Thaven shifts. "Will that letter suffice? Then let's give him the gold and be gone. I dislike him and his activities, but if he produced the goods, he deserves the pay."
"No, he doesn't," says Fredo, showing Burahl the letter before putting it back in the envelope. "He never accepted our initial offer, which included payment. Our only meeting of the minds was reached through duress." Fredo picks up the envelope. "These letters should more than suffice. Amprei should want to bury them enough that he will do as we ask and leave Korvosa be. We should leave now."
Akiki nods in agreement with Fredo. She casts a smirky, angry look over Barvasi. Yeah, she doesn't like him.
Raijinn studies Thaven quietly for a moment before speaking. "This is a man with no honour." he says. "He makes others play violent games for sport. He injures innocent creatures for his own pleasure. He has already lied to us multiple times and would have, without hesitation, killed every one of us."
"I suspect" Raijinn continues, eyeing Barvasi, "That at the edge of a sword is the only way that he would have ever given us the documents, no matter what we had paid him. I don't imagine it was his intention for us to ever leave this ship alive. As such, he broke any agreement we had long before now."
Thaven shrugs. "They like you even less than I do." and kicks the man into the office, shutting it behind him.
"Serves him right" Burahl says as they mention no payment and Thaven kicking him.
"Shall we be off then? Or do you want to look around this ship?"
"We have what we came for, and more," says Fredo with a sympathetic look at Majenko. Cat hops off Barvasi's head, juking it painfully, and nuzzles the dragon with the top of her head, purring loudly. "I see no reason to stay."
Devargo laughs at your suspicion, and just before he's rudely shoved into his office, he has the time to say, "Whether I honor agreements is one thing, but don't let it be said that I don't know how to make a good deal." He's cut off by the slamming of his own wooden door, though.
Majenko nuzzles back, his tiny head barely larger than Cat's. 'You were right to deny him any reward. He deserves nothing, but do not expect him to just leave you alone from here. You have embarrassed him, and he will be angry.'
Burahl walks at the end of the group as they leave the ship, seemingly looking into his bag of tricks as he does so often.
Ah there is one, almost thought I had forgot to pack a few.
He grips the item tightly, but it looks as though he is just keeping his hand on his bag, rather than in it. He keeps a reasonable fast pace to keep up with the others.
"He may be angry, Majenko," says Fredo, not sure if everyone heard the dragon's telepathy or not. He basically repeats his words, just to be sure. "He may come after us. But he will remain a weak-minded fool. Nothing he can do will change that ." After the group gets out of earshot from the door, Fredo continues in a low voice. "I'm more worried about his mistress. Barvasi takes orders from Vimanda Arkona, and Verik was manipulated by her. I strongly suspect that Lamm bought from and sold to her too. We keep doing what we're doing, and we're going to draw her attention and that of her House. We need to be ready."
Akiki didn't like the sound of that, so she just shuffled uncomfortably as she looked back at the boat.
"I don't know, I'm sure the guard can come up with a way to keep her out of their embarassing Barvasi out ... anyway, it might be good to have something on her anyway, at the rate we're going..."
As the group gets off the ship Burahl takes the item he has gripped so long out of the bag when he made sure nobody was watching.
Trailing at the back as he intended to, he gets the flask of Alchemist's Fire out of his bag, as they round a last corner he throws the bottle as far as he can into the corridor/previous room and then resumes his walk after the others.
The party leaves Barvasi's ship with purpose and poise. When they come back to the throne room, the one guard they spared and the other that Goffred saved are gone, having fled in fear. Emerging out onto the docks, they are quickly able to meld with the crowd as two interesting facts are noticed...Smoke begins to pour from the inside of the Eel's End and a smoking, destroyed corpse is brought off of the Dragon's Breath Corridor. Pharasmin caretakers are called for, and the corpse is waiting for them on a part of the dock while lookers-on peer at it.
Akiki sidles into the shadows as they exit, skirting along quietly and silently alongside the party as a whole as she generally does, ranging ahead a bit to keep her eye on things in the streets around them.
"Oh no, no, no..." says Fredo, smelling the smoke and turning around to see the Eel's End beginning to smolder. he shouts, waving his arms above his head. Turning to the others he says, in a hurried, worried tone, "The Eel's End looked deserted except for Barvasi, and who cares about him, but the other ships should still be full of customers. We can't just let them burn." With that, he draws Vimanda's dagger and begins hacking at one of the tarred cleat hitches that secure the Eel's End to the dock.
As he cuts, Fredo can't help but wonder how the boat got set on fire in the first place. Could the man hauled out of the Dragon's Breath Corridor be connected? He looks badly burned. Didn't someone try to find Amprei in that ship? he wonders.
Raijinn looks anxiously at the fire, then at the guards and people scrambling on the docks, and finally at Fredo.
"My friend", he says quietly but forcefully, trying to hold Fredo's attention for as long as he can. "Those guards did not seem to bright but surely they remember a group as ours being the last one to go into the Eel's End. Especially given that we left some guards alive."
Raijinn swallows hard, knowing what he's asking Fredo to do. "If you ask me to stay and help, I will, but you must consider that we may be found out."
"Found out as what?" says Fredo, looking up from the rope as it comes loose. The boat is still secured by many other lines, however; it won't be going anywhere unless everyone who can help puts in some real effort. "We didn't start the fire...did we?" Cat hisses and arches her back, her hackles beginning to stand on end. Fredo's eyes widen and his mouth pops open. He remembers the pyre that was Lamm's fishery. "Oh no..." he says again.
Wearing a sick look, Fredo turns away from Raijin and begins sawing at another cleat. "Carry me," he says quietly, trusting that Raijin will know when the time comes. As it turns out, Fredo's intended time comes quickly. His foot slips on the waterlogged timbers of the dock, and the dagger buries itself in his leg. Fredo screams, then swoons, hoping that someone will have heard his warnings and come to help while Raijin carries him off, and that they'll accept his being injured as the reason why he's not helping the way he said he would. Cat nudges Fredo's side with the top of her head.
Raijinn doesn't answer Fredo's question about the fire. While he hadn't seen anyone start it, he knows that every one of them had a reason to do it. He also knew that whether they actually did it or not didn't matter if there was enough reason to suspect them.
The hissing cat left a pit in Raijinn's stomach. He opened his mouth to tell Fredo that he hadn't been the one to do it, but the man had already turned away and began cutting another line. Raijinn swallowed and unsheathed his scimitar, and began slicing through lines himself, the heat from the fire making him squint. He hoped that more help would be on the way soon.
At Fredo's soft words, Raijinn's body tensed up, and he closed his eyes tight knowing what was coming. He didn't open them again until after he heard the man scream. Without saying anything, Raijinn picked the wizard and his cat up, careful not to disturb the blade.
The red-skinned man began running from the flames, simultaneously hoping that Fredo wouldn't hate them both for this, and that any suspicions of a Tiefling running from a crime would be deflated by him carrying a wounded wizard.
Akiki turned to look at the boats. She frowned. That wasn't quite what she intended, and she peeked out of the shadow of an alley in front of them. She waves the rest of them on ahead, and then finds a roof to scramble on and keep an eye on the fire, just to see if there's a quick way to intervene.
The dock's resident guards spring to action at sight of the fire. Apparently, they have lots of experience with this. They very quickly and efficiently cut all of the ropes that hold the ship to the rest of the dock, throw off or collapse the bridges, and then stand back and watch as the burning warship drifts slowly away from the dock and the other four ships. There is many a gasp and most of the members of the great big party aboard the dock start at the fire as the ship drifts, allowing the party members to slip away largely unnoticed by any.
Raijinn lopes through the crowd and off of the docks, the wizard over his shoulder clutching his leg and cringing, following Akiki, who leads the way, into the street. Thaven and Burahl follow behind, keeping an eye on the dock. There are no pursuers, and the fire doesn't seem to spread dangerously to other people.
Seeing the fire mostly under control, Akiki leads them the rest of the way back. So much for not-killing Barvasi, still, she seemed pleased with herself.
Burahl looked on with approval as he saw the body of the owner of the Dragon's Breath Corridor being carried out.
So much for his enterprise and his scams, can't get them all I suppose but this is a start.
He walks closely besides Thaven, walking as fast as his little legs can carry him.
When they are out of earshot of other people he asks
"So now what? Return to Cressida I supoose"?
Throughout the whole fire ordeal, Thaven keeps his eyes forward and walks on. He doesn't stop to help out anyone, nor does he seem to have any sympathy for the dead. He nods at Burahl.
In various stages of rush, hurry, and regret, the party moves off of the Eel's End dock and back into the city proper. The smoke from the burning warship and the apparent murder some time before draws many, many spectators, and the party has something of a difficult time navigating them before they get to a part of the city that's peaceful again. Striding through the still mostly-empty streets, Goffred still being fireman-carried on Raijinn's back.
Thaven walks toward Volshenyek, keeping his eyes open as he goes, just in case Barvasi or one of his goons gets enthusiastic and tries to come for them. If Majenko is out, he thinks hard at it. "You should stretch your wings. Shame to keep a flyer like you caged up." His thoughts are tinged with regret as he looks to the sky, wondering if he would have been there if not for his weak will.
"Yes," says Fredo tersely. He's having trouble breathing as deeply as he'd like with his chest compressed against Raijin's shoulders. Cat sitting on his back isn't helping either. "And after we report to her, we need to talk, as a group, about what happened back at the Eel's End, and come to some consensus about how we want to relate to the people of this city. Zellara should be present as well."
As the party is walking away from the docks, a few minutes after leaving, Raijinn puts Fredo down. While they've stopped, a guardsman staggers towards the group.
"Hey...hey you! Stop!" he yells, clearly drunk and clearly not on-duty, although he's still wearing his guard's livery. The man, although short, stocky, and Varisian, appears muscular and powerful even if he's a bit wavy from drinking and tired. The man is unshaven and his long brown hair is unbrushed.
Akiki pops out of an alley behind the guy, as she'd been ranging ahead.
"Watcha doin' out here, Seargent?" Inquires the elf from over his shoulder.
His face seems familiar, but I can't quite get his name
"Something the matter officer?"
Raijinn frowns, but says nothing, waiting to see what the man wants.
Thaven stops and turns to regard the drunk man. He nods politely. "Officer. Is there something we can do for you?"
"Yu-you been seen runnin' from the scene of a crime! Yu-you can tell me why you're runnin', and why that guy's got a dagger in his leg!"
The officer is sweating profusely, and pointing with an accusatory finger at the group, spittle flying from his mouth. He absentmindedly scratches his chin before lowering his arm and flopping to the ground.
"Ah, whatever. Why even bother, not like I got anythin' to protect anymore. Korvosa's goin' down the drain."
Thaven doesn't bother to try to contradict the guardsman on the fleeing from the scene of the crime allegation, but he does go somewhat still when the drunken man flops to the ground. In a somewhat quiet voice, he walks to the man and crouches beside him, whispering, "Get yourself together, man. You have a duty and you're a disgrace to the uniform right now. Drunken, falling down so and now despairing? Do you have a father, man? How in the Hells do you think he'd feel seeing his son like this? Do you think he'd be proud? Do you think he'd stand tall, knowing his son wallows in a puddle of his own piss while Korvosa burns? Or do you think he'd slap you across the face and tell you to man up, to take responsibility? You think you're the only one to ever feel the pressure, to ever think they weren't good enough? Bull$hit, man! Stand on your feet, drop the drugs and get back to work. Or wallow. Wallow like a pig in the s&*$, man. Wallow and die like a coward. Your choice." Thaven's eyes are on fire as he stands and sneers down at the man.
"I injured myself trying to help the dockers deal with a shipfire, Sergeant," explains Fredo, using the title the others had used despite not really knowing who the man is. "My friends put a higher priority on removing me from the scene than providing further aid. I am very grateful.
"But I'm glad you asked," he admits, his face tighening in pain for a moment. Cat shudders. The knife was largely immobile, not tearing any new lesions in the muscle, but it still hurts to have it in. The sergeant is clearly in some pain of his own. "Your first instinct was to look after the well-being of Korvosa; something else told you to stop. What was it?"
The man's eyes halfway focus on Thaven for a moment, then snap to meet gazes with him as Thaven grills the man. He gulps audibly as Thaven finishes his tirade, having forgotten his original purpose in accosting them. Barely able to rip his gaze from Thaven's, he turns to face Goffred and addresses him. "I...the King's death's hit me hard. It seems so useless to do anything when a teenager is on the throne and chaos grips the streets. She just LET the Hellknights in and they slaughter rioters without a second thought. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do." He hangs his head.
A moment passes. And then another. From his position on the ground, he raises a hand, and says "Help me up. Let's go back to Volshenyek, I need to sober up."
Cat jumps off Fredo's back and twines herself around the Guard's legs after he gets up. "She likes you," says Fredo encouragingly. "And so do I. I like the way you think." Has it really been less than a week since Fredo spun almost that exact spiel? Things aren't getting better exactly, and he'd never met this Guard before, but maybe people are starting to come around.
"May I ask your name?"
Akiki had snuck a knife out of her sleeve when running from the fire was mentioned but she settles as the topic changes, sidling back to the edge of the group to listen. Fredo's turn to talk, as usual, though at the mention of Hellknights, Akiki does look mildly worried. They are rather exposed at the moment.
Thaven helps the man up, but his eyes show his thoughts to be elsewhere. He grunt an affirmative and while he keeps an eye out for trouble, he doesn't seem to paying attention to the guard or the conversation around him.
The stricken guard smiles weakly as Thaven pulls him to his feet. "Grau. You can call me Grau. I'm a Watch Sergeant, but...I haven't been to work in a few days."
He staggers a bit, obviously drunk, but he's at least trying to walk straight and stiff-backed like he should. "And yours?"
Together with the drunk guardsmen, now the six of them restart their walk towards Volshenyek, a fairly short trek.
"Thaven Jack. Formerly a Sable Company trainee." He doesn't elaborate.
The remainder of the chat and the trip goes quickly - it helps that Volshenyek is not terribly far away anyway. The castle is as empty as any of you have seen it, still on the skeleton shift, but there seem to be some unusual visitors - a group of about half a dozen large Shoanti men and women, led by an elderly Shoanti with milky eyes. They're being acquainted with the children by Marshall Kroft. Grau takes his leave from you and moves off to the barracks.
Goffred is feeling an empathic sense of deep-seated pride from Zellara about the things they've accomplished recently.
Majenko flies free and loops around the castle grounds and around the few guardsmen manning the walls, reveling in his freedom
The Marshall sees you enter the Castle Grounds and walks forward with a look of caution. "As you might be guessing, this is what I was thinking when you suggested getting the children out of the city. Thousand Bones - she says indicating the blind shaman - generously offered to take them in and back to his home with his tribe...if you agreed to do a favor for us."
Thaven waits until a break in the conversation. "Marshall, permission to ask to rejoin the Sable Company."
Raijinn looks towards the Shoanti man with curiosity. "What tribe are they from? I have heard tales, somewhat unfavourable, of the deeds of the Tamirr-Quah and Sklar-Quah. It would be a shame if we had rescued the children from Lamm just to have them fight and die in a different war."
Subconsciously, his hand moved to the hilt of his sword, and he continued, more quietly than before. "Though, I suppose we all will face that some day."
Akiki is quite interested in the answer to Raijinn's question, lurking at his shoulder like she does, silent and apparently grim.
Cressida adopts a look of some consternation at his question, but sighs and answers it nontheless. "You must know that Thousand Bones is of the Skoan-Quah clan, but also that he is a good man, and will take care of these children. You know that Korvosa is no place for orphans nowadays." Turning to Akiki, she emphasizes the point. "You know."
Then she takes Thaven aside. "You have been an excellent asset in these matters, and it's clear that you need no more training to be an effective Marine. I've been in close contact with Marcus Endrin about this, as well, and he believes that if you're off the shiver, you're ready to rejoin. However, now is not the time. There is too much chaos in the streets to proceed with the pomp and circumstance of accepting a new member of the order. Do not worry, it will be soon. Rest tonight, and do one more thing for us."
Fredo slides down Raijin's back, wincing as his injured leg touches the floor, and tosses Amprei's letters down on Cressida's desk. <Thank you for your offer, Thousand Bones,> he says in the Shoanti language. There's something stilted about the words; Fredo learned the language from books, and has only rarely heard it spoken aloud. <I am sure you will hold the children's safety dear. But you might wish to find a group more careful than we are if you need a task accomplished cleanly.>
"I told him to think carefully about what he wants from us," he explains. "I am not confident we can continue undertaking these missions without endangering innocents. You should know, Field Marshal, that the Eel's End - the ship, not the whole establishment - burned with Barvasi inside after we left. I hope it was only him. Were it not for the speed of the dockers in loosing it into the Jeggare River, the fire might have spread to the rest of the establishment, or to the whole dock complex. I do not know who started the fire, but there is a chance it was one of us. Please consider that before giving us another task."
Thousand Bones does not seem surprised that somebody is speaking to him, despite the fact that there's no way he could have seen Goffred coming.
Cressida takes the letters, and opening them, begins to look through them. Every line makes her smile wider, and putting the letter back into the envelope, she turns to Fredo. "Thank you for this, Giulianoff. It will most certainly discredit Amprei in the eyes of his peers, and I must say...it will get him into more than a little bit of trouble with his wife. You must let me put together gifts for you an your people. It will take some time, but it will be done."
At Fredo's news about the Eel's End, however, her look of consternation returns. "Hmm. Well, I must say that I won't miss him, and if there's no proof that it was you, I don't think anybody can do anything about it." Rubbing her chin, she continues. "BUT if it was one of you, I don't want to know, although I do have something to say. I don't want you to do anything like that again. Disposing of criminals is one thing, but large amounts of property damage, especially in a time already filled with panic and unrest, is the last thing that we need. I will continue to use you, as I need people as reliable and capable as you all around. Everything I've asked has been done, and I'm sure that the impact of Barvasi being gone is a positive one...not only that, but this next mission requires less subtlety than not. Consider yourself both warned and thanked."
Turning away to return to her chambers, she spins back around to say one last thing. "Please, take this evening for your own. You need the rest. In the morning come to me, I have another thing for you and yours to do."
Thaven nods and salutes. "Aye aye sir!"
Burahl looks at Fredo and Cressida, a bit guilty, at the mention of the fire aboard the Eel's End. He averts his gaze and steps up to Thaven.
"I didn't know you had a problem with Shiver. Though the drug supplier is gone, I still have an ample supply of a certain cure for it.
If you are ever in need of it or feel the urge again Thaven, come see me. You're not alone in that."
"So do we all return to our houses now? Or do you have guys have plans for tonight?"
The litte ratman looks up at the group and sniffs the air as he says this, his whiskers moving frantically up and down.