Despite only having a few hours to plan the quick witted rapscallion had run through his plan several times over.  He knew what he and Mary would do, he was good at guessing how ordinary people would react to seemingly ordinary events, yet, never did he imagine the events to unfold like this.  Finn has lived in the fringe for a few years.  Without the privileged life of money to finance a magical education he was forced to learn bits and pieces here and there from whatever teacher was available at that moment, and that usually meant not being choosy about his work to pay for lessons.  So Razell is no stranger to 'dark work', to a muddied moral code, but, and this is big, this is the first time he has accepted such a large sum of money for a professional job to do no good and where he was the architect of the scheme.  Its dangerous and also thrilling, and he is in love with it.

Just a heartbeat after tossing his hands into the air an arrow goes whizzing by so close that he swears he can feel the fletching brush his fingers.  He wills himself not to grin as the horsed riders take the bait and bolt after their fleeing phantom, and he spares himself no time to ponder just how much time will this little ruse by them?

By instinct Finn reads the situation and he knows where the next monster lays curled like a sleeping serpent, ready to fell their hopes and dreams.  If the driver investigates the door too vigorously their hand is exposed.  Finn strides forward to grab the man's attention, an angry look framing his face.  This was the first rule of running a con, do not be memorable, but the young grifter must prioritize.  ”Hey.  What the fuck??!!  Your pals almost killed me.”


OOC:
Talk to the driver.  I want him focused on me, not the carriage door and not his buddies but the second point is a secondary goal.  I can live without that one.  The main objective is to keep him from getting a serious look at the carriage door, or actually looking inside and seeing the prisoner.

My plan is to walk up to the carriage and play the part of the disgruntled citizen, who almost got seriously injured by their shenanigans.  Look angry but non violent.  My hands are visibly no where near my weapons.  Attempt to get within 1 hex.  If I can get within 1 or 2 hexes, attempt to district him.  Something like a, “Oh my God, is that Elvis”?  All I need is 1 second.  If he is distracted, cast Apportation on him.  Its a resisted spell.  The overall plan is to cast and hope I get him within 1-3 tries.  If so, lift him into the air.  Jump in the drivers seat and take off.

Do I know where Mary is?

With a hand on the rail of the driver's seat the last of the Alchemist's 'guards' steps down to the cobbles beneath him and takes a step towards the back of the carriage.  Knowing that he must keep the ruse alive for yet a little longer, Finn does his best to distract the man and keep him from seeing through their tricks.

As Finn speaks to him, the man turns to face him.  It doesn't take much to know that this man was no pushover.  His body is thick and barrel chested, his arms practically the same width as Finn's leg.  His face is disfigured horribly, some scar or burn that starts at his left jaw line and crawls across his face up to his temple and high on his cheek, spreading even to a deep red patch on the corner of the white of his eye.

"And if you prefer being almost killed,"  The man says with no anger in his voice though he points his war hammer directly at Finn.  "Then you had better walk away."

Behind him, Finnn can still hear the distant clattering of hooves with voices projected in hisses across the night.

"Where the fuck did they go?"

"You go that way!"

OOC:  It has been about another 3 second.  You are now 3 yards away from the last guard and he is looking directly at you with a readied war hammer.  Note that if you wish to cast your spell from here you have a -3 to skill due to range.  Also note that with your skill you have to make hand gestures and speak so it might be more obvious to tell what you are doing.  Mary is about 7 yards away from you, still in her spot on the ground, though you would know she needs to concentrate intently in order to make her illusion move.

No one has to tell Finn what's at stake.  Being this close to the carriage it is as he expected, there is a small window in the carriage door, a hole perhaps four inches square.  If the driver were to look inside it'd take no time to see that the bird never flew the coop and then he'd be singing like a canary and his friends would hoove it back shortly.  That means curtains for these actors.

While Mary and Razell had not specifically detailed their plans for what comes after the rabbit runs it is fortuitous that Finn knows magic.  He understands that Mary needs time to maneuver her creations.  For these illusions to run proper, that is not run floating on air or run through a wall, or to just move for that matter, she must shut out all else and still her mind.  Finn assumes that while he was spying on the dock she spent her time scouting this area to have a feel for where to move her phantoms in a realistic manner.

His options are obvious to him.  Finn is, what would be called in the trades, a novice.  He knows many spells but masters would call them cantrips.  He could magic this driver off his feet to hover helplessly in the air, he could get behind this man and puncture his lungs with an expertly placed knife or even slit his throat.  But this man is not unwise, anything less than an incapacitating move would leave him free to scream his head off and without a bustling shopping crowd to blanket the mans noise his mounted friends would return in no time.  No, what is called for here is a diversion.  Finn needs to stall the man to give Mary time.

A few practiced options run through his mind before settling on one.  He wants this mans attention solely focused upon him and not the inside of that rolling jail, and he would prefer that the man get tangled into some long lasting debate.  And that means an extended discussion, or something that is confusing and disorienting.  Finn smiles as he picks out what he believes to be just the thing.  ”Mmmm.  Aren't you strong, and fierce.  Such a man.”


OOC:
Yes, I am flirting with him.   Its not what you say, its how you say it.  This is the first level of flirting, meaning its intent is to catch his attention and make him wonder if I am flirting.  I want him focused on me, and his reaction doesn't matter.  Whether he is into it, spends time thinking about it then brushes me off or gets offended and wants to rebuke me, any outcome is good as long as it wastes time.

Do not move unless he makes a move closer to investigate the carriage.

Deciding to take a nonstandard approach, Finn stays his ground and attempts to flirt with the barrel-chested black man.  While it does not seem to go well...  That serves Finn's purposes just fine.

"What the fuck did you say?"  The black man had been about to turn away, back towards the carriage but instead steps forward to Finn, choking his right hand up on his warhammer and lifting it up over his right shoulder in a position ready to strike.  "I told you to walk away.  Now if you want to live through the night, I suggest you do just that, or I might mistake you for inciting violence and be compelled to protect myself..."  The man's eyes bulge and his nostrils flare with anger.

Finn's mind is streaming with self-congratulation even as the man approaches him with a death glare.  For this con is all about buying time, and letting Mary work her magic.  And it is not so long, before Finn is proved right.

It first seems to be a blur of motion, but then the figure congeals together in space and Finn sees the same image of Mary's conjured warrior, this time without the prisoner.  The thing is running at an inhuman speed, getting closer, closer.

"Gah!"  The black man struggles to get a muffled word out as the thing springs in a flying leap onto his back!  The collision is violent, though somehow, even though he was unaware, the real man manages to keep his balance as he stumbles forward towards Finn.  The illusion has his arms wrapped around the warrior's neck and left arm, for the moment, riding piggyback style, with it's knees cradled about the warrior's hips.

Looking to his right, Finn realizes that Mary is now on her feet, although still in intense concentration.

OOC:  Ok, so the bad guy is grappled by the illusion around the neck and arm while riding piggy back style.  They are now about 1 yard away from you at this point and facing your direction.  You have the option of either engaging in combat, running towards the carriage, running away, or anything else you can think of.  If you want combat then give me two rounds, otherwise go ahead and post your general actions and I'll take care of them appropriately.

The rough looking man takes the bait and Finn must work to thwart the smile which itches to dance across his face.  It is exactly what he wanted.  To confuse the man, or pique his sexual interest or raise his ire and make him think about giving Razzel a black eye, there is no bad outcome as long as he spends time engaging Finn and not looking inside that damned wood and iron cell.

“...or I might mistake you for inciting violence and be compelled to protect myself...", the barrel chested thick armed man states coldly and already Finn is planning the fancy footwork that will keep him just out of range with that mean looking hammer.  He has no intention of loosing any teeth.  But then a shadowy image emerges from nowhere and jumps on the mans back!

Two ideas instantly bubble to the surface of his mind.  First, he could run.  He and Mary could jump on the carriage and take off with it.  But what of the man?  No thought is required to know that if he isn't dealt with he may yell and raise an alarm to his friends.  Second, he could kill this man.  True Dirk warned them not to engage but that was one on one, right?  Dirk would have said to do so carefully if any of them were wrestling a monkey on their back.  Surely.

With the practiced precision of a street fighter Finn's knife is in his hand, next moment he is lashing out.


OOC:
Fast Draw knife.  Step in CC.

Round 1:
I know its risky but Finn lives dangerously.  I am hoping that this first round he is paying more attention to the thing on his back than me.  AoA for +4 to hit, target Vitals.  Burn fatigue for +2 damage.

Round 2:
Depends on the results of Round 1.  We can halt and let me pick a new tactic or you can NPC me.  The goal in round 1 is to do something crippling.  If that worked, ie he is stunned, knocked down, etc, pour it on.  Go for the throat, figuratively.  I did not go for the throat in round 1 because the phantoms arm was in the way.  If I missed, or only scratched him and he's on to me, do a normal attack and defense, but still burn fatigue for +2 damage.  If I missed on Round 1 and it looks like he is totally focused on the phantom, repeat the tactics from round 1.

This message was last edited by the player at 21:36, Tue 25 Apr 2017.

Never one to pass up the opportunity to take advantage, Finn flicks his dagger from its sheath and thrusts out madly right in the warrior's stomach, caught up as he is with the force on top of him, the man never sees it coming, and the knife plunges almost hilt deep between the man's ribs!  Blood vomits from the wound, spattering Finn in the initial, violent spray.

His voice choked from without, the warriors screams silently with his eyes, falling back slowly atop the illusionary man as the warhammer drops to the ground, narrowly missing Finn's foot as it thuds to the cobbles.

His eyes wild with glee, Finn pulls his hand back for another stab, hoping to put the man permanently down.  He thrusts out, though this time he misses wildly in his zeal, instead slashing the blade across the illusion's cheek.  At first Finn feels the skin giving way to bone, but within a moment, the image shudders and disappears into nothingness.

A few yards to his right, Mary gasps in surprise, her back turned as she is approaching the carriage.

Horrified at his mistake, Finn readies himself for the next blow, when he realizes it may not be required, for the black skinned warrior is lying on his back, unconscious.

"Where the fuck are they?"  Finn hears a voice call out in the night.

OOC: What a disparate two rounds of fighting.  On the first round, you successfully took advantage of your 'dirty trick' that avoided an active defense from the warrior (his attention was diverted), not to mention he critically failed his attempt to break free from the grapple.  You rolled max damage, and then he failed his knockdown/stun roll by 7.  The second round I had you go for a killing shot, you nearly critically failed, and then rolled a 6 on your 'wild swing' shot to hit the illusion since he was in the same hex...  Luckily your foe was already unconscious.  You are down 1 more fatigue from the feverish attack.  The warrior is bleeding heavily, though has started breathing again after the illusion disappeared.  Combat is essentially over, you can go back to giving me general actions.  It has been about 30 seconds now since you first made your diversion.

Finn watches the blade sink in and the man topple over.  His gaze is intently fixed upon the shadowy form dissipate as he strikes it with his knife, and while his knowledge of illusory magic is minimal it is as he would have guessed.  But it is no matter for the job is done, their driver is down and he cannot call out an alarm.

Grinning as he sheathes his knife Finn flicks a chin towards the high wooden seat.  ”Get in.  We're out 'a here.”


OOC:
A hit with max damage.  Boo-ya, its exactly what I was hoping for.

Put knife in sheath.  As quickly as possible jump into the drivers seat of the carriage and get it rolling.  As quickly as possible I want to turn down a side street in the opposite direction the horsed guards went.  If we make it without them coming back and giving chase, head in a zig zagging fashion for about 8-10 blocks away from the horsed men.  If it looks like we lost them temporarily stop and work on the lock.  My overall plan is as we discussed – pick the lock and have Mary work her way with the alchemist towards the safehouse on foot.  I will take the carriage on ahead as a distraction and when it seems safe, cast Shapeshift Falcon to make my getaway.

The voice of the guard we just heard - whats our best guess as to how far away he sounds?

This message was last edited by the player at 02:04, Wed 26 Apr 2017.

Leaping up onto the carriage, Finn takes the reins and gently nudges the horses forward, trying to take the medium road between a quick escape and a silent one.  Mary whisks onto the seat beside him and without fanfare the three are off.

The horses start their way forward, clopping their hooves across the cobbles as the wheels of the carriage shudder and bounce up the roadway.  Horrified at the noise they are making, Finn only hopes that the other two men are far enough away, or are making enough noise themselves so that they are unable to hear the sounds of the escape.

Slowly, painfully, Finn rounds a corner, and then another, then heads for a ways down a narrow access road before he slows the carriage to a stop between two large buildings.  Now both of the thieves make their way towards the door, and Finn pulls out the picks and places his lever at the bottom of the lock and thrusting the rod towards the back as he feels for the pins.  Gently he brushes back and forth until he feels a satisfying give and wrenches the door open.

The man in black sits there, black cloth still over his head, with manacles clamped around his wrists that are chained together as well as manacles and chains that bind his legs.  To make matters worse, there is another length of iron chain that wraps around each of those and is secured to the floorboards by an iron eyelet and a padlock.

Finn's heart sinks as he counts a total of five more locks to pick...

"Oh we don't have time for this!"  Mary grunts as she pushes Finn out of the way and channels her magic again with a few whispered words.  "Ferum spiritus!"

The shackles and chains fall to the floor of the carriage like so much refuse, sinking clear through the prisoner's clothing and skin Mary pulls the bag off the man's head revealing a weather beaten face, unshaven and exhausted.

Mary is looking quite exhausted herself...

"Come on!"  Mary pulls the man up from the seat and out into the night beyond.

"Hunna why ursa ying."  The man speaks, though Finn is at a loss for the moment to understand.

"Come on!"  Mary repeats again, her voice urgent as she pulls the man up and leads him out into the side street and away from the carriage.

Intently happy, but not surprised that things are going so well, Finn jumps back up into the drivers seat after closing the door of the carriage and latching it and whips the reins hard this time sending the carriage lurching forward.

OOC:  The voice was hard to tell exactly how far it was, but you would guess several blocks away.  You travelled about 6 blocks and found a spot in an access road that worked out to keep you hidden well enough for a short period of time.  Nice work on the lock picking roll, it only took you about 40 seconds to get the thing open.  You haven't heard anything from the other fighters at this point.  What's your plan as to where to take the carriage?  Are you going to keep going further away, find a main road, go back towards where you found the carriage?  The safehouse is several blocks southwest from where you are now.  You guys have been traveling northwest since you took the carriage.

With the precision as if they have worked together for years the man and woman jump onto the flat board seat of the wooden and iron rolling jail, Finn snatches up the reins and grins at the attractive girl.  Then he winks.  He snaps his wrists and holds back the customary 'Yah!' in favor of as silent an escape as they can manage.

Finn steers the creaking metal trimmed box making turns every few blocks, eager to put some distance between them and the last known location of the mobile prison.  As the pair wobble back and forth in the shaky wooden seat Finn eyes the woman carefully, appraising her.  He smiles.  ”Nice work Mary.  We make a good team.  Great even.  Fucking fantastic.  Where'd you learn your craft?”

And in no time they reach a spot well suited for the next phase of their plan.  Razzel makes short work of the door lock and as he pulls it open it is as he suspected, their mark is chained about the hands and feet and those chains are bolted to the floorboards.  It was an easy guess, its what he would have done.  He wrinkles up one side of his face wondering how long this will take as finding just the right spot varies from lock to lock.  But before he can jump knee deep into this laborious chore Mary steps forward and somehow magics the man free.  Finn whistles and offers rhetorically, ”Whew lady.  I'm as happy as a dapper Pappy that 'ol Dirk picked you.  Now skedaddle.”

In parting the old man says something but Finn pays it no mind.  He doesn't have time for lessons in gibberish.  So hopping back up on the thick board serving as the drivers seat Finn again flicks the reins.


OOC:
Since we traveled NW after taking the carriage and the safehouse is SW from that point, I will turn to travel due north about 8 blocks and then due east until I reach the road on which the men were originally traveling on.   In other words I want to end on the same road where we found them, just north of the position that we stole the carriage from.  If I do not see them by this time get off the carriage and find a hiding spot nearby.  Look for something I can climb so that I can see them if they find the carriage but it would be very hard to see me.  Something like a 1 story building would be ideal.  Hard to see me in the dark but I have a great view of them, and if they spotted me it would be easy to cast Shapeshift and fly away.  Sit there for 5 minutes.

The goal is to not get caught and not shot at.  If at any point I see or hear two riders approach me halt the carriage and cast Shapeshift.   If I make it to my desired spot and wait my five minutes and do not see them, cast Shapeshift.

This message was last edited by the player at 09:38, Thu 27 Apr 2017.

Mary and the alchemist start their way towards the safe house with slow steps, perhaps because they are trying to glean as little attention as possible or perhaps because Mary is capable of little haste after her bout of intense spell casting.

As for Finn, he jumps back into the carriage, heading north along the access road and then turning back to the east to intercept the main road that goes north towards the cathedral.

As he turns back northward it does not take long for Finn to find where the men are.  He sees a brief glimpse dozens of buildings down the road of two horses, and two men wearing black.  One of the men is still mounted, the other on his knees beside his horse and Finn does not need to guess to know that there is a third man beside them, laying down in the road, unconscious with a knife wound in his vital organs...

With a slap, Finn drops the reins hard on the horses' rumps bringing them into a full canter as he rounds the corner.

"There they are!"  Finn hears from all the way down the road.

Hoof beats clatter on the cobbles, mostly from his own horses, but Finn knows that one of the men is already likely in hot pursuit.  Sure that his diversion is now complete, Finn channels his magic, attempting to return to his bird form for the second time this night.  But the magic fizzles in his hands.  His heart skips a beat, but Finn knows it is a fluke.  One further time he channels the mana and says with force, "morphus aviani!" and for the second time today Finn finds himself sprouting feathers and claws.

The cart still rumbling underneath him, Finn considers his options.

OOC:  Ok, I didn't want to take you beyond what you had specifically said in the last post.  You have successfully cast shapeshift after one failed attempt.  You are at 1/2 ST, Move and Dodge due to fatigue but that will not affect your ability to physically fly.  Where do you want to go from here?  It is really hard to judge distance at night, but you are not concerned about them catching up to you immediately.  You would guess their range at over 100 yards.

To the casual observer one might have watched this whole affair; the acceptance of the job, the planning, the re-planning and the execution and wonder how in the world it all went so well.  But not to Finn Razzel, he's never doubted his or Mary's abilities for a moment and knew that his scheming was so cunning, so brilliant that there was no way they could fail.

And here he is, now, having succeeded in the finding the last two guards.  Mary and the alchemist need a few more minutes to safely secure their way into the safehouse.  Its impossible that these men, should they be unencumbered from worry about their compatriot and Finn, randomly head southwest and blunder into Mary before she reaches solace.  Still, Finn is smart enough to think to himself...Sometimes the unpossible happens!  He needs to delay these men just a little longer.


OOC:
The plan is to get these men to focus on me for a few minutes, and to not get shot.  Stay high enough to keep out of range of melee and small thrown weapons such as knives.  Keep an eye on the bow.  I don't want to rely on dodge since I am so tired.  The plan is to fly up and look for something to land on that gives me cover.  Such as if there is a building with a flat roof and that roof has a ledge, land on the roof so that the ledge gives me cover.  When the men approach closer I am assuming bow guy is trying to get off a shot.  As he is slowing down, hopefully before he can draw an arrow, fly off and use the same tactics, just land with cover 50 yards away.

Try to keep them busy for 5 minutes then head to the safehouse.  If the terrain does not work with my plans and it appears that I cannot find suitable cover while staying high, then abandon the plan to stay close and distract them.  In this case I will fly off north and once out of sight circle around to the safehouse and wait for Mary and the alchemist.

Finn launches himself from the carriage in a great swoop, spreading his wings as he glides down a narrow alleyway before flapping his in a few strong beats to propel him up to the rooftops where he arcs swiftly around once and lands his clawed feet on the edge of the rooftop, glaring at the rider that approaches from the south.

Now, many would think that because falcons are diurnal, or because they hunt during the day, that they would not be able to see as well at night.  However, their vision is superior to humans on more than just the account of their long range focus.  For falcon's cone cells, those which deal with high visual acuity and are concentrated at the very back of the eye can use not only the visual spectrum of humans, but also ultraviolet light.  They also have a great deal more of these cells than humans and their eyes are focused entirely differently, allowing for less light to do the same work and at longer ranges.  While certainly they prefer to hunt during the day when their greatest sense is at their prime, these birds have been known to migrate for days at a time, never losing their altitude as they glide through updrafts that take them across entire continents.  This is a good thing for Finn, who until this night had never attempted this particular shape with no light...

The rider approaches the carriage warily as the horses slowly clatter to a stop with no driver to encourage them on.  He holds his bow ready in his left hand with an arrow already nocked although the bow is not yet pulled taught.  The man seems to have taken no notice of Finn, who is perched high overhead and a few houses down, viewing with relative impunity.  The blonde man looks through the doorway of the carriage first, searching a few moments before he moves up to the drivers seat, searching again before he eventually kicks himself over from his stirrup and turns the cart around, pulling his own horse using the reins as a lead.  It is not an easy task with only one hand to use, but eventually the man gets the cart reoriented and makes his way back around to the others, who are still crouched in the street some hundreds of yards further down.

His hearing not quite the level of his vision, Finn is unable to hear the conversation, but eventually watches as the two men help the third, who seems barely in control of his faculties, into the back of the carriage, One of the men takes a seat as the driver and lashes the horses forward, making haste back in the direction of Finn.  The last man, the rider, is back upon his horse, flanking the carriage at first.  By the time they pass where Finn is still perched the carriage continues its journey north, where the rider with the bow turns westward, seemingly riding aimlessly down the side roads and streets.

After more than five minutes, Finn is confident that neither has he been seen, nor have Mary and the alchemist anything to worry about, so he takes wing back into the skies, landing a short walk from the safe house, where he ends his spell early, and though the drain on his body is exhausting, he convinces his feet forwards and up into the safe house...

On the top floor, Finn finds Mary slumped in a chair, with the alchemist curled into a small ball in a corner, his arms wrapped around his shins and his cheek resting on one of his knees.  The man has a far away look and does not even seem to notice the opening and closing of the door as Finn enters.

At the sound of the door, Mary looks up, and gives Finn a weak smile.  "I think there are a few things that Dirk neglected to tell us about this job."  She says plainly.

Finn is tickled when he transforms into a bird and finds a nice out-of-the-way spot to view his adversaries safely, which is to say due to his small form and the darkened sky he is very difficult to spy.  He observes and when it seems that he has delayed them enough he flies off to rejoin his partner.

As he walks the steps to the safehouse he wonders what he will find.  Has the alchemist resisted?  Is he in a gibbering giddy state and happily spilling trade secrets while Mary hurriedly notes them in a small book?  But as Razzel enters the room he finds something a bit odd.  The man is sitting like a statue and Mary offers only a cryptic statement.

Finn returns her smile, unintentionally weak as he is drained as well.  ”You're amazing Miss.  Simply stunning.”  The young mans head turns from her to the prisoner and he just stares at the almost comatose man for a long moment.  Then with deliberate steps Finn moves to him, but turns to look back at Mary.  He nods in agreement.  ”I was thinkin' the same.  Didnt see how they did it but the driver's back on his feet.  So what's his story?”, Finn says as he points a thumb at the rescued alchemist.

He is so tired, almost exhausted to the point where he cannot move.  Its been a long time since his magic has made him this fatigued, probably since he was pushing himself the border of his limits to test his strength while training a few years back.  He knows he needs rest but first he wants answers.


OOC:
You said the third was “barely in control of his faculties” as he was helped into the carriage.  So the driver that I stabbed, he regained consciousness and made it to his feet?

Lock the door with the full security available.

"Thanks," Mary smiles weakly.  "You too."

She nods her head at Finn's information, though she doesn't seem to so much as to comment on their foes managing to get their last member back up to full strength.

When he asks about their Alchemist, however, she shakes her head in frustration.  "Well, first I don't know where he's from, but it's not anywhere near here.  Whatever he's speaking is the weirdest dialect of Anglish I've ever heard.  I didn't recognize where he said he was from either.  But you can just understand him if he speaks real slow and you pretend like he can't move his tongue right...  But that's not the part I don't understand.  Practically the only information we had on this guy was that he was an alchemist, but I don't think that's right...  I asked him all sorts of questions about potions and he didn't seem to have a clue what I was talking about... maybe it's the language barrier again, but I don't think so...  When I straight out asked him what he did, or what he was good at, he made hand motions like he was a fire mage, but he doesn't have lick of magic in him.  I just don't get what is going on."

OOC:  Yup, the third dude (the one you practically gutted) was helped to his feet using another of the men as a crutch and was helped into the back of the carriage before driving off.  You can consider the door locked, barred, barricaded and booby trapped.

Finn takes in Mary's statements.  He hasn't worked with her long but the young man feels as though he's grown to know her, at least as well as one can in a few hours.  To him anyway she seems a responsible, mature and honest individual, and because of this he takes her opinion at face value.  And this troubles him.  Had Dirk been deceiving them?  Or was their debriefing the very limit of what Dirk and his kind know?  More over it gives Finn pause to wonder who Dirk represents.  All along Razzel was assuming that Dirk is an operative for the infamous Murderers Row, a underground organization that Finn would love to work for, but now he isn't so sure.

The young man turns his attention back to the alchemist.  Finn calls out to him.  ”Ey.”  Finn snaps his fingers aggressively in front of the mans face.  "Focus.  Up here."  Finn points to his eyes.  ”You can understand me?  What's your name?”


OOC:
The guy I stabbed, from my point of view, does it look like he was healed in some way?   Or did he move as a man who is severely injured?  Trying to determine if one or more of them is a mage.

This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 05:31, Thu 04 May 2017.

It takes the man sitting in the corner a moment to realize Finn is talking to him, but the quick snap in his face grabs his attention and after shaking his head for a moment, he responds in a similar, slow speech.  "My name Behar..  Were ham I?"

OOC:  The guy who you stabbed was being helped under a shoulder by another of the men, and then sat in the carriage rather than get back in the driver's seat.  You would assume he was still hurt.  You would guess that they other guys may have had upwards of a few minutes to look after him before they saw you based on the amount of time it took to get the prisoner out of his restraints.

Finn does the math internally.  This man's speech is slow, choppy and sounds funny.  He seems to have no knowledge of the workings of making potions, powders and pastilles.  He doesn't know where he is, which isn't that surprising seeing the manner in which he was transported.  Still, it didn't add up as Mary so succinctly pointed out.

Finn purses his lips and thinks for a long moment.  Then making sure he has the mans attention he speaks slowly and clearly.  Razzel points a finger into his own chest.  ”Roabbi”  Next Finn turns to his associate and is about to point to her when it occurs to him that she might have already exchanged names and he doesn't wish to begin this relationship with the mistrust of lies.  He turns back to the man.  ”You are in the city of Azer. On the island of Dyecastle.”  He almost doesn't think to add somewhat stupidly as it goes without saying.  ”In the country of Megalos.   Do you know how you got to be on that ship.”


OOC:
Sorry if I am beating a dead horse about the driver.  So sounds like the driver is conscious but from my vantage point still hurt.  I am trying to gauge how scared to do I need to be as Finn about them finding this hideout based on if they magically healed him.  But sounds like it could have been minor healing through spells or potions, or maybe just first aid?  I.e., not several castings of major heal?

I would like to find out as much as I can from this man.  Ask the following:  who is he (profession)?  Where is he from?   Why is he a prisoner?  Who are his captors and where were they taking him?  Do they have the means to track and find him (magical or a billion coin at their disposal)?

I will attempt to draw up a chair and rest while I am conversing with Behar.

In the interest of fostering trust I will volunteer or answer simple questions.  I will not name anything specific, for instance I will not name Mary or Dirk by name, but I will tell him that we were hired to steal him from those men and were told he is an alchemist.  When I named myself as "Roabbi" I am doing so with a face that says 'I'm not giving you my real name but you can call me Roabbi', if he can read between the lines.

The man, Behar, is subdued, his lower back still resting against the corner of the room though he lets his arms fall as he pushes his knees slightly forward.  When Finn tells him where they are, the man simply shakes his head as he looks down.  He does begin to answer Finn's questions, speaking slowly and gesturing somewhat as he speaks.

"Due"  The man holds up two fingers.  "wicks ago I come due be... her.  A furs tit seem, pipple wore kind.  I wuss given feud aunt taken in by sum back words family of farmers.  I did not yonder stand hem will but I yonder stood will in off hat day cud yous my yelp in ex Chang fir heir sir fizz.  At less un till I come due yonder stand his dram.  Hit wuss essay in off, hey wore bolding a bairn fir store edge an tea an E mauls an too ling a miss her able job of hit.  I soot gested hey odd crass braises"  He holds up his arms together, crossed at the forearms, making an 'X' shape.  "An pout en sum in suel elation, we mixed would pulpit wide sum glue an cove red hall the enter airier surf faces be fir nail ling in he enter airier wall.  Ye cud till low mulch bitter hit wuss goal ling due be be fur he ruff wuss elven pit en.  I think hey come rowing has hey sew how hit wuss shape ping up."

The man pauses for a moment, sighing and collecting his thoughts as he closes his eyes.

"Tree dais ago wuss win hey come, he men en plaque.  Aim not sewer if hey tacked due my ousts or not, won mow mint I wuss astounding hat di edge of dare filled, pissing an di nexus I had a big offer my hid, I wuss chalking...  here is ladle L shat I cone rem ember.  Hey kip time sum here dirk, could.  I thin yous tern day hey mowed me due di but, I wood nit staff noun if I cud nit fell he grown mowing yonder neat me.  We wore on it fir a dais I thin, he caving I wuss kip tin died not hove windy sis.  Hey mowed me due a courage...  hat wuss here you fund me."

The man stops for a moment, allowing Finn to ask more questions, slowly and one at a time.  First, Finn asks what he does, a question that takes multiple iterations and rewordings to finally come across, but eventually the man responds.

"Hey due gumbo emissions.  Beg boolians."  The man puts his hands together in front of his face with the fingers near touching and his wrists farther apart, making a sort of two sided triangle.  In the next moment his two forearms expand out and up, as his eyes look up at the ceiling.  "Hem peed due Brant hem dun stiffly so hat day dun hit only ting else.  Hat wuss beef eater.  I dun now wit I wool due now."

Moving on, Finn asks about where the man is from (Wassurlund, a place neither Finn nor Mary can place) the men who captured him, if they have heaps of money (he doesn't know) or if they have powerful magic to use to track him.  On this last question, no matter how many times Finn asks, or in how many different ways, the man seems absolutely dumbfounded and only continues to shake his head back and forth or respond with a shrug of his shoulders and a single raised eyebrow.

Looking back for help from Mary, Finn realizes that she has her eyes narrowed, with a single finger wedged between her teeth...  However, she does not offer anything just yet.

OOC:  Good luck reading that, rather than do IQ rolls for your character, I decided this would convey the point a little better, and keep away the dice in a place where they weren't exactly necessary.  Couple of things to keep in mind here:  Don't feel like you need to get super bogged down in the details here.

I'm happy to play this conversation for as long as you want, but the language barrier may prove to be difficult in getting some of the specific details you are looking for.  Also remember that you have essentially succeeded in your mission already, and while it's possible that there could be some mages involved in the bad side (certainly there would be at the war college, where they were going) the row also would have some powerful mages and their safe houses are be guarded against magical scrying.

I'll move forward when you are ready.  To answer your first question though, it is obvious that the man was not fully healed when he was helped up into the carriage but your attack on the man was impressive, catastrophic even.  You assess that there is no way that he could have been walking that quickly unless there was some level of magic involved.

Finn listens to the ragged looking man and finds it most difficult to glean any meaning from him.  Razzell is certain he can decipher a few words here and there but putting the puzzle together in any coherent manner proves near to impossible.  The young man asks Behar to repeat himself over several unintelligible words but the effort proves fruitless.

Finally, exasperated, he looks to his partner.



OOC:
Writing it out in sounds rather than gibberish and having me roll was way cooler and while frustrating, more fun.  I can't get shit out of what he's saying.

My main concern was that – if the guards magically healed the driver could they magically find us and bust in while Mary and I are exhausted, and told to run from them at all costs.  But sounds like my fears will not be realized.

You said something about the mission essentially being over.  If we're fairly certain that the guards can't track us  - either because they don't possess the magical means or the safehouse is magically guarded, or some combination of both, then I'm ready to move on to the next scene.

This message was lightly edited by the GM at 16:53, Thu 18 May 2017.

Back and forth the conversation goes for a little while, with Finn progressively asking shorter and shorter questions, and the answers get shorter as well.  He and Mary take turns asking the questions differently and trying to get as much information they can but after a half an hour, they give up as mostly a bad job.  What little they do glean from the conversation is that the man, Behar, does not know much about his captors, for they have kept him either underneath his bag or in a dark room since he was captured some three days ago.

The thing that is the most interesting, and frankly the most frustrating is that Behar keeps mentioning a time before he came here, before two weeks ago.  Asking where he was before and how he got here earn equally confusing answers, even the man's gestures seem to lack any real information.  In the end, Finn surmises that the man made some sort of long journey, and he strongly suspects magic was involved, though each time he asks questions to that effect it is Behar's turn to become completely befuddled.

"I still can't place the accent."  Mary sighs, sitting back in her chair and trying to get comfortable.  "It's almost like a whole different dialect.  Wonder if he's from the Northlands?  I hear they speak some Anglish up there...  Though he doesn't look much like a Barbarian."

And so the evening passes, hour after hour, until Finn is just ready to try and sleep a little to prepare himself for the morning.  It is just then that Finn hears a knock on their door.

"Open up!  It's Dirk!"  The voice is harried and though it is not loud, the hissed command gives the impression that the man without is shouting.  "We have a problem!"

Mary snaps awake from a slight doze in her chair and darts a cautious look in Finn's direction.

OOC:  It's about 2300 on December 15th.  To the best of your ability the voice outside sounds like the man you were hired by.  You did not discuss which safe house you were going to be using tonight with him, only the options you had available.

Something wasn't adding up.  This man didn't seem to know anything about potions but then again neither did Finn.  Still, one doesn't need to know the biology or psychology of a tiger to recognize one.  For lack of a better word this man seemed useless, so if he wasn't some kind of property, stolen and transported here for his skill or knowledge then what was he doing here?  Was he a prisoner?  Seemed like a lot of trouble for a man with nothing to offer.  So then if he's not the alchemist they were looking for what's his story?  And if this is some kind of giant mix up then what does this say about the Murderers Row?  Then it hits him.  Razzel has a sudden flash of insight, what if Dirk and his cronies are not from the Row?  But Finn being who he is pays this little mind.

Finn tries and tries to get some meaning from the man and despite his tenacity its like squeezing blood from a rock.  Eventually, frustrated and tired, Finn gives up and lays his body down for sleep as he awaits the next phase of their mission.

There is a loud stern knock on the door followed by an announcement from their employer.  Finn opens his eyes, aware that the hour is late but unsure just how much time has passed since their arrival.  His first thought is to run since this ploy is exactly what Finn would do.  The most effective way to break in somewhere is to disguise oneself as ones victim's employer.

Next the short phrase hits him with its full weight, which he was too sleepy to decipher when it was uttered.  "We have a problem!"   Of course we fucking do you twat, Razzel thinks to himself.  Already Mary is stirring.  Finn breathes a sigh of relief as he realizes that Dirk can take the so called alchemist off their hands, fix this mess and pay them.  The coin owed him will go a long way to his highly coveted magical lessons.

Finn stands and heads for the door...


OOC:
Finn will whisper to Mary his intent and hope she follows his lead.  1, make sure the alchemist is in a spot where he can't get the jump on us.  Seated on his ass on the other side of the room from the door is preferable.  2, I will get out my knife and stand so that I am behind the door when its opened.  Mary will open the door.  This way if its a trick I can jump out from behind the door or kick it into him or slam it closed if there are goons holding him.

If we need to run is there another way out of this room?

Unsure of whether or not to trust the safety of the situation, Finn gestures for Mary to open the door, while he tucks himself away behind in order to have an opportune place to kick it closed or jump out and attack the first person to walk in if Dirk is under duress.  With a sharp exhale, Mary opens the door but it turns out that Dirk is alone.  He quickly walks in and rebolts the lock on the door.

"I may have asked for more trouble than I wanted."  Dirk starts, only momentarily giving Finn an odd glance as he walks out from the very corner of the room.

Dirk has lost his calm and fluid demeanor from earlier today, his face has paled and his eyes now dart across the room in nervous apprehension.  Even in the middle of his sentences he walks over towards the single window, sparing a glance down into the street before he ever stops moving.

"I've found out why our sources on this were so incomplete.  The man's not an alchemist... he's a banestorm victim."  Mary gasps a sharp intake of breath, casting a look back at Behar...  The poor sod is still sitting in his corner, arms wrapped around his knees, though his head has picked up slightly as Dirk had entered the room.

"The men you fought tonight..."  Dirk continues, glancing back at Finn.  "Were men from the Ministry of Serendipity.  We do not know how many assets they brought here, I don't think it likely they have more than the three men you saw tonight.  But they have already made their way to the college and some of the Templars are already going out into the city to attempt to find him."

Dirk rubs his hands through his hair, his face contorting into a pained look.  "I'll be honest.  I don't know if it's safe to stay here long with him, I'm pulling out my men from downstairs.  I'm fairly certain the city guard have been informed too.  They have been given a description of him."  Dirk inclines his head towards Behar, "And have been told to find a man has a horrible accent.  But they are also looking for two other men of interest - which means I don't think they are on to Mary, at least not yet.  If they got a good look at you Finn you might have a little bit of difficulty.  Here's the deal."  Dirk takes out two small pouches and lays them down on the small one man table.

"Here's your pay for the job in full.  You may stay here if you like, but we cannot promise protection right now.  If you choose to flee, you must do it tonight, before they get their securities in place.  I will have a small boat arranged for you so you can make your way down the shoreline towards Trent.  I can make further arrangements for him there.  If you get him out of here safely, I'll double your pay.  With the amount of effort that has gone into keeping him secret, I think there is much to be learned from him."

OOC:  Roll vs. area knowledge.  If you succeed you would know the Ministry of Serendipity is a part of the Megalan Imperial hierarchy in charge of dealing with foreign and banestorm technologies.  Usually they are thought of as suppressing technologies from other lands.  If you aren't familiar with the concept of the banestorm, put simply, this guy is a plane-jumper from another world that came here not of his own volition.  FYI, there is a second escape from this room, a loose panel is built into the back wall that leads to an inter-wall space you can use to climb down to the first story, where there is a second false panel that leads back into the building, but it looks like you won't need to use it as of now.  Sorry, the post is a little rushed, feel free to ask questions IC and OOC as needed.

Finn listens to the story unfold and only now does everything make sense.  A 'stormer as some of Razzel's mates call them though this is the first time Finn has ever met one.  If he was afforded more time he might be swept up in awe and wish to try again at prying into this man's background but as most of the city would soon be turning it upside down looking for them the young magical mercenary was happy to just take his payment and go.

He nods professionally to Dirk and scoops up the small pouch.  He holds it judging the weight and then jingles it next to his ear.  A happy smile adorns his features.  Ahhhh, there was nothing quite as delicious as the sound of well earned coin.

Finn responds to the concerns.  ”They saw me pretty well.  But I doubt they know Mary.”  He looks to his partner who he has no complaints about.  ”I'm game for round two.  Mary?”  But now his face turns serious as he looks back to Dirk.  "Now you know we're a couple 'a bad fuckers.  We filched your fellah without a scratch.  I got one question fer ya.  You part 'a the Row?  Cause I want in."


OOC:
Made the Area Knowledge roll.

I am in for the next job and hoping that Mary is too.

Finn will accept the job even before asking about the particulars.  But I would want to know the details.  So a good portion of the city is on to us.  At least me and Behar.  So, what is Behar's appearance?  Can we do a quick alteration(s)?  Shave his face?  Shave his head?  Eyepatch?  Changes of clothing?  The authorities are looking for two men plus Behar.  If we stick together we are three, even if we shave Behar we 'fit the description'.  Does Dirk have anyone he can send, even if they are just bodies, so we're not three?  And the route is make for a boat and take it to Trent?  Is this boat here in Azer?  How far is Trent?

This message was last edited by the player at 04:53, Mon 22 May 2017.

Finn's mind swirls with revelations as the single piece of information makes the whole puzzle come into focus.  This man had come from the Banestorm...  Two weeks ago...  No wonder he had no idea where he said he was from and why his accent was so alien...  It was a miracle that they understood him at all.

With the coin in his hands, Finn is ready for the next task.  It is a shame he will have no opportunities to spend it for the time, though he can only imagine the incredible uses it will be put to once he has a moment to catch his breath.  Rearing to go, Finn's first question goes towards Mary, an unspoken one, asking if she will be accompanying him as they flee.

Mary can only shake her head vigorously.

"They haven't seen me.  I wish you the best of luck, but if we are set on by both the Templars and the Ministry I have no ability to flee like you do and I cannot afford to make more enemies than I already have.  Besides..."  She looks towards the floor as the last sentence comes out in a whispered breath.  "I can't leave."

Dirk nods at Finn's acceptance as well as Mary's refusal and does not press her towards accepting.  As Finn asks his remaining question, the man quirks a smile.  "I'd say it's safe to tell you that yes, you have been the row.  And I have many more uses for you if you wish to join us.  But for now, we need simply to get the two of you out.  Unfortunately, I can't afford to get our organization tied up with the Ministry of Serendipity, so you'll be at it alone until you make it to Trent, but if there is anything you need, you can take it from the safe house here.""

OOC:  It's sort of an odd place, but in the interest of not going on in this thread forever without awarding character points, I'm going to end it here.  You can feel free to add a post closing things up if you want.  The specifics of how you flee can be worked out in private if you wish to keep from having to do a thousand IC posts to make sure you have all the information.  Here are the answers to the questions you have posted so far:

It is hard to say a good portion of the city is on to you.  Dirk mentioned that the city watch has been informed, and that the Templars have started to move their men into the city to look for you.  But yes, in short, there will be people looking for you.

Behar can be changed if you wish.  There is equipment for disguises including different clothing, makeup, eyepatches if you wish.  Behar is about 5'11, 180 with dark hair, light complexion and brown eyes.  You could easily shave his head or alter his appearance if you wish.  If you do want to do so, roll vs. Disguise (Mary doesn't have any skill in it to help you) at +2 for the quality of the equipment you have here (Disguise defaults to IQ-5, so a default roll would be to IQ-3).

Dirk will not send anyone with you, partially because he doesn't have anybody on hand at the moment and partly because he is wary of having anyone get caught and tied back to the Row.

You are not required to take a boat.  In fact, you probably can't take a boat all the way because it would require you to go a significant stretch upriver.  However, Dirk is offering a boat if you want to use it to make your escape.  If you wish, you may make your way out on foot.  Though the city was originally made with city walls, raids into Megalos have not affected Dycastle for hundreds of years and the walls are not generally maintained and portions have fallen into disrepair and ruin and the city has spread outside those walls significantly.

Trent is the town south of Azer, if you look on the maps thread, follow the river directly south and it will take you straight to it.  It's about 110 miles away, or a few days of good hiking.  You can probably take the boat for about a quarter of the way if you go down the eastern side of the island to the river, or most of the way there if you go around the island to the western side, but it will make the trip significantly longer, and you will be dealing with ocean currents rather than inshore ones.  If you ask Dirk, the boat he is providing is not manned, but rather a large canoe or a two man dingy, something that will be small and discreet.

There are a lot of considerations here, so feel free to continue in private message if needed.

Finn's heart sinks a little at the prospect that Mary will not be joining them.  Is he afraid of his chances without the talented womanly mage?  Certainly not.  In their short time together the young man has grown fond of her plus she's a looker and that's always nice to have on a job.

Razzel's mind gets to work quickly as he runs through a list of tasks to be accomplished.  But first, for clarity, he goes over the particulars with Dirk to make certain that there are no misunderstandings.  When running for your life it doesn't do well to run the wrong way.

Satisfied that he and Dirk are on solid ground Finn pats at the coin purse tucked neatly in a belt pouch and already he's hungrily dreaming of its twin which he'll be rewarded with soon.  All he has to do is give the dullards here the slip and then its easy sailing.

Now Finn turns his attention to his one-off partner.  She shouldn't be too surprised by his request as he just finished asking Dirk about distractions.  ”Mary.  I need a favor.”  He smiles coyly.  ”Think you could whip up somethin'...make 'em think were runnin' east and we'll head west?”


OOC:
Finn will ask Mary to cast illusions of me and Behar to run the opposite of where we are heading for the boat.  Just something to get the guards shouting 'Over here!  I see them!', that kind of thing.  A simple distraction to make getting to the boat a little easier.  Finn is willing to pay but he wont offer in case she's willing to do it for free.

Finn will want to take advantage of trying disguises.  I'll roll for it during the break when my points are spent.

GM Edit to show that the water is on the south and west side of the city.

This message was last edited by the GM at 03:28, Fri 09 June 2017.