Honor Among Thieves - A Dishonored RP [Closed]

[Avayu]

?A businesswoman, heh?? The fat man remarked, ?You don't see that too often. How ? intriguing.?

He took Zelia's arm, pulled her in a little closer, and began to lead her through the room. Walking by the returning Gen, he took his new glass without any further comment or even dismissing her.

?It occurs to me, I haven't even properly introduced myself! By the ?? Without letting go of Zelia's arm, he indicated a small bow towards her. ?Lord Jeremiah Birch. I'm also a businessman, a supplier as well. Though I don't usually dabble in curiosities, but rather sell goods of war. I'm a majority owner of South Gristol Steelworks, providing both the Navy and the Regent's military with armaments of the highest standard. So I thought I'd come here once more to see where the money that buys my products comes from.?

During his monologue, they had reached the main hall of the mansion, with a giant wall of light guarding the stairs to the upper floor. Still, Lord Birch didn't intend to let Zelia get in a word.

?I heard the Boyles keep all their really interesting belongings up there, away from our prying eyes. What I wouldn't give to sneak up there and see. Though I'm of course not really the sneaking type, as you can see, haha! There's probably a lot of art on the upper floor, that should interest you, shouldn't it? Some proper scandalous stuff, too, from what I heard. They said that Esma Boyle once posed nude for Anton Sokolov. Have I mentioned that I met Sokolov? He told me he would paint me one day, though I'm not quite sure how I would like to be immortalised. Maybe in uniform, or rather on my country estate ...?

For a moment he seemed to drift away with his thoughts, completely in awe of his own greatness. Then he returned and shot a quick glance to his companion to see if she was still following him and maybe, just maybe as captivated by him as he was.

?Ah well, I digress. Let's not talk about the future. We're here to enjoy this evening, aren't we? Speaking of ...?, he pointed to the opposite side of the room, ?Have you already signed the guest book? Personally, I always like to wait until late in the evening. That way, if something interesting happens at these parties, you have your signature as proof that you were there. But if it is just a boring party, like this one seems to be, you can leave early and claim to never have been there at all!?

Lord Jeremiah Birch clearly planned to subject Zelia to a waterfall of his charm for the rest of the evening. At some point, he seemed to be sure, she would no longer be able resist him.

Outside, things were much less charming. Two of the guards just had had to carry a body out of the garden. As they returned to their posts, they were talking about meeting for whiskey and cigars the next night. Suddenly though, one stopped the other:

?I think I just saw something move on that roof.?

?Probably just pigeons. Rats of the skies, I tell you.?

?Indeed, but maybe we should investigate. With that murderer running free ...?

?Just keep your eyes open, Lieutenant. We're not paid to scale walls and break out necks, we're here to make sure this evening goes by without incident.?

Beyond the walls of the Boyle estate, the Watch was also patrolling. A single guardsman was just checking the canal close to Collin's position when he spotted the boy in his boat.

?Hey there!?, he shouted over, ?You there, boy! You can't be here! This whole area is under curfew. You'll have to leave now, or we'll take you into custody.?

A tallboy on the road behind him had noticed and seemed to have taken an interest in the situation. Hearing the mechanical steps of the stilt walker, the guard continued:

?If we still can, that is. You see, my big friend here would probably have a lot of fun sinking your little boat, boy. So do yourself a favour and disappear.? He spotted a second boat a little farther away. ?You too. You both have to drive at least behind the barrier, outside of our district. What is it with tonight, anyway? The fish biting that well??

 

[Athol]

"Damn them." Silas muttered to himself as he saw the two Watch return. When they'd carted the body off, he'd been hoping that they would stay nearer to the party, but no such luck.

[small] "...think I just saw something move on that roof." [/small]

Outsider's eyes, how'd he see me!? He thought, freezing in place. As the other man dismissed it as vermin, Silas relaxed a bit. Sloppy, old son. Nearly gave yourself away there. He admonished himself. Waiting until he was sure that the two below weren?t looking his way he inched back from the edge of roof.

Spoiler: Edit:OOC

As of June 13, I'll be away for about a week (off to a wedding). Sorry if this causes any problems.

 

[wilcoblackflame]

"The pleasure is mine, my lord." Zelia smiled, making a point to maintain her attention and smile as he waffled on. Very quickly it was becoming apparent that flattery would be an effective way to steer this one.

Oh hell. She'd had a bad feeling she might end up in this position from the moment Lord Birch entered the conversation. On the other hand, the man loved to talk. About himself clearly, but it was quite possible he'd also be inclined to mention anything that might paint himself in a better light. That is, less savoury gossip about the other guests. Perhaps she could gain more clues about Brisby that way if she continued to walk around the party with Birch. Hopefully he'd be inclined to mention such things as they passed by others.

The downside of this plan of course, was that it practically guarranteed she'd be spending a lot of the evening with him. That said of course, there were potential benefits to such a thing at the very least. Her preference for measures of security in such schemes meant that she was very quick to realise that if this all went pear shaped, she would have a solid alibi. Steal from Lord Brisby? Perish the thought! Why, on the evening in question I was in the company of Lord Birch! Yes. The alibi of a noble. that could be useful. On a more long term contingency if it went pear shaped, she could always sell the business and her client list to Birch, work for him perhaps. The money after all, regardless of how frugal she might be with what remained, would run out before too long...

...And then she briefly contemplated allowing herself to enter a relationship with Birch for the purpose of survival and decided she was letting her imagination run away with contingency plans. Stuffing that notion far to the back of her mind, she joined him in conversation, now that he'd left a space in his words for her to do so.

"Ah the guestbook. Do you know, I make a habit of doing the exact same thing." She smiled, intent on keeping Birch happy for the evening, in order to gain both details and a potential alibi. "You know what they say about great minds thinking alike." She giggled and collected another drink from a passing tray.

 

[sage42]

Gen walked away from the noble and Zalia, praying that the man wouldn't bother Zalia too much. Even if she didn't know Zalia all that well no woman should ever have to suffer being around that man any longer than absolutely necessary. She made her way back to one of the many rooms he guests had congregated in, a darker room with large fireplace in the middle. As she turned the corner of the fire place, she noticed two men in particular. Both had different mask than most of the other part goer's. One was a stylized rat, larger teeth whiskers, well suited for a noble. But the other man made her stop in her tracks and her blood run cold. With his dark coat and hood, and the metallic skull like mask, Gen thought Death him self had decided to grace the Boyles party. The man with the skull mask turned to look at her a moment later. Gen felt her whole body shudder. She was snapped out of her trance by the man with the rat mask spoke up.

"My name is lord Brisby and......What are you standing there for you simpering fool! Leave us at once before I have the guard throw you out onto the streets with the rest of the rats!" He snapped and Gen nearly dropped her try for the third time. She hurried away from the meeting, and leaned against the wall trying to calm her heart.

After a few seconds her heart beat slowed. What the man in the rat mask had said finally clicked. So now she knew what Lord Brisby looked like. Now she just needed him alone, away from the man dressed like death.

Spoiler

Welp figured I'd through everyone's favorite assassin in there. I figure this way we know who Lord Brisby is and still leave plenty of room for Corvo to go with the High Chaos run. Good time to be had by all.

 

[IFS]

"You too. You both have to drive at least behind the barrier, outside of our district. What is it with tonight, anyway? The fish biting that well?"

Collin nodded, he knew he stood no chance against a tallboy and even if he did it would draw too much attention. Wordlessly he pulled up his line and took the boat further out, the others would just have to work their way around to him. He glanced at the other boatman, an older man but not someone he recognized. He scratched irritably at his arm, and considered speaking to the man, it had been some time since he'd had a decent conversation that wasn't with himself.

"What brings you out here?" he asked after some hesitation, he knew it wasn't the fishing the canals had far fewer hagfish than the open water after all.

 

[Avayu]

Lord Brisby had just made a very interesting proposition to a very interesting man. The Lord wasn't brave and many of his associates would have argued that he wasn't particularly intelligent either. He wasn't all that interested in the politics of the empire, yet he planned to support this man and his cause. But he did it for a woman. The one woman in his live. All out of love, he told himself, she just hadn't seen it yet. After he had nervously told the nosy maid off, he turned back to the window, anxiously twiddling his fingers. He was sure that the man wearing the face of death would at least consider his offer.

?Hehe?, Lord Birch politely laughed, ?Great minds, of course. It's so rare to find a woman with a sense of both business and class, isn't it? Let's move on.?

He took Zelia by the arm again and basically dragged her along. With every step he took, he made sure to greet as many people as was humanly possible, often at the same time commenting to Zelia on how important these people were. On the other hand, he made sure as many people as possible saw the woman at his arm. That way, the two of them slowly got from room to room, finally reaching the smoking room.

?Would you like a cigar? The Boyle's never skimp on these. I think they've got real Culleros here, the good ones. Maybe a glass of whiskey, too?? In a short glance, Lord Birch spotted the long whiskers of a rat-mask at the window. ?Though, maybe we'd want to go somewhere else. The company here leaves a lot to be desired.?

At the canal, one man of the Watch was very content with himself as the two boats slowly retreated, turning around and waving off the tallboy who disappointedly put down his bow. Inside the Boyle estate, one young officer wasn't as happy with his job. Uncharacteristically for the men of the the City Watch, he continued to look up to the roofs around him with a certain unease.

The whale-oil driven motor of the boat chugged along and then died down. The older man piloting it turned around and, without haste, began to uncoil his line again and checked the sinker. Then he let it gently down into the water again. With the trained eye of a mariner, he went over the boat and his equipment next, making sure everything was still in its place. After all that, he finally turned to the boy in the other boat, running his hand along his mutton chops.

?Hm, what am I doing here. Don't you have eyes, boy? I'm fishing. What else would I be doing here??

 

[wilcoblackflame]

"I can only hope it remains rare, less competition for me." She smiled, giving every impression she was enjoying herself. At this rate it appeared she might be stuck with Birch for most of the evening, but at least his intention to show off his companion to as many people as possible was giving her a perfect alibi for what was liable to go down if they could get information from Brisby.

Whiskey and cigars. Why not. Admittedly she wasn't overly used to cigars, but when in Rome...or Dunwall in this case. "That sounds delightful." Taking a cigar and following his gaze once he mentioned the company, she frowned. He described Brisby as a rat before didn't he? Of course, it could have just been a coincidence, but maybe...

"A rat?" She lowered her voice to whisper conspiratively to Birch. "Who comes to a party dressed as vermin?" she giggled. If he knew who it was and if it was Brisby...maybe she could use that. Play the rat as a form of entertainment to keep her in a position to hear him blurt something stupid for a while. She'd need to work it in such a way as to keep Birch happy in any case. People who are angry with you make poor alibis.

 

[Avayu]

?Hrrmph?, Lord Birch let out something between a derisive laugh and a unpleasant cough, ?Frankly, the mask doesn't bother me half as much as the man underneath it. Rats have their good sides after all, don't they? This man on the other hand ? Look, even the maids avoid him.?

The man in the rat-mask had just turned around, still nervously fiddling with his clothes. It seemed he was looking for a maid to take his order, but most of them in the vicinity quickly averted their gaze whenever he looked in their direction. As Brisby looked around, he also spotted the fat noble and his female companion. For a moment, he just stared at them, unsure of what to do. Then he quickly nodded in their direction, probably meant as a greeting, or maybe just as an acknowledgement of Birch's existence. His chin had just completed the movement up and down when he abruptly turned around back to the window again.

?What a strange man. But this is Lord Brisby. I think you we're looking for him earlier? I hope just seeing him is enough for you, I can't even imagine what a honourable woman like you would want from that person.?

Out on the canal, the fish still weren't biting. The old man didn't seem to care, hough after a while, he turned back to the young man in the other boat, looking him up and down.

?You're quite scrawny, boy. Probably not much success as a fisherman, huh? Back in my day, the Navy was always looking for a ship's boy, maybe you should try that? Better that the shady business that puts you out on these streets at night.?

 

[IFS]

"You're quite scrawny, boy. Probably not much success as a fisherman, huh? Back in my day, the Navy was always looking for a ship's boy, maybe you should try that? Better that the shady business that puts you out on these streets at night."

"What shady business could you mean sir?" Collin asked, the old man was denying any suspicious activity well two could easily play at that game.

The fish of course were not biting, both because this was a poor spot to fish but also he didn't want them too, and lately animals had seemed a bit susceptible to his desires. Mostly the nasty biting animals, but still it caused him some concern, and led to some trains of thought that seemed unlike him. He ignored it for now, the rune in his coat felt warm, almost like it was pulsating alongside his heart but what that meant he had no idea.