Eberron: Requiem of Death

[Autumn]

"Oh, thank goodness," Jale says wryly as he sees the interior of the place. "The anxiety was gnawing at me that dear Dormiano would have applied his own inimical decorative style to our abode. I'm much relieved to see that he hasn't taken that trouble."

He gives a nod of acknowledgement to the housekeeper, pleased with the man's quiet deference and the steps he has already taken to make life easier for them. At least Takarnan knows hows to hire good help, he thinks to himself with a small smile, recalling Dormiano's secretary.

The report and the books he will of course come to in good time. But first, as good as his words, he sets about the search for a liquor cabinet and a decent brandy.

 

[Paranoia833]

Melchior raises an eyebrow curiously as the servant informs him of the news.

"Anticipation! A splendid quality in a servant I must say. It saves me a tedious trip to Morgrave University in any case." He marches over to the coffee table and swipes the first few sheets of the report from the top of the pile. "I'd best get started reading these. Oh and given that we're sorting out names I rather think I shall remain Melchior for now, it's fairly new and I dislike abandoning a name before I've had a chance to make it infamous. Expect a last name once I've had a chance to read through Twerp's Peerage, a noble scion has to be of good breeding after all." He grins impishly, his young human face lending his smile an air of false innocence it never had before.

"But before I bore myself to death with study I think I'll take master Jale- or are you going to play changeling and take a new name too?- up on his offer. If our not-so-noble lord and master bothered to set us up with any alcohol it'll probably be Aundairan swill, but I suppose it comes with the territory. Guess I'll have to learn to refine my palette."

 

[Hanuman47]

Avram Soloman

Avram's ebullience abates somewhat as he enters the apartment. He puruses the amenities with distant approval and nods in acknowledgement of Pretorium's preparatory work. He quickly pages through the books, making mental notes of sections to study in greater detail later, before moving on to the report, which he examines quite closely.

When finished with that, Avram seeks out Pretorium's chamber. Announcing himself with an inquisitive knock, he greets the houseman warmly. "Excellent work, Pretorium. We are gratified, to say the least, by your anticipation of our needs. Tell me a bit about yourself. Do you usually work for Lord Dormiano, or were you hired specially for this job?" Avram keeps his face and tone cheerfully neutral, hiding the urgency that lies behind the question. He is very attentive to Pretorium's answer.

Assuming Yelon answers, Avram will use Sense Motive (@ +10) to assess the truthfulness of his reply

 

[dave_o]

"Books," Tesh gives the ancient butler a small inclination of his head, "I'd see them, and as well, I am having some difficulty recalling where I placed my store of ledgers, perhaps they were lost on the barbaric ride over -- in any case, I shall need an ample supply of blank ones -- ledgers, that is." The accountant seems distant, the hearth fire reflected in his spectacles, eyes hidden. His gaze drifts around the room, his hands making nervous adjustments to buttons, collars, buckles, finally drifting to brush back mousy curls.

Calmly, without preamble, Tesh walks directly into an unoccupied bedroom. Gently, he snaps the door to, before nonchalantly walking across the floor to the wall, continuing his steps up onto it, and coming to a stop standing upside down on the ceiling. As simple as cutting bread, Nix reaches up, cutting a slit into his forehead with a thumbnail.

A third eye blossoms there, sickly, yellowed, darting.

A set of looking-glasses falls to the floor, shattering.

Casting Detect Magic, sweeping the house.

 

[DralonXitz]

After a few moments of shared silence within the humble abode, Pretorium reemerges into the main hall, in a changed outfit of alabaster and scarlet flowing robes, obviously made for the purposes of relaxation and rest. Indulging in a soft yawn and he rubs his soft hands together, he proceeds to take into account the needs of his new patrons.

Taking notice of Jalea and Melchior's expedition in search of spirits, he smiles softly and glides over to a small wooden cabinet in the kitchen, opening it with a touch of sleek grace as his sangfroid fingers reveal a cache of two bottles of fine brandy, a bottle of aged red wine, and as the highlight, a bottle of sparkling azure champagne, iridescent with a silent pulse of azure energy. His other hand grasping four small glasses, he places them on the counter, and leaves the men to partake of his collection.

Avram, pawing through the various sheets and tomes, settles on the report, gilded with various marks of official looking insignia and importance, reading:

Report of Gageron's Wine Conference/Exposition...

The usual mixture of wine sellers and patrons shall be here, making more use of the available tasting of Aundair's finest rather than being particularly interested in the pecuniary functions and benefits of said business endeavors. A few people of note:

Andre Gageron: A well known wine merchant, imports high-quality Aundairan wines, is a favorite of the Kundarakian's, and makes boatloads of gold from them. Owner of the cellar on Jalon Ave.

Sheerfyne Karamazon: A very respected and famous vintner from Aundair, grows some of the finest grapes in the land. His brand, Le Vie, is all the rage with Dwarves right now, as it packs one hell of a kick, and renders the posh gatherings from vibrant soirees into hypnotic slumbers.

Thomas Taskerfein: A relatively down and out wine merchant, had a lot of bad luck due to family problems back home in Aundair. Tries to market low-cost wine to the rich, however, is on the brink of bankruptcy. May be able to utilize this man to our own ends.

My idea is to get ourselves some kind of name here, and brush shoulders with those who empty their coffers, only to fill a coffin even quicker. The better terms we establish with these Kundarak snobs, the sooner we'll be in company with their parties and balls.

Setting down the report, he turns to the housekeeper and sounds his question, in regards to his connections to the much-loved Pugio.

Hearing Avram's well-reputed inquisitiveness, he turns his head to the man and answers, "I have some prior...obligations to the Lord Dormiano, and as such, he found my particular expertise quite helpful for this job.". Avram takes the time during his answer to decipher the true meaning of what he says, and finds that the man is generally truthful, but somewhat reserved about the full implications of his connections to Tarkanan.

(OOC: Sense Motive result is 24: http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1074891)

Walking back over to the main table, he reshuffles some of the books and tomes, organizing them into neater stacks for his guests, as he hears Tesh's request. Fully expecting such a venture to be given, and knowing of it's urgency from his past occupation, he softly nods, and answers, "I shall have to go to the bookseller in the morning, but they shall be here in quantity tomorrow morning. Until then," tossing the changeling a black red tome with the Aundairan coat of arms emblazoned gold across it's breadth, "This shall have to make do"

Taking leave of Tesh to pour himself a drink, Tesh sulks over to his own chambers, and quickly scaling the borders of the chamber, finds himself on top of the ceiling, pouring out his mystical energy through the small home. Discovering only the enchanted spirits and a few magical gems, nothing out of the ordinary stands out to him, and at least for the present, Dormiano has appeared to make no obvious signs of betrayal.

 

[Paranoia833]

Helping himself to a glass of Brandy, Melchior perches himself behind Avram's chair, casually reading the notes over his comrade's shoulder.

"Hmm... he's right, Taskerfein does seem like the most obvious candidate for our manipulations. That said I'm of a mind to investigate dear mister Gageron himself. People who make that much money always have something to hide, and he would make a useful pawn if we could find some way of binding him to us. Might be a good idea for me to do some sneaking around behind the scenes at this party..." Melchior strokes his new for a second, thinking briefly. "Come to think of it, I think I might take our humble master's advice and get myself a new suit. Having a change of clothes could come in handy." He chuckles.

"Yes, Gageron will be my little project for the night but we should really come up with an overall plan for the party. Our main objective is to make inroads with the Kunderak, but I can't see us getting anywhere significant without a product. Ideally I'd like to buy out Taskerfein and simply remarket his wine to the dwarfs under a new package, but to do that we'll need two things: the first is money, enough to settle Taskerfein's debts and to expand his operation significantly. The second is Taskerfein's complicity: One of us, I'd personally suggest Avram for the job, should approach him at the ball. Become the man's new best friend, find out who he owes money to and make them disappear. Solve a few of his problems for him and make it clear that much more lucrative opportunities await him if he plays our game... make it seem like our interest in him is purely financial, we don't want him twigging our true mission at this stage. Meanwhile we'll also work at undermining his competetitors (hence my interest in old Gargy), dig up dirt on them, blackmail them, kill them if necessary though I'd prefer not to resort to murder until strictly necessary. Everything to make us an irreplacable assett to house Kunderak. Once we've got to the point that we have an open invitation to any of their functions and a few contacts within the house itself, then we should be able to start work on our true goal."

Melchior grins again.

"So what do you think?"

 

[Autumn]

"I like it," Jale drawls as he swirls brandy around the bottom of his glass. He takes a sip. "Yes, not bad at all." He gazes into the amber liquid, holding the glass up to the light, and it's not entirely clear whether he was talking about Melchior's plan or the brandy.

Finally his eyes flicker over to his co-conspirator with a small smile and it's obvious at last that he's paying attention - despite his relaxed posture sprawled on one of the chairs and his continued preoccupation with his drink. He languidly extends a hand, silently requesting the papers, and scans over the information thereon. "Indeed," he says musingly, looking back at Melchior, "I agree with you. Except that I'm not convinced that it will be necessary to go so far as to buy Taskerfein out. You pointed out yourself that that would require capital, and as far as I know we don't have any. Easier then simply to engineer a meteoric rise for the good Taskerfein and to make sure that by the time he is successful we have him tucked thoroughly into our collective pocket."

 

[Hanuman47]

Avram Soloman

Avram represses a twinge of irritation as Melchior reads over his shoulder. He is momentarily distracted by Nix/Tesh's departure. He regards the changeling thoughtfully for a moment. Something not quite right about that one... Avram brushes the thought aside and finishes the report. While he reflects on the contents, he listens to his companions' analysis, nodding occasionally to indicate agreement.

"I think Melchior is absolutely right on both counts." He paces back and forth a bit, excitement at getting the operation underway driving his motion. "And, if I'm reading his suggestion correctly, we don't necessarily need to front any cash to Taskerfein. Just make sure his debtors are...less anxious to collect." Avram strokes his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, I like the idea very much."

He glances at the report again. "What about this Sheerfyne fellow? Sounds like he is very much the Kundaraks' darling at the moment. Perhaps a rumor or two, judiciously placed, might eclipse his reputation a bit?"

 

[dave_o]

Tesh returns from the chamber apparently claimed as his own a few moments later. The relatively flamboyantly cut duelist's attire from earlier is still the accountant's dress, yet it has been buttoned, sashed, and tucked to look rather more conservative. The mousy ringlets have been tamed into a leather tie at the nape of the neck, and Tesh's spectacles sit folded in a breast pocket. Once bright red, the Glamerweave has slid down the spectrum into a muted maroon.

A faint smear of blood mars Tesh's forehead.

"It is often," he begins in the slight nasal arrogance of expertise, "that one's financial downfall is simply a matter of poor bookkeeping -- a silver here, a gold here, unaccounted, can riddle the infrastructure of wealth to send it toppling into poverty."

"If I may," Tesh takes the sheaf from Avram once finished, before squinting at the papers, keeping the spectacles securely in pocket. "From what I perchanced to hear on my return from my chambers your ideas seem sound, and to add it is my firm belief that Mister Taskerfein's assets could simply be poorly managed -- introducing a well-minded accountant like myself could herald a drastic turn-around in finances."

"And perhaps," as Tesh speaks a thin line of blood smiles across his throat before beginning an ooze downward, "Karamazon may find the secrets of his vintage in hands more suitable to our cause."

The accountant sits, absently daubing at the no longer bleeding lesion with a kerchief. "Have we eaten yet?"

 

[Hanuman47]

Avram Soloman

Avram raises an eyebrow but says nothing at Nix/Tesh's bizarre transformations during his speech. "Good thinking, Tesh. I think we were all jumping too quickly to a more...drastic solution to our new friend's problems. No sense in not looking for the simple way first. I suggest that the two of us work together on that front." Which will also allow me keep an eye on you... "That leaves seeing what we can ferret out of Karamazon in Jale's very capable hands." He pauses theatrically for a moment. "But I'm forgetting the most important thing that has been said in the last five minutes - when do we eat? Yelon?"