'Charity?....Interesting' Arc nods in understanding, having followed her to the spot, "A pleasure, Corti. Helping others is a noble enough cause. I'm happy to see that you haven't gained sentience and a taste for blood or cruelty." Arc gives a small smile of relief at that, but it's quickly replaced and he turns serious, "Now, as you likely deduced, I am a member of house Cannith. Basics out of the way. No, I am not here about the strikes. No, I will not be forcing you against your will just because I made you. And, no, I do not see myself as a god for...'playing with life'." Having gotten all of those commonly asked question out of the way, Arc takes a breath and looks back at Corti, "If you don't mind. How and when did you gain sentience? I understand you are under no obligations to tell me, but I simply wish to know, and am willing to bargain for that little bit of information. If you'd please." 

Emma gave a nod, to show that she understood. "I can do that fer ye, but I wanna be paid in advance. Kids pokin' their noses where they donnae belong donnae last long. Also, where do we meet, so I can tell ye wha' I heard?"

--------------------------------

Colette looked at the design. It looked a bit bulky to her, but she felt like Brandt had taken a lot of her ideas into the design. "Yeah, that could work. how much do I need to give you for the materials, and how long until you are finished with my gun?"

-------------------------------

The tent was bare, with only the basic essentials of living inside. Looking around her, Thia found a small wooden bucket with a bit of water inside. It must have come from a local well. Taking a cloth and the water, she dabbed the boy's feverish head and wrapped his wrists in the wet and cold cloth. Alexis answered: "The mother told me that he'd been like this since the morning, and that he had complained about stomach pains before. She asked around the settlement and got some goats milk, which she warmed up in the hopes of calming his stomach. He kept the milk down, but has been getting progressively worse since then." Wilfred stood silently by them, his eyes wandering over the miserable hut and the boy on the straw bed. 

“A smart business woman already!”  Milo takes the two gold coins back out before placing it in her hands. “Don’t get yourself over your head.  It’s okay to walk away if it’s too dangerous.  There is always another truth tomorrow to find.  I will never be upset with you if you didn’t find anything.  You could also bribe these other kids to listen for you too.  Give them a couple of silver, you still make a profit.  I’ll come to you, I’ll walk by then You just follow me into an alley. Be safe, be smart.”  With that he walks away.

He spends the rest of the afternoon back at the inn, waiting for Sparks.  Reading the rest of the paper.

"I'm thinking that it should cost us about 75 gold to get the raw materials to make weapons and ammo. It'll could take about three days to get some of the parts. I'm not a blacksmith, which means that I'd have to commission one to craft the barrel of the gun. After that, it'll take a day or two for me to get it all together."

Corti nods as Arc talks, raising an eyebrow (or the equivalent of that) out of genuine curiosity at his answers to one or two of his commonly asked questions, but deciding not to inquire further right now.  "There's no need to bargain for an answer, asking nicely will do just fine," she starts, smiling at him. "I don't think I can give you an exact age or date, but it was very soon after my creation." Corti is currently hesitant to tell Arc much about her mentor, as she isn't sure how he'll react. "I think I just got lucky, really. I met the right person at the right time."

"Has any one else had the same milk? From the same goat?" Thia was going through all the obvious questions while she looked over the boy. She'd listen again to see if the boy was repeating the same words or saying anything new. (Would Thia's experience be able to tell if it's magic or poison related?)

"Right person? Might I inquire which that was....I have no malicious intentions towards you or this person. Simply, academic & innovative curiousity." Arc ponders over who might have the ability to "awaken" Wargorged. Or where they really just lucky?

With that, Emma ran off into a nearby alley, after having to be reminded by Milo to not forget her papers in the street. 

He went back to the Velvet Glove and looked for a space away from the gambling tables to read his newspaper.

Bloody Battle for Borogrod Concluded

Last week, imperial forces have ended the sieges of several important factories through the use of Zhivarg fire and heavy cannon. Enclaves of workers that surrendered have reportedly been executed by the advancing troops, in an effort to make a statement. The fall of the Borogrod region is definitely a setback for the workers and revolutionary forces.

Further to the Sputh however, several sailor crews have thrown in with their brethren in the factories, and have reportedly taken over several warships and destroyed the rest of the fleet. With the shipping lanes now open, the revolutionary forces hope for support and reinforcements from abroad.

Flipping the page over, Milo reads an editorial on the Corphyrean Coach Company:

Derbert Dallies Away Duskrock’s Dinars

As our esteemed readers will by now undoubtedly know, the city council is discussing plans to fund the newest of Mr Sparks’ pipedreams: A trans-corphyrean connection, built with our finest steel. What is this dalliance to cost us? Estimates run into the thousands of dinars per day, money that could go to infrastructure, reinvigorating trade, or to feeding the hungry and the veterans. Instead, Mr Sparks is asking us to take his word that this project will reap benefits as untangible as faster travel and more peace. While none would say that peace isn’t a lovely thing, Mr Sparks ‘ plans lead to ruin and will make Duskrock the laughing stock of the entire continent!

Nellie Cochrane, the Editor

Before he can continue reading, one of the gamblers approaches his table: “They say halflings are lucky. Wanna prove it?”

Colette takes Brandt’s stream of information in, delighted to see him fire and flame for this project of theirs. “Yes, that sounds great. Will we have time to train in the down time? I feel I could use some more training with the rapier, and with the pistol too, once it is finished.”

The mother nods at Thia, fearfully. “Yes, it’s one of our community’s goats, many of us drank some of the milk, but they’re all still fine.”

Bending over the boy, his ramblings continued:

”Under the sun... Shadows in the water... The dreams, the voices... blood, so much blood...”

Brandt folds up the paper with the plans and sticks it in his pocket. "I'll start to get the parts later. Right now, we should try to get a meeting with the Canniths. Maybe someone at one of their factories can point me towards them. After that, I'll give you some more training with a rapier." 

“Sounds good. I’ll head back to the Velvet Glove, put in some hours. Come get me there when you’re done.” With that, Colette left, heading towards the Velvet Glove. Brandt himself started making his way to the Northern part of the Forge, using the large smokestacks on the horizon as a point of orientation.

(What does the gambler look like?  With a scan of the room does it look like anyone else is paying attention to the interaction?)

perception - 14

minus the hidden glance to scan the room Milo doesn’t take his eyes off the paper.  “Some would say the fact that I’ve entered this conversation would prove otherwise.  What’s the game and wager?”

The gambler is a scrawny man, in a suit slightly too large for him an frayed at the edges. His appearance seems confident, though you can sense some of the mania underneath, probably the reason he is pulled to the gambling tables so frequently. Overall, he looks like a man keen to keep up appearances.

”Well, the game is simple, you know how to play cards, right? The wager?” He puts down an old pocketwatch, “this here is an heirloom. A prized possession. What can you offer in return?”

Milo picks up the watch to appraise it.

Investigation - 15

”Do you find yourself here often?  To open a wager with a stranger betting a family heirloom.  Leads one to believe this isn’t valuable enough to wager and you’re trying to pull a con.  On the other hand you might just be desperate enough to have give up an heirloom at this point.  Which one is it?”

insight on his reaction - 8

The watch still functions, and you can hear the whirring of its gears. There’s a faint magical aura on the watch. 

At Milo’s words, the gambler gives a nervous laugh:” Haha, if you don’t want to play me, that’s fine. The watch is worth it, but the bosses only wanna see cash, you see.”

“Alright, I’m down for a game.  How does 20 gold sound?  I’ll shuffle and deal.”

"Unless there's a reason to suspect that someone wishes mal-intent on this boy..." Thia would trail off as she reaches for the boys left hand to inspect the bite again, "I would have to say he could be suffering from Sewer Plague."

Corti takes a moment before responding, but ultimately she sees that Arc has good intentions, "Alright, I suppose it couldn't do much harm now anyway. Her name was Tanweer, and she was my mentor, you know, the person who was supposed to train me for battle. She never liked the treatment of the warforged, so she decided to give me a more standard education. That's where I learned this," she brandishes her guitar, "She disappeared shortly after I was sent to the fight." Corti glances at Arc and smiles, "I am sorry for being apprehensive, I guess I like to be cautious."

(OoC: DM, would Arc recognize that name?)

Arc gives a small smile and waves off Corti's worries, "You have every right to be cautious Corti. Thank you though. I am surprised to see you have the ability to create art. If you don't mind, might I contact you again in the future for another project that I might ask your input on?" His eyes seem to be lost in thought as he speaks, almost as if glazed over by a stream of ideas or possibilities.