Café de Nuit

The religious scholar had given small amused shrugs in response to Rolande’s well-deserved consternation. And I’m supposed to be the amateur here… I must make it clear afterwards that I’m not well-acquainted to this lot, though he and Jeanne are still going to have a good laugh over this. Yet more proof that intelligence is not the same as wisdom…

At the surreptitious glance and reference to pay, Gertrude gave the Souragnien an apologetic smile before turning to Crow, “Oh, speaking of silver, I had promised my friend that he would be well-rewarded for this favour. If you would do the honours…?”

Ooc: I am presuming this is the Inn where we are all staying?If not I'll just edit this post later.Who gives Rolande money?Spot and search as we go out, to see if anyone is wacthing the Inn and as we walk the same. If i do see anything, I'll discreetly warn Dadrag(He is the only one I know besides Draxton)

Tarlyn raises an eyebrow at Crow's admission. Well our fortune is another's misfortune, I suppose. Taking what he deemed would be useful in the swamp, he nods to Crow and sits back down.

"Thank you for your foresight for the equipment, it is appreciated by us all I'm sure.Please excuse me a moment as I do need to get into some travelling gear, these clothes just won't do".

Tarlyn excuses himself, and goes up to his room. He comes back down clothed in travelling clothes, everything black but well worn, gloves as well.Flipping his cloak up, he follows everyone out into the night, alert.

Crow listens in concealed dismay to Kingsley's scathing denunciation of the Weathermay-Foxgrove twins -- perhaps the first demonstration of true hypocrisy he's seen the Lady Scalpel exhibit, given her own refusal to let her own life's role be dictated by paternalistic tradition, and her un-Zherisian dallying with power-mad Core magocrats like the Fraternity -- and her dismissal of the Society as amateurish and directionless. Ah well, my fault for broaching the subject..., he muses ruefully, stifling his snubbed pride's umbrage at the slight. It is, he reminds himself, ignorance and class-envy speaking, far more than the Professor herself, and nothing he need take personally. After all, Crow himself (by way of his several aliases) is among the staunchest advocates of his Society's current policy of fostering a collective reputation as "dabblers", of no conceivable threat to the Land's true powers-that-be.

(Still, he can't help but smirk a little, wondering what she would say if she knew.)

Stepping back, the bard notes which items the various members of their mismatched party are inclined to seize upon, and who among them shows a greater appreciation for the supplies' true usefulness. Not everything in the satchel is appropriate for use against Van Rijn's known minions, of course -- the spy isn't that great a fool -- but knowing which of the members of their band can sort the wheat from the chaff may yet come in handy.

He wonders if any will remark on the dampness of the holy water vials' corks. With four new associates having attached themselves to the group in less than an hour, a quick test of the newcomers' legitimacy -- even a simple and limited one -- is only prudent.

Llana wrote:“Oh, speaking of silver, I had promised my friend that he would be well-rewarded for this favour. If you would do the honours…?”

Crow blinks, smiles apologetically, then nods and tosses his curly head in Draxton Serd's direction.

"Your pardon, Madam, but I passed our expense-money on to our other colleague there, not having any hirelings of my own to pay. Given the inconvenient timing of our late-night errand, I thought he might find himself in need of funds, as an incentive for his own entourage."

He tilts his head, once more apologetic, and beams ingenuously at Serd, patiently awaiting the Richemulouise's reaction.

Ooc:Crow pays attention to what everyone takes. P.S-no poison, Tarlyn is disappointed as well *wink wink*This is what Tarlyn takes, and in this particular order I might add,Rotipher.Tarlyn was sincere in his thanks and if any of you did a sense motive check to the name Van Richten, he is not lying in his reaction(He has never heard of the chap before).

Tarlyn scans the "goodies", observing them. Upon closer inspection he does notice some are indeed damp as he handles them, looking quizzically at Crow for a moment,wondering as to why they are in fact damp, then smirks. Back to the "loot",He very precisely takes first the snake antitoxin first. Looking again he takes some were-bane second, and finally he takes into his hand an alchemist fire. Pity there was no toxins I can use. You can't have it all I guess. Strange how the misfortune of one makes the fortune of us. I'm sure this Crow procured these none too legally. Alas all the merrier for us.

Hiro looks over the bags contents and chooses several vials including anti-toxin and some night drops. Running an experienced eye over them he holds up the holy water to the light and shakes a vial. Suddenly noting the dampness touch his skin he winces and turns to the wall, small amounts of smoke leak off his hand as he holds himself against the window pane. Before the others draw their weapons he turns and smiles, dropping the small taper of burnt paper to the ground where the smoke eminated from. He then puts the vials into his pocket carefully before remarking absentmindedly to Gertrude at her rant against the VR society.

“I would have thought someone like you would be more sure of the facts before making rash generalisations.”

Ignoring any follow up statements he goes upstairs to return with a large brimmed semi-domed hat, his other clothes replaced with more rag like clothing and bandaging over his arms, legs, hands and feet. He appears now as a strange beggar –potentially with leprosy due to the tight bandaging. A white veil falls from the inside ring of the hat to cover his face. In reply to Buchvold’s glance he merely shrugs and walks outside where he resumes carrying the pole like package across his shoulders (this time with a leather skin cape draping slightly off it.

OOC: For those who can guess this gear is ideally suited to the swamp, protective against moisquitos and leaches it also allows mobility in moving. Some may have vague ideas it could be water resistant or at least dry quickly (the hat at least acts as a natural umbrella). It certainly does not appear to be armour or have any metal on it.

Edit: Misread something so changed Hiro's reaction to the equipment. April fools for Hiro!

Dadrag looks for a moment the items Crow has generously offered. The ex-assassin gets a vial with antitoxic and one with were-bane. An evil smile gets his face as he gets the last one. Then he gets a holly water vial but as he notices the damp cork he shakes the vial slightly in order to see if it was broken. Then he stands up and his glance darts Crow, a hue of concern is evident at his voice:

"A damp cork? Do you expect one of us be an undead?"

OOC> Dadrag is Darkonese.

Tarlyn thinks a moment on Dadrag's question. Possible but I think more that there might be undead in the swamp?Directing his question to Crow

"Pardon, but Dadrag raises a valid point. Are there undead creatures we should know about in the swamp? We should know as much as we can about the swamp before we enter it I believe. Have you been in the swamp before?"

Dadrag eyes dart Crow again and then looks everyone directly to the eyes in order to get any emotion.

OOC> Dadrag believes that the cork is wet because Crow is afraid that someone of the party is undead. Since he is from Darkon he feels uncomfortable with undeads and of course he is concerned that a party member (Crow) has done that.

Sense Motive: 19.

[OOC: Sorry, VAN: Sense Motive 19 won't cut it. Nice try, though...]


Crow blinks in surprise at the others' alarmed reaction, looks at the case of holy water vials, frowns in puzzlement.

"Damp? But, they weren't leaking when the innkeeper sold me--"

The light of understanding dawns in his eyes, and he reaches for the velvet-lined case, peels back the lining.

"Ah, there's the culprit!," he cries, and fishes out a long splinter of clear, broken bottle-glass. "I thought I'd removed them all, while I was waiting for the professor to come downstairs. Guess I missed one." He holds it up to the light, gleaming, then shoots a look of mock irritation at Buchvold.

"Seems my shin wasn't the only casualty of our little run-in, sir. Really, wearing a clumsy great longsword to a casino? If we should perish in the bayou for lack of one last vial of holy water, rest assured I shall spend my last breath proclaiming it's your fault!" He smiles, making the comment a jest rather than an accusation.

His features turn thoughtful.

"Nevertheless, I suppose Mr. Dadrag and his friend do have a valid point. Certainly, few tales I've heard of Souragne's mysteries -- apart from the animal-allegories, of course -- neglect to speak of an abundance of Walking Dead in these parts." He turns to Rolande.

"Is this a concern we should take seriously, sir? Might the careless clod who left us his bag not have been wholly overcautious, in provisioning himself in this manner...?"


[OOC: The bodyguards can believe this story or not, their choice. The rest may not believe Crow about the bottle of holy water breaking, but I might point out that they know there's a chance that the undead will be trying to spy on or intercept their errand ... the ones working for Van Rijn! So even if they think he dosed the corks on purpose -- which he did -- they have no way to know he didn't do so in the interests of the Fraternity, then lie about it to conceal the true nature of their enemy from Rolande and the hirelings. ]

OOC> No poison?! And you think a "sorry" is enough?

Draxton, taking the last shift to look through the items, checks carefully each label. He seems to be looking for something... something that isn't there. Sighing he picks antitoxin, nightdrops and quintessence. "Does anyone know if there is substance that is poisonous to wererats? Like Wolfbane for werewolves?"

When the discussion comes to money, he just smirks. "Don't worry professor Kingsley. I wouldn't let a lady fall short of her assistant's expectations."

About the VRS he makes a grimace at Getrude's reactions and says "I'm not sure they're amateurs and directionless. They have done enough, even without their doctor guiding them.
While I agree they don't have the intelligence and experience that characterized the late doctor, their work in documenting the beasts of the night that plague our lands is comendable, as is their morals.
Of course I don't envy them and in many cases I don't understand their motives or their way of thinking. I'm glad they are getting their hands dirtied to fight my enemies for me though while I sit safe in my manor and that they collect knowledge that I could find useful. I'm also glad that I have my distance from them though. I wouldn't like their attention turned on me or my work since they cannot understand the sacrifices someone must make for trade to go on and the lands to prosper."

Dadrag scowls and looks one more time Crow, then dries the vial and puts it to a pocket of his cloak. As Crow mentions the walking dead at the swamp, despite he already suspected it, the ex-assassin scowls one more time and swears:

"These bloody undead wherever I go I get to them. At least the walking dead are corporeal so my blades can hurt them easier."

Tarlyn raises an eyebrow at Dadrag's statement. SO I see he has had many run ins from undead here too in these lands

"I too have had runins with the foul undead here in these lands Dadrag. Even lycanthropes but I dont think we'll find any in the swamp, or at least I hope so. Zombies sound easier than Vampires to me. !"

"From what I know vampires use to go to mausoleums or other kind of caverns. A place near to towns. I doubt we will find any of them at the swamp. I hate all kind of undead but most of all the incorporeals, the specters and the wraiths if you might have heard them. Their touch can drain your life or make you weaker and the blades many times pass through them without causing any damage to them. I have enecountered a specter and a wraith few years ago in Darkon. I have lost a companion from the specter's touch. Holly water is very usefull against them."

Dadrag looks again Crow, this time without scowl.

"It's very wise have the vials with us."

Rotipher of the FoS wrote:

Llana wrote:“Oh, speaking of silver, I had promised my friend that he would be well-rewarded for this favour. If you would do the honours…?”

Crow blinks, smiles apologetically, then nods and tosses his curly head in Draxton Serd's direction.

"Your pardon, Madam, but I passed our expense-money on to our other colleague there, not having any hirelings of my own to pay. Given the inconvenient timing of our late-night errand, I thought he might find himself in need of funds, as an incentive for his own entourage."

The native aristocrat's hopeful smile is slightly dampened by the lack of any response to Crow's remark; he takes a vial of holy water without enthusiasm, and a vial of antitoxin with rather better grace, all the while looking expectantly at the Richemuloise as he inspects the various vials on display.

At Draxton's crack about "a lady and her assistant's expectations," he flushes darkly, but says only, "I am glad to hear it, m'sieur. I hope the funds are readily available, as we will need them soon. Let us be on our way, then."

Ooc:How much would Rolande accept as a fair payment?