You are now a level 3 Teacher!

INT+1

WILL+1

You are now a level 4 Teacher!

INT+1

WILL+1

The words shocked Chase back into reality, drew her attention off the foolish, audacious werewolf who had come into the den of his enemies. It brought her mind back to the present, and reminded her that she wasn't exactly in the safest of positions, either.

However, with all eyes on him now, she had a heck of a lot more freedom to act.

I don't know what his game is, but the more I know about him the better.

“Silent Activation, Size Up. Silent Activation, Diagnose.” And then, because she didn't know how long eyes would be off her, she decided to throw in a few other buffs. Everything she could think of, really. “Silent Activation, Silver Tongue. Silent Activation, Quickdraw.”

Your Silent Activation skill is now level 15!

Sizing him up proved helpful.

Werewolf Alpha

Charisma – Moderately worse

Perception – Greatly better

Willpower – Moderately better

Wisdom – Much worse

Influencing conditions: None

Your Size Up skill is now level 4!

Diagnosing him proved less so.

Your Silent Activation skill is now level 16!

Werewolf Alpha

Conditions: Blessing – Agility, Slow Poison

Debuffs: Full Moon Fever

You are now a level 7 Grifter!

CHA+3

DEX+3

LUCK+3

That was a surprise! For a second she was giddy, as the energy coursed through her again... and then the joy was replaced with dread.

He's THAT dangerous. Oh gods.

Wait.

Chase's eyes slid to the other insanely dangerous man in the room. She looked upon Don Sangue, and found his red eyes fixated on the werewolf.

Do I dare? Well why the heck not! Easy level!

“Silent Activation, Size Up. Silent Activation, Diagnose.”

And instantly the Don's eyes flickered to her.

Chase slammed her head away, sweat breaking out on her brow, sweat that turned cold as the words rolled up out of nowhere.

Don Prezzo Sangue

Charisma – Insanely better

Perception – Insanely better

Willpower – Insanely better

Wisdom – About equal

Influencing Conditions: Predator's Gaze

Don Prezzo Sangue

Conditions: Undead, Light Allergies, Predator's Gaze, Wood Allergies

Debuffs: Bloodthirst

Oh gods he IS a monster! And he saw me! Surrounded by a crowd, with his enemy before him, he had the perception to see I was trying something against him!

But after a second she felt the heat of those red, red eyes leave her. He had bigger problems, after all. Though she had no doubt she'd be in trouble, later. If there was a later.

You are now a level 8 Grifter!

CHA+3

DEX+3

LUCK+3

The words confirmed the danger... but then the werewolf was speaking.

Someone had brought him a plate, she saw as the crowd shifted. He wasn't eating any of it, but he did drink the wine. “A subtle hint of wolfsbane. Nice. I wonder how many of your guests will have diarrhea tomorrow.”

“A little discomfort is well worth the security,” Don Sangue replied. “Please, everyone, be seated. He is a guest at our table. For now.”

Chase tapped the Muscle Wizaard's arm and he put her back into her chair, before resuming his post. She glanced back to find him looking around the room. Cagna was doing the same thing.

That makes sense. There are enough eyes on the the alpha, and this feels off. He's a distraction? Maybe. There won't be any threat from him, but it's quite likely there will be something from an unexpected angle... if it happens.

“Thank you,” The alpha broke off a small piece of bread, dipped it in salt, and gulped it down. “Your time is valuable. So is mine. I won't waste it.”

“Oh, you're welcome to stay as long as you like.” Don Sangue smiled, showing sharp, sharp teeth.

What IS he? Chase wondered. Some sort of undead, though it seemed impossible. The undead she'd heard of were rotting or skeletal or ghostly figures, and aside from his coloration, he seemed human. If it weren't for that aura, he could have passed as an exotic living person.

But the Alpha had finished chewing, and she glanced back toward him. “You'd like that, I suppose. You know as well as I do that the moon is calling me. Soon I'll have to hunt and kill. And the higher she rises, the louder the call.” he smiled. “And the second I attack anyone in here that'll void my guest right.”

“You're not wrong.” Don Sangue angled his neck a fraction of an inch. “And you're obviously smart enough to know that I don't have to let you leave. So the longer this goes on, the less likely you are to walk out of here. Not that there was much of a chance of that to begin with. So...” he drummed his pale fingers against his wineglass. “Why then, are you here?”

“To offer peace.”

There was a long pause. Then the table erupted in laughter, all the dons howling like the wolves they were fighting.

Even a few of the bodyguards and servants joined in, and Don Sangue himself offered a fang-filled chuckle. Eventually he waved a languid hand, and the table quieted. “If you had come to me with respect, before the Bianchi woman or the Rossi man were killed, I might have considered it. If you had arrived with this invitation before you took Dona Tarnatino from us, there might still have been a chance. But now there is blood on your hands, werewolf. And that blood is one of ours. And I am hard-pressed to think of a reason why I should entertain this request as anything besides the lunacy it so obviously is.”

“There is blood between us. But truly, was she one of you any longer?” The Alpha shifted his gaze around the table. “We found records in Dona Tarnatino's house. Records and ledgers and letters. What would you say if I told you she had broken omerta?”

THAT got a response. Rumbling and discussion and whispers throughout the table, and Sangue himself opened his eyes wide, face freezing into a pale, marble-like mask.

Beside her, Chase saw Don Coltello tense up.

And a thread of worry started to grow in the back of her mind as she remembered Cagna had told her that Dona Tarantino was the only one Don Coltello associated with anymore. This could go to a dangerous place for him... and us, by proxy. I need information.

Chase leaned over and whispered. “Omerta. What is it?”

The old man shot her a horrified look, and shook his head.

“Please! Tell me. I need to know.”

CHA+1

The old man again said nothing... but he looked up to Cagna, and nodded.

Cagna leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Omerta, among other things, is a vow of silence and loyalty to the famiglias. No police, no talking about business with outsiders, respect for your elders... even when you're trying to kill them. Especially when you're trying to kill them.”

“Impossible,” Don Sangue said, into the shocked silence, and Chase patted Cagna on the hand in thanks and went back to watching the byplay. “The vow is magically enforced. Her blood would have burned in her veins.”

“You didn't think it strange she was bedridden these last few months?” The Alpha replied. “And magic cast by one person can be weakened by another. The doge has his top wizards and enchanters on the task. I have correspondence and letters between them, that showed she was almost free of the vow. All of these missives I am willing to turn over to you... in exchange for peace, and a few concessions.”

And now the dons were murmuring, chatting among themselves. Chase saw more than a few lips moving soundlessly... no shortage of Grifters in this crowd, and they were checking things out for themselves, sizing up and activating who knows what other skills. They could see just as well as she could that his charisma was probably decent, but not great. Not good enough for him to be able to bluff his way through a lie of this magnitude. Not to Don Sangue.

And one by one, every eye moved to look at the undead thing at the head of the table.

“If what you say is true,” Don Sangue replied, “we will need to investigate it. I will acknowledge that the current doge has been troublesome this last decade. If his idealism is leading him to foolishness, we may have to reassess a few matters. In light of this, I think I could perhaps offer a truce. You cease your vendetta, hand over the evidence, and stay with me as a guest for a month. At the end of it, if you speak truly, you will be released. Then, depending on your behavior, we may discuss a longer-term peace.”

The Alpha nodded. “That is a generous offer. May I present a counter-offer?”

Chase frowned.

Something was off about the way he'd spoken. He'd spoken just a bit too quickly. His sincerity was a bit lacking, and there was a tension underlying his words. She wasn't the only one who had noticed that, she was sure as the crowd muttered.

Don Sangue hadn't missed it either. He waved a pale, ringed hand, sneering at the werewolf as he did so.

The Alpha barely seemed to notice. “Our counteroffer is this; We have but one matter of vengeance left to resolve that affects you. Give us Don Coltello, let us take his possessions and estates and servants as our own, let us join you as a new famiglia, and we shall serve you loyally and well in your war against the doge and his court.”

And there it was. Chase's premonition had been right.

They think I'm his servant. So that means...

The entirety of the table turned to stare at Don Coltello, who shot to his feet. “You bastard! You stugat! You ran from me like a coward and I put your woman down, and I can put YOU down just as—”

“Massimo.”

Don Sangue spoke quietly, but the word resounded through the room with such clarity that Chase thought he'd shouted for a second.

“You cannot be considering this,” Don Coltello said, his face sagging, his corpulent frame sinking back into his chair, as if the world was pulling him down.

“If he has proof that Dona Tarantino betrayed us, we must investigate this. All of this. Including anyone she has had business dealings with.” Don Sangue's red eyes bored into Don Coltello.

Chase licked her lips... Don Sangue is trying to regain control of the situation. He's not as in charge here as he's pretending to be. He needs these people, even if he is a... whatever he is. This is politics.

She looked back to the Alpha. His face was still, and he barely moved, but Chase looked over his posture, looked for the tells...

And found what she needed.

PER+1

“You're desperate!”

And only when every eye at the table turned to her, did Chase realize that she'd spoken out loud.

The Alpha sneered at her. “You're one of Don Coltello's servants, aren't you? I expect you're feeling pretty desperate yourself, right now.” He took a drink of wine.

Chase inhaled, and she knew that if she stopped, if she gave in to her nerves, then it was all over. This was the best and only chance to derail the way this conversation was going. If she didn't, then there were far, far too many consequence, both for her and her friends.

“No, you're desperate. That's the only reason you're here. Up until now you were winning.”

Muttering around the table, some irritated tones, and Chase spoke more forcefully. “You were winning. We—” her tongue caught on the word. She wasn't truly one of this council. But it made sense, now that she thought of it, 'we' was appropriate here. The more I establish myself as a part of the dons and their circle, the more they'll listen to me, here. Solidarity, and maybe they'll hesitate to throw me to the wolves. Literally. She gathered her breath and spoke again. “We couldn't find you. You were striking out of the night, holding the city hostage, taking everyone you aimed at. You would have won eventually, if you kept on this path. So why change? Everything was going your way. Why put your head into the noose? No, you are desperate, signore, and I think I know why.”

She didn't, not really. But it would buy her time to think. An accusation of the sort she had posed required a serious rebuttal, and it would take the werewolf some time to put up his counter argument. But it didn't matter what he said, because she wasn't going to listen to him anyway. Chase was going to be doing something else. She just... had... to wait...

There!

The werewolf spoke again, and all eyes turned to him. But Chase wasn't listening. Chase was mouthing words. “Silent Activation, Foresight.”

It took three tries, before she got the vision she wanted. Three tries, three frantic attempts while the pain grew in her chest, but finally, finally she had the words that got the reaction she wanted.

She came back to herself, hearing the tail end of the werewolf's speech. “—ultimately, we know this bloodshed serves no purpose. Arretzi is a profitable and convenient city, and together we can—”

“You're here because Pwner is after you!” Chase blurted out.

Your Foresight skill is now level 28!

The werewolf's head snapped back as if he'd been punched.

The chamber erupted into noise as roared as the dons started shouting. A few rose and headed for the exits, and for a second Chase was tempted to join them—

—And then a cold, unyielding hand clamped down on her shoulder with strength that rivaled the Muscle Wizaard's.

“I will have order.” Don Sangue snarled, and she almost hurt her head as she whipped it up to stare at him. Somehow he'd gotten around the table, around all the table in a heartbeat.

“Hey, back off—” the Muscle Wizaard said, but Chase shouted.

“It's all right! Yes sir!” Chase forced herself to pat Don Sangue's hand. “I can explain.”

The Alpha said nothing, staring at her as the table slowly fell silent, and everyone took their seat again. His eyes were hard, but compared to Sangue's dead gaze, his ire was something Chase could meet without flinching. “I never got to tell the rest of the story, of what happened in the Casino. A cloaked figure threw Enrico out of his office onto the casino floor when the werewolves showed up. They fought, but I noticed the figure off to one side. In the Player's area.”

The Alpha blinked, and Chase saw a bead of sweat start up by his perfectly-groomed hairline.

Don Sangue's hand tightened for a second. Then it was gone from her shoulder, and his voice was friendly, almost conversational. “And then what happened?”

“One of the werewolves went to confront him. He pulled out a... my friend called it a bomb. Then he used magic to get away, but left the bomb there. Then the casino blew up. I have no idea how many werewolves made it out of there. Later on, when I told Cagna about it, she identified the figure as Pwner.”

The Alpha blinked. “Wait. Cagna?”

“Is this true, Cagna?” Don Coltello spoke up for the first time.

“It is,” the dog-woman replied. “I didn't see him personally, but his appearance and methods mach the description. If it isn't him, it's someone pretending to be him and doing a damn good job of it, which is just as bad.”

“You're Cagna?” The Alpha rose from his seat. But he halted as Don Sangue raised a hand in dismissal, then pointed to Chase.

“You are certain, that he was sitting in the player's area of the casino?”

And now Chase saw something in the very, very back of Don Sangue's crimson eyes.

Fear.

Only a bit, but it was there.

He knows, she realized. And oh, the next thing she was going to say was going to change everything here.

But she had set this arrow in motion, launched it as if she'd shot it from a bow, and she had to follow its path regardless of where it landed. “I am sure of that. I saw it myself. Just as I saw one of the werewolves go in after—”

“Cagna is one of the names in the ledgers! It's the name of one of the doge's infiltrators!” The Alpha blurted, and every eye turned to him.

No! Chase thought. She tried to salvage the situation, stave off what was to come. “I saw one of the werewolves go in after Pwn—”

“Cagna and Lachina are the two secret police assigned to infiltrate and bring you down!” The werewolf roared. And Chase's small voice and halven-sized lungs were no match for a loud, loud werewolf.

And then it sunk in, what he was saying, and Chase whipped around to stare at Cagna...

Cagna, who had gone back to back with Lachina, as the rest of the table glared at them, and weapons began to sing free of sheaths.

The werewolf stood, and stalked around the side of the table, and nobody stopped him. Even Don Sangue was silent.

He's collecting his thoughts, Chase realized. He's got massive charisma, but his personality is such that he's not very adaptable. When he's not in control of the discussion, he goes on the defensive. This is the wrong way to handle this guy. The wrong way to defend against such outrageous lies...

And then she glanced back to Cagna, and several pieces fell into place.

They aren't lies. They aren't lies at all.

Cagna, who had never killed anyone in Chase's sight, even when she'd been ambushed. Cagna who had disapproved of the Don's business, but was working for him anyway. Cagna, who had shown nothing but ease walking through a guard station, and known the signals for various things such as dignitaries arriving. Cagna whose jobs would definitely NOT support the level of perception she had.

It made sense.

Well, Chase thought as the werewolf stalked around the table and angry, confused gangsters rose and followed him, when have I ever let the truth of something slow me down?

“You liar!” She jumped up onto the table, gaining what height she could, and narrowly missing putting her foot into her soup. “You're desperate! Pwner is after you and you want to sacrifice us to slow him down! You want to kill two birds with one stone!”

The Alpha said nothing. He was sweating now, advancing on her...

...and then with an abrupt motion he twisted aside, and moved toward the wall. He stopped there, and the crowd murmured, confused.

“You don't even deny it?” Chase asked...

...but he seemed to ignore her, turning and smiling. “It doesn't matter now. I did my job.”

“What? What have you done?” Don Sangue said, stepping forward. “Besides bring chaos to my house?”

“Oh, we've brought more than that. Let's just say Pwner inspired us. Wallwalker.”

Then he whirled and threw himself back.

Back through the nearest stained glass window.

There was a pause for a long second.

“What is that fool doing?” Don Sangue asked, almost rhetorically. “He can't escape me, not here! Wallwalker!” And then, with a snap of his blood-red cape, he was through and after the werewolf.

But Chase didn't hear him. Chase's eyes were going wide.

Pwner had inspired him.

“We need to leave right now!” Chase shouted, hopping down and grabbing the Muscle Wizaard's hand. “Cagna, Wizaard, let's go!” She tried to drag them toward the window.

“What? Why?”

“Hold on!” Said Don Coltello. “Cagna, was what he said true—”

“No time!” Chase yelled.

There was only one way that Pwner could have inspired the werewolves to deal with a high tower full of their enemies.

And then it was too late, as the first explosion went off, far below and the tower shook...

...and fell.

CHASE'S CHARACTER SHEET

Spoiler: Spoiler

Name: Chase Berrymore

Age: 15 Years

Jobs:

Halven level 9, Cook level 4, Archer level 5, Grifter level 8, Medium level 3, Oracle level 10, Painter level 2, Teacher level 4

Attributes / Pools / Defenses

Strength: 55 Constitution: 33 / Hit Points: 88 / Armor: 10

Intelligence: 60 Wisdom: 97 / Sanity: 157 / Mental Fortitude:45

Dexterity: 105 Agility: 58 / Stamina: 163 / Endurance: 0

Charisma: 153 Willpower: 49 / Moxie: 202 / Cool: 52

Perception: 68 Luck: 159 / Fortune: 227 / Fate: 34

Generic Skills

Archery – Level 1

Brawling – Level 8

Climb – Level 15

Dagger – Level 2

Dodge – Level 12

Fishing – Level 14

Ride – Level 10

Stealth – Level 14

Swim – Level 7

Throwing – Level 24

Halven Skills

Fate's Friend – Level N/A

Small in a Good Way – Level N/A

Cook Skills

Cooking - Level 15

Freshen - Level 10

Archer Skills

Aim – Level 6

Demoralizing Shot – Level 1

Far Shot – Level 1

Missile Mastery – Level N/A

Quickdraw – Level N/A

Rapid Fire – Level N/A

Razor Arrow – Level 1

Ricochet Shot – Level 10

Grifter Skills

Fools Gold – Level 1

Forgery – Level 1

Master of Disguise – Level 3

Pickpocket – Level 1

Silent Activation – Level 16

Silver Tongue – Level 7

Size Up – Level 4

Unflappable – Level N/A

Medium Skills

Bad Fortune – Level 6

Crystal Ball – Level 2

Good Fortune – Level 8

Séance – Level N/A

Stack Deck – Level N/A

Oracle Skills

Absorb Condition – Level N/A

Afflict Self – Level 1

Diagnose – Level N/A

Divine Pawn – Level N/A

Foresight – Level 27

Influence Fate – Level 1

Lesser Healing – Level 36

Omens and Portents – Level N/A

Short Vision – Level 2

Transfer Condition – Level 8

Painter Skills

Fast Dry – Level N/A

Painting – Level 5

Teacher Skills

Lecture – Level 10

Smarty Pants – Level N/A

Unlocked Jobs

Farmer, Herbalist

Gear

The Charlatan's Chapeau

Light Leather Armor – level 5

Enrico's Last Hand