Greed is Good (IC)

[The Orange Zergling]

Thorus wordlessly swallows his irritation, trying not to let it show on his face. The worst part was, he couldn't even contest it; it was the perfectly fair luck of the draw. He didn't brood on it for very long, though. He knew he'd come out ahead in the end. Maybe it would take a week, or a month, or a year, but he knew. He takes out his coin pouch and slides the appropriate amount to the sailor. The next time the barmaid comes around, he orders an ale to wash the eventual food down with.

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I'm also fine with progressing to this evening.

[Destro_Yersul]

The Dead Man's Chest

The next time the barmaid came around, it was with plates of freshly fried oysters. Thorus got his drink after a moment or two more, the sailor leaving with his money at about the same time. After that, it was just the two merchants, the fire having quite thoroughly dried them off from the rain outside. It was still coming down, beating at the windows, but inside the inn was warm and dry.

Alec

The pirate found Adrian inside the wagon with a chunk of driftwood he must have picked up from the beach at some point. The boy was hiding from the rain, and trying to carve the wood with his knife. He wasn't very good at whittling, Alec could see, but it was a valiant effort nonetheless.

"Rain is wet, sir," he said jokingly, looking up at Alec's question. "I've been trying to carve this, but it's pretty slow going. Spent a lot of today running errands for folks in the caravan. Getting food, mostly. That guard, Dayne, I think, is recovering well after the fight. Offered to show me how to use a bow, once it stops raining so much. There's not too much to do around here, especially in this storm. Noticed you helping out on one of the boats, though."

OOC:

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Yeah, think that abou wraps things for now. Soon as this conversation is done, and once Cecily and Indrys finish theirs, we can advance to Cecily's concert.

[Sophistemon]

Indrys looks at her with a vacant expression once she's finished reciting the lines, slightly dumbfounded by the inclusion of his contribution to the battle. To make such a meager thing seem so grandiose and impressive, especially considering that Thorus would have simply knocked the bandit's head from his shoulders anyway... He blinks and grins at her, his thin lips parting to show small white teeth. "I... er, yes!" he eventually stutters out. "I really rather like that, Cecily. Thank you!" A blush spreads like a fading bruise across his pale cheeks and he quickly turns away. "I... er, I think that you may be over-emphasizing my contribution to the event, however. The bandit-leader would have had his cranium crushed forthwith, despite my interference."

[Gullara]

Cecily giggles at his reaction, enjoying the effect her words had on him thoroughly. "You are far too modest, you know that, Indrys? Sure, maybe Thorus could have dealt with the bandit himself, but the point is that you did. And with some very impressive magic under pressure I might add." She says with a grin.

[Blarghy]

"Indeed I did. It brought back some nice memories."

Alec takes a seat on the wagon floor and observes Adrian's progress. "If you met Dayne, then you learned a name, and I imagine you met others as well, through the errands. It's important to know your traveling partners. You might consider getting to know them better when an opportunity arises. As you've seen with Dayne, almost anyone you meet can teach you something if you ask. The wide variety of merchants in this caravan offers a grab-bag of all kinds of skills, in addition to the guards. Any long-term member has also been to nearly every corner of the continent; they can tell you about distant lands and cultures to prepare you for your own visits, or just for personal enlightenment. Furthermore, most people like talking about themselves, unless they distrust you. It's a good way to make friends."

That aside, Alec is pleased to see Adrian working on a skill that he's no good at. Being taught is fine, but just doing things is a wonderful way to learn, if you have the patience to keep at it through failure (a lesson in itself). The boy's coming along nicely.

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Training Gather Information and possibly Diplomacy, if you're feeling generous. Furthermore, if Adrian takes his advice, that could train Knowledge (Local), among other possibilities.

[Sophistemon]

He nods, and hides his pleased smile by taking a drink. "Well," he says, once he's set the cup back down, "I suppose that I haven't yet forgotten everything that my professors taught me back at the University." He shifts in his seat and smooths out the wrinkles of his pants. "I am flattered, though, by your inclusion. I would not have thought of myself as a hero... I just assisted where and when I could." Before fleeing, that is. But it's probably best that it not be mentioned. "I am actually very excited to perform. I've never done anything like this before... it's an exhilarating proposition."

[Gullara]

"I really enjoy it myself. It's fun, especially when you have a good crowd. So try to have a good time with it. You never know, maybe we'll get a chance to do this again sometime." Cecily says with a smile at the thought.

[Sophistemon]

The elf nods, but his face has become slightly more solemn. "It is a shame," he muses, "that I am only capable of performing like this once a day at maximum..." He sighs. "I really should be studying more often, or at the very least engaging in more occasional practice." He shudders, them, and laughs. "Although preferably not against bandits! I cannot imagine why people would set out to be adventurers - I've already taken an arrow in the thigh for my troubles, and it could have been much, much worse. Between you and me, if you give me a warm hearth to study by, I'm the world's happiest elf."

[Gullara]

Cecily laughs a little bit. "Oh, I know what you mean. Being on the wrong end of a bow and arrow more than once isn't exactly how I'd want to spend my life." She rubs her chest where the arrow had plunged into it. It's still sore today. "Although I do like travel enough that I wouldn't want to spend all my time in one place. Not many get a chance to see the world."

[Destro_Yersul]

Alec

"I'll probably talk to Dayne more tomorrow. No work to do, with all this rain, and he said it's better for practice without bad weather. At least at first, I'm guessing." Carefully, Adrian took another chip of wood off the chunk he was working on. "How about you?" he asked. "What did you learn today?"

Seemed he had, at least, picked up on how to ask questions.

[Blarghy]

"That our smith can weaponize flutes," he answers with dry amusement, glad that Adrian's somewhat inquisitive. "So be wary of any musical instruments you find lying around in the caravan. They might bite when you try to play them."

Alec leans back, steeples his fingers, and continues more seriously, "Mister Pickthrower's latest creation teaches me that he's uncommonly skillful with small work and has a strange sense of creativity--the best kind. The way he worked for two days and a night not for Mister Tallhelm but to promote his own interests tells me he's driven and ambitious. I think he's the sort of person to not just look for opportunities, but to make them."

All of this would be more comforting if Glaffin was on his side. Still, they got along well enough earlier. Maybe his worries about the priest interfering were mostly exaggerated; so long as he doesn't bring his activities directly to Glaffin's attention, the smith might turn a blind eye to them anyway. That's an arrangement Alec can live with.

[Destro_Yersul]

Alec

"That's probably the sort of person you want as a merchant." Adrian said, focusing his attention back on his piece of driftwood. "Sort you want working on your own things, too. How'd he weaponise a flute? I mean, if you made it sturdy enough you could use it like a club, but that doesn't sound like the sort of thing that'd need a lot of fiddly bits."

[Blarghy]

Recalling its weight, he replies, "You could brain someone with it, I'm sure. It was heavy--made of steel, too. But yes, his intent is to stab people. There's a blade that shoots from the end. Which, now that I think on it, makes me wonder if it could be played at all, let alone well, although if the audience ever complained, you'd be well-prepared to discipline them."

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Alec has heard what he wanted to hear, so now it's just down to friendly chatting. I'm ready to wrap it up and move forward whenever you are.

[Destro_Yersul]

Alec

"We'll probably find out if it can be played or not. Something like that, I figure he meant it to be used. Eventually," Adrian amended, taking another sliver of wood off his carving. He hadn't much else to say on the subject, intent on his work. If nothing else, Alec had apparently galvanised an interest in carving. THe pirate couldn't tell at the moment what the piece of driftwood was meant to be, but then it was nowhere near done, either.

Everyone ('Cept Glaffin, who be Sleeping)

The day wore on, turning to night with the incessant pounding of rain on the windows still the loudest sound in the Dead Man's Chest. It was a good night to stay inside, but the townsfolk had heard of the concert that was to be put on, whether by the mayor or some other channel, and half the town apparently had a mind to see it. The common hall in the Chest was packed, every chair and some of the tables being used as seating. Having a bard around was a handy thing for business, it seemed, especially in a sleepy little place like this. Grimfist was being kept busy fetching drinks or food for the many patrons, though with dinner time been and gone it was mostly drinks going around, and the smell of rum and ale pervaded the room.

There were few townspeople present that they hadn't already met, or seen at the caravan. Captain Danvers had stopped in, though the soldier wasn't drinking anything. Alec saw that the captain wore his sword, today, though what trouble he expected wasn't clear. Perhaps he thought there might be another conjured beast show up out of nowhere. Currently, he was sitting with the mayor, the two chatting idly and doing their level best to ignore Willam Tallhelm at the next table over, telling everyone who would listen how blessed with foresight he was to have hired Cecily right before, as he termed it, a 'major victory,' in his personal and highly daring war on all bandits everywhere. He was the last to hush up when it was time for Cecily to begin her song.

OOC:

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Skipping ahead here to keep the ball rolling. Ghar, ball's in your court right now. Everyone else, if you mean to contribute to the show or enact other plans, by all means do so.

[Blarghy]

Alec arrives some time before the performance, chooses a spot near the wall where he can see the door, and watches the crowd gradually file in, feeling increasingly pleased with himself at the nice turnout. Occasionally he nods to customers he met the day before, or townspeople he personally told about the concert; when the mayor and captain show up, he makes a point to speak with them at least briefly. It's important to be seen. Should anyone happen to wonder where he is later in the evening, he'll have left plenty of witnesses who know he was in The Dead Man's Chest at some point. If he stepped out for some fresh air and isn't available, then there's hardly anything suspicious about that.

The blacksmith provides an even more concrete excuse to leave. Alec lets the bar fill up before he approaches the other man, waiting shortly prior to Cecily taking the stage. It's a shame he won't actually hear her sing.

"Glad you could make it," he grins brightly to Axel. He starts counting out silver coins, paying by the handful. Every one of them will be well spent if his new spear keeps him from ending up face-down in the dirt again. "Glaffin won't be joining us, sadly. Two days at your forge wore him out."

[Destro_Yersul]

The smith laughed, setting aside the spear he was carrying and taking the silver as it was counted out. "I'm not surprised. Even dwarves need to rest sometimes, and he was working hard the whole time I was there. Give him my regards when he wakes up, those are some very nice tools he made."

Pocketing the coins, Axel picked up the spear again, offering it to the pirate. "Here. I finished it as quickly as I could, but it's not a rush job. It'll serve as well as any, when you need it." Indeed, the spear was a simple affair. A pointed metal cap on the end of a polished wooden haft, with strips of leather wrapped around the wood to serve as grips. It was a functional weapon, not built for flashyness.

"I had some extra time, so I embellished the gauntlet a little," Axel explained, handing that over as well. Lobstered metal plates overlapped each other in a standard design, found throughout the Kingdom. The spikes which gave the weapon its name extended from the plate that covered the back of the hand, above the knuckles. The embellishment the smith had mentioned took the form of etched lines traced across some of the larger plates. Aside from that, there was no special adornment.

"Hope they keep you safe on the road."

[Blarghy]

Both items meet with apparent approval, although Alec clinically notes the lack of a personal smith's mark that might've been used as advertisement. Some people just have no ambition. It's a shame that Glaffin's new tools won't be put to grander use than horseshoes and repair work.

"They can't hurt, that's for sure." Just to be safe, Alec tries on the gauntlet now to make sure it fits. "You should do this sort of thing more often. If you worked an arrangement out with Captain Danvers, you'd probably both profit." Alec's attention strays toward the military man, pointing out his table. "Something to think about. Anyway, enjoy the show; it's a little crowded in here to be waving a spear around, so I'll go store these outside before I impale somebody."

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Last chance for anyone who wants to talk to Alec before the show. Otherwise, hold your peace until after he finishes doing dastardly things with a lockpick.

Furthermore, I've updated my sheet. I've filled all my weapon slots, so I had to combine the short swords and daggers together, which amuses me. Alec's a walking armory. =P

[Destro_Yersul]

OOC:

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Dammit, Ghar, hurry up! Well, there's one thing I can respond to...

The gauntlet fit well, undoubtedly helped by the measurements the smith had taken earlier. "I'll consider it," Axel said, watching Alec try his new weapon. "I'll see if I can find a seat, then."

Nobody else seemed inclined to speak to Alec at the moment, and the pirate slipped outside to go stow his weaponry.

[Blarghy]

So far, so good.

With a farewell nod to the smith, Alec leaves the bar, hoping that no one besides Axel will even notice. He makes his way to the wagons at a forcibly-casual pace in spite of his building excitement; when was the last time he did something like this? Not since he joined Tallhelm, and probably not even since he met Indrys and Laelaer across the sea. It's hard to work with people watching--real work, anyway. In the interests of keeping exactly that from being an issue, Alec takes great care when he comes to the right coach. He eases open the side door, gently sets rattling gauntlet down, and uses his spear to hook the strap of his backpack. He drags it closer to retrieve a wrapped bundle. Thus prepared, he piles the bag and both weapons together by the wall without actually setting foot inside.

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Just for the hell of it:
Move Silently: (1d20+2)[11]

If Loktar is kind and sleeping dwarves stay that way, Alec leaves the wagon with as many snores as when he found it and goes to find a certain house across town.

[Gullara]

Cecily gives Indrys a smile, just off to the side. Show time. "Ready?" With that, she heads over to her place. The bard stands before the crowd and waits until the noise dies down. When the last voice quiets, she begins to sing.

On a fine summer morning down the road did we ride
With an open horizon, no men it did hide
But a stop in the forest proved quite fateful when
We caught a young scavenger, apples in hand

Cecily's voice rings out over the crowd, strong and clear. No one will have to strain to hear her; the song seems to fill the Chest.

But when we had him tied, with us he did plead
For just past the hills he spoke of a great need
His cart was in ruins, bandits were the cause
Men of blood and dishonor who followed no laws

So rather than sit there like ducks on a pond
We swore that we'd take them and our word was our bond
Five stalwart horses and five volunteers
Would outflank the bandits, put boots to their rears
While the rest of the guards hid in wagons with bows
We would show all these scoundrels the might of our blows

[Destro_Yersul]

Alec:

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Loktar, perhaps, saw fit not to upset the natural order of things this time. Glaffin was tired, his senses apparently dead to the world for now, and the dwarf did not wake.

Seabreak was almost as dead to the world - everyone in town, almost was over in the Dead Man's Chest. It said something about the place that nearly the entire population could fit in one building. Iskandar hadn't been there, but from the light glowing in the little brick building the pirate had a good idea of where he might be. They mayor had been in the tavern, though, and the mayor lived alone. His house, once Alec got to it, was dark and still.

Dead Man's Chest

Indrys, off to the side, nodded to Cecily. His job, while the bard was singing, was simple enough: enhance the song. The illusory accompanyments the elf added were enough to add another layer of depth, and the crowd was polite enough to stay quiet for now, watching and listening with attention.

Except for Grimfist. The dwarf was quiet, and he listened, but he still had work to do, providing drinks for the patrons.

[Blarghy]

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With the first stage of his plan passing so smoothly, Alec has to remind himself not to get overconfident. He makes a full circle around Martin's home when he reaches it, looking in the windows for advanced notice of the interior and checking for a back door. If he's lucky and has his choice of entrances, the pirate chooses whichever faces furthest away from the tavern. Either way, once he's studied the building during his first pass, Alec crouches by a door and unwraps his bundle. The clock's ticking.

He takes care with the sheets of paper, pens, and inkwell, setting them aside so he can pick the locksmith tools he needs. This is a job that can't leave signs; scratches on or around the lock are unacceptable, not to mention breaking anything, so the instruments Alec chooses are small and precise. With metal in each hand, he looks around again to make sure he isn't being watched and then gets to work.

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Open Lock rolls:
1: (1d20+8)[15]
2: (1d20+8)[10]
3: (1d20+8)[9]
4: (1d20+8)[22]
5: (1d20+8)[26]

[Destro_Yersul]

Alec

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The Mayor's house, or what he could see of it from the windows, was simple and well-ordered, though perhaps nicer than the rest of Seabreak. The building was single-level, as were most of them here, so the pirate was able to get a good look at nearly all of it before setting foot inside. There were six main rooms, from what he could see, and the windows were fixed in place - he wouldn't be able to get in through one of those. The front door looked to open into a sort of small foyer, with doors leading off to the rest of the house. Circling left, Alec could see a kitchen, though it didn't look like it was used often, and past that was a small study filled with bookshelves. There was a bedroom, at the back of the house, a room-sized space along one wall that had no windows on it, and a sitting room where, presumably, the mayor could entertain guests.

Fortunately, the kitchen came with a side door, facing away from the main road and hidden from sight by a stack of chopped firewood, and the pirate set to work on that. It took him a few moments, but the lock was a simple affair, and he was able to pop it open, letting himself in and closing the door behind him. He was in a room full of cupboards and shelves, and a little table with two chairs. The oven was wood-fired, but had a thin layer of dust over it. There wasn't much call for heat in spring and summer, even here by the ocean. One thing that hadn't been visible from the window was the wooden trapdoor in the floor, by the table. Aside from that, there was one door to the foyer, and one to the study.

[Blarghy]

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His first instinct, obviously, is to check out that trapdoor. Alec assumes it's a storage area, possibly a cold one, but he won't know unless he has a look. In the interests of being thorough, he makes a pass through the rest of the kitchen before turning his attention to the vertical opening and studying it for possible traps, very unlikely though those are.

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Search: (1d20+7)[22]

[The Orange Zergling]

Thorus sat in the audience at the Chest, arms folded, listening quietly. He wasn't exactly what you'd call an 'artsy' person, but he did make certain exceptions. And, while this wasn't the kind of thing he typically made an exception for, he did have to admit the bard had a great voice, and the whole thing was arranged well. He had to smirk a little at the last line of the song, wistfully remembering the fight and wondering where she was going with this.

[Artemis97]

Laelaer still sits at her table and listens to the song. Some of the rhymes were a bit of a stretch, the drowess thought. Certainly it was nothing compared to the fine compositions she was used to, but to pen even a passably entertaining tune on such short notice was a feat in itself. Cecily was a fine bard and a beautiful singer. The Duskblade made a mental note to see if she knew some music from Vayentia. The caravan might find them enjoyable. Indrys surely would, at least. The elf could use some cheering up, as of late.

[Gullara]

Just over the next hill we saw the first signs
Of an ambush prepared twixt the rocks and the pines
Though they outnumbered us near four to one
We charged through their ranks and the battle begun

Their leader was massive, he snarled like a bear
It looked like he used his scimitar to cut his hair
Undoubtedly he was the strongest of all
But his strength was for nothing, he was destined to fall

The thrill of combat! The kind of thrill that gets the heart pumping and adrenaline rushing through the veins. Cecily's voice rises in intensity as she tries to incite even a small portion of that feeling in the crowd.

Fair Indrys, master of magics arcane
Flexed his fingers and tongue and his prodigious brain
Though the great bandit leader roared and bellowed quite deep
With a few arcane gestures he was soon put to sleep

The bard glances toward Indrys briefly, and her smile grows just a bit wider. She hopes he enjoys that.

On a rampaging stallion, the thwarter of knaves
From the southern battalion came Thorus the Brave
That day he earned titles as highwayman's bane
As with one mighty strike the head bandit was slain

From the caravans volleys of arrows and bolts flew
Striking bandits' black hearts and piercing right through
Too swiftly the struggle turned into a rout
As the remaining few bandits were driven right out

[Destro_Yersul]

Out of the corner of her eye, Cecily caught a glimpse of Captain Danvers. The soldier got a good chuckle out of the line about Thorus, and the rest of the crowd was fairly appreciative, too. There was no love for bandits in Seabreak.

Alec:

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The kitchen largely seemed to contain food. Jars of preserved fruits and salted meat. Fish seemed to be dominant, but there was some variety. Undoubtedly Martin's position, or his wealth, bought him a few luxuries the others might not have had. Most of what was here though was preserved food, made to last a long time. THe cooking equipment, which was sparse, looked as unused as the rest of the kitchen. Evidently, the Mayor wasn't much of a cook.

The trapdoor appeared untrapped. Opening it, Alec found a staircase, steep and made of wood, that descended into a small cellar. Shelves of dusty jars stood against the walls, next to two large barrels. They were unlabelled, and without opening them he wouldn't be able to tell what was in them. In one corner was another shelf, a white dustcloth hanging over it. Pulling that aside, the pirate found a small personal safe, with a combination lock. Opening that would be more than a matter of simply picking the lock.

[Blarghy]

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Bah. After the initial annoyance, Alec reminds himself that it's a nice test and has a closer look at the safe. He wonders what use Martin could have for it in a town as small and crime-free as this, not just to keep such a lock-box but to hide it down here. Maybe he's found something more useful than old letters to forge. The pirate didn't plan on taking anything from the home, but if there's something inside that Martin fears being revealed to the village, with which Grimfist could blackmail him into leaving...

He needs to have a look, at the very least; that much is certain. It's just a question of how. Smart as the mayor is, he might have picked a combination completely at random that has no significance to him. Even if he didn't, Alec doesn't know his birthday, that of anyone close to him, or any other dates that matter to the old man. Going back to the tavern to question Grimfist is probably out of the question. Instead, Alec checks the current number of the lock. A truly paranoid person would spin the dial after every use to prevent this from happening, but if luck is on his side, then he can find the last digits in the string. From there, if he comes across numbers during his search of the rest of the house, this could narrow down his options considerably.

Afterward, wasting no time, he hurries back upstairs to the next room. The study seems like a good choice; the bedroom will be his next guess, if nothing turns up here. Alec trusts to his skills with a quick pass through the shelves, specifically looking for loose notes stuffed in books, pages that've been written on, and texts with well-worn bindings. He'd rather not have to comb the entire personal library (although he will if he must). Naturally, if there's a desk or file cabinet, he pays close attention to that as well.

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Tempted though I am to take a 20 here, I think I'll wait and try that if I don't learn anything. Remember, Alec is keeping an eye out for any string of numbers ending in the same digits as the current position of the combination lock.

Search: (1d20+7)[18]

[Sophistemon]

Indrys, who has taken a position behind and slightly to the left of Cecily on the stage, does his best to fade into the background so as to not distract the audience from her performance. If he was to utilize his magics so as to enhance her song - however little, if at all possible to begin with - he would prefer that his contributions be subtle. When Cecily's song began, he raised his hands to chest height and his thin fingers plucked magic from the air. He spoke in low, murmured whispers to weave his spell. There, behind her singing voice, just loud enough to hear but not so much as to draw the attention away from it, is the sound of creaking wheels, caked with mud and the dust of long travel; their caravan, as it made its way across the continent and, unwittingly, towards their inevitable confrontation with the bandits. Ghost Sound created only that, a simple sonic illusion, but he had more magic in the works for those who desired greater detail. When the bard began to describe their confrontation with the bandits themselves, the elf constructed a Silent Image of their fearsome leader, matching Cecily's description as best as he was able. The bandit's face was twisted into an expression of loathing, and his eyes burned with a fiery malice. The elf then quickly re-cast Ghost Sound to mimic the clashing din of a hard-fought battle, once again faded into the background behind Cecily's voice.