[Hanako] Chapter 3: Herr Klein's 'Properties'

[Throndir]

Hanako Okita
Spellcaster
Level 15

Condition: Uninjured, Drowsy

HP: 28/28
MP: 8/34
STR: 18
DEX: 22
CON: 18
INT: 22
WIS: 12
CHA: 10
MAG: 22

Blessings: Quick Learner, Mana Sensitivity, Translate All, Personal Status, Item Speaker, Slavemancer

[Asta]

Hanako compared the numbers she saw to the ones she remembered from a few minutes ago and smiled. "Okay it looks like it's not actually that taxing on my mana so lets get at least... four more people to be able to come near him. That will give us five including you. Do you think I should put one on myself or see if I can lie to him about why I don't have one on?"

The plan was beginning to shape up a bit. Hopefully it would all work out with minimal violence, but five soldiers as well as a few spells from her should be enough to take care of the problem if it got sketchy.

[Throndir]

"He'll be suspicious if Klein is not around..." Trudy said hesitantly.

"If you had no collar on, you'd have to act like you're someone related to him, and with your dark hair, it would be hard to pass you off as a relative. Having a collar on might be the best choice..."

[Asta]

"Good point, I probably look pretty foreign anyway. Collar on me it is then, lets go ahead and find the other four people and we can finish preparations and go over the actual plan in detail." Hanako said, even if she wasn't able to pass herself off as a relative she was still going to need to explain away Klein's absence. The more she thought about it the more it seemed like there was only one outcome to this series of events.

"Lead the way please" she said to Trudy, then followed up with a question "Is there a hierarchy for slaves in this country? Like, is it normal for one slave to be able to give orders to others?" It would be a good idea to familiarize herself with social nuances here to really sell the lie.

[Throndir]

Location: Herr Klein's Estate - Guest Room #1 (Your room)
Date: Day 1 - Morning

"There's no official hierarchy. But usually, its the slave soldiers like us that can give orders out to other slaves in those times its an emergency. We're the ones who are usually trained, after all. But that said, specific slave owners might prize a slave above the others, and have that slave 'manage' the rest. With your position as the hero though, you would likely have had some measure of power over the rest of us, especially if it came to situations where you were needed."

"Frau Hero, I've talked with everyone, we all decided that we'll stay here. Everyone's volunteered to put the collar back on too, if it helps with the negotiations with the slaver."

Location: Herr Klein's Estate - Living Room
Date: Day 1 - Time:Morning

Trudy managed to get the 4 soldiers who she thought were the best at hand-to-hand combat. In the end, she picked out three men and a woman. One of the men had thick muscles, another one as tall, while the last one was an older man, but he looked experienced. The woman that she Trudy picked out looked to be a few years older than Trudy herself.

All four of them placed the collars around their neck as they awaited for your instruction along with enabling the collars.

[Asta]

Hanako activated each of the collars in turn, following the same process she had for Trudy's. When she was finished she applied her own and addressed the others.

"Okay here's the basics of my plan" she began, knowing full well she really hadn't a clue if it was a good idea or not. "I will go out and meet the slaver acting under the pretense that I'm bringing him into the house to meet Klein. The five of you will act as an escort or an honor guard of sorts to keep up appearances. Once we get him inside we close the doors and I'll provide him with an ultimatum. He will either help us and receive monetary compensation, or he'll refuse and we will have to take him by force. If it comes to that, I'll need the five of you to make sure he doesn't escape because I'll be busy freeing any slaves he brings with him." She paused a moment before continuing with a separate thought. "If he does seem willing to cooperate, I'm to offer to him that I'll continue to buy slaves from him or pay him for information that will lead me to them. My idea being that I'll be able to free more people over time that way. It shouldn't make much of a difference to him as he would still be compensated. Does anyone have any thoughts on the plan?"

She hoped they would be willing to chime in. It was her first time dealing with anything like this and was more than willing to hear suggestions on what might go wrong, or what might work better.

[Throndir]

Changing the status descriptions for health/mana to be 0%, 1-20%, 21-50%, 51%-80%, 81%-99%, 100%. The 10% for 'Sleepy' wasn't very useful.
Rough Status
Hanako: Uninjured, Sleepy
Trudy: Slightly Injured, Refreshed
[include u=2]Hanako Dmg Taken: 0
Hanako Non-Lethal Dmg Taken: 3
Hanako MP Used: 30
Trudy Dmg Taken: 6[/include]

After reapplying the collars on the other 4, you started to get really sleepy. Once you explained your plan, everyone nodded.

"Sounds good to us. We're not sure who the contact is this time around, but Klein seemed to have connections with most slavers that work in the city, and many of the other nobles were on good terms with him." Hanako said.

"There'll only be five of us though, let's hope the slaver sticks with the regular set of guards... I know they tend to bring more if they're carrying anything precious. Kind of like how Klein brought all of his soldiers when we went to make that deal with the Idorian Academy mage to summon you."

[Asta]

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Hanako said, swaying a little. "So you're aware, I'm nearly out of mana at this point. I can take two collars off before I pass out. So hopefully it won't come to that. Barring some kind of miracle I'm probably not going to be much good in a fight, so let's hope he just plays along. Lets go."

She let Trudy lead the way to wherever it was they were meeting the slaver. She hoped this would work itself out without conflict, but it seemed like not that much was going her way lately.

Move to Chapter 4: A Slaver's Deal