2nd Adventure: Proxy War (Archive)

Posts : 7109 Join date : 2017-05-17

Rory wrote:: "Hold on, 'stalking'? By sending letters to someone he's never met from miles away? Sir, this has to be a misunderstanding."

Diplomacy
Getting Sonlake to take it easy on Steve.

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Kolson wrote:: Steve's eyebrows raise so high in surprise that they look like they might fly off of his face. He tries to answer but it comes out as more of an "Eep!" than anything.

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K wrote:: Mihai glances instinctively at the hand on his arm. He has to hold back from looking back at Fedler, lest she see the wtf written all over his face.

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Zeiss wrote:: Sonlake Dermold's glare falls on on Konrad.

"There's a count of fraud and a count of theft on him for pretending to be Zelk Freeron's fiance and profiting of her father's generosity. There's also a count of harassment for writing inappropriate letters to Zelk directly. Plenty enough for Steve to be declared guilty in a court of law. So do yourself a favor Mr. Granger, and stand back."

He turns his icy glaze on Steve.

"Your actions are the reason why we have to accept this contract free of charge. If we don't, you'll go in prison, and the reputation of our organization will be tarnished because of your stupidity. But I can't really well order your companions on a mission where they'll be risking their lives without the prospect of a due compensation now, can I? Which is why the Coins will have to pay them out of our own coffers."

He puts his finger on the young man's chest.

"Congratulations to you, Steve Oldturn: you now owe the Coins 1000 gold pieces."

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K wrote:: Not willing to let his side be overwhelmed in this exchange, Mihai looks at Sonlake, then at Steve, then at Zelk, lingering on her when he finally asks. - "So what's the job?" - in as dispassionate a voice as he's ever had.

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Rory wrote:: This mess is too hot for Konrad. He removes his hand and shuts his trap, and in avoiding Sonlake's glare, his gaze pans over to Zelk with a curious mind...

Sense Motive

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Zeiss wrote:

Konrad:

Sonlake shoves Steve's poem back into his hand, and slowly goes back to his chair. He takes a moment to collect himself, then as calmly as possible, explains the purpose of the mission that was forced onto the Coins.

"A freelance pirate named Kira Paddle has acquired what we assume to be some sort of magical artifact. Whatever it is, she is planning to sell it to the Lorinth Kingdom through one of their agents. All the intel we have comes from an agent of the Free Feathers' military who is currently undercover in Zest's Gate, the city where the exchange will take place. Your job is to assist Zelk Freeron's squad in finding this artifact, recovering it, and bringing it back to the Feathers' military. I recommend that you take a lethal approach. Also, discretion in this sort of mission is essential, so make sure that nobody knows of your affiliation with the military. You'll have to pretend to be pirates yourselves."

As your handler rests his hands on his desk, a flash of disgust appears on Fedler's face.

"Any questions?"

OOC:

For Konrad only:

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K wrote:: "We're the muscle?"

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Rory wrote:: Konrad grins. "Mr. Dermold, if only to knock off my share of compensation from Steve's debt, I will participate in this mission gratis."

Deception vs everyone

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Kolson wrote:: "Wow Konrad, that's mighty nice of you," says the black mage gratefully. The idea of owing the Coins even more money was suffocating. Good things he's made such upstanding and trustworthy friends.

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Zeiss wrote:: Sonlake raises an eyebrow at Konrad, while Zelk swiftly glances at him with a total lack of surprise. Fedler is too distracted by the revelation of what this mission entails to notice anything strange, and as for Breeze, she is just looking with pity at Steve.

"Suit yourself," says your handler.

He returns his attention to Mihai.

"You're the muscle, and the smoke screen. Nobody must know who you are, or who you are working for. So I suggest you find yourselves new names to call each other for the duration of this mission."

Breeze puts a finger on her lips, pondering, and says under her breath, "A new name, huh...?"

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Rory wrote:: Ah, that's easy. Konrad shrugs and snaps his fingers, which fluidly transition to a finger-pointing gesture, at Zelk, and introduces himself in a thick Myrzen accent as "Krystian Kuznik, at your service."

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Zeiss wrote:

Zelk acknowledges Konrad's new alias with a nod.

The rest of the briefing ends soon after that, and the party leaves Sonlake's office to make the necessary preparations, such as buying new clothes, and rations for the trip to the Enclave. The receptionist, with a practiced facade of professionalism, informs you that those expenses will be reimbursed by the Coins' office as long as they are reasonable.

All of you are free to go wherever you want, but you must be on board the ship at pier seven by 3:00 PM.

Fedler will take Steve's arm, and say to the rest of you, "See you later". She will then drag the young mage behind her, and ignore any disapproving comment coming from Steve, if there are any. They seem to be taking a roundabout way to reach the open market.

Breeze, who is flying in the air, will wave at both of them, and without a worry in the world, she responds with, "Okay! See you!"

She then faces Mihai and Konrad, and asks, "So, anything in particular you guys wanna get before we go to the toy store? That's the only place where I can get any clothes that fit me."

For Steve only:

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K wrote:: "What'll you do with the dolls?"

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Zeiss wrote:: "Collect them, of course."

She says this with a smile, like if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

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K wrote:: After leaving the office, Mihai slightly lowers his voice and asks Breeze - "What did the letter say?"

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Zeiss wrote:

OOC for everyone:

Out And About w/Fedler (Steve & Fedler):

"Stop pulling, Fedler, I need to clean up the lobby. I promised Sonlake's secretary I would!" He looks back at said secretary apologetically as he is dragged bodily out the door.

After walking for a minute or so he finally works up the courage to say, "Come on Fedler, what is this about? How long are you going to drag me around?"

Fedler doesn't answer immediately. She waits until they've reached a deserted part of the street, and calmly says, "I wanted to know why you thought it would be a good idea to pretend you were her fiance."

"Well..." Steve starts scratching his head, clearly embarrassed. "I don't really know. I went to school with Zelk. When I found out the innkeeper was her father I thought it would be fun to say something outrageous. I mean, why would Zelk ever give me the time of day? And then it kind of blew up from there. In fact, I found I liked the idea of winning her over. What's wrong with that?"

Without hesitation, Fedler replies, "What's wrong is that you lied. And only stupid girls fall in love with liars. Does Zelk Freeron look stupid to you?"

"Oh," says the black mage. He hangs his head in shame. "I didn't think about that."

Fedler sighs, and gently pats Steve on the back. "From what I remember, she's not that close to her father, but you still humiliated him. You should tell her that you're sorry once we're at sea. You can still make it right."

"I'll do that. He was a good man who just wanted his daughter to be happy even if she does ignore him. How could anyone ignore their parents Fedler? Don't they know what they have?"

This seems to sadden Fedler, whose facial features suddenly soften, reminding Steve of the hunter he met outside of Lomner's inn.

"That's a question for the ages, Steve."

She looks at the end of the street, and recognizes the shops that mark the border of the open market.

"Let's go. We have to buy everything we need before the ship leaves."

Fedler waits for him before she starts walking again.

"Okay." Steve joins her in walking towards the market. "You're hair looks nice long. Not that it isn't nice the other way too."

This appears to catch Fedler off-guard, but she still manages to give a quick answer.

"I just needed to change my look."

She pauses, like if she wasn't sure what else to add to that, then look at Steve, and with a little smirk, she says, "Don't let your hair grow; you would look horrible."

"Ha. I should grow it out for the mission. No one will remember my face; I'll just be the ugly guy with the hair." He puts on his best "ugly" face, exaggerating his mouth size and popping his eyebrows up and down.

Fedler actually chuckles at this strange sight. "Come on, we tarried long enough."

She finds one leather shop, and enters it.

OOC:

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Kolson wrote:: Steve used to hang out on the docks and watch people when he finally got a bit of freedom so he has a general idea of the kinds of things sailors would wear and goes out of his way to not buy any of them. No sense presenting himself as some kind of sailing expert when he's not. Instead he kits out as a novice sailor on his first trip; cheap but well made is the order of the day for him. It will be scratchier than he is used to but at least he shouldn't stand out too much so long as he stays with Konrad and Mihai.

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Zeiss wrote:

OOC:

"Oh, right!" exclaims Breeze. Her mood darkens a little, and she explains to her two companions what she learned. "She didn't finish writing the letter, but it said that they would send someone to check up on his behavior. I don't really understand why, but from what I gathered, he is more... 'violent' than the other patients, but also less irrational."

She considers these facts.

"Come to think of it, these are unusual madness symptoms. I think?"

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K wrote:: Mihai frowns a bit - "Side effect of the Globule, maybe?"

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Zeiss wrote:

The fairy tilts her head, and says, "I don't know."

OOC:

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Rory wrote:

about that job...:

"Maybe they should take the globule away," he spits out absently. "Wait, what are we talking about?"

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K wrote:

"Breeze put one in his head." - Mihai replies.

ooc:

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Rory wrote:: Konrad missteps. "In his head? Right, new magic. Anyway, a little less delusion, a little more aggression seems to add up to the same amount of crazy, if you ask me. Poor man."

Sympathetic shrug. "We'll have to wait and see what happens, but it's up to the asylum to suss out what's wrong and how to deal with him. I don't think we have anything to add at this point. A terrible shame."

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Zeiss wrote:

For Konrad:

Breeze nods solemnly to Konrad's acute observation.

"He's right," she says with melancholy. "Let's go shopping instead of talking about how there's nothing we can do about this."

She flies away to find the toy store.

Continued after shopping

» 1st Adventure: The Fallout (Archive)
» 2nd Adventure: Sightseeing and Debrief (Archive)
» 2.5 mini-adventure: Pretty Women (Archive)
» 3rd adventure: Rebirth
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