105. Störst: Wiremu

So I finally get to dig into what these enchanters are up to. It was too late yesterday after I finished with Master Glass as I wanted to visit when the shop was open. I haven’t seen Tabitha since she went on her date. It seems like she was successful in at least one area.

I dressed as a successful merchant and adjusted my Status to match. I walked in the front door about an hour after Enchanters Supreme opened for business. A dwarven sales assistant met me, inquiring about how she could help me.

“I have an appointment with Bertel,” I announced. It wasn’t true, but Bertel was the contact name the thugs who attacked the warehouse gave us.

Her smile faded, “I am sorry, Manager Bertel no longer works here. Can I get someone else to help you?”

I wasn’t surprised that Bartel was no longer here as Investigator Whitby was there at the time and would have acted on the information. “I wish to meet his superior then.” I let some demanding attitude and stubbornness leal through my tone and body language. This Roleplay Skill was fantastic. I look back now at my acting when I was playing the ginger-haired merchant and even the early parts of pretending to be a gang member, and I can see all the flaws and think about how amateurish it was.

“Manager Bertel reported directly to the Master Enchanter, and she is only available by appointment,” was the reply.

I raised my voice, “But the enchantments he sold me were useless.” I threw some of Am'mā’s practice enchantments on the table. “He told me the Master Enchanter did them herself, but they look like they are from your newest apprentice.” Sorry, Am'mā.

The young sales dwarf was obviously out of her depth.

“Why don’t you go and get someone who can help me,” I said in an annoyed and slightly condescending tone.

She should have come to the conclusion of kicking it up the chain herself. She showed me to a private consultation room and scurried off.

She returned a very short time later, meekly following a very stormy Master Enchanter. Störst stomped her way into the room, “What the %?$^&! is this about one of my enchantments not working?”

I honestly thought my dwarvish was getting good. Störst takes dwarvish swearing to another level. She went straight to the samples I had.

“These are not my $%^@?!! $%&#@! work! Who the &*&^$# are you, and why are you asking about the ^^%&&$, #[email protected]^# traitor Bertel?”

I didn’t need Truth Sensing to tell me she was furious. It did tell me she was genuinely angry and not covering for something like guilt.

“Where are those %^$**& guards! Get the &*^^% off my ^&[email protected]@ property. I won’t have anything to do with @@##?% traitors!” one of her guards came and escorted me out the door, and I decided I had learnt enough, so I made an exit before the Watch arrived.

Störst may be a high-tempered, foul-mouthed dwarf, but I got the impression she was loyal to the kingdom and calling Bertel a traitor indicates they had found ties to the Imperials. I want to interview Bertel, but I am sure he is under close watch by the Duke's guard if the word ‘traitor’ is being thrown around.

If Störst was not trying to kidnap Mayakku and Bartel organised the raid, and he has Imperial ties, then is the Empire trying to capture Mayakku? The Smuggler crew being almost successful in the kidnapping makes more sense, and if we hadn’t rescued her, she could have ended up in the Empire. Is it coming back to these stolen enchantment plans? Maybe Sione’s agent to Northport wasn’t just a spy stealing military secrets, but perhaps they also assassinated military enchanters? The Empire would not risk foreign enchanters without ensuring loyalty. Like enslaving her. Was she a target of opportunity? I think I have a few more questions for Abigail.

Tabitha’s theft of those plans must have severely thrown the Empire's plans for retrieval. It sounds like they had a long-term plant in the Enchanters Supreme, probably because of their military contracts. Stolen plans had come their way freely and were stolen from under their noses for the second time.

We need to confirm the assumptions about Bartel. I think it is clear that Störst has cleaned her house. The military is probably also reviewing her contracts. This is a significant slip-up on Sione’s part. If Tabitha was successful last night, we might be able to check details through the Heir, whatever his name is. I hope he treated Tabitha right. Otherwise, he will wake up missing significant portions of his anatomy. Time to head back to the Inn and see how badly he was maimed.

When I entered the Inn I had changed my look and status, so I wasn’t recognisable by the Staff. Tabitha wants me to level Veneer to journeymen as soon as possible so that I can teach it to her. It puzzles me why she hasn’t been able to learn a version independently, as I thought the Entertainer Class would help facilitate it.

There was a Duke’s guardsman at the bottom of the stairs. Shit, did she maim the heir after all and we are under arrest? Another guard was on our floor, so they were here for us, not some other Noble guest. I slipped into roleplaying a messenger and knocked on Tabitha’s door.

“Go the %^&@@ away. I am sleeping,” was the yelled response. Well, she was here and free, so I backed off before I was the one who got dismembered. I did not think my dwarvish was that bad, but clearly, I needed to hang out with different people to learn the finer art of swearing in dwarvish.

I have time to head out to the quarry to talk to Abigail before we meet Gwydr for dinner. A brisk walk through town to the gate and a short jog to the quarry let me stretch my legs. I also find it easier to think when I am away from the city. The jog was too short.

Abigail was repairing the stables when I saw her at the quarry. Oske and the horses were in a small field nearby. Tāoke slipped off my shoulder, slithered over to Oske and climbed up on his back. I picked up a hammer and asked Abigail where I could help. She had me assist with nailing some cladding over the frame, and I broached the subject of North Port.

“I need more information about your time in North Port, if you would,” I said.

“Not sure I can tell you much. We were docked there for a week, but I was not allowed off the ship except for two short, escorted shopping excursions.” She replied.

“Yeah, something went wrong because we were not scheduled to leave for another two days. Several of the crew were left behind as they were on shore leave. I was woken when my dad and three of the ship's security people came aboard with one of the MI agents, and we undocked and set sail immediately.”

“One of the MI agents? How many agents were there?” I asked.

“Three. The other two never came back before we sailed. As we were clearing the harbour, there was a large explosion in the Military shipyards, and I saw the agent make the sign of Blessing for the dead. I assume they blew something up to help us get away.” She had stopped work as the scene played through her mind.

I will assume they blew up the Empire's Enchanters to either hide their theft or sabotage them in the production of this shipping thing. Probably both. Sione must have other agents in North Port. I wonder what the chances are of getting information from him. It would support my theory of the Empire wanting enchanters to build this thing. The other option, within reach, would be to find the local Imperial agents and question them.