Giggles the Gnoll

Log Info

• Title: Giggles the Gnoll
• Emitter: Cryosanthia
• Characters: Cryosanthia, Mikilos, Braelnoir
• Place: A03: The TarRaCe
• Time: Monday, February 15, 2021, 10:16 PM
• Summary: Cryosanthia, Braelnoir and Mikilos meet up in the Tarrace to discuss their latest research project, he who shall not be named, who is 'Giggles the Gnoll' and his 'Glorious Glaive'. Lily is there to sit on laps and eat nachos, and she nearly runs out of nachos. Braelnoir hasn't had much luck at the colosseum, Cryo has had slightly more performing with the Ceinarians, who report that there's a strong tension in Charn, and many of the popular and esoteric performances scheduled this year have been cancelled. Mikilos reveals that his researcher friends were very, very discouraging regarding any inquires about Giggles and his Hyena Horde. With little to go on, they speculate regarding High Priestess Akoniril's motivation, and whether this caught her by surprise and she's hiding it well, or it was some grander plan she's had going since she arrived. There's little meat to chew on this bone too, so they move on to talk about enchanting weapons, and then order dinner.

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-<* The TarRaCe *>--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

Inside, this two-story structure has been almost completely opened up. Generous windows on both stories allow daytime sunlight and cooling night breezes to flow in as needed, while the brick walls have been whitewashed - contrasting with the dark-stained beams and supports, and the rich polish on the wooden floor. A broad strip of stone runs from the entrance to a framed doorway set into the opposite wall, with a sign above the lintel declaring that the baths are to be found that way.

The ground floor is sprinkled with tables and chairs of assorted sizes, offering welcome to guests both large and small. One whole corner of the building - into which guests are not permitted entry - has been given over to the kitchen, which serves as the domain of the famed monster chef Ligum Serforus. Mundane meals are available, but the chef delights in offering up obscure dishes made from the freshest of monster ingredients.

Opposite the kitchen a small bar runs in front of an array of shelves, displaying a broad selection of beverages (most of them alcoholic). The bar-top has been fashioned from what looks to have been old pieces of armor, fused and welded together before being polished to provide a near-smooth finish. Set above it, three human-sized statues have been built into an alcove in the wall: Tarien, Rada and Ceinara jointly keep benevolent watch over the room and its occupants.

To the right of the entrance, a small stage offers a platform for a handful of performers at a time. To the left of the door, a spiral staircase of wrought iron winds its way up to a balcony dining area, that is chiefly reserved for special events and parties.

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  Appearing, in Order  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Cryosanthia  6'9"     291 Lb     Sith-Makar        Female    A dashingly tall, elegant white-scaled lizard woman.
Mikilos      6'8"     180 Lb     Dawn Elf          Male     Tall male dawn elf, rosey blonde and handsome.
Braelnoir    5'11"    146 Lb     Human             Female    A tall, pale Acanian woman, branded in silver.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

It's evening at the Tarrace. The band is playing, the house is full of patrons.

Seated near the bar and kitchen at one of the tables is a whitescaled sith'makar. She has a good view of the room, and when her pink youngling runs off into it, her also. In front of her is a large glass of wine and a space for food to arrive.

There are also empty seats around her table. The sith'makar is using a small bench seat. She's expecting company.

The air rolls and ripples for an instant as layers of illusion fall away, as Mikilos takes a seat at Cryosanthia's table. "Peace unto your Nest." he intones politely. "How are you this evening?"

The chill night requires certain prep. so it is that Braelnoir arrives in her bundle of furs overlaying the ridgid plates of her armour. Her scythe is bound to her back in leather and fur, and as the Korite ventures in, sweeping the place with her eyes to find- ah! There they are! -she shifts to something more akin to a Xianese sleeveless gown of a silver sheen with sleek black overknee boots, leaving her spiked gauntlet, breastplate and weapons' belt exposed. Her scythe, instead, is wrapped in dark velvet as she raises a hand with a, "Hey, luvs!"

Cryo startles just a little as Mikilos appears out of nowhere. No offensive stance, only a sudden straightening. "Ah, Peace on your Nest. This one is well this evening. I hope you are also."

Braelnoir's arrival prompts her to rise and cooly hug her scale-sister, "Peace on your Nest, good to see you also."

"Little Fang! Here. Greet friends." She hisses towards her errant foundling, who alters her path running between tables to run back to Cryo's. <Draconic>

"Peasss." Lily says, hugging the merc then the mage.

"So the topic tonight, is Giggles the Gnoll, yes?" Cryo asks with a smile on her snout.

Mikilos smiles mildly, having expected fairly much that exact reaction. And welcoming nod is given to Braelnoir, and Lily's hug returned with a smile, though it turns to a mild frown as he blinks at Cryo. "Giggles'? ...ah, Giggles, yes. Intresting fellow. Delegate Akorinil pointedly tracked me down for a few words. Very polite, but still disconcerting."

Braelnoir embraces Cryo and figures room temperature is safe enough to risk a peck on the cheek. She gives a languid salute to Mikilos with a, "Hey, Mik, how ya doin?" then crouches down to give the little one a squeeze before rising anew to join them at the table, "Still got feelers out, ain't heard'nything back yet."

Lily watches Braelnoir intently, through the kiss, and once she's seated the Kobold is in her lap, sitting there, looking up at the Merc and across the table. She peeps, "Ssshipsss."

"Yes, Chips and Salsa are coming," Cryo reassures, patting the youngling on her head, then looking over at Mikilos. "This one spent some time at Ceinara's travelling dance platform. The other performers had some interesting rumours, a lot of guaranteed performances were cancelled, money seems tight. Nothing specific about Giggles though."

Mikilos nods. "My contacts had never heard of him. Very pointedly never heard of him and had zero intrest in doing so. My research gave a similar result, not a breath of mention until quite recently. I have to assume he used to use a different name, but I've no clue what that might be. Akorinil, for her part, was rather forthcomming, though I'm not sure I trust anything. She seemed quite convinved that if any breath of us trying to find out about Giggles got back to him, he'd know right away she was involved. She also made it clear she thinks he will destory Charn, and unless something is done, the rest of the world as well."

Braelnoir lifts her unspiked hand to gently stroke Lily's headscales with her bare fingertips, "Yer gettin big there, squirt!" she says fondly, then looks to the others, "I'ma try the Collosseum, next. enough Warriors, Heralds an Vanguards milling around, there's likely someone heard even a whispper of this yahoo's party."

"Yeaaassss." Lily agrees, rubbing her head against the petting.

Cryo nods, looking at the kitchen. As if summoned a server arrives with the nachos, and some glasses of water. The server slips off to another table. Lily immediately reaches for some food.

"This one wouldn't mind if he was stopped after destroyed Charn," Cryo says, "Well, perhaps not, there are the slaves there, this one wouldn't want them to suffer. I don't trust anything that woman says."

She takes up a chip, crunches it, "So, if he can see through deceptions, is even the gnollish indirection pointless? Would he somehow grok we meant him even if we met another Gnoll named Giggles?"

Mikilos considers a few moments, and shrugs. "I have no idea how his powers work." He considers a few moments. "IF they work. While secondary sources confirm -something- is going on, we're rather in the dark as to just what."

"Idea'e can see anything mentionin' 'im is all well an' good, but when ya start stirrin' things this bad, folks are gonna talk. He can't look at, seen an' hear -everything- at once. 'sides, yahoo's gotta sleep sometime. Less his toy counters that need." Brae shrugs, "Mebbe he can just read folks minds when they're close. Like Miki says, we dunno how his shit works."

"I suppose if I wasn't fighting bent over backwards it wouldn't feel like fighting at all." Cryo sighs, playing with a chip in the nachos and watching Lily wolf them down. Or Swiftclaw them down, perhaps is a better comparison. "Sslow down ssilly.."

She holds out her left hand, fingers splayed. She's got her glove on that hand still, "It came back, kinda. One day I'll shake that always observed feeling."

The whitescale sits back with a strong sigh, "So, suggestions on what I should try next? Research doesn't seem to be playing out, right Miki? I'm not as good with books as you are."

Mikilos shrugs. "Research where we've looked hasn't played out. But are many places we havn't looked yet. This is all just getting warmed up, and I expect will be some intresting twists before it's all over. At some point, somewhere, we'll find something to work with. Maybe several somethings. But we won't know what or where until we keep looking and find them."

"Some folks pay extra fer that." Brae replies with a shrug and a smirk. That dies when Cryo mentions her stalker problem, and the Storgardian reaches out to gently take her sister's hand. She looks to Mikilos as he elaborates, then, "You got any sages on tap? Military history sorts? I can hit a library, but pickin' someone's brain is faster. We find out how Charn's changed their moves, we can mebbe figger out the new endgame."

Cryo holds onto Brae's hand, squeezing, maintaining the grip. She smirks a little at the comment and the thought. Followed by silence, as she thinks over the investigative possibilities raised. "I'd like to know why she's here, actually. What she's been doing for the last few months, why she's suddenly switched to setting tasks for adventurers. I've seen a few postings of hers go up in the Explorer's guild."

"Are we being sucked into a civil war in Charn, is she positionning Taara for... more prominence, a temple here? I don't think she came here, knowing she wanted us to look into Giggles, and then sat on it for months. So what was her goal before?"

Cryo takes a long sip of her wine, "I still think we should go back to the house too, lock that down before someone stumbles in and flies it away."

Mikilos nods to Brae. "I'm usually quite good with books, but a fresh set of eyes might be exactly what's needed." He considers a few moments, and nods to Cryo. "Might not have had a specific plan, just saw an oppertunity. Giggles started whatever it is, and now she's working with what's handy. Or maybe was learning how things are done here in Alexandros. Maybe setting up an escape route before doing anything that might lead to using it. I don't know."

The Korite reaches for some chips and starts contentedly munching on them. She swallows, then, "It could be Giggles yanked the rug out from under'r while she's fuckin' around out here." There's a little squeeze to Cryo's hand, and, "Akky can't be th'only oppurtunist outta Charn, after all."

That possibility hadn't occurred to the whitescale, that Akoniril is scrambling to play catch-up and was out-maneuvered. That she's managed enough smoke and mirrors to present the illusion of a master plan, which would be expected, when she was instad caught off guard. She ponders it now. "I hadn't thought of that. I'd still like to know. She indicated she was here by choice, not exile, so there was some initial motivation. It has to be more than wanting the lastest Crimson Pen fresh off the presses."

More chips, more crunching. A little open-mouthed chomping back at Lily who is happily doing so and filling Braelnoir's lap with crumbs. "Maybe it was interferring with Griva and the Resurrectionists, making sure Taara's handiwork wasn't reversed. That would have been my first guess before she started asking favours."

Mikilos nods. "I agree, she came here on purpose. I don't think she scrambled and ended up here. But possible came just to see what oppertunities were present. I doubt it, but possible. Once got here, however, confidant things didn't go as planned. How much, I can only guess."

"Sh'mighta come here on top o'the world." Brae insists, "Originally come in ta trip up Brassbringer an mebbe poke some of Alexandria's allies just by bein' around." She gives a glance to Cryo, then to Mikilos, "Yeah, she came out here smellin' gold, an' while Mommy's gone, th'kids get ta actin' up."

"That aligns with Giggles coming out of nowhere." Cryo says, absently tracing on the table-top. "All the actors said Charn was like it was waiting for the other shoe to drop, some invisible tension everyone had and wouldn't speak about. So I guess something happened."

Lily takes the opportunity to poke Braelnoir's mouth with a chip that's pile high with cheese, peppers, olives and a chunk of chicken.

Cryo pushes her wine-glass around, "sounds like he's covered his tracks well. I wonder if it's like the stories, he was a nobody that found a sword in a stone and pulled it out, and the sword is pulling him along."

She looks askance at Mikilos, "I half thought you might try making one, a sword. I have been wanting an adamantine dagger, of late."

Mikilos nods. "I do wonder how much is Giggles, and how much is the Glove." He blinks, quirking a brow at the whitescale. "I'm not sure I understand. I don't spend as much time at the forge as I used to, but I am a master weaponsmith. I've worked with adamantine, but it's a substance one really needs to be dedicated to working before you try anything with it. If you want something very specific, I'm of course happy to help. But one of the local smiths that focuses on shaping StarMetal is likely the best route."

Braelnoir mph?'s with a wide blink as she is suddenly given snackful probing by her niece. This gives way to a chuckle and the Korite leans in with a soft, "Thank you!" and takes a bite. Mmm, chimken! Crunch-crunch-crunchcrunch... Her hand lifts again and strokes Lily's head scales some more before reaching out to stack up a chip to give the kobold in turn, "Ahhhh...!" She glances between the adults as they converse, but thinks Lily is as much wanting attention as being nice, so she lets them to it for the moment. She'll chime in when she comes up with something poignant. The weapon conversation, however, -is- very interesting.

"Glaive, not glove. Glaive. Guisarm-glaive, glaive-volgue, Bec de Corbin." Cryo says, mild whimsy in her voice. She tilts her head further, her neck curled in an arc and stares at Mikilos with her mouth slightly open in a happy expression. As if she could make him read her thoughts, which she can't, though he has had enough of them he might be able to guess she's teasing around something. "Sorry, just thinking of random pole-arms. I will check with the local smiths."

Lily eagerly, and carefully, snaps up the chip from Braelnoir's hand, crunching way. Most of it stays in her mouth. She wiggles some more on the Korrite's lap, then leans against her front. She has come to appreciate the warmer temperatures of her aunts and uncles.

"Speaking of, we should go check on Zaya to ensure there's nothing we missed there. I know it's not exactly on task but... well... kinda hard to find out things about gnolls generally. They don't exactly come up in conversation even if they're raising a hyena horde."

Mikilos frowns mildly but nods. "I'd as soon have it stay broken, but suppose is far too likely from someone who knows what they're doing to come across it and cause problems. We already have enough to fret about."

Braelnoir grins as Lily manages to munch on the chip and only the chip. She curls her arm around the kobold as she snuggles in and arches an eyebrow at Cryo, "What's yer yearnin', luv? Could make some recommendations if yer hain' an itch." She looks to Mikilos a moment and wonders, "Some time you got a bit, luv, mind takin' a look at this, sometime? Got't juiced as much as I can, but i ain't sure it's enough. An... sometimes it's hard ta carry around, sometimes." The 'this' in question indicated by a shod thumb jabbing up at the velvet wrapped length angled over her shoulder.

Cryo licks her fingers clean on her right hand, then twirls them through a swift and graceful gesture. Lily's head turns to watch, she knows how this goes. A twinkling of lights, brief illuminations, trickle along her arm and coalesce into a dagger. The wavy, translucent and somewhat transparent weapon of hers, and a faint mist rises from it in the warm air. "Well, I'd like it to look like this one, to go with the Cold Iron. I don't /need/ an adamantine dagger but once I got to thinking about it, I thought it could be nice to have."

She sets it down, then rests an index finger on it and it sticks around while she gets herself some more chips, salsa and cheese, "And a calling enchant, because I'm going to throw it and if it costs as much as a small house I'll want it back." She laughs, then sighs, "I need to speak with Morgan too. Anyhow, that's gear, don't worry about it. I have been loving the masks you made Mikilos, they are wonderful."

Mikilos nods to Braelnoir. "Swords are my speciality, but I'm familiar with most types of weapons. I'd be happy to take a look and offer whatever advice I might." He smiles to Cryo, and nods. "I'd recomend looking at the Returning enchantment as well. Very similar, but slightly different, and possibally more useful depending on what exactly you intend. And I'm glad you like them. I've made similar enchantments on hats, but wasn't certain how well would work as a mask. Seems was no trouble,"

"Been waitin' fer her schedule ta clean up." Brae shrugs, "Been hopin fer a cloak ta help me take care o'that bard." She reaches out for another chip, loading it up before offering it to Lily. She smiles to Mikilos, "preciate it, luv."

The chip is taken with the surprisingly gentle sensation of a lizardy maw full of fangs carefully closing around it and Braelnoir's fingers and snagging only the chip. Lily grins up at Braelnoir as she crunches it.

"Cloak sounds good. I've a few cloak ideas," Cryo admits, wobbling her head, "I have a huge wish-list and not enough gold, and a world to save a couple times before it seems I'll get my new stuff. I think I'm the reason Morgan is having difficulty."

She nods towards Mikilos, "I'll look into returning. Generally I want to keep it in my haversack and make it appear like the ice one. Diplomacy goes a little better when one has no visible weapons."

Mikilos nods to Cryo. "Calling would be the option for that, but Returning might suit better once the battle is joined. If visibility is the concern, your mask should be able to disguise the sheath well enough, or could get a concealed sheath that doesn't stand out." The mage considers. "Are gloves that have magic pockets in them, snap your fingers and whatever tool or weapon appears in your hand. Calling is a valid option, but not the only one."

Braelnoir grins down at Lily and winks before giving the kobold a gentle rrub atop her head and reaches out to get a chip of her own. Crunch!

Lily lightly nibbles at at Braelnoir's wrist as it passes overhead, then watches her eat. Her attention turns towards Mikilo, her eye-membranes snicking closed briefly before she keeps staring.

Cryo has another nacho which she waves around, the plate is nearly picked clean at this point. "Well, that's enough business for now. I know you don't have to eat, but is there something you might want to try Mikilos? I'm going to order something more substantial, perhaps you too Braelnoir? My glass is empty too."

She waves the glass at the server, ready to order now and set the world's troubles aside long enough for dinner.

Legwork

=============================| Anomaly Jobs v6.5 |=============================
*  Job# Title                                Due On   Assigned To      Status  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*    13 Cryosanthia: Delegate Akorinil       OVERDUE! -                  NEW   
*    16 Morgan: dagger                       OVERDUE! -                  NEW   
*    17 Cryosanthia: Phalanx Falcis          OVERDUE! Whirlpool          NEW   
*    18 Cryosanthia: Phase Locking Wpn       -------- -                  NEW   
*    20 Stone Talon Breakaway                -------- -                  NEW   
*    23 Grauthis the Grievor                 OVERDUE! Whirlpool          NEW   
==========================| * Denotes New Activity |===========================
================================| View Job 23 |================================
   Bucket: QUERY                             Due On: OVERDUE!
    Title: Grauthis the Grievor         Assigned To: Whirlpool
Opened On: Fri Feb 05 15:19:11 2021          Status: Yellow 
Opened By: Cryosanthia, Iskandar, Merek, Mikilos, Sabina, Seldan, Caim, Sophia, Aya, Thurid, and Malik
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whirlpool added on Fri Feb 05 15:19:11 2021: Queried Cryosanthia, Iskandar, Merek, Mikilos, Sabina, Seldan, Caim, Sophia, Aya, and Thurid:

I have included everyone who participated in or showed a desire to participate in the scene Seldan held last night.

Seldan, can we recall your relevant descriptions of Grauthis here to the job for everyone to get on the same page?

I will establish ground rules for thow this will function later as a shared legwork tonight or tomorrow. :)

---

Seldan added on Sat Feb 06 01:32:37 2021: I have this log and I really ought to post it but here is what is known: He is a warlord within the court at Abyss'a, the capital of Charn. He possesses a gauntlet in which is set a shard in the palm that allows him to see the truth of anything he looks at, laid bare. He uses it to assassinate those who oppose him and is supposedly building an army to march on the eastern lands of the Raven Kings. His range as far as Akorinil knows is worldwide, so the only way to avoid him knowing what we are up to is to not realize we are there.

The shard in the palm is probably a Shard of Animus.

Seldan has agreed to undertake this for Akorinil - Taaran or not, his goal is to wrest the shard from Charn and keep an army from deciding to march on Alexandria.

---

Whirlpool added on Sat Feb 06 03:49:26 2021: Mail sent to Cryosanthia, Iskandar, Merek, Mikilos, Sabina, Seldan, Caim, Sophia, Aya, and Thurid:

Okay! The rules: r
Each person will get TWO legwork actions in a 'round' of them.. I will go through an answer all of them. It's important to make sure we leave space for each other to contribute andn there's a lot of us, so I need to make sure to keep this somewhat orderly. :) IF you have things you wantn to do, please submit them here, and I will answer them!

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Seldan added on Sat Feb 06 04:02:28 2021: Very well. My first one for this round: Take a trip to Tashraan and do some rumor-gathering amid merchants and travelers. Do not ask after the name specifically, but listen to the trade rumors and discussions. The more wealthy and powerful the members of the gossip chain I can find, the better. Is trade in war materials picking up? Transports? Secret cargoes?

My second one for this round: Are there any records of an artifact called the God's Hand? Does it have a history? Where might he have come by such a thing?

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Whirlpool added on Sun Feb 07 05:09:12 2021: Mail sent to Cryosanthia, Iskandar, Merek, Mikilos, Sabina, Seldan, Caim, Sophia, Aya, and Thurid:

Okay, that goes for everyone! Ask questions and tell me the direction you're going and once everyone's had a go, I'll answer them! :D

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Aya added on Sun Feb 07 17:33:05 2021: I wish to make use of my Guild membership and Contacts to discreetly gather further information on Grauthis: movements, machinations, minions, and so forth. As discretion seems to be key, passive collection of rumor and hearsay seems the order of the night.

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Cryosanthia added on Sun Feb 07 23:44:25 2021: Cryosanthia will use her contacts through Ceinara and the performers in the theater district to listen for rumours. Mostly, hang out, do various performances, jam with musicians, ask what's up.

Second Legwork, keep playing the shell game, which is wandering Alexandria's streets discretely. Perhaps might stumble upon something.

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Mikilos added on Mon Feb 08 03:27:55 2021: Distinctly less subtle, Mikilos is a scholar and wizard, new and intresting magical artifacts are normal to ask about. While I have nothing formal, contact fellow scholars/wizards in Charn asking what they know about his God Hand thing and it's owner. Send along latest Alexandros gossip and reasearch note hilights. Typical correspondence.

Also see if can find any info locally about Grauthis, library, news pages, scandal sheets, whatever. Know I heard the anme before the meetup but fail to recall where. Might be a useful tibbit of info somewhere.

---

Sabina added on Mon Feb 08 14:31:29 2021: First legwork: If this man is waging war and crushing his foes then there will be those on the run from him out of fear or just looking for a safe place away from him? Bina will be on the look out for those sorts of folks entering the city and in need. Assisting them if she can and gaining info if there is any.

Second legwork: I'll try to be around to bump into our Charn diplomat. See if I can't gain 'inside information' through that route.

---

Thurid added on Mon Feb 08 22:13:52 2021: First Legwork: I will visit the colosseum and see if there are any gladiators there who are or were at one time Charnese, to see if any of them have heard any rumors, using my contacts in the Order Paramount if necessary.

Second Legwork: Visit the Ox-Strength Tavern and see what sort of rumors the ne'er do-wells that frequent that part of the city may have heard.

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Iskandar added on Tue Feb 09 03:12:50 2021: For some literal Legwork Iskandar would like to travel...to Charn! He'll go via airship if they go that far, otherwise as far as one will take him and then walking the rest of the way.

He's going to try to make it to the capital and find somewhat decent lodging in the Inner Rims, then look for a mercenary guild that he can visit, pretending to be newly arrived mercenary from out of town (this story has enough nuggets of truth to hopefully be more believable).

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Whirlpool added on Fri Feb 12 11:22:26 2021: Mail sent to Cryosanthia, Iskandar, Merek, Mikilos, Sabina, Seldan, Caim, Sophia, Aya, Thurid, and Malik:

Seldan: A trip to Tashraan is doable. While your reputation as a paladin proceeds you -- the perils of being a big damn hero -- you're still able to learn some useful things. Charn has increased traffic in slaves from the Tashraani markets as of late, and has become increasingly reliant on secondary market for food to feed its population. While there's no *direct* indication of war materials, you get the sense that the answer to your question is going to be yes, even if it's not out in the open. It's not something being *talked* about, beyond the most general 'Yeah, the Dominion has more merchants spending more gold, but aren't they suffering economically?'

For your second question: No, not in a way that indicates what you want. There have been plenty of relics labelled 'the God's Hand', people who've called themselves 'the God's Hand' and other 'God's Hands' type things, but nothhing that you can specifically link back to the Griever.

Aya: This runs you into a problem. YOu reach out to Sly contacts who work further east, expressing an interest in making additional contact with operatives in the Dominion. What you encounter is a lot of talk about the 'heat being on in Charn'. Entire networks rolled up, smuggling rings disappearing for a while and then reappearing, but not quite in line with Sly interests. Seems like there's a *lot* of pressure on the Charnese underworld at the moment. Something is happening there and while you're not sure what *yet*, it's probably linked to what's been talked about. Grauthis may well be using the power of the God's hand to seek control over Charn's underworld. After all, one can not hide in shadows from someone who can reveal truth in everything he sees. This could be a *big* problem.

Cryo: To start, you have the opportunity to talk to theatre contacts who've been across the world and operated in Charn relatively recently by trips across the in most sea. They *do* love their dramas, after all, and plays that honor ancient lineages and family founders. Something to do with various Charnese festivals of Death and Life that are a bit opaque to them personally, but one thing they know: the mood there seems ... anxious. Contracts that were to be signed, didn't get signed. Abyss'a seems to be in a heigtened state of security and a certain energy permeates the city. Like everyone is waiting for a big old shoe to drop. It's on edge.

Mikilos: You begin to open with sharing the latest research from Alexandros in an effort to find a way to ask about the God's hand. Bearing in mind its power, caution is required. AFter all, should Grauthis look towards his mages, he may be able to learn that someone is asking questions. You get a lot of boilerplate nonsense answers in return. Wizards are a close-mouthed lot to begin with, but the pablum you receive is *troubling*. They aren't talking, and what's more, they're throwing up a lot of distraction glitter and more or less telling you not to ask questions. You can only hope your efforts here haven't tipped Grauthis off already, a risk given the reputed power of the HAnd. As for your second question: Grauthis has *no* public profile before now. Zero. There's no records of him. No mentions of a Grauthis in negotiations, no military news where he lead an army, no nothing. Even a research on the name itself reveals that it simply means 'Promise' in an obscure, local dialect belonging to the tribesmen who dwelled in those lands before the exiles of the Millennial Empire's fall settled in Charn.

Sabina: Charn is just a short hop over the Inland Sea away, so you settle in to look for potential refugees from Charn who might have smuggled themselves out by sea or air. This is a project that will take some time to accomplish. You do identify a handful of candidates who might be from the Dominion. You'll need to follow up with them more to see. As for meeting with AKorinil, you can do this. I'll need to put her on the grid to RP with you on it if you want to chat with her in an effort to weasel out additional information from her. :)

Thurid: There are absolutely Charnese gladiators. Most of them are too long out of Charn to have any particularly useful information, but they have family there and over a night's worth of ales (and the following day worth of hangovers) you notice the troubling trend that a lot of them haven't *heard* from their families recently. Getting information out of the notoriously secretive Dominion isn't easy, but things like letters from family carried on ships are not atypical, but in the last few momths, none of them have heard *anything*. Ox-Strength certainly has a collection of disastrous ne'er do wells, and you do have a chance to chat with sailors who've made trade runs to Charn by way of Veyshan. Youi're able to confirm what Seldan is suspecting to some extent: Charn is behaving like a power with a lot of gold to burn again, which for a power supposedly beleagured by its various struggles and it in manifest decline is worrisome. Where'd they get the gold to start snatching up a whole lot of merchant contracts? Where's it all coming from?

Iskandar: I will need to talk to you directly on this.