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[Yanahalqah]

Saun 15 Arc 716
The Docks

Rumor

Yanahalqah: Some say the king has made a terrible alliance with the Aukari. More and more seem to be arriving via ship every trial."

Although the war was supposedly still going on the docks were as busy a place as they ever were. Many ships stopped by to buy and sell goods, stock up on supplies, or have their vessel repaired. Word had it Burhan’s forces were coming from the west, having taken the long route as Krome prevented them from crossing through their lands. This meant that the port was not the means of arrival which Veljorn would use to invade Andaris, and the comings and goings of people and merchants was not as strictly regulated as it would have been otherwise.

And yet, there were some people who did keep an eye open for unusual happenings, for unusual individuals who entered the kingdom via this port. Yana had caught wind of a rumor some trials ago. She’d payed a decent sum to get her hands on the information which she perhaps should not have paid for. As a member of the Iron Hand she was well aware that not every knight, skyrider, or sailor was of the fairytale kind. Some were crooked and criminal. They sold intelligence to any who wanted to know, given that they were willing to hand over some coin in return, of course. Yana had done just that, looking for some work to keep herself busy and entertained. Something interesting. In her Rayna guise she had bribed the knight, money buying her knowledge.

The knight had spoken of a conspiracy, of a pact between the King and the Aukari. That there were lots of them arriving at the port, more every day. The knight had grinned in a very haughty way, sipped his ale, and claimed that it was none of his business. Yana was not sure what was truth and what was lie, but she figured it was worth finding out. It was time well spent. Perhaps she would uncover something big. Something that was better not brought out in the light of day. She could make use of it, if she played her cards right. But for the moment, that was not yet a priority. First she should see whether or not this rumor was the truth, or if it was baseless conjecture. If she’d been wasting those coins or if it was money well spent.

In any case, there were a few Aukari types walking around, working. Actually, there were indeed more than she thought usual. A frown creased her brow, and she quietly studied the other people on the docks, noticing their less then friendly attitude towards the ginger folk. Some only gave them distrustful glances, others flat out told the Aukari to bugger off. None seemed happy with the redheads among them, and certainly not in those numbers. It was suspicious, she found. No wonder there was a rumor floating around concerning them. Though the Yludih wasn’t certain why that kind of information had only been told to another in exchange for coin. Usually rumors and gossip spread like wildfire. Perhaps someone was trying to keep this all quiet. If the King was indeed involved, like the rumor suggested, then it was plausible the Royal Guard had something to do with it. Maybe. But that was merely conjecture from her part, none was supported by fact. Yet.

Yana approached one of the sailors, a portly Biqaj who seemed to be taking a break from work, having sought out a patch of shadow to escape the Saun suns. “Good day,” the mercenary greeted curtly, “I’m looking for a certain Brice Jervois?” Word was this man knew everything there was to know about the docks. The comings and goings of ships, the cargo they bought or sold, the people they transported. If there was anyone who could aid her in uncovering the truth about this matter, she believed it would be him.

“Who?” the Biqaj asked, clocking one or other liquid from a flask down his throat.
“Brice Jervois, the merchant?”
“Oh, the old trader? Yeh, he’s here.” He took another gulp from his flask, while Yana stared at him with her one eye. “I dunno where exactly he is at,” he added, getting that the woman with the eyepatch before him was not satisfied with his previous answer. “He might be over there somewhere-” he waved with his hand, vaguely indicating a certain area “-doin’ some bartering with the people of that trade vessel over there. The one with the seahorse figurehead.” That was something at least. She could work with that.

“Thank you,” she nodded, and headed for the vessel, hoping she could indeed find the merchant there.

[Yanahalqah]

The merchant was not too hard to find. Like the sailor had stated, Brice was standing near the ship with the seahorse figure attached to the bow. At least, she assumed it was Brice Jervois dressed in a rich burgundy attire, waving his hands about in wide disagreeing motions, the plethora of rings adorning each finger shimmering in the twin suns' light. He spoke with the tone of a man who knew what he wanted, not willing to compromise. The feather on his baret-like hat floated back and forth as he shook his head, the ruffles on his vest rustling. The saun heat had colored his face with blush, the reddish pink contrasting with the pepper-and-salt color of his short-styled beard and hair. His posture screamed “dignified gentleman”, but certainly not “humble”. Judging from his body language, appearance, and voice, Brice was a confident man, not afraid to flaunt his wealth. Perhaps even slightly vain.

Yana observed the man exchanging words with who she assumed was the captain of the seahorse vessel for a few bits while deciding on her strategy. How to get information out of this man? Would he just tell her if she asked about it? She hoped he would; she'd spent five gold nel on bribing one of the knights already, and she felt that already was a significant amount. If possible, she'd rather not give away any more of her hard-earned coin. Perhaps I should indulge in the spreading of information for a price too... Seems like a fairly lucrative business.

She thought of the possible options. Threatening would not be very subtle, and would probably land her in jail, in the merchant's bad graces, and would leave her unable to make use of him for later investigations. Straight up asking probably would get her nowhere, as he'd want to know her motives. She could lie, claiming to be one of the Royal Guard, but it was likely he'd see right through her. If they truly had something to do with this rumor, why would they need to ask about it? As a test perhaps, to see if he had been truly silenced? Then claiming to be Royal Guard would only work in her disadvantage. Hmmm. What to do? What to do? Tell him her reasons were none of his business? Too suspicious. He'd tell her nothing.

Luckily, there was a convenient occupation for nosy people in this country. Journalist. While it still did not guaranteed she'd get answers out of the merchant, it was worth a shot, as it would give her a believable excuse to question him and take notes on the matter. Perhaps her clothing left a lot to be desired, though she could find an excuse for it as well. She'd go with this idea, Yana decided, approaching the merchant once the conversation between him and the captain came to an end.

“... that's my last offer. You can take it or leave it, but know that this is the best price you'll get for your cargo.”
“I will think about it,” the captain said, turning around towards his ship, “however, there are plenty other fish in the sea.”
The merchant dressed in red merely huffed in reply.

“Excuse me,” Yana spoke, announcing her presence, even though it was hardly necessary, “you are Mr. Jervois, right?”
“I am,” he replied, “what can I do for you?”
“A pleasure to meet you sir,” she continued, making sure not to speak in her usual annoyed tones, instead opting for a more pleasant expression. “My name is Rayna. Rayna Ramsey. I'm with the Gazette. I'd like to ask you some questions, if you don't mind?”

[Yanahalqah]

“Another reporter eh?”the merchant sighed, his gut slightly being hefted up and released back down. He gave her a quick looking over, eyes wandering from her eyepatch to the sword at her hip and her not-so-feminine clothing. “You surely don't look the part.”
Yana gave a shrug, a thin smile on her lips. “Ah well, sometimes it's best not to dress the part. Besides, this here-” she tapped her blade “-is just to scare people of. From time to time we need to venture in places with … less amicable individuals. It's better not to give the impression of a helpless damsel.”Another faint smile, and the Yludih fished her notebook and pencil out of a pocket.

“Right,” the merchant said with some skepticism, “so that's why you wear a patch over your eye too?”
“Eh, not quite,” Yana grimaced, “I fell face first on a rather pointy rock as a child. It … scarred pretty badly.” She did not even need to act entirely dismissive.
Brice hummed, the tone betraying disinterest. “Anyway, you had some questions for me? It's not about that ridiculous story my wife made up, is it?” he spoke rather concerned, eyes moving suspiciously in their sockets. He seemed to be getting second thoughts about speaking with people from the Gazette. And with reason of course, the newspaper did have a reputation of consisting more of gossip, half-truths, and news that catered to sensationalists rather than actually being informative. Some said the Gazette did not necessarily conduct any interviews, instead just making whole stories up, ruining some marriages in the process.

“No, no,” the Yludih spoke quickly, “it's nothing like that!”
“Because I assure you, Miss, I have no affairs or anything of the sort. I am happily ma--.”
“Don't worry, Mr. Jervois,” Yana reassured him again, stressing her words some more this time, making sure he got the message, “this isn't about that.” A brief pause. “But if you'd rather have us do a story on that instead of this, I'd gladly oblige.”
“No no! That won't be necessary,” Brice quickly interjected, waving his hands quickly in wide gestures. He clasped his hands together then, recollecting himself. “So, what do you want to know?”

While perhaps she had not convinced Brice entirely of her occupation as a journalist, it did not appear to be a problem. Maybe he had given her the benefit of the doubt. Or perhaps he thought it did not matter whether she was or wasn't what she claimed to be, as turning someone away while having some free time might impact his business in a negative way. Or he had just decided that stereotype views on someone's occupation were just that and were not always accurate representations. Either way, Yana continued her investigation. “Well. Being a prominent figure here at the docks and in the economy of Andaris as a whole, have you noticed anything out of the ordinary lately?”

Brice frowned. “Out of the ordinary? In what way?”
“The high numbers of Aukari for example. That is not common throughout the arc, or is it?”
“Ah, that's what this is all about, eh?” The merchant took a few glances around, then leaned in slightly. “Look, you'd have to be blind not to notice that. They seem to be everywhere as of late. You can't turn left or right without bumping into one.” He gave a sigh. “People are pretending not to notice, to forget about it. Denial, you could call it. But it's a hard thing to do when they're all around you and prone to … you know... spontaneously erupt. But we don't want to trigger it, so everybody's just ignoring them. We're all on edge, but we do our best not to let it show. When they started appearing some got angry at them, pushing them around, demanding they leave, that sort of stuff. One moment they were screaming in anger, the other in anguish as flames consumed them.” Brice nodded gravely, his expression one of worry and sadness.

[Yanahalqah]

“I see,” Yana said, understanding that the docks had become a less than pleasant place even for its usual inhabitants to hang out. “But where do they come from, and why are they here? Do they have some sort of purpose?”
Brice sighed, rubbing the side of his face. The Saun suns caused a thin layer of sweat to cloak his forehead, excess excretions forming large drops that rolled down his cheeks. “We did try talking to them—asked what they came for…” the merchant began, voice trailing off. “They don’t answer. They ignore such questions. Or give some vague reply.”

“But you do know where they came from, yes?”
“Well, I suppose they come from Sirothelle, like so many of their ilk. That’s about all though. They arrive by ship. Every day more and more of them.” He shrugged.
“Ships full of them? Boatloads of Aukari?”
Mr. Jervois shook his head. “No, no, no.” The merchant turned around, eyes searching the many ships that had landed, and pointed at one of them. “Ships like that one. They transport the Aukari, dozens at a time, but they also ship cargo. Seems to me the Aukari just hitched a ride. The crew doesn’t speak of it though. They keep their mouths shut just like the Aukari.”

Yana gave him a look. “Sounds suspicious, no?”
“Quite,” Brice agreed, wiping some sweat away with a handkerchief, “it definitely smells fishy. Never before have we had so many of them here. The odd one, yes, here for ‘work’, but no large numbers. Not like now anyways.”
“Do you suppose someone has been bringing them here? I mean, not in the way of transporting them, but more like… cargo? Like someone just ordered lots and lots of Aukari looking for ‘work’?”
The merchant clad in burgundy scratched his chins. “Well, it certainly is possible… You know, I usually don’t bother with this sort of nonsense, much less believe in it, but there has been a rumor going around here. That they’re coming here because the King asked them to.” He snorted almost pig-like. “Ridiculous, right!”

The merchant repeating the rumor the Yludih had heard from the city guard only got a shrug out of her. “Perhaps there’s some truth in it?”
Brice lifted an eyebrow, dipping his forehead some more with his handkerchief, undoing the quizzical look.
“I mean, of course you have to take this sort of thing with a grain of salt, but if they don’t talk about their objective, and the sailors transporting them don’t either, I don’t think there isn’t anything going on. The King might very well have hired some. Maybe having formed an alliance with Sirothelle?” she conjectured.
“Hmfp. Unlikely, but for the sake of argument, let’s say that he did, what for?”
The Yludih gave another shrug. “To win the war perhaps? I heard the Iron Hand has been depleted quite a bit because of the noble Houses--”
The merchant interrupted. “To stock up on forces for the war? No soldier would be willing to trust the Aukari, whether they were hired by the King or not.” He did have a point.

“Then what about decimating Veljorn’s army? Send some to hinder him as he marches to Andaris. Kill some men here, steal supplies there…” Yana would have done that. Though she’d have not depended on Aukari. Then again, their chance at eruption would be great if they were captured, or if they used it while in the encampment of the rebels.
“A valid argument,” Mr. Jervois nodded, “but you do realize this is the boy King we’re talking about? I doubt he could even come up with such a strategy.”
“He does have his generals and tacticians to assist him,” Yana countered, causing Brice to frown and think some more.
“Well. Hm. Yes. Perhaps. But this is all highly hypothetical. It’s just a rumor.”

The redheaded Yludih gave a smile. “It is,” she agreed. “Mr. Jervois, thank you for your time.”
“No problem at all. Have a nice day.”
“Likewise.”

She walked away then, not quite satisfied with what her efforts had yielded. Of course she tried to speak with some of the Aukari in hopes to find out more, but whenever she wanted to ask about them, the fiery folk ignored her, just like Brice had said they did. It was highly annoying, and the Yludih became rapidly aware that she wouldn’t be solving this mystery any time soon. Further prompting would only be a waste of time, she decided, and eventually just headed back to the city, most dissatisfied and displeased.

[Pegasus]

Yanahalqah

Points!:

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 0/ 5 (solo thread)
Structure: 5/ 5

Knowledge:

Burhan: Attacking from the West
Ports: Not as impacted by the war as you might think?
Brice Jervois: a merchant
Brice Jervois: a dignified man
Brice Jervois: confident
Aukari: travelling with cargo
Aukari: did the King call them?
King Cassander: The boy king
King Cassander: Listens to his advisors
King Cassander: a tactical mind?
Investigation: Corroborate your findings, especially when dealing with less than honest individuals
Investigation: Knowing when to lie and when not to.
Intimidation: Knowledge is power

Loot:

NA

Fame:

NA

Magic:

These points may NOT be used for arcana

Overview:

General comments. A good read where Yana found out some stuff, but ended up walking away with more questions. For what it's worth, I think you do just fine at ending threads! This was well written and cohesive and certainly told the story I think you were aiming for. Good stuff!
Story~ all good. Enjoyable to read, good pace and clearly written.
Structure No worries at all.


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