Larken listens to Dravite, looking more cross the longer the dwarf continues. When Dravite winds down, Larken says, "L'oj will probably be better at that. He's good with people. I'll likely spend most of our 5 days just learning my way around this city. Still, I'll see what I can do. Where are we meeting? This will take a while."
As they leave, he glances over at the woman, standing alone in the square. He heads that way.
"Excuse me," he says, "are you alright? Do you need help?"
Larken, wha' be yer problem! I be arskin' ye to help wit' gittin some fair treatment in de courts, an ye be actin' all angered. I thought ye be lookin' fer dem ta be treated all nicey-nice. Ain't no pleasin' ye is dere, lad. Screw dis. I goes out me way ta try ta show ye some consideration an' be respeckin' yer view and dis is yer response?!? Durned Slag-headed orc-kin! Farg off.
I be needin' ta be findin' me a good weaponsmith what can be enchantin' me hook up. 'Cuse me sir, do ye be knowin' o' a good weapon magicker?
*starts asking around to figure out where to go, looking to get a +1 added to his MWK Ogre Hook.*
Larken turns red as Dravite goes off, not with embarrassment, but with anger, turning back before he gets to the woman in the courtyard, he near shouts, "When I wanted to do something about this... when I spoke about the near impossibility of getting any of those people a fair shake, you were right there with the rest of them, declaring that they deserved nothing from us. Now that we can probably do nothing for them, you suddenly want to try to help them. And then you say "Farg off" to me when it irritates me? You farg off! The only reason I'm here is because I want to try and keep them off the gallows. I'll help them, not because you asked me to, but because it's right. Just don't expect me to respect the fact that you're on the bandwagon with me now."
Forgetting about the woman and anything else, he stalks off into the crowd.
"Excuse me! Pardon me! Excuse me!" he yells, "I must get through! I have lives to save!"
Alwyn watches the judge, the courthouse and the subsequent tiff between Larken and Dravite with increasing bewilderment. "You know", he says to nobody in particular, "this is far more complex than I expected it to be. At some point, I thought the city would trot out its judicial champion, and then there would be a brief showdown, before the city would demand reparations from the accused. I guess this are different down here in the Chelian lands." He shakes his head as he follows Larken makeing his way towards the distraught woman.
"I don't understand none of this, man."
Hudak follows his brother.
Elisile notices where Larken was headed before he and Dravite began their heated discussion. Ignoring the bickering pair, she heads over towards the woman, gesturing for Illes to come with her.
“I saw you outside Ironbriar’s rooms,” she says without preamble, but in a kindly voice. “Something has happened to your husband. Can I help?”
The woman blinks up at Eilisile her eyes red-rimmed with weeping. She looks to be in her thirties and reasonably well-to-do by her garb, but she seems to be at her wit's end.
"You can help me? Are you with the Court? Please, my husband was a clerk with the Golemworks, but they caught him stealing and sent him to the Hells. I tried to visit him a week ago but he's disappeared and no one at the prison can tell me where he has gone. I know what he did was wrong, but I've stood by him. I can't imagine what might have happened to him, but I can't get any sense out of anyone - no one seeme to care. Please, I don't know what to do," she sobs.
Illes rolls his eyes when the dwarf and the boy begin arguing in the streets. He's grateful for the distraction when Elisile gestures and he follows. He smiles reassuringly and asks, "I'm guessing your a woman who has the kind of questions old Ironbriar isn't interested in answering. So how does a man disappear from the Hells? I'm very interested in any theories you might have."
Illes rolls his eyes when the dwarf and the boy begin arguing in the streets. He's grateful for the distraction when Elisile gestures and he follows. He smiles reassuringly and asks, "I'm guessing your a woman who has the kind of questions old Ironbriar isn't interested in answering. So how does a man disappear from the Hells? I'm very interested in any theories you might have."
She blinks at Illes. "I don't know! Aren't you from the Court? Are you going to help me?"
“We will help if we can,” says Elisile, who appears to have taken something of a dislike to Ironbriar, and is all too happy to do something of which he no doubt would not approve. “What is your husband’s name? And,” she half turns to Illes, “what is the Hells, exactly? It is the prison here?”
"His name is Doran Jerrigo - I'm Eliza. Will you help me? Oh thank you!" and she burst into tears.
Larken spends several hours looking for a good barrister. Onces he's finished with that, he goes to find a temple of Saranrae. He spends some time there, just soaking up some peace. If they have them, and it's possible, he getss more detailed book on the religion there. He leaves 50 GP in the poor box as he leaves.
As the day ends, he realizes he has no idea where the group is staying. He troops back up to the Summit, finds an inn, has dinner and gets some sleep.
“Prisons are horrible places – we may not be able to help,” says Elisile softly, “but we will do what we can. Was the Chief Justice the one who ordered your husband’s imprisonment?”
"Yes, he was on the judge's panel."
As the day ends, he realizes he has no idea where the group is staying. He troops back up to the Summit, finds an inn, has dinner and gets some sleep.
Larken spends several hours looking for a good barrister.
Matlock?
Bah! Durned kids.....
Hudak, Ye be wantin' ta go see aboot some magicked gear? I heared we shoul' be goin' ta where da giant broke bridge hits land. Oh, Da woman from court be havin' issues o'er dere? We can be lookin' after a bit o' hittin da shops an' such. Are we ta be headin' dere?
Ameiko suggests that the party stay at the Wyvern, a tavern on the Summit near the courthouse that she has been at before.
“Where can we find you, Eliza Jerrigo, should we have any news to give you, or questions to ask?” Elisile queries the woman. Once she has the answer, she bids her farewell and heads (presumably with at least some of the rest of the party) towards the inn that Ameiko recommends. However, upon discovering that the prices are high at this place, she suggests they find somewhere cheaper; she is, after all, out of money. She won’t partake in the shopping trip (unless someone wants her help or advice) except to find somewhere to sell her leather armour.
“Where can we find you, Eliza Jerrigo, should we have any news to give you, or questions to ask?”
She gives Elisile an address near the Golemworks.
Illes looks back up at the foreboding facade of Magnimar's Hall of Justice and nods to Eliza, "Walk with me for a while Eliza. We'll have a cup of tea at our lodgings and talk this over. If you can explain your husband's circumstances I'll have a better idea whether we can help you. Either way, I'd like to hear about your experience with this Ironbriar."
To Elisile, "They call their prison The Hells here. Remember, most of these people or their parents or grandparents are immigrants from Cheliax. They have different ideas about law and order than you or I might. Not to mentions devils and their place in the world..."
At the inn... "Nonsense Elisile. If you like the place, we will stay. You can share my room." He winks. "Okay, okay... you can have your own room."
The woman calms down a bit as Illes talks to her and tells her tale. It seems her husband was caugh red-handed pilfering petty cash from the Golemworks (unknown to his wife, who just thought he had been promoted). He was reported to the Watch, arrested and put on trial, where he was convicted for stealing and given a relatively light sentence of one year (though in the Hells).
Eliza stood by him and had been visiting him regularly in prison for the first three months of his sentence. She arrived last week to find he had dissappeared and no one could find any trace of him. While it is possible he had escaped, she is convinced he would have tried to get in touch if he had. She has been frustrated in her attempts to find out what happened, with the prison authorities and now Ironbriar seemingly uninterested in exerting themselves over a petty criminal. The only vaguely useful response was one she received from a guard sergeant who said that "things happen" in the Hells, and the occasional disappearance from the cells is not unknown, though relatively uncommon.
Mayhaps some'un at de Golemworks who 'ad worked wit' him has heard from 'im. We can be checkin' it oot and git some shoppin' done roun' de same time. Whadda ya'll think? We be needing ta git some better gear an' dis is as good a place as any ta be startin' our lookin' fer her hubby.
Yih. Let's go to the Golemworks.
"Sure. I have always wondered how they make those things anyway."
Illes pays for the tea and a bite to eat if she wants it and listens to what Eliza has to say. "Hmm. Do you remember the name of the guard sergeant who spoke to you? He seems like someone I could have a conversation with."
Then to the others, "So what do you think about this place? It's a little pricey, but we deserve it, am I right? Either way, if Ameiko wants to stay here, I'm staying to keep an eye on her."
Once the people start talking about heading to the Golemworks, Illes wraps up with Eliza. "I can't promise anything, but if we are able to sort anything out you'll be the first to know. We have your address and now you know where I'll be staying if you think of anything else."
On the way to the Golemworks-
"Bah. I'll look into it, but honestly he's not at the top of my list. Still it's strange that a city that prides itself on a harsh sense of law and order wouldn't be more interested in missing prisoners. Maybe the thief broke out or what have you. But, when the heavy hand of justice doesn't care that someone just vanished from their court ordered punishment... well I think there might be a story worth telling there."
"First things first though." Illes claps his hands and rubs them together. "Let's see what the markets of Magnimar have to offer. We can stop in at the Golemworks while we are there, but right now the lawyer is much more important. He's going to need time to prepare that he won't have if we wander around and find one at the last minute."
Along the way and especially in the market, Illes stops to chat with people and get local opinions on what the city has to offer.
“I have no objection to sharing your room, Illes Elandru,” Elisile replies. “But sharing your bed will require more effort on your part than an offer and a wink.” Given her alien features and sometimes odd sense of humour, its difficult to tell if she is responding to Illes in jest or seriousness.
Either way, she accompanies the bard as he seeks out a barrister for the prisoners. She doesn’t believe in the ‘justice’ offered by the local system of law, but has little other suggestion on how to help the prisoners. Her blunt questioning would probably not get her very far on her own, but make an interesting counterpoint to Illes’ more charming approach.
AS the group seems to be breaking up outside the courthouse, I hand fity gold to Illes, "make sure we all have rooms in the same place," then i disappear into the crowds.
I stop first at an armorer I knew when I was 'in', and get fitted for some armor. Realizing it would take at least a week to get fitted for something he had "on the rack".
Then I spend a couple hours walking up and down the street outside my families home, making sure a dozen times that my father was not home before not quite making it to the door.
Finally I turn round, and head for the inn, muttering a shanty I learned in my travels about the joys of going home.
The area in Bridgeward round the Golemworks and the immediate environs is probably best for high quality and enchanted adventurer gear. Illes gets wind of a few bargain which might be had.
Illes and Elisile hear the name Arved Quamsh mentioned a few times. He has a reputation for taking on difficult or unpopular cases and of winning (sometimes) against the odds. Moreover, he is supposed to be more interested in justice than fees, a fairly rare attitude amongst the advocates in Magnimar. His offices are not on the Summit, but on the Shore.
*edit*
Hey Hudak, looky here! A mug what be fillin' wit' brew by magic a few times a day! Ye be needin' one o' dese, laddie! Two hunnerd gold ta dis guy here be buyin' ye one!
(I'm tired of your excuses.)
(I'm tired of your excuses.)
I actually want you to start the next fight, so I can purchase my equipment with it in mind. ;)
I actually want you to start the next fight, so I can purchase my equipment with it in mind. ;)
I just gotta be able to siddown at home for 1/2 hour with the books in fronta me and do it...
Neeeeeeyah....let's roll. I don't need no stuff. Let's get down with the Pettness. I'll get more stuff later.
Hudak'll buy two potions of cure mod wounds. Let's roll.
Game on, b!**#es...
Alwyn buys himself a silver-headed mace. He gives his silver dagger to anyone who wants it.
Larken buys some new clothes and a masterwork cold-iron rapier.
Illes arranges to have his flute enchanted and picks up a normal one to use until it is ready. He finds a nicer fitted chain shirt and trades in his old one while he's at it. Other than that he pokes around and picks up a few curios to round out his pack.