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Aliandara responds by saying:
"We’ve heard talk by your people and we have come here to see what is behind this talk. Some of the talk is that they have been busy with work they wish to hide from you and leave your service as soon as they have finished this. I do not know what loyalty you have to these people, but are you going to just turn a blind eye to their activities?"
The guard crumples under Drakus' attack. While Marra smashes the pommel into the face of her assailant. Sollus' attack flies to the side of his target, as he compensates for Drakus' presence.
"NO! You won't take me alive!!!" Shouts the final guard as he shoves the length of blade up into his heart. Abject terror and insanity flash across his face and then he seems peaceful.
You hear footsteps from above as Vancaskern is coming down the stairs.
"Oh by Iomedae's beard."
Knowledge [Religion]
Panish rushes towards the suicidal guard and attempts a heal check to see if he can still be saved (taking 10 for a heal check of 15 if possible, otherwise for Heal ). If Panish finds that the life hasn't ebbed out of the guard yet, he'll attempt to stabilize him (again taking 10 for Heal 15, or Heal Stabilize ).
As Drakus hands out assignments, Marra drags the unconscious guardsman into the shop, consequently getting mud all over the tiled floors. Vancaskern pales as he comes down the stairs. He stops on the 4th step up, seeing his "men" so swiftly dealt with, 4 to his front, 1 to his rear, he puts his back to the wall his shield raised to Aliandara and his sword held defensively. "Who sent you?"
Panish you look over the guard, his blade went in under his ribcage, and by the amount of blood, he probably cut his heart in two.
Sollus you attempt to work your magic on the fellow, but his strike was true, he's already deceased.
Sgt. Drakus screws his face up in an effort to think.
"Um, Desertion, Absent without Leave... uh, I don't know what else, i'm no kind of Barrister. As for heresay, the word of a Field Marhsall is good enough for me.
"C'mon you can ask her yourself.
"And you can tell her why you deserted in the first place. I don't know why, but she asked that in particular."
Aliandara takes a step back and holds her hands in a non-threatening manner:
" Verik, it is true, my friends and I were sent here by Cressida to investigate your desertion. As we planned a way to get to talk to you about this we've overheard your men speak of keeping secrets from you. I thought it would be important to let you know of this as they seem to have intention to abandon you. As we just came here we can't have any proof of this as we have not had time to look through the place. But it is true; our real motive here is to ask you why you left the city guard. "
Aiding Panish's Diplomacy:
Panish rises, grief-stricken from the corpse. His voice somber.
"Oh, foolish man! Don't be rash - it is enough that the gods commit their justice upon us; do not add your judgment to theirs. I commend your soul towards the council and judgment of Iomedae - may she find the mercy that you lacked for yourself."
Turning to Vancaskern:
"I am sorry for the loss of your companion. His self-justice brings no good, neither towards himself nor to Korvosa. Please, Verik, see reason - we've been sent by Commander Cressida to bring you and your men back into the fold of the guard; so that you may serve this city again.
We do not judge or condone your actions in this butchery, we are merely tasked with having your voice heard. This is no mere abstinence of duty - I truly believe that your actions after leaving the guard speak for the loyalty you feel to Korvosa. Otherwise you would not have gone to such lengths to still help the poor in these troubled times. If you are to come with us, I can assure you that your reasons won't fall to a deaf judge."
Verrik:
"Very well." Verik states as his shoulders slump, his blade lowers , he then sheathes the blade, and removes the scabbard from his belt and hands it to Panish.
"People will be at the doors soon, it's nearly sun-up and there are people starving out there. Will you help me hand out the food before we go?"
Sollus peers around for anything that might serve as a rope, and settles on the belt of the man who took his own life, stripping it expressionlessly off of the fallen man and handing it to Marra, to use as a binding.
He continues to look around for any sign to confirm (or refute) his grim suspicions of earlier regarding the source of the 'meat,' and is doing so in a somewhat frantic manner, beginning to think that he has made a fool of himself with these outrageous and sensationalistic assumptions...
Panish stays Verrik's hand: "No, we don't need your sword. You are a free man who seeks to aid Korvosa. I would not have your longsword - it is granted to you by Iomedae, may it serve you well, and you her."
"Are there more of your men in the butchery? If so, it would be good if you could calm their nerves. I'll help with the poor; though I suspect Sollus will want to investigate the premises. Perhaps, with your leave, he and Sgt. Drakus can make a thorough search of the grounds - we won't need their hands for the hand-out. This will also help ease the worry in Sollus' heart."
Room B3
The air in this room is stale, stinking of day-old meat and blood.
Straw litters the floor, scattered to catch what drips from the
meat hooks affixed to the walls and ceiling on metal rods. To
the north is a low blood-stained table and two barrels of salt,
while to the south, a pair of double doors stands. An iron bar
extends through a narrow hole at the top of the doors; the bar
runs along the ceiling for five feet before ending at a vertical
pole running floor to ceiling.
Go ahead and make any relevant knowledge checks you'd like to make.
Aliandara enters the room but as the smell hits her she covers her nose. She checks the barrels and find salt in them. She checks around the room for any other containers, hidden or not, and clues to our suspicions. If she doesn’t find anything of note she leaves the room hastily as the smell is too much for her delicate senses.
Perception:
Sollus checks any meat on the hooks, to see if he can tell what it came from, and then sizes up the room to see if there is anything 'off' about it's dimensions, suggesting a hidden compartment.
Afterwards, he'll move towards the barred door and, turning towards Aliandara to see if she has any objection first, open it.
Sollus checks any meat on the hooks, to see if he can tell what it came from, and then sizes up the room to see if there is anything 'off' about it's dimensions, suggesting a hidden compartment.
1d20+7
1d20+6Afterwards, he'll move towards the barred door and, turning towards Aliandara to see if she has any objection first, open it.
There are no hidden doors/walls in here.
B4: Read when you go there.
The floor of this grim chamber is strewn with blood-stained
straw, and the reek of slaughter is almost overpowering. The
room itself is a killing floor. A metal track affixed to the ceiling
dangles meat hooks here and there, allowing the hooks and
their gory loads to be moved easily from the northwest where
a large hammer sits on the floor amid a permanent bloodstain.
To the south, a bloodstained grill covers a wide hole in the
floor. Just north of the grill sit two large vats of water; one
boiling and one cold. Two large butcher blocks stand to the
east next to barrels of salt, and in the southeast corner sits a
reeking vat of cast-off meat and bones.
B5: Read when you enter
Two foul-smelling animal pens take up the majority of this
room. Each pen is defined by a wooden fence set with a gate.
Inside each is a long water trough and heaps of filthy hay. The
floor here is hard-packed earth.
B6: Read when you enter
This large cattle pen is open to the air, and the stink of
manure, mud, and animal is strong, despite the breeze that
wafts through the stockade’s wooden fence. To the south
stands a roofed shed containing a straw-filled wagon.
Sollus moves into the larger room, and is drawn to the grill in the floor, peering down, if possible without touching anything, in an attempt to see if anything has been hastily thrown down there.
Afterwards, he examines the bucket of 'parts,' doing his best to suppress a bout of nausea, before moving out into the hallway, and towards the hallway again to catch his breath.
He then examines the last set of double doors on the north wall of the largest room. And then into the open paddock to the west, where he flips through the straw in the wagon first, to see if anything is hidden within it, and then peers into the corral to see if the piles of straw could be concealing anything.
He *knows* that something is missing, because these people just bought some sickly-looking animals not more than ten minutes ago, and they don't seem to be in evidence...
Hearing the call that someone remains, he calls back, "There's no one else in this building, that I can see." before turning back to the individual animal pens, to see if there is some hatch in the floor beneath the straw covering the floor in those rooms.
Panish looks at Verik seriously. "This might then escalate. Can you think of any allies that Parns could or would turn to in this situation - or maybe a place he considers a safe haven? If he had a scheme running, then likely more people are involved that he could call on - and Parns would want to eliminate witnesses."