You Know What They Say About Plans

“One approach would be to follow him somewhere public, say… the Drunken Hare? If he frequents that place… strike up a conversation between ourselves or with him, casually mention the creed like we want to know more or ask about getting our hands on that new drug.”

Hunter faked a drink again then quietly replied, “That’s an option but do you have a back up plan if he is skittish like the last guy? He was on the ship with us so he might recognize one or both of us. If you do want this plan I’ll have to play a mute friend of yours.”

“Good point. We have few options left. We may just have to catch him unawares and take him into custody without letting him get away or offing himself.”

She thought about it for a moment, perhaps they could make a trap or injure the man in a way that looked like an accident, then take him to the apothecary for "care" and questioning. She might have to force Cagliostro to be on board, but she was getting desperate.

"We are going to need time to extract what we need from him. Which means we need a place to hold him. I am hesitant to take him to the Keep... they have not been communicating things to me freely or handling the situation as well as they should..."

Voah chuckled in her manly voice as if Hunter had said something funny then she took a pull from the pipe and blew it out.

"We can hurt the man or attack him in the dark, possibly make it look like an accident. Then we take him to Caglisotro's..." she was going to say the twins, but didn't really want to drag them into this. Besides, it would be a shame to target them and lose such a nice addition to Suncross Square.

Hunter again pretended to drink from the bottle before belching loudly. Then he replied,”Aye. Perhaps I could use different bait.” Then Hunter said quietly, “Well we do have some options. We can follow him till he joins the other cult members. We can catch him off guard and torture him till he talks or drug him till he talks. However if we involve the good doctor, he could share our punishment later on. I know for a fact that nobles and knights hate it when someone steal’s their thunder, especially after they put on a big show with the executions... unless the enemy is facing them on the field of combat. They have trouble with espionage. I can make all three options work but we are working against time, so I will let you pick since you have a conscious unlike myself.” Hunter tugged on his fishing line a bit as he waited for an answer

The Arbiter muddled it over in her mind for a moment before nodding, still staring out over the Bay of Pearls. She had made up her mind.

"Yes, I'm willing to risk getting the apothecary involved. We do it quickly, as he is going to Lowood or returning there, he has to pass it either way. One of us needs to disable him, so he can't get away without help. Hopefully he will be willing to go with the other person to Cagliostro's. If we can't get to him discreetly... we will have to take him at knife point as close to the entrance as we can and force him in."

Voah had the man's name, Emmen Blank, which was mostly useless as she didn't trust anyone enough to ask around for him and possibly tip him off. She also had the location of the warehouse he called home, but it wouldn't be an easy or appropriate place to interrogate him if she wanted answers and no attention.

She was given a description of his likeness and the patterns of his normal routine. Now they just needed to get eyes on him before he left the dock ward for the evening as shifts were ending and he would be mixed up in the crowd. Dusk was quickly approaching.

Hunter then nodded as he faked another drink and replied, "Aye... Aye. Then Hunter quietly said, "Very well."

He reached under his cloak and pulled out an old letter in a weird language and handed it to Voah as he quietly said, "We will approach your target and you will ask if he is the person with their name on this letter. When he tries to speak, I will toss dust into his mouth and face to keep him from fleeing and talking... right before I smash his family jewels. He will be immobile after that and we can pretend he is a drunk friend as we take him to the doctor's place. Once there, you will play the good guard and I will play the mean guard. Give a nice choice from you and a horrible choice from me as I pull out some scary tools. If he is weak he will talk quickly. If not he will talk after we hurt him."

"Agreed, but let's not be too hasty with your 'tools'. There are much subtler ways to make a person talk."

With that, Voah gave Hunter the description of the man to keep a second pair of eyes available. They agreed to keep a certain distance away from each other at first so as not to look like they were together. Whoever spotted him first would start tailing and the other would follow suit.

There he was. Hunter spotted the man. His skills were impressive indeed. Emmen Blank walked amongst a group of sailors and fisherman. He was a reed thin man, but all muscle, with large baggy eyes, messy russet hair, and a mustache that grew into his patchy mutton chops.

"Evening." Voah nodded to a passerby, though she was looking right passed the man's head and saw Hunter begin to move into a tailing position. She spat into the sand next to the pier and began to saunter after him, looking for Blank, which her height afforded some advantage. Things were in motion now.