[IC]Shadow over Stygia

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 10:36 pm

The guard raises a brow - his eyebrows and all other facial hair having been shaved off - as he looks past Neb at the girl.

"That scrawny thing?" Then realizing he had spoken aloud, he turns his attention back to the Neb.

"His lordship Atem-Hut-Let is about on business this evening, and not do to return until the wee hours. Perhaps m'lord's steward would see your wares, but his is very busy managing the household, and would only make time for wealthy and generous lords. Unless you have some other business, I would suggest you leave and return upon the morrow..."

{Do I need to roll a Sense Motive check?}

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 10:45 pm

(I was thinking it could be either a Bluff or Diplomacy check, so I guess so.

Isandro, the guard wants a bribe. Do either you or Kamoses want to attempt that? Maybe it could count as Aid Another.)

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:42 am

((Technically the noble of the group should not be the one to handle money in a bribe, so one of you should do the actual passing of coin.))

Kamoses will lean towards Isandro to speak confidentially with him "give the man fifty silver" he mutters quietly.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:37 am

Isandro looks rather amused as he bribes the guy accordingly.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:53 am

The guard hefts the gold coins that are placed in his hand with a smile, and his fellow returns the same devilish grin. The first guard knocks at a small window set in the door, which slides back, and has a few whispered words with the guard on the other side. There is the sound of a bolt being drawn back and together, the two guards outside open the gate and usher the group in to the small courtyard.

Once the whole troop is within the walls, they see it is perhaps sixty feet square, clean white sand laid over stone, with an empty stables on the northern side, with a small circular well half-covered with a wooden lid, and on the southern side a small wing of the house, both buildings being of a single story. Servants rush about, you count at least ten guards positioned throughout the courtyard, and a tall, skinny, bald-pated man emerges from the house proper to survey the group.

"Welcome, oh travelers, and accept the hospitality of this house," the eagle-eyed steward recites the ancient formula. "Greetings to you, Lord Hapuseneb, on behalf of my master, Atem-Hut-Let, devoted servant of Set, lord of the twenty-seventh nome. Please allow me to entertain you in my master's absence; come with me into his house that I might inspect your...generous gifts." he says, not able to conceal a twinge of a smirk as he eyes the slave girls. "Your servants will be served beer and refreshments here while they wait."

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:56 am

"Greetings to you and your lord and compliments to his home." Kamoses replies, nodding his head and following the steward.

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:02 am

[[Y'all should probably come up with some kind of reason for having a poor beggar travel with you, since I assume Karlus is still disguised.]]

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:09 am

(I plan on claiming to be a slaver who is clearly working very hard at making inroads into a new market. After all, I'm Zingaran and clearly wealthy even if that doesn't count for jack shit in Stygia. On the bright side, nobody likes buying Cimmerians. So tempermental, you know.)

Kurama314 · Post by **Kurama314** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:30 am

(Well since you guys made it in I guess me and Taotie will stay in the alley for now.)

Velasco turns to Taotie upon realizing the others made it in, "So the plan says we stay here until we hear screaming or until they take too long, right?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:58 am

In the House of Atem-Hut-Let
The steward leads you to a hall with a long table and four armed guards, and at a clap of his hands women come forth bearing a carafe of pale yellow wine into cups for all to drink. You notice that the women serving you are all quiet curvaceous, with heavy bosoms and wide hips, almost plump. The steward fails to hide a smile as he sips his master's wine from his master's cup, circling and inspecting the girls you have brought. Sometimes he bears his teeth at them, forcing them to smile so he can look at their teeth as well - just as one might inspect a horse. Finally, he sits back down at the table and refills his cup.

"I know not what charade you plan, or how you gained entrance - though I imagine the guards are a little richer, eh? I will see them flogged for that. Whoever you are, you are fools to have come here with such goods as these if you think to impress my master. Anyone in the City of Magicians could have told you that m'lord Atem-Hut-Let has particular tastes in women. These scrawny toothpicks," he waves a dismissive hand at the girls "Are an insult to his lordship, and were he here no doubt he would demand your lives..."

That smile flickers across his thin, dusky face once again.

"...yet my lord is not here, and does not yet know of this business. So tell me now what you had hoped to gain from this ruse, and perhaps we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement."

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 4:15 am

Isandro shrugs "I am afraid procurers aren't always in the habit of giving accurate information when they sense competition."

(Isandro is bluffing his ass off, but whatever, buying time.)

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 4:52 am

"It will be more than the guards outside getting flogged tonight, I promise you that..." Kamoses sneers, "Surely no insult was meant. Set will have several new souls to savour this night."

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 6:51 am

Kurama314 wrote:(Well since you guys made it in I guess me and Taotie will stay in the alley for now.)

Velasco turns to Taotie upon realizing the others made it in, "So the plan says we stay here until we hear screaming or until they take too long, right?"

"We make our way in now, while the host is distracted by the others"

*Let's shimmy our way up this wall all sneaky like. Don't want to be late for 'negotiations'!

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 9:14 am

(So, should we continue to dissemble, which I suspect this guy will see right through, or tell him the truth? If the map is painted on the girl's back, then someone was almost certainly working off of an original,)

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 10:31 am

((well, I suppose we could attack, but there are four armed guards, so...))

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:13 am

(Definitely hold off on attacking. I'm asking if we should lie to the steward, possibly buying time for T and V, or be honest and see if we can buy the map, or the girl wearing it. Together the 4 of us have over 2500 sp in gold for a potential bribe, but it's just as likely he wants us to do something for him in exchange.)

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:34 pm

(Too many witnesses around. If we didn't have the guards' silence to worry about too, I'd say we go for it, but everyone will want a taste, we maintain, and if we're gonna lie, we might as well lie big.)

Kurama314 · Post by **Kurama314** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:56 pm

"We make our way in now, while the host is distracted by the others"

*Let's shimmy our way up this wall all sneaky like. Don't want to be late for 'negotiations'!

"Good by me."

(Velasco is going to use his grappling hook and rope to scale the wall. Once both he and Taotie are up he'll pull it over and bring it with him to use later for exiting the compound.)

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:59 pm

So, basically as they wait for the rough men to come and do rough deeds on their behalf, I guess Kamoses and Neb's actions can best be summed up as "bluffing their barely covered Stygian asses off"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:08 pm

In the House of Atem-Hut-Let
"So you are slavers. But you must be new to this city. Why did you come here? Tell me what you want."

On the side
The hook flies over the wall on the first try, and Velasco slowly draws it back until it snags, the tugs it twice to make sure it will hold, and begins to climb. The walls are so close together he hardly needs the rope, but when he reaches the top he sees that the upper few feet of the wall are cement embedded with broken glass to discourage thieves, and is glad he didn't decide to climb bare-handed. As Velasco slips over the wall, he feels Taotieh climbing up the rope behind him...

Behind he wall is a narrow walkway, two feet wide, all around the inner edge of the courtyard wall. Immediately below him, about a twenty-foot drop, is the south wing of the house - and opposite, the stables where the animals and slaves are being given beer under the watchful eyes of the guards, though fortunately none are on the wall tonight. To the west, towards the city wall, Velasco can make out a door into the house proper.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:16 pm

Kamoses grits his teeth in irritation, "Just as well, deceit is a waste of time to me. Our associate is a slaver. As for myself, I am in truth a noble of Stygia, and a priest of Great and Powerful Set. We seek your lord's favoured slave girl, the one with the map painted on her back. Aid us in acquiring her, map intact, and both our coin purses and my god would look quite favourable upon you. Obstruct us, and, well, our coin purses will not care one bit, but they're not what you have to worry about, now, are they?" Kamoses glares imperiously at the steward, let the quiet menace of his voice and the reputation of the Set priesthood carry the threat necessary for an intimidation.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:22 pm

"Nekka..." the steward muses aloud. "My lord's favorite. He would not part with her, for any price, and would be quite wroth if she were to go missing...not that even that would be easily accomplished. Yet from your words I take it is not her favors you crave, but the map. I can allow you to view her...even to copy that portion of the map you desire. But I take great risks of being discovered. What is an hour's time worth to you, oh noble lord and servant of Set?"

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:31 pm

Kamoses purses his lips and gazes impassively at the steward, considering.

Can I get a Kn. Nobility check to know how militarily oriented the lord is? ie, if we just paid off his steward to come with us with the girl, how likely he'd be to pursue us and how likely he'd be to be successful?

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:41 pm

{Knowledge (Nobility) check - Despite his taste for debauchery, Atem-Hut-Let is one of the magician-lords of Kheshatta. He may only have at most a couple dozen guards on hand, but he is a sorcerer as well - and rich enough to hire mercenaries, or even petition the prince for troops.}

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:51 pm

"His lordship does not stoop to the carrying of coin, as such falls to his attendants. I am prepared to offer on his behalf several trade bars of gold recently obtained from a Kushite merchant, and thus unencumbered with the documentation from the Treasury at Luxur that Stygian gold would bear. It is fitting to pay in untraceable gold for an exchange that in one hour's time will be as if it never happened."

(I'm unsure as to trade bar value. I'll pony up 300 sp worth and see if that proves sufficient.)