Valyrion Pontar

Valyrion knocked once again on the door. He could hear a din coming from inside the house, then silence. Pontar rapped a little more loudly on the heavy wooden door, this time with his ringed fingers.
“Hold your horses! I’m coming already,” came the muffled, but heated answer from inside. The door opened and there stood an unkempt man, his eyes still heavy with sleep. His face drained of its color the second he saw who was at his door.

“You?” he asked bewildered.

“Of course! Who did you expect? We had an appointment, remember? You didn’t show up, so you left me no choice but to call on you at your private residence.”

“Oh, r-right,” the man stammered. “Would you like to come in?”

“I would. Here on your threshold is not a good place to talk.” Valyrion mustered up the friendliest smile he could.

The house stunk of alcohol and old grease. It was filthy and the clothes and knick-knacks all over the floor made it look like a hurricane had blown through. With a groan, the man plopped down into an old, creaky armchair. He looked at Valyrion expectantly.

“How did you find me?”

“Must I really answer that question? I can find anyone I want, whenever I want.” Valyrion’s expression hardened into pure stone. The man nodded and sunk back into the chair.
“So be it. Then I have to tell you that I cannot carry out my end of our bargain …”

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Convincing Arguments

“Well, that is indeed unfortunate,” said Pontar, feigning regret. He had figured that the man would jump ship shortly before it was time to do the deed.

“I have two things with me that I am fairly certain will change your mind.” Valyrion reached into one of the pockets of his cape and produced a little pouch, which he then tossed in the man’s lap. The man opened the pouched and his eyes widened in astonishment.

“MORE gold? Seriously? I get that your task is urgent in nature, but …“

“Just wait until you see my second argument.” Once more, Pontar dug around in one of his cape pockets, only this time he produced a small brooch. The man inhaled sharply, his heart pounding practically in his throat.

“Where did you get that?! That belongs to my daughter! How did you …”

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” screamed Pontar, his tone lacking its characteristic tinny cadence. The man sighed heavily and shrunk deeper into his armchair.

“You know whom I work for, don’t you?” Valyrion asked. The now terrified man nodded. „Good, then you also know what he’s capable of. Should it be necessary for me to do any more convincing, I’ll have something in tow more compelling than a tacky brooch. Have I made myself clear?” The man nodded slowly and Pontar smiled heartily.

“Excellent. I am so pleased that we understand each other. You’ll be responsible for supervising the boxes and deliveries during the tournament. When someone gives you the password, you let him and his men through. Got it?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Very good. No need to worry. Everything will run smoothly and no one will suspect a thing. “

Valyrion chuckled as he left the house. One more piece of the puzzle had just fallen into place.
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Jonas Black

When Jonas Black entered Byrade’s tavern, he couldn’t help but noticed that there weren’t many people there. The Hobgoblin was a bar that had seen its better days. It had lots of dark corners and looked just like what you’d imagine if someone asked you to picture a typical pirate dive. Lamar and David followed close behind.

“Innkeeper! One shear schnapps, on the double!” Black cried across the bar. As he approached the counter, he noticed that his order stood there waiting for him already. The innkeeper eyeballed him suspiciously.

“It’s not often that someone orders that swill. You’re not from around these parts, are you?”

“Oh no, we’re just passing through,” Jonas admitted. “I want to visit every tavern between Brendan Sea and the West Passage and try a shot of the local poison. My crew finds it annoying, but once I am set on something, it’d hard to change my course.” As if on command, Lamar and David rolled their eyes.

“Well, I hate to tell you this, but you’re about to be highly disappointed. Our local specialty tastes like dirty socks!” Jonas studied the innkeeper as he finished off the schnapps in one sip. The man was no liar. The liquor tasty musty and old and it burned like fire going down. His stomach cried out in mutiny.

“Shit, you weren’t lying. It‘s undrinkable. Well, at least I can say I’ve tried it. Thanks … or, should I say, no thanks!” Black smiled and tossed the innkeeper and copper coin. As he headed for the door, he noticed a man with a long beard who was sitting in a shadowy corner and staring at him with narrowed eyes. Thinking nothing of it, Jonas continued and headed outside into the fresh air and sunshine.

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Step one – check!

It didn’t take long for the man with the beard to stumble out of the tavern. When he saw Jonas, he stood up straight as a board and headed towards him with quick, precise steps.

“Jonas Black? That whole local specialties story was genius. I was wondering how we’d exchange the password.” Darios Stormfedder grinned like the cat that’d eaten the canary.

“Darios Stormfedder? Good idea to pretend that you’re drunk.”

“Oh, I am actually drunk,” Darios laughed, “but I haven’t lost sight of my duties. Follow me and you can pick up your carpenters’ clothes.”

They didn’t have to go far, but the jaunt was an arduous one. The path to Stormfedder’s cottage was steep and they had to be extra careful not to trip over loose stones or fallen branches. The three pirates were breathing heavily when they arrived at the small house while Stormfedder seemed to be unaffected.

“What do you need these clothes for anyway,” Stormfedder asked, his voice steady and quiet.

“That’s no concern of yours,” said Jonas once he’d recovered his breath. “Just give us the clothes and don’t ask any questions, ok?”

“Whatever you say. I suppose it’s better that way … I don’t want to go sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong.” Darios disappeared into his cottage and, when he returned, he had to boxes under his arms.

“Here are your things – hope you enjoy them! I’ve already been paid, so you don’t owe me anything.”

“Fine.” Black peeked into the boxes and nodded knowingly at Lamar and David. The said goodbye to Stormfedder and made their way back down the steep pathway. All Jonas could think was that if one of them were to fall, they’d tumble head over feet all the way to the harbor. As they boarded the ship to load up the packages, Lamar grabbed Jonas’ arm firmly so that David could lead the way.