The Merchant's Son

[Poison]

((Closed. Those involved know who they are.))

Poison sat at a table in the back of the tavern, nursing a glass of red wine. She still had a fondness for it even if she no longer thirsted for the alcoholic beverage. She had let it be known that an assassin was in town and seeking work. She had no idea if she would get any business here, but it was worth a shot.

Minutes dragged slowly into hours and still none came. Just as she was getting ready to retire before the sun rose, a man came in. She eyes him suspiciously as he gazed around, obviously looking for someone. At least he looked at her and approached her table cautiously.

“You are Poison?” at her nod he took a seat and began talking rapidly. “Excellent! I have been looking for someone to help in my time of tragedy.” He paused for a moment, apparently on the brink of tears as he attempted to compose himself. Poison only raised one eyebrow questioningly, unconcerned with the man’s show of grief. “You see, just a few weeks ago, a group of men sold my only son a few items. Unfortunately, they turned out to be drugs of some sort that were very lethal. My only child died within three days of purchase. Will you please go after these terrible people and bring them to justice? I can pay well and I know what they look like. You will not have to guess at whether you have the right people or not.”

The silver-haired vampiress was silent for a few minutes, weighing the stranger’s words carefully in her mind. At last she spoke, her voice quiet and soft as velvet. “How much are you offering? How do you know what these dealers look like?”

“My life savings,” he answered immediately. “It isn’t much but it is all I have. Neither my son nor those dealers as you called them, were aware that I was watching from a hidden place. I was able to get a very good look at those vile men. Please say you will help me. You’re my last hope.”

She frowned into her now empty glass as if hoping to find an answer there. If he thinks begging and pleading will help he has another think coming, she thought disgustedly. However he did offer his life savings. Must have loved his son a lot to pay so much to avenge him and I’ve not had any other offers...

“Very well, I will take you up on your offer. Let us talk of what you know of these men.”

An hour later she sat watching the man’s back as he left as quickly and unobtrusively as he came. Something was not quite right with the man’s behavior. As soon as she ha agreed to take the job, his entire demeanor had changed. She had her doubts as to whether it really was his son that had died of an overdose, but it did not matter. So long as the man would still pay to have the others killed, it did not make a difference to the vampiric assassin what her employer’s true incentives were.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

(Slight bunny of the employer NPC if you donot mind. Moderator Note: Just like A Birthday Surprise; this quest takes place in Alberdyne's past approximately a few months before my Solo Quest, thank you)

Why did I agree to do this? I should be home with Jessa, or studying with the Monks not completing some lowly job for my Father.

Stepping outside of a building adjacent to the tavern containing Poison, Alberdyne Cormyr did not pay attention to his personal actions. Pondering the small nieuance of a job, the young nobleman allowed himself to become quite distracted. Lowering his guard the boy felt a rather heavy impact against him causing him to loose balance and hit the floor hard. OOF! The boy yelled loudly to the chagrin of several nearby people.

Guards spotting the Cormyr emblems on the boy's fancy shirt immediately eyed the disturbance. Nobody wanted a situation occuring with nobles regardless of how uknown their house might've been at the time.

Alberdyne stood up whiping dust and other debris from his cloak. An angry glare was shot to a flustered older man who immediately went to his knees.

Surprised by the older man's actions, the lad shook his head.

"RISE you big oaf. You could have hurt somebody you know."

A nearby guard immediately walked towards Alberdyne's person addressing the boy.

"Is everything all right mi'lord? Do you want us to take this riff-raff in?" The heavy set man asked of Alberdyne, looking at the flustered man's direction.

Alberdyne shook his head in the negative.

"No good sir. I'm sure he meant no ill will, carry about your business." He tossed a few Gold Pieces towards the hard working Soldier and helped the stranger up.

"You're lucky that I'm not somebody else. Any other nobleman would have had you hanged for such an offense. Why weren't you paying attention to where you were looking?"

The feisty boy asked. The older man blinked thinking about the recent job hiring of the silver-haired woman.

"I was in a hurry, my son is in trouble. OH LORD DRACONUS THANK YOU FOR YOUR BLESSINGS!" The man suddenly yelled religious diatribe.

Alberdyne blinked several times knowing that such religious openness was uncommon to servant-folk unless they were educated. Alberdyne caught the details about his son being trouble. Fancying himself a young hero, the boy decided to involve himself at this.

Already, several people eyed the unfolding scene.

"Your son is in trouble? How can I help him?" The boy asked.

"I'll give you my life sayings. YES. My life sayings."

The same rant. The same chant spoken moments earlier as an act of desperation to secure the employ of a silver haired girl.

"Go to the tavern and seek the silver haired girl. She will tell you all you need to know my boy. MY BOY, MY BOY IS IN TROUBLE!!!"

The man suddenly went wide-eyed and ran off into an uncoming crowd.

Alberdyne stared after the coot shrugging and shaking his head at the bizzare scene.

Silver haired girl aye? Can't be too many of those around.

Cautiously, Alberdyne stepped into the busy tavern. Usually avoiding places like this because of his age, (He was only 17 at the time) Alberdyne kept his gaze hidden beneath his Vlince hood. Looking about the tavern, Alberdyne soon spotted the silver haired girl. Remembering what the lunatic told him earlier, Alberdyne slowly walked towards that woman. Something about her caught the boy's eyes immediately and he could not keep his gaze away from her. Catching his breath in his throat the boy told himself to breathe rythymically again beholding such a captivating beauty.

Soon, he was by her table looking directly across from her. Placing a hand on the chair opposite her own Alberdyne's eyes traveled across the visage of her face.

"Is this seat taken mi'lady? That old coot said something about meeting you for a job. His son was in trouble and I thought I could help out. I thought I could help you out."

Alberdyne said never quite understanding why he empahized that last part.

[Poison]

Poison had settled back in her seat, musing to herself over how she was to get to this band of drug dealers without being seen. It was not going to be an easy task, but she thrived on danger and difficulty in her missions. She looked up at the sound of a young male voice and almost licked her lips. She had not eaten yet and the young man before her would likely taste delicious. However, the smile that had slipped onto her face soon melted away as he explained himself.

“Help? What on Althanas gives you the idea that I need help from a kid? This is probably going to be one of my most difficult and dangerous jobs yet, I don’t have time to watch the back of some punk teenager who thinks he can be of use.”

She glared openly at the lad, wondering why her employer had sent this child to her. Did he really think she needed help on this? That she couldn’t do it alone? Or perhaps he had just been babbling to get away from the young man. Going by his attire, she guessed he was the son of some minor lord.

“Sit. Tell me how you think you can possibly help me on this job. Then I will tell you whether or not you may join me.”

She leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms under her breasts. Her grey eyes watched him warily as she waited for his answer. She did not usually hold with nobles and she doubted this one would be any different than any other puffed up noble’s son.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Alberdyne listened to the woman's words for a moment. Carefully did he absorb every detail his eyes listening to every word she spoke. Long ago did the boy learn that subtleties hid in every spoken word. The aristocracy learned to use double-speak in convesation often and early in youth. Alberdyne's education consisted of some of these mannerisms. Though he wasn't as educated as certain other noble families Alberdyne possessed a quality that most youth in his bloc lacked. Closing his eyes for a moment the boy remembered a small trinket given to him by the Order of the Monks several moons earlier.

It contained markings of The Citadel. He took it out of its containment packs and handed it to the girl. His strong hands wrapped firmly around the small trinket. As he moved to hand the object to her he kept his distance carefully away from her. His eyes ever alert never removed themselves from her person. He did not speak because Alberdyne saw no reason to. He held his arm out to the girl patiently waiting for her to take the small trinket. If anything it could prove that the Monks deemed the boy a worthy student and a worthy warrior in combat.

It was clear the boy could hold his own. His expression was stoic and calm the entire time of the exchange.

[Kade Underbough]

Sleep can be a queer thing. It may attack a person in the middle of the day if it so desires, weakening the muscles of the body while simultaneously slowing the brain’s conscious thought. Eventually the eyelids grow heavy and the person can’t help but to fall into unconsciousness. Other times, it can attack an individual in an opposite and possibly dangerous way; it can simply not take place.

Kade wasn’t a chronic sufferer of any sleep disorders, but sometimes he just didn’t fall asleep. During these nights, he would wander the city in search of something to take his mind off of the unorthodox schedule of wakefulness, usually finding nothing but a wasted night behind him and a tiring day ahead. He slowly made his way down a lighted Radasanthian street, wondering why his mind wouldn’t rest and hoping that the last few hours of nighttime would end quickly or give him an exciting exploit.

As if to answer his prayers, Kade looked up to see an odd group of men not twenty yards away from him. A guard, a noble, and a crazy looking old man… Maybe something interesting is going on for once. Deciding that he should take it upon himself to investigate, the young thief darted into a decent sized shadow cast by the rows of buildings to his right. He then crept silently alongside the wall getting close enough to hear the conversation just as the city guard left.

Apparently, this old man was a father seeking help for his son, and he already had to people hired on for the job. Looks like he thinks this job is to difficult to do solo. I bet I can get in on it too, but I’d rather know more about what it entails As soon as the short younger man, hardly older than the bandit, turned toward the tavern, Kade decided it was safe to leave his place of hiding and follow. As soon as he re-entered the street, he saw several other people looking at either the old or young man and realized his foolish decision to hide. I’ve been dodging the law a bit too much lately. I’d better get used to the idea that not everyone is going to focus their attention to some dirty teenager.

Shaking any lingering weariness from his mind, Kade entered the tavern and was immediately overcome by the stench of cheap ale, whiskey an other alcoholic beverages. I’ll never understand why people want to rot their brains with that garbage. He quickly viewed the short guy who was taking a seat next to a woman clothed in a black cloak. He couldn’t help staring for a moment at her beautiful, perfect face and unusually silver-colored hair. Quickly regaining himself, he found that the table to her back was empty and sat down with his back facing their table.

Now to hear what these two are up to.

[Poison]

Poison glanced at the trinket, then raised an eyebrow at the young person before her. He actually thought that she could be impressed by a trinket? This youth had a long way to go before he convinced her of anything. Keeping her arms folded under her ample breasts, she spoke again in a cold voice.

“Cute, little trinkets don’t tell me anything. You have yet to answer my question, so I’ll ask it again. What makes you think I need your help? What can you do that would be so helpful on something like this?”

She detested people who thought they could impress others with silly little trinket trophies. For all she knew, that little thing could have been stolen. More than that though, she hated it when men assumed that she needed help in anything she did. She was a big girl and was more than capable of taking care of herself and her targets.

Unknown to Poison, another set of ears listened in on her conversation. This pair belonged to a man in his early 30s. His hair and beard were unkempt and his dark eyes had malevolent gleam to them. He had heard everything about the job and now listened intently. The boss of the owner of the ears would be most pleased to find out this bit of information. The boss paid good informers well and this information about the lass and the lad attempting to help her would be worth a small fortune. Smiling softly to himself as he imagined what things he would buy with the money, he shifted slightly in his seat, making himself more comfortable as he took another sip of his drink.

“You better do a good job of convincing me, too,” Poison added. “I normally work alone and you’ve got about another five minutes or so before I walk away.”