Imperial Sins (Evil)

[PId6]

Loren

"So how are we going to mobilize the crowd though? I hope one of you make decent orators, because all I can do on that front is herd them like a wolf, as a wolf. And none of us should follow him; we don't want him to figure out that he's a target and if he sees someone tailing him, he'll just get suspicious. If you really think we should watch him, I can do it. None of you can walk around the city as inconspicuously as I." As if to prove his own point, Loren changed into the shaggy brown mutt again, and quickly changed back. "No one suspects the butterfly dog."

[Thatguyoverther]

Ashvar picks up the fallen purse and hands it back to Aztara. He produces a piece of paper with directions to the Bordello.

"If you'll excuse me, I've got other work to attend to. I'll be here at the same time tomorrow and the next day. But then I'll be leaving the city to attend to business elsewhere."

With that Ashvar leaves, content to let the group plot the assassination.

(As soon as you develop a plan of action we can keep the story going)

[Thatguyoverther]

(I'm not sure if this is what you want, as a party to do. If it isn't I can change it.)

Loren leaves the abandoned church in the form of a unobtrusive grey mutt. A few kids throw poorly aimed rocks, but the trip to the Marukan embassy is otherwise uneventful.

Abbadi has yet to leave the embassy for the Imperial Palace. There should be plenty of time before his arrival at the brothel.

Aztara slinks out of the building as well, with a different destination in mind. The heat keeps most of the teeming throng off of the street, so the journey is similarly uneventful. Aztara reaches the whorehouse at a little before noon.

The building is relatively quiet, it does most of it's business at night. The bordello is an upscale establishment, or as far upscale as a whorehouse can ever be. It's a tall building with three stories and a small yard surrounding it on all sides. It has five exits, it was designed to let the inhabitants out quickly if there was a raid, rather than keep raiders out. No guards are visible from the outside, if there are any they are most likely inside out of the heat.

(Conway, if you want to get into the building, you can either pay or try to bluff your way in. If you want to try and bluff, roll a bluff check.)

[PId6]

Loren

Loren sits outside the embassy in a shaded area, watching for Abbadi. Most of the time, he sits on his hunches and scratches himself, though he occasionally runs around and acts "dog like" to avoid suspicion. While watching the place, he keeps his eyes and ears open in case anything suspicious or of relevance arises.

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Spot: (1d20+9)[11]
Listen: (1d20+8)[18]

[MCerberus]

Thaelas

Sticking to the shadows outside the brothel, Thaelas tries to keep a low profile while he's watching. The shadows of the alleyway a little bit off from the yard also gives some respite from the heat. Hopefully this will allow him to keep vigilant while waiting. Hopefully once the mark arrives, he can bribe his way in. A little coin could go a long way to getting more.

Spoiler

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Spot - (1d20+5)[14]
Hide - (1d20+10)[11]

[Fra Lippo]

(OOC: What the hell)

Aztara

Aztara, after memorising the layout of the brothel, approaches the front entrance. She wears a plain, lower cut jerkin and an ample leather skirt, one which emphasises her curves, both a little tight to emphasise her curves; her black hair now glistens and falls neatly around her neck. The aim is to appear attractive but not suspiciously so. For in her knee-high boots are two daggers, unfamiliar but better suited than her axe. Steadying her angry nerves, Aztara knocks on the door...

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bluff - (1d20-1)[9]

[Roland Deschain]

Therlond ducks into a shop and buys 40 regular arrows, then begins scouting a good place to launch them into a major thoroughfare of the city somewhere 1/2 a mile away from the brothel and gets into positon

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I am thinking being on a side street and just shooting up in the air so the arrows fall on a major road. With this being the busiest city around there should be more hits than misses even if I don't aim(my logic goes anyway)?

[Thatguyoverther]

Couriers come and go from the embassy, but it's only to be expected since the embassy negotiates not only with the empire but the many smaller governments of the Free Cities and a few of the more powerful Hagola Jarls. A few hours latter a man that could only be Abbadi leaves the embassy with two Marukaner Guards and a young excited looking Marukaner noble. Following them is not difficult. They disappear into the Imperial Palace grounds around mid afternoon. (The audience probably wont finish for at least an hour.)

Thaelas waits. Despite accidentally bringing more attention to himself than he would like, no one seems to notice his existence. Few people pass him in the street, and those that do disappear into cooler shade as soon as they can.

A few seconds after Aztara knocks on the door, a burly man opens it. He pauses briefly, sizing her up, "New hires are around back." He jerks a thumb towards the back of the building.

((If you aim for a main thorough fair you should hit pretty often, although most of the arrows will probably wound rather than kill.))

[TheStranger]

Elran

Elran waits until late afternoon, then walks into the brothel as a customer. After looking around for a minute, he finds the madam. "I, ah, heard you had a new girl. From the, um, steppes."

[Fra Lippo]

Aztara

Aztara almost slaps the man before she remembers her purpose. She walks around the back, smoothing back her hair and trying to remember the walk of the few prostitutes she has ever seen. With each step she wonders how far she would go for the sake of money - and whether anything else matters. She enters in the back and mumbles in her broken language "I was told to come here for...a job".

[Thatguyoverther]

Another burly bordello guard tells Aztara to stay put as he goes and fetches the madam. In short order a large matronly Hagola woman appears. She stares intently at Aztara sizing her up.

She announces in accented common "My name is Yerga, assuming you get the job I will be your matron." Yerga continues sizing up Aztara. "Well first off, you won't be needing those." Yerga points to Azatara's boots, or more likely their contents. "Your last employer may not of done much to protect the well being of his employee's but here at Tejas House we take care of our own." She extends a hand waiting for Aztara to fill it.

(Make a diplomacy check or a bluff check to keep your weapon.)

She then proceeds to barrage Aztara with a series of questions. "Is this your first time in this profession? Have you done this line of work elsewhere in Videssos? What where you reasons for leaving if any? Can we contact your former employer? Do you have any preexisting medical conditions we need to be aware of? What is your name and or moniker? Do you prefer to go by your given name or moniker? Do you have any dependents? If so how many? How did you hear about us? Do you have a specialty? Is there any particular activity or act that you wish to avoid/ have an aversion to? If so how strong on a scale of 1-5 is the aversion? What if any religious holidays will you need off? When can you start? What... "

(Make another bluff check to make it through the questioning, without revealing your true purpose.)

Yerga then expounds upon the nature of the job. "As an employee of Tejas House you will give all 70% of all your take to the house. This fee covers protection, room and board, medical expenses, weekly exams by and accredited physic, and a generous severance and pension package..." While Yerga talks she gives a tour of Tejas House.












((@The Stranger
Hold on a bit. She hasn't quite made it in yet.))

[Fra Lippo]

Aztara

She is put off by the amount of questions thrown at her; she always assumed (as there were no prostitutes in her tribe) that they would only look at a woman. It is a struggle to answer most of them in any more than basic language and monosyllables: "I have only just entered the city, and this, er, job", indicating to her boots. She takes out the daggers and gives them to Yerga, although a hesitantly. "I am, um, I have never been wounded? my name is Aztara Sagitarya; um..." Unintentionally the steppe girl confirms her foreign nature, obvious enough in her physical appearance, and reveals some personal insecurities.
bluff - (1d20-1)[3]
While she tours the house Aztara nods at Yerga's words and looks in the rooms for escape routes and possible weapons.
spot - (1d20+1)[5]

Edit: Uh oh

[MCerberus]

Thaelas

Remaining unnoticed (generally) in the alleyway, Thaelas continues his vigil. As the hours pass, he begins to formulate a plan for getting close to the man. A promise of money, a few drinks, and maybe the diplomat will trust him enough to do something stupid.

Pretend to have a business deal? Maybe. And what if they try and take his weapons? Bribery may work, but he should try and get away with not giving away his arrows. A stab with one of them could look like a dagger...

[Thatguyoverther]

The tour continues, Yerga leads Aztara through the building up to the third floor. Commenting on the amenities and benefits of the job, with a smile. The tour ends on a small balcony on the third floor. Once Aztara is through Yerga moves with surprising alacrity, she slams the door behind them and Aztara's daggers appear in her hand.

"Now my little steppe princess. Why are you really here?" Yerga makes it readily apparent that an incorrect answer will result in a great deal of unpleasantness. "Come now you can tell mama Yerga." Her voice is sweet and matronly despite holding a weapon.

Everything remains quite on every other front.

[PId6]

Loren

Tired of doing nothing, Loren steps into a side alley, making sure nobody was watching, and transforms himself into what appears to be a pampered pet dog. Then, he strolls into the palace, walking as if he belongs there, and looks for Abbadi, preferably alone.

[Thatguyoverther]

Loren spots Abbadi's group almost immediately. They are just now entering the imperial audience chamber. The Imperial guards along with the guards of every important court member seem to ignore the dog.

Abbadi approaches the throne upon which Emperor Anthimos II sits, with his right hand and uncle Patronas. Abbadi approaches and bows, approaches another twenty feet and bows, repeating the process at every preassigned interval, as protocol demands.

Abbadi begins to address the bored looking Emperor, who precedes to look even more bored. Abbadi goes on about the need to keep the peace between the two great nations despite increasingly cut throat trade embargoes.

The emperor's face lights up for a second and he motions to one of the burly Hagola serving in the Imperial Guard. Abbadi continues talking as the emperor whispers in the guards ear and points directly at Loren. The guard nods to another guard and begins walking towards Loren.

[PId6]

Loren

Abbadi's speech was boring Loren to death as well, and he was lying on the throne room floor looking as if intensely regretting his decision to come. When he sees the guard walking over, he gets up and begins acting more dog-like, letting his tongue wag out playfully and walking over to sniff at the guard.

[Thatguyoverther]

The Hagola smiles and speaks to his fellow guardsmen in Hagola. He extends his hand and makes a grab for Loren.

(Are you going to attempt to dodge or let the guard or grab you?)

[PId6]

Loren

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I hope the emperor doesn't have a taste for dog meat... I let him grab me.

[Thatguyoverther]

The Guard lifts Loren with a grunt and the two leave the audience chamber. They continue talking to one another in Hagola, apparently in good spirits. The guard holding Loren pats him on the head and scratches behind his ears.

The smell of roasting meat reaches Loren's nostrils, and Loren becomes more and more certain that the guards are taking him to the kitchen. (Make an untrained Int check to sea if Loren can remember whether eating dog is common in Hagola or in upper crust Videssos.)

[PId6]

Loren

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*Gulp* (1d20)[11]

[Thatguyoverther]

Loren know for a fact Videssians don't eat dog, but Loren hasn't had that much access to Hagola and isn't sure.

The guards take Loren into the kitchen. The guardsmen sets Loren down and says something in Hagola to a swarthy cook wearing a blood splattered apron. He nods and smiles at Loren, with a twinkle in his eye before ducking into a side room.

The cook returns with a plate of table scraps, which he sets before Loren and leans over and scratches Lorens ear playfully. After the table scraps are gone, (assuming Loren eats them) one of the Hagola guards makes another grab for Loren.

[PId6]

Loren

Dogmeat Loren heartily eats the scraps, though he keeps the guards in the corner of his eyes while he does so. When he finished, rather than let himself be grabbed, he instead uses the guard's outstretched hand as a ramp to walk onto the man's shoulder, sitting down as if expecting to be carried in that position.

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What can I say? It's a very small dog.

[Thatguyoverther]

The guard lifts Loren up with another grunt and says something to his compatriot before letting out a hearty laugh. The pair takes Loren to a large enclosed kennel filled with the emperor's hunting dogs. They drop him off there before exiting and heading back towards the Imperial Audience chamber.

The kennel is a fifty foot by fifty foot area enclosed by a six foot wooden fence. Loren is confined with a dozen other dogs.

(Make a spot check.)

[PId6]

Loren

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This one I should be able to make at least, barring terrible roll.

Spot: (1d20+9)[11]

Okay, I probably deserved that one for saying that.

Loren looks around, checking to see if anyone's watching and if the kennel door is locked.

[Thatguyoverther]

No one's watching the kennel, but it is locked.

(You should be able to force the gate with a good enough strength check, but it will probably alert someone. You can make a jump check to try and make it over the fence in dog form, or just revert and climb.)

[PId6]

How many other dogs are in the kennel? How do they appear? Are they like blood-hounds or more like poodles?

[Thatguyoverther]

It's a mixed group, but they are all hunting or sports dogs bred for different tasks. There are a couple blood and basset hound types along with a few mastiffs and bear and bull bating dogs.

[PId6]

Loren

Loren changes back to human form, and approaches the dogs, using soothing noises and giving the occasional pat on the head in an attempt to befriend them.

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Wild Empathy: (1d20+1)[18]

The dogs would be indifferent since they're domesticated so it'd be DC 15 to make them friendly. It's a long shot but worth a try, even though the dice does hate me.

Yeeaaahhh!

[Thatguyoverther]

Loren successfully charms the dogs (improving their attitude to friendly). The dogs begin to yap and lick at him, a few roll over to have their bellies scratched.