VoB - Warehouse District

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Louis de la Forêt
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Post by Louis de la Forêt »

Louis heads towards Shultz's wagon, hat in hand. Knocking quietly on the door, he calls out "My Lord? C'est Louis. You asked for me?"
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Dorian
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Post by Dorian »

"Come." A voice from inside the wagon is heard to say. Entering, Louis sees Shuldtz sitting behind a small desk, with various papers and maps scattered over its surface.

"Louis, thank you for coming. Be seated. Would you like a drink?" He motions to a tankard fill of water. "Its clean, which is more than can be said for most water here in the city. Help yourself." Shorn quickly shuffled some of the papers, placing most away out of view.

"Now, to business. I have a task for you. I require your hunting and tracking skills. Tell me, do you know the man Giraud-Louis Théry? He is a fellow Gustan like yourself. He has gone astray and I require him to be found. Can you do this for me?"

Shorn arches his fingers, sitting back into his chair and looks through Louis with his cold eyes.
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Louis de la Forêt
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Post by Louis de la Forêt »

Louis pours himself some water. An offered drink sets the tone of the meeting well away from being chastized for failure, and firmly into additional work. "My lord, he is known to me. Though we were not close friends. Of course I will do this for you, my Lord."

He stops to think, trying to remember if he saw the man during the events at the fire, or during their arrival in town. "Where was he last known to be? I'll start there." Louis pauses, "Do you think he had something to do with this fire, Lord? Might he have been lost in the blaze itself?"
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Dorian
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Post by Dorian »

Shorn looked at Louis for a long moment before answering.

"He was the cause of the fire." He says gravely.

Sitting forward, Shuldtz leans on the table "My men spotted him around Rossettos wagon last night. We think he was searching for the pay chest to steal coin. In his escape he pushed a lamp down into a pile of feed for the horses. Thus the fire ignited."

Placing a map on the table, Shorn continues, "My men chased him to the river, but he dived in and crossed where as my men could not pursue him. They last saw him climbing up the bank by the slums.

I believe he will try and flee back towards Strassburg. This is a both good and bad for us. Good because there is only one way across the mountains and one port to go by sea and only a fool would brave the Fens. Bad because the mountain pass will be blocked in the coming weeks by the winter snows. If you spend too long idle he could cross and then pursuit would be impossible once the snow falls.

Now, we will pay you Six gold crowns to get this man for us. Half now and half upon arrival." Shorn places the three large coins upon the desk. Louis cant help but focus on them, for they represent more than a peasants yearly wages in some parts of Alinia.

"He will know that we are looking, and have access to men on horseback, so will not risk moving rashly and in daylight.

The payment stands whether he breaths or not. Provided he is seen too. Do we have a deal?"
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Louis de la Forêt
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Post by Louis de la Forêt »

Louis considers. Never before had he killed a man, and this could... that might be the outcome of this job. But one does what one must.

"We have a deal, Lord. Do we know if he acquired the coin before he fled? That much weight would slow him down, and make him choose different paths. I assume I'm to return the gold, if he has it?"
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Dorian
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Post by Dorian »

"Of that we are unsure. But whatever he has is to be returned." Shorn sat back.

"Now, do you require assistance? I have a man who has done bounty work before, but is not much of a woodsman. He could go with you if you wish. However, I can understand that you may wish to work alone in this."
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Louis de la Forêt
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Post by Louis de la Forêt »

Louis considers. In the end, he says "I think my Lord, but I believe an untrained woodsman would slow me down more than his fighting skills would help me."

"It is only his death that you require, if I have no option of capturing him alive, then I can kill him from a distance with my bow, just like any other animal. It is... distasteful, but for last night's fire, I have no doubt the man deserves no less."

"No, speed is more important to me, I think. I will go alone. But, I would speak with the guards who chased him, so they can show me exactly where he crossed the river, where he came out of it, and soforth."

Louis reaches for the three gold on the table, almost afraid to touch them, in case they are an illusion. So much wealth...
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Post by Dorian »

Shorn nods "Sure, this is doable. I'll have some of my men meet you in an hour. Take the time to make what ever preparations are required. That is all."

Leaving the wagon, the weight of the new gold crowns adding comfort on his belt, Louis goes to set off. Rounding a corner he is met by a man around his own height, slightly older with shoulder length brown hair, a trimmed beard and a scar running down his left eye. The man quickly places a hand on Louis shoulder and leads him out of sight firmly.

He sits Louis down on a disused pile of crates, before sitting opposite and wrapping his cloak around himself, shivering slightly with the morning chill.

It is to Louis great surprise that when the man speaks, it is Gustan, not Balorian, that comes from his lips.

"You are the man they are sending after my brother no? What have they said he did? I know what they told me was not right. " He speaks half to himself before stopping. The man clearly has a lot on his mind, though still seems composed. He looks at Louis, expecting some kind of reaction.
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Raphaelus the Younger
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Post by Raphaelus the Younger »

Raphaelus wandered the burnt out encampment, unable to sleep as Sol rose ever higher in the sky. He sought the Doktor, but he was nowhere to be found. Most passers by he asked were either too busy dealing with their own problems, or had no idea who the Doktor was.

[Averaged Int and Fel with a -10 penalty for the confusion, two minor successes after several failures.]

After an hour of fruitless searching, Raphaelus' inquiries began to receive positive responses. Several men recalled the Doktor asking for an escort the night before and leaving the warehouses with Louis, the hunter. When pressed, none remembered the purpose or destination of the outing, but confirmed that they had not seen the Doktor since.

Despondent, Raphaelus set off again for Old town, hoping to find the storekeeper he had disturbed the previous night.

[Continued in Old Town]
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Louis de la Forêt
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Post by Louis de la Forêt »

Louis takes a step back from the man, concerned that he might try to protect his brother by attacking. "I am not sure what was told to you of your brother, sir. But I suggest that you take that up with Shorn. I cannot discuss this."
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Post by Dorian »

"Yes yes I know what Shorn says of him." The man snaps at Louis, clearly agitated. He rubs his creased forehead, clearly lacking sleep, though that is not uncommon after the fire.

"I am Jean-Jacques Théry, Shuldtz sergeant and brother to Giraud-Louis. I have heard what they say about my brother, what Shorn says. I do not believe it. He would never do that. Never!" He pokes a finger in Louis direction to make a point.

"There must be more to this, a real reason to why he has fled. I would go myself but I am duty bound here. I must ask you, however, to show mercy to him. Find out the full story lest you end his life wrongly. Please, I beg this of you as a fellow Gustan and swear on my sword that I shall be indebted to you." He has genuine pleading in his eyes.
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Louis de la Forêt
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Post by Louis de la Forêt »

"My friend, I should not tell you this, but I... I wish you to be telling me the truth. I have taken Shorn's money to return your brother to him, dead or alive. If you can tell me ways to capture him safely, secrets so that he would believe me a friend, that I may get close enough to capture him without needing to resort to killing him. If you can do this for me, I promise I will listen to what he has to say, and then act according to my soul. If he can convince me that it was not he, then I will do what I can to rectify his situation. But know this, many of us have died in this fire, and I myself lost my own horse. I would avenge all of this upon the one who did it."

Sensing Jean-Jacque's complaint, he holds up a hand. "I know that punishing the wrong man would only shield the actual murderer from justice; and I will do my best to make sure the real criminal is punished. But if your brother cannot convince me of his innocence, then I will follow my oath and return him here for punishment."

"In fact, even if I do believe him, I would still likely follow my oath and return him here. But I would do so in such a manner as to help him case with Shorn. But my oath to Shorn will not be broken."

"And I'll ask you to keep your distance from me from now on. I have not heard that you are a dishonorable man, but you can imagine how I would be nervous about your presence, when you might with to protect your brother by injuring me."
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Post by Dorian »

Jean-Jacques looks downcast, clearly this means a lot to him.

"This is all I can ask of you. You are a good man." He gets up, as if to leave.

"So that he knows it is I who send you, this will be the eleventh year since the demise of our sister. His twin. Sh.." Théry chokes up slightly, clearly thinking dark thoughts. "She perished at the hands of Fellish soldiers. Noone else in this lands knows of this." He walks away quietly.

Later, as asked, two of Shorns men arrive, accompanied by Erich Karow. They lead Louis around the warehouse, showing where they had chased the coachman through the district. Eventually their path leads to the river. One of the men, a short stocky Lornish man, explains.

"Aye, once we got him here we thought he was done. But that crafty Gustan bastard wouldn't give in. Jumped right into the river 'e did." He points down stream aways, towards a prominent light house on the west bank. "We thought the current would get him for sure, but we saw him crawl ashore over there, in the light of the tower. We knew we had no chance of catchin the bastard then."

He goes silent, clearly waiting for any other questions. Across the river, the light tower can be seen clear as day, surrounded by a bustling ramshackle group of slums. A far from inviting dive.
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Louis de la Forêt
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Post by Louis de la Forêt »

Louis turns back to the men. "What was he wearing? All the detail you can recall, s'il vous plait. I must ask those in the hovels if they have seen him."

After they answer, Louis thanks them and then takes the nearest bridge over the river. Keeping the lighthouse in sight, he makes his way down there to inspect where the man came ashore. He halfway keeps an eye out for the man himself, in case he chose to hide in town instead of fleeing the area entirely.
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Post by Dorian »

The short man scratches his head, speaking in his thick Lornish accent.

"Uhh 'e was wearing a long leather coat. Brown I think... Oh and a red jacket underneath, but not normal red see, red like a old rose it was. Darker. And a hat like his coat, only browner, deeper. 'he may 'ave lost that in the river though."

Apart from this the man is of little help to Louis.

Continued in the Sinestadt Slums
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