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| Details |
| Author: | Disknight |
| Summary: | Silvestre follows his lead on Rozalin's whereabouts to Booty Bay. He asks Nack and others to see if they can shed more light on the situation, but he doesn't find all the answers he's looking for. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
Arc: Cobalt Manhunt
Sil finds himself outside the door of a small office space in one of the upper decks of Booty Bay. There's a small placard outside that reads "Grappleclamp Enterprises Inc."
He steps forward with no hesitation to give a brisk knock. Sil might not have an appointment, but he at least fits into the crowd in Booty Bay in his usual leather armor. The swords at his waist probably do a lot to deter would-be assailants and grifters, as well.
"We're open." A voice calls from inside.
Sil pushes the door open and steps inside. He flashes his most charming smile. "Are you Nack Grappleclamp? I'm Sil Silentstep."
"That's what they call me." Nack sits at his desk pouring over piles of paperwork. He gestures to a seat in front of his desk, "What can I do for you?"
Sil settles into the seat, leaning slightly towards the goblin and lacing his fingers in his lap. "I'm looking for somebody. A mutual friend, I think? I heard she might've come by your way."
"Oh? Who are we referring to? I know a lot of people." He sets his papers down to pay attention to Sil.
"Girl who went by the name of Terrineth?" Sil asks. "I think you were her promoter a while back, for the fighting. She sorta disappeared and folks are pretty worried."
"Ah, I see." Nack taps his fingertips on the desk a few times, "You're a bit short on the news, though, pal. I hear her parents bit the dust." He studies Sil keeping a perfect poker face the whole time.
Sil winces sympathetically. "Yeah, I did hear that. Figure that's probably why she ran off."
"I'm sure." Nack leans back in his seat, "So you're wondering if I've seen her then?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Sil shrugs. "Reckon she must feel really alone right now. She come by here at all?"
"I have as a matter of fact. She stopped by here a few days ago asking if I had anything for her as far as transport far far away from here." Nack says casually. He picks up a pen and jots a few things down on the paper he was working on when Sil walked in.
"Oh yeah? She leave a forwarding address?" Sil asks, perking up a little. "Or any way you could get a message to her?"
Nack shrugs, "Afraid I didn't have anything for her. Business has been picking up here and I couldn't afford to waste any time looking." Nack pats the giant stack of paperwork in front of him, "Been up to my eyeballs in orders."
"Right yeah, guess it's a busy time with all the war and the natural disasters," Sil nods, saying this very matter-of-factly. Everyday life in Azeroth. "Got an idea who she might head to next?"
"She's a big girl. I'm sure she can figure out getting passage on her own." Nack keeps waiting to see if Sil reveals his hand at all, "By how desperate she sounded, though it seemed like she was in trouble. You know anything about that?"
"Yeah, reckon she is a bit at that," Sil says, with a slight half-shouldered shrug. "Seems like the locals from up north are trying to pin her folks death on her. That'd shake anybody up, yeah?"
"I'd say so, yeah." Nack nods, "Heard she's got a bit of a bounty on her too. Glad I didn't get mixed up in the trouble. She's a good client, but still."
"She didn't do it," Sil says, looking directly at Nack. "If you're wondering. I've seen what evidence there is, and that seems clear. But you know there's some folk don't want to let a thing like truth get in the way of stringing up a person. So if she does come by again, can you tell her that her Cobalt friends stand by her?"
“I’ll keep it in mind.” Nack responds calmly, “I didn’t peg her as the type to do something like that anyhow. But I probably don’t gotta tell you that this town isn’t exactly short on bounty hunters. If you wanna find her I’d start looking sooner rather than later.”
Sil nods, tapping his fingers against his hands. "And you've got no idea who she might go to next? Friends in the area? Or enemies, who might take it as a good chance to knock her down?"
“Like I said, I’ve been trying to keep my nose clean in this whole situation. Haven’t been keeping a real close eye on her.” Nack taps his pen on the desk, “But she’s made more than a few enemies over the years. She actually used to be part of a mercenary company based in these parts before joining with Cobalt.”
"Oh yeah?" Sil raises his head slightly in interest. "Happen to know the name of 'em?"
“Called the Seahawks I think. Could be worth checking out. She and their boss used to be pretty close, but from what I heard it ended pretty poorly for our girl.” Nack offers.
Sil nods, starting to rise. "Thanks. It's something to go on, anyway. I don't want to take any more of your time."
“Pleasure doing business with you.” Nack waves and resumes dealing with his paperwork.
Sil waves, and heads back towards the door with a new thread to follow.
Sil knows his way around Booty Bay, having spent considerable time in the area back when he was adventuring with Ben and Mizzy. He might not know the Seahawks, but he does know the mercenary job boards, and it would be a poor mercenary company that didn't advertise. It's not that much later in the day when he winds his way through the twisting terraced walkways of Booty Bay to the address of the Seahawks local headquarters.
The Seahawk headquarters is a small two story building on the outskirts of town. It looks like it probably serves as living quarters for many of the members, but seems pretty empty at the moment. The front door to the redemption area, however, still seems to be open to visitors.
Sil knocks on the doorpost as he walks in, scanning the area for anyone to talk to.
There is a lanky human man sitting at a desk in a reception area who waved him in. “Hello there sir. What can I do for you today?”
"Hello," Sil says, going for a disarming smile and open, friendly posture. "I was stopping by to ask about a bounty you might've taken on lately."
“I see. Can you tell me more about this bounty? I’ll see what I can do.” The man reaches to the side and opens a file cabinet.
"Sure, yeah," Sil says. "Girl by the name of Rozalin Graufowl."
The clerk raises an eyebrow at him and flicks through the files. After a moment he looks back at him and responds, “It doesn’t look like I have this job on file. Why do you ask if you don’t mind me asking?”
"I'm interested in the target," Sil says, his voice calm and professional. "I think there might be a few different parties interested in her, and I was thinking maybe I could make an offer."
“You were thinking of taking on the job as a commission for us I take it?” He asks.
"Not exactly," Sil says, considering. "More like, I want to outbid whoever put out the bounty. But you say you've not got it on file at all?"
“Outbid?” The clerk folds his hands in front of him, “I’m afraid all our management is out on business at the moment, but I’ve heard about the bounty. How much were you willing to pay?”
"Ah, so you are working it," Sil says with a faint, satisfied smile. "How much are they offering? I've got history with Graufowl too, and I think I could make it worth your while."
“I’m just hearing you out. It pays to keep apprised of the situation of the local scene.” He says dismissively, “We have a strong presence in this area, but we tend to go after more lucrative work.”
"Okay," Sil says, nodding. "That's reasonable. I'd expect this one might be lucrative. Girl fled on suspicion of multiple murders from up north, and well… she was with my mercenary company before this all went down. I mean, I don't run the company, but you can see how I've got a vested interest."
“Naturally. It’s important to hold one’s own accountable, I should say.” The clerk says with a nod.
"But I guess if you've not even looked into the bounty yet, I'd best check with other companies, see if I can come to an agreement there," Sil says with a polite nod. "Thanks for your time, sir."
“Of course. I’m sure others would have more information on this particular case.” The clerk studies Sil’s reaction, “Thank you very much for your time.”
"See you around," Sil nods, turning to go. "And I know we're competitors and all, but let me know if you ever need something of Cobalt. World's rough enough out there that we should look out for one another."
“Isn’t that the truth. It’s been a chaotic few years for sure.” The clerk smiles, “I’ll let you know if there’s any potential development on our end.”
Sil gives a friendly wave and heads out the door.