In search of funds...

[Grak]

Early evening of Thera, sixth brightening of the first cycle of Junctior
Autumn of Era 1 of the Celestine Mandate

Grak had finally grown restless in the orc camp. Stuck in the woods not far from the city of Riparia, they had eaten most of what was easily edible in the area and boredom had begun to bite. Now that the sun was finally beginning to fade from the sky, he decided that now was the time to go and explore the city. The sun did not bother him, like many orcs he had been forced to become accustomed to it, but as the darkening drew in, there would be fewer people on the streets. This was a good thing for a hungry and bored orc as watching too much food walking around was bad for his digestion.

Thinking of food brought another thought to his mind. This was not Orckon and the fortress of the SHC, these cities required money for food and they had been cautioned against antagonising the Guard. Money was something that Grak did not possess in any quantity and what little he had, he did not intend to squander buying food. What he needed then was a source of funds, and such a source was one of the things he hoped to find somewhere in the back streets and alleys of Riparia. His orkish night vision would serve him well, but he would need to be cautious and remember not to eat parts of his victim as it might leave too obvious a clue as the nature of the culprit.

Grak intended to use the first few candlemarks finding his way around the city and identifying the residential areas, and especially the rougher backstreets. He had no fear of street gangs and the like – few were the people stupid enough to try their luck with a mailed, axe wielding orc outside of a pitched battlefield. Instead it was just those people that Grak hoped would become his victims, and this was part of his plan to avoid the Watch. What he really wanted was to find someone who had already profited from some crime. It was a primitive sort of filter that he hoped would allow him to stay on the right side of Urck, who for now was the Captain of his troop.

Passing through the gates was a formality with his visa, the Guard deciding that a lone orc did not present too much of a threat and having no valid reason to deny him. Much of his kit remained in the camp though only the discipline of the SHC and the sure knowledge of his wrath kept it safe there for his return, the only weapons he bore were axe and knife and the axe was purely to deter the street scum as he trawled the darkness for his victim.

[Grak]

Some candlemarks had passed and Grak was getting a little bored and slightly footsore, it had been a while since he spent so much time walking at one go. Footsore to be honest wasn’t much of an issue to an orc who after all cared little for pain, but it became a focus for Graks irritation. He now had a good idea of the way the city was set out, thought it would be some time yet before he was as intimately familiar as he intended to be.

He sat in the shadows of a doorway and watched the happenings of the street. It had been dark for some time, but it was still too early for the people he intended to catch. They were the ones that preyed on late travellers or waited till they were asleep. This street however had caught his attention earlier and now he returned to pass some time and to see if he could understand what was going on.

A candlemark later, he thought he understood what was happening though perhaps not why. Spaced out down the street were a series of women of several races, and they would in turn greet any men who walked by. Some men stopped and returned the greeting. Some went off with the women and returned after a short while, leaving the woman to greet the next man. So far Grak was happy he understood, but it was what came next that left him confused. Every so often certain men would go up to certain of the women. Sometimes there would be threats from the men and screeches from the women, but always the women would give the men money. The reason for giving the money he couldn’t quite fathom but it was the threats that confused him; no orc threatened a female orc, not unless he wanted to die anyway or he was an exceptionally large orc for most females were larger than the males. Here it seemed the other way round.

His confusion however, did not prevent him from seeing that here could be a solution to his need for cash. But he really wanted to know exactly what the women were paying for. The men, he guessed were potential solutions to his immediate cash needs but it would be nice not just to remove one of the men but also to step into his shoes as it were and take over the future income.

Bah, never mind! He thought, first the money then the mystery. Now he watched and tried to establish patterns. What he wanted was not the men with the most money, for they might have protection and they would be more noticeably missed. What he watched for then were the men that were less popular with their women, women who might welcome a change in whoever provided whatever services the men offered. Worst case was that it wouldn’t work in which case he would just have the money, and he was happy with that.

[Grak]

Although in principle, the physical activity was not much different to the detested sentry duty at the camp, at least here there was something to watch and so it was that Grak remained interested. By now he thought he had identified his target for there was a man who collected money from three of the women on the street, and his collections were typically accompanied by the greatest arm waving and the loudest screeches from the women.

The man seemed much like any that could be found wandering the streets of Orckon, though the type had been largely missing from the streets of this city. In Orckon, such were not common either, but there it was because they were prey for any orc that was feeling out of sorts, which to be honest was most of the time. So, even had Grak been possessed of anything remotely akin to pity or guilt this was a man he would have no qualms about removing. That removal might be might be just out of the business of this street or it might be out of this world altogether. Either had possibilities and dangers attached to them or perhaps consequences might be a better description.

Familiar by instinct with the underworld of a city, the rules of which were much like any orc community, Grak knew that removal of the man would not go unnoticed. On the other hand, leaving him free to try and summon help would probably have even bigger consequences. For a man this would be a hard choice perhaps, but Grak would follow the easy route. A slight complication was he needed to understand exactly how this man got the women to pay him, and since that was also quite important the plan naturally evolved to include capture of the man before interrogating him and killing him. Now Grak sat back in the doorway and waited for his opportunity.

[Ladon]

ooc - Seems like a place to jump in. Welcome to the city by the way,

ic - The Man, was on his rounds. The girls of his command, had better have been productive or else there was a certain piece of wood, and leather that would be used on their flesh again. It was strange the enjoyment that could be had from the simple actions of using a whip, but that was something that he had enjoyed for such a long time now that even that enjoyment had now become tarnished.

Three girls had been seen, it was time to cover the rest of his area and then move off to partake of some of the spoils of his easy wealth, that he had already gained this brightening. He knew the alleyways better than the actual streets of the city. He had grown up here, and this was his home. So he moved across the street heading for the nearest allyway that would take him to the next set of girls.

[Grak]

OOC: Thanks

IC: Finally, it seemed that his waiting was going to pay off for the man was leaving and heading in Graks direction. He shrank back into the shadows of the doorway and hoped that he would not be seen. There was every reason to think that he would since his black skin and blackened armour would disappear into the shadows to a casual glance, so long as he kept still that is.

The man was past and Grak eased himself forward, moving smoothly yet swiftly. His armour was not silent and if his intended victim heard him coming then there would be noise and noise would attract attention. He did not fear the man, the disparity in arms and armour combined with the brute power of an orc was enough he hoped to overcome any disparity of training. Even so a fight would be noisy and should a guard be about it would be inconvenient so better all round he decided if you could take the man by surprise.

Grak smiled grimly as the man ducked down one of the ever-present alleys that were a feature of this part of the city, and he opened up his pace to close the distance. Turning down the alley, he increased his pace while trying to remain silent. The dark of the alley suited Grak perfectly with his excellent night vision, and as his eyes adapted from the light of the street the shape of the man appeared in the murk ahead.

With his vision in place he closed the final gap and attacked. The mail ought to turn any blade the man might get into action so he reached out with his long arms and grabbed at the man. One hand reached for the throat to choke while the other reached for the back of his head to push it forward and slam it into the wall.

[Ladon]

ooc - ouch - Hehehe

The man was intent on getting to his next set of ladies when he thought he heard something behind him. This was not unusual in the city as the places he worked were the areas where others wanted to get too as well, so he made no real attempts to quicken his pace, or even to get out of the way as this sound approached, but carried on walking until the attack took place, then it was too late.

The man eye's wide from being choked, didn't even get time to shout, scream, or attract anyone's attention. The Man suddenly became a dead weight in the hands of the Orc, unconscious from the blow to the head, and unable to breathe because of being choked. It was a quiet a painless way to die. If Grak had wanted to keep this one alive he had been just a little too rough for that to happen.

Now Grak had to decide what to do with the body, and then continue on, to sort out what he was going to do about the young Ladies in this mans employ.

[Grak]

The attack had gone perfectly to plan which was a little surprising and in some ways a little worrying to Grak, for the man had not been at all suspicious. That worry however was going to have to wait a little longer for now Grak held the body in his hands and cursed. What a stupidly delicate body! Used to rough housing with orcs with their thick skulls and massive bodies, Grak had been unprepared for dealing with a human. A low growl of frustration came from his lips, finding its way around the tusks that projected aggressively. He dropped the body and kicked it viciously, venting the anger that flashed across mind. Having changed his mind about killing the man immediately, it was maddening that he went on died on him just because Grak had been a little too rough. Now, how am I going to find out what I know?. He kicked the body again. Stupid, fragile thing!.

Finally caution came back to him, for there could be other users of the alley and it was possible that he had been seen following the man into the alley. And then there was the whole thing about the man not being suspicious and there were a whole raft of possibilities that that uncovered, all the way from sheer stupidity to over confidence. The confidence end of the spectrum was what worried Grak, because it might mean the Watch were more in control than they appeared or it could be another force that policed the area and looked after its own. Graks worries had little to do with being afraid of the danger, rather it was concerned with his relatively new status in the SHC and the fact that his new captain might be a little upset that his newest recruit went and caused trouble when specifically ordered not to. Grak grinned as his thoughts finally reached this conclusion, for expecting orcs to follow orders and not get into trouble was a bit like expecting the rain to fall sideways on command.

He shook himself out of his thoughts, for he needed to get moving and he would have to sit and think about what to do next. Kneeling next to the body, he rapidly searched it, looking for anything valuable; money, paperwork, weapons anything of potential use. With the body stripped of all items of value and identification, Grak began to feel a little more secure, but still he needed to get rid of the body, because anyone walking through the alley might trip over it and he wanted to delay that until as long after he had left the area as possible. He couldn’t drag it down the street so it had to be in the alley. Still kneeling down, he lifted the body easily, glad it had turned out to be a reasonably non messy way to kill the man. Then he looked around, his night vision easily penetrating all but the darkest of shadows. If there was a wall he could toss the body over, into a garden or such he would do so, otherwise it was going to have to be stuffed into one of those really dark corners.

With the body out of the way, Grak left the alley and returned to his doorway to think. How am I going to convince these women to give me money? He wondered to himself. He frowned and rubbed his head with his hand hoping to stimulate his thoughts. Ah! Perhaps… He dug out what he had collected from the man and checked to see what he had, hoping to find something that would show the mans identification, surely he was at least carrying his visa. If so, perhaps he could start by claiming to work for the man, and that way he could perhaps learn exactly what the man had been doing. It wouldn’t last beyond the discovery of the mans body, but hopefully that would be long enough.

[Ladon]

Grak had obviously used just a little too much power, and if he had looked at the mans face then he would have realised why the man had died so quickly, The nose had broken on impact and had decided to go back into the head of the owner. The kicking of the body did little to reduce his frustration, but as he began to search the body of the man, this is when things began to really get interesting. The contents each of the pockets of the man were placed on the path. There was a set of three keys, his visa, 1253 Crowns, in notes and change, (this was the money he had collected from his girls so far), A fancy dagger, that was attached to his belt, a set of lock picks, two gold chains, and a piece of parchment that had a list of names on it. The man was also wearing a hooded cape made from Bear Fur, (ooc – could look good on an orc )

Grak picked up the body of the man that had once been the lord of this area, now that position was vacant, and a certain Orc looked to be in charge of his own destiny. There was no wall to throw the body over, but there was one, very dark, secluded gap between two buildings that old be a good place to store a certain dead weight. So Grak then returned to his doorway with his new belongings, a little richer, and a list. The next move was his to make. In the meantime two members of the Riparian Guard were seen to begin to enter at the top of the street. Perhaps it was time to move on.

[Grak]

Grak crouched in the doorway and used his own shadow to hide the contents that he spilled out of the cape. The money that he had collected widened his eyes a little for he had not expected anyone to be carrying so much, especially with the gold chains, it seemed that this might be a more profitable business than he had expected. With the cash out of the way his attention was drawn to the dagger, which he admired, drawing it from its sheath then slipping the sheath onto his own belt and sheathing the blade. He stared at the keys for a moment, realising that these must belong to a house somewhere but wondering how he was going to find it, then shook his head and tucked the keys away. The lock picks he nodded at though he had no skill with them, he had seen their like before and put them with the keys. He puzzled over the list for a moment wondering what the significance of the names was then shrugged and put it away safely with the visa.

Running his hands through the fur of the bear cape, his tusks projected in a toothy smile and he swung it onto his shoulders, glancing down to see how it looked. The glance drew his attention to movement down the street that wiped the smile off his face for two guards had appeared and he hastily moved out of the doorway and onto the street. He didn’t want to be seen by anyone who would remember him when the body was found. He also didn’t want to just up and leave because he might not be the only one making his exit, the women might also leave, and he couldn’t afford to miss them.

With this thought in mind he headed towards the ones he had seen the man collect the money off earlier. He chose hurriedly and selected the one that he hoped was the most senior of the three, guessing that maybe there would be some hierarchy and even if not he wanted one who would not panic when approached by an orc.

”Serale,” he spoke softly when he was close to her. His appearance was softened now, the cape hiding the axe and mail somewhat, so perhaps he would not appear too intimidating, though he needed to be menacing enough that he got her attention. ”I need to talk to you, and the street does not seem the place with the Guard approaching. Is there somewhere we can go and talk?” He stood before her letting the street lighting play across his front and his fingers played around the dagger, hoping that she would see it and recognise it.

[Ladon]

The girl, Marie by name, stood before the Orc. There was something funny about the way he moved and selected her. It was a little unusuall to have an orc request for her presence, as they rarely seemed to want to 'use' her talents, but if he was willing to pay, then she had been with Orcs before.

Things were flashing though her mind when she noticed the dagger. It was exactly the same as the one that the jumpped up little upstart of a protector had had made especially for himself, Most probably with the excesses that he charged her and the rest of the girls. Marie, didn't know what this meant. Did this Orc want to take her by force, or had the upstart gone nad hired this one to do his dirty work. That would also make sense. Anyway she had been singled out, and played along.

Serale Sir, and what can I do for your this darkening. If you want to talk we can go over there by that building it is secluded enough that we will not be heard

Whispering from the side of her mouth to one of the others she said.

Psst. Sarah keep a check on me over there if you see me give the signal call for the guards. I'm not sure of this one.

Addressing the Orc again she smiled.

This way sir... Now What is it that you wish to talk with me about, and if that dagger is anything to go by I know who sent you. If that little upstart of a human is trying to squeeze me for more of my money to pay for you as well then he can quickly forget it. So. State your case sir.

Marie was the right one to pick but she had a fiesty temper and it seemed to be coming to the boil. This might get interesting if the guards were to overhear her.

[Grak]

Grak had followed the woman over to the side of the building although he had noticed with interest that she had said something to the woman next to her, though he had been unable to hear exactly what it was that she had said.

When they had reached the side of the building he glanced around to make sure that they were really alone and then paused and looked at her for a moment. From the expression on her face, he decided not to wait too long, but he still wasn’t quite sure how to make the explanation; if he got it wrong then she would either call the Guard or simply laugh at him, something he could do nothing about with the Guard there and also since he didn’t understand exactly what the arrangements were here he had to play carefully. Once the Guard were out the way, then he could extract the information by force if needed, but that could cause problems later on, so if persuasion worked then so much the better.

”I’m glad you noticed the dagger, he said that you would and that you would know that it meant that he sent me. He has…” he hesitated, trying to find the right words, ”had to go away unexpectedly, and I agreed to stand in for him.”

He looked at her, trying to feel his way and still give himself enough time to think. ”While I’m here looking after his interests, the prices aren’t going up, don’t worry about that, he owed me something so what I collect will go to pay that debt off.” The thing that Grak felt he had been owed was just an explanation, but he didn’t think it was the time to go into detail.

”In fact, since I stepped in rather quickly and he didn’t really have chance to explain things I’m going to need someone to help me out a bit. In return I’ll do what your man did for you, probably better than him too I expect, and also if you are willing to help me out on this then I’ll cut you a special deal. Now how does that sound?”

He looked at her from under his overhanging brows and waited somewhat anxiously to see how she would respond.

[Ladon]

Marie's expression changed as she listened to the Orc explaining the situation. It seemed that the puss bucket of a man that used to rule the roost had left on a trip of some sort and he had left this Orc in his place. Now that in itself wasn't a problem in her eye's, the orc seemed to be in a state of confusion and needed information to help him to do his job, Marie was even more surprised when the Orc offered to cut her a deal if she helped him.

Well...... Let me get this right. Frank has left you in charge, He didn't really tell you what was expected, and sort of left you in the lurch, and you want to cut a deal with me If I help you?

I can see no problems with that. As long as you treat us right you will find that me, and the girls, will be very happy to help. Now then pray tell stranger, what would be your name, or do you just want me to refer to you as Franks helper? Personally I think that would not suit one made such as you, So You tell me your name, what I can do to help, and the deal your offering and I will respond.

[Grak]

Grak breathed a small sigh of relief that so far his ploy appeared to be working. Must remain on my guard, he thought to himself, for he couldn’t trust this woman. The excitement of what he was trying to do caused a thrill to run through him and he realised with surprise that he was actually enjoying the situation. Somewhere he had moved from doing something essential to get some money to doing something that might just be worth doing for itself.

”The name is Grak, since you ask, and it would help if you were to also tell me your name, because while he described you all to me well enough, I don’t remember names very well.” He wondered if the mans name really had been Frank, or if the woman was testing him. If I don’t react to the name then that’s probably as bad as using it, because if it really wasn’t Frank, then I should correct her about it. He snarled to himself at the pinch, but he had no choice but to continue the bluff.

”I see no reason not to treat you well, in fact, from what I know of Frank I’m guessing that he didn’t treat you as well as he should have done.” He laughed, briefly. ”Don’t get any ideas about me, by the way, I am an orc after all, but just because I’m an orc doesn’t mean that I always think that mindless violence is the answer to everything.”

“Now if you and the girls are willing to help then I think we will get along just fine and we will all be happy. What I need from you is simple; to start with I need you to show me round and introduce me to the girls and explain exactly how this all operates. Really I’m quite annoyed at Frank now that I think about it, beyond doubt he should have explained things to me, but I suppose he didn’t really get chance.” Graks thoughts flashed back to the sound of the mans head hitting against the wall and the mess of his face afterwards Must be more careful in future.

“The other thing I want from you if you are up to it, is someone to continue helping me. I have plans in mind for the future and I reckon that someone like you who knows exactly how it operates is very well placed to help me in getting our girls working better and bringing in more money. If you can do that then I want to recruit, for there are others here who operate like Frank and I reckon that its time some of them retired or moved on.”

“That’s the deal that I’m offering, are you interested?”

[Ladon]

Marie smiled. Her attitude had begun to change. This one in front of her had offered a deal and a fair one at that. The Orc still had to prove that he could be trusted, but he had at least given a name that was the start now to his requests.

Well Grak, My name is Marie. In answer to your question, I am interested and would be willing to work with you on helping to sort out the girls in this area. I can introduce you to them now if you wish.

Marie moved off to the two girls who were standing where she had left them. As they approached the two girls looked at Marie and each other then waited for the pair to approach. Maire made the introductions

Well girls, Frank has up and left us but he has left us with a new guy to look after us. This here is Grak. Now the long blond hair and the pretty young face belong to Sarah. She's a nice girl, but a bit of a stickler for the people being clean, and smelling nice , the pretty brunette is Darlie, she's the quiet one of the group, but the customers like her. We work this little area. I know some of the other girls too. So we'll leave these to get on with what they do best.

At this Marie winked at them and moved off to another alley way between another set of buildings. It was some measure of her trust in her new protector that she didn't mind passing through this way to the next street. When they arrived in the next street Marie waved at the other girls and called them over, and then continued.

Girls, This here is Grak. He's Franks new helper so if you see him you know what to do. The four girls here are also part of our little group. In order, as we go from left to right we have; Jarlissa, shes the one with the petite body and the long legs, The dwarf is Petra, now some go for her as she tends to be a bit rough, if you now what I mean, the Half Elfen lady is Au'ary, she's another quiet one, haven't talked much with her but she does seem a little timid for this line of work. Still brings in the money though. And lastly the brunette with the body to die for, and my favorite is the lovely Sam. I love her. She's my soul mate and if anything happens to her then you answer to me.

Marie looked the Orc in the eye and if he didn't understand, then it would be made plainer if he tried it on with her girl.

I won't beat about the bush, here's the deal. You make sure we're looked after. If we're in trouble we expect you to sort it out. Now a big strong Orc like yourself would be a great asset for us, so we will look after you as well. Your cut is forty five percent of our nightly takings that was Franks cut and as I said he isn't getting any more from us to pay for you. If you want more you won't get it, so don't even think of asking.

Marie lent over whispered something in Sam’s ear and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then she motioned that they should get back to the other street again. As they walked Marie asked a question.

So Grak you have a place to stay with that rat bag Frank, or you have other lodgings around here. Ws girls use a lodging house slightly away from here, for obvious reasons, but if you have nowhere else you're welcome to come back to our place and we'll sort out a room for you. The darkening will soon be finishing, so we could discuss the other matters on the morrow. The house keeper is an old guy and doesn't mind the odd visitor, as long as we give a good excuse.

[Grak]

ooc: Thanks

ic: Grak was pleased that Marie was taking it well and even as he had been speaking before, his plans had been running away faster than he could speak them. He nodded to the two girls and memorised their faces, ”Sarah, Darlie.”

He then followed Marie through the alley way with a great deal of curiosity and without any twinge of guilt about what had so recently happened in the darkness of such a place. He had assumed that this Frank had only the three girls but it was becoming clear that there were more and he was starting to wonder if the list was in fact a list of the girls names; he would check later, though it would give him a headache trying to read it.

Four girls! That makes seven!, the thoughts excited him as he was introduced. This time he merely nodded as he memorised their faces and he was impressed with the quality of the women that he had inherited.

”Frank gave me the keys to his place to use while he was away, but he sort of caught me by surprise and I didn’t catch exactly where it was that he lived. Unless you know then I might just have to take you up on your offer. Don’t worry about your Sam,” he said deliberately misunderstanding her, for to back down on her challenge would mean losing face and also losing power, ”I will move some orcs into the area. With some of my people not only will it keep our women safe but it will serve to intimidate the other bosses and attract their women. We can stay with that percentage and I won’t even quibble with you on it. Those orcs are going to cost me money but since I plan on expanding, the cut will continue to increase. We can continue the discussion as you say next brightening, and I’ll be interested in your suggestions about the best way forward.”

“Now that I think about it, I would prefer to come back and see your place anyway. I like to know everything I can about what I’m dealing with. If you could set me up with a room there, then that would be good.”