Information - Sokoya
I was given a prompt by my Pathfinder DM to write about one of my characters doing surveillance work and gathering information in order to advance her goals. She’s got a while to go before she can accept the role that fate wrote for her, but everyone has to start somewhere.
-------
Sitting on a flat building's rooftop, Sokoya carefully counted out the amount of coin in the small bag she kept on hand. It wasn't everything she had of course, and she doubted that Wrathcatcher would stab her if it was incorrect at first. So long as the total wound up correct, the elf was likely to be satisfied. Still, there was something to be said for not making missteps in her investigation. It had taken months of denial and desperation for Sokoya and Rav to come to the conclusion that there was little hope of the amalgam that they currently are to make it back just yet. Once they were stronger, that might change, but they were stuck for now. So, the two had quickly decided that if this was their life now, they would accept it and react accordingly. If the world required them to save it, they had best get started. The first step would be to find out any notable events in the area, and to find out all they could about the history of the world that didn't match what Sokoya was told.
It was slow going at first. After all, Mourning Ridge aside, not a lot of the common folk were inherently willing to trust a drow on the surface. Sokoya didn't blame them, but it did result in a few tricky situations. The first time she had ventured into a major city, she had been nearly arrested on the spot. The local guard had immediately tried to knock her out, and it was only because of Rav warning her in her head that Sokoya had managed to dodge the strike. Her mind--or rather, their shared minds--kicked into overdrive with the sudden stress, and for once she felt connected to her former time based abilities once again, as things seemed to slow to a crawl. The two of them agreed in their hyper-conscious state to flee rather than making it worse by fighting back, so they quickly darted down a few alleyways, getting lost soon enough.
A small smile formed on Sokoya's features as she recalled the memory. It had started off poorly, but the next moment had introduced her to an ally that she would come to count on quite a bit in the coming weeks. Sokoya had nearly collapsed against a wall, struggling to maintain her body's synthesized state for a moment with herself so winded from running through the city. She could still hear the guard out there, looking for the drow that had dared to intrude into the city. Her keen ears had already heard rumors spreading, and she was quickly beginning to give up hope of escaping that day. The quiet sound of footsteps approached, and she gritted her teeth, ears low as she forced herself to stand back up as she reached for her knife.
The footsteps stopped a few steps away and Sokoya acted quickly. She couldn't keep running, and getting caught now was unacceptable. Tuning Rav out for a moment so she could focus, Sokoya had pivoted on one foot, practiced movements carrying her dagger from her waist into a thrusting motion at the person behind her. Her target had been surprised at first, but reacted nearly as fast, and Sokoya's vision blurred for a moment before she found her face shoved roughly against the wall of the alley, held firmly by a hand and the cold feeling of her own dagger's blade pressed against her neck. She hadn't even fully seen the person's movements, and in her dazed state she could barely think of more than the fact that she should have been faster than most guards.
"Not too shabby, really, but kind of predictable," came the quiet voice behind her. "Now I'm going to let go, and let's see if you can avoid trying that again, yeah? I'm not here to arrest you." The person pulled away from her, and Sokoya carefully turned around, staring down the other. At first she paused, thinking the other was another drow, before she caught on soon enough. There were traces of drow heritage to be sure--a red tint to the eyes, skin a bit more grey than most elves, hair a bit lighter--but the person in front of her was clearly a surface elf. That didn't help her nerves at all, really. Especially not now that she was disarmed.
"Not from around here, are you?" The elf asked with a small smile, half mocking and half genuine. The smile soon faded however, as a small commotion outside signalled the guard was getting closer to searching this area. The elf gave a small jerk of their head towards further in the alley before quickly heading off in that direction, and Sokoya saw little reason to not follow. The alternative was waiting for the guard to catch her, after all. The elf soon led her to a concealed hatch in the alley wall, completely hidden if you weren't looking for it. They slipped inside and Sokoya followed after just a brief hesitation, the elf closing the hatch after the two of them. The inside was a dark passage, lined with stone and with very little light.
"I think you might've set the record for the quickest someone set off the guard, friend. You definitely made our job harder today, too. The guard's looking everywhere for you. From what we heard though, you didn't do much, huh? Bunch of racist pricks, really. Name's Wrathcatcher, by the way," the elf said, idly looking over Sokoya's dagger before back up at the drow. In the dim light of the passage, the elf's eyes were glowing, and Sokoya knew hers were as well. "...Sokoya, Sokoya Yulijalil Ra'riithel," she replied after a short time, and awkwardly extended her hand. Wrathcatcher had saved her, and especially after she attacked them, being polite seemed the least she could do. The elf didn't shake her hand, just passing her the dagger back after a few short moments. Sokoya paused, before putting it away, a silence falling over the two as Wrathcatcher looked her over.
"So, Soko, tell me. What's a drow doing on the surface, anyway? I mean I get enough shit for being partial drow, so I can only imagine it's worse for you. The way I see it, though, you're causing us a bit of trouble either way, since you're stirring up the guard and now you know about this passage here. So I'm thinking.....you join us, or at least become a client of ours, and maybe we don't tell the guard where you are, and help you out. What do you say? Street rats like us gotta stick together, hm?" Wrathcatcher said as Sokoya stared for a few moments, the drow and dragonborn in her head quickly debating on if this was a good idea. Eventually, she nodded.
She had told Wrathcatcher the gist of her situation--or at least, the parts about information gathering--and the two had worked out a partnership from there. Wrathcatcher and their friends, who Sokoya very quickly learned made up a successful thieves guild, would keep ears out and find out information for her, as long as Sokoya could keep coin heading their way. They also set Sokoya up with some documents about nearby cities and the like and the sort of people to avoid both because of her race or because they were corrupt enough to warrant a warning. It wasn't a relationship of boss and employees of course, so much as mutual respect because of the need to survive. It was almost like being back home with Misery and her grandmother, really. A bunch of people on the more unfortunate side of things banding together to make it through the world.
"Hey Soko, something on your mind? You look pretty pleased," came a voice from behind her, making Sokoya jump in surprise at first as she looked behind her. It seemed every time they met, Wrathcatcher was getting better at sneaking up on her, and she still didn't have a chance at catching their reflexes without her time powers, either. They still wore a small grin, though Sokoya had come to learn that behind that mask was a sharp mind analyzing every interaction, always on the lookout for danger. It was how her friend had come to survive so long, after all.
"Just remembering a fool with a knife," Sokoya replied calmly, turning to face Wrathcatcher fully. She held the bag of coins up, shaking it a bit to let them clink against each other. "The usual amount. Anything new to report? How're your friends doing?" She asked, before tossing the bag over. Wrathcatcher snatched the bag out of mid-air and tossed it back and forth between their hands as they weighed it and thought things over. After a short time, they pocketed it and shrugged.
"Things have been a bit quiet lately, Joleyne's been crying that her newspaper's going to die out if things keep up like this," Wrathcatcher said. Sokoya opened her mouth to protest the lack of news, but the elf cut her off. "Hey now, have I ever disappointed you? Don't answer that. Penwriggle's been teasing that he's got another book that's being published, but more to the point he's been getting a bit more cozy with the captain of the guard. It'll be nice to have one of our people on the inside, and for now I can tell you the guard's being criticized for how it's handling the races around. There's some town a few days out that I guess has a bunch of adventurers joining it and most are tieflings, apparently. It's making things more awkward for the guard, so it might just be safe for you to explore the city on your own after a while."
Wrathcatcher paused, looking a bit uncertain before continuing. "There's also a new person of interest out west. Calls themselves 'Avast 88th Sea'. I think they're a bit of an ass, but they're a sailor's apprentice. The guildmaster's brought them in as one of us, and they're a pretty nice connection to the sea and beyond. On that note, apparently there's been a lot more raider activity across the sea. Not sure if it's headed in this direction yet, but it's at least getting closer to their ports. Rumor is that it's just as much humans and the like as it is goblins and orcs. Kind of weird to hear about them being organized like that. Oh, and there's apparently supposed to be some nobility coming through town in a few weeks. Said something about visiting that town--Mourning Ridge?--while visiting too. Might be a good idea to pay attention to that, as long as, you know, you don't mention knowing anything if anything of theirs goes missing," Wrathcatcher said with a wink. Sokoya frowned, none of this was really anything she could act on. It would be nice to visit the city properly, though. Still, it was better than nothing. If she really could visit the city before too much longer, she could expand her information network, at the very least.
"Well, keep some ears out for me, would you? I'll see you again next week, yes?" Sokoya asked, gathering her things as she got ready to head off. Wrathcatcher put a hand out though to stop her, taking a bag from their shoulder and holding out a small package bound in parchment. Sokoya looked at it, then up at Wrathcatcher questioningly.
"The boss said to give you this, said 'consider it an offer'. It's a bunch of coin and information that I didn't have," Wrathcatcher said, and Sokoya stared for a moment longer. She had been asked multiple times to join the Guild, and each time turned them down, but never had they given her anything beyond information. "Soko, babe, we're not dumb. We know you're not staying in town--guard's too full of racist pricks for that, and you're too healthy to be hiding out in the woods. Mourning Ridge's the closest town to us, so we know that's where you're probably from," Wrathcatcher said, their smile replaced with a more serious look now. "That's fine and all, but remember that we've got your back if you ever need it, yeah? As far as we're concerned, you're one of us street rats. That being said....If you wanted to do us a favor and do for us in Mourning Ridge what we do for you here, we could probably just drop the whole payment thing entirely. You don't have to join the Thieves' Guild entirely, and we're not really asking you to steal anything, just....give us another branch to our network, yeah? Just some information. Think on it at least, will you?" They said, before heading towards the nearby ladder to the alley.
"And....Soko, you don't have to say yes, we can keep things the way they are now, but if you ever want to be part of the family properly, just let us know. If nothing else, we work for clients, but we protect our family," they said, before slipping out of sight down the ladder as Sokoya clutched the package tighter.
