Heroica RPG - Quest #62: Insider Trading

[herrJJ]

She was shocked by the glee their battle was victorious. These enemies were tough and Nessa herself was close to fainting away. But now they had won. But what happened then? As Karie tossed the potion to the were-raven and completing their deal Nessa couldn't hold to herself: "These are our enemies! They have tried to kill us all. Why in the world are you helping them now? Don't believe them. And what is with our mission to hunt them down and bring their heads back? Do you really think the Don will fall for this little game you made up?" Nessa shook her head. "I gave you the chance to show your competence in leading. But you definetly failed... at least by now. And this battle was the best to proof me right. All your decisions have been wrong. And for now I say we cut their heads off to bring them back. After all a deal is a deal."Nessa loosened her crossbow, took a anti were bolt out and aimed for Ed's head.

OOC: My heart stopped for a second to the end of the fight. I really was sure Nessa would die here *phew*. Great fight team... and great enemies, QM

Sorry for the few updates but I am on my Easter vacation. Thought I would had more time... anyways

I am fine with the new deal do we have some time after this cloth market thingy to get the doppelgangers heads? That would be great :thumpup:

Edited April 1, 2013 by herrJJ

[Kintobor]

"These are our enemies! They have tried to kill us all. Why in the world are you helping them now? Don't believe them. And what is with our mission to hunt them down and bring their heads back? Do you really think the Don will fall for this little game you made up?" Nessa shook her head. "I gave you the chance to show your competence in leading. But you definetly failed... at least by now. And this battle was the best to proof me right. All your decisions have been wrong. And for now I say we cut their heads off to bring them back. After all a deal is a deal."Nessa loosened her crossbow, took a anti were bolt out and aimed for Ed's head.

Karie sternly looked at Nessa.

"I think you've confused yourself with what an idiot is, Nessa. An idiot doesn't think rationally, or doesn't understand the concept of teamwork. Wait, oh, that's you!" Karie scoffed.

"And I thought perhaps we were getting somewhere Nessa. And don't even think about coming and talking to me at my table! If your going to act like a stuck up little jerk forget it, go cry to mommy or something! Put the crossbow down, you'll shoot your eye out." Karie chuckled to herself.

[herrJJ]

"Don't you dare to speak of my mother!" Nessa pointed the tip of the crossbow into Karie's direction. "And I nearly died out there. But that would fit in your plans, wouldn't it? Noone left to stop your menace... Call me what you like. I will keep an eye out on you. And don't try something stupid! And now for these two: we have to kill them!" Nessa paused. The she added with a slightly changed but now scary voice: "And don't feel disappointed, darling. But I never had visited you and your little table." With a superior look in her eyes Nessa draw back a little to watch her reaction.

[Kintobor]

Karie was slightly taken back from Nessa's voice. Damn it, that's the second time bringing up other's relatives pissed others off. But Nessa wasn't Brickington. Brickington was naive, sure, but Nessa was arrogant, and rude, and possibly nuts. Revenge is a dish best served immediately.

She chuckled.

"A plan? Please, elaborate! Perhaps so everyone, including mommy could hear!" She than projected her voice upwards, jumping up and down giddily.

"Are you listening! Nessa dearest is trying to make me, her party leader look bad! What do you have to say about that!" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Guess not. Oh, and nice scary voice too, how often do you use that? I can do one too, except mine's better because I actually know how to act."

Edited April 1, 2013 by Kintobor

[Vash the Stampede]

"I'd like to thank you for talking but you've ignored some of my questions." Dreyrugr puts on a voice filled with annoyance and a slight amount of anger to sound threatening while once again moving the point of the anti-were bolt to the throat of the were-raven.

"HOW, did you know we were working for the Hinckwells? For how long we've been here you get your information fast."

"WHAT, do you know about the rumour spreading? Tell me everything from the top. NOW."

"Next, WHO is Abe? The Church accountant? Even I could've told you that. Who is he? And why does he want to buy all this cloth?"

"You say this is Abe's plan. He was heading over to Marty earlier and yet I found a note from both of you giving him orders for this whole rumour business. Why such a roundabout method? And what rumour did you tell him to spread?"

"And now an added question. Tell me everything you know about Yoro and Lawrence Dice. And don't try my patience or else we won't need your doppelgangers."

My updating may be very slow for the next week. After which all should be well and I should also be able to properly check in on the weekends. Added advice for fellow 62ers in case I can't get on. Don't meet Abe and whoever he has with him face to face. He has already met our characters and chances are he has found out we killed Marty. Or you could meet him for the loot and exp. But if you do want to get to the bottom of this whole thing a face to face confrontation is not advised by your friendly neighbourhood psychopath. Edit: NVM we are 95% sure we know the bad guy.

Edited April 1, 2013 by Vash the Stampede

[herrJJ]

"Guess what. We kill these bastards, bring their heads back to the Don and finish our duty here. You are an outstanding example of an incompetent leader. But just do as you think. Perhaps you learn by doing and failing." Every single color had faded from Nessa's eyes showing only the white. She approached Karie with a dangerous and terrifying expression on her face.

[xxlrocka]

Drake frowned. The Nessa woman was really gonna put this quest in jeopardy with the way she talked. Drake spoke up. "If we were to kill these guys, then we wouldn't have enough information. We need more. And not stuff that explains this Abe guy's personality and appearance. We need information that is useful."

"In Drake's case, that would be how to kill the guy."

"With Dak's help, whether he likes it or not."

"Oh no, definitely not."

"Shut up. Fine, you'll just watch and be supportive. You know, just cheer me on."

[Dannylonglegs]

*Snip*

OOC: My heart stopped for a second to the end of the fight. I really was sure Nessa would die here *phew*. Great fight team... and great enemies, QM

Sorry for the few updates but I am on my Easter vacation. Thought I would had more time... anyways

I am fine with the new deal do we have some time after this cloth market thingy to get the doppelgangers heads? That would be great :thumpup:

The were-raven captives looked quite shocked as they witnessed Nessa and Karie begin fighting. Al looked quite excited, while Ed looked amused.

OoC: Thanks! yeah, take your time. I'm trying to keep a fast pace for your enjoyment and ability to follow the plot, but don't worry about not updating too frequently. I'm not a slave-driver. Yes, you've got time to get the dopplegangers. And I'm sure someone asked, but I can't remember where, you can go to the market after returning the gold to the church and buy consumables I'll assume it doesn't take long and that it's near the cloth market.

"I'd like to thank you for talking but you've ignored some of my questions." Dreyrugr puts on a voice filled with annoyance and a slight amount of anger to sound threatening while once again moving the point of the anti-were bolt to the throat of the were-raven.

"watch where you're pointing that thing! The only one who gets to threaten my Baby like that is me!" Al spoke with some defiance.

"No need to get upset." spoke Ed, grinning and calm, despite the threat of pain or his psychotic boyfriend's anger. "Ask away my good undead man."

"HOW, did you know we were working for the Hinckwells? For how long we've been here you get your information fast."

The were-raven grinned further. "I thought I told you. Abe tells us. He told us 6 days ago that the Hinckwells were buying the cloth trade, and he told us today that Dill Hinckwell had hired a band of 5 sellswords stop us. He did fail to mention how powerful you were, and that you're adept thieves." he finished with a serious tone.

"WHAT, do you know about the rumour spreading? Tell me everything from the top. NOW."

"Easy. Abe's plan requires that poor Dill Hinckwell's plan gets out of the bag, so-to-speak. You can't buy cloth at bottom prices if the merchants still feel like they've got something to lose." The were-raven grinned. "We've disseminated the information as best we could. Al and I got the idea to employ that bastard Marty you keep going on about. He's got an extensive information network, and he's always looking for useful information. We gave him one, told him to use the other and dangled the prospect of money in his face and it didn't take long before the whole city knew all we needed it to." The were-raven chuckled to himself.

"Next, WHO is Abe? The Church accountant? Even I could've told you that. Who is he? And why does he want to buy all this cloth?"

"To be frank, I don't know much about the man. No one really does. I don't believe anyone's even seen his face, 'cept maybe his companions. He keeps it covered by scarves all the time. Rumour has it it's because he got the goblin-pox when he was just a boy. His face is deformed, and he's ashamed of it, is my guess. He's not a religious man either. He's just smart. He probably knows more about business than Marty, and without the information gathering network."

The were-raven stopped to gather his thoughts. He looked around at the party, then back to Dreyrugr.

"Well, he wants money, of course. The plan is quite simple: Buy as much cloth in bulk as possible while the price is at rock-bottom by getting the city people to know of Hinckwell's move before-hand, and then sell it to the Shadeaux for 6 times its worth. The Shadeaux'll want to remain competitive, and they'll buy whatever we sell to them at whatever price we want." he grinned. "Essentially, we use the Hinckwell's play against them. They don't benefit from the trade restriction, and neither does the Shadeaux. Lose-lose." he finished, looking pleased.

"You say this is Abe's plan. He was heading over to Marty earlier and yet I found a note from both of you giving him orders for this whole rumour business. Why such a roundabout method? And what rumour did you tell him to spread?"

"Including Marty was our idea, and a good one too. Abe devised the plan and called the shots, but we decided that Marty'd be the fastest way to get the info out, so we offered to include him in the scheme. We told him to spread the rumour that 'the lord is passing a new law that will allow only the Hinckwell company to purchase cloth from the vendors and artisans of Brendenton tomorrow.' He was also going to bring some money to the table, but I'm not sure if he will now. He was supposed to meet Abe earlier, but I haven't heard back on that yet."

"And now an added question. Tell me everything you know about Yoro and Lawrence Dice. And don't try my patience or else we won't need your doppelgangers."

Al stuck out his thick bird-like tongue at Dreyrugr, and clucked antagonistically. Ed stifled a chuckle at his lover's antic.

"Yoro and Dice seem to be Abe's old companions. They only got in town a week ago. Abe was quite pleased to see them, or, at-least Dice, and immediately set the plan in motion. Dice is a travelling salesman, and I think Yoro's his wife... or sister. It's hard to tell, and you humans all look alike. It was the first time we saw them, but Abe trusted them enough to let them into the fold immediately. They're bringing 1000 gold to the table."

Drake frowned. The Nessa woman was really gonna put this quest in jeopardy with the way she talked. Drake spoke up. "If we were to kill these guys, then we wouldn't have enough information. We need more. And not stuff that explains this Abe guy's personality and appearance. We need information that is useful."

"In Drake's case, that would be how to kill the guy."

"With Dak's help, whether he likes it or not."

"Oh no, definitely not."

"Shut up. Fine, you'll just watch and be supportive. You know, just cheer me on."

"Killing him should be easy. Whatever he looks like, he's human as far as I can tell, and I've never seen him fight. It could be that he doesn't know how to. Most people don't."

[Vash the Stampede]

Dreyrugr removed the point of the bolt from the were raven no longer sounding angry, it seemed he had revealed all he knew.

"When exactly did he mention today that 5 sell swords were around and by estimate how far has the rumour spread?"

[Dannylonglegs]

Dreyrugr removed the point of the bolt from the were raven no longer sounding angry, it seemed he had revealed all he knew.

"When exactly did he mention today that 5 sell swords were around and by estimate how far has the rumour spread?"

"He came around in the morning. Maybe 10 or 11? After that he told us where and when to meet him to enact the plan, and then went to do the same for Marty. He had his companions do a few things for him too. He said he would send Dice to the Mage's district to set-up the purchase with the Shadeaux via Ether-mail. The rumour's probably spread as widely as it needs to be. The thing about words is that once they're spoken... they can't be unspoken. You can shut-up the speaker, but you can never recapture his speech." The were-raven chuckled.

[Vash the Stampede]

The rumour's probably spread as widely as it needs to be. The thing about words is that once they're spoken... they can't be unspoken. You can shut-up the speaker, but you can never recapture his speech." The were-raven chuckled.

"Annoyingly correct." Dreyrugr pauses to think for a moment and then turns to his party. "Unless anyone else has an idea what do you say to spreading our own rumor seeing how we can no longer stop the rumor. Dreyrugr turns to the ravens. If we wanted to spread a rumor how would we go about that?"

[Dannylonglegs]

"Annoyingly correct." Dreyrugr pauses to think for a moment and then turns to his party. "Unless anyone else has an idea what do you say to spreading our own rumor seeing how we can no longer stop the rumor. Dreyrugr turns to the ravens. If we wanted to spread a rumor how would we go about that?"

"Well, I'd employ Marty or his annoying informant, Craw Fee."

"Or you could try telling the Cloth Merchants themselves, but it seems quite late for that, seeing as how Abe intends to make his purchase at 4:30."

Edited April 1, 2013 by Dannylonglegs

[Vash the Stampede]

"Well, I'd employ Marty or his annoying informant, Craw Fee."

"Or you could try telling the Cloth Merchants themselves, but it seems quite late for that, seeing as how Abe intends to make his purchase at 4:30."

"Never mind rumor speading. Marty and Craw Fee won't be helping us anytime soon."

[Dannylonglegs]

"Never mind rumor speading. Marty and Craw Fee won't be helping us anytime soon."

"Sorry to hear that." Stated Ed. "Even though the man's one true love is his reflection in a golden-framed mirror, he does come in handy on occasion."

[Kintobor]

"Guess what. We kill these bastards, bring their heads back to the Don and finish our duty here. You are an outstanding example of an incompetent leader. But just do as you think. Perhaps you learn by doing and failing." Every single color had faded from Nessa's eyes showing only the white. She approached Karie with a dangerous and terrifying expression on her face.

Karie stepped back. Nessa wasn't nuts, she was crazy! Karie wasn't as scared as Nessa probably wished she was. The Apprentice and the Stealer were to thank for that. She remained calm, and breathed heavily. There was a tinge of fear in her voice, despite trying to stay calm.

"Nessa, you need to stop with the spooky white eyes thing. It's not cool. Second, shut up, I'm party leader, so deal with it sweet cheeks. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for me, so put a sock in it, you little attention seeking misfit. Thirdly, you didn't answer my question. What is my so-called plan you insist I'm scheming?"

[herrJJ]

"Oh just the plan of taking me out so your way is free for 'oh-what-so-ever'. I am the last stronghold to keep you off the world."

[Kintobor]

Karie sneered. The sneer turned into a snicker which transformed into laughter.

"Kill you? Are you mad? Oh wait, I already know the answer: yes! And I mean that in both senses of the word too, as in your angry at me because I'm awesomer than you, and that your absolutely bonkers! I'm curious as to what you think I am? Who I was, and all that jazz. Come on little miss know-it-all, who am I in your eyes? Some demon incarnate? Or perhaps a succubus?! Oh, no, I know, the second coming of Zoot! All hail Karie, Zoot reincarnate!" She continues to laugh.

[Dannylonglegs]

The Po Brothers looked at each-other awkwardly, as if they had just taken a bite of something entirely nasty, but had to continue eating it for fear of offending their hosts.

OoC: Lol, this argument is great.

[Kintobor]

OOC: I know right!

If you guys are ready to head off, let me know so we can go and get the Accountant.

[herrJJ]

"An incarnation of a dead god? Now who is crazy? No, you are just a little unimportant human, knowing nothing, doing nothing. Jealous about the success in battle of a 'little missy' elven ranger."

'It was her!' There was a short time noone said anything. The rain fell to the ground. The sky was dark. Wind blew through the streets of the city. Then there was complete silence.

"It was you! You stole my gem. My bijou. My precious."

Nessa stared at Karie. The lust for blood ran through the cold white eyes. A second later the sound came back to the world. Nessa's eyes cleared up. She still stared at Karie.

"Wha... what has happened?"

OOC: ready

Edited April 1, 2013 by herrJJ

[Kintobor]

Karie clutches the topaz in her pouch.

"You were going on a rant. Something about a bijou and how I stole your gem. Oh, and your eyes went all weird, like you were possessed or something. You also said I'm the most awesome party leader and the best pickpocket who ever lived, and that we wouldn't be where we are now without me." She smiles innocently.

[Dannylonglegs]

"Not that this isn't fun..." Began the Cloakless Ed, his partner dragging Father Caine's body away, "But unless you need us any more, I think it's time my mate and I made our getaway." He finished. A crack of lightning filled the air, illuminating the alley in its sinister light. Then a bust of smoke emerged from where Ed had been standing. When the stuff cleared, neither he nor his mate were there. It would appear the party wasn't as thorough in their search of the defeated rogue as they could have been. The Party stood now, alone in the rain at the steps of the back entrance to the Church. It was 10 till four, and Karie remembered the warning Ed gave her about keeping the hot gold. "You'd best return that to the naive Sister Lucile within this establishment. If you keep it, you're likely to run afoul of the whole Town's guard eventually. Caine wasn't planning on keeping it long. Even we wouldn't take on the whole town's guard."

What would the Party like to do?

Edited April 2, 2013 by Dannylonglegs

[Kintobor]

Karie lifted the hefty sack up up, and peered inside. Lots of shiny.

"Any ideas?"

Edited April 2, 2013 by Kintobor

[Vash the Stampede]

"I'd take their warning to heart. I'd hate to have the entire town watch after us. We wouldn't be getting very far without being caught."

It has quest item slapped all over it. No way are we going to get so much gold so easily. The best we get out of it is a small reward at most. For some reason I don't have much of a doubt that if we do hold onto it the whole town watch will be after us.

[Dannylonglegs]

"I'd take their warning to heart. I'd hate to have the entire town watch after us. We wouldn't be getting very far without being caught."

It has quest item slapped all over it. No way are we going to get so much gold so easily. The best we get out of it is a small reward at most. For some reason I don't have much of a doubt that if we do hold onto it the whole town watch will be after us.

I wouldn't object if you each took a handful (no more than 10ish), but if Sister Lucile doesn't recognize it as the amount that was stolen... Also, consider your character's morals if applicable.

Edited April 2, 2013 by Dannylonglegs