The Intruder

After leaving Auriel and Isai to deal with getting their papers in order Jack and LeLu made their way to the market to get an idea on the current pricing of the products available. Since they didn't want to attract any negative attention they did their best to avoid any trouble. They spent a few hours getting a lot of information about the market prices as well as the current trade routes in the area. Sadly they had to cut their tour short when they noticed they were being followed by some mercenary types. Jack aka Ikan Keekbutay led LeLu aka Iarlas Mia Keekbutay through several narrow walkways and alleyways as they were being followed till they were trapped in a dead end by the four mercs who simply waited till their boss approached from behind. Chiren Soldor was smirking as he approached and gave Ikan an applause.

Chiren: Well done sir. You managed to get yourself in a corner. Now shall we get down to business? I am in the market for a female elf. So how much?

Ikan: My wife is not for sale sir.

Chiren: Perhaps you don't understand your situation. I am Count Chiren Soldor, Advisor of the Court. You in no position to tell me no. You either sell her to me or I take her from you. What shall it be?

Ikan whispered some elven to Mia as he nodded at Chiren and his big burly mercenaries. So as they stepped towards her she cast a wind spell to blow the dust up into their eyes to blind them for a brief second as Ikan hurled some rocks at Chiren and the mercs. Since Ikan had buffed his body with body enhancing magic they headshots knocked them out cold. Then Jack pulled out some paralytic herbs and stuffed them into Chiren's mouth before he gagged him with a dirty rag. That would keep him out cold for the time being as Ikan and LeLu stripped Chiren to his undergarments. Then Ikan quickly stripped and put on Chiren's clothing and assumed his form and matched his voice. Then they put a well bound and out cold Chiren into a burlap bag and tied it off before the guards awoke. Ikan then told Mia they could lay low as Chiren and his love slave till they could contact Auriel later on. Mia agreed to this since they were at the point of no return. So Ikan put a slave collar on Mia and they waited till Chrion's mercs woke up as he dumped water n their faces.

After talking down to the mercs who were taken down so easily he taunted them to not fail again and carry his male prisoner to his estate. The mercs were both annoyed and embarrassed by their quick defeat, but were afraid to speak up since Chiren had to defeat the merchant. They took Chiren's coach to make their may to his estate. Chrien held Mia's chain as she looked down the whole time since the mercs were watching. She knew how to act like a slave do to real experience. After they arrived at Chiren's estate he had the mercs escort him to his room and dump the prisoner on the floor in a rough manner before leaving. Once they were gone he hugged Mia aka LeLu to reassure her it was just an act. Then they locked the door and Ikan who now looked like Chiren opened the sack and pulled the real Chiren out and scanned his mind for any useful memories. Since his magic only worked via touch he had to have physical contact with Chiren to do anything to him.

After scanning Chiren's memories, Jack then scanned his body and fractured his nervous system as well as his magic flow and damaged it so Chiren could no longer access his magic properly. Instead of casting a spell it would rebound and hurt himself since the flow was corrupted. It would take a good ten years before it would heal naturally. Now Chiren would walk and talk like a cripple. At first LeLu was concerned that Jack was just torturing Chiren when he could easily kill him, till Jack explained that Jack needed to keep Chiren alive to take the fall later on so killing him was a bad idea. LeLu understood and asked how they were going to hide Chiren since everyone knew his face and the servants would eventually find him. Jack pondered for a bit till he remembered seeing and old suit of armor collecting dust in the hallway and snuck out to take the helmet. After returning he used fire magic to make a hole for the mouth with the visor closed and then ungagged Chiron before he put the iron helmet on and using fire magic to fuse it and permanently lock it onto Chrien's head.

After making sure no one would be able to recognize him Jack who was now Count Chiren had a servant take his prisoner into the underground prison. As they went down there Jack saw some slaves who were in bad shape and needed to be rescued badly. Jack had Chiren locked in chains and manacles before being locked in an iron cell with only a small hole for his food to be served. Once he approved of the conditions of the prisoner the real "Count Chiren", Jack smirked and left with Mia aka LeLu in tow. After a hot meal and a bath in private, they slept well and decided to make some changes in the morning.

This time Jack aka Count Chiren and his slave Mia left the compound without any guards. Since it was not unusual for this kind of behavior the mercs didn't care.
Jack aka Count Chiren and his slave Mia made their back via coach to the Inn that Auriel had taken them to that was a safehouse. Its was a long trip again but it was necessary to get his plan in motion. Naturally the Inn keeper was not to pleased till Jack revealed his true identity and current situation along with a detailed report. Jack made arrangements to have a fake slaver buy Count Chiren's old slaves and sell him new ones, which were in fact members of the Rising Star along with hiring new bodyguards and mercs to replace the old ones. The plan was to use Count Chiren's estate as a base of operations and replace the guards and staff. By doing this they could bring in money for the Rising Star through taxes and trade and be in on the loop with important information. Jack planned to kill the four mercs from earlier since they were a liability if ever questioned and have the slaver take their dead bodies as dead slaves. Since it would take a while for the new undercover slaves and staff to be recruited, Jack and LeLu would need to watch their actions for a while.

A few weeks later after confirming some special passwords and phrases to confirm their identity staff and slaves were switched out with undercover members of the Rising Star. The slaves would be taken to a secure location to be healed and possibly recruited. The four mercs were already killed off and dressed in rags to make it look like they were dead slaves which were buried in a unmarked grave out of the city. Now the only real prisoner in the estate was the actual Count Chiren who was rendered helpless after Jack messed up his body. To keep the real Chiren from recovering he had the new guard put hallucinogenic mushrooms in his soup to make him loopy. Since it was either a choice of being high or starving the real Chiren was now unable to recover properly. By this time Auriel aka Elthien Talagar had already been informed of Jack taking Count Chiren's place.

As luck would have it Jack aka Count Chiren received an invitation to Kalena's estate for a dinner party. Being as it was not to far and it fit into his plan nicely he decided to attend and had a messenger reply that he would attend. After gaining Chiren's memories and the staff of the Rising Star they looted the estate and found a lot of incriminating evidence on many nobles to be used as black mail. Jack even found some very damning evidence he could use against Kalena. Since he was going to be at her place anyway he decided to plant some of the evidence in Kalena's estate since he had plans of incrementing her with some espionage.

Kalena wondered how many guests would show up for dinner, what with it being such short notice and all. She did not expect everyone to be able to make it. Chiren would come if he was free. Isai would too, perhaps mostly for curiosity's sake, especially after Lars told him about the unusual order of so many outfits. Eliza was almost guaranteed to appear, as the beautiful noblewoman seemed to attend almost any and all social engagements in the capital, bouncing from one party to the next like the proverbial social butterfly. And Kalena was sure wild horses would not not keep Gularzob from turning down an invite, as he would likely not give up a chance to network and interact with potential new upper class customers.

Jack now made plans with the members of the Rising Star servants to best frame Kalena and cause some tension within the Nobles structure. He also needed to go without LeLu since it was a dangerous mission and only a few guards would be permitted.

Tag ( Jack aka Chiren sent a reply that he would attend.)