This Charming Man

Jihan and Yaz descend the ladders with one of Boris' minions and look through the crack of the door. As soon as the coast is clear, they steal into the shadows. As soon as they round a couple of corners, the streets get more and more busy, until they arrive in the Big Square which is, as Boris promised, teeming with life. Squeezing through the throngs, they finally reach the other side of the square and behold the Diamonds' building.

The first impression of the building is that it is big. It is four storeys high and perhaps 200 feet wide. It's difficult to tell how far back the building goes, as there are buildings immediately to either side of it. Jihan looks up and sees, with his keen eyesight, that there is a raised section on the roof with arrow slits and look out holes, giving a good view right across the square and the surrounding area. There is a stout wooden door as the entrance to the building. Each floor has four large windows per storey. Strong iron bars criss-cross each of the windows. Leaving Yaz on his own for a couple of minutes, Jihan goes to have a look at the back of the building. It leads into a dark back alley. The rear of the building is almost identical to the front with regards to the door and windows. It is not nearly as well kept as the front, however, with peeling paintwork, although it is definitely structurally sound.

Jihan goes back to meet up with Yaz, reporting his findings.

'I guess there's nothing to do but watch and wait now' says Yaz.

It is around 11.00 am when they start their observations. They notice almost immediately that there is a stream of people going in and out of the building. There is no set pattern to their movements at all, but small groups seem to go in and out of the building around every 20 minutes or so. Most of the groups are fairly rough, shady looking characters, most of them dressed in leather jerkins, going in and out in twos or threes.

At around midday, a man dressed in a white apron carrying a tray upon which are plates of food, topped by metal covers, arrives and enters the building. He leaves again a few minutes later.

After just over a couple of hours of the stakeout, Yaz is getting bored. Horribly bored. He is not used to standing around doing nothing for hours on end, although Jihan doesn't seem to mind in the slightest.

'I'm getting bored with this' says Yaz, yawning. 'It's high time to get me a Black Diamond. As soon as one comes out of the building on his own, I'm going to get him.'

Jihan nods in agreement.

Yaz shuffles forwards a few yards, but doesn't have to get too close to the building for his enchantment to be within range. He then waits for his prey.

He has to wait for just 20 minutes before a sole Diamond comes out of the building. He looks just like all of the others, scruffy, shady and dressed in a leather jerkin.

'There's a first time for everything' thinks Yaz as he starts the utterings and gesticulations for the enchantment. As the rogue is walking south from the building, Yaz points towards him.

The man stops dead in his tracks.

'Come to Papa, my precious little Diamond' mumbles Yaz, hopefully.

Yaz is both relieved and nervous as the rogue threads his way through the crowds directly towards the druid.

The rogue comes to an abrupt halt before Yaz. The half-elf notices a slight glazed look in the man's eyes:

'Orright?' says the rogue to Yaz.

Yaz looks left and right, with his hand lifted to his nose. Then he motions with a twitch of his head for the rogue to follow him over to the side of a market stall. The rogue follows him obediently:

'The name's Arb Liebermann, but you didn't hear that,' Yaz whispers to him.

'Got yer on that one, mate' replies the rogue tapping his finger on his nose. 'I knows where yers comin' from.'

'Look, I need your help' continues Yaz. 'If anyone finds out you've talked to me, I'm dead.'

He pauses, glancing over to where Jihan lurks.

'Where can we go to talk? A tavern, where we won't be bothered. I need to talk to you. Life and death.'

The rogue thinks for a moment, then replies:

'Ow about The Silver Carp? It's a bit of a shit'ole. No one who's anyone don't go there. We can talk without being disturbed there. It ain't far. Just walk down 21st Oktober Street an' it's about five blocks down. Yer can't miss it'

"I'll meet you there in 20 minutes," Yaz responds, patting him on the shoulder and turning away. He sees the rogue heading of in the direction that he indicated. Then Yaz heads back to Jihan.

"I'm meeting him at The Silver Carp tavern," says Yaz. "But meanwhile I'm gonna get a room at the Frog, in the name of Liebermann." Yaz grins and his eyes glint as he rubs his hands together.

"Meet me at either place, up to you."

Yaz does just that. He asks if the room faces the market, and the girl at the reception desk tells him that it can be arranged for the slightly higher price of five gold pieces. Yaz makes the booking, pays her the cash and then heads over to the meeting place.

He has no problems in finding the tavern after a walk of 10 minutes. It's a bit down market and not the kind of place that he would particularly like to go to late at night, but it does not look so threatening in the sunshine of the afternoon. He enters, seeing that there are just a few customers. Just a few old timers, playing dominoes as they sip their beer. He spies the rogue in the corner. The rogue smiles to him and holds up a glass of foaming ale. Yaz walks over after checking that no one is paying any attention to him and sits by the side of the rogue.

Yaz then buys him another drink, and tells him how much he appreciates his help. Then he starts to question the rogue:

'So, what do I call you, friend?'

'Robert's the name, Robert Cherny,' replies the rogue.

'How can I contact you in future?' asks Yaz.

'Yer can usually reach me at the Black Diamonds' building, on the Big Square. That's where I live. Between 2.00 in the afternoon and 10.00 at night, you can find me at The Fat Cock. That's where I work. I'm a bouncer.'

'What's The Fat Cock?' asks Yaz. 'Some kind of a tavern?'

'Well, you can get a drink there' replies Robert, laughing. 'But it's the company that most folks go there for. It's the best place in the city to fix yourself up with a little female company for an hour or two.'

'What is your connection with Pavlichek?' adds Yaz.

'He's the big boss' replies Robert. 'He's the boss of all of the Diamonds in Hradetz. I don't see much of him usually. He keeps himself to himself. I see him around the building every now and again, but not on a regular basis. He probably wouldn't know who I am. I've only been working for the Diamonds for a year and Pavlichek only speaks with the division chiefs.'

'So, who do you report to?'

'I report to Daniela. She looks after the division that runs the girls. She runs The Fat Cock, keeps the street-walkers in line and also the visiting escorts. Those are the three sub-divisions in her operation.'

'How do I join you in your business?'

'I guess that you'd need to speak with Daniela. She has an office at The Cock. She looks after all of the recruiting for her division. If yer were interested in joinin' another division, then yer'd want to speak to Petr Horak. He's head of recruitin' for the whole Hradetz operation.'

'Will you introduce me to your Diamond buddies?'

'Sure, they're a great bunch of guys. You'd really like them. Best place to meet up with them socially is at The Green Frog. I get together with a bunch of them just after 10.00, once me shift is over.'

'If I wanted to get into the Guild building, what is the best way to do that, and how would I go about it?'

Robert gives a little shrug:

'Through the front door, or the back door, I reckon. Don't know 'ow else yer'd get in there.'

'Who is your enemy?'

'The Blue Dragons are our main enemy. They've got their own competing operations run out of The Pink Pussy. They're into exactly the same things we're into. Drives Daniela mad, it does. What she wouldn't give to close 'em down. P'raps yer could say that the Nyemetz were our enemy too. Life would certainly be easier without them, but we get by. It's those Dragons' bastards that we really hates.'

Yaz continues with his questioning of Robert the rogue:

"This Petr Horak... Does he hang out with the boys at the Frog?"

Robert shakes his head.

'No, 'e's one o' the top brass. They never socialize with the lads. No, the lads stick with the lads an' the top brass stick with the top brass.'

Yaz looks a little disappointed at not being able to get to Horak so easily. He tries a different route:

"I should also like to meet Daniela. I should like you to be there, too. Can we arrange something before or after your today?"

'Don't see why not' replies Robert. 'You can usually find 'er at The Cock. I'm due to go on shift in just under an hour if yer wants to come with me now. Otherwise, yer could meet me as I'm coming off shift, at 10.00 this evenin'

Yaz nods after receiving the information, trying to work out how best to use this new information. He finishes asking a few more questions:

"Have you ever seen Pavlichek? On what occasions?"

'As I said, I've only clocked him on a few occasions. I've seen 'im walkin' with 'is bodyguards around the buildin' on occasions. The other time I sees 'im is when there's some big announcement to make an' 'e assembles the 'ole gang in the big meetin' room. Last time I saw 'im make one of 'is big announcements was when 'e told us all about the truce that 'e signed with the Nyemetz an' told us that all activities against the Dragons would 'ave to stop. I've never seen 'im look as pissed 'as 'e was then.'

"What about getting into and out of the building? Is there some password that you use?"

'Yes, there's a password. It's "glisten". But sayin' the password ain't enough. The door guards know all of us by sight, so they eyeball us as well.'

Yaz nods. Finishing his questioning, he tries out his plan on the attentive rogue:

"You know my name," Yaz says, "but I'd prefer if you kept that to yourself. I have been held in a Mnyesto prison for the past few months, for reasons not much better than the fact that I own a pair of these."

He lifts his hair up to reveal a slightly-pointed half-elven ear.

"That ain't justice, Robert; I hope you agree with me. Anyway. I escaped. And fled here."

Robert just shrugs as he sees that Yaz is a half-elf. It is apparent that he has no special love of non-humans, nor any hatred.

"I have little interest in your Dragon/Diamond rivalry," the half-elf continues. "But I hate the Nyemetz."

With this last, his eyes blaze without effort:

"I've come to you because I have information on your Dragon enemies that your superior, Daniela would be very interested in. The Dragons at the Pink Pussy are upping the ante... they'll soon have the upper hand on your Cock operation, believe me."

Yaz leans close. "And it might put you out of a job."

Robert looks concerns at Yaz's last statement:

'Well that's serious' says Robert with a worried look on his face. 'I reckon that yer should let Daniela know as quickly as possible.'

"I heard much while I was in prison, thanks to these ears, and my own... skills. The Diamonds could use me. I'm loyal, Robert; I can be trusted implicitly. I know the outside, the forest, like the back of my hand. And make no mistake about it: I'm good."

Yaz grins evilly, then finishes his brew.

'OK, my new friend, let's go and see Daniela.'

With Robert in tow, Yaz sets out for The Fat Cock. As he starts up the street, Jihan, who has been waiting for him in the alley outside, comes up to him, still in his beggar's outfit. Yaz makes a show of pushing the 'beggar' away, but the beggar is persistent. As he is trying to dispense with the beggar, Yaz tells Jihan his plans for visiting Daniela and tells the elf to relay details of what he is up to on to the others. He tells the elf that he will be spending the night at The Green Frog and suggests that Jihan meet him there later.

Jihan nods and walks off.

Yaz follows Robert through the streets of Hradetz for 10 minutes until he comes to a large, well-kept building in a middle class part of town. He looks up at the sign in front of the building, showing a plump chicken that appears to be winking at the viewer. Robert walks up to the door with the half-elf in tow.

Two burly figures are guarding the door. They smile at Robert and shake him by the hand, pleased to see him. One of them then departs, his shift having finished. Robert explains that Yaz is there to meet with Daniela, and the other guard has no objection to letting him in.

Yaz walks into the lobby and is led to a bar. Surrounding him are a handful of scantily clad women, mostly human, but with a few of the other races represented there. He smiles as he sees a notice above the bar:

'Today's Special: Two halflings for the price of one!'

Robert tells him to wait while he speaks to Daniela and leaves Yaz alone in the room with the women. A few of them come over to him, smiling at him and telling him the delights that await him should he choose them for an hour or so of company. Yaz is getting quite embarrassed at the attention, as there are no other customers at this time in the afternoon. He is quite relieved when he sees Robert return.

'OK' says the rogue. 'Daniela will see you now.'

He walks Yaz up to the door and knocks. A husky female voice tells them to enter. Before going in, Yaz tells Robert to wait by the door and to come rushing in should Yaz call out his name.

'Whatever you say' replies Robert.

Yaz then enters the room. Sitting behind the desk is a stunning looking woman. She is no youngster, being in her late thirties, but has looked after herself immaculately. She is dressed seductively, yet elegantly and oozes sex appeal. Yaz has an almost overwhelming feeling of lust for the stunning woman.

Daniela pouts a little, rolls her dark green eyes, brushes her long blonde hair from her face and smiles at the visitor:

'So, Mr. Liebermann. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. Mr. Cherny tells me that you have something to tell me. Something that I will find very interesting. So, let me see what you've got for me', she say provocatively.

'I have information regarding some plans that your competitors are making - plans that would adversely effect your interests' replies Yaz.

'I presume that you are talking of The Pink Pussy' says Daniela with obvious interest.

Yaz nods.

'So what plans would those be, Mr. Liebermann.' She asks.

'Not so fast' Yaz replies. 'You are obviously a fine businesswoman, Miss…'

'You can call me Daniela' she says, twisting her golden locks with her fingers. 'That's what all of my friends call me,' she giggles.

'Miss Daniela' Yaz replies. 'I have a proposition for you.'

Daniela smiles.

'Speak on, I LOVE to be propositioned!'

'Errm, not THAT kind of proposition' Yaz replies, sweating a little and fidgeting in his seat. A business proposition.'

'Oh, OK then' Daniela replies, with a touch of disappointment.

'There is a fur farm, some six miles north of here. Are you aware of it?'

Daniela shakes her head.

'No, I am not. I have little reason to leave the city. There is nothing of interest to me outside of Hradetz. What of it?'

'Well, if I give you details of their plans, and arrange that what they are arranging is of benefit to you rather than them, then I would like your assistance in closing down their operations.'

'What a bizarre request, Mr. Liebermann. Do I look like a person who goes around closing down fur farms to you?' Daniela says, a little frostily.

'Well, not you, yourself, personally. But I know that you are allied to the Black Diamonds and such an action would be easy for them.'

'You are correct, and indeed it would be within their power to close down such an operation. But why should they? What is this plan of theirs? I cannot give any commitment until I have at least an inkling as to what benefits the Diamonds could gain through these actions.'

Yaz realizes that she is never going to take the bait unless he provides more details. He realizes that she will need his assistance even with the knowledge.

'They are planning on introducing a new service to their present offerings. That addition is a woman, a woman who can make any man's fantasies come true. A woman that uses the power of magick and illusions to satisfy any man's desires. Just think of it, Daniela. What man would wish to pay for an hour with a regular girl when more attractive options are open? Just think how much you could charge for a man to spend but one hour with her.'

Daniela smiles as Yaz speaks, the potential becoming more and more apparent to her.

'It certainly sounds appealing. Something that I would rather the Diamonds have than the Dragons, but how can you assure me that this 'woman' would work for us and not them?'

'I know this woman' replies Yaz. 'She has no loyalty to the Dragons, she works for the highest bidder. She is a friend of mine. I know that I can persuade her to work for you if you make it worth my while. All I ask of you is to assist me to deal with the fur farm.'

Daniela thinks for a while:

'It is not my decision alone. I will need to speak with my superiors at the Diamonds. So how do we take this matter further?'

'I will speak to the woman. In the meantime, you can speak with your superiors. I will meet you again here shortly. Hopefully we can conclude the deal at that time.'

'Very well, Mr. Liebermann. That sounds like a good plan to me. I wish you farewell and look forward to seeing you back here soon.'

'It is been very pleasant dealing with you, Miss Daniela,' the half-elf says, holding out his hand.

'Charmed, I'm sure'

As soon as Yaz says this, Daniela pouts and then blows him a kiss, with an evil glint twinkling in her eye. Yaz is almost overcome with such lust that he cannot help but throw his arms around the Seductress. He feels himself reaching out to hold her, his lips puckered up to kiss her luscious dark red lips. But as he is about to fall into her outstretched arms, he feels the call of another Lady pulling him back from the Seductress' grasp. Although he is overwhelmed with immense passion for the stunning blonde enchantress before him, his love of Prirodna, who has brought him such great joy in the past, is stronger. Just before he is about to succumb to Daniela's passion, Prirodna's love pulls him back to his senses.

Momentarily shaken from the spell he was about to cast, Yaz launches into it afresh, the same one that he used upon Robert less than two hours prior. He utters the words of the incantation and gestures towards Daniela, his hands pointed towards her.

Nothing happens.

She simply looks back at him and smiles another one of her wicked, taunting smiles:

'Now wouldn't we have made the most "charming" couple, Mr. Leibermann? GUARDS!!'

'ROBERT!' Yaz mimics.

Regretting not having brought his scimitar with him, he reaches for the daggers that he has hidden in the folds of his cloak. Without any hesitation, he hurls them both at the Seductress. In his panic at being thrown into combat with the enchanting concubine, however, both daggers are off target.

As he looks towards her, he notices that her robes are starting to turn into a shifting pattern of incredible hues, with color after color cascading from the upper part of the robe to the hem in sparkling rainbows of dazzling light.

Robert bursts into the room.

'The bitch has gone mad!' screams Yaz. 'Protect me!'

With that, Robert draws his shortsword and comes towards the enchantress. Yaz draws his last remaining dagger and goes for her as well. Managing to ignore the hypnotizing effect of the robes, Robert attempts to strike at Daniela. The robes' effects are off-putting for the rogue, however, and he fails to strike the woman. Not so Yaz, however, as he plunges the dagger into Daniela's arm, sending her screaming with pain. As she is reeling with the pain, he lashes out again and slashes out at her cheek, opening up a horrific gash that leaves her crying out in agony. The Seductress pulls forth a stiletto and slashes wildly at Yaz, attempting to make up for his actions, but the pain has broken her concentration, and she hits only thin air. Yaz sees with some horror that the blade of the stiletto is dripping with some evil looking black substance. He decides that he REALLY would like to avoid being stabbed by the blade.

At that moment, the other guard rushes into the room.

'They've gone mad!' screams Daniela. 'Protect me!'

Seeing the ugly rent in the woman's face and the dripping blade in Yaz's hand, even the none-too-bright rogue realizes that all is not well, and draws his blade to lay into Yaz. The guard's blade is true and even Yaromir's artifact armor that the druid is wearing beneath his robes is not enough to stop the blade from cutting into him. Thankfully, the cut is not so deep.

Both Robert and Yaz go to strike the Seductress again, but as they look at her robes, which are now scintillating with colors, they find themselves transfixed and unable to move, enraptured at its brilliance.

The guard is about to lift his sword to lop off Yaz's head when Daniela screams at him:

'No, you fool, death's too good for what he has done to me. He shall die the most excruciating death that I can think of. And I can think of plenty. I'm going to summon the Diamonds. Lock the door behind me and guard them with your life.'

With that, she rushes out of the door in a blaze of wild, scintillating colors, holding her hand to her bleeding cheek and sobbing with the pain. The guard follows her and slams the door behind him.

As soon as Daniela has departed, Yaz and Robert regain their senses to hear the sound of the door being locked behind them.

Yaz looks at the door:

'F***!' he shouts. 'F***!, f***!, f***!, f***!'

He thinks for a moment, and then speaks:

'Open the door, Robert' he says to his highly confused new colleague.

Robert goes to the door and tries the handle.

'It's locked' he says, solemnly.

'I KNOW IT'S F***ING LOCKED, BUT YOU'RE A F***ING THIEF AREN'T YOU? JUST PICK THE F***ING THING!'

'OK' says Robert, reaching into the large pouch attached to his belt, He brings out a set of tools and sets to work at trying to pick the locks. He fiddles around for what seems to be hours, but is probably only a couple of minutes.

'For crying out loud' screams Yaz. 'Can't you hurry up? She'll be back with the whole lot of Diamonds in a few seconds.'

'Sorry' replies Robert sadly. 'I could never get the hang of these lock things. That's why they gave me a job as a guard at this place. Mind you, I prefer it. I get to look at chicks all day!' the rogue smiles.

'Of all the f***ing Diamonds in this f***ing city, I f***ing ended up picking you!'

Yaz is about to break down and cry, when he suddenly has a thought.

'Perhaps Jihan is still hanging around?'

He goes to the window of the office that is, unfortunately, barred, otherwise escape would have not been quite so difficult.

'Now what was the bloody signal again?'

Yaz makes the call of an owl. Stops for a second, then tries an eagle, followed by a hawk, then a robin, a wren, a goose, a turkey, a chicken, a duck…

Robert looks round at him, checking to see whether the druid has gone stark raving mad. Then he starts to make some animal noises of his own. He starts barking like a dog, mooing like a sheep and baaing like a sheep.

'What do you think you're doing?' Yaz asks to Robert.

The rogue shrugs: 

'I was just trying to be helpful. I thought you wanted some animal noises,' he replies sadly.

'Birds' replies Yaz. 'I just want birds.'

'Well, you're at the right place, then' smiles Robert. 'There's plenty of chicks through here!'

'I've heard that they're all good at doing a swallow!' grins the rogue.

'If what I've heard is true, then you're good for a swift' responds Yaz, bitterly

Just then, a grubby yet familiar face appears at the window.

'Were you trying to signal me?' asks Jihan. 'Or are you indulging yourself in some hitherto undisclosed "fowl" fetish?'

'Errm, yes I was, actually. Errm…signaling you, I mean' replies Yaz, a little embarrassed. 'Thank Prirodna you're here. I thought that you were heading straight off to The Pink Pussy?'

'Thank Prirodna indeed' replies Jihan. 'I was halfway there and then it was as if I heard her voice inside my head telling me to return here as you were in danger.'

'Things haven't quite gone to plan here,' says the druid. 'You couldn't do me a favor could you?'

'Certainly, brother. What would that be?' replies Jihan

'Well could you come in through the front door, kill the guard and then let us out? And I'd appreciate it if you didn't hang about either, as we can shortly expect rather a lot of Black Diamonds to appear.'

'I'm on the case' says Jihan as he moves through the front door.

He walks up to the guard, approaching him in a casual manner.

'About the "Two for the price of one offer on the halflings",' Jihan asks him with a smile on his face.

And then, using all of his might, the elf punches Langzhan into the guard's gut.

The guard crumples to the floor with a very surprised look on his face, before expiring.

All of the girls in the place start screaming hysterically, wailing like banshees.

'Sorry about that, ladies' says Jihan, apologetically.

Just as he does so, the door to Daniela's office swings open. Jihan sees the face of a delighted Robert knelt before it.

'I did it!' says the rogue excitedly. 'That's the first time ever, that is!'

'Come on', says Yaz to both Robert and Jihan. 'We need to get the hell out of here fast.'

With that, the three of them tear out of The Cock, heading in the opposite direction to the Black Diamonds building. As they round the first available corner, they hear the sounds of tens of feet rushing to The Fat Cock behind them.

'There's a park just a few blocks away. We should be able to lose them in the bushes' says Yaz.

The three of them dash towards the park, and dash into the nearest bushes to begin moving through them stealthily.

'BLLUUURRGGHHH!' they hear a voice behind them.

They look round to see that he has got himself caught in a thornbush.

Yaz rolls his eyes skywards and goes to extricate Robert from the bushes with Yaz's assistance.

'I'm beginning to think I made a big mistake in ever meeting you!' Yaz says to the rogue.

After a couple of minutes' work, Robert is freed and they run out of the other side of the bushes. They hide there for five minutes.

'I'll go' says and check out the situation' says Jihan. 'Stay here until I get back.'

They wait for ten minutes and then the elf returns:

'It's OK. I think we lost them. What's the plan now?'

'I think we'd better get back to the Dragon's hideout as fast as we can and get snorting some of that magick powder, as our descriptions will be floating around the Black Diamonds like hornets on a bald bear's bottom,' says Jihan, descriptively.

Yaz just nods. Robert just grins.

'I'll take point, as they shouldn't have got as good look at me as they did you.' continues Jihan. 'Stay as far back as you can while still keeping me in sight and try to keep to the shadows as much as possible.'

Although he had no prior knowledge of the layout of the city, Jihan is adept at traversing the roads and lanes of Hradetz. Carefully, he moves them forwards, jinking back up streets, up and down the small sidestreets so as to throw off any attempt at following them. It seems that they managed to avoid being followed. It takes the best part of an hour until they reach the street containing the seemingly deserted warehouse, as they seem to have gone up and down half of the streets in Hradetz to ensure that they shook off any followers.

Finally, the three of them reach the building as dusk begins to settle upon the city. Checking that there is no one in the run down area observing their actions, Jihan gives the coded knock upon the door. A couple of minutes later, the door is opened and the three of them climb the ladders to the room where they meet up with the rest of their colleagues.

'So, 'ow did yer get on?' asks Boris.

'Don't ask' replies Yaz, tiredly.

Robert sticks his head around the door.

'Hello!' he says, grinning.

'Oo's 'e?' asks Boris.

'Don't ask' replies Yaz, shaking his head.

'Are you all friends of Mr. Liebermann's?' asks Robert.

'Oo's Mr. Liebermann?' asks Boris, now getting very confused.

'Don't ask' says Yaz. 'I need a drink'

With that, Yaz slumps into a seat at the meeting table and pours himself a stiff one. While Yaz is sitting, Jihan fills the others in as to what he and the druid have been up to during the afternoon.