Black Hart Black Hart
Gradsul by Twilight
Chapter 9 - The Game Begins
A few coins dropped in the
harbourmaster's purse revealed little - he had little to reveal.
The boat had docked on Freeday afternoon - it was a light boat,
little more than a yacht. When he had paid his taxes the man had
prepaid for four crates to be removed - all loading and unloading
here was done by official dockers, the harbourmaster explained.
As far as he knew the owner, Vellip O'Shad, was alone, and
claimed to have come from Saltmarsh with his goods, which he had
listed as lead ingots. Two of the crates had indeed been unloaded
late on Freeday night, but the other two had not been moved as
yet.
A little disheartened, the trio moved round for a better view of
the Shelliak. It was a fine vessel, reasonably new, and as the
man had said it was little more than a coast-hugging yacht. It
flew a Keoish flag. They could see no-one moving around it,
indeed the shutters to the lower deck had been fastened.
Looking at the tightly shut Shelliak, Smokelight felt his
curiosity getting the best of him. He glanced at Eloi and Cinion.
"Are you lads thinking what I'm thinking?" Smokelight
asked. "Two crates are still on board."
"I too should find out what are in those boxes
tonight," Eloi agreed. "Their content may give us some
clue as to O'Shad's intentions. We should hang around for a few
hours to see who comes and goes from the ship. We can return to
our lodgings later to meet the others."
"Hmm.."replied Cinion. "I think it's especially
interesting that the harbormaster said lead ingots. If that is
the case something could easily be contained within, especially
if the crate is very large. Lead can conceal something very heavy
or light, and is very good at blocking magical scrying...or so
I'm told," he smirked.
"You were told correctly," Smokelight muttered.
"And furthermore, I don't think lead is the most lucrative
cargo. I agree that we should hang around, to see what we can
see. What could have been in those boxes..?"
Akhan was quite pleased to find that
Halykk was not at home when they returned that evening. Even Ash
seemed a touch depressed at their lack of success - every temple,
every doss-house, every gaol across the city they had searched,
but no sign of Meyrit. Not that either of them would likely
recognise her, but there was nobody claiming that name amongst
them.
The futility of the situation had overcome them - Eloi had sent
two people who had never seen her, without telling them where she
was staying, who she was, what sort of places she frequented, or
anything for that matter. They had visited Hannay's home, but saw
no activity at that time. It was a grotty area, and the market
was beginning to pack up when they arrived. As the first of the
prostitutes arrived Akhan began to sense a bit more atmosphere to
this Plasfeyr in its night-time guise.
Still, as he had commented to Kyros on their way back, perhaps it
was a good thing that Meyrit was not to be found in those places.
His peace did not last long, however, as the returning Halykk's
less-than-dulcit tones soon pervaded every corner of his ears.
Over a glass of fine sherry he mentioned the name Gelders to the
merchant. Halykk almost choked.
"Gelders?" he asked. "Degg Gelders? You don't have
any affiliations to that swine, do you?"
Akhan shook his head, sensing it the best option.
"A name I heard in Niole Dra - wondered if you knew
him?"
"By Procan's pointed pike I know him! Nice little business I
had here before that bum arrives out of nowhere. Sets himself up
in competition to me, now he's taken a fair whack o' my trade
from me with his 'exotic' fabrics and 'fashionable' blends. Year
to year its often you couldn't put a gnat's foreskin between how
much he makes and how much I make, and the Merchant's Guild think
he's the best thing since ground Kaffay! Makes me puke!"
Halykk showed his disgust by filling up their glasses again.
As Halykk rambled on about the perfidiously successful Degg
Gelders, Akhan carefully weighed his merchant friend up. He
could be useful in engineering an approach to Gelders and he'd
certainly be able to tell them where his abode and any other
properties were situated. But, was he reliable beyond this
point? It certainly seemed likely that he'd be amenable to
helping them in anything which did Gelders a mischief.
Unfortunately Halykk seemed the type to open his mouth and let
whatever was in his mind at the time come tumbling out. So
revealing anything much of his real reason for being here didn't
seem wise.
He accepted the refill and paused as he was about to drink,
feigning a look as if something had just occurred to him.
"You know Halykk, it might just be possible to put one over
on this Gelders. I've an acquaintance in Niole Dra who
mentioned him to me in the same less than glowing terms as you
used. Now, when I say acquaintance, maybe I should
explain. Actually it's his daughter I'd like to make a
closer acquaintance with if you follow my meaning. But he's
none too keen; likes me well enough you understand but he's got
other plans for his daughter's future. Anyway, I hadn't
given it much thought until now but if I could do this Gelders
down then it'd definitely put me in a better position."
"Leave it with me for now, but maybe if there's a Guild
function in the next few days or other festivity he's likely to
be attending you could let me know. I've never met him and
it's important to know what your adversary looks like in the
flesh, don't you agree. Also, maybe you could tell me where
he lives and what other properties he's got around Gradsul.
This could be promising." Akhan smiled encouragingly
at Halykk.
"Oh well, friend Akhan," Halykk said with a wry smile
on his fat features. "Anything for such a truly noble cause.
There is a Guild meeting this Starday eve, and it usually
degenerates thereafter. The meeting is for members only, but I am
sure you could tag along thereafter, if you're up for a drink or
twelve!"
"Shall we drink a toast then Halykk?" Akhan added,
raising his glass. "Confusion to Gelders!"
Having eventually taken their leave
of Halykk, Akhan and Kyros started to head back to Eloi's
guesthouse for their rendezvous.
Akhan turned to Kyros and said in a low voice, "What say we
take a wander past this house of Gelders'? Won't do any
harm to take a quick look and it might help in deciding what
course of action to take next."
"I was afraid you might not have asked Halykk," Kyros
whispered to Akhan well out of anyone's earshot. Privately Kyros
wondered if his current disguise was more of an impediment to
him, after all, it prevented him from speaking his mind too
directly in public, having to remain oblique all the time.
Then again, he thought to himself, he was quite enjoying the
role, seeing that it kept him inconspicuous and out of everyone's
notice, and that suited him fine.
"Yes, let's scope the place a little. We might have to look
into his house some time later. Check for entrances, windows,
height of walls etc. But I suppose I don't have to be telling you
all this."
"Its in the Orgsworth District," Halykk had told them.
"In amongst all the warehouses - there are few houses there,
but they are expensive being so near to the docks yet sheltered
from its lowlife denizens. Area's usually busy with the cartmen
taking the goods to and from the warehouses, and the warehousemen
going to and from their work. Even at the early hours - cargo is
big business here in Gradsul - not like Niole Dra. All nicely
planned and controlled by the Guilds, not the thieving rabble you
have up north."
It was easy to find Gelders' house as they turned into Rotte
Street - it was the only one there. A large grey townhouse, dull
and bleary looking, it probably had about five bedrooms and quite
a staff to run it. Its upper windows had glass and shutters, and
outside there was a black carriage with four brown horses, the
driver and footman fidgeting around as though they had been
waiting there for some time.
Akhan and Kyros rode past the house as slowly as they dared.
It appeared only to have one entrance to the front, and no garden
there, but a quick jaunt around the back showed a large enclosed
rear garden which could be accessed by large double doors,
undoubtedly for the carriage, or a single wooden side entrance in
the twelve foot high wall that surrounded it.
Making sure to avoid Rotte Street, where their continued
attention might be noticed, they returned to the inn.
It had been a dull day, but not very
cool. Towards the late afternoon the heat and humidity became
repressive, and the fishing boats returning to port early
confirmed Cinion's suggestion that a storm was on the way.
They waited for several hours, taking turns to take observations
on the boat so that they would be less likely to be noticed. As
dusk approached, bringing the storm clouds with it, Eloi called
it quits and they returned to the Golden Anchor. Nobody had gone
near to the boat or paid it the slightest interest all day.
Akhan and Kyros were already seated at the table from the
previous night, with a mug of ale and empty dinner plates in
front of them.
Akhan had removed and rolled up his cloak before entering; now he
sat in his shirt sleeves slowly shuffling a pack of cards he'd
picked up along the Plasfeyr stalls while they'd been searching
during the day. The card material was cheap but the artisan had
obviously used real people for models for the face cards.
The Queen was especially vivid - he half suspected some
struggling artist had used one of the Plasfeyr's more attractive
denizens as a model. Akhan hadn't been introduced to that
much royalty but he couldn't recall any queen ever wearing
anything quite so low cut as the dress this figure was sporting.
"Well, milord, here come yer gambling partners from last
night."
A smile began to form on Gresten's face as he spoke to Vesic.
"Maybe you could convince 'em to part with their hard earned
money again, I'm richly blessed by their contribution to this old
veteran's pocket. It seems they've brought a lucky halfing with
them this time."
Kyros made sure that the three of them entering the inn could
overhear his conversation and remember to maintain the pretense.
Tearing his attention away from the card, Akhan looked up. He
waggled the card in their direction.
"Good Zebadiah and friends! Join us again. Sit
down. What will you have to drink?" Akhan chimed
in with Kyros, and made a general show of the card companions
reuniting. Charades over a little later, in a low voice he
filled Eloi, Cinion and Smokelight in on their progress with
their primary task for the day.
"A real waste of time 'Zeb'. Neither of us knows what
Meyrit looks like and we certainly didn't find anyone who
answered to that name. Mind you, if she was on the run from
you-know-who then I doubt she'd be likely to throw herself into
the arms of the first strangers that ask for her by name.
Anyway, there's more important news than that. I dropped
Gelders' name into conversation with Halykk and it only turns out
that he's his biggest competitor. Loathes him. So, we
got the location of his house out of Halykk and an invitation to
a Merchant's Guild do where he'll probably attend."
Remembering their game of cards he started to dish them out,
looking round everyone in turn to make sure they wanted in.
"We took a quick canter past this house in Rotte
Street. So I've got a decent initial idea of the lie of the
land. Plenty of warehouses around so there's not too much
risk of observation by nosy neighbours should we wish to go
poking our noses in." He leaned forward. "And I
reckon we should at least have a look tonight, even if we only
observe any comings and goings. Gelders has a black
carriage with four horses which we spotted sitting outside.
Maybe Devion should check it out too - you mentioned seeing a
carriage associated with these jokers didn't you?"
Cinion nodded, but added nothing further - he did not even know
if he could identify an ordinary black carriage, but time would
tell..
"You guys have any success?"
"We found out very little at the docks. O'Shad allegedly
arrived from Saltmarsh three days ago. He has brought four crates
which were listed as lead ingots. Two of the crates were unloaded
from the ship and taken to an unknown location." Eloi looked
at Smokelight and Cinion. "Perhaps, tomorrow we can ask a
few of the dockers if they knew where the crates were
taken."
He returned his gaze to Akhan and Sablefist. "This means
that two of the crates remain on the ship."
He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I suggest that we
proceed with our plan for this evening. Dunstin and Gresten go to
'Red' Hannay's as agreed. They can try to find out some more
about this house. Have fun boys, but not too much, remember your
not there purely for a shafting. You need to try and find the
secret passageway that Gelder's used to escape Devion."
"Vesic, Devion and myself will pay a little visit to
O'Shad's boat. I would like to know the contents of the two boxes
which remain on the it."I think our best plan of action is
to forget about Meyrit for now. If she is able she will contact
us. If not then I am sure she will be sadly missed."
He looked towards Cinion as he spoke, his eyes made clear that
his decision was final.
Cinion shrugged off Eloi's comment about leaving Meyrit to her
fate; although unfortunate, he was sure she knew what she was
getting into and knew the risks. He thought to himself that
characters such as that dark figure were out of her league,
anyway. They might even be out of his league!
"When is this Merchant's Guild do?" Eloi quizzed Akhan.
"In my opinion it would be better if you and Gresten
attended that alone. After all you are posing as a
merchant."
"Starday eve," Akhan said in reply. "And I agree -
it makes sense for Gresten and I to go along to that."
Eloi took a sup of his ale and followed it down with a swig of
brandy.
"Obviously, if Gelder's is attending this bash, then that
would be the most appropriate time to investigate his house
further. If he is a competitor of Halykk's then we can assume
that he may also be the Guildmaster of a rival thieves' guild. We
should be very careful! We could also use Halykk's dislike for
the man to our advantage. Even if we could start a Guild war.
That might thwart O'Shad's plans if his main contact in Gradsul's
attention is diverted to something else."
"Hitting his house on that night might make sense,"
Akhan said. "But then again you won't have me to help with
infiltrating the place and that is my specialty after
all."
Akhan raised his drink in salute.
Eloi smiled at Akhan's presumption that he was the only capable
thief in the party.
"Do you not think that Devion and myself are capable of
doing alittle bit of housebreaking? Vesic, I have been breaking
into houses since I was five years old! I may not have your
subtlety, but I would match my skills against you any day."
"As for Gelders being a Thieves Guildmaster," Akhan
continued, "An interesting thought! But Halykk too?
Who told you he was a Capo? You certainly didn't mention it
to me earlier. As far as I could tell he was a genuine
merchant with a dislike for a successful competitor. But
then he might be using that as a cover." Akhan
shrugged. "Maybe you should lay off the drink if
you're starting to imagine stuff."
Eloi looked somewhat sheepish - his previous statement had
obviously slipped out without thinking.
"I forgot that I had not told you that Halyyk is the second
in charge of the Orgsworth Thieves' Guild. I got this information
from Kro Arribal in Niole Dra on my way down here. Kro advised
that Halykk would be a useful contact whilst we were down here
and it would seem he was not wrong."
"Your point about the boat is a good one," Akhan
stated, "but maybe I can suggest a compromise.
Devion's the only one with contact, however brief and violent,
with O'Shad and Gelders or his associates. I'd like if he
could run some sort of surveillance on Gelders' house
tonight. We can hit the boat while someone supports Devion
with his watch. At the very least he could try and see if
the carriage I saw was the one he ran across earlier."
Eloi was growing agitated at all the talk, especially Akhan's
which he felt was a persistent questioning of his leadership
decisions.
"We already know that Gelder's is an associate of O'Shad's
and do not see any reason to keep a watch over his house. Cause
if we watch Gelder's house we should also be watching O'Shad's
boat and we should also be watching 'Red' Hannay's and before we
know it all of us are watching. It is a time for action Vesic,
not watching!"
"Keep your pants on Eloi!" Akhan said, somehwat
surprised at Eloi's aggressiveness. "We don't want to
attract attention. The point about watching Gelders' house
is that they already know we've identified Red's place.
'They' don't know we've located Gelders. And by the way,
maybe you should tell us anything else Kro told you. I
might have made a damn fool of myself in front of Halykk - he
certainly could be useful but he might just decide to use us for
his own ends too. He'll certainly have a bigger operation
here in Gradsul than we can muster!
"Leave that to one side for now. Do you really still
think we need to investigate Red's?" Akhan sat back with a
pensive look.
For a little while now he'd had an uneasy feeling that he'd got
the wrong end of the stick about the events on the night he'd
first been 'introduced' to Eloi. There were Eloi's remarks
about poisoning someone which had surprised him and now it turned
out that Halykk was a Guildmaster. Why had Halykk been in
Niole Dra and how did Kro come to know that he could be useful to
Eloi? Something was eluding him but it would have to
wait. Eloi seemed determined to press ahead so it was
probably best to tackle him later. First the little matter
of rattling this boat and seeing what dirty little secrets
dropped out.
Cinion sensed the tug of war occuring between the half elf and
the half orc, and decided to keep his mouth shut. He had already
given his opinion and had nothing really important to say anyway.
"Devion," Akhan said, almost hesitantly. "We
haven't discussed our individual talents up till now and I guess
now's the time to drop any sort of coyness so we know what the
other is capable of. To be blunt, I'm a thief. A good
one. Now you'll have an idea why I was brought in
here. Eloi and I share the same ability to get into places
we're not supposed to. Although I'm a little more
selective," Akhan said, grinning at Eloi.
"'Gresten' provides our spiritual punch in Olidamarran form
and you've already benefitted from one aspect of his
calling. Smokelight hopefully will manage the whizz-bang
side of things. I just want everyone singing the same song
as it were. Eloi's team leader here so his decision sticks,
but busting the floating house down by the docks is a thieves job
and in some ways I reckon we don't need to be too fussy about
whether we bring anyone along. What do you think?"
Cinion raised an eyebrow. " To me, all options sound
reasonable," he said, sipping his cider. Choosing his words
carefully, he continued. "Words like warrior, mage, priest,
and... thief, conjure images that restrict one to being good at
one thing or another. I'm a multi-talented mischief maker who
seems fated to find trouble, hence my current situation, but is
good enough to get out of it. I feel comfortable working with any
of you, though the lot of you seem more preoccupied with gambling
and alcoholic beverages than anything else, and there is nothing
that has been mentioned which I am not capable of participating
in effectively. If there is a situation where that is the case, I
will let all of you know that I'm not suitable for it."
Eloi looked around the party. "Does anyone have any other
suggestions or any other information to tell?"
Pondering Eloi's 'strategy', Cinion felt sure that when it came
to thinking only Eloi's orcish blood flowed freely through his
brain.
"Oh well," he thought, a phrase he had told other
companions on the other side of the Sea of Gearnat springing to
mind. "No matter what happens, last to live."
"If I may," Smokelight interjected, in a low voice,
"I'd like to make a suggestion. Perhaps we should not even
split up at all. If we're going to 'investigate' O' Shad's boat
and Gelder's house, why not do these in succession? In that way,
we can make the best use of all of our skills. I, for one, am
curious about the "lead" cargo on the Shelliak. Lead is
often used to deter magical detection and scrying. Maybe, just
maybe, there's a correlation here. In any case, I think that if
we stick together, or at least converge at certain 'targets', we
can be better equipped to deal with dangers, should they
arise"
Eloi looked around the party.
"Well, it would seem that you all think it is agood idea to
visit Gelder's house. Okay, so be it, when we return from
O'Shad's boat we will have a look at Gelder's house. We can recce
the house looking for potential points of access, traps, security
etc. We can also check out the carriage which has got you wetting
your pants, Vesic."
Eloi looked at Dunstin.
"I still want you and Grestin to check out 'Red'Hannay's.
Nothing fancy, just go get yourself acquainted and have a good
shaft. If she is even halfway good, say that the next time you
go, that you might bring a few friends."
"As for my revelation about Halykk, perhaps it was an
omission on my part, but it was perhaps better that your initial
meetings with the man were done under ignorance."
"Okay, Devion, Vesic and myself will go and investigate
O'Shad's boat, whilst Grestin and Dunstin visit 'Red's. We can
all meet up at midnight and go to Gelder's house."
Adar almost felt a bit surprised at
Father's welcome. Within minutes of greeting him, after two
months of almost flawless work in a strange and inhospitable
land, he was being carted off on another mission with barely a
chance to draw in some of the fine sweet air that he felt sure
they must have made only at Elysium.
But he was not surprised. The Wars were over, technically, but
the battle went on. And truth be told, he wouldn't have liked it
any other way. And a Brotherhood agent as his quarry - a
challenge at last!
"We know almost nothing about him - why he goes between
Saltmarsh and Gradsul, where he goes between times. In fact we
don't even know that he's a Brotherhood agent. But Walt's nose is
rarely wrong!"
Adar had never met Ol' Walt Kingfisher, but he had heard of him.
A one-time lieutenant commander upon a royal ship of the line, a
duellist of some fame in his time, fighting in the Hoylik style,
sailors had dubbed him 'The King's Fisher' as he was often called
upon to fish things out from the watery depths using a secret
magical power, and also because of his vocal loyalty to the
crown. After resigning his commision he took advantage of the
generous offer of the King to became a privateer. Again proving
himself as a privateer he was now, like Adar, an agent of the
King's Spymaster, Thoggin Oakley. And a highly respected one at
that.
"Go to Gradsul, Adar," Father said. "Eloi will
tell you what has happened since I last saw them. They are
inexperienced at working together, and to be honest, I fear
Eloi's lack in skill in making a team of them - but perhaps it is
my racial prejudice at the new Baron's expense. Perhaps he will
prove me wrong. Keep an eye on him for us Adar - I would pick you
over him, but it is not my choice. If he strays from the right
path, nurture him back on, I doubt his pride would take straight
advice."
Adar nodded. It would be good to control things without taking
responsibility. An eye on Eloi, a blade in his hand and his back
to the wall! Without another word he left Father and headed back
to the Manor to repack for his journey next morning.