An Ill-fated Meeting
Thirteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC
If this were Braavos, Tyrosh, or even Volantis, you could have found your quarry in a matter of hours. In Trader Town it takes you a little over a day following rumors on the wind, whispers of stone, and
answers from the ether drawn. Thankfully, the three sorcerers had indeed taken a handful of their apprentices with them, though following them through a maze of unfamiliar streets while passing from shrine to barracks to marketplace and back again was not easy, you finally do happen upon a guiding thread. It seems Raerys Aergyreon is posing as a Volantene spice merchant under a name three letters shy of his own.
"That's proper Volantene pride alright," Waymar notes when the two of you find a good vantage point in the square opposite the townhouse built about as close to the west wall as the laws of the city allow. Part of you wonders if there is a tunnel going under the wall that might prove a hidden path into the city, but then you dismiss the notion. An army counting three and twenty Tiamat-blessed drakes would hardly be inconvenienced by walls.
Asking around the city for what sort of man 'Master Aerlyteom' might be, you discover many of the subtle markers of a decent spy, not just a skilled mage. Quiet, they say, generous with favors and coin both, with only one or two minor complaints, the sort of artful scuffs one adds so the mask does not seem too polished; an altercation between one of his servants and the guards during a festival, a contract fulfilled one week late. Among the piles of concealing sand, however, you also find a gem or two. The mage turned spy is unsurprisingly interested in ancient texts, particularly those pertaining to the worship of the kami and the healing arts, for only the most reputable purposes, you have no doubt.
"I've found the apprentice we trailed almost to here. He's heading for the townhouse," Tyene's mind voice interrupts your thoughts, sounding less pleased than the news would warrant, at least until you hear the second part of it.
"There's a shugenja with him. The road shakes a little when he walks upon it. He's young, looks to be one of Ning's lot."
As neither Pol Ning nor any of her associates are warded against divination, you make quick use of it while Teana continues to observe the pair with Dany and Ser Richard moving to reinforce her should there be need.
The news is not thankfully as grim as it could have been. Pol Ning has not decided to abandon all sense and sanity to ally with Tiamat, nor is she in the habit of blindly accepting aid from strange visitors, no matter how well it served her when she met you. She is suspicious of the sudden request for a meeting, but curious enough to send one of her more adept allies to speak to this merchant who has dared turn his gaze so high. Unfortunately, her most skilled fellow shugenja are not a match for the master mages the Golden Company had sent.
What do you do?
[] Subtly disrupt the meeting by contacting the shugenja, then approach Pol Ning about the matter. Little as you are inclined to grant her bother the title of Emperor, he is still the lord of Trader Town.
[] The meeting is a distraction. Scout the townhouse to ensure the master mages are truly there.
[] Strong as the enemy are, you do have the advantage of numbers. Split up to cover more ground.
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: Not the most detailed part, but it is a third update for the day. Late posting or not I did promise.
