RP:RIP The Larket Cartel

Part of the The Dust Up In Cenril Arc

Part of the Larketian Fault Lines Arc

Summary: Hudson and Meri, with Esche's help, use Lionel as bait to lure Don Santiago, owner of the Larketian Herald and lowkey godfather of the Larket cartel, to a warehouse in Cenril, where they kill him and his henchmen. This marks the culmination of a long-simmering beef between the Larket and Cenril crime cartels and the end of the criminal organization that had popularized the dangerous substance known as red dirt. The group makes use of some magical infrastructure to dump the bodies into a sewage treatment facility with the intention that they will be discovered at a later date and the message made loud and clear: new management's in town.

A Warehouse, Cenril

Word has been dispatched to all relevant parties that it's time for this to go down. The meeting's been arranged to happen late, and in a warehouse in a less trafficked part of Cenril. Don Santiago - that's the head of the Larket mob - isn't on the premises yet. Hudson is, though. He's conferring with Joanie, who is his secretary. Joanie is an older witch who is highly effective at her job and looks like Julianne Moore. As this scene opens, they are inside the warehouse, which is large and mostly empty. There's a closet, the door's closed, but not much else of note. She seems to be heckling him about personal matters, cruising through a list of items. "A reminder, your neighbor is having a birthday party for South tomorrow, and your daughters are invited." Hudson emits a sustained groaning noise. "It's also your nanny's birthday soon ..." "Do I have to get my nanny something? Is that a thing?" "It's customary, yes. She's part of your family. I will handle, just as I handled my own birthday ..."

Meri arrives with enough time to hear that Hudson's secretary handles the purchase of her own birthday presents from Hudson. Really with as much money as Hudson has, this is probably not a bad thing, it means that Joanie is likely to get exactly what she wants for herself, no? Not too bad of a deal, as far as Meri is concerned, so there is no snarky comment from the peanut gallery upon entering. There is a nod to both parties upon her immediate entry. It is as she moves closer to the conferring pair that she actually speaks, a smile curving across her red lips at the same time, "Hey." And that's it. Meri's attire is a bit different from the norm, at least for what Hudson might be used to seeing, Lionel not so much. The tattooed blonde is not all decked out for war, but she is human and it does hurt to be stabbed so she has opted for a few select pieces of protection. Which probably is not alarming, I mean Knights are a thing in this land so...

Lionel has buried himself in his work since Khitti’s death, and the proverbial sand has all but covered his head now. His countenance is a peculiar mixture of attempted stoicism and the cracked facade of a man too determined to look the part to actually succeed. His shoulders are slumped, his hands are in the pockets of his black silk button-up top, his stroll is slow by Lionel’s standards (which is to say almost as slow as is customarily regarded as normal) and his eyes are taking in the warehouse with intrigue. This is the first time Lionel is seeing Meri since the aforementioned incident, and while his face avoids acknowledging her at a direct angle for overlong, those blue eyes of his are far too expressive for his own good. There’s a glint of remorse in them, brief but distinctive, before Lionel nods to Hudson and takes his place. “Alright. Let’s do this thing.”

Hudson greets Meri with a fist bump and a "Sup," he's relieved she's arrived because that means Joanie will stop informing him about children's birthday parties he has to attend. He is dressed like a dad, in wind pants and polo shirt. For her part, Joanie greets Meri with a polite wave. She has seen the blond around the nail salon. "Check out this sweet ass warehouse for killing people," says Hudson to Meri. Joanie does a little Vanna White gesture for good measure. "I wanted to redecorate but he wouldn't let me," she complains. Cue the arrival of Lionel and Esche. "Star of the show. Welcome," Hudson greets the both of them, waving them in and shutting the door after them. "This is my secretary, Joanie," he introduces her. Joanie smiles with consummate professionalism whilst thinking that she'd definitely buy a calendar of the Men of Frostmaw. (If Hudson knew, he'd emit another prolonged groan. What is it about women in his life and Lionel?) "Let's get this show on the road. Joanie's going to cast an illusion that makes you look tied up," he informs Lionel. Joanie is so delighted to be involved in this. She approaches Lionel and informs him, with her calm demeanor, that he should kneel, but he shouldn't be alarmed. Her lips start moving to commence casting the spell that will give him the appearance of being in chains ... and also having a stump for a right hand. She is of the older lady age bracket that is not above brazenly flirting with younger men and so she strategically chooses his biceps for said spell casting. Hudson eyes the proceedings out of the corner of his eye a little (she's normally so professional ..) while he uses this time to explain to Meri and Lionel how this is going down. Don Santiago and his men will be here momentarily, Joanie will fetch them, she has already sent them a simulacrum of Lionel's hand (it was very impressive). Santiago's men will likely pat down Meri and Hudson to ensure that they are unarmed, and in turn Meri and Hudson will pat down Santiago and his men to ensure that they too are unarmed. Lionel, who is also unarmed, will be presented as a human sacrifice to all of organized crime. Don Santiago, Hudson explains to Lionel, likes to kill people by garroting them. It's just a thing that you do when you're in organized crime, it's not very efficient but it comes with the territory and it doesn't count as a real weapon, so... you can bring it to a meeting like this one. So Lionel is not to be alarmed when Don Santiago makes a move to choke him. Hudson muses as to whether this will be done with fishing line or a rope but ultimately concludes that fishing line is Cenril's thing. "I think maybe wire?" he says to Meri, seeking her input like this is a normal conversation that people have. In any event, Don Santiago making the move to end Lionel is the signal. Meri is to use her powers to disrupt Santiago's attempt to strangle Lionel, freeing Lionel up to leap to his feet and fight back. If Meri and Lionel focus on Don Santiago, Hudson and Esche will take care of his men. The numbers should be even without Lionel; with him, they'll have the upper hand. "I'm a little nervous about you meeting those guys on your own," Hudson tells Joanie, who sighs with great dramatic effect. "I will just turn into crows if they get on my nerves," she replies. Unclear if serious or not, but she pats Lionel, who now looks quite immobile. "Hang tight," she says, departing.

Meri engages in some small talk about this warehouse, Meri is evidently going to side with Joanie, "I mean...You're bound to make a mess here, what's the point in decorating?" Lionel arrives, as much guilt and grief as Meri still has over Khitti's death, the woman has her poker face on hard. She nods periodically as she listens to the plan, at least there is a plan in place...that is more than can be said with some of the expeditions she has been as of late that involve Catalians, or honorary Catalians. Poor Lionel is left to deal with Joanie and her flirting, that seems to be a reoccurring theme when these three get together. Lionel gets hit on by some woman he does not want hitting on him because he really does not want any woman hitting on him. It sounds like a solid plan, but given recent events the blonde is feeling a bit the pessimist and even the best laid plans go awry. "Got it." Lionel is tied up, Joanie is departing, Meri stands around with Hudson with both arms folded across her chest at this point in time. That would change when Don Santiago arrives, she would play her role exactly as she is supposed to when he does arrive. The pat down and search for weapons will proceed without a hitch, at least Meri had the sense to not come carrying anything that could be considered a weapon.

Lionel listens intently, appearing oddly unflinching in the face of such detail. If his thoughts could swirl into a cohesive sentiment right now, they’d probably hum that ‘life is but a dream.’ In truth, there should be more than a hint of post-traumatic stress at play here; the ten months Lionel spent as a prisoner of the deepest, darkest recesses of the appropriately-named Underdark are of a permanently scarring caliber of emotional injury. More conventional moments of the man’s life, such as can be said for any moment, would probably see Lionel biting his lip and rethinking this arrangement. This is emphasized as Esche tenses and studies Lionel diligently, even as Joanie starts doing something to the Catalian’s biceps. Esche’s tension then transforms into bemusement. Lionel is kneeling, and the spell is weightless and does not feel as if it is washing over him in any discernible way, but it doesn’t take long for his perspective to warp into the same thing the rest of the group sees: a beaten man, captive and downtrodden. ‘Well,’ he thinks coldly to himself, ‘if shoe fits, wear it.’ The old Catalian epic, Syn Durella.

Hudson now that they're waiting on their guests considers making small talk at first but then realizes it's a bad look because it makes the whole 'Lionel is our captive' thing not very credible. So there's a mostly silent wait during which all are to get 'in character.' Hudson mostly stares at the growing pool of illusionary blood beneath Lionel's illusionary stump. Crazy. Then there's a knock on the door, and Hudson answers it. "Don Santiago," he greets an older man, who knows to put his arms up and be felt for weapons by Meri or Esche. Hudson does the same, letting one of Don Santiago's companions check him. They check Meri and Esche after that, and allow Meri and Esche to check them. These are the rituals when you're in organized crime and meeting with another crew. "You check us for weapons but let us be alone with your girl?" asks Don Santiago, eyeing Lionel like a dog looks at a steak. "We trust each other, man," says Hudson, reaching out to shake the Larket mobster's hand. "Thanks for getting here so fast, was a little concerned he might bleed out." One of Santiago's men is crouching by Lionel, eyeballing his stump. He reaches out and pokes it, experimentally. Hudson tries not to bug eye at this, but: Lionel, get in character! Yell or strain or something. "I got an idea. Let me piss on him, boss. Try to shut down red dirt, that's what he gets," says the guy, standing up and beginning to undo his fly. ... ... ...This is not the plan. "Hey!" exclaims Hudson, glancing between Meri and Santiago. "Get your guy under control. No pissing in my warehouse." "What you got a problem, it's just a warehouse," says Santiago's other guy. "Yeah, I don't want to clean up you guys' piss, the smell lingers," says Hudson. "What, cleaning up blood no prob, but piss you draw the line? C'mon. You're a freaking alchemist, man." "It's my warehouse, no pissing in it. It's disrespectful, also. There's a woman here, OK." Hudson looks pointedly at Meri, and everyone seems to straighten their posture at once. There is a murmur of acknowledgment that indeed, a woman is here. "Excuse me, ma'am," the original instigator apologizes to Meri.

Meri smirks. She is in character, right? What does she care if someone pisses on their 'bleeding out' captive? That is her story and she is sticking too it, she needs to play the role of tough chick. Why, she is even smirking when Hudson attempts to use her as a staple reason that there should be no urinating in the warehouse except in the designated area: a urinal. That smirk is wiped clean off her lips and a stern nod follows, "Yeah. Keep it in your pants. There's a woman present." Each man is given a bit of a look, as if she were demanding some modicum of dignity from them, in the presence of a woman....because killing a guy in front of a dame is okay, but pissing on him? No way man, there are lines. Do not cross them. Even Meri is not entirely convinced but for Lionel's sake she'll put on the show. In order to fulfill her role, Meri moves steadily away from Hudson and positions herself where she feels like she'll have a clean line of sight. Not that it will be hard for her to figure out when they are attempting to strangle Lionel? But a full view of the scene is ideal, so she can see exactly when Don Santiago or his men might strike the illusioned Catalian. It was a waiting game at this point, with Meri trying to seem cool and collected, like she were not concerned at all with anything happening to Lionel. He was an offering and so her gaze rarely falls upon him. He is whatever.

Lionel finds the apparent antics of this profession and its people to be a refreshing change from the comparable norms of ancient evils, crazed warlocks, horse-sized flesh-eating insects and worse. The difficulty now stems from resisting the urge to crack a smirk -- or worse, a joke. That’s what this feels like, is a joke, and he’s trying to find the punchline and the subtlest of glances Esche’s way triggers him to realize that maybe -Esche- is the punchline. Just look at him. Shaven-headed elf he is, a bookworm who prefers the company of tea and protests shrilly at even the slightest deviation from his carefully laid-out plans. Yet here he is, his robes exchanged for a trenchcoat, his magical staff nowhere to be found, his green eyes narrowed and his arms crossed. He looks every bit the part expected of him, and it’s funny. So Lionel, aware he must live up to his alleged status as a half-dead has-been, latches on to that hilarity and twists it into a guttural cry. Santiago’s lackey pokes Lionel’s stump most curiously, and Lionel in turn pictures Esche with an outlandish Rynvali accent, and he screeches, motioning to collapse to the floor. But he can’t, because he’s supposed to be immobilized, and that makes him shriek again. Except that’s not the cause of his shrieking, not really -- now Lionel is picturing Hudson and Meri and Esche walking down some grimy Larketian alleyway in the pitch of night with smoke rising as much from Ferminville sewers as from the cigars tipped ever so slightly diagonally in their lips, and what should have been a howl of laughter is carefully elevated into something like fear. It’s all so frakking hysterical. The comedy is interrupted by the prospect of being pissed-on, but then again, how often does Lionel get to experience a brand new form of painful humiliation? There are only so many tortures left to be inflicted, surely? This, too, is hilarious. “Ugh,” Lionel grunts, but his heart says ‘I’ll be here all week.’

Hudson shrugs helplessly as Meri follows his lead and successfully completes a 180 on the matter of pissing on the prisoner. "There's a woman and the smell lingers, man," he says. Hudson decides that, lest they get the new and improved idea to ask Meri if she MINDS that they piss on Lionel, he should spur the proceedings on. "You need some fishing line?" he asks Don Santiago, who purses his mouth and shakes his head. "Fishing line is weak. I brought some wire with me," he says. He barks: "Greg." Greg, it turns out, is the name of the head piss instigator. Hudson is wondering if he'll take out Greg first, just for being a pain in the ass. Greg unwraps a line of wire from around his wrist and hands it to Don Santiago, who has put on heavy gloves and pulls it taut between his hands. Don Santiago crouches before Lionel. Up close Lionel can see the pitted acne scars in his face and a silver fur of stubble. "Where's your law and order and dragon queen now, eh?" he hisses in Lionel's face. His breath is rancid. He moves behind Lionel and loops the wire around the Catalian's throat. He braces a foot on Lionel's back and pulls. Things move very fast after that. Hudson throws an elbow at the man closest him (not-Greg), catching him in the face and jerking the man's head back, a stylized ribbon of blood spouting from his nose. "Boss!" shouts Greg, as he tries to tackle Meri. Not-Greg, meanwhile, staggers, off-balance, swings and misses at Hudson, who loops a cord of fishing line around the guy's neck and yanks. The guy claws at his throat, gapes his mouth like a fish. Hudson is a believer in fishing line because he's from Cenril. Fishing line doesn't cut your hands and it gets the job done.

Meri was in the know, much like Lionel and Hudson, and is not at all taken off guard by the fact that things seem to have gone haywire. Everything is indeed moving quickly but Meri is not about to be tackled by Greg, who tried to expose himself and pee on Lionel. Does he even wash his hands? Alright, this is not the time for Meri to even be concerned about that. The momentum Greg has given himself in his attempt to tackle the psionically inclined blonde is used toward Meri's advantage. Poor Greg, who is already airborne for the tackle, is sent on a one way crash course with a wall thanks to those telekinetic abilities of Meri's. There is definitely a hard crack during the collision, Greg's skull meeting wall. Maybe Meri cracked it? His neck could have broken? Or maybe he just hit hard enough that he's rendered unconscious. Figuring that out is not exactly Meri's top concern, for she's supposed to come in with the assist on this wire, no? How she was going to disrupt that strangle is not one of those visible things. The Don would know it and feel it though, it was like two unseen hands were gripping his wrists and exerting force upon Santiago's limbs in such a way that the wire grows slack around Lionel's neck. At the very least it loosens enough for Lionel to be able to catch his breath and commence with a defense/assault of his own.

Lionel furrows his brow at Santiago’s question. Law? Order? Since when did the infamous ‘Hero of Hellfire’ become such an expert on downright Donovanian concepts? How wack is that? The cost of association with heavily-armored philosophical heavy-hitters, he supposes. Lionel’s supposition is sobering his mind -- being mistaken for Rorin is no fun, after all, and it happens often enough -- when a wire is looped around his neck. Lionel’s gaze just happens to be a glossy angle toward Esche at this time, and Esche has maintained his gangster facade even in the wake of the assault on his commander’s life! The nerve! This roleplaying game has overstayed its welcome, Lionel thusly decides, so it’s a welcome sight when Hudson cancels the show and starts elbowing the guest stars. Esche follows suit accordingly, tossing his trenchcoat to the hard stone floor in a fit of orchestrated heroics. The elf is slim and nimble, but his melee combat style is a product of a life spent with tomes, not tomahawks. He narrowly evades the thrown fist of a burly man with hair everywhere by bowing formally, which blindsides the hairy right hook and it soars straight over shaved elven head. Esche lifts that head like an iron ball to smack into the man’s arm, knocking him over so that he can be beaten-on in a flurry of over-the-top slaps. It’s more effective than it has any right to be; nearby foes are stunned by the tomfoolery of it all, and the hairy victim’s face is half a mess in the slap maelstrom. In the meanwhile, Lionel watches Santiago struggle to reason with a loosening grip, and a plan comes together to capitalize on that. Lionel is left-handed, but it’s difficult to pass up an opportunity to bewilder someone with an illusory stump, so he lifts it into the air -- with the appearance of a limb passing faultlessly through chain -- and grinds it into Santiago’s cheek. The crime boss crumples in a heap, more from bewilderment than real damage, and Lionel jumps up on top of him most ferally. Fake blood splatters everywhere and a flawless button-up black silk shirt fades in and of out spell from all the tumult, widening Santiago’s eyes. “My dragon queen’s doing dragon things in dragon land,” Lionel breathes through a volley of blows to Santiago’s head, mixing real blood with the false, “my order is an almond milk caramel latte,” Santiago spits a tooth involuntarily and tries to no avail to shield himself, “and my law is meant to be broken, jackarse, just like your face.”

Hudson has got his man, the guy's open-mouthed and dead on the warehouse floor, a bloody necklace carved into his neck. Hudson's a little out of breath, the man had struggled. He regrets not going after Greg for petty reasons alone, but Greg and Esche's man seem down for the count. Hudson 'checks' by going over to them and snapping their necks. It makes a grotesque sound. That leaves Santiago, whose face Lionel is tenderizing with his fist. "Sven," exhales Hudson, both impressed and surprised that he's not the most messily behaved attendee at this party right now. "Lionel. Lionel. Lionel. OK, he's going HAM, Meri, help me," he looks to her for assistance in hauling Lionel off the crime boss, whose head is lolling around as he clings on to consciousness. Hudson crouches down before the Don and yanks free a gold medallion chain off of the man's neck. He slides it along the floor to Meri. "Long may she reign," he says, to her, before straightening to cross the room to the closet door. "I got something for you worse than being pissed on," he says, opening it. Beyond it is nothing, blackness, but from it a terrible stench - the smell of raw fertilizer - emanates, like a thick cloud of the stuff, pervading the warehouse. It is foul. Hudson gags into his shoulder. "Oh gods, that is raw sewage, that is so bad. So, so so bad," he says, grimacing and gesturing that Meri and Lionel are to pick up Santiago, who is still tottering between unconsciousness and consciousness. "Put his lights out and throw him in so I can shut this door and we can get out of here."

Meri is not quick to assist Hudson with trying to pull Lionel off the crime boss. What's a few more blows to the guy if they're going to kill him anyway? Maybe Lionel wants to let out some pent up frustration, it might be good for him. Or it could be another thing that ends up weighing upon his conscience. Eventually Meri helps, trying to grab Lionel by one arm and pulling him back a bit. "Alright, alright." Once Hudson and Meri are successful in this endeavor, she will immediately let go of Lionel's arm. The medallion is offered to her, Meri takes it and then Hudson travels away the group and goes to open a door which promptly causes the alchemist to gag up a storm. So what is the incentive for Meri getting close to that door outside of trying to hide the body? Not much, nor does she need to. She looks to Lionel, silently inquiring if he would like to do the honors of rendering Santiago unconscious? If he does not, Meri is happy to do those honors with a boot straight to his jaw, but she's not going in for the assist with hauling Santiago toward the door that leads to a room of...raw sewage? The smell from Meri's vantage point is bad enough already. Naw, the psion has a better plan. Given that she does possess telekinetic abilities...she would rather put those abilities to good use by mentally dragging those bodies, dead or unconscious, through the door and into that smelly darkness. Yeah, she's not getting any closer to that room than she needs to, please close that door Hudson.

Esche has very awkwardly defeated his enemy. He stands up just as awkwardly, dusting off the elven robes he’d kept tucked underneath his trenchcoat and holding his right arm out a bit from his side as if unsure what to do with it without his staff. He clears his throat and observes. Lionel snaps out of his vitriolic snark-fueled strike at Meri’s intervention. “Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that’s fine. I was done, anyway. That was the end of the sentence.” He squints and helps haul the tongue-wagging mobster across the warehouse and toward the closet. At Meri’s silent inquiry, he smirks knowingly, and that’s likely all the answer she’ll need. Lionel finishes off Santiago with a left-fisted uppercut. The man’s eyes are still open, if barely, but they’re staring up at the ceiling and his breathing’s practically a snore. It’s a relief when the psion delivers the bodies to their resting place from afar. “Another happy landing.” It’s more work for Lionel to bury himself in, and buried himself he has. He’s still got a bit of the look of a man who’s cracking internally under the pressure of Khitti’s passing, but his tone is every bit the polished cynical wit he’s built upon since adolescence.

Hudson had figured they'd be leaving some bodies here and he'd be torching the place. To say that he's been planning and looking forward to his revenge for a long time is putting it mildly. But Meri's idea he likes better. You never know when you might need an empty warehouse with a teleporter into a sealed sewage treatment facility in and around Xalious. (To be specific.) She's onto something: the point gets really driven home if there's four bodies in there, not just one. Hudson wastes no time at all in slamming shut the door once their guests have filed in nice and orderly. Shutting the door has the immediate effect of making the room bearable again. He breathes a ragged breath, just, mouthfuls of delicious-tasting air, and crosses the empty room to their little committee. He takes out a piece of paper from his pocket, hands it to Meri. "That's the address of the ah, sewage treatment plant our friends' bodies have been teleported into. It's completely sealed and has security, so, if Don Santiago wakes up..." he'll be literally drowning in sewage, and can't get out. Yeah. What a way to go. "Send an anonymous tip to the Larketian Herald after a few days, I'm sure they'll jump all over it," because Santiago had been its owner. "Maybe wear the medallion, it sends a message." He turns to shake Esche's hand, and claps Lionel on the shoulder. "What a champ. You guys all did good, thank you. Seriously, thank you," he says, although Joanie's illusion is on the fritz now and Lionel's hand still looks to be severed and is leaking blood. Who knows how long that'll be the case, might make for some awkward conversation in the near term. Hudson rubs his stubbled face, considers it, decides whatever. He gestures at the way out of the warehouse. "I'd say we should get drinks but man it's late and this is literally a criminal conspiracy so... raincheck, eh?"

Meri wearing the medallion might have normally elicited a slight crinkle of Meri's nose, it seemed like such a tacky thing that would clash with her attire. But Hudson was right, it would send a message. The woman nods in the affirmative to this, and to acknowledge the request to send an anonymous tip to the Herald. "Yeah, rain check." Meri would leave it at that rather than expanding upon the details of why she should probably not stay. Cal was present when Hudson requested Meri's assistance in this matter, and is probably quite in the know that his woman is off doing something that had the potential to go awry. He might appreciate knowing that she's alive and well sooner rather than later. She can celebrate with a glass of whiskey once he makes it home. "We'll see each other soon, I am sure," Meri explains as she makes for the exit of the warehouse.

Lionel is going to be walking down Cenrili docks looking like he’s dripping blood everywhere. He was dripping blood fifteen years ago when he first came ashore here and picked a fight with thugs from Vyrick’s short-lived Empire. He dripped plenty of blood here ten years ago at the climactic Battle for the Dawn. Now it’s as if he’s back in the saddle, dripping blood like some men drip ale. It’s poetry. It rhymes. “Yeah, rain check,” he says at the exact same time as Meri. He can celebrate with a bottle of spiced cider. The spice is alcohol. It’s very spicy. Esche follows dutifully after shaking Hudson’s hand in kind. “A good thing was done here today,” the elf states. How and why Esche arrived at this conclusion is as mysterious as the rest of him. Into the night they go, leaving their enemies dead or dying behind them. It’s the least they can do in favor for all that red dirt.