Nobody
Alexios Group
Posts: 1,409
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Post by Nobody on Feb 5, 2021 3:28:04 GMT
Aethyl looks at the man as though he is impossibly stupid.
"I am here, as Lucius has no doubt already told you, to buy a ship! So what I 'the hell want' is for you to think for a moment about what is important, and to stop beating my seller to a pulp long enough for me to buy his ship. I don't care what you do with him after, but I need him conscious and intact long enough to make the sale legal.
"And I am trusting that you are a man of understanding and discretion, and that you further understand that I am a businessman, and that I always see to it that everyone in the transaction walks away happy. But the longer you make me stand here the smaller your cut grows."
He looks at the man as if contemplating something soft and warm and unpleasant found on the bottom of a boot.
"Do you need me to write this down for you, or can you remember this?"
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Post by Diocles on Feb 5, 2021 3:30:22 GMT
The man recovers from his surprise and sets his jaw, and then a wicked smile spreads across his thin lips. "Then go prancing around the harbor until you find another ship, because The Aglaia ain't for sale." To the zombies he mutters, "Send this fop on his way!" And the zombies manhandle you.
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Nobody
Alexios Group
Posts: 1,409
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Post by Nobody on Feb 5, 2021 3:45:05 GMT
Aethyl's voice instantly changes, and becomes withering, cruel, and merciless.
"You half-witted sot. Caius Kelar Midal is the buyer. I'm here to sell the deal, and get what he needs. He always said you morons couldn't think your way out of an open box, and couldn't get information from a drunken fishwife. And now you have completely ruined my cover. By the gods if you make me have to get my hands dirty I'll personally feed you to the dragon.
"Now open this door, or I will put these scarecrows through you sideways. And I won't be gentle about it."
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Post by Diocles on Feb 5, 2021 3:47:17 GMT
The brute holds up a hand, and the zombies let you go. His face drains of all color. "A thousand apologies. But..." he looks around helplessly "...what about the chest they were bringing for the Order of Nistaran? Midal still wants it?" In the meantime, he is escorting you inside.
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Nobody
Alexios Group
Posts: 1,409
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Post by Nobody on Feb 5, 2021 4:27:40 GMT
Aethyl strides into the room with furious authority, his face a mask of control, his eyes boiling with naked wrath. He turns on the man, holding his hand up inches from his face, and cuts him off.
"Stop. Not another word. You know what you need to know, and nothing more. Gods above! You had just the one job to do. And now you have done enough damage for one evening. Both of you. I don't know where the chain broke in all of this, but I will find it, and someone will answer for it. Clearly you weren't told. Lucius was the signal. And evidently it never occurred to you that he would have good reason to interrupt you. But it doesn't matter now. I am here, and I will get what our master has sent me for.
"Wait outside, both of you, and see to it that no one disturbs us, and no one is alerted. I am going to break him, and I will stop at nothing. But stay alert! If it seems at all that the screaming is loud enough to be overheard, do not delay! Knock three times rapidly, and Ceili will let me know."
Here he nods briefly at Iritari.
"When he has told us all, we will take him, just to be sure. Men tell me many things to make it stop, and sometimes they are foolish enough to lie. I will be sure. Remain here. When all is accomplished, Ceili will return him here and you are to dispose of him. You may choose the method, but do not fail. See to it that it is done well, and nothing remains.
"Now. Repeat what I have just said to you, and make no mistakes."
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Post by Diocles on Feb 5, 2021 4:45:50 GMT
The men look at each other and think a moment. "You're gonna get the information from this sea-rat while we wait outside to make sure no one disturbs. If the rat screams too loudly, we let you know by three knocks. Then your boy here lets you know."
The other one pipes up, scratching his head and wincing. "Then you take the sea-rat with you to make sure he gets the chest for you, then you return him to us and we do what we do best upon his unfortunate flesh."
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Post by Storyteller on Feb 5, 2021 4:51:49 GMT
From my vantage point behind the captain, I whisper in his ear, conveying to him Aethyl's instructions. I am well impressed with my cousin's plans, and I ready appropriate magicks in my mind to approximate an interrogation, should it come to that.
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Nobody
Alexios Group
Posts: 1,409
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Post by Nobody on Feb 5, 2021 5:30:03 GMT
Aethyl nods curtly and dismisses them.
He then quickly moves to the captain and says, at normal volume, in his same withering voice, "Do you know who I am, and why I have come for you? But you soon shall."
He then changes demeanor and quietly identifies himself and his companions (including Mairwyn), and their plan for his escape, telling him that Mairwyn will reveal all. He tells the captain that he may hear some strange noises, but he needs to scream and make sounds of horror to sell the story. He tears a piece of the captain's shirt and stuffs it into his mouth, to muffle his voice.
He then says, seemingly to the air, "Cousin, can you provide some appropriate sounds? Something mechanical, I think...."
He then begins a systematic interrogation, using a frighteningly calm, almost soothing, voice. His tone is icy and hypnotic. He then nods at intervals to cue the captain to scream and moan, loudly enough to just hear outside, but not enough to draw attention.
"Tell me what I need to know, and this will all be over in a little while."
"I know you want to do the right thing. My master will have mercy on you."
"This can all end. Only say just one little word."
"Surely no wooden box can be worth so much pain?"
And finally, in tones loud enough to be heard outside,
"Excellent. There. See? I have made it stop. There. Rest a moment. There is no shame in weeping. All men break. But be comforted. You are strong, and I have not had this much fun in years."
At last he opens the door, and calls in the men.
"It is finished. We go now to retrieve the chest. But things have taken a new and unsuspected turn. This 'captain' is far more than he appears. He has uttered a name no man is supposed to know. I must therefore take him to our Master, and he alone will deal with him.
"Say nothing to anyone of what has happened here. All depends upon it. We all have our part to play. I have done my part, and you have done yours. And Lucius knows to continue to play his part for a time. He will ask you how it went with the foppish brat. Say only that 'he got what he came for.' Do you understand?
"Now. Return to your posts, and remember all that I have said. And may the flame burn in you forever!"
"Ceili, it is time."
Exeunt.
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Post by Storyteller on Feb 5, 2021 5:36:36 GMT
I use some illusory magicks at Aethyl's direction, and I leave with them, still invisible...
"Cousin, that was marvelous," I say, as soon as we are out of Rania.
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Nobody
Alexios Group
Posts: 1,409
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Post by Nobody on Feb 5, 2021 5:59:03 GMT
Aethyl reaches for her hand and squeezes it affectionately. "Thank you, Cousin. You made it marvelous. Indeed, I almost believed it myself, such is your skill. I am so grateful that you were with us, not only for that, but especially for the comfort of your presence."
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Post by Diocles on Feb 5, 2021 7:53:22 GMT
You walk away with the captain, leaving the brutes nodding in wonderment and fear, and soon enough you are away from the settlement and down at the end of one of the southern docks, where float The Aglaia. "May the gods bless you forever," Captain Nevius says, tears standing in his eyes, "all of you." He pauses to wipe his face. "So you wish to sail? Of course, but we are shorthanded. If we must leave now, will you take your turn at the ropes and the deckwatch. I fear a delay to find more sailors to hire will end your masterfully-executed ruse. So if you say 'yea' to an immediate departure, then I can accommodate you, though I must stop off in a secret cove I know just down the southern shore and retrieve the small chest I was meant to deliver to the high priest of Nistaran."
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Post by Storyteller on Feb 5, 2021 8:06:39 GMT
I drop my cloak and throw back my veil as I smile at the captain, holding out my other hand for Iritari to take.
"Yes," I say. "I can answer for us, that we will be willing to be trained to help with the ship. And of course, we must not allow any relic of the priests of Nistaran to fall into the sacrilegious hands of those cultists!"
I gesture to my holy symbol. "As a Mariness of Galadrin, I will give my life to prevent that. So let us away at once! We dare not stay longer, lest my cousin's masterful deception be discovered while we are still in Rania!"
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Nobody
Alexios Group
Posts: 1,409
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Post by Nobody on Feb 6, 2021 0:08:31 GMT
"As my Cousin has said, we will gladly learn the craft of the sea from you, and count it a privilege. And thank you for your kind words. But truly, we are both glad and honored to have freed you from the bonds of those evil men and their master. And of their master's Master. For I believe that our paths and purpose are more aligned than any of us may imagine. By all means let us make haste, and fly."
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Post by Diocles on Feb 6, 2021 4:04:15 GMT
You do all make haste, much to the wonderment of the crew, for their captain is returned to them, and Livius, the first mate, sues for pardon. "Forgive me, my captain!"
Nevius readily forgives. "For what man can expect to stand against a dragon?"
Well, Nevius, for one, but no one says anything. In the end, there are no hard feelings.
So the Agalia sets sail and makes it way out of Rania's large port, turning immediately south when in open waters. Ahead Nevius points to the natural sea cave formed along the rocky coast by untold years of erosive sculpting. "My second mate took the chest here and..." He trails off, for you all see it: the wrecked remains of a lifeboat nothing more than flotsam on the dark waves.
"Something dreadful happened here."
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Post by Storyteller on Feb 6, 2021 4:09:15 GMT
I look out over the water, and sorrow laps at me as the waves lap around the ship. What has happened to the second mate? To bravely follow his captain's order, to try to salvage from sacrilege the relic of Nistaran--whatever it might be--and then this?
"We need to see what happened, see what we can do..."
I make my way to the side of the ship, for am I not a Mariness? I can breathe in the water...
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