Wealthy, influential, pompous, self-righteous, entitled. These words were ones that might describe a majority of the nobles found throughout the city, and subsequently, the usual targets of the caped crusaders calling themselves the "Red Rogues" who stole from these pricks and redistributed the wealth to those who needed it. Food, blankets, a toy to comfort a crying child. A selfless act putting them in danger as guards were on high alert and ready to capture these rogues so the rich could stay rich without worry of those in need getting a solar from them.

Vakker didn't really care that much about the red rogue's noble pursuit, but gods damn did he love seeing those bratty nobles pissed off that they'd lost a small fraction of their wealth. He liked to think of them this time of year as "seeing red". His own little holiday gift from the Red Rogues this time of year.

Hooves clicked quietly across the icy cobblestone as the Satyr walked down an alleyway toward a prison he knew was containing several of these capture agents of justice or whatever they considered themselves. His usual business outfit was swapped out for something more appropriate and less incriminating if was spotted. A red cloak that almost brushed across the ground as he walked, with a hood whose shadows hid his face unnaturally well.

A fitting outfit to wear to go free some Red Rogues so they could continue their annoyi- ehem, their good work.

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name	Free the Red Rogue
Participants	Exactly Two ( Other participant can be working on opposite quest. )
Location	Anywhere
Post Requirements	6 posts 200 words per post
Reward	+2 Renown Access to listed shop
Description	Popular red rogues from past years have been assaulted and kidnapped by hired goons, nobles wanting to keep them until after winter. Many of these rogues are being held captive in camps all across Charon, and need to be rescued. If the Night of the Red Rogue is to happen this year, then those rogues need to be freed! Help us by going in, fighting off the hired mercenaries, and freeing the Red Rouges before Winter's Crown!

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Hood of Horrors

As Vakker approaches the prison, it's clear that getting in will be no simple task. Though paling in comparison to the Citadel, this smaller prison was still well equipped to prevent infiltration and escape. The walls are high and guards armed with crossbows patrol the battlements and the limited entrances and exits are all sealed with heavy metal gates. Even more guards stand at the attention outside the gates. There's no easy way in or out, even if magic could get someone pretty far. 

Circling around, Vakker would eventually hear a bit of a commotion at the side gate. A small group of civilians are gathered across the street from another group of guards. While no weapons are drawn, tensions seem to be high as if at any moment a mob could be incited into violence. 

Standing between the two groups is an odd pair. A stooped-over elderly woman looks distressed as she stands just behind an oddly dressed one-armed half-elf. The tall man appears to be engaged in a conversation with the guards.

The elderly woman interjects. "Please, my son has nothing to do with those people!" 

A rough-looking human man acting as the voice for the guards looks at her with a cold and unsympathetic gaze. "Anyone suspected of associating, assisting, or acting in behalf of the Red Rogues are to be held until AFTER Winter's Crown. If investigations turn up nothing, then your son will be released then." 

"It is unreasonable to hold the man without having at least a little proof that your suspicions are justified," the half-elf argues. "There was no warrant or warning for the man's arrest. The least you could provide is some explanation to these people for why their family members are being detained." 

"They are suspects. That is all. I will not repeat myself again. Disperse immediately."

"At least provide a statement from the warden or a judicial representative." 

The man scowls. "Don't tell me how to do my job."

"Is it not your job to serve the Crown AND the citizens? To stand up for justice and the sanctity of the King?"

One of the guards in the back of the group snorts a laugh which causes another to give him a sharp look. 

Everett narrows his eyes then seems to realize something. "My apologies. I've overstepped. Thank you for your service." He leads the woman back to the crowd which shift anxiously. 

"But what about my son??" asks the old woman as she shuffles back to the group. 

"Please return to your homes for now. Causing a scene here will not end well for you all." Everett lowers his voice. "These men are trained and dangerous." 

"They're city guards though," argues a younger fellblood woman. "They can't just get away with this." 

"There is something else going on here. Please just trust me. I will help your family members, but they need safe places to return to."

The people seem uncertain but do eventually start to wander back through the streets to their homes. Everett sighs and considers his options. He's not convinced that these guards are actually working under the crown despite their appearances. There is a good chance they're hired goons pretending to be under the Crown so they can get away with holding the people without retaliation from the locals or real guards. With the Crown so preoccupied with other matters, seems their internal security has slipped significantly. 

On a closer look, the prison itself isn't even that well maintained. It probably was abandoned at one point and repurposed for storage. These folks managed to get their hands on the keys and are now acting like it's been put back into operation just for holding these suspected Red Rogues. It's a ballsy move, which means they probably have someone rich and powerful backing them. 

This is not a good scenario to be in, but he promised those people he'd help, so he has to come up with a plan that won't give the real guards a real reason to arrest anyone innocent. 

Vakker kept a fair distance as he listened in on the crowd's conversation. His disguise might hide his identity, but it would also probably get him locked up if he was spotted.

He noticed the guards' attitude was strange. The guards of Sol City he knew and sometimes found rather irritating weren't like this. A bit unreasonable at times in order to accomplish their jobs, yes. But laughing at the idea of sanctity and justice? No no, that was not the guards he knew at all. Those knights in shining armor couldn't get enough of the idea of upholding justice and the shining sanctity of the glorious royal family. Vakker almost threw up a little at how the guards acted as if those pompous Sun Elves could do no wrong and they were somehow better people just because they served them.

But if those aren't real guards, then just who are they? Hired thugs? Mercenaries? No matter what, they had to be being paid by someone to be holding the red rogues prisoner here, and who else but a noble would want the red rogues to be locked up? They had to have known keeping these people imprisoned for so long without any actual evidence wouldn't be allowed and so they took matters into their own hands out of paranoia. Really, how much were they paying these thugs to do this? They probably would have lost less money just handing some to the red rogues themselves. Whatever noble was orchestrating this must be a real idiot. Vakker hoped they weren't one of his clients, but... They probably are...

Vakker let out an exasperated sigh as he watched the crowd a little more and thought of a plan, but then noticed another strange thing. The man who had been a sort of leader in the crowd's argument with the guards. He looked oddly familiar.

Hmm. Maybe this mission to free the red rogues would be more diplomatic than he'd anticipated. Well, that suited Vakker better anyways. He took off his red cloak and hood and stowed them in the alley before quietly joining the back of the crowd.

"Excuse me, would you mind telling me just what's going on here?" Vakker asked authoritatively, looking to the fake guards with a smile on his face but a look of contempt in his eyes.

As the crowd disperses, a rather tall satyr approaches from the back with an odd smile. It's the kind of grin that a snake-oil salesman would wear. Despite that, all that Everett can think about is if Cypress will one day tower over him too. 

"Hello, well..." Everett glances back at the guards who are keeping half an eye on them from across the street. "It is a bit of a delicate situation."  

He takes a few more steps away from the prison and walks around the corner of a building to break line of sight and hopefully keep them from overhearing anything. 

"Some locals have been detained for suspicions of being associated with the Red Rogues. The group's actions over the years have earned them a few powerful enemies. At least that's what I've been told." He rubs the back of his neck.

The Red Rogues didn't exactly ring any bells for him, but they seem fairly well known amongst the locals. Being out of the loop as he is makes everything a whole lot more inconvenient and, in this case, a lot more dangerous with him missing a lot of context.  

This whole situation was like a hot match flicked into a room filled with powder kegs. One wrong move and the whole thing could explode into a violent mess. Even if the guards are fakes, they're still armed to the teeth and likely could slaughter a handful of civilians if they had a good enough reason to. They also could turn their aggression on those they've captured. He couldn't risk putting any innocents in harm's way.

"I'm trying to help at least get answers for the families, but the guards are being fairly hostile. I wouldn't advise getting involved."

Vakker followed the man and listened to him explain the situation with feigned interest. He already knew all the information he was being told, but he didn't need to let him know he'd been eavesdropping. And standing there as he spoke gave him a moment to take a closer look at the man's face.

He's sure he's seen this man before, but where? It can't have been that recently or he wouldn't have such a hard time remembering, would he? Can't be a client. He's too caring about others to be a noble. You'd think it would be easy to remember someone with such a prominent feature as a missing arm. Unless he'd had both arms the last time Vakker had seen him. If they'd met a long time ago, that was certainly a possibility. He wouldn't be the only adventurer Vakker had heard about losing an arm fairly recently with that insane Minotaur running around.

"Yes, I've heard of the Red Rogues before. They're very famous around these parts. I can imagine just what kinds of enemies they've made, given their actions." Vakker said with a light joking tone. He knew all about the Red Rogues. He'd even had a run in with one he'd rather forget.

"Perhaps I can try talking some sense into these guards. Surely they'll see that holding those people here without any actual evidence is wrong. Care to join me?" He finished and immediately started walking confidently toward the guards with his hands behind his back and his posture as straight as an ice pick.

"Ah, my apologies. I'm a bit out of the loop on things myself, I shouldn't assume anyone else is." He rubs the back of his neck a bit embarrassed. Seems he's the only person who doesn't know much about this Red Rogue thing. 

He's not entirely sure why Vakker thinks that he'll have any better luck talking to the guards than the half-elf or the locals have had. As far as Everett can tell, the man just walked up, not really knowing much about the specifics of the situation. Unless the towering satyr has some sort of social status in Sol City, he's not yet convinced that settling things with words is still an option at this point. Especially given his own suspicions of the guards being just mercenaries dressed up in armor. 

Maybe it's safe to express that to Vakker. He didn't want to alarm the locals by saying it aloud, but this man just gave off a different vibe. Competence. No, not that. More like authority. 

"About the guards, I think they're- aaaand you left already." 

Vakker didn't seem keen on wasting any more time on this than necessary, which left Everett just having to trust the stranger knew what he was doing. 

He tails after him as they approach the guards once more. The one Everett had been talking to earlier gives a stink-eye as they walk up. 

"Told you do disperse already."

The man then looks at Vakker and furrows his brow, unsure of what to make of the satyr's appearance just yet. 

"You didn't tell me to disperse. I believe this is the first time I've approached you." Vakker corrected the guard with a friendly smile, a hand on his chest. He gave a slight nod of his head before continuing, as if the guard wasn't glaring at him, clearly pissed at him.

"Now, I'd like to know just what you think you and your fellow guards are doing here. You know this can't be right. Arresting people with no evidence clearly violates the law. Any real guard would know that, as would any noble who was at least slightly competent at their job." He said, emphasizing "real guard" and taking pleasure in the man's eyebrow furrowing further as he did so. Judging by that reaction, he only grew more confident that his assumptions were correct. These guards weren't real city guards and they didn't care, or probably even know, the laws they were pretending to be upholding.

The fake guard realized Vakker knew what he was, but he didn't seem to have picked up on his following jab at the noble that hired him. That was fine with Vakker. Once this ordeal was dealt with, he could go tell that noble to their face that they'd made an idiotic move here and he had to clean up after them. He just needed to find out from these guards which noble that was.

"Lumen? Farkal? Mystwud?" Vakker began to rattle off a few names of some noble houses he knew, watching the man's face closely. "Surely not DeCart..." He said, but the widening eyes of the guard gave it away. "It was DeCart? Ha! Well, it makes sense. He did get hit pretty hard by the Red Rogues last year." Vakker concluded with a shrug.

Everett doesn't really understand what Vakker is doing, but the satyr has so much charisma and confidence that he doesn't mind just watching. From what he can tell, Vakker is getting more information out of the guards without even needing them to say a thing. It's...impressive. If not a bit terrifying. 

The "guards" clearly agree, as they are much more on edge now than they were before after Vakker makes his conclusions about their employer. They starts to cautiously approach and circle the pair, cautiously reaching for their weapons while glancing around for any legitimate guards that might interfere with them disposing of a couple of pests. 

Everett's hand moves towards his own blade in response, but he doesn't make any sudden movements. They're outnumbered, and he's not sure if the satyr has any skills beyond his silver tongue. 

"You should mind your own business," warns the one Vakker had been reading the expressions of. "Sticking your nose into things is a good way to get it broken." 

A few more "guards" appear from behind the corner of the building. Now they were REALLY outnumbered at two to six. Damn, Everett grips the hilt of his rapier. Who's to say how many more might crawl out of the woodwork should a fight break out. Even if these are fake guards, that doesn't mean they won't be trouble to fend off.