Slavers' Inquisition

SUMMARY: Followup to You_Must_Pay_The_Rent; Rona and Murder induct Aya and Constantin into the Slavers' Inquisition

Yelrona is flipping through the Jobs Board in the Guild's front lobby, looking for potentially interesting assignments.

Murder is simply leaning against the wall beside the board. "Gosh, I hope Chay will be alright while we are searching for work.", she says in a bit of an outside voice. "How much do you reckon they'll pay to get him?"

Aya walks into the lobby and towards the board. She may have the very same intent as Yelrona, and notes both her and Murder. She diverts slightly to stop near the board's opposite side. "Problems?"

"I hope not!" says Rona, greeting Aya. "Just a friend of ours who's gotten into some trouble with..." she whispers, loud enough to be easily overheard, "Charn!" She looks around, then starts jotting down some notes in a notepad, as though copying details from the board. "And looking for work, as always. How are you?"

Murder huffs and stares at Yelrona a moment. "Shhh. You don't want them to hear that." She looks around and then gestures. "No problems at all, just a slight lack of coin and honest employment.", she says to Aya, doing her best to look completely innocent.

Aya may or may not believe Murder's ruse, though the odds do not appear in Murder's favor if Aya's expression is any indication. "If it's any consolation, I expect that they would already know what they wanted to know, or have the means to find it, even if you whispered more softly."

"Well, gosh, I sure hope not!" Rona says, again too loudly. She rips the page on which she's been writing notes out of her book and puts the book away. She pulls a brightly colored placard out, looks it over, shrugs, and hands it to Aya, saying "Oh, hey, you might be interested in this?"

The placard is an advertisement for an especially lurid show opening in the Theatre District. The note, which Rona has handed over along with it, reads "Play along. I'll explain later."

"If that were to get out it would be REALLY BAD!"

Murder huffs at Aya and shakes her head. "No, Charn is a bunch of asshats and they need to be lead around by the nose. They couldn't find their arses in the dark with both hands and a torch. So they likely don't know, so, we need to keep that to ourselves." She glances at Yelrona and the advertisement. "Oh yeah, we're supposed to be handing those out. That was a few hundred gold, right?"

Aya accepts the advertisement, her other brow arching as she reviews it. "...Interesting..." She folds up the paper to tuck it into her clothing. "I'll keep that in mind, yes." After a few beats pause, she adds, perhaps not as quietly as one should, "In that case, maybe you should stop discussing it. The Charneth have eyes and ears most everywhere."

A really sharp observer would catch a millisecond of confusion on Rona's face at Murder's comment before she nods agreement. "Yes, right! We have to collect that fee, after all! And yeah, Aya's right. Mum's the word!" Again, she is doing a noteworthily poor job of actually being even remotely discreet. "So, anyway, we should go distribute the rest of those advertising placards. And I'm hungry! Aya, care to join us for dinner?"

Aya's eyes shift to the board. "If you've taken a task to hand out theatre bills, I can only assume that any jobs of interest are long since gone." Her eyes shift back to Yelrona. "I could eat, yes."

Murder's stomach announces its agreement in getting dinner, and she looks a little embarrassed. "Er. Dinner sounds good." She glances to Aya. "Yeah, all the good ones were snatched up already. There's always tomorrow." She elbows Yelrona, "Gotta get up earlier, yeah?"

Yelrona laughs. "Or stay up later. Shall we, then?" She leads the way out the door, and quite some distance from the Guildhouse.

(Location change)

After they've walked a while, Rona says -- genuinely discreetly this time -- "Thanks for playing along. We think there might be a Charnese mole in the Guildhouse, so we handed them a lure, and we're gonna see what bites. Speaking of which, how good are you at discreet surveillance?"

Murder looks to Yelrona, and then Aya, and then back again. "Oh boy. You didn't know, did you?" She rubs at a cheek. "Feel like the Ox Strength tavern?", she offers up cheerfully.

Aya dips her chin. "I wouldn't be surprised. Charn is very adept at using spies, as I mentioned." The query causes one corner of her lips to lift. "I can be quite discreet."

Constantin has arrived.

Yelrona nods. "We could use some... er... discreet observers," she comments, glancing at Murder, then shrugging. "So, we've planted some rumors in the Guildhouse that our friend, who Charn is trying to kill, is unguarded in a room nearby. The plan is to keep the space discreetly under surveillance... if anyone comes after it, we know there's a mole. Wanna help?"

Murder hmms and glances at Yelrona a moment. "What I mean is.. Aya's network makes most other peoples' look like the circus. No disrespect meant, it's just that Charn has been doing this for far longer than we can even guess. Aya can help." She looks to Aya a moment. "If you can trust her. Her being from Charn might get in the way of that, but I think that's understandable. I trust her." She looks to Yelrona again and then shrugs. "I guess you've already decided that." The Gobber giggles and thsn hops from foot to foot. "So. Dinner?"

Constantin strides along, dressed in normal clothing for once. He blends well, but is given away as he walks by Yelrona. He flashes a smile, "Rona," in passing.

"I could help," Aya agrees, "and I've no objection, though I do have a concern..." She gestures a hand lightly to Murder, "which she brings to light."

Yelrona perks up as she sees Constantin. "Ah! Two birds, one stone," she decides. "Yes. Information exchange is best over food." She leads the horde into the Ox, picking out a table where they cannot easily be overheard.

Murder goes Ox-Strength Tavern <OX>.

Murder seems quite eager to get into the OX, but looks immediately disappointed by Yelrona's choice of seating. She doesn't argue, but does look a little sullen for a while. Waving to the barkeep, she orders two pitchers of ale, and several glasses, as well as four bowls of stew and fresh bread for everyone at the table. "I'll treat!", she says cheerfully, before leaning in to speak to Yelrona quietly. "Are our compatriots in on this as well, or are you acting outside of the Guild? Only asking so as I can keep up on who's in and who's not. Gotta know who I can talk to about stuff when it comes up, yeah?"

Constantin has arrived.

Yelrona laughs. "How sure are you that _you're_ in on this? Maybe we're all setting up an elaborate ruse to convince you that we're setting up an elaborate ruse to convince someone else!" She waggles her eyebrows, then nods to Constantin and Aya and says "They're OK. We can use their help."

Constantin apparently took some time to talk himself into 'food at the Ox-Strength' but the lure of information apparently won out. He comes in, and heads to the table to sit down. "I am okay. But what am I helping with?"

Murder peers at Yelrona, her eyes narrowing. "I'm in this to help Chay. If you're fucking with that... I'mma going to be quite mad." She looks to the other two and shrugs. "I know Aya, but I dunno him. Can you trust him, then?" The Gobbo rubs at one of her cheeks.

"You're helping us find a Charneth mole in the Adventurer's Guild, for starters," Rona replies. "If you choose to."

Constantin tilts his head at Murder, "And I don't know you, but Rona here seems to like you, so." He flashes dimples at the gobber, then nods to Rona. "That sounds like something they'd do. Okay."

Murder growls, showing teeth while doing so, and looks to Yelrona. "We may have to also consider that we might have to chase off bounty hunters. Not all of them will be as civil or law-abiding as our Sunblade friend. So if we can find out if other bounty hunters are known to be sniffing around, that'd be a good idea. They may be a secondary source of information for Charn."

"True," Rona agrees. To Aya and Con she adds "The broader context is Charn is sending assassins to kill a friend of ours, possibly as part of a broader move against the Sith... though I'll admit I don't know much about that last part, myself," Rona continues. "I don't much care for that. Friends are more fun when they're breathing."

Constantin nods once, leaning back. "They've been doing that for a while, I think. Your friend step in something particularly juicy?" A nod. "Charn has money -- it's just something they do. Of course, so is soul-powered artifice..."

"I have it on pretty good authority that Charn has used Sith to power explosives of a magical nature. Or that the unfortunate captive IS the explosive. Charn uses their blood or somesuch to power magic." Murder leans forward to speak most softly, distracted momentarily by the arrival of beer, bread and stew. "If you want more information, talk to Svarshan, a Sith, or Silmeria. Silmeria is the one who delivered the information to Svarshan, in my presence. Any Sith taken to Charn will not live long, or wish they hadn't. Chay will never get justice there, whether or not he is guilty of whatever crime they've accused him of."

The Gobber leans back a little, grabbing a hunk of bread to chew hungrily on it. "Chay is accused of helping to sink a ship in a Charneth harbor some time ago. I think we need to find out what was on it. What was really on it, not what Charn claims was on it. I think..." She takes a breath and lets it out slow. "I think it was full of slaves. Sith slaves. But that's just a rumour. I want to talk to Chay some, but I am .. shy about doing that. I'd like to think if Chay was doing something illegal, it'd be for a damned good reason. Laws are laws, but there are times to say fuck the laws."

Murder adds. "It was a Guild job, I think. Which is why we believe there's a mole, someone leaking information in the Adventurer's Guild."

"Yeah, he did," Rona confirms. "Which isn't directly relevant and also isn't my story to tell, so--" she begins, then grins as Murder summarizes the situation, "...right. So I'll let Murder do it," she concludes cheerfully. "As for the rest of it, well, they always said at the monastery that a Ruffian of Tarien stands up for truth, justice, and... well, no, they didn't say any of that. But I hate slavers, so anything we can do to take them down a peg or five is good with me, law or no law." She smiles a little manically. "Also, in case you were wondering, as far as I know this is unrelated to the Veyshanti slavers business we talked about," she adds, "though we'll see, I guess."

To Murder she adds "I can talk to him about that if you want. Though honestly, you seem to understand him more easily than I do. "

Morgan has arrived.

Constantin nods, sipping at his drink. "Charn and justice are pretty incompatible, so worrying about the legality isn't really material to the task." He gestures to Murder. "Atrocity is part of the landscape. So, we stop them, and Charn's got historical designs on Alexandria, so that mole makes sense."

Murder tilts her head. "I would not be surprised, however, if they were tied together. Slavers understand one another. It could be beneficial for them to exchange slaves. And their movements and habits may be similar. Studying one can give us insight on the other, and vice versa. And since we're raising up some sort of ... army?, then lets fucking stomp snake heads til they are all dead." Her eyes flash and begin to glow red. "The city has been, edgy, for a while now. Let's show the city her own people can stand up to the worst of the worst. We'll carve a hole in their slave trade, one ship at a time." She huffs and slaps the table with an open palm, and then snatches up her drink, and guzzles it down. "No half measures.", she says when she is done.

"Not an army," Rona replies slowly, an unusual fervor in her eyes. "An Inquisition."

Looking to Constantin, she nods. "It does make sense, the leak. I am amazed that we've not discovered it earlier. Another thing to look at... figuring out how long it's been going on. How many other things are compromised? I hate this..."

Aya listens quietly to the discussions of Sith, slavery, and suspicions. While she did state previously that she could eat, she seems to choose not to order anything just yet. Perhaps ever, as she Ox has a reputation about its food and drink. "Slavers are just another class of merchant: they're united in greed, divided by their competition against one another. They wouldn't exist if others weren't paying for their wares. Many other nations are no different in that regard. If it were the slavers retaliating, it would be to regain profit. It sounds more that this has upset wealthy and powerful clientele..."

Constantin nods slowly. "Or a few of them, over the years. Still, cutting them out now is good." He exhales. "Yes, slavers are a blight, or maybe a symptom, but absolutely, that's correct." A pause. "Or industry. But in Charn's case, it could be a moot distinction."

Murder takes up her bowl of stew, and digs in, letting the others talk around her. She eats as if someone were about to take it from her, and while she isn't messy about it, the noises are a bit... much. Looking to Yelrona when she is done, "I've gotta go take care of something. I'll catch up later, okay?" Looking to Aya and Constantin. "Thank you for offering your services. I appreciate it, and I know Chay will also. Be well and see you all around later on." The Gobber hops out of her seat and pads away towards the door.

Constantin salutes towards Murder. "Take care of yourself, and be careful. I'm happy to help." He leans back, and eyes the stew for a moment. Finally, he gives in and digs in.

Aya dips her chin to Murder. "I still have a concern... or stipulation, rather, for my services in this endeavor. The goal is not just to feed information to those seeking your friend, but to do so in a way that reveals the mole. I ask that you NOT share with me the details of that information any more than is absolutely necessary to my role."

Murder looks to Aya for several long moments. Her pupils dilate until the red is almost gone from her iris. Blinking several times, she nods. "Agreed. Be careful.", she says to the Shadow Elf.