Singal : Actions

The spies reveal the following:

The two greedy merchants are cousins and seem to have inherited most of their wealth recently when a childless uncle of theirs died. The circumstances of his death are said to possibly be worth an investigation.

One of the other merchants owes a great sum of money to one of the greedy ones, while the other one seems to have had trouble with the poor former population of a building he had had torn down, ignoring all pleas. He seems to have obtained the building by a shady deal with the local watch captain and wanted to build a storehouse there.

There are whispers the two greedy merchants are working with a band of smugglers to avoid the tolls and taxes.

Since the two merchants are related, it obviously would not help killing only one of them, since the other would simply inherit his relatives property and nothing would change for the Eventide's situation. Azlanek will try to find out who would seize their holdings if both of them were to die.

I send out 10 knights undercover. They will try to find out more about this smuggler band, seeing whether this connection cannot be used to lure both of them out of their houses at the same time. Most likely by threatening the smugglers, forcing them to arrange an urgent meeting with both of the merchants, if possible on such short notice that they will not have time to contact each other.

To keep the Eventides reputation clean, the merchant who suggested murder to Azlanek will be intimidated and threatened as well, that if he ever talked about this or voiced his concerns, he and all of his family would die. This should keep him quiet long enough for the people to forget these things. Then this merchant can have an accident as well.

The smugglers seem frightened enough to cooperate. There is a meeting place just outside the walls which is out of sight of the city. One of the two merchants obviously does not have any children. His servants say his wife had a miscarriage and died of the complications. He seems to have named his cousins only son as his beneficiary. So the still underage boy will inherit the fortunes of both the greedy merchants, should they die.

Azlanek will order for the smugglers to arrange the meeting. 6 corrupted knights will leave the city and search for a good spot where they can hide/cannot be seen until the merchants are in place. Depending on whether the knights will be able to watch the merchant's arrival without much risk of being spotted themselves, the smugglers will have been ordered to give them a signal (imitation of a local animal or loud whistling should do the job. A few heretics will be ordered to watch the streets near the city-gates (should we have any heretics living in that area) closest to the meeting point for any strange activity, ordered to make unusual movements known by shooting a flaming arrow up into the sky (of course only once the potential thread is out of sight. Only one arrow is supposed to be fired. 1 corrupted squires will look for the arrow. 1 squire and 1 knight will be near the city wall, making sure no guard will hear the murder of the merchants (Not sure how far away “just outside the walls” is supposed to mean). They are disguised and not ordered to kill any guards, rather just cause a distraction and buy their brothers time. 3 Additional corrupted knights and one corrupted squire will keep the rest the smugglers busy. These are the troops that are to be notified if the flaming arrow is spotted.

Officially the 6 knights are out on patrol, so after their deed they will continue with a mock patrol, returning at noon the next day.

The knights will try to first kill the merchants, then the smugglers, using weapons similar to those that the smugglers use. After the 4 men are dead, the knights will quickly try to make it look like the 4 men fought and killed themselves. 1 man will be sat upon his horse and driven into the desert. The knights will try to hide their own tracks briefly, then set the other horses free to create additional, misleading tracks, before heading off.

Azlanek will of course wait until the news about the merchant's passing are known throughout the city, before notifying Malik Nalin, asking for another audience to discuss this tragedy.

This weeks part of the Meta-game report concerning Singal:


15 K and 30 R to hex 31 for event duty in district 12 (600RP)
15 K and 30 R to hex 31 for event duty in district 10 (600RP)

10 K and 10 R to hex 31 for event duty Azlanek (district 1)

9 K and 10 R to hex 31 for event duty Varys (district 13)

10 K and 14 R to hex 31 for event duty Celdiur and Kendric (district 1)

The city watch found the bodies of the dead and the trails leading off into the steppes. Now the people in the street are talking about what dangers come with cooperating with smugglers and other rabble. Malik Nalin has let you know that he has no time to discuss the petty quarrels of corrupt merchants and smugglers. No suspicion at all fell unto the Eventide.

Remark: Varys has 8 CKs left, not 9, he lost two during the assassination of one of the Red Brotherhood leaders.

Ser Varys has returned from his successful mission in district 13, which is now under the control of the cabal of the twisted heart. 8 of the 10 CK and 9 of the 10 CS returned. Moreover Varys took 17 slavers prisoner, which have been brought to the chapterhouse. The expenses for helping the poor amount to 200 Denari (=RP).

A young squire rushed up the stairs to the grandmaster's office, his face a whiter shade of pale. When the startled guard at the door had let him through he stood in front of Azlanek's desk, breathing heavily.

Mylord, down ... down in the cellar! They are all dead, everyone of them!

Azlanek, who had been reading a letter by then, snapped back to an upright position in his chair.

Who? he simply asked, his voice controlled as ever, but his sudden movement indicated his agitation.

The prisoners, mylord, those Varys has brought from district 13. We had them imprisoned in one of the cellar vaults. There was no other access to the room but through the door we guarded. Yet, as I brought them water, they all lay dead in the middle of the room, their blood running into the drain in the middle of the room. And we did not even hear a noise!

Around noon of the next day, one of the guards stepped in.

The physician and the alchemist are here to see you, milord.

When Azlanek nodded, they were led in. One of them was a small man in his forties. His hair was already recessing and he looked sickly, but his eyes were bright and indicated a certain acuteness of mind. His hands showed burnings and cauterisations revealing him to be the alchemist. The other one had once been a strong man, but was now well past his best days. His hair almost white, but his posture still upright and healthy for his age.

Zakariya Gherbazadeh, the alchemist, and Ardashir Naflaqi, the physician, announced the guard.

Milord, we can assure you that the men we examined were not killed by a disease or a poison, commenced Ardashir.

Although they had been poisoned in a way, Zakariya interjected, we found the remains of a strong sedative around their mouth and nose. The substance is called 'deepjuice' and is extracted from special funghi that grow in the sewers. It immediately knocks the victim unconscious but is extremely hard to come by, as the production process is ... hazardous. I lost an apprentice myself some years ago due to it.

Anyway, Ardashir continued, what caused the heavy bleeding and thus the death were very fine cuts of the carotid. I have served as a military surgeon when I was younger and can tell most blades from the cuts they leave. These men were all killed with a very delicate and thin blade, like a ritual dagger perhaps.

“And who would be the person to talk to if one would be interested in acquiring sufficient amounts of this deepjuice?” Azlanek asks, already ordering in his mind to examine each and every wall in that vault closely. Maybe he could come by a map of the sewer system. There had to be another entrance. To be safe, he would also order to watch the guards that stood watch before its doors very closely.

Zakariya shrugged. As far as I know most members of Singal's alchemists guild have given up producing it. The process eats to many apprentices and the sewers are dangerous... If milord wishes, I can inquire about this at the next guild meeting in a few days' time, with the appropriate discretion of course.

[OOC: What would you be examining in particular in the vault?]

As I already mentioned, they are found in the sewers, milord. They seem to prefer darkness and humid environments and as far as I know they glow faintly. I will do as you wish and inform you of anything useful I happen to hear.

He grabbed his coins and left the room, while Ardashir Naflaqi looked to Azlanek expectantly.

"The same goes for you," Azlanek speaks, turning to the other man. "I am grateful for the service you have done for my order, especially on such short notice."

He gives Ardashir Naflaqi three gold pieces as well.

"Should you come across anything that would be of interest to us, please let us know. May Astraea protect you."

Ardashir smiles and bows before leaving.

Shortly after that a squire enters.

Milord, we thoroughly examined the whole vault, but there was no secret door to be found. The walls are massive and without any cavities or hidden openings. The ceiling is just below the floor of our kitchen and showed no signs of damage. Only the floor revealed something. The drain in the middle of the vault is covered by an iron grid. The hole itself may be broad enough for a slim person and the grid apparently has been moved recently as it's edges showed no moss as did the rest of the room.

The works at your chapterhouse-to-be have reached their final stage. With the two greedy merchants dead, their heir vanished and the other merchants all too eager to finally conclude contracts with the Eventide no more obstacles remain to convert the square into a training ground for your knights and auxiliaries. However, to enact the necessary repairs on the derelict manor 2000 denari are needed to buy the timber and stone as well as 1000 denari to pay the appropriately qualified carpenters and masons.

My name is of no importance, said the hooded man, and the Crippled Sun does not ASK for entrance. If Lord Azlanek does not wish to speak to me, my master will take this as a sufficient answer.

The guards exchange puzzled looks, then bid the messenger to wait while they informed Lord Azlanek of his arrival, so that the lord himself could decide. A couple of minutes later, he is finally allowed in, and led into the grandmaster's office, where Lord Azlanek already waited.

"Welcome to my humble home. You must have made quite an impression on the guards. It is rarely that our order is approached with such an amount of confidence. I am curious what provides you with this kind of courage. Now, what message do you bring?"

My master has closely followed your order's exploits in this part of the city and thinks it is time for you to play an appropriate role. Therefore we have prepared an eighth seat and expect you at the council palace in two days' time, at nightfall.

Without waiting for any further answer the man turned and left the room.

A man in a dark leather tabard, unmarked, strode into the hall silently. His eyes focused on the man with the symbol on his chest, and walked toward him.

"Greetings, cripple of the sun. I am Ser Varys, Knight-Commander of the Eventide. I've been informed that you wish to speak with me?"

The man commented the mocking name given to him with but a raised eye-brow and said.

Yes, the Crippled Sun wishes for more thorough information on what has transpired in the council sessions, especially about the sessions in which the issue of a Free City has been discussed. For a detailed witness account my master would be willing to pay a considerable sum, one, maybe two thousand denars.