Lawless Justice - RPLOG
Participants
Date
16/8/478
Log
Those who accepted the job would have been made to sign a contract in the Freeswords guild about keeping utter secrecy and taking responsibility for any damages not tasked by their employer. Looks like the elder does not want to lose too much face if the job goes south.
No matter how the group reached Cliffside they are here now. And they would have been given directions directly towards a small building in one of the craftsmen district of the outer city.
They group would be quickly taken inside into the building and shown to the office of William, while being told to wait.
Zuri smiles at the other two beings as they wait. He's standing prim and proper, especially given the presence of Edmund in the room. The salamander has dressed for the occasion, from the rather formal-looking suit to his best shoes.
Reginald , having not brushed up too bad himself, gives the two a quick nod in greeting, even adding in a small smile to the familiar salamander. Dressed in a rather unassuming attire, with added cloak, he waits patiently to see what happens next.
Edmund is not here as a Freesword. But he certainly could not turn down an opportunity to dig about in such courtly intrigue. The hippo wears his finest military uniform and the gold chain and crest marking him as a royal knight. He nods to Zuri in recognition, then stands still, examining Alington's office.
Alington's office simply oozed 'wealth'. Looks like unlike some of the other rich beings in Cliffside, his rivals Ridgewell, Antonia, and Father Hawkes coming to mind, William loved showing off his wealth and power. The most prominent piece of furniture however is the large portrait of the late Edgar Alington hanging above William's desk.
It does not take a minute before a side door opens and William steps into his office, the bat and the two guards with him clad in black attires in remembrance. "Ah, great.", he says idly as he eyes the three beings before leveling his gaze on Edmund, "The Goods not only sent one of their family members but also dressed him up with a huge, 'I am a Sweetwater Noble' sign too." the bat says sarcastically, "Well this will sure be putting a dent in my credibility for candidacy, but that is another issue." William sighs and turns around to look at the portrait of his father, "Edgar Alington, a knowledgeable scholar, a cunning politician, not so great a father to be honest." the bat says as if reminiscing before turning around to look at the group again, the bat's large vermilion eyes shining with purpose, "Your job is simple. I suspect a certain aristocrat of his death. Clive Torrens, a rich business owner after a fashion. He has been keeping low since the beginning of the troubles. My spies have seen him recently, but the Cliffside City Watch and army both refuse to arrest him for me. Your job is simple for today. I want you to break into his mansion and search for any possible incriminating evidence. Anything from letters to weapons to even records. Any questions before I continue?"
Zuri blinks. This is a lot more forward than he was expecting. The salamander is used to this kind of job, just not this much.. forwardness, especially in public. He peers at Edmund and Reginald before returning his attention to the Elder, smiling politely. "No Sir, no questions. I assume the usual details. No violence, no trace we were ever there, smash, grab and leave?"
Reginald , also taken aback by the directness of his bat employer, offers up a further question, "Is there anyone currently resident in this mansion, and, if so, who and how many beings should we expect?"
"Please, Sir!" Edmund says indignantly, "To even suggest that a Royal Knight of House Good would be involved in such underhanded scheming! I am wounded!" He winks at Zuri. "In fact, I think I shall be forced to visit this Clive Torrens in person to tell him of this grave affront to my honor and to his," he continues, "Immediately! As well as loudly and in great detail! Why, it mike take me hours to properly express my displeasure!"
William raises a brow at Edmund and sighs, "And I am an honourable man who would not think of spilling royal blood in my office." he says idly as he sits down on his desk and puts the contract that three signed on the table, "However, ignoring the fact that you have to actually find Clive since no one knows where he is, you have signed a secrecy contract." William looks back at the three, "And avenging my father's death is nothing to do with politics, but I would be a fool not to abuse this. A Good royal trying to publicly denounce one of the candidates to the elder office? Do you honestly believe that the public are willing to believe anything but the fact that the Goods do not want me in office? You will be doing me a favour."
William shakes his head and looks back at the two, "You two work for Ridgewell, don't you? I wonder if he sent you here as well, but no matter. The house currently is not resided by any of the Torrens. And the last reports say that there should be only about six guards and three servants. No need to over-staff an empty house after all. If you are smart you should run into none of them. I do not care how you enter the house, but any deaths are on your neck. Anything else, I would be willing to vouch for you, or rather bribe you out of jail. It is really simple, you do this job, and make no mention of me, and you should be rewarded and protected during your time under my employee."
Zuri looks apprehensively between William and Edmund. The salamander knows better than to interject himself into a heated conversation between two of his betters. Instead he waits patiently until William answers their questions, then nods. "We're just two Freeswords here to assist you with our talents, Sir." He smiles. "And if a clean job is required, a clean job you will have, absolutely so." He turns to Reginald. "Are we good to go?"
Reginald is loathed to accept the reassurances of safety from one in such a powerful position as William, due to his inherent distrust for those in the higher society. This aside, however, he could desperately do with the crown, so shelves his concerns. Turning to Zuri, he responds, "I believe so, however, I do wonder what our friend here plans to do." The last part directed, with the hint of threat, at the hippo who had earlier stated his objections.
Edmund blinks at William. "Creators," he mutters, "No one told me that Cliffsiders were so thick. I just offered to be a loud distraction." He shakes his head. "But fine," he continues, "Never let it be said that a Good cannot be discreet."
William sighs and covers his face with a palm before shaking his head and looking back at Edmund, "Goods sure cannot be discreet." the bat says with a shrug, "I was playing along to give you an excuse to storm off, but no matter, you just proved that you are indeed a soldier not a politician." he says with another shrug before throwing three pouches at the table, "Six hundred pouches each. There will be a handler waiting for you outside. He will take you to the mansion. I will send another handler to escort the Good distraction alone. The other two will follow from a distance."
Zuri looks between the two other beings, utterly lost in their back and forth. He smiles at William and nods. "Yes Sir!" He glances at Reginald again before snatching one of the money pouches and heading back outside, already mentally preparing for the job.
Reginald follows closely after Zuri, picking up his money pouch, declining his head in appreciation to the bat, before turning to leave. However, just as he is about to exit the room, he gives Edmund one last stern glance of distrust.
Edmund cheerily gives William a rather rude gesture, then parades out of the office, leaving the money where it lies. "I will, of course, expect a full report Mister Pondleaf,"he says as he. reaches the door, "In strictest confidence, of course." Thenhe is gone, off to make his complaints and inquiries to this Clive.
William shakes his head as the group begins to leave, "And your contract still swear all of you to secrecy, better remember that. You don't want an enemy out of house Alington." he says before returning to work.
The beings are escorted into the inner city, Edmund going first with his own guide with the two others following. It takes more than an hour to finally reach the mansion. The groups stand in an alleyway away as Edmund himself saunters towards the building. Proudly standing in front of the two guards at the entrance as he starts demanding to see one of the Torrens.
Luckily for the two other beings it appears that this distraction is enough to clear a way to one of the side doors, most likely leading into the kitchen or another servant room. "Clive's office should be on the third floor, and his bedroom there as well. Be swift." the handler says.
Zuri nods at the 'handler', his eyes returning to Reginald. He offers his partner-in-dodginess a smile. "Alright, third floor it is." He gets low to the floor and begins stalking forward, heading towards the side door and hiding next to it, stacking up to one side as he waits for Reginald to do the same.
Reginald follows quickly after Zuri, the two passing the two nervous guards as the loud Good keeps demanding to see a Torren even if none of them are here.
If Zuri bothered testing the door he would discover that it is locked.
Zuri does indeed test the door, finds it locked, and seems completely unfazed by this discovery. The salamander reaches into his jacket and retrieves a pair of picks, a rake and a wedge, the tools of his trade. He inserts the first pick into the lock, and tests the lock's tumblers with the rake. He slides the wedge into the lock and applies a bit of torque by twisting the handle ever so slightly. This allows him to try and use the pick and rake to move each tumbler into position.
As the salamander busies himself with the locked door, Reginald keeps a vigilant watch for any sign of guards, or any other sign of movement.
Zuri's skill is more than enough to unlock the door. The two beings quickly enter into what appears to be a small room for servants going on trips outside or coming back in with coat hangers, closets, and chairs. Luckily no one else is here today.
Zuri packs up his tools again and urges Reginald to go in first, ready to follow after him and cover his advance.
Reginald cautiously enters the room, giving it a swift once over just in case, before placing his ear in turn to each of the doors that lead further into the building.
The room's exit leads to a long hallway filled with many doors, and thankfully a pair of stairs going upwards. There is a guard patrolling the hallway, the bored being yawning as he stops before reaching the servant room and turning around once more. Looks like he is just guarding the rooms on this floor.
Zuri looks over the corridor, and watches the guard for a moment to see what he is doing. He seems more preoccupied with what he's doing in this floor, so it may be possible to simply walk past him towards the stairs up. He looks back at Reginald, then starts stalking forward quietly, timing his advance to when the guard moves away from them.
Reginald remains behind, keeping an eye on both Zuri and the guard. Just in case things go south, he could use his hidden location to get the drop on the patrolling being, thus he subsequently readies himself.
Zuri manages to successfully sneak past the guard and onto the stairs leading upwards. And what luck! The stairs go up to floor three. Up there, the stairs once more lead into a hallway leading in both directions. Unfortunately for Zuri it appears that at the end of the hallway is the room they are looking for, if the guard standing there is any indication.
Zuri peers back at Reginald, then at the guard still patrolling the corridor. He decides to stay where he is, perched in hiding, ready to help his friend over in case he gets spotted. From his pocket he retrieves a pouch with a powdery white substance which he spreads on the palm of his right hand, clenching it to keep the knockout drug in place.
Reginald waits for the downstairs guard to do a circuit, before following in Zuri's footsteps, albeit with a little less grace than the salamander.
Reginald manages to sneak past the guard, just barely as the being looks back and rubs his chin, "Anyone here?" he says before shrugging and going back to his patrol.
Zuri smiles at Reginald. He keeps the knockout powder clenched tightly in his hand as he waves with the other hand, urging the other being to follow him up the stairs and towards the bored guard. He speaks in a hushed voice. "Think it's up ahead. Guard standing there." He indicates by nodding his head in the correct direction. "May need a distraction, but I'm not sure what it could be."
Reginald , having joined Zuri, acknowledges their dilemma. From where he's standing, he takes a quick look around. Hopefully there is a door to a room he could reach without passing into the vision of the static guard, a look of absolute concentration on his face.
Zuri crouches next to the wall that leads into the corridor, clutching the sleeping powder in his hand. He looks back at Reginald. "We need to lure him here somehow." He looks back into the corridor, considering his options.
Reginald crouches on the opposite side of the entry point, before producing a pebble from his pocket (as what rogue worth his title wouldn't carry a handful of these useful little things). Accounting for the time that the downstairs guard will be at his furthest from them, he throws this little rock through the opening to the hallway, looking to draw the static guard past them just in time to take him with the least possibility of alerting anyone else present.
The guard raises a brow as he hears the sound of the pebble striking the ground, and also noticing the pebble as well, "John, is that you?" the guard asks as he picks up the pebble and walks towards the stairway, "You better not be playing around again."
Zuri waits patiently as he hears the guard approach, the salamander pulls the scruff of his outfit over his snout to cover his identity as best as he can, and when he figures the guard is about to step around the corner he pops out, first the head, to catch the guard's attention, then his hand, armed with knockout powder. With one swift motion he's going to toss it at the guard's face, hoping to impair or outright incapacitate him.
The guard readies his weapon as the masked mander suddenly appears in front of him, "Who are you...." he says before sneezing as the powder covers his face, "...I...stop...", the guard says lazily before falling down unconscious.
Reginald rushes to the door that the guard has now vacated, kneeling down next to it so that he can press his ear against the wood, listening out for any sign of life on the other side.
Zuri dusts off his hand on his trousers and moves forward to join Reginald. He wiggles his snout at the lock. "Mmm.." The salamander reaches into his pocket and extracts the wedge only this time. He gently runs the wedge around the door's threshold, looking for any tensed wires that could indicate a trap, before moving onto the lock itself and examining its set-up.
Reginald returns to the downed guard, keeping an eye on him and letting Zuri work his magic.
The door opens into what appears to be the office of this Clive. The place looks pretty tame, a desk, some closets, and a lot of paper. Looks like the two have their work set for them.
Zuri slips into the room quickly, and huffs as he looks around. He looks back at Reginald and motions for him to come in. "We should close the door behind us." He says, before glancing at the guard on the ground in plain sight...
Reginald lifts the shoulders of the guard slightly, and beckons Zuri back over with his attempt at a witty remark. "We really should take our guest along with us."
Zuri runs over to the guard and Reginald, nodding at him as he lifts the guard's legs from the other side. "Okay go, I don't quite have the leverage to do this.."
With Zuri's help, the two of them quietly manoeuvre the unconscious guard into the room, placing him down gently and clear of the door. Having done that, the lynx proceeds to close the door, before beginning his search through the paper on the desk, valuing silence and discretion (ideally, the residents shouldn't know that they were here) above speed.
As the door closes and Reginald starts looking around, he finds nothing of interest in his search.
Zuri huffs tiredly. He glances around the room quickly, then darts over to the desk and climbs on. "So, we're looking for incriminating stuff. I'll start going through these papers. He must have a record somewhere of what he's been up to. He's an aristocrat, so he's going to keep records of stuff he's been doing. Favors he's owed. Places he's been.." The salamander starts to dig through the paperwork, one paper at a time. There's no point in being subtle, there's an unconscious guard that's going to know they were here anyway.
Taking the hint, though with some reservations, Reginald speeds up his search, moving onto the closets. "Something as valuable as that ... hum ... I would of thought that you would have gone out of your way to hide those kind of things." Before actually touching the closet, he pauses, a concerned look on his face. "and if I'd hide it, I'd trap it ... " The lynx turns to the salamander, beckoning him towards the closed closets "Can you give them a once over?", before returning to the piles of paper on the desk.
Zuri's search takes a good number of minutes before he finally finishes searching the pile. Two letters seem to stand out. One asking payment for 'services' given and another declaring that said payment was received, a payment of no less than two thousand crowns as well. However oddly enough it is listed as 'personal expenses' and the sender is anonymous, in fact so is the receiver.
Zuri takes the two documents, ready to go over them more carefully later. He nods at Reginald. "Alright, I'll go have a peek at the drawers." He heads over with his tools, making sure to check them carefully for traps before opening them and going through their contents.
The pile of paper on the desk having been sifted through, Reginald turns his attention to the draws of the desk, giving a quick check of their contents and keeping a look out for any signs of hidden compartments or locks.
The closet is filled with lots of papers, the top shelves having both stationary and clean papers while the rest of the shelves filled with paperwork regarding employee wages and monthly reports, it would take a good while to finish going through all of them. Reginald's search of the drawers would bring nothing of interest, except that one of the drawers is locked.
Zuri huffs as he quickly scans the papers in the shelves. "Too much irrelevant stuff here, just logs and ledgers. Nothing personal or private.."
Reginald turns to Zuri yet again, no longer needing to explicitly ask for the salamander's help. A thought crosses his mind that, for someone who lives their life in the shadows, not being able to pick locks is, perhaps, a bit of an embarrassment. When he is happy that Zuri has the message, he turns to the entrance of the room. Concerned about the time this is taking, moves to and places his ear against the door, listening out for footsteps or voices.
There is no voices from the outside, but it is nearing to the evening, and a guard swap would most likely happen soon. The two beings must quickly finish their work here if they don't want to get caught.
Zuri looks back at Reginald and nods. He brings his tools with him yet again and sets about to investigating, then picking this new lock. The small locks on these drawers can sometimes be tricky, so he takes extra care to probe the lock with the rake very gently before trying to pick it.
Reginald while Zuri is busy with the desk, Reginald toys with the idea of checking the closet. However, deciding that it would be unlikely that any valuable pieces of information would be mixed in with mundane things like ledgers and balance sheets, he remains at the door, listening. The last thing they would want to happen is that they are taken unaware.
Zuri manages to successfully open the drawer. There is nothing to be found in here except for some crowns, personal bank statements, and a sealed letter titled 'To the best daddy ever'. The letter is sent from Clive, and appears quite old, but unopened. There still appears to be no one coming up and down this floor.
Zuri snatches the bank statements, just in case they turn out to be relevant, but stops to look at the letter for a moment. "Hm..." He looks over at Reginald. "Almost done here." He snatches the letter as well and pockets it, then closes the drawer. "Okay, let's get out of here."
Reginald eyes the closet a second time. It would be sod's law that, having not searched it, there would inevitability be something in there. Cursing quietly to himself as he realises time's up, he places his ear one last time against the entrance with the aim of, as long as it's quiet, making his way into an ambush position where the stairwell meets the hall.
The two beings quickly make their way down the stairway to the first floor, the guard who is guarding this floor is still on patrol, looks like they will have to sneak past him again.
Zuri wiggles his snout as he considers the guardsbeing. He tries to recall the patrol he was doing earlier, and peers out at the point where he figures he will be looking the other way. Quietly, the salamander starts making his way towards the servant cloakroom where they had entered from.
Reginald , just like before, lets Zuri go first and the guard do a full circuit before attempting his own crossing.
The two being manage to successfully navigate the other guard and running towards the cloak room, and swiftly from there into freedom. Outside the two beings could easily sneak out of that area as the guards have just now began swapping. Edmund is nowhere in sight, but the handlers are still standing in the darkened alleyway waiting for the two beings and their news.
Zuri walks up to the 'handlers', smiling rather proudly. "And hello again gents." He collects the gathered documents, the banking statements, and the unopened letter, and offers them up to the other beings. "As requested."
Reginald joins Zuri, an inquisitive look on the lynx's face. "What did you find in the draw?" Recieving his answer when Zuri offers up their haul, he leans forward to get a better look at the mysterious letter, before turning to the nearest handler. "What happens next?" he enquires, hoping that he'd be able to join them to find out the letter's contents, but not holding his breath.
The handlers take the haul, inspecting them before organizing them and storing them, "Well, we are going to give those papers to Mister William, thought not sure what this letter you gave us is about. Thought the one about the two thousand crowns payment seems to indicate that he hired an assassin." One of the handlers shrugs as he looks at the two, "Well you got your payment, and your noble friend have departed as well. I guess that means that your job here is done."
Zuri nods quickly. "Not sure if the letter is relevant. What I do know is that it's personal, and valuable. Even just that letter having gone missing is going to distract from the other little things we took, possibly." He smiles. "It's a gamble, but might pay off."
Reginald , try as he might, cannot bring himself to walk away. Something is nagging him at the back of his mind. He turns to the handler, "You've got your evidence there of Clive hiring an assassin. That would no doubt be enough in itself to please William. But, before you go, I don't suppose you could indulge an old cat's curiosity? May I take a quick peek inside of that letter before you return it to your employer? I'm sure it would make no difference in the grand scheme of things."
The handlers look at each other then look back at Reginald, "And risk angering Mister William? No thanks. You got more than enough money for your troubles." the handler says, "It is obviously just a personal letter anyway. I will let Mister William decide on whether to open it or not." with that the two handlers depart leaving the two beings to their own devices.
In the distance a commotion starts as the guards begin searching the perimeters, looks like they discovered the sleeping guard.
Zuri is quick to escape the scene, not wanting to be anywhere near when the guardsbeings are called to investigate. His plan is to hide away at a nearby inn, and get a drink or two. And some chocolate biskies...
Reginald , disappointed by the handlers' judgement, resigns himself to never knowing the contents of the letter, now another unanswered question amongst many that have filled his years. He turns to the salamander, "Thank you for your help. There's no way I could have done this alone, and I look forward to working with you in the future." The last comment punctuated with a slight smile, as the lynx turns and makes his way into the night.
