The Stars Over Mestea

Cyrus decides to follow Aragato's advice: find out who wants to know about ancient astrologers. He remembers that Uncas is trying to get him to sell information about the investigation; surely the buyer wants to know something. He hunts down Uncas. (Lori: "I should know his territory because I'm trying to avoid it.") When he finds Uncas, sitting in one of his usual spots, he tells Uncas he's now willing to sell. But who is the buyer and what does he want? Uncas demurs: he's only a broker. He will go to his buyer, and get back to Cyrus later in the evening [as to whether the buyer wants to tell him anything?]

When Uncas ambles away, Cyrus decides to follow him. He dishevels himself to look less obvious, and follows. [First failed roll of the night. Lori spends a Fudge point.] Meanwhile, Uncas, although apparently unaware of his tail, dodges through alleys and takes a twisty route to shake off pursuit. Cyrus loses him in the port area of town. Seeing himself near a temple of Poseidon known for caring for indigent sailors, he peeks inside to see if Uncas has been there. One of the resident sisters sees Cyrus, and mistakes him for a sailor: "Dinner won't be for a couple of hours." Cyrus, feeling a need to shake off the dust of his disguise, asks if there are facilities for cleaning up. The sister looks more closely at him: "You're not one of the regulars. But there's a basin there you can use." Cyrus thanks her, washes, and leaves.

Meanwhile, at the Far Traveller, Gorgos, Damos, and Xeneus are settling into their private room, while Megaman sits in the common room. Damos cuts a hole in the privacy curtain to spy on the common room. Gorgos taps him on the shoulder: "Damos, Megaman says I have ancestors, too. Is that magic?" Damos asserts that all men have ancestors, but Gorgos is still troubled. "Is my father an ancestor?" Seeing how the wind is blowing, Damos brings Xeneus into the conversation. Xeneus, still confused and frightened as to why these men have brought him here, gladly converses with Gorgos as to ancestors as they drink their beer.

When a short, ugly man with a twisted nose (which Damos is beginning to admit might not be a disguise) enters the room, he is greeted by many of the patrons in the common room. Damos swiftly drags Xeneus to the peephole: "Is that the messenger?" "Yes," says Xeneus. Damos tells him to sit down and be quiet, and he and Gorgos approach Leus, the messenger. Tapping him on the shoulder, Damos asks Leus to come with him. Leus is confused, but compliant. They go to Megaman's table, and then ask Leus to come outside. Leus resists. Gorgos asks if he can hit him now, but Damos demurs. "We need to talk to you, in privacy."

"Privacy? I have no secrets. My friends here can hear all of my business."

"I don't believe you'd want them to hear this business. Outside." When Leus continues to protest, Damos mutters into his ear: "The game is over. Lord Demios has told us all. You are in trouble," while Gorgos and Megaman scowl.

Leus is confused, but allows himself to be steered outside, telling his friends, "This is a misunderstanding. I'll be back later."

Outside, in the ally, Leus is still resistant. "What would Lord Damios have to say about me? Why should I care?"

"Did you not inform certain nobles that their ancestors' tombs had been despoiled?"

"Yeess, but this was public knowledge."

"Still, you knew of it first. I don't think the nobles would like to hear that you had been robbing their tombs." Leus is not scared. Gorgos wants to hit him, but Megaman has a better idea. He materializes a small flame in midair. [Second failed roll of the night. Darryl spends a Fudge point.] Damos hisses. "You see that? My friend can do that...at a distance. Across the city, even. He doesn't even have to see you. We can get you any time." Leus pales a bit. Gorgos pales, too. [Tom: "I check to see if I wet my pants." (Rolls dice.) "Nope."] Damos continues. "Who hires you to tell the nobles about their tombs?"

"I meet this man, about once a week. Sometimes he has something for me, sometimes not."

"Where?"

Leus meets his contact at the Dancing Fish. He is very agreeable to bringing the group to meet his contact. Since he is to meet his contact later that night, and there is time to kill, Gorgos volunteers to go to the Dancing Fish early and look the place over. Not knowing what to do with their captive, Megaman takes him back into the Far Traveller to drink before taking him to the Dancing Fish. Mistrusting the arrangements, Damos waits on the street, and disappears into a shadow, in case Leus escapes Megaman's grip.

Gorgos meets Cyrus on his way to the Dancing Fish. Gorgos is frightened. "Did you know he can do it at a distance?"

"Who can do what?"

"At a distance! He can do it at a distance!" [Somebody suggested, "Wet his pants!"]

Cyrus gives up trying to understand what Gorgos is so nervous about. Gorgos asks him to wait outside--he wants to go in first.

When Gorgos enters, he sees a rather handsome man flirting with the barmaid. Furious, he punches the guy, knocking him down. He then flings the man out into the street, shouting, "And don't ever come back!"

The barmaid is unhappy. "Why did you do that?"

"He was flirting with you!"

"Gorgos, he rents a room here!"

"Not anymore! He's not coming back."

"Who is going to pay for his room, then?"

"Uh...I'll pay for it!"

"He rents by the week."

"Um. Just a minute." Gorgos, realizing he doesn't have that much money, goes back outside. The man is stirring, trying to get up. Gorgos pounds him again.

"What's your problem?" the man protests.

"Tell you what. You give me money to pay for a room for a week, and we'll call it even."

"Why should I pay you? I already paid the barmaid."

"Nevermind. Just pay me, and we'll call it even."

The man asks if he can get up, and Gorgos nods. The man slowly reaches into a pocket...and pulls a knife. "Just leave me the heck alone!" he shouts, waving the knife. Gorgos, enraged, pulls out his truncheon, but misses, and the man manages to scratch him with the knife.

Cyrus, watching the battle and not understanding it, pulls his own knife. Trying to disarm the stranger, he misjudges, and severs the tendons of the man's wrist. [+3 roll; Legendary result.] The stranger's knife drops out of nerveless fingers.

"Who the hell are you? Why don't you people leave me alone?"

"Just sit down, and let me bandage that."

The stranger sits. But Gorgos was not party to the agreement, and aims a vicious bash at the man's knee. [Another Legendary result.] The man screams, crippled and disarmed. Gorgos quickly rifles the man's pockets, pulls out his money. Not knowing what a room costs, he takes about half, and throws the rest to the ground. "There! Now we're even!" he shouts, stepping back into the Dancing Fish. "And don't ever come back here again!" he shouts back at the stranger.

Cyrus, left with the stranger, decides to help him. He carries the victim back to the temple of Poseidon, and leaves him on the doorstep--and incidentally, scoops up the rest of his money.

Meanwhile, back at the Far Traveller, Leus is trying to figure an angle with Megaman. "Why is a firemage interested in this?"

"Why, indeed?"

"And Lord Demios...powerful folk are interested in this. There's also talk of a vampire in the town. [Yes; I hadn't mentioned this before.] Maybe he's to blame."

"The tombs were broken into, not out of."

"I can investigate...see who's behind all this..."

Megaman won't take the bait. "We'll meet your contact first, and then we'll see."

It was time to go. On the way to the door, Leus bumps into a man, and tries to run for it. Megaman is not fooled [Burns another fudge point] and takes a firmer grip on Leus.

Gorgos is at the bar in the Dancing Fish. "Gimme a drink."

"No."

"Oh, yeah. Please, please, give me a drink, sugarlump?"

"Okay."

"Have you ever seen a really short, ugly guy, with a twisted nose come in here?"

"Oh, that's Leus! Sure, all the time. He comes about once a week."

"Oh. What does he do?"

"He usually talks with this one guy."

"Uh, do you know who?"

"Sure, he's the guy you just threw out of here."

Gorgos sputters. "He can do it at a distance! Ohmigod!" In sudden terror of Megaman, he rushes into the street, right into Cyrus. "Where'd you put him?"

"I dropped him on the doorstep of the temple of Poseidon, why?"

"He's the contact! We've got to talk to him!"

"I'm not going back inside that temple! They know me now!"

"He's not going to talk to me, either!"

"We'll ask Megaman to talk to him."

"Megaman! Ohmigod! He can do it at a distance!"

"Do what?"

"Never mind. Where's Damos?"

Damos was lurking in an spot where he could see the entrance to the Far Traveler without being noticed. When Megaman came out, Leus firmly in his grasp, Damos followed at a safe distance, just in case Leus tried anything. Halfway to the Dancing Fish, Cyrus accosted Megaman and Leus. Damos couldn't hear their conversation, but figured it was time to join the group. Leus is confused: "If you wanted to talk to my contact, why did you beat him up?" Cyrus shrugs; he never heard Gorgos's reason. Damos prepares to enter the temple of Poseidon, while Cyrus, Megaman, and Leus will meet him at the Dancing Fish.

Gorgos has entered the temple, and asks to speak with the injured man. The priestess refuses, says it's their policy to not let strangers speak to their patients. Gorgos, not knowing what else to do, joins the prayer group.

Damos goes to the waterfront, and scrounges up a piece of wood to use as a staff. He rolls in the mud, and gets himself dirty, then presents himself to the temple of Poseidon as a wandering healer, a follower of Aesculpas. Playing it subtly, he tells the priestess he felt drawn to their temple, and prepares to join the prayer group. She hesitates, then says perhaps it was providential he arrived: they have an injured man. Damos agrees to look at him immediately; prayers can wait while there are sick. It is in fact the contact that Gorgos beat up, but it's too late: the priestesses have given him a tea to put him to sleep, and Damos dares not wake him to interrogate him. One of the priestesses says the man didn't want treatment; "'Just take me to Sennesh Haburta,' he insisted, but we wouldn't let a man in his condition go anywhere." Damos praises the priestesses for their efforts, tells them the man is not to be woken, and not be permitted to leave in the morning until he's had a chance to see him again.

Going back downstairs, he rejoins the prayer circle, and notices Gorgos praying. Damos curses under his breath; the shallow Gorgos will recognize him and blow his con, so he hides his face and sits behind Gorgos. After a short time, Cyrus comes in and taps Gorgos on the shoulder: "Megaman wants to see you."

"Megaman! Ohmigosh, ohmigosh..." he allows himself to be led out.

Damos shrugs. He waits a bit longer, rises. The priestess invites him to stay the night, but he regretfully turns her down: "I have taken an oath to never sleep under a roof." He hobbles out the door.

The group reassembles outside of the Dancing Fish. Leus is let go after Damos reminds him that "We have ways of knowing where you are, and we can burn you, anywhere, any time. Remember that." Gorgos gulps. Damos shares his information, and the group ponders 'Sennesh Haburta.'

"We need to finish the job tonight," says Damos. "We have not been subtle, and news will be around fast. We'll need the culprit to present to Lord Iphios immediately." As they ponder how they'll discover what Sennesh Haburta is, Megaman impishly suggests they give the barmaid a big tip, because she's pretty. Gorgos's expression is a mixture of fear and hatred.

Meanwhile, in a back room of the Far Traveller, surrounded by empty beer cups, Xeneus wonders if it's safe to leave the room yet...