2021.01.31 The Prisoner
Setting
The current location is the County of Emerald Dale. The Freehold of Count Baelan ap Gwydion.
Upon depositing the pirate Tamar Salazar to Roger Almsley, the Captain made sure to point out that interrogative rights were still held with the crew - knowing that some of the crew had words to smith with the knave. Whether that is true or not is anyone's guess...save for today.
Timand and Conn arrive and sure as sure can be, the Freehold sentries give you entrance and lead you to the basement (apologies for vagueness, Not My Prospect Freehold (tm), so leaving it vague). There, in the dank underbelly of the Freehold, is a series of cells where enemies of the County are held. Not many occupants reside here, but Tamar Salazar is one of them.
The Manikith sits on a dank stool, one of two furnishings to his cell. The second, apart from the bales of hay that litter the ground, is a bucket. For you know...you know. Tamar is tapping his head idly against the wall wearing a pair of what looks like three-clasp handcuffs with no chain between them. However, regardless of the fact he can't seem to move his arms freely and every once in a while, a crackling of power illuminates orange sigils on the cuffs - a sign that he is attempting to use magic, and the surge of glamour immediately dissipates. A prisoner, in more ways than one.
The guards hand over the key to his cell, telling you that you have 30 minutes with the prisoner - as agreed, before returning to their post outside.
Scene
Timand walks down the hallway of the basement, head hunched down to keep his head from knocking into the celing. "So Conn...how are we gonna do this...good cop bad cop, or bad cop bad cop." He mutters quietly to the older Troll.
Conn thanks the relevant authorities for their hospitality and nods to the guards. "The last time I played bad cop, I pulled my sword on someone and threatened to kill them. And I meant it. Maybe I should be the good cop."
| Timand tries to intimidate Tamar! | Timand rolls Manipulation + Intimidation vs 6 for 0 successes. |
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Timand gives a little grunt as he approaches the door "A few broken fingers might do th' trick." He's joking, right? He reaches the door and unlocks it, swinging it open and stepping into the cell wordlessly. He stands as upright as he can, crossing his arms and staring down at the captain, emanating menace, or at least trying to, but the fact that he cracked his head upon the doorframe while walking in rather detracts from the effect.
Tamar has the look of someone seeing something unexpected, with how his eyebrows raise and his eyes avert to the door when Timand starts to jiggle the keys. He eyes them momentarily, watching Timand face-plant himself on the bar cage above the door and successfully holds back a laugh.
"Bufones. ¿A qué le debo el placer?"
Any consideration Conn might normally have for the morality of torturing a Fae are currently on pause, knowing that the captain in front of him had planned the deaths of the crew. "Look, Timand, we know that he was paid to sink our ship and leave no witnesses, we have evidence we can use in a Court of law. And just because the local lords are literally going to let you break this guy's legs doesn't mean you should. As far as I can tell it's not a breach of the Escheat, so I'm not going to stop you from torturing him," he looks at the captain he'd faced in combat to ensure he is expressing himself earnestly, "but I think we should give him the opportunity to just sign a confession so we can stop wasting our time with him." Finally, actually addressing Tamar, "Seriously, he will torture you and I will not stop him."
Timand looks pretty unhappy he messed up the entrance, and looks a bit more unhappy once the captain starts speaking something other than English. "Right. You speak English pal? If not, ya better learn pretty fuckin' quickly." He grumbles down at the man.
Tamar arches a brow at Timand. "¿Qué?" He looks puzzled.
| They try to remember Spanish! | Timand rolls Intelligence + Remembrance vs 8 for -1 successes. |
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| Conn rolls Intelligence + Remembrance vs 8 for -1 successes |
You think you succeed, remembering the ancient tongue of the spaniards. To you, it sounds perfectly fluent, like an adept speaker. To everyone else you are literally talking like the tazmanian devil. BLAH BLAGHABLAH THHHPPPPT.
Conn :walks back up out the stairs and finds a suitably trustworthy urchin or delivery man on the street and says "Take this letter to the Journeyman, tell Wick there to give you a quarter dram of Dross for it and if he doesn't, I'll give you a half dram myself. My word of honor as a Troll." He comes back down the stairs and nods at Timand "I've sent for a translator."
Timand is standing over the Captain, growling at him "BTGGGHHTGH! PHHHBBBT! Bleeergh BLAAH!" <Who hired you to attack us! Who do you work for!> is what Conn hears.
Conn leans back against the wall, waiting for the response from either the urchin or Wick to arrive. "I don't think he understands us dude, I think we're speaking Portuguese.. or German."
The Manikith is pushing himself against the wall so much one might think he is a slaugh! Getting all up against it. "¡Guardias! ¡El ogro poseído!"
Timand is still convinced he's speaking Spanish as he snarls at the Manikith "SNNNRRGKH BLEERRRGHPHTH Thhhhhhbt!"
Cicada peeks into the room. "Ohaaaaaaaayooooooo~," they call out, stopping to stare at Timand. "What's wrong with him, Ojisan?"
"Our captive here doesn't speak English," Conn says by way of explanation, "we tried using past life knowledge to speak to him, but it didn't work. Don't suppose you happen to speak Spanish or know magic to allow coherent conversation between people irrespective of language? Our magic for that is, oddly, extraordinarily rare."
Cicada winces Timand's outburst. "Hai... I am not sure that's Spanish. More like the language of volcanos." She sticks a finger in one ear. "Mmm. I could try and talk to him? What do you wanna ask? What are we gonna do with him when we're done? Cast him into the sea?"
Conn shrugs "We need to know what he knows about who hired him. We were going to try a cultural trope of good cop bad cop, but it's functionally dependant on clear lines of communication. At this point, I think it is most sensible to inform him of the gravity of his situation and tell him what we want from him."
Tamar is pushed against the wall, and while the Manikith does not speak a lick of English he does speak the ancient art of his ancestors.
| Tamar kicks Timand in the nuts. | <pr> Tabin rolls 7 (7 dice) vs 7 for 3 successes. |
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| <pr> Tabin rolls 5 vs 6 for 3 successes. | |
| Timand takes 3 Bashing! | Timand rolls Stamina vs 6 for -1 successes. |
| Timand's Short Fuse triggers! | Timand rolls Willpower vs 7 for 2 successes. |
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Timand gets kneed right in the balls, and his face turns a bright purple, and his huge fist rises instinctively to punch El Capitano in the face, but he just sort of staggers back to lean on the opposing wall to glare at the man. Then he starts to grit his teeth as that pain level starts to slowly build. Tim's going to be hurting very soon.
Tamar holds himself firm. "No me jodas. ¡Lo morderé a continuación!" He raises his hands up as if he was going to box, not seeming to mind being shackled. Maybe, he's fisticuff'ed in shackles before. He IS a pirate after all. Wouldn't be the first time.
Cicada's eyes go wide as Timand gets kneed right in the groin. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a rolled up bag of sour gummy worms and pops one into her mouth. She then tries to creep forward and force Salazar to partake of one of the gummy worms as well. "Eat! Eat!" Maybe he was hungry and she wouldn't have to force it into his mouth. "Was he fed?"
Conn shrugs "I have no idea, no doubt he'll be fed. Honestly, I'm just concerned that he doesn't realies that Timand might actually start breaking the guy's bones. I don't really have the right to stop him, in this I'm his crew mate, not the local law. And I don't know that the local Count's going to much care about us interrogating a criminal who tried to kill us."
Tamar takes the gummy from Cicada and huddles back to the Realm of Safety, which is just the corner. It's not very safe. He doesn't eat it though. Apparently having a blithering madman as a friend and shoving gummies at you does not make you hungry.
Timand's face is now turning a bright purple as the pain is starting to emanate from his groin throughout his body. He say through gritted teeth "IF he doesn't eat th' fuckin' thing I'll shove it up his ass." He's a stoic, he's not supposed to show discomfort or pain, but well, a nut shot is a nut shot, whats a guy supposed to do. "I wanna know who....nrrrrrrgh.......hired th' cocksucker and if he was responsible for...........fuckin wit...our...cannons." He slinks to the floor and just sits there, curling up into a little ball (ha!) of misery.
Conn pats Timand on the shoulder "He's not personally responsible for the canons, I overheard that conversation via Chronos. We do need to know who hired him though."
Cicada taps her painted lips with a painted nail. "I'm the bosun... so I'm the boss when Tabin isn't around?" She makes a quiet 'oof'. Oh no. Responsibilities. "Well if he won't eat it this will be harder..." She clears her throat and recites a haiku to empower her Alchemy. <<"O snail! Climb Mount Fuji, But slowly, slowly! Trusting the Buddha, good and bad, I bid farewell...To the departing year.">>
Cicada loses one Magical Essence
| Is Tamar lying? | Cicada rolls Shui Tan + Manipulation + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 vs 7 for 5 successes. |
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The effect goes off. Eventually the spaniard's spanish slowly morphs into common language. "¿Cuál es tu daño? El Sueño realmente -- has lost a step."
After Cicada recites the haiku and spins around until she is facing north the Selkie, Conn, and Timand can all understand her even though... she is apparently speaking Japanese now. She can understand the Selkie in whatever language he's speaking, but Conn and Timand may or may not be able to understand the Selkie but they can definitely understand Cicada. In a sassy Kansai-ben dialect she calls out to the seal-skin-kin. <<"Ohayo, omae. You can understand me now, hai?!>>" She waggles a finger. <<"You like snacks? You can keep them. Today the sea is benevolent... if you tell these two what they want to know...">>
Tamar arches a brow at Cicada. Cicada doesn't look like a Kith, or walk or talk like a Kith, and that wasn't entirely glamorous what she did. So now he's even more nervous, because Timand is possessed, Conn is confused, and Cicada is weird. "What they want to know? They need a fucking psyche doctor." He says, tossing the gummy into the nearby bucket. You should probably not eat that now.
Timand is just able to be a little ball of misery right now. Ignore him.
"We know you were hired to sink our ship and kill the crew," Conn says with a somewhat weary tone in his voice, "we need to know who paid you. My friend here wants to torture you for it, and you've given him incentive to. It really would be better if you just tell us, I don't want to have to watch him torture you just to make sure he doesn't kill you."
The shinma pouts when Conn brings up torture. She exagerates the tut-tut of her head. <<"They're just a little bit feisty because you tried to kill 'em. Come to think about it-- Your crew ruined my favorite swim-suit! Now I have to get a new one!">> Cicada points to both of the big trolls and then grins, baring her sharp teeth in a sharky smile. She certainly looked -weird-. Like someone smashed a Troll and a Merfolk together and called it a day. She looks about half the size of the trolls but looks twice as prone to biting. What did the August Personage of Jade mean by this? <<"I'm the bosun of that ship you attacked. Remember? But that means these to gotta do what I say! So... if you please. Why don't you help me redirrect their anger a little bit, hm? Really we don't need to be mad at -you-.">> She tries to warp her shark-toothed smile into something sweeter. Nicer. It probably doesn't work. <<"I am also a great and Noble Kamuii... of the Ministry of Water... so...">>
Tamar looks between Conn and Cicada. "The fuck are you talking about. I wasn't paid by anyone. I heard word of prize cargo going between Cali and Panama. Figured make a big score." He shrugs.
Conn nods "So someone just floated it and you took the bait. Wrong place wrong time, but willing to kill us for it?"
Timand manages, after several long minutes, to haul himself up onto his feet. He looks spitting mad now and glares at the captain. "Who wants to play this little piggy..." he grunts. "Better talk fast asshole."
| Timand intimidates Tamar! | Timand rolls Manipulation + Intimidation vs 6 for 2 successes. |
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| Resistance! | Tabin rolls 7 (7 dice) vs 6 for 3 successes. |
| Is Tamar telling the Truth? | Cicada rolls Tieh Tan + Perception + 2 vs 4 for 6 successes. |
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Tamar does not seem daunted by Timand's looming presence. It must be because Tamar knows the Ancient Technique will kick itself up soon. "Of course! A big enough prize to have us live like kings in exchange for a few Concordians? Who cares." He sniffs, his words sounding truthful. "It isn't like you have any high horse considering your threatening torture. I'm sure your Gwydion fop upstairs would just loooove it. But then again, Concordians are a bunch of hypocrites anyway."
Cicada pulls out a paper fan from the mouth her google-eyed goldfish shaped purse that seemed alive in the dreaming. <<"Mmmm! But you were too late! We already had delivered the prize to port anyway. So we had nothing on board for you. So whoever gave you that info just wanted to screw you over, omae.">> She squints keenly at the Selkie. <<"Mm. No treasure. Abandoned by your crew. What are you gonna do with yourself now with nowhere to go?">>
Timand glances over to Cicada and grunts "He's gonna hang, that's what he's gonna do with himself. Piracy is still punishable by hangin' round these parts." He looks back to Tamar "Unless...ya know...ya start namin' names. Yer choice."
Conn nods "I'm afraid you were definitely set up to take the fall. Looks like you're shit out of luck. No idea what the local lord is going to do to you, but if we cross paths again, make sure you turn around and run. Because I showed you mercy, and it's a one time offer" He leans in to Timand and nods at Timand "Yeah, I think he might hang alright, such a waste."
Tamar looks at Timand and arches a brow. "At Haven. Where anyone worth their sails gets info." He holds back a laugh. "Go there if you wanna get your panties unbunched." He settles back onto his bench and rests his back against the wall again. The warning from Conn gets a sneeze from Tamar, but beyond that it seems like he is finished talking.
Which is just as well! As the doors to the dungeons creak open and the sound of metal greaves on stone are heard marching down - the guards have come.
Timand turns as the door opens and he jerks his thumb towards the captain. "He confessed to murder an piracy. Hang 'em.", he mutters to the guards. He's looking pretty disgusted. And pretty damn sore.
<<"Such a shame. Guess he doesn't care weather he lives or dies,">> Cicada says with a pout before looking to Conn. <<"He is obviously some sort of beast. What purpose under heaven do -seal- Hirayama have.">> She looks back to the Selkie. <<"Under heaven's gaze I am a Kamuii of the Ministry of Water, under Heaven's gaze all water was of our purview. Are you sure this is how you want this to end for you? It appears you are running out of time... but you could still be spared a miserable fate... Choose this or choose to be free and perhaps more...">>
Conn shrugs "Here's hoping whatever your next life is, your end is better." Which is about all the charity Conn can summon for the pirate.
"I'd rather get run through by a 100 swordfish than grovel for any of you Concordian fuckholes." Tamar says to Cicada, looking away from you as if the wall was more pleasing company. When Cicada gives her words, Tamar looks over at Cicada for a moment and considers something...then says. "You some asian Court or something? Well do yourself a favor. Don't trust Concordians. They'll be your pal until they get their latest super power, or super weapon, or super-whatever, and then they will grind you into dust just like everyone else. They only play nice when they're weak." He looks purposefully to Conn and Timand. "Stab 'em while they are. The best Concordian is a dead one."
With that however, the Guards will escort the trio away from the prisoner completing the interrogation.
Cicada winces at the idea of 100 swordfish skewering the prisoner. <<"Mmm. Be careful what you wish for, Omae! They may grant that as a final request.">> She shakes her head and pouts, putting a fist on either hip. <<"Hmmmm. It's a shame we couldn't have tempted him to get revenge on the ones that screwed him over! He could have joined our crew.">> She looks up to Conn. <<"They will really kill him? I thought that was forbidden by your laws? Can't they simply make him a servant or something?">>
