A5G

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[NPC Post]

"Thank you for the confirmation, Ser Cedrick. The trackers surmised as much." Anderson nodded, completely oblivious that the bear's name he heard was completely mistaken from the beginning. He now more-or-less had better trust on the investigators if one of them can do the work of several trackers and bloodhounds by himself, and even asking the local wildlife for assistance no matter how unreliable the critters were. He turns to Solomon's cloaked figure, slightly hoping that the man can further shed light on the way-too-well-planned debacle. "It is as surmised, the prince and his escort was ambushed. Of the three escorts, two were slain here and the last one is still unconscious by last report. The assailants are well prepared."

He paused, before adding.

"Way too well prepared, in fact. The prince's schedule is not something widely known even among the castle staff."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[NPC Post]

"Ah, of course. Just a moment." Anderson paused, took a look at the biped bear, and nodded in understanding before disappearing into one of the tent. He returned not long after with a wooden box, revealing a leather-bound notebook inside. Henri may recognize it as one of the prince's notebook used in his study. "From what I've been informed, the prince have been using this book for months at least. We've deployed bloodhounds, but they got confused when the assailants split up. One of it found his highness' left boot ditched under a bush several miles away."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Now that there's no more need to play the stoic guard, and boss Sparky introduced them, Yvonne got a chance to quip in. She curiously stared at the surveyor's head, trying to find a hint of the illusionary ears. It was definitely still there, based on how the elf ruffled it earlier, but there's no sign at all. neat.

"She's got a point there, foxy. People who made the habit gambling tend to collect other unsavory habit, like knifing someone they thought cheatin'." Though as a technically-not-legal informant, he probably knew that. And/or was confident on disentangling from such situation. Honestly, being able to change one's look would've helped immensely in that regard. Cant build infamy if you're wearing different face every con. "Anyway. Yvonne, at your service. Just your run on the mill sellsword, aye?"

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

On the way out Yvonne collected the belongings she handed over earlier, finally feeling adequately protected with the weight of weapons in their holster. She had to modify her appearance a bit, removing the multicolored adornment to leave the hauberk plain. The riveted mail wasn't exactly a common thing due to how pricy it was, but still plentiful enough among the more well-off soldier and mercenary that it wouldn't draw much attention. The heirloom sword wasn't adorned much in the first place, wrapping some rag on the handle was enough to conceal it as a standard arming sword. Everything else can be find in any decently large armoury, thus was of no issue to wear in the open.

Their de-facto leader brought them to one of the better inn in the city, pricy enough to bar the less savory (or the destitute) while still affordable enough to see plentiful traffic. Off to the side room she followed, past several gamblers toward the one that probably had more wealth staked than the rest of the room combined.

There's a flash of furry ears and fluffy tail, but all it earned was a raised eyebrow from the mercenary. Far from her to point it out for no one's benefit. She had an inkling of what this man was worth to them, if it's even a man under the glamour. Yvonne wasn't unfamiliar with the type, always seems to have a pair of extra ears whenever something interesting occured. Jazdia's contact, then?

For the most part Yvonne kept quiet, though upon the grand reveal she had to struggle from cracking a grin. Now that's a hedged deck if she ever saw one. Dunno how it's arranged, but the odds of just one good hand was rare enough - much less four in the same round, and right at the closing game with the highest stake? If someone tried something like that in a low-end tavern they'd get knifed within the hour. Sometimes right then and there, by the outraged players.

Nothing that helped the investigation so far, but at least Yvonne got a new nickname for the elf. Sparky rings so much better than Blondie.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Yvonne was quiet for a moment as the motley crew split into two groups, but then she realized how lopsided it was. Two to five? Sure, a gold rank cant be pushover and the elf probably have honed her skills longer than Yvonne herself had lived, but number was important. Even a swordsmaster would have problem dealing with several novices with pikes. Of the other group Mattie should be able to hold her own while Cedar was likely as strong as a literal bear with human intellect on top. Doc Solomon was there to patch thing up. Dunno about the unassuming Henri but from what's displayed so far he should be able to hold his own.

"Just one moment there, blondie. You looks like you need extra muscle. I'll come along with your group, yeah?" Yvonne very much would like to catch up with Mattie, but the job comes first. This should be a long-term gig anyway, she'd get the chance further down the line.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

"What-"

The golden glint was unmistakable, and Yvonne for a moment was struck dumb. Not about the amount of wealth, which to be fair wasn't a small sum but nothing major to her, no. It's the casual, guillible ease of which Cedar pulled them out. Recalling an earlier thought, she wondered how many times he'd gotten scammed on his way here.

"Put that away, you big lug. I ain't the one to ask for supplies, I can point you out to vendors out in the market but that'd be the opposite of discreet. The kitchen should have most of what you need, ask either of them." Yvonne gestured at Mattie and the elf, not far off from the door. "Shouldn't be flashing gold everywhere, that's how you get either robbed or scammed. Those coins of yours? You'd get a wagon of seed and fruit with that."

And then came the introduction of the hooded old fella that lurked surprisingly close without her noticing. That's some talent right there. And the name. Yvonne heard some wild tales of the man. Didn't actually think the fella existed, but here he stood. "Why, a legendary figure ain't cha? We'll be in your care, doc."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

"Suppose you need some special supplies, Ceddy? For that plant growing of yours, yeah? Cant just sprout bushes out of nothing." And he's probably shy or something. Or just out of his depth. "The castle should be covering for that, ain't got time waiting for you to dig some out of the wild. Heyo, blondie!" That was to the elf, if anyone wondered. Not like there's another blondie in the room. "Our big friend here need something unusual to function best, yeah? Got anyone to run a small errand nearby?"

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

"What, you think critters cant be assholes? Not as often as men, yeah, but they could be." There's this particularly infuriating donkey that just didn't like her, not long after she started bashing heads in. Kicking and even tried to bite once and whatnot. She took great relish watching the men butcher it after the literal dumbass broke its leg on a rough terrain. "Your pap is wise there. So long as no one's dead or maimed, people's only gonna think business. They'd grumble and try to reach for more anyway, cuz people are greedy, but killers for hire are expensive yeah? And they dont always succeed. Ain't gonna waste months of saving on a gamble."

The good mercs were expensive, whereas the dubious ones tend to run away with the down payment if things get rough. Yvonne grinned at the bear, giving a thumbs up at the humblebrag. This kid's alright. They can get along juuust fine.

"People do get irrational when it comes to their life. Village would endure brigands harrassing them every other week, then one farmer dies in an accident and suddenly whole place dig out their family heirlooms to pay off the mercs. Common story, really."

As the talk went, Yvonne kept an ear open to the elf who took to organizing the motley band so smoothly that she must've done it dozens of times before. Fancy code words too. She wont remembering all that, but Yvonne's job description was "security". She can do security. The only other important bits was the location. Ain't heard of Hdur before, probably should take a peek at the map before the day's over.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Hmm, okay. That's better. Looks like the critter talk was more in Cedar's element than whatever's going on in the castle. Yvonne shrugged at the inquiry, it's supposedly obvious but then again Cedar sounded like he'd been living in the middle of nowhere for his entire life before stumbling in here somehow.

"To be fair, it's mostly men." For every job involving wild beasts, there's at least ten that involved brigands and whatnot. "I ain't get paid to ask questions, but if someone's willing to fork the coins to have them dead they've probably caused an issue somewhere."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

"Ah, rude of me not to introduce myself first innit?" Yvonne took a good stock at the hulking bear of a man, who somehow managed to make himself looks tiny despite being twice her height and probably four times as heavy. Really, if you want people to take you seriously then half of it was the way you present yourself. As it stand now, anyone remotely unsavory would hardly think twice before trying to take advantage of this Cedar, the number would've dropped dramatically if he carried himself with a wee bit more confidence.

As for the other half? Why, that's simply the ability to crush anyone who stand between you and whatever your goal is.

"Yvonne, some fellas call me Mad Blade but dont take too deeply into it yeah?" She didn't pick fights unprovoked. Usually. "I'm good at putting things down, man and beast alike. One of the best you can find these days if you'd excuse a lil' bit of bragging. If there's a fight to be had point me that way and it'll be settled nice and dandy, yeah?"