Can You Hear The People Sing? (Hell's Rebels)

Game Master Paladin of Baha-who?

Kiri found herself intrigued by this turn of events, more birdlike peoples. She thought hers were the only ones and approached tentatively, unsure of how to interact with them. Her usual instinct would be to either fight or flee but as they hadn't been aggressive so far she opted to, instead, remain watchful and nearby. The mention of getting more food was something that caught her attention and the strix woman said, "I'll go."

She slipped away and up the passage back to the coffee house and looked for their hostess. When she found Laria, Kiri motioned for her to come to a more private place to speak and, once there, said, "We've found what happened to him, he's dead. He was helping some other kind birdmen hide and yet another type birdman went nuts and killed." She seemed perplexed all of a sudden and asked, "How many types of bird people are there anyway?" After a moment she continued, "They say they're sorry about what happened and were starving down there, I came up to get more food and drink to take down to them."

Curiosity killed the cat, you know! the wise part of Jessibel's mind chided her as the bard gave in to the siren song of the unexplored tunnel nearby. The others are easily within screaming earshot her stubborn side rejoined. She decided to practice her foot-stealth, knowing that the light from her magicked rapier would give away her approach if there was indeed something lurking in the dark passage.

Disappointment overtook the girl when the hoped-for passage further south turned out to be nonexistent; instead, she found herself looking in upon a small room. Jessi made sure to look up toward the ceiling, mainly out of fear of lurking spiders.

Stealth: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 16

"We don't want your things. You may need them. I would like you to consider working for me from time to time. I don't have anything now, but if you stay in the city I might need some help soon.

Nan's friend sent us here so we'll take his things to her, and see what she wants to do with them. Our Strix friend is bringing better food." Davina drinks with the tengu. While waiting for Kiri to come back she asks for news from outside Kintargo.

Sorry, Leora, I overlooked your post earlier.

Leora notes the tengu do not seem angry at the killing of Cheogh, but more simply saddened, though the grief is muted by their intense hunger as they work on the dried meat and hard bread from the rations.

They listen to Leora and Davina's conciliatory words, and the three younger sisters, who you have learned are named Jay, Threep, and Maggie, turn to Korva. She is the oldest, and clearly takes the lead. "You seem like good enough sorts. We could see stickin' 'round and workin' for you."

Jessibel sent me this post to make when appropriate:

Jessibel returns to where the others are gathered with the tengu sisters. When she notices Kiri missing she asks where her strix instructor went and, upon hearing that Kiri’d returned to the coffeehouse for food, Jessibel suddenly stiffens.

"Wait—didn’t Laria shoo us inside this place because she’d just gotten a visit from a dottari captain? Kiri might be walking into big trouble...for all of us."

After a moment’s thought, Jessibel adds, "Then again, Kiri’s the quietest and stealthiest among us, so she’ll probably be fine. On the other hand, maybe having a strix suddenly pop out of your cellar might not be so good. I mean, Laria can’t just laugh it off and say, ‘Yeah, we get silverfish down there in the spring and the occasional stray strix every so often’."

Kiri arrived downstairs with Laria to find everyone chatting while waiting on the food. She quieted down and others do the talking while she leaned back against a wall and ate her roll in silence.

The tengu gobble the rolls eagerly, having apparently understated how hungry they were.

"Well, if you want t' get Nan's body, it's over in the water -- we dumped it there after Cheough killed him. We figure the 'gator ate parts of it, but hopefully there'll still be enough t' have a proper funeral."

Is anyone searching the bodies of the corby, the gator, or going out to look for Nan's corpse?

I will.

"I'll get the guy."

If the water isn't too deep (say no more than to the waist/hips), Domitius will head right out and retrieve Nan's body (dagger at the ready in his teeth, juuuust in case). If the water is any deeper than that, he'll doff his armor first.

I'm slacking in my cleric duties!

As the tengu finish their lunch, Leora asks Laria and the tengu "Would you mind if I said a few words for Nan and Cheogh? I didn't know either of them, are there any particular customs you'd like to observe? "

She will help Davina and Dom with the bodies.

Jessibel's visibly relieved when Kiri returns with Laria in tow. Though she's not certain how she feels about the tengus, she decides to stick near those she does trust. While Davina examines the corpse of the dire corby, Jessi follows Domitius to the wooden dock.

"I'm glad it's someone else going into the sewage this time," the bard quips, a rueful smile on her lips. "I'll clean you up with magic when you get out, and try to warm and dry you, too. Drying takes a long time with prestidigitation, but you'll appreciate the warming at least--the water's cold this time of year!"

Turning to the others she calls, "My family knows quite a few local hunters. I'll see if I can find someone to skin, chop up, and remove the white gator next time I visit home...which I'm hoping will be either this afternoon or tomorrow."

Davina looks Cheogh's body over and notices she was wearing three copper bracelets and a silver locket. She asks the Fushi sisters about it, and they said it was Cheogh's share from their last thievery job they did in Riddleport. "You can keep it. After everything she did, I don't even want to remember her."

The water is chilly but doesn't quite reach Dom's waist. He grits his teeth as he steps into it, and resolves to get Nan quickly.

Dragged from under the dock onto the stone floor, Nan's body is a gruesome sight. Half-eaten, his body is party decayed and partly missing, and his clothes are in tatters, except for the boot on his one remaining left foot. Wait a sec... why is that boot so well-preserved? It ought to be torn up and decaying as well.

As Dom examines Nan's corpse, he notes the boot and the fact that it seems to have withstood its time in the water far better than its wearer. Calling back over his shoulder, Domitius asks, "One of you with the magic, can you check out this boot?" He then scans the room, talking to no one in particular. "Now, where would your match be?" Eventually his eyes come to rest on the corpse of the alligator. "Oh, damn it all, I bet I know exactly where the other boot is!" He advances on the alligator with his dagger drawn...

Davina scrambles out of Dom's way as he heads for the gator she has no interest in being near the impending mess. "While you are looking for the boot, don't forget Jessibel wanted some hide for boots."

"While you are looking for the boot, don't forget Jessibel wanted some hide for boots."

"Yeah, I remember." Dom hasn't really "dug in" yet. He's paused in front of the animal's corpse, not quite sure how to go about this without ruining the hide for Jessibel. "Hmm, what if I start going under the skin from the wound I gave it in the shoulder... Jess, you may have to settle for a belt when this is all said and done, 'kay?"

Unless anyone objects, shall I do a "half-assed autopsy on a lizard," if I may paraphrase Jaws?

Dom is able to make a fairly clean cut through the belly of the beast, opening its gut and slicing through its stomach, spilling an odiferous mess of carrion and gastric juice onto the floor. In this slop is a right boot, matching the one found on Nan's body.

Assuming someone uses Detect Magic:

The boots radiate an enchantment aura. Cleaned off, they are a jaunty shade of blazing red and brilliant orange, shimmering in the light cast by the spells you're using to see.

Domitius can't quite decide what was worst, the stagnant water, Nan's corpse, or cutting open the alligator. Not like any of those parts was exactly a treat. You're welcome, Kintargo.

"Oh Jess, a little cleanup, please? Me first. Then the boot, thanks!"

Jessibel does as instructed, cleaning and warming Dom first, then detoxifying both boots, then going back to warming and drying Dom while the others finish up dealing with dead and live bird people. Uncharacteristically quiet, the bard seems to be deep in thought as she goes about her chores.

"Hoo-boy, thanks a ton." After a few moments, Domitius realizes that Jessibel is being uncharactersitically quiet. "You okay?" He jerks his head toward the remains of the alligator, "Don't tell me it's the wrong color, I don't think we get a lot of choice on that 'round here."

Jessibel is snapped out of her thoughts, managing a smile at Dom's comment. "The alligator's fine, but I could live without the bright orange in the boots," she quips. "I was just thinking about how much work it's gonna take to make this area safe and livable. The livable part might not take more than a lot of elbow grease, but the safe part's gonna be unpleasant, especially if that water connects to the city sewers. Anything could creep or swim its way in here. Two days in and we've already had two people take dips in raw sewage...and it looks like there's more of that to come if we have to exterminate whatever might be lurking nearby. Rats, bats, spider, centipedes, more rats. I'm not sure this is what I signed up for."

Dom nods in acknowledgment. "I get ya, Jess, I do. But maybe think of it as practice. If we can't clear out the rats down here, what chance have we got with the rats up there?" He points a knife at the floor, then the ceiling for emphasis.

"We'll figure something out for this, I'm sure."

Kiri was rather surprised by the tengu's words about those things that belonged to their big friend. It seemed wrong to forget those who'd past on to her, or at least to forget the mistakes that were made, and said, "It's better not to forget about...Cheogh and what she did. If you forget it is easy to allow the same mistakes to occur again, if you forget you can't learn from them." Kiri suddenly found her curiosity peaked and asked, "What was Cheoge? She doesn't look quite like you, and I know she isn't my kind, I've never seen her kind before..." She looked at the tengu curiously and with a slight wariness about her, "What are you for that matter? You are also not like me."

Davina listen's to Jessibel's concerns. "Laria has used these tunnels to keep haflings safe for the Bellflower network for years. I'm sure it won't be too hard to make it livable, and safe. Having access to the sewers as unpleasant as it may be, isn't a bad thing. Moving through the sewer tunnels can keep Ravens off of the surface streets. It might be the best way to move people and supplies around one of these days."

She looks thoughtful as she says, "This isn't an easy safe thing starting a rebellion. It will get even harder when Thrune and his goons start to notice what we're doing. Hopefully the people notice as well, and help us along the way."

"Now then, Jess, I may need a little more cleanin' in a sec. I'm gonna try to win my money from Leora."

With that, Dom wades out to the statue and gives it a serious once-over. "Come on, wake up you guys! I've got a sail riding on this. Come on, you silly bugs!" A corner of Domitius' mind wonders if he shouldn't be this eager for the statue to come alive when he's right there, but he sends that thought packing.

So yes, I'm examining the statue.

"Wow, I didn't realize my goofy recklessness was catching," Jessibel says to Davina, making sure she speaks loud enough that the half-orc can hear her as well. "Or is it 'reckless goofiness?' I can't tell the difference any more."

To pass the time until Dom's had his peek at the statue or needs rescue, Jessibel absently uses prestidigitation to color the red swaths of her armor silver; once that's done she does the same to the orange on Nan's neat boots, appraising how well they'd match her outfit.

Turning her gaze to the white alligator corpse, she wonders aloud, "How are we going to move that thing out of here? I'm assuming we don't want to have the fellow who skins and dismembers it knowing the location of our new top-secret hideout. And we can't just leave it here--it'd stink up the place."

Leora takes a closer look at the boots, using magic to learn more about them.
spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Then she joins Dom and Jessi near the statue and grins when she sees Dom checking it out. "It doesn't matter how long you stare at it, that gold sail is mine," she teases.

Leora will cast detect magic on the statue as well to see if anything interesting is going on.

edit: misread Dom's post. Guess we don't know what the boots do yet besides look awesome.

Davina leans on the crumbling wall to watch the "Domitius and the Impending Giant Wasp Attack Show".

She responds to Jessibel, "I don't know how we'll get that thing out of here. You are right Jessibel. Having the hunter down here isn't a good idea. Maybe Laria will have some ideas. She's the one who knows these caverns the best. They had to move stuff in and out somehow."

Dom replies to the women as he desperately tries to get the wasps to come alive. “In Belkzen, there would be much swearing and many thrown insults, in the course of which it would come out that I was ‘confident in our ability to handle it,’ very loose translation of the Orcish. We’ll say that falls under your first one, goofy recklessness,” Domitius says with a deadpan.

As Jessibel asks about the alligator, Domitius calls back to the dock, “You'll probably have to get one of your stronger friends, see if you can't sucker him into helping you… Dammit!” The half-orc feigns outrage.

“I'm not giving up yet, Leora, but, well, let's just say I'm thinkin’ about considerin’ fixin’ to get ready to concede…”

Korva replies to Kiri, "Well, you don' know everythin' she did. There used t' be five Fushi sisters, not just four. We've been kinda afeared t' come out of this room, she seemed t' take th' other room as her den. She is -- was -- a dire corby. It's another bird-folk race, but more brutal, less intelligent, an' stronger than us tengu. A fellah in Riddleport said they're from th' darklands. I dunno how her egg ended up in th' Gold Goblin, but we lifted it, thinkin' it was a tengu egg." She looks Kiri up and down. "I dunno, I've never seen someone like you. You're a bird-folk too I reckon, but I never heard 'bout any type 'sides us, 'til we found Cheogh, anyway. I like your wings, though. Do they work? I've always thought it'd be kinda nifty t' be able t' fly." Korva reaches out tenatively towards Kiri's wings, implicitly asking if she can touch the strix's plumage.

I'll treat Dom as taking 20 on perception.

Dom tries mightily to get the wasps to move, but they are solid marble, one with the statue of the Savored Sting. However, he discovers something while examining the statue -- a secret compartment below the waterline, which he opens to find the remains of ruined scrolls (presumably, this compartment was intended to be watertight at some point, or the water level had risen since this statue was built), a gold holy symbol of Calistria, and a well-made whip of black leather that seems to have resisted water damage.

Lucius seems a bit disappointed that the stone wasps didn't come to life though that was more out of sense of wanting to see something spectacular rather than any desire to fight giant animated stone wasps. Lucius looks at the corpse of the alligator. "If these tunnels lead to the outside sewer system couldn't we just drag it out into another area and call the hunter in from there? Otherwise I think we'll just have to cut it into pieces and drag those to the hunter." While saying this Lucius tries to think of any contraptions that he could make to handle such a large corpse easily.

K. Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

A flat-bottomed boat could be used to carry the corpse through the sewer system. It should be clarified that this sewer system is mostly a storm sewer and so it is pretty large and can be used to travel from place to place within Kintargo, although of course the sewers of mainland Kintargo do not connect to those of Argo Isle.

That said, if anyone has Survival as a skill, you could give a try to skinning the thing.

When Dom returns to the dock bearing the black leather whip, Jessibel smirks and says, "It's as if the gods all want me to become a Thrune dominatrix! I had some brief training with a whip but don't think it's a weapon I'd excel with."

After using her magic to again clean and warm Domitius, Jessi chats with Laria about the logistics of shipping the gator corpse through the storm sewers to somewhere a hunter could skin and cut up the animal.

Jessi also reiterates that she'd like to head to her family manor as soon as possible to deliver the silver raven figurine to her grandmother, try to find a hunter type capable of skinning the gator, and, of course, get the loan required for her to become a member of the Opera Society.

"If I can get permission to use the family carriage, perhaps I'll travel to Argo Isle and pay my dues today as well. That way, I'll be able to join you all day tomorrow when we try to make this place clean and livable."

Kiri looked away in embarrassment as the tengu asked about her wings, it was a point of great shame, one she normally wouldn't touch, but decided that these people, if any, would be able to understand. She took her cloak off and allowed her wings to extend...kind of. It was obvious to those who could see that it was very painful for her to move them much, and that the lines of them weren't right. She quickly stopped, and covered them again, before she said, "They used to work, when I was younger I could fly, it was wonderful." her words were tinged with a great loss as she spoke, "I was beaten by humans a few years ago, badly beaten. they took perverse delight in breaking my wings in multiple places. The only reason I survived was because my pain and hatred of them brought my control of the wind to the front. I killed several of them and drove off the others but my wings were too badly damage and we couldn't afford the magics to fix them." She was obviously upset by this tale but she continued in a monotone voice and refused to show her tears, "I'll likely never fly again, not with my wings anyway."

I'll assume someone uses Detect Magic. The whip is magical, the holy symbol is not.

Laria to Jessibel:

"We useta have a boat we'd use to navigate these tunnels. I mean, you could wade, but us normal-sized folks would have to swim, you know," Laria says to Jessibel with a wink to let her know she's joking about the 'normal-sized folk'. "Obviously we can't get a boat down the ladder without getting a wizard to shrink it. My contacts have mostly gone to ground with the whole martial law thing, but I could get you in touch with someone in the shipyard who could, say, 'misplace' a small flat-bottomed boat. Especially if you just need it for a little while and can get it back to her. Long-term, though, you'd want a boat for here, so if you can meet her price you might as well buy it."

"That said, I think we could get it through the tunnel and up the ladder if we worked together. It's long and narrow. Then of course you'd have to figure out a way to get it to someone to skin it quickly. You probably noticed my coffeeshop doesn't have a sign on the door saying 'dead gator storage', because storing dead gators ain't my business."

More to come shortly.

Lucius does take the time to skin the alligator trying his best in these circumstances happy at least that they were underground since he remembered a few tricks from back home about skinning things using some common things that would be found down here.

Taking 10 on a survival check to skin the crocodile for a 19 total.

Korva to Kiri

"Oh you poor dear," Korva murmurs, and something in her manner leads Kiri to suspect she's older than her other sisters, who are twittering and laughing together now that their hunger pangs have been assuaged. Whispering in the strix's ear, she murmurs, "I didn' know, that's just awful... sometimes humans kin be just f!&!in' savage." She offers Kiri a hug.

Lucius

Lucius does a reasonable job of skinning the crocodile, producing a hide that could be concealed much more easily than the entire carcass. The tengu suggest they would find the crocodile meat to their liking, and plan to roast some of it and turn the rest into jerky for long-term supplies. They decide to deal with Cheogh's body once they get the lay of the city and know the best way to get it to a place it can be disposed of quietly.

Later

Laria invites everyone, including the Fushi sisters, upstairs to her rooms above the coffeeshop for more fresh rolls and hot drinks. Knowing that tengu tend to react badly to coffee, she offers them herbal tea instead. "There's a few other tengu in Kintargo. A fellow named Chuko runs a fine weapon shop in the harbor district named the War Cage. You might want to seek him out, ladies, and he might be able to put you in touch with others of your kind in town." She looks at the rest of you, and adds, "You all might find him useful to get to know, too, just for his wares. He'll probably buy that whip from you if you don't want to keep it. The better story it has, the more he'll value it, too."

Rexus clears his throat. "Friends, we've accomplished much in the past few days. We have weighty matters to discuss. Ah, Miss Korva, Miss Jay, Miss Treep, and Miss Maggie, would you be so kind as to give us some privacy?"

"You four can have all the tea and cookies you want downstairs. I'll let my girls know," Laria offers, and the tengu sisters graciously accept, leaving the strange group of rebels to their talk.

"Well, now that we have a base, we could say this little rebellion is off to a start," Victocora says. "We need to spend some time organizing and recruiting. Speaking of recruiting, those tengu sisters look like they know a thing or two about skullduggery."

He turns to Lydia. "Your words at the protest were eloquent and persuasive. I wouldn't be surprised if we already have some people out there who would support us for no reason other than knowing you're in it."

"Thank you, Rexus," Lydia replies. "I'm afraid I'm more effective at public speaking than magical combat, however. My spells had little effect on our foes. I am more than ready to be part of this rebellion, but I think I had better stay back during the fighting. I'll work to recruit people and build support among the shelynites. You can count on me."

Lydia will be treated as an NPC granting the following boon to the rebellion: as long as she is an ally, the rebellion can take the 'Restore Character' action even if no spellcaster teams have been recruited, except that the party or the affected character must be brought to the temple of Shelyn rather than the Silver Raven headquarters.

Now would be a good time for you folks to review the rules for the rebellion organization in the Hell's Rebels Players Guide. I'll post more about this tomorrow, but it seems like this is enough for you to post some reactions and such.

Jessibel has a few misgivings when Lucius decides to skin the albino alligator himself, but is impressed by the job the man does with the carcass. When he's done, Jessi thanks him and casts prestidigitation to clean the blood off both the pale hide and Lucius alike. Glancing sideways at Lucius after cleaning away the blood, Jessi decides to push her luck.

"You know, Lucius, I could use a mending spell to fix up some of the tears and fraying on your coat and hat--make you a bit more presentable. Do you mind?"

I'll take a look at the organization rules later today and maybe make another post this afternoon. I already have a post composed for Jessibel's business trip home to the Aulamaxa Estate: Should I post that now or wait for some general comments on reinstating the Silver Ravens from the others?

Once Rexus has had his say, Jessibel nominates Kiri to be in command of Team Tengu. Her reasoning? "Kiri's developed a bit of a bond with them, is our stealthiest and...skullduggeriest...member, plus--she also has feathers!"

"The sooner I pay my dues and take my audition to get into the Opera House Society, the sooner I can start plowing that fertile field for new members. In fact, I'd like to get a start on that right now. Do you all mind? I can catch up with all our plans when I return tonight."

I took a brief look at the Silver Ravens organization rules and they made my head spin. Will try again later.

Yeah it's complicated. I'll post more about them tonight in discussion and detail more about what we need to do to move forward. I have a spreadsheet version of the organization sheet in google sheets that I'll post as well. I want to give a genuine effort to run the rebellion according to the organization rules but by the end of book 1 if it's causing problems or severely detracting from the fun, we can take a vote if we want to handwave it going forward.

I looked over the rebellion game-rules this morning, too. I'm happy to give it a try!

At some point after Kiri tells her story, Dom waits until they’ve got a moment alone.

“It’s a big world, you never know who yer gonna run into. Or run into again. We ever meet up with anyone who requires ‘special attention’ by you, let me know whatcha want done. ‘Kay?”

After that, he takes a moment to talk to Sabrina. “The other day, you said that you think you can make your freeing of me stick if you can pay your father off. Any idea how much he’s going to try and say I’m worth?”

“If Kiri’s going to take the Fushi sisters to the War Cage, I’d like to come with. I have a little piece of home I’m hoping this Chuko fellow can help me get a hold of…”

Looking at the Calistrian holy symbol laying on the table, a thought occurs to Domitius. “Jess, did you ever get to makin’ friends with any of the ‘back-room girls’ at the Devil? If anyone would have a line on a priestess of Calisitria, it'd be them, no? I’d bet that thing’ll be worth more to one of her clergy than just its market value.”

Looking at the Calistrian holy symbol laying on the table, a thought occurs to Domitius. “Jess, did you ever get to makin’ friends with any of the ‘back-room girls’ at the Devil? If anyone would have a line on a priestess of Calisitria, it'd be them, no? I’d bet that thing’ll be worth more to one of her clergy than just its market value.”

Jessibel shakes her head at Dom's query, saying that she can match some names to the faces but never really fraternized--or sororitized--with any of the back-room girls.

"That's a great idea, though--if there are any secret Calistrians lurking in Kintargo, they'd likely be in or associated with the brothels. I'll drop by the Devil while I'm in the neighborhood on my Opera Society business and see if I can find a buyer. Any idea how much that holy symbol's worth? I'd hate to just give it away."

"Any idea how much that holy symbol's worth? I'd hate to just give it away."

Dom shrugs. "Pssh, got me on that one. If we don't have a good idea, maybe hold off until we get a clue. No sense in givin' it away too far below its true value. I mean, there's prolly somethin' to be said for a 'goodwill discount' but I wouldn't wanna take that too far..."

"Let me take a look at that symbol." Davina pick it up and examines it closely.

Appraise: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Davina says to Domitius, "I think I'll join you in your trip to the War Cage. I'll been reading through that lock book we talked about, and I need some watchmaking tools to practice with."

edit:Davina also really really likes shopping.

Sewer
"I'll take a look at that whip." Leora scrutinizes it, muttering under breath and casting spells. "Wish me luck, Drunken Hero."

spellcraft for the whip: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 7 + 1 = 12 +1 for guidance
Leora can retry the failed spellcraft checks tomorrow. I added both items to the loot sheet.

"Laria, do other folks use these tunnels for coming and going from the Coffehouse?" she asks the proprieter, curious to know if they should expect anyone else to pass through the hidden tunnels. "Do you know of any other secret tunnels or hiding places down here?" she wonders, her mind wandering about what else might be hidden underneath Kintargo's streets.

At the Coffeehouse

"Jessi, the tengu might know how much that holy symbol's worth. A plain one is pretty cheap, but a gold one, definitely worth a bit more." Speaking of skullduggery, Leora wonders if the tengu sisters might know what something that size made of gold is worth...

I'll be reading the rebellion rules this evening.

Lucius nods in thanks to Jessibel as she cleans him up with that strnage magic of hers. "Thank you, but I prefer to keep it looking ragged. Makes sure I never forget who I'm fighting for."

Sewer
Kiri shrank away from the offered hug at first but, after a moment, accepted it. She was obviously uncomfortable with such contact and likely the only reason she allowed it was because the giver was also a bird folk. While she said little else she did stay near the tengu for one reason or another.

Later during the meeting
When it was mentioned that Kiri should be placed in charge of the tengu sisters because of her being the stealthiest and skullduggeriest by Jessi she actually seemed to preen a bit, but the added "because she has feathers" brought a rather nasty glare at Jessi as she replied, "Because I have feathers? That's like saying you're in charge of the hounds because you have hair apprentice." Despite that she nodded in agreement with the plan as she said, "Yes, I can take them."

Jessibel giggles at Kiri's scolding. "Wouldn't be the first time I've been called a b!tch."

Korva to Kiri

Korva notices that Kiri is uncomfortable with the hug and lets her go after a quick squeeze.

Sabrina to Domitius

Sabrian sighs. "That's a conversation I'm just so looking forward to. Not that I could talk to him about it directly, since being in his presence will probably result in many bad things happening to both of us. Well. Remember a few years ago when the butler left? He'd saved up enough in tips to pay his market value, and Daddy had no choice but to let him buy himself -- hmm, sounds a little weird when you say it that way. Buy his freedom, anyway. But there's a law, apparently, that if a slave gets enough money to pay a market value that's defined by law, not by the owner, the owner has to take it, unless it's stolen or something. I don't remember how they figure it. Laria might know more about it since she was involved in that Flower Network thing."

I'll speed up the whole 'sell the holy symbol' thing by saying that no one you can find in Kintargo will currently admit to being a worshipper of Calistria, which is not surprising considering how the Thrune government cracked down on the church after taking over Cheliax. If there are any, they're keeping it quiet, and you'd have to win their trust first. If you take it to a jeweler, they value the gold itself at 100 gp.

Laria to Leora

"Not since Thrune's cracked down. I've stopped all Bellflower activity since then, it's just too tight around here. Under Bainilus, things weren't too terrible. As far as anti-abolitionist actions, she kinda did the minimum necessary to keep the Thrunies from grousing. There might be other groups who use the sewers to travel through the city secretly, but I don't know of 'em. Only reason Nan was using this place was because he knew me."

Further in the meeting:

Rexus continues after the discussion dwindles. "We should decide who is to take certain roles that are required in this rebellion, and see what resources we have available. We should also decide how we want to proceed in our efforts - whether we wish to focus on political clout and popularity, to be sneaky and subtle in our opposition to the government, or to be strong and ready to fight and defend ourselves against Thrune's agents. I mean, of course we want to be able to do all three, but we need to pick one as primary. Other matters needing attention are treasure -- what items of value do we have that we wish to put at the disposal of the rebellion as a whole?"

Laria offers the items that belonged to Nan as contributions to the treasury. "He has no family, and not many friends outside of his smuggling contacts. He was a true Kintargan at heart and I'd like to think he would support this rebellion if he were still alive." Nan's items of value remaining are a paltry 72 gp and an alabaster holy symbol of Abadar worth 150 gp.

Sabrina's comment stirs Dom's memory. “I remember some of that, yeah. I won't lie, I didn't catch everything that was goin’ on there; that was pretty much right after I got to Kintargo. Chief thing I remember is how pissed the Old Man was. I thought Sharkey* was gonna have a seizure, he looked that out of joint.” Dom flexes his left shoulder involuntarily, recalling a beating he got for some breach Sabrina's father decided Dom had committed that week. I wonder if he’d be so eager to take another crack at me as a free man… Domitius waits for an opportunity to talk to Laria. “Miss Laria, any chance you know how the law works regardin’ a slave buying his freedom? That kind of impacts a few of my decisions here.”