RP:So, Your Woman Got Kidnapped Again
Part of the The Whisperer In Darkness Arc
[insert Captain America meme here]
Summary: After word finally reaches Kelay-Sage about Khitti's kidnapping, Camina, Khitti's assistant, heads off to Cenril to let Brand know his woman's gotten herself into trouble again.
The Tranquility, Cenril Wharf
Khitti || The night of Lanara’s birthday party, Khitti was supposed to have returned home. She was supposed to have stopped by the Paladin’s Guild hall first. She was supposed to have checked in at the bakery. She was supposed to have put her son to bed and fallen asleep next to that captain of hers. But, Khitti didn’t come home. Word floated from Venturil, into Xalious, and then further into the Kelay-Sage area over the next day or so. It’d certainly been strange that she hadn’t returned, but knowing Khitti, -something- must’ve come up. It was Venturil after all. But, as Meri, Lionel, and Krice went searching the areas of Venturil closest to the lake, mention of Khitti’s disappearance would finally find its way to the guild hall. No sooner did Ulah and Camina find out, did Camina head off towards Cenril, bringing an ever familiar sword with her. Camina’d not once set foot on the Tranquility, but she hoped the sword might be enough to get her in to see the ship’s owner, as well as the knowledge that Khitti’d spoken about Camina to people in the past--and hopefully one of those just happened to be Brand. The islander woman, dressed all in black with accompanying dark makeup as per usual, set foot on the gangplank and even dared to step up onto the ship itself, eyeing those that hurried about with their work, “I need to speak to your captain. -Now-,” Tenbatsu Kaji held out to show that the things she needed to speak about was quite dire.
Brand || With no small, sullen child filling in the role of first mate, the crew was actually quite amenable to letting guests on board. So long as they could stay out of the way and keep to the public areas, anyway. Camina was permitted to stand aboard the topdeck while one of the crew fetched their captain. The man emerged from below, drying his hands of some kind of dark liquid before extending one for a shake. He stopped short, however, when he noticed the sword. “What happened?”
Khitti || “It seems she’s been taken, by the people she was trying to help out there in Venturil,” Camina said with a frown, offering the sword over to Brand. “She told me she didn’t need me to go, despite the fact that she was hesitant about going in the first place. But… she didn’t want to disappoint her friend at her party.” The dark-haired follower of Q’na seemed rather uncomfortable to be saying these things out in the open, but it was far past time to worry about secrets and keeping them. “Khitti said she’d come back afterwards, before going back to the bakery and heading home, but she never did. We didn’t even find out until people from Xalious wandered into the guild hall and inquired about it. They said there’d been a fight… and then she just disappeared altogether.”
Brand pinched the bridge of his nose. A bard’s song floated up in his memory: here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again. Oh, here it goes again. “Alright. You say you’re with the guild? Let me get your name down and any information you might have that would be of help. Has she made any enemies who’d be inclined to kill or kidnap her? Has anyone claimed responsibility or made demands?”
Khitti || Camina sighed in frustration, “It’s Camina. I’m her assistant. Look, things out there in Venturil have been a lot worse than whatever it is she’s told you. That creep Gabriel just vanished after messing with Khitti’s head. For awhile, it just seemed like paranoid on her end. Sure, the people out there were a bit upset because she “didn’t catch the bad guy”, but it shouldn’t have gone on this long. Eventually that anger fades to mourning but that didn’t happen with these people. These people have been outright attacking her for a few months now.” The more Camina spoke about it, the angrier -she- got that she hadn’t been there to help Khitti. “Why do you think she’s hardly ever home?” She paused for a moment, dark brows knitted together in concern, “Did she even tell you about who Gabriel answered to…?” There was another pause, and then a shake of her head, “The only other person she trusted to investigate this stuff was -me-. I saw what was going on in the byrgs she hadn’t gotten to help because she -didn’t have any help-. This is not some simple kidnapping and that’s why you need to go.”
Brand || “So you’re sure it was a kidnapping, then? I’m afraid I don’t know much about this Gabriel. I’ve mostly been trying to leave Khitti to her business. She’s turned down my help every time I’ve offered. So… eventually I just stopped offering. But tell me where you are in your search efforts, and I’ll do everything I can.”
Khitti || Camina shook her head at the captain, a curse muttered in her native tongue, “You’re damned oblivious. You know why she turned you down? Because of -this-!” The islander motioned to the Tranquility as a whole, “Because she knew whatever she was doing would get in the way.” There were more muttered curses and a sigh, “I only just found out. -We- just found out, Ulah and I. Khitti was supposed to be there with her sister, Meri. I can’t imagine that she’d just go right home after that.” Brand sure was frustrating. How did Khitti even fall in love with this guy? Camina just wanted to shake him. A lot. Maybe it would knock some sense loose in his head. “The two places closest to where the party was is Berendebyrg and Diernebyrg, both of which are in the northern part of the region. The first was where they were doing ritual sacrifice on their children, but stopped as soon as Gabriel left. The latter was where Gabriel was doing his dirty work. If it -is- him, I imagine he’d be in either place. Meri was with her, for a lot of what was going on in Venturil, so she’s probably done a bit of digging in between then and now to try to sort out where she might be.”
Brand was scribbling notes on a piece of parchment he’d produced from ...somewhere, oblivious to Camina’s curses. Or maybe just numb to them. If Camina’s reaction to a bad day was to curse and yell, Brand’s was to let everything else slide and focus on the task at hand. “Okay. Berendebyrg. Diernebyrg. Got it. I’ll reach out to Meri and see if she knows anything that can help, and get a search party organized or join up if she’s started one. Thanks very much for your time.” He didn’t -sound- very thankful, but it was probably just another one of those things. Hard to sound grateful for the news your woman is missing. Again.
Khitti || Poor Camina. That feeling of wanting to punch Brand that Khitti used to get a lot? Yeah, Camina was feeling it right now. He didn’t really seem like he was grasping the seriousness of the situation. Sure, this was just another walk in the ‘My Woman’s Been Kidnapped Again’ department, but this was definitely much worse than the time Khitti was taken by a dragon. Yes, Camina was told about this, during a lovely girl’s night out with Camina and Ulah. “Brand.” She was serious enough to move past all of those lovely formalities she’d been trying so hard to cling to, “You bring that sword with you. I don’t care what the hell you believe in, but you take that with you. If she’s dead, then -you- use it on whatever you find there. If she’s gone, then someone needs to finish what she started so we can all move on.”
Brand would take the sword and hand it off to one of his mates for safekeeping. “She’s not dead, but we’ll do what’s necessary. She’s tougher than you give her credit for. A little thing like this isn’t gonna be what does her in. Hell, if anyone tried, she’d haunt them ‘til someone could find a way to bring her back.” Brand gave a little grin at the thought. “But we’ll set this thing right, don’t you worry.”
Khitti || Camina just shook her head again at Brand, “I just hope you realize what you’re getting into.” She’d end their conversation there by turning right around and leaving the same way she came. Perhaps Brand was right, but Camina had not been there for all of those “adventures” they had when dealing with Facilier and Khitti’s vampirism cure. Camina only knew of those things she saw in Venturil’s byrgs and of the things Khitti told Camina that she saw through that link with Gabriel. It was way worse than most things she’d ever seen. She didn’t trust Brand and his lack of excitement when it came to his missing woman, but Khitti trusted him and that was going to have to be enough for Camina, she supposed.