[Toherro's Dark Teachings and Prayers] Gathering Intelligence

[Amber Brightwing]

Evening, Brightening 1 of the First Cycle of The Month of Junctior in the Season of Autumn
Era I of the Celestine Mandate, Era XIII Post Fractum in the Age of the Darkening

She had been planning to drop by one of these days to discuss some alternative ways of getting rid of the Blood Alley Gang. A few candlemarks ago she had found 600 West Wardens on her porch however and now she was here for a different reason, but with the same goal in mind. As she entered the underground entrance hall she flew straight to Spirotyn.

A few months ago she would have sighed in advance of having to speak to him, but it seemed she had reached a point where he considered her to be, well, not equal, but not too far below him.

“Serale. Is one of the masters available? I’d like to speak to one of them.”

She figured it didn’t have to be Aribeal per se to help her out. Master Earthor should be able to help her just as well. Maybe even better in this particular case considering that she was after information that was normally not freely available.

[Dicemonk]

Glancing up only momentarily from what seemed to be an 'enthralling' read, the elf didn't even bother to offer his usual bitter grimace before burying his nose in the aged tome before him once again. He allowed several moments to pass, turned a page, and waited some more. Only after he had left the fae for nearly long enough to irritate even the most even-tempered members, he finally breathed out a few short words. His arm floated through the air and extended in the direction of the masters' quarters. "Aribeal and Earthor are at rest..." He left the remainder of that thought for Amber to decide upon. All she needed do was decide where she wished to venture.

OOC: Functional.

[Amber Brightwing]

OOC: Functional works.

She lifted a brow. The suns had disappeared already, but it wasn’t that late yet. Then again, they could have just gone to rest early today. She wouldn’t let herself be brushed off that easily though.

“And can they be disturbed? Or can I speak to them early in the morning?” She glanced around for a moment to see if anyone was close enough to overhear them. “I have a permanent solution for the Blood Alley Gang problem and I’d like to see if any useful information is available.”

And perhaps ask for some small help during the attack itself as well, though that would just be icing on the cake. The Blood Alley Gang should have been weakened by the Mystic as well, so with the help of the West Wardens they should be able to walk over them easily enough.

[Dicemonk]

A wry grin crossed his lips as he did his best to appear supremely engrossed in his reading. His gears were turning, doing their best to work up a sly way to get Amber into trouble. Greeting students all day was a bore and it would please him so to see one of the masters come down upon her.

"Wellll..." Eyes rolled upward to look upon some vacant spot on the roof, as trying to recall something far off. "Aribeal is --" Amber's words suddenly sunk in. An end to the Blood Alley Gang would remove a very large and very irritating thorn from Toherro's side. He was suddenly torn between allowing the fae to reveal her answer, which would bring much favor to her from the higher ups, and disallowing it completely, risking complete expulsion from the organization.

"They'll both be available within the candlemark. They have business to attend to topside. For something of THAT magnitude, I would say that you could bother them at any time..." He obviously wasn't happy about it, but he had a duty to attend to regardless. At that, he waved her over to a seat carved out of the far wall as he scurried off to relay the news.

As spoken, the masters both appeared, walking side by side, Mer by Gnome. Most would have let out a laugh at the pair, if everyone there didn't know that each could easily end the lives of all the others at the 'compound'. Earthor had a sour look on his face and Aribeal had quite the opposite. The cause of this polarization of moods was unknown, but the good news was that at least one was in some sort of positive way.

[Amber Brightwing]

OOC: FT wise I should be third level toherran for a few months already.

Amber couldn’t help but grin as she could see her words slowly seeping trough his thick scull and registering in his mind. She had figured that that information would warrant a quick meeting. There had never been any intention to tell him anything more though. Aside from seniority, her standing in the cult now was the same as his, so she wouldn’t have been obligated to share her thoughts in any way and neither would she have tolerated not being allowed a meeting before she talked to the Lieutenant Commander and Dorvold the next day.

When the two masters arrived the she quickly rose from her seat and flew towards them. Keeping her voice down, just enough so that her words wouldn’t carry any further then the duo, she decided to get right to the point in an attempt to bring the sour look on master Earthor’s face closer to the one on Aribeal's.

“The governor was kind enough to drop off 600 West Wardens at my doorstep earlier today to take care of the Blood Alley Gang headquarters and I was wondering what information you had available that could help them.”

[Dicemonk]

OOC: Yup yup

IC:
Stopping just in time to avoid bumping into the fae, Master Aribeal looked down at her with a quizzical expression on his face. It wasn't common among most secretive groups, such as Toherro's, to have such an enormous obstacle removed in one fell swoop without months of planning preceding it. After the full impact had hit them and subsequently abated, each took turns whispering to the other momentarily before returning their attentions to her. "It seems you have made quite an impression with our governor. Very good work." Aribeal's tone said that was genuinely impressed by this new development and Earthor was forced to let a devilish grin play across his features.

The gnome was the next to speak, "I know much, but I do not know enough to catch those who matter in the organization. I know of all the entrances, I know of most the higher ups, but they have done well in hiding all information of the commanders from those who do not need to know. I have used all my resources to probe the mind of that spy, but it seemed even he was conflicted about who he believed to be at the top. Is there any specific knowledge you think would give you a tactical advantage?" The gnome stared up at her with a fair bit of excitement bubbling through his hard-shell.

[Amber Brightwing]

“Maps of the place would be the most useful obviously. Possibly with the secret door or doors to enter the third floor. I could reconstruct a bit by memory, but I figured you might have more accurate descriptions available. Especially since things might have changed a bit since the last time I visited.”

It was a shame they had no information on the higher ups. It might make it more difficult to really break the Blood Alley Gang, but it wasn’t really a requirement.

“Getting rid of all the scum isn’t a real option, but the general plan was to take away the leaders, the headquarter and a lot of their resources and simultaneously take back the streets. That should break their cohesion easily enough considering I remember there to be some tension between the different groups already. And without unification it should be a lot easier to keep them under control. Not to mention just having guards in the streets again should already be an improvement.”

She pondered for a moment on a solution to the leadership problem.

“Don’t have ways to find out who’s running around on that secluded third floor? Things would probably work without removing them, though they might try and put things together again away from sight. I’d act soon rather then late so the provincial forces wouldn’t be around too long though.” She grinned for a moment. “Not that remainders couldn’t be further trimmed down after the initial attack of course.”

[Dicemonk]

As far as conversation went, Aribeal had stepped back to allow Earthor the converse freely with the Fae. Each had their special talents gathering intelligence was definitely in Earthor's realm. The gnome scratched his small, balding head as he pondered the problems and proposals which Amber had submitted to him. "If you wish it, I can implant images of the entire structure in your mind, otherwise I could take the time to make an approximate floor plan for you. As for the leadership, I have been probing for months in an attempt to find them, but just when I think I have the names and faces, I find out these ones are just another layer of the facade. I cannot believe that a group of barbarians and bandits could think up such a structure for secrecy. But as you said, even if we can't take them out of the picture directly, we will be removing their power base and most, if not all, avenues back to power." He smiled a devilish little smile and went about giving Amber the information she had requested.

[Amber Brightwing]

“Floor plans are preferable as I can use those to plan the course of actions with the provincial troops and the guards. It doesn’t have to look fancy; walls, stairs, regular and secret doors, the basics should be fine.”

The lack of information on the leaders was a slight setback, though nothing that couldn’t be solved. It was slightly disturbing that not even a master mystic had been able to pierce their layers of protection. All the more reason to plan this carefully and try to hold the element of surprise as long as possible.

“Do you know if they have any mages at their disposal? For certain or possibly and what level. And I don’t know if you’re willing to have any members of the cult keeping an eye on the raid just to be sure. There’s no need to let this wasp sting before it’s squashed.”

[Dicemonk]

The gnome bobbed his head slightly to Amber's request for floor plans. His eyes shifted upward as he began creating the layout in his own mind for later mapping. "I'll leave the floor plans with Spirotyn in a candlemark." His smile grew larger at the mention of magi. "There were several, but I have taken care of them. You should encounter little resistance from the arcane if you move swiftly. I'll most certainly stay near by if you just let me know when to be there. If I deem it necessary, I shall have my apprentice standing by." Aribeal stepped closer and bent down to the gnome. The two exchanged hushed, hurried words, but both came out of the discussion smiling. "Now then, I had better start getting some details on the headquarter... if there isn't anything else you need." His eagerness to get this over and done with was already beginning to shine through.

[Amber Brightwing]

Amber grinned. It seemed it wouldn’t be long before the West Wardens would be heading back north. A few hundreds of professional soldiers backed up by the Vortex guard and Toherro’s. No doubt it would be overkill, but it would show the criminal side of town that the little Fae was not to be messed around with.

“That would be all. I’ll be sure to inform you when the operation will start, but it should be only a matter of days before the Blood Alley Gang ceases to exist.”

She was looking forward to this. Flexing some serious muscle and crushing the opposition, this should be fun.

[Dicemonk]

The old one gave a glimmer of a smile before spinning on one foot and hustling off toward his private 'quarters'. Aribeal dismissed himself and made his way out of the complex; apparently he still intended to finish the business which he and Earthor had been upon before they had been interrupted.

True to his word, the gnome had full floor plans drawn out, rolled up, and placed neatly in scroll tubes atop Spirotyn's 'desk'. There was a separate sheet for each floor and one dedicated solely to all possible escape routes.

OOC: Done. Feel free to assume that they are nearly perfect as far as all pertinent details go.