Valeria smiled to him warmly and nod her head. "Alright. Lets take him in then and see what we can find out." She and Moira moved ahead towards the man while staying near Tehr during the march. The man's eyes shifted towards the approaching figures, not seeming too concerned right away. Yet as Valeria's foot was set down onto the deck the man's gaze shifted to Tehr and widened in recognition. "Astarte's Tits!"<br/><br/>His exclamation was followed by a swift rush of steps as Valeria covered the distance, and rammed an arm into the man's stomach. As he stumbled back, the guards-woman gripped his arm and threw him hard against the wheel, her grasp on the man refusing to relent and allow him to draw his weapon. Moira moved in to help slip manacles around the man's wrists, just as a pair of men rushing up to the dockside could be seen trying to get on board.<br/><br/>After it was over, it was hard to say if the plank they had been running up was just a bit loose, or if Tehr happened to kick it or use some magic on it, but whatever the cause was a duo of drunken men trying to draw their swords ended up falling into the water between the ship and the docks. By the time their spluttering bodies were dragged up several minutes later by town guard that arrived, the captain was already in chains and being taken away.<br/><br/>All in all, it was a bloodless affair for people other than the captain who lost a few teeth and some of his blood, and who was covered in bruises. His ship was secured at the dock, the crew arrested when the guards realized some of the barrels contained stolen property that was being prepared to be shipped out of the country, and what's more there was a few people in the crew roster who were already on list of people that other nations wanted arrested on sight. People with convictions for crimes ranging from piracy to murder and theft.<br/><br/>It was not that quiet, but the story that leaked out to the street and the gossips lips was that a band of bold pirates had tried to peddle their wares and got caught by the guards that the queen's insistence on strengthened watch-groups had put on the streets at the right time to notice something shady going on. A lot of different, improbable little scenarios started up from that tale about what and how things got to the point the guards interfered, but the only ones that might have said something were already in jail.<br/><br/><hr/><hr/><br/>It took only half an hour to break the man's stubborn will in the prison. Valeria's threats to cause severe bodily harm with bare hands did wonders, and the man seemed to be somewhat afraid of Tehr after Moira let it 'slip' that the assassins were 'dead or worse' anyway. The man had sung like a canary after that, babbling much the same as what the assassins had said.<br/><br/>It was a job paid in gold ingots, not coins with the image of the sovereign, the queen. It was a job paid in gold that could not be so easily traced, for it lacked an identifying mark on the ingots, yet a few of the boxes it was shipped in revealed a little detail more. The church's cross was burnt into the wooden boxes in the exact same place.<br/><br/>Yet the most damning was the fact the captain was a nobleman himself, though from a distant, and largely ignored branch of a noble family, but a nobleman nonetheless. His voice carried a fair bit of more authority than a common thug's voice might, even if he was a pirate and a scoundrel. Swearing him on his rank forced the man to speak the truth or risk losing what little protection his precious connection to the higher social circles gave, a jail cell was preferable to a quick drop and a sudden stop after all.<br/><br/><hr/><hr/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">Should I advance this to the next section after the trials and as months have passed, jump to the next morning, to where Tehr is getting home after all this, or expand upon the events here? I can do any of the above, or if you prefer to make a jump then I'll follow your lead on the spot chosen. I apologise for a touch too rushed post in this but I think I ended up just stretching out the end of this section already a bit more than it needed and so hope you aren't tired of this game and my writing, as I will admit the assassins scenario may have ended up as a bit of a loose end despite how I planned it before. <br/><br/>Anyway, will seek to write more later if you prefer me to, or catch up reading again if you choose to jump instead.</div></div>