Palms R Sweaty, Fees Week, Charms R Heavy
Criminal Activity
5/11
The Sapphire Oath takes on a job from the Saffron Palm. There persistence to do a complete job as opposed to a half measure leads them deeper into a conspiracy.
After talking it over that night, the Sapphire Oath decided that they would at least look into the lead Beatle had learned from Jedingo Null. Heading to the Golden Palace (a casino), the companions started asking for the Saffron Palm. One of the bartenders replied that that lounge was grungy and no longer in use but they had other more lively centers if needed. Issuing the passphrase, the trio was led to the back, custodial chamber of one of the fountains and told to make sure the valves were nice and tight to keep the water pressure up. Left along in this little pipe filled room, the companions tightened the knobs to find that the metal grated floor gave way under them to form a spiral stair case under them that buckled down below. As they left the stairs, they rose back into place above. Filtering out of minor hallway onto the upper balcony of a two level, tavern the companions had found the Saffron Palm.
The party soon split two ways to cover interests. Asking about for work, Ravel and Marduk were pointed down to Fernón on the lower floor. Why they went in search of him, Beatle stayed up top with a Dwarf to play some cards. The games were played for three ends: magic items, favors, or pride. Beatle challenged the dwarf for pride and despite putting up a fight the bard lost the first round of games. Interested to make something of this but not wanting to loose his Amulet, Beatle wagered his skills as a front man against the dwarfs connections in New Derth. Once again, the bard lost. Mirroring the Sapphire oath gaining a favor from the Temple of the Mighty Light a week ago, Beatle now owed this mysterious man a favor and it was not known when he was going to call it in.
Down below, Ravel and Marduk did indeed find the rough but dapper Fernón to inquire about jobs. Fernón wished to get to know the new patrons first. Hearing out Ravel's opinions on helping those who deserved it, the gentleman did have a task that fit their desires that would also act as a rehearsal to judge the trio off of. Once Beatle joined the crew, Fernón's flirting led into a morning of chatting, drinks, and backgammon as a dossier was being mocked up for the Sapphire Oath's job.
Among the copious details provided, three key families formed the center of his pressure and represented three different tactics that he was using to unduly effect this community in comparison to others. First, he was ensuring a families behind on their taxes were immediately catching up by buying the best of their goods but paying the listed price directly into their debts. Rather than giving the family the money for daily living, their debt is dropped but they have less funds and less product to earn for their needs. The second tactic used was aggressive taxation and ledger monitoring of goods. It is common for communities to barter and trade outside of the open market but Acoso was demanding to see every transaction for proper taxation even behind closed doors. Finally, while unproven it is alleged that Acoso conspired against some crafters to have specialty items ordered and then canceled later in production. This left poor workers with invested time and goods beyond what their community would buy.
Aside from the documentation on the community, the Sapphire Oath was also provided with information on a previous partner that worked with Acoso. Quorton Cuenta worked in the same tax district for longer than Acoso and had recently left the government job for the private sector. The Oath certainly wanted to speak with Quorton Cuenta to see what made him change jobs but they also wanted to talk with the people. While the idea of speaking to the troubled peasantry was brought up many times, the Sapphire Oath always found a reason not to do it. Early on there were suspicions that Acoso was being framed and later on there were reasons to not spook the neighborhood. For the most part, the oath would trust their dossier for the peasantry information and keep their investigations elsewhere. The beginning of the in-person investigation would actually be with Ravel's contact.
Seeking an unbiased view on the lower class' relations with the tax collectors, the Sapphire Oath turned to Filibert Goodsong. The older halfling admitted that none of his people liked the visits but admitted that their collectors only put pressure on the people who required it. They were willing to be lenient to keep the peace and ensure people kept their livelihoods. When questioned of Impis Acoso, Filibert identified him as their collector. The city had their agents assigned areas by purpose and class rather than blocking off large districts and having one person work with the whole ladder of society. Filibert would would admit that the city did have a history of pressuring communities that would not sell their property if a noble wanted to expand their estate or a civil project was planned. While the monarch owned all of the territory, the people of city were not indentured to it. They owned their physical property wherever it may be and occasionally that property interfered with the plans of the more powerful.
After learning of the general mood, the Sapphire Oath turned their attention to the ex-partner: Quorton Cuenta. Knowing his daily plan, the companions traversed the city and waited for his evening routine at the Carmel Sister's Patisserie. Upon his arrival, Beatle in disguise approached the man about job research. He fronted himself as an account having just moved to the city and was looking for outside opinions of the job market. Beatle managed to get the tired man to delay his evening meal to accommodate a brief meeting back at his office.
Beatle's Q&A gained him a breakdown of the social differences of a city tax collector's job depending on posting. Most importantly, he learned that Quorton Cuenta preferred the sterile mathmatics of the job but that is not the position he had been assigned. He confirmed his position working with Impis Acoso in the poorer neighborhoods. Beyond the finicky nature of leniency versus pressure, Cuenta finally left the job when it became about dealing with government influence and calculating the worth of nostalgia in the community. He also advised the disguised Beatle to not bother Acoso right now if he could deal with it. Acoso was currently under a ton of stress from his superiors and likely not in the best moods to deal with extraneous outsider questions.
Meeting up in a tavern afterwards, Beatle filled his companions in on the information. Continuing to delay speaking with the affected community, the companions sought to better understand the upper level to what was going on here. Beatle decided to see if Jedingo Null had any of that information. Leading his companions to the Dapper Lute, the companions arrive around dusk to see the tailend of his performance. Afterward, the gnome met up with Beatle and the lot talked everything through.
Surprised at what job Beatle was doing ONE DAY after being given the pass code, Jedingo connected the trio's job to what Beatle had helped him with the night before. The parcel that Jedingo needed help acquiring was smuggled plans for a proposed Skyport built over the city. The two bards shared employer wanted to ensure continued business no matter what port was used in the future and plan proposal would help keep a finger on that pulse. The only person who was supposed to have the legitimate plans for the skyport was a Condesa Iman Akoujan... the very noble that was in charge of Impis Acoso's work. It seemed as though Condesa Akoujan had chosen that neighborhood as the best spot for development of such a structure still inside the city walls and the paupers refused to sell their generational homes.
After talking things over, the Sapphire Oath decided to return to the Saffron Palm below the Golden Palace to not only report in but effect how this problem would be handled. When confronted with the problem, Fernón was greatly impressed. He was aware of the situation already. As he had said, this was a working interview and rehersal for what was to come. He had expected the do-gooders to simply deal with imposing tax collector. He would have been content if they had though less impressed. The party's actions had been led by Marduk's logic that simply removing the problem wouldn't solve it if Acoso was more than a bully. With that being true, Acoso wasn't the problem, The future was.
Whether the Condesa's plan worked, the wealth that a Skyport would bring to Argil was undeniable. If Condesa Akoujan didn't build one, someone else would. With the knowledge that the skyport was inevitable, the Sapphire Oath's understanding of Goodness, Glory, Gold, and Guilt led them to the conclusion that they should help ensure that it was built in the best of ways. Having the tower inside the city's limited space was best though an external skyport or expanding the walls was an option. The Oath needed help in this endeavor though.
The Saffron Palm would certainly keep their finger on the project but could not openly fund such a thing. The companions would need someone willing to help for the right reasons. Fernón pointed them in the direction of the Vizconde Horith Iarnan. The semi-elvish noble did have a history of trying to build up the lower half of the populous and funding a citizen owned Skyport would fit that ends. In order to sell the idea, though, the Sapphire Oath needed the people's support and merit enough to seek audience. Heading to the job boards, they would earn both by their adventurous deeds.
