Andrea Greenholt lifts her head from praying in the shrine of Calistria. She has found herself here more and more frequently in the days following Jessena's murder. Frustrated by her inability to track down Gaedren Lamm, she has turned to the only thing that she has left...desperate hope in her gods. Blinking in the shrine's candlelight, the young half-elf notices something lying on the floor near her foot. It is a silver-gilt card, depicting a Unicorn with its single horn thrust through a green pear.
Puzzled, Andrea flips the card over and reads the words written on the back side.
Could this card be a sign from above in response to her faith? Or merely a cruel hoax? Only time would tell.
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Tanrob of the Shriikirri Quah awakes in an alley along Korvosa's waterfront, and breathes in the heavy air ripe with the scents of fish, hemp, and tar. Cala raises her head next to him...the white wolf is his only faithful companion these days. He recalls the throes of his Shiver addiction, and realizes that while he may have no possessions...at least he has his life. Gathering himself to rise, Tanrob notices a card lying on the ground. Who could have left it there without waking Cala? The card is odd, depicting a great queen ant, wearing a gilded crown.
On the back are written words in a bold, dark hand.
Pocketing the card, Tanrob realizes this may just be his chance to get revenge on the man who poisoned his body and soul. It was time for a cleansing, a reckoning with Gaedren Lamm.
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Acero sits in a tavern in the slums of Korvosa, thinking of Sara and the past he cannot recall. He scowls at the serving girl who comes to refill his mug, but he cannot help himself. Too many young girls remind him of his lost friend, and the man who took her away...Gaedren Lamm. Startled, Acero notices a card lying on the table near his arm. How did it get there? He picks it up and looks at the image of an angry mob.
The card was fitting, and reflected his temper. Turning the card over, Acero is suddenly grateful for the time he spent learning to read. There is a message written on the back of the card.
Acero has no way to know whether the message is genuine or not...but there's only one way to find out. The time for an uprising is indeed at hand.
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Chavali Toroda sits on the edge of a barrel, cleaning her fingernails with a dagger point. She is enjoying her new freedoms from family obligation...and wondering if this day will bring her any closer to the man who robbed her of her father, Gaedren Lamm.
Suddenly, Chavali notices something shiny lying in the dirt by the barrel. Hopping down, she picks up something the is instantly familiar to her...a Harrow card. It's a nice one, with silver-gilt edge and hand-painted artwork depicting The Juggler.
She ponders the card's traditional meaning...'Fate is on your side'...as she flips the card over and spies the writing on the back.
Chavali flips the card over in her hand with dexterity as she begins to walk down the street. Perhaps fate truly is with her after all.
The strands of fate draw tight around her as she turns the card over and reads the words written there,it is the sign, or is it, is it perhaps some trap of Lamm's to dispose of an overly inquisitive girl..no matter she has to take that risk.
Squinting up at the sun she reckons she still has some hours till sundown so she makes her way home through the busy but not crowded streets of the city which she calls home. Callistra's altar like so many is part of the Pantheon of the Many putting nearly the whole city between her and her Bridgefront home but she knows she can make it back there, collect those items she needs and still be on time at Lancet Street.
It takes her an hour to get back to the dingy tenement flat she shares with the three stray cats who adopted her some time ago. Taking some time to feed them(not too much as it prevents them keeping down the vermin) she gathers her equipment together.
It isn't much..an old Crossbow that belonged to Jenessa's father and a crude club that the old woman used to scare unruly younsters with. Both weapons go into a large basket covered with a bright cloth..to any casual viewer she will look like any Varisian Girl on an errand for her mother.
Slipping on her shawl she issues out into the streets again and, asking directions from stall holders and street traders, makes her way to Lancet Street. She doesn't rush in but stops at the streets end, her eyes scanning the area looking for any potential traps
.
"Fate. Justice. None of those words mean a thing to me. Vengence though, that means everything", The half-orc thinks to himself. He slowly stands, slinging his sword across his back.
As he makes his way out he tosses the serving girl a gold, "For you and the drink." With that he exits making his way down the slums onto the destination on the card.
Andrea pauses at the end of Lancet Street and looks warily for a sign of danger. But she sees nothing untoward, only local folk going about their business at the end of the day.
Feeling emboldened by the fact that she is not alone in the street Andrea approaches the door of Number 3 and knocks on it.
The sounds of the streets are dying down now as the sun sinks behind the Heights throwing the towers of Castle Korvosa into stark silhouette.Soon the dayfolk will be safely in thier homes and the night folk will take over....Andrea shivers a little, not entirely from the growing chill in the air, as darkness begins to set in
"Fate...", Chavali speaks silently with a smile on her face as she flips the card over in her hands.
It must be someone of Varisian blood to contact her in this way and whoever it was showed trust in her by giving her a harrow card, since it is considered really bad luck to loose one from a deck.
"Well, seems there are more of the blood that got hurt by the old bastard. One more reason to do put an end to his deeds."
As she walks towards Lancet Street she tries to remember what kind of people live there and if she has conned one of them in the past.
Andrea knocks again but there is no answer. Her brow furrows at the lack of reply and she begins to get nervous. Could this be a set up...she glances around looking for any potential threats the deepening shadows could conceal anything or anyone.
She knocks louder...
Ambriel DiVri returns to her low rent Eastshore apartment is a state of weariness. She is weary of feeling useless, weary of feeling bitter over what was done to her by Gaedren Lamm. Once respected, feared even, as a member of the Order of the Nail Hellknights, now she is a nobody. Disgraced. Rejected. With a sigh she turns...and notices a small card lying on the lumpy mattress she calls a bed. Instantly cautious, she tightens one hand around the haft of her earthbreaker, even as she lifts the card. On the front, it depcits the strange union of a pair of elemental beings, one of fire and one of water.
Puzzled, Ambriel flips the card over and looks at the back, where she notices words boldly written.
Cautious, but undeniably curious, Ambriel turns to leave her apartment once more. This might just be her chance to clear her name and restore that which she has lost.
Taking the card in hand, she gathers the necessary belongings, and heads out with purpose towards the indicated address, thoughts swirling through her head of the possibilities.
The first to arrive at 3 Lancet Street, Andrea finds herself growing impatient at the lack of response to her knocking on the door of the simple house. For lack of a better course of action, the half-elf grasps the handle of the front door...and finds the house unlocked! Cautiously, she steps inside.
The cozy chamber within the small home is filled with a fragrant haze of flowers and strong spice. The haze comes from several sticks of incense smouldering in wall-mounted burners that look like butterfly-winged elves. The smoke itself seems to soften edges and gives the room a dream-like feel. The walls are draped with brocaded tapestries, one showing a black-skulled beast juggling men’s hearts, another showing a pair of angels dancing atop a snow-blasted mountain. A third tapestry on the far wall depicts a tall hooded figure shrouded in mist, a flaming sword held in a skeletal hand. Several brightly-colored rugs cover the floor, but the room’s only furnishings are a wooden table covered by a bright red throwcloth and several elegant tall-backed chairs. A basket covered by blue cloth sits under the table.
Andrea's eyes drift to a heavy stone on the table, which acts as a paperweight for a note, written in the same hand as the summons on the back of her Harrow card.
Before Andrea can make anything further of the situation, the front door opens again and a massive half-orc with long black hair and a bastard sword strapped to his back steps into the room. Before the door can close, a slender young Varisian woman with fierce eyes slips in right on the half-orc's heels. Finally, before any words can be exchanged, a grim-faced Chelaxian woman enters confidently, wearing hide armor and carrying a massive spiky hammer.
The four unlikely invitees, strangers for the moment, stand and look at one another, waiting for someone to break the ice.
Eyeing the woman near the table. "You the one that sent me this note", an irritated growl in his voice, "What you know about me or Lamm?"
Andrea whirls round as the door opens and finds herself confronted by the largest man she has ever met in her life. She gasps and takes an involuntary step backwards feeling the table press coldly against the back of her thighs through the thin silks of her colourful dress.
As the two women enter her eyes open widely...if this is a trap then there's no escape.
Then the olive skinned man speaks
"You the one that sent me this note", an irritated growl in his voice, "What you know about me or Lamm?"
Relief shoots through her at the words and she realises that these are the others the Goddess promised
"No I'm not the one who sent the note" she tries to put more confidence into her voice than she feels "I was summoned too"
She holds up the Unicorn card, remembering now the common meaning 'what you seek is yours'. A slightly feral smile plays across her lips for a moment
"I'm Andra..."she says using the Varisian version of her name."Lamm killed a friend of mine.I want him dead,it's that simple"
She glances at the Varisian girl. She seems vaguely familiar.
"Don't I...know you from somewhere?" she asks in Varisian
"Don't I...know you from somewhere?" she asks in Varisian
Chavali smiles at Andrea and replies in Varisian:
"I'm Chavali. I think we have seen each other at some gatherings of our people where you have marvelled at my dancing skills.", she says with a wink of the eye "Don't fear me sister, we are here for the same reason."Then she speaks to all the people present in the common tongue:
"I'm Chavali Toroda and I'm here to avenge the murder of my father by Gaedran Lamm. What brings you people to this place?"
She waits for an answer while eying the Chelaxian woman with suspicion.
'Ambriel DeVri.' she says to the gathered room. She nods at the tall man, then speaks in Varisian. 'Don't judge my heritage to think I am not educated in your tongue. 'To teach a horse to dance, don't speak like a cow to it.'' She speaks in the common tongue again. 'We all seek... justice... against Lamm?'
Andrea smiles at Chavali, she remembers the girl now..her dancing is spectacular. Feeling more at ease with another performer in the room she glances towards the massive half orc with an expectant look
"So what is your business with our mutual ...problem"
and that should have vbeen me off course
Andrea smiles at Chavali, she remembers the girl now..her dancing is spectacular. Feeling more at ease with another performer in the room she glances towards the massive half orc with an expectant look
"So what is your business with our mutual ...problem"
"He took something...important from me", says the hulking half-orc. He swirls a chair around and takes a seat.
"The only reason I'm here is because the person who wrote this note said they knew where Lamm was", a dark grin crosses Acero's face. At the same time his eyes sweep the room. Like a wolf scoping out his prey.
The half orc and the warrior woman seems suitably grim,and, though Andrea is not used to being around men(or indeed women) of violence she is grateful that ones such as they have been brought into the equation.Callistra moves in many ways it would seem
She indicates the note on the table
"It would appear our host has had to step out for a time they have left refreshments for us while we wait."
She ducks under the table and seizes a basket much like her own.
"Flat bread, and fresh baked too,ale or water for those who prefer it" she announces.
Sitting at the table she places her own basket on the floor and breaks a piece off the warm, herb laden, loaf while she looks around the room.
'Ambriel DeVri.' she says to the gathered room. She nods at the tall man, then speaks in Varisian. 'Don't judge my heritage to think I am not educated in your tongue. 'To teach a horse to dance, don't speak like a cow to it.'' She speaks in the common tongue again. 'We all seek... justice... against Lamm?'
"Devils are skilled in many tongues, they say...", Chavali whispers in the Varisian tongue as she recognizes the name. She sits down at the table, all the time watching Ambriel and the door of the room with suspicion as if she expects a squad of black-armored knights to enter at any moment.
"Aye... justice.", she says with a slightly sarcastic undertone as she takes some of the bread offered by Andrea and begins to eat.
Andrea, Acero, Chavali and Ambriel find the bread plain but filling, the beverages palatable, if not of fine quality.
After a few minutes of comparing notes and making acquaintance have passed, the front door opens again, and a tall man with a stocky build and shaved head enters warily. He looks around at the four pairs of eyes looking back at him. Then, he says simply (with a Shoanti accent) "I am Tanrob, of the Shriikirri Quah. I was...invited." He holds up a Harrow card as evidence of his simple statement.
Before further conversation can take place, a sixth person steps through the front door. This is an attractive, middle-aged Varisian woman who smiles as she enters. She looks with appreciation at each of the five adventurers in turn, then turns and sits at the table. She then produces a Harrow deck from a pocket and idly begins shuffling the cards. Her skill with the deck is obvious as the cards seem to float and dance over her hands and the table. With a nod of her head she indicates that those still standing should be seated at the table...conveniently, there are exactly enough chairs for the entire party. At last, the woman speaks in a soft but clear voice, thick with a Varisian accent. "I am Zellara, and this is my home. May I get your names please?"
Andrea takes a moment to study the woman. She decides that dissembling will get her no joy here and speaks up whilst placing her card on the table.
I am Andrea of the house of Greenholt..though amongst the folk I am called Andra. Gaedren Lamm was responsible for the death of my mentor Jenessa and I have sworn oaths on Callistra's altar that she will be avenged"
"Acero", the half-orc days in a dulled roar. He grabs a piece of bread and takes bite. "So how did you find us? And what do know about us and Lamm", Acero asks.
"Chavali Toroda is my name and I'm here to avenge my father Camlo Toroda." Then she puts the harrow card The Juggler on the table and speaks with a firm voice: "And I will."
'Ambriel DeVri.' says the Chelaxin woman simply, watching the woman as she shuffles.
Andrea looks at the others..."Whatever your grievance Callistra has heard you"
Acero drinks his ale while watching Zellara and the others
What has Gaedren done to the rest of you?" Ambriel says, eyeing the others in the group around the room.