Advertise/Affiliate Other Forum Main Page The World Before You Play

A Simple Break-in for Minor Commercial Gain (Alize)

Started by Eckhart_Von_Musel, November 18, 2016, 03:04:45 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hildegarde Von Musel sat in the corner of a seedy bar in Zantaric. Her frilly pink dress made her stick out like a sore thumb, but she didn't care. This was her territory, and everybody in the bar knew it. Her eyes brightened as her two lieutenants stepped into the establishment and sat next to her.

"Griselda! Forrest! It's so good to see you!" Hildegarde said with a smile. Griselda's face remained expressionless, but Forrest blushed as he mumbled something to the tune of "It's good to see you too." Good, blushing meant admiration. Hildegarde decided to cut right to the chase. "You know that mage with the big hat? He's been annoying me lately. He's so disrespectful, you wouldn't even believe what he said to me the other day."

The mage with the big hat hadn't actually said anything to her at all. He was an elf, and he had been in Zantaric since before it was overrun with criminals. He had given Hildegarde a disapproving look when he passed her in the street the other day, and Hildegarde felt that she should stop him there before he decided to voice any opinions he might have of her. She would not tolerate any dissent, no matter how small.

"Anyway, I think we should teach him a lesson in respect. He lives in that big mansion in the older part of town, we're going to break in tonight and rearrange some things. Griselda, I need you to mobilize our most intimidating men and have them be in position in 5 hours."  Griselda left without a word, and Hildegarde turned to Forrest. "Forrest, I need you to make sure our friend isn't in the house when we get there. He's a very powerful mage, and he may make things more difficult for us then they need to be.  This is so important, and you're the only one I can trust to pull it off."

This was a lie, Hildegarde was sure that Griselda would have been able to do this job with no trouble. She didn't want to pass up the chance to instill even more loyalty into Forrest however, so she continued. "Can I count on you?"  Forrest's eyes lit up and nodded hurriedly. "Yes- yes of course Miss Hildegarde!" He proceeded to rush out of the bar, accidentally knocking a table over in the process. Hildegarde laughed and signaled to the bartender to let it slide. This was going to be such a good day.

Alize

On the far side of Hildegarde's territory, Kino Vanden sat at a table in a rather more upscale establishment. The chairs were padded with cushioned velvet, the air was filled with soft harp chords and the drinks were outrageously expensive. Lesser nobles and dilettantes of the arts quietly chattered in the distance.

The man across from Kino - who had simply identified himself as Cedrick - wore a filigreed tunic of deep crimson and swirled a glass of absinthe in his hand. Kino herself wore a lilac silk gown, her trademark "plague doctor" mask adorned with paint to make it look as if she had just returned from a masquerade ball.

"Your runner was in quite the hurry. What ever have you gotten for me, Mr. Cedrick?"

The information broker thrice clicked his tongue in mock disapproval. "You know that's not how this works, Mademoiselle Traya." Kino had, naturally, given the man a false name.

"Of course, of course. Wherever are my manners?" Kino set down her own drink and reached a gloved hand into a pocket carefully hidden in the frills of her dress. She daintily slid her hand across the table then withdrew it, leaving three large gold coins behind. Sliding her mask up above her mouth, Kino's full lips curled into a slight smile as she took a small sip from her fluted glass.

The man gracefully pocketed the money, unaware of the fast-acting, skin reactive opiates it was laced with. Coin loosened tongues in the shadowy underworld of secret-dealing, but a dash of jade lotus always helped. And if Cedrick became too intoxicated to recall what he had let slip, then that was just all the better.

"Generous as always, Mademoiselle. A little sparrow..." Cedrick trailed off, caught himself, blinked and then carried on. "A little "sparrow" has told me that a crew is moving in on the house we had previously discussed."

"And did this sparrow tell you when they plan to act?" Kino's normally harsh and raspy voice was silky smooth. The tonic she had gargled burned at her throat like a bitch, but her natural voice was far too distinctive. In this world of grey subtleties, anonymity was key.

Checking the sorcerous timepiece on the gilded wall, Cedrick said "Three hours and..." he paused, double-checking the ornate clock as his vision swam. "Three hours and seventeen minutes from now."

"Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful, my dear man. I knew I could count on you." Kino leaned forward, planting an elbow on the table and resting her chin on her hand. The low-cut dress revealed more than a little cleavage from this angle. Kino never enjoyed the "sultry seductress" act, and she knew that she wasn't particularly good at it. She also knew that by now Cedrick would be far too tipsy to care.

"Now... could you help me with one last eensy weensy detail?" she asked. "Could you tell me whose crew it is?"

The man swallowed hard. Kino could practically see the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. "She'll... she'll kill me if she ever finds out. That's as much as I can give you. I'm sorry."

"It's quite fine, my dear man. I've no wish to see you harmed and sometimes these things simply can't be helped." Kino stood up to leave. "You look rather tired, Cedrick. Perhaps you ought to go home and take yourself a quick nap."

Head held high, Kino briskly walked away. Beneath her mask, she grinned. Jade lotus had yet to fail her - the man would never remember his careless choice of pronouns. There was only one "she" in all of Zantaric with the proverbial balls to target the magi's mansion. Kino would head back to her inn to change apparel and arm herself, and then she would set out to meet her.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hildegarde was sitting in a alley near the mansion. There was than an hour before the raid was to begin, and she was beginning to get impatient. She looked down at the magic-powered timepiece she wore on her wrist and sighed. There was still 46 minutes before the mage was guaranteed to be out of the house. The time-telling device had been gift from her brother, and every time she looked at it she was reminded of him. Hildegarde loathed being reliant on a gift from someone so pathetic, but the device was too useful to get rid of.

The voice of one of her followers snapped her out of her memories. "My lady, there is a masked man requesting an audience with you. Says he has something you need."  Hildegarde's normal smile shifted into a quizzical one. "Oh? And where might this man be?"

Her henchman smiled back at her. "Griselda has him in a chokehold."

Alize

Kino's masked face was pressed sideways against a cold brick wall. The large amazonian woman had been holding her there for a good five minutes, one arm wrapped around Kino's neck and the other pinning both of her arms to her back. Kino let out a soft sigh of boredom.

When she had first approached the  group of rough-looking men mulling around a tavern owned by Hildegarde, one of them had given her some lip. Given his stance, mannerisms and lack of scars and callouses, he was clearly a new member of the syndicate and was trying to establish a degree of status by intimidating the outsider in the odd mask. Kino wasn't bothered by the man's taunting, but to kowtow before him would have ruined any street cred that she was hoping to establish. She had shrugged off the man's bluster, he had swung at her, and she had caught him by the wrist and twisted it until it snapped. This was how the game was played. The large amazon showing up and knocking her sideways was also part of the game. It was funny how social hierarchies worked.

Kino had allowed herself to be subdued, and the woman - clearly a figure of influence - had done Kino the courtesy of not disarming her in return. The chokehold was for show, for the sake of letting her know where she stood. Ms. Big-Arms was higher up on the ladder than her, and right now Kino was glad that she was a lone wanderer. Social hierarchies were so tiresome.

Kino heard approaching footsteps and muted whispers behind her. Then Big-Arms was manhandling her through a series of backalleys, followed by a trio of thuggish skinheads. She was then pushed to the ground in front of a blonde woman with kind eyes but a subtly cruel twist to her lips. The woman's fuchsia dress stood in stark contrast to everybody and everything around her, yet she wore it naturally and seemingly free of care.

Kino stood up, then straightened her back and shoulders with just the right amount of confidence and a carefully prescribed dose of dignity. Neither haughty nor overly subservient, she dusted off her longcoat and robes, then bowed low before the woman.

"Lady Hildegarde, I presume?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hildegarde beamed at the man Griselda had brought before her. "Yep! It's so good to know I'm becoming popular around here."  Behind her facade of friendliness Hildegarde studied the man with disdain. Who was he to interrupt her at such a important time? "That's a really neat costume you're wearing. You supposed to be a medicine guy?"

Alize

"It's how I make my living, Lady Hildegarde. I gather ingredients and make potions." Kino kept her rough voice calm and level. "Which is why I approached you. I believe that this evening presents a mutually beneficial transaction for us both."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Oh?" Hildegarde's smile became even more quizzical. "And what exactly do you have to offer?"

Alize

"I offer you the ward-key to the second runeward of the entrance to the estate of one Averax the Green," replied Kino. "A man we're both interested in this fine evening, milady."

She flourished her hand before reaching into her robes and producing an onyx pebble with a glowing rune emblazoned upon it. It wasn't the real ward-key, of course, but rather the container of a volatile nerve gas. Kino had hidden the real key elsewhere on herself. But it was always good to have insurance, especially when dealing with unknown criminals who may be tempted to give her the old "grab 'n stab" treatment.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hildegarde's smile remained stagnant while she pondered this. "If this man has any brains, then it's likely that the keystone is real. Nobody with any sense would approach me empty handed." After a moment, Hildegarde walked slowly towards the masked man. Her smile softened ever so slightly. "Well my friend, this organization is based on trust. I trust my people to not let me down, and they trust me to pay them. You, however, are an outsider. This will sound rude, but how do I know I can trust you?"

Alize

Tucking the decoy stone back into her robes, Kino responded.

"I understand. I won't insult your intelligence with unprovable declarations of how sincerely sincere I am, nor with just how much I really mean it. You have no reason to trust me."

She continued on, unfazed by the small mob of scowling faces leering at her from behind the fuchsia-clad woman.

"All I can say is that I paid good coin to a very exclusive source for the information of your whereabouts tonight. Your... business, has many competitors. Had I decided to take this information to the Night Reavers, I could have earned back the coin I paid and made a tidy profit to boot. Had I taken it to the Bloodied Shiv as well, I could have more than doubled that amount. Had I also taken it to Whisper... the Smiling Crows... Gorgutz's lot... well, suffice to say that I would be a very wealthy person by now and you would be finding yourself in quite the ambush."

Kino paused. If there was any fear in her, it damn well wasn't showing in her voice.

"The fact that you are looking at me and me alone - and not an army of highly-trained killers - is the proof of sincerity that I offer."


Kino bowed before Hildegarde once more.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

As the man bowed, Hildegarde wore a rare, genuine smile. "Of course he chose to bring it to me! I'm Hildegarde Von Musel." This man could certainly have his uses, she decided. Walking briskly to where he was standing, she grinned and outstretched her hand. "You have good taste, my friend. I'm sure we can come up with some kind of trade for that magic rock. What is it you need from me?" Almost as if it was an afterthought, she added "Oh! And I'll need your name."

Alize

Taking Hildegarde's outstretched hand and shaking it firmly, the masked figured declared "Kino. Kino Vanden. A pleasure."

"And it's my understanding that you and your friends are out to cause some... mischief, as it were, up on yon manor," continued the masked figure as she withdrew her hand.

"I'd like to tag along. I'll take care of the second ward for you, and all I'd ask in return is first claim to a particular alchemic reagent which that Averax fellow refused to sell me." As an afterthought, Kino added "The old codger was really rather rude, you know."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Oh, I know" Hildegarde groaned. "He's just the worst."  Hildegarde was rather pleased with this recent turn of events. Not only would she make Averax suffer for his insolence, it was also looking like she could get a new recruit out of this. "So Kino, what do you say we get started?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 minutes later, the sounds of shattering glass and wood being smashed could be heard from outside the mansion. Forrest had done his job perfectly, and Averax was likely out drinking somewhere. Hopefully Forrest remembered to slip him the drugs like Hildegarde had intended, it would be inconvenient if he showed up now. When the smashing sounds had ceased, Hildegarde walked up to the front door of the mansion- now busted off it's hinges- and held it open for Kino. "After you!"

Alize

"Thank you." Kino nodded her head in politeness.

Striding forward, the wandering alchemist reached a hand into her robes and withdrew the real wardstone. With each step she took down the ornate green hallway, the stone grew hotter and hotter in her hand. By the time she neared the far doorway, it had singed a hole in the palm of her glove.

"Ashkul thun" - the words left her lips as she tossed the wardstone towards the door. The stone vanished without so much as a flash or a bang. Kino was almost disappointed. However, the fact that she - and the rest of Hildegarde's hired muscle standing behind her in the hall - were still breathing was testament to the fact that the magical ward had been dispelled.

Not knowing what lay behind the door and not wanting to take her chances, she backed away and let a scarred brute with a mohawk take point.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

As Kino muttered some words under his breath, Hildegarde picked out one of her newer recruits, a burly man who liked to call himself "Dirge", and motioned for him to step forward. Smiling sweetly at him, she gestured for him to take the lead. Dirge walked through the now unprotected door with a smug expression on his face, and promptly evaporated into a red mist two steps in. Still smiling, Hildegarde turned to Kino. "Any ideas on how to deal with this? I don't suppose you have another rock."

Alize

"I'm afraid that I'm out of them, Lady Hildegarde," replied Kino. "However..."

She carefully stepped towards the doorway then stopped several feet short of where the unfortunate Dirge had met his end. Her hand slipped into her robes and withdrew a large pouch of powdered banyan bark. Kino reached into it and scattered the contents towards the large living room beyond.

Banyan bark was inherently non-magical, but had the peculiar property of reacting to charms, wards and seals without actually activating them. As the cloud of tan powder drifted towards the floor, it fizzled and sparked where it met the enchanted trap. A sickly green, horizontal bar of light was illuminated, running across the doorway at waist height. There was ample room to simply crawl beneath it. Behind her mask, Kino smirked.

"This isn't exactly the first time I've trespassed on a mage's property."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Well than, I suppose you should lead the way than!" Hildegarde proclaimed happily. "Let's see what this guy can actually do" she thought. "If he he gets us through this shitty basement, than he'll have a place at my side. If not, well, I don't actually need Averax's garbage anyway.

Hildegarde motioned for all but Griselda and Kino to stay behind. She then walked up to the magic tripwire and, while taking care so as not to actually touch it, mimed holding it up for them to crawl under. "Nnnnngggg! This is really heavy, you guys better hurry before I drop it!"

Alize

The small gang of thugs broke in to raucous laughter at Hildegarde's jest. Acutely aware of the dangerous political game she was playing, Kino forced a raspy chuckle out of her own throat before kneeling down to crawl under the magical trap.

She pulled herself up on the other side, and scanned the living room as she scattered several more handfuls of banyan in search of further traps. A choir of emerald flames flickered from a gilded chandelier, casting the room in a green light.The chamber somehow felt much larger than it actually appeared, and the relative silence seemed almost oppressive. Fern-hued carpets, pine-colored couches and ivy-shaded wallpaper gave Kino the feeling that she had just stepped into a great forest.

Finally satisfied that a misplaced step wouldn't vaporize her, she turned around to see Hildegarde dusting off her dress and the amazon who had detained her looking warily around.

Nodding her head towards the far door, Kino intoned, "shall we?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hildegarde crawled under the magic tripwire after Kino and observed the room they had entered. The entire room seemed to glow green, which annoyed her. "Ew. This guy really needs an interior decorator." There was a box on the mantle that looked like it may contain valubles, she made a mental note to take it on the way out.

Seeing Kino point out the door on the far side of the room, Hildegarde stepped forward and attempted to open it. It was, of course, locked, but this did not deter her. "Hey Griselda, give me a match." After Griselda handed one to her, Hildegarde turned a tiny bit of oxygen in the keyhole into hydrogen and inserted the lit match as if it was a key. Using helium to lift the shrapnel away from her and her companions, Hildegarde opened the door to see three large brick golems charge into the room...

Alize

Hildegarde worked her magicks on the lock, and Kino clenched her eyes shut as the explosion lit up the area. She opened them after the "Bang" reverberated throughout the green room, making the emerald flames in the chandelier overhead flicker and Kino's teeth rattle in place.

She opened her eyes to see a reddish clay figure - heavyset and easily three meters tall - barreling towards her. Its featureless face remained eerily placid as it swung at her. Kino shifted her weight to her back leg and pivoted her torso to avoid the automaton's punch, then kicked off with her rear leg and sprung backwards to avoid the follow-up swing.

The golem threw punch after punch with relentless tenacity, never letting up or tiring. Each jab and swing was launched with the exact same force as the last. Its blows were sloppy and easy to predict, but Kino was all too aware that a single solid hit would end her. She weaved, ducked, and sprung backwards, unable to effectively block or deflect such powerful strikes. And slowly but surely, the faceless construct was pushing her towards a wall. She couldn't dodge for much longer.

Tags: