Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf

[Graybeard]

[OOC: OK, new topic, picking up where the last Tsuiraku-town one left off, or more accurately, the next morning. New characters enthusiastically welcomed -- there'll be several opportunities to bring them in.]

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Ace grumped as he and Layla left the vineyard.

"Oh, shush," Layla smiled jokingly. "It'll be a culturally enriching experience." She met Ace's glare with a quick kiss.

Galina had been more than willing to listen to Layla's plan to have a, quote unquote, "contractor" (that seemed to describe Jade, Leo, etc., as well as any euphemism) do the investigation at the Temple of the Divine Dwarf; the concept of "plausible deniability" was second nature to any upper-crust Tsuirakuan, and Galina had spent enough time working for the batty Saiko Mesuinu to have first-hand experience with how it could come in useful. She didn't need to know that there'd be a ringer waiting in the wings to help those contractors if things got messy. That part would be the Gewehr's little secret.

"So how am I supposed to behave?" Ace asked his girlfriend (might as well acknowledge it now).

"Like any potential religious convert," Layla answered back. "You've heard about the Temple and find its message -- how to put it -- 'intriguing.' So you want to talk to them and learn more about what they believe, and if you like it, start getting familiar with the crazy-ass stuff there." She smiled. "I wouldn't use exactly that language with them, though. Just play it naturally."

Ace looked skeptical. "Well, if you say so. So Jade, and Martin or Leo or whatever his name is, will be there too?"

"Right, or if they're not, some of their people will be. That's what we're going to set up now, getting everybody on the same page so there aren't any surprises. Let's go see what they're planning, and get you introduced as backup." She turned the carriage toward Barker Lane.

[Jack Rothwell]

"So you're not coming?" Leo asked, facing his girlfriend in the entrance hall of the barker lane guild.

"No." Jade replied, standing in a firm stance that negated further argument. "You're the better talker sweetheart, and besides, I still have that project to work on at the forge. I'd be more useful there than traipsing around with Rufus' two favourite students. What have you got planned anyway?"

"Nothing too overblown." The mercenary shrugged. "We're conducting an investigation after all. I convince them of my connections, convince them to show me around as much of the place as humanly possible, and keep their attention focused on me while the little tomboy puts on her best black attire and does some serious sneaking around."

Jade heard the thumps and thuds being punctuated from upstairs; Eve was up and performing her morning exercises. One would be forgiven for thinking that the 'little tomboy' was a racket-making ball of chaos waiting to explode at any given moment, but the truth was she was a favoured student of the old man. The pair had a father-daughter relationship and she'd learned endlessly under his tutelge. The younger woman possessed a knack for stealth the blacksmith could never have matched. She smiled and nodded at Leo as he explained; the plan was a good one.

"What about Rufus?"

"Another day at the office it seems, he's got Bert scabbling round town for new jobs and he's trying to whip the other two into warriors."

"New boys eh?" Jade eyebrow arched playfully. "Any handsome young men?"

"Don't be a bitch. The old bastard'll want to talk business with you later too. He said something about wanting you to build some comissions for the team."

"A woman's got to make a living." She was grinning at the merc, she liked it when he pushed back a little. "l'll see him after I get to grips with the blade."

[Graybeard]

Layla knocked on the door of Rufus' operation, getting a suspicious eye at the peephole until she and Leo and Jade established voice contact. With introductions made, it was time to get down to business.

"This is my -- friend, Ace," she explained to the others; Jade and Leo had met him at the vineyard, so no introduction there. "You'll see him from time to time at both the Temple of the Divine Dwarf and the burned-out liquor store. I'm going to have to avoid both places, but if you need backup, he can get it for you. Don't be surprised if the way he looks at the Temple isn't exactly what you were expecting." The look on Ace's face suggested that she'd have a lot of kiss-and-make-up to do later, but she was okay with that.

"At the Temple, ask for 'Sister Joli,'" she continued. "She's the daughter of the high priest and the one who came looking for help originally. Tell her that 'Galina' sent you about the fire, not me. There shouldn't be anybody at the liquor store, except maybe a cop or two. They're for sale." She smirked. "If you need help buying them, any of Ace or Joe or I can help. So any questions?"

[Jack Rothwell]

"Just what my motivation is." Leo replied a lisping, theatrical voice that caused his girlfriend to facepalm in silent exasperation.

"The rent, you bloody fop." Jade muttered, smiling apologetically at Layla as she did.

"Enough said then." He nodded. "We'll head to the Temple first, if it does you. I already had the chance to look around the liquor store yesterday." He uttered a short, humourless bark of laughter. "That's misguiding. I was IN the bloody place when that skulker started firebombing it." The merc's usual cheerful demeanour darkened at the recollection. "I'd really like to see that man again."

"Violence doesn't become you, Leo."

He ignored the comment, and craned his neck to yell upstairs. "Eve! Time to go!"

A moment later, the short, blonde haired woman came sliding down the bannister and dropped to wooden floor. She straightened up and eyed the newcomers with a surly expression. She'd didn't greet them, but began brushing the dirt off her sleeves in a gesture of lofty distain. Jade shook her head and turned back to the vineyard owner.

"That girl gets up on the wrong side of bed every day of the year." She murmured, and then louder. "Come on sunshine! There's work to do!"

"Any chance of a little encouragement before I go, love?"

Jade rolled her eyes at her man and planted a firm kiss on his lips, one that went on for a little longer than strictly necessary.

"Good luck." She breathed then, composing herself, spoke to their visitors. "I'm heading back to the forge now, I'd be glad of some company if you're going the same way Layla."

[Graybeard]

"Sure, hop in," Layla said as she and Ace turned back to the cab. Truthfully, she'd been hoping that they'd have a passenger or two, because it would allow the asking of a question that might seem ... inopportune in the safe house, but had to be asked.

As soon as they were off Barker Lane, she asked it. "So what kind of relationship do you people have with the Rinkaiel cops? And how about the Tsuirakuans at the consulate, or in Tsuiraku-town? And while we're at it, the Seeadler?"

She cared about the answer to one of these questions more than the others.

[Jack Rothwell]

Jade held out her palms in a gesture for mercy.

"Woah! A lot of questions there for an early morning." She looked upwards, trying to remember the answers. "I don't know if you're asking the right woman truthfully, but as far as I know Leo's got one of the local cops in his pocket. As far as the Tsuirakuans and the Seeadler are concerned, I think 'non existant' would be the best way to describe our relationship with them, but you'd have to ask Rufus to know for sure." She shook her head. "I only rejoined the group yesterday, and things have changed with the old man since the last time I worked with him."

A thought occured to her then, she cocked her head and raised an eyebrow at Layla.

"Are you asking me because you are one of those groups? Or is the answer to that liable to get me strung up?"

[Graybeard]

"Are you asking me because you are one of those groups? Or is the answer to that liable to get me strung up?"

"Consider it a little prophylaxis," Layla said, relieved at what she'd heard; if Jade and company had had run-ins with the Tsuirakuans, she'd have had to make sure her own people were as far away from them as possible when they investigated the temple, if her guess about what had happened there was right. "We're none of the above. As you probably know, if you're going to do business in Farrel, you almost have to have good relations with one guild or another, and that's true of us at the vineyard like it is of everyone else. The Seeadler keeps a tight grip on the Rinkaiel harbor. If you're going to do any export-import work, it's a good idea to be on good terms with them. As for the Tsuirakuans, their politics have more weird twists and turns than an elephant's guts. I wish we understood them better; it'd help figure out who we got crossways with to the point that they'd hit the liquor store." And, of course, help us figure out whether and how to hit them back.

"So where are we dropping you off? Or are you going to go straight to the Temple and get started?"

[Jack Rothwell]

"Merchant's Street, I've got the blacksmiths there on rent until tomorrow and I have big, bad, project to be working on. Leo and Eve'll be checking out the temple in a bit. Trust me, they're the best people for the job. Me, I know where my talents lie." Jade smiled widely, as she usually did when contemplating her craft.

"Oh! That reminds me, is there anything left of that exploded blue golem in the basement from a few nights ago? I doubt I could make anything of it but I would love to dissect it."

[Graybeard]

"Oh! That reminds me, is there anything left of that exploded blue golem in the basement from a few nights ago? I doubt I could make anything of it but I would love to dissect it."

Layla's eyebrows rose a notch. This curious girl couldn't really be thinking of weaponizing one of the strange constructs, could she? From what she'd gathered about the one she'd seen earlier at the inn -- "Ayee," or something like that -- they had enough self-awareness that there might be some doubt as to who was controlling whom (or what). And their power, if Ayee was any example, absolutely kicked ass. On the other hand, why not look into it? I'd certainly a lot rather have someone friendly to us with a blue golem on her side, than the Eisenfaust, or the Seeadler, or the Tsuirakuans...

She became aware that she'd paused for thought longer than was completely polite. "I honestly don't know," she answered. "I'll check on it when I get back to the house tonight. None of us are adept enough with thaumato-technology to do anything with it." Although I think I know what I might want Galina to teach me next. Wonder if she knows anything about those things? "If it's still there, or at least the pieces of it are, and the Tsuirakuans haven't invaded to try to get it back, I don't see any reason why we couldn't work something out." She pulled up in front of the smithy to let Jade go work on her most recent project.

[Jack Rothwell]

"I don't like this."

"You don't like most things, dear heart."

Eve and Leo found themselves walking side by side to The Temple of the Divine Dwarf some minutes after the red-haired blacksmith made her exit. The pair looked an odd couple, the man smartly dressed in a way that screamed 'official', the woman clad in dark shades that blended seamlessly with every shadow she stepped across. It would've been obvious to a listener that they were bickering about something.

"I'm just saying..." Eve continued. "Whose to say those guys are legit? This whole thing could be a set-up."

"You're paranoid." Leo replied. "Jade gave them the thumbs up and, besides, the group needs the money."

"Oh please. You'd go along with anything she says."

The temple was coming into view now, the pair picked the pace up.

"Save your complaints for another time. You need to start your subterfuge shorty, and I need to get into character."

"Fine." Eve branched away from her team mate and headed towards an alley. "But don't come crying to me if you get your head cut off!"

Leo approached the impressive looking building a short time later. He took a second to smooth back the loose hair from his temples and pick a speck of lint off his jacket before entering.

The denizens of the place immediately made his eyebrows rise. Men wandered around wearing clothes and prosthetics designed to make them look like the race they revered with complete disregard of how peculiar they looked. Leo stood for a moment, lost in incredulity, before approaching a likely looking man burdened under the weight of a fake hunchback.

"Excuse me, sir? Galina sent me, I need to speak with Sister Joli."


OOC Going off this description for the temple http://www.errantstory.com/wiki/index.p ... vine_Dwarf is there any other info available anywhere? /OOC