Eddard: Chapter 3 (Con't)

Mother Minx's Part 2

Murder by Death

 

Eventually their conversation came to end, mainly because it was time for to take the stage again.

 

When she took the stage and began her dance, I glanced around the room to check out the crowd.  As the evening wore on, I saw more and more Amnites enter the room.

 

A funny thing about Amnites, their society seems to favour ostentatious displays of wealth, and the more ostentatious, the more wealthy, generally speaking.  Where a wealthy man in Waterdeep might wander the streets merely in clothes of good quality, an Amnite will wear piles of jewellery, use expensive perfumes, and surround themselves with bodyguards.

 

I saw one such Amnite begin to make the approach to my table.  Of his six bodyguards, only two approached with him.  I didn't rise from the table, despite his station.  He was being a supplicant to me, for something he believed I had, and I wanted him to know I knew it.  Its business, not a social meeting.

 

Still, he had more questions than the last.  Took far more interest in her history than I thought was necessary.  I knew Wren was an escaped slave from Amn, and I knew better than to tell him the truth.  I told him she hired me as protection.  That her last contract ended, and she left Waterdeep, believing the city had no others that would be interested in her abilities, hiring me just before leaving the city.  That's all I knew, I told him.  Other questions would have to be asked of her, for I knew not the answers.

 

He was a gruff, arrogant man, one used to commanding power simply because he commanded wealth.  The more I spoke to him, the less I liked him.  But I could not turn him away, or aggravate him, that would blow my cover.  He eventually left, sliding me another piece of paper for Wren to look at.

 

The first merchant stopped back at my table, he asked me,"Do you know what my chances are?"

 

I said,"That might depend on what you could tell me of the Amnites in Scornubel."

 

He smiled, and told me a little of the gentleman that just my table.  He said that he was in weapons as well as rarities, but that his tastes in certain things tended towards Sadism.  I nodded, not quite believing him, but then I asked him about the slave trade in Scornubel.

 

He said "That's illegal." 

 

 I said, "Okay hypothethically, if anyone traded in that commodity in town, who would it be?"

 

He gave a name.  "Denthos, without a doubt."

 

Denthos.  I had the name.  "Is he here?"

 

"No.  Not yet at least."

 

Wren's dance came to an end, and I asked him to leave me so that Wren and I could converse in private.

 

Well she didn't come down.  And soon I noticed bouncers making for the stairway.  As soon as I saw that, I leaped from my chair and ran to stairwell.  I asked the bouncer,"What's happening?"

 

"There's been a murder."

 

"I am a bodyguard of the dancer Shara," that was Wren's alias,"I must check to see she is okay."

 

He nodded slightly.  I ran up the stairs.  I didn't see her with the crowd in the hallway.  Nor did my calls of Shara get an answer. 

 

It was then I realized that Wren had committed the murder- most likely at least.  If I stayed much longer, I would likely be arrested as an accomplice.  Mystra's Breath!

 



Eddard Chapter 3 (Con't)

Mother Minx's Part 1

The Game Begins

 

Wren and I started by going to a dockside establishment that had a seedy reputation, but apparently too seedy.  When we approached the operator about our routine, we were told we could, but the place for us was Mother Minx's.  We wanted to appeal to wealthy Amnites, because we needed to know who of them was in the slave trade.  Minx's was where they went for entertainment, so Minx's was where we went.

 

The place was big, especially for Scornubel.  In Waterdeep, the place would be considered sizable.  I was somewhat taken aback by the place, but Wren was suddenly all business.  She approached the owner. 

 

"I want to dance here," she said to him with a smile.

 

"You any good?"

 

She gave him a two minute display, and was hired on the spot.

 

She told me I was to act as a filter.  She knew she would get offers from wealthy Amnites for temporary employment.  I was to select the offers that would require her attention.  As her bodyguard, my role was also to intimidate those who would approach her with other intentions.  I didn't know if I could pull that off, I mean I suppose at six feet I was tall, and fairly well muscled.  I also knew that the two swords I carried made me look dangerous, but I also knew that I was not the biggest man in the world, hells, I wasn't the biggest man in the party.  Still, maybe I was the best choice.  Certainly Ulf couldn't entirely be trusted, Garrus would give himself away- not to mention die before he was seen in a place like this- but me?  I was smart enough to pull this off, and capable enough to operate here.

 

We went to the main room, she told me to find a table near the front, while she would go and prepare herself for her performance.  She told me before she went upstairs that once her performance began, I wouldn't be waiting long.

 

She was right.  I tried to do the right thing when she was on the stage, but I have to admit, her moves and timing was exquisite.  And she was beautiful, sexy, and alluring.  I had never seen anything like it.  In the end, I could hardly take my eyes off her.

 

"Excuse me," said a voice that drew my attention back to the table.

 

I started at the sound as a very obvious Amnite came to the table.  I quickly recovered.

 

He continued,"Are you handling her?"

 

"I am not, exactly.  I'm her body bodyguard.  I handle initial contact with clients, she makes the decision as to what, if any contracts she accepts."

 

"I see.  I would like to hire her for a week.  I'm sure she will find the pay more that acceptable."

 

"I'm sure she would," he was finely dressed, and obviously wealthy, but it was early in the evening, and I suspected his would not be the only offer on the table before long.

 

As she danced we talked some more, he even bought me a drink- a fine, expensive spirit, but I merely sipped it, being careful not to get drunk.  The conversation turned away from the immediate business, as I enquired as to the nature of his business.  If he balked, I would merely explain that as a bodyguard, it was my duty to understand somethings about the client.  I didn't have to explain, he seemed to grasp that.

 

"I have a good reputation in the town, and I am not known violence or hurting those I hire.  My business is largely in weapons, and as the Goblin war draws to an end, I suspect I'll only be here for a few more weeks, I am hopeful that she may ascent to my contract so those last weeks pass pleasantly."

 

Indeed, we did have a great conversation, and as her dance came to an end, he rose from the table, passing his offer on a folded piece of paper across the table to me.  But by the end of the conversation, I also knew he was not the one I wished to meet.

 

When she came down for her break, I briefed her on him.  She agreed with me, but met with him anyway.  That would enhance her reputation as someone for hire.  I thought about the conversation I had with him, and resolved to enquire a bit more about the Amnites in general, maybe find out who was known by them to be in the slave trade.  If I could get them talking about it, I may well learn a name or two that would bear checking.

Eddard: Chapter 3 (Con't)

The Weapons Shop

 

Being from Waterdeep, I was used to large settlements, all the hustle and bustle.  People moving this way and that all on mysterious errands, conducting their business in the secrecy that only large crowds can give.  Being from rural areas, others were more taken aback.

 

I was astonished to note, Scornubel being what it is, how simple it was to enter and leave the town.  With merchant camps surrounding the place on three sides, and the river on the last, there was so much coming and going that we weren't spare a second glance upon entering the town proper.  Even though we were heavily armed, and on horseback, we entered the town without incident.

 

Thoram's business friend had his shop near the riverfront. We went straight there.  The shop, naturally, was run by a dwarf, and after greetings, we questioned him about any Dwarven weapons making an appearance in town. He hadn't seen a thing.

 

I gave the shopkeeper the armour we took off the bodyguard of the slave merchant, asking if it could be modified to fit Ulf.  This was relatively simple, but as there other orders, the refit and repair was expected to take up to two weeks.  This was acceptable, and he was paid in advance for the work, largely by trading the jewelled dagger I was using.

 

I was looking for a better set of short swords, given that one had already broken in combat.  All of the swords on display, while of decent quality, didn't seem to be an improvement on the one I already owned.  And then he showed me a blade, somewhat shorter than I was accustomed, with metal that seemed to shimmer in the light.  He told me it was a vermin slayer's weapon, but that the metal cold be forged for a more standard sized weapon.  I lifted it off the counter.  The balance was exquisite, and metal felt marginally lighter.  And its ethereal beauty.  I wanted them.  I thought that those weapons would definitely be for me.  He told me 120 gold.  I didn't have it, but I did give him a 40 gold deposit.  He even asked me if I wanted them inscribed.  I gave him the holy symbol of Mystra, to put both on the pommel and on the blade.

 

In the meantime, I purchased a serviceable short sword to replace the dagger.  I felt better fully armed.

 

Everyone had a good poke around his shop.  Azzarrak wanted to use his services as an armourer to reduce the cost of whatever he bought.  The shopkeep, unsurprisingly, wasn't interested.

 

We left the shop and went to nearby inexpensive inn, so we could plan this leg of the investigation.  Clearly, the party was going to have to split up.  Thoram and Azzarak would try to find work using their "talents," I suspected that would  mean working the docks as labourers, certainly in Azzarak's case.  Wren and I would work as a team.  She was playing the of a high cost dancer, and I was to be her bodyguard.

 

But what we would learn would set everything everything spinning out of control.



How the Klutz Killed Christmas

Or.. Slaughtering the Spirit of the Season
Or.. What Not to do at Christmas

There's a lesson here I'm sure.  Too bad I'm an idiot.

You see. it started yesterday, with an accident.  I wasn't the one who caused it, but I made the situation worse.

We were using a somewhat iffy table to have our Christmas tree in the window shining out over the driveway.  Near the table was a fridge and freezer.  In searching for the Christmas ham in the freezer, my wife bumped the table and the leg gave way.  This smashed a couple of porcelain cookie jars, but it didn't collapse the table.

I decided to help.  I noticed the power cords for the tree slung over the curtain rod.  I thought this was a bad thing, so I went to grab the tree.  I lifted it off the half collapsed table, not realising there were gifts under it.  These were more porcelain cookie jars to complete the collection and were for my wife.  Naturally, the tree was only thing holding them up, removing the tree meant they too smashed to the floor.

Well, it went to shit from there.

To make matters worse, on an extremely limited budget, I bought her a gift that I thought she would both appreciate and use, completely forgetting that we had already obtained one several months back.  I had forgot because I rarely ever see it.

She did extremely well.  Gave me a gift that I will always treasure, and one I am proud to call mine.  If I ever get another desk job, its going to occupy a prominent place on my desk.

I singlehandedly destroyed the Christmas spirit at my house, as completely as if I'd shot it repeatedly with a tommy gun.

Sometimes I wonder why my wife still stays with me, and I'll wager she's wondering why too if the silence tonight is any indication.

She's been with me ten years.  Christmas and I have never really gotten along, and I have never learnt from my Christmas mistakes.  I suck at it.  I always have; its my worst holiday.  I'm much better at national holidays, where independence or nationhood is celebrated.  Or Halloween.  Or Thanksgiving- though I moved to a country that doesn't celebrate it.  If I have a bit of cash, I'm even good at Valentines day.

But Christmas?

Bah, Humbug.

Eddard: Chapter 3 (con't)

Rude Awakening

 

Whatever was going on, it was serious.  After explaining to us that she was forced to kill the garrison commander, she showed us the documents.

 

They showed clearly that Garrus' father, the Baron Redhand, was involved in the slavery ring.

 

Garrus was the first to voice his disbelief.  I was quick to follow.  These papers ran opposite to everything I knew about how Redhand ran his territory.  His followers and even is people loved the man too much  They were too loyal to him.  This had to be a fabrication.  The question was, why?

 

We decided there and then to make or next stop Castle Redhand.  We marched as quick as we could to his castle.  It was more of a fortified manor house.  His was a minor holding.  A full castle was too much to expect.

 

When we arrived, we discovered that we were just ahead of the Count's Sheriff.  He had come to seek evidence of the Baron's involvement.  We attended the meeting in the Baron's hall.  It was clear that they already suspected him, and were going to pin the slavery on him, true or not.

 

We met with his father immediately following that meeting.  We showed him the evidence we collected at the depot, and told him of everything else we had accomplished.  We even showed him the map with the dates on it that we had acquired at the bandit camp.

 

Someone was determined to divide the baronies and destabilise the area.  Again, we didn't know why.  I suspected that the people who organised the goblin war, that mysterious cabal of evil mages was behind it.  Wren believed the Amnites organised it all to conceal the slavery operation. Whatever the reason, Garrus believed that his father would not surrender his holding to anyone.  It meant war.

 

I wanted to prevent that, at all costs.  Whatever was going on, I became more determined that ever to put a stop to it.

 

His manner grew serious during the meeting.  He asked us to keep everything we had on us.  Garrus told him about our intention to go to Scornubel, to free more of the people taken from the area and he agreed.  We even managed to get horses from him.  Half trained and bit wild, but good quality.  Someone o the Baron's staff knows his horseflesh.

 

We left the manor without further adieu, knowing that the Sheriff would soon be marking everyone coming and going from the house.  We needed to be gone.  Our time was limited, we believed that the slaves would eventually be shipped downriver to Baldur's gate and then onwards to Amn.  We still had to discover how and when they'd be moved. 

 

Scornubel wasn't Waterdeep.  Even so, the traffic going through the town made it one of the richest in Faerun, and finding them in that movement would be akin to getting the needle out of the haystack.  A tall order.

 

We weren't going into the city completely blind.  Thoram knew a Dwarf who ran a weapons shop down near the waterfront, and since we also wanted to locate his weapons and armour, we thought we may as well start there.

 

It was a three day ride to Scornubel, and despite all the warnings, it was an uneventful trip.