Adventures in Eberron [4e]

[ninja_penguin]

The Half-elf girl's eyes widen as she looks from Anatole to Owan, glancing at his face, the papers, and his ring. "But of course!" she says, sounding slightly flustered, and scurrying over to a pair of guards on either side of a door leading away from the main areas. She says something to the guards you can't catch over the general background noise, but they both relax and she waves for you to follow.

Through the door, the girl leads the group through a labyrinth of doors and and rooms. It's quieter here; the noise of the main floor can still be heard, but it is muffled and not as loud. She finally arrives at one door decorated with the symbol of House Orien, pauses a moment to readjust her spectacles, and enters.

The inside of the room is stacked on either side with large bookshelves containing all manner of scrolls and tomes lining them. On the far wall from the entrance is a map of Khorvaire with the lines of the lightning rail, airship routes, shipping routes, and every other major line of transportation controlled by House Orien.

Below that map is a desk, with an older human male sitting at it reading off of a series of papers. "What is it, Alanna?" He says without looking up. The half-elf girl scurries up next to him, whispering in his ear, and then stands off to the side, trying to look attentive. The man slowly turns around and stands up, revealing the mark of passage on the side of his face. "I am Marcus d'Orien, how may I help House Deneith?"

[Random NPC]

Owen bows deeply, showing his respect. After it, he stands upright and looks at Marcus d'Orien directly in the eye.

"Sorry to bother you, Sir, but this is not a Deneith matter." He lowers his tone, trying to sound serious. "We are here for inquisitive reasons regarding a troublesome couple. We also wish to maintain this discussion as private as possible, Lord of Orien..." Owen then turns his looks to Anatole.

[gareth]

Anatole nods, and shows Marcus the drawings of the couple.

Trabek Blackstone contacted us, and said that house Orien was expressing some concern over these individuals. We know you wouldn't waste his time with anything trivial, so you must think that they're some kind of threat. And if they're a threat to house Orien, they could easily be a threat to house Deneith - or indeed, to the general population. So we're happy to help in any way we can.

His expression grows more serious.

But we need to know what we're dealing with. Blundering around with no information could be lethal. So in order for us to help you, we need to know exactly what's concerning you about these two. We'll keep everything in the strictest confidence, of course.

He turns back to the rest of the group.

We'll all swear to keep what he says secret, right?

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Diplomacy roll to get Marcus to talk here = 30.

[Master_Rahl22]

Lorilla chimes in with, "Oh, of course. We all understand the need for discretion."

[Don the Bastard]

If anyone looks to her, Sal will give a solemn nod of agreement.

[bue52]

Kurt nods in agreement, he does it as discreetly as possible. Hopefully, no one who isn't supposed to see the nod does not see it.

[Guancyto]

"Of course," Mulligan shrugs, "no good would come of doing otherwise."

[jmbrown]

"I swear no oaths but your business is your own and I respect all man's rights to privacy."

[Random NPC]

"Discretion is something Deneith holds dear." Owen said.

[ninja_penguin]

Marcus takes the sketches, looking at them, and snorted derisively. “I can tell you about this one, and there’s no secret.” He said, lifting up the picture of the male. “His name his Edwin d’Canith, and he’s in direct line for the operations of House Canith around here, and he’s telling it to anybody who will listen, especially if you’re a shapely little thing serving drinks at the tavern. He’s a rude but ultimately benign drunk from what I’ve heard, and his money is good enough. A pair of warforged with him as bodyguards…” Marcus waves his hand dismissively. “I don’t recall their names offhand.”

“But this one?” he continued, holding the sketch of the half-elf up in the air for a better view. “I don’t know her, personally. I’m not the one who has sent Trabek on these two. “But if this is the Mark of Shadow, then somebody must think she’s with House Thuranni then.”

“Have they been seen together? If so, I’d guess somebody is worried that a rich boorish scion of House Canith might be about to do something…inadvisable.” Marcus shifted his gaze to the other picture for a moment. “Or somebody doesn’t want to explain any disappearances of mishaps that occur after being in the company of an assassin. If you’re looking for this man, check any ale house in the entertainment district, you’ll find him.”

“As for her? Well, I’m afraid I’m at a loss.”

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OOC: Insight or perception checks!

[jmbrown]

Grisham, normally perceptive, is bored out of his mind. He catches flight of a bird spirit out the window and ignores the entirety of the conversation (rolled a 1 in the dice topic).

[gareth]

Anatole frowns.

If he's house Canith, and she's house Thuranni, why would anyone from this house care about them?

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19 on my insight check

[Don the Bastard]

Though not actively participating in the conversation, Sal is nevertheless paying attention to what is unfolding. (20 total on Perception)

[Random NPC]

Owan was paying as much attention as possible, trying to discern anything of importance

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[29] on Perception

[Master_Rahl22]

Lorilla listens intently, knowing that every bit of information, spoken or not, is valuable.

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Insight result: 24

[bue52]

Kurt listens intently, observing the Marcus, and his facial expressions.
Perception: 17

[Guancyto]

Mulligan is nominally tracking Marcus, but he's a little occupied with the theories he's already forming. It's kind of a bad habit.

[ninja_penguin]

For everybody with Insight > 20:

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Marcus is sincere in his information, and seems to be slightly troubled that somebody below him has been expressing this level of concern without contacting him.

For everybody with Perception > 15:

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When Marcus was holding up the pictures, Alanna caught a glance, and seemed to show a brief flash of recognition before averting her attention again.

Marcus looks up at Anatole. "And how would you explain to Lady d'Canith that I let one of her relations die to an assassin that I knew about? And only a poor businessman lets his clients die in his town."

[gareth]

Anatole nods.

That makes sense, I suppose. An assassin is the most dangerous possibility, so we should rule that out first.

He turns to the rest of the party.

We should go and find Edwin, ask him if he has any serious enemies. Unless there's anything else you want to ask our host.

[gareth]

After waiting a moment, Anatole turns back to Marcus.

We'll start searching the ale houses now. Thanks for your information.

Anatole walks out the door.

[Master_Rahl22]

Lorilla thanks Marcus for his time and follows Anatole out of the room.

[gareth]

Once they're out of earshot, Anatole turns to Lorilla.

There was something off about Marcus. Do you think he was telling us the truth?

[bue52]

"Alanna too seems to know something." Kurt says, " I suggest we question her again in private if possible."

[gareth]

Anatole nods, then turns to address the whole party.

What should we do first? Try and find Edwin, or talk to Alanna? We could split up and do both, but that could be dangerous if we get attacked.

[Guancyto]

Interesting.

"That's what our big scary friends are for, isn't it?" Mulligan answers once he's sure they're out of earshot of Orien headquarters.

He considers Salasmus for a moment as the most obvious choice. "How are you at keeping your head down? We should choose the circumstances of our chat with her carefully, I think," he asks of the kobold.

[Don the Bastard]

"Even when I'm not trying to hide most will overlook me, I can avoid being seen when needed" She looks sideways instinctively "And even when they do see me, not many can catch me"

[jmbrown]

"Perhaps we talk to woman first. Women are more level headed. Less susceptible to influence."

[Guancyto]

"That," Mulligan answers the warforged without turning around, "is a noble sentiment that will probably get you killed someday."

"Nevertheless, it wouldn't be the first time someone's assistant had a better idea of the situation than her boss. We should arrange a meeting later; I'm sure she has plenty of work to do at the moment."

[gareth]

Right, we'll find Edwin first, see if he knows anything.

Anatole walks off towards the entertainment district.

[Guancyto]

Mulligan nods and starts to follow Anatole.

"Is that going to be a problem?" he adds to Grisham. Some of his lot have hard feelings about the whole "slavery" thing, Mull recalls.