Fame is a means to an end to some, perhaps to satisfy their narcissism,
to fill their vaults full of precious things or for public adulation. On the
other hand it can be a burden and a corruptor. For the people of Draolis, fame
is a means to do better things. It is a vehicle that their intention rides
upon. For Eryn in particular he was facing a dilemma himself. He had heard of
the Hawk-Eyes and once, while he was younger, wanted to join them after hearing
tales in the city of Qi. On the other hand his new found fortune was a product
of a lie. He was now questioning whether he made the right decision. His
wanderings through the city took him up two floors, to the realm of the
Grapnel. Every shop, market stall and roving trader had something related to
sell. Of course there were people here who would prey on these citizens. The
floor was instilled with regiment and compliance so there was always an opportunity
for subversion. Eryn's absent minded wanderings collided him with a Grapnel
Guard. His broad shoulders, exposed arms and polished armour was admirable to
Eryn. Unfortunately the guard was not amused. He moved Eryn on quickly, with
one broad gesture. He fell against a wall and slumped onto the deck, his guard
had been down so he could only blame himself. He looked around to gain his
bearings. Two old women had replaced his position next to the guard but seemed
to be happily chatting away with him, either that or he did an unconvincing job
of ignoring them. Behind the two old women he saw a shadowy figure and a
flash of reflected light. There were sounds of an argument, bone smashing and
crystal breaking till out of the shadows came his bickering companions.
From what he could gather the fight was about one thing, stealth. Lily
claimed she needed absolute covertness to finish her assignment. Chloe's response
had been two fold, firstly she wasn't on the mission with Lily, and secondly
she claimed lightning fast reflexes if they did get into trouble. This then escalated
till they both tumbled out of hiding. Eryn sighed. He had thought about asking
what had happened but he remembered the struggle he had to get through last
time with Chloe and decided it was better not to. He tried to talk to Lily but
the way she looked back at him, it was probably safer not to. The silence had
prompted Valma to wake up. Although the voice sounded sleepy it was
resolute again in asking for be interacted with. Chloe had been exhausted by
trying to interact with Valma for the past hour or more and quickly shunned it
for the guard. Her decision was to try to sneak up on the guard to find out
what he was saying to the women. Unfortunately she tripped over a loose board
in the floor and landed directly next to the ladies. One of them shrieked at
first but then offered to help her up. The guard however was distracted. A
fellow Grapnel, a slightly portly fellow with glasses, pushed the rims from his
nose and unfurled a parchment. He announced that all Grapnel not on primary
rotation to attend an emergency promotion to Keeper of the Glaives, and in his
tone, apparently unhappy about the new candidate.
As Chloe returned to the group so too did the guard back to the Academy.
Lily could no longer gain simple access. While she had been waiting for the
eventual fallout from Chloe being in Seneschal's, she had been given another
note. He slowly sleeps with regret. To Lily that could only mean Zivians
and this new development would change any opportunities she had already scoped.
She decided until she had the advantage she would change tact. Following up on
the second part of her assignment, Tangent. She had heard of this word
while in the Foundations by passing merchants but she never sought
clarification. Her idea was to take a sleeping draught she had concocted, a
familiar recipe although difficult to attain the ingredients, and apply it to a
merchant. Without much discussion she asked Eryn to find her a merchant and in
all but saying the word, kidnap them. He didn't give an immediate response and
Lily wasn't waiting for one.
Her Employer had given her access to a front, the Company Mezzo. It dealt
with transporting sculptures and art to various locations around the Steadfast,
as well as anything else that could fit in the box. It's back rooms would be
perfect for what she had in mind. Eryn now left with not much option needed a cigarette.
He grabbed Chloe and they started walking. All around him were shops dedicated
to the improvement of the physical. Nothing that could desecrate the sanctity
of the human body was sold here, a saddening fact for Eryn. Their windows
boasted finely sculpted mannequins, the newest in apothecarical medicine as
well as rare trinkets that held their own powers. All this dedication made Eryn
a little sick. He was even coming around to the idea of kidnapping, as long as
it was one of the people who worked at one of these shops. Chloe in the mean
time had darted around those shops looking for something in particular, a mask.
She needed a disguise, in hopes not to attract attention to who she really was. She had found one eventually, although it was made for spectacle fighting, to strike terror into the opponent. Her visage was off putting to most of the citizens, apart from one. He was a middle aged man with faded scars. His deep brown mutton chops the only resemblance to the colour of what his thinning hair.. He was almost too calm, a fact Eryn ignored due to his wares. A tobacco salesman defiantly promoting his stock in front of uptight self-righteous, health obsessed Metricious. This was admirable to Eryn, who delighted in the rebellious nature of the man. They discussed their techniques while Chloe was gauging the bicycle driven cart he was peddling from. Directly behind them, a young woman, probably a maid or servant for a lord out shopping for him, shrieked. Her sensitive temperament shocked by the mask. Her footing on the small set of steps outside the shop was lost. She and her shopping tumbled down towards them. There was no time to react. The shopping pushed the cart onto the merchant, who in turn fell onto Eryn, much to Chloe's amusement. As the dust settled and the woman hurriedly grabbed what she could of her shopping, only Eryn stood. He thought he had somehow killed the man but instead he was sleeping soundly. There was no more of the sleeping draught and no Lily around to synthesise more. With regret as heavy as the man he now carried and headed towards where Lily had designated.
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