Flashback Information Bought (Arlo Berakailen)

[Amora Jade]

Season of Spring, Day 43, 509 AV It wasn't at all uncommon for valuables to be stolen in Sunberth, if one couldn't keep their eye on them at all times they would most likely lose them. One way to track down someone who had stolen something precious would be to capture the person reselling it, a fence. Rayana Jade was well known by those of criminal mischief as the best fence in the city, she could easy pull a major profit from something stolen or maybe even things that were not authentic. It's how she had made a living, she'd keep at least half of what the person paid and give the rest to the thief. It had taken years for her to master staying in the shadows and only selling to clueless victims, and she planned to keep her name secret. After she began to bring Amora, her daughter, along with her to trade things it became more difficult to keep hidden. The clients began to take her less seriously and began to loosen their tongues of the secret, and the residents became much more aware of her dealings, forcing her into hiding. One in particular was very angry to be receiving jewelry that wasn't exactly the original piece and decided to hire someone to find Rayana's location. Unfortunately, Amora was left to fend for herself in the city. She tended to stay off the streets during the day time in fear of being recognized, so did most of her thieving in the dark of the night. The day before was rainy, causing the dirt on the streets to become mud. In turn it was difficult to sneak up close enough to anyone to take their change purses. The sound of two people yelling had her peaking around the corner of a building to see a couple, the woman was holding up a dress she knew her mother had made. An uneasy feeling set in her gut as she listened, "It's fake! The trim is falling off and the material feels like cheap ramie! I told you not to trust that woman!" Quickly, Amora began to head in the other direction, hand on the small dagger she kept on her for protection. The last thing she needed was for one of them to recognize her as the daughter of the woman who sold them the dress. After running for several minutes, she ran out of breath and sat down on a bench behind an old-broken down building, sinking herself into the shadow for protection. OOCSorry it's kinda dry, I'm having a hard time fleshing stuff out right now.

[Arlo Berakailen]

Arlo Berakailen had always known there was no such thing as a simple job. Inevitably, problems would arise. A contact goes missing. An asset turns traitor. A shipment gets hit. No matter what, no matter when, no matter how, something would go wrong. In this, Arlo was not disappointed. It was, according to the client, a simple job. Oh how Arlo despised that term. The woman had been hysterical, saying that the jewelery she had received, which looked terrible on her, like draping dung with pearls, were not genuine. Arlo was half-tempted to walk. Counterfeit materials were hardly a matter of great concern here in Sunberth, where it was nearly impossible to get the genuine article unless one paid a great deal of coin. But this woman was paying quite a sum to know the fence's location. Personally, Arlo thought it would make more sense to demand the thief's location, or gods, even the location of the actual jewels, but there was no accounting for taste. He was hired to find a fence, so a fence he would find. So here he was, tracking down a shadow. Most of his contacts had turned up nothing. Not that he had anything he could reliably call a contact. No, these were more like associates who gave information if they were appropriately compensated. Still, it was better than nothing. Yet after two hours of tracking he was no closer than when he had started. "It's fake! The trim is falling off and the material feels like cheap ramie! I told you not to trust that woman!" Arlo's ears pricked up at hearing this. Now, there were plenty of counterfeiters in Sunberth. This didn't have to be the same one. She could have bought it from a shady merchant, or simply didn't know the quality of the goods she was buying until someone pointed it out to her. Still, Arlo knew better than to ignore a potential clue. In Intelligence work, you had to milk every opportunity, no matter how small. Sighing, he looked around for a good place to eavesdrop. Before he could find a good spot, though, the two moved on. Arlo swore silently as he realized that now he would have to follow them discreetly. This was not work he was suited to, so the conversation came in snatches. Barely enough to patch together anything useful. If they wandered off before he could glean anything useable he'd have to somehow insert himself into their conversation; not something Arlo was looking forward to. He was in luck! The pair stopped by a large, broken-down structure. It looked like it might have been a warehouse of some sort at one time, but had now deteriorated to several rickety walls barely supporting the roof. In the shadows of one of these walls was a small bench. Not really paying attention, Arlo made a bee-line for that bench, as it provided the best opportunity for him to overhear what was transpiring between the two people. But as soon as he reached it his eyes grew wide. "Amora Jade." It wasn't a question. Out Of Character NoteNo problem! I figured from the backstory that you gave, it was Amora's presence that caused her mother's reputation to fall, so I figured anyone who hires Arlo to find Rayana would tell him that (if he didn't know already). And since she's been present for several of Rayana's dealings, a few quick questions and it wouldn't be difficult for Arlo to get Amora's physical description, so I thought it would make sense he'd recognize her.

[Amora Jade]

It took Amora awhile to catch her breath while she sat there in the shadow of of the building. For a moment she had thought that she was safe and was about to get up and leave, but then saw that couple show up right where she had ran. It was lucky they stayed on the other side of the building, giving her the opportunity to sneak away. Slowly she began to move her foot down off of the bench she had curled on, but froze when her full name was spoken out loud. She hadn't noticed the man who was trailing the couple and it took her a brief moment to respond. When she realized the seriousness of the situation she jumped down in his direction, grabbing him by the arm. "Shhh!" Quickly she covered the strangers mouth with her free hand and pulled him behind the next nearest building. Making sure that the couple hadn't heard his loud mouth, she peaked around the corner before looking at him again. "What do you want?" She nearly hissed the words, glaring at him in anger and suspicion. Of course she already knew the answer to that question, it was what many people wanted to know. Being left behind to clean up her mother's mess was very aggravating and time-consuming. She had to pay off people to spread the rumor that her mother had been killed, and to change the name so that "Jade" wouldn't be flooding the mouths of gossipers on the streets. Being only fourteen, she had an ignorant confidence that made her feel as if she could take the man down if he tried to attack her. Truth was, if he actually did want to hurt her it wouldn't be very difficult for him to do, regardless of his fighting ability. Amora was a small young woman whose hair weighed nearly as much as she did. It was thick, black, and very long. It made it easy for her to hide her face from people she recognized as Rayana's customers, but difficult to keep her balance and make graceful strides. She kept her hand on the dagger that was strapped to her leg, just in case he really did decide to jump at her.

[Arlo Berakailen]

Arlo had promptly forgotten the two people he had been tailing. They might or might not have known where Rayana was. It had been a long shot to begin with. But this girl, she would know. Or at least, would have had a much higher chance of knowing. The problem was two-fold. First: how could he get her to tell him? And second, even if she did, how could he verify the information? Before he could process the information in his head, Amora had clapped a hand on his mouth and pulled him behind another building, apparently worried that the two he had been tailing would have heard him. Frowning he peeled the hand off his mouth and glared at her. "At the moment, I just want to talk," he whispered. Though low, Arlo made sure to keep a level but firm tone to his voice. "Let's just say that ... interested parties have been throwing around miza to locate certain individuals. Word gets around, one thing leads to another, and let's just say I got a bit curious." Arlo knew he had to tread carefully here. He needed something to bait the girl, get her to trust him. Even if that trust was short-lived. "Look, it isn't safe here. Meet me at the Pig's Foot Tavern in one bell, and we can talk further, if you prefer. You might want to come. The walls are starting to whisper that name again, despite your ... efforts." That much was true. What Arlo hadn't mentioned was that the whispering was due to him dropping the rumors to try to flush Rayana out. It hadn't worked; well, not the way he had hoped. The mother didn't appear. But it seemed the daughter did. He knew Amora would come. She had to. Arlo was aware Amora had been a busy girl, trying to hide the tracks of her mother. But she was not an information broker, someone who had trained himself for years to be able to sift through such information to arrive at the kernel of truth in the center. She may have greased some palms to hide her name, but Arlo had done the opposite, and he knew she'd keep his appointment, if only to find out just how much he knew. Arlo was so absorbed in patting himself on the back for a job well done that he failed to notice that the two people he'd ignored had, in the course of their conversation, come dangerously close to their location. So close, if he'd wanted to he could reach out and touch the closer of the two. In shock, Arlo fairly jumped back, even further into the shadows of the building he and Amora were hiding in. In doing so, he had the hard luck to stumble upon his own feet, and crashed to the ground. The pair he'd been tailing immediately took to their heels and fled, leaving Arlo lying in the dust, cursing himself for his rookie mistake. Great going, Arlo, he admonished himself. But he hadn't fully appreciated the seriousness of the error he had committed. For if she'd wanted to, Amora could now attack him, and he was in a very compromised position. Lying as he was on the ground, he couldn't defend himself very well. Should she choose to silence him, Arlo had provided her with the perfect opportunity.

[Amora Jade]

Interested Parties.. sure a lot of people wanted to know where her mother was, but none had actually hired someone to find out. The situation was becoming more serious each day, and much more difficult to keep under control. It was obvious this stranger knew more than she was comfortable with, it was also obvious that it was his fault she couldn't keep the name off the streets. Amora knew that there was no way people were just that interested in talking about a single fence's wrong doings, there were so many other tragic things that happened in Sunberth. All the coin she wasted trying to keep the voices quiet were wasted, and it was because of him. There was no way she could afford to keep his mouth shut, she had limited coin until her mother returned and she hadn't much luck in trying pickpocket people. Instead she would have to resort to violence, regardless of her inability to actually go through with the actions. Instead of peacefully showing up at the tavern, she planned to tail him away from this area and then attack him when he was off-guard. Her mental plans were interrupted when the couple had approached the area they were in, and were dangerously close to her. If they recognized her it could mean the end of her being. The fear had frozen her in place, causing her to lose her breath and she just stared at them until a loud crashing sound snapped her out of it. Luckily all the noise scared them away and she had a chance to turn and see the man in a very vulnerable position on the ground. It took her a moment to regain her ability to breath and to realize that she had the upper hand in this situation. Without anymore hesitation, she unsheathed her dagger and jumped on top of the man, pushing her right knee into his chest to keep him down. She put the blade against the sensitive skin of his neck and glared at him, baring her teeth. "I should draw your blood.." No matter how bad she wanted to take his life to protect her name, she couldn't. Amora had a high value of any kind of life. It wasn't her place to take one. Instead she waited for his proposition, waited for him to beg for his life as she pushed the metal more firmly against his neck.

[Arlo Berakailen]

It wasn't that Arlo hadn't been in similar situations before, with daggers, and swords, and all manner of nasty, pointy weapons at his throat. He'd always been able to think his way out, or at least to talk his way out. Despite his efforts, he could prevent a cold chill running down his spine. Though his face was placid, he could feel the hot coal of nervousness and worry at the pit of his stomach. One wrong move, and it truly would be his last. "You could," he admitted plainly, his face a carefully crafted mask of neutrality. "I want you to think for a minute what that would accomplish. The wheels I've set in motion will continue to turn, even if I'm not there to turn them. Do you really think a man in my position doesn't have a failsafe plan?" That was both true and false. Arlo did have a failsafe plan, of course. Every information broker had one. Petch, every good information broker had several, just in case. What he didn't mention was that, like a blooming idiot, he hadn't fully set his up before coming here. Another rookie mistake. He couldn't let her know that. "You are obviously under the false impression that I have been hired by your family's enemies. That's ... not entirely accurate. It would be more accurate to say that I am an ... independent contractor who is investigating on my own, for my own reasons." All true. "They might pay me for what I find. Or, perhaps I don't find anything." Arlo gave Amora a hard look. "The efforts you have been taking, to take that name off the streets, no offense but they have been clumsy and easily traceable. Let's just say they don't necessarily have to be." This was it. The final pitch. It either worked, or Arlo would be yet another dead body on the streets tonight. "So here's the deal," he said, gaining confidence as he spoke. "I may need a favor or two from you. In my line of work, it's important to know as much as I can, about as much as I can. Sometimes I can buy that information. Other times, I trade for it. And sometimes, just sometimes, I take ... what is the term? A five-fingered discount." Arlo gazed directly into Amora's eyes. "A favor for a favor. Information gained for information retained. If you are willing, then those whispers will disappear just as quickly as they appeared. Do we have a deal?"

[Amora Jade]

Great.. Even if she did have the stomach to take his life, the trouble he caused wouldn't disappear. Amora had no idea what kind of trouble he would cause for her if she were to agree to trade favors. She had no trust for him, and thought as soon as she let him go he'd reveal her position and she'd be killed in no time. While lowering the dagger an inch from his throat, she sat up, pushing her knee harder into his chest. "She's dead. Someone already found her, and now it's just me. If anyone find out I'm left they'll take out the anger on me." Hopefully the lie would convince him to keep quiet. What kind of man would he be if he let a young girl be murdered because of his loud mouth? "If you can get the word around that she's dead, and maybe even that I'm dead too, I'll spare your life. I'm warning you though, if I hear my name being spoken in the next week, I will have you killed." To her, the simple fact that she wasn't going to kill him should have been enough for him to do as she said, but she also wasn't ignorant enough to believe he would agree. "And if you ever find yourself.. needing something of value.. come find me and I'll see what I can do." Slowly, she eased up off him and backed away, waiting for him to get on his feet. She kept her dagger drawn just in case he decided to be stupid, or if he felt like attacking. There wasn't any trust between them at all, and she knew she'd have to keep an eye on him. He knew who she was and even where she was, he was undoubtedly the most dangerous person she had to deal with while trying to clean up this mess.

[Arlo Berakailen]

Rayana was dead? No. That was not what Arlo's sources had been saying. And he trusted their word more than Amora's. Still, it told him a few things. Arlo had already planned to not trust the first things out of Amora's mouth. He'd been lied to many times in his career, and he knew that from a position of weakness one didn't get reliable information. But even how someone lied can bring to light potential clues. She hadn't tried to give up a false location for her mother. That could mean she didn't actually know where Rayana was, but more likely it was because she didn't know where she was now. Her second statement, that her life was in danger because angry customers would want to avenge themselves upon her, also rang false in his ears, but for a different reason. The people of Sunberth were violent, angry, self-centered brutes. But they were also people, and people didn't do things for no reason. One thing Arlo learned quickly was that the people of Sunberth, perhaps more than anywhere else, were incredibly practical. And there was little profit in revenge. Sure, they might attack Amora if they had a golden opportunity, but Arlo knew they wouldn't go out of their way to do it. They had businesses to shake down, people to rob. Why should they take time out of their busy day to go track down one frightened girl? Slowly, Arlo stood up, clearing his throat and carefully dusted himself off. Now that he was standing, he felt confident he could probably fend off the girl's attack, should she attempt another one. Somehow though, he didn't think she would. "You weren't going to kill me," Arlo stated confidently. "If you were, you'd have slit my throat immediately. There wouldn't have been any warning, no deals to be made. The fact that you didn't means one of two things. Either you couldn't; and if you were that weak you wouldn't have survived here this long, or you were never going to." He wasn't going to get Rayana's location from Amora. At least, not here, not now. Perhaps in the future. There might be a situation where she owes him a favor. Until then, he had to bide his time. Arlo chuckled as he wiped the blood off his throat with the back of his hand. "We both know Rayana is alive," Jorin said evenly. "Did you really think that lie would have fooled me?" Arlo sighed wearily. It'd been a long day. Even if he'd spread the word that Rayana and Amora had died it wouldn't work. It'd be too obviously a cover up. If he really wanted them to disappear, he'd need to put in the work. Set up multiple conflicting stories, so that no one person has the full picture. That way, anyone going looking for them would have to pick the real story out of a thousand false ones. But that wasn't something he could do for free. "You want to disappear? Want your mother's name not to be a household name in Sunberth? I might have a job for you, right here, right now." Arlo swallowed. This was a risk he was taking. The girl was none-too-good at her chosen profession. He'd have to do the one thing he truly hated the most: improvise. But what choice did he have? "Interested?"

[Amora Jade]

It was like he could see right through her, he knew she wasn't going to kill him the entire time. It was then that she wished she really did have the guts to slit his throat as soon as he fell, rather than having to go through all of this talking. Conversation wasn't something she was good at, it was something she tried to avoid. In her 'line of work', it wasn't very often that she'd have to engage in any sort of conversation or have to explain herself. Amora was a bit offended that the stranger could sift right through her lies. Her mother being dead would certainly end most of the chaos quickly. Of course Rayana was alive, that woman was as strong as an ox and wouldn't go down very easily. Before she ran off she let Amora know where she would be going and when, in case of an emergency where they would have to be reunited. Right now would be the fourth location she had planned to hide. Most people she had paid to spread the news actually did believe she was dead, which made her wonder if he knew more than he was letting on. If she didn't accept his offer for a job he may be able to put her in a bad position. Letting out a little huff of breath, she sheathed her dagger, stood up straighter, pulled her hair over her right shoulder and crossed her arms. "Maybe.." She studied him for a minute, making sure it wasn't any kind of 'favor' she wasn't up to doing. "What is it?" If his job included having to kill someone, she wasn't sure she'd be able to go through with it. No matter how terrible the person, Amora didn't believe she had any right to stop a heart from beating. If the job involved her snatching something from someone's house or person, she'd be much more willing to comply.

[Arlo Berakailen]

Well. The girl certainly had fortitude, that much was for certain. Arlo had half-expected her to reject his proposal and run for the hills. In some sense it would have made things easier. He wouldn't be obligated to cover her tracks. He'd simply let the rumor mill have its way, and knowing Sunberth, the populace would eventually move on past Rayana's dealings and onto the next big thing. Assuming Amora survived it, she'd be fine afterwards. Still, she'd chosen to accept his proposal. Tentatively. Which mean Arlo now needed to adjust his plans to include her presence. "I believe I told you before, but I'll say it again," Arlo began. "In my line of work, product can come in many ways. Usually, I buy and sell, occasionally I trade. Sometimes, I accept ... alternate payment, such as services rendered. And on rare occasions, when nothing succeeds, I ... acquire it. Without the target's knowledge." Arlo sighed. The girl was obviously not skilled at this. If they were going to do this he'd have to give her at least the basics. "Perhaps this will be easier if I show you. Come." Arlo indicated that Amora should follow him. Turning around, Arlo strode purposefully, his face a careful mask and his demeanor such as to give away no indication of what he was thinking or how he felt. He felt confident the girl would follow. Without turning around, Arlo walked toward the market district and stopped in a darkened alleyway, where the people coming and going could be easily spotted, but Arlo and Amora would not be. Here he paused and turned back, saying in a low voice, "I think it's, perhaps, time to see just how good your eye is. In my line of work, that's often more important than light fingers." Arlo pointed out a large, muscular man walking past, coins jingling down his right side. He wore fairly loose-fitting clothes, and despite his bald head looked to be in his early twenties. "That man. Tell me everything you think you know about him."