Discretion and Dignity - RPLOG
Participants
Date
11/12/479
Log
It is raining in Mange Square. Raining and cold and miserable. A black furred fox in a long coat stands huddled under the eaves of a shabby building, arms folded as he leans against the wall.
Galve meets the fox, in a large black cloak with a hood. His muzzle stuck out the front. He wasn't very stealthy... but he'd do his best.
A Coyote quietly slips into the Square, wearing a dark brown, long coat, the collar turned up to the wind and rain. Mal glances around before making his way towards the only Being hanging around. He ducks under the eaves for protection from the rain and leans against the wall, mirroring the Fox and waiting.
Elizabeth arrives after sheep and coyote, and without her usual canine companion. The shark is dressed in leather coat and matching pants, with a large sword and a musket on her back, not really weaponry associated with stealth. Her eyes wander between the three who had already been waiting for her. After about a minute an eyebrow raises as her arms cross and a smirk appears on her face. "I guess one of you is the guy, yeah? I mean, I get the cool and silent aura and all, but maybe you should tell us what this is all about so we can get to it, yes?"
Shliek pulls his dark cloak tighter around himself to stave off the chilly rain as he approaches the purported meeting place. What isn't covered by the lizard's cloak is wrapped in drab brown and gray armor and trappings; only his snout, eyes and fingers are exposed. He sticks to the shaded shelter of the awnings, avoiding the rain and light as best he can.
The fox turns to look at each approaching being in turn. "Inside," he says tersely, rapping a staccatto rhythm on the door next to him, then goes back to watching the rain.
The door swings open quietly, admitting the beings into a darkened hallway. A light glows from a room at the far end.
Galve follows quietly, looking around a little as he followed, examining the others.
Mal leans to the side, glancing inside the hallway before shrugging. He pushes himself off the wall and slips inside, following behind the talkative Fox. The Coyote glances at Galve, raising an eyebrow at the examination before looking back to the Fox, and the room ahead.
Elizabeth shrugs and walks in, arms still crossed. She gives everyone another look and twitches her muzzle. "Y'all aren't the talkactive sort, I gather? Gonna be pretty boring if I am the only one talking all...however long this will take."
Shliek the dimunitive reptile waits for the other beings to shuffle through the door before he quickly scurries in after. He stays near the wall as he cautiously proceeds down the hallway with the other contractors. He largely ignores the talking, keeping his attention on watching for danger from the environment or the others.
"It should not take long at all, Elizabeth," says a deep, fluid voice as the group turns the corner into a well furnished room, lit by a roaring fire and a few scattered lamps. A dark furred fox in a simply, but stylishly cut black coat, eerily similar to the fox outside, stands by the fireplace. "Only a moment of your time," he continues, turning to face the approaching group, "Thank you all for coming. I will keep this brief. I believe that you are aware of the incident with the fleshcrafter and its owner going missing in the last week or so?"
Galve raises an eyebrow. "Yes.. we are. At least I think so... hard to tell with so many people in heavy cloaks..." He says, putting down his hood and revealing his curled horns
"I talk. I just don't want to say the wrong thing to the wrong person," Mal murmurs to the Shark. "I'd prefer not to get on the bad side of...whoever it is hiring us."
The Coyote slips into the room, turning to eye the similar Fox as he slips his hands into his pockets. He nods, glancing to the other Freeswords. "I heard something of the sort," he says, agreeing with Galve as he looks over the Fox. "What of it?"
Elizabeth smirks. "Good to know, but if you are worried that every word you say might make somone mad, then your life must be pretty stressfull." She raises her eyebrows as the fox talks. "Hi there, Mister....Knowsofnames. But wait, the what now with the who what? First I hear of any of that sort."
Shliek finds a small table to climb on top of. He sits crosslegged with his hands folded in his lap, listening intently to the speaker, but shifting his eyes between each of the other beings, as if assessing each of their threat values.
"I can assure you, Mister Wright," the fox says, "You are unlikely to reveal anything to me that I do not already know." He considers Elizabeth. "It was not a very exciting abduction," he confesses, "Nevertheless, the coyote and mole who owned the machine kept the thing regulated. I believe it has fallen into the hands of the Technologists. Which I honestly find rather more irksome than when thar old coyote had it. We have reason to believe that both they and their machine are being held in a nearby warehouse."
Galve nods. "If so... what do we need to do?" He asks the onvbvious question.
Mal sighs and shakes his head, opting to continue this conversation with the Shark...later.
The Coyote's eyes narrow and he tenses ever so slightly. It's not like he runs around dropping his name like that. As quickly as it came, the suspicion is gone, swept under a grin. "Please; Mr. Wright is my father," he jokes, before falling silent again, content to hear what needs doing.
The shark's eyebrows stay raised throughout the conversation. "I suppose you want to us to take it back? Do you also want us to rough the guys who took it up or do you prefer if we reacquire the artifact and its owners in silence, seems to be a theme that goes around here." She flashes a smile.
"For now," the fox says, "I require only information." He points to a door on the far side of the lavishly appointed room. "Outside that door is a gated warehouse that was manned, until very recently, by a small shipping company. In the last week it seems to have come under new ownership and I suspect our missing Fleshcrafter and his remarkable machine are there. All I need from you is a confirmation of the precense of the machine or the coyote and mole operators inside, along with a scouting of the occupant's numbers and information on their dispersal. I leave the methods and means in your hands. Think you can manage?"
Galve nods. "Alright.... I don't know if I'm cut out for this particular mission.... but sure."
Mal nods. "Shouldn't be a problem," he says, looking to the door, then to his companions for the duration of the contract. The Coyote pats himself down, slipping his hands into various pockets as he takes inventory of his available equipment.
Elizabeth nods along. "Sure, should not be an issue, more used to recon in the woods, but its the same thing basically." She smirks. "Just with crates instead of bushes."
The fox nods and gestures toward the door. "Don't let me keep you," he says with a smile that is not exactly friendly. He steps to the door and holds it open, revealing a tiny, walled courtyard that points out to a street. Across the way is a ten foot high, brick wall, the second story of a warehouse peeking over the top of wide, sturdy, and very locked gates.
Galve nods. While they were all still gathered, he looked at the walls. "Hmm.... I wonder if there are any guards.... Could one of you scale that wall? We need in..." He asks, trying to figure out what to do.
The Coyote nods and makes his way into the courtyard, throwing open his coat to reveal the arsenal of weaponry beneath. Might as well keep his tools within easy reach...
"Let's see, let's see," Mal murmurs, stepping forward to survey the scene. How easily could one climb the wall, where are the guards...you know, the stuff you normally look for when planning a break-in.
Elizabeth follows the others into the courtyard, but seems to only half listen to them as she rubs her hands together for a short moment, then takes to a short sprint towards the wall, pressing her boot against it as reaches it, to give herself a boost to reach the top of it, from where she plans to access the situation.
Shliek rotates his spine, making a few light crackles before he gets up from his sitting position and hops off the table. He walks outside and addresses the other quietly, speaking in a high and oily voice. "Is someone in a soul appropriate for unlocking the gate? That would remove the necessesity of scaling the wall." He passes a glance towards the shark who seems to be rusuing ahead.
While there is not much to see from down below, aside from the wide, closed gates, Elizabeth has no trouble scrambling up to the top of the wall. From her perch, the shark can see a large work yard, that would usually be full of workers and pack animals, but things are pretty quiet in the heavy rain. The large doors of the warehouse are closed, but a smaller side door seems to be open, just a crack. The second storey has a number of tall windows, though all of them on this side of the building seem to be closed. Besides, a leap from here to the building would be out of the question. There are a few tarp covered stacks of crates that are within jumping distance though.
At the far corner of the building there is a sound of splashing footsteps. Guards, probably on their rounds.
Galve pulls up his cloak and rushes across the street to stand in the shadows by the gate. He wasn't nimble enough to scale that wall... so he'd wait for someone to open the gates from inside.
Mal grimaces as the Shark scrambles onto the wall, before shaking his head and climbing up as well. No way he's going to be able to pick that lock from over here, besides, a higher vantage point IS handy...
Elizabeth squint around the area for a moment, before nodding and deeming it safe. "The air is clear, as they say. You guys coming?" She secures her position on top of the wall and extends her arm, offering to pull up the less agile beings, as a way to circumvent the gate altogether.
Shliek shakes his head as others start to climb the wall. Too much effort for him, and he has at least 3 more feet to climb than the rest. Eyeing the muddy ground created by the rain, he moves over to the gate and starts digging with his claws towards the middle, trying to create enough room for him to slip under them.
It is not difficult for Mal to scale the wall, especially as Elizabeth boosts him to the top. Shliek, on the other hand, runs into a bit of trouble. The mud is not quite muddy enough, and the little lizard finds himself wedged tightly under the gates!
Meanwhile a pair of large beings shrouded in oilskins turn the corner. "Hey!" one cries, pointing a meaty paw at the wall, "You! Get down from there!"
Galve hears the commotion going on inside and wishes he could do more... but was stuck on this side of the wall and gate
Elizabeth jumps down the wall, onto the side the two beings are on. "Of course. I did not mean to intrude of course. May I introduce myself? Arika Whisperwind and this is my associate," She gestures towards Mal, "Reinhard Stonebeard. We could not help but notice how lightly staffed this warehouse of yours is and wondered if you are taking new hires. Since the gate was locked and nobody was in sight to ask, we thought it would be a good idea to jump the wall to find someone to talk to." The shark's smile is confident as she talks. "In retrospect, maybe not the best way to make a good first impression with a potential employer." She raises her voice. "Now, would you come down here as well, Reinhard?"
Mal swears quietly and looks from the guards to Elizabeth, letting the Shark take the lead on this. The Coyote hesitates for a moment before hopping down beside the Shark, nodding along with a pleasant, confident grin as he slips his hands into his pockets, ready in case this ruse doesn't work.
Shliek wriggles his body and digs with all four limbs to try and free himself from the gate. He hopes the other two who have alighted from the wall keep the guards distracted long enough for him to free himself and hide.
The guards lumber over, hazy forms in the rain resolving into two, huge, shaggy bears that might be twins. Each carries a heavy polearm and they regard Elizabeth suspiciously. "We weren't expecting anybody, right?" he asks his companion, keeping his eye on the shark and the coyote, "I don't like the look of em." They look at each other and level their weapons. "You better come with us."
Poor Shliek is still trapped, and Galve has only the lizard's backside for company, though he can hear the voices across the wall.
Galve hmms. He eyes the lizard's rump... he hustles over and prepares to help shove the stuck lizard through....
Elizabeth raises her arms at the threatening pose of the two guards, smile still confident. "Ah, I think there is a misunderstanding here." She takes a step closer to them. "We did not make an appointment or anything, did we, Reinhard?" Another step. "We just saw that this warehouse is in use, but lacking staff, is all." Another step, the shark now has poistioned herself dangerously close to the tip of the halberd of one of them. "But the two of you clearly do a fine job guarding this place here, so we should not bother you anymore, should we?" Elizabeth slowly lets her hands fall. "Right, Reinhard?" She pronounces the name sharper than before, a subtle hint. Her hands continue to slowly sink, until they are at the height of the halberd, which she quickly grabs, pulls and should she free it, use to assault the guard that still has his weapon.
Mal purses his lips and glares at Elizabeth, reluctantly continuing to follow the Shark's lead. "Of course, sirs," he says, quietly gripping a throwing knife in his coat, looking for a cue from Elizabeth. "Of course, Whisperwind," he says, eyes narrowing as he whips the throwing knife at the unoccupied guard.
Shliek continues scrabbling at the ground, unsure if he is making any progress or not. As a final ditch effort, he sucks in what gut he has and heaves forward, pushing himself forward with all his might.
Between his last effort and the shove from Galve, Shliek slides out from under the gate with a muddy squelch, leaving him exposed in the rain a few feet from the stiil closed gate.
Elizabeth is not so lucky, finding herself at a stalemate with the bear she tried to steal the halberd from! Both of them with firm grips, trying to wrest control from the other! The second bear is less fortunate, as he sprouts a shiny new knife from his shoulder. He grunts in pain, then turns to lumber toward the warehouse! "Attack!" he roars, "We're under attack! Thieves! Robbers!"
