AvB - Ishmael

[Monodominant]

"He must be really sick if the door is designed to only open from inside... "
said Ishmael softly. "Anyway. Is there someone there now? i would not want to disturb a sick man. Also tell me your story. Who are you really and what is so important that makes you an amazing apothecary but also can be your doom! And in the end what do you prefer, being left as just another young kid as you said or being dead?"

[planswalker]

"I am an apothecary, I was born 14 years ago in the city of Glasken. Four years ago, I uncovered a secret that many would kill me for, and that secret enabled me to learn well in advance of my years. I seek now only to aid the sick and stay out of trouble. If someone has accused me of something, let me ask, was it the church of Pelor that confirmed it was me who committed the crime worthy of death but cannot be properly convicted by the law?"

"As for the sick room, it is unoccupied at the moment. If you wish to see it, you may. My door only opens from the inside, at least so it seems. The method for opening it from this side is hidden, to prevent delirious patients from wandering in. And the sickroom is similarly hidden to ensure that overly concerned relatives do not go against my orders, disturb the patient's rest, and infect themselves. Most of the time, though, I allow patients to be visited by family at any time."

"I would prefer to simply be allowed to live. Whatever you've heard about me, I simply wish to live in peace and heal the sick."

[Monodominant]

Spoiler

Show

I hope you are making constant sense motives for me. In the mean time i prove to myself once again how hard it is to play evil character without feeling bad!

Ishmael considered the words of the young boy for a moment. He was conflicted. On one hand the kill would bring money and also honor but the boy was right. There was more at stake here.

" I am unsure if the Church of Pelor is involved but they may be. What do they have to gain out of this though? Why are they your enemies? What you told me buys you at least time. My employer was told by someone that you had harmed him though he did not know it for himself so you may be speaking the truth. How do you explain though that rumors say you were here in the past?" Ishmael paused for a moment.

"Would you be able to make a cure for someone who has suffered loss of their wisdom due to an attack from an undead creature? And also would you be willing to show me your secret without trickery and then leave this city? If I hold your secret and now I can destroy you should you return I could allow you to leave and let them think you are dead. You will need to stay hidden for some time, lay low and change your name and start again somewhere else. You can continue to help those in need that way and I dont jeopardise my name and career. And if you tell me details about the Pelor thing I can investigate it." he paused and waited for his answer.

[planswalker]

"So the person was told by someone, probably through a 'divination', something along the lines of 'Reich caused your pain'. Am I correct so far? They want the secret I now possess, and are willing to kill and deceive anyone they have to to get it."

"As to me being here in the past.... that has to do with the secret I am protecting. I truly was born only 14 years ago. However, a young man of about my age has been in possession of this secret and come by this city several times in history. Always famous for being boy geniuses, and all of them my ancestors."

"Such remedies are possible, but not even I can craft them entirely through mundane arts, proved the wisdom was drained away entirely and not merely temporarily harmed. It can be done, and I would do it for only the cost of the materials themselves. No one should have to live life like that."

"As for showing you the secret.... that is not possible. If I entrusted it to you, I would have to pass away upon completing it. You then would become the bearer of the secret, and the Church would target you. You'll forgive me if I'd rather die at your hands than trust you and be killed either way. The man sent to assassinate me is hardly a prime candidate to inherit the secret."

"As to the details of the church of Pelor, first let me ask you a question, what do you know of them?"

[Monodominant]

"Admittedly not much. But if I am not mistaken he is one of the good guys generally speaking. I do not know much about his aspects, I am only familiar with the God I serve with my profession and do not know much of other religions. To answer your question though yes, a divination was performed that identified you as the killer. But given what you told me , that your ancestor was here before then it is possible that it was one of them that did it!" he said with a soft smile.

"As for my employer. The undead creature, an Allip, murdered her partner and also drained most of her sanity away. As far as I know that is pretty permanent. To show you I trust you I can tell you that the mission came from the dead man. I dont know if it is just because she is crazy but it was the voice of the man that died that spoke through her asking for your death. If part of him lives through her her or she is just deranged I know not." he paused for a moment considering the bows words.

"But listen here Reich. Do not confuse my spending time to here you out as kindness. I do not ask you to give me your secret but tell me what it is about. Some formula or other or some kind of tome with all that knowledge? The Church of Pelor already knows about it as you said. And though I am indeed an Assassin you see now I have listened to you and almost changed my mind. Do not tempt me now at the end. So answer these last few questions and my previous offer stands. You get to live just as long as you leave. You get to practice your gift just as long as you prepare the cure for my employer and you tell me what you know about The Church and your Secret."

[planswalker]

He pauses for a moment, sighs, and says, "Well, everything you know about Pelor is wrong. He seems quite good on the surface, and his followers do many good deeds, but beneath their thick skins of charity lies a core of corruption and evil. The drain from an allip is permanent, yes, but not irreversible. Powerful magic can undo it, and it is not outside the budget of a noble family, especially one that can afford to hire divinations and assassins, as well as take care of a disabled family member. That is, unless the local church of healing has priced it beyond what they can afford, but not outside what is theoretically possible."

"I have witnessed high-ranking priests within that church summon forth demons and use them to drag their enemies' souls to hell. They seek the secret I now possess because it has a power which, when fully awoken, would allow one to enslave the celestials themselves. Its protection is a contract that binds the bearer into the role of guardian. The church knows of the secret, but they do not possess the knowledge within. Should they do so, all heaven would bow at their feet, and the earth tremble."

"If me leaving this city and keeping my secret elsewhere will satisfy your honor and allow me to live, I might as well. It is a shame, though. For the one who is to inherit my mantle should I be killed was born in this city two years ago. I will of course prepare the cure for your employer before I leave. Although I do not mean to take advantage of the situation and make a profit, the reagents for the cure will cost me eight thousand gold, and I do not have such funds available to me."

[Monodominant]

Spoiler

Show

does he really say noble family? Cause I never said anything like that?

"Who said anything about a noble family?" he asked suspiciously not remembering to have said they were nobles.

"In this city life is cheap. One can hire assassins for a pitance. In any case your story does sound a bit far fetched. Though I can believe a church is out for profit and may be corrupt all this demon stuff just does not fit anything I have heard. Why does their god strike then down if they do all these things?" Ishmael paused and tried to consider his options. All this was too much. He should have just killed the kid and moved on. Now that he knew all this it was hard to act properly.

He breathed out and started to explain how things would work out. "Okay kid. For the person that can take your place tell me his name and I will look after him. Should you feel threatened its up to you to trust me enough to send me your secret and I will pass it on to him. Otherwise do as you please. The leaving the city part is if the woman is not cured. Should she get better then I can tell her the truth and you can stay. But realise that if the church can do this once they can do it again and this time hire an assassin that does not stop to talk. Even worse they may just hire someone who is devoted to them and wont even need payment so you are better off leaving, changing name and not being so obvious about how amazing your gift is. Being thought dead will also help. For the potion now. I also dont have 8000 as you can imagine. But I am sure you at least have something. So tell me how much you can put from your pocket, call it reward for not killing you, and I will attempt to go to the family and convince them to give me the rest . For that to work you must stay here today as I will tell them I kept you alive when I found in your notes a cure. So I will untie you and you can stay in your patient room after you saw me how to let you out. i will leave you water and food and anything else you need to start working on the potion. How does that sound? I know its not the best deal in the world but its the best you have and I am already stretching my self here." he said and waited for the boys responce.

[planswalker]

"If they were not nobility, then they would not have been able to support an invalid. Merchant houses would have either payed whatever the cost was or have sent her away from the city to rest comfortably. Only a noble family would be forced to keep the person within the city. None but a powerful merchant or noble would be rich and connected enough to hire an assassin from the Flint, which your little hint about not being able to speak of the contract gave away. Really, if you thought with your head instead of your knife, you'd have been able to figure out all this for yourself."

"Believe me or not, but either way, I find your deal acceptable. The girl's name is Selina Tanneria. She'd be two years old now."

[Monodominant]

"Insulting the person that lets you live despite his orders is not a good idea. Anyway, I shall return as Soon as I have the money. If anyone opens this door I suggest you cower and act afraid as there is a chance the servant may want to come with me. Take what you need from your shop, show me how to open and close and I shall be on my way. Believe me I do not plan to let you die and you have my word I shall look after the girl. Thank you for telling me this information and I am sorry things are like this... I shall look into the Church though and if I find evidence of what you saw... Well lets just say you may return earlier than you may have thought. "

And with that and assuming he complies and does as told and agreed Ishmael leaves hidden just like he came and heads for his employers residence taking the usual precautions.

Once there he knocks on the back door politely and waits.

[planswalker]

Christolph does exactly as the two of you agreed.

The butler answers, "Do you have news of progress?"

[Monodominant]

"I do" spoke the assassin as he stepped inside.

"I wish to speak to you in confidence as last time we spoke you really did seem to have the Lady's interest at heart." He said and made a long pause to show the man that he was serious.

"I have learned alot during the short time since we last spoke. To cut a long story short though I will tell you that it is not accidental that the Church of Pelor asked for such a high price... and let me guess it was also they that provided the divination for your Lady and for Mr. Squiggles." he waited for a moment to see if the servant confirmed it or not and then continued.

"All this will become relevant in due time but there is something more important right now. During the time I was performing my mission I found something in the targets home. A recipe or something that may be able to restore the Lady's sanity and cure her. I interrogated the target and have kept him alive as I thought this may be far too important a chance to throw away. The problem is with the materials. They are expensive, not incredibly so and definetly not worth as much as her title and estates that the Church asked for. Since I believe you care for her and since I am sure almost everything else has been tried I come to you to ask that you give this cure a try... there is something that makes me believe in it and it wont harm her. As this comes very close to sounding like a scam, though I have signed the contract at the Flint and that should show you my intentions, I can offer one of my expensive magical items as collateral so that if the potion does not work you have something to make up for the cost. After the cure is created and we see if it works or not I shall get rid of the target on my own way to fulfill the mission and all I ask is that if the Lady is sane she remembers the services I have performed for her and she repays the favor in any way she wants. Also consider before you make your decision what this could mean for her and for her name and family, it is a small gamble worth taking..." Ishmael spoke quickly the urgency and also his own interest in the case evident.

He had thought what he would say as he had come here and had as such told no lies but the full truth to ensure that no shadow of doubt would cloud the man's opinion of him.

[planswalker]

"Indeed it was. What of it? They are the church that most openly sells its spellcasting services to the general public."

Upon your further words, his eyes grow hard and determined. "If there is any chance of her regaining her sanity, I will take it. However, be warned that if this house has managed to hire out one assassin, do not be surprised if another is hired should this prove to be a trick."

[Monodominant]

Ishmael nods firmly.

"I fear the Church of Pelor may have vested interest in this but we should investigate only after we get her Ladyship cured not to raise suspision"

Returning to the subject of the potion he continues.

"As I said I would understand if you dont trust me. All I offer is a chance and my item as a collateral. Should it prove a failure then I will have been tricked just like you will have been but you will the magic to make up for the lost money while I will only have the reward for the kill. Still, I do believe what I was told to be true and the information I have gathered does point to a man with relatively good intentions. It remains to be seen but I do have information on someone close to him that he cares about so if it proves not to work I shall punish him. I will deliver the money to him and monitor him to see if he starts working. I shall return with the potion as soon as possible."

Assuming the butler gives me the money I give as "collateral" the cloak with the hide effect. It is also worth 9000 so indeed it should be good enough.

Ishmael then departs the house. He goes to the end of the street and hides once again and monitors the house for about 10-15 minutes to make sure the butler doesnt sneak out not sure if he can entirely trust the man.

Once that time passes he looks for a messenger boy and tasks him to take a short letter to Jezleen. The letter is as follows

"I greet you this fine Saturday morning and hope that you shall grace me with your presence near the park at Scale Street for an afternoon under the sun. I shall provide sustenance if you shall provide the pleasure of your company no later than 15.30".

That done he heads back to the apothecary but first makes a couple of circles around the place to check if anyone is watching it or anything seems amiss despite the fact that it is still early morning. When he is sure he enters, releases Reich and looks at him.

"Here is the money. Do what you have to do and do it quick. How long will the brewing take? I will not wait here but I will be wathching you. So far I have shown as much kindess I can show, please do not make me regret it. Also as can be expected the family threatened me that like they hired me, they can hire others to end both of us..."

[Monodominant]

Spoiler

Show

I forgot to make rolls for these...

I will make a hide and MoS for the whole "monitoring" business and if you require anything else let me know...

(1d20+27)[45]
(1d20+20)[40]

Also on a side note... this quote is making me change my "evil" alignment bit by bit!!!

[planswalker]

The butler gives you the money and takes the cloak as collateral.

"Gotta love politics in Aldaven. That sounds about right for a noble family. I'll have the preliminary work done by tomorrow, the brewing itself will take 12 hours after that. I'll have it ready by tomorrow night, provided none of my regular patients come down with something life-threatening. Even then, it'll be ready by midday the next day."

He begins at once to work on the potion.

[Monodominant]

"Thank you. I wish things were diffrent Christopher but they are as they are..."

Ishmael will spend a little time lurking around the house in the shadows monitoring the progress and ensuring noone out of the ordinary bothers the man.

Once he is satisfied that noone watches the house he goes to the market and selects interesting and tasty foods for his picnic. He looks for a fine quality wine, fresh vegetables and good quality meats as well as fresh bread and tops it all with sweets and pastries from the local market. He feels rejuvenated by what he perceives as a good act and even tips a street urchin that begs for money. He finishes he shopping trip by stopping at the Rough to pick up the pendant he had ordered.

If all is well and the pendant is fine he returns to Scale Street and spies the house until 15.00 when he heads to the nearby park to wait for Jezleen.

[planswalker]

All goes well four our intrepid hero. One might start suspecting things of going too well, should they be paranoid...

Jezleen shows up at 15:22 in a pink summer dress. It looks odd not to see her in something menacing, seductive, formal, or a combination of the three.

"Hope you don't object to the wardrobe choice." She says in her usual tone with a hint of danger as she gracefully sits down beside you.

[Monodominant]

Ishmael was indeed worried about how come things had worked out. He felt like he was in the calm before the storm. Somehow he was worried that Reich would cheat him, the client would turn against him, the Church would find out he knew, Jezleen would get bored of him, the Flint owner would learn he was working to learn his secrets and also end up learning the Aasimar was the mother of five young kids that were now orphaned and without any luck in the world.

But for now he put all this worried, scared tumble of thoughts a bit to the side. Putting it out completely was impossible cause indeed Aldhaven was getting to him. He had not even enjoyed the first kill in the city and he felt weird.

He looked at the girl as she approached and rose to his feet to greet her.

Spoiler

Show

I actually forgot about that, if you will allow I will have changed into one of my spare outfits to be in fresh clothes...

"I do not. You look wonderfull and I am glad you made it. I know you said you would like something special and I hope special does not mean extravagant. I prepared for something I have not had for a long time which is a calm, day at the sun without worrying" he said smiling up at her.

"Also, before we begin, I have something for you. Its small and its not that fancy but I think it fits you..." he said and unwrapped the small box that had the amulet in it.

[planswalker]

She eyes it, snatches it out of your hand, and plants a very wet kiss on your mouth before you realize what's going on. "You're the first person to actually just give me something without expectng anything back since my mother died." She said. She ten pauses long enough to actually look at the gift. "So, are rabbits special to you in some way?"

[Monodominant]

Ishmael loses his speech for a good few seconds. It has been a long time since he has been kissed and he is still unsure if the last time was part of that girls exam in seduction while still part of the Order in the Guild.

He tries to start the sentence but falls short and simply smiles trying to regroup.

"Well... its not a lizard... or its not supposed to be" he says and takes a look... "its a hare. Hare's are free-range big rabbits. They are much faster than rabbits and in popular fiction where I come from we always consider them female... they represent, speed, agility and freedom. There are many tales about the hare that jumps over the fire but does not get burned because she is faster and more fierce than the flames themselves... I thought of it when I saw you fight that huge thing and weave around him..." he says losing his words again.

"In any case, I find it amazing to hear noone has ever gotten you anything! And well to be honest... this one is just a small token... it comes from your labors so I can only promise to get you something to top it later on! So, what does your palete fancy? Drinks, foods? I tried to get a nice spread for us" he said opening the basket he had brought.

[planswalker]

Spoiler

Show

erm, retcon time. Make that lizard a rabbit. same principle, but I'd misremebered which odd anmal my pc's are using. One guy is all about lizards, you're all about hares.

"Let's start off with a drink. As for gifts, I've been given 'gifts' before, but they always came with strings attached. Either before or after."

[Monodominant]

Spoiler

Show

No worries! I am not ALL about rabbits though ;) its just cause I read a Terry Pratchett book and really like the imagery and the real life story about the hare's outrunning the fire!

"No, dont worry about that. No strings are attached and I do mean it. Just relax and enjoy the day" he said as he filled her glass from the wine he had purchased. "I hope you find it to your liking" he said as he rose his glass to her and turned to face the sun for a moment.

"I do feel priviledged for sitting here with you. I had one yet one more interesting day, with all that it entails on my line of business, and I really needed this to be able and focus on what is important. Anything exciting happening to you?" he said as he drunk from his own glass.

[planswalker]

She drank from her own as the conversation continued. "Well, honestly, it was a pretty uneventful day. The client this time is a religious fellow, and he's rather picky about the sort of person who is allowed to take the job. I had to turn away twelve perfectly good candidates."

[Monodominant]

As more wine was consumed Ishmael brought out the treats. He carefully and orderly layed them about their small area ranging from cheeses, meats and other Aldhaven and imported delicacies and lastly the various sweeter options. He smiled pleased with himself and looked at her with anticipation.

"Well... coming from a... family with religious background I have to say you should be careful. Religious types are always weird and some times worrysome bordering scary. One of my mentors used to say that there are few things worse than the glint of fervor in a mans eyes." He said with a sad smile remembering the various lectures they had in the Order about why a blade for money was better than a blade for money, religion or simple madness or worse cruel pleasure.

"My day as I said was interesting. As time passes I get to know more of this city. It is beautiful, intriguing and interesting and if you turn many corners there is a more dangerous curve to be found... much like you in a way" he said and laughed softly.

"What are the most crazy things you have heard while living here?" he said and in general asked her about aspects of the city she had seen while living here.

[planswalker]

She enjoys the food, as well as the company. "Well, the absolute craziest thing I've heard is that the skulks keep killing people in the city and snatching their bodies to perform some omnicidal ritual." She turns and looks at you. "Ever heard of something like that?"

[Monodominant]

"Well... thats family business and I shouldnt talk about it." he says seriously for a moment and then break a smile.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know its not funny but hey, I do have to make light of the fact that I am one of them. I have heard that the docks is a bad place to be at night and that there is a fairly large and dangerous gang operating and I did hear about this supposed dark plot with the ritual thing but as a generic bad rumor than as something concerete. I am sure if it was more concrete one of the Churches would do something about it... as we said, all the self-righteous need to keep busy. Church of Pelor or Cuthbert or Heironeous would be involved if it was more substantial" he said considering what he had learned today.


" I thought about going out there to see what the local skulk community is like but... well... we are not elves you know." he said making a pause.

"Not to say that elves are always these happy jumping bright people but they do have a reputation and so do we... and in our case its bad for a reason. So I am worried that if I do go to meet them then I am stuck with them and nice as it may be to stick around with your own for mutual protection and all that its not really my cup of tea. Plus so far I have not faced the racism I have come to expect from humans... and by being out here in the open I met you... though I guess the disguise helped!" he said and looked at her.

[planswalker]

"Indeed it did. Althoguh it was unmasking it which earned you the first date."

"Speaking of family, what of yours? I assume that Ishmael had a Daddy Skulk and a Mommy skulk somewhere down the lines that taught him to be invisible."

[Monodominant]

"Yes, some times a disguise opens doors, some times hiding behind it closes them" he said and smiled.

For a moment the smile fades though as the conversation goes back to family

"Well, the disfunctional family is always a cliche it seems but this is one more case where it is true. My father was a hired hand for a large cattle rancher. My mother was essentially a servant but more like a slave since she was openly a skulk. Eventually my father revealed his identity to her, as he had been hiding his nature, and they tried to leave together. Well, their... master did not like that and put a bounty on them" he pauses again for a moment and breathes out.

"It did not take long that despite their running and hiding and changing appearance they were eventually found. My father was killed protecting her and she managed to escape. Well I was born on the road and as you can imagine a lone skulk woman with a small skulk baby do not attract sympathy but they do attract attention. The first years of my life were spent begging and stealing... our natural talents allowing me to be very effective until I met Master Tulip. He caught me and punished me severely for attempting to steal his golden watch... it would have fed us for weeks." he looked away from her, embarrased by his own story and then looking down he continued.

"At least from that time of shame something good came. I guess I had impressed Master Tulip because he took me and mother in. I was given schooling and education at a ... college lets say and my mother worked there as a house keeper. Her talents allowed her to pass unoticed which was what Master Tulip wanted of her, to not annoy the dignitaries and not even raise an eyebrow from the nobles that occasionally visited him. I on the other hand was soon put forward for an apprentiship in ... well in an Order of that college and several years later... here I am. Mother is still working there, it beats being on the street but as you can imagine, catering to the needs of powerfull men and maintaining their secrets is a job that does not allow for a lot of freedom". He looked up at her having finished his origin story and waiting to hear what she had to say.

[planswalker]

"Quite the dream family you've got there. Never knew my mother. Died giving birth. Dad was a psycho cultist I thrashed and ran away from soon as I was old enough to know where to kick a man and make it hurt. Been wandering the streets of various towns as I grew up. Landed myself in a couple nasty scrapes, but nothing my fists couldn't get me out of. Until I came to this wretched town and got caught up in the affairs here. Luckily, Joss found me and saw potential in me. Got me out of there, how I don't know, and he got me into the Flint."

[Monodominant]

"Hehe, brought together by similarly bad pasts. Well, lets drink to bright futures!" He said and rose his glass finishing his wine and eating some of the sweets.

"I admit the Flint intrigues me. From what I understood there are dozens of girls working there and I wonder if all have a similar past like yours and why they only choose women! Also, is it not a bit strange job for a woman? I wonder how some of the girls deal with the fact they arrange such contracts every day... is the money that good or what?" he said curious about how it worked!