A Den of Thieves

[Duke of URL]

"Deborah" (Cassandra)

"Of course not, the action is all out here, isn't it? But why would a security room need anything as grand as this," she adds, sweeping her hand lazily around the room.

[lostlittlebear]

@Cassandra:

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"I really shouldn't be telling you this, but I was always a sucker for a pretty face."

Pressing his finger to your lips, Svard continues.

"Just don't tell any of your friends or colleagues about it."

Waving his hand expansively, he gestures towards the rest of the casino, trying his hardest to impress you.

"From the security room, I can lockdown this entire place with the touch of a sigil! Or I could set the security wards off or on at a whim, or conjure up fireballs and rain them down upon everyone here. It is the nexus- no, the heart, of my casino and everything it contains."

"Of COURSE it needs to be grand."

[Duke of URL]

"Deborah" (Cassandra)

"Of course," she laughs, "I should have guessed. Why not reserve the finest for yourself?"

[lostlittlebear]

@Cassandra:

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"She understands!"

Svard laughs delightedly.

"Tell you what, how would you like to see the security room - I need to head there anyway. It'll only be for a short while though, and you've got to promise not to touch anything."

[lostlittlebear]

@Myolan:

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Laughing, the guard tosses his axe aside.

"Well, at least you aren't as stupid as you look."

"I must say though, I'm impressed. Not many men are able to even land a blow on my in close combat."

"Any chance you're looking for a job?"

(OOC: You could've tried raging next time, might've helped! Also, just going for a straight attack rather than a sunder on the first round would have been better, considering he was flat-footed and you get sneak attack damage)

[Boo]

"Daggermouth" (Myolan)

@DM

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OOC:

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Y'see... I forgot. Yay! Noob!

"I already have a job." he replies, feeling his ribs for any fractures. He finds one, but stands tall. "I need to find information on thiss," showing the marked paper again, "and any connectionss to it in this cassino. Your ssecurity may be have corruption."

[lostlittlebear]

@Myolan:

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The man shrugs.

"I already told you, I don't know."

"If you change your mind about the job, though, feel free to approach me anytime."

[Boo]

"Daggermouth" (Myolan)

@DM:

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"Wait..." Myolan speaks, thinking on the advantages of the position, "How much does it pay?" If he can't gather information about the note, then he'll do the better thing and gather information for the real job.

[JackTR69]

Garnet
"Very well then, double or nothing."

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(2d6)[5]

[lostlittlebear]

@Myolan:

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"Well it's about 10 gp a week - 1 gp a day, but we get a 3gp bonus for deliveries once a week."

"I could work you into the delivery guard this week if you want a taste of the job. You'll get the bonus anyway."

@Garnet:

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The man smiles - lifting his dice cups, he reveals a 10.

"Looks like I win this round. But tell you what, why don't we double the stakes again. It'll give you a chance to recoup your losses!"

Without waiting for your answer, he begins rattling his dice cup again.

@Aleister:

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Something feels strange about that man's dice cup. You don't have much experience gambling, but the dice in his cup are making far too much noise to be the wooden dice they appeared to be.

[Boo]

"Daggermouth" (Myolan)

@DM

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For a moment he takes his thoughts into the air, then upon settling into his mind he speaks. "Ssoundss ssteady and good. More than my average work. I accept." Myolan bows formally, cringing slightly to the fractured feeling in his chest. Part of him really wants to kill that man. A small part, but nonetheless violent.

If the guard captain wishes to shake hands Myolan will oblige him.

[lostlittlebear]

@Myolan

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The captain shakes your hand heartily.

"Good, I'll let you know on the day itself - movement times are kept strictly secret, so don't plan anything this week. Any address where I can contact you? I'd suggest a tavern you frequent if you're adverse to telling me your private residence."

[Boo]

Daggermouth

@DM

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"What if I meet you here? I don't like Taverns." Too many people.

[lostlittlebear]

@Myolan:

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"I don't mind, but how will I tell you which day to meet? Unless you don't mind coming round every day?"

[Boo]

Daggermouth

@DM

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"I have no jobs coming up. It's a slow month."

[DragoonWraith]

Aleister
Aleister positions himself so that he can look at the man's cup with his Detect Magic while pretending to continue to examine the door. When he's ascertained what, if any, magic is going on there, he casts another spell - again appearing to be analyzing the door. This time it's Detect Thoughts, and he's paying attention to the guard.

[JackTR69]

Garnet
"You play to my weaknesses, I can never pass up another throw."

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(2d6)[5]

Watching the numbers turn up against him again, Garnet looks up at the guard. "One more. This time, let us switch dice, as a show of good faith."

[lostlittlebear]

@Myolan:

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"Come at 8 each morning then, I'll keep an eye out for you."

@Aleister:

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No magic appears to be afoot.

The man's surface thoughts appear to be ruled by greed, avarice, and a certain amount of embarrassment.

You pick up a strong vibe that screams "sucker" at you.

@Garnet:

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The man blushes slightly as he hears your offer.

"What, no! This is my lucky pair! Surely you wouldn't dream of molesting another gamblers pair of die! Where have you been gambling these years anyway? They certainly didn't teach you manners there."

[DragoonWraith]

Aleister
Maintaining Detect Thoughts, Aleister turns from the door and looks at the guard.

In a stern, grim tone, Aleister denounces the man, Naberius's voice giving his voice that much more menace. "You now have a problem. From what I understand, Mr. Svard expects gamblers to be paying him, not the other way around. I cannot imagine that gambling with visitors is what he pays you for. More importantly, this is a casino, and casinos, from what I have heard, have very... pointed opinions on cheaters. There's quite an elaborate set-up on the front door to prevent them from entering. Sneaking in a set of loaded dice is the sort of thing that gets you dragged to a back room and spoken to... sharply. You may not have been on the floor, but I rather think Mr. Svard doesn't even want such things on the premises at all. Honestly, you shouldn't be worried about leaving with your job; that is pretty much hopeless. Right now, you need to be worrying about leaving this building with functioning knees.

"More importantly, I'm rather not inclined to help you any. You don't strike me as the most useful guard, and if I invest money in this place, I want the guards to be competent. You're replaceable, and you'll probably be replaced by someone who does your job better than you do.

"So I really do not feel much like helping you out. But, just maybe, we can come to an agreement. I still have my doubts about this place, and perhaps you can help me enough that I'll overlook this little transgression. Trust me when I say your employer will not. What do you say?"

[lostlittlebear]

@Aleister/Garnet:

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The guard in question flushes, hurriedly hiding his dice cup, even as the other guards watch him and laugh.

"They caught ya out on that one, Simmons."

"I did always tell you to stop fleecing our customers!"

"What goes around comes around, mate."

Sheepishly, Simmons returns the money he's taken from Garnet.

"Hey, guys, I'm sorry. But it was just a little joke, no harm done, right? Mr. Svard doesn't really have to know about it, does he? I was planning to return the money after, honest!"

"Just tell me what I'd have to do to keep this little incident hidden."

[DragoonWraith]

Aleister
"Well, as you know, I am considering investing in this establishment. It's like gambling, except everyone's bluffing about everything. So I want to know what cards Mr. Svard is keeping close to his chest. Does he really have a winning hand, or is he trying to play one with crap?

Everyone will always tell you that they're security is perfect, but it never is. Everyone will always tell you that they're making a fortune and there's no better place to put your money, but there's always risks, always deals that might sour or debts that might have to be paid unexpectedly.There are reasonable risks I'm willing to take, but since no one here will ever tell me anything but that everything is perfect, I can't know if the risks are reasonable. It is why I come in and inspect things, because I cannot trust people to tell me about the problems.

"So I want to know - how is the security really around here? What weaknesses are there, where are the guards lazy or what doors don't get watched as well as they should? What risks does Mr. Svard himself take? Skimping on magical protection, underpaying the guards, what?

"And what about this operation itself - does it really make enough money to cover all the money Mr. Svard has been throwing around? Has he been forced to engage in any shady dealings, make any bad decisions that he wouldn't have wanted to make? I understand that down here you might not know that kind of thing, but surely the employees talk; what are the rumors? Those things you're not supposed to tell people like me?"

[lostlittlebear]

@Aleister/Garnet:

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The man shakes his head.

"Worth more 'than my life to sell my employer out 'n tell ya the security weakpoints. If he finds out I cheated, he'll just fire me. Rat on 'im, and 'e'll kill me."

"I can tell ya though that we always get paid on time. 'E's never been late, not even once."

"'ow 'bout I just pay you double the money I took. That should satisfy you, eh?"

"I can pay ya back by Thursday, when we get our bonus."

[DragoonWraith]

Aleister
"Hmm, I believe you misunderstand me. I'm not trying to get a breakdown of the security checkpoints and how one might bypass them; I'm just wondering if the security here is as strong as everyone claims it is. Because, frankly, it does not seem to be, and that concerns me. I'm well aware that nowhere is perfect - and I invest in imperfect places. But I need a better sense of just how imperfect the place actually is. I am not asking you to rat your employer out; in reality, I want to help your employer, because from what I hear he could use the money. But I'm not going to just throw my money away, which is why I need the real deal - I know this place isn't perfect, but if it's reasonably secure, then we're in business. But no one will admit to anything, so I don't even know if it is reasonably secure, all I know is that they'll claim anything to get my money. Which is the way of things.

"Look, I'll be honest; this is not exactly the first time this sort of thing has happened. It's part of the reason I don't just come down here by myself, that I allow him to gamble with you, or another associate to chat with the waitresses, or whatever else. It's pretty common, and it gives us an opportunity to get the kind of honest information we can't get otherwise. It's perfectly normal business proceedings - like I said, it's all a big game and everyone's playing all their advantages. This is part of the game. You're not supposed to get caught, but you're also supposed to get that information. I'm absolutely certain your employer does the same when he invests in other businesses.

"So, what do you say, instead of you paying me double your take, I pay each of you triple the take, in addition to what you've already got, if you'll do me, and your employer, this small favor?"

[lostlittlebear]

@Aleister/Garnet:

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Hearing Aleister's offer, Simmons licks his lips. Opening his mouth, he appears to be about to speak, but his eyes dart furtively to either side and he falls silent again.

"We don't reveal trade secrets, not even for triple pay! Now shove off!"

Stepping forward, he leans towards Aleister and gives him a hard push.

@Aleister:

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As the man leans toward you, he whispers in your ear.

"Meet me in the Grey Goose tonight and I'll tell you what you want to know."

After passing his message, he gives you a hard push to disguise his actions.

[DragoonWraith]

Aleister
Aleister shrugs. "Fine, your loss. I think you are greatly overestimating the magnitude of the favor I ask, but so be it."

[JackTR69]

Garnet
"If you will excuse us, I think we will take our leave of you. Aleister, I think we should have a word with their boss."

[DragoonWraith]

OOC:

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Unless that last bit was whispered to me, that would seem rather out of place - a bodyguard does not normally speak to his employer like that. Not to mention, we don't really want to be threatening them, or they're also likely to go to their boss.