Dr. Si's Curse of the Crimson Throne - Beta Group

Dj'hân simply laughs. "I don't know how to pick any locks. I have enough trouble reaching door handles. That was another Little Lamm's job." The guttersnipe listens intently to Edmond's advice and nods. "I'm not afraid. I'm a bear." Straightening his back, the urchin salutes with a tiny upraised hand. "For the Queen!" Smiling, Dj'hân turns to indicate a direction. "Now let's go find some sausage. There's another butcher shop three block down the street, though they don't hand out meat for free."

[sblock=OOC]No guts, no glory. We're ready to proceed with the plan I think; purchase 12 lbs of sausage and a large enough sack. It might, incidentally, also be interesting to learn what another butcher in the area thinks of his competition giving away free product. We then place a few sausages in the bottom of the sack, Dj'hân next and then pile the rest on top of him. Our charismatic Lynn can proceed with delivering the "package". *whistles mission impossible theme song*[/sblock]

Lynn looked troubled, but acquiesced.

Well if we're to do this, let's do it right. We'll get a small crate a pack some straw in the bottom where you can hide, and then put the sausage on top. That way, if it is checked, you won't be spotted by accident. Even if they take the sausage out you might be alright.

[sblock=ooc]

They say fortune favors the bold, let us also hope it favors those pretending to be ground meat products.

Finding out what over people in the neighborhood have to say about the all the world's meat is probably a good idea. See what the rumors are and the like.

If we go with the small crate maybe we can loosen a board or two on the side to give Dj'hân another means of egress if need be.

[/sblock]

The urchin seems a little dubious about the idea of using a crate. "Might be hard to get out of a box, specially if they put something on top of it. With a sack I can just cut my way out if need be."

[sblock=OOC]Ready to proceed, crate or sack notwithstanding. Dj'hân leaves it to Lynn to choose since she'll have to negotiate for the thing and carry it back to the butcher shop.[/sblock]

The hardest part of the plan to put into action is finding enough sausage - there is a reason that ATWM is so popular (beyond the fact that it's free), and that is that the embargos have led to shortages of most foodstuffs. Eventually, a trawl of the butcher's shops of North Point scrapes together enough meat product to hide Dj'hân. In the process you learn that, although disgruntled about some upstart competitors, most of the local butchers aren't too worried.

"Dunno how they're getting livestock in past the pickets, but they can't keep it up forever. And how are they earning a living? Sure, the people love them, but when the supply runs out, they won't be so popular," is the general consensus. It seems as if ATWM started up not long after the King died, and has been handing out free cuts of meat ever since. They are getting cows and pigs from somewhere, nobody knows where.

Later, Lynn presents the rotund man who hands out the meat at ATWM, one Malder by name, with a container of sausage "for the cause." Although seemingly on the verge of telling her where to go, the man's face eventually brightens and he gives the contents a quick peak.

"Thank you kindly, ma'am," he says with a smile. "This'll go down nice with the folks round here." He dumps it in a corner of the shop, behind the counter.

[SBLOCK=Dj'hân]
Dj'hân hears the door being locked up followed by several explicit appraisals of Lynn's physique and probable (and unlikely) needs and desires as regards the two men.

There is the sound of a third person entering.

"Have we got any specials tonight?" asks the newcomer.

"Nah, nothing," comes the reply.

"Ah, well. I'll get one of them cows done then," says the newcomer. "That should see us through a couple of days maybe."

"Oh, some do-gooder skirt left us some sausage," says a third voice. There is some laughter.

"Huh, maybe we'll have it for supper."

"Nah, didn't look too good. We'll give it to the rubes tomorrow."

The three men leave the room to the sound of laughter. A door shuts, muffling any further sounds.
[/sblock]

[sblock=Doc]The wily guttersnipe waits patiently for several minutes in silence before daring to move. Eventually, the tiny infiltrator carefully begins shifting sausage off of himself until he's in a seated position. Taking hold of the wooden lid, Dj'hân slowly raises it to peek around the room. Satisfied that he's alone, the young halfling delicately places the lid aside, shifts the remaining sausage off of his lap, stands and silently climbs out of the crate. Reaching into the bottom of the crate, the urchin retrieves his red cap and pulls it down onto his disheveled head. In the dim light, the wily guttersnipe grins mischievously. They'd done it. He was inside!

Dj'hân takes a few moments to carefully repack the sausage and put the crate's lid back in place before surveying the room's interior and noting its various exits. Listening for the sound of voices, the curious urchin silently pads over to the close door to press a pointed ear against it.

OOC: Dj'hân will give the room a cursory once over for anything of seeming relevance or interest before stealthily investigating further. If possible I'd like a summary of any doors and windows and whether they're open, closed, barred or locked. If any are barred, can they easily be unbarred from this side?[/sblock]

[SBLOCK=Dj'hân]

The shop, a single room, has two doors. The front door, leading onto the street, is secured by two bolts and a lock, but the key is in the lock. The second door, leading further into the building, is closed bu not locked.

The shop "window" is a large double shutter that by day folds open to form a counter and a canopy, and by night seals the window. This is locked in place with a series of bolts.

Dj'hân hears the creak of stairs, and then footsteps and muffled talking from a room directly overhead. From somewhere out the back he hears a cow mooing.
[/sblock]

[sblock=Dr Simon]After listening for a few moments at the interior door, Dj'hân crouches on the floor to peek through the gap along the floor. If satisfied that there isn't anyone on the other side, he'll stand and slowly crack the door open an inch to peek past it before stealthily continuing through.

OOC: Dj'hân will repeat the same cursory inspection of the following room; quickly searching for anything of relevance or interest while inspecting the doors and windows. He'll also be listening attentively to track the movements of the building's occupants or to make out distinguishable speech.[/sblock]

[sblock=Dj'hân]
Through the interior doorway is a hallway. Light and voices come from upstairs - sounds like three men playing a game of cards of some kind. A quick glimpse shows that there is no door at the top of the stairs. Light also comes from behind the double doors at the end, as well as the lowing of a frightened cow, the clatter of hooves on stone floor and the imprecations and swearing of another man. There is a smaller door to the left, no light or noise behind this one.
[/sblock]

[sblock=Dr Simon]The timid urchin shies away from, what he assumed to be, a grisly butchering room at the rear as well as the staircase up. Instead, the tiny infiltrator pads silently over to the smaller doorway. He discreetly listens, peeks beneath the door and then, assuming there's nothing that gives him pause to reconsider, gently nudges it open a crack to peer inside.

OOC: If the coast seems clear Dj'hân will move inside the room to similarly search for anything of relevance or interest.[/sblock]

[SBLOCK=Dj'hân]
The next room is dark, but light filters in through the open door behind Dj'hân, and through the gaps in a set of double doors to his left, that he can see clearly that this is a meat locker.

No cuts of meat currently hang from the hooks on the walls or the metal rail in the centre. To the right is a low blood-covered table and two barrels of bloody salt. The floor is covered with moist straw, and the room has a strong meaty smell to it. A metal rail passes through a small hole near the top of the double doors, travels abot five feet into the room and then ends in a vertical pole.

Through the double doors Dj'hân can hear the mooing of the cow, suddenly cut short by a sickening "thwack" and the thump of something heavy hitting the floor. The silence is filled by a man whistling cheerfully, punctuated with chopping sounds.

The ceiling of this room creaks occasionally, as if someone on the floor above was moving about, but they are not making the same noise as the men playing cards.
[/sblock]