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[NUKE9.13]

"Good day Hugo. About that little job of mine, what would you say if I would make them go into civil war. The Double Noughts that is. I would of course also guarantee the death of Awaria. This would raise the price of my service to a total of 2 ducats though."

"Internal strife? In the Dubs? What's next, will you offer to make the storms blow in autumn? Ah- I kid. If an opportunity presents itself to weaken the Double Noughts- without making our involvement too obvious- you should take it."

"...ah, money. Horrible stuff, isn't it? I rather think the whole concept devalues a man's work, don't you? Still, man needs to eat. Assassin needs to get paid. If you can plunge the Dubs into chaos- which is to say, notably more chaos than the norm- I'll see about getting you your money. Light, there's enough Dub territory we could take over whilst their backs are turned to earn double that, so it would be fair."

[Dwarmin]

Meanwhile...

A House Alanis outrider delivers a letter to one of his contacts in Polca-who makes sure it finds the hands of William...it's about two weeks after the Ladies birthday would have been.

The envelope opens with a *pop*-apparently it was well sealed, to preserve the scent of Tala Alanis's specific perfume upon opening-the same she was wearing on the night of the art exhibition which William attended.

To Sir Black Rose

    Ho! I am terribly risking my life and limb by sending you this. But, frankly, we're a little bit beyond that, don't you think? I hope you enjoyed the tattooed woman, at least. Speaking from experience-she had a body to die for, doesn't she! I was half tempted to spend the night with her myself...Let *that* thought marinate in your mind, dear boy

Ha. Well, the Lady in Green still misses you-no matter what the Queen thinks, that dreadful beast-and looks forward to the day you might be return...in triumph.

Until then, we'll have to act as foes, though. Even if I have quarrel with you to keep up appearances, remember it's not personal. Just business.

My birthday is this Friday-I can't expect this letter to reach you by any time I can forsee imaginable. Since I doubt you will be scale the walls of Talama covertly to attend my party, I must request you send my present from afar-something special, to the walls of my estate. At night. Merely have your messenge show a black rose...and he will not be harmed.

And, if you ever trusted me enough to want to meet face to face...well, who knows what will happen tomorrow?
 
    Hoping to not catch you anytime soon, For I am nobody anyway...

A single gold coin also clatters out of the envelope-a sarcastic 'present'-it's one of the newly minted Queen Laythe Coins. The inscription on the coin reads "Regina Sceptrum mos subsisto mille annus".

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Forgive my Latin Mangling

[filiusenox]

The letter was given to William- who despite being the commander of his chapter was doing guard duty- by John, who in turn got it off a patrolling Crimson, who received a far few stern words and a small story of what William did to the last man who tried opening his mail.
After the familiar smell of perfume washed away the smell of the black rose cigarette, William read the letter and smiled faintly at the coin. He flipped it up into the air for a moment and caught before it came back down.

Really now...what is she playing at...?

A reckless part of William wanted to go himself, another part wanted to send the woman something, another part worried about how she found him, and yet another wanted to tell the girl to stop playing with fire-so to speak.

Hmm...

[CyberGenesis]

The Fists make the arrangement with the clever Captain, as well as offering a large seasonal bribe to keep him friendly (.4d a year- just to this one guy- that's probably more than he makes in regular wages. One expects returns on this investment).

[3] The Captain looks at you rather puzzled that you're handing him coin instead of a knife in the neck. "I'll take it, but why?" You give him the gist of your reasoning and he seems to accept this. [5] As it turns out, even a slight incentive seems to help him keep the guards from the docks. (+1 to any personal smuggling rolls you make or confer) [5] No incidents regarding this matter (randomly) happen for the season. The Captain is enjoying the extra men he can use elsewhere in the city.

Terryn, accompanied by three of his men, travels to the Lord's Manor. He seeks a meeting with the Lord of Polca regarding a job. If he cannot meet with the Lord despite his best efforts, he will settle for the guard captain.

[3] The Lord is apparently 'busy' with 'business' for the time being. You're directed to the Guard Captain's office. [4] The Captain is apparently in search of a few hands, per information gleaned from a guard at the door, [2] but the captain himself seems pretty pissed off lately. You suspect it has a lot to do with the burning of a guardhouse.

I'll go in the harbor, interrogating people about the strange ship the men came from. If the ship isn't there, I'll try to learn where he went.

The ship is gone before you and your men arrive. [4] People know little of the ship aside from the fact it was there, it unloaded men, it reloaded men and left - in the direction of Ligoria.

One of William's men, dressed in regular civilian clothes, searches for a buyable cheap place that can hold them all comfortably. Preferably a mansion or other large building.

Another of William's men dressed in civilian clothing, anonymously donates the .88d to the families of the men that died. If all of them didn't have a family, then he donates it to repair the damages to the guardhouse.

Another of William's men ((God I say that quite a bit)) deliver the below message to the lord.

Another investigates how the houses are built- if they are hovels or just small but well-kept -, where most of the gangs are located, and how much the civilians hate or dislike the gangs.

From now on all of his [William's] lackeys and soldiers will call him Lord Will Sarturi in private and public.The people who call him Will- the ones he fought beside - can still call him that. But they may not call him Blackrose or Varaum anymore.

Hello again,
I would like to ask you what are your laws on criminal treatment, before I go after the gangs.
I wouldn't want to break the law when bringing them in.

\[4] With the help of the Lord's Steward, you find comfortable accommodations for your men. The steward says it'll cost you a quarter-ducat, money which will be held by the lord until you fufill your promises.
[2] Your donation is done under your new name. People are suspicious but grateful. The guardhouse will be rebuilt by summer's end and the families of the guards are well taken care of.
[4] Most of the citizens of Polca are against the gangs. They're not a rich people to begin with, and the gangs make keeping what they do have even harder. No one would miss their disappearance. Mostly they hang out in the more downtrodden parts of town. At least two work out of the docks facilitating the whoring and smuggling.
[4] The laws on criminals are much per normal. Gang wars have caused the city guard to give little care or notice to the disappearance of a pulse in those that live in Polca's shadows. They prefer living captures, simply to have them hung as a spectacle - but no one would cry about a piles of corpses showing up on the Guardhouse steps...except the rookie that has to clean up the mess.

Sail to West Dalannor and meet with this Captain Nitha Ferrin.

The Captain meets with you, annoyed, "I haven't the time to be entertaining fat merchants and layabouts. I understand I've been parked here damn near a season and never left. You know what I have to say about it? I don't care - I have my purpose. Now state your business or piss off"

[Dwarmin]

That next morning...

Tala was happy to send the grumbling Udanese berzerkers back home. Not only had they not gotten to attack, they had lost! Not good for Ligorias reputation at all.

---
On Lady Alanis's lands...

Matthew had seen to the ordering of the wood cutters and lumber gathering Talas Lands-a simple business, really, but such things earned respect and power, both useful..

Economic Actions for Spring:
Release my Bezerker Detachment from service and send them off with their pay
Build a Level 1 Lumber Industry on my lands

[vagel7]

Franz stepped out of the pub and put on his feather hat. He would need to find some poison, it seemed to be the way so far to kill Laz. He would poison him and hope that whether the dies or doesn't it would still raise internal tensions, hopefully so that they would spark war.

Franz buys some potent, yet quickly dissolving poison and then searches for a way to administer the poison to Laz.

[Dwarmin]

Franz stepped out of the pub and put on his feather hat. He would need to find some poison, it seemed to be the way so far to kill Laz. He would poison him and hope that whether the dies or doesn't it would still raise internal tensions, hopefully so that they would spark war.

Franz buys some potent, yet quickly dissolving poison and then searches for a way to administer the poison to Laz.

[4][4]

Your first find is easy. Widow Moss should work well-it's pricy, but it can achieve the effect you are searching for-it comes in a clear, dusty powder that must be inhaled, eaten or imbibed to be effective-it's advantage is that there is almost no side effects until said person drops dead, assuming they consume enough. It's lethality is not perfect-it can be countered with some advanced cures-but with a man of Laz's age shouldn't matter.

[6]

Bribing a guard reveals Laz has two possible weaknesses to use a powder like poison-he takes numerous herbal quack remedies for age related memory loss and impotence, and he enjoys large quantities of heavily spiced lean meat with red wine with his dinner. Alcohol is known to speed up the effects of most drugs, Widow Moss is not exception.

Unfortunately, the guard was also followed after your last meeting-his remains were fished out of the bay by the guards the following morning.

[1]
The guard spills he was meeting with someone who wasn't a member of the Dubs, wanting to know his daily schedule,before he dies-all this confirms to Laz is that a Hacturi is trying to kill him...but, he's wily enough to also know this could be another gang setting it all up. Since you obviously didn't reveal your method of killing, he becomes noticeably more paranoid, but not in the ways that will save him...

[vagel7]

Dress simply as to not get any attention, buy the poison and get it on Laz's dinner, the meat specially. A nice healthy quantity will do(Healthy meaning very deadly).

[Dwarmin]

@Vagel7

[2+1-1]

You dress as a innocent waiter...you have to dipose of the previous one, though. Your infiltration goes off fine, but as you deliver the poison, the bottle slips! You end up putting a little more poison than you might have intended...

Enough so that Laz takes one bite, notices something is odd, and comes out of his office screaming for his guards to seal off the building.

[2]

Apparently the old guy has more constitution than you gave him credit for-not only will he survive, he's up and back for duty in a week.

[6]

Your escape is flawless-but a guard spots you, and now Laz has a rough description of you...and he's looking for you, or someone like you. Until he finds someone to blame, the Dubs are witholding judgement on who is to blame. Not that many of them are having trouble blaming the Hacturi.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nod, The King of Dreams works his mischief tonight....

@Filiusnox
Another night, and Chironas is no where to be seen. William retires to his chambers with a sigh-after a uncharastically decadent meal, for him at least-lots of pork, which he only annoyingly realizes afterwards might have been slightly undercooked...

Sleep does not come easily, but it does come, eventually.

With the sleep, comes the dreams. As with most of them, they are violent in nature...

...

He's standing in Queen Laythes Throne Room again-or, to be more precise-this is HIS throne room, his power and his destiny. He just had to claim it. The Zerim Blade almost hums with the desire to shed blood.

The Queen is still sitting on her throne-reduced to a smirking granite statue, her mouth is moving but no words are coming out. Three persons guard her-Tala Alanis, Nikephoros Vandire and Kathos Thunderblade, all with blades ready. They seem grim, emotionless-not themselves at all.

Chironas stands in the shadows of a corner, writing ferociously in the Chronicle. She's blind-her eyes are gone, only empty sockets.

And now the dream is his. All he has to do is step forward and cut them down one by one-there is no doubt in his mind he will do so-, and claim his throne...or he can turn around. Walk away.

Has he ever even considered walking away?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@Sheb

Sheb settles to sleep in a nice room tonight, alone unfortunately. He might have had a pleasant nap if the couple rooming above him hadn't decided to engage in some obscure rythmic mating ritual...which pound stange ideas into his unwaking mind all night.

So, tonight, Sheb dreams of desiring a woman-as men oft do.

In this dream, he's a King-not just of a country, but everything-he's a God. The feeling of power is immense, overwhelming. Sheb feels as if he could bring the slain to life-or slay a thousand men with an odd glance. Now, he can have anything-or anyone. All he has to do is order it. The masses of commoners fall silent, eagerly awaiting his decision.

The sky shifts color in tune with his moods as he muses-black, white, grey, green, purple...he grins, as the sun and moon fly across the sky in random orbits, of his own choosing.

The questions is, who? If all the women in the world were in his power, who would Sheb choose?

[thatkid]

The Next Morning...

Eyes still laden with sleep, Terryn lumbered from his tent to join several of his men around the cook-fire. Where the rest of his Hedge Brothers were loud and boisterous as usual, the commander was sullen and quiet. As he took a sip of his stew, which had been supplemented with bits of rabbit some of them men had been able to catch that morning, he contemplated on the events of the night before. If Polca was in dire need of guards, and the Guard Captain had turned away potential help because he was still irate on account of why he had ended up in such a predicament...Well, that was a fatal mistake. A mistake with a lesson that could only be learned once, and which may well leave one in a predicament where one could learn no more.
At this point, Sir Terryn Selgvyrdson had no intention in aiding Polca, regardless of the pay. He was not one to be snubbed, and perhaps the Thorbred would be the means by which the Captain would learn his lesson. Perhaps not, Terryn mused, it was all in the vagaries of fate. Sir David would have been one to see the man purged in fire for the apparent disservice to his lord, and thus the Lord's king...if Polca even had a King. But Terryn was content to simply see the Captain fall for the day he had wasted.

Regardless the stormy-eyed hedge knight rose to his feet a moment later, orders on his lips.

1. Bjorn, and two other Hedge Brother are sent to meet with the merchants about a potential job. They are to inspect the merchant's wagons, and report back to Terryn about what might be transported. They should also be on the lookout for any signs of smuggling, or things not being as they seem - No mercenary takes a job without being aware of any hidden risks.
2. Ian and two other Hedge Brothers, chosen for their ability to act like moral and decent beings relative to the others, are sent to track down Lizzy or her compatriots, in an attempt to set up a meeting between her commander and Terryn that evening.
3. Donald and two other hedge brothers, chosen both because of their criminal origins and their intimidating stature, are sent to the shadier parts of Polca to treat with the criminal element. They are to make it known that a few criminal orgs could benefit greatly by working alongside the Thornbred for a short time.
4. Oswald and two other Hedge Brothers accompany Sir Terryn Selgvyrdson as he makes to to treat with the Lord of Polca once more. Should he be snubbed until noon, he will settle with attempting to meet with the Captain of the Guard one last time.

((OOC: For all intents and purposes, the named characters are basically just skill-less peons with names. The reason for being chosen is flavor.))

[Sheb]

((Nice writing, bit I've been in Polca since a few actions.))

"Damn", tough Sheb. Finding out about this new ruler was much harder than he tough. One person myst know however, the Lord. But he couldn't just walk to the palace's gate and ask for an audience. He wasn't even a noble. But he had other talent...

Find out if the Governor has a daughter. If yes, find out as much as possible about her, else, try to hang around the Palace's kitchen and seduce a lovely maid.

[vagel7]

Franz was sitting in a corner in some no-name pub while some beer. The place was dark and filled with thugs and crooks. Cards were being played, everybody spoke some lowly dialect and outside were women selling their bodies to the night, a most pleasant place.

He had just recently learned from a tweeting birdy that Lez survived the poisoning, but that they blamed the Hatcuri, which was excellent and opened another window of opportunity to heighten the tensions between them, he would attempt an assassination of a Hatcuri Double Noughts officer, he would make it look like a message.

Find a Hatcuri human Double Noughts officer, somebody who would be easy to kill.

[micelus]

"Business of Hatcur, captain. My associate went and got himself killed...and took my ship with him. I only got it back recently, and that has taken the whole of Spring."

Retycl himself was not truly sure that William was dead...He needed a corpse. Perhaps a letter to the lord of Polca would do?

[filiusenox]

In Nod's Kingdom.
"Surrender or die." William held the blade lower then he normally would when he gave this ultimatum. He didn't feel anger towards any of them and hoped they would comply.

In real life.
"Yeah, tell his lordship we'll take the offer but send out one of the lads we picked up in Vale to scout around it, scout for ambushes or if its too much of an ambush spot..." William told this to John during the daily briefing. The man gave a nod and then went and carried out the order.
With that done he stood up and prepared to go on a little scouting mission around the shadier parts of town.
Then Lizzy, who in William's private and public opinion, looked pretty good for a tomboy, walked into the room William was staying in. She ripped off a textbook salute and then spoke quickly.
"Si- William, you remember those men I told you about?"
"The Thornbreaded ones?"
She smiled "Yes, those. One of them requested a meeting between their commander and yourself."
"I'd try and add it to  my busy schedule. If I didn't leave it on the damn ship."
Another smile. "Yeah."
"Enjoying Polca, Lizzy?"
"Bit boring compared to some of the places we've been sir. But not so bad."
"Yes, well...do you need anything else, Lizzy?" William's voice was cordial and a real smile painted his features.
"No sir, just wanted to inform you of that."
"Where do they want to meet?"

"Ah...alrighty then. Tell them I'll be there before nightfall."


William (Ununiformed) and three (Ununiformed) guards, takes a look around town and finds where the major gang headquarters are. Then he Assess(from the outside) the buildings's weaknesses and strengths.

[Ardas]

Niko was pushing the plough into the ground. He did so almost effortlessly, the soft, dark earth was giving in easily, as an ox pulled the plough. The day was clear, with not one cloud on the horizon. With the smell of earth and his own sweat in his nostrils, Niko was thinking of his woman. Ara. Her brown hair and hazel eyes, her soft face and a bright smile.
He could see her approaching in the distance, coming from their house. She was carrying a basket, no doubt a meal for her hard-working man.
"Niko, come to me! I got you something to eat!" He halted the animal and stopped his plough near a tree. He still had much to do before the sunset, but he and the animal deserved a break.

They ate together under the tree; fresh bread with some cheese and water from the jug she also brought. It was simple enough, but it tasted wonderful. She did not bring much, but it was enough to fill two people for the time being.
As he was lying under the tree and she was putting the remains of the meal into the basket, he could not help but to notice as she was looking at him, with an obvious intent on her face.
"What are looking at? Do I have something on my face?"
"No, no, you are fine, but I got something for you..."
"Ara, please, I must finish before the sunset"
"Oh come on, I know you are strong, you can manage both at the same time...”
"Don't worry, I will be back home soon enough"
Fine. I will see you home, my love"

With sadness on her face, she left. He was eager to finish quickly, so he got back to his plough. But as he started pushing, he felt as if he was pushing against a rock. With a lot of effort the plough moved, very slowly. He felt a lot of strange bumps and stones under his feet, so he looked down.

He was horrified. As he moved the plough, instead of dirt, his plough was moving through a field of bodies. Skulls, bones, half-rotten corpses, tattered banners and shattered armour. Somewhere in the distance he heard a crying child and moaning of dying men. Broken swords and spears, lances and axes, mangled with a mass of dead, sticking out like knives and forks thrust into a slab of meat.
He looked around him. Sun was gone but he could still see. He was surrounded by a sea of grey, as if a heavy mist surrounded him, yet he felt no cold or humidity. Ara and the house dissolved in the distance, and the ox suddenly became a warhorse, with guts hanging out its belly. His feet and legs were all muddy and plashed with gore. He tried to leave and run towards his home, but he couldn't move, his body constrained with a heavy suit of armour.
He fell, and the rotting mass of dead grabbed him with and started pulling him downwards. All were chanting in one voice: Love, Duty, Death, Love, Duty, Death.....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nikephoros woke up screaming. Cold sweat covered him as he grabbed his face and started coming to his senses. It was still dark in his tent, so he lay back on his bed, but not before drinking a whole cup of wine that stood next to the bed. No soldier bothered coming in, everyone sleeping or too tired to notice or care.
He lay in his bed without closing his eyes until morning. He thought that with Tala safe this was behind him. But for some reason he was more uneasy than before...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Full credit to Dwarmin for the dream sequence idea for Niko.