IC: Dichotomy's Age of Worms Redux, Part VI

[Dichotomy]

[sblock=OOC]Hilarious![/sblock]
"I am Nethezar. The same Nethezar you met six days ago. And, to the best of my knowledge, Erdolliel and Kushnak are the same persons with me at that time."

Gust nods. "Thank you. Investigating the doppelgangers has made it apparent that I can trust no one." A hint of a smile touches Gust's lips. "Come in," he says as he opens the next door. "You will be pleased, I think, to see my work."

The next room is a larger chamber. The zone of truth magic extends here as well. Against one wall is a simple stool, but against the other walls are blackboards with scribbled notes. On tables in front of the walls are piles of documents, mostly spread out so one might examine them all at once. Most surprisingly, three younger clerics are scanning through documents and taking notes. They barely notice your entrance.

"It took little time for me to convince my superiors that I required more resources. This is one of our 'investigation chambers.' In addition to the magic prohibiting lies, there is magic that prevents teleportation and outside divination. My assistants are required to take powerful oaths, enforced by magical bonds, that prevent them from even speaking to each other about these matters outside of this room."

Gust sighs. "Unfortunately, drafting a proposal to get these resources took most of the last few days. But it is clear that the doppelgangers had infiltrated even high levels of the Free City government. A full investigation, subject to the highest standards, is warranted. And only those I can trust can see the fruits of this, until the evidence is clear and a charge can be publicly made.

"We have worked nearly non stop. I have yet another worker, but she sleeps now. At least one of them is required to always be awake and in this room to monitor it.

"But I ramble. You have, obviously, not fallen to the... uh... 'squid-faced' thing... yes? That's good. Was there something else you needed?"

 

[TiCaudata]

Erdolliel looks around the room, impressed by what the investigator has done in just a week. "The squid-faced thing was the mastermind of the doppelganger ring. It was also selling particularly potent black magic items on the black market to citizens of the Free City, many of whom you are probably investigating right now.

"Tell us, does your investigation involve Director Loris Rankin? He appears to have bought from the creature most recently, and also paid the thing to have us killed by the doppelgangers in the first place."

 

[o3caudata]

"Pretenses be damned. We have a ledger that will undoubtedly be useful in your investigation. I'm sure it will implicate others, including our fine friend Rankin. You can keep the book. It's of no true interest to us. Rankin is our best lead now, and we'll pursue him appropriately. Tell us whatever you have found and we'll be on our way."

 

[TiCaudata]

Erdolliel rolls her eyes and mutters something about explaining the difference between a foil and a claymore to a swordsman.

 

[Dichotomy]

When Raknian's name is mentioned, the workers in the room all stop and turn to listen. Gust's face grows even paler.

"I'd assume that you jest, but the spell prevents it. What you have just said is probably enough to justify the expense we are putting into this investigation." Gust glances at his helpers. "As their faces betray, you have just shown us how potentially dangerous this will be for us. To say that Raknian is respected is a gross understatement. The man is, frankly, universally loved by the citizenry. His creation of the Champion's Games resulted in a substantial and reliable flow of capital into the Free City, giving him great power with the political elite. Frankly, I suspect you are at substantial risk. If anyone finds about our investigation, and that it implicates him of such dire misconduct, I imagine our very lives would be at stake."

Gust takes a couple of deep breaths. "We will make good use of this ledger, I assure you. Unfortunately, our investigation has uncovered little as of yet. As I mentioned, drafting the paperwork to secure these resources has taken most of my time since you were here. We've uncovered a few illicit love affairs that are of only prurient interest, and some low level bribery, but frankly, we have only barely begun. We are still only working with the documents you've provided. Making lists of persons of interest, how they may be connected to each other, and the like. We have not started what you might think of as 'actual' investigation. We have to build a case before we risk potentially exposing ourselves to those we investigate."

Gust drops his head. "While I will let you know immediately if I find something that I think interests you, with a matter this large, I frankly don't expect much in the way of tangible results for weeks, if not months."

 

[TiCaudata]

"Great, so much for just being able to gut him before he can gut us..." Erdolliel continues to muttter. She then turns to Gust and speaks more clearly.

"We obviously don't understand as much as we will need to in order to survive in the City. Is there anything else you can tell us about Rankin and the Champion's Games? We were thinking of entering the competition, but we'll need more information if we want to stay alive."

 

[Dichotomy]

Gust begins, "I know nothing else of Raknian, and I know nothing really about the Champion's Games, other than that they are wildly popular..."

As his voice trails, one of the younger aides chimes in. "I think you need a sponsor to get in. There's some kind of licensing requirement. And I think that Auric warrior won the games both the last two years."

"Yeah, that's right," another aide interrupts. "And I think you shouldn't need to worry about surviving the Games. If you surrender or are incapacitated, it would be murder to kill you. While violent, it is not meant to be blood sport."

 

[o3caudata]

"There are some who wish us dead still, i doubt the games will be all that safe for us."

"We will pursue a sponsor and await word from you. Be safe."

 

[o3caudata]

"Unless there's anything else, we will take our leave."

Once outside, Kushnak continues away some distance from the temple before addressing his companions.

"Perhaps i am simply paranoid, but i think it is best that we not share any information we don't need to with our 'friends' here. Secreting away what we can will help us know who has betrayed us. Guard your tongues."

"Enough of that. Lets see about a pub and whatever gossip the girl can dig up on these Games."

[sblock=oc]
Really doesn't matter what, i think it's just a good idea for us to ask what the games are like, who goes, who fights, what they fights are like(magic? 1v1? 10v1?, animal? cover?) Basically whatever we can find out.

[/sblock]

 

[TiCaudata]

"Agreed, I barely trust a zone of truth enough to speak openly to them. We should keep our tongues from waggling too much if any of that information outside of the spell.

"Speaking of which, how much information do we assume our 'sponsor' will know about our history? Maybe we should develop a backstory now just in case Eligos has not filled her in completely. In the meantime I think a drink and some information are in order, in that order."[sblock=oc]Agreed also on getting whatever info we can on the basic premise of the games. Gather Info in a bar that has a bunch of flyers or fans and/or the common room of our inn. +0... I'll assist the bard if that helps more...

As for a backstory, we can probably keep it pretty simple I imagine. We are a band of adventurers that came to the city for the games. We have proven our effectiveness against beasts, lizardfolk, some people, and an underdark raiding party with the scars and jink to prove it.[/sblock]