Startup 43: Execution

Rova 2

The thing about stakeouts is that they are really, really boring. You have to be paying attention or you might miss your chance. You have to be reasonably subtle or someone might catch onto you. You can’t do much to pass the time because distractions really screw with the first two parts. Even with Autopilot to shoulder the mental strain of keeping watch, I didn’t want to do anything too engaging, because he was using my eyes and ears for the operation.

I sat on a windowsill near House D’Lann, invisible, hoping that Kiyon’s bird didn’t happen to land within 30 feet of me. I was waiting for a signal Shishe had promised, and quietly cursing the wasp girl the entire time. According to Dierdre, she’d been infuriatingly coy about the whole plan.

“He will know what to do, trust me.” Dierdre had quoted, pouting, “I assumed she meant you two had already arranged something. You’re sure that isn’t the case?”

“Completely.” I said, sighing. “She’s not a demon so she’s probably not trying to kill everyone, but I’m still worried that I didn’t offer her enough.”

“What did you pay her?” Dierdre asked.

“Some onyx for her time, anything she wanted from Nendra’s room, and two thousand gold in goods or services towards the temple of Callistria.” I said, “Being in debt sucks, but the payment is going to be deferred until after I can pay Dovnu.”

“That does sound reasonable.” Dierdre said, “All I got was a cursed amulet.”

“You remember the curse?” I said, perking up.

“Of course, when I use the amulet it…” Dierdre’s eyes clouded over, “What were we talking about again?”

Letting my mind wander was one of the only forms of entertainment I could think of that wouldn’t interfere with Autopilot, and I was indulging in it liberally. I was sufficiently in my own head that I didn’t initially notice when two drow and four hulking armored figures walked right out the front gates. The two drow stood out whenever they passed through a pool of light, one crowned with dark maroon hair, the other a bright blue.

My four mutant buds, Xenobia, and Mih’Tzi?

“Dierdre,” I said to a bit of empty space to my left. “I thought you said Mih’Tzi wasn’t in on it.”

“She isn’t.” Dierdre whispered into my right ear, “I wiped her memory of the whole conversation.”

I shadowed the two, and noticed something off about them. When I got in close enough to see with my arcane sight, Xenobia was charmed. It was a pretty **** charm, too; her dark eyes looked glassy and she didn’t ever look to either side. She was just robotically strolling through town with my entire security detail. Mih’Tzi, to her left, let her arms swing freely as she walked, checking every display on the street carts they passed.

The six people were headed directly towards my inn, with Xenobia rebuffing any requests that they slow down.

“But those earrings look delightful!” Mih’Tzi whined, “I think rubies would suit me.”

“You can shop without us.” Xenobia said, “I didn’t invite you. I need to get to this jeweler and back before Nendra is done with her fun.”

“Then you have several hours.” Mih’Tzi said, rolling her eyes, “Weren’t you going to be back in the rotation soon?”

“Vorys volunteered to go again.” Xenobia said, and her skin flushed purple, “I went yesterday… outside of rotation.”

“You’re all thinking with your nethers, Xen.” Mih’Tzi said, bending forward to look at Xenobia’s face. “Maybe I should be glad Nendra didn’t ask me back. It seems distracting.”

“He’s grown very skilled.” Xenobia huffed, “Very skilled indeed.”

What the hell is she doing? Autopilot, if they get somewhere isolated let me know. I want to ambush them, but I need to check something.

Shishe wasn’t a party member but she did still get tracked as a summoned creature, though I only got live updates if she was near me. I scrolled backwards, searching for Xenobia’s name, and found what I was looking for pretty quickly. I stifled a laugh.

Xenobia D’Lann’Nes has taken 1 point of wisdom drain

Xenobia D’Lann’Nes has failed her saving throw vs. Seductive Kiss

Xenobia D’Lann’Nes has recieved the minor motivation: Sleep with Emrys M’Dair

Xenobia D’Lann’Nes has taken 1 point of wisdom drain

Xenobia D’Lann’Nes has taken 1 point of wisdom drain

My god. I didn’t think she’d do it to everyone; she was supposed to be subtle. You know, maintain character. I only told her to disable Nendra.

Venderopterix like Shishe were essentially succubi, in that their entire skillset was shapeshifting, seduction, and manipulation. They were able to feed upon targets by engaging them in “acts of passion,” starting with kisses and moving right on up to getting railed. When they did so, they could semi-permanently drain any of the target’s stats by one. It could be healed, but it would never heal on its own.

As I scrolled through the last few days, sorting by things Shishe did, it became clear that she’d been enjoying herself. As Nendra and Dovnu carted in several dozen drow subordinates and even a few non-drow, Shishe had drained them all and left behind a mild addiction to her touch. She’d chosen one stat, biting off six to twelve points from nearly every lady of House D’Lann: Wisdom.

Wisdom… by the gods, she made them all stupid, impulsive, distractible, and really **** to enchantment. She’s got the run of the place until Dovnu catches on. If someone outside the House found out about it, they’d be in serious danger.

It’s a moot point because I’m not allowed to try to make any moves specifically intended to harm House D’Lann, but do I want to destroy them? Eh… I don’t think I’d oppose them getting taken down a peg, at the very least. Can’t say I want to see them slaughtered, though. They aren’t terrible by drow standards, and I’m not quite up to genocide on principle. Call me sentimental but I don’t want to kill dozens of people I’ve just had sex with, even if it was mostly under duress. As for Xenobia in particular…

I shadowed the entourage for a few minutes, until they arrived at my inn. Xenobia looked at the sign, nodded, and led the guards with her into the nearest alley. Once she was there, she started looking around, confused.

“Damnation. The jeweler is supposed to be here!” She grumbled. “Hello! Anyone here?”

I stepped into the alleyway, drawing Mih’Tzi’s attention immediately.

“As I suspected.” She said, unsmiling, “What is your plan for her? I'd suggest holding her hostage.”

“I’ll admit, I didn’t really have a plan for any extra tag alongs.” I said quietly, looking at Mih’Tzi. “What are you doing here?”

As we spoke, Xenobia started to examine the wall, pressing random spots as if she were expecting to find a hidden switch.

“I needed to speak with you,” she said, “and I wanted to be sure nothing excessively awful happened to my dear friend. She’s in a rather **** state right now.”

Xenobia had only just noticed the door to the inkeeper’s cellar, and was trying very hard to open it.

“I see what you mean.” I said. “So, what do you want? All I really wanted were the ogres.”

“Indeed.” Mih’Tzi said, “I’d say their combined value is roughly equal to that of Xenobia’s life, so I’m going to ask that you return her to my custody in return for them.”

“Sure?” I said, confused.

“Excellent. With hostage negotiations concluded, I’m allowed to let you walk out of this alleyway.” Mih’Tzi said, checking her nails, “So, because I’m being so nice, I’d like a letter of introduction to your mother. I have business I’d like to conduct with her.”

“Just now?” I asked, narrowing my eyes, “I’m pretty sure you could have asked for this before.”

“Nendra is an unstable and incompetent mess, and is likely to lash out indiscriminately against everyone near her within the next week or so.” She said, “I’d like an excuse to be out of the House, and Carys is known to be magnanimous. I’ve been so wonderfully helpful to her son with nothing to gain, I’m sure she’d be happy to speak with me. You don’t need to set up an appointment, just tell her about our recent dealings and my magnificence. A letter will do.”

“Oh! Huh!” Xenobia said, “You, with the mask. Are you a jeweler?”

I’d kept wearing the mask Yael provided me with, but this was the first time its value as a disguise had been put to the test. Mih’Tzi seemed unusually perceptive and Xenobia was currently an idiot, so I still had no idea if it did anything for me at all.

“Fine, I’ll send my mother a letter about how great you are.” I whispered, then turned to Xenobia, “Yes indeed I am the jeweler, though I work for a very select clientele. What were you hoping to purchase?”

“My Mistress’s Shadow told me he ordered something from you. A silver ring.” Xenobia said, “He said I should come pick it up.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.” I said, “I’m afraid it’s not quite done yet. You’ll need to leave your servants behind to bring it back for you.” (Opposed unlikely bluff 8+13+5+5-10=21)

She rubbed her chin, the rusted gears in her mind trying desperately to turn. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

“You know what, just go back to your Mistress’s Shadow alone and ask him what to do.” I Suggested, “Leave the guards so I can’t run off and do anything untoward with his order.”

The magic slid through her compromised defenses like warm cheese. She gave me a relieved smile and jogged off.

Do I go back and have a field day at the manor? Nah, Shishe probably only got to the ladies. I’m pretty sure that Kiyon alone could kick my ass without backup.

“I think we can save Xenobia some embarrassment if I don’t talk about this to anyone, hmm?” Mih’Tzi said, “I’ll expect a note from Carys tomorrow.”

She swept away, a cheerful smile on her face. My eyes drifted low as she retreated, appreciating her figure.

Damn it, still?

“Alright everyone.” I said. “Time to get dressed.”

As I spoke, my shadow puppet’s arm rose out of the ground, handing me a large layered leather garment sized for an ogre. I handed it to Bartok, then three more to the others, and filled either end of the alleyway with darkness too deep for even my eyes to see through. In the center, I summoned a few dancing lights.

“Take off the armor, put on the clothes I gave you, especially the masks.” I said, “make it quick.”

They fumbled with the straps, but had enough practice to manage stripping. Once again, I averted my eyes from their malformed, lumpy bodies.

“Tam, come over here and I’ll see if I can get those gloves off you.”

I tried each of the four, and only managed to get Wetosa out with my first round of lock picking attempts. With her help, steadying the others hands to provide me with a +2 bonus and a reroll, I got Tam Llova and Bartok free. Only Filli’s gloves proved exceptionally stubborn.

The three freed mutants all stared at their hands, flexing them and knocking loose years worth of accumulated dead skin and dried sweat. Tam turned to me and clumsily signed “thank you.”

“Alright, Filli.” I said in drow sign language for the benefit of all, “good news and bad news in one. You will be coming with me, if you are willing, to help defend me. I have more ways to get your gauntlets off, but none of them are quick. I’ll need you to wait in my room for a bit while I deliver everyone to the smugglers I’m using to get them to the surface.”

It was a whirlwind of action, and I was shocked to find that everything just went right. From summoning Yael to maintain my cover to handing over the disguised mutants with the payment made in Shae gold. I made an appointment to meet with House N’Quin again in a couple months that I had no intention of following up on. Nobody seemed to suspect a thing.

“When you get to Port Peril, you go straight to a tavern called the Raging Linnorm.” I told them, “Ask for Svartur. If that doesn’t work, see if you can find a man named Owlbear at the docks. I think he and his mother will be able to find work for strong backs like yours.”

Tam wrote a simple “Yes” on the small chalk slate I’d bought for him. It was in elvish, but it would have to do. Filli would have been a better interpreter, since she could speak a little Undercommon, but she shook her head when I asked if she could write.

I showed Yael my progress on the halberd, only one day away from completion, and she approved. I dismissed her, and suddenly I was alone with Filli and Dierdre again in a room that felt much smaller with my hulking new roommate.

https://postimg.cc/0M2DJ3Hh

Probably for the best. She’s also the only one whose face I don’t get queasy looking at. She looks like a giant diseased rat, and somehow that’s way better than something more human. She’s got some of that ugly-cute thing going on.

“So, Dierdre, do you know anything better at lockpicking than a bulabar?” I asked, pointing at the gauntlets. “I’ve got about six more summons left today, but I’d really like to send a Xebub out to get rid of the rest of these things. They’re taking up way too much of my storage.”

••••••••••

Rova 3

I felt a little bit bad telling Filli to stand by while I finished the halberd, but we ended up making it work. As I infused the blade with chips of diamond soaked in distilled holy water, I helped Filli build out her Undercommon vocabulary.

She’d been taken as a child, so she knew very little of her native tongue, but she had at least a general grasp on sentence structure and the like. All she really needed was to make a sign, and I’d translate into Undercommon. She picked up quickly, and in the process her fingers slowly became more limber. Dierdre butted in, so in practice I also started teaching both her and myself some Drow Sign Language phrases.

Might be good to stop just relying on Autopilot to translate this stuff. He’s not always available, just usually.

It wasn’t much, but Filli already seemed happier than she’d been while standing guard. Maybe a little lonely thanks to the language barrier, but all three of us were trying to break that down. I explained what I was doing and answered questions as best I could, and she watched me work, her beady little eyes bright and curious. When I finished, the halberd glowed with a faint holy light.

+1 Undead Bane Halberd- This blessed halberd grants its wielder +1 to attack and damage. In addition, when attacking undead this bonus is increased to +3 to attack and damage, each successful strike does an additional 2d6 untyped damage, and the halberd counts as silver and cold iron for the sake of bypassing damage reduction. Estimated market value: 8000 gp

It cost as much as a small ship to make, but worth twice as much to sell. Yael’s gotten me commissions for another item just as like it, too: her armor.

I resummoned Yael to hand it over, and she examined it. As she did, the halberd shortened slightly as it made a dozen tiny adjustments to fit her hands.

“Excellent.” She said, “Isaac will be able to put it to good use, I think. It is better that this first item be something more visible, you said?”

“For me, at least,” I said ruefully, “If this Isaac guy can plow through some zombies in full view of other Shae, it’ll be amazing advertisement. Stopping you from getting injured is great too, but I don’t get the impression that you’ll be on the front lines.”

Her parents don’t have the budget to buy more than that, but she’s going to be around other people and she’s absolutely going to show off. That’s marketing, and that’s money in the bank. If she can find five people willing to shell out this kind of cash, I’m golden. This might really be doable, even without hitting the motherlode.

“I shall be aloft, where I might provide direction to the grounded and lay waste with my magic.” Yael said smugly, “Father has granted me my own gelded gloomwing to serve as a mount, that I might inspire the masses.”

Keeping his little girl out of the melee, more like. I can respect it.

“I won’t be summoning you again for a while.” I said, giving her gloved hand a squeeze. “If you don’t hear from me again…”

Yael cut me off with a horizontal swipe of her hand, and drew herself up to her full height so she could glare down at me.

“Such doubts are unworthy of you, Emrys.” She said, “You will not evade our bargain by way of your ****, and I refuse to gird myself against such a possibility. We shall speak anon.”

“Thanks, Yael.” I said, smiling, and dismissed her. “It’s a plan.”

“What plan?” Filli signed, cocking her head.

“Well, I have a few backups, but first up will be swimming out. Probably using the D’Lann docks.” I said, turning to Dierdre. “For that, we need as few people as possible.”

“You sure this was the right call, milord?” Dierdre asked in common, “She’s a sweetheart, but I’m pretty sure my magic would be more useful against anything you’ll run into. You should have just sent her with her friends.”

“I’d like to keep you around, but per our agreement I can’t summon you unless I can offer you a place to rest equal to what I have for myself.” I said, “If I’m going to be underwater and you aren’t, that’s going to be a concern. Any final thoughts?”

She crossed her arms and shook her head sadly. Her fey nature wouldn’t allow her to run counter to that deal, and we both knew it.

“Fine.” She said, “Call me back as soon as you’re able to.”

“Alright, Filli.” I said in Undercommon, signing too just in case I tripped over some words she didn’t know. “Get some sleep. I need to call some things, and once I get some shut eye we are leaving.”

I wrote Mih’Tzi’s letter and did a light workout to settle my nerves before bed. Nothing major, and I could have done it in my sleep. I really did have a few backup plans, but all of them would cost me something. I could use the scroll and ask grandma dearest to teleport me to Port Peril or Rampore, but that seemed like a waste.

I could summon a couple nightmares from the planes of Abbadon and ride them through planar boundaries, overnighting on the Shadow Plane somewhere relatively safe like Shae territory. Then I could ride the evil magic horses back to the Prime Material Plane, but I'd land anywhere from five to five hundred miles away from whatever destination I was aiming at. I’d lose so much time, and here in the Shackles I’d probably end up in middle of the ocean anyway. It was a terrible plan, but an amazing escape hatch to keep in my back pocket.

For the amazingly simplistic plan I was actually going with, I had to choose between eight hours of time on my summons or four spell slots tomorrow. The duration wouldn’t matter if I failed to live that long, so I did the logical thing and summoned a pair of giant jellyfish before bed, dropping them into a pair of chamber pots.

The nightmares would have been so much cooler, damn it.