"What the fuck?!" you hear a gruff voice shout out as Idrig's abyssal fumes spread around the sewer's entrance. You hear the sound of footsteps grow louder until they're without a doubt at the cart. You hear low whispers but cannot make out the words.
As you crowd around the grate, readying to file in, you notice a figure standing at the entrance of the alleyway, peering in your direction. "Must've gone somewhere..." you hear the figure say.
Narciso quickly attempts to duck down, wishing to hide from sight.
Wow, he was definitely right. They were way closer than I thought, Nyx thinks, happy that the dwarf had more sense than herself. She does her best to move quietly as she creeps down the sewer corridor.
Ciraco follows the others, ducking down into the sewer as quietly as possible as he hears the voices approaching.
"Let's move," Idrig says, trying to cover their path with the blackwisp formula. He tenses when he sees the figure peering their way, and stands still to try and avoid being seen. Damnit. We tarried too long.
The man squints into the alley, focusing upon Idrig's figure in the shadows. "Fuckin' rats are huge these days. Used to kill 'em for sport," he mutters, pulling a crossbow and aiming it upon the dwarf. He launches a bolt, but Idrig is able to duck into the sewer quick enough to dodge the shot.
Peering back out, he shrugs and returns to the main road, leaving you undisturbed in the tunnels. Inaudible conversation continues before you notice two more men approaching the alleyway and sewer entrance. "He wanted us to check out rats? The moron. Let's just get this over with."
Luca looks to the others, wondering how they hope to play this. He mimes run or fight?, looking towards their cargo and the darkness of the tunnel.
Idrig sighs inwardly as the bolt whizzes past. When the two men approach, he narrows his eyes at them. "Nyx, can you pull them into our shadows?" the dwarf whispers, quietly drawing his crossbow once more.
Ciraco draws his sword once more as he sees Idrig load another crossbow bolt. "Magic isn't the only thing that will attract people," he quietly replies to Idrig, putting two fingers into his coin purse and pulling out a gold piece. He tosses it out of the sewer grate, aiming for the edge of the shadow, hoping the combination of the noise and their greed will draw the men closer.
This better work... I want that back... he thinks as the coin sails through the air before bouncing along the cobbles.
"Uh..." Nyx begins, not entirely sure what Idrig wants her to do. As she ponders the question, she turns to see Ciraco's coin gambit. Well, let's hope that works, she thinks, as she listens for the distinctive clink of the metal against stone.
Idrig holds in a gasp as he watches Ciraco toss a coin from the cover of darkness toward the approaching man. Not what I had in mind, but this should be... interesting.
Narciso quietly draws his weapons once more and holds his breath, watching the guards intently from the shadows.
As the coin clinks on the cobblestone, the two men quickly turn their heads toward the source of the noise. "Well well, it looks like it's my lucky day," the one man says, leaning over the coin.
"Your lucky day?" the other chimes in. "I saw it first!"
"You did not, you bloody fool!"
The back and forth continues for a few moments before their quarrel begins to turn more physical, thrashing one another and wrestling in the alleyways.
With the two men distracted, Ciraco edges forward slightly, hoping to get his coin back.
Ciraco, you damn fool!
Idrig grimaces as the man dips forward to recover his coin.
The pair of men continue their scuffle as Ciraco inches outward, eager to reclaim his single coin. Although they seem to note notice his presence at first, their fighting eventually comes to a stop as they turn to look towards him. "Who the fuck are you?! Some kinda sewer creep?" the first says, still on the ground with the other slightly pinned.
"Or a rat, maybe?" the second man chimes in, raising an eyebrow and glaring.
"I'm something of an independent contractor. The boss hired me to watch the sewers, can't take any chances with this shipment. I heard you two and came to see what the noise was. Quit fighting and get back to work, this alleyway is clear," he says, slipping into an authoritative tone.
Narciso holds his weapons in his hands firmly, ready to hop out to defend Ciraco.
Huh, well that was quick thinking. But did they buy it? Nyx wonders, trying not to get herself too worked up with worry. She remains still, not wanting to add any extra sounds that could blow Ciraco's cover.
I stand corrected, Idrig considers. Not a damn fool, but at least a sly one. Let's see how this charade goes.
The dwarf watches on silently, ready to act should the occasion arise.
The pair of men squint at you, fully untangling themselves from their brawl. "Fuckin' showoff boss. Always gotta show everyone how forward-thinking he is. So pretentious."
The second just shakes his head and grumbles as they both pick themselves up and head back towards the main street, leaving the alleyway once again clean, and Ciraco's coin unattended.
Narciso raises his eyebrow then shakes his head slowly. That son of a bitch, he did it. He quietly sheathes his weapons and backs up into the sewer carefully.
That was a close one, Ciraco thinks, touching his lucky pendant as he steps over to the coin and picks it up. He then quickly turn around and re-joins the others in the sewers.
"Let's get back to the Villa."
Idrig lets out the breath he had been holding. "Yes." He picks up one of the barrels, before turning back to Ciraco. "It's a good thing that gambit worked. I wasn't in the mood to turn two more of those Ferraro fools into a pincushion."
Nyx looks to Ciraco wide-eyed as he returns from the alley, victorious in his misdirection. "You are very confident," she says to the man. "I never thought that would work." We'd surely have been caught if we started another fight, all over a coin. Hopefully he has good luck all the time, or his recklessness could be bad for us.
"Sometimes confidence is all you need," Ciraco replies to Nyx with a smirk.
Soon after the pair of men head on their way, you hear the gentle rumble of the cart being rolled away, lighter now than before you showed up. Soon, the streets are quiet again and, with the cargo safely stowed for now, you make your way back to the villa.
The journey through is uneventful, with the worn map giving at least some sense of direction in the labyrinthine underground. Eventually, you come back across the familiar ladder and reemerge on the villa grounds, worn and tired but with a mission completed. You spot a warm glow emanating from the parlor, the telltale sign that at least someone is still awake at this early hour.
As you enter the villa, it's particularly quiet, save the occasional servant passing by. Stepping into the parlor, you spot the familiar Gina, looking at you expectantly and sipping from a small cup. "How did it go? And spare me the details. We could all use a good rest, I'm sure."
"All things considered... As well as we could have hoped," Ciraco replies to Gina, making his way into the parlour. He fixes himself a drink without hesitating to ask. "There's a good chance the Ferraros won't ever figure out it was us either," he adds taking a sip of his drink.
"We brought a friend," Idrig says, hiking a thumb behind him at Narciso and the unconscious painter they'd lugged along.
"The Ferrarro's guards were not as scary as I thought they'd be," Nyx adds. "I'd never used my magic to fight anyone before today, and I thought they'd put up more of a fight. I hope that is how all of their numbers are," she says, not relishing the thought of needing to do more fighting. Hopefully our future jobs are more white collar.
Narciso nods, looking at the painter before stepping in and finding somewhere to sit or lean against. "Surprisingly well, like they said." He lets out a sigh. "I couldn't have asked for anything better." He says with a smile, looking at the others.
Gina's eyes dart over to the unconscious man, her mouth agape as the sight. She smirks and chuckles. "I must say, I truly didn't expect kidnapping from you, but I'm impressed." She takes a long sip from her cup. "I suppose we must find something useful for him. It wouldn't do to return him to his owner so easily, now would it?"
She stands, walking behind the bar and kneeling out of sight for a moment. On her feet once more, she produces several hefty sacks, their telltale jingle exposing their contents. Looking towards Nyx, she says, "I would not count on others being so tragically weak in the future. They're sure to train harder after this failure. Do not grow complacent." Her tone is firm but caring as the final words leave her lips.
She taps the sacks before her. "Now come, you've earned your reward. Then you may relax until you're ready to retire. We will take of your next job tomorrow." She grins, waving before taking her leave.
"If you're looking for a fresco instead of a fighter, then I suppose this lout might be useful," Idrig says, staring down at the painter. If not, then we can always throw him back to the wolves. Or kill him, whichever leaves us with the least vulnerability.
He takes the pack of coins with haste, counting them before placing them in his own pack. With this, I'm certainly closer to getting out of this backwater city. I hope the Morettis' deal is still the same.
Ciraco takes one of the sacks, weighing it in his hand before stowing it away. If we keep this up we stand to do very well for ourselves, he thinks, as he takes another sip of his drink, glad to have climbed out from the edge of abject poverty so quickly.
The Mercenary then takes a seat at the bar, wanting to enjoy his drink - and maybe one or two more - before retiring for the evening.
Idrig shares a quiet drink with Ciraco for a bit, before deciding to return to the shed-turned-alchemy-station in the garden. After an hour or so of taking notes, counting and recounting his inventory, and tidying up, he eventually makes his way to his quarters for the night.
"Thank you," Nyx says to Gina with a smile. She turns to face the woman before asking. "Um, would you mind taking me to Alina's bedroom? I do not know the way, and I wanted to see how she is doing." She looks to their hostess expectantly, hoping she is willing to show her the way and not too eager to head to bed herself.
