The Case of the Still Missing Persons 26/09
Sept 30, 2019 14:01:14 GMT
Anung Un Rama, Ian (Menace), and 2 more like this
Post by Greebo on Sept 30, 2019 14:01:14 GMT
The journey back to Za'Suul on the wind surfer feels longer than it should be, as Beranwald sits comfortably held in place by Sheryl to stop being blown off in the strong gusts of wind as they race across the plains. What started as a simple means to make an impression on a possible benefactor has opened the door to more than he had anticipated. The missing prisoner seems to be a released prisoner... secret maps to hidden locations.... an underground resistance opposed to the very same benefactor…. And now an underground country of oppressed people to consider.
On getting back to Port Ffirst and bidding their goodbyes to the rest of the group, a few make their way back to the Flourished Hook for a well-earned rest after the long ride back to Za'Suul and subsequent teleportation back to the temple of Milil. Beranwald has been quiet most of the trip but sticks with Faye as they head up to their room. It isn't until the door closes he finally speaks up;
"Faye.... Things have taken a turn much sooner than I expected... I assumed we would find corruption and subterfuge, of course, but to find it this early in the game is concerning.... We agreed to find this man and now we question whether he truly escaped at all and was not simply allowed to leave? What i mean......What I mean is, I don't feel we should return to the Countess for the moment with this news...."
Faye has also be relatively quiet on the return, spending what time they did speak in comforting Bubbles and Sheryl after their near death experiences.
“I would agree with you on this. The Countess cannot be trusted no matter how pretty she is... I think from what I saw in that guard - who was not very good at his job - that she released him and staged an escape… Our new friends have some end goals I don’t necessarily agree with but they seem to have everyone’s best interests at heart.”
"Indeed.... what a strange turn of events we seem to have stumbled upon.... but why would she release him then request we find him to begin with? Our friends in this resistance group is also quite interesting... Working for the greater good is something I find myself drawn to though I question their motives as much as I do the countess, not to mention the Lenoir's.... what a sticky web this is becoming. "
He jumps up to the window and looks out for a moment in thought
"What do you suppose this could all be about? What is she up to?"
“Hmmm if I were her, capturing someone and then staging an escape is a good way to conceal a meeting... I don’t trust her now and the Lenoirs don’t reimburse their employees….”
Faye walks to the bed and sits down takes out the raptor tooth and plays with it.
“I worry of this new civilisation being found by any of these parties. And likely at least one of them is the Zentharim or in league with them. Our new friends want anarchy... but what better way to reach for power than to remove all structure and order already in place.”
"Precisely my concern... Removing the power to aid the people is a noble endeavour but simply removing power creates a void... it will either be chaos or simply an opportunity for someone else to fill the role. No, I don't think they have the right idea either...
and yes, I worry about the Shunned over there.... Being forced to live underground like that is a shameful thing. I have grown to like the people of Za'Suul yet this is troubling too.... I'm not sure how I feel knowing they have driven them down like that..."
He turns back to Faye
"There's a lot of wheels turning at the moment and in truth I'm not sure which one we should be focusing on right now... let's keep our heads low for the time being and see what the next development is. We can pay the Countess another visit in a week or so, when the tension of harassing the guards has died down and we decide how to proceed with all this new information. How does that sound to you?"
“Agreed a little bit quiet time to think things through might be worth it and rushing back to the Countess at this time is not wise.”
Faye gives him an ear scratch at which he purrs loudly before answering;
"Thank you for helping me chase this up Faye. I hope it doesn't become too much of a hassle for you.... now, I have a few other stops I need to make tonight... But I shall see you soon!"
With that, Beranwald slowly makes his way out the room and down the corridor, passing the many doors of the Hooks residents, stopping finally at the door he has seen another acquaintance of his step from. Within the room, a firm knocking can be heard on the door.
Rama gets up from his bed in a sudden move with Brizinger, the flaming sword, appearing in his hand. He calms down and sends it away when he opens the door and sees a Cat, saying in a bit of curious voice
"How can I help you Master Cat?"
"Good evening Rama, Might I come in for a moment?"
"Come in " as he moves out of the way, goes to his bed and sits, picking up one of chair pillows and puts it on the desk to give a more comfortable seating for his guest, who jumps onto the pillow.
"Thank you. I just wanted to thank you personally for assisting with this whole affair over the last couple of days. I know you have your own agenda and taking the time to help us was a considerable benefit for us. I didn't want you to leave before I could say as much and return your ring.... I consider the favour you promised claimed"
Rama reaches out to pet his guest briefly before another silver cat appears in silver dust near him meows in protest.
"No worries, always happy to help. You can keep the ring, as you might have noticed it can be of help with certain people."
For his part, Beranwald shies away from the large stony hand but allows it to happen still;
"I'm sure...." he says as he eyes the silver cat
"Even so, I would still consider the favour paid. I could never have imagined this lead we take us as far as K'ul Goran again, let alone into a lizard infested Jungle.... without your presence there is every chance we may have lost Sheryl, something I would simply not stand for.... but anyway, I have taken enough of your time my friend. I shall leave you to your rest."
He jumps back down to the floor and makes for the door
"Oh, I would appreciate if we could keep our findings to ourselves if you could. I, of course, will not stop you from what you want to achieve, but I originally followed this lead on behalf of the Countess and I should like to address it in my own manner if you would?"
Before he can leave completely, Rama looks thoughtful and says "Fair enough, but before you go. Keep your ears open for me about things I might find of interest and I will keep an ear open for a way to bring you to your true form…."
Beranwald stops and listens, even as Rama goes on to speak of other things only a handful of people in Kantas would be aware of… those damned drunken Dragonborn he helped rescue must've passed on the information to him. It's not a problem of course, but it is still a source of shame for him. With a nod, he finally takes his leave.
A few hours later, Beranwald sits in the shadow of a wall, slightly down the road from the Countess' Manor. The street is empty and the lights are off as he watches the empty building, not really looking for anything, more mulling over the events of the last few days in his head. It isn't long before another cat makes their way along the street and sits next to him.
"…."
"I'm fine Oscar… and I apologize for my absence last night. I know we had plans but the investigation took me longer and far further than I originally anticipated. In fact, it's only thanks to Sheryl's association with the prime speaker in the Temple of Milil we are even back as soon as this, otherwise I fear I may have been a week away."
"….."
"Rather unsuccessful I'm afraid. As soon as we entered the Manor and asked to speak to the guards again tensions began to mount, which only got worse as Faye began probing the minds of them looking for information. Donovan was rather upset over it. Not ideally what I had hoped to achieve but we got the address for the warehouse he mentioned at least"
"….aow"
"Ha! We didn’t even get that far! We fell into a well-executed plan to divert us." - He looks around the street before lowering his voice - "seems there is some sort of resistance brewing who had been following us. Took some convincing but he at least got us going in the right direction, towards K'ul Goran… Now I fear, however, we have yet another group watching our movements….
"…."
"No, I'm fairly sure you are all fine…. He spoke to me directly so I'm sure he would be able to tell us apart… well, he sent us towards Za'Suul to meet an informant of his, who in turn pointed us to the jungle south from there…"
"meow"
"what? Jungle… like…. Hmmm, let's just say it's a lot of trees and plants. A bit like the forests outside of town only bigger."
"….."
"Really Oscar, I need to take you out more…. Anyway, to keep a long story short, we found that these escapees had been eaten by these strange lizards, feral looking things. They proved quite a force as they attacked in unison…. But we were helped somewhat by another underground group. Turns out the People of k'ul Goran have forced entire races to live underground where they have formed their own country…."
"meow"
"So that leaves us with an escaped prisoner, who may really have been set free. A potential uprising brewing here in Port Ffirst. A group of mercenaries or assassins having already worked their way into the power network of Kantas and a down-trodden people, somehow linked… what?, oh! The man we were looking for had a map to where they entered the jungle from below ground…. So, yes, a down-trodden people who seem to be being looked for by this same group. All the while there's these stories of the war going on in K'ul Goran too… Suffice to say, all this has started to unfold and I still myself no further in actually getting anywhere…. I am, my friend… a bit lost at the moment…."
He sighs as he takes another look at the Manor of the Countess
"Come… let's move on from here…. It does us no good sitting out in the cold like this. Besides, I'm sure whoever is currently watching us is getting bored too."
"Meow"
"It was a joke…. About the various people I just spoke about…. Being watched? I don't really know if someone's watching us"
"…eow"
He sighs again…."No…. I don't think Faye is trying to read your mind Oscar…."
On getting back to Port Ffirst and bidding their goodbyes to the rest of the group, a few make their way back to the Flourished Hook for a well-earned rest after the long ride back to Za'Suul and subsequent teleportation back to the temple of Milil. Beranwald has been quiet most of the trip but sticks with Faye as they head up to their room. It isn't until the door closes he finally speaks up;
"Faye.... Things have taken a turn much sooner than I expected... I assumed we would find corruption and subterfuge, of course, but to find it this early in the game is concerning.... We agreed to find this man and now we question whether he truly escaped at all and was not simply allowed to leave? What i mean......What I mean is, I don't feel we should return to the Countess for the moment with this news...."
Faye has also be relatively quiet on the return, spending what time they did speak in comforting Bubbles and Sheryl after their near death experiences.
“I would agree with you on this. The Countess cannot be trusted no matter how pretty she is... I think from what I saw in that guard - who was not very good at his job - that she released him and staged an escape… Our new friends have some end goals I don’t necessarily agree with but they seem to have everyone’s best interests at heart.”
"Indeed.... what a strange turn of events we seem to have stumbled upon.... but why would she release him then request we find him to begin with? Our friends in this resistance group is also quite interesting... Working for the greater good is something I find myself drawn to though I question their motives as much as I do the countess, not to mention the Lenoir's.... what a sticky web this is becoming. "
He jumps up to the window and looks out for a moment in thought
"What do you suppose this could all be about? What is she up to?"
“Hmmm if I were her, capturing someone and then staging an escape is a good way to conceal a meeting... I don’t trust her now and the Lenoirs don’t reimburse their employees….”
Faye walks to the bed and sits down takes out the raptor tooth and plays with it.
“I worry of this new civilisation being found by any of these parties. And likely at least one of them is the Zentharim or in league with them. Our new friends want anarchy... but what better way to reach for power than to remove all structure and order already in place.”
"Precisely my concern... Removing the power to aid the people is a noble endeavour but simply removing power creates a void... it will either be chaos or simply an opportunity for someone else to fill the role. No, I don't think they have the right idea either...
and yes, I worry about the Shunned over there.... Being forced to live underground like that is a shameful thing. I have grown to like the people of Za'Suul yet this is troubling too.... I'm not sure how I feel knowing they have driven them down like that..."
He turns back to Faye
"There's a lot of wheels turning at the moment and in truth I'm not sure which one we should be focusing on right now... let's keep our heads low for the time being and see what the next development is. We can pay the Countess another visit in a week or so, when the tension of harassing the guards has died down and we decide how to proceed with all this new information. How does that sound to you?"
“Agreed a little bit quiet time to think things through might be worth it and rushing back to the Countess at this time is not wise.”
Faye gives him an ear scratch at which he purrs loudly before answering;
"Thank you for helping me chase this up Faye. I hope it doesn't become too much of a hassle for you.... now, I have a few other stops I need to make tonight... But I shall see you soon!"
With that, Beranwald slowly makes his way out the room and down the corridor, passing the many doors of the Hooks residents, stopping finally at the door he has seen another acquaintance of his step from. Within the room, a firm knocking can be heard on the door.
Rama gets up from his bed in a sudden move with Brizinger, the flaming sword, appearing in his hand. He calms down and sends it away when he opens the door and sees a Cat, saying in a bit of curious voice
"How can I help you Master Cat?"
"Good evening Rama, Might I come in for a moment?"
"Come in " as he moves out of the way, goes to his bed and sits, picking up one of chair pillows and puts it on the desk to give a more comfortable seating for his guest, who jumps onto the pillow.
"Thank you. I just wanted to thank you personally for assisting with this whole affair over the last couple of days. I know you have your own agenda and taking the time to help us was a considerable benefit for us. I didn't want you to leave before I could say as much and return your ring.... I consider the favour you promised claimed"
Rama reaches out to pet his guest briefly before another silver cat appears in silver dust near him meows in protest.
"No worries, always happy to help. You can keep the ring, as you might have noticed it can be of help with certain people."
For his part, Beranwald shies away from the large stony hand but allows it to happen still;
"I'm sure...." he says as he eyes the silver cat
"Even so, I would still consider the favour paid. I could never have imagined this lead we take us as far as K'ul Goran again, let alone into a lizard infested Jungle.... without your presence there is every chance we may have lost Sheryl, something I would simply not stand for.... but anyway, I have taken enough of your time my friend. I shall leave you to your rest."
He jumps back down to the floor and makes for the door
"Oh, I would appreciate if we could keep our findings to ourselves if you could. I, of course, will not stop you from what you want to achieve, but I originally followed this lead on behalf of the Countess and I should like to address it in my own manner if you would?"
Before he can leave completely, Rama looks thoughtful and says "Fair enough, but before you go. Keep your ears open for me about things I might find of interest and I will keep an ear open for a way to bring you to your true form…."
Beranwald stops and listens, even as Rama goes on to speak of other things only a handful of people in Kantas would be aware of… those damned drunken Dragonborn he helped rescue must've passed on the information to him. It's not a problem of course, but it is still a source of shame for him. With a nod, he finally takes his leave.
A few hours later, Beranwald sits in the shadow of a wall, slightly down the road from the Countess' Manor. The street is empty and the lights are off as he watches the empty building, not really looking for anything, more mulling over the events of the last few days in his head. It isn't long before another cat makes their way along the street and sits next to him.
"…."
"I'm fine Oscar… and I apologize for my absence last night. I know we had plans but the investigation took me longer and far further than I originally anticipated. In fact, it's only thanks to Sheryl's association with the prime speaker in the Temple of Milil we are even back as soon as this, otherwise I fear I may have been a week away."
"….."
"Rather unsuccessful I'm afraid. As soon as we entered the Manor and asked to speak to the guards again tensions began to mount, which only got worse as Faye began probing the minds of them looking for information. Donovan was rather upset over it. Not ideally what I had hoped to achieve but we got the address for the warehouse he mentioned at least"
"….aow"
"Ha! We didn’t even get that far! We fell into a well-executed plan to divert us." - He looks around the street before lowering his voice - "seems there is some sort of resistance brewing who had been following us. Took some convincing but he at least got us going in the right direction, towards K'ul Goran… Now I fear, however, we have yet another group watching our movements….
"…."
"No, I'm fairly sure you are all fine…. He spoke to me directly so I'm sure he would be able to tell us apart… well, he sent us towards Za'Suul to meet an informant of his, who in turn pointed us to the jungle south from there…"
"meow"
"what? Jungle… like…. Hmmm, let's just say it's a lot of trees and plants. A bit like the forests outside of town only bigger."
"….."
"Really Oscar, I need to take you out more…. Anyway, to keep a long story short, we found that these escapees had been eaten by these strange lizards, feral looking things. They proved quite a force as they attacked in unison…. But we were helped somewhat by another underground group. Turns out the People of k'ul Goran have forced entire races to live underground where they have formed their own country…."
"meow"
"So that leaves us with an escaped prisoner, who may really have been set free. A potential uprising brewing here in Port Ffirst. A group of mercenaries or assassins having already worked their way into the power network of Kantas and a down-trodden people, somehow linked… what?, oh! The man we were looking for had a map to where they entered the jungle from below ground…. So, yes, a down-trodden people who seem to be being looked for by this same group. All the while there's these stories of the war going on in K'ul Goran too… Suffice to say, all this has started to unfold and I still myself no further in actually getting anywhere…. I am, my friend… a bit lost at the moment…."
He sighs as he takes another look at the Manor of the Countess
"Come… let's move on from here…. It does us no good sitting out in the cold like this. Besides, I'm sure whoever is currently watching us is getting bored too."
"Meow"
"It was a joke…. About the various people I just spoke about…. Being watched? I don't really know if someone's watching us"
"…eow"
He sighs again…."No…. I don't think Faye is trying to read your mind Oscar…."
!
