Meep shrugs slightly. "It has it's uses. As for the doppelganger, Not exactly, but it was close to being convincing. Obviously looking back at it, the mannerism and speech pattern was off. However, I suppose their kind has mastered the art of deception. I'm just glad we were able to figure out which was the real one. That could have became a real issue."

Allynna smiles. "Yes, they have plenty of practice with deception and identity theft," she agrees. "Although I can't help but laugh, thinking about the doppelganger trying to figure out what to do, now that it's managed to insinuate itself into a group of heavily armed people with a connection to the person they're trying to copy with little to no preparation."

"You were more prepared for this than I was, having a pair of scissors on you, Madame Hiriart. Tell me, did you work as a hair stylist before this?"

Meep chuckles a little. "I suppose they do not work alone. Perhaps they would have slowly tried to replace the members of the group? Which could eventually give them larger numbers." Her smile seems to fade a little in thought before she pushes the thought away. "Anyway. What about you? What is your reason for accompanying the wagon to Balder's gate?" 

Not one for crowds, and especially not one for enjoying frivolity, Persephone saunters over to the shadowy overhang of a nearby tavern (The Curious Hag), and settles down at a table overlooking the town square, in the shadows.  Sitting there, looking quite melancholy, the waitress overlooks her for a good thirty minutes, until finally realizing that a new customer was there.  Ordering a Peppermint Sour, Persephone settles in and casually watches the crowd (from a distance!) for the afternoon.

Amelia only laughs over the question of who Mulan was and gets straight to the next inquiry the teen had. “No, no stylist. When Corrin was born I worked at a bar to keep a roof over our heads. I have no hair cutting experience whatsoever!” The blonde let’s out a hardy laugh before resuming snipping at Jill’s hair. “I’m kidding. I’ve had... some, but I’m no professional. I’ve had to cut Corrin’s hair when we made our way towards Waterdeep.”

She looks over to her child who had been busy pulling Misha over to help buy some sort of candy from a vendor, and she remembers the day Corrin had come home weeping with her cut ponytail in her hands. She shakes away the thought and resumes what she was doing, this time with a somber look about her. “Some kids back at our old village had cut off her hair before... I’m guessing she just doesn’t want that to happen again.” 

TWENTY YEARS AGO
ACHERON

There was not too much time for play on the plane of War, but when there was Mischa Praskovya took advantage of it. It was one of the ways she could explore her home, develop team building skills, and learn what it was like to form relationships with others of her kind. At 10, she was already faster, stronger, and endured much long than the non-Primes of her age, but she laughed and played and giggled with them, and did not treat them different. In fact, she didn't even look different, but deep inside her genetic code was indeed the potential of a Prime. Taetanicus would often wonder, as he supervised them all like a warden, if Mischa, in fact, had too much emotion programmed into her. The Legion Commander would have to review her genetic schematic one day, but there were more pressing matters on his mind, like always.

"Mischa." he said, and the red headed girl immediately stopped what she was doing and ran to him. The other children continued to play.
When she approached his armored form, she went down on one knee, allowing the sweat to roll down her face as she controlled her breathing. "Da otets?"
"Vy pochti dostigli Vrat Baldura. U menya yest' ochen' konkretnyye instruktsii dlya vas, chtoby pomnit', kogda vy priyedete." he said, placing his hand on her damp forehead.
Misha remained still. Obedient, subservient, loyal. "Da, otets. Ya gotov poluchit' tvoyu volyu i tvoyu komandu."
"Po vole Beyna i po milosti Dyma vy poluchite poveleniye Generala Gospoda. Prislushaytes' k etim instruktsiyam i vypolnite svoyu sud'bu." Taetanicus spoke to her mind, and Mischa's will received a message. Instructions. Commands. She would remember them at a certain time and place, and the Prime would obey. She was not privy to see, read, or understand them, but when they would be revealed, she would do as her Legion Commander would order. It was the Acheronian way, it was the way of the Prime, and the Will of her Master, the Lord of War. Taetanicus lifted his massive palm off of her forehead and she bowed deeply. With a nod, she was dismissed, and joyfully returned to the other children to once again engage in sport.

And for the first time in his life, Taetanicus watch her go, like a father proud of his daughter, and said something she didn't hear, nor would ever understand.
"Ya budu skuchat' po tebe, malyshka.."

EPISODE TWELVE - THE INFERNAL SOUL COIN

TODAY

During the festival, Misha looked after Corrin and made sure she was safe, and having fun. Many a time could she been seen on Misha's shoulders, both of them laughing and giggling, and enjoying the sights of the festival - both of them covered in cotton candy all over their faces. At one time, Misha made a cotton candy beard and stomped around acting like a dwarf, which only made Corrin almost puke from laughter. Fort Morninglord, after the festival, was known for an tavern called Madame Freona's Tea Kettle. It was a very popular place to have a drink or meal and escape life's troubles for a little while. I was known that the Tea Kettle has a reputation as somewhat of a safe haven, and adventurers who could be discreet and behave found themselves with employment.

Today was no different. 

Madame Freona, a stout and officious halfling who runs the establishment with her five daughters, has proven an excellent hostess. Although you have had to share a common bunkroom with several other adventueres, the evening meal was excellent and the atmosphere pleasant. You are preparing to bunk down for the evening when one of Freona's daughters peeks into the room. She calls our group in the hall. "Pardon my interruption," says the halfling girl named Reece, one of Freona's five daughters, just shy of adulthood. "A chap just came into the common room downstairs and asked me to fetch you. Something about some coin needing to change hands for an easy job." She plays with her curly red hair nervously.

Once they had all bedded down for the night, the sight of the redheaded Reece drew Meep's attention. She looked to the other party members to see their reaction but had already stood from her place in the room, subtly gathering her things she may need for a new challenge.

Persephone was already in the middle of a vivid dream of rainbows and unicorns when the curly redheaded teen came into the bunk room and woke everyone up.  Grumbling, she mutters mostly to herself "...a slave to the coin in this plane..." before quickly putting on her leathers and stumbling out into the main room of the inn.

Jill gives a small smile in response to Amelia's lack of experience. "There was this friend I had, I do not know if she has experience working with hair, but she had a real skill with it. Her hair was always perfect, even in pouring rain. One time she did my and Misha's hair and it turned out very well."

Her expression gets somber in response to her talking about Corrin getting bullied. "I am sorry to hear that. Corrin is a sweet girl and does not deserve to be treated like that. Let her know that if she wants to grow her hair out, I'll look out for her and if anyone tries to mess with it, I'll punch them like I punched the boy who killed my frog."

Earlier:

Allynna laughed. "Oh, I live in the Gate! I was just visiting the City of Caravans to play some concerts."

Now:

Allynna raises an eyebrow. "A coin, eh..." Any ideas as to what this is about?

A brief silence. Just...go and see. But be careful, 'Lynna.

Down in the common room of the Tea Kettle is a hooded figure alone at a large table. The figure looks up, recognizes you, and motions to you as you descend the stairs. He gestures for you all to sit down, and is trying to keep his face obscured with the hood of his cloak. He is an older half elf man with close-cropped grey hair. He speaks in a low voice, obviously trying to disguise himself.

"Greetings. I am a member of the Harpers - an organization dedicated to fighting evil wherever it hides." He flashes his brooch at you quickly to confirm this. "I have a mission that I feel you all are in a unique position to complete. Our organization has captured a merchant that was going to purchase something we've never heard of before - a soul coin. Apparently, this soul coin is of infernal origin, and is an object of great power. I would like you to pose as the merchant and his hirelings, go to the buy site, make the transaction, and place a magical device on one of the sellers so that Harper agents can track them back to their place of residence."

Misha's eyebrows perked up at the mention of coin.

Allynna listens expressionlessly. Soul coin? Any idea what he's talking about?

Yes.

...Care to elaborate?

Exactly what it sounds like. A coin that holds an actual soul...the currency of the Nine Hells. If one is in play, there are probably devils involved, which means this could get very dangerous for you if they find out about me.

I'll be fine, the "terrifying Acheronian" hasn't figured anything out yet, so I doubt someone who might be associated with a devil who will only see me for a few minutes will make the connection. How do you know so much about this?

Know your enemies, dear 'Lynna. I'm being hunted by devils, it's good for me to know as much as possible about them.

Allynna smiles a bit, reassured. Of course. That makes sense. Aloud, she asks "How risky would it be? And why are we in a unique position to do this?"

Meep, having followed after the rest of the group, raises an eyebrow at the mention of the coin. She remains quiet, letting the others with more experience figure out what to ask and do. 

Later:

"So all we need to do for you is make this drop? What is in it for us?"

"Yes." the Harper agent explains. 4 He points at Persephony. "This young lady looks very similar to the merchant we captured, so the sellers, who have never seen the merchant, can be easily fooled. The rest of you can act like bodyguards, assistants, porters..you get the idea. I will provide you with a small sack of fake diamonds that you're going to hand over as payment for the Soul Coin. The diamonds are basically worthless, but good enough to pass a cursory inspection."

He hands you the small sack of diamonds.

"At some point during the exchange, one of you must place this small silver pin infused with magic on the seller or on one of the crew. Once that is done, we can more easily scry on the sellers and learn more about their operation."

He hands you the pin.

"Once the transaction is complete, you are to bring the coin back to the stables behind the Tea Kettle, where I will meet you all and take possession of it. Under no circumstances should you fight the sellers or lose the coin. Do this for the Harpers, and each of you shall be rewarded 100gp each."

He finally gives you directions to an abandoned barn on the northern outskirts of Fort Morninglord. The meeting is scheduled today, in about 30 minutes, and time is of the essence. It's about a 20 minute walk to the barn.

Persephone is shocked when the Harper points her out as one looking similar to the buyers. “Me?!” is all she can manage to squeak out. Feeling like she’s about to explode from embarrassment, she steels herself for the inevitable poor performance about to ensue.  Grabbing the bag of fake diamonds, she hands it over to Misha, saying “here....you’re the burly one of the group.....you’re my bodyguard and money carrier.”

Perception check (is this Harper telling us the truth?): 15

She’ll then lead the group to the abandoned barn. Enroute, she’ll ask the team if they believe this is a trap or not. And ask someone with knowledge of gemstones to inspect one of the “diamonds” in the bag, to see if they’re truly fakes or not. 

Mon Dieu. 100 gold?! I'll be rich!  "I accept."  Jill says, trying to not look too excited. She takes the pin once the old Harper hands it to her. She hands it to Allynna. "You're pretty, get close to one of the people in the entourage and slip this on him while he's distracted." Jill then shrugs her shoulders. "I may not be as tall or as muscular as Misha, but I am good with a sword. I could be a bodyguard too."

Allynna listens carefully to the details. This is highly suspicious. Even you can't deny that, trusting as you are.

I...I suppose you're right. He sighed. Not to mention the devil aspect...this is very dangerous, dear. You could get seriously hurt.

You've pulled me out of worse trouble than a little fake deal.

Not when the forces of the Hells were involved. His voice was grim. If I show up here, or they sense my influence on you, a whole lot of attention is going to be turned on you and I, and it's completely possible-likely, even-that you won't survive it.

Allynna's dark skin went a little pale. Oh. Still...there are plenty of people here right now who can help without you having to involve yourself. Come on, Gargauth. Live a little. You can't always hide.

Gargauth's laugh echoed through her mind for a moment. Oh 'Lynna. You really are something, you know that?

Allynna smiles as Persephone told Misha to be the bodyguard. "Perhaps I should be your secretary," she suggests with a faint smile. "And I'm afraid I don't know much about gems, so I can't help you there." Her grin widens at Jill's words. "I can do that, though."

Misha took the diamonds, opened the pouch. They sure looked real. "Do not worry." she said to Seph, tying the bag closed again. "Misha protect you."

She stood up. "We accept the job. We will be bek shortly. Meet us behind the stables. Have a nice day."

It is a twenty minute walk to the barn. When you arrive, the sellers are already waiting for you. The barn itself is a simple, open structure. A ladder at the end of the barn opposite the open doorway leads to a hay loft above the barn floor.

The seller is an elf female who waits with three human heavies. They are a bit wary, but the air is calm for now - as if no one is anticipating trouble. As you approach within 20 feet, she holds her hand up.

"Hold." she calls out to you all. She smiles at the three human heavies behind her. "I told you they would come. A soul coin is much too valuable to pass up." She turns back to you all. "Now, let's do this quickly. Here is what you asked for." She holds a small coin box towards you all. "You throw the payment over to me, and we will leave the coin box here. We will exit the barn, and then you can leave after five minutes have passed. No fuss, no muss."

This would be a nice opportunity to describe your postures, your actions, what you say leading up to this moment. Remember, the deal is to get the coin.