Troupe of the Painted Soul IC!

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Carrie pouts, mumbling under her breath, "Oh sure, confirm with Christian that we're going, pay no mind that I'm coming along..."

"Well, hurry up already." She says as she taps her foot impatiently.

 

[hellbender]

Zinovii mentally tells Anthusa to keep an eye on the room and to exit the window safely in case of trouble.

'Carrie, Christian, to the docks! Let us see what trouble we can get ourselves into! We won't get anything done by standing here and rattling all day'

 

[squirrel]

"Alright, Kail, lets head to our destination now," Dembrilion says as he walks towards the door. Outside, he quickly fills a coin purse with rocks and places it on his belt and makes way to the forum.

On the way to the market Dembrilion keeps an eye on the people on the street trying to get a gauge of the public.(ooc-he's looking for the general mood of the public) At the market, Dembrilion will make small talk with various merchants buying small items trying to gain information on various workings in the city* and trying to look like a good target for pickpocket to try to cut his purse strings. At some point, he whispers to Kail, "Have you seen anything that we might benefit from that I missed?." Dembrilion will continue moving from merchant to merchant looking for ones that will potentially have some information worth knowing.


*Gather Information +11 on any major conflicts in the city, the newest movements happening, and what the Empire is up to in the city. Just tell me how much gold I need to drop to gain the information, and anything interesting I might have picked up I wasn't really looking for anything in particular. On a side note I didn't know if you wanted to role-play each conversation out, but if you want to do it that way we can.

 

[dave_o]

Day slowly creeps upon the city of Jewel. The sun reflects dully off the roofs of the surrounding structures, and a gentle mist rises from the ground, dissapating into the blue skies above. Distantly, the lapping of the docks can be heard.

The triplet of Zinovii, Christian, and Carrie make their way to those very docks. The morning traffic is surprisingly light, with only a few ships docking in port - His Royal Bannister, The Triad, and Alustair's Livelihood. The area is populated mostly with scruffy dock workers, but here and there a wiry elf can be seen climbing a rigging, or adjusting a sail. The smell is quite pungent - the salty sea mixed with all those unwashed bodies.

A few structures dot the docks. Namely, the Port Authority, and several smaller warehouses. Surprisingly enough, Jewel doesn't seem to be too terribly adjusted to shipping.

***

"BUY! DELWINIAN BOWS! PETS FROM THE GREAT FOREST! TREASURES FROM THE PHOENIX!"

Your ears are, in no subtle terms, accosted by the ruckus in the Jewel market. It's a massive square, easily one hundred by one hundred yards. In fact, there are a few signs posted calling the marketplace just that - The Hundred Yards. Merchants in varying degrees of finery hawk their wares here, as well as several troups of mercenaries for hire, farmers fresh in from the fields, and - slaves. Their presence makes your heart sink a bit, given that slavery was recent reestablished by Imperial decree. It seems the Empire was a bit short on funds this season.

The slaves, of course, are "attended to" by men wearing Imperial blue.

OOC: Dembrilion, your Gather Information check works surprisingly well. After greasing palms to the tune of 25gp, you learn several things about matters at hand: a sharp freeze the previous winter has seemed to place all the bridges leading from Jewel to the mainland of Ulin in a state of disrepair - save for one; agents of the Empire plan to place a toll on said bridge; the Inquisition has renewed their presence in Jewel after a long period of being lax - the most recent Imperial doctorine outlaws all magic save for meager hedge wizardry, and that sanctioned by the church of the Benevolence.

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

"Ugh, I should have went with the other group." Carrie comments as her nose in turn complains to her senses. She pats the scimitar at her side lightly to make sure it's still there and takes a look around the place.

"So, where to?"

 

[hellbender]

Zinovii looks over at Carrie with a raised eyebrow. "Would a perfumed scarf help? We aren't here on a holiday. Perhaps we should nose about and see where these ships are coming and going from and who is on them.
Christian, what say you? Maybe a seedy tavern is down here that has some tidbit of news? I must say, some of these elves make me curious. I have never seen elves working for humans before, or vice versa, for that matter. I should like to see what they have to say about the Empire, but I don't want to stick a foot in my mouth and have to make a run for it."

 

[squirrel]

"Hmmmm interesting things seem to be occuring lately here, Kail, and what is even more interesting is what the Empire is doing, I do believe we shall go check it out."

Dembrilion heads over towards the slave market to begin to casually look over the slaves, but really looking for a way to release them at a later point in time. If a slave seller comes up to start a sell, Dembrilion will go along asking questions about the quality, the way they are treated and kept, and finding out about any general information that is needed.

(ooc-sorry for the delay in posting, I was just waiting to see if Kail had anything he wanted to do. I didn't feel comfortable driving this part along without letting him get his piece in)

 

[dave_o]

At Dembrilion's interest with the slaves, and his approach, he notices a few other people - merchants, mostly - perusing the slaves. The Imperial attendants to the slaves appear to be rank-and-file soldiers, though they each have several instances of netting tucked into their belts. The slaves, on the otherhand, are dressed in burlap cloths tied around the waist. All - men, and women - are barechested. Each has their hands bound behind them by heavy iron manacles, with similar bondage on their feet, each slave bound to their neighbors by iron chains.

The slaves are not-so-varied. Around ten of them appear to be of Western decent, dwellers in the Great Forest. Mostly afraid, they peer around, bickering to one another in a rough, feral language. Behind them, seemingly attempting to hide themselves, are a band of four halflings. Three of the halflings appear to be Delwinian jungle-dwellers, and while they look at each other as if in the throes of conversation, no words are exchanged. The fourth stands a bit away from the others, and is a female halfling who is quite tanned - presumably of the Shining Islands.

Within a few moments, one of the more scraggly Imperial soliders approaches Dembrilion, leering. "Do any 'o 'em take yer fancy, dandy?"

 

[Neowolf]

Kail tries to hide his disgust at the slavery, but keeps his mouth shut.

As he follows Dembrillion, Kail looks around for anyone who seems menacing, particularly unsavory, or unusually interested in the two of them.

(OOC: Bluff +0 to pretend he's not disgusted, Spot +10 and Sense Motive +0)

 

[dave_o]

Kail doesn't notice a thing out of place - though, Jewel is far from familiar territory. Keeping behind Dembrilion is rather difficult, given the press in The Hundred Yards, but Kail manages. The two look decidedly out of place here among the merchants, dressed in darks upon darks, with so much finery of cloth and color around them. But Dembrilion and Kail do not look like men to be trifiled with, and thus - they are left alone.

That is, until Kail notes a street vagabond fleeing through the crowd, away from Dembrilion. Distracted by the slaves and slaver in front of him, Dembrilion fails to notice that this very street vagabond has snatched his pouch full of rocks.