Fondo walks next to Barael and Laura, ready to bring his buckler up to shield her should more imps approach. "It's going to be okay little one. Soon you shall be safe, and one day soon free to roam the world. This I promise."
Barael moves the bodies of the imps with his foot. "Nikolay, what can you tell me about their poison? Can it be extracted?" Two poisons in as many days. What are the odds?
You are able to gather enough raw materials to make 4 doses of Imp Poison (Fort DC 13; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Dex; cure 1 save), but you will need time and access to an alchemy lab/kit to actually manufacture the poison.
Charlie explains there are several (5 - 4 run by the government) orphanages in Korvosa. Each is run fairly well and righteously and with good intents. The kids are reasonably cared for, fed and to a degree even educated. Orphans are not a huge problem currently in Korvosa in part because the government funds the majority of the orphanages and funds them well - though who knows what the new Queen will do.
The orphanage on Waydon street is a large three story building that looks a little like it's absorbed the two buildings on either side. It's one of the orphanages funded by the city and in this case ostensibly run by retired marines from the Sable Company. The head of the orphanage is Matron Kwostra - a stern old Chellish noblewoman who has devoted her life to the task.
Her family supplements the finances donated by the city making this the wealthiest (and largest) of the orphanages. Is it the best? Some argue the North Point orphanage is better, but some members of the sable company will duel you over that dishonor to their name.
The building is currently sealed up, and two sable marines stand in front of the building guarding it against intrusion in these troubling times.
"OK, Laura, we are going to leave you at the orphanage. Would that be alright with you? Is there anything we can give you that will make your time there more pleasant?""
"Yes that's fine." she says in a small voice, her body wracked by the imp poison.
"I'm hungry."
Nikolay explains to the guards.
"Laura here is an orphan we hoped to leave in your care. We were attacked by imps on the way here and she was poisoned badly. She has managed to fight off the poison on her own, but will need a week of bed rest to recover."
The guard calls inside for aid, and a young man comes running.
"Oh dear. She is a mess isn't she." His youthful face shows real concern as he carefully takes Laura from your arms.
He hesitates and turns back around.
"I'm sorry, but I'm bound to ask, do you have a donation for her care?" He runs on quickly, "It's not required of course, but even a little will go a long way to defraying her costs, and with these troubled times..." he trails off.
The Sable Marines look on expectantly.
"Aye, we can give you a few coins now, and we'll bring more when we have some." At least I will. Poor thing. Some day I'll know how to fight such poisons. Dandilion hands over 5 gold sails for the care and keeping of Laura.
"What does it cost to care for a child for a year?"
"What does it cost to care for a child for a year?"
"It can vary by the care of the child. Some children are cared for by benefactors such as yourselves, others by the King, er, Queen. The, uh, Queen generously provides us with 3 Crowns a year."
He turns to Dandilion, "Thank you kindly lady, that's most generous." He looks to the others expectantly.
"Here are 3 Crowns...Oh wait, *Here* are 3 Crowns...No, hold on a moment..." This goes on for a minute or two while Charlie gets more and more frustrated. Soon he is on his hands and knees with all of his gear splayed on the road until he finally finds his money pouch. It remains pretty weighty.
Barael watches Dandilion intently, and watching her make a generous donation, starts to rummage his backpack for his coinpurse. The color of the purse is mottled, with streaks of something greenish, making it look smeared.
He produces an equal 5 gold sails, and looks to Dandilion first, before placing it in the young man's hand. We can't ask questions. Certainly not about Lamm. How did Laura fall from their nest? How do I know this youngish will see the gold benefits the girl? "For the girl, remember her name is Laura."
"Aye, three crowns it is. Plus five sails here to make sure she's got a bit of extra care while she recovers. She's a special one, is Laura. Stayed here before, before some ruffians kidnapped her. Luckily she escaped from them in the chaos last night."
Dandilion watches as the others pony up money to care for the girl. a real orphanage. Somewhere safe. But even so...."You won't mind if we see the girl inside, will you? She's had a traumatic morning."She is NOT a nobody, not someone that can just disappear, our Laura. Not anymore.They should know this...up front.
The boy takes in the largess of the party appreciatively. "Aye, she'd have been well cared for, but it's a wonderful thing to have benefactors. After her rest she'll have a tutor as well, from time to time."
He debates a moment before testing the waters further, "If you would like a tour, I could talk to Mister Foyle. He's the Matron's assistant among other things. It's a hectic time for everyone just now with the new Queen, but if you were willing to bestow your munificence on another child as well, I'm sure I could arrange a meeting."
At the least he invites you into the sitting room where he gently gives Laura over to a nurse who carries the little girl deeper inside the complex - presumably to a bed to rest, or perhaps to some breakfast first to bolster her immune system.
"Aye, it'd do my heart good to see the little one's new home." Fondo is eager to suss out whether Laura's likely to receive the sort of care he might want for his sister.
You don't see many children from here, but the entry areas are all clean and well cared for. If it's a front, they're doing a decent job of it. You won't learn much about the actual care of the children without a tour.
Briar waits outside the orphanage, keeping an eye out on the streets for trouble or things of interest.
Perception
You're impressed (maybe) by the attention the Sable Marines give to their task. Yes it's a dull guard duty, but they seem to take it very seriously. More so than you would have thought.
Other than that, there is no activity in the immediate area while the rest of the party does their business inside. As you rest, you are made more keenly aware of your empty belly as the party has yet to have breakfast.
Nikolay will contribute 5 gold and cover anyone who is short.
Dandilion, frustrated by the current state of her pockets, grumbles out a "we'll come back another time, perhaps."
The boy smiles a knowing smile, "Yes, by all means. You should return when things are less hectic and I'll give you the tour myself! Now I must get back to my duties. Do not fear, Laura is in good hands."
He does seem to be sincere.
When the others are ready to go, Dandilion will meet them outside.
As Dandilion comes down the steps outside, Briar looks at her, says nothing, and goes back to looking elsewhere.
::uncomfortable silence::
"Your name, sir. I don't believe you've introduced yourself." Orphans come in all ages, don't they? I have two names, Kwostra, and Foyle. I'll have his as well.
"If you'd be so kind, introduce us one or two of Laura's new found friends, as she settles in of course. It'd help us feel more connected with this second child you would ask us to support."
As Barael walks past the guards,, he'll feign ignorance while asking them who it was that helped them.
As Dandilion comes down the steps outside, Briar looks at her, says nothing, and goes back to looking elsewhere.
::uncomfortable silence::
::uncomfortable silence::
Dandi stands silently next to the elf, practicing elfiness and failing miserably.
She twists at her ring, eyes the elf, taps a foot, pets wraith, eyes the elf, coughs, fixes her hat...eyes the elf...
::uncomfortable pseudosilence::
"Your name, sir. I don't believe you've introduced yourself." Orphans come in all ages, don't they? I have two names, Kwostra, and Foyle. I'll have his as well.
"My name is Granger."
"If you'd be so kind, introduce us one or two of Laura's new found friends, as she settles in of course. It'd help us feel more connected with this second child you would ask us to support."
"Uh, she's very sick - no friends for a while, but of course when you return we can discuss it. Now if you'll excuse me, I really must be getting back to my work."
He's polite, but it's clear he's showing you the door. Diplomatically.
Fondo lingers in the orphanage a hair longer than the others. He asks to see Laura once more before he departs. "Please, she is as a little sister to me."
"Be well, little butterfly. Know that the cards shall tell me how you are. If you need me, simply say a prayer to Desna. For you are like a Barondo now, and we take care of our own." Until we're shunned, that is... Sigh. How shall I tell them of Esmira's fate...?
The events of the last day weighing on him, Fondo suddenly has an urge to dine amongst heavy bossoms and comely faces. Exiting the orphanage, he proposes, "Tis time for us to break fast. I for one require duck eggs, a rash of bacon, and a very tall flagon of mead."
"Yes to food. Yes to mead. Yes to partying! I am free! If I wake up dead, it will be my own damn fault. Let's see how close I can get! We will start with bacon. Breakfast is on me."
Yes to food. Yes to mead. Yes to partying! I am free! If I wake up dead, it will be my own damn fault. Let's see how close I can get! We will start with bacon. Breakfast is on me.
Fondo lingers in the orphanage a hair longer than the others. He asks to see Laura once more before he departs. "Please, she is as a little sister to me."
"We really must let her rest. She has by all accounts been through a lot and she must recover."
Charlie feels confident that, at least, she is in efficient hands.
Knowledge Local to figure out where to find the most comely wait staff or clientele 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
There are many places you could go, particularly if price is no object. Given the current state of the city though it's hard to know what will be open and many are out of the way. The Travelling Man is not too far away in mid-Old Korvosa. It is situated in a fort-like building and known as a quiet pub well away from the usual ruckus of the dock pubs. It might be open.
"After you, my new friends. A little something wouldn't go amiss just now." Not too picky about where we head, Dandilion is happy to go wherever the rest would travel, though she can't help giving another look over her shoulder a the orphanage.
"Let us feast at The Traveling Man, and hope that there are comely travelers as well as other sweet delights." Fondo leads the way.
The Traveling Man is in fact open and, even at this early hour, busy. It's a two story tavern with an extremely thick front wall and small - almost arrow slit like - windows. As you approach, you can see why it's so well protected.
At various places in the city are the 'plugs'. Plugs are large well sealed openings at the low points of the vaults (the sewers). From time to time, the Guard will open a plug and dump food into it to maintain the Otyugh who feed on the waste of the city. The Otyugh do occasionally get loose during these feedings and entertainment prevails as they guard brings them down.
It looks like this pub was placed here just for such events. Otyugh teeth line the walls and trim the windows of this dimly lit pub. The food, while plentiful, is somewhat plain - but the mead flows freely and well. The party fills their bellies, slakes their thirst, and discusses their next move.
Briar looks up from his post outside the orphanage as the others come out, finally ending the silence with Dandi.
"All good? I haven't seen much out here. Seemed pretty quiet." Briar looks down at his still unfamiliar holy symbol dangling from his neck.
"Let's get a move on...this head isn't going to bury itself..."
...after all, it ain't an ankheg head.
* * *
Briar eats light breakfast, saying little, his thoughts still on his visions last night, his mind still trying to work through the words whispered back during his prayer session, and his hands still tingling with the resonance of magical imbuing.
Also, this food tastes like crap. Bacon? Who likes this crap?
* * *
"Maybe we should bury the head next. Where do you bury your dead around here? I would like to get rid of this hat box, the head, and the memories of what it symbolizes." Briar says to the group while eying the hatbox at the foot of the table.
The dead are buried in the gray district on the south side of Korvosa. The most common burials are in the potters ward. There burials are a mere two silver shields and while the burials are in common graves the names are carved in black marble in the southeastern corner of the ward.
A step above that is the everyman ward where burials are a mere two sails. You have a choice between the two large sepulchre or the large field. For a few sails more you could bury the head in a plot under the grassy hillside - a preferred spot (7 gold total).
The church of Pharasma ultimately decides who is buried where and protects the living residents from occasional undead uprisings. Their grand cathedral dominates the entire district.
For reference, there is a gold ward, but that is reserved for the nobility and military leaders.
Barael - your mother is between your current location and the gray district.
Nikolay dines at the Traveling Man and listens for any news of the current state of affairs.
----
After breakfast...
"Let's head for the gray district to put to bury Zellara."
Not having a rotting head with us will likely make selling our items a bit easier.
Barael talks liberally, the occasional food fleck darting from his mouth. The noise of the tavern makes him bolder. When he swallows, his fingers continue the conversation in air as a place holder for when the words come again.
"Nikolay, if I can ask, how much do the Guard make on a weekly basis?" Barael wraps the flagon of wine in one of his scarves, and opens his coinpurse to evaluate the current coinage. Let's make sure this story holds water. "I need to stop by Mum's before we make our way south to the gray district, just off of Harborview South. I want to tell her that we've been... enlisted to help the Guard. Figure giving her part of my 'pay' will make sure she doesn't worry too much."
***
"I agree, Briar. I would like to see Zellara buried proper. She deserves as good as we can give her. I'm down to my last 8 sails. Maybe it's in the cards that our fortunes will change, once we see our way to market."
Briar nods to Nikolay and Barael in agreement.
"Let's get there. And let's be careful."
Should be easier without the girl slowing us down.
Briar again takes the last position with this bow at the ready.
Barael stands, wipes his mouth, and uses a little of the table water to wet down the napkin and clean the most of the dirt around his face and neck. "Let's off. Zellara will start to 'talk', without speaking, and we may enjoy undue attention before we arrive in the gray district."
Heading out into the street, Barael turns to Briar. "When we get to Mum's, could you, uh, stay back a bit, so she doesn't see the hatbox? She's a seamstress, and the box may provoke her curiosity. I mean, a new contingent of Guard recruits and all." Maybe she's asleep, and this will all be moot.
Barael reorients himself, and strides purposefully towards Harborview South.
Briar nods to Barael.
"If you want, I'll hold the hatbox and wait outside as I keep watch."
Briar follows Barael.
He's a man with a purpose. However, it's unlikely that he leads me to magic.
Briar regards the party as he walks, his thoughts continuing in that vein.
Barael will lead me to his mum.
Nikolay will lead me to the guards.
Fondo will lead me to booze and company.
Charlie will lead me to safety.
And Dandi will be to what?
While at the tavern, Fondo drinks deeply of two flagons of mead and keeps his eye peeled for attractive denizens. He will likely throw himself into conversation with one or three of them. It will take some effort to tear him away, back to the unpleasant business at hand.
When he does come back to reality, his mood turns a bit darker than when the group entered the tavern — no doubt helped along by drinking a good deal of mead on a mostly empty stomach.
He seems resentful of carrying out this unpleasant responsibility, despite having shown reverance towards Zellara's shade. "Aye, the Boneyards. What shall we tell them about the rest of her? 'Hello, father, we found this poor woman's head in a fishery last night. No sign of her body...?' What do Pharasma's boatmen say to such a thing, anyhow?"
And what shall I tell them about Esmira? I have no body and no stomach for this business.
While the others break their fast at The Traveling Man, Dandilion slips off. Her home, such as it is, isn't far. She should be back in no time.
Charlie takes what time he can to revel in food mead and company until it is time to move again.
After breakfast the party reconvenes in front of the pub and begins to walk to the gray district all the way across the city. It is somewhat quieter this morning, though perhaps the rioters are still asleep. There are the occasional clashes of combat, chants from one mob or another, and a heavy guard presence almost everywhere you go.
You are not stopped or challenged by the guard, they seem more interested in protecting key locations for now and, unless they witness it directly, they tend to ignore looting and attacks on civilians. It is clear the military of Korvosa is spread very thin indeed.
As you make your way through north point and back to the midland district, you come upon a small two bedroom flat above a small greasy pub. It doesn't look like much, but Barael begs for a moment of your collective time, and rushes upstairs to visit briefly with his mother.
"Where have you been?! I've been worried sick! The city exploded in turmoil, the King is dead, and we're almost out of rum! Did you have anything to do with it?!" she asks in an accusing tone at the end. It is clear she's had a rough night as have most residents of Korvosa, but hers may have had more to do with the lack of rum than anything else from the looks of it.
"Are you on the shiver again?"
Briar politely waits outside the Barael seamstress home with the hatbox of death, keeping an eye on the streets for trouble.
Perception
Where was the inflection again on the spell? Klaw-TOO or KLAA-tu? I should probably remember that.
Barael's posture isn't what it was leaving the Traveling Man. His shoulders stoop once again. He maneuvers the flagon and gold coins from his backpack as he heads up the stairs, ready for dispensation.
"I know I should have been back sooner, Mum, I'm sorry. The night erupted, and my friends at the post kept me longer than I remembered." Barael tries to hand over wrapped items, making sure she sees the top of the bottle.
***
Shiver??
"Mum, that was my friend, Barkley, remember? I shoulda never let him come into the apartment that night, and he gave back the silverware. Well, at least what he hadn't sold off. I don't run with him no more." Barael turns his gaze back over his shoulder, regretting every moment he has to stand against his mother's accusations.
"The Guard, Mum. They're asking for help, they're enlisting. I've already accepted, and you'll find my month's pay wrapped with the wine. I've got to run, all the chaos out there. I seek to find the reason, or at least restore a bit of reason to the city. I'll try and check back when I can, but they've set up temporary spots where I can rest, so that I'm at their disposal quicklike."
"Take care of yourself. Make sure to get to market early. Get the freshest farmer's yield you can, ok? Don't worry bout me."
Barael bounds down the steps, making affirmative grumbles in echo of any yelling he hears over his shoulder. "I'm ready. You were kind, waiting for me to get done that."
Barael's shoulders shake, trying to wrest the stoop, and trying to regain their stature. His full height is realized only when the ensemble reaches the gray district.
Barael's mother grasps the wine with delight and carefully counts out the coins.
"So they've hired you in at the bottom huh? I guess that's all your good for so we should be pleased for small favors."
She barely notices your passing as you quickly flee the flat and rejoin your newly found companions in the street below.
- - -
Briar catches a glimpse of some of the regulars in the pub through the greasy, stained windows. Not a very promising lot, they seem content with their cups and ignore the city in turmoil beyond their little world.
- - -
As the party travels nearly to the end of the midlands you can see the grand cathedral of Pharasma rising over the gray district. Clearly standing near the gate to the district are the flowing red robes of a Korvosan Guard in the distance. He stumbles a moment, and falls collapsing in a heap. It's hard to tell at this distance what happened. You don't immediately see anyone else in the vicinity but there could be a sniper somewhere nearby.