"Let's try to trace the coin for now, until we have another idea."
Baer stares at Tural.
"We have another idea. I just told you. It's the whiskey. Clearly, these hobos and that young girl are all into the whiskey. Or maybe the mum gave the girl a top off to help her sleep. That's another idea. It's a better idea than the money," Baer reminds.
Baer looks at Mavor.
"Hey Mavor, find out how many of them have had whiskey or drink...then ask how many have touched gold recently."
You are a genius! ;P
"Hmm... we'll never track down every coin these guys used, unless they are a strange mintage or something," Quorthos muses. "Hey, friend - can I buy some of that gold from you?" Quorthos does a trade with the man so he can examine the coinage.
"I didn't mean to track every coin, but if the shop owner has contracted the disease, it might have very well been spread via the coins and we have our origins for the disease. A ship laden with gold coins that can infect people. From there we can investigate the ship further and try to find more clues as to its origin."
"We all had whiskey n' all touched the coins," the beggar tells you, "but whiskey n' gold never killed anyone, righty?"
He thinks deeply and gives you the addresses of several shops in Old Korvosa. "Drunken Horse for whiskey, Better Bed for blankets, The Roasted Boar for some nice n' warm food, Tight n' Cozy for... you know what."
The beggar coughs, this time not 'cause he's ill. He grins widely as one of his mates lets out a whistle.
"I still have two coins," the beggar says. "Look like regular silver coins to me, but I'll trade 'em for three of yours."
Quorthos makes the trade, and holds the coins up in the light. "Brand new... "
"Well, we can check out the shops our friend visited, and see if others are getting sick, If they are... well, we'd better let the Marshal know."
Mavor thanks the beggars for their time and the information, but takes care to not shake hands with them. He steps away towards the others.
"Indeed Quorthos. Shall we split up and cover more ground? Meet back up at the Three Rings? Team Green could go the Roasted Boar and Tight n' Cozy. if they all show signs we report it back to the Marshall, I'm guessing Grau's niece also came into contact with those coins one way or another in that case. We'll probably need to explore or investigate that ship as well, any of you got a solution to that?"
Mavor instantly looks to Baer who is ready to open her mouth.
"No Baer, it has nothing to do with the whiskey they bought. Would you please drop that notion?"
When you head inside the small building you see a couple of long tables, all filled with men who are too drunk to articulate properly.
"And then I says, I says, it was that, you know!" you hear a man say at the nearest table, and as he starts laughing the others at his table laugh with him.
Behind the bar stands a broad shouldered, bald man. Tattoos cover his neck and arms, and probably many of the place you can't see. He smiles a surprisingly charming smile the moment he notices you, and motions for you to come closer. "New guests! Come over, have a drink!"
Behind the bar stands an old man with short, gray hair, who acknowledges your presence with a polite nod. You notice two barmaids. One's walking around with drinks and meals, and the other's cleaning an empty table.
Closed for maintenance.
"Sounds like a plan," Quorthos responds to Mavor. He gets ready to head to the Better Bed and then the Drunken Horse. "Anyone coming?"
Baer opens her mouth, then closes it again. She considers, then speaks.
"If you're sure you're right, please allow me to buy you a whiskey at each of those two bars, Mavor," Baer finally counters.
We'll see. Won't we? Baer mulls as she walks with Team Green.
* * *
Baer finds herself a table, ordering one whiskey for Mavor and a mead for herself.
She looks around the patrons, seeking signs of sickness and disease.
Tural follows Quorthos to the first two places. Getting to the second place he sees Baer walking off with Mavor. He starts following them.
"I think this is a great idea Baer has, we could find a lot more if we split up!"
Tural sits down at the table with the others.
As you look around you see no signs of a sickness and disease, but you do overhear some whispers:
"Is that a pseudodragon on her shoulder?"
"Why'd that half-orc couple bring a tree with them?"
At The Drunken Horse the bartender laughs heartily. "Alright mate, coming right up!"
The bartender pours Quorthos a glass of whiskey and places it on the bar. He then pours another glass. "Doing great here! And you, mate? How are things going for you?"
I don't like drunken men...
Pretty much every other man who's not too drunk to move turns around and starts making vulgar comments. "Come here puss! Hey lady, I need someone to keep my lap warm! Guess what I want to taste next, huh? Hahaha!"
Denario takes a quick look at this new place.
Yet obviously he's missing alot.
Drunks, we've got to watch our words, no telling what sets them off in their current state.
I'll go investigate elsewhere...
Once outside Allyph's not quite sure where to investigate. Going to Tight n' Cozy doesn't seem like a very good idea to her, as a brothel's likely to have unpleasant men as well. Instead, she starts moving in the direction of The Roasted Boar.
Guess I'll join the others.
"Great, now we have that rumour going as well."
When the barmaid comes back, Mavor looks at her with a questioning face and says. "Might I trouble you for some information? We've heard of some people making their own coins, counterfeiting actually. We're trying to track down the makers of it. They look like regular pieces of silver, but with no wear on them. Have you seen any people that paid with a coin like that?"
She puts your drinks on the table and asks, "Should I ask my boss to come over, sir? He may be able to help you?"
Baer sips and drinks and enjoys this information gathering, letting Mavor do the heavy lifting.
Counterfeiters? That's a good one.
Quorthos chats up the barman. "Ugh, what a day! My sister was down the docks this morning, and caught something, filth fever or something, but with big red blotches. Took her to the healer, and she's all better now, but man, what a mess! And now I'm short money for food!" Quorthos pulls some silver coins and plops them on the bar. "Don't worry, I got drinkin' money!"
"Yes if you could bring your boss over that would be very helpful."
Tural replies to the question.
"Oh and could you also bring me some ale? Maybe some bread and cheese to go with it."
She turns to Tural. "Coming right up, sir."
The barmaid heads over to the old man behind the bar and starts talking to him. She nods in your direction and he looks at you. As the barmaid heads to the kitchen, the old man comes over to you.
"Good evening, lady and gents," the old man says. "My name's Vicard Brewer, I'm the owner of this establishment. My employee told me you're here to investigate something. Mind joining me at the back?"
He shakes his head. "Nasty thing, filth fever. Good thing she's all better now! We can't have our loved ones ill, now can we?"
She takes her drink and follows the man to the back, letting Mavor and Tural go first.
"Good evening, sorry to take up your time like this. We're looking into some counterfeiting, some new pieces of silver, seemingly brand-new, are in circulation. We're looking for the places where they've been used to pay. Don't worry, we're not here to confiscate them."
"We would be very glad if you could help us."
Tural adds, trying to sound very friendly.
"Of course I will cooperate," Vicard tells you, "but I'll first need some proof that you are to be trusted. Your words seem truthful, but I do wonder who gave you the authority to start this investigation? Do you have an official letter with you?"
Mavor shows him the badgge he's got from the Marshall. "It's not a letter, but we get jobs from time to time, mainly when the guard itself is preoccupied.
Seeing that the man didn't respond all too well too him Tural decides to keep quiet on the matter and let Mavor to the talking here.
Denario misses any body language the bartender would be showing.
"Barkeep, speaking of illness, did someone ill came over for a drink here? Anyone coughing in moderate succession is sure to be contagious."
The bartender smiles at Denario. "And what can I get you to drink? You want some whiskey too, or would you rather have a beer?"
"We get new and old coins all the time. I'd like to help you, but you don't expect me to remember every customer that paid with coins that happened to be newly printed, do you?"
"I'm fine with it if you want to ask my staff about it, but I don't think they'd remember such a thing either. Do you have any other information to go by? I can ask them to come over one at a time, if you want. Though one's not present, she caught some disease and is resting at home."
"Well we've heard rumours one around here has quite the red face, marked some even said, like he has or had a rash or pox. Some sort of red scarring. That would no doubt stand out I'd expect. I take it your waitresses give you all the money they collect am I right?"
Pity
"A pilsner, if you have them."
...
"Did you hear anything about the attack?"
Quorthos mingles for a few more minutes with the bartender, finishes his drink, and motions to the others. Well, b'ys, I'm heading out. Got one more stop to make tonight."
Assuming Denario follows, once outside Quorthos expresses his disappointment. "Well that turned up nil. Shall we head out to meet the others, or just back to the Three Rings?"
"It's pretty clear what happened...she also drank the whiskey."
Tural glares at Baer.
"We would be pleased to talk to your personel. We suspect someone who has given out the coins. If they have met him we could find more information."
As you leave The Drunken Horse, the bartender waves at you. "See you again some time, lads!"
Vicard gets up and walks to the door, missing part of what Baer said. "Hmm, what did you say?"
"Ah yes, I'll get them to come," Vicard replies to Tural and leaves the room. He doesn't wait for Baer to answer his question.
A while later the door opens and the barmaid that took your orders a while ago enters. She sits down with you. "You had some questions for me?"
Asking the barmaid about coins that look new doesn't yield any results, as she claims people pay with old or new coins all the time. She says it's all the same to her and she never pays any attention to such details. When you describe the man with the red rash to her, she doesn't remember him. However, the description does cause her to recall something else: "Dear gods, that's exactly what Betsy has! I came to pick her up for work today, and she had this red rash all over her face!"
Asking the barmaid who Betsy is, reveals that Betsy's the barmaid who's ill and stayed at home today.
"If you would ask the next barmaid to come in please, we can have this questioning done with quite quickly." Mavor finishes up the talk with the barmaid who brought them their drinks.
He turns to the others, out of earshot of Vicard if he's around. "Seems like it has spread, quite quickly as well. Grau's niece may have only been the tip of the iceberg."
Tural turns to Mavor and Baer and whispers in reply to Mavor.
"This is a wild goose chase. We know that it is spreading now. The coins might as well be spread far and wide throughout the whole city. We should go looking for the solution to cure the people or how to prevent more getting sick. And I think we should be quick about it. I say we go back to the others as soon as possible."
"This...this whiskeyrot," Baer says aloud the name for the disease that she's given it in her mind, "...seems quite virulent. It might even be contagious from humanoid to humanoid. If it is, we might all be in danger. Mayhaps we should flee the city before it gets really bad."
Baer looks at Tural and Mavor.
"We can wait it out from outside the walls. I'm sure there is a village that we can hunker down in."
"I'll ask her to come over," she says when Mavor asks her to bring her colleague in.
The other barmaid has absolutely no idea what you're talking about, and doesn't react to your mention of the red rash.
Vicard comes in again when the second barmaid has also gone back to work. "Is there anything else you require? If not, I'll send my staff home. It's past midnight, and they've had quite a busy day with one ill."
Quorthos heads off to find the others, either at the restaurant or back at the Three Rings.
"We're going back to the Three Rings now?"