Downtown Druid (Book 2 Complete) - Ch 65: Midtowner born and raised
It was very late when Dantes made it back to the Vixen, but not so late that it had closed for the night. He shifted back into his normal self in an alley a few blocks away. It took longer than it had the last few times, and was more painful. When it was over he collapsed, breathing heavily with sweat dripping across his body. That was the longest time he’d been in ratform, and apparently it came with consequences. He took a quarter hour to steady himself, but when he stood it was on shaky legs that took another ten minutes to calm. When he felt ready, he exited the alley with Jacopo comfortably in his pocket.
The street was busy with sailors and drinkers lining it and having a bawdy time. A bard was singing the old “What do you do with a captain’s daughter?” song, though he’d added in a few very creative lyrics to the mix which a small crowd seemed to be truly transfixed by.
Dantes walked into the Vixen to see Decker, and one of the whores he hadn’t yet met. A broad shouldered girl with a plain face that was made striking by bright purple hair that fell in waves down past her shoulders. She had to have some kind of gnome or fey in her somewhere up the line, but aside from the hair, there was no other indication that she wasn’t human.
“Hello ser.” she said with an awkward curtsy.
Dantes held up a hand. “You can save that, I’m not a customer. I’m Vera’s guest, Ed.”
She nodded. “Oh, that’s right. Sorry.”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to apologize.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Dantes stopped himself from reiterating and just gave her a small smile before sliding past her and making his way to the bar, exchanging a nod with Decker as he moved.
Zilly was sliding a tray of drinks toward what looked to be a first mate that took the platter and made his way toward where his captain, and the other officers were seated with what looked to be the majority of the Vixen’s employees.
“They’re pirates. They captured a Viscent steam galleon,” said Zilly as he approached her, predicting his question before he even asked it.
Dantes raised an eyebrow. “They captured one?” Steam Galleons were the Viscents’ prized vessels. Massive military vessels that could move without wind and cut through the seas like a knife. He’d seen only one, its black hull lined with cannons had left a distinct impression on him.
He looked back over at the patrons. They were clean for pirates, clearly organized, but the idea of them capturing a Steam Galleon was hard to process.
“I’m guessing the city bought it?”
Zilly nodded.
Dantes frowned. It was the city’s policy that they purchased captured vessels both from legal and illegal privateers in order to maintain the strength of its own navy. A lack of raw materials aside from the lumber outside the city’s borders made that a near necessity. In this case it seemed…short sighted. The Viscent weren’t exactly friendly to begin with, and buying their vessel didn’t seem like the best idea… Still, the city had managed to avoid war for more than a millennia, and the pirates’ profits were the Vixen’s gain, so he chose not to concern himself with it.
“What food’s in the back?”
“Clam soup, bread that’s starting to go, and crab.”
“A bowl of soup, some bread, and some of whatever bottle of wine Decker had you open for him earlier today.”
Zilly nodded, and poured him a glass, then went back into the kitchen, returning with a bowl of steaming soup with a torn off hunk of bread on the side. Dantes started by tearing a piece of the bread and using it to sop up the rich red broth before eating it and washing it down with the wine. Warmth spread through him as he chewed and swallowed it and he took a moment to close his eyes and thank the Lady of the Hearth. He wouldn’t be taking good meals for granted any time soon. He slipped a full clamshell into his coat for Jacopo, before attacking the meal with gusto. His body craved the energy that the food gave him, and it wasn’t until after his second bowl that his mind was able to concentrate on anything other than the food that was in front of him.
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He reflected on his day. Attacked by a strange growling man at the Vixen, attacked by three men at the docks, and robbing the guard. A very full, but overall successful day. He could’ve done without the attacks on him, but only one of them was really the result of his own actions, so he took that as a wash overall. His mind drifted to the dead leviathan, would it be possible for him to curry favor with something like that? It wasn’t exactly like he could feed it, in fact he was fairly certain that no one even knew what they ate. Could he curry favor with them by destroying a Hunter, one of the boats they tracked and killed before bringing them back to process, or would that be too indirect? Even if he did have the favor of the Leviathan god, what exactly would he do with it? And would the mark it granted him just swallow him whole, leaving all of his skin looking like it was tattooed.
He ate one more bowl, and had another glass of wine. The purple haired girl sat next to him, and made an awkward attempt at a sultry lean against the bar facing him.
“It uh, looks like the Vixen is at last call,” she said.
Dantes looked around and saw the sailors finally pairing off, and heading up to the girls’ rooms. “Looks like it,” he slid his food toward Zilly, along with a silver as a tip.
“Um, Alessa said that you helped her out the other day?”
Dantes nodded, taking her meaning immediately and glancing at Alessa who blew him a teasing kiss that ended in a light cough.
“What’s your name?”
“Caressa.”
Dantes nodded. That was one of the fakest names he’d ever heard. He sighed. He really needed to go through all of the information he’d stolen, and start coming up with a more firm plan. He needed to stay focused.
“Well, I’ve always thought of myself as the charitable sort,” he gave her a wolfish grin, his willpower weakened by a long day of effort. It was going to take some time to make up for five years. There was no reason not to enjoy what he’d missed in the midst of getting revenge for missing it.
…
Dantes stood over his pack, and began removing everything he’d stolen from Pacha and laying it carefully out on the floor. He’d sent Caressa back to her room with some silver and a bit of advice on leaning into her lack of experience rather than pretending to be something she wasn’t. She’d seemed to be receptive, but he had a feeling Vera had likely given her the same advice so who knew if it would take.
He’d been careful when he’d taken the documents to make sure that they were sorted in such a way that he knew how to lay them back out. He started with the picture of Mondego, then came the picture of Mercedes, then he got to people he didn’t know as well. They were a motley mix of orcs, dwarves, mutts, and even a few elves all scattered below him, and then mostly more mutts at the very bottom. He recognized a few as old gang heads who Mondego must have subjugated somehow, and below them were some other familiar faces. The majority of them near Mondego himself were brand new though, younger from what he could tell.
He kept pulling out notes and pictures, and stopped when he reached a face he didn’t recognize, but was familiar. Dark haired mutt with average features, his gray skin shaded in with charcoal. Between broad and skinny, with the eyes kept light. He flipped over the picture to see the name ‘Dantes’, written on it. He frowned. Had Pacha seen him at some point or was the sketch based on what other people had said of how he looked? He searched for the corresponding notes.
Dantes
Orc/Elf/Human/Dwarf (?)
Former leader of Mondego’s old gang. Currently in Underprison. Minor player, but sources indicate he is mentioned frequently by Mondego.
Request input to have him located for questioning in the Underprison.
Minor Player huh? Well, not for long. Though he once again wondered why Mondego was still mentioning him at all. He had paid to have the Consortium not help him to escape, and to keep him from communicating with the outside, and now this? It didn’t make any sense. When you have someone thrown into a hole with no way out, the point is to never have to think about them again.
He went through the rest of the notes, finding one near the bottom for Danglars, and below even that one he found Gaspard.
Gaspard
Orc/Elf/Halfling (Favors halfling)
Cutthroat. Formerly in Mondego’s gang. No mentions. Has been beaten attempting to speak to Mondego. Currently in hiding for killing a young woman in uptown. Asked the investigation to let me speak with him if he was found.
Below that was a list of common haunts that Gaspard frequented. That gave Dantes places to monitor. There was a possibility that he had left the city, but that was unlikely. Just like Dantes he was a midtowner born and raised. He didn’t know anything else.
