[h2][center]Geralt of Rivia[/center][/h2]
[center]Mafia Town[/center]
[center] Lvl 14 Geralt (20/140)  -> Lvl 14 (22/140) (+2 pending)[/center]
[center]Word count: 1,168 words[/center]



As Geralt made his way downtown (literally, in Mafia Town’s case), an abundance of activity at the docks caught his eye. He’d heard somebody had caused a ruckus there the previous day, and from the descriptions he’d heard, it could be no other than the abandoned royal children, Junior and Rika. They’d attacked some of the mafia that watched over the dock and took ‘their cut’ of the incoming fish, leaving the rest to the sailors that had brought them in. Good on them.

Returning his attention to the present, Geralt’s eyes narrowed when he noticed just how…professional…the unloaders were being. That wasn’t the local Mafia’s incompetence at work, and Geralt diverted his path to get closer to the docks, watching them carefully from above. The men moved smoothly and quickly, bringing their haul of shark fins into a nearby storehouse. Why only the fins, Geralt had no idea. Perhaps they were of particular medicinal value? 

Stalking closer, Geralt realized that they only had one lookout, and he was watching the sea. [i]Idiots…[/i] he thought to himself, jumping down to land on the ground level of the dock, to the side of the storehouse. He calmly walked around the side, acting every bit as if he belonged here, and turned the corner before walking in the entrance. 

Inside the storehouse was a hive of activity. The mysterious dock workers hugged the sides of the storehouse, bringing the product in as far away from the customers as they could be, keeping out of the way for whatever business was being conducted here, out of the public eye. Geralt’s eyes darted to and fro, and once he managed to catch an actual transaction taking place, he frowned. [i]What kind of place gives you something for free, and gives you money on top of that? Gotta be something fishy going on here.[/i]

Knowing he would be caught if he didn’t play along, he joined the back of a line of people waiting to ‘purchase’ some pearls, listening carefully. “Alright, these are the pearls that you ordered, and this is your rebate.” The man running this stall said. “Count them if you like, but it’s all there. One dozen pearls, all at or above our guaranteed quality, and ninety pons back. You can’t beat our prices. One dozen pearls for 30 pons, total. You just have to pay the insurance deposit first, and when it all comes back okay, you get everything that you asked for.”

Geralt’s brow furrowed. That wasn’t an [i]unheard of[/i] business model on the Continent, especially when it came to shipping goods to Skellige, but it was frowned upon by more honest merchants. If the ship was lost, investors would just come with bodyguards and take back their ‘deposits’ anyway. He supposed this area of the World of Light wasn’t devoid of danger, especially in the ocean, but something about this was bothering him. When the man who had just received his product passed Geralt by, [i]something[/i] tugged at his gut. Whoever was in charge wasn’t running an honest operation, he just had to figure out what the catch was.

A few more people received their pearls and their ‘rebate’ of pons, and Geralt was near the front of the line, still thinking and trying to calmly observe his surroundings to see if he could catch anything off. The man in front of him had clearly ordered a massive haul, receiving ten dozen pearls and a bag of pons larger than he could carry. One of the workers, who had just offloaded his merchandise and was headed out to the ship to get more, was ordered to help carry the bag of pons, and when a few spilled out, Geralt was quick to act. Grabbing one of the fallen pons, he dextrously swapped it with one of his own before handing his own pon over to the worker with a nod. When the pair turned to leave, Geralt faced the man running the stall. “What’s the deposit for a dozen pearls?” The man looked at Geralt as if he were talking to an idiot. 

“What, did you not hear it the half-a-dozen times I said it before you got up here? A hundred twenty pons for a dozen. Ten pons a pearl, and you get ninety pons back when the haul comes in. If the ship goes down, you’re out of luck. It hasn’t happened yet, but I have to warn you that it’s a possibility.” Geralt nodded, giving a dejected-looking shrug. 

“I don’t have that kind of money on me right now, but I can try to scrounge it up, ask a friend. When will you be here next?” He asked, keeping the ruse going.

“The ship comes into port every few days. You’ll find us here, in the same spot. We can’t always be certain how the tides will go, or if the ship will fill early, so the schedule isn’t strict, but keep a careful eye out, and you’ll see us.” The man advised. “Now, if you aren’t able to make an order at this time, I do have to request that you not loiter. I have more customers to help. Good evening, sir.” He quickly transitioned to helping the next person in line, as Geralt left the storehouse, waiting until he was a good distance away before checking the pon he’d swapped.

[i]Fake pons. Clever. Have to imagine they’re not all fake, though they’re giving far too many back for most to be real. Surprising that nobody’s caught on yet. If they have, wonder if they’re just killed or if they handle it some other way?[/i] Geralt’s musings took him to Bancho Sushi, where he had originally been heading. 

Entering the restaurant, Geralt nodded when he saw that Nadia, the kids, and Juri were all there. Therion and Falcon must have been off doing their own things. He caught the tail end of Juri’s explanation of there being a giant bird nearby, and hummed. “Doubt that’s the same one we fought at Black Bay? Bird that size must move quite a bit, but ‘giant bird’ isn’t exactly descriptive or rare, I imagine.” 

Shrugging, he got to his own information. “Found a counterfeiting ring. Fake pons.” To illustrate, he pulled out the fake pon he’d snatched, as well as one of his real ones. “Fake one is a little lighter, slightly different material. Smells differently, as well. They smell…wrong, somehow. Wrong the same way smoke does in fresh air. It’s not quite what we were going for, but I haven’t had quite as much time to really scope this area out. They’re at the docks right now, but aside from fraud and counterfeiting, I’m not sure if they’re up to anything truly shady. Might have to investigate further to tell, though, and they won’t be back for a few days after they go out again.”

It wasn’t a solid lead by any stretch of the imagination, but it was the only real one he’d gotten.