Trouble with the Vengeance Take Two - RPLOG
Participants
Date
27/1/479
Log
The rain has driven most beings around the docks indoors, with only a few unlucky sailors and dockworkers scurrying about in the downpour. While the ships bob peacefully in the harbor, Amos Longtooth stands looking over the bay, like some sort of soggy gargoyle.
Kazel quietly approaches the lone person, only making her presence noticeably by a forced cough once she she is right behind him. The rodent is clothed in dark, but light armor and a dark leather cloak with a deep hood that keeps the rain from drenching her. Her two kamas are clearly visible, sheathed at her hips, but there is no telling how many more different weapons she is hiding under her cloak.
Cassidy makes her way along the docks, the rain running off the brim of her pointed hat, while her robes prove to be surprisingly water resistant. As she draws close, she offers a little bow before straightening back up and awaiting a briefing.
Natska follows along at Cassidy's side, a travel-worn heavy cloak with the hood up keeping most of the rain off of her. She is smiling softly as she watches the rain fall over the harbor, although her expression fades out into careful neutrality as she approaches Amos and gives the alley cat a nod.
A snow leopard trods up along the docks, white fur smothered in a dusting of wet mud to make it more... 'discreet'. The request was all sneaky, after all. Besides that, Cirrus was equpped as normal, despite, you know. Not having actually met any of these people before. Introductions will have to be done on the fly, then. Noting how nobody is actually saying anything, they decide to break the silence. "Hello!"
"I know you're there, Miss Silverwing," Amos rasps, "I didn't get this old by being lucky." The scarred old tom turns his blind, milky eye on the rat, then nods out toward the bay. "You see that boat there," he asks, "The Veangeance? There was information on that ship about a very careful, very cautious system of kidnapping and transport. Trouble is, there was not a single prisoner on that ship." The cat turns himself around and nods toward a small warehouse. "All deliveries to and from that ship come from that warehouse," he rasps, "We will be going in there to check it out. If you are caught, I will abandon you without a second thought. Questions?"
Kazel rolls her eyes, which are cast in shadow by her hood. "None, except if we are looking for or are expecting anything specific? We are quite a big group for just going in there to take a look." The rodent rubs her hands a couple of times to warm them a little as she peers into the direction of the warehouse.
Cassidy folds her hands in front of her and nods curtly. "Of course. I do not like kidnappers. I will assist to the best of my ability. If that means skulking around a warehouse, that is fine." She looks up towards the jaguar and nods. "And if we're caught, well. We can handle things."
Natska inclines her head, then gives Cassidy a small smile again. "Yes. I'll try not to make too much of a fuss, though. On your lead, master Longtooth; I am ready."
"Only be gentle," Amos rasps, "I have reason to believe that some of the guards are our victims. And the last bunch of idiots I hired on killed two of the people I was trying to save." The old tom snarls a bit at the thought. "I think there is some Spirit magic involved," he says, "So no killing." The cat turns, coat whirling and fluttering as he stalks away toward the warehouse.
Kazel closely follows the man, while fumbling with the contraption on her left wrist, exchanging the attached vial with another. Her ears twitch slightly under her hood as her eyes wander between the warehouse, Amos and the ship.
Cassidy turns to move after Amos, following along. "I will certainly do my best. It'll be a last resort. Though... If you suspect a caller is involved, well. There's only one kind of spirit I know that leads to the kinds of things you're talking about. And I don't have a good history with their callers."
Natska frowns at the words, then nods her head again. "Well then. That is easily doable as well, no worries." She eyes the warehouse as they approach. "And... yes. Only one spirit I Know of that does that. But we'll stick to the job at hand."
Amos stalks on ahead, moving with surprising speed, despite his obvious limp, his coat fluttering behind him. "If you can avoid being seen, don't be seen," he says, "Find prisoners, find paperwork, find anything suspicious and get out without being seen. Then get out. Now you are on your own." The tom cat puts on a burst of speed and vanishes around the corner.
The warehouse is quiet, with no visible guards on the outside, but it looks like there are a few options here. There are a number of windows set high on what might be a second floor, the main doors of the warehouse and perhaps other options on the roof.
Kazel rolls her shoulders a little. "I am taking to the roof and see if I can get in from there." The rat twists and shifts under her body-hiding outfit, the white fur that is visible turning into red feathers and a set of wings pushing out of two slits in the folds of her blouse. The phoenix flaps her wings a couple of times, headed for the roof.
Cassidy glances at Kazel, then up towards the roof. "I think I am, as well. Unless you had other plans?" She asks of the feline to her side before touching a hand to her hat to keep it steady. A breeze kicks in to sweep her off her feet and carry her towards the roof. "I can come back down if desired. You need only give the word."
Natska perks her ears at Cass, then shakes her head, watching Cassidy take off; the jaguar slinks up along the side of the warehouse, looking for an empty window or a doorway that she can peek through, hopefully unobserved.
Both Kazel and Cassidy lind on the roof without incident, both just clearing the edge and touching down lightly. The roof is only slightly sloped, but the rain makes the wooden shingles rather slippery. There are a number of wide hatches set into the roof, probably for ventilation, though only one, on the far side of the roof, is open. The opening of the raised hatch points away from the pair and a warm, yellow light comes from the opening.
There are no low set windows on the warehouse, but it seems the the wide main door of the warehouse is slid open just a crack. By slipping behind a stack of barrels nearby, Natska can just see a part of the inside. From here it is hard to see exactly what is happening, but there seem to be a few beings wandering about near the door.
Kazel drops to all fours, to get a better grip on the slippery roof, her taloned hands digging into the wood of the roof slightly as she makes her way over to the window after giving Cassidy a short nod.
Cassidy makes her way across towards the opening, treading lightly across the roof, keeping her ears perked under her hat for any sounds of trouble below. She wasn't about to let commotion escape her, should it involve Natska. But as long as it was quiet, she was more keen on peeking what's inside the warehouse.
Natska frowns as she lurks outside the warehouse, but isn't about to just charge in the front door; she moves to circle the building, keeping an eye out for other entrances that might be in use.
The open hatch on the roof overlooks an upper catwalk of the warehouse. The light comes from an oil lamp that sits on a table a little way from the opening. Three beings in sailor's clothing sit playing cards and smoking foul cigars.
Natska manages to work her way around the warehouse but finds no other entrance until she reaches the back. There, she finds a closed door, and just above it a narrow window, maybe large enough to admit a child. It hangs loose, the latch broken.
Kazel lays down near at the hatch and peers into the room, aiming the contraption on her right arm at the group, but not firing yet, instead she attempts to listen in to what they are talking about while playing.
Cassidy reaches out to tap gently on Kazel's shoulder before pointing to herself, then the hatch. "Cover me if I get spotted," she murmurs, before moving to drop in. Her landing is muted, thankfully, so as long as she can retreat into the darker parts of the walkway she wagers she'll be fine.
Natska eyes the back door for a few moments, then moves back up along the side of the building. She tries to find a place where she can watch the front of the building without being too obvious about it as she ponders what step to take next.
The sailors, busy as they are talking and smoking and playing do not seem to notice Cassidy's stealthy entrance. "I'm telling you," one says, a swarthy crocodile, "They'll all come round. They always do. S'like a cabin boy on his first voyage. They'll whine and bitch about it bein' too hard and how they never wanna see the ocean again, but then sign on the first ship leavin' port. Innit that right Jim?" He turns to a burly hippo to his right. "You didn't think you wanted to join up at first, but now you're a regular fixture, eh?"
The hippo snorts and plays his cards. "Yeah," he says, "I was recruited just like those folks. Don't worry, they find that it's what they was always meant for quick enough."
Natska easily finds a stack of crates that she can hide among and keep an eye on the front door. There's even a canvas on top to keep the rain off!
Kazel waits a moment for Cassidy to get into the clear, then lowers herself through the hatch as well, lightly landing in a crouched position and quickly getting into cover herself, her eyes seeking the ones of Cassidy as she signals her to stay in this position for now with a motion of her hand.
Cassidy nods at Kazel, ducking behind a box to wait. She had a goal and meant to follow through on it, but she could afford to wait to see what Kazel had planned, first.
Natska glances up towards the roof of the building, then back to the front door; she shifts her weight, and frowns, trying her best to remain patient as she waits for an opportunity.
"I'm just saying," says the last member of the card playing trio, a stoat with an ugly scar across his nose, "I'm just saying it's sodding weird, isn't it? The way they comes in here on the cart, then the captain goes and has a talk with em and convinces 'em to join up!" He takes a drag on his foul stogie and tosses down his hand on the table. "Most of 'em never set foot on a boat in their whole lives, right? Why'd they wanna join up with a crew? Specially after what happened to that Bones kid! You hear about that? First day on the job and some tosser comes and puts his nose through his brain!"
Things seem quiet out front, though there seems to be a short bit of excitement just inside the door.
Kazel raises an eyebrow and inches over to Cassidy. "Think we should knock em out? Or would you rather stay hidden, could always be more of them somewhere." She tries to catch a glimpse of what the situation is on the ground floor, at least as good as she can from her position.
Cassidy shakes her head. "Not taking any at the moment, unless we see their captain." she moves on from her position, looking for a spot where she can drop down to the ground floor and remain in cover.
Natska perks her ears at the disturbance; after a few moments of measured consideration, the jaguar turns and hurries for the back door. Hopefully, with some excitement up front, it will be a good chance for her to get in to the building.
"You just worry about keepin' your own shirt, mate!" says the gator, grinning and showing what must be a winning hand, if the groans of the other two are any indication. "Soon as he's convinced the last few recruits, we can get out of this town. Don't like the way the Law is always breathin' down our necks here. It'll be good to be back on the water and back to Ishara."
The hippo grunts in agreement. "Always feel weird coming back here," he says, "Even though I'm from this town, it never feels right anymore."
The catwalk circles the whole warehouse on three sides, excluding the side that has the big doors. It is a good ten foot drop to the ground, but there is a flight of stairs that leads down near the front. There do not appear to be any guards here aside from the three at the table. The ground floor is another story. Four beings roam the floor, chatting with one another. Some kind of amiable scuffle seems to have broken out for a moment and a fifth guard, a Gator has wandered out to see what is going on.
The back door is locked, but from the sound of things, it might be unattended. For now.
Kazel decides to stay in her position and continue listening in to the conservation the guards are having, since Cassidy seems to want to go down and Natska probably has that angle covered as well.
Natska hopes the door isn't locked -too- firmly; she puts her shoulder into it, plants her feet, and gives it a quick, abrupt shove. Just in case.
"I know, pal," says the gator, "We'll all be glad to be goin' home. New recruits included. Just don't you worry about it. Come on, deal us one more hand afore the captain shows up. He's been uptight ever since he got stabbed up in that crazy raid. Still don't know what that was about. Word is it was the Longtails movin' in on our operations."
Down on the ground, Natska manages to break the lock, or rather, the door frame, with a loud CRACK! sending her stumbling into the lower level of the warehouse. Probably no hiding that. Five pairs of eyes turn to look at the sudden interloper.
Kazel perks up at the sudden sound and quickly, but as silently as possible heads to the edge of the catwalk and jumps down, taking only a brief moment to shoot a bolt from her wrist crossbow at the nearest guard, loaded with a disabling poison and aimed at the legs, as to not risk hitting a vital organ.
Natska draws herself up to her full height and looks back at the guards, then grins. "Who is in charge here?" she demands. "I needs must speak with them." She lets one of her gauntleted hands rest on her sword, wondering who would move first.
Who is in charge suddenly becomes a moot point, as Kazel lets fly the bolt from her crossbow directly into the leg of a chair and drops down between Natska and the bewildered guards.
"Hell's bells!" comes a cry from above, "Somebody shot at me!"
Below, the confusion turns immediately to anger. "RAID!" shouts the big gator who had been on the back door and all the guards spring into action, drawing cutlasses and pistols. There is a clamor from upstairs as the three card players jump up from the table and run for the stairs.
Kazel rolls her eyes at the botched shot and her tattoos begin to glow for a short moment, before vanishing. The rat stands up straight and draws her kamas, however she is holding them the wrong way, effectively using them as tonfas since they were instructed to avoid killing anyone.
She leaps for the nearest enemy and lets lose a couple of blows with the wooden weapons, aiming to knock them out.
Natska winces at the shouts, then shakes her head at Kazel. "Get anything?" she asks, backing towards the door and ducking through it. "I didn't mean to make as much of a commotion."
Cassidy grimaces at the outbreak of commotion. That was not what she wanted to happen, certainly. She remains up on the catwalk, though, trying to stay out of sight in case she needs to provide long distance support.
The big gator in the lead lunges forward to grapple with Kazel, only to find two lengths of hardened wood slammed into his temple with Spirit augmented strength and he goes down like a puppet with it's strings cut, flopping to the floor. The other guards are instantly more wary, spreading out to come at Kazel and Natska from all sides. Three of them take shots with pistols, two of them at the fleeing Natska as the three guards from above come clattering down the stairs. Leaving Cassidy the sole occupant of the upper floor.
Kazel:dodges the bullets and swings her improvised tonfas into the stomach of the next guard, while yelling out to Natska, "Yeah, the boss is incoming." She also looks over the other guards, looking for more incoming attacks.
Cassidy decides to lie in wait for the captain's return, but that doesn't leave her allies without support. Instead, she conjures up wind to buffet the opposing force, trying to scatter powders or trip attackers.
Natska takes cover outside the door, peeking around enough see what is still going on inside. "You don't have to do this, you know. I want to be nice. Just let me talk with whoever is in charge, yea?" she calls out.
The three guards from above, all large beings go for the great front doors instead of trying to engage the attackers, shoving the sliding panels on their rails. The stoat produces a little silver whistle and starts to blow a shrill alarm while the other shout. "Robbers! Bandits! Thieves!" A gusty breeze kicks up a bit of dust and dirt, causing the guards to flinch and look away, but only for a moment. "They're after the captain!" one of the guards shouts, "You! Shorty! Get out of here! Warn the captain!" One of the guards, a scrawny looking canine of unspecific heritage nods once and turns to flee. The newly elected spokesman, a brawny ape responds to Natska's shouts. "Too late for that, thieves!" he shouts, "You already bashed him over the head! You just wait until the guard gets here!"
Kazel turns around and aims her wrist mounted crossbow at the canine, praying that she has better aim this time as she lets lose the small bolt, before picking up her weapons once more. "Not so fast."
Cassidy scowls at the fleeing one and employs another trick, hopefully with more success. A ring of fire to spring up around him, encircling and cutting off escape. It wouldn't harm as long as he didn't try to cross it.
Natska blinks, then sighs, her ears tilting back. "Going!" she calls out, then ducks out of sight, waiting to hear from Cass or, hopefully, see her erstwhile allies make their escape.
The runner does not get far before he takes an arrow to the shoulder and finds himself encircled by a blazing inferno, effectively cut off from the fight and the world as the rain hisses and spits on the magical flames.
By this time, the surrounding building have started to stir as beings start to pour from other warehouses and surrounding buildings at the alarm. None of the warehouse guards move to attack, it looks like they are just stalling for time.
Kazel lets out a decided "Meh." And flings the knocked out being the others so helpfully pointed out as their leader onto her shoulder, while flipping the Kama in her free hand around to the lethal side. Keeping a close eye on the remaining guards she slowly makes her way to the door as well, ready to strike hard, should anyone try to take her hostage from her.
With the point made, Cassidy lets the fire die down. "The guards will not help you," she murmurs, before moving back towards the roof entrance she came in through to let herself out and back towards the street level, to await the arrival of the guards and to steer away traffic. As any upstanding member of the military would do in times of chaos.
Natska nods at Kazel, then turns and moves away from the warehouse. She tries to put some solid distance between her and it, although as she goes, she circles and tries to keep an eye on Cassidy.
The beings don't try to follow Kazel, but stare daggers after her as she flees with the bulky gator slung awkwardly over her shoulder. Two of the upstairs guards, the gator and the stoat have rushed to the side of the fallen courier as the flames die away, but the hippo is nowhere to be seen. Soon the area is swarmed with sailors and dockworkers in a frenzy, trying to find the thieves. It is not long before a troop of guardsmen come jogging up to the warehouse, scattering gawkers and onlookers. Fortunately, the back of the warehouse opens on to a network of alleyways and escape is not difficult.
Kazel makes her way through the nearby allies, very thankful for the exceptional strength her spirit patron is lending her right now. Careful not to be seen by anyone, she picks a spot that is unlikely to have people come by by chance and a good jog from the warehouse to prob down her prisoner and lightly slap him on the cheek a few times to see if he may wake up.
Cassidy removes her pointy hat, flagging the guards over, seeking their troop leader. "Please, have your men secure the area. Keep watch for suspicious looking individuals. I have reason to believe that there's been a cultist infiltration of the docks. Try to keep civillians at bay until the situation has been calmed."
Natska watches the guards arrive, then goes to find Kazel again. "Tell me you learned something while in there?" she asks, her ear twitching. "I could use the good news."
The. . . liutenant, according to his uniform, salutes Cassidy. "Yes Ma'am," he says and goes about the arduous task of securing the area. The messenger dog seems to be well and truly unconcious, but the warehouse guards are tending to his wounds while the city guard asks them questions. "I didn't get a good look at em," the ape is explaining to the liutenant, "One of 'em just broke open the door, came in and ran out. Guess they weren't expect all of us. The other was a rat or a mouse or something. Had some kind of crazy symbol on their armor that disappeared when she. . . I think it was a she. . . sounded like a woman, but she was wearing a hood. Anyway, this symbol went all glowy and she started beating my guys up! Took one of em with her as a hostage! Probably one of those old one cultists!"
Back in the alley, Kazel does not have much luck waking her scaley prisoner. He manages to open his eyes once, is sick on the alley floor, then his eyes roll back in his head again.
Kazel sighs softly at the croc and closes her eyes for a moment, as he is engulfed in flames and, surpisingly, looking much better than before as they die off. She then notices and nods to Natska. "Yeah, their boss was just about to come join them. Maybe this one can tell us more."
With directions distributed to the guards, Cassidy turns towards the ones that'd been in the warehouse, approaching. "Pardon me, sir," she speaks. "Given the nature of this situation, I need to speak with you directly. Do you speak for the rest of the workers? I will make this brief. It is important that, if able, you return to your work to the best of your ability. I am sure someone will be buy to question you on the incident tonight, and your missing comrade will be searched for. In the mean time, act as if nothing had happened. We do not need rumours of this spreading and causing unrest."
The Ape gives Cassidy a grunt of assent and waves down all of his men. "Back to it boys," he says, "Get shorty comfortable. The uniform here says they'll get our boy back." He turns a frown on Cassidy. "You find who did this," he growls, "These are my people they keep attacking, and this ain't the first time! I'm thinking it's personal. We'll help your boys as much as we can."
In the alleyway, the gator blinks rapidly and comes to. He looks around and into the faces of Kazel and Natska. "Damn," is all he has to say, before slumping back against the wall in defeat.
Through all of this, there is no sign at all of Amos. He was absolutely true to his word.
