Broken Lands

[Fouredged Sword]

The merchant lord Garthan Lor is a nice man. He is know for that. He doesn't pay as much as some of the other princes of commerce, and he works his men hard, but he takes care of his own.

If you go to work for a merchant, he is not the worst choice you could make.

Mikelen Lor is his third son, and the chief in charge of his guards. He is much less of a nice man. He is the one who arranges for men with pointy things to go after bandits and thieves. Still, he is as fair as his father, and you could do worse so long as you play by the rules. After all, he pays more than his father.

That is why, when you find yourself in the waiting room of his headquarters you are please that he shortlisted you for a job you are hopeful that it will be one of the better options for work.

The waiting room is a not large, a mere fifteen by fifteen, with a door on each end. There are three chairs on one side and what looks to be a reinforced bench long the other wall. The furnishings are simple and functional.

You all arrive roughly at the same time. Mikelen's secretary (a fine looking dwarven girl, scribe's guild by her braids) informed you that Mikelen Lor is currently in a meeting running late, and for you to please wait for a short moment in the waiting room he would be with you as soon as possible.

Please place yourself in the scene.

[BelGareth]

Fern was walking the streets in hopes of not having to do anything...'touchy' today, he needed to help someone, that he knew, to much so, but he hoped it wouldn't involve some sick bastard dying of the plague, or someone with a hole in their chest.

He had seen too much of that recently, and had no more stomach for it. His geas required him to heal someone, a good someone and sometimes that was a little hard, especially if the first one to show up to him was grotesquely ill, he couldn't turn them down.

He learnt that the hard way too...Rubbing his back he remembers how much it had hurt, damn that fraggin angel! he thought to himself, not for the first time, or the last.

Moving through the streets holding his wand in his hand, he had to make sure the person was good, and he did so with the cheap wand he had, it kept him out of pain, and the price was well worth it. A little cantrip here, and he was sure the pain wouldn't show for the day. Piece of mind in a stick made of oak, the best piece of mind he had.

He quickly found a lost soul on the street, she showed up a bright blue in his temporarily enhanced vision depicting her as a goodly souled creature and a viable patron of his services.

Kneeling down near her he gently put his hand forward, she didn't flinch, something was wrong. Touching her shoulder, she jumped, but not by much, she turned to face him, which turned out to be completely by accident, as her eyes flashed a milky white as she blinked at him.

"Who's there! Don't...I can't..not anymore...please!"

Fern sighed, oh god why, he hated it when they were like this, so pitiful, people who had been beaten, trodden and left for dead. But he knew what she was referencing and he winced at it. "No my dear, I am here to help you."

She cringed away from his voice and small tears started to well in her sightless eyes "I...can't...please don't..." she said again.

sighing, more heavily this time, he intoned a small prayer, one he knew would regain her eyesight, he hated saying the prayers, he couldn't ever remember learning them, but he knew them and he knew them well. It was his stupid damnable curse....and oh what a curse.

Her eyes flashed with energy as he touched her again, ever so gently on the the forehead, she pulled away at first, but seemed to sense the supernatural at work and allowed him to continue, the energy feeling good, cleansing her eyes of the pain and lack of vision all at once. Blinking away the cloudy vision she started to look at things, actually seeing them since however long, tears freely ran down her face and she looked to Fern with pure gratitude on her face. flinging her arms around his neck and holding him in an embrace she sobbed "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said, over and over again.

Sighing once more, Fern detached her arms from him "It is the least I could do" he looks her up and down for a moment, not with malice or with carnal intentions but analytically, as if 'what to do with you' "I would leave this area my dear, it doesn't seem to agree with you." Smiling he stands and walks away, his good deed done for the day.

Sighing again, he moved towards a good ale house this side of town, in hopes of drowning out his life for a while.

But life would have it another way, a small messenger boy managed to find him before he found the alehouse and handed him a message. He had been summoned for a job he had applied for a while back. Looking at it, he could see the lord Mikelen Lor had placed him on the shortlist for the job, but it would seem he required his presence.

Gorram it! he thought to himself, will nothing go my way for once! licking his lips, as if trying to taste the beer on them from last night, he wheels about on his heels and walks towards the appointed place. Let's go see Mr. Lor, hopefully he would have some good news for me.

Entering the room, he is ushered in and takes a seat on the bench, having been told he must wait, he sighs again and perseveres to take this day as well as he can.

[Blueiji]

Inaius watched as the frustrated looking young man enters the waiting room, seating himself on one of the uncomfortable looking wooden benches. At first Inaius was slightly puzzled at the man's choice in seating, for to Inaius, the chairs in the room had looked much more comfortable than the bench. Deciding, however that this man's choice in seating was quite unimportant, and not worth further contemplation, Inaius let his mind wander back to events that brought him to this waiting room.

Inaius had only recently arrived in the town, having followed news of the death of one of his contacts, a thuggish, over-confident Halfling named Thom. Despite his more unsavory qualities, Thom was a good man to know, he had much influence in the shadier parts of this neighborhood, and was Inaius found his talents in thievery to be quite useful. Unfortunately, Inaius had recently discovered Thom had been killed, and upon further investigation, Inaius found that Thom's demise was the result of one of his illegal escapades gone awry, resulting in his death at the hand of a group of guards led by a merchant named Mikelen Lor.

Inaius wasn't particularly upset by Thom's death, but the offense of losing such a valuable tool still troubled Inaius. To rectify this issue, Inaius decided to attempt to meet with Mikelen personally. Of course, he could not present himself as a friend of Thom or the town's other outlaw-types, so Inaius decided to apply for a job from Mikelen. In Inaius' mind, this seemed like a rather innocuous way to get in touch with Mikelen, and would also perhaps allow him to discover some of Mikelen's closer guarded secrets and motives; both tools Inaius could use to ruin the man who had caused the death of his associate Thom.

Finished with his reflection, Inaius turns back to the newcomer in the waiting room. The man before him seemed to be of close age with Inaius, and also seemed to be a magic-wielder of sorts, judging by his lack of weaponry. Bored with mere speculation, Inaius decides to engage in conversation with this fellow job applicant.

"Greetings, I trust that you too are here for the job opportunity offered by this Mikelen fellow? If so, we may be working together," Inaius says, in as friendly a tone as he could muster. First impressions, were, after all, quite important when winning the favor of strangers, and with the scope of Inaius' plans, he could use as many allies as he could get.

Spoiler

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Inaius is currently channeling the Voice archetype. Both he and his Psicrystal (which is being stored in his pocket) are in a state of Psionic focus.

[THEChanger]

Through the skies of Greystone, skiffs and skyships floated lazily through the air, moving people and cargo to where they needed to go. Most people would give the mighty aircraft no thought. They were simply a part of daily life, a part of living in the sky.

Most people were not Zephyr.

Zephyr had heard Mikelen Lor was looking for people to do something. Unusual folks, with unusual talents. Zephyr certainly qualified, and Mikelen had been a good employer previously. Zephyr liked working for familiar people. The relationship between employer and employee was valuable, especially for an odd-jobs man like Zephyr. Of course, the one disadvantage to working for Mikelen was that his offices were on the opposite end of the city from where Zephyr lived.

Which was why Zephyr was now hanging from the underside of an airskiff by his whip.

Zephyr gazed down at the ground below, eyeing the perfect place to head to the ground. Spying an open courtyard a couple blocks from his future employer's headquarters, Zephyr waved to the man driving the skiff. "Thanks for the lift, friend!" With a quick flick of his wrist, Zephyr unwound his whip and, much to the horror of the unsuspecting skiff pilot, began plummeting to the ground below. Wind rushing past his ears, Zephyr laughed as the ground grew closer, and closer, until just as he was about to hit the cobblestone street, he felt himself slow to a stop. Feet gently touching down, Zephyr waved to the skiff he just dropped off once more, and set down the street towards Mikelen's, a jaunty tune whistled as he walked.

Opening the door, Zephyr came into the waiting room with a smile on his face. He winked at the secretary. "Hilda, good to see you again lass. Hope Mikelen's been treating you well." Then Zephyr's attention turned to the other two men in the waiting room. Zephyr gave them both a gentle nod. "Gentlemen. Pleasure to meet you both. Name's Zephyr." He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, flitting between the two men. One he knew he had not seen before. The other, though, Zephyr thought he had seen. A fellow wanderer, perhaps. In the end, it was no matter to him of course. As long as they got along.

[BelGareth]

Fern watched sullenly as another man entered the room, he pretended not to notice, or care that he had noticed another person, and tried to keep to himself.

But that was impossible in a room as small as this, and he was forced to move his eyes, be it curiosity or actual happenstance. He saw the man was no fighter, bearing no weapons upon his person to reflect such a thing.

Although...he had heard of people creating things out of thin air, wielding them with the skill of an Incarnum Blade, ah but Incarnum blades usually wielded those Incarnate weapons, they required actual manifestation and the weapon was formed solid when they formed there melds....no it was something...could it be...

He realizes he was wandering and gave himself a mental head shake aligning his thoughts to the matters present at hand. This man very well may have been an unarmed prodigy, he didn't look the part, but those types seldom did, sighing and shrugging he decided to wait and see.

He realized the man was looking at him, as if asking himself why he had chosen to sit on the hard bench when there were other, more comfortable chairs.

Why in the Hell's did I choose the bench he thought to himself

"Greetings, I trust that you too are here for the job opportunity offered by this Mikelen fellow? If so, we may be working together,"

The man suddenly speaks, shaking him out of his thoughtful stupor.

"Ah yes, yes, greetings. Working together?" he stops as if asking the questions, when in fact he was asking himself, or at least making a statement in an attempt to assimilate the information. Sometimes he was a right idiot. He smiles awkwardly, cheeks fading red with the embarrassment of realizing he had made things strange, "Yes, yes, we most likely will be..."

His attention is suddenly grabbed as another man walks into the room, narrowing his eyes quickly, he realized it was another member of the intrepid group. His eyebrow raised slightly further upon the realization of the job, it must be important to form a group of like power, assuming of course these fellows were as competent as himself. The first guy seems confident enough, and this new one, well, he was verging on cocky.

He looked at him as he spoke to the secretary, he seemed to exude a natural swagger, confidence that was almost infectious. That was good, in his experience, those brash type were either as good or better than they thought, or miserably horrible. His current appraisal of the man had him in the former.

I wander if I know these men? he thought to himself, this first guy seems interesting, and is by all appearances polite, but no one I know comes to mind. This fellow however, well he seems quite normal, past the bravado of course.

"Gentlemen. Pleasure to meet you both. Name's Zephyr."

Zephyr...of course! I know this man! He is quite the...well I guess I don't know what you would call him, thrill seeker? shrugging again he stood to receive Zephyr.

"Well met Zephyr, I believe I know of you from your reputation, I am Fernado Cestellan of the same House, but you may call me Fern. This here is...well I do believe I omitted our chance for introductions!" he says to Inaius, he bows "My apologies, as I just said, I go by Fern," he stands "well met, both of you."

Smiling and acting as the perfect well schooled Nobles son his mind was recalling his prior thought on the reason of several powerful men being called together, Zephyrs presence at least confirmed his conjecture...

[Blueiji]

This here is...well I do believe I omitted our chance for introductions!" he says to Inaius, he bows "My apologies, as I just said, I go by Fern," he stands "well met, both of you."

Inaius removes his enchanted mask from his face and turns to the individual he just discovered to be named Fern.

"It is of no worries," Inaius assures, "After all, I wasn't quick to ask for your name either."

Inaius turns to inspect the newcomer, noticing the strange whip-like weapon at his belt. That's quite an exotic implement you're in possession of, how did you come across such a strange weapon?

As he waits for an answer, Inaius finds himself growing very curious about his two possible companions. Putting the mask back upon his face, Inaius begins to study the posture, body language, and inflections in voice of both Fern and Zephyr, hoping to learn some of their intentions in working for Mikelen.

Spoiler

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Inaius is using his Psychoanalyze class feature to cast Detect Thoughts as a supernatural ability. Inaius doesn't get to completely explore Fern's and Zephyr's minds, but after three rounds he can read basic surface thoughts. The will save to resist this affect has a DC of 17. I don't believe that Zephyr or Fern can detect Inaius' intrusion even if they succeed on their saving throw.

I fully understand that the idea of a PC using this sort of ability on another PC could be frowned upon, because of this, if any of my fellow players or DM is uncomfortable with Inaius using this ability on other PCs, just say the world and I will erase this block of text as well as the IC passage describing Inaius' attempt at mind-reading. I don't want to be a jerk, and I don't want to anger anyone, I simply believed that this was the sort of way Inaius would use his abilities, and so I figured I would at least try it.

[Fouredged Sword]

Ok, here is a chance to notice some things around you.

Spot DC 19+(1d20)[10]

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Are those knives hidden up Hilda's sleeve?

sense motive 19+(1d20)[4]

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She is checking you out as you walk in, as in are you a threat rather than are you good looking.

[Blueiji]

Ianius finds both Zephyr's and Fern's minds to be impenetrable, and turns his attention away from them. However, recollecting the threatening way the Hilda looked at the individuals as they walked in, Inaius focuses his efforts of psychoanalysis upon the secretary, eager to learn the reason for her apperant anxiety.

Spoiler

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Once again, Inaius is using the Psychoanalyze class feature, this time upon Hilda. I provided a link to this ability in my above post. Inaius is acting off information he gathered from his successful Sense Motive check.

[Fouredged Sword]

Ianius concentrates on Hilda for a few moments.

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She fails to notice your attention. Hilda appears to be taking her time and counting all of the weapons you have on you, and noticing every kink in your armor not covering your pressure points. She is holding a plan in her head on the fastest way to incapacitate the three of you long enough to allow Mikelen Lor to escape out the back if she screams the panic word. She seems to consider Fern as the most important threat to neutralize. She does not seem to consider this as a serious likelyhood, but the thoughts come as second nature. She also doesn't like the idea of having to tangle with the three of you. You also notice she thinks of the door every few moments, like she is expecting another person. Someone big, and by the thoughts she is thinking, someone she is really not wanting to get in a fight with. She wants to be relived for lunch so she can go sit in the park and enjoy the nice day, maybe get a cup of tea.

She has a couple psionic powers active that buff her all day and manifested to be hidden, but she thinks of them only in a general sense and you can't at this time pick out what exactly they are.

[Durksmurf]

Gruunshar was very confused. The past few weeks had been very hectic. A while after the death of his friend, Gruunshar had left the cave. It was quite a big decision for him and took a great amount of effort. When he finally left, Gruunshar realized he had a problem. Where would he go? What would he do? In the past his only goal was survival, but now he knew he could easily survive on his own. Gruunshar felt empty. He had no goal, no purpose in life. He fell in to a deep depression for 2 weeks. Then out of the blue our rocky giant had an epiphany.

Gruunshar decided that his purpose would be to have a purpose. He'd journey from village to village, from town to town, until he found a purpose. With this new mindset, Gruunshar journeyed north gaily.

In about 2 days worth of travel Gruunshar quickly encountered a goblin camp. The small goblins ran off in fear of him, cowering behind trees and rocks. This left Gruunshar very confused. He wandered north again.

Soon he glimpsed a village and headed towards it. It turned out to be a farming village of halflings. The same thing happened at this village that happened at the goblin camp, leaving our mineral monstrosity very confused.

This course of events continued 6 more times with other small villages, confounding Gruunshar to no end. He eventually earned himself a campfire tale, making him somewhat legendary in small villages. Gruunshar became known as "The Crystal Ogre".

Yesterday Gruunshar reached the gate of Greystone. The guards at the gate, frightened by his appearance, let him in without trouble. Wandering the streets looking for a place to stay, not many people ran from him. If he ever got close or met his gaze they did, but these people seemed more sophisticated. Eventually Gruunshar slept in an ally.

Back to know

Gruunshar wandered up to a small store front. Opening the door he saw three people conversing there with a small female dwarf. Filled with joy at seeing a dwarf, Gruunshar rushed up to her yelling DWARF!

[Blueiji]

Startled by the arrival of the hulking mineral-encrusted warrior, Inaius takes a swift step back, avoiding the excited charge of the newcomer. Noting the giant's evident interest in Hilda, Inaius takes this opportunity to contemplate Hilda's surface thoughts. Deeming them benign enough not to warrant immediate response, Inaius turns back to Hilda and the Gargantuan being to watch the scene unfold.

[Fouredged Sword]

Hilda reacts to the massive half-ogre's over affectionate arrival with a surprised squeak. He rushes up to her desk and leans her cowering behind her chair.

Just as this is happening, the door on the far side of the room pops open. An effeminate man in a jade kimono steps out flanked by two goblins in jade colored plate mail carrying short spears and tower shields.

Knowledge Local (jade empire) or (nobility)
DC 5

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This is a dignitary of the Jade Empire.

DC 10

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This is a mid level diplomat from the Jade empire. His presence here is very unusual, but not unheard of.

DC 20

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This is lord Tenkin. He is a upper mid level diplomat that has been causing problems between factions here in Purgis. He is trying to arange for assistance in the war vs Redguardia.

He takes one confused look at the commotion and quickly walks out the front of the building.

Mikelen Lor is left looking out the doorway with a confused look on his face.

"Hilda" he exclaims "what on earth.. No, nevermind. Time is important." He motions to the each of you "this way, we have employment to discuss."

[Blueiji]

Inaius glances at the man in the jade kimono, but, not being able to discern anything about him, turns to the now ajar door. Where Mikelen has finally appeared.

"Hilda" he exclaims "what on earth.. No, never mind. Time is important." He motions to the each of you "this way, we have employment to discuss."

Inaius immediately moves to enter Mikelen's office, rising from his seat and striding toward his future employer.

[THEChanger]

"I...Well then." Zephyr had seen a great many things in his trips around the city. Demons, angels, a few elves, an occasional goblin or two. He'd seen strange kinds of magic, powers of divine and fiendish energy. But this, this he had not seen before. Huge. Massive. Earthy. And, apparently, simple.

"Indeed." With some relief, Zephyr scooted inside Mikelen's office, away from the giant. It didn't appear violent, but it's sudden appearance was somewhat shaking.

[BelGareth]

Fern watches as moments after he stands to introduce himself a burly and completely rude giant smashes through into the office and continues to terrorize the dwarven girl.

Who, apparently to the internal thought penetrating abilities of his new acquaintance was prepping to 'take them out'.

He mentally smiled at the whole thing, and then he saw the jade kimono and almost sat down mouth agape.

What a day.

He was definitely going to get free drinks tonight, no one could scratch this story with a Jade gobbos pike!

He would have to get through this meeting first, and then whatever the job required of him, he was half thinking about leaving right this moment, drink was beckoning him, hell it had been beckoning him since he woke this morning, but he knew better, if he got into drink to early, he would forget about the stupid healing and then he would be in too much pain to do anything.

Damnable angel...damnable world!

Grumbling he took a step toward the office after the face of his would be employee appeared.

well, at least it would be interesting. he thought to himself as he entered the office taking a seat whether it was offered or not.

"Shall we then?" he asks everyone, as if to point out the obvious, he had some drinking to do and he would damned if these people would stop him.

[Blueiji]

Inaius, now finding himself within the Mikelen's office with both Fern and Zephyr, turns to and speaks to their employer, Mr. Lor; "Mr. Lor, before we begin out business, I wish to ask a quick question," Inaius pauses, but before Mikelen can accept or deny the request, Inaius continues. "The individual currently charging through your waiting room, is he to be a member of our current entourage?"

[Fouredged Sword]

Mikelen rolls his eyes at the chaos and responds off hand. "I requested a man who can carry a large weight under fire. He looks like he could carry a wagon and bounce arrows off his bare back. My agent who directed him this way is to be forgiven if the 'man' segment of the request was overlooked."

He glances around at all the people in the room. [COLOR="rgb(46, 139, 87)"]"No more here though. My office is warded more carefully to avoid those who want to listen in." [/COLOR] He steps over to his cowering secretary and hands her a little non-nondescript pebble. He speaks to her and she straitens up like she was never even noticing the half-ogre [COLOR="rgb(46, 139, 87)"]"Dispose of this in the lead box. I caught one of the legionaries dropping this behind the flower pot. It looks like a listening stone." [/COLOR] He turns back to the party and herds you into his office.

It is simple, but very fine. The desk is oak as well as the single chair in the room, an extravagant choice in a world of little wood or forests. There is nothing on the desk, but there are several heavily locked drawers. This is clearly an internal room with no windows, and the only apparent door is the one you can in through.

Once the door is shut he continues talking as he crosses and sits in his chair and looks back over the party, folding his hands neatly before him and finally seeming to relax a little.

"See, even the envoy of Jade isn't polite enough to hide the fact that he is spying on me. Unfortunanty I happen to know why. More unfortunantly I need a group with special skills to solve my problem, skill my standard retainers do not possess.

I require a warmage of some skill, a skilled individual who can move quickly, a skilled diplomat, and a... person... of great strength.

Until the job is complete it will require a degree of discretion, though once completed the need for secrecy will be over. There is danger, it should take roughly a week, and you may have to kill goblins.

You will need to travel a short distance to a location I will specify, find a large item that I require to be returned to my possession, part it from it's current holders, and bring it here.

The pay is one thousand gold each paid 200 now and 800 after delivery of the required items.

I can provide more details once you accept non-disclosure. Please indicate on this form your acceptance, or let me know and I will find another to fill your role."

He reaches under the table and pulls a form from a stack of identical pages. It is a fairly standard NDA stating that you will not talk about this meeting for one month or unless given approval by a member of the Lor family. It does not require you to accept the job without more information, just that you don't give details to anyone if you don't accept. Breaking such a contract would get you quickly blacklisted by the merchant council unless you have a very good reason (read under torture) or made significant amends.

[Blueiji]

After hearing out Lor's offer, Inaius begins to contemplate his situation. He had come to Greystone to seek revenge upon Mikelen, but now, finding himself here, Inaius realized that his goal may be easier said than done. Mikelen was an individual whose disappearance or death would not go unnoticed, and Inaius had to tread carefully in his endeavours concerning this man.

Yet, despite this, Inaius was entirely confident that he would have his revenge upon the merchant lord. None of Inaius' previous endeavours had ever eluded him for long, and this one too, was sure to be overcome by Inaius eventually. All he had to do was be patient.

In the mean time however, the job offered by Mikelen seemed like an way for Inaius to acquire some much-needed funding. With Thom dead, Inaius' contacts in Greystone may not agknowledge him, and Inaius would need some money if he didn't want to have to charm every shop-owner and inn-keep he came across. Plus, if Inaius went along with the task, he may have an opportunity to sabotage the delivery, causing some amount of trouble for Mikelen.

Inaius mustered up the most pleasant voice he could, and said "That offer sounds almost too good to pass up. I trust that after signing we'll receive more information concerning where to find the mysterious package you speak of?"

[Fouredged Sword]

"I will answer any questions you may have after you agree to secrecy. If you are unsatisfied with my answers you may leave at anytime."

[BelGareth]

Fern sat an listened to the Merchant lord, to be fair it wasn't the first time he had been around men of such stature. He had been schooled in the fine art of butt kissing at an early age, and it had burned him the wrong way each and every time.

However, he was still able to act the part if needed. He just hated to do so.

1000 gold pieces hey? he thought to himself, that wasn't bad pay. And he was being almost guaranteed that he would be able to deep fry some goblins. This was too good to miss. It had been a while since he had flexed the old Warmage skill, he hadn't been picked up by any Rogue Companies and he would never join a city guard or the like, so he was on his fathers retainer. A little money of his own would go a long way in making him fully independent from his family.

He took the NDA, gave it a cursory glance and signed at the bottom.

"I'm in, this sounds right up my alley." He turns to Zephyr "Guess that leaves you and the mountain that walks outside." he wanted to add 'hurry up and sign so I can go get a beer' but thought better of it, he didn't know these people too well, and if he was going to be working with them, he didn't want to start their relationship with them wanting to cave his head in.

That could wait until later.

[Blueiji]

"I will answer any questions you may have after you agree to secrecy. If you are unsatisfied with my answers you may leave at anytime."

Inaius nods and reaches for the agreement, after giving it a long look over, signs it with the name of his Psicrystal, wishing to give Mikelen as little information concerning his identity as possible.

[THEChanger]

Zephyr sighed. Mikelen did have peculiar way of going about things. But in the end, he did money. "Oh fine Mikelen. You know I don't like to be forced into things this way, but if you truly do need my secrecy, I suppose I'll comply." With a quick flick of his new employer's pen, Zephyr signed his name. "Alright then. What's this all about?"

[Blueiji]

"So that leaves only the hulking one," Inaius observes.

Glancing back at the waiting room where Gruunshar is still residing, Inaius asks; "Do you think that he'll even be able to sign his name? Let alone spell it."

[Fouredged Sword]

For those who cannot read or write a X will do. The signature can be verified by my witness under a zone of truth if needed at a later time. We merchants take our contracts very seriously.

[Fouredged Sword]

Mikelen looks through the open door at the large brute still at the desk. He looks frustrated at the disrespect and waste of his time. He waves his hand and the door to his office shuts itself.


Ok, now that everyone who seems to want this job has signed, we can talk business.

There is a cart that has a hidden message in it that was on shipment from Dunwar to here. Unfortunately, the WuTan Clan interfered and took the caravan that the cart was part of. On this cart are the official papers of agreement between the Merchants Guild and the house of Lor. The dwarves are sticklers to contracts, and without our official copy we stand to loose a great deal of business while the guild goes through the process of resigning the contracts. On top of this they would consider it an insult that we lost the dang thing in the first place.

So we need to get it back. That would be easy, we would normally just pay the goblins a ransom and get our goods back.

Unfortunately, this contract involves the shipment of dwarven metal to Redguard for the construction of the Wavecutter. She's a third greatship designed along the same frame as Scarlet and Prometheus, the two greatships of the Redguardian fleet.

Now that brings me to why this job is suddenly a rush matter. The fellow in jade who just walked out of my office is an emesary of the Jade Empire. He just let me know that he is so sorry for the loss of my caravan. This was his subtle way of gloating. He knows the contract is on that cart, and I think he has something to do with the fact that the WuTan Clan decided to raid that particular caravan.

If the Jade Empire gets their hands on that document it will tell them a lot about the construction of Redguardia's best ships. I can't allow it to be my organization that slipped at let that happen.

Now this means several things. First, I cannot wait to ransom my cart back. I will do so for the rest of the caravan, but that cart can't be left out where the Jade Legion can get to it.

Second, I have a leak in ether my men, the Dunwar dwarves, or in the Redguard shipbuilders. Of the three I can verify only do anything about my own men, so I need to do a sweep to see who is talking to who. Until that is done, I can't trust my regulars.

So here we are. I need a group of men who can rush to the WuTan encampment and get the message hidden inside back. Luckily I know where the WuTan make camp from my intelligence reports on them.

There are complications though. The message is hidden within the cart itself in hidden compartment. The goblins probably haven't found it so that is good. Unfortunately the location of that compartment was known to only the driver of that cart, who is now likely dead, and the Carpenters Guild as Dunwar. I can't wait for a message to learn where it is so you will ether have to find the compartment yourself or haul the whole dang thing out of that camp.

Oh, and the Jade legion is likely going to send a troop to try to get there first.

So, are you up for an adventure. It will be the three of you, and one more who I have worked with before. I didn't want to haul him off the job he is currently working, but this is more important.

[Blueiji]

Inaius smiled maliciously, the information on that contract was the exact sort of thing he could use to ruin Mikelen's reputation. After all, if Inaius could relay it's information to the Jade Empire, then the Redguardians would see Mikelen as a incompetent fool, the Dwarves would be cross because he prevented the conteract from following through, and the Jade Empire would already dislike him for working with the Redguardians in the first place. Mikelen's business relations with three major factions would be ruined.

Of course, the only trouble would be getting the contract to the Jade Empire in the first place., what with his band of companions most likely interested in returning it to Mr. Lor.

Extracting himself from his internal plotting, Inaius spoke up, responding to Mikelen's description of the situation; "It shall be done Mr. Lor. You will have your contracts returned safely and with as little commotion as possible."

[BelGareth]

Fern listened and thought on the matter like a cat surveying its prey for the 10th time. Patience and care, things he had learned from the great Soranado, the Courtier who his father had hired to teach him the way of the courts and political life.

He was a brilliant man, but out of his arena, he did not come from the local political game and it was obvious. Nonetheless, the lessons he taught were invaluable. And one particular one came to mind, patience. Patience was a virtue, but it could also be a curse, those with too much will surely die of old age. Or live to become what the world despises most.

Giving himself a mental shrug, and realizing he may have derailed his own mental train, he broke his concentration.

"This sounds like an interesting job my Lord, it's been a fair time since I exercised my mind with the power of the arcane. I can't say this does not intrigue me, and as I have signed my name, I could not refuse if I wished it. One question, are we to be known as your representatives in this matter or is that need to know? Additionally, any conflict with the Jade legion, to be avoided? Or up to our discretion?"

Looking to the others, "I am ready when you fellows are, all I need is the location and I will be good."

[Fouredged Sword]

All I care about is the contract. Avoid the Legion if possible. Avoid the goblins even, if you can. I suspect this is going to be a matter of snatch and run, but do what you have to. If the Legion gets in the way they know it isn't personal. They know Lor plays all sides, so don't worry about any hard feelings between the Legion and my house.

[THEChanger]

"Which brings me to my question, I suppose. Let's say we are not successful, and are captured. Should we expect any assistance?"

[Fouredged Sword]

If you fail, the House of Lor is willing to ransom you out. In the event that capture is imminent, please destroy the contract if possible. That being said, I am not hiring you with an expectation for failure. Doing so would have a negative impact on your future employment with the House of Lor.

The final member of this group is Roth, The Red Knight. He will meet you at the merchant way station on Fellrock, two gates from here on the path to Dunwar. That is roughly the edge of the 'safe' area for caravans. He is currently under Lor employ in another matter, but I don't anticipate any reluctance for more pay.

The Lor representative there has already been informed by messenger to make preparations to aid you with logistics and information as it is available. He will furnish you with whatever he has available and aid you as he can. He will be unable to provide you with any direct support though, as all armsmen are already attached to caravans and are needed where they are.

As soon as you leave I will dispatch a fast messenger, preferably you Zypher if you can arrange to leave as soon as I am done with further instructions an the employment request for Sir Roth. I have no one else faster.

I hope you can arrange to leave tomorrow at the latest. The trip to the way station is 30 miles. It should be doable in a day if you hurry.