Sitting on a bench in Burahl's shop, Raijinn is reminded of the first time he met the Ratfolk. "Amazing," he mutters, "How much has changed and yet how much hasn't." The passage of time had not been long, but looking around the shop, everything seemed different. 'It's me,' he thought, almost surprised. 'I'm different.'
Forcing himself to his feet, already feeling somewhat better, he crouched down to Burahl's level, and then sank even lower, bowing to the Ratkin. "Thank you, yet again. If my actions or death can ever repay you for what you've done for me, twice now, I will take them gladly."
"Aye, but she'll not be flying very high or very fast with two of us." Thaven replies.
"Don't ever think about dying my friend. Last time you were here, you were in far worse shape than you're in now, I'd hate to think that would be all for naught if you throw your life away for me." The little ratfolk grins and snickers as he says this.
"As long as you're my friend that'll be repayment enough." He claps Raijinn on his shoulder and motions him to stand again. "The pain and distaste of the belladonna should wear of eventually. If you're feeling queasy in your stomach, take a leaf of this. It helps calm it down again."
Burahl picks up a jar of dried leaves and hands Raijinn a big oval-shaped one. "It's quite harmless, a little herbalism to complement my alchemy. You'd be surprised as how many cures you can find in nature just for the taking."
Whisper lifts Thaven and Goffred onto her back with some difficulty, and with a running start takes off into the air. A few minutes of flying brings the pair back to the sewer entrance, and a moment later, Eries emerges from the shadows in her human form.
"So, it's done, then." She sighs and looks at the ground. "I see that Girrigz did not survive your encounter with him. I suspected as much, of course, but it still saddens me. And I see you spared the remainder of my people. For this, I am grateful."
She looks up, fixing Goffred and Thaven with a serious, calm stare. "I have information for you."
"A few days ago, on the day that the Guard sunk that ship out in the Harbor, some of my people found a few silver coffers floating into various bays around the city. They scented some foulness upon them, and kicked them back out into the water. However, I know that more of them were found, and I suspect that they originated from that sunken ship. I fear that if the current contagion goes unabated, the problem you fought Girrigz to solve will simply crop up again. Beyond that, it puts thousands at risk of illness."
"Should you wish to check the sunken ship out, I can direct you to its' relative position, and supply you with potions of waterbreathing, cheaply."
"And again, thank you for your help. If you don't need my information, you're free to take it, or not, as you choose. I will do my best to manage my people, and should you have one of your 'meetings', you can expect my presence, along with the presence of my sons if necessary."
Goffred feels pride radiating from the deck in his pocket.
"Just wait til tomorrow," says Fredo, feeling a surge of confidence as Thaven helps him swing his leg over Whisper's back. "We'll be able to fly side by side." He pats his pack gently, a satisfied expression on his face.
"It would be a pleasure to have you, Eires, and your sons," says Fredo, struggling to keep his face somber for the old woman's sake. Zellara's mood is infectious, and the exhilaration of the flight has yet to wear off. Fredo wonders if Jim is among Eires's sons, and if not, whether he would still come. "I am sorry we could not bring Girrigz around too."
Fredo pauses for a moment to process Eires's intelligence concerning the quarantine ship. "Burahl will be pleased to hear his theory was correct," he says slowly. "And given this information, we should investigate the wreck as soon as possible. I know the theory behind the water breathing spell, and I think with a few hours of study I'll be able to cast it, but not five times. So your potions will be much appreciated. How much will they cost?" He pulls out his money pouch.
The old lady nods. "I can get them to you for half market price. Last I checked, that's about three hundred and seventy-five gold. There are five of you, right? How rich are you?"
"Barely enough to afford your price, but not enough to both do that and continue to fund our other efforts," says Fredo seriously. Which means the cost will have to be defrayed somehow. He does a quick calculation and figures he can scribe one scroll of the spell per day. Time is of the essence, so that means one scroll. And they'll probably need to be underwater longer than two hours. Maybe the others will find another solution while he's scribing. "Can you meet us back here tomorrow evening with five vials? We may not need all of them, but will probably need some of them."
Thaven nods. "I can see if the Marines would help defray the cost." If Fredo agrees, after Whisper takes Fredo to wherever he wishes to go, Thaven will fly back to the Sable Company HQ and seek out Commander Endrin and bring him up to date on the disease and Thaven's actions, leaving out any possibly treasonous actions on the part of his companions. He'll then request a grant to help investigate the sunken ship.
Late in the evening, after the late shift of clerics begins to start the longer-term care on the patients still remaining in the chapel, and the rest have gone to sleep after attempting to shoo those still waiting outside, Garm approaches you.
"Emmera," he begins, waving a withered old hand to try and get her attention. "I know you want to help here, but I have to tell you to get back out into the world. I can't deny that we desperately need help with fighting this plague, but we won't beat it by treating the symptoms. I need you to go with those people you found yesterday, and I need you to stop the plague."
He hands Emmera a length of rich, dark mahogany, carved into a thin, curved wand. "For emergencies. It is nearly expended, but it can help you remove diseases from those you encounter, or from yourselves."
After Thousand Bones took Semelle and the rest of the orphans and decided to help them get out of the city, Akiki began by going with them. And it was nice, it was. The Storval Plateau isn't the nicest area in the world (in fact, it's quite inhospitable) but the Shoanti peoples are very well-prepared and adapted to it, and it seems that, in their care, Semelle is very well taken-care-of. Even the one peer that Akiki had, Trinia Sabor, quickly abandoned permanent living with the tribe, leaving with the first adventuring group that passed by, ready to get out and do some living, as she called it.
Eventually, though it hurt a lot, Akiki had to decide to go back to Korvosa. Her mother was still there, as were her new friends, and she just knew that the trouble there wasn't done. As much as she hated that she had to, she felt she was obligated to help them. She couldn't just leave everything she'd known imperiled, and if she ever wanted to bring Semelle back, she had to make the city a safe place again.
So she found herself walking back in the gates of the city, proving her identify to the paranoid Guard keeping watch on immigrants and emigrants, and beginning to wander. Something was strange. Everywhere she looked was at least one person, face pockmarked with angry red sores, coughing powerfully and staggering down the street. The temples, every one of them, were crowded to the brink with desperate sick people, clamoring for a way inside. Herbalists are shooting up in popularity, and one place, "Lavender", which Akiki knows as a perfumery is graced with a long, long line of Korvosans, clamoring for something called "Lavender's Luxuriant Liniment", which is supposed to be a cure.
She had to find her friends again.
Emmera is confused for a moment when Garm says 'yesterday', then she realizes exactly how late it was. Regardless, she nods her head in
agreement. "I agree, fully. There's more about them you should know as well, but..." She looks around at the many 'resting' individuals around them, "it's not an immediate concern," she finishes. Hopefully, Garm would understand why she wasn't explaining now.
She takes the wand with a nod of thanks, sliding it in along with her scrolls in her pack. "I shall leave in the morning, with some luck they may have come upon a lead tonight. They might even come here first to ask if I'm coming."
Emmera smiles to herself at that thought, though Garm wouldn't know due to her bandages. It was an odd feeling, knowing that there are those that might consider her an ally due to her skills, after so long being 'notable' only for her scars and their imagined significance. It wasn't a feeling she could put a name to, but... it was good.
Akiki examines the line at Lavender's, slinking around the edges of the crowd. She pulled a piece of cloth over her face, not sure if that would help but not taking any chances. This was not good. Apparently she came back at a good time. And it was good that Semelle and the children were out of here.
Thanking her lucky stars that they were, she made her way back to Zellara's place, sneaking along mostly to stay in practice than real fear of being caught, and trying to stay away from anyone, whether they're coughing or not.
Zellara's is the only place she knows of that they used to congregate, so she'll start there.
Unfortunately for Akiki, Zellara's currently stands empty. None of the party are there.
Kiki scouts around the place, frowning. Then she scoots off to find some people who look less sick. She'll ask around about Raijinn - since he's so striking - and Goffred since he leaves an impression.
A man owns a bar right across the street from Zellara's, and though he is surly and mean, he divulges to 'Kiki that he's seen the men she describes to him meeting in the abandoned house across the way every few days, along with several other men. A Sable Company Marine and his hippogriff, two noblemen and a local printer have been seen with the two of them, along with a ratfolk and an Iomedaen priest all done up in bandages.
Another man, who works in the market near the Citadel, admits that he's seen the two, in the company of other men and women, entering and leaving the Citadel several times in the last few days.
Akiki thanks the helpful gentlemen, gives them a silver each, and goes to the warehouse first. Her rogue instincts tell her to sneak around first, as always.
Traveling to the Citadel turns out to be much more of a hassle than you originally thought, as it takes quite a lot of haggling to make the guards let you back in, through the gates. Eventually, you promise that you've been there already, and that Marshall Kroft knows you, and they let you in, yanking open the fortress' massive front gates.
The next step, obviously, is to go and find Kroft, who explains that she hasn't seen any of them in a couple of days, but knows they're out and about, investigating the current plague that's running through the city.
"Come back tomorrow," she says, "I'm sure I can bring them back in to meet you, if you want."
Since you asked nicely and you left out the potential crime that your companions sometimes perpetuate, you're given permission to investigate the wreck of the ship in the bay, as well as any other leads that arise from your findings there. Not only that, but your duty commander gives you a grant of 500gp, organized into five Korvosan-stamped gold ingots (that must be redeemed at the Bank of Abadar for individual gold or platinum coins) for your own purposes, but explains that not too many financial resources can be devoted to one Marine's individual pursuits.
Late at night, when you're relaxing with Cat amongst your piled-up cases (though eventually they stop coming in when you're doing adventuring work) a Korvosan Guardsman knocks on your door.
Opening it, he hands you a note. "Marshall Kroft wanted you to have this. Apparently there's someone to see you that went to meet her." he says, just before leaving.
The note is on a simple piece of parchment, and reads, 'Your friend Akiki came back from the Shoanti tribe-land today. Come in tomorrow to meet her, she wants to see you.'
Thaven thanks the commander for the funds, stores them in the bags on Whisper and flies off to find Goffred and the rest. In the mean time he makes a circuit over Korvosa, watching the streets and keeping an eye on the mood of the people.
Raijinn smiles as he stands, saying that he will try his best to stay alive, and then cocks his head at Burahl's suggested remedy. "It is strange," he agrees, "How much nature attempts to balance itself out. I am reminded of the Necromancer, of Gaedren, and of others, seeking to do evil unto the world, and yet their numbers are balanced by those such as us." He put the leaf into his mouth, but didn't chew right away, letting his saliva dissolve it.
Looking around, Raijinn felt a stab of sadness for how Burahl had been dragged away from his quiet (well, quieter) life for such danger. "I'm afraid your store has been getting a bit dusty, we've kept you from it so much. Perhaps you'd like to put on some tea and we can straighten things up?"
"That sounds like a good idea." The little ratfolk says as he puts a kettle on for some tea and grabs a broom for later.
"Most people know I'm a pretty busy person nowadays, though they don't know why exactly. I think most of them believe I'm helping out with the sick, so that's not a complete lie."
Fredo organizes his cases into three major categories. Since the proclamation of the state of emergency, clients had been coming to him wondering if there wasn't a way to keep the Queen's Physicians out of their homes or businesses. He had been researching the issue in his spare time, but the proclamation was clear that the Physicians had broad discretion, the punishment for impeding them was severe, any contravening principle was bound to be obscure, and no Arbiter would rule against the proclamation until Blood Veil had retreated anyway. So those cases went on the "investigate, complain later, and hope for compensation" pile. In the meantime, Fredo's advice in the event of a visit amounted to "document everything:" the Physician involved, the time of their intrusion, their activities, and whether there was anything missing after they'd gone. He would also tell clients not to utter a word if there was a Gray Maiden in attendance. Eventually this advice had found its way into a short article in the Big Sky. Finally, Fredo wants clients to write to him daily if they were ever taken in for treatment so he can learn what "treatment" entails. So far he has received no letters.
The "immediate attention" file was much smaller, dealing with clients who had been arrested for impeding the Physicians. There was no set term of imprisonment, and with the number of new arrests every day, it was usually possible to convince the Arbiters to release prisoners after a few weeks. Then there were clients who had been arrested for other offenses under the proclamation. Some had tried to keep them out of their homes, others had been found hiding sick friends or relatives. All Fredo could do for them was arrange hearings (with dates as far in the future as possible), but at least that was better than the Gray Maidens' summary executions. With Fredo's schedule, he had had to trust many of these cases to friends and acquaintances, but they usually kept him informed.
Then there was the "miscellaneous" file, which contained everything that didn't have to do with the Queen's Physicians. It didn't amount to much, but people had come to him with a few claims. The most recent was an allegation of fraud against an establishment called "Lavender's." He had just got done reading it when there was a knock at the door. "One moment," says Fredo, picking Cat up and draping her over the files so whoever it is won't see them. She gives him an annoyed look, but stays where he put her and begins licking her paw.
Thankfully, the knock had come from a Guard. From what he had read the Queen's Physicians liked to visit in the middle of the night. "Tell Kroft I'll be there," he says, but the Guard is already halfway down the hall. Fredo shrugs and opens the letter, and his eyes light up. Unfortunately, while he can visit Thaven and Emmera in the morning, he doesn't know where Burahl's shop is, and thus doesn't know how to get ahold of him and Raijinn. The best he can think of is asking Majenko to help find them.
At first glance, Goffred's case about "Lavender" may look like some socialite complaining about a vanity product not working. It's based off of a young woman who frequents the perfumery purchasing an item called "Lavender's Luxuriant Liniment", and that item not working. However, it's got much more gravity than a simple perfume smelling badly. She had bought the liniment for her son, who had contracted blood veil and subsequently died, though the liniment is purported to be a cure. Beyond that, she knows of several more of her friends that have been in similar positions, though some of them had enough to pay the Abadarian clerics for a cure soon after they realized that the "miracle cure" wasn't going to work.
It's signed "Samantha Griffin", and her address is given - it's on the outskirts of Old Korvosa, where there are still houses, before they devolve into the Shingles.
Raijinn and Burahl get to work cleaning up Burahl's shop, and though it takes them the rest of the night, they get the cobwebs cleared out and all of Burahl's various remedies put away in their proper places, and the display cases in order.
There's not much to do that night, though, so everyone beds down and passes through the night, in anticipation of more work to be done the next day.
Majenko comes at Goffred's call and agrees to bring the message to Burahl and Raijinn at Burahl's shop. He knows where it is. Majenko knows where everything is.
The little dragon flaps out of Goffred's room quickly, and across the city. Soon enough, Burahl and Raijinn have a little visitor, and the chime of his voice reverberates in their skulls. 'Friends, Goffred wants you at the Citadel. Says you have a friend there. Says to gather other friends and go there to meet him soon.'
Burahl nods when Majenko finished his message and replies. "Thank you Majenko. It's good that you came after we were done cleaning. I was just sorting out my mail again. Tell Goffred we will leave immediately, we'll meet him at the Citadel."
When Majenko has left, the little ratfolk turns to Raijinn and grins. "Never a dull moment nowadays. Who do you think it is who wants to meet up with us?"
Majenko next flies to the Sable Company HQ, gets past the guards and to Thaven's room, to inform him that the company is meeting at the Citadel, and that a friend is there too, and wants to see them.
Last, he flies to the temple of Iomedae, finds Emmera, and lets her know the same thing.
Soon enough, everyone is together again at the Citadel, waiting outside the gates, exchanging information and speculation about what's going on, when the gate opens, revealing Akiki waving goofily at the group.
I don't believe Emmera and Majenko have met? I certainly don't remember who he is, so...
Oh, sorry. I don't think you have.
He's a little pseudodragon that the folks saved from a gangster lord. He'll certainly explain that he's been sent by Goffred, if that helps.
Burahl looks expectantly at the doors of the gate, chatting with the other four about what this could be about. Then the door opens and he is silent for a moment raising his eyebrows.
"Akiki? But wasn't she...? She was gonna look after her sister right?" Burahl seems to be taken a bit off guard at the first sight of the rogue that apparently came back to the city.
Though when realization dawns that she might as well be the real person, he approaches as one of the first of the group.
"Welcome back Akiki," He says as he leans on his quarterstaff in front of her and eyes her carefully for any odd signs.
"What made you came back? Weren't you taking care of your sister? What was her name again...?" He purposefully asks her that question to make sure it's her and not a clever ruse of that royal mage of Ileosa.
Before leaving for the morning, Fredo kills a pigeon with his wand. He hangs it under his windowsill by way of thanking Majenko; he is confident the little dragon will find it. On a whim, he brings Griffin's file along. Akiki might want to swing by Old Korvosa.
When he gets to the Citadel, Fredo smiles at the others' questions. Apparently Majenko had omitted Akiki's name in his missives. "You'll see," is all he says.
Fredo gets a laugh out of Burahl's incredulous reaction to the elf, and greets her with open arms. There was just no being professional around her. "Kiki, it's a pleasure. Have we got stories for you!"
Akiki definitely waves goofily for a bit, before scampering towards the group. Raijinn and Goffred get a quick hug - the others she is a bit more reticent in hugging - she doesn't know most of them well.
"Yes, I gather you do," Happy to see them as she may be, her face is serious, "I saw some of what is going on on my way here. Semelle is fine. I left her with the warriors - its a bleak place out there." She smiled then, a little smile about something maybe only she knows.
"But I think she enjoys the people. They are quite ..." She thought about it a moment, "Refreshing. But this is my city. I missed it."
Raijinn shrugs at Burahl's question, uncertain, but pleased. "It seems though we have many friends these days." He pauses for a second, to wonder if they have more friends than enemies, and whether the balance will ever tip in their favour.
During the walk over, he's quiet and contemplative, but upon seeing Akiki, he claps Burahl on the shoulder happily and runs up, gladly returning her hug, though his smile wavers for a second. Despite the healing, he cannot so quickly forget his near-death, and the infection that followed. "I am afraid it is no less bleak here," he replies.
Emmera wakes up in a cold sweat, pain fading as quickly as the dream does, though the memories that fueled it linger slightly longer. It was a familiar dream - nightmare, really - but not one she had had for a while, certainly not since she had arrived here. Had something triggered it? Raijinn's situation had had parallels to her own, certainly. On the other hand, she felt... different. More... receptive, in a way. Perhaps the dream was more than just a nightmare...
Regardless if it was or not, the fact was that Emmera did indeed find herself more open to her goddess's power during her morning meditations was a welcome discovery. She took it as a sign that she was on the right track, and vowed to herself and Iomedae that she would do her best to keep her new companions from falling into less than honorable paths.
She got a surprise of a different sort when Majenko suddenly shows up, winging into her cell as she finishes buckling on her new blade. Once she realizes he's a friend, and in this case a messenger, she thanks him for the information before he zips away to... well, wherever he was going, she supposed. She took a moment to inform Brother Garm that she was off to meet with the others, then made her way towards the Citadel.
She arrives a bit later than the others, after Akiki has joined the group. "Greetings everyone," the bandaged cleric says, nodding to each in turn. When she realizes there's a face she does not recognize, she asks, "Another... friend of yours, Goffred?" She hopes the pause was the right length to get the meaning across, doublespeak was not a skill she practiced often.
"An old friend." Fredo, savvy to her meaning, taps the pouch where he keeps Zellara's harrow deck. He watches for a moment as Cat butts her head against Akiki's shins, vying for her affection. "Ki- Akiki managed to get her sister out of the city before the execution," he explains. Emmera knows that Big Sky only entered publication after the execution, so she should be able to figure out that Akiki wasn't around to be involved in its formation.
"You're just in time too," says Fredo, turning back to the elf and casting a spell to keep his words from reaching anyone's ears but her's and his other friends'. No need to let a passing Gray Maiden hear of their plans.
"That's this evening though," he finishes out loud. "Did you have any plans in mind for today?"
Akiki stoops a moment to scratch at Cat's ears too. She always liked Cat - the animal was more or less as b&#$*y as the twitchy elf was. What's wasn't to like!
Akiki grins at Goffred's suggestion. "I'm sure I could uhh ... liberate us some if I knew where they were sold."
Screw up her face though she might, Akiki can't remember ever going into a potion shop aside from Burahl's before. She certainly wasn't going to steal from him. "Not by a friend. I saw an interesting perfumerie apparently selling a cure to the plague, too. Considered investigating that, but thought I'd better meet up with you."
"Can't imagine a perfumerie would be able to find a cure for anything actually. Probably they only found a cure for the stench of the sick and claim that if 'If you can't smell it, it isn't there.' Bah."
Burahl frowns and wants to spit on the ground because of the thought, but composes himself.
"Good to see you again Akiki. Sorry if I appeared inquisitive, ever since our encounter with a certain wizard I'm a little anxious with people , strangers or people whom I didn't think to see so soon again."
"You'll have to enlighten me in a little storytime later." Akiki nodded.
Thaven clears his throat and tosses his pouch of Marine gold down on the table. "I have procured a small grant from the Sable Company. It might help us."
Emmera dips her head a bit in thought. "I... believe I can bless us with a similar, if not identical, effect. However, I'm afraid I've already prayed for my spells today. We would need to wait till tomorrow for me to assist. I do have a supply of my own gold should we need to pool together to purchase any potions."
"And speaking of cures... is everyone feeling alright? It wouldn't do for any of us to come down sick." She intentionally leaves out the presence of the wand - the last thing she wanted to do was start a riot because someone overheard she was able to cure the disease. As far as she knew, they were probably the city's best chance at actually stopping the epidemic, and they couldn't afford to lose anyone. "Was your bite taken care of, Raijinn?" She hadn't forgotten the events of yesterday either...
"It's worse than that, Burahl." He recognizing the look of disgust on the alchemist's face. It is the look of a professional angry at a fellow going over the line. Fredo remembers how he'd felt watching Togomor's interrogation. It's a dirty feeling, like someone has sullied the use to which you've put your life. "At least one person has died because they thought Lavender's Liniment a true cure, and so did not think to seek real help."
Fredo puts up his hands at the odd looks he gets from Akiki, Thaven, and Burahl. At least Raijinn and Emmera are too distracted by their discussion of the tiefling's recovery to care. "I heard about it from a client," he explains. "The stories seem to line up."
"This Lavender peddles false hope, then. That's hell for morale." Thaven mutters, shaking his head. "We must investigate this."
" Whatever you eant to call it, its just going to cause more chaos." Kiki said grimly.
Lavender's has always been marketed as a rather upscale perfumery, and indeed the decor inside the shop suggests some wealth on the part of its owner, Vendra Loaggri. Less glitzy, though, is the long, long line of sick-looking personages across the front of the building. The line even wraps around the side of the building a little bit, going a few people into the alley. The line of sick commoners obscures the glass front wall of the building, which displays many different perfumes and, in very prominent and frequent places, her new item "Lavender's Luxuriant Liniment".
The people gathered at the building are quiet, as are the two guards that stand just outside the front door to the building, who brusquely inspect people as they enter the shop.
Fredo heads to the back of the line, untroubled by the prospect of standing around for a few hours. He has no engagements before Eiress's. He pulls Ms Griffin's file out of his pack to study, but tucks it under his arm when he realizes how hard the dim light of the alley makes it to read. While waiting for the line to move into the light, he casts a quick spell on himself and tries to strike up a conversation with the person ahead of him. "Hello, I'm Fredo." He smiles invitingly, and pauses a moment to give the person ahead of him a chance to turn around. "I'll understand if you want to keep it to yourself, but would you mind sharing how you heard about Lavender's? When I heard about the Liniment, it just seemed too good to be true, and I had to see for myself."
"Was your bite taken care of, Raijinn?" She hadn't forgotten the events of yesterday either...
Raijinn nods in response. "Yes, thank you. Luckily Burahl's cures are not simply cosmetic, which may be more than we can say for others." Soon it would be just one more scar, like the gash in his chest was already on its way towards being.
As the group ventures towards the shop, Raijinn dons a large cloak, not wanting to upset any of those who are already suffering. Seeing the long line of sick people twists his heart in his chest. "We need to figure out a cure, and fast."
Rather than waiting in line, Akiki opted for skulking around the edges of the line, slinking around the back Of the establishment ... and otherwise snooping about.
Thaven thinks Kiki has a good idea, and decides to stake out a nearby rooftop, so he can watch the line and the building at the same time, just in case...
Emmera chooses to accompany Thaven, but for reasons more aligned to Raijinn cloaking himself. While her bandages may make her seem to be afflicted with something to the casual eye, her equipment would also easily identify her as a cleric, or at the very least some sort of warrior, and it would be unlikely that the bodyguards would let her through.