Shaeda checks the beaten man for injuries, "mostly superficial I think, but his prettiness may be affected over the long term."
Aerel watches quietly as Nicholas handles himself admirably, releasing the spell he had on the tip of his tongue uncast. His ears flick back in exasperation, and he sighs reflectively. This is the result of the hierarchy and legalistic burdens placed upon these children... they cannot comprehend, so they fear. They do not know freedom, so they strike against their so-called betters.
He pauses, looking more closely at the thugs' victim. Hm... wait a moment... do I know him?
Shaeda notes that the man is mostly just bruised and battered, nothing life threatening. He is missing two fingers on his left hand, but that injury is weeks old at least, and has already scarred over.
He appears to be about fifty years old, and has attractive features (under the bruises). He picks himself up and dusts himself off.
Aerel does indeed recognize him. This is Vencarlo Orisini, a wealthy man and outspoken critic of the Korvosan government, as well as a noted trainer of swordsmen, though he appears unarmed right now. He offers Nicholas his hand to shake.
"Thank you, my friends, for scaring them off. It was a mistake to go out unarmed, but I was afraid the sight of a weapon would provoke people. It didn't occur to me that my attire might do so as well, and they got the drop on me before I could defend myself."
"My name is Vencarlo Orisani, and I am in your debt. As a token of my gratitude, please accept this."
He offers you a gold ring.
"It's the least I can do. And I really have no need of it. Fewer fingers these days."
Ah... hm. Didn't Khara mention something about him once? Something about him and I having similar opinions of the government, I think. The thought makes the elf smile, and though the expression is bitter, it is not without joy.
He allows Nicholas the chance to reply to Orisini, but regardless of what he says, Aerel adds his own approval. "That was well done, Nicholas, driving them off without harming them."
Turning his monochromatic gaze back to Vencarlo, the spell-dancer speaks softly. "Master Orsini, I am called Aere Thelon. I have heard much of your school and your own talents, and often in these past few decades have your words inspired in me hope for this unfortunate city." He inclines his head respectfully. "It is a pleasure to meet you, I am sure."
"I have seem more men run at the threat of authority than at actual authority," Nicholas comments, thinking back to his days under Gaedren. "Though a lot of them gave a lot of bluster while they trned on their heels."
Nicholas shakes the man's hand, but looks curiously at the ring as he takes it. "I am Nicholas, and it was a pleasure to help. However, I do not know what I would need a ring for. If it doesn't show, I've never been much for money or the like."
"I would like to ask a few questions, though," Nicholas says, changing topics. "We were dealing with some of the local scum last night before the town erupted in a riot. We're trying to get these kids to safety at the moment, but we've yet to really even hear rumors of what's happened. Do you have any news? Has the King truly died? And who has the throne now?"
Shaeda will try to blend in with the kids. She's pretty sure she has seen this guy at the brothels before, and such people do not like to be publicly recognized as such.
I give a little chuckle at the mans finger comment, but seeing that he is okay I make sure to keep an eye on the prisoners in case any of them try to flee. "School, are ya a teacher then?"
Vencarlo responds to each of you in turn.
(To Aerel) "The city needs hope now more than ever, I fear. Glad to see there are some on the streets still willing to stand up for those in need. I was hoping to assess the situation myself, see what may be done to calm the populace, but to my dismay they seem to consider anyone not of their class an enemy at the moment."
(To Nicholas) "I'm afraid that much I can confirm; King Eodred Arabasti the 2nd is no more, though beyond that I can tell you little. He'd been ill for a long time, but though healers from across the continent have been summoned, none provided a cure. Everything else is rumors, most of them contradictory, and I can unravel none of it."
"Nice sword, by the way. I favor the rapier as well. A gentleman's weapon."
(To Jamir) "Indeed. I am a swordsman of some renown, or at least I was in my youth. Now I am retired, though I take on the occasional apprentice or two. Or at least I did, my reflexes are not what they were, and accidents happen. Perhaps it's time to call it quits".
At the word "accidents" he indicates the missing fingers.
"So you lost your fingers in a fight?" Nicholas surmises. "The rapier is the only weapon I know how to use. My teacher wasn't elegant. He just to poke them with the pointy end. His lessons have served so far."
Nicholas pulls out the rapier to let the man take a look while asking, "So what do you plan to do now?"
At the hilt of the rapier is a rather decorative, distinctive handle, a luxury the man had spent for before Nicholas had obtained it. A golden rose makes for the small pommel on the end. Nicholas himself does not know what, if anything, it symbolizes outside of just plain decoration.
"Kings come and kings go, but the city remains." Aerel says softly, almost reflectively. "In some ways, a message of hope. In others, a lament of the seemingly endless endurance of this madness." "Father, what is making these people so upset?" A younger Aerel had asked in Elven, looking at the wailing Korvosans on the streets without. "Their king has died, ai'santh and they are worried that it will be a time of chaos." His father had replied. Aerel recalled being surprised - they had only had a king for a few decades, and this was the reaction?
He pauses, considering for a few moments. Hm, I wonder whether... "Master Orsini, might I inquire as to whether you know aught of the orphanages in this city? We have a small group of younglings with nowhere else to go."
(To Nicholas) "Ah, well, as much as we all treat swordplay as a fine art, that truly is the essence of it. As for me, I am off to Citadel Volshyenek to deliver a report to a friend of mine. I'd accompany you on the rest of your journey, but we seem to be heading in opposite directions. I shall be wiser from here on, and avoid crowds."
(To Aerel) "Well, you're on one the right path if you want to get to Korvosa's Mercy, a state-run one. Not my favorite such establishment, it mostly run by the military. Avoid Scrapper Hall at all costs, it's more of a quasi-legal workhouse, and I've been trying to get it shut down for ages. I would have recommended Riverside House, but there were a lot of fires in that neighborhood last night, and I heard it may have been among the buildings affected. Tragic, if true. Little House is mostly for halflings and gnomes."
"That mostly leaves the temple-run ones. Dawnflower House is a bit far to travel with the city in this state, but the Bank of Abadar and Sanctuary of Shelyn are nearby. I see more eye-to-eye with Shelyn's clergy myself, but that's a matter of preference, and both will do what they must to protect children in these dangerous times."
Foolish man thinking to walk into a riot alone and unarmed when he could avoid it. Keeping need the children and looking around for any overyly aggressive rioters.
I nod at Vencarlo's words, "If it's something ya enjoy doin' then it's hard ta give it up. Like ma runnin', I'll fall before I quit." My eyes dart from the Orcish prisoner to the mans missing fingers and then up to his face. "I'm tryin' ta learn to fight with both hands at the moment, any tips ya can give me?"
I then turn my gaze back to the prisoners.
"Ah, my thanks." Aerel inclines his head politely to Vencarlo, before looking back to the children. "If any of those appeal, be sure to let us know, yes?" Noticing that Shaeda is among them, the elf mentally shrugs - that is her prerogative.
"May fortune follow you on your path, Master Orsini, and perhaps we shall meet again." The elf pauses, considering for a few moments. "Ideally, under less extreme circumstances."
(To Jamir)"I usually just use the one, and angle the other side away from my opponent, since I find shields cumbersome."
(To Aerel)"Indeed, I hope our paths cross once more."
With that, he departs toward the south.
"I feel the same, maybe I can train with ya at some point? See how I do against someone famous." I nod as the man leaves and look upwards at the roofs, a pang of longing overcoming me. "I'd love ta run along 'em right now."
I gather my senses and get back into position; standing behind the prisoners, and follow as everyone leaves for the Shelyn Sanctuary.
"Well, let's get to that temple before one of those groups decide to take interest in us," Nicholas says, starting to walk once more.
"Indeed." Aerel inclines his head. "I have no wish to test my spells, much less my blade, against men and women whose only crime is being afraid for their future, and angry about their pasts."
The rest of the trip goes safely enough, though you need to detour around a street where someone has made makeshift barricades from several overturned carts, and once you several House Drakes chase imps through the air overhead. You also finally see evidence that the Korvosan Town Guard is doing their jobs; they seem to be out in force, doing their best to be visible and threatening, perhaps top make up for their near total absence in the chaos of last night.
Things have calmed, but electric tension still hangs in the air. The city may be cowed/tired/hungover enough to have quieted down, but things are far from normal.
The Sanctuary of Shelyn, when you reach it, is bustling and crowded. A temple devoted to as kind and generous a goddess as The Eternal Rose certainly wasn't going to turn away people in need, and last night Korvosa was full of them. Beleaguered clergy flit between makeshift beds (some no more than a pile of straw and a scrap of sackcloth), tending to the injured, reserving their finite magical resources for the most dire cases and simply patching up those in less immediate peril. No holy place of Shelyn's is ever without music,
It takes some time to flag down a priest and explain the situation to him. Indeed, the Sanctuary does run an orphanage, and would be happy to take in the children, especially if they are willing to help with the current crisis by serving food and carrying messages for the adults. Food at least is plentiful, as the magic to produce it is easy enough and can provide for many. Having done far less pleasant work for far shabbier accommodations the children quickly agree.
The priest promises they will be well cared for and educated, and accepts the donation of the Holy Symbol you recovered with thanks to help cover everything.
"So what are our plans for the moment?" Nicholas says, as he begins to lead the wheelbarrow away. "Once we drop off these guys, of course. Esmeranda said we had some destiny tied to yesterday's mess somehow, but what in the world does that mean? We don't even know who's on the throne at the moment. We'll need to gather some information. I work at a tavern in Old Korvosa. We could see what we hear there while I check in with the old man."
"I intend to return those items that I can reasonably find the owners of... and check in on my kin in the South Shore have any need of my aid. Beyond that..." Aerel chuckles softly. "Well, life has a way of happening in the meantime, yes?"
He glances at the skies every so often, recalling the proclivities of those imps that the irresponsible fools at the Acadamae release into the city. "I cannot speak for others, however, and perhaps they have other plans."
"I've nothing else ta do 'n' I don't really wanna go back ta my last profession. Reminds me of dad too much, mind if I tag along? I need ta find some purpose for ma life."
Nicholas shrugs in response. "I think I'm in the same boat, so you're welcome to join, I guess. Just wait until you meet Esmeranda, though." Nicholas finishes his statement with a chuckle, choosing not to elaborate.
Slightly confused by the chuckle, I look to Nicholas. "Who's Esmeranda?"
Hm... can purpose be found by following others? Or is that only ever a diversion? Ah, well... it's his choice, I suppose. The elf chuckles softly to himself, then inclines his head. "Well, I shall not be the one to refuse another's company."
At the halfling's question, he chuckles softly once more. "She is something of a guide, I suppose."
"That sounds very vague, 'n' more chuckling ... what's so funny 'bout her?" I look confused but decide not to ask anymore questions.
Shaeda queries her companions, "what do you think they do with the kids that show no musical talent?"
"I imagine that the clergy will find other artistic talents for them to pursue. Shelyn pursues all beauty, as I recall - and all beauty is equally valid to her eyes." Aerel replies easily, though a brief shadow crosses over his face. One hopes that they chose well - they may not know what will come... but it is their choice, and they have the right to make it.
Staring at the ground lost in though. What am I to do for now. It will be months before my family returns again... Do I want to leave?
Raising a eyebrow at Sheada question, "Aerel is right. If you fear that they would be cast out for not being able to make beautiful music you can rest easy. That will never happen. Shelyn loves all beauty. Even if they have no talent so long as they try to leave the world a better place then they found it then they will have done Shelyn's will. Which can be done in a hundred different ways. I once knew a priest of Shylen whose art was making people smile though complements. But the children are not entering a religion. They are entering an orphanage."
Realizing that she has spoken and should give some sort of answer. "We should return the stolen items. Beyond that I simply want to heal. My monster is gone and hopefully the wounds he left will mend and scar over."
Your next stop, the Longacre Building, is thankfully very close, so you encounter no further trouble on the way. Looters and troublemakers are unlikely to cause mayhem nearby a government building in any case, and the guards are out in force.
Like the Sanctuary, this building is bustling with activity, processing many of the participants of last night's chaotic revels. A group of civilians showing up with bound criminals in tow is a bit odd, and you soon find yourselves being questioned.
Luckily, Giggles, and Hookshanks are known and wanted criminals, so your assaulting and delivering them to the guards is accepted, more or less. Yargin attempts to spin a story about being a law-abiding citizen who was simply waylaid last night and has no connection to these other ruffians, but the gnome and half-orc aren't about to take a fall for their comrade, and rat him out.
Still, the circumstances that led to this situation require some review, and you soon find yourselves in an interrogation room. A guard enters and gets straight to the point.
"I don't want to cause you any undue trouble over this, these men are criminals without question, and we presently have much bigger problems to deal with. But all three of your catches are associates of an individual we would very much like to know the status of. I'm going to be blunt: where is Gaedren Lamm, and what is your connection to him?"
"He was the ugly one, right? Yeah, so he didn't make it. You will find his body in the lowest floor of the place we found these others. with the riots going on, we were more concerned with protecting the children we found and getting these hoodlums into your hands than with taking custody of the greasy remains of that scum."
"Lamm had an unfortunate encounter with the sharp end of a sword." Aerel observes mildly. "As Shaeda has said, his corpse lies in an old fishery on the West Dock. I would recommend caution, however, as there is an alligator that lives nearby."
"An alligator?" He seems to be questioning whether or not he really wants to know. He looks toward the door, where a hundred other problems await. "Alright, so he's dead then? Good riddance if that's true. I should be asking a lot more questions about the circumstances of his death, but Lamm is far from the only person to die in Korvosa last night, and of them all he may be the least missed. I'll send someone to go investigate and pick up the body. Is there I place I can find you all if I need to follow up?"
Nicholas looks to the others. "What do you think? We could station at Esmeranda's."
Nodding to Nicholas, "That would be fine."
At the guard's incredulity, the elf simply smiles, though his question makes him tilt his head thoughtfully. Nicholas' suggestion gives him pause, however. Hm... it could use some renovation, though I suppose it's sufficient for the time being. Aerel flicks his ears noncommittally. "That should be acceptable, indeed."
"Peachy."
I look around the group, "They've not even asked her if it's okay. Shes gotta be a good mate." I turn my attention to the guard, "I wasn't there, but I wish I'd been. Had something ta talk ta him about." With that I gring my hand into my palm.
Poor Rabbit. But there was no absolution to be found there. Facing the guard, "Will you be needing anything else from us Sir?"
"Not at this time, thank you all for your cooperation. I'll be in touch if necessary. Good to know at least this city's worst inhabitants are having a terrible time like the rest of us."
"Indeed. It is... troubling. May the gods see good in your endeavors, guardsman." Aerel inclines his head graciously, before looking to his fellows patiently, allowing them to consider the next move. If I had to choose... I would... hm. Perhaps ask the Guard here about reports of stolen items, that we might return them?
I look around at everyone, "So, what now? Ya said ya wanted ta return the stolen stuff right? Maybe this guard knows who it belongs ta?"
The guard is able to give some small amount of info about the items you took from Gaedren, but most of it can't be identified.
The gold ingot clearly came from Cheliax, due to the coat of arms, and is therefore either contraband smuggled into the country, or was stolen from the Bank of Abadar, one of the few institutions that has direct business with the Chelish government.
The gold crown has a maker's mark on it, pointing to having been crafted by a fancy toymaker called Pestico's Dolls and Toys, located in Pillar Hill. It's intended for a doll, but the fact that it is real gold suggests it was custom made, and there might be records of the customer.
The guard also suggests that he look after the figure of the two succubi just, um, in case something turns up.
"Church of Abadar then?"
I nod, "Abadar it is. Then the toy maker?"
Raising an eyebrow at the request for the succubi but not objecting since that item holds no meaning to Emma and getting guards to like you is a good thing.
Nodding to the others, "That sounds reasonable. We should get going."
Aerel shrugs slightly, sighing inwardly. Abadar... well, at least they're not Arodenites. His lips quirk slightly at the thought, and he flicks his ear dismissively. Most of the time, they are working on the same scale we tend to, but in less... free ways.
"Hm..." Aerel says after a moment. "The Bank is nearby, while Pillar Hill is on the other side of the city. It seems reasonable to me. Of course, the two might be in some... disarray given the local difficulties."
I stare intently at Aerels head, "Why'd ya ears do that flicky thing?" I then turn to the guard, "Can I ask the prisoners some questions later?"
When it looks like everyone is ready to go to the church I head to the exit. It is clear that now the Orc is no longer near me I am back to who I was before I noticed him.
Guard: "If they haven't been sent somewhere else yet, they agree to speak with you, and a guard is present, then yes, it could be arranged."
"Once we've returned the stolen stuff, I'll come 'n' see if I can get some answers."