Daniel the Shark

The bustle of the harbor is omnipresent, sailors, finnickers, merchants, passengers, tradesmen, soliders, guards, urchins, and every other stripe of humanity flow and merge, creating a microcosm of international trade. Voices call out in a dozen languages, calls and responses, and a combination of machinery, magic, and good old fashioned elbow grease loads and unloads the ships.

Gull sits on the quay, his legs kicking off, in a slightly out of the way part of the docks, watching a flock of seagulls spiral overhead. He reads a thick parcel of parchment, envelope carelessly discard beside him, addressed to 'Gull of Seagarden. The witch reads with an air of skimming the letter.

The thing about the flow of trade into Alexandria's Warehouse District is, it flows _from_ somewhere. And mostly, it flows from the Port. So when Rona starts hearing about problematic contraband being smuggled into Alexandria and stored in _her_ territory, she naturally ends up here. Admittedly, having _arrived_, she is now at a bit of a loss as to what to do next, so she decides to just observe for a while... and, seeing a familiar face, she joins Gull on the quay. "I assume that's _not_ the latest Crimson Pen," she observes wryly as she settles herself next to him.

How exactly someone who's well over seven foot moves about so quiet is anyone's guess. She slinks about from one pallet to the next, a slide behind a set of barrels all netted in place. A short glance is taken around the corner, smooth instead of a jerk of motion. A glide back and she crouches low, her fingers rolling between making a fist and not a few times, a deep breath and then letting it out. A second as she empties her mind, thinks about... something else.

Ale?

Well why not? I like ale.

Especially a sour ale. Mmm, those are quite good. And... now.

A smooth step outward with her cloak fluttering behind and she steps into the path of a man well shorter than her. Banshee smiles, a motion that pulls the scars along her cheek tight. "Daniel the Shark?"

She didn't wait for a response as her fist flies out and smacks the man squarely in the neck. He makes a sort of gabled noise and steps backward. Just in time for a whole slew of commotion and yells.

This was not an expected moment in today's work flow!

Gull startles slightly, as the inquisitor sits down next to him. "Crimson pen? No. Just a letter from a friend." He folds the parcel, carefully putting it into a fold in his shirt when the commotion starts.

The crowd stirs, then begins to yell. Gull quickly stands, craning his neck before seeing the serenely smiling face of the seven and a half foot tall woman over the heads of the crowd, clearly in the center of whatever commotion is occurring. With a glance at Rona, Gull sighs. "Never a quiet moment in this place, is there?" He starts to weave through the crowd, trying to get to the source of the commotion. Towards the seven foot tall woman. For some reason.

Morgan has arrived.

Rona wasn't really sure what she was looking for, she just figured if she poked around long enough, something would turn up.

Apparently, now something has. Whether it's related to her own problem or not, she doesn't know, but she believes firmly that a "distraction" is just an opportunity she hasn't met yet. "If I'd wanted quiet moments, I'd have stayed in Yles Namvadin," she replies, amused, as she joins the witch in checking out the commotion.

As she approaches the hubbub, she calls out cheerfully, in an official-sounding voice "All right, all right, nothing to see here... except for the invisible stalkers, of course, but if you could see them you'd be running for your lives, not standing around here. So what seems to be the trouble?"

The man recovers with a cough and takes a swing at Banshee soon after.

"That was dumb." The Giantborn stepped into the punch and gave another quick thrust of a fist into his nose this time. Based on the sounds of people, it was not a pretty thing. Probably a broken nose.

"YOU BROKE MY NOSE!"

Well, okay, no probably about it. "Who's fault was that? You're the one with the warrant, Daniel." She kicked his leg and with the sound of a person slamming down onto the ground - head thump included - there's a groan. Banshee knelt down with a knee grinding into the back of one elbow as manacles were pulled out. "Why'd you skip out on your court date Daniel? Too busy with that slime business? Or just smuggling something else?"

Groooooooan.

"You big baby." Banshee leans a li-i-ittle bit more into the elbow before pulling her weight off and manacling the second hand.

Hearing about warrants and courts, Gull begins to get a sinking feeling. "Everyone, please back up. Officer of the courts, just bringing in a deliquent! Please, back up!" The potential for collateral damage seems a bit large with fists swinging, but the crowd seem to be giving the Giantborn a wide berth, at least. "Everyone please back up! Nothing interesting going on at all!" The witch has made his way to the center, and is now trying to direct traffic. "Back about your business, that's a good man. Thank you, maam, yes! No, not an official, just trying to keep things moving in the docks! No one likes a slow unload!"

Yelrona raises an eyebrow at the word 'smuggling'. Perhaps this altercation is related to her own problem after all! She approaches the pair more closely, and cautiously. "So what's Daniel done this time, officer?"

Morgan comes down the way singing a boddy slor song and gives a wave to some of the people working in the area. She takes a moment to watch a ship pull in to the dock, but she is admiring the Mermaid<sp?> on it front.

"Officer of the counts?" Banshee says with a a tilt of her head, a blink, and she looks up between Yelrona and Gull. "No. Nono. I'm not part of the guard. They don't let you do fun things like this." Banshee pushes her thumb into the tragus of Daniel's ear.

Daniel starts making little high-pitched noises and trying to squirm away from the pain.

Banshee lets up and then grabs the man by the collar, hauling him up to his feet as she stands. "Just a Bounty Hunter." She pulls a bit harder on the collar of the tunic to make sure Daniel knows she could choke him with it. "But - uh - thanks...?" She tilts her head a bit to the side. Oh look, mermaid! She glances to the fine woodcrafting on the prow of the docking ship as well. Hm, almost looks like it could jump off and into the water. And they even detailed the scales a little! Banshee glances back to Yelrona. "No idea what he's done, the courts are still deciding that I do believe. He just tried to run from it."

Gull shrugs, as the crowd starts to disperse. "Bounty hunter, officer of the courts. Point is you're bringing in a criminal. More important to get you clear to do that then to get the exact distinctions right. None of these people give a crap, they just care if they need to brawl, or if it's going to delay them." He looks around, seeing Morgan on the approach. "Well, let's get to a lower traffic road, to keep Daniel here from having any more, uh, accidents."

Morgan looks over when she hears about the Mermaid she was looking at and gives Daniel a smile and says "Its very pretty." though she is looking at it differently, she for its craftsmenship and he for something cool most likely.

Yelrona nods. "Well, _that_ comes as no surprise. So, Danny boy... are you smuggling sage brew into the city again? Last time, the Artificer's Guild almost expired wholesale... and that poor wizard couple, they _still_ haven't cleaned up the mess. I mean, a smuggler has to make a living, I understand, but there's a _reason_ the Council put a ban on the stuff!"

She pauses a moment, and her eyes seem to glow with divine purpose. "Well? Are you?"

"N-no, no, of course not, that wasn't me," the man replies, shaken. "I had nothing to do with it! I was, um, doing something else! Something unrelated and perfectly innocent!"

Rona nods, seemingly satisfied, and her eyes return to normal. "You should know better than to lie to me, by now."

GAME: Ga'Elian accepts a meet and will arrive momentarily.

Ga'Elian has arrived.

Flying closer, from the west-from the direction of the Felwood-is a griffon whose gleaming mithral shirt catches the already dazzling sunlight to blinding effect. Riding on the griffon is a slender figure with a dark green cloak that billows out behind whenever a gust catches it. The magnificent beast extends his wings and gracefully assumes a landing trajectory, heading for about where the adventurers are assembled at the seaport.

Yelrona glances upwards and notes Erithamiel and Ga'Elian, then looks back at Daniel. "Well. You've stepped in it for sure NOW, haven't you? Look, if you cooperate -- tell us who your supplier is, how you receive your shipments -- I'll TRY to keep the griffin from eating your private parts. I mean, unless you're done with them?"

GAME: Yelrona rolls intimidate: (11)+8: 19

Morgan notices that they are intergating the man, and then she notices her favotite Griffen but keeps out of this untill they want her help.

Gull snorts. "Rona, we need to get him out of this area." The crowd continues to mill, slowing as they pass by the captured criminal, creating snags in the otherwise efficient movement in the district. "Nothing's worse than a delay in the harbor. Seriously. Lot of brawls are happening later if we don't get this distraction out of here."

Banshee gives another twist to the cloth in her hand, glaring down at Daneil and glances off to Morgan who makes the comment about the mermaid being pretty. "You might not want to talk to him. Unless you want to write him in prison anyway." She jerks the man, "Don't lie to her." She wasn't even paying attention to what was being asked, just kinda figured he would be as she gives a turn of her eyes to Gull. A slow blink.

"He didn't have an accident, I punched him in the neck, then the face. Kicked out his leg, and ground my knee into the muscles just up of his elbow. There's lots of little nerves there, hurts like hell. Besides, if we stay here, we can see if he has any friends."

Banshee glances up at the sounds of flapping, "I hope that's not one of his friends. That will be annoying."

"A distraction," Rona observes to Gull, amused, "is just an opportunity we haven't met yet." She says it in the manner of someone quoting a proverb, which indeed she is... though a distinctly Tarienite proverb, admittedly, and probably not one most other Temples would agree with. "But, yes, you're right. Ma'am, if it would help earn you a bonus, I can bring you to the warehouse where Daniel is storing his smuggled goods... well, one of them, anyway. And no, I can assure you that Elian is _not_ one of Daniel's friends." She considers that for a moment, and the ranger's gullibility, and adds "Well. Not intentionally, in any event."

"After all," she adds, "a friend is just an enemy you don't know well enough, right? No, wait. I think I got that one wrong."

Before his descent gets too near, the griffon lets loose with an ear-rending shriek that echoes off the buildings facing the port and out to sea. A number of sailors and dock workers wince whether from being startled or merely from the loudness of the wild cry. Horses in and around the seaport spook and bolt if not restrained or war-trained. The eagle-lion then touches down coming to a stop very near Yelrona.

Ga'Elian hops lightly from the saddle and looks around. He nods a silent greeting to the Tarienite, to Morgan, and to Gull, all in turn, then asks in his thickly accented tenor voice, looking at Daniel (and any other NPCs that seem to be together with this group, "Who are these?" His look toward them is innocent, but wary, as if trying to ascertain their mettle.

Gull waves in greeting to the descending griffon. "Elian! Good to see you again. We were just going to be taking our new friends here, Daniel and...I'm afraid I didn't catch our large bounty hunter friend's name, but we were going to help them get somewhere a little less crowded. I know a perfect alley to finish this discussion over there!" The witch points out a quiet alley about a half block up the street. "Then we'll be out of the way!"

GAME: Ga'Elian refreshes spells.

Yelrona seems unfazed by the griffon's arrival, and strokes his feathers absently once he lands. "Hey, Erithamiel! Hey Elian! This is Daniel, whose associates call him Shark for reasons best left to the imagination, who has been smuggling sage brew into Alexandria _again_. And this," she continues, "well, I don't actually know your name," she admits, "but she is apparently bringing Daniel into custody once he shares the identity of his supplier." She raises an eyebrow at the smuggler and adds "Well, either that, or after Thamiel has his nethers as a snack." She is perfectly content to stay where they are, especially as the griffon's presence has done a great deal to thin out the crowd, but goes along with the group if it relocates without complaint.

"Veyla." Banshee responds, giving one of her names - the non-nickname - as she glances about and then nods in relation to Elian. She at least doesn't have to worry about him. That's a plus.

Ga'Elian nods to Veyla and says, "I am Ga'Elian." Then to Yelrona he says, "Erithamiel tends to not pick at his food, but to devour the whole carcase." He looks poker-faced at Daniel.... Then returning his attention to Yelrona, he adds, "You had a farm to take me to to show me tracks of a skeletal horse, yes?"

Yelrona nods. "Absolutely. Veyla, I'll show you where the Sage Brew is being stashed when I'm done with this." She prepares to leave with Elian.