1 Soul Bound
1.2 Taking Control
1.2.4 An Artful Carnivale
1.2.4.22 How not to keep a secret
9:00 am, Thursday June 8th, 2045
2 bells of the dog watch
Lunday full, 8th day of the month of KrevinBelember, A2F1600
Tomsk: “So, Bulgaria, did you find what you were looking for?”
Bulgaria: “Maybe. I talked with Lucian, the one who was working with Casimir on the arch. He manages most of the non-Tiltyard activities, and he’s agreed to cooperate with the Basso District Irregulars on certain issues. They’re going to help follow up on the ‘Find the Leak’ quest, down at the Bully Pit - they’ve got a bit of a grudge against some of the Red Circle, and he seemed pretty confident - apparently quite a few of the Lovari have the Seer talent, at least at amateur level, which makes them very intuitive and good readers of character.”
They were headed north now, through a commercial area full of laden wagons that seemed to enforce a one-way system by dint of carters screaming at one another until a consensus was reached.
Bungo: “I had a chat with the young brewer who made that spiced drink. What a spitfire! Dressed as a dancer and haughtier than a noble. I told her about shield flying, and she said she wants to try it. Claims her hobby is exploring things, the more dangerous the better. She told me about going through the grate under the urn and finding a passage concealed by fake rubble that leads to the dungeon next door. Apparently, there’s quite a lot of that sort of thing around here, though much is now half sunken beneath sea level.”
Tomsk: “I hope you remembered Kafana’s warning. From what Casimir told us, she’ll flirt but she won’t sleep with you - not unless you marry her and vow to follow her wherever she travels.”
Bungo put one hand over his heart. “My motives are pure. Well, sort of. I want to get my hands on her… recipes. I’m thinking of making brewing and alchemy part of my monk Guru training, so I don’t have to spend skill points on apprenticing separately. I’ve already got Isabella’s recipes, and I’d like to pick up more from Dottore and the Ipotane. Then I can use the chemistry I’ve worked out with Flavio and my experience from Divine Mountain to increase my skill at my own pace.”
Wellington: “I like it. Potions appear to be one of the few ways of giving people magical effects from disciplines they don’t have the attunement to use themselves. It would increase our tactical flexibility greatly if we could all temporarily become stealthy, walk on water, shrink in size, or whatever else you can manage.” His voice still sounded unusually relaxed - Kafana had taken the precaution of re-casting her calming buff on him. He added “I asked about masks. The very best masks, the magical ones, come from a boutique on Libri run by an eccentric husband and wife team of mages. Apparently they’re tiny.”
Alderney: “It is just me, or has anyone else noticed that a disproportionate number of people here are either very tall or very short? Kafana, how’re you finding the Arsenal so far?”
Kafana: “I wasn’t sure what to expect. Possibly dirty dives full of evil ugly men stabbing each other and gloating over their loot. It wasn’t like that at all; very varied, and unexpectedly beautiful in places. Much less scary than I thought it would be. Is that because it’s daytime?”
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Alderney: “It is emptier at night, when the businesses close. I’ve run the rooftops during middle watch and it is almost peaceful. But there are bad areas, and we’re about to enter the oldest: Rac’s Labyrinthe. It’s run by the Disciples, and there’s a tavern hidden somewhere among the twisty alleys and dead ends that’s just as you imagine. It’s called the Castagnaro and the residents claim to be Torellan patriots. I’ve not been in there - apparently trying to buy a drink while looking like you’re foreign, or even just from a different Etruscan city state, is a good way to get beaten up and robbed. The Labyrinthe is where you go if you want to leave messages for the Lily, purchase poisons or curses, or find a brothel that isn’t too picky about age or consent.”
Kafana: “Yuck. Tell me again why we’re going there?”
Bulgaria: “Because right on the edge of it is The Fiorio, the coffee house run by Beltrame, that’s turning into a futures exchange.”
Wellington: “Everything seems to indicate that The Fiorio is where we need to go in order to get clues for our quests ‘Tremors in the market’ (finding who was behind intercepting Pierrot and other couriers from the Messengers Guild), ‘Market Mayhem’ (finding who’s manipulating the price of metals) and possibly we’ll find out more about Scaramouche, Baron Dado Orsini, smugglers, whoever is leaking information to the pirates, and the mystery man trying to buy up shipping lines (and having those who refuse be assassinated).”
Kafana: “Sounds like Beltrame has ‘Key NPC’ written all over him. What’s the plan? Barge in, spell him to tell the truth, and get him to spill the beans?”
Bulgaria: “As delightful as that sounds, there are two reasons why it wouldn’t work. Firstly, all the serious players will have magic items protecting their minds from magical influence. We really need to get some ourselves as soon as possible. Beltrame is probably not responsible for everything, and if we go in flashing powers, we’ll lose the opportunity to identify all the culprits.”
Alderney: “Secondly, Beltrame is the leader of The Disciples. If we piss him off, we won’t walk out of there alive. We’re not going in there to arrest or attack anyone. Our objective is to find things out. Preferably without letting everyone know what we find out, or even that we’re trying.”
Wellington: “My mind is protected, so I’ve come up with a plan. I’ll share it with you all at the last moment but, until then, just keep your ears open and follow my directions if I ask you to move somewhere or keep track of something.”
Bungo: “Mysterious! Ok. Should we be playing any particular roles like ‘gambler’ or just hanging around with a large sign over our heads saying ‘tourist - please forget I’m here’ ?”
Wellington: “If you do join any games or place a bet, bear in mind that 1 zecchi is 100 gold florins, and is more than most master crafters will make in an entire year. I’d suggest playing for silver ducato if you can, and if you have to wager in florins, act like anything more than 10 florins is too rich for your tastes.”
Kafana: “I’m not sure they’re going to believe me on that one. I’ve dressed down for this trip, but I’m still kinda glowy - they probably know who I am or have heard rumours.”
Bulgaria: “They certainly know who you are. At least three different groups have been watching us for most of our trip. But what they know about you is that you’re an Adventurer, a questing spirit, a priestess-mage who produced a miracle to fight back the Red Death, the bleeding plague. The better-informed ones may know that you sing and cook, who some of your allies are and who some of us are. Only the really well-informed ones will know of our links to Landi and Trinci, that you were involved in something financial connected with a lawyer and the auction house, and that you visited Signora Moda for several hours 3 days ago. So far, only us, Captain Lelio, Laureato Emmanuelle Giambrone and House Czerny know exactly how rich you are.”
She felt relieved until Alderney piped up, in her perkiest voice.
Alderney: “And the millions of people who are following her adventures.”
Kafana: “What?”