Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf

[Graybeard]

"Are you alright madam? You don't look well."

That understated it, Layla thought as she looked at her friend. Galina looked like she'd seen a ghost, and she was clutching her daughter as though she were a life preserver on a stormy sea. "What's wrong?"

Galina's mouth worked a few times before she was able to get out an answer. "I -- I've been to see Captain Kitaura," she said. "He said we are to drop our investigation of the Temple of the Divine Dwarf immediately, no questions asked. He was -- very emphatic."

Layla could see that there were tears in the corner of Galina's eyes as she kissed Oxana and held her tight. Her own face hardened a notch beyond what the possible treachery by Stevo had caused.

Kitaura, I don't give a rat's ass whether you fixed the problem at the shack or not. If you threatened my friend's child, you are still an utter bastard ... and you will be dealt with, somehow.

[Jack Rothwell]

Eve caught up with the group, absentmindedly wiping the dust off the dress she wore.

"So does that mean this enterprise was a waste of time? Do you want us to finish lookng round here?"

[Graybeard]

"So does that mean this enterprise was a waste of time? Do you want us to finish lookng round here?"

"Damn good question," Layla agreed. "The bastard didn't say not to keep looking here, though, so stay with it. I'd really like to get some ideas about who all Stevo was dealing with. As for the temple, I think we've probably learned what Sister Joli wondered about, don't you?"

She turned to Galina, who was still shaking like a leaf. "Now we're going to go off to the vineyard and have a nice, private talk."

The Tsuirakuan hesitated. "I don't know, I'm supposed to be getting another student, he's coming by mid-afternoon. Can we make it back by then?"

Layla facepalmed. "You know," she said, "I think your daughter may be getting just a bit of croup. Some time in the country will probably be good for her, don't you think?" Was that clear enough?

It was. "I -- see what you mean," Galina murmured. "Let's go." She joined Layla and Ace in the cab, as Joe stayed behind to continue keeping an eye on the excavation.

[OOC: This new "student" would be an interesting opportunity for someone to introduce a new player character. More players earnestly desired!]

[Jack Rothwell]

Eve watched the group depart; Bert immediately saw the glint in her eye.

"Eve?"

"Bugger this. I'm checking the second floor." She looked at the man who'd stayed behind. "Hey you, did that Stevo guy have a room up there? I think I need to rifle through somone's personal belongings."

[Graybeard]

"Hey you, did that Stevo guy have a room up there? I think I need to rifle through somone's personal belongings."

"Hey you" wasn't exactly the way to get Joe's cooperation under normal circumstances, but most people in the Farrel guilds didn't enter their profession to show off their diplomatic skills, and he knew it. Besides, she was right. Did I leave anything up there that could be useful for blackmail? I don't think so. "Your funeral," he shrugged. "Yeah, that's probably where the dirt is. Just be careful. What's left of that floor could fall down at any minute."

-----------

Away from the crowd, Galina's Tsuirakuan reserve slipped considerably, and she was soon sobbing into her friend's shoulder as Ace drove the hack. "He's such an -- awful man," she managed to get out.

Layla made comforting noises, but what was there to say? Kitaura, the son of a bitch, had obviously threatened Oxana, and there was no doubt that he had the resources to execute whatever threat he'd made. Furthermore, just the fact that he'd done it was clear enough evidence as to just who had started the fire at the Temple of the Divine Dwarf. That knowledge made further investigations more or less moot.

She started to say something, but a thought struck her. What if this conversation is bugged? The bastard could do it. "Let's make a quick detour on the way out to our place," she said. "We need to pick up some supplies, let me make a quick list." She extracted a pen and paper from her purse and began to write. Galina gave her a surprised look for a moment -- was this the time for a shopping trip? -- but soon she saw that what Layla had written wasn't a shopping list at all, but rather a note:

Do a magic check. I'll bet you're carrying something he can use to snoop on you/us. We want to find it and lose it before we get to the vineyard.

[Jack Rothwell]

Eve scurried up the stairs without a backward glance, as impatient as a kid wanting to get on the swings. She alighted onto the crumbling remains of the second floor and started rummaging through the chests and cabinets. She made a grunting noise as she turned a fallen container, a chunk of mortar fell with an audible crash.

"Eve! Be careful!"

Eve yanked a drawer out of its holder and upturned the contents onto the ground.

"Be careful?" She shouted back. "I spent the morning sneaking around a temple full of dangerous magical artifacts, I got sunburn from an irate mage, I was carried in the teeth of an industrial grinder shaped like a dog, which then chased me all the way back to the guild to make me it's lunch, and you're telling me to be worried about a slightly unstable floor?"

Bert, wisely, closed his mouth.

OOC Edit- misspell/OOC

[Graybeard]

Joe had to admit, she had a point.

"Stevo's stuff should be in the back corner, near the hole in the floor," he called.

--------------

Galina got the message. "I think Oxana's diaper needs changing," she said, and sub-vocalized a spell. Sure enough, the safety pin that held her daughter's diaper on began to glow.

Layla could feel it, too. There was definite magic to the thing. She didn't have her friend's divination skills, of course, but she didn't really need them. "A good mother is always prepared," she smiled, and produced a safety pin from her purse. As Galina worked away on the diaper, she wrote something else.

"Much better," Galina said. "Now we can -- what?" Layla handed her another note.

Good. You found the scrying device he wanted you to find. Now work on finding the one he didn't want you to find.

Galina gulped, said, "I was saying -- now we can get on with our shopping," and sub-vocalized another spell.

[Jack Rothwell]

Eve found the corner quickly enough at Joe's direction. She rummaged through the misshappen mess dextoriously, shifting through clothes, old firearms and a half-eaten apple lodged mysteriously in an underwear drawer.

"Find anything?" Bert called.

"Not yet." But there was something there; the young merc was sure of it. She wheeled the small storage unit around and started rapping on its panels with her knuckles. After a few frustrating seconds where she felt her temper beginning to poke its head out of the long grass she heard what she was listening for. A hollow thunk-thunk of an empty space where it shouldn't have been.

The girl grinned manically and drew a knife from her pocket, a moment later a splintering noise sounded as the old boards were pried loose. Eve tipped the cabinet backwards, unable to stop a triumpant cry as a handful of parchment came sliding of its broken back.

Bert, still downstairs, and trying in a vague way to 'make nice' with the employee of the Guild's contractors, smiled at the larger man and gave him a thumbs up.

"Looks like we might earn our pay on this job after all."

The effect of the success however, was marred by another chunk of cieling dropping less than a foot from the new recruits feet, he made a yelping noise and jumped awkwardly out of the way.

[Graybeard]

"What do you have there?" Joe asked Eve, fearing the worst. Selling us out to the Eisenfaust ... working for the Oshimas ... working for Kitaura, damn his black heart ... a blackmail list to sell to the highest bidder ... this could be bad.

However, when he looked at the parchment sheets, what he saw was definitely not what he expected. Saw, and smelled. The papers had a distinct odor of cheap perfume to them. They gave an address that Joe recognized (although he would never disclose how) as that of a notorious house of ill repute in the Seeadler zone of control. There was a description, written in a feminine if coarse hand, of certain things that would be done for Stevo if he happened to present himself at this establishment bearing a specific, fairly large quantity of money. A very explicit description.

Suppressing a chortle, he handed the sheets back to Eve. "Well," he said, "at least we know why he was trying to set this place up ... and I've got a pretty good idea where we can find him, too. Layla still isn't going to like it, though..."

-------------

Layla, however, had other things on her mind at the moment, as another object in Galina's diaper bag began to glow as her friend completed her spell.

[Jack Rothwell]

Eve read the letter's description with a roll of her eyes and a snort of disgust. Bert, on the other hand, couldn't stop a childish grin from fixing itself on his mouth.

"We'll we've got something to go at least."

"We should report back. See what the old man wants to do." The young woman said and then, turning to Joe. "You want us to handle this alone?"

.....................

"What the hell is that?"

"Easy, lover. It's just my new baby." Jade said, twirling the collapsed staff around as proudly as a man with a baton at the head of a parade. Leo watched the display with a mix of amusement and affection. It never ceased to surprise him how the woman continued to make his heart leap in his chest, admittedly, a fair amount of that time was from fear of getting shot, stabbed or blown up but he counted himself a lucky man all the same.

Jade snapped her arm out rigidly and pressed the catch at the side of the weapon, the staff opened to a full spear's length and the thick blade at the end sprang to life with a crackle of power that illuminated the entrance hall of the Guild. Leo jumped backwards instinctively. The blacksmith laughed.

"Eve's going to wet herself when she see's this." She straightened up and held the device still, gazing at it lovingly. "Now all I need is the golem's remains from the vineyard and my week'll be complete."

Leo nodded mutely, it didn't really matter what he said when his girlfriend was in full 'mad scientist' mode. Her yammering was mainly to herself anyway.