Flashback Part 7: The Caravan

[Karsynwa]

40th of Fall, 490 AV

They didn’t seem like the most interesting people, hanging around their wagons all day. Karsynwa and Arrel had come along with some other city officials to see what these men had to offer. Only they stood towards the back while the officials did their work. Arrel for his part was filling him in on what they knew of the caravan so far. Which actually wasn’t all that much, unless his mentor was holding back on him. However the little information they did have was quite interesting.

“It had arrive a few days ago from Syliras. Think of a city housed in one massive stone building and you get the idea.” Karsynwa almost snickered, but managed to barely keep his composure. Arrel continued on. “Seven carts is pretty typical, but the trouble that has been brewing since they arrived isn’t. Contraband drugs have seen a spike in use recently, and we’ve had certain rumors point it to someone on this caravan bringing them in. We don’t know if they are all complicit, and can’t risk spoiling a good trade relationship with Syliras so we have to be delicate with this. Because I want you to watch them for a while, then tell me what you think before we get into what we are going to do about it. I’ll be here to answer any questions you may have, but try to use that sparingly. Want you to think you are on this mission by yourself, got it?” Arrel asked sternly.

Karsynwa nodded, and started taking a walk around. First thing he noted were the trees stitched to the right breast pocket of every man. Seemed a little odd to him, and he had to resist going to Arrel at the first little question he had. Stifling the impulse, he focused on what else he could observe from the men. Next thing he noticed were the guards, partially because they were easy to tell apart from the rest of the caravan. Most of them wore some rudimentary form of armor. Some wore what they could find to cobble together while others had complete sets with a few sporting metal chest pieces even. There wasn’t anything uniform about them, but you could tell who had more experience doing this sort of thing by how well they kept up their armor. Those men tending to keep to the front while the men in back with less experience joked around.

A few children ran by to start climbing on one of the wagons in the back, and suddenly that jolly group of guards were stern. They chased off the children with quite the mouth. Their accent wasn’t something he recognized, however that wasn’t exactly strange coming from foreigners. He watched for a while as one of the guards peeled off from the group to check the wagon for a few ticks before joing back in to whatever they were discussing. Those three seemed a good deal more chummy than the rest of the guardsmen were with each other.

WC: 503

[Karsynwa]

Karsynwa walked around towards the front of the wagons to overhear another man from the caravan talking with a craftsman from Riverfall. Strangely enough, he had a different accent from those men in the back, and that prompted him to lean towards Arrel to speak in a low whisper.

“They get a lot of accents in Syliras, because this man up front sounds a whole lot different than those men in the back. Also what’s with the trees?” Karsynwa asked as quickly as he could. Arrel responded in a similar tone of voice. “The tree I’m guessing is to reference the knights of Syliras who rule the city, though it is odd that they are wearing that on their breast if they are outside the order. We are actually in the process of determining just that. As for the accents, the man in front is Sylirian through and through, while those in the back sound like they might be from Sunberth or Zeltiva. Maybe both. Sunberth is den of filth and debauchery so it wouldn’t surprise me if those men came from there. They know no laws there, and their patchwork armor seems to reinforce the point that they aren’t good with organization.”

Their walk had carried him back around the front of the caravan, and Karsynwa kept silent as he digested just that. Well he had his obvious suspects now, however it got a whole lot more complicated with the added tree thing. Made him suspicious of all of them really as he looked the group up and down. He spotted the children playing on another wagon further up the line within full view of those guards from earlier. Interestingly enough they paid the children no mind. That gave Karsynwa ideas, and on a hunch, he approached the group, producing a plum along with a handful of almonds he’d brought along as part of his lunch.

“Fancy a snack.” He asked, kneeling down while he faced the children. Two boys and a girl. All with pale smudged faces. Their hair was a dark brown, and their clothes were coarse grey wool with no dye to it. They eagerly grabbed the proffered food, before hanging back to stare at him a little while they shared their spoils. “Why did those mean men run you off like that. Seems like they are perfectly fine with you playing on those wagons.” The taller of the boys opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated when Arrel spoke.

“We won’t get you into trouble, just found it funny is all. Quite silly of them really.” He said smoothly, coming off a lot more charming than Karsynwa could remember him being.

“They don’t like us around those wagons in the back. Say we’ll break something. These four up front are much more sturdy.” The tall boy said, grinning as talked around a mouthful of almonds. “I suppose that makes sense.” Arrel said, and then tossed them an apple to split. Together they turned to walk a little away from the caravan.

WC: 506

[Karsynwa]

After they had gotten a few paces away, Karsynwa turned back towards the caravan. Giving a more critical eye to those three wagons in the back, he spotted something else interesting. One of the drivers hadn’t left his bench even though all of the others had vacated. “How long has that driver been sitting there?” Karsynwa asked, curious.

“Quite a while actually. A few bells at least.” Arrel said.

Karsynwa mulled over that for a moment while he got a better look at the man. He had some shade sitting under the little canvas awning over the drivers seat but that wooden bench didn’t look at all comfortable. There was that tree stitched to his breast like the rest, though his was more shoddily done. It had three branches instead of five, and they looked more like crooked spokes on a wheel. His clothing also seemed like it had seen better days. The man’s shirt frayed along his right sleeve, and there was a tear along the waist band of his pants that drew attention to the rope servicing as his belt. He wondered what sort of man was traveling along with a trading caravan, and leaned towards Arrel.

“Well if ever there was a weak link.” Karsynwa muttered and Arrel nodded slightly. His stomach rumbling, Karsynwa dug around in his pack for the remainder of his lunch when Arrel raised a hand to stop him. “How about we visit your friends at the Blue Bull?”

Karsynwa wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea, so he followed him over to the tavern. It wasn’t a long walk but it did give him time to consider everything as they made their way over. He was pretty sure now that these men, or at least the ones in the back were responsible for whatever was happening, and pretty sure they had a location so he wasn’t sure what they were waiting for. Maybe there was some piece that he was missing, or could it really be as simple as them needing to wait to make sure of the guilty parties. Arrel did mention wanting to preserve a trading relationship.

Those three men were definitely complicit however, and it seemed like their origins confirmed this. Karsynwa had never heard of a place like Sunberth. Didn’t even understand how a city could run without laws to keep order, and seeing their armor, he definitely noticed a lack of discipline there. They didn’t seem like the most well off folks, so maybe that was why they resorted to this sort of behavior. Could also be because they didn’t have a sense of duty. Didn’t much matter really in the end of things. Karsynwa had a job to help do, and these men were actively harming their city.

Together, they walked up the steps of the Blue Bull which had a quite a few Akalaks inside clustered near the dance floor. The barmaids looked to be quite busy tonight, darting from the floor with the patrons to back behind the counter where the drinks were kept. Karsynwa could also smell some food going from the kitchen.

WC: 519

[Karsynwa]

They took a seat at one of the empty tables by the hearth. To Karsynwa’s surprise, the space was empty though he had certainly seen a couple of plates headed out towards the dance floor. This seemed to be the more ideal location for a meal. He got a better look at the next plate that went out, and saw that something there that didn’t quite look like food alongside a few tankards of ale. Karsynwa raised an eyebrow.

“A small bit of pipeweed, nothing to trouble them about. People don’t come here really to eat as you may have guessed by now. They come to partake in other activities. So long as these activities are controlled, and kept out of sight, the watch doesn’t bother them too much.” Arrel said, and as he was speaking some chanting broke out around the dance floor. The men there formed a rough semi circle around two Akalak’s at the center who suddenly started hitting each other. Karsynwa started to get up before Arrel stopped him.

“We aren’t here for them, and besides, it freed up the waitress we want to speak to.” Arrel said, looking over to gesture at the woman with the light brown hair he’d met the day before. She came over, and leaned on the table, giving Karsynwa a wink. “If it isn’t the mysterious watcher. This your apprentice?” She asked Arrel who rolled his eyes.

“I’m the boy’s uncle if you must know, and don’t believe the fables he tells you. He’s just trying to look interesting so he can get into your pants.” Arrel gave her a wicked grin, and elbowed Karsynwa in the side. “Now, how about a couple ales for us, and maybe something a little stronger.” Arrel said, said as he set down a small purse that the woman quietly slipped into her palm. Then she was off disappearing behind the counter for some time before she showed up with two mugs of ale. She’d attached a couple of pretty pieces of blue ribbon the the handles that Karsynwa puzzled over for a moment.

Leaning forward, she whispered. “Go out back to get your prize boys.” Then the woman was off back to servicing the dance floor. They did as asked, exiting through the back where they waited in a corner till an Akalak came up to them. He shook Karsynwa’s hand first, depositing something there before slipping off the ribbon. Karsynwa looked down at his hand to spot a little pouch of some brown powdery substance. So the ribbon was a signal of sorts, he mused to himself as he watched the man do the same to Arrel. Maybe there were even different colors for different services though it remained to be seen who they had watching the area. Looking down and across, he didn’t see anyone though there were plenty of alcoves to lurk within.

WC: 483

[Karsynwa]

It didn’t go as planned for the man with Arrel. Extending his hand, Arrel caught his and pulled him closer, producing his lakan from under his cloak. The man froze. “Who are you getting this from. You know this is a good deal worse than the usual stuff we allow you to peddle here, so if you don’t want the Kuvay’nas cracking down on you, best talk fast.”

To his credit, the man resisted for a few ticks before Arrel started digging in ever so slightly the edge of his lakan into the mans shoulder. “We got this as a sample, didn’t even have to pay for it. Came from a Syliran is what I heard. I wasn’t there when it was picked up, just doing a job.” Arrel released him and the man stumbled away down the alley. Karsynwa looked after the man for a while before glancing at his mentor. “Now that is some convincing I can get behind.”

Arrel nodded, and sheathed his lakan. “Time to get out of here I think. We’ve got much to do tomorrow.”

Karsynwa was considerably confused. “But aren’t we going to take care of them now. Maybe separate those guards from the wagon. I’ve got an idea of just how to do that. Just got to get them to chase those children which shouldn’t be too hard to manage. They’re fast so they should be fine.” Of course now that he said it aloud, he heard how silly and inept his plan seemed. Perhaps he could refine it by getting one of their faster agents to bait the guards away, or better yet, sneak in when it got dark. They didn’t seem like they would be able to keep an effective night watch. Arrel just shook his head.

“No need. This operation was just to get your feet wet. We’ve got a plan in place, and tomorrow you’ll see the fruits of our labors.”

*

The next day they set up in a spot a little farther away. The entirety of the caravan party were kneeling on the ground beside the wagons while the guards tore each of them apart, piling the canvas wrapped contraband to one side. Karsynwa found himself agreeing with this judgment. The way they all interacted with each other made him think that they had known each other for a while, and while they might have been mostly legitimate, they were all complicit for the smuggling. Also whole thing with the tree was a little murky so they were being sent back to Syliras for them to deal with. All of their goods would be confiscated, and the contraband destroyed.

Overall it seemed like a successful mission, and Karsynwa felt like he was finally getting a grasp at gathering information.

“Those prisoners should buy us some good will from Syliras at least. Don’t think they’d like smugglers wearing their symbol like that.” Arrel said after they had spent some time watching.

Karsynwa nodded, and took a seat on the grassy hill. This kind of work was something he could get used to. He felt like he was actually contributing to the well being of the city now. It might ask him to do some distasteful things, but if it got rid of people like these, then it was well worth it.

WC: 553

[Reed]

Grades Awarded!

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Character Name

Skills

• Intelligence: 5
• Interrogation: 1
• Investigation: 1
• Observation: 5
• Persuasion: 1
• Politics: 1
• Rhetoric: 1
• Socialization: 5

Lores

• Politics: Why trade from Syliras is important
• Intelligence: Identifying a Syliran accent
• Intelligence: Identifying a Sunberth accent
• Lore - Sylirian Knight Sigil
• Intelligence: Identifying a false Sylirian Knight Sigil
• Intelligence: What patchwork armor says about a man’s status
• Persuasion: Exchanging fruit for information from children
• Blue Bull: The secret menu
• Rhetoric: Deflecting suspicion by changing the subject
• Blue Bull: Uses ribbons to signal service for the tavern’s backroom activities
• Investigation: Discovering who has been selling the drug at the Blue Bull
• Interrogation: Threatening with a lakan as an incentive to talk
• Lore - The capture of the smugglers on the 40th of Fall, 490 AV

Awards & Retribution


Notes