MERC XIX: Toss a Coin to your Goblin

[Reinholdt]

[Riverside Offices]

The ork will be greeted by a half-ogre clerk, who will lead him to a separate desk away from the main reception area upon his request for discretion. He then gets ready to hear about the details of the job, notepad in hand.

[Riverside Offices]

What?! Being tended to by no more than a mere NPC?! Do they not know who he is? Well, no, the orc supposes they wouldn't. Ugh, fine.

"I am Turge Vetorkag, curator of the Underhill's Draconic Branch Museum located in Northside. Two days ago, an item we were holding for transfer was stolen overnight. An ancient weapon from the now-extinct Pemalite race whose unpronounceable name roughly translates to Life's Limit."

The ork slides a picture of Life's Limit to the half-ogre.

He wipes some sweat off his brow. "I need you to find and recover the object by the end of the week. If you wish to come by the museum, call ahead and come by at night. I'll let you in and the staff that was working that night will be there if you need to question them. Otherwise, you can track down some underworld fences and I dunno... rough them up to get them to talk or whatever it is you people do. Just find me that sword!"

[Morty]

[Riverside Offices]

The half-ogre dutifully notes down the details of the job.

"Very well, sir. Our staff have experience in tracking down lost items. The short timetable will mean our fee will need to be somewhat higher than it would otherwise be. I have two more questions. Do you want the job to be restricted to our members, or open to license-holders as well? I understand that discretion is important. Also, is there any reason someone might have wanted to steal the object, beyond its monetary value?"

[Reinholdt]

[Riverside Offices]

Turge waves his hand. "I don't care who gets it done, as long as they don't pester my bosses about it. No need for them to know, eh?" A nervous and fake smile plasters its way onto his face.

"Life's Limit was sent to our branch in the first place to be researched for any draconic connections, the Pemalites having supposedly worshipped them according some unfounded theories my colleagues put forth. You can be assured there were no such draconic connections and the enchantments were dreadfully mundane, counter-intuitive even! But I only forwarded that report to HQ recently so I doubt the thief would know that."

[Morty]

[Riverside Offices]

The half-ogre makes no comment on the information presented, simply writes it down.

"Thank you, sir. Please sign here and I will forward the details to our main office."

He presents Turge with a document containing all the details of the job, a note on the required timetable and the payment.

[Reinholdt]

[Riverside Offices]

Turge will sign the paper. "Please hurry," is his chosen parting words before he leaves the Office.

[Gullara]

Parcelgeist

A single word forms in the floating ink as Leis peels around the corner and hurries back, a bundle of objects and herbs in her arms. "COPYING"

"Okay! I think I got the things we need to banish this thing!" The accountant announces as she comes to a stop, out of breath. "Some serpent's bones and Gorgonroot to try and cast a spell, a bundle of sage, rosemary and bay to burn if that doesn't work, and a rod of iron in case that doesn't work either." It might sound like she's being super prepared, or like she just grabbed anything she recognized as a component in any sort of banishing ritual or spell.

[Parcelgeist]

Oh good, she's back. Valerie's getting really worried now. "I think this thing is some kinda attack. It was copying files." Valerie catches Leis up on her limiting findings. There can't be that much sensitive info on Leis's computer, right? just financial stuff. That's probably bad enough, though.

[Dragon Scholar Update]

"I'm just in my workshop, Kirk. The door's open." Dena says as he calls her.
Sure enough, her workshop which is right next to her office, there's even a door between them, is open. Dena is sitting bent over her forge table with small form of welder in her hand and a visor covering her face. Looks like she's been using the welder to weld in runes into metal rod.
As he opens the door she stops and turns in her chair to face him Dena flips up the welding visor to reveal that she's wearing her goggles underneath it. "How did it go?"

[Dragon Scholar Update]

Kirk lingers by the door, leaning on the frame. He's hesitant, and there's a pause before he replies. "It went well. I got more out of it than I expected." A moment more passes, and then he steps into the room. "If you do decide to do this, I want you to do it with me. I know this is difficult for you, and I want to carry any part of that burden I can."

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

Dena's eyebrow raise. "What did you hear?" She inquires, her voice suddenly tense as she drops what she's doing and gets up.

[Gullara]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

"Like I said, well. It's not really about that." The drow stops in the middle of the room, half way better her and the door. "I've been dodging the issue. Just doing all this investigating to avoid talking about it. I just want to say it out loud, you know?"

[Arkhosia]

Parcelgeist

Leis stops for a second as Valerie updates her on what she missed. "Oh, wow. That's probably not good - guess we'll have to let someone know about this after all." So much for this just being a little escapade they could sweep under the rug. Not that she imagines they'll be held too responsible for all of this.

Even so, they still had to try and do something about it. She sets down most of her supplies looks over at Valerie with a tilt of the head. "You might want to step back a bit. I'm going to see if I can get rid of it."

The tiefling takes a deep breath to steady herself before she plants one foot forward, a picture of clarity and focus. Her posture is firm and confident as the faceless specter turns to regard the approaching figure, that slender tail swishing behind her with every step.

"Spirit's bane in serpents' fangs, spirit's bane in serpent's fangs," Leis chants beneath her breath, fingers wrapping around a piece of gorgonroot. She raises a hand and crushes the brittle root between her fingers, letting the fragments slip from her palm and turning her eyes upon the poltergeist. "This is not your place, spirit! Begone from the gorgon's den!"

And with that cry, Leis casts her spell, twisting her hips and swinging her arm. The bones in her hand are cast forward and cut through the spirit with a hiss as the inky shape recoils with a cry. Two ghostly coils seem to flow from the wounds and bind themselves around it, the swirl of staplers and stationery starting to falter, then fall apart as the apparitions drag the ghost down into the floor.

A sense of calm returns to the cubicles as papers flutter to the floor.

[Morty]

[Riverside Offices ==> New Job]

Once Turge is gone, the job will be sent to the head officers of MERC and quickly posted for all members and licensees to see. The urgency of the contract is emphasized. The information that he shared is also made available. Dipsnig will have made a note that the weapon's connection to dragons may be relevant, and the thief might have actually stolen it because of that. Assume nothing and pursue both the suggested leads and any others.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

"Like I said, well. It's not really about that." The drow stops in the middle of the room, half way better her and the door. "I've been dodging the issue. Just doing all this investigating to avoid talking about it. I just want to say it out loud, you know?"

[Dragon Scholar Update]

Dena doesn't have a reply right away this time, Kirk able to tell that she's actually looking away even with her goggles on. "...guess that makes two of us. I don't think either of us really wanted to take it seriously until now." She sits down again, letting out a sigh. "So what did she say? I'm glad you're ready to commit but... just go on. We can discuss it once I know what made you make up your mind."

[Gullara]

[Parcelgeist]

Valerie stares at the place the spirit was for a few moments longer. It worked? "It worked!" She claps her hands together and turns to Leis. "That was amazing!" She beams.

[Dragon Scholar Update]

Kirk nods and takes a seat as well. "Well this Ambrosia. Turns out she's Helios's 'daughter'. It's actually her that's interested in the child, but evidently Helios is overbearing. She says that if you want to continue that she'd take over from this point on, rather than Helios."

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

"...say that again?" Dena tilts her head in confusion. "I feel like I need more context here, daughter?"

[Gullara]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

"Adopted, evidently." Kirk chuckles at Dena's reaction. "That's not the end of it, though. Ambrosia is a dragon herself. This whole situation is happening because she's trying to ensure her species' survival."

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

Dena leans back in her chair and pinches the bridge of her nose. "So... ugh... and you're certain this is true? What happened exactly? This is such a 'out-there' scenario."

If Kirk explains what happened, Dena pulls out a drawer and takes out a bottle. Wine, as expensive as Dena was willing to buy.
She wasn't one to put much money on this thing yet she always had at least one bottle stowed away somewhere for these occasions.

She places it on her desk without comment. "Right, so I'm essentially being hired to bring back a species of dragons by dragon that has been adopted by a god. I suppose this mean we could demand a pretty big sum. Dragons are rich, right? Figured they spent most days hoarding treasure." Dena leans forward. "But tell me more about this dragon then. What was your impression of her? Think I'm gonna need as much on her as possible."

[Arkhosia]

Parcelgeist

Leis looks a little surprised herself, truth be told. The spell made plenty of sense on paper, of course - but still, she'd never actually done it before. "W-wow, I- I guess it did," she answers, rubbing the back of her neck. There's a fun mix of bashfulness and pride on her face, but her cheeks darken some more when she sees Valerie smile.

"You weren't so bad yourself, I only stole the show," she tries to deflect with a grin, before looking back over the cubicles. Gosh, what a mess. "Well, I guess we should probably go find someone to report this too? Hopefully they won't make us clean all this stuff up alone."

[Gullara]

[Parcelgeist]

Valerie smooths her back out of her face and pauses to look at the mess. "Uhh, yeah, we do. I can do that, though. I mean I brought the package in. It really wasn't anything to do with you after all." It was her name on the box, but it coulda been anyone.

[Dragon Scholar Update]

"She seemed more legitimate than Helios, but who can ever say a hundred percent? If she was pretending to be a dragon it was a very clever trick, though." Kirk shrugs his shoulders. He gives Dena's choice of wine a skeptical look, but doesn't comment. He's on topic. "It's barely any more out there than this already was, mind you. I'd say it makes more sense, given we have a somewhat believable motivation that was absent before. Of course, Helios is supposed to be deceptive, isn't he? Though he never knew we'd seek out Ambrosia."

[Arkhosia]

Parcelgeist

"I mean, I'm happy to come along if you think you could use someone to back you up!" Leis's tail waves a little behind her as she suggests, though it slows as she looks over at the papers scattered on the floor. "I imagine they'd want to see me about all this anyways, though; this is a lot of stuff that it might've gotten a look at."

[Gullara]

[Parcelgeist]

"I guess you could if you want to. I'd hate for you to get in any kind of trouble for this, though." Valerie rubs the back of her head.

[Arkhosia]

Parcelgeist

"I mean, I wouldn't want you to get into any kind of trouble for this either," Leis responds, "But I'm not gonna insist if you really wanna tackle this alone."

[Gullara]

[Parcelgeist]

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Valerie says reassuringly. "I'll catch up with you later, okay? Oh, and I'll make sure someone comes around for cleanup."

[Arkhosia]

Parcelgeist

"Um, okay, yeah! I'd like that." The fabric of her skirt swirls as she turns back towards her cubicle, though she continues to look towards Valerie for the moment. "Er, best of luck with talking to Dena, or whoever you need to talk to about this."

Only after Valerie leaves does Leis turn and catch sight of the other ingredients she'd gotten from Astrana's office, left on the carpet by the dividing wall beside her. "...heck." The tiefling kneels down to retrieve them. She'll need to remember to return these later.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

"She seemed more legitimate than Helios, but who can ever say a hundred percent? If she was pretending to be a dragon it was a very clever trick, though." Kirk shrugs his shoulders. He gives Dena's choice of wine a skeptical look, but doesn't comment. He's on topic. "It's barely any more out there than this already was, mind you. I'd say it makes more sense, given we have a somewhat believable motivation that was absent before. Of course, Helios is supposed to be deceptive, isn't he? Though he never knew we'd seek out Ambrosia."

[Dragon Scholar Update]

Dena pours herself a glass of wine as Kirk speaks. "He likely considered the possibility at least. Initially, he used this archaic term for the child, 'tarasque'. But when I pressed him on it he admitted they were quite similar to dragons. Indeed, in most sources I found dragon seemed to just be a more modern term for it, which is why I never really bothered with the term. I simply choked it up as academic egg headedness at the time, but now I'm not so sure." She leans back into her chair and takes a sip as she considers their information further.

"Now it sounds like yet another attempt to keep Ambrosia out of this. The usual 'overprotective parent' shtick. Though if she's indeed a dragon, there's probably a fair bit more to it than that. Helios likely didn't 'adopt' her out of some kind parental notion of love but rather the fact that she's extremely rare and valuable, unique even. Think about it, the last dragon of her kind, sounds exactly like what an ******* like him would want to have their hands on. Yet another piece for his game board. But he can't have anyone finding out about her of course, least of all his unethical business partners. Then they might try to steal her away." Dena smiles as she moves her wineglass in a soft circular motion. "You know what that sounds like, Kirk? Leverage. If he wants us to keep his dragon-gal a secret, he better give us what we want in turn. Otherwise this is either a rouse or he clearly doesn't consider her valuable enough to go through with this entire thing."

[Gullara]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

Kirk smiles. "Leverage, yes. Along with the fact that they seem to want this very badly, and presumably there aren't many people that can provide. I'm guessing it'd be simple to barter for a better price." He leans back, more at ease on this topic. "Do you plan on getting in touch with Ambrosia, though? Might be a good idea to keep that dialogue open. She and Helios seem to have slight different goals."

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

"I'm planning to give her a call and invite her here to discuss it. That or do it over the phone in case she doesn't feel comfortable showing up here. But I'd have to deal with Helios first, serparately. I think it would be best to not use this leverage against her if we're negotiating with her now. Maybe just tell him what happened and give him a hint. Should be enough I think." Dena takes another sip of wine.

[Gullara]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

"That sounds like a plan to me. We'll talk after you've gotten in touch with her, then?" Kirk's going to let Dena completely guide how the rest of this goes. He's said his piece.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

"That's the plan. Just one question though, if she asks about your involement in this, what should I tell her?" Dena inquires with a quizzical look in her eyes.

[Gullara]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

Kirk raises his eyebrows, thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "You can tell her the truth. If we do this there's no reason to try to hide anything."

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

"Yeah, better be truthful about this. I'll call you once it's done then." Dena raises her hand in a farewell gesture. "So probably in a couple of hours."

[Gullara]

[Dragon Scholar Update]

Kirk simply nods and steps out while she calls. The drow won't be sitting still in the whole time he's waiting, that's for sure. He best occupy his mind.