Ally and Friends; Surin and Mund
Subject Ally and Friends
The second group done with breakfast is Allistair along with Harp and Ranthir. Ran finds it a bit easier to deal with the town in the light of the morning. The casual brutality seems a bit more distant in the morning light. However, it is brought back when they step out the front door and see the body of the man that was killed last night. It is mid morning when the three make their way along the tree lined streets to the Mayor's house. Harp's breastplate gleams in the morning light and Ran's chain mail glitters under his cloak. They walk in front and behind Ally, playing the part of guards.
When they get to the main gate and approach the guards there. Ally steps forward and with a haughty look says "Who is in charge here?" A man, a little more grizzled then the others steps forward "I'm Sergeant Kline, and you had better state your business before I have my boys put your head up on that spike over there." Ally does not back down "I am the scribe Allistair. I am from Helicon in Fornax and I have come to offer my services as a scribe to the Mayor. I have heard that he is in need of more literate help." The sergeant misses the insult. A light goes on in the sergeant eye "Ah you need to see the head Scrivener. Wait here, I'll send someone, but I am sure he is busy. Have you got a while to wait? Or maybe you want to come back later?" The man is obviously hinting at something.
OODM: I will let Kevin, Derek and Randy role play this a bit if they want.
From: Derek
Subject Ally and Friends
OOC: Obviously he's looking for a bribe. The question is, how much is appropriate?
From: Mark
Subject Ally and Friends
Too bad the rogue is busy else where.
From: Mark
Subject Surin and Mund
Surin and Mund are the last to leave, much to their relief. The both drink several cups of hot coffee with breakfast, but even then Mund's head is still throbbing a bit. He longs for the days when he could party all night, every night but the hangovers seem to get worse each year. The day is clear with just a hint of cold in the air. A slight breeze blows the stench of death and decay away from them and for a second Mund almost thinks he is back home. Then they have to step over a body left on the street and the real situation comes crashing home.
On their way to the meeting the two discuss their cover story. "Best to keep it simple" Surin says "that way we won't get caught in too many lies. They will expect us not to tell them everything and to conceal other things. It will not bother them, too much. Of course we have to expect the same from them. They might be willing to help, for a price, but expect them to keep important information from us." Mund nods, not sure of how this part of the world works. Life had always been very straight forward for him. If he had a disagreement with someone they had a fight to work it out. This sneaky stuff was so foreign to him. He sighs and tries to not look exactly like what he is, and fails terribly.
The two show up in the ally at the appointed time. The young boy is there, waiting for them. As the two approach the boy jumps down off of the barrel he had been sitting on "Glad to see you made it. I'm Jimmy. Jimmy the Hand. And these" several large men come out of their hiding places as the boy says this "are our escorts." As Mund's hand starts to move for his axe, Jimmy speaks up "Now, now none of that. These are the best of the Basher's and while you might take a few, is it really worth it?" Surin places a restraining hand on Mund "It's ok. I should have warned you." The halfling turns to Jimmy "My friend here is not familiar with how this works. Cut him some slack." Jimmy smiles. "If he does not keep his hand off that meat cleaver, we're going to do more than cut him some slack."
Mund realizes that he is out of his depth. Surin has proven himself several times so the barbarian slowly releases his axe haft and lowers his hand to his side "If you say so Surin." Jimmy smiles "Now we are all just one big happy family. Now, we are going to go for a nice stroll. At some point, we are going to enter a building and you two will have hoods put on. Then we will go see the Daymaster. Any problems?" Mund looks at Surin and the halfling nods assuringly "Normal procedure." Mund sighs and follows along.
The next hour is spent taking the two through every ally and back passage way in this part of the town. Surin is able to keep an idea of where they are for a while but eventually the maze of streets and ally ways is too much. Mund is able to keep and idea of which direction they are facing but is totally lost. They are then led into a small building and dark hoods are placed over their heads. They are then placed in the back of a wagon and told to lie down. This they do and an old smelly blanket is tossed over top of them. The wagon heads out into the streets and now both Surin and Mund are really lost.
Eventually the wagon stops and the two are let out. They are guided up some stairs, along a hallway and into a room. They are searched and their weapons taken from them. Jimmy assures them "It is just for when you meet the Daymaster. You will have your weapons returned when you leave. You have my word as a Mocker on that." Surin seems to think this is good enough and Mund follows, although it is tough. They are then taken into another room and placed in some chairs. When the hoods are removed, they are almost blinded by two bright lights shinning right in their faces. A shadowy form can be seen sitting at the table between the two lights. The men who had brought them start to leave, but voice rings out as they do. "Jimmy, you stay." The young man is obviously surprised by this, but does as ordered and moves over to one wall.
Surin and Mund can both clearly see that there are 4 other men in the room, along the walls. These other men are armed with short swords and are wearing studded leather armor. Mund and Surin can tell nothing about the man in the shadows. His voice calls out of the darkness again "What would you ask of the Upright Man?" Mund can hear Jimmy catch his breath.
OODM: You guys can role play this.
From: Kevin
Subject Surin and Mund
OOC: Have you received a copyright release to use these characters?
From: Derek
Subject Ally and Friends
OOC: When in doubt, go with your best guess.
IC: Now getting a little more used to how things work in this town, Allistair realizes the guard is asking for a bribe. "I think I have a letter of introduction here somewhere. I think that the Scrivener would be willing to see me a little earlier." Allistair takes a folded piece of paper and places 7 gp into it before he folds it closed and hands it to the guard. "It's a very short letter, but I think you and the Scrivener would agree that I at least have the qualifications necessary to warrant an interview and a position on a trial basis, at least."
From: Jason
Subject Surin and Mund
I was wondering how long they must've spent in that wagon to end up in Krondor!
From: Derek
Subject Surin and Mund
Oh, the Riftwar books by Feist. It's probably been 15-20 years since I read those. I barely remember them at all.
From: Mark
Subject Surin and Mund
So sue me. I always liked the character of Jimmy the Hand.
Now if someone, besides my brother, can tell me where the name Faldor came from I will give bonus DM points to.
From: Randy
Subject Surin and Mund
OOC: Eddings. I had to google to be sure because I could never get into The Belgariad.
From: Mark
Subject Surin and Mund
Well a Google answer only gets you half of the Bonus DM points. :)
DM points can be redemmed at any participating DM. Restrictions applly. Black out dates apply. Points expire on listed date. Please see web site for further rules.
Thanks for playing. :)
From: Porter
Subject Surin and Mund
Mund steps to the side and motions that it is Surin whom they want to hear.
From: Mark
Subject Ally and Friends
The sergeant looks bored as he opens the letter. Allistair can see his eyes go wide as he sees what is in it. He stuters a bit "Why yes, I think I do remember the Scrivener mentioning that he might have a very important visitor today." He turns to one of the guards next to him. "I am going to escort this gentleman and his lackeys to the Scrivener. I will be back shortly." He makes a salute and then turns and leads the Ally and the others towards the main doors.
OODM: I am going to write more when I get home tonight.
From: Mark
Subject The Butler
Sergeant Kline leads the three towards the house along a path of crushed stone. They can see that the grounds are immaculate. There are groundskeepers all over the place, pulling weeds, trimming trees planting flowers. As they walk the Sergeant continues talking. "The Head Scrivener, Thorgar, usually does not see people with out an appointment. I will have to talk to the house butler to get you in, but don't worry. I he owes me a few favors. The man leads them to a side door and knocks on it. An old woman opens it after a few seconds and pokes her head out. "What do you want Kline, you mangy bastard?"she asks. "Shut up you old witch and go get Ullen. I need to talk to him." He starts to push his way through the door, motioning the others to follow. The old crone grumbles as she heads off to find the butler.
As they are waiting in what appears to be a laundry room, a young maid carrying a large basket of clothes enters the room. She does not see Kline right away and he moves to block the exit before she realizes it. He moves behind her and grabs her from behind, fondling her breasts. She screams and drops the basket, clothes scattering all over the floor. Kline laughs at her discomfort. "Come on Shelly, it's just me, good old Kline. Just getting a refresher of what under those clothes. Remember the last time we were alone?" He leers at her. The young lady starts to cry and gets down on her knees, picking up clothes. Kline continues "You know you should visit me tonight. If you did I would put in a good word for you and your son. Otherwise I'll tell them you were slacking and it will be out in the streets with you." Shelly's sobs get stronger but she keeps picking things up.
Kline looks at Ally and Harp and Ranthir. Harp is holding Ran back from attacking the man. Allistair is blocking Kline's view of Ran's face. There is murder there. The old crone shows back up at just this moment. "He's in his office Kline so get your ugly sorry ass out of my laundry." Her distaste and disgust for the man is obvious. "Yes mother" he replies "what ever you say." He motions for Ally and the other two to follow him. Ran stops and helps the girl finish loading the clothes into the basket. She gives him a weak smile before he heads off.
Down a hall, through a door, up a set of stairs and into another small room goes the 4. In the room sits a middle aged man, very pale, dark hair. He looks up from his small table "What is it Kline. I have a lot of work do to." Sergeant Kline walks over to Ullen and shows him the letter Ally had given him. "This young man is a scribe from a far away land. He would like a job and needs to see Thorgar. I thought you might be able to get him an interview." Ullen looks about to explode at this when he opens the letter. His response is a bit smoother than Kline's was. He looks at Ally "A scribe, you say? Well why didn't you say so. You know we always need good scribes. I can't keep up with all the paper work now and Thorgar says he has no one to spare. Let me check the schedule."
Ullen flips through a book and looks up. "Why I think Thorgar has an opening in about an hour. Why don't you and your friends wait in the room next door and I'll come get you when the time comes? By the way, who are your friends?" He looks at Kline suddenly not too sure about this. There are three unknown men in his office and only one lowly sergeant.
OODM: You guys can go from here for a bit.
From: Kevin
subject: The Butler
Harp will defer to Allistair, trying to look as fierce or non-fierce as Allistair wants or says.