share of the loot instead. An equal share. Or maybe I should hire a couple dozen soldiers... they might be useful."

[spyguy1503]

Ne-Chanz takes an ale. "Anything... unofficial... if you get my drift. The dragon army is... not a great friend. We have weapons, but not a permit. Do you?"

[TristenC]

Well, permits are only obtainable through... official channels. The mercenaries I mentioned earlier have that. Our part, he says, indicating the three of them at the table, is unofficial. Before we go much further, what are your respective... talents? Aside from the obvious, I mean.

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra looks around for a moment, realizing that the sun is finally starting to go down. She starts walking towards Old Toom's house, though she is careful to make sure no one is really paying attention to her before entering the house.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Steel Tankard Inn, common area)
The white woman gives a throaty chuckle. "I have a feeling the dragonarmy's soldiers aren't for sale, but what is this job you need such cheap muscle for anyway?" she asks, looking down at the gnome.

Kendra Greylock (Toom's former home)
Kendra arrives at Toom's house. There's nobody around, as curfew is in an hour and most people are hurrying to get home at this point. She finds the place unlocked, so enters. The living room is more or less as she left it, with one exception--the body is gone. Although the blood stains are still on the floor where he died.

[Haahque]

"Well one of my friends got himself into a little trouble with lizards or lizard men or something like that, and I was hoping to bail him out before something bad happens to him. They, of course, do have a lair close by, and we may end up liberating a little more then just my friend from them in the end."

[HorizonsDream]

"I knew they would have cleaned it up," Kendra says softly to herself. Of course, she was thinking that someone in the army took the body, but it was possible that the elves did it too. With a sigh, she quickly leaves a message for Sadron and the others with when the army was planning on attacking. ~I hope that they get this soon. It isn't a lot of time to prepare,~ she thinks to herself. She leaves the message in a place where the elves could find it, but it is safely hidden just in case someone from the army decides to come poking around.

Part of her is kind of hoping that she'll see Sadron, but she knows it probably isn't likely. Not after what happened. She sighs softly, and leaves the house to head home. She doesn't want to get caught here.