The Crucible Campaign

8: Walking Disaster

.^^ Sandy, Fire Elemental Form ^^

— Cassidy —

"Now now, my feisty little wood-elf, don't get ahead of yourself... first you're going to tell us everything you know... then, we're going to make a deal that involves you being well-rewarded for your work! How's that sound?" I smiled and patted his cheek casually.

He grumbled, and sighed. "Can't see I have much of a choice, here..."

"You really don't." Renata shook her head slowly.

"Oh, don't be so rude, Lady Renata! He most certainly does have a choice! Why, I could easily give him to the Guards for safe-keeping, that's one Choice; I'm sure the guards would understand your predicament, and be properly respectful of your freedoms and safety, right?" I smiled.

He seemed thoughtful. "Well... True... the Tieflings could read my mind, and I'd be cleared of all charges..."

"Except the ones about you accepting contracts you knew to be illegal, and submitting to having your memory removed to hide evidence of said wrongdoings." Tommy caught on to my game, and decided to jump in.

I hissed softly. "Yeah... then you'd be right where you left off... or you could try to escape a Grand Wizard's Tower..."

"And if you managed, then you'd have to deal with the guards breathing down your neck until they hunted you and killed you like a dog in the streets." Tommy sighed.

"Little sister, you are being rude as well! I'm just trying to give the man his options!" I chided her theatrically.

He sighed. "Alright, Alright, I get it, working with you is the best option! What do you want to know?"

I smiled. "Easy! Some questions, to start, then we'll talk about compensation, and ask more questions if an accord is reached. And, perhaps we'd be willing to trade you for a person closer up the pecking order to your boss, so that the guards were thrown off your scent?" I suggested.

He nodded. "Alright... some questions, then I give you someone with more clout, in return for compensation, and then answer what I can, then you let me go, yes?"

"Welllllll..." I hummed. "Once we have your boss and your organization by their short and curlies, ready to be served up on a platter to the Guards, I'd be happy to forget you existed, if that's what you want, instead of money; but until that happens, you're mine, my dear. You stabbed me, you see, and I'm not the type to let that go without my own compensation, in the form of your entire ring of criminal friends and new enemies." I explained.

He chuckled. "Thieves don't generally run in Rings, my lovely Genaasi lass-"

I tightened my grip on his arms, arching his back painfully. "Watch Your Tone, please? Remember that I'm being polite, so you should return the favor, or my manners will slip."

He grunted, and breathed heavily, nodding slowly. "Yeah... Sorry... clearly, I forgot who I was talking to!"

I relaxed, and let him up. "Clearly... anyway, call it what you like, but I'd like the names and home locations of all your little thief friends, and your Fences, and your Brokers, and your bosses, superiors, and clients, including this Dwarf you mentioned so eloquently. Write them as best you can, and speak what you can't write. We'll use a Map, if we have to." I handed him a parchment and ink, and Renata picked up a quill with a beautiful golden feather, handing it to him.

"Ooh, that's pretty... what's that feather made of?" Tommy asked, sitting back down across Gladrin's lap semi-casually.

"Griffin Feathers." Renata said triumphantly, like that was supposed to mean something to us. I was going to ask, until I realized he was writing feverishly, his eyes closed and clearly unconscious of what he was doing. He had already written a list of names and addresses, covering a good portion of the page.