The merchant stares at Pale for a moment before replying, "I would, I suppose, if only to keep you from throwing more knives around. You won't be the only one, of course, but an extra hand is always useful."
As Pale retakes her seat, the vampiress slips her dagger back into the robes before turning back towards the merchant attentively. "Just say where I need to be and when."
"Dock 127c, the vessel called the Winking Python, ask for Captain Dantias. Tell him Rhuverth sent you to help secure cargo, he'll point you in the right direction. The sooner you get there, the better, as I intend to go with my companion here to secure the rest of the night's guards."
"I'll meet you there then, sir." Pale says, giving the man a small bow before heading out of the tavern and towards the docks. Smiling to herself, Pale breaks into a jog as soon as she's out, intending to get to the ship as soon as possible.
The merchant and his companions waved Pale off, and with that she left the tavern and set off toward the docks at a jog. She got a few looks from the guards that she passed, but was left unharassed by any of the people that she passed and arrived at the dock she'd been told to report to without incident. Finding the right place took her a little bit longer as the numbering of the docks was nigh impossible to decipher, but eventually Pale stumbled upon dock 127c, and the vessel moored beside it bore the words The Winking Python on its side.
Two men were seated on crates near the gang plank leading onto the ship, half hidden in shadow as the nearest torch was on the end of the dock. As Pale approached them they halted their quiet conversation and stood up, moving to block her path onto the vessel before on of them said, "Hold on girl, what do you think you're doing here?"
The search for the ship goes frustratingly slowly as Pale has to stop occasionally, trying to decipher the unclear markings. Nevertheless, the vampire manages to find the right ship only for her way to be blocked by two thuggish looking men.
Pale stops a respectful distance from the pair. "I'm looking for captain Dantias. Rhuverth sent me."
"Rhuverth sent yah did he?" the man replied skeptically as he eyed Pale for a moment. After a moment he questioned her in a demanding voice; "A man about my height and build, blue eyes and blond hair? Accompanied by a sellsword and a nobleman?" Pale knew full well that every part of that description was off. The man she'd met was much shorter than this one, had had brown hair and eyes, and had been accompanied by a guardsman and a stablehand. What she was going to say in response, however, was up to her.
Pale considers for a moment before answering while looking into the man's eyes: "No, he's shorter than you, with brown hair and brown eyes. The men with him... I think one of them was a guardsman. The other was a worker of some sort, perhaps a stableman."
"Right, good girl! Go on up," the man replied, gesturing with his head towards the deck of the ship. "Cap'n Dantias is down below decks, head down the stairs on your left. Big guy in a fancy hat, can't miss 'im."
If Pale followed the man's instructions, she would end up stepping down a wide flight of stairs and onto a cargo deck. A man wearing the slapped-together garments of a privateer and a large, wide brimmed hat with a feather coming out of the top was bickering with a trio of men in Lockacre guardsman uniforms, but their argument broke off before she could catch any of it when Pale walked down into the hold. "Yeah? Whatd'ya want lass?" the captain sputtered irritably.
"Thank you." With graceful steps Pale heads up the gangplank and to the deck, stealing a look around. Without a sound she continues down the stairs, focusing on what her ears and eyes can tell of what is waiting for her.
Seeing that the man has noticed her, Pale gives him a small bow. "Captain Dantias? Rhuverth sent me to help secure the cargo, sir."
"Soon eh? Alright we'll wait up a bit. What's yer name lady, and what are yer skills? We don't expect any trouble tonight, but if you're going to be doing something crazy in case we're wrong, I'd like to know to get out of the way ahead of time!" Captain Dantias asked, and after that there was only a brief wait before the merchant that had hired her stepped down into the hold as well, another four men in city guard uniforms present behind him. The man's brows furrowed as he swept his gaze over the hold, but then he nodded to Pale and then to the Dantias before he asked; "Is everything in order?" The captain nodded, "Aye. We're all ready."
The merchant then turned around and started up the steps, saying over his shoulder; "Then get these crates onto the deck and out onto the streets, Lord Helgain wants them at his holdings in the city before dawn." The captain was quick to shout up at the ceiling while the merchant departed; "Alright boys, hoist this junk up and lets be rid of it!" The doors above opened, and the crane was lowered as a group of sailors, the man who'd stopped Pale at the gang-plank among them, started rigging the crates up so that they could be removed from the vessel.
After another twenty minutes of toil in which Pale could help or not as she pleased, six closed wooden crates, each of them incredibly heavy, had been removed from the ship and placed into the back of the large uncovered wagon. Rhuverth was sitting in the driver's seat and holding the reigns, and when all of them were ready he called out; "Alright, everyone form up around the cart. Pale and Dantias, I want you out in front, on either side of Commander Ishmael." The guard captain that had been with the merchant earlier tilted his head toward her politely, his face expressionless, and the other seven guardsmen formed a circle around the wagon, one in back and two on either side.
Pale hesitantly looks Danthias in the eyes as the man starts to question her. "My name's Pale. I'm only a warrior, captain."
Pale barely has stopped talking when she spins around to noise from the deck. As the sailors get to their work, the vampire quietly slips back on the solid ground and keeps watch instead of helping, as her strength combined with her slight frame might cause unnecessary questions or attention she'd rather avoid when unnecessary.
As the retinue is ready to start, Pale acknowledges Rhuvert's order with a nod, taking her spot to the left of Ishmael and paying careful attention to the shadows.
The caravan was underway just after Pale stepped into her designated position, the captain having merely grunted and nodded after Pale said that she was merely a fighter, and none complained when she chose to stay back rather than help them load up the wagon. They took a meandering road initially, the city around the docks a veritable maze of alleys without many large streets for them to go down, but in that time they encountered little more than a handful of drunks and beggars. However, just as they reached the edge of the docks, Pale would notice one of the beggars watching them somewhat more intently than the others, who had mostly moved out of their way and ignored the wagon and its company upon sighting the city guardsmen at its head.
They reached the main road that would take them through the center of Lockacre and eventually to the district in which the nobles lived. Her companions, such as they were, seemed content to pass the way in silence, and did not speak beyond a few simple whispered grunts, barely audible over the rolling of the wagon and the jingling of its hidden cargo. Only a short while after leaving the docks district, Pale would again note that some figures were paying them a great deal of attention, though she never got a particularly good look at any of them.
Pale pays little attention to the beggar, but a small frown appears on her face when she notices the figures following them. Thieves. Maybe I should try to catch one of them... But I need to guard the wagon. Damn.
The vampire discreetly moves to walk closer to the commander and taps on his shoulder before pointing the shadowy figures out. "Thieves, I think."
"Me too," the captain quietly agreed, "But until they actually do anything wrong, we can't do anything about it besides keep on the alert." He sounded slightly irked by the constraints of his position, and almost as an afterthought he added; "If you wanted to check things out ahead on your own, be my guest. We're basically going in a straight line from here until we hit Main."
The corners of Pale's lips turn up slightly. "I won't be far."
As subtly as possible, the vampire slinks away into the shadows and disappears, only to reappear somewhere behind the would-be-thieves, watching them carefully and trying to pick out the leader.
"See that you aren't" the captain grunted in response, but by then Pale had vanished. He and the men behind Pale all looked quite surprise, and the man muttered beneath his breath; "Damn mages... Always doing weird freaky shit like that just to seem impressive..."
That utterance was lost on Pale, who had proceeded on up ahead and begun moving from shadow to shadow along the darkened street. What followed was a brief but intense game of cat and mouse in which the mice were utterly unaware of the cat stalking them as Pale watched the figures weaving through the streets, tailing the wagon that she had been told to guard. She didn't catch any signs of a leader among those circling her party, but it became increasingly clear that the cloaked figures were indeed focusing on them.
Then, a short ways ahead, Pale all but stumbled across what could only be described as a hit squad. A dozen men in long cloaks and masks, all carrying rifles that were currently held low and out of the light drizzle, were crouched in an alleyway all but out of sight of the main road. They were hiding behind a church to the Star God, and on the bell tower of said chapel Pale saw a dark figure holding a rifle of their own. Across the street, crouched on the roof of a masonry, were three more men in cloaks, also holding rifles. They were heading into a trap, but Pale had a good three hundred feet before her allies actually entered the killing zone. That gave her maybe a minute in which to act freely, as the thieves showed no signs of recognizing the hidden vampire's presence.
As she register what her eyes are telling her, Pale wastes little time making plans, recognizing the sniper as the best target. Stepping back into the shadow, the vampire appears behind the sniper in the bell tower, quickly pulling him into her embrace and sinking her fangs into his neck as her hand closes over his mouth to prevent him from crying out.
If everything goes according to the plan, Pale soon feels the man's pulse weaken as he passes out. Moving quickly to avoid detection, the vampire pushes the man down and takes his weapon and mimics his position, settling to wait for the caravan.
Relevant stats: Stealth 41, Grapple 82, blood drain for 3d10 damage per round. Use shadowstalker for 5 EP
