Zuni, Izzick, and Chandanar

Rumors lead you to a small section of the sewers not far from where Pig had his original headquarters.  That area has been leveled.  It appears one of the dragons paid Pig a visit at one point.  So he took his crew underground.  Literally.

Checking around, you learn there's two ways to find them usually.

Zuni, apparently one of his old pickpockets still works for him.  A greasy little gnome named Beatrix.  She's posing as an orphan...she's good with illusions and short enough to pass for a human kid.  She's making rounds as a beggar, apparently doing recon work for Pig.  You know her decently.  She's conniving. But you can trust her.  Or at least her greed and sense of self preservation.

The other avenue is to simply try to walk in.  If Pig is set up where you think he is, there's an entrance under an old church.  You should be able to access his HQ that way.

Yeah.  You should be able to.

"Okay, so yeah...sewers..." Zuni said, holding a cloth against the lower half of her face.  "I...probably should have mentioned the sewers...sorry about this."

"Let's get out of here and head to the church entrance.  No sense in wasting time, the direct approach is best.  I think."  She looked over to Izzick and Chandanar.  "What do you guys think?  Direct or dealing with Beatrix?  Not that I don't trust her...."

In reply to Zuni Runesong (msg # 2):

"Awww...you always take us to the nicest places, Zuni."  Chandanar pokes at a patch of slime with the butt of his mace and then wipes it clean on a towel he comes up with from somewhere.

"You know these folks the best.  I'm fine following your lead."

---

Just to give you options

You check out the church from a distance.  Only one wall is still standing.  The other three look to have been blown out.  There's a set of stairs heading down to the crypt at one part.

A couple of large dwarfs sit in a what's left of an old pew.  They act like their drunks, but you know better.  Pig's guards.  You don't recognize either of them.

If it's Thursday...Beatrix would probably be at the soup kitchens.  The problem is finding which one of the dirty children frolicing about is her.  But you have a history with Beatrix.  If you loudly mention that you saw that gargoyle naked, she should zero in on you.

Yeah.  The naked gargoyle.  Long story.

It was a tough choice.  Zuni didn't recognize these guards so they might not believe that she is who she says that she is.  On the other hand, dealing with Beatrix would be a pain in the backside.  So what to do?

Sighing, Zuni shook her head.  "Well...we are here already.  Be a waste not to try.  You guys going to come?"

Stepping out from where they were watching the guards, Zuni strode towards the dwarves.  The direct approach would probably be the best.  "Hey!  You two." she called out to the dwarves.  "Tell King Pig that Zuni Runesong is looking for a meeting."

In reply to Zuni Runesong (msg # 4):

The two glance up at you.

The first one looks away, trying to be cool.  "Piss off.  No one's singin' your song whoever-the-hell you are."

"Hold on now..." says the second one.  Second one looks you over.  He looks vaguely familiar, though it's been a while.  "Yeah.  I remember you.  You ran point on some of Pig's scouting parties, didn't ya?  Where the hell you been?  Thought you had gotten whacked or snackered off."

He stands.  "Wait here."

He disappears down the stairs.  The first one looks you over again Zuni, then shrugs.

Second comes back and waves you to come.  He leads you down.

The stairs lead to an old crypt.  Some of Pig's crew are lounging around, playing craps on top of some of the sarcophagi.  They study you then lose interest.  You don't recall any of them.

At the back of the crypt, someone broke open a large hole in the wall.  A heavy is on guard here.  Looks like an ogre.  The ogre nods at second dwarf and gives you the steely eye.

The hole leads onto what looks like an old sewer line.  Second takes you down a bit and then stops at a side room.  Another heavy, this time a rather intimidating half orc, is loitering outside.  Another new one.

Inside, Pig has decorated the room with old rugs and tapestries he must have pillaged from abandonded houses.  He's moved an old, battered oak desk which was probably grand back in the day in and is seated behind it, cleaning his always filthy fingernails with the tip of a dagger.  A couple of gnomes are languishing around on cushions, high on who knows what.

Pig always like the little folk.

Pig gives you a smirk.  "Wel well well.  Zuni Runesong.  What hole did you slink outta?"

"....a place very similar to this..." Zuni muttered under her breath as she glanced around yet another sewer hideout.  The crypt seemed like it would have been a nicer upgrade, although a creepy one.  She turned back to face King Pig and gave a shrug of her shoulders.  "Well, you know how things go.  I went hunting down those guys that tried to kill you and things just got out of control after that.  I mean, once you're invited to a party hosted by were tigers, you never really look back."

"It's good to see that you've managed to survive.  I've heard that things have been rough in the city since I've been gone although it looks like you haven't done so badly for yourself."  It felt strange being back in King Pigs court after having been away for so long.  If she hadn't joined up with Izzick, Selvin and Chandanar, Zuni would probably have ended up living underground as well.  It was funny how one decision had changed her fortunes so much.

"I need some information.  I'm looking for a friend of mine, fellow named Tarrov.  You might remember him.  You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"

In reply to Zuni Runesong (msg # 6):

Pig barks a laugh.  "If I did, probably woulda turned him in for the bounty.  It'd be enough to get all my crew outta this damn place."

You remember Pig has a tell.  He smirks in such a way that one side of his mouth lifts higher than the other.  He's doing that now.  He knows something.

"How 'bout a drink?"  he glances at Chandanar and Izzick.  "Four glasses then."

One of the gnomes scampers up with a tray.  Four chipped cups and bottle of cheap whisky.  Something never change with Pig.

He pours shots.  "So why you lookin' for Tarrov?  Gonna turn him in?"

Zuni bit her lower lip as she watched King Pig pour the shots.  She probably should have passed on the drink, she was on the job after all, but a far too persuasive part of her convinced the rest that it would be rude to refuse.

"I need to talk to him.  He has some information that I need."  She reached down to take one of the cups and lifted it to her nose to take a sniff.  Zuni had tasted better whiskey than what King Pig was offering but considering the state of Korvosa, this was probably as good as King Pig had.

King Pig knew something but what?  Maybe she could bait him a bit.  "We've got something big in the works, something that might change the balance of power in Korvosa, which is why I'm looking for Tarrov...but I've probably said too much as it is.  I thought to see if you had something to bring in to our organization, since we used to have a good working relationship, but....."  Zuni let her words hang in the air as she raised the cup to the King in a gesture of respect before she downed its contents.

OOC:
Bluff -> 26

A crypt - that had been where this had all started for the half-orc, but he let Zuni take point. She seemed to have better in with the Pig than he did and that suited him just fine. Never really liked the guy anyway even if he'd likely be a lot happier to see them than the queen's knights ever again. Especially if he had any hint what their plans entailed. Zuni's story was a good one and Izzick backed it up, "Well seems like we'll need to find our friend elsewhere then. We were hoping this might be our way of getting back in touch." After all, who better to put in a good word than Tarrov's former companions.

In reply to Izzick (msg # 9):

Pig chuckles, eyeing you first Zuni and then you Izzick.  He downs his shot and then pours another round.

"I never said I couldn't get in touch with 'im.  Just wanted to know your intentions."

He shrugs.  "The rebs got spanked pretty hard recently.  They started tryin' to take on the dragons.  Queenie don't like that.  See, your boy Tarrov is too..."

He picks up his shot, waving his hand as if searching for a word.  He then downs the shot, smacking his lips.

"...flashy.  He don' know how to be subtle.  And it's gonna get him in trouble."

He waggles his eyebrows.  "Very, very soon kinda trouble.  Maybe 'fore even the sun goes down."  He sighs.  "I wouldn' mind talkin' about what's about to go down with your dear ol' friend.  But you know what they say..."

He looks at you all very pointedly.

"Time is money."