[center][h1]The Finger[/h1][/center][hr][center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuXNxvtepE8&ab_channel=SupergiantGames]♫[/url][/center][hr]

[color=FE9A2E]“Vani, you know we can’t send it like that. Like it is, that's just gonna bleed all over tha envelope.”[/color]

[color=61380B]“Yeah, it ain’t gonna be no good sendin’ like that. The postage will just toss it in tha trash.”[/color]

Little but dim light encompassed most of the warehouse aside from a central lantern-lit table. Upon the surface sat an open envelope, with a written letter already inside, and some distance from it was a severed pinky finger still seeping blood from the open wound and staining an already well-stained wooden table.

Surrounding the table were three brothers. The first was a tall, grinning yasoi with ginger hair and a crooked nose whose friends called him Fantas and enemies called him Scum. The second was a bigger and more rotund yasoi named Diayet. One may take that weight to consider him out of shape, but an equal amount of muscle hidden behind the folds made it a painful misjudgment to make. They both looked down toward the third figure, younger, smaller, and with a paleness that could only be attributed to a bloodchild. His name was Vani and his eyes were locked down at the finger on the table.

Vani turned his lip up in disgust and looked up at his older brothers with pleading in his eyes. [color=F5ECCE]”There’s no way I’m doin’ [i]that[/i]. Surely there's another way or somethin’. One of you do it, you’ve done it before ain’t ya.”[/color]

Fantas and Daiyet shot each other a look without their grins wavering. [color=FE9A2E]“Well, yeah, that's right Vani. We both done it… and you ain’t. You wanted to help out in the family business, this is the sort of thing you gotta do sometimes.”[/color]

[color=61380B]“Yeah, it ain’t much Vani. Just gotta suck tha blood out then we can put it in tha envelope and it's good ta send. It's that easy. Consider it like a propa initiation of sorts.”[/color]

Vani was in the process of picking up the severed finger until Daiyet finished his last sentence at which the bloodchild brother furrowed his brow. He set the finger back down in a rush and pointed at Daiyet, a flash of anger burned in his eyes. [color=F5ECCE]”Now wait just a minute, I’ve [i]been[/i] initiated. Proved myself when I snatched that girl’s coin purse. I ain’t got nothin’ to prove.”[/color]

[color=FE9A2E]“Woah, woah! Settle down Vani.”[/color] Fantas chuckled at his brother's sudden flare-up. [color=FE9A2E]“That was a good start, but do you really think stealing a few Magus from a cripple girl makes you a fully-fledged Cola Brother? I mean, it's a good start but you got some ways to go, ya know?”[/color]

Fantas placed a supportive hand on Vani’s shoulder. [color=FE9A2E]“Listen. I know it's gross, I thought the same thing when I first did it. But it's the sort of thing ya need to get used to in the business. Just have a go at it and, trust me, you’ll have the stuff spit out in no time and I’ll fetch you some ale to wash the taste out. Deal?”[/color]

Vani looked toward his brothers anxiously then back to the finger, the disgust never really left his face. With a long exhale, he rolled his shoulders as if building up the courage to go through with it. [color=F5ECCE]”Alright you fuckers, but ya better have that ale on hand or I’m coming for ya both.”[/color] He laughed a very nervous laugh.

Fantas and Daiyet both clapped their hands together and gave their younger brother words of encouragement for the task ahead. [color=61380B]“Don’t worry. I got you.”[/color] Daiyet said as he walked off to a nearby keg.

With a mug of ale on the table and Vani suitably steeled for the disgusting feat, he grabbed the pinky finger and was quick to bring it near to his mouth. But he froze when it was mere centimetres from his lips. He stopped, held it back, and looked to the ground as if he was going to puke. But he didn’t puke, instead, he breathed in and out, in and out, building more confidence. He looked back up and brought the finger back toward his lips.

[color=CEF6EC]”Put the finger down, Vani.”[/color] 

A voice called firmly but without urgency from across the warehouse. A figure leant in the doorway to a pitch black side room barely illuminated by the fading reaches of the lantern. The eldest Cola Brother, Pepsii, looked out at the situation in front of him coldly and with neither approval nor disapproval. A hair tie that he seldom employed aside from ‘messy work’ was used to keep back his longer brown hair. In his hands, he cleaned a knife with a thin, blood-soaked rag. His movements were slow and deliberate, he was in no hurry to get it clean. 

Fantas was the first to speak up. [color=FE9A2E]“Took ya long enough. We was just finishing up Vani’s [i]initiation[/i]”[/color] He spoke trying to let his older brother in on the joke without Vani catching on.

[color=CEF6EC]”I was just reading our good friend a bedtime story to help him knock off. He’s down to nine digits now, it can be hard to catch sleep after a spout of misfortune like that.”[/color] Pepsii spoke while shifting out of the door frame and approaching the table. While the comment was sarcastic, his delivery was flat and humourless as if he were speaking matter-of-factly. His voice didn’t carry the Mudville accent of his younger siblings. Instead, he carried the accent of a rural Constantian yasoi as the only sibling who could remember a time before Ersand’Enise.

He shot Vani an annoyed look seeing that his youngest brother had yet to drop the trophy of his labours. [color=CEF6EC]”Vani, drop the finger.”[/color] Vani followed his brother’s order the second time.

[color=61380B]“Come on now, we’s jus’ doin’ a bidda hazin’.”[/color] Daiyet replied with disappointment.

[color=FE9A2E]“Yeah, you did tha same shit to us when we was startin’.”[/color] Fantas backed up Daiyet with annoyance in his voice.

Pepsii raised an eyebrow at the two’s protests against the perceived sibling injustice. [color=CEF6EC]”Well that was easy because the two of you share a brain cell. But Vani here is smarter than that, aren’t you Vani?”[/color] He placed his unbloodied left hand on the young man’s shoulder as he asked.

[color=F5ECCE]”Yeah, yeah, I’m smarta than that.”[/color] Vani replied but a telling look to the floor made the lie rather transparent.

[color=CEF6EC]”Alright, then can you get a box for this finger? Go ask Ma for a real nice one, you know how rich folk are with presentation.”[/color] Pepsii dismissed Vani who took his leave from the warehouse promptly.

Pepsii then turned his attention to Daiyet and pointed with his thumb over to the side room. [color=CEF6EC]”And Daiyet, now that we have our good friend sleeping, could you go and heal up the finger wound? Just to let him know it isn’t anything personal.”[/color] Daiyet nodded and took his leave from the main warehouse space, leaving only Pepsii and Fantas alone.

There was a lengthy period of silence between the two as Pepsii set the knife and rag onto one corner of the table. He grabbed the mug that was set aside of the faux initiation and took a cautious sniff. Pepsii was surprised to find out that it was actually alcohol instead of the usual soap water, his brothers were kinder to Vani than he had been to them.

Fantas leaned against a table edge with an awkward composure. [color=FE9A2E]“So what? All a sudden yous wantin’ ta go easy on Vani or somethin’”[/color] 

Pepsii finished his sip of ale and set it aside. Instinctively he tried using his dominant right hand to rub his face but stopped himself upon seeing it was still bloodstained and used his left instead. [color=CEF6EC]”You think I did that because I’m being soft on him, do ya?”[/color] The question lingered for a while before he continued. [color=CEF6EC]”Wake the fuck up Fantas.”[/color] Disappoint oozed from the older brother’s tone. 

[color=CEF6EC]”What we’re doing here, there's a lot of money involved. And when big money is involved, someone who can [i]actually[/i] do something is going to find the room to care. We asked for big money, and there's a decent shot we can get that money. But we also run the risk of upstarts looking to get the boy back for less. We need to be ready for that, not fucking around with this.”[/color] Pepsii raised the severed finger and gave it a shake in front of Fantas’ face before placing it back down.

The eldest brother let out a sigh before continuing his lecture. [color=CEF6EC]”Doesn’t help that you, Cherii, and Daiyet decided to go fuck things up. Now instead of having the whole crew here, like we should, Cherii’s out schmoozing up the people we want talking and Coca’s out making sure the other ones don’t say a fucking word. You should have known better Fantas, but we can turn our misfortunes into opportunities.”[/color] 

Fantas sunk deeper into a slump as the lecture continued. Even if he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, he was still the older of Daiyet and Cherii and as a result the responsibility for the fallout rested on him. [color=FE9A2E]“Right, yeah, so what now then?”[/color] He said, lacking certainty.

[color=CEF6EC]”A storm’s coming. Even if our dear sisters do the best work of their lives, it's unavoidable. Some dumb yasoi kid goes missing and out of all the gangs in this city, they’ll point at us. Ya know why?”[/color] 

Fantas shrugged to which Pepsii quickly replied by flicking his brother’s ear. Little more needed to be explained after that. 

Seeing his brother's defeated expression, Pepsii raised a hand to his cheek reassuringly. [color=CEF6EC]”Fanta, Fanta, Fanta, don’t beat yourself up over it. We’ll weather the storm that comes our way. Back when it was just me, Ma, and Coca doing the work, we had to carve a home for ourselves out of this place. What we have now is nothing new, just a return to the same old shit. Except we have more of us to share the load.”[/color] Pepsii shot Fantas the first smile he had broken all day, and it was a warm one.

[color=CEF6EC]”Now go see if Daiyet needs a hand back there.”[/color] Pepsii dismissed Fantas.

The ginger-haired yasoi made his way toward the side rooms before something caught his mind and he turned on a heel. [color=FE9A2E]“Aaa… Pepsii, ain’t you got a [i]bidness meetin’[/i] ta go to in a few days?”[/color] 

Pepsii, who had returned to cleaning the knife, didn’t turn around when answering. [color=CEF6EC]”I do. But I ain’t leaving Ersand’Enise with you all like this. I’ll take off when we have the situation settled down. Wouldn’t want to disappoint Ma.”[/color]

Satisfied with the answer, Fantas turned back toward the exit when another question got posed. [color=CEF6EC]”Say Fantas, that sword on your back looks good on you. Where’d you get it?”[/color] 

Fantas didn’t turn back this time but instead kept walking and called out his answer in a snarky tone. [color=FE9A2E]“Through perfectly legitahmit means, of course.”[/color] Then he hand waved away any further enquiry from the elder brother.

Pepsii knew the Cola Brother translation of that phrase: [color=FE9A2E][i]Coulda bought it, coulda stole it, who the fuck cares?[/i][/color]. It got the second smile of the night out of the older brother as he chuckled at the joke.

[hr][hr][h1][center]Ransom Demand[/center][/h1][hr][hr]
Exceptions to the rule were not common in the city of the bells. Wave after wave of yasoi refugees had flooded to the gates, but some were more equal than others, and that was immediately apparent to the student group when they had entered the abode of the Doridax family. 

They had not been here for long. The ornaments on the shelves had not acquired dust, nor did the place smell as a true home might. The walls were freshly painted and the furniture was in place, but as the vast group of Ersand’Enise students sat down, Talthan’chal’doridax had an air of authority and old money about him. The same type that many of them were likely familiar with, or had recently come into contact with having attended a school full of this sort.

[color=salmon]”I appreciate you coming to meet with me directly.”[/color] he spoke, a low tone filled with authority and appreciation. He deliberately took the time to shake everyone’s hand and ask for the names of the students who had decided to go on this mission, and for some, even questions about their time at the school before resuming to the rather urgent matter at hand. [color=salmon]”As I’m sure you’re all aware from the missive I directed at the school, this matter is in regard to my eldest son, Jaxan.”[/color]

[color=salmon]”It is not easy to be a good father, especially in tumultuous times such as these, yet I have done my utmost to raise this boy true and proper, so that he might not damage our name and reputation.”[/color] his gaze washed over Ashon and Seviin a moment longer than the rest of the troupe. [color=salmon]”Correct me if I’m wrong, but I find that freedom calls to the young. It called to me at that age as well, but this is not an age where we Constantian Yasoi have that privilege, not here at any rate.”[/color] and there was an earnest pause for a moment, as he produced two boxes, one with the jingle of coin and another that remained ominously silent.

He opened the first, and it was as one might expect, full to the brim with the ransom promised in the letter. The second however, was a far grislier sight. A severed finger, with the ransom note in tow. It may have elicited some gags from the students present, but if one were to gaze upon Talthan’s eyes in this moment, all they would see is fire and rage. [color=salmon]”I was content to play nice with some of these late night adventures. Perhaps he was homesick, or grief stricken by the war that ravaged our former home. But I can do so no longer.”[/color] His hand gripped the lockbox so hard that it might have shattered if he had poured the Gift into it. [color=salmon]”I ask you with all my heart, not just as a Doridax, but as a concerned father. Bring my boy home, and bring these fiends justice.”[/color]

[hr]

What a stark difference it was. To go from that fresh, clean manor to the streets of Belleville was the difference between Hundri and Dorrad. And although it held a new name, these streets were once named Mudville for a reason. However skilled a mage you might be, stepping through these streets, you’d still find your boots caked in, well, mud. Moreso than the dirt that people found themselves caked in getting from place to place around there, the settlement was filthy on a different level. Gangsters, pickpockets, the desperate and the destitute and many other kinds of lost souls found themselves washed up on this side of the gate. To navigate these took certain finesse. 

A clock was ticking, but there was much to discern and little given save for the ransom note, a drop-off location for the money and the grisly sight of a dismembered finger. The group could certainly risk giving the money and hoping that the boy would be brought back in one piece, but there was plenty to be said for trickery and foul play on this side of the wall. Risking it however, would mean putting further maiming of Jaxan on the line…
[hr][hr][h1][center]Resources[/center][/h1][hr][hr]
[center][hider=The Ransom Letter(s)]
Letter 1:

Dear Mr and Mrs Doridax,

We have your son Jaxan in our possession. If you wish to see him again, please bring five thousand Magus to the warehouse on Owl Street at your earliest possible convenience.

Kind regards,

Letter 2:

Seems you took our joke about ‘earliest possible convenience’ seriously. To clarify, we expect the money quick. Here’s a little present to help this hurry along.

[/hider]

[hider=Information]
Hey all, sorry this has taken a little while to get going! This is our kick off for the first posting cycle of Ransom Demand. We’re going to be hosting the investigation and following up on the leads in a discord thread that’ll run over the course of the week. Deadlines are going to be a little bit looser because of this, but hopefully we can finish that up within a week. Patience will be required as we have 2 gms operating on opposite timezones for this event running different segments.
[/hider]


[hider=Mission Particulars]
[b]1. On the mission[/b]: Xiuyang, Ashon, Niallus, Lunara, Dorothea, Oksana, Seviin, Abdel.
[b]2. Chapter Deadline[/b]: Friday, 12 April 2024, 6:00PM EST
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