Jibril has had enough of getting the runaround from bystanders standing in her way. Impatient, Jibril reaches behind the bar and whips the largest bottle decanter across the man's face, shattering it to pieces. Jibril watches the glass splinter into shards as the glass breaks the skin of the man's face and recoils away, collapsing on the ground from the shock. The patrons in the bar recoil from the initial shock and back away as the man screams from the direct hit taking him by surprise. Jibril reaches down and grabs him by the collar of his tunic and drags him up using her augmented strength from her affinity with The Marker. Hefting the man weightlessly, she looks around to see everyone staring at her, with stoic confidence she scoffs at them and hisses back. They avert their gaze and go back to their drinks with the snarky dwarf giving her a raise of his tankard and a hardy chuckle. Jibril whips back to Mickie who refused to cooperate with her willingly, Mickie sneers as she hisses at him and drags off her unwilling informant.
Jibril remembers the Scarlet District being renovated and a bit rundown that people tend to shy away from looking too closely at illicit activities done within its alleyways. Taking her informant to the basement of one of those buildings would help her conceal her movements and cover her tracks if she's being pursued by other people. Her intention was to get the Thieves Guild to make contact with her, she knows now that the bartender is working for them given his reluctance to work with her and hiding his reasons. Suspicious as Mickie was, time isn't on Jibril's side in this. Desperate times call for desperate measures and Karlya is in trouble if she gets caught and arrested for an offense within Scarlet Rose on top of her current charges.
Dragging the injured man outside, resisting her manhandling, Jibril curls her hand into a fist and cocks him in the back of the head hard enough to knock him out. Last time she's done this, she's got about 15 to 20 minutes to wake him up otherwise he's gonna be useless to her. Thinking back to Peg-leg Manni and her dealing back in Heifong, this reminder Jibril of that time she and Manni had to do something similar for a Leyfon Drifter snitching on their own gang to go to work for Red Fang's gang (Red Waves). The snitch was knocked out with Manni's stone peg, after an hour of being unconscious, the guy forgot his own name and started describing the smell of colors! Hopefully the man in her custody doesn't wound up being similar.
Once out, Jibril flips the man on his side and picks him up in a fireman's carry with feet dangling over her shoulder and him resting on the other. Jibril holds onto the man's leg and forearm as straps to carry him with ease and stability. Upon witnessing this, a pair of men dressed in olive green fatigues walk up with M1 Garands cocked and loaded. One of the men wasn't like the others, this one was a mix-match of human skin similar to a frankenstein's monster with how many variants of color skin made up his own. While this man appears to be humanoid, he is, in fact, a homunculus: a magical being infused with magic born from the earth rumored to be children of Gaia, an earthly goddess of nature. This is the first time Jibril has encountered a homunculus before and seeing one doesn't disgust her with the way the stories made them out to be. Aside from the two quarters of his top face being black and olive and the bottom half of his skin below his nose is pale white - he's pretty close to being fully human.
The homunculus and his companion held their ground and their guns raised to Jibril.
"Stop! Put the man down!" the companion shouts.
"I need him" Jibril raising a hand up, knowing what one of those rifles can do to her if she doesn't comply. "This is just a misunderstanding"
"Uh huh" The homunculus says unconvinced, "I don't give a damn what he did, can't be going around causing trouble - nagini"
Jibril gives an embarrassed smile.
"Going around town, stirring up the bars into a frenzy and you're knocking men out and kidnapping them ... what's wrong with you? Can't you be civilized? These are decent folk trying to live life and here you are causing problems." The homunculus lectures.
The homunculus gestures to his friend next to him, the militiaman walks toward Jibril to grab the man off her shoulders while he keeps his gun trained on her.
"Are you trying to get thrown into prison?" Homunculus asked.
"I'm looking for someone and they-'' Jibril says until being interrupted by the homunculus.
"I said I don't give a damn, lady, we're here to enforce the law. Violence against a citizen of the NCR carries a Hard Labor charge of a year in the mines and a Fine of 50 pewter."
"I'm a citizen!" Jibril interjects.
"Oh yeah? Well then you'll have to prove that when we're booking you for disturbing the peace, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiring to kidnap and unlawfully carry a weapon within the city."
"I'm also allowed to carry my weapon per Kane's decree" Jibril answers.
"I'm calling bullshit" The militiaman tells the homunculus.
"Noted" The homunculus answers her companion.
The homunculus reaches up to the earring piercing on his ear lobe and rubs it until it glows. It's a Seer Stone! Jibril looks over and sees the other man is also wearing a similar piercing. The homunculus averts his gaze as if to speak into his ear or someone beside him.
"Central, this is Sector Militiaman 0-2-1" The homunculus speaks.
"Central reads you, 0-2-1" Seer Stone answers back.
"I have a person of interest in custody, a female nagini suspected to be connected with a string of disturbances. 0-2-1 requests confirmation of citizenship, permission for weapon carrying within the city limits and best course of action."
After a few minutes of talking back and forth, the homunculus keeps Jibril in custody with the man she's trying to get away with now sitting in front her with a militiaman's gun focused on her with clear intent of shooting her if she moves to flee. After the painstakingly long wait, the homunculus turns back and addresses Jibril.
"Jibril Slaven-claw, you're free to go" The homunculus answered.
The militiaman lowers his rifle and pulls back the bolt to release the loaded round inside so skillfully that he catches it and tucks it into his upper coat pocket of his leather duster. The homunculus pulls out a pair of shackles and cuffs the man who was unconscious, then sits the man up and presents the chain to the shackles to Jibril. Jibril is confused by the turn of events.
"I don't understand," Jibril says.
"Central confirms your residence, thereby you are entitled to your rights. Had you been a foreigner, the severity of your crime would get you put in front of a firing squad in Blackgate Prison. Kane has you listed on a Whitelist of people of interest."
"What does that mean?" Jibril asked.
The homunculus scoffs and shakes his head as if her question was so audacious.
"If you didn't know that then you had some balls strolling around doing what you're doing, I hate to see what you're gonna do now you do know." The homunculus looks away from Jibril for a moment and glares at her, "Means whatever you got going on with Kane is official business. If this man is official business, it's our job to ensure to see that it gets done."
The shackles click and the homunculus turns to the militiaman he came with and orders him to pick up the poor sod and carry him for Jibril.
"You got a place to take this man?" The homunculus asks.
"Scarlet District, there was a building I wanted to take him to," Jibril answered.
"Right, follow us"
The homunculus takes the lead and the militiaman soon begrudgingly behind him and Jibril walks beside the homunculus as they head toward the Scarlet District.
"Got a name, homunculus?" Jibril asked.
"Would you like to know?" The homunculus replied with a snide remark.
"How the seven hells did I get stuck carrying the fat bastard?" The militiaman complains.
"When your silly fat ass got stuck with me as your Sector partner. Quit your belly aching and hurry up" The homunculus quips harshly.
"You know my name," Jibril quickly points out.
"Look here, I'm not your friend, your buddy or pal. I am an Officer of the Republic! My job is training these Militias to work with the same efficiency of the army. Yet, here I am escorting a freelancer to do some back alley business. What a fucking mess this is."
"You got a problem with me" Jibril says coldly, keeping her eyes forward.
"You're damn right I do" The homunculus growls, "I hate you foreigners coming into my homeland, it wasn't bad enough already picking up our dead from the attack, we have to cater to your fucking whims as well. Whatever Kane has you doing, be quick about it and then fuck off."
"Typical" The militiaman says under his breath, carrying the informant.
"You got something to say 'Conscript'?!" The homunculus whips around and grabs the human man's mouth.
Through slurs and garbled speech the man says: "Typical Oman"
"Oman?" Jibril repeats.
"That's OFFICER Oman ... to YOU!!" The homunculus shouts at the militiaman then pointing his finger at Jibril.
Officer Oman steps into Jibril's personal space, he's a few feet shorter than her at about 5 feet and 5 inches tall with a nicer uniform than the militiaman.
"After we dropped this piece of shit off, I got my eye on you. You step a single foot out of line, I'll personally skin you alive and leave the rest of you in the trenches. Be grateful Kane has his reasons to keep people like you around."
"That's cute, little man, if you think you can take me on. Name a time and place" Jibril calls out his bluff.
"Unlike you, I know my place" Oman answered, "I'm not doing this for you, let's be clear about this. This stiff I got Harry carrying around is a regular prick on my side, his friends have been causing trouble for Kane and the Council. Had it my way, I'd bury him up to his neck. BUT - You work for Kane, Kane is the man I respect and would give back his heart he gave to me if he asked for it back."
Oman jams two of his fingers into his chest looking Jibril in the eyes to emphasize his point.This isn't jingoism or xenophobia Jibril is sensing from Oman, this man is a fanatical loyalist.
"That man personally ripped out his own heart and gave it to me, saving my life. Nobody's done that for me. If he told me to order a thousand of our men to walk into the depths of the seven hells, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Pun intended. But he's got you doing this for him, if he says you're untouchable, I follow orders. But what do you know of following orders!"
Office Oman laughs his ass off as he kicks open a door to an occupied building currently being put together by carpenters and bricklayers. Oman brings two fingers to his mouth and whistles loudly to gain everyone's attention.
"Everybody out!" Oman shouts and the people inside clear out quickly and sprinting out the doors.
Oman turns around and gestures his head to the chair sitting against the wall a painter was using earlier to stand on. Dragging the chair into the center of the room, Oman orders his partner, Harry, to set the man down inside the chair. Jibril leans up against the wall with her arms crossed, watching Oman wake up the poor guy while Harry reshackles the man into the chair. When the man wakes up and groans loudly then suddenly realizing he's handcuffed to a chair inside a room, he panics.
"Wakey wakey, Bobby!" Oman grins, leaning in front of his face.
"Wh-what?" The man says groggily.
Oman slaps the man across the face: "Wake Up!"
"Ow! Geez! I'm awake!" The man answers by spitting the blood from his mouth.
Oman plucks the glass from his discolored skin and flicks them away while he grabs the man with a bundle of his hair within his grasp.
"Look at me Bobby '' Oman says, shifting position to get the man to focus.
"I need to know where to find Karlya Holo," Jibril told Oman.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Oman brushes her off.
"I'll get a bucket" Harry says, knowing something Jibril doesn't.
"What do you want, freak?" Bobby groans.
With another firm slap across the face and a firm finger point in his face: "Watch it you stupid fuck. I got business with you"
Oman plants a boot on Bobby's balls, causing Bobby to recoil in pain. As Bobby goes to let out a scream, Oman jams three fingers into Bobby's mouth and digs his thumb under his chin and presses hard into it to give Bobby even greater discomfort.
"This woman says she's looking for a friend name ... what the fuck was her name?" Oman turns to Jibril.
"Karlya Holo" Jibril answers begrudgingly.
"Karlya Holo?" Oman says with a pursed 'o' on his lips as if to continue a thought, "The fuck kind of name is Holo? Holo."
"Where's Karlya Holo?" Jibril says to Bobby.
Oman releases Bobby's mouth.
"Well answer her, chamber pot" Oman orders.
"I don't know," Bobby replies.
"Bobby, if you don't start talking, you KNOW I'm gonna cut your belly open and drag thirty nine feet of intestines out of you." Oman threatens, he pulls out a boot knife and digs the tip of the blade into Bobby's hanging gut and starts to cut upwards of the man's tunic to expose his flesh. Bobby is quivering as Oman continues to grill him for information. Oman works pretty quickly with each refusal to make it harder for Bobby to keep quiet. Jibril is poised to intervene if things get too hot for Bobby, Oman may be an Officer of the NCR, but Jibril was also a guardsman and there's some things even her own compatriots wouldn't do.
"I'm getting impatient, Bobby," Oman says, gritting his teeth.
Harry returns with two wooden buckets, one with water and the other empty. Oman looks over to Harry then back to Bobby.
"You got it?" Oman asked Harry.
"Yep, we're doing this the hard way again?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. Do I have to, Bobby?" Oman says sitting in Bobby's lap and carving an O into the side of Bobby's face.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Bobby says looking at Jibril, "What did I do to you!?"
"Hey, hey, slowly down, kid. Don't be looking at her. You looking at me, I will fucking kill you slowly, okay? I've got time. You? You don't have time. Where is this Holo woman and what do you know, this is the last time I'm gonna ask you. After that, I don't care what you have to say."
Bobby thinks and shakes his head slowly and whimpers.
"I'm done asking, now we're doing this the hard way" Oman says, pressing his knife into Bobby's guts and piercing the skin.
Bobby is wide-eyed as the blade pierces his skin.
"Alright! Alright! Shadow Cove!" Bobby screams in sheer terror.
"Not good enough" Oman says, digging his blade further then pulling it sideways to spill open, but does it very slowly.
- Wait Wait Wait Wait!! Shadow Cove is their hideout, due west along the coast, mountainside! She talked to Garrett, Guildmaster for the Thieves. Heard she worked for Red Fang, and wanted to put her to work. I don't know what to do. I swear to Argos that's all I heard!
"You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?" Oman says being skeptical of Bobby's trust.
"I swear to the gods, that's all I know!" Bobby answers loudly, crying to himself out of fear.
"You got your answer, lady. Now I have my own to deal with" Oman says, returning to Bobby.
"I'll stick around," Jibril says, standing her ground.
"You got what you came for, so fuck off and take care of your business" Oman callously orders.
"Kill him and we're gonna have a problem," Jibril says, unsheathing her shortsword.
Oman shakes his head then looks to Jibril with a look of disbelief and astonishment, then he turns back to Bobby, who is grinning despite having a knife buried in his stomach and bleeding inside the chair.
"Why the fuck would you say that?" Oman says to Jibril, he quickly removes his knife from Bobby and points it at Jibril nonchalantly. "I have him by the balls and you're gonna step in like some white knight? Now he's not gonna say a damn thing because he knows he's protected."
"I mean it, Oman" Jibril says sternly, "You keep the peace, this isn't peace. This is torture."
"No shit" Oman says, "For snake woman, I expected you to be more cold-blooded and ruthless. I wasn't gonna kill him but he didn't need to know that, stupid!"
"You stabbed him in the gut!" Jibril protests.
"So what?! We get stabbed all the time breaking up fights" Oman says.
Stabbing himself two to three times only for the blade itself to come out of his body clean and without any blood. He wasn't affected by the stabbing at all, are all homunculi this batshit crazy or is it just him?
Jibril acts on the knowledge of the Thieves Guild's headquarters but that's walking into a trap or ambush. Requires a bit of planning if she's going to attempt such a thing like this. Jibril returns to her hotel room at the Green Dragon to retrieve her things, her thirty minute walk back to her place was tiring given all her frantic running about. Thirsty, Jibril thinks the sink in the bathroom would quench her thirst and decides to pack a water pouch when she gets in. Upon reaching the top floor of her room, there was that butler looking fellow she met upon her arrival to Scarlet Rose. The grey haired elderly gentleman with the same tailcoat he wore as she met him, human as far as she can tell but she gets a very vague sense that he isn't really human. Something about him makes her scales raise.
Sebastian Atreus, that's what his name was. Either unaware of her presence or too preoccupied with the assorted things he's stacking along the wall, he doesn't face Jibril. Walking towards her room, it appears that Sebastian is actually setting up the pile of things outside her room. Jibril stands behind the gentleman and clears her throat when she approaches.
- Sebastian, right?
- Indeed, my apologies for the ... disorganization, idle hands and all that
- Are they for me?
- Yes, madam, indeed they are
- Would you like to come in?
- If you would permit me so, gladly
Sebastian carries the few items from the stack outside, indoors to Jibril's room and sets them at the foot of her bed. He displays the items before Jibril and keeps going back and forth to return with more of the items in his possession. Upon the final item, Sebastian sojourns to the bathroom to fill his thirst and tidied himself a bit before stepping out to meet with Jibril.
- Again, apologizes for the inconvenience. These were the items you inquired about as part of Master Kane's arrangement, they were much more difficult to acquire and given forthcoming knowledge about even more so.
- What do you mean?
- Willowmina doesn't accept conventional currency, accepts only bartered items. Kane inquired about these items for your safety and his own curiosity, if would permit me a few more minutes of your time - I wish to share our discovery about these items you requested.
- Okay
Sebastian picks up the strange sandals with the decorative wings on the leatherwork and holds them both in one gloved hand and presents them to Jibril.
- These are Syracusian Sandals, quite popular for couriers, athletes and the occasional traveler. Very expensive to acquire, difficult to make anywhere outside of the capital, how they've come to be in Willow's inventory this far across the oceans is beyond me but they possess fleeting swiftness to their user by simply wearing them. Their enchanting enchantments are found on the soles and wrappings to give them impressive durability for prolonged sprinting. This pair once belonged to a courier traveling from Marigold to Genosia in two days.
- That's a three week journey on foot!
- Indeed
Pulling the Courtesan outfit, Sebastian presents the dress before Jibril as a scantily clad navy blue with lacy threading of silk underneath the dress itself when he lifts up the skirt. But he then begins to put on the dress over his attire and puts his arms through the sleeves until the dress slides over his tuxedo and he straightens it out before Jibril. Jibril holds back a giggle at how ridiculous he looks ... until his face and body begins to shift. Sebastian's masculine features are narrow and folded, chisel jawline angling slightly and contorting bones cracking and popping beneath the skin. Once he stops shifting, the elderly man is now a grey haired vixen with very young female complexion and youthful skin. The tuxedo Sebastian wears still remains but the courtesan dress assumes the coloring scheme of the suit he wears making it blend well with him, or rather, her figure. Even as he speaks, Sebastian's voice changed as well into a husky woman's tone.
- As you can see, this outfit is enchanted with Glamor magic. My daughter tried this on as well, it would seem this dress only transforms the wearer into a human woman exclusively.
- That's oddly convenient
- It's a common item for heteromorphic people such as you and I to use when moving amongst people unlike us. With humans being so widespread, it was only natural for someone to create a Glamor to conceal one's true self. If only it weren't so ... undignifying and uncouth.
- Looks good on you
- Loath to wear, I appreciate the praise nevertheless.
Sebastian undresses the outfit and it falls to the floor while his tux remains. He reaches down to dust off the skirt and then folds it properly and lays it on the bed beside Jibril then turns to the Codex. He places a hand on the books then looks to Jibril as he does.
- Your two volumes are unenchanted books, we've checked them thoroughly enough to have one of our professors from the Magnifica take special care of them. Nothing out of the ordinary, scribes making multiple copies by hand these days tend to be different with each volume. To my surprise-
Sebastian picks up one volume and flips through the pages, he reaches into his coat pocket to remove a monocle to plant on his nose then leans back to read the text inside the book within his hand. He turns himself and the Codex towards Jibril to show her what he found. Pointing to a scribbling inscription inside, it reads: "To the Hadrians, may they find you fortune"
- Who are the Hadrians?
- Nobody knows. But the inscription was signed by the author himself. No other copy has a signature, this is a very special collection of books and a very rare volume amongst them to have a signature.
- But why the Y through Z volume? This one has the fewest entries!
- If I had to venture a guess, the inscription was meant to be a message to these Hadrians. Or I may be stretching the imagination a bit on such a guess, nevertheless, these will prove valuable alone. Take care of them.
Then saving the best for last, Sebastian grabs a metallic ring with intricate metalworking design of tiny cubes forming the keyring and two special keys dangle on the keyring itself. One key is, as its namesake, a skeleton shaped key with the upper half of the skeleton from the waist is the handle while the blade of the key itself were the two legs and the bow were the feet arranged in such a way that the tumbler pins would unlock many doors using a certain type of lock and tumbler. The second Skeleton key is a very thin one, the design is a spinal column straightened out to a sharp point with the vertebrae protruding from various peaks and valleys. This key is very wand-like as it doesn't look like a conventional key, more like a pin or a portkey. The third and final Skeleton key is a medallion shaped plate with a singular skull with an oddly mirror finish polish allowing light to reflect off its surface. The medallion key is more strange than the others as the design has the edges with three tiny in-line engravings so impossibly small that no physical thing can create something so tiny on a medallion the size of a (American) half dollar and the face surface is so pronounce it just looks like a plain medallion or a piece of costume jewelry for someone with gaudy tastes.
Jibril looks at Sebastian with great intrigue.
- So what can these keys do?
- That's just it, they're master keys that can open any lock you can encounter. I've clears throat I took the liberty of using them today out of curiosity, myself. I vouch for their authenticity personally, although I am very perplexed by the wand and medallion looking keys. I've yet to find anything that would use such locks in my travels.
- So you have no idea who created them or what locks they use?
- These were created by a master thief named Minniecroft No-Lock. If the name is unfamiliar to you, No-Lock was a Hissho lizardman from Genosia skilled in locksmithing. How he created such impossible keys is beyond my comprehension, but according to Willow, he was found holding these in the ruins of Allcar. Adventurers and travelers used to pass through Baldur's Gate nearly a century ago, hard to think the gate has opened at all in recent years. These keys are quite old.
- If they can open any lock, how do they do it?
- Try it yourself
Sebastian hands Jibril the keys and she hurries outside her hotel room and waits for Sebastian to lock the door behind her. Jibril turns around and checks the door to see if it was locked. She hears the lock bolt slide and the distinctive clicking. Looking down to the old fashioned keyhole, she looks through it and sees Sebastian standing a few feet away from the door. He's just standing there awaiting her. Jibril looks down and picks one of the keys. Choosing the two bladed skeleton key she judged the size of the keyhole and realized that it was too big to fit into the keyhole. Trying the spiny key, it was too small and it just sticks out the keyhole on the other side; she uses the medallion by gliding over the keyhole since it doesn't seem to fit when she tries to insert it. None of the keys seem to work! Then she hears Sebastian from the other side.
- Use the legged skeleton key, you must twist the head!
- Okay!
Jibril looks at the key and examines it by holding the bow and blade parts of the key. Looking at the head of the key's handle bit she sees that the head does move! She carefully twists the head hearing it click, she opens up her hand when the key moves and she keeps turning. The skeleton legs move into many positions as if it were a living thing with the click causing legs to take on a configuration. After twisting the head to a configuration that would fit into the lock, Jibril slides in the key carefully and then as it began to move of it own accord, Jibril holds the key firmly until she hears the tumblers inside the lock click and move the door bolt without her needing to ever turn the key. Jibril turns the knob and she's staring back at a smiling Sebastian.
- There we are!
- That's gonna come in handy.
- As you say. I'm needed elsewhere so you take good care of your precious items. Good day to you Ms. Slaven-claw.
- Thank you, Sebastian.
Jibril is alone once more. Karlya is in Shadow Cove amongst thieves, better to equip and prepare for a fight should it come down to it. Jibril walks to her wardrobe and wears her Medressa guard outfit with purple sash, sheathing her shortsword into her sash and pocketing her skeleton keys within the sash behind her back with the keyring secured through the sash to prevent it from vanishing during a chase and perhaps concealing it if she were somehow captured and locked in chains. Cuffing her harem pants around her ankles and poking her tail out the back through the custom hole that fits her very tightly, sliding her arms through her leather tunic. Looking over to the heraldry of her Sultan's coat of arms, she folds it up and returns it to the wardrobe and closes it up. Looking for her coin purse, she notes she doesn't have any coin to speak of once she reattaches it to her sash off to her right side. Tucking five of her throwing knives into a leather pouch next to her coin purse for easy access, Jibril remembers she used to have more and looks around to find an extra two more for a total of seven throwing knives. Thinking about it, Jibril thinks having her schimar would be a good idea as a back-up weapon, but decides against it given how much it weighs. Taking a stealthy approach, less noise and packing lightly is probably for the best if Karlya is in trouble and they need to make a quick escape. Her main worry will be if Karlya is unarmed and Jibril is the only one with a weapon in a fight, Jibril will have to worry about it when the time comes unless she can steal a weapon for Karlya ahead of time. Better odds now that she thinks about it.
All ready to go, Jibril is now ready to travel to Shadow Cove. Having a destination, traveling to Shadow Cove will be the next step. Walking there and back will be a great waste of time, it'll take an entire day to do so on foot but on horseback, it'd take a few hours at most. Time to pay a visit to the Caravansary she saw while looking through the Scarlet District!
Setting out, Jibril locks her room door with her key then attaches it to her skeleton keyring before turning around to find Karin approaching her from down the hallway.
- Jibril!
- Karin, hello, did you find your mom?
- No. Actually I came by to give you the bill for the lady's dress.
- Let me see ... 10 Gold? Are you kidding me?!
- I know.
Karin is embarrassed and is shaking.
- The owner just got done scolding me for Ms. Dumas taking her business elsewhere, and said if I don't get the money to pay off the bill that I should look for another job.
- Good. Better off finding a better job somewhere else.
- Jibril, I can't. Nobody else will hire a foreigner like me!
- That's ... that's a problem
- That's why mom couldn't find work and why she spent so much time at the bar, running up her tab. I can't lose this job and go into debt here! Do you know what they do to people who don't pay their debts?
- Karin, it'll be okay. I promise it will be okay, but I need to find your mom before the trial.
- Why, we'll have to flee the city anyway. We can't stay here!
- Listen to me, sweetie, if I don't find your mom quickly, it won't matter either way. If you see her before I do, tell her to go to President Kane's office and sign the papers saying she's part of the Survey Corp. When she does, she won't see a trial.
- Really?
- But tell no one else except her.
- Okay
Jibril snatches up the bill from Karin and walks Karin to her room before departing for the Caravansary. Karin thanks Jibril before locking herself inside her room, Jibril looks at the bill, crumbles up the paper into a ball and throws it behind her as she walks away from it. jibril rushes down the stairs, turning into the receptionist lobby, out the front doors, Jibril walks straight then to the left facing the boulevard of street venders in the early afternoon and starts walking the southern Golden Laurel district street a few yards then turning right into the Scarlet District and sees a long stretch of the boulevard leading up to a stone archway guarded by ten militiamen guarding the entrance while even more patrol the walls aboves. Making her way towards the entrance, moving through the crowded streets, Jibril felt someone's hand touching her ass which caused Jibril to whip her tail out to catch the person that touched her as she glided by her. Her muscle memory instinct kicked in, years of catching pickpockets as a guardswoman never really left her repertoire of skills and they grew even sharper once she started working for the Greymane Gang as an enforcer. The pickpocket was a teenage girl wearing a very tightly bound leather outfit with a vest hugging her sternum and midriff and a cloak that springs open as she falls on her front then rolls onto her back. Jibril turns with the people around them spreading apart giving them a wide berth as they confront each other.
- Hand it over
- Geez, Lady, what the hell is wrong with you?
- Give me my coin purse
- I don't know what you're talking about.
The pickpocket scans Jibril up and down.
- Nice outfit.
- Give back my pouch, there's no coin in it anyway
The pickpocket reaches behind her and pulls out the purse and weighs it in her hand. Opening it, she sees an empty purse. Scoffing the pickpocket throws it back to Jibril as she sits up. Jibril catches the coin purse and unravels her tail from the girl's leg and turns away from the girl. Leaving the pickpocket alone and walking away, Jibril continues towards the Caravansary she sees just outside the archway. Once she's close, Jibril looks at the militiamen and women posted and then looks away, noticing that they were all armed with rifles, pistols, swords and knives. Good thing she hasn't started a fight anywhere, luckily the pickpocket didn't start anything either otherwise there would be more trouble than it was worth.
Standing outside the Caravansary, a large courtyard beyond the threshold is jam packed full with carriages, buggies, carts of various sizes, makes and shapes. Jibril walks through the stone wall entrance to the Caravansary and enters the courtyard to the open area and looks around to find a General Store to her east and the main Inn to her west. Knowing she doesn't have any coins, Jibril will have to rely on the good graces of a complete stranger to help her out. Starting with the Inn first, Jibril enters a sprawling bar with multiple tables fit for a western saloon parlor. A couple of humans lounge about the place but many of the people here are heteromorphs / demi-humans resting up at this outpost before entering or leaving the city. After a brief look, Jibril sees a couple of Ordosian Wood Elves, a band of Orcs, a few Shurifon Elves and even fewer individual creatures she doesn't recognize.
Out of the bunch of people on her first encounter, none of them seem either capable nor interested in leaving the caravansary at all. A few more looking prospects and Jibril may have to steal a damn horse at this rate. Too many people and a lot of horses, oxen and oxeners sitting in one place but no one willing to trade, barter or give out a free ride to the Shadow Cove. Could it be there's something strange about her choice of destination that makes it an undesirable request? Jibril decides to give it a try and asks for a single horse instead of a free ride. Even changing up her offer doesn't yield results. Jibril calls it quits and goes up to the bar and has a seat next to an elderly gentleman with some miles on him, wearing a straw cowboy hat and a leather duster with a thick full bushy beard with a voice with grit and gruffness to it.
- Hey there
- Hi
- Heard ya lookin for a free ride?
- I'm not looking to trade for sex if that's what you're after. No, I'm not looking for work as a merc either .
- Hehe, the name's Dizel Worth but folks call me Dizzy!
- Jibril
- So, care to tell me about this place you're lookin to go?
- Shadow Cove
- Ah, that there's the problem.
- Scared of the Thieves Guild too?
- The what now? No! Heck, they aren't a problem. It's where you're going that's a problem, That'd be the coast!
- What's wrong with the coast?
- Welp, I'll show ya
Dizzy pulls out a large map out of his duffle bag sitting by his barstool and slides his tankard off to the side and unrolls the map slightly open to show New Canaan and the western coastline. Pointing to the mountainous region just northwest of the coastline is a border that separates the western Divide with the northern Divide. In the corner of the mountains that separates the north and south parts of the western Divide is an alcove where the coast reaches inward to a cave system. This is Shadow Cove. Just south of the Shadow Cove is a coastline city known as Helm's Deep named after the sea captain Helm, who sank multiple ships within that part of the coastal region using a galleon ship stolen from the Shurifon Empire. Dizzy points to the city of Helm's Deep.
“Where you're looking to go is Shadow Cove, that's here. Now right along this line here, that's Helm's Deep. Have ya heard the old ghost stories?”
“Lived in Heifong for a few years but never heard about Helm's Deep.”
“Well, to make a long story short, the city is full of pirates looking for the treasure of the Deep. Many fools went searching the entire coast and further out to sea looking for it, every time someone goes looking near Shadow Cove, people vanish. Might as well have been called Shipwreck Cove, place is a graveyard.”
“So no one goes near it because it's haunted. Great. Guess I'm going on foot.”
“Well hold on now.”
Dizzy rolls up the map and tucks it back into his duffle bag. He stands up and his boots fall heavy on the ground while he stretch his arms, bones cracking revealing his arm tattoos then turns to Jibril.
“I have a bit of business to take care of in Helm's Deep myself. It's along the way. You keep guard over my wagon, I'll take ya to Shadow Cove after I settle my affairs.”
“Got yourself a deal”
“Well that's what I like to hear. Come on, we'll get going now while we still have daylight. Not safe come nightfall.”
Jibril follows the gruff man to his wagon sitting outside the caravansary on the main road leading south towards Shurifon. The covered wagon is unsuspicious, regular looking with a canvas blanket covering the top and wooden cart pulling large freight. It's only when Jibril looks at the wheels and what lies under the wagon that it stops being an ordinary wagon. The wagon wheels were replaced with rubber tires and the underlay framework serving as the axle and chassis being made of Canaanite Steel. The other strange contraption is the suspension shock for each wheel making this wagon not only a smooth ride but a reliable freight wagon capable of carrying tons of cargo without the need for on-site maintenance. The rubber material of the wheels is unknown to Jibril but the steel framework stands out significantly as steel is valuable for weapons and building construction, yet here it's used for a peasant to transport cargo. Whoever Dizzy is to have access to a valuable source of steel, surely he has other connections that he might be willing to share given the right incentive. Food for thought. Jibril returns to her feet after inspecting the wagon, Dizzy walks around her and climbs into the driver seat then reaches over to pull out a weapon. Turning back just as Jibril turns to look at what he's doing, Dizzy pulls out a Caravan Shotgun, a two barrel 20 gauge shotgun with a hair trigger. But unknown to Jibril, it is a differently designed weapon the Canaanites use and yet he has one as well but it isn't a rifle nor a pistol. The weapon itself intrigues Jibril as she examines it. Dizzy lets out a hardy chuckle but just sits there clearly seeing Jibril's eye gleaming over the shotgun. Just as Dizzy was fixing to speak up, Jibril flicks the safety to disengage the latch to pop open the barrel and expose the loading chambers where two 20 gauge shells rest snug. Pulling out the shells and closing the shotgun until it clicks, she holds the shotgun into her shoulder then points it at the broad side of the wagon and pulls the trigger. Hearing one click halfway down the trigger and then a second one when the trigger is fully pulled back, Jibril notes the firing mechanism fairly quickly before loading the shotgun with its shells and cocking back the barrel: loaded. Dizzy makes an astonishing looking of confusion before speaking.
“Ya sure know a way around a gun, missy”
“I'm friends with Jaeger and Juggernaut Company, I've used a pistol and a rifle before, never seen one like this before.”
“Well good thing I don't gotta teach ya how it works! Even better, you got some know-how. Keep it with ya, never know who might be watching the trail. Hop in the back and we'll be setting off.”
Jibril nods then throws the caravan shotgun over her shoulder and climbs into the back of the covered wagon and finds it full of shipping crates. Turning a shipping crate on the side that she can move, she chooses a light one she can slide back. Resting on the crate on the side and resting her butt on top of it with the shotgun laying across her lap, Dizzy clicks his mouth to spur his horses through the caravansary arches and turning onto the mainroad a little bit of the way then turning right following a dirt road that run alongside the outer walls of the Scarlet Rose.
One Hour Later
A quarter of the way towards Helm's Deep; a few yards away from West Point Military Base, Dizzy and Jibril continue their ride in the quiet afternoon passing by Canannite soldiers patrolling the region on either horseback or on foot. There was a village or two just around the military base but as Dizzy tells Jibril, these are fake villages used for training grounds. As they pass through, Jibril looks out the back of the wagon to find large craters around the road they swerved around and bounced out of. She sees discharged mortar shells and shrapnel pieces of warped metal and slagged sheets of charred metal scattered everywhere.
If memory serves Jibril, wasn't this where Kane was when she was with Dennis discussing her criminal charges and they heard a large explosion? It was strange seeing so much metal laying out in the open like this and the burnt out houses and charred straw people still burning stir unsettling feelings about this place.
Once outside the fake village complex, thirty minutes into their trip they hit a sharp decline down a hill and nearly toppled over the crates and the wagon itself. When a large crate looks like it's going to crush Jibril, she springs out the back of the wagon and lands on the dirt ground and the back of the crate crashes onto the bed of the wagon, cracking the wood flooring. Dizzy stalled the horses as they steer onto the dirt road where the hill meets a flat plateau, he climbs out and rushes to help Jibril up.
“You alright!”
“Yeah, I'm okay”
Jibril climbs to her feet and turns to Dizzy, who picks up the caravan shotgun and carries it towards the wagon. Unlocking the hatch to the flatbed, Dizzy climbs up and leaves the shotgun on the hatch. Checking the cargo for damage, he uses a crowbar to open the top and lets out a sigh of relief. Jibril watched him for the moment.
“Cargo safe?”
“Yeah" Dizzy sighs uneasily.
“What the hell's in there that's so heavy”
“Ya don't wanna know, hell, even I don't”
“Dangerous?” Jibril asks, cautiously.
“Something like that, sit with me up front. Could use the company.” Dizzy suggested.
“Don't have to ask me twice” Jibril says with a groan under her strained voice.
Taking him up on his offer, Jibril hops into the "shotgun" seat riding passenger while Dizzy climbs up and settles into his pillow cushioned seat then spurs his horse to ride on. Along the way, Jibril asks Dizzy about that ghost story he wanted to share earlier.
“Ya sure you wanna hear it?”
“Well, beats the quiet ride on over. Who knows, maybe I'll find the treasure.
“HA!” Dizzy slaps himself on the knee. Jibril smiles at his hardy laughter.
“You find that treasure, I'll hull it for ya for a ... modest fee. Ha HA!
“So you're gonna keep joking or are ya gonna tell me about Captain Helm and their treasure?
"Oh ... I wanna say about a hundred years ago? Two? All this was old Fjornia Kingdom, then there was the Kingdom of Shurif which was where Heifong sits. Around that time, both kingdoms were small cities and the like. The thing was, Fjornia had bigger ships but few in number. Shurif had the numbers but not the power ya see. Well one day, a captain of the Fjornia gallion approached the king. He claimed that the ship could destroy any vessel at sea as long as he was captain; the king chose to challenge this man's claim. Bold and thick headed as it were. To prove his worth, the king gave Captain Helm a task to destroy the invading ship from Fluter's Island making landfall where Helm's Deep sits. At the time, all of this here land was a massive harbor until it wasn't no more. The captain commands his ship, fires up his men for war, rallies the best fighters his crew can muster. Come daybreak, the sorcerers' at the king's command brewed the biggest storm they could have mustered and the ships dashed against the jagged rocks of the coast. Helm's Ship had sailed these waters for decades and knew where to strike the flagship of Shurif's navy: Shadow Cove.
To avoid the storm and to make landfall elsewhere, Shurif's flagship the Sil'noch sails into the alcove. Once making port with the coastline, other ships soon followed and so too did Helm's crew. With their magic, the sorcerers collapsed the entire alcove around the ships and ended the first battle between the two kingdoms. As a reward, the king rewards the captain with a mountain of riches and turns the harbor into a city in his name for defeating an infamous and formidable foe. But little did the Captain know, Sil'noch was without its captain, you see. From Shurif, the captain of the Sil'noch was a woman in labor at the time, her husband was her first mate and in her absence - the Sil'noch needed her captain back. When the call was made, her mate took to the seas and sailed into battle while the ship's true captain stayed with her child.
When news came to Shurif of her husband's death, the captain of Sil'noch sought revenge. The day Captain Helm was made Lord of Helm's Deep, the avenging captain murders him before his sons and daughters. She took the treasures aboard her ship and sailed towards Shadow Cove, the ships at Captain Helm's command followed after her. Just as her husband had fallen in battle, both captains of the Sil'noch rested at the bottom of the sea taking everything Captain Helm had with them to their watery graves.
To this day, the stories get changed and retold, and yet the treasure is always the same: jewels, gold as high as the hills, so much death over it drives sane men to crave it. But those who go looking to the coast for a sign or a hint of that treasure are dragged to the depths of the sea never to be heard of again. Some claim it was sea monsters, ghosts of the men and women who died at sea haunting the captain's treasure trove out of revenge."
“And here we are riding into the thick of it” Jibril states snidely
“Yep! Makes a good story. I'd settle for a bit of coin and a warm bed on land, thank you kindly.
Just as Dizzy finishes telling his story they have arrived at Helm's Deep!”
Pulling up to a wall of waterlogged wooden walls buried in the dirt, the salty sea air and smell of fish permeated the air. Dizzy climbs down and approaches the locked gate with the peeking port at the door sliding open. A watchman shouts at Dizzy.
“What business do you have in Helm's Deep?” The gatekeeper demands
“Got a delivery from Scarlet Rose” Dizzy declares loudly.
“Paper?” Jibril says, confused by the formality.
Dizzy reaches into his leather vest to pull out a rolled up scroll and passes it through the porthole and the watchman reads it while looking back at Dizzy. Returning the scroll, the watchman yellas at the other guards to open up the gate, fishermen stand at the gates as Dizzy pulls his horses slowly forward and Jibril follows beside him. One of the fishermen steps forward, they were silent at first but the equally gruff and older man opens his arms and embraces Dizzy.
“Welcome home, boy” The old fisherman says coldly
“Brought the shit you needed, pops” Dizzy says in a jovial tone
“Good boy, who's your friend?” The gruff man acknowledges turning his attention to Jibril.
“Jibril, I'm from Medressa,” Jibril replied.
“Medressa? Maybe once we're done offloading the cargo we can talk. I'm sure my son didn't bring you here for the ride.” The old fisherman states.
Jibril withholds her seeking Shadow Cove as her destination. The leader of the fisherman, Dizzy's father, turns to his people and tells them to help unload the cargo in the back of the wagon. Turning back to Dizzy, the father and fisherman address him.
“Make yourselves at home. I'll meet you at the bar for your payment.”
“Will do” Dizzy chuckles while tipping his hat to his old man.
What does Jibril wanna do? Explore the city of Helm's Deep? Proceed to Shadow Cove as soon as possible? Or see where her new contact will lead her by following Dizzy?
