OOM: Vivec City, 18 First Seed, 3E 428

[moonandstar]

Garyn hadn't felt the need to involve Ibani in his last little spy mission. Retrieving a skull from a tomb for an alchemist who is a little TOO insistent that she isn't a necromancer had been an easy enough job. But this? This was going back to Vivec...a place where he very much had meant to make himself scarce from. What's more, one of their contacts would be in the Foreign Quarter - the very same place where a number of corrupt Fighters Guild members had been killed by a booby trap he had set.

So a little bit of Sith discretion and underhandedness would be welcome, in addition to backup.

They're approaching from the bridge that leads from the silt strider dock - the Guild Guide would bring them too close to the Fighters Guild for his liking.

The buildings are massive ziggurats crossed by canals - not big enough to be impressive by her standards. But it's far from a typical city in Garyn's.

Comments

[moonandstar]

"A supporting role, perhaps," Garyn says. "You could be a leading lady, dear."

He leads her down the stairs.

"The Canalworks should be down this way."

[last_kallig]

"I've had enough practice for it, perhaps," she jests.

"I think you're right, the water smell is stronger this way." Well, water and OTHER things.

[moonandstar]

They descend through the canalworks. There's a beggar resting against the wall near one of the walls. After enough monetary persuasion to buy a vial of cheap skooma for himself, he confirms that Adhiranirr has taken refuge in the Underworks beneath them. Garyn searches for a hatch in the floor, and pries it open.

"I've been in the Underworks before, love. It's not so bad if you remember not to breathe too deeply."

[last_kallig]

"Some things never change wherever you go, I suppose." Ugh, sewer levels.

"Is this where you ran into that cultist?"

[moonandstar]

"That was in the Foreign Quarter, but the architecture is similar enough in every canton."

Garyn clambers down the ladder. He stays close to the wall and keeps to the dry deck.

Sure enough, near the very end of the Underworks, where the path is widest, there's a female Khajiit.

"Adhiranirr? Our friend Caius wanted me to speak with you."

"Great. So Caius says to you, 'Speak with Addhiranirr.' And you have done this thing. You are speaking with Addhiranirr. But Addhiranirr will not talk to you about the Nerevarine or the Sixth House cult, and because why? Because Addhiranirr is, at this moment, very distracted by a nice Census and Excise agent, who also wants to speak with her."

[last_kallig]

"Ah yes, we ran into him earlier," Ibani explains, grinning wickedly. "Not a talented actor, that one, so I told him he'd just missed you taking a boat to the mainland. So very keen to follow after you, he was."

[moonandstar]

Adhiranirr lets out a kind of pleased growl, somewhere between a purr and a chuckle.

"Well. In that case, Addhiranirr is very glad to see you, and very happy to tell a friend of my good friend Caius all about the Sixth House cult. And Addhiranirr knows nothing about the Nerevarine, but Addhiranirr is happy to tell you that, too, if it makes Caius happy."

Garyn nods, responding with a Ta'agra colloquialism that is not left wholly translated. Something about a kitten and honeyed milk. Adhiranirr seems to find it amusing.

"Well...anyway, the Sixth House is something Addhiranirr knows about, because it is about smuggling. Some smart smugglers are suddenly too busy for their old clients, because they have a new employer, the Sixth House, who pays VERY well. But what do they smuggle now? Addhiranirr doesn't know, because they are very secret. And this is odd, because these smugglers are always loud and bragging, and now they hush up like fat-bellied kitties full of sweet-meats."

[last_kallig]

"Afraid to talk, perhaps," Ibani muses aloud. "Very afraid, if they were so boastful before."

She glances at Garyn. That weird presence she felt from the madman before certainly seems to imply a kind of spying power.

[moonandstar]

"Something different about this client, Adhiranirr thinks. Not even skooma loosens their lips."

"And whatever they're planning, it's important enough that they don't want anyone knowing about it," Garyn muses, as much to himself as to anyone else."

Garyn turns to the Khajiit and nods. "It's been a pleasure, Adhiranirr. May we meet again under better-smelling circumstances."

[last_kallig]

"Was expecting to find out they're more trouble, would have been nice to be wrong," she whispers in his mind.

Ibani nods her farewell to the Khajiit.

[moonandstar]

"Indeed it would."

They ascend to the Canalworks, whose musty air feels positively daisy fresh at this point.

"We'll be going to the Temple Canton next. That's the next canton over."

[last_kallig]

"It does make one appreciate the fresher air," she drawls. "Temples as in gods? Like the entity I felt when we arrived?"

[moonandstar]

"Yes. The High Fane is the main house of worship, though Vivec's palace is down still further from there. We'll be looking for a woman in the library of the House of Wisdom beneath it."

[last_kallig]

Ibani chuckles. "Well, I suppose we'll find out if Vivec objects to my presence, if we're getting that close."

She leans in to kiss him on the cheek. "Lead on, love."

[moonandstar]

If any part of the city itself were to impress Ibani, they're nearing it. Colossal statues of Vivec flank the entrance - one of them standing with his arms turned out like the branches of a tree, another of him slaying a creature with a spear. The High Fane itself, with its vaulted roof, looks even taller from the base of the canton. Blessed pilgrims hover above them, empowered by the power of the Shrine of Daring. And over everything, the Ministry of Truth is just...hovering there, in exactly the way that asteroids don't.

"Let's see...I think the House of Wisdom is...that way."

[last_kallig]

"Reminds me a bit of the architecture of the Dark Temple on Dromund Kaas," she says, eyeing the statues. "My senses are a bit muddled here. Not sure if it's whatever is holding THAT in place or what," she adds, pointing at the Ministry of Truth.

She follows Garyn, trusting his sense of direction more than her own right now.

[moonandstar]

"I've been to the Hall of Justice before...Hall of Wisdom should be on the other side...that way."

He bounds over across the path toward the entrance, narrowly avoiding a nasty collision with an Ordinator along the way.

The interior is already a lot quieter, even before they get to the Library.

[last_kallig]

"A little better in here," she says, keeping her voice quiet. "Still confusing, but less...ripples." Look, YOU try to explain what the Force feels like to someone who's Force blind.

"Different color scheme than Korriban, at least."

[moonandstar]

"Well, there is a library here."

Garyn smirks, and proceeds to get slightly lost for a couple of minutes. The Library of Vivec isn't easy to find, even as big as it is. After two or three wrong turns, however, he finds it.

He stands still for a moment, looking among the shelves for anyone who might meet Mehra Milo's description. Amusingly enough, he doesn't have to look long at all. A woman in priestly robes is perusing one of the shelves nearest the front.

"Mehra Milo?"

The woman raises an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Our friend Caius wanted me to meet you."

A knowing expression crosses her face. "Ah. Follow me to the back of the library. We can't talk here."

[last_kallig]

There are no holocrons here, which her brain half expects after Korriban. She follows a few steps behind Garyn, covering his back in case of potential treachery. It's only paranoia if you're WRONG.

[moonandstar]

It's hard not to be paranoid when someone is telling you "we can't talk here."

Garyn follows Mehra Milo a safe distance behind before approaching her again at the back of the library.

Her voice is a low whisper. "You're here to ask about the Nerevarine Cult, correct?"

Garyn nods.

"The Temple worships Nerevar as a saint and hero, but prophecis of his reincarnation are punished as wicked heresy. The Nerevarine cult claims the Tribunal are false gods, hence the Temple's persecution of the Nerevarine cult. A group called the Dissident Priests disputes Temple doctrine on the Nerevarine prophecies. The proscribed book 'Progress of Truth' describes heir beliefs. Get a copy of 'Progress of Truth' for Caius Cosades. That will tell him things he needs to know about the Nerevarine cult.

"The Temple has outlawed the sale or possession of the book, so it will be hard to find. We have a copy here, but I fear I'm being watched by Ordinators here. A safer plan would be to search local booksellers. Some booksellers ignore Temple bans on outlawed books for profits or for principles."

[last_kallig]

"Where is the copy that is kept here?" Ibani asks, several possible plots springing to mind.

[moonandstar]

"Would it be possible, Mehra...for you to approach the shelf where it is located? Ibani can be very stealthy."

Milo nods. "Please use discretion. The Ordinators might not see her, but they will be watching me."

[last_kallig]

"I will use my utmost discretion," Ibani replies. And then she simply....disappears. Is she showing off a little? Maybe. But since the opportunity to impress people with this doesn't come along often, she's going to take it.

[moonandstar]

Milo nods, remaining stoic as she watches Ibani vanish. Such magic is far from unheard of. (Indeed, Garyn can combine his ring and amulet to achieve it himself - though he's far less light on his feet).

She walks to the front of the library, doing a fine job of making it look like she's simply on her way back to work. But there's a slight, conspicuous hitch in her step as she passes a shelf near the front - one with an Ordinator seated at a desk nearby. She even manages a very subtle gesture with her finger to indicate the general direction as she walks past.