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Welcome to the world of Fortuna, a land of fantastic proportions. This is an original fantasy roleplay that takes place in a world developed over nearly a decade of work and collaboration. We aim to encourage all participants to have a hand in the stories of the characters here, and the world around them. Your choices are key - so make them with pride. You decide who wins the wars, you decide who becomes King, the world is ours, and together we will bring it to life!
Post by Leigh Haskell on Dec 18, 2016 22:37:44 GMT -7
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[attr="class","underwavesheader"]4th of the Winter Storm
[attr="class","waveshsubtitle"]Afternoon at the Docks of Tarifa, Aissic
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[attr="class","wavesundtext"] While it wasn't her favorite part of this operation - the operation itself was probably her favorite part - she loved getting to command Maldrem. In all of the jobs that she had been sent on with him, he had been above her. But not today. Oh no, not today. Today, was her day.
The Captain had approved of Leigh's pitch, and she'd spent the rest of the day developing the plan further. They'd have a full team with the sole goal of obtaining an air ship for the Captain, and that team would be lead by Leigh. She had every piece she needed. Kali would act as their connection. She knew the place they were going better than any of them, and she knew who they were looking for. She'd double as their brute force, aided by a buff orcish thug that they called Collosus for lack of another name. Maldrem would not only be their access key to any lock they hit (Leigh was good, but not that good), but also had an illusion on their weapons to make them look like normal imports. As soon as they got past the patrol and into the caravan, they would force the driver to go down an alley, 'dispatch' him, and then they'd be smooth sailing into the underground. Down there, all of them would have their uses. After all, it was the kind of den they were made for.
"You ready?" Leigh came up behind Kali before the team would head up to the deck, her hook landed cold against the satyr's neck.
Kali wasn't a planner. She sometimes had good ideas, but she rarely thought farther ahead than where she was at that moment, or where she would be by the end of the day. This plan hinged on her connection to the rich sod who bet on all her fights, but everything else was being taken care of by Leigh. Good ol' Leigh. She actually seemed quite excited about this, as much as Leigh showed excitement anyway. It hadn't taken Kali long on the ship to figure out that a quick smile was usually the most emotion she showed on her face, but that didn't mean there wasn't a lot of it bubbling right under the surface.
Kali was wrapping cloth around her knuckles when Leigh came up behind her and asked if she was ready. Kali grinned at the feel of the other woman's cold hook against her neck. "I can't wait," she replied, tying off the cloth and clenching her fists a few times to check the integrity of the wraps. "I'm ready for some action." Leigh had provided some release and Kali had definitely enjoyed their night together, but she was still a fighter at heart and she needed to let off a lot more steam than what she was able to while on this ship.
Post by Leigh Haskell on Dec 18, 2016 22:59:55 GMT -7
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[attr="class","wavesundtext"] "And you'll get it... But after the first part," Leigh was stern on this. As much as it would be fun to go in guns blazing, cutting down all who stood before them, it was certain the SSPB would be in Aissic. And it was certain that they'd be looking for scallywags just like Leigh's group. She wasn't going to lose anyone on this voyage. She was going to prove herself.
A voice called down to them that they were making anchor and tying off, and that the "Captain" would be wanted to approve the papers and vow the crew. Leigh smirked, this was exciting. She wanted to hand the papers to Kali, have her go out and get this whole thing moving -- but she couldn't be so cocksure. Instead, she turned to Maldrem before handing the papers off to Kali. "And the illusions, Wight? Our weapons look like wine, right? I guarantee you they'll be looking."
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on Dec 18, 2016 23:56:44 GMT -7
Ahh, baby's first lead. Isn't it adorable?
"Oh yes, yes," Maldrem responded airily, staring at his fingernails as though they were incredibly interesting. He was leaning against just one such crate of weapons that Leigh had been referring to, standing near enough to the two women to be heard, and he tossed Leigh a smirk and a wink. It had been clear since early this morning that she'd been quite pleased to be in charge of this operation. But as much as Maldrem was sure she was going to enjoy ordering him around, he was honestly just flattered she'd chosen him to join her. Now she could never claim she didn't respect him~
"Why not come take a look yourself, Captain?" he asked, standing up straight and pocketing his stolen gold coin (from Captain Merlyn's chest) that he'd been flipping between the fingers of one hand.
He pulled off the lid to the crate as Leigh approached, displaying his handiwork. The actual weapons were all wrapped in sheets to prevent them from clattering around and making un-wine-like noises, and he'd taken the liberty of placing a couple of empty bottles of common ale on top of them, just to have them make the tell-tale clinking noise one might expect from bottles of wine.
He plucked one of those bottles up and held it out to Leigh as though he would show it off to an inspector. "Only our finest selection," he said, affecting a posh accent, and the dirty, empty bottle of ale in his hand appeared just like a fancy rosé. He shook it around and was able to create a sound illusion of liquid bobbing about. He would only do that when presenting though; making illusory sounds at all times was very difficult for him. Sound in general was already hard enough without it having to be active constantly.
Besides, he already had one constant illusion he was upkeeping today, even while the weapons were stowed in their crates. He had modified his own appearance for this excursion. His horns and the birthmark under his eyes had been concealed, he'd returned his hair color to its normal black, fixed the color of his lips, and normalized his eyes into a rich brown with perfectly normal pupils. On some level, it bothered him to be hiding his features like his mother had often done in his youth, but the crew of this ship had enough to hide already without Maldrem drawing any unwanted attention for being a Tiefling.
"So? Does it hold up then?" he asked of Leigh, turning the wine back into a regular, empty ale bottle.
Post by Leigh Haskell on Dec 19, 2016 15:37:58 GMT -7
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[attr="class","wavesundtext"] Leigh kept her face impassive as she examined the rosé. It was good, but not perfect. If Leigh was a pettier person, she would likely make him change it. But she was only a lightly petty person, and so instead she just told him - stone-faced - what was wrong: "The shade's not quite right... Though I doubt the men of the patrol will notice," Rosé was the kind of thing the wives that Leigh slept with would drink from bejeweled thimble-sized goblets. Dock workers, even cultured ones, had likely never seen it, not enough to know the colour. "Good work," She added. She didn't like telling Wight he had done well, but where it was deserved, she supposed she could allow it.
With that confirmation, she passed the papers on to Kali, who would now be in charge of getting them past the workers. If she couldn't talk her way out, she would enchant a way. When Kali had the papers in hand, Leigh knocked on the wall with her hook and the top door opened up for Kali to go up deck. Leigh leaned against the wall and quirked her brows to watch the girl climb, "You're up, Captain Kali."
Kali didn't know enough about fancy wine to judge the illusion, but it looked good enough to her. At least better than empty bottles, and definitely better than piles of weapons. She took the papers and rolled them up, shoving them in a belt-loop to free her hands for climbing up and out. "Aye aye," she responded with a wink when Leigh called her Captain. At least until the ship was allowed to dock, she was the captain, and she had to act like it to get the dock workers to believe her. Then again, Merlyn didn't act very captainy, so was there really just one way to act like a captain? Whatever, she'd roll with it.
She climbed up the ladder and emerged on deck as the guards and workers were crossing onto the bridge from the gangway they set up. Each ship had to be inspected and cleared even on a normal day, but for the festival of peace they really upped their game. After all, who knew what kind of riff-raff was going to try to get into this place and cause trouble.
"Papers?" One of the workers asked, holding out a hand roughly and already seeming impatient. Kali pulled them out and handed them over casually, quirking a brow at the guy. "Got a problem with beastfolk, sir? she asked innocently. The man didn't, of course. She could tell that his attitude was because he was underpaid and overworked and this whole festival was just a pain in his ass, but asking the question threw him off his game just enough. Aissic was pretty open about all races, especially at the festival of peace, so now the guy would probably try to be extra nice so he wouldn't seem racist, and if he tried to nit-pick it could reflect more poorly on his personal attitude than on the fact that he was just doing his job. He sputtered and shook his head. "No ma'am, o'course not," he replied and handed the papers back quickly, probably not even bothering to read all of them.
Sometimes you didn't even need magic to make people do what you wanted.
"Mind if we inspect the wares?" he asked, and when Kali shook her head he motioned for his coworker and one of the guards to go down to the hold. Leigh and Mal would pass themselves off as merchants, and Wight's illusions would hopefully be enough to appease them and send them on their way. "Got any contraband onboard" he asked, and Kali flashed a smile. "Not unless you count the awful wine these rich people like to drink," she joked. The guard behind the worker chuckled, but the worker wasn't a big joker. "So that's a no?""Correct, no contraband." This time she said it with feeling, and by feeling she meant with magic. The guy nodded and repeated back, "No contraband," and checked something off on his list. "Now we just wait for my coworker to come back and you'll be on your way."
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on Dec 19, 2016 23:57:32 GMT -7
The curtain rises
M aldrem was fully prepared when the inspection employee came down to see him and Leigh. The two were looking out at the water as though they didn't have a care in the world when the man stepped up to them, speaking gruffly.
"Inspection. Please present your wares," he requested, glancing at his clipboard to ensure that he knew what he needed to see in the crates.
Maldrem turned as though surprised to see him, and then perked up. "Ah, yes!" he replied, giving the man a smile and speaking again in his fake posh accent. He glanced at Leigh, whom he'd glamoured slightly to look a tad less dirty (but still dirty enough that she and Maldrem looked like standard merchants), and to appear as though she had a hand instead of a hook. "Sylvia, would you please help me with the crates?" he asked her.
She and Maldrem approached one of them, jerking it around a bit as though the lid was a little tricky to get off, the sound of bottles clinking greeting their ears as they did so. The two "pried" it off a moment later, and Maldrem pulled his glamoured ale bottle from it, offering it to the inspector. "Here you are my good man."
He also gestured at the contents of the crate itself, where his illusion made it look as though the thing was filled with more such bottles. The inspector turned the bottle around in his hand, the sound of liquid carefully meeting his ears with each motion.
"Mind if we sample it?" he asked.
Oh. That wasn't exactly part of the plan.
"Ah, sir, I don't believe I could allow that."
"New policy, I'm afraid," was his simple response. "This year they're asking that we verify the contents of food and beverage items with a sampling to ensure nothing is poisoned or charmed before it comes through the borders."
"Well we weren't notified of that," he replied, putting dismay into his voice. "Our clients ordered a very specific number of bottles, sir, and they'd be furious if we opened one to give to the inspectors! I couldn't possibly. Sylvia?" he asked of Leigh, not sure what to do. "Should we ask the Captain?"
Post by Leigh Haskell on Dec 20, 2016 15:00:37 GMT -7
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[attr="class","wavesundtext"] Leigh allowed Maldrem to do the talking. As much as this was her operation - she knew that everyone had their strengths. Talking, convincing, charisma - it wasn't her's. She could sail, she could sneak, and she could kill. But if she began to chat with this guard, they'd certainly think there was something afoot.
Unfortunately, it didn't look like she had much of a choice.
The guard was wanting to sample the product, and he insisted that it was a policy. Leigh thought back to the documents she'd pored over. She was certain she hadn't seen anything about this one. If it was real, they'd be facing a problem. Leigh had some rosé in her own stash - not for herself, of course - but that was on the Grail. Not here. Not on the Kittihawk.
But it wasn't real. Not in Leigh's opinion. Not only was it not in any of the documents she had seen, but she could read people. She was still certain Maldrem had cheated her. She was still certain she could tell a liar when she saw one. She hoped she was right as she shook her head at Mal. "No need, Leland," She stepped forth and took the bottle from the guard, who looked almost aghast at her boldness. She placed it back in the crate and spoke as she ran a finger down it, "These are for a very important person. He's a Lord, you know. Stop me if you've heard the name before -- Markus Woodrow?"
The guard nodded, and then he stepped forward to grab the bottle again, "It's just protocol--" Leigh stopped him with a look. "You've probably gotten a few freebies this way over the last few days, sir, and the ones that couldn't give it to you offered you something else. What you really want." Leigh untied a satchel of gold from her belt and tossed it on the ground to the guard's feet, "You can bend down and pick that up, but know that we'll be reporting you and you won't have a job this season. Or, you can let it go, and we won't mention your lie to anyone else. You can keep your operation going. Your boss doesn't need to know. Lord Woodrow doesn't need to know. But if we're down a bottle, he'll care. And I have no loyalty to you in that situation that'll prevent me from saving my captain's ass. So, what'll it be?"
The guard looked at the satchel on the ground, then to Leigh and Maldrem. He raised the clipboard, and slowly made a mark on it. Leigh hoped it was the one she wanted, but couldn't tell. It was a gamble. Her heart was racing from the excitement of it. "I think we're all good here," The guard stated, and he flipped the pages back down on the clipboard - Leigh didn't get a look. She nodded, and watched as the man went back to the docks.
She wanted to follow.
But she didn't want to be suspicious.
She'd count to ten, and hope that if she wasn't right, that Kali would know what to do.
Kali made small talk with the guard up top while they waited for the inspector's coworker to come back up. She would have talked to the inspector too, but he wasn't very talkative and she had already rubbed him the wrong way by suggesting he had a problem with beastfolk. The guard though was actually a pretty decent guy. She played the captain thing much like how she had seen Merlyn acting, since it was her only experience with ship captains, and only a few times did she think about how easy it would be to gut him while he was so distracted. So much for guarding, eh? But then again, to him they were all just boring merchants, or maybe not so boring but still, definitely not people he had to worry about. Kali bit her lip against the urge to do something to him, anything at all. It was not the time for physical fights. They needed to get into the festival, and once they were there she would have plenty of people she could threaten. But not until they got through this task. That was why she had been put at the captain, because even if things went south she could avoid this turning into a fight - as much as she didn't like stopping fights.
A few minutes after he went down, the inspector's coworker, Inspector #2, came back up and pulled Inspector #1 aside to pass off his little clipboard with whatever inane papers were on it. But then they stood there for another few seconds, talking in hushed voices that had the guard Kali was talking to sit up and look tense. She took a wild guess at what they were talking about and went to join them, after gently but firmly telling the guard to stay exactly where he was until they were all going to leave, hmm? She waved a hand at their fourth crew member, the orcish man whose name she already forgot, to get him to stand down. He looked like he wanted to knock the two inspectors out as much as she did, but that wasn't how they would solve this particular issue.
"Problem, inspectors?" Inspector #2 looked at her and said, "Your crew wouldn't consent to mandatory testing, and accused me of accepting bribery." His tone was ice cold. Brr. Kali didn't have time for uppity inspectors. "What do you mean, they didn't consent to the mandatory testing?" she asked innocently, catching his gaze and laying a hand on his arm. "Of course they consented, and your tests found absolutely nothing suspicious. Just wine, and an upstanding crew." This man was less of an easy target than the guard, and even the first inspector who she had magicked into accepting her 'no contraband' statement without question. This man had a head on his shoulders, and it was probably why he got to be Inspector #2 in the first place. Maybe she was wrong, maybe he was actually Inspector #1, as he did have the slightly more important job, didn't he?
He frowned at her. Maybe saying that the crew was upstanding had been too much for him, but she insisted. "Your tests found nothing out of the ordinary, inspector," she repeated slowly, carefully, "and the crew were fine, upstanding merchants." She could feel the magic, and she felt the moment it got him too. He blinked and nodded, and his partner did as well, though he was the easier one to convince. She didn't need physical contact or eye contact to enchant someone, but it helped when dealing with someone who wasn't an idiot. "The tests found nothing out of the ordinary," the inspector said as though just now announcing his results. "And your crew are fine and upstanding folks," he added. Kali smiled like a shark.
"Carry on, captain, and enjoy the festival," the first inspector said, still not sounding pleased but at least not openly hostile. The two of them started to leave and then motioned to the guard who got up and left also. Kali waved at them as they pulled back the gangway, holding onto the magic just a bit longer. Most of the time if she made someone think something it was there and then she could stop dealing out the magic because they already believed it, but she didn't want to risk either of the inspectors changing their minds about anything until their ship was long gone. "Orc guy, tell the others we're clear." Orc guy probably didn't like the name, but he grunted and went below deck to inform the rest of the crew of what happened.
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on Dec 21, 2016 2:18:31 GMT -7
Good job, Leigh! Pffffft
W hen Colossus came down to inform Leigh and Maldrem what had happened, going into surprisingly eloquent detail regarding what Kali had had to do to salvage the situation, Maldrem nearly burst out laughing. Instead he was just very obviously cracking up while holding his fist in front of his lips, giving Leigh a look.
"Excellent job, Captain," he said behind restrained chuckles. "Accuse them of bluff and bribery so that Kali has to save us? That was a way better idea than just calling her down to begin with, without the bluff and bribery."
He wasn't stupid, and he knew that his taunting could very much be seen as insubordination considering that Leigh had been put in charge of this operation, but getting a ribbing over an error was hardly the end of the world. Besides, she needed to learn. Maldrem had made his share of blunders back when he'd led his very first operations, both with his own crew and then after joining the Grail, and his subordinates had been much less kind about pointing those errors out than he was being right now.
And, in an effort to salvage that intent, he got his chuckles under control and gave Leigh a slightly more serious smile. "Really, though, calling down Kali would have been the safer option either way. Whether their demands had been bogus or not, she could have convinced them to let it go without you getting them all riled up with your accusations. This isn't the time to take risks yet, Leigh."
He glanced at Colossus, and thankfully the big guy was grunting and giving Leigh a nod of agreement as well. Good. Having at least one other person on his side meant that there was a lower chance of Leigh gutting him with her hook for pointing out her mistake.
Maldrem shrugged happily. "But hey, we made it through! So what's next, Captain?"
He made extra sure this time not to put a taunting emphasis on the word.
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