Go find Charles

You decide that you need to set things right with Charles before doing anything else. He was a friend, and obviously there was something unresolved between them after seeing the kiss. You go to the usual places, the library, his room. But he doesn’t seem to be anywhere. Brother Victor tells you that he volunteered to deliver some things to houses in the nearby area and would probably be back soon.

You go out the main Worship Area to wait for him, when a very well dressed man came over and bowed before you.

“You are the Lady Aldan, correct? You’ve been making quite a splash in the Capital in your short time here. Impressing the Empress, that messy business with the Heir Edwin.” You look at him skeptically, recognizing he was working an angle. “Of course, how rude. I am the Count Guartene. I am an…associate of the Duke Insmon. I have a business proposal for you. May we speak somewhere private?”

Do you
>Take the Count to your cell
>Say you are waiting for someone and step aside
>Demand to Talk here

>>35478246
take him somewhere private in the temple, but not your cell since there is a demon in your cell and we want to keep her a secret (speaking of, we should tell her to avoid being seen as much as possible).

also, our demon can probably locate charles

>>35478246
>To your cell

You decide to take the Count to your cell, hoping you could meet Charles later and try to work things out. After having the Count wait for a moment and telling Nalla to go hide somewhere else, you invite the man into your room,

“Hmm. For someone who is becoming as big a player as you are, I’d have thought your room would be a bit more…appropriate. Oh well, no accounting for taste I suppose. Well, I heard from Insmon that you have a particular set of skills that I am in need of. It’s a simple thing, I just need something and someone ‘taken care of’. Of course, I can compensate rather easily.”

Are you most interested in
>Compensation
>The Thing to be taken care of
>The Person to be taken care of

>>35478583
>Compensation
>The Thing to be taken care of
>The Person to be taken care of

>>35478583
>the someone, then the something

>>35478583
>The Person to be taken care of

You ask about the ’someone’ that needs to be handled, inviting the Count to sit down on your bed as he explains.

“Thank you. Now, In the Past, I was involved in a business venture with the late Baron Adworth, but the Duke has taken over that business since he obviously had much more worthwhile friends.” He smiles a little, but you remain neutral. “Anyway, in our business ventures, the Duke has assured me that should I need anything, you would be willing to assist me. Now I need that assistance.”

“There is a man. A merchant from Tara. He was meant to bring in a delivery for this bit of business, but he has refused and is threatening to expose our enterprise if we don’t pay him double. Double! He was already getting top dollar. Ridiculous.” He sighs. “I’ve tried sending my own men but they went all to pieces…in some ways quite literally. I need the Merchant, a terribly uncouth man, calls himself Blood-black Jack. Ridiculous, I know. After that, destroy or retrieve any document that ties his ‘cargo’ to me and then we can worry about payment.”

Do you
>Accept
>Ask About the Cargo
>Ask More About Jack

>>35479221
>ask about cargo

>Ask About the Cargo

>>35479221
>Ask More About Jack
Perhaps we can "convince him" to rethink this deal

What did he ask us to do to the merchant? Kill? Scare? Make disappear? The sentence that would have explained that became side tracked by his name.

You inquire more about the type of cargo and what sort of thing would be damning enough that the Count felt that your services were necessary.

“Oh, a bit of this. A bit of that. Mostly goods from the Embargo that was placed on one of those Western Countries we’re at war with. I believe the goods are from Stayne? Nothing to concern yourself with, truly.” He says. You can tell he’s dodging the question, but you don’t think you’ll get much more out of him than that.

“Enough with the Questions. I can tell you he is in the harbor in the Feather District. I just need him to be either killed or made impossible to speak. There are a dozen men like him I can find just walking down the pier. He just needs to be gone. Do we have a deal or not?” He says, looking up at you expectantly.

Do you
>Accept
>Decline

>Accept

(Motherfucker, something happened and the fire alarm in my building is blasting. Be back eventually)

>>35479457
So, I have an idea.
we keep a copy of the documents that tie him to it.
we do NOT blackmail him nor do we inform him they exist. we tell him that we destroyed them

but it gives a "just in case" thing to hold over him if it ever comes to that.

>>35479457
>>Accept
Let's do this.

>>35479813
Sound like a plan.

>>35479457
> Accept
Let try and throw in some vars a praise.
We're doing this in his name and for thought who believe in him and only him.

You Accept the Plan and the two of you shake on it. “Good. Great Actually.” He lets out a sigh of relief. “The Duke did not give me details, but he assured me that you would be the one to solve my problems. Now, I’m scheduled to meet him on his ship, The Red Mark, this evening at around midnight. It’s early enough now, but this needs to be done well before that meeting.” You escort Count Guartene to the front entrance, and escort him to the carriage waiting beside the temple. He gives you one more guarantee of payment and gratitude before he instructs his driver off.

You could wait until later, since Charles might be back by now. Or You could head over to the Feather District and try to handle this as quickly as possible.

Do you
>Try to find Charles
>Head over the the Feather District

>>35480301
>Try to find Charles

Could we summon Snake and send him off to do our bidding? Or at least scout? Where is nalla

>>35480425
Nalla is 'somewhere'. You could call and she'd come if you wanted. And the snake can be called but it's not very bright and you couldn't send it all the way to the other side of the city and back.

>>35480301
>Try to find Charles

>>35480513
So while we go deal with charles could we send off Nalla do mission?
It'd be nice to not to have to do the dirty work. Our face and name is now known. So we have to be careful/use invisibility more often.

>>35480513
btw I wanted to ask, If you don't want to let us know yet thats cool too.
When we upgrade a power does it get stronger with increase use?
As in Invisibility, after learning 2 ranks our steps= Ninja steps/our smell disappears/ ect.
Snake becomes stronger/faster/more intelligent
Dagger = can paralyze other champions for up to a minute
and the such or do they just increase uses?

>>35480624
They mostly just increase in amount of use (for the powers you have now). There are future powers that get other types of boosts.

The day is still young, so you decide to go and see if you can find Charles. Brother Victor tells you that he is back in the library, actually doing his chores for once.

You head into the library and you see Charles putting books and scrolls away on the shelves. He looks a bit sickly, a bit more pale than you would have thought. And he looks very somber, with his movements slowed down to a crawl and barely doing the work he has. You try to approach him, but he moves away, muttering at you to leave him alone. It isn’t until you twist him around and force him to look you in the eye that he says anything meaningful.

“Why don’t you go spend some time with the prince? It seems like you two got along swimmingly.”

Do you tell Charles
>That you still want to be friends with Charles
>That is was a rushed thing and didn’t mean anything
>To Get over himself and quit moping.

>>35480844
>>To Get over himself and quit moping.
We should send Nalla to "comfort" him.

>>>That is was a rushed thing and didn’t mean anything

>>35480844
>That you still want to be friends with Charles

Come on, you guys. We can be banging an heir to the empire!

>>35480844
>>To Get over himself and quit moping.

>>35480844
>To Get over himself and quit moping.

>>35481142
np.
So for things like sending Nalla on side missions still possible?

>>35481197
I suppose. But in all fairness it won't bode well without supervision. Demons WILL fuck your shit up if left to their own devices, even unintentionally.

You get frustrated with how he’s acting, feeling more like a child talking to an infant than to someone who was in some part your friend. You tell him that he just needs to get over himself. It’s obvious that he likes you but you don’t feel the same way about him. At least not as much as he did. You considered him a friend and wanted to help each other learn more about the weird magic that has started to grow inside Charles. But if he insists on being so forlorn about this, acting like you have committed some kind of personal affront by kissing another man, then there are obviously plenty of other things that need to be dealt with first.

You don’t even wait for an answer when you race out of the room. You aren’t sure where to go, feeling a little overwhelemed by this.

Do you
>Leave the Temple, you have a mission to complete
>Go to your room and rest for a bit

(And now, time for food. I'll be back in about an hour. Then shit gets real)

>>35481405
>>Leave the Temple, you have a mission to complete

>>35481405
>>Go to your room and rest for a bit

>>35481405
>>Go to your room and rest for a bit

>>35481405
>>Leave the Temple, you have a mission to complete

Guys the sooner we finish this mission the better.

>>35481405
>Leave the Temple, you have a mission to complete

>>35481405
>>Leave the Temple, you have a mission to complete
No sense in waiting.

>>35481405
>>Leave the Temple, you have a mission to complete

(Back. Get Ready. Because Things are about to get Murder-flavored)

>>35483300
Just read the logs. You clearly know wtf you're doing. Count me in.

Side note: it's going to be fun to see what kind of powers we get when we get our hands on that dagger. Or whatever weapon Geoff decides it is.

You decide to head over to the Feather District. Nalla once again volunteers to keep an eye on Charles and make sure he doesn’t get himself into any more trouble.

You pass by the castle, but the guards give you too much of a weird glare to think about entering and enlisting Edwin’s help. You make it to the feather district without much hassle, though you feel a little bit uncomfortable when you see the temple of Morra in the distance. Then you remember that there was something that Charles said inside the temple of Morra and some kind of magical influence there. It’s not even midday yet. You could instead head to the harbor, where the Red Mark is supposed to be docked, or the tavern near the docks and get some information on Blood-Black Jack

Do you
>Go to the Temple
>Go to the Tavern
>Go to the Docks

>>35483860
>>Go to the Tavern

>>35483860
>Go to the Tavern

My guess: Slaver

>>35483860
>>Go to the Tavern
Knowledge is power

>>35483860
>Go to the Temple
I don't know about you, but I LIKE the idea of stealing shit.

>>35483860
>>Go to the Tavern

>>35483860
>>Go to the Temple

Steal Morra Magic stuff

>>35484092
>>35484240
We can rob Morra blind when we aren't on a mission.

You head to the Tavern, a weird place with a very odd name that you can’t really read. All you can tell is there is a picture of a porcupine or something climbing a tree. Inside you get the same sort of feeling from the Seclare Tavern, though it is infinitely more grimy. It’s the middle of the day, but inside is dank and several people are still glued to the barstool. Some men are speaking under their breath, obviously trying not to be noticed or heard. There is also another man lolling from side to side, slurring his speech as he attempts to speak to a women who isn’t interested in the least. And then there is the bartender, just cleaning up and looking sick of all the damn people in here.

Do you
>Try to listen in on the men
>Try to talk to the drunk man
>Try to talk to the bartender.

>>35484341
>>Try to talk to the bartender.

>>35484341
>Bartender
"'scuse me, I'm looking to do some business and was told someone by the name of Blood-Back Jack could help."

Yeah, slaver. Blood-Back is what he makes, with all the whipping.

>>35484451
This seems good, if we mention putting in a good word for him.

>>35484451
Sure

>Persuasion
>I am Blood-Back Jack, while this imposter is a peon who has let all the money flowing through his fingers go to his head
>say it in front of a good majority of his men
>gain control of his business

You slide up into the bar, throwing a silver coin on the end and asking for whatever it would get you. The bartender sighs and pulls a small cup up, filling it with some cheap swill and passing it to you.

You start laying on the charm, which is taken as a welcome relief to the man. He leans against the table as he starts unloading onto you. How boring the sailors are, how at night everything is impossible to manage and how regular sailors and layfolk won’t enter the bar anymore since some captain named Jack came in and has been docked for a few days.

“They’re just the worst. They wreck everything, and they threaten me any time I try to tell them to stop!” HE looks over and points at the two men. They are standing up and leaving now, and once they are gone he mutters.

“Those two are the only normal-ish ones. They’re part of his crew. God, that I’d give to punch that Bastard in the nose…”

Do you
>Follow after the two
>Press the Bartender for more info

>>35484933
>Follow after the two
Now, the question is...do we kill him, or his whole crew?

Also, if he's a ship captain, all his important documents will be on his ship. We can just wreck the whole thing and kill him while he flees.

>>35484933
>>Follow after the two

>>35484933
>Follow after the two

You thank the bartender and leave to follow after the two. The pier is still busy, so you don’t need to try hard to follow after them. They lead you far into the pier, and before you are worried about getting noticed for going this far into the thinning numbers, they turn onto a ship. You read the words imprinted on the side ‘The Red Mark’

The Ship is large, big enough to have travelled over the ocean between the several other continents that share the world with the Empire. The ship is brimming with life now. You can’t just walk on, you don’t think. However, you have powers at your disposal. Of course, you could always wait…

Do you
> Use your invisibility
> Use your Persuasion
> Wait until nightfall

>>35485532
Does the ship have windows? If so, molotov through the captain's cabin.

>>35485532
>> Wait until nightfall

>>35485532
>> Use your invisibility

>>35485636
It has windows, but you don't know enough about the type of ship this is to know which room is the captain's

>>35485532
>> Use your invisibility
The meeting is at midnight. I would rather have extra time incase of potential problems.

>>35485532
>> Use your Persuasion

You activate your invisibility and sneak aboard the ship. It is difficult, waiting until there is enough of a time to get aboard the one plank that connects the dock to the boat itself. People are lounging around the ship, trying to spend the time. You hear someone mention that the cargo, in the deepest parts of the ship, is going to go bad at this point unless they can unload it. Some others are mentioning needing to speak with the captain and first mate, but they are meeting with some ‘contact’ right now. Some others are talking about the ‘payments’ they got from other stuff, and being annoyed that they are back in Stayne until they get ahold of their dues.

Do you
>Go to the Captain’s Quarters
>Go find the Cargo
>Go find the Payment

>>35485532
>> Use your invisibility

>>35486066
>Go find the Payment

>>35486066
>>Go find the Payment

>>35486066
>>Go find the Cargo

>>35486066
>>Go to the Captain’s Quarters

>>35486066
>>Go to the Captain’s Quarters

You head down to the mid levels of the ship. Here the men are sleeping or more heavily drinking. You manage to find the payload, in a chest and a ways away. You see that there is a notice talking about the captain keeping a strict record, so that stealing will not be a problem. You hear a crashing outside, and you hear a voice.

“CAPTAIN AND FIRST MATE ON DECK.” There some rushing around. There’s some muttering, and you hide out until things die down. A man comes down and collapses back into his hammock, digging through a bag for something.

“motherfucker…headin’ into town fer the day. Gotta go inventory. Better get the fucking money outta the way.” He’s coming in. You can grab one thing quickly, or leave it all. But the Captain is leaving soon and you need to hurry.

Do you
>Grab the blue package, it’s a bit soft.
>Grab the gold box, it feels heavy and there are loose things inside.
>Grab the Locked Leather book, it has strange symbols and pictures carved into the side
>Leave it All

>>35486479
>>Grab the Locked Leather book, it has strange symbols and pictures carved into the side

Do we have time to summon our snake to sense for magic?

>>35486479
>>Grab the blue package, it’s a bit soft.

>>35486479
>>Grab the Locked Leather book, it has strange symbols and pictures carved into the side

>>35486479
>Summon the snake and tell it to ambush the capatin as he tries to check the stuff.

>>35486565
>>35486696

There is no time before he come in and will at least see that something is amiss. Plus the Captain is off the ship already

>>35486479
>>Grab the Locked Leather book, it has strange symbols and pictures carved into the side

(Fuck, I’m so sorry guys. I have to call it because this is the fifth fucking time my internet has shorted out in the past two hours. I’m just going to quickly archive this and then try to figure out what the fuck is wrong.)

>>35486066
>You hear someone mention that the cargo, in the deepest parts of the ship, is going to go bad at this point unless they can unload it.
i bet its slaves