Things were certainly picking up across Charon again. It was hard to tell exactly what was going on, but even Gerhart could feel the shifting in the air. Something was building whether it was the fae stuff going on, more bandit groups attacking the fighter's guild, or just the unrest in general, things were changing. The ranger just had to hope it would eventually change for the better. Things looked good after Vulcadreus right?

Yeah, everything turned out fiiiiine....except for all the destruction. Other than that it was totally fine.

With this misplaced confidence he headed towards Gundao with his trademark grin. His hands rested on the pommels of his swords as he walked with a loose gait. Halcyon soared above and Thoman trotted beside him. This seemed like it should be pretty straightforward. They just wanted him to talk to some people and figure out what was going on. Hart can talk to people...whether they want to talk to him or not. 

He had gained a bit of a reputation thanks to traveling around with Cirice more, but this was a new town. Plus he was certainly well less known around here than he was in Moonglade. Still, he was a nice boy or at least so he was told by Madam Eva. Time to just hit the first tavern and hope it goes well.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: When the Wolf Cries
Participants: Two or more
Location: Crescent Isles
Post Requirements: 5 posts per person, 200 words per post
Reward: Ability to take on Part 2, +1 Renown
Description: Grand Chancellor Lao has become inundated with requests from the prosperous trading hub of Guandao City; supposedly, revolts and riots have broken out several times over the last month in and around the silver and gold warehouse sections of the city. The miners, smiths, and craftsman alike have all had grievances over this matter, all believing their livelihood has come into question. The Grand Chancellor has tasked various adventurers with discovering who may or may not be fomenting unrest in the city. All that has been asked of you is to locate one of the many people who have been the root of the riots. Question locals, investigate the riots, and get to the bottom of the disruptions.

All signs so far point to the Royal Office of Treasure and Commerce itself, possibly over fear that the Gold and Silver industry is gaining too much power over the others. Your investigation will uncover that the Crown is causing this unrest due to fears of the growing economic strength of the Isles.

A cacophony of accusatory shouts, hushed whispers and venomous tones echoed throughout Guandao City, an immediate opener to the bubbling hostility nested in the denizens' hearts. It was good that Ambika managed to secure entry into Crescent Isles before The Crown further tightened their "security net" around the region. Moving between islands was already becoming increasingly tedious with all the check points and arbitrary curfews, so she was genuinely glad to be able to make her way to a major trading hub. Higher chances of finding her son.

Still, these were very much unfamiliar lands to herself, so Ambika opted for the tried-and-true method of going into a tavern and listening to the words uttered by alcohol-loosened lips. Not all of them will be absolute truths, but having some idea of the happenings through the words of the locals is better than nothing.

With that, Ambika walked into the first tavern and found her eyes immediately locking onto Gerhart, a trained instinct of hers to find any possibly threats. Sigh. This was going to be awkward, wasn't it? Ignoring him was absolutely not an option either, so she might as well just go straight into it, carrying herself to a seat next to him and taking a seat without a second thought.

"Hello again, Gerhart." Ambika spoke while keeping her eyes mainly on the ins and outs of the tavern. "What brings you here?" She could roughly guess it was probably about the unrest, but it was worth asking to be sure.

Where some see tension and fraught nerves, others found a strange camaraderie with the people in the tavern. The tension was there, but some seemed to be ignoring it. Gerhart especially so given the fact he was currently wrapped up in a series of bar games with the few people around him. The patrons are trying to bounce solars into mugs of ale and on a succesful shot chugging down the drink as fast as they can. Hopefully they don't also swallow the coin, but mistakes happen.

Thoman stretches up to the table to steal some scraps while everyone is distracted. The dog curls up beside Gerhart, content to chew on the large bone he got. Gerhart grins and laughs as he clunks his mug onto the table and sees Ambika.

"Yo!" He pats the back of a draconynh man and shifts positions to let them takeover his spot while he talks with Ambika. "Ah nothing important. Just enjoying the sights and sounds."

It wasn't a very well done coded message, but Gerhart was trying. There was a not entirely subtle look and expression he was trying to give to Ambika about the others at the table. The core of the group that had gathered at the table did look a bit different than the rest of the patrons. None of them looked like obvious criminals, but they all stuck out just enough from the locals.

"I see." Ambika observed his demeanour and moved her eyes to where Gerhart's attention was directed, and picked up on the subtleties near-immediately. The rancid scent of seemingly discreetly flaunting wealth by way of indulging in foolish gambling, where others were more conservative in their affairs.
"May I join in?" Ambika asked the group.
"A granny like you?" One of the players scoffed.
"Yeh, get outta here, old lady. This game ain't for the likes of ya." The main referee chimed in.
Ambika simply removed a Solar from her clothing and flipped it dead center into a wooden beer mug.
"May I join in?" Ambika repeated her question with the exact same tone, but it somehow felt more threatening now.
"Fine, ya old sod. Ya got spunk, I'll give ya that." The referee acquiesced and handed her the mug she'd flipped her Solar into. "Don't disappoint us, ya hear me?" Ambika promptly grabbed the mug by the handle and downed the ale as quickly as she could. Drinking was not her strong suit, but she could damn well hold her liquor. Once she was finished, she would move the Solar that she had left suspended at the center of the mug the entire time to her mouth[1] and present it to the table.
"Well I'll be! Yer' a good one, woman."
"Shame that ya won't be good for long!" The referee threw a throwing knife at her right eye, which she intercepted with the beer mug still on her hand and immediately followed by throwing the mug at his face, which was blocked by his arms.

Ambika never liked bar brawls. Gods knew the amount of people who would attempt to indiscreetly lay their hands on her whenever one broke out in her youth. So she made use of a Long Stride to gain distance between herself and the rest of the table, and to assess Gerhart's reaction to the happenings.

---

[1]Minor Trickery

"Hey now, hey now, calm yourselves, all friends here." He grinned and patted the back of one of the men.

As stupidly misogynistic as it was, Gerhart stepping in did seem to calm them just a bit. They still gruffed and grumbled about it, but at least they would back down a bit. It was annoying to have to do, but the ranger shouldn't be surprised. These aren't guys on the up and up.

He smirked seeing Ambika dive right into the game. His eyes just barely caught the subtle magic, though he didn't really have any idea what was cast. Didn't matter anyways. Whatever works works, right? He did sigh seeing the knife thrown though.

"Well, this was entirely unnecessary." He looks at the men.

"You wanted her in, so your ass is getting kicked too." The other man took a sloppy and wide swing.

Gerhart moved to the side used the flat of his boot to push the man's bottom and knock him over, "You sure about that?"

"Let's just all take it down a few several notches, it's a drinking game. Some people are going to be good at drinking games. Gonna risk a bloody nose just cause you lost a solar?"

It was clear Gerhart wasn't exactly scared of the fight, but he would much rather avoid it if possible. He is fully armed and has his armor on, so its not like he is at some sort of disadvantage. Between himself and Ambika they could wipe the floor with these guys, but getting information out of sleeping people is notoriously hard to do.

"Hmph. Fine." A twinge of common sense would take over the patron. They could probably take on the old woman, yes, but a fully-armoured young man sounded like more trouble than it was worth.
"Here's ya bloody Solar, ya old lady. Now get outta here." The patron grumpily pushes a Solar towards the edge of the table. Ambika would approach the table once more and slid it right back at the patron with a finger.
"Consider this a trade. You tell me how you earned these Solars and this coin is yours," she stared straight at the group's eyes, emanating the most unscrupulous vibe she could pull and hoping their greed would win over their fear.
"_{Ye think we can trust her?}" One man whispered.
"_{She does seem like a sharp one, and I barely heard any footsteps when she walked over,}" another man muttered.
"_{I assume we're all in agreement then.}" The patron looked at everyone's eyes.

"Come on, we'll talk outside." The patron stood up and headed towards the back entrance and Ambika would follow him out, discreetly lowering a glass sphere[1][2] from under her overcoat onto the ground, hoping that Gerhart would notice it.

"Go to the docks and find a tavern with this symbol. Let the bartender know Quinn introduced ya." The patron drew a symbol over a little piece of paper and handed it over to her.

"Thank you." Ambika then rolled the glass sphere slightly towards where she remembered his feet stood, and rolled it towards the front entrance as a signal of sorts. She would then pretend to walk towards the docks until she confirmed the patron re-entered the tavern, and then slip her way to the opposite side of the building.

---

[1]Minor Trickery
[2]Improvisation Engineer: Glass Sphere (+ Crude Gunpowder + Flash Powder)

"Well, that was wholly weird." He shakes his head with a smile as people start to shuffle away.

There are a few disappointed faces in the crowd as many wanted a fight. Fights are good entertainment, plus a good way to make some coin with some flash bets. Oh well, the night wasn't totally over maybe someone else will get drunk enough.

Gerhart rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh catching the movent of the bottle out of the corner of his eye. He clicks his tongue and Thoman stands causing the dog to stand. The ranger flicks his head and the dog complies, heading for the door to go relieve himself outside.

The barkeep raises an eyebrow and opens the door for the dog before looking to Gerhart, "Well trained?"

"Something like that." He grins and sits back down picking up some of the solars left behind at the table.

Thoman trots over to an alley to listen in on the conversation. What most didn't know was this was more than just a regular dog, much like his owner, Thoman seems unassuming and easy to ignore at first. Sure, he's pretty tough as any wolfdog would be, but he is also just a dog on first glance.

The dog heads back inside after catching the conversation and heads right back to Gerhart, "Seems like they are planning to meet up at some other tavern."

"Then why get drunk here first? Seems odd."

"Most of what humans do is pretty confusing."

Gerhart chuckles and ruffles the dog's ears, "Yeah I suppose you're right on that one." The ranger pauses before catching Ambika re-enter the tavern. "Having fun out there?"

"You ought to learn better jokes. Come along, I know somewhere better." Ambika levitated her glass sphere onto her palm as she turned around to leave, paying little mind to the patron who seemed somewhat betrayed but had nothing he could latch onto. He never said she had to go alone, after all.

Once they were a distance from the tavern, Ambika would show the piece of paper given to her just now to Gerhart. The crudely drawn symbol was that of a stylized sun with a wavy-Y shape in its core.

"Be ready for anything." She still hadn't any real idea on what he wanted, but someone reputable enough as him would not likely close an eye to whatever was going on here. Ambika had no real skin in the game, but she was, at the very least, no longer as urgently looking for her son as she was previously. Not when it was guaranteed at some point.

Finding the well-furbished tavern with the symbol at an unobtrusive side alley in a far corner of the docks, Ambika would open the single-leaf door without hesitation, noting the craftsmanship on its handle as she placed her hand over it. A lot of money invested into a building in a terrible location. Whoever commissioned this building had an exceedingly inflated sense of pride.
"Excuse me, madam, but we are not open today." The interior was dark, with little more than a lantern sitting on the bar counter providing light for the tall, elegant Sun Elf bartender standing behind it and polishing a wine bottle.
"Quinn sent us here." Ambika replied simply.
"Ah, come in then." The bartender nodded and Ambika would walk in, keeping her eyes squarely on the bartender while sensing the presence of two other figures hiding in the shadows. Best to hide her talons for now, though there was of course the possibility they were already compromised.
"We were in need of a runner for an 'errand' of ours." The bartender let out a smirk and reached under the bar counter, coming back up with a smoke grenade in hand. "There will be a protest in about an hour from now at the silver and gold warehouse sections of the city. What we would like you to do is to throw this into the crowd and cause a ruckus amidst the confusion. Return here safely without being tracked, and you shall have your reward."
"I see. Understood." No point in not taking the smoke grenade, so Ambika did. Though whatever would come next was up to Gerhart.

"Good talk." Gerhart chuckles as Ambika is all business.

He ruffles Thoman's ears again as he finishes his drink and stands. The pilfered coins are set on the bar as he passes to pay for the drinks and the damaged cups. With his faithful hound at his heel, the ranger heads out the door.

"You got the invite." He motions for Ambika to head on in, he would find an alternative entrance.

Gerhart takes the long way around to give her some time to get inside and get settled. At the backside of the tavern he finds the entrance and slips into the kitchen. He gives a smile to the cooks as he heads to the door and rests against the door frame out of sight. The conversation trickles in through the gaps in the door.

"Should we worry?"

"Nah, just chasing down a girl."

"Stalker?" The chef flourishes a knife with a smirk.

"Pfft, I wish, that would be easier. Pretty sure she's sneaking around on me. Gotta catch her in the act ya know?"

"How long she been actin funny?"

"Normally, I would love to dish like this, but it is hard to gather my evidence. This is a legit operation!"

"Sorry, sorry, carry on....actually pass me a tomato."

Gerhart stifles a little laugh and tosses a tomato over to the chef before looking out the window hole of the door. A ruckus huh? Strange to be pre-planning stuff like this. Plenty of people were already antsy for some outlets for aggression. This seemed a little bit more planned than a proper riot.

"Who's the new guy? I don't remember him."

"Who the barkeep? Ah the old guy got pretty sick apparently, this guy happened to come right in off the boat had the skills we needed. Figured why wait and prolong the process? I got customers who want drinks."

"Pretty lucky."

"I know, right?"

He'd signal best he could to Ambika to just head out. Gerhart would be able to catch up easily enough, but he had some things to do.

Ambika caught a glimpse of Gerhart peering in from the kitchen door, who seemed to be telling her to just leave, and so she would do precisely that, pretending not to notice the two figures standing at the corners of the dining space, spying and soon to be following her.

Ambika considered her next actions. Actually performing the deed would be easy enough for her, but that would mean allowing herself to be used as a tool for further misfortune. She had no interest in returning to criminal life, and more importantly, the Florentio in her memories would frown at her so. Luckily for her though, there was a metalwork shop along one of the alleys leading up to the gold and silver warehouse districts that was actually open despite the mounting protests. She had time to burn anyway, and reflective metal surfaces made for workable mirrors.

Ambika would peruse the myriad merchandise meticulously positioned to lure in as much interest as possible, before removing one of the most reflective items she could find in the shop - a metallic fireball paperweight - from its placement and pretending to enjoy its craftsmanship when in reality, she was trying to eye her stalkers through its smooth, curved surfaces - a Halfling armed with daggers, and an unarmed Human with wrappings around her wrists, probably a fighter of some sort. Their footwork was relatively silent, suggesting some capacity for stealth. Sigh. Perhaps Gerhart would have better luck with his endeavours, she thought, as she left the shop and considered how she ought to deal with them.

"Do me a favor? Call the barkeep in here...think I saw my girl slip him something, wanna see if its a love note. I'll head out the front after that I promise!" He gives his most innocent getin.

The chef thinks it over a moment and agrees. Why not help the lovestruck loser? Gerhart cannot believe this stupid plan is actually working. It is like his dad said, sometimes you just have to fake it till you make it. The best lies don't make sense apparently.

He rolls out the door as the barkeep comes in and slinks towards the counter. Now, what kind of evidence might be left behind? Let's see, let's see.....hmmm. Ah ha! Gerhart snatches a purse of coins, likely the intended payment for this job.

The ranger pulls out a coin to look it over. Seems real, but something is off about it. This wasn't minted here in Moonglade. He would recognize the smithing mark of a Moonglade press, but this wasn't anything he recognized. He tucks the coin back into the purse and the purse into his hip pouch before vaulting the bar.

"Couldn't find my keys." He shrugs to the one patron giving him a look before heading out the door.

He and Thoman meet back up before heading off towards Ambika. The hound's scent tracking would be able to help them quickly make up lost ground. At this rate, whatever is going on might not be easy to stop. Either they were looking for someone to spark the powderkeg or to pin the blame on when it all went down. This was a plan that was all too clever for Gerhart's liking.

Why did Zarius have to be dead? He was just the right kind of shifty to be able to figure this out. Gerhart had 0 criminal skills and thus 0 ideas on where to go from here. The hope was Ambika would...if only it weren't for those tails.

Stalking and tracking targets is something the ranger does know as a pretty solid hunter. They certainly weren't going to leave anything to chance. Fun. Time to do what he does best.

Gerhart intentionally trips into the halfling to aggressively pull his attention off of Ambika.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry....wait...Aleks?"

"What?"

"Are you Aleks from school?"

"Oh I get it cause, I'm small you think I'm a kid, prick. Get outta here."

"No, no I promise its not like that! You look just like this kid I knew at school, swear to Ginma, right down to the ugly face and terrible attitude!"

"Kid, get moving before you get hurt." The other human trailing Ambika cracks their knuckles looking to flank the ranger.

"Funny, I was gonna say the same thing to you two." As the human starts to throw a punch Gerhart pushes down on the pommel of one his swords, the scabbard flying upwards to deflect the punch.

He pulls his other blade out of the sheath to meet the dagger of the halfling, locking them both up.^[1]

Buying time turned out useful after all, as Ambika heard a thud from behind and following that, the voice of a certain Ser Gerhart Stanislav playing the fool and drawing her two stalkers off her and onto him. Well, she should probably provide some assistance then. Couldn't risk making too much of a fuss though, the airs around the place were like a fuse leading up to a volatile powder-keg.

A glass sphere tied and wrapped mostly in cloth[1] had its hard glass surface meet the exposed neck of the halfling, sending him careening into the ground unconscious and the glass sphere retracting back to her arm as she pulled it back following the impact. Her gut instincts told her the halfling would be more dangerous. The fighter would turn around upon noticing his fellow ally falling to the ground, only to be met with a bladed bolt[2] scraping her face.
"Lame! Is that... the..." A palpable fear would suddenly set in as the old woman she was tailing now felt like the most terrifying person in the world. Every step she took sent tremors to the fighter's heart, her inscrutable gaze as sharp as daggers to her soul, and her presence seemed to exude an unspeakable omen for what was to become of the fighter. A shriek almost escaped the fighter's mouth, forced back down by the words "Shout, and your life is forfeit."

"Now, tell me what you know about the unrest going on in Guandao." Ambika's voice was commanding, cold and calculated.
"I- we don't know what our clients are looking to achieve! They just say to keep inciting unrest in the silver and gold warehouse districts! All I know is that our clients have ties to the Crown!" The fighter blurted out the words near-immediately.
"What kind of ties?" Ambika continued with her interrogation, walking ever closer to the fighter.
"Uh, ah... Think, think! I think it was... Royal Office of Tressel and Compass?" The fighter instinctively knew she'd flubbed her answer, and visible droplets of sweat began trickling down her face.

Ambika would stop for a short instant, before jerking her upper body forward and whispering _"Boo." The fighter proceeded to faint from the sheer levels of horror that somehow exuded, collapsing into the ground, mouth drooling.
"Royal Office of Treasure and Commerce." Ambika corrected the name they were given. She hadn't the choice to be blissfully ignorant of the various political apparatuses of the Crown. After all, the Haysinthes were in some of those offices, and her Sol City family life regularly involved making sure her family collectively stayed out of those governmental bodies' radars. Treasure and Commerce, silver and gold. Something relating to wealth, perhaps the economy.

"Money buys power. That might be the trail we need to follow." If Florentio were here, he'd be elaborating and giving proper explanations. That was very much not her forte - neither the words needed to get the points across succinctly, nor the trains of thought required to see its full implications.

---

[1]Improvisation Engineer: Glass Sphere + Camo Cloth + Spidersilk Wire

[2]Fear Tip x1

"You guys are hilariously bad at your jobs." He grins and laughs as Ambika makes pretty short work of them.

They both scorn his just and grumble through their teeth. Gerhart tosses Ambika the coin purse he had stolen before fishing some rope from his pack to start tying these two people up.

"I think that was your payment, minted in Sol City, so not only are these guys bad at their jobs, but they also fold incredibly easily." One goes to make a noise of protest, but Gerhart yanks the knot around their wrist tight and cuts that off.

Eventually the guards finally arrive, well after everyone else had taken care of the job. Good work gentlemen. As pleasant as Gerhart always is, it seems he has some limits. ACAB runs deep in the Kymenos family.

Of course, he doesn't say anything but thanks and have a good day.

"You're probably right....we should probably keep on this for a bit. Can't imagine they are actually going to be of any use."