Working Hands
GAME: Telamon casts Greater Teleport. Caster Level: 20 DC: 28
Stormgarde.
In the winter, there is hardly light here. The days are brief things, and the dark eats much of the cycle of hours. Today--or tonight, as it's dark when the group arrives--the wind is throwing down snow in harsh pelts. Yet, Telamon had been able to acquire a fairly reliable description of the place from Fioderus Alvyn Oblestamp Schwarz, owner of the Schwarz Workshop, and so there's at least one small comfort in that the group is standing in a village, outside of a large building with a sign on it that declares its identity. It's certainly the right place.
But the wind's howling its miserable gale, and it's likely best not to linger longer than needed. Not a single soul is out in the snow and wind. Everyone must be inside of a house or in the workshop.
GAME: Simony casts Endure Elements. Caster Level: 18 DC: 19
Traveling with an archmage has its benefits. Telamon led the group outside the city to a snowy meadow, one he was apparently quite familiar with. And with a calm incantation, a shimmering globe of light had wrapped around the heroes, sending them rocketing down a multi-hued tunnel until in a flash, they appeared right at the workshop's doorstep.
Telamon himself is unfazed by the cold, or the transport. "Everyone all right? I brought soothe syrup if you need it." A couple bottles are drawn out of his haversack. "I don't expect trouble from a toy workshop, but... considering what happened, let's all be on our guard." He seems a lot more calm than he was dealing with the aggressive, animated Pothy plushes, but there's still a steely glint in his eyes. "Shall we go introduce ourselves?"
Auranar is as bundled up as she can manage against the harsh winter chill that she fully expected to find in Stormgarde. Even so it's bitterly cold and she feels as though the exposed portions of her face and ears are going to fall off at any given moment's notice. The moment that they land she is driven forward by a gust of wind and she doesn't hesitate to allow it to be something that drives her further forward. She moves forward toward the workshop with determination that is only partially the fact that these fools had somehow let loose live animated plush animals upon Alexandria. "L-lets get this over with."
Having never done magical transportation before, Skyler looks a little green as they land.. But that might be the unfortunate combination of dark auburn hair, a pink knit cap (with ear flaps!) and an orange knit scarf. Or too much time spent with half-oruchs. But at Telamon's question, he gives a thumbs up to indicate he's okay.
"Just... need a moment..." He huffs, shaking his head and then offering a cheerful grin. "'m fine. Let's go."
Simony announces her arrival with an unhappy sound, and after she lets out a long, shuddery sigh. "Do pass along my apologies to Cor'lana, Telamon. They were very delicious biscuits. Not so much the second time around." She will accept some soothe syrup. A gust of wind flips her hair around, and she laughs. "Glad I cast that spell before coming." The Goblin looks Auranar's way, "I should have prayed for a few more spells to protect against the cold."
She nods to Telamon. "As ready as I can be."
Verna did not expect the weather to be pleasant, but did not expect to apparate in the midst of a maelstrom. Fortunately, she has more than a few layers on, from hooded cloak to winter dress, to long stockings. Still, she does not wish to be out in it any longer than necessary and moves with others towards the workshop (or what appears to be).
HRUK! AGHLAGHAL! ACK-ACK-HRUK!
Roots and vegetables, fresh beef stew... On the ground... Steaming anew...
Carver's theatrics leaves something unpleasant buried in the snow, but her violent objection to more magical travelling can be heard over the roaring winds.
When she returns, pulling her hood back up over her face, she weaves like a drunkard near the end of the group's tail.
When the group enter the workshop, it's unsurprising to see everything right there out in the open. What is surprising is that there's a group of people who are a far cry from Fioderus. They're not gnomes, nor are they given to talking. Most of the people present are humans, with just a couple of khazadi, and all are rather sullenly working away, pointedly avoiding the attention of who appears to be their taskmaster.
He's an older man, perhaps in his forties or fifties, with gray hair and some lines around his blue eyes to support the notion. He's also quite tall and burly, standing at about 6'3", and his voice is a bass tone that rumbles with displeasure as he holds a section of a wooden dollhouse in his hand. "Mmmm. You need to take this back to the lathe, Hvadar," he says of the young man who is expecting his commentary. "It looks like you: underdeveloped."
The older man laughs at the young man's expense as he claps the piece of wood back into his subordinate's hands. "Now go. We have company."
The man turns his attention to the group of adventurers, sizing each and every individual up. A small smile settles onto his face that seems to be borne of amusement. "We don't get visitors often. Welcome to the workshop."
He offers a rather large hand out for the shaking. "I am Danien Joaki. What brings you here?"
Out of the weather, Telamon casually pushes his hood back. Beneath his black cloak, trimmed with white fur, he wears a long-sleeved white silk blouse with black trousers tucked into his walking boots. But for all his dandy-ish dress... his expression is distinctly -not- bored. Something flickers in his dark eyes at Danien's introduction, though he politely shakes the man's hand in turn -- his grip surprisingly strong for his slender frame.
"Quality control issues with some of the toys sourced from this workshop, Master Joaki." His voice has a crisp tone to it. "Master Schwarz sent us on here after there were some... difficulties with his shipment of plush toys." A pause. "The toys began attacking people."
Tel's head tilts slightly. "Your name is familiar. Do you have any relatives down Alexandros way?"
Auranar is grateful for the warmth of the warehouse even if it's only shelter from the storm and not much else. She is surprised that the warehouse is run by such an imposing-looking Stormgardian man, but then... Perhaps she shouldn't be. She offers him the faintest of smiles as he introduces himself and it fades as soon as he does. Danien Jokai?
The name certainly rings a bell. However she doesn't instantly assume that he's a relation of Zalgiman Joaki. After all the surname could be a popular one. It seems to her that Telamon however has other thoughts, and she's willing to let him lead on this. "We would really appreciate any information that you can give us on this.”
The Goblin's eyes widen a little at the man's introduction, and she moves slightly behind Telamon. Letting the Half-Sil sorcerer do the talking while she peeks out from behind him. Her gaze goes to Auranar, and the diminutive woman shakes her head in agreement.
"Perhaps a toy or two to inspect?", she wonders with a shaky voice.
"Oh, do you know him?" Skyler asks Telamon as he follows on the sorcerer's heels, unwinding his knit scarf and stuffing it into a pocket of his leather coat. He glances around at the group, frowning slightly, before shaking his head and turning to the toymaker. "Yeah, not cool, man. I know there was apparently a problem with people stealing them, but sentience to murder and possibly eat people is kind of extreme, y'know?"
GAME: Carver casts Endure Elements. Caster Level: 9 DC: 14 GAME: Carver casts Bloodhound. Caster Level: 9 DC: 15
Verna begins to doff her hood once they enter the shelter of the shop in order to invite more warmth to her person. Gloved hands pause at the man's introduction, however, and return to her sides without lowering the cloak hood. One slowly reaches for Auranar as her hood pans about the interior. "We are grateful for your hospitality, as well," she adds blandly to the others pleasantries.
Carver tosses her hood back, nose twitching. Honey eyes shift back and forth nervously, insightful enough to understand there is some surprising tension at the man's name but ultimately lacking some important context as to why. Interesting? Sure. Relevant? Ehhhh...
At Skyler's interjection she shakes her head, nope, nope, nope. She pokes at him hard, once, at the ribs.
"Ach. The toys were _attacking_ people?" Danien sounds highly skeptical, and for a moment he seems like he might be about to laugh until the group makes their inquiries and statements. He clicks his tongue in disapproval, shaking his head. "We do not bewitch or enchant work here. Magic-workers are a rarity here in this part of the kingdom."
There's a mean little glint in his eyes as he says, "We regard them largely as ill-weavers, doomsayers, bane-workers. So I would not encourage the lot of you to stay over-long. But, you ask for toys to examine."
Then he barks out, really more loudly than he needs to and in a tone of voice that boxes at the ears, "Audhun! Bring the latest lot you've been working on."
An older woman, who looks quite tired, stops from her stitchwork to bring over what looks like, surprisingly, a toy of Simony. There aren't many albino goblin-heroines running around Alexandria, let alone ones with Navosian robes and trinkets. This Simony's missing some accessories, but she looks rather lovingly handstitched. "Here you are, sir," she says.
Danien takes the plush from the woman and holds it out for someone to inspect. "As a matter of fact, one of my sons travels to Alexandria often. My youngest. His name is Sabin. Do you know him?" Danien's expression and tone transforms to that of pride. "He helps us here in the workshop by making deals for us. We can't take on all of the labor that Schwarz expects of us, so some things, we subcontract out. Sabin gets deals for us when we need that."
GAME: Telamon casts Detect Magic. Caster Level: 20 DC: 21 GAME: Skyler rolls Sense Motive: (4)+7: 11 GAME: Auranar rolls Sense Motive: (2)+3: 5 GAME: Telamon rolls detectBS: aliased to sense motive: (13)+29: 42 GAME: Auranar rolls Sense Motive: (2)+3: 5 GAME: Simony rolls perception: (20)+28: 48 GAME: Carver rolls perception+8-2: (14)+15+8+-2: 35
Auranar blinks at the man, noticing that he doesn't answer the question about having relations down by the way of Alexandria. Which is weird. It's weird right? It just feels... off. She frowns at the man. She just wishes she could put her finger on her feeling of discontent. She eyes Telamon and takes Verna's hand, squeezing it to let her wife know that she feels something is off and hopes that her brother-in-law doesn't let up on this guy one tiny little bit. "So your son travels to Alexandria? Sabin you said?" She looks at Telamon. "What's the name of this subcontractor?"
Telamon just stares at Danien, his face expressionless. Whatever's going on behind his starry eyes, he doesn't let it show. His lips curl faintly. "Yes, Father remarked on the Stormgarde word for magicians: tschabere. Which derives from an older word for 'meddler'."
"That's not what concerns me though, Master Joaki. Those toys... effigies of a good friend, I might add... came from this workshop. There have been questions raised about future orders -- and whether there will be any at all." The sorcerer folds his arms. "Oh? Sabin is your youngest, then? I'm afraid I don't know the man -- I presume he is working as a factor elsewhere, not here."
The Goblin gasps, adjusting the pince-nez on her nose, squinting at the toy of herself. She tries very hard to contain it, but one can almost see her ego growing. "That... is some excellent stitch work.", she says softly. Simony moves out from behind Telamon, reaching up for the little doll once Telamon has inspected it with his spell. "It really is amazing. Your workers are top notch. This... is actually the best toy of me that I have seen. Not that the others were shabby, by no means, but this is above and beyond."
Her gaze goes to Danien. "While I am inclined to believe you, sir, you have offered an important piece of information. Did you happen to subcontract to other toymakers the large, albino Raven dolls? If so, what parts were subcontracted? That may offer us an important clue as to what may have happened."
The Goblin offers up the tinier replica of herself to the others, if they would wish to inspect the handiwork.
At the jab in the ribs from Carver, Skyler turns to give her an look somewhere between offended and hurt out of the corner of his eye. Only out of the corner of his eye, because he's *trying* to keep an eye on Danien for his reaction to the question. It was totally intentional! Promise! But even though he's distracted, Skyler doesn't look like he's buying what the man's saying.
But afraid of Carver's elbows, he doesn't speak up other than to rub his side and grumble, "So *bony*."
Verna clasps Auranar's hand firm enough for comfort and support (though from whom to whom may yet to be determined), returning the squeeze. Her eyes follow the incomplete doll as it is offered and passed before she offers, "It may well be that the affected products were corrupted elsewhere, and your works are as much victimized as the people of Alexandria. Are you familiar with these contractors, or upon what projects they worked?" After a pause to consider, she inquires, "Does your workshop produce replicas of only great heroes, or are notable threats of the past also included in your offerings?" While the aggressive Apotheoses were concerning, there were far more disturbing (if perhaps only to her) effigies in the recent past.
Carver takes the doll, turning it over in her hands. She can certainly appreciate work was put into the craftmanship, and does a well enough job to very clearly be Simony's little dollerganger. Even the 'skintone' is frighteningly accurate. It almost has her down to the very accessories and fetishes she decorates her robes with. One would expect more exaggerations? She frowns down at the cute little scamp in her hand.
Only to bring it to her face and give a great big huffing inhale, and a series of shorter, puffs. Wrinkles her nose.
Turns it over and repeats. Looks at Simony. Then back to the old lady. "Elune's Tears, or Snowberries? Use gloves more. An adhesive ointment of crushed whitebark will help the fissures."
Danien laughs a little in appreciation of Telamon's knowledge. "Tschabere! Yes. You remember well. It is actually the work of a magician that we subcontracted out. Fioderus sends us ideas and we have to fulfill them. He's been talking about magic to make the toys talk. Enchantment of some kind. To tell you the truth, I do not like it. Things talking that should not... We do not like such things here. At any rate, we sent just a few toys we'd made--they were of the 'raven', if I recall correctly, that..."
The man pauses for a moment and eyes Simony. "Po-thee? Yes. The Pothee. The white raven. Fioderus says he speaks, the real bird, that is. I sent Sabin with the toys back to Alexandria, and he said he would bring them to someone there to enchant them to speak. She has a long and funny name. Amrynn Quilen'Maeral. I've never met her, but..." He laughs a little. "Sabin quite likes her. He mentioned wanting to court her. I told her to take his mother's ring, if he was serious."
Danien sighs then, quite heavily. "My wife. She would have loved to have seen him all grown up, our Sabin. If only that _wretch_ hadn't killed her." Then he looks at Verna. "We don't really specialize. Audhun and her daughters stitch the plush toys--animals, heroes, the like. My men do the woodworking for the dollhouses and blocks and other things. Anything else we don't produce in-house, Sabin buys up toys from other workshops and sells to Fioderus. Otherwise, we don't subcontract our work to other employers besides him. He demands too much already."
Audhun blinks at Carver's words, and she nods a quiet nod of gratitude. She slinks away from Danien and resumes her post, starting work on another doll post-haste.
GAME: Telamon rolls Will: (9)+23: 32 GAME: Auranar rolls Intelligence: (1)+4: 5 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Telamon rolls knowledge/local: (4)+13: 17 GAME: Verna rolls knowledge/local +2: (2)+11+2: 15 GAME: Simony rolls knowledge/local: (16)+12: 28
"Hi! Pardon, but... What wretch killed your wife?" Skyler asks, frowning and taking a couple of steps away from Carver as he asks that, shooting her a scowl as he does so. Sure, he's got a fancy new mithril shirt, but Carver is stronk and her elbows are bony from all that archery.
He shoots the toymaker a disarmingly charming grin, one absolutely devoid of anything approaching thought. It's almost as scary as it is charming, really.. All vibes, no real thought, and his pale grey-green eyes are bright with interest. "Not to dig into old wounds, but if someone has a grudge, they might be setting you up, old chap."
Auranar frowns at Danien, not liking him, not liking his use of 'wretch'. It sets off all sorts of bells in her mind. Frankly. Skyler asks the question on her mind, though far more bluntly than she would have ever have asked it herself. She winces at his straight-forwardness, but hopes that Danien will respond to it somehow. "He may be right." She shrugs.
There's that flicker again in Telamon's eyes. Simony's seen it before. So have Auranar and Verna. It's usually a prelude to something spectacular -- and messy. But the half-sil nods slowly. "Yes, magically animated toys strike me as... perhaps excessive. There are better companions for a child." The expression on his face is slightly fixed, stony even.
"The lady isn't known to me personally, but Alexandria is a big city and I have been busy with my own work of late. I believe I will need to pay her a visit to ensure the enchantments she's been laying on these toys are in order."
Then Skyler opens his mouth and Telamon turns and -stares- at the brainless bravo. If looks could kill, Skyler would be a nice hat with ear flaps, a pair of boots, and a smoking pile of ash in the middle. After a tense moment, he clears his throat, turning back to Danien. "Perhaps a letter of introduction might be in order? So your son understands there's no skulduggery at work."
"Well sir, when the hero toys say heroic things, or when the animals make proper animal sounds, it's pretty neat. Kids seem to enjoy them very much. Though, the woman in question is quite well known. She is very generous. Her enchanted toys walk and talk. They've not attacked people before, from what I know. But, we at least have some leads now, yes?"
She has no reaction to Skyler's expression or question, but the Goblin glances up at Telamon, her expression clouding. Yes, she has seen that look before.
Simony's gaze returns to Danien. "Hmmm. Perhaps... have you started using new materials with the Pothy dolls? Maybe there is something in them that is interfering with the enchantments. Not on you, of course, you would not have any idea as to what the nature of Amrynn Quilen'Maeral's enchantments do or require."
Skyler lifts his hands at the look from Telamon, frowning but saying nothing... And takes several steps back, lingering in the rear of the group and miming buttoning his mouth closed.
"My condolences on your loss," Verna offers genuinely, despite the undercurrents in some of the room and/or conversation. Her free hand gestures to Skyler. "A conspiracy to slight your reputation is not infeasible, but such might also be coincidental."
The name given by Danien is certainly pertinent, and conspicuous, with her thoughts following that thread for the moment. "The name is known to me, by reputation, though not so much the bearer. " Her hood pans to Telamon and lingers for a moment before dipping in a nod.
Verna's attention returns to the workshop master. "With your crafts in such high demand, perhaps it would be best to invest in expansion? Improved facilities, additional employees, and enhanced wages would allow meeting of demand and encourage further growth."
Carver does not object this time. Instead, she goes to sit next to Audhun. To watch her work. Her eyes remain bloodshot and her palor is off, teleportation robbing her of vitality. The doll is placed next to the working woman.
The expression on Danien's face turns to a deep scowl. "My wife died giving birth," he says. "The boy she left behind was useless. Just a mouth to feed. A drain on our resources. Scrawny and weak. If it weren't for the fact he had his mother's eyes, I might have left him out for the wolves to eat. But, considering how he survived things that should have killed men, let alone boys... I doubt they would have eaten him, cursed thing that he was."
Danien rolls his eyes then. "He ran away when he was a young man, and I never heard from him again. Sabin said something about finding his name at the Temple of Vardama with some flowers some time ago. If it is him... Then what a waste of flowers."
He waves off the subject. "We'll not talk about bad things any longer. You want a letter of introduction? I can send you with one. It would be rude to turn away someone who came all this way to ask questions. And I think we have some fabric samples of the toys you're talking about still. It is, as I said, not enchanted. I do not know how they would interfere with magic. But I do not have people with which to expand. The workshop employs most the people in the village."
Carver slips something to Audhun, and then the old woman looks at her owlishly, blinking for a moment before she takes what was given to her and hiding it away. She mouths the words 'thank you'.
Carver just gives a wan smile in response, sitting quietly.
Telamon keeps that blank expression on his face for all he's worth, his mind churning behind the wall he's put up. Instead, he simply nods. "The letter would be most useful, yes." Only those familiar with the sorcerer will realize the tenseness in his limbs comes from anger and disgust.
Only when he has the letter in hand, and the fabric samples have been collected, does he look at Danien with something other than the polite, cool expression he's worn. His eyes flicker, and he says quietly, "His name was Zalgiman. And he fell into deep waters, lost his way for a long time until he crossed my path. But he found peace, in the end, and that's all any of us can ask for."
Auranar doesn't have anything to say to Danien at all. Frankly she finds him more than a little distasteful, and she's glad that they're done here. She places her hand on Telamon's arm and to comfort him gently. Relaying that she knows how important this is to him. This moment. That name. Saying it now out loud to a man who doesn't and hasn't once uttered the name of his own son or claimed him.
The Goblin tenses, her expression of mixture of sadness, upset and a touch of anger. But she remains quiet, accepting the fabric with a nod and a low, "Thank you, sir. We appreciate your time, and you for answering our questions with good grace. As well, the samples should help us eliminate possible outcomes. You have been most helpful. Our thanks, too, for your hospitality."
Now a great many more things are explained, if in something of hindsight. Verna acquired more information than expected, and has no further questions. She appends only a simple "Indeed," though it may well be more concerning the thoughts of others than platitudes or pleasantries to Danien.
-End