Sapphire:Sessions:20171007

Chalker's house staff patches up and secures the wounded assailants. Ahn-Lee requests a particular staff member who he remembers as "the best first-aider" to tend his injury. Chalker remarks to Sh1 (Nick Acosta's bodyguard), into whose back he had lobbed a flaming arrow, "That looks like it hurt."

Chalker studies Nick's aura: greedy, conniving, not particularly spiritual, no magery or psi. He sizes him up as a "pretty boy" type. He removes 5sp 6cp from Nick's money pouch and another 6gp from a hidden compartment in his belt.

Chalker, Shawna, Ahn-Lee, and Azzhik enter the study where Clementina Barons and Brigid Lamood are waiting, and Chalker plops the unconscious Nick down in a chair. Clementina freaks out at the sight of her boyfriend, roughed up and bound, but after a glance at Chalker's expression she manages to restrain herself from rushing to Nick's side. Chalker: "These are the rules. You, Clementina, are going to be quiet. Nick is going to tell the truth. Then I'll deal with you after he tells the truth." "Okay," she says, her voice quavering. Chalker: "And Brigid, Ahn-Lee is not prone to good deeds. This is very unusual for him to save you twice. This is not his normal way. So you are indebted to him." Brigid looks up at Ahn-Lee and says, "Thank you."

Chalker strikes Nick across the forehead. Nick regains consciousness, and starts looking around the room frantically. Chalker: "Do you know who I am, Nick?" "I've... seen you sometimes over the last several weeks." "So you know who I am." "Yes." "And you attacked the household of an envoy. You understand there are extra penalties for attacking diplomats. Right?" "Yes." "Okay. What was your plan?" Long pause. "To get her out of there." "How?" "I didn't think it through that clearly. It was all falling apart..." "Your plan was 'to get her out', that's it? Did you plan to kill us?" Longer pause. "With the right story, I think I could have sold something." "So killing us was optional, but if you had it do it, that was okay? I'm just trying to look at your battle plan before I ask you what I really want to know." "I was making it up as I went along." "I've done that before. Not as badly."

Nick exclaims, "Things went to crap so durn fast! I don't know exactly what happened!" Chalker: "Oh, I can tell you what happened. But I want you to tell me something first, okay?" "I... I'll tell you whatever you need to know." "I need to explain to you what's going to happen if you don't cooperate. In my mind, there are three scenarios. Option A: Once you tell me all you know, I'll turn you over to the royal family, you'll go to jail, and they'll decide what to do with you. Option B: I kill you and make you disappear." Clementina leaps out of her seat and starts to say something. Chalker turns his cold gaze on her and says, "And if you want to join him, you can disappear, too." Immediately, she sits back down.

Chalker: "And then I have a worse option. I owe a favor to -- do you know what a 'bale' is?" (Ahn-Lee's eyes widen slightly.) Chalker: "Think of an insane vampire who can walk during the day." Nick pales. Chalker: "I owe him a slight favor that I need to pay. What I'm going to do, I'm going to give you to him, and he's going to make you into a zombie. [pause] Do you have these three options in your head? Do you comprehend?" Nick, in a strangled voice: "Ah... y-yeah, I understand."

Chalker: "I want you to explain this scheme to me -- the entire scheme, including Clementina's involvement -- and if you tell me the complete truth, we'll stick with Option A. And I have a way of knowing when you're lying. You feel it, don't you? You're looking for it, aren't you? It's still here." Nick: "They were moving so fast -- I didn't get a good look at them -- there were four of you that came out of the house; I only see three." "Well, you're good at counting. But you're going to tell us the whole truth. Or... it depends on how upset I get. If I get really upset, I'm going to box you up and send you off to pay the debt. That seems fair, doesn't it? A debt is a debt, and I always pay my debts." Ahn-Lee: "You can't stay in debt forever." Azzhik: "Don't send him off without giving me an arm." Chalker: "How about a finger or something?" Azzhik: "Hand. His dominant one."

Chalker: "So you're going to tell me what I want to know, right?" Nick: "You want to know the entire scam that I was running on Clementina?" "Correct, and I want you to tell me quickly and concisely." "Did research; determined she met the parameters for what I needed within the merchant class of Sapphire. I met her, won her confidence, and... charmed her off her feet... and became deeply trusted by her. Used that to make suggestions, early, little ones that made her money and raised her status in her association. Then I got more outlandish and started running several concurrent scams through her, timing them so they'd come together... The end result I was looking for was complete control of the Traders Pride Association. If one of the main holders had gotten suspicious and brought in a mage or something, I could have bailed anytime and still made a significant increase over my investment. It's been a long-term investment, but this is the biggest scam I've ever tried to run." Chalker: "You sent a mage to copy all the documents at the association." Nick: "Yes, so I would know what other deals and information they had, and I could have leveraged it to get control of the entire association. The thing I was worried about was one of their mages or someone becoming aware of what was going on.

Chalker: "How much gold do you have at your place?" Ahn-Lee, emphatically: "The truth!" Nick: "My seed money's down to 500 gold. This was a long-term investment, and the payoff would have been huge." Ahn-Lee: "Address?" Nick gives his address in one of the wealthier sections of the Merchants Quarter. Chalker: "How did you get so much gold? You've been scamming for awhile and been successful until now?" Nick: "Yes."

Chalker: "Clementina. Will there be any need for me to make you disappear?" Clementina, in a quiet but hard-edged voice: "No. I understand." "Do you know how to unwind yourself from this particular deal?" "I've got... a lot of things going. It's going to be hard." "How much are you under?" "Uh... hundreds of gold. And I'm obligated within the next couple of weeks to double that. And then sign deals that will obligate the association." Chalker: "Would 100 gold help? Because we have 500 gold." (Ahn-Lee is shocked that Chalker would offer her 20% for 'being dumb'.) Clementina: "That should do it."