[WFRP] The Bloody Crown XIV

[LCP]

The Bloody Crown - Continued

In that dread desert, beneath the moon’s pale gaze, dead men walk.

They haunt the shifting dunes of the breathless, windless night, brandishing weapons of bronze in mocking challenge and bitter resentment of the life they no longer possess.

And sometimes, in ghastly dry voices, like the rustling of sun-baked reeds, they whisper the one word they remember from life. The name of the one who cursed them to their existence of more than death but less than life.

They whisper the name, Nagash.

OOC

---

With Bardhyl's plan seeming agreeable to all present, they got up to go about making their arrangements. Stepping back outside into the brisk Pflugzeit air, they could hear something else over the noise of busy carpentry they had heard on the way in - the sound of a disturbance, a little further up the riverbank. They didn’t have to go far following the general drift of gawkers to see it for themselves.

A thin young man was scrabbling in the dust of the street, trying frenetically to rise back to his feet as two others dragged him in the other direction. Blood was streaming from his clearly broken nose, but rather than showing shock or pain, he still wore an expression of furious anger. All of it was directed at the man standing in front of him - the silent, muscle-bound figure of Pietro. Filomena’s bouncer stood there with his arms folded, looking very unimpressed. Behind him, a couple of others with the look of hired goons were standing as back-up, however little he needed it.

“Where is she?” broken-nose was shouting, his face so red that the blood barely stood out. “You Tilean pigs! What have you done with her?”

“Madam Filomena don’t do nothing with nobody what they don’t sign up for,” said one of the thugs behind Pietro - a lean man with narrow eyes and a nasal voice. He squinted at the others holding the young man back. “Think you’d best be moving the lad on now, friends. Before he does himself any more mischief.”

Pietro cracked his knuckles, nonchalantly wiping some specks of blood off his right hand. The two restraining the young man definitely seemed to agree with the other bouncer’s advice, and redoubled their efforts to pull him away, though he still struggled against them. With a start, Ludo recognised one of them as Brina, from the party they had taken to Al-Makir for settlement in the Downs.

Sieghard’s attention was on something else altogether. The building Pietro was standing in front of was not the Pink Peach, as the Greenapple house was now called. The sign hanging outside read The Drowned Cat, and although its walls had been newly painted and the holes in its roof newly patched, Sieghard would have recognised it even if it had been turned inside-out. It was Dragos’ warehouse - Sieghard’s warehouse.

There was no sign of the people who had been sheltering there. By all appearances, this was the business that Pietro and his associates were guarding.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Stay here," Sieghard said with a frigid edge to his tone, "All of you." Without another word, he walked up and stood in the path of the two thugs trying to drag the youth away. "You," he said, indicating the man who had done the talking. "The prince doesn't look kindly on disturbance in his city. Explain what's going on here."

[LCP]

"And who are you?" said the man, swaggering forward towards Sieghard. Pietro calmly reached out to block his path with the back of his hand, and shook his head. The two of them exchanged significant glances, and the man deflated a little.

"This one 'ere was trying to push his way in to our 'stablishment," he said, indicating the youth with the bloody face. "Makin' trouble. We're just encouraging him to move along." He looked back to the lad. "Isn't that right?"

With more nasal cursing, the youth redoubled his struggles - but Brina and her friend held him tight. They clearly weren't about to let him take another run at the brick wall that was Pietro.

[-Sentinel-]

Disregarding Sieghard's request to stay behind, Elsa calmly but sternly addressed the young man with a broken nose: "Hey, settle down, my lad. There's three of them and one of you, and whoever you're looking for in there won't be happy if you get your skull caved in on her account." She paused to let him explain himself.

[LeSwordfish]

"What's going on?" Ludo asked Brina.

[LCP]

Brina looked as surprised to see Ludo as he was to see her. "Maybe - not here?" she said, still having to work to restrain the young man.

"My sister!" yelled the young man, writhing and kicking. "They've got my sister. Pigs! All of you, pigs!"

The man who'd spoken to Sieghard heaved a theatrical sigh. "We told you, son, there's no-one workin' here who don't want the work." His eyes flicked to Brina. "You want some help moving him on, sister?"

"Don't you touch him," Brina snapped in reply. "Come on, Jak. Listen to the lady." Between her and her companion, they managed to wrestle the young man back a few paces. "We're leaving."

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

If you're happy to let the two groups separate, you can speak to either of them independently after they've got some distance from the confrontation.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Your 'stablishment" Sieghard replied, feigning confusion. "I don't remember selling it." He gave an exaggerated glance towards Ludo. "Deed to the building is still in the chest back in Painford, isn't it?"

"I want to speak with the girl," he said, dropping the friendly tone entirely. "You can either bring her to me or we can talk about how you're squatting on my property instead."

[LCP]

The man looked genuinely baffled. He looked to Pietro for some kind of clarity, but the big man just gave a tiny shrug.

"Look, mister, uh... sir," he said. "I don't know what it is you're talkin' about with deeds and this and that, but we're just guards. And all I know is the sign there says this is the Drowned Cat, property of Madame Filomena. Now if you want to talk to her about it, you're more'n welcome, but in the meantime - " - he jerked his thumb in the direction of the young lad - " - we're just trying to do our jobs here."

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo went with Brina and her group. "What's happening? Who's this?"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Building you're guarding doesn't belong to Filomena no matter what sign she puts on it," Sieghard replied. "That's not your problem though, so let's not make it your problem." He let the words hang for a moment. "All that I can worry about later. Now though, I want to see the girl."

He pulled a shilling out of his purse and tossed it at the man.

"Not your business what I want her for either, understand?"

[LCP]

Ludo

Once they’d got a decent distance from Pietro and his goons, the young man with the bloody face stopped struggling - at least enough that Brina could leave him in the hands of her companion and give Ludo her full attention.

“This is Jak,” she said. She motioned to the older man holding him. “And Bran. They’ve come with me from the farmstead. We’re supposed to be picking up the people we left behind.” She paused, looking Ludo up and down. “Weren’t expecting to see you here, Herr Stubbs.”

Sieghard

The man caught Sieghard’s coin by reflex, but hesitated in giving his answer. With the crowd of onlookers around them, he clearly felt he was in awkward spot.

“Begging your pardon sir, and… not that your money isn’t good,” he said, holding up an open hand, “but we don’t even know which girl ‘e’s lookin’ for. We get a few lads like that, y’know. People who feel they’ve got a connection, makin’ a scene.” He offered the coin back to Sieghard. “You want to buy what the Cat’s selling, sir, you’re very welcome, you can talk to the lady at the door. But if you want to take the lad’s part, then that’s something else to be takin’ up with Madame.”

[rax]

Bardhyl watched the altercation in the street with some amusement, but kept himself, Max and Ortwin out of it. Crossing Filomena was not in his interest, nor was getting caught up in a possible brawl and drawing the eye of the watch, no matter that he now had "friends" in the Prince's court.

When the group divided, he decided on a whim to follow Ludo to hear what Jak's friends had to say.

"Don't mind us, we're friends of Herr Stubbs," he declared breezily. "Anything you need to say to him goes no further," he added.

[LeSwordfish]

"Just a coincidence," Ludo said. "Who's this woman you were searching for?"

[LCP]

Ludo

"Jak's sister," said Brina. "When we went west, she was living here - her and a bunch of others. Now the brothel-keepers have taken over the building. Jak was asking around the docks, said it sounded like they had her working for them." Brina set her jaw in a grim expression. "You saw they weren't keen on letting him in to check."

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo's jaw set. "What's her name?"

OOC

Spoiler

Show

Ludo's visited the warehouse a few times, right?Are there any back entrances he's aware of?

[LCP]

Ludo

"Stela," said Jak, wiping some of the blood from his face as Bran let him go. "Her name's Stela."

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

Yes - it was a big long warehouse originally, it would definitely have multiple entrances. Since it's been converted, the current front door will be the one facing the land, and the back door facing the river + piers.

[LeSwordfish]

"Well. Lets go and see if we can get you in to see her without asking."

He set off towards the dockside, hoping to find a door that would be locked rather than guarded.

OOC

Spoiler

Show

If there is such a door, Ludo will check he's not being watched and then pick the lock: (1d100)[79]

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa opted to stay out of Ludo's whole breaking-and-entering business. As far as she was concerned, this would likely make things worse for everyone.

She turned to Jak: "If it turns out your sister's being held against her will, this'll be a serious matter indeed. Abduction and enslavement are hanging offenses. But..." It was hard to put this diplomatically. "...maybe, just maybe, Stela isn't telling you everything. If you had to accept a disreputable job to survive, like breaking arms for some loanshark, would you tell her?"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard didn't take the shilling back.

"I'm sure you get your share of folks like that," he said. "If it's like you say and she signed up for it, then there's no problem. Lad'll just have to live with it. And if it's not... Well, that doesn't have to be your problem."

"Keep the coin. For the trouble," he said. "Probably best to to not worry about it." He pulled out a second shilling for Pietro as well.

---

"I'm not convinced," he told Elsa once they were out of earshot. "One way or the other. We're not gonna learn anything from that one though. If it's as the lad says, I doubt Filomena would've told her doormen."

[-Sentinel-]

"I'm not convinced. One way or the other. We're not gonna learn anything from that one though. If it's as the lad says, I doubt Filomena would've told her doormen."

Elsa nodded in agreement. "We need to clear this up, or Jak will keep getting in trouble. If Stela was desperate enough for money to work for Filomena, the last thing she needs is to lose her brother. I'm sure Filomena can be bargained with..."

She kept her mouth shut about Ludo's current scheme.

[LCP]

Out Front

Pietro and his friend didn't need any more persuading to take Sieghard's schillings. The talkative one thanked him, and they retired back to their posts as the crowd began to disperse. Sieghard made his way back to the others.

"...maybe, just maybe, Stela isn't telling you everything. If you had to accept a disreputable job to survive, like breaking arms for some loanshark, would you tell her?"

Jax looked up at Elsa, his face already puffing up into one great swollen bruise where Pietro had rearranged his features. "What do you know about it?" he said, clearly still in the mood for a confrontation. "Look at you! In your fancy clothes."

He sunk down, some of the anger starting to leave him. "She - we had a place we could stay. We were surviving. And now I come back, and they've taken it, and you want me to believe this is what she'd want?" His voice broke. "No! It's what they do! They take what's yours, and then they tell you they'll sell you it back..."

He trailed off. Bran patted him on the shoulder.

Round the Back

It was easy enough to slip through the side-alleys round to the back of the Cat. The old warehouse backed onto the bare mud-flat the retreating Azril had left behind - a few birds perched on beached rowing boats were the only witnesses that seemed to be paying any attention. A bit of careful work with his lockpicks saw the back door swing quietly open.

The door opened into a short hallway, the inner wall nothing more than a thin wooden screen. The end was open, with no door - from around the corner, he could make out the flicker of a small fire, and the squeaking of a spinning wheel. Women's voices were talking.

"...I don't know, some poor boy having a turn for the worse."
"Chose the wrong day for it, with the big one outside. He gives me the creeps."
"I heard it was Madame F who cut his tongue out. For talking back."
"I'd believe it..."

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo crept to the corner and peered around, looking to see if any of the women within matched Stela's description, or if he could slip across to another hiding place or further into the building.

[LCP]

Ludo

Peering round the corner, Ludo could see the three women who were talking. One sat at a spinning wheel, next to a small pile of wound spindles. The second was tending to the paltry fire in the clay-brick hearth, and the small pot of stew that hung above it. The third just sat with her head in her hands, as if she were nursing the world's worst headache.

None of them matched the quick description Ludo had got of Jak's sister - only the woman by the fire was young enough, and her short, scruffy hair was straw-blonde, not black. All three of them looked tired and thin, their cheap clothes poorly mended. If these were Filomena's people, they clearly weren't being kept as well as her workers at the Serpent.

The back-room they were sitting in seemed to be a combination kitchen and living area, with a single long table, and a few wooden chairs scattered over the bare boards of the floor. A small stack of barrels and sacks near the fireplace looked to be their larder. A small grey mouse was sitting at the top of it, watching them with its black button eyes as it furiously nibbled on a kernel of grain. It saw Ludo and darted away - thankfully, the women hadn't.

The back of the room was a new-built wall. It had two doors set into it, one at either end - but there was very little in the way of cover for Ludo to get to either without being seen.

[-Sentinel-]

"She - we had a place we could stay. We were surviving. And now I come back, and they've taken it, and you want me to believe this is what she'd want?" His voice broke. "No! It's what they do! They take what's yours, and then they tell you they'll sell you it back..."

"If they have something that's yours, we'll see to it that you get it back," said Elsa gently. "And if violence is needed, leave that to us. We happen to be pretty good at it."

---

"Sieghard, I think you should be the one seeing Filomena about this," said Elsa as they walked away from the 'wharehouse'. "I'm sure this can be cleared up without further bloodshed."

It seemed ill-advised for both her and Sieghard to be seen entering or leaving the Pink Peach together, regardless of their actual reason for being there, so she decided it was best if she did not come with him.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo snuck back out of the building and rejoined the others. "I'll come with you. We're the legal owners of this building, we have a lot of weight to throw round here."

He looked to Brina and Jak. "Maybe sit tight and get your nose seen to. We'll let you know as soon as we know anything."

[RossN]

Jarla

As mystified by all this as Bardhyl Jarla also followed Ludo, feeling very out of place and conspicuous in her courtier's finery. When the opportunity presented itself she whispered to Ludo: "Who are all these people?"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"No! It's what they do! They take what's yours, and then they tell you they'll sell you it back..."

"Wasn't hers to give or take," Sieghard grumbled. "What exactly happened. When did they kick you out and how did they do it? And when was the last time you saw your sister?"

[LCP]

It was a lot of questions for Jak to answer when his nose was still streaming blood. Brina decided to answer for him.

"Jak said he last saw her here when we headed out west, to get the farmstead started. Now we've got some seeds in the ground and something like a roof over our heads, we came back for the ones we left behind. Jak thought we'd find her here, but... well, you can see what's happened to the place."

"Everyone's gone," Bran volunteered. "We asked around. Word is if you wouldn't work for this 'Filomena', she gave you over to the soldiers," - he pointed across the river, to where the sounds of hammers still rose from the camp around Sforza's new fort - "and if you couldn't work for the soldiers, you were out on the street."

"We found one of them with a begging bowl on Gods' Row," said Brina. "He said he'd seen Stela working here."

OOC:

Spoiler

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I'd suggest that if you have more questions for these guys, we can resolve them in bulk, and if you do want to set up any meeting with Filomena, we can cut ahead to that as soon as you're happy you've got whatever info you think is critical.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Do you know how many were still in the warehouse when they were forced out? Or whether it was the soldiers who forced them out or Filomena's hirelings?" Sieghard asked. "Is there space enough for all of them at the farmstead if they can be found?"

[LCP]

Brian looked slightly taken aback. "No," she said, "we were just looking for our families. I don't... we don't know most of those people."

"Jak said who was staying there changed week to week anyway," said Bran. He looked to Jak. "Right?"

Jak made a muffled noise of agreement and nodded.