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[Four votes for fourteenwing's option; it wins.]
You slip into an alley as the guardsman walks past. You don't want him to see you.
When he has passed you, you turn into the alley and look at the people around you.
Some of them are eyeing you warily. You have no doubt that if you weren't openly carrying a weapon, they might attempt to mug you. Few people want to attack a hedgewitch, however, and fewer want to attack an armed person. Attacking an armed hedgewitch is just asking for trouble.
You smile pleasantly at them. "Would you like to answer some questions?" you ask. You have no idea why they all blanch at that.
They look nervously at each other, before one of them turns back to you, scowling. "Whaddya wanna know 'bout?" he asks roughly.
"Nothing important," you say airily. "I just want to know about this area- I have a job here, see, and I'd like to know the area before I get to work."
The man continues scowling, but reluctantly holds his hand out. "I don't work for free," he growls.
You quickly eye everyone in the alley- five people- and reach into the pocket of your cloak. You withdraw eleven silvers and drop them into his hand.
"Thank ye kindly," he mutters, then drops the coins in his pocket. The others look unhappy, but you know they'll probably divide the coins between them after you leave.
"What can you tell me about the economy of this area?" you ask. At the man's bemused look, you elaborate. "What can you tell me about the jobs people have, and how money flows in the area."
The man's face twists into a grimace. "Ain't many jobs 'round here," he says. "Money most comes from other places- the richies in other places like t' hire 's sometimes. Cheap labour, they reckon."
You affect a grimace of disgust. "That's awful," you say, trying to sound sympathetic. "I'm guessing the money doesn't stay here for long?"
"Nope," he snorts. "Frankie's gots us a stall set up over on the main road, and summa da innkeepers 'round there have meals on th' cheap, 's long as you don' mind no' knowin' where dey gets the meat from, but a lotta our money goes ta gettin' food for our families and stuff."
You nod knowingly. "And I saw that Frankie's business isn't doing too well," you commiserate. You didn't see any such thing, but if your suspicions are correct, then it won't be doing well at all.
The man's shoulders sag. "Nope," he mutters. "'ese days, 'ts all Frankie can do t' keep gettin' enuff money to keep buyin' food, lets alone gets enough to feed 'imself and 'is son. We trys to help out when we can, but 'ts not like there's a lotta stuff we can do for 'im, yunno?"
You nod. "It's hard sometimes," you say knowingly. "And I'm guessing those thugs don't help the situation much, either."
He shakes his head in disgust. "Dose thugs'r just makin' tings worse. Frankie woz doin' fine before they came along, but den all da stores around da place started having 'accidents', and now everyone's losin' money likes deir wallets have holes in 'em."
You scowl in honest disgust this time. "That's just wrong," you say.
He nods his head. "Frankie's never done nothin' wrong," he says angrily. "'e just tries to look out for 'is kid, like normal folks, y'know?"
You nod. "Makes you wish the guardsmen around helped the folks out a bit more, don't you think?" you ask casually.
The man's face looks positively murderous. "Dirty bastard," he spits. "He's knee-deep in wit' Urghal's men, he is. One o' da worst o' da lot. Wish we ha' some real guardsmen in dis part, I do."
You nod. "It'd certainly help a lot," you mutter.
Standing up from where you'd leaned against the wall, you reach into your purse and pull out two marks. You press them into the man's hands. "Thank you for answering my questions," you smile warmly. "Please take your friends here for a drink, my shout."
The man looks at the money, then up at you. He attempts an awkward bow. "'ank you!" he says excitedly.
You turn and walk away, your mind churning.
[A] What now? One man's word isn't enough to go to Rory with, but this situation seems worse than a guard merely taking bribes.
Become the Batman.
I'd like for us to look for some kind of communal meeting place in this particular part of town; some kind of tavern or drinking hole for those in the slums and ghettos would be ideal. Ideally, we'd be able to witness some kind of crime first hand, perhaps even enough to see some commonalities between the perpetrators and follow a trail. But the most important thing, for this, is to find a place where people pool their suffering and commiseration -- and a ghetto tavern, gambling house, brothel or what-have-you would be our best bet.
One man's word isn't enough to go on, but we do have our own witnessing of the guard wearing what appeared to be a gang identifier.
Alex's idea is a good one.
Tavern!
And then get drunk.
To the taverns!
[Five votes for heading to a run-down place; Alex's option wins.]
You head on down the meandering streets of the slums, passing Lien on the way- he is hanging around the main streets with his hood up, as having a Changeling with you is likely to hurt your cause much more than help it.
There are certain places where certain groups of people gather. Brothels; run-down taverns; seedy gambling halls. There, you are likely to find all sorts of shady characters; people drinking their lives away in depression, thugs celebrating a successful haul, gamblers cheating desperate folk out of their last few silver, and morally corrupt soldiers and guardsmen hanging around to talk in relative privacy.
You pass a few taverns on your way. They are too obviously seedy; while you want a seedy tavern, you also want one that tries to maintain a facade of respectability.
Eventually, you find a tavern that looks respectable- The Ivory Peaks. You idly hope that the sign is referencing the twin mountains in the southern lands, but looking at the crude picture drawn on the sign, you doubt it.
You walk straight past the tavern, continuing on for several blocks before you duck into an alleyway. You quickly disrobe yourself, tucking your robes into your pack, before you turn around and head back. A woman such as yourself will attract a fair amount of attention in the tavern, but it is still less attention than an obvious hedgewitch would have drawn.
You open the door to the tavern, and only a rigid sense of self-control prevents you from collapsing to the floor and attempting to cough your lungs out. The air inside is positively thick with smoke, both tobacco and icepowder.
Well, you're probably in the right place.
You head towards the counter and pull up a stool. The bartender flicks his gaze over you- noting your well-groomed hair, the sword belted at your waist, the dark bags under your eyes, and the scars over your arms and hands- and nods, welcoming you.
"Can I have an ale?" you rasp. The smoke is making your throat and lungs sore.
You wait for him to bring you over a mug of ale, then bury yourself in it, holding your nose over the alcohol. The smell is strong, and you suspect you might get drunk off the fumes, but it's better than the smoke.
You make yourself comfortable there, slowly sipping the ale. You keep your ears strained, trying to listen in to everything around you.
You have been there for about two-thirds of your mug when you finally hear something relevant.
In the darkened corner of the room, some distance to your right, is a table. It's close to the counter, but separated from the barman's gaze by a wooden wall- you suspect that behind the wooden wall there is a strongbox, containing the barman's earnings for the day.
A man and a woman are sitting at the table, each holding a tankard of ale. They are speaking lowly, but with ears as good as yours, you can hear them nonetheless.
"... the house?" the woman whispers.
The man nods. "Ordan's working in there now," he says softly. His voice is scratchy- it's been damaged, probably from excessive use of icepowder. "Tomorrow night's the go- he'll slip some drugs into the hound's dinner, get them to fall asleep."
"What about the guards?" the woman asks, her eyes darting around. You pretend to scratch your ear, turning your head away.
"Uva's got that covered," the man replies. "Urghal told me he's got something arranged with the other guards there- they'll all stay away from the house for an hour or so, give us time to get in there and get away clean."
The woman nods. "That's great," she says.
You wait a few minutes, but you can't make heads or tails of what they say next- their voices drop too low, becoming only a faint murmuring, drowned out by the table next to them.
You drink the last of your ale, then nod at the barman and drop four silvers next to the mug. It's more than the drink actually cost, but you're fairly sure the barman knows that you were listening in on someone, and it never hurts to get on the good side of someone who knows what you were up to.
You head back to the main street. You're not sure what to do next.
[A] Go back to the constabulary's office and report in to Sir Rory. You have enough information now to implicate Uva in some severe corruption.
Stick around the slums some more. You still have around eight hours of daylight. (Please specify where you would like to go in the slums, and what you wish to achieve there.)
A. Definitely A. Let's get the information to Rory as soon as possible, so he can likewise be organised to act on it as soon as possible.
And bam; I have updated the second post, which was 16 posts behind, as well as missing several lore and setting posts.
A; REPORT HIM
BETTER YET, SLIT HIS FUCKING THROAT RIGHT NOW
(don't do that it's messy)
[A] We're done here (for now), let's not overstay our welcome.
OK. But why?
That shift, not the current one.
But which area? There's potentially dozens of shifts happening during that time frame, and presumably only a small number of them are involved in this.
I guess just tell him that, and he can figure out the specifics of who to suspect.
[Four votes for A; A wins.]
Lien is standing in front of a fruit stall when you find him again.
"Thank you," he says, smiling brightly at the stall's owner as she hands over two apples and a peach. You wait until he takes a bite of one of the apples, then reach over and steal the peach. He jerks in surprise.
"Come on," you tell him, taking a bite of the peach. He pouts at you. You grin at him, then turn around and begin walking.
Behind you, Lien stares longingly at the peaches on the stall for a moment before he follows you.
The walk back takes an uncomfortably long time. You are glad when you make it back to the constabulary's office.
While you wait for Rory to call you in, you beg a glass of water off of one of the guardsmen on duty. Hydration is important!
Eventually, Rush does call you in. Lyara is still with him, but Ari is not there.
"You have news, I expect?" Rory asks, looking over at Lien. Lien challengingly bites his apple. Rory doesn't look impressed.
"I do," you reply. "I suspect Uva is corrupt?"
"You suspect?" Rory asks, shifting his gaze to you.
You nod your head. "I did not approach Uva directly, but I did speak directly to several citizens of the area," you reply. "Uva was wearing a blue armband, patterned with a picture of an eye, with a black spiral surrounding it. Upon further inquiry, it was revealed that a local gang of thugs has been causing problems for several legitimate businessmen."
"And these thugs wear blue armbands," Rory concludes.
You nod your head, then pause, and shake your head. "I did not specifically confirm that with the populace," you admit. "But given the nature of the people wearing the armbands and the populace's reactions to them, I would say that they are either the same group, or you have two groups of thugs in the slums causing trouble."
Rory's face fell. "Did you learn anything else?" he asked unhappily.
You nod. "Two gang members were discussing their plans for tomorrow night. They are going to break into someone's house. Uva has apparently bribed several guards into... conveniently not being in the area."
Rory's face hardened. "Did you happen to hear where this happened?" he asks.
You shake your head. "That was all I heard," you say.
Lyara is shaking her head behind him. Rory looks down at his desk for a moment, then looks back at you.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention," he says quietly. "I would ask you to not speak of this to anyone but myself, at least for the time being. In the meantime, perhaps you would feel free to investigate Feila and Osten."
You stand, recognizing that as a dismissal. You incline your head, then turn to leave.
[A] You are going to investigate Feila first. She is further out of your way than Osten, but she is in a better area- you might be able to grab something proper to eat while you're there.
You are going to investigate Osten first. He's closer first, but you'll probably have to skip lunch to visit Feila after.
[C] Something else. (Please specify what.)
[A] Can't miss lunch (the most important meal between brunch and linner).
Whatever, [A] is as good as any other.
Lien and yourself head out to meet Feila first.
It's quite a walk, but thankfully, it takes less than an hour. Your leg muscles are really getting a workout.
You eventually arrive at the district.
This district is often known as one of the Grocer's District. It's an area located directly next to the newest Field Ring. Several major paths through the fields lead directly to the district. As such, many farmers often set up shop here to sell their goods. Many fresh fruits and meats are sold here.
You duck into a tavern, then sit down with Lien and order some lunch. It is brought over to you several minutes later, and you begin to plan for how to deal with Feila.
[A] How will you approach it this time?
Don't want to use the same method...thought is required.
Seek out this Feila character and observe them. Knowing a little more about them might help us come up with a plan -- or catch them in the middle of taking another bribe.
Sounds good.
What Alex said.
[Again, all votes for Alex's option.]
You finish your lunch, then wait a few moments for Lien to finish his.
"I need you to stay here again," you tell him when he finishes. He blinks at you.
"Why?"
Because he's a Changeling, and people will view you with suspicion if he's with you. "Because I want you to stay in here and listen," you tell him. You're not precisely lying; both are reasons you want him to stay. "Keep an ear out for anything involving someone called Urghal or someone called The Hand."
Lien nods. "I will," he confirms.
You smile at him, satisfied, then turn and leave.
You wander around for ten minutes before you find Feila. She is wandering around the streets- no; she is wandering around talking to the stall owners.
You walk closer to her, casually stopping a few feet away from her and browsing the fruit stall. A small smirk spreads across your face when you see peaches for sale.
Over at the stall, you can hear Feila talking to the man manning the stall. "... have it for you tomorrow," he whispers harshly. "I don't have it yet."
"See that you do," Feila whispers harshly. "He is not a very patient man. You should not keep him waiting."
She departs from the stall. You drop three silvers on the stall you are standing in front of and smile pleasantly at the woman behind it, before you take two peaches and stride off to follow the guardsman.
She proceeds down the street, occasionally stopping at a stall to speak to someone. You notice several pickpockets running through the street around you, but you don't know if Feila saw them.
Eventually, she ducks down an alley. You wait several moments before stepping in.
There's a doorway- locked, of course- and a grate set in the ground. Feila is nowhere to be seen.
[A] Go back to Rory. Feila is incompetent, even if you don't know if she's corrupt yet.
Attempt to follow Feila through the door. She may be in there.
[C] Attempt to follow Feila through the grate. She may be in there.
[D] Something else. (Please specify what.)
[D]
Let's make a note of where Feila disappeared and go back to the stall clerk she was speaking to. I'd like to start by making small talk -- "times are hard, how're you doing?", stuff like that. People will always tell the truth or at least half-truths, because a half-truth is much easier to conceal and run with than an outright lie. After some small talk, we can ask the stall clerk if he's in any trouble, use our status as a hedgewitch as a bargaining chip and see if we can get any information out of him about the unlawful guard behaviour.
D (addendum); if he looks like he's starting to lie, punch him in the face.
To establish your superiority.