"If you were asking about the scene with the otyugh, it is safe to say my reaction to the beast was perfectly normal." Again, her voice shifts, this time tinged with worry, "Why, does something seem amiss?"
Heimskr clears his throat. "Ah... yes, that was what I was asking about. I thought your, er--discomfort was a side effect of your magic. I mean, the Acadamae's studies can be very taxing on the body." He shifts from foot to foot, one hand on his holy symbol.
Ugh. The human wears his bleeding heart on his sleeve. I wonder what it would feel like to tear it out...
The Legion chatters in agreement.
Not sure if she should reveal too much to the priest, Karri chooses to obfuscate. "Yes, the Acadamae's studies are known to be rigorous. But, I never studied there. My gift is something different from those teaching. Suffice to say that where most magic users pull from the world around them, I pull from inside myself. It can be...taxing sometimes." There, I told him nothing and hopefully cleared his mind of worry for me. A mental hiccup and unfocused eyes as she thinks, Don't chide me, servant. This flesh is still mine and mayhap you will never know what his heart feels like in your hand. Silence the Legion now if you are truly mine.
Karri's eyes refocus on Heimskr, "Did you have any other questions?" Yes, be gruff, keep him thinking abut what he is seeing... I will win, but for now, your request is granted. The children have been put to bed for now.
Nalun watches the exchange but stays silent, not his business. His only focus is clearing Trinia's name and working for Kroft.
Once the party's business at the commune is concluded, the walk back to Citadel Volshyenek is considerably quieter. As the party passes Endrin Square, they can see a patrol of several Sable Company hippogryph riders examining the scene of the battle and directing workers in clearing away the otyugh carcass. The leader of the patrol only spares the party a brief glance before ordering his men back to work.
Brother Heimskr stops as the party passes the square. "I'm going to stay here. I imagine the Sable Company would appreciate some help getting that otyugh out of here before it stinks up the entire district." He says, glancing between the patrol and the party. He looks over at Karri, visibly trying not to blush. "*ahem* Perhaps you could pay a visit to the Sanctuary of the Eternal Rose sometime? I'd be more than happy to offer aid in the future." He then looks down at his feet before awkwardly leaving to assist the patrol.
Throughout the walk back to the Citadel, the streets of Korvosa are quiet, and the townspeople still wandering about are more concerned with getting home safely than causing more chaos. The party attracts several glances, mostly of appreciation.
Citadel Volshyenek is more or less the same as when the party left it. Upon returning to Kroft's office, the party sees the Field Marshal and Trinia seated at the great table in the middle of the room. The artist is looking down at her folded hands as Kroft sits opposite her.
They both look up when the party returns. "Everything turned out alright, I hope?" Kroft asks, beckoning the party to enter.
Nalun gives a small salute and nods to the Field Marshal Yes Maam, things are bad out there, but not as bad as they could be.
"Yup, and we're getting famous, now. Demitri can file the report later. Any news here?" she inquires staring at Trinia. "I think you had enough time to chat, right?"
"Riot duty and paperwork to round out my day. Great. Yes, we kept the peace."
Not sure how to reply to the priest's offer of aid, Karri mumbles, "Of course. Thank you." She tries to block out the Legion's pining for the poor man's viscera.
"We had some help from a priest of Shelyn to keep things calm and Demitri proved his skill at arms by slaying an otyugh very quickly." I tried to help, but couldn't do much... because you were made to destroy, not nurture. Stop denying what you are. Stop denying what we are!
Ortik observes Brother Heimskr speaking with Karri, smirking to himself. Interesting - the Eternal Rose cultivates all sorts in her garden, but I never thought she'd also plant wallflowers. That'll be another project.
"I'm a bit concerned on where that thing came from in the first place," Ortik says, scratching his beard at the meeting in Kroft's office. "It seems awfully coincidental that a sewer beast chose that location to surface and attack. It could have been a lot worse if we hadn't been there. A lot of good people could have died. And a nobleman with more pride than sense as well."
Kroft and Trinia both listen to the party, with the young artist taking a much closer interest in the proceedings than the Field Marshal. Kroft folds her arms and smiles.
"Glad to hear it." Her smile fades upon learning of the otyugh attack. "I think the rioting might have something to do with it--otyughs tend to be very cranky when disturbed. Some of them may have gotten loose with all the noise and damage that happened over the past few weeks--yet ANOTHER reason I hope things calm down for good soon."
" Any news here?" She inquires staring at Trinia. "I think you had enough time to chat, right?"
"That was what I was going to get to." Kroft glances at Trinia, who looks down, blushing. The young artist is still in her boy vagrant disguise.
"Trinia and I have had a very enlightening chat. She's been nothing less than completely cooperative--I'm certain she had noting to do with Eodred's death." Kroft turns back to the party. "However, I'm doubtful Queen Ileosa will see it the same way..."
"And... and I wanted to ask you something." Trinia finally speaks up, looking over at Nalun and the rest.
"I'm worried that Ileosa will still be looking for me. The bounty on my head hasn't been rescinded yet, and... well, if word gets out that I've been brought in, this is the first place she'll look for me." She looks back up at the party, then at Cressida. "I don't mean any offense, Field Marshal, but I'm not sure I feel safe here."
So, where could we bring you that would be out of Ileosa's reach? Nalun asks, mostly looking at Kroft
"She could stay at Zellara's."
Trinia gets a smile on her face, but it's tempered by a measure of confusion. "Um... you mean the house you took me to before?"
Kroft shrugs. "I don't see any reason she shouldn't be taken there."
"The Hellknights won't look for her there."
"It's probably as safe a place as we'll find in Korvosa for you, Trinia," Ortik says, agreeing with the general sentiment. "Although I'd feel better if people believed she were dead. 'Killed while attempting to evade justice,' or something." A thought occurs to him, and he looks to Kroft. "Have your men found any dead women, roughly the same build as Trinia? As much as I dislike this idea, if we could claim she was killed in her escape, or maybe drowned while attempting to swim out of the city, most people would stop looking for her."
Trinia's smile promptly turns upside down and her face pales. "Um..."
"Funny you should mention that, Ortik." Kroft turns to face the dwarven druid. "My patrols have come across several bodies from the riots today. I suppose you can thank the Hellknights for that." A glare appears on her face. "Several men and women--no children, thankfully. At least the Hellknights aren't *that* fanatical." She gets up and starts pacing along the length of the great table. "There's still the possibility of their next-of-kin learning of this... they're not likely to take the news well. If you're intent on trying this, don't say I didn't warn you."
Nalun nods in agreement with Ortik What if we used some sort of magic to change the corpse just a little, to make it resemble Trinia.
"Well it's the best plan we have. Otherwise the Hellknights won't stop looking for her. Either that or we publicly fake her death in front of a bunch of Hellknights."
Karri is obviously agitated. "Why is it ok to use a corpse now, but you were all so shocked when I suggested it?" Why did they change their minds? Because they don't trust you and they don't think they need you. We want you and we need you... Hush. You lie everytime you talk.
"If I recall none of us said it was a bad plan. We just went with a different one. I am sorry if you feel slighted. I just don't like any of our options right now frankly. There has to be a better way, but what I don't know."
Karri frowns at Demitri's lame excuse. "Stage a chase, a false Trinia escaping onto a smuggler's galley as it sets out to sea. With enough witnesses, the search will move out of Krovosa onto the high seas and the nearest ports. With any luck, it will extend to distant porches. Can you imagine anywhere safer from Hellknights than Sargava or Aldoran?" He's not sorry, he doesn't even care. Maybe you should just gut the girl and leave her in an alley. That would resolve the Hellknight's interest in her.
Karri grimaces at the distasteful idea, No, not as long as I am in control! The Legion giggles fade into silence but she can feel their presence, hungry and waiting.
Trinia looks up. "So... disguise a corpse to look like me and hope that's enough to fool the Hellknights, or fake chasing me onto a departing ship?"
She looks at her hands. "I think I can make the second plan work--although I do know where you can get your hands on the magic needed for the first plan."
I'm fine with either, they have their merits. We just need to enact a plan fast. A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect one next week.
"Sorry, Karri," Ortik says, realizing that he was merely parroting back her words a few days later. "I'd forgotten that we'd discussed that. And the reason we didn't do that then still applies today - how do we bob the Paralictors? They've got ways of telling who a body used to be. The second option's probably better, assuming we can find a ship that's agreeable to playing bait to the Hellknights."
"I like the second plan better. But as Ortik said, we need to get a ship to agree to it."
Lyla sits back letting the team make some plans. She smiles as the conversation shifts from faking a cadaver to staging an escape. We're getting warmer. Suddenly, she speaks up—abundantly, as usual. "The main problem here's that the ship would be stopped before it got to open waters. If they don't find Trinia then, they'll just assume she stayed in town after all, and then we're back to square one." She takes one hand to her chin and thinks of an alternative. "Well, I got Zellara's deck here, and with it I can probably fool a crowd creating a figment that looks like Trinia. It will work better in front of common folk, they tend to buy this sort of thing more easily. It plays to their superstitiousness. We can make a show of us trying to capture her... I'll stay on the sidelines animating the figment. Someone puts a sword through the image's chest, and it crumbles to dust. No body for the paralictors to colletc or investigate. We'll just let rumour spread that Trinia was a witch, and her body disintegrated once we put a blade through her heart." She looks at the group. "Granted, some people will see through the illusion, so it won't look the same to everyone. Perhaps that would actually strengthen the witch story—the fact that some could see her while others not. I think we can pull it off. Anyway, that's the best I can come up with."
"Which one of us would you have tortured by Hellknights? Surely if we killed Trinia they would want to hear the story from the killer, no? If we were to fake her killing then it cannot be any of us that do the killing."
Lyla turns red as Karri calls her out. "Hey, if you're gonna be like this, I'll pick you, miss smarty pants!" She takes a deep breath. "C'mon, even if it's self-defense? I'd do it myself, I doubt the Hellknights would care. They're just following orders, and truth is, the Queen just wants Trinia dealt with so she can pin the murder on her and close the case. But if you're all so scared, we can make a small adjustment: you guys surround the image, and demand her surrender... and then Trinia refuses and kills herself with a stab to the heart. Of course, crumbling to dust ensues, as usual." She contracts the right side of her face waiting for the group's reaction. "Is that feasible?"
"Yes, that sounds fine."
"Maybe a certain masked vigilante can corner her and 'kill' her. That way none of us are even involved."
Nalun watches, waiting to see what the group decided.
Lyla turns to Kroft for advice. "What do you think, boss? Will the Hellknights come at us too hard, or can we stand the pressure—or better yet, will you be able to back us up? I can try to get Blackjack in the picture, if that's what Karri's implying, but I don't want to risk messing up the illusion by trying too hard. If we're there personally, at least part of it all looks real." She then looks back at the group. "Whatever you decide."
Kroft looks over at Lyla. "I'll be able to provide you with backup if we go with option C. As fanatical as the Hellknights are, they still respect Korvosa's laws, even if they don't get to enforce them. If you need it, I can send a patrol with you to keep the Hellknights off your back."
She sighs. "Part of me isn't comfortable with this, but considering how well I know Ileosa, I'm willing to help you with this if it means she'll finally get herself under some measure of control." Kroft folds her arms. "Too many people have suffered today because of this."
Trinia stands up and walks over to Nalun, staying by him. "Where do you need me to go?"
Nalun pats Trinia on the shoulder and says I think we bring you to Zellara's home. But first lets don your disguise again.
"Yes. Back to Zellara's."
With a plan formed, the party returns to Zellara's with Trinia. The artist is fairly quiet throughout the walk back, nervously eying the groups of townspeople they pass on the way back. No one appears to recognize her... not that it helps her nerves any.
The sight of a snoozing Nadia and Majenko greets the party as they return--the girl is slumped against the wall, the pseudodragon snuggling up in her lap. Trinia moves to sit at the kitchen table, not saying anything.
"Make yourself at home." Demitri smiles, glad that Nadia is alright. He carefully picks up the pair and carries them upstairs to put them to bed.
Karri offers to help Demitri and takes Majenko in her arms, careful not to squeeze or pinch his wings. She quietly follows Demitri up the stairs and quiskly leaves the room, glancing back she sees her friend kissing his daughter gently on her forehead. Small happiness. She shrugs and walks back down stairs.
Trinia watches as Demitri and Karri carry the sleeping girl and pseudodragon upstairs, nervously drumming her fingers on the edge of the table.
Lyla hops up on a chair and pulls out Zellara's deck. "Right! Now that we've got the plan settled, all that's left is the location. Let's find as large a gathering of people as we can--the more witnesses we've got, the more likely Ileosa'll buy it. Now to think of a good spot..."
The night falls...
---------
Moonday, 27th of Calistril, 4711 AR
It's a cloudy day today--no rain, but the sun is hard-pressed to shine through the clouds. It shouldn't be difficult to find a good spot to fake Trinia's death.
Once Lyla's up and out of bed (after sleeping in, as she usually does), she wanders downstairs, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"I've got an idea for a spot where we can do this--Sunshine, ya remember when we swung by that goldsmith shop? Bluetide's something-or-other?" Lyla turns to Karri. "Well, here's where I think we should try."
She hops onto a chair. "Jeggare Circle, in North Point. It's close to the entrance to the city, so it'll look like we managed to catch her before she skipped town, AND it's close to several shops, taverns and such. Meaning there'll be lots of witnesses." She starts rubbing her hands together in anticipation. "I've thought about using Endrin Square--or 'Otyugh Square', as I think someone's gonna call it someday--but I think there'll be too much work fixing the place going on to really be effective. Plus, last I checked the Sable Company's getting involved in overseeing the rebuilding efforts, and I doubt hippogriff riders will do anything to help our plan out."
Perhaps it's for the best that Trinia isn't awake to hear this.
Nalun nods his agreement. It wasn't his plan, but he was determined to do his best to ensure that Trinia was safe.
"That sounds like a good plan."
Karri does not like the plan overly much, but she doesn't have any good arguments against it. "Let's get this started."