Sapphire:Sessions:20171104

Frost Time 10: Ahn-Lee returns from his trip across the bay. He takes care of routine tasks (collecting his payment, checking his drops, etc.), then looks to relax after his travels.

There's a new entry in the journey book, from Chalker: Me and Frederick have been recalled to Dolyena. I'm not sure what I've done - or what he's done. We're going to go through the portal. I'll have Trace bring us back and forth. I left my crystals with Jeeves. I've instructed Jeeves that Shawna is now the mistress of the manor and the (unofficial) Envoy of Dolyena.

Ahn-Lee immediately decides to take breakfast at the manor. Jeeves greets him. "Welcome. You just missed Master Chalker. He and Lord Frederick have left." Ahn-Lee: "I trust Chalker left some instructions with you?" Jeeves: "Yes, Miss Shawna is Envoy of Dolyena and has the run of the manor." Shawna, coming up behind Jeeves: "And Miss Shawna is not exactly happy about that." Jeeves: "No, ma'm, I didn't think you would be." Shawna: "I wasn't criticizing you, Jeeves."

Jeeves seats them in the dining room and food is brought out. Shawna welcomes Ahn-Lee back and asks about his trip, but he demurs, "Nothing you'd be interested in. Pretty typical, boring stuff... Well, maybe a higher-stakes job, but nothing too out-of-the-ordinary. Had to find a guy in this city, got wind he was en route, so we intercepted him on the road and... did what we had to do. Moved on, and here I am. Not a bad payment, for what I did."

A swarthy, heavily-built, muscular male who might be taken for a dwarf (except that he's clean-shaven and about a head too tall) rides through the gates of Sapphire and immediately goes to register at the Mercenaries Guild. "Name?" "Dain Keyfiel." "Your purpose here?" "I'm pursuing a bounty." The registrar collects a 2cp fee and comments, "You're the second bounty hunter to check in in two days." Dain looks puzzled momentarily, but only says, "That's interesting." "Would you like to give a description of who you're hunting?" "No," Dain says flatly. "If you'd like to get a meal, most of us like the Boar's Head. There's lodging available in Old Town at The Soldier's Friend. [Bill: "Also known as 'Chalker's Retirement,' but that's assuming something."] They offer mercenaries a special rate."

After a nice chat, Shawna tells Ahn-Lee, "I'd best visit the imperial prison and check on Ren Paret. Then I'll go to the Temple of Santash and report on the recent events in Gateway." "I'll probably roam around the city, then; see if I run into anybody I know."

A message from Branamin appears in the journey book: Have you noticed anybody asking about me, lately? Ahn-Lee writes back I haven't and Shawna, No...

Around the marketplace, Ahn-Lee notices there are a lot of kids that he doesn't recognize. He approaches one of Rory's Copper Kids that he knows. "Hey, ah, what about these kids?" "We're not sure. They're here sometimes, we've seen them before, but they usually hang out farther north, close to the Green Lantern Tavern." "Yeah, sure, why wouldn't they be?" "I've noticed they keep looking at you." "Well, I'm not bad to look at." "Your purse surely isn't. It's very pretty." "Is that right? That's not a wise thing to look too closely at." "Well, you live and you learn, then... you don't live." "Agreed. Well, tell me if you see anything else strange." Ahn-Lee slips the kid 2cp, then walks off, trying to see if he can catch one of the older kids staring at him.

Dain has never before been in such a large city as Sapphire. All he knows is that his quarry is a "rogue assassin/mage" whose name is either "Brand" or "Cinnamon" and has the initials CBL. Dain enters the Mages Guild and approaches the hiring manager. "Good morning. I'm looking for a couple of mages to hire. I've had pretty good word about these two, Brand or Cinnamon. Are either one of these available for hire?" "Uh, there's no 'Brand' and there's no 'Cinnamon'." Dain feels there is more information to be had, but not for free. The manager continues, "We have lots of mages. What kind of work do you want done?" "A mage that's able to do some protection work, help protect people, that type of skillset." The manager repeats, "We have plenty of mages, but there's no 'Cinnamon' or 'Brand'." "Well, I'm, uh, willing to provide recompense to people who could point me to those individuals. They've been recommended to me." "We have one that's registered, but I don't know if he hires out. He's more of a merchant type. He doesn't do protection, though." "Is he a combat mage?" "I think he has some combat skills, but I wouldn't call him a combat mage." "What makes you recommend him? He might have insight to these people, or something?" "No, it's just that his name is close to the one you said, that's all." Dain palms 4cp and lays them on the desk; the manager waves one hand across the coins and they vanish. "Like I say, we have Branamin, and I don't know the extent of his skillset." "You have a point, the name's sort of close." "He's relatively new here. If you like, I can leave a message for him." "If you would, I'd appreciate it. I'll be spending lunch and part of the day at the Boar's Head. I just got to town this morning and haven't got a place to stay yet." Dain gives the manager his name, thanks him (leaving another 2cp) and leaves.

As Shawna leaves the temple of Santash (after reporting on the cursed weapons destroyed in Gateway), she is met by three of Lady Thire's guards. "The lady needs your help. She and her household were attacked at 4:00 this morning." Shawna immediately sets off with them.

While strolling in the market square, twice Ahn-Lee's attention is drawn a particular man -- very tall (6'5"), bony, with bright eyes and very large hands. [Bill: "Shaq hands."] Ahn-Lee's not sure whether the man is following him or not, but something bothers him about the coincidence. Ahn-Lee takes to the rooftops as he shadows the tall man, who enters and walks down an alley. In the darkest section of the alley, the tall man flattens himself against a wall and stands there, seemingly watching for somebody to come into the alley. Five minutes later he walks out of the alley, down another block, and enters a shop. When Ahn-Lee steps in, there are a number of shoppers milling around, but he doesn't see the tall man. After looking around for a few minutes, Ahn-Lee walks out. He returns to the dark alley, and before he reaches the darkest section, he turns around and in the mouth of the alley (45 feet away) stands the tall man, staring at him. Ahn-Lee starts toward him, and the tall man dashes away.

As he reaches the mouth of the alley, Ahn-Lee discovers the ground there is Glued and he is stuck, unable to pull free. In the alley across the street a woman with dark hair and bright eyes raises her bow and fires at him. Ahn-Lee is unable to dodge the arrow, which strikes his left arm. He draws two knives and throws them; she barely dodges both, dropping her bow. She shakes her head. Ahn-Lee throws two more knives, which she dodges adroitly; she draws a throwing knife. Again Ahn-Lee throws two knives, again they're right on target, and again the woman dodges them. Her thrown knife bites into Ahn_Lee's left arm.

Just then a gang of Copper Kids rush out of the opposite alley, swarming the woman. She swats at them, knocking a few of the kids down. Then she turns and runs away.

Ahn-Lee, his left arm bleeding badly, struggles to free his feet. Suddenly a large male, armored in leather and bristling with weapons, is running toward him. Defensively, Ahn-Lee fast-draws a knife with his right hand. "Whoa-whoa-whoa!" cries the stranger, skidding to a stop; "Hold on! I just wanted to help!" "Yeah... why don't you help from somewhere else?" "Yeah, okay..." says the stranger, taking a step back. Ahn-Lee looks the stranger over: 5'6", 300 pounds of mostly muscle, collar-length black hair, brown eyes, dwarven features but clean-shaven. Obvious weapons are two axes (one small and intended for throwing), a knife, and a short sword strapped to his back. His leathers are covered with road dust.

Stranger: "Honest, I'm not part of whatever just happened!" Ahn-Lee: "Very coincidental that you're here, then, huh?" "Hey, everybody's got to be somewhere." "Why don't you just stand back, then. Know anything about magic?" "I can't do magic, but I know a little bit about it." "Well, I can't move right now." Just then the spell wears off and Ahn-Lee raises his feet. "Never mind." "Need help getting to a doctor or a healer?" "Why, you know any good healers?" "I'm new to town. I don't know anybody." "New to town, and you just happened to come across me, huh?" "I just been checking out the market." "See anything interesting?" "Oh, I see a lot of stuff interesting."

Ahn-Lee, still wielding his knife defensively, walks across the street to the mouth of the other alley and collects the knives he'd thrown at the woman. Five Copper Kids linger nearby, watching the stranger closely, even while Ahn-Lee gives each Kid a silver piece. Those five Kids then scurry away; several others appear behind Ahn-Lee, and they, too, watch the stranger.

Indicating the stranger's weapons, Ahn-Lee asks, "You know how to use those things?" "Yes. You need a bodyguard? You're not up to your full efficiency." "Certainly not." "I saw you throw those knives. Did you hit whoever it was?" "No, they were damn good at dodging. Never seen anyone dodge so many times." "So somebody probably sicced an assassin on you." "...Yeah, something like that." Again the stranger offers to be his bodyguard, and Ahn-Lee finally says, "Okay. I'll give you a silver if you hang out with me the rest of the day. But if you make any sudden movements, you'll find out how good I am with these knives."

As an afterthought, the stranger collects the woman's bow and three arrows. Ahn-Lee sheathes his knife and extends his hand. "Ahn-Lee." "Dain. Dain Keyfiel." "Well, you could've come a few minutes earlier, Dain." "Uh, I'll do better now that I'm being paid." Ahn-Lee starts walking, saying, "Hm. Do I get this arm healed, or do I go get a drink first?" It takes Dain several seconds to realize Ahn-Lee is joking.

Ahn-Lee knows by sight all the kids that regularly hang around the marketplace; he spots one particular boy who seems out of place, and without increasing his pace makes a beeline straight toward him. The boy turns as if to run... and trips over his own feet. Ahn-Lee extends his hand to help the boy up, but the boy doesn't take it. Dain moves to block the boy's escape route. Ahn-Lee: "Who are you?" "Herman." "You don't look like you belong here, Herman." "I'm not sure what you mean. I live in Sapphire, so I should be here." "Something seems 'off' with you, Herman." "I normally hang out around the Green Lantern Tavern, that's all." "That kind of thing makes me suspicious, Herman. That's a weird place." "Well, I was just watching. I heard this was... some place to be." "What are your thoughts so far? I noticed you tried to leave just now. You were in such a hurry, you nearly hurt yourself." "Well, you see a guy with a knife and an arrow stickin' out of him walking toward you, you might want to leave the premises." "I'm gonna keep my eye on you, Herman." "Yes, sir. Thank you for watching out for me." "I'll be watching very carefully." As Ahn-Lee walks off, Dain notices Herman going "whew" before scampering away.

Lady Thire's home had been attacked around 4:00 in the morning. An assailant (who looked like a bale but "didn't feel like one) had choked Lady Thire into unconsciousness, leaving bruises on her neck. Alfred, a mage and former criminal, had been killed. (Despite his having reformed and lived an honest life for the past 200 years, there had still been a bounty on his head.) Ursula, a close friend about the same age as Lady Thire, had been struck by a poisoned arrow; her innate toughness enabled her to survive, but her skin had turned an unnatural pink. The guards had been knocked unconscious with poisoned needles. The attackers had broken into a vault and taken two artifacts: a tiny diamond that allows spells to be cast in a no-mana zone, and a reusable scroll that casts a Doppelganger spell lasting 30 minutes.

Shawna examines the arrow, which has been broken in two. Engraved on the arrowhead in fancy scrollwork are the initials CBL. From the remaining traces of poison, Shawna recognizes the "signature" of the alchemist who concocted it -- Azzhik.

At Envoy Manor Ahn-Lee is greeted by Jeeves, tended to by his favorite first-aider, and Major Healed by Relinda. Ahn-Lee offers Dain a drink; Dain starts to refuse, considering himself "on duty", but Ahn-Lee says "You look like you have the drinking capacity of a dwarf." Dain mentions he's looking for a contact named Branamin.

Kimtri (in her guise as "Kay"), dressed in riding leathers, arrives to see Ahn-Lee. She already knows he had been wounded, and that Dain is a bounty hunter. She notes that a guild member from Gateway -- heavyset, with blue eyes -- registered four days ago and has since signed off on three old "open contracts," including a strange one to turn someone pink. They had scanned the "do not eliminate" list and shaken their head at Chalker's name. Kimtri comments that Lady Thire is also on the DNE list, but that the Bicarn ambassador is not. She warns Ahn-Lee, "You might be collateral damage, or even a target. Tread carefully." Ahn-Lee describes the woman who attacked him, and adds, "They managed to trap me, but that's a mistake I'll only make once."

When Kimtri leaves, Dain tells Ahn-Lee that he's nervous that she was "so gabby" in front of him, like she obviously wanted him to hear what she had to say. He takes a close look at the arrow that had struck Ahn-Lee and points out the initials CBL. "The guy I'm looking for wants to kill you."

Ahn-Lee starts to write to Branamin in the journey book and sees a note from Chalker; he has heard of a assassin called CBL, but had always figured he or she was a myth, or that "CBL" was a pseudonym used by many people in the past. Ahn-Lee writes, "Someone with the initials CBL on an arrow shot me."

Shawna visits Azzhik at the alchemy shop. Yes, four days ago he created the pink poison for a client, along with another poison, an agony potion, and a sleep potion. The client was a human woman, "not tall or short. Blue and green eyes. Name Brandy. Smell like bacon." One of the coins she had paid with was minted in Gateway.