Book II - Chapter VIII: Powers That Be

[Kyt]

Rey shrugged. "Could always dip back upstairs. They got some stuff here, but bet it's gonna be as pricy as the game."

[uberwulfx]

Crystal considered for a couple seconds before splitting the deck of cards into three stacks and placing them down. "You go ahead first, I don't want the entire group of us to be seen leaving together. I don't think we're on Vanthampur's radar at all, so the more we can stack the deck in our favor in all ways, the better."

[Ancelas]

"To your success, then," Amrik said, lifting his drink. The creature on the couch behind him flexed its wings, spines lifting, stiffening, and settling back down.

"And the solution to all of our troubles."

[CautionCat]

((pass))

[redcoat]

Cerys frowned deeply- this man reeked of ill intentions and bad ideas, but she knew she was not in a position to shoot her mouth off (or more) at him yet.

So instead she drained her glass and set it down with a nod, once again shifting her form- this time to a normal size wolf- and sitting patiently by Jinn.

[opius]

Jinn smiled a little, and only a little. He nodded before standing, patting the purse where he'd slipped the name and description. "Happy doing business with you. I'd stick around and see how the sharks are doin', but it looks like the crowd's thinnin." He chuckled and glanced at the devil one last time. "...Man that's a weird bird."

With that he nodded and turned to walk toward the door, Cerys in tow. He was... uncharacteristically silent on the walk and his hands found their way into his pockets, rather than carrying the regular swing and swagger he was used to.

[Ancelas]

The Lucky Hand began to leave the lower level of the Low Lantern, up the stairs into the more jovial general lounge level. If they wished to leave completely, then they would be able to take the other set of stairs up to the deck of the ship, where a light rain had begun to drizzle down from the churning grey clouds.

[Kyt]

"Mm." Rey grunted an agreement. "The fact he didn't call us all over means he ain't too houndin' to snoop. But yeah, not hard to put two-n-two together."

Jinn and Cerys seemed to be able to make their leave with nothing more than a passing of hands. Rey would look at the cards with a bit of a sigh, before looking around the room and shrugging. "Might'n as well follow, though. No sense hanging around to catch his eye more."

She'd move along without waiting for Crystal or Vincent, heading back up. She'd encourage the group to leave before starting talking, shaking her head if anyone started talking as they grouped back up eventually.

[uberwulfx]

Crystal nodded casually, waiting a good ten seconds after Rey left to look about for Vincent. If the holy roller hadn't already made his way out, Crystal would move to join him, looping her arm in his with as much familiarity as he probably hated. At least she didn't hug him or rub her face on his arm. She did, however, lean in a bit to whisper to him.

"Pretend you don't hate me clinging on you for a few seconds, then we'll walk out together. Rey and I don't think Vanthampur knows we were all together, so we're letting Jinn and Cerys head up first, before following suit."

[CautionCat]

Vincent flinched, but relaxed when Crystal spoke. He lightly rolled his eyes, but played along with it.

[redcoat]

Cerys padded along next to Jinn- watching around carefully in case anyone made any sort of threatening move.

Including the weird bird.

[opius]

The second floor looked safer by comparison. He clocked some big dudes- likely here to keep the patrons honest- but otherwise nothing stood in their way to leave. His thirst wasn't what it was when he'd come in, as much as another drink might settle the nerves, there was more to do now and little reason to stick around. With the others nearby and Cerys at his side, he made his way to the deck. From there, to the gangplank to walk along the way they came.

He continued frowning, eyes looking skyward once or twice. All these analogies about storms, Amrik's smarmy personality in the face of a city on fire, the weird bird, it all added up to a growing frustration in an already stressful time.

He ran a hand through his hair. "Aight. So I dunno who heard what, but I can say for sure I don't trust the guy with the mustache- or his weird murder bird. We got a name, a promise to maybe get some information, but it ain't much to work on. You guys pick up anything?"

[Kyt]

Rey was watching carefully, seeing if anything followed them (Perception: 6). "Eh, we ain't hear much. Guy swims with sharks, 'count of his ma. Only ones who might'n poke their noses in his business are other Grand Dukes. But he's been having dealing's with the Elturians." She gave a nod to the line as they left. "Somethin' stranger, for sure."

[Ancelas]

As the Lucky Hand came up onto the main deck and into the drizzling rain, they could see the corpses of the dead seagulls had been cleaned up and likely tossed overboard. Looking up, Jinn would find that one of the two crows was still perched on the upper spars, watching the Lucky Hand with its dark eyes, its companion having vanished somewhere else.

Despite the miserable weather, the crowd waiting to board the Low Lantern remained. It seemed that the work Amrik was doing for the refugees was worth some degree of discomfort to them.

The Lucky Hand, meanwhile, appeared to be alone as they made their way back into the southern wharfs of Wachovia.

[uberwulfx]

Crystal, her arm still hooked with Vincent's, shook her head. "There was som good talk about how fearsome he and his family are, but I didn't get any more info than we already knew. Honestly though," she said while looking down to Cerys whole wondering if the wolf was large enough to ride around, "I'm surprised you two weren't stabbed for you changing forms. Are you sure we didn't just put another target on our backs, at least?"

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