Low Estate/Turns/Turn 2

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• Aernoud van Nevel: forest wanderer — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)
• Antheunis Opgieten: slippery urchin — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)
• Boudin Verdonk: bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)
• Mattius Rothmann: brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)
• Willem de Vos: student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)
• Lazer Dennis: manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)

Boudin

Boudin makes some discreet inquiries with various acquaintances and picks up a smattering of useful facts:

• The person who came and talked to Sister Marianne was Ruud, one of Maldeghem's few lieutenants with some amount of diplomatic ability.
• Nobody on the streets (or at least nobody who's talking) knows what Ruud was doing there or why.
• The current hangout of the East Arsebrouc Boys is a place called The Kettle.

Boudin takes a cue from the last and heads there. The place is pretty empty but there are a couple of the Boys there, and they're always happy to see someone who will buy them drinks. Boudin manages to lose a couple hands of cards to three of them, and keeps buying drinks until one has passed out under the table, one is being sick in the corner, and the third one — Thumbs — is talking. "Gonna be a lot of work for us!" Thumbs says. "I don't know how the hell Maldeghem got to Keilliaert, but the way I figure it, the Bloody Points are too small to just take over, so there's going to be fighting over Keilliaert's territory and everyone's gonna want a piece. In fact, in a couple days —" he's saying, but meanwhile the guy being sick in the corner — Uncle — has climbed to his feet, leaning against the wall "You're t-t-talking too damn m-m-m-much to this guy, I'm going to t-t-tell Captain," he says, and staggers into the other room. "Anyway, where was I?" says Thumbs.

Boudin decides that discretion is the better part of valour; he switches the conversation to the merits of various breeds in dog-fighting, and avoids sensitive topics for the rest of the evening.

Antheunis and Aernoud

Antheunis and Aernoud make their way to the docks. Antheunis drops into the water and makes his way under the dock. Aernoud, back on land, sneaks from behind crate to crate until he's nestled securely inside an empty crate, close enough to hear but impossible to see.

"Gotta hurry up and get these loaded," one of the two burly dockworkers says. "Skiff should be here shortly."

And as if on cue, a long, low boat glides up silently along the river — when it pulls up, it's almost close enough for Antheunis to reach out and touch, but luckily the sailor inside doesn't look under the dock. "Hurry up!" she barks. "We've got to get these turned around tonight." "What's Maldeghem's hurry?" one of the dockworkers says. "Who cares?" says the sailor. "He wants to get paid, and we want to get paid, so move it." The dockworkers start lowering crates down onto the skiff.

Just then, Aernoud hears footsteps coming onto the dock. With no other way to avoid being seen, he pulls the other side shut on the crate. The footsteps get closer, and then stop right by him. "What's this?" the man's voice says. "This crate isn't sealed!"

Below the dock, Antheunis hears a long, long pause, suddenly broken by — hammering? "There we go!" the man's voice says. "Good as new! Now let's get it loaded, that's the last of them!"

Antheunis, deciding that if he wants to try anything, he'd be better equipped to do so once the boat got away from the docks, ducks under the water, swims beneath the skiff, and surfaces on the far side, in the shadow of the crates, and grabs on just under the gunwale. As the skiff departs, if there's only the one person still on the skiff, he'll take a peek at the crates to see if he can tell what's inside. [Assuming a low-risk, low-reward action here.]

Willem and Lazer

Willem has a talk with Sister Marianne about property records, but it's clear the arrangement was entirely informal; whatever information there is will have to be at the city hall of records, so he and Lazer proceed there in the morning.

The property records are a little tangled, but child's play to someone who has had to search the university archives for a manuscript translated from the original Phoenician, and Willem swiftly assembles a precis of the situation with Lazer's somewhat erratic assistance. Apparently the orphanage was built about a century ago, the manor house of a Lady Sylvie Bellaire, a noblewoman ahead of her time but with somewhat eccentric habits — interested in archaeology and very concerned with ley lines and harmonious placement of geographic features. This may have been why her residence was located in what even then was an unfashionable area of the city, or it may have been that she was forced to locate there due to unspecified dangers from the laboratory that was part of the building. After her death the property came into the hands of a nephew, an enthusiastic gambler completely unable to estimate odds, and from him to a rich wool merchant, and from him to a less-rich trader, and from him to the current official owner, a lumber merchant named Elmar. Willem deduces from other records that Elmar needed to ship things out, which meant he needed to give Keilliaert a cut, and Keilliaert arranged the use of the orphanage as Elmar's payment. [As part of the advanced success, Willem also gets a Knows The Orphanage's History aspect he can tag once for free at some future point.]

Just as they're putting the last books back on the shelves, Willem and Lazer hear footsteps and the voice of one of the clerks. "You'll find the records right in this section, Mister — what did you say your name was again?" "Ruud," growls the voice. "Just Ruud."

Willem quickly re-files the papers he was looking at, making a point to intentionally slide a vital linking document into a drawer marked "Herring Subsidies, 1528-1534". Then he slips out the back door, but not before casting a glance at Laz as if to say, "Are you coming or staying?"

Next he returns to the Home to share what he's found with Sister Marianne and to exchange information with any other members of the group who aren't busy with their own adventures at the time. After that, he heads off to pay a visit to the lumber yard, along with anyone who chooses to join him.

"Mister... 'Elmar', I believe it is?" Willem smiles at the large man with the very large saw. "My associates and I are potentially interested in a property that you own."

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