Solo Death List

[Sayana]

Summer 6, 516 AV

It had been over half a season since Sayana had spoken to the dhani about his nuit problem. Since then, she had thought about a suitable plan, however, several events had distracted her from truly acting upon it. Still, she did not intend to bail on her end of the bargain. Frankly, it was too interesting a challenge to give it up.

The Eypharian held up the tattered and torn cloak, looking at it critically. Near the collar it looked a little too new, and she promptly used a dagger to cut a jagged line in it. Much better. The dirty water had also done wonders on making the cloak look worn. Now for the less fun part. She began mussing up her curly brown locks and adding dirt to her face. To be thorough, she also added dirt to her neck, chest, arms and ankles. If anyone ended up seeing more of her legs than just her ankles, she was surely doing something wrong. But when she glanced at her sleek black boots, she gave a sigh and resigned to leave them behind.

Barefooted with drab clothes under the tattered cloak and dirt all over, she took on quite the persona as she left her apartment. For the most part she kept her head down, not wishing to draw attention to herself, and surprisingly people tended to turn their eyes away from the dirt poor woman she resembled. Her low and mid arms were effectively concealed under the cloak and she chose to only bring a single dagger long with her, also well hidden.

First stop was the Great Bazaar. She needed a wheelbarrow or cart of some sort. When she found an appropriate stall with various tools and farm implements, she found it difficult to get the shopkeeper’s attention. When she finally did, he seemed to want nothing to do with haggling and nearly turned her away before she produced the required coin. Only then did he grudgingly make the exchange and quickly shooed her off.

It squeaked as she wheeled it along, but few people paid her mind. A couple knights gave her hard stares of disdain, particularly when she left via the main gates, but she managed to avoid any undue harassment. Once well outside the city and into the Bronze Woods, Sayana began her search for dry wood. While small sticks were plentiful, she instead looked for thicker branches. The Eypharian swung her axe hard against a fallen, but not yet rotten branch. Once, twice, snap… The branch broke under the impact. Then she proceeded to chop it into more manageable sizes. Sayana continued her wood gathering and placed the pieces into the wheelbarrow. It was long arduous work, much more tiring than she had originally planned but after a couple bells she had enough wood to haul back to the city.

“Firewood… firewood for sale,” she spoke meekly as she wheeled the wood through the busy streets. A few people would turn, but not many. She kept her voice quiet and pitiful, not wanting to attract too much attention at this stage. The one time when she did get someone who looked like a potential buyer, she scurried off as if frightened and soon blended into the crowd once more.

She worked her way up towards the docks, but turned and Winthrop Alley before reaching them. There, a towering smokestack was her goal. She had to remember to keep her excitement from showing and maintain her slow staggering steps under the weight of the wheelbarrow. When she got to Li Mauta, the mortuary, she knocked hard on the door with more vigor than before.

“Firewood! Firewood for sale!”

ReceiptWheelbarrow/cart - 15 gm

[Sayana]

The door of the mortuary swung open. An old looking man looked out sharply with an annoyed expression. “We already have enough firewood. I’ve got a good supplier who gives me good quality wood for the furnace. No need for… branches from you.”

“But please sir,” Sayana spoke up before the door was slammed in her face. “Just a couple silvers. I haven’t any money. I can get you more wood. Better quality wood. I can come back tomorrow.” She kept up the act. Her voice loud enough to be heard but still terribly meek.

Benoit, owner of Li Mauta paused at her pleas. And with that moment’s pause, Sayana played one more card. “If I don’t get work soon, the knights will send me out of the city.”

“Alright, but one silver. Not a couple, not a few. One. One silver for your whole wheelbarrow of wood.”

“Yes, yes. Thank you Sir. And I come back tomorrow with more? Just tell me where to put it.”

As she unloaded the wood into a stock pile near the furnace, her eyes darted about the inside of the mortuary. She had been there once before, but it had been so long ago and such a short time that she hadn’t really gotten a good look at it. There was definitely a front area and a back area behind closed doors. There were a few tables, bottles lining the shelves, papers and books. The latter items surprised her. Why write about dead people?

When she was done with the wood, she thanked the man graciously and promised to come back again the next day. She cast her eyes one last time around the mortuary, then took her wheelbarrow and hobbled away.

She hadn’t learned anything particularly of interest that first day, but she hadn’t expected to either. She had gotten herself acquainted with the owner and she would be returning on a regular basis. Most importantly, she now had an ‘in’ at the place most commonly visited by nuits.

[Sayana]

Summer 8, 516 AV

The next few days were rather uneventful. She found she couldn’t sleep in the dirty and rather smelly garments, so she found herself taking baths much more frequently. Still, she donned the same dirty rags whenever she went about her business as the wood seller and got plenty sweaty after chopping wood for two or three bells. Ironically, she learned what made good quality burning wood and what was no better than scraps. Good wood tended to be freshly fallen trunks that were not rotten through yet. She often needed to split the chunks once chopped through. However small branches were almost thought of as kindling in the incinerating fire of the mortuary.

It was only by the third day that she finally overheard something of use at Li Mauta. Just prior to knocking on the door with her wheelbarrow of wood, she listened in for a moment and heard voices.

“It’s not going to hold up much longer. The hot weather is making it even worse. I need something soon.” Spoke an unfamiliar feminine voice. There was a sense of desperation that the nuit tried to rein in.

“There hasn’t been anyone suitable yet. You know the rules. Only bodies of those unconnected to the city of Syliras. Unfortunate travelers and the like. I’ll send word to you as soon as something comes up.” The second voice was most definitely Benoit.

This was what Sayana had been waiting for. Some nuit other than Benoit who she could follow and learn their habits, until she was ready to seize the opportunity. But if the nuit was just about to leave…

After some quick thinking, Sayana realized that if she knocked on the door now, it would look suspicious if she attempted to follow the nuit without finishing unloading the wood. And by then, would the trail have gone cold?

Hurriedly, she spun the wheelbarrow around and tried to find a place out of sight for it, behind a building or some such. Just as she had gotten the wheelbarrow to a little nook in Winthrop Alley, the door of the mortuary opened and out came a pale looking woman. If nothing else, the flustered look of the woman marked her as the nuit who had been speaking moments prior. Sayana stayed with her wheelbarrow, feigning taking a rest and wiping her dirty brow. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the nuit headed down the street. The nuit kept her clothes tightly wrapped about herself as if it might protect her from the searing rays of Syna.

As the nuit headed off down the street, Sayana began her pursuit. She stayed a good distance behind and shuffled along trying to look like she didn’t have anywhere to go. There was the occasional look of disdain, but most tried to look away from the sight of her dirty rags. But it made it difficult to keep the nuit in sight if she was lagging behind too far. At one point Sayana thought she lost the nuit entirely, but then she saw a door close shut and she hastened her walk towards the inner corridors of city.

Within the hallways, Sayana had to keep much closer to the nuit, but it also meant there were plenty of corners to hide behind. The couple times in which she lost sight of her target, the Eypharian stopped to listen and was promptly greeted by footsteps in one direction or another. However one time when she stopped to do such, instead of finding the nuit she came across another Syliran, nearly bumping into him.

“S-sorry Sir. Apologies…” She stuttered in distress, but he paid her no mind other than a brief glare. Now what? There weren’t too many people in this area of the city and she hadn’t heard any other footsteps. The Eypharian suddenly realized that the nuit might have gone into one of the apartments. That the nuit had reached her home. Sayana started listening at the doors in the area.

“Can’t he see that I can hardly last a dozen days? What if it takes half a season? Or even a full season for a suitable body?” There were sounds of pacing from within and Sayana was certain she had found her target’s home.

She took out her dagger and cut a small nick in wooden door frame. She took one more look at the hallway to memorize the location, then traced her way back through the winding corridors to the open air.

[Sayana]

The firewood.

Sayana had gone almost four blocks before she remembered that she hadn’t actually delivered the firewood yet. Quickly she changed her course and headed back towards Winthrop Alley. Just as she was grabbing the handles of the wheelbarrow, a voice came from behind.

“I wondered where you had gone. I was almost about to start unloading myself.”

Sayana nearly jumped as she caught sight of Benoit right there on the street with her. “I, I…” she stammered and then the simple streak of inspiration came to her. “I was grabbing a bite to eat. Apologies Sir. Thought you wouldn’t mind.” “At this hour?” He questioned, as it was clearly afternoon by then. “I was really hungry.”

After a pause, he seemed to buy it and together they headed over to the mortuary, Sayana with her squeaky wheelbarrow. She unloaded the wood like usual and she thanked him graciously for the silver coin he provided. As soon as she got home, she rid herself of the dirty garments, but didn’t throw them out. In case she was unsuccessful or her target was no longer suitable, she wanted to keep her place of temporary work at the mortuary.

For the next few days, she kept tabs on the female nuit. Her wood selling ruse still took up a few bells each day, but during the rest of the day she could track and follow the nuit. She would choose different clothes, sometimes her dark cloak other times her dancer’s outfit and sometimes just a long elegant black gown. But always she would either blend in with other people on the street, or keep out of sight by ducking around corners and staying a good distance away.

After tracking and following the nuit, there were two patterns that emerged. One, the nuit seemed to work as a copier at Qayala’s Quill. And two, every night at sunset the nuit would go on a walk about two bells long and then return home to sit with a candle either reading or copying for at least a few more bells.

It was time to meet with the dhani to make their move.

[Samuel Longwell]

Grading Complete Please edit your grade request thread so that it's obvious that it's been graded. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions/problems with your grade. Name: Character 1 XP Award: Disguise 2 Acting 4 Planning 2 Persuasion 1 Intelligence 2 Wilderness Survival 1 Endurance 1 Tracking 2 Stealth 2 Lore: People often don't pay attention to the poor. Location: Li Mauta How to spot good firewood. Tracking: Keep to a moderate distance from the target. Nuit Target: Copier at Qayala's Quill Nuit Target: Takes long walks at sunset. Rewards: 1GM for the sale of firewood. Notes: A very well written thread. It was a pleasure to read and grade.