The Firstborn — IC

[Scratcherclaw]

Aeron crosses his arms, weighing on the details as the orc explains the situation to them. "That does definitely sound personal and targeted," he begins with a frown, wondering what sort of petty drama he and his friends are about to become embroiled in. "Taking this cane of yours sounds like proof of that. Unless it was like... covered in silver plating or something, they knew it was sentimental."

He pauses, letting out a deep sigh as he ponders. "Can you tell us more about this cane? They must've seen you with it if they knew to took it, right?" Hopefully some of those vandals left clues behind. Going off our last job, someone will always leave something behind.

[Namelessjake]

Definitely seems personal if they took his cane, Alierin thinks as she listens to Kauza's details on the task at hand.

"If they still have it then that's that's," she adds, waiting to hear the answer to Aeron's questions. I'm not sure what else we'd be able to find that would definitively link them to it if they don't have, she worries. If there's no physical evidence we might have to press on some of their lackies, get them to confess, though I don't see Aeron or Tesni going for that.

[ratwizard]

"Well, It's elmwood, with a brass head on it. Worth very little to anyone without a limp. Anyone who knows me might recognize it," Kauza explains. "But the cane is the least of my worries here. Even still, that's smart — calling it proof. I like that."

[Scratcherclaw]

"We'll keep an eye out for it," Aeron says, giving his companions a glance, before nodding to Kauza. "If it was just random thugs, I doubt they would've taken that. So yeah, it's definitely proof." He pauses, wondering if the thieves were told to take it, or if it was pure in-the-moment hubris. Wouldn't be the first time someone slipped up from ego. Just look at Amake.

"Would you mind if we took a look around your workshop once we've all asked our questions?"

[ratwizard]

"Sure can," Kauza agrees. "What else you do you want to know? I can tell you about these dock owners. Might be something you can do to get them back to the negotiating table. That's going to help me out the most. I can get a new cane, and my boys are already patching up the workshop. But if we lose these contracts, all the work stops."

[Fialova]

"It is a shame they took something so personally to you," Tesni says, frowning at the news, and the man's clear frustration in his sentimental loss. "Tell us, what has caused such a sour reputation with the dock owners in the past? Perhaps if we know why they disliked you - yet still allowed you to work - in the past, we could hopefully use that as a starting point to find out what changed so suddenly for you."

She pauses, thinking of her flock and their struggles in this city, and how many of them have had to find work in such places. "Also, this may be unrelated, but do you happen to work with any of our kind? Elves?" she adds, curious if that might play in to any ill feelings. If not, perhaps any elves working the docks might be more willing to share what they know than these more skeptical locals.

[ratwizard]

"The two big wharfs on the Low Docks are each owned by Bereg and Sunti," Kauza explains. "I've known those two for years, being that we've held down vessel repairs around those parts for half of my life. There's always been some tension with each of them, on account of their greedy antics, but nothing too severe. Nothing we couldn't, you know, work out. Except there was... an incident, a few weeks ago now." He pinches his forehead, the effort of recalling the memory clearly an annoyance to him.

"Sunti's son Mov was running his mouth at a pub, putting the reputation of my company in the dirt. My secondborn was there — Kisuki, the tall one. Long story short, it came down to fists, and Mov ran off bloody to his rich mother. Never heard a single thing about it, until a couple weeks later my company's banned from the berths. Not just Sunti's, but Bereg's too. It's like they're working in tandem, which ain't always been the case. Something smells off, there."

Kauza gives Tesni a quizzical look at her next question. "Yeah, of course. I've got a couple of your kind on the payroll. Hardly speak a lick of Kurnish but they do better work than some of my own kin. Why? You don't think either of them had anything to do with this, do you?"

 

[Fialova]

"Not necessarily," Tesni responds, nodding along while listening to his response until hearing the information about the elves. "But anyone who you employ might hold information about why this is happening to you, and who is involved, and I am sure any of our kin would be much more comfortable confiding any information they have in us rather than in their employer whom, as you say, you can barely speak with. They might be a good place for us to begin in seeking more information on your issue." She pauses, looking to her allies for any signs of concern, before continuing.

"As for Bereg and Sunti, I have less insight into them. I can't say I know much about this city's wealthy, but perhaps some of my companions might have ideas of how best to look into them? I get the sense they are unlikely to simply reveal the cause of your predicament to some strangers, especially elves such as us." No one in this city seems keen to keep us in the loop. So many of the flock spend so much time scouring for information that might be useful to our small community, and yet so often return with nothing. We are all neighbors, are we not? She sighs quietly to herself at the thought.

[ratwizard]

"Ah, you are a keen one," Kauza says with a smile and a nod. "You have my permission to speak with them. You'll want to look for Eoghis, after. She keeps things on-time around the workshop. She'll warm right up to you."

"The wharfmasters might not talk directly to you — not without leverage — but if Beamon is to be believed about your talents, that shouldn't be a problem, yes? Coin talks, and so do many folk around the Bay."

[Scratcherclaw]

"Yeah, I wouldn't think ours would get involved, but they might have seen something, and would be more willing to speak with us I'm sure," Aeron says with a nod at Tesni's train of thought. He crosses his arms, wincing as he stews on Kauza's words. I sure hope there's more to this than just petty family squabbles. Otherwise it's a wonder these orcs' ancestors could even band together long enough to found a city.

"Do Bereg and Sunti not normally get along either?" the elf asks, raising an eyebrow over the sudden alliance. "Since you seem surprised they're working together here."

[ratwizard]

"Ain't in their interests to," Kauza explains. "In some ways, they're in competition for business — both owning some of the highest traffic berths in the city."

[Namelessjake]

"Definitely worth looking into that relationship then," Alierin says, after listening to Kauza's background on the situation. "Seems fishy they're both trying to cut you out, especially over focusing on each other. That should be our next stop after the workshop," she adds, turning to her companions.

[Scratcherclaw]

"Yeah." Aeron gives Alierin a nod, knowing there's a greater mystery to uncover here now. "Gotta be some reason they're in leagues together now, blackmail or something maybe," he considers, hoping evidence turns up at some point. "We shouldn't make it too obvious we're looking though, or they might clam up."

 

[Namelessjake]

"We should avoid another Gilo situation," Alierin agrees.

[BartNL]

Vaughn nods. "Bu-t what if it s-something like that happens again? M-maybe we should h-have a signal or something."

[Fialova]

"What exactly was the Gilo situation? If it is so bad then I agree, we should have some way of avoiding it," Tesni responds. So we are dealing with two rival businessmen who now somehow have a shared interest in preventing these people from working? What an odd conundrum. What benefit could there be in preventing maintenance and repairs? Maybe they are banking on some issues going unnoticed. 

[Namelessjake]

"It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, it all worked out in the end. We just confronted him and it didn’t go so well," Alierin explains to Tesni.

"Shouldn’t happen again if we have a plan before we talk to people,” she adds. "Let’s go see if the workshop turns up any leads then?”

[ratwizard]

Kauza listens quietly, either too apathetic or polite to ask about the 'Gilo situation.' At mention of the workshop, he nods, and gestures you further into the building. "Come back if you find anything. I'll be here until nightfall."

You stoop through a pair of doors clearly built before the Crossing. Kauza & Sons' workshop is less workshop and more warehouse; woodworking tools line the walls in neat pattern while crisscrossed stacks of lumber paneling reach for the low rafters. It is quiet, with most of the workers likely dispatched elsewhere — especially after the recent need to find work at smaller, more remote docks in the city.

The sound of your entrance draws the curious gaze of an older elvish woman behind a drafting table. She sets the charcoal pencil down, her posture straightening as she offers a slight bow of her head. "Good morning youngfolk," the woman greets you in her native tongue. "If you're looking for the office, you just came from it."
 

[Namelessjake]

"Kauza asked us to look into the break-in," Alierin explains to the elf, getting quickly to the point.

"You couldn't show us what happened could you?” She asks, looking around for any signs of the damage caused by the break-in.

[Scratcherclaw]

"Yeah, just don't make any unfounded accusations, and we should be fine," Aeron says at Tesni's question about Gilo, giving Dess a side eye as they make their way to the workshop. I'm sure she'll hear the story from Sisera sooner or later.

He gives a smile to the elven woman who greets them, relieved to see one of theirs working someplace honest for a change. He nods at Alierin's answer. "Morning, are you Eoghis? Like my friend said, we're helping out Kauza. So anything you can tell us about the break-in would be a big help."

[ratwizard]

"I am," Eoghis confirms, a slight smile forming on her lips. "It is good to know Kauza has hired you youngfolk for this. I will tell you anything I can, which is unfortunately not too much."

She sighs, looking around the workspace. "The front door — you must have seen it already — was mostly destroyed, as were the pair of windows beside it. We also noticed a window back there, broken," Eoghis says, pointing toward one in the back of the room, through which you can see a cramped back-alley. "I take notes on our supplies, inventory, tools, that sort of thing. From my count, whoever did this only took a purse of coins from one of the desks upfront, and of course Kauza's cane. No tools, no equipment. That was a surprise to me."

Eoghis points next to the lumber paneling stacked high. "They knocked over a couple of those over, too. Most of the wood was salvaged, but it was quite the mess to clean up the next morning."

[Namelessjake]

As it is pointed out, Alierin makes her way over to the broken window, still listening to Kauza as she examines the window and the area around it, looking for anything left behind by the intruders or anything else amiss.

I guess whoever's behind this doesn't pay their muscle well enough, she thinks at the mention of the stolen coinpurse.

[Scratcherclaw]

Aeron furrows his brow as Eoghis mentions the only missing items. "Maybe it was more about sending a message? Small enough that the guards won't care to get involved, but still meaningful," he says, considering the motives behind the break-in. "But it still shows they were capable of breaking in."

Seeing Alierin focusing on the broken window, he instead looks for any leftover traces or disturbances from the break-in.

[ratwizard]

Alierin

You approach what was once a wooden-shuttered window, now instead just a ragged hole that overlooks a cramped back-alley that is off the major street in Shoreside. Peering around you find splinters of wood on the inside. Hanging your head outside, you find nothing out of the ordinary — no splinters of wood or other significant debris.

Aeron

You take a lap, not noticing anything in particular. It has been days since the break-in, and from Eoghis' retelling, it seems like the shop's been mostly cleaned up and should soon be back to full working order.

You do consider, however, that there is a wealth of wood here. Wooden construction, lumber supplies, wooden furniture. It would be trivially easy to begin a irreparable blaze. Instead, only mild property damage and passing theft occurred.

[Namelessjake]

"Looks like this is where they got in," Alierin announces. "If that's the case, why did they break the door too?" She wonders aloud, making her way over to the main entrance.

[Scratcherclaw]

"No idea," Aeron says, considering Alierin's question. "Damage doesn't even seem like their goal either. One spark could've lit this place up, but they just took a few things." Unless they really didn't wanna attract the guards... Arson would've had the clan's attention pretty quick.

 

[Fialova]

"And you are certain the coins and cane are the only things missing?" Tesni asks their host, while her companions examine the damage to the building. "Several broken windows and a broken door, all to steal what is said to be missing, certainly seems like overkill. It makes me wonder if the damage, and stolen sentiment, is meant to distract from something less obvious?"

OOC

How large is this warehouse? Like is it multi-story, or just one big open room? Also, is it quite cluttered, or relatively neat and organized?

[ratwizard]

Eoghis watches as Alierin paces. "I suspect they meant to send a message," she offers. "It was certainly... worrisome, showing up, seeing the door smashed open, the damage done. I remember worrying that... I may no longer have a place to work, but — of course — that was silly. A door and a few windows are easily fixed." She smiles calmly, gesturing around the room filled with woodworking tools and supplies for repairing vessels.

She turns to Tesni. "Yes, I have asked the others and everything seems to be accounted for. Thievery must not have been the intention, aside from what was just too easy a target. I have told Faulenoad time and time again to stop keeping his gambling purse on the premises. He deserves that one."

"So, a distraction, perhaps, yes. Or a statement. Though to be honest, I know little of Kauza's and his sons' affairs, so I'd rather not speculate too deeply on who might have done this, or why."

OOC - Tesni

Not too big. Aside from the office area separated by a door, this is one open hall more or less. It is densely filled with tools and supplies along the walls, though in relatively neat organization. You sense that if they do most of their work off-site, this serves less as a workspace and more as the storage, administration, and meeting place.

 

[FinalTemplar]

Dess puts a hand on his hip, scrutinizing the situation to the best of his ability. He steps into the workshop, being careful not to touch anything while Aeron asks the woman his questions. He grimaces slightly, thinking of how much worse the attack could have been, considering how he'd feel if they were to have attacked his employer's shop instead. "I'm not much of a woodworker, but with metal, few can match my skill." He says, taking a few steps toward the woman; "After we've found who did this, I would like to offer my skills to help repair the shop. Perhaps we could reinforce the doors or windows to help prevent damage like this in the future." He says, trying to offer a smile. After a moment the smile wanes, "Right... we have a job to do." He mutters in elvish, sighing softly.

Mechanics

Trade/cha to see if I know anything about either Bereg or Sunti: [2d6+1]=8+1=9.

[ratwizard]

Eoghis bows kindly to Dessarius. "That is a most generous offer, young man, though you had better speak to Kauza or his oldest, Kisuki, about any of that. I only take care of a few things here or there."

Dessarius

You've heard of both of them in passing before. While you don't know anything about them as people, nor which specific docks either own, you do know some of their other holdings.

Bereg reportedly also runs Scodon's Ring, a dive-y bar in the Low Docks home to a many unsavory types: smugglers, orcs from visiting clans, cutpurses, the like. Or so you've heard, at least.

Sunti reportedly owns a couple storefronts in the Low Docks and Shoreside. One of which, Cutter's Weave, is a textile shop you've ran supplies for Idrial's smithy.

[Fialova]

"Tell me," Tesni continues, stepping a bit closer to Eoghis and lowering her voice a little, though not enough to obscure it from the others. "Just out of curiosity, how are our kind treated here? In this industry, and specifically among Kauza's company. I can't imagine you are the only elf he employs, does he treat you all well? Or, at least, the same as he treats any of the native orcish employees?" We saw no signs of issues form him before, but she knows him much better than us.

[ratwizard]

Eoghis pauses a moment, glancing toward the closed door that leads into the office where you met Kauza. She turns back to Tesni. "There's just the two of us elves here, Faulenoad being the other one. Kauza and his family treat us no differently than the orcs working here. Shoreside isn't always kind to our kin, and yet we've worked here for a few years now with little issue."

"I rarely leave the workshop, but Faul is part of the working crew going out on the docks. He'd have a better idea how it goes out there for elves, though I imagine most elves there are stuck doing loading and unloading, and not artisan work like the repair jobs that this company does."


 

[Namelessjake]

Alierin listens in on Tesni and Eoghis' conversation as she examines the damage at the main entrance.

OOC

Does the damage appear to have been done from inside or outside?

[ratwizard]

Alierin

You take a moment to step back into the office, where the main public entrance to the building is. The pair of workers are still in the process of replacing the door and wooden windows, but from a quick glance, it looks like they were knocked out from the inside — possibly as a final act of vandalism during a hasty exit. The splintered hinges on the door looks quite evident it must have been kicked open.

[Namelessjake]

Makes sense, Alierin thinks, the damage to the door not upsetting her mental picture of the break-in's events. Satisfied, she heads back to rejoin the others.

[Scratcherclaw]

"I know you don't leave the workshop much, but," Aeron begins, forming his train of thought as he speaks. "Do you know anything about Bereg and Sunti? Even just anything you've observed or noticed since you've worked here." Surely she's met them at least once or twice, right? If they own so much of the docks.

[ratwizard]

Eoghis frowns, slowly shaking her head. "I don't know those names, I'm afraid. Who are they?"

[Fialova]

"Owners of the wharfs you work on," Tesni responds. "Well, I guess now it would be 'worked' on. The ones responsible for your boss' current predicament," she elaborates. "If not their names, you might at least know of them."

[Namelessjake]

"Kauza thinks they're the ones behind the break-in," Alierin adds.

[ratwizard]

Eoghis shakes her head more certainly now. "I'm sorry, I'm not familiar. I rarely go out to the worksites. My Kurnish is... lacking," she admits, frowning. "If Kauza believes they are responsible, then I would trust his word. Maybe... maybe speak to Faulenoad. Just don't bring up his coin being stolen, unless you want to listen to him rant until next-bell. That lad will whinge to anyone with a set of ears."

[Namelessjake]

"Do you know where we might find him? Should we wish to speak with him," Alierin asks. We should keep all our options open for now. We don't know for sure that it was Bereg and Sunti.

[FinalTemplar]

Dessarius leans in toward Aeron, lowering his voice; "I may know where to find them. Both of them own establishments I've had dealings with in the past. I might be able to bribe a worker to tell us more." He whispers, then pauses to think.

[Scratcherclaw]

Aeron raises his eyebrow as he listens to Dessarius share his knowledge, a curious smirk forming past his lips. "Oh really?" he asks, somewhat impressed at the other elf's connections. "Maybe we can head there after this. Their workers would definitely know more about them, and their secrets, than anyone here might."

[FinalTemplar]

Dessarius nods. He decides to step outside the shop now, and keeps an eye on the street as he looks for anyone suspicious.

[BartNL]

Vaughn joins Desarius outstide to keep watch. Let's hope this investigation causes less problems.

[ratwizard]

"I'm not sure, I just know they've all been dispatched to a different dock," Eoghis says. As you speak, you catch the familiar sight of Beamon step in from the office. He gives a smile toward you and starts to collect a few tools from their places on the shelves, dropping them into a wooden bucket.

"Good today, Beamon," Eoghis greets him in Kurnish, her Quellamese accent struggling on the sudden change in tongue. "Faulenoad. You tell these... where?" she asks, gesturing toward you.

"Oh, yeah, we're out on the Isles today. Can you believe that? Long haul." He shakes his head in displeasure, though he bears a soft grin. "I better be off soon. You coming with?"

OOC

Go with Beamon out to Alu Koroviz to meet Faulenoad? Or follow up on Dessarius' lead(s)?

[Namelessjake]

"I don't know that there's much more he can tell us for now," Alierin says, looking to the others. "We should probably go sniff around the docks first."

[Scratcherclaw]

"Dessarius seems to have some contacts who might know more on these landlords," Aeron relays to the others, giving a nod to Alierin. "Worth looking into, I think." He looks to Beamon, cocking his head. "When are you all expected to be back? We could always ask Faulenoad what he knows then." Beats spending half the day stuck in a boat when we could be figuring things out here.

[ratwizard]

Beamnon scratches his chin, considering your question. "Hard to say these days with our shifts so far away. I'm sure we'll be back around evening bell, if not before then. Faulie's on tool duty tonight so he'll be here a couple hours. Good luck," he offers you as he departs.

As you turn to leave as well, Eoghis gives you a passing wave. You regroup outside, where Dessarius and Vaughn have been waiting.

OOC

Dessarius has a couple options to present, as detailed in an earlier post here.

viewtopic.php?p=27234#p27234

[Fialova]

"It is such a shame what is happening here, but even more a shame that there seems to be so little information about why this is happening. How likely do you think those wharf owners will be to speak with us? I do not spend much time outside of our quarter, but I know there is a tendency among the wealthy and influential of this city to ignore us as flies. I hope that will not be the case here," Tesni muses, as they return outside to the others. It has been years since our people have come to this land, it would be nice if we were more welcome after so long and so many refugees from the homeland. It would certainly make our investigations here easier. Though who would Sisera punch if there weren't odd orcish men eyeing us suspiciously? She smirks to herself with the final thought.