"If it's the coins, at the rate money changes hands we have a problem." Amira says with a frown.
At that point, Tayce comes back up, a bowl of soup in hand for her revitalized daughter. All smiles, she again hugs Terri, then each of you in turn. "If you would, please allow me to whip you up something to eat. I know it's not supper time, but I'm sure you're busy folks, and I don't mind at all."
If agreed to, she makes the group a fine meal, enjoyed on the wooden floor of her small living area. When the group is ready to go, she bids you a fond farewell, asking you to drop by 'ANY' time.
"Do you remember what the coins looked like?" Cassandra asks. "Were they like our coins? Did they have any pictures on them?"
Cassandra brings out a few coins she has, all coins of the realm, to show the young woman.
"Like these? Or different?"
Daud pinches his nose as the implications set in. "And here I thought this city was going to tear itself apart through rioting. Instead it's gonna be a plague that does it in." Stopping to stare upwards, though he wasn't really looking at anything, he lets out a chuckle. "Or purging flames."
"Do you remember what the coins looked like?" Cassandra asks. "Were they like our coins? Did they have any pictures on them?"
Cassandra brings out a few coins she has, all coins of the realm, to show the young woman.
"Like these? Or different?"
The girl's face turns thoughtful, trying to remember. "Some were like that. Some were different."
"We could start with trying to find any other cases of sudden hard to treat illnesses, while someone checks on the candy merchant." Amira suggests.
"Has Ishani left yet? If the money's carrying it, they'll need to be warned and know they need to find some way of getting rid of the infection," Terri adds.
"Telling the Abadarite that the money is the root of all evil? Fun." he happily says while letting out a pleased cackle.
Tolenn looks thoughtful, wondering aloud "That ship that was destroyed last night, could this box have been part of it's cargo?"
"Would make sense, the whole crew dead from plague would explain why they didn't return the guard's hailing." Daud adds, his expression and tone also thoughtful as he began to think back to the night the ship sunk.
"We need to be alone." Cassandra says, suddenly. "Come on. Let's go outside and be alone."
She rushes outside, her hand dropping into her belt pouch. By the time the others arrive, she's already pulled out the harrowing deck.
His mind, part weirded out and part going other places as he takes off after the flighty wizard immediately settles back to its usual thoughts with a simple "Oh," as he sees her retrieve Zellara's Harrow Deck.
"And that was a plague ship. If those coins were on it, then we definitely have a big problem," Terri tells the others.
"Um, are you sure that you couldn't have done that inside?" The Shelynite priestess looks at Cassandra with a raised eyebrow.
"Probably something others shouldn't see. I don't bother questioning it." Amira says as she walks outside as well.
"Thank you for you hospitality, Tayce. Please call upon us if you have the need." Tolenn says to the now less worried mother.
Leaving with the others at Cassandra's urging, she lays a hand on the wizard's arm as she delves into her pouch, " Cassandra, let us hasten back to Zellara's. If a Harrowing is at hand, I cannot think of a more appropriate place."
"Surprised she waited this long to make an appearance actually." Daud muses as he falls in line beside Tolenn, ready to head home.
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"Wha? What's going on? Who's making an appearance?" Terri asks, suddenly thrown for a loop.
"Does the girl with the goggles have a split personality or something?"
Stopping as the cute priestess accosts them Daud thinks for a moment before simply saying "... sure."
Turning back around he shrugs as a whimsy hits him and he adds,"Would you like to join us? You might learn some more about this disease, since you seem to have more invested in it's victims than some of us."
"Yes, because I think you guys just might be crazy!" Terri answers with a note of exasperation.
"Let me grab my stuff and we can go wherever it is that we need to go to, so we can do whatever it is that has be-goggled friend all ready to get somewhere private."
Wednesday's eyes light up as the priestess speaks, a creepy grin spreading over his face at each word.
Amira simply rolls her eyes as they head back to Zellara's home.
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The group makes its way back to Zellara's home, cute new recruit in tow, the bustle of the city all about them. Cassandra continues to feel the urge to pull out the Harrow Deck, but manages to keep her temptation under wraps until they arrive. Once the companions are all inside, the cards practically leap into the wizard's hands. Strangely enough, a purple mist coalesces, and a smiling Varisian woman of early middle age appears on the couch once the smoke clears, the cards now in her hand.
"Hello again, old friends, and new. You have done well in your fight to protect Korvosa from it's recent troubles, yet I have foreseen even more dire things ahead for the City. Here, let me perform another reading for you all, to let us see if the harrow cards shed light on anything."
She takes the deck and masterfully shuffles it multiple times, cutting it, then spreading it out in her grasp, extending it to each of you. "Please, take a card."
The cards are wonderfully crafted, hours having been spent on the illustrations. The woman smiles at Tolenn as she looks at the card the Paladin drew. "The Survivor. Knowing your past, it is no surprise. You survived such tragedy at a young age, only to throw it away and remake yourself into something better."
She turns to Wednesday, a sultry smile on her lips. "The Waxworks. Traditionally the card of malaise, and chaos. Though in your case, such a free-spirited approach might not be such a bad thing."
The dark eyes move on to Amira. "The Trumpet. You hide in the shadows, yet you seek to make your purpose known...that you are watching...and waiting."
Her mood lightens as she addresses Cassandra, "The Tangled Briar. Such a card represents the triumphs of the past returning. Perhaps you had an ancestor who helped Korvosa?"
Lastly, she turns to Terri, sadness in her eyes, "The Desert. Your travels will be dark, child, but you must persevere. Your will shall be tested in the days ahead."
"If you would, please return the cards to me, and I shall perform a reading." After you all return the cards to her, she again shuffles them, then lays them out in three rows of three, starting in the top left corner, working down, then top middle, down, then top right, down to bottom right. She lays the cards face down, then looks up at you all. "Shall we see what the cards say, then?"
She turns over the three cards on the left. She starts in the upper left. "The Desert. Recently, your group has underwent a terrible ordeal, prospects looking grim. You are here today, which tells me you have the tenacity to overcome such a drain on your will." Her dark eyes turn to Terri, "You must be strong, child, lest the darkness overcome you."
She indicate the middle card on the left. "The Snakebite. The evil machinations of those who conspired against Korvosa or its people. The position of this card is in the past, likely meaning your struggles against Lamm and other recent dealings. I also see a dark shape in the waves, slipping beneath, empty but for a single shining eye."
She then looks at the bottom left card. "The Eclipse. There was a period of time where you lost your way" Her eyes drift to Wednesday, "but you collected yourself and got the task at hand accomplished. The stakes grow higher, though. There can be no room for self-doubt."
The fortune teller then flips the middle column of three cards. She points at the top-most one. "The Mountain Man. In such a placement, it means physical strength in a position to help you. I interpret it to mean the strength you all have gained from joining your energies together."
Looking at the middle card, she sighs, "The Lost. This can signify an emptiness inside, perhaps in the City itself? Much suffering is currently going on, I can tell. I see mothers crying, fathers praying."
Addressing the bottom middle card, she frowns, "The Unicorn, but in the state of Opposition. Some friends are not what they seem, though if it is for you, personally, or for Korvosa as a whole, I know not. Curiously, it is birds I see most of all, their beaks long and narrow."
She then flips over the cards on the right, studying the upper right card before proceeding, "The Idiot, in Opposition. I foresee in the not-so-distant future your group helping perform a task by feigning to be something much more simple than you actually are. I see yellow straw, and emeralds when I try to glimpse it."
Pointing to the middle card of the three, she continues, "The Trumpet. Soon there will be a declaration of authority, but not necessarily for the better. Power will shift within the City at its telling. When I glimpse it, I see beautiful women with ashen skin and blank faces, but I know not what it means.
She turns her attention to the last card, frowning, "The Betrayal. This card has grim tidings, friends. It typically means the self-serving of a person or group leading to the ruin of many. I see young men burying their fathers, and mothers burying their children in graves too countless to number. I see carrion birds roosting among the unburied dead, picking the flesh from their bones with delight. Such is the fate of this City should you be unable to help it."
The Varisian woman gathers up the cards, placing them with care into the box and handing it back to Cassandra. "I would have let you perform the Harrowing, but I know you left that part of your studies unattended." She winks at the wizard, then turns to address the group.
"Beware, my friends, times grow dark for Korvosa. You've only seen the beginning of what lies ahead. Korvosa needs you. I have given what help I can. The rest is on your brave shoulders!"
The woman will stay and answer a few questions, but otherwise disperses soon after and is gone.
Daud shrugs at his new card before handing it back his landlord. "The Waxworks, neh? Better than being called the Publican I suppose... yaknow I went to a waxworks back home once, creepy as all hell, and that was even when they just used wax in their sculptures."
Letting her perform her reading and watching Daudthinks over each of the revelations before speaking. "I get lost all time, even with a beacon to guide me back," his eyes glance at Tolenn quickly, "It's all too easy when everything is so damn dark."
"Being used to the dark can be an advantage. The things that roam the dark seeking to prey on the innocent like to believe that they're alone." Amira says grimly. "Soon they will find out someone is watching."
Cassandra watches and listens and then, when it is over, says.
"Wow. That was totally freaky. And I attended wizard school so I know freaky. One time? This guy who was a year ahead of me decided to summon a succubus. For, you know, stuff. Only, he was a mumbler. So instead of summoning a succubus he summoned a MUCKubus. Which is sort of like a succubus in that they want to get all over you but made out of gunk instead of hot lady demon flesh. They were getting mud out of places he didn't know he had for DAYS."
"Wouldn't mind death by Succubi... sounds like a pleasant enough way to go, neh?" Daud muses absentmindedly along to the excited wizard's ramblings.
"Thank you, Zellara. Your readings are always welcome, if worrying. " Tolenn says softly, gazing down on the card in her hand.
-Posted with Wayfinder
The group mills about for the day, the mood mixed. Saving the young Soldado girl had been a fine way to begin things, but Zellara's reading had dampened the happiness of that, somewhat. In Cassandra and Amira's almost impulsive wanderings that afternoon, you learn that the crown has offered a 5,000 gold piece bounty for the whereabouts of Blackjack or Trinia, the kingslayer and her rescuer.
With such a high value on their heads, it would likely only be a matter of time before Trinia was recaptured...probably to have her head lopped off in a more private setting this time. The group goes to bed in Zellara's home, wondering what they can do to help.
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When everyone wakes the next day, as you crowd into the living area to break bread and start planning, you notice a folded note has been slid under the door.
Vencarlo
Terri's quiet after the reading. Things were already dark in Korvosa, did this mean that they'd be getting darker still?
A yawning void stretched into the future, and the young priestess felt as if the cold winds of winter were blowing through her very soul.
---
"Business proposition? What does he mean by that?" Terri asks the next morning after reading the note.
"He probably wants us to help Croft, the two-faced bi..." the rest of his words die out in a snarl that escapes his clenched teeth.
Cassandra has made herself a bowl of oatmeal and smothered it in syrup and fruit. She's devouring it while the discussion comes about.
"Shouldn't we warn someone about the plague?" Cassandra points out. "The guard? Well, not me. The guard wants to arrest me. But someone?"
"I'm not all that inclined to help the guard out at the moment." Daud says while munching on a piece of bread.
"The problem is that informing the wrong person could easily cause a panic." Amira says thoughtfully "Vencarlo Orisini is one hell of a swordsman. Odds are any agreement he proposes involves armed enforcement."
"Not like I have anything better to do..." he says while looking to each of the ladies present incase anyone wishes to interject.
"I guess I'd better come along too. Hopefully I can keep you lot out of trouble, well, more trouble. What does the guard want with you anyway Cassandra?" Terri asks, her expression like that of a nanny that's caught one of her wayward charges with her hand in the cookie jar.
"You think you can keep....Cassandra out of trouble? You are cute." Amira says with a rare glimpse of genuine humor.
"Well Zellara did give her the Dessert card." Daud adds in with a grin.
"My last name is Wagner." Cassandra explains between mouthfuls of oatmeal. She glances around before grabbing the daily broadsheet and slamming it down on the table.
Cassandra points to an article that explains that the Wagners, a family of minor nobles distantly related to the assassinated King, are still under house arrest while it is determined what role, if any, the family played in the King's death.
"WHAT?!" Terri's eyes are wide as she looks from the article to Cassandra.
"How can she even justify this? First Trinia, and now you and your family? Is she just jealous of any charming young woman that crosses paths with her?"
The young priestess gives Cassandra a sisterly hug as she calms down somewhat.
"Don't worry, they'll have to go through me if they want you."
"They'll have to go through all of us, Terri." Tolenn says gently, smiling at the good natured talk the others are sharing.
"As for the plague, there's only one victim, Brienna. Until more show up, it may be best to not panic anyone." she says, then continues "Wednesay, you know very well , Croft is doing her best in difficult circumstances, she deserves our respect at the very least."
She looks at the note, "Vencarlo...Vencarlo. Ah yes, we talked with him outside Eel's End. An interesting man...I would hear his proposal."