[Phase 4] The Hunt | Great Bastards

Laena Pyre
The Hedge

Posts: 2,795

[Phase 4] The Hunt Oct 27, 2021 18:30:20 GMT 1 Balon Blackbriar likes this

Post by Laena Pyre on Oct 27, 2021 18:30:20 GMT 1

[Now that my scene with Bloodraven has progressed enough that I'm pretty confident he won't be throwing a wrench into things, time to get this done. This occurs some time after Balon asked me to find some people for him.]

Ser Ondrew the Ox. Ser Brynden Rivers (not *that* one). Ser Jon of Maidenpool. Three knights (or alleged knights) of the hedge who Balon wants found. For mysterious reasons. Hiding somewhere in all of the Reach. She sighs out a breath as she tosses the heavy coinpurse given to fund this venture up in the air and catching it again. Well, best to get started. They probably won't uncover themselves.

Now, caution and discretion over speed. But speed over economy. I have twenty dragons to burn on this, no need to be miserly.

[Making a guess as to the rolls required.]

Not sure if I can get +1D to the stealth roll for taking extra time, so rolling it separately.
The Hunt - Deception (Disguise) (+1D for extra time rolled separately): 6d6k4 20
The Hunt - Deception (Disguise) (+1D for extra time): 1d6 4 Which results in a 24 Good result, regardless.

The Hunt - Knowledge (Streetwise): 6d6k4 18

Slowly and oh-so-carefully, Laena spreads her tendrils across the Reach, looking for the three knights, hopefully without alerting them, or anyone else, to the interest. And all the while, curiosity over Balon's interest in them burns in the back of her mind. Maybe, just maybe...

A young widow, with two infant children, also a Great Bastard.
Status 5 Reputation 2B Virtue 7 Courteous
[Decadent - +1D on Charm if offering special luxury. x2 Status for simple Charm if offering luxury (exotic food, good wine, etc.). Likely suspected after Kingsbridge wedding.]
A greedy, beautiful monster who craves feeding

Father
Administrator

Posts: 12,383

[Phase 4] The Hunt Oct 31, 2021 18:17:24 GMT 1

Post by Father on Oct 31, 2021 18:17:24 GMT 1

Of Ser Brynden and Ser Jon, Laena has no luck at all, as if they do not even exists, but with names like that, finding someone who would know them outside of The Riverlands could be difficult . Ser Ondrew the Ox, however, is certainly no ghost, only that he disappeared just as surely as one after Lord Walgrave's expedition into The Red Mountains, which he had joined. Supposedly a bastard to the late Lord Bulwer, born to a serving girl at Ashford, unacknowledged of course, but he does bear enough similarity with Lord Balman and Ser Theomore, his alleged half-brothers, that the tale might be believed.

But Ser Ondrew and maybe around a dozen other knights of the hedge ventured forth to join this second "Vulture Hunt", never to be seen again. Given what Laena knows, it seems quite reasonable to suspect that he lies buried along with any other men of uncertain allegiance who might have told the tale of Ser Vorian's death.

Laena Pyre
The Hedge

Posts: 2,795

[Phase 4] The Hunt Nov 1, 2021 16:21:07 GMT 1

Post by Laena Pyre on Nov 1, 2021 16:21:07 GMT 1

Putting what she learned together with Bloodraven's words to her that Balon was the one who killed Ser Vorian, and it was not a stretch to figure out exactly what she was doing - finding the last three living witnesses to Balon's crime, so he could permanently silence them.

Interesting, but doesn't particularly help me *find* them. Still, it helps narrow down the possible locations. Even if they've dropped their names, I have descriptions, and they'll need men's basic essentials wherever they are - food, shelter, sex. Which means transactions, which means a trail. A faint one, but someone out there knows something. I just have to find it.

It occurs to me that I'm not under tremendous time pressure, here. Sure, there's a clock, but I see no reason why taking the maximum possible time would be signficant given the timescales involved. This is looking for three needles in a massive haystack, so I need to stack the odds in my favour as much as possible.

[Again, I'm just making wild guesses as to what to roll based on what I feel makes sense in the fiction. Let me know if you want me to reroll/new rolls/whatever.]

First, Laena carefully figures out what the three men would require to hide, given their resources and who they're hiding from.
The Hunt - Cunning (Logic) +4D from extra time: 9d6k8 31

Next, she uses that information to locate more or less likely locations for them to be holed up in.
The Hunt - Knowledge (Education) +4D from extra time: 9d6k8 28

Using that information, she extends her tendrils again - not by name, just by description - focusing her attention on the locations she deemed more likely to hold them. Maybe only one of them went out for food, but she'd bet that all three of them needed to get their dick wet regularly. Offer coin, and those harlots would have more than one set of loose lips.
The Hunt - Knowledge (Streetwise) +4D from extra time: 10d6k8 31

And naturally, she still needed to keep things quiet.
The Hunt - Deception (Disguise) +4D from extra time: 10d6k8 43

Even narrowed down, the Reach is a large place to cover, and her thorough and methodical search would take quite a while. Having finally done what she could to set the search off, Laena prepared herself for a long wait to actually get answers.

A young widow, with two infant children, also a Great Bastard.
Status 5 Reputation 2B Virtue 7 Courteous
[Decadent - +1D on Charm if offering special luxury. x2 Status for simple Charm if offering luxury (exotic food, good wine, etc.). Likely suspected after Kingsbridge wedding.]
A greedy, beautiful monster who craves feeding