Cassiel was not having a particularly good day.
That's not to say today was without its upsides--arresting Lamm and freeing the children he kidnapped were the day's highlights so far--but the riots and the king's death were starting to get to him. Between getting nearly bitten in half by a shark, stopping townsfolk from trying to slaughter an (in all likelihood) innocent noble, dodging Hellknights looking for an excuse to start painting the streets of Korvosa red with blood, and imps picking fights with whoever they could see, all it took was one more thing going wrong before Cassiel finally snapped.
Cue the otyugh erupting from the ground.
"Oh, lovely. Today's just been one long parade of misery and pain--why not add some more catastrophes to the pile? An otyugh getting loose? SURE! SOUNDS LIKE TONS OF FUN! MAYBE WE CAN HAVE A PLAGUE SWEEP THROUGH THE STREETS AFTER THIS! SOUNDS JUST GRAND!"
He draws his scimitar, roughly dropping Lamm in the street as he faces the otyugh. "I've had enough fun for one day. GET BACK IN YOUR HOLE, ABOMINATION, OR SO HELP ME I'LL WEAR YOUR ENTRAILS AS SWEATBANDS!" He yells as he moves to engage it.
...well, it made him feel better, at least.
Round 1
Knowing that an escaped otyugh was enough to cause serious damage Cedric sprung into action
with all that has been going tonight no wonder someone hasn't been doing his job
he sas moving forward to attack
Kira will try and get a shot off before anyone gets too close, then move back away from the creature.
Crain pulls his longspear and moves to attack striking the creature and dealing it 10 damage.
Cassiel moves up.
Cedric attacks but fails to connect to deal significant damage.
Kira shoots but her arrow bounces off the thick hide.
Xavice draws his weapon and move to attack as well but fails to connect.
Ylenna hols back for now.
The two guardsmen move into flank positions and attack.
One misses but the other lands a very powerful strike.
The Otyugh is already badly wounded it flails about in fear and anger trying to force you back.
Your go again.
Round 2
Pff and once again it bites Me? well won't be the last time i bet he says forcing the creature back
"Back to the sewers with you, beast!" Crain attacks again.
Power attack w/flank, I assume
Damage
Cassiel swings his scimitar at the flailing beastie!
Ylenna holds out her hand, and a firey ray shoots from it towards the Otyugh.
"That's the last one of those I can do today," she says.
The creature goes down.
The guardsmen nod to you as the creature goes "Thanks for the help."
Cassiel pants as the otyugh goes down. Turning to the guardsmen, he sheathes his scimitar.
"Guards... you did a better job than I at keeping the creature contained. I should be thanking you for your help."
He walks back over to Lamm's body and picks him up again.
Ylenna sighs. "The timing is very unfortunate," she says. "Not that any time is good for the king to die and the city to fall into chaos. But right when we're dealing with Lamm, and discovering that whoever hired us may be pulling our strings from behind a curtain...."
lets keep moving this night is going to be very dangerous, filled with chaos and i bet tomorrow the authorities will have no other choice than to declare martial law
"Let's hurry to the Citadel, so I can get home and have a drink after. It's a wild day all right!"
"Yes. Let's." Cassiel glances back at the children following them before starting off down the street to Citadel Volshyenek.
You approach the citadel and find a row of guards standing sentry here several looking like they have been in combat recently. You enter the citadel grounds with the blessings of the guards.
You enter the citadel and after you have explained your purpose to the sentry you are ushered to go see Field Marshal Cressida Kroft. It takes a while before she can see you as there is a lineup of people in front of her office.
You finally are ushered inside. Field Marshal Cressida Kroft, an attractive, dark-haired human woman dressed in red armor. She introduces herself and asks for the your names as she bids you to enter.
"As you can most likely tell I am very very busy at the moment so whatever it is you're going to have to make it brief." she says eyeing the unconscious Lamm and the children.
"Nice to see you too, Boss." Cassiel replies. "Just thought you'd like a bit of good news or two..."
He sets Lamm down and takes out the rolled up slip of paper he stashed in the man's pocket. He then approaches Kroft and gives it to her.
Dear Field Marshal Cressida Kroft,
Sorry about missing your birthday this year. Here's a belated birthday gift to make up for it.
Sincerely,
Cassiel Hawke
After Kroft reads the letter, Cassiel smiles. "Yep. Lamm, and enough eyewitness testimony to make him dance on the noose twice over, I think." He looks back at the gathered children. "Only thing left to ask is... what do we do with the children?" He asks the rest of the party more than Kroft, a pensive look appearing on his face.
"Well that IS good news but I don't have time to deal with this right now." Cressida calls two men from outside.
"Take this scum to a secure cell and bring me the key" she says indicating Lamm.
"That's good work I look forward to hearing the details. I recognize you Cassiel, Crain and Cedric are also known to me but the rest of you aren't known to me. Come see me again once everything has calmed down and I will have a reward prepared for you."
"As for the children...I will make sure they are returned to their homes. I will have some men bring them to the orphanage so they can be looked after until their proper guardians are found."
"Also were a bit shorthanded if any of you are looking for paying work I can certainly provide it. Bringing in Lamm means your more than qualified."
"Glad to hear it, Ma'am." Cassiel bites his lip.
"There's gold to be had? What sort of work are you talking about?"
cedric will politely bow completely impress by the field marshal and her fearsome reputation, after all he isn't nobility
Ylenna stands protectively near Roland. "I'm Roland's guardian," she says, "so I will make sure he gets home. I am, however, also interested in whatever paying work you have."
Gesturing to the doors, indicating the city outside, she adds, "These seem to be interesting times...."
When there is a good time to talk quietly to Roland, she will say, "Roland, things are a mess in the city right now. People are rioting, and Hellknights are wandering around looking for excuses to put people in jail. I want you to stay inside and out of trouble. If you must go out, I trust you, but please leave me a note letting me know exactly where you're going. That way, I'm more likely to be able to find you if something goes wrong."
"Alright come back tomorrow morning and I will have something for you. As the streets aren't very safe I can find a spot for to you can rest in the citadel barracks if you wish."
"We'll be more than happy to take you up on that, Boss." Cassiel nods. "Just one thing before we go..."
Cassiel fishes around in the loot the party got from Lamm's hideout and produces the pseudodragon & imp brooch. "This looks pretty valuable. Do you know who this belonged to?"
Yes we recovered among's lamm possession It looked to us as it belong to Nobility he says accepting the offer to spend the night at the citadelle
"Well that's...That's the Queen's Brooch! She reported it stolen some weeks ago. There is a rather substantial reward for it's return being offered you should bring it to the castle when things calm down to claim it."
"How about we take it over right now? I'm spending my share on wine, women, and song...then I'll probably waste most of the rest," Crain notes, with a devilish smirk.
Ylenna's eyebrows raise. "The Queen's brooch? The Queen of the King who just died? How did he die, by the way? I'm beginning to think that the coincidences we're facing are far too... coincidental. No surprise that we all hated Lamm; lots of people hated him. If somebody wanted to find people who hated Lamm, they could do it. But the way we were shown where to find Lamm by somebody who was hiding his or her identity, and that we found him on the same night the King was killed, and that he happened to have the Queen's brooch.... Something is going on here."
Cassiel keeps quiet while the other party members speak.
"So, you think we were hired by an agent of the Queen to hunt Lamm down?" He says to Ylenna.
She could've just ASKED us herself... except publicly hiring vigilantes to go after someone could be seen as a less-than-endearing political move.
Ylenna shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe? But I guess I'd be surprised if it were an agent of the Queen. I wouldn't be surprised if there are multiple factions moving in the background here."
the two good questions here would by how and where this object was stolen and how in all the god's name did it get into Lamm's hands
"Hmm if I recall is was stolen from a jewelers shop, it had been brought there to be repaired." Cressida kroft says The she looks to the gathering crowd outside.
"I'm sorry but that's all the time I have come see me again later for now I have a city to get back under control."
Ylenna nods. "We will talk to you tomorrow morning."
She looks at Roland. "Let's get you home."
Looking at her newfound companions, she says, "I need to make sure that Roland makes it safely home. Do we want to meet here again tomorrow morning to see what need Marshal Kroft may have of us?"
I will be spending the night here. I am too hurt to be much of assistance right now
"Sounds like a plan, sweetie. See you in the morning. Cedric, a bit of the hair of the dog might get you feeling quite a bit better. Come out for a few drinks and let's see what happens!"
Kira stays in the back, taking in the scenes as they get to the citadel. Her mind running over different scenarios for the city and possible outcomes of the events that have unfolded, less and less concerned with their present task. When Marshal Kroft mentions work and the others agree she simply nods her head in agreement, letting the others run with things for the time being. As people begin to split up she speaks up breifly "I'll stay here, I need some rest." she then heads off to find an open bunk at the citadel, her head swimming with everything that has been going on.
You all go and get some rest. The situation in the area seems to have calmed down but there is still a large commotion around the castle.
Some of you stay at the citadel other head home an manage to make without too much trouble.
The next day begins and at dawn the worst seems over. Still the damage is extensive and there were many casualties.
Cassiel's old bunk feels odd to him. Strange... the mattress feels stiffer. Did someone change it?
He couldn't bring himself to go back to his Cliffside apartment. Not yet. The memories were still too fresh.
He remains at the barracks, waiting for the rest of the team to come by. They still had to divide the loot, after all.
Cedric will wake up late in the morning his injuries still hurting him
Crain shows up, still buzzed from the night before. He wasn't smelling the best in the world, but at least his head was not hurting. Yet. He wasn't sure how he'd feel the later in the day however.
Kira wakes early and heads out of the citadel, though staying nearby, gathering some various plants and other things she can find nearby. Seeing how those she met seemed to have more need for healing she made sure to have some extra supplies in case they ran into any further troubles. After getting what she needed she heads back to the citadel to wait for the others to meet up.
Ylenna makes sure that Roland is OK before leaving. "Stay inside as much as possible. If you go out, be careful. Stay hidden, stay in the shadows. Things are not safe right now, with the King dead and all of the chaos in the streets. Lamm may no longer be a problem, but there are others looking to take advantage of people without those around to support them. I have things I need to go do, related to everything that's going on."
She'll then head to the citadel to meet with the others and learn what awaits them....
You all gather once more at the citadel and once again go meet field marshal Cressida Kroft. She is still dressed as she was yesterday and by the looks of it she hasn't moved from her desk since last night.
"Ah yes—you are the ones that caught Lamm...I have a reward prepared for you." She puts a chest on the table filled with bags of gold. "A thousand gold is the reward offered for bringing him in...Good work...I need people like you...You've been on the streets. You know better than me how bad things are out there. It’s breaking my heart to see Korvosa tear herself apart like this. Every little bit of aid we can get helps. If you’re willing, I’d very much like to retain your services as agents of the Guard. These badges..." she takes out a badge for each of you. "...will identify you to any guardsmen or city representative as an undercover agent working for me. Please use them only when needed. You’ll of course be well compensated for these services. I have a job line up for you already...Korvosa's got enough troubles as it is without my own men losing their way and going rogue. As much as it pains me to admit, though, this has happened several times already. Many guards have deserted their posts, more concerned about friends and family than the city. I can understand this, yet not all of the deserters have family—some of them are simply using the riots as an excuse for personal gain. One such man is Verik Vancaskerkin. Worse than a lone deserter, he's convinced a small group of fellow guards that Queen Ileosa is going to ruin the city. Whether she does or doesn't isn't the point—right now, we've got a city-wide crisis on our hands, and I need all of my guards working with me to see us through. A deserter is worse than a lost resource—it’s an infection. I can’t afford to pull any of my other patrols off duty to deal with Vancaskerkin, and I’d rather not expose any of them to him anyway, since I neither want Vancaskerkin to infect more guards with his talk of secession, nor do I want some overly patriotic guard killing Vancaskerkin outright. I need impartial, skilled talent. Like you. Vancaskerkin and his men have holed up in an abandoned butcher’s shop up in Northgate—the place was called All the World’s Meat. I need you to check out the place. Try to avoid killing any of the deserters if you can, but if you must, they brought it upon themselves when they threw in their lot with Vancaskerkin. For him, I’d really prefer it if you could capture him alive and return him to me for interrogation, but if he makes that impossible, I’ll accept his body as well. Finally, see if you can find out why Verik deserted—if there’s more to it than simple personal politics, I need to know immediately. Bring me Verik alive, and there’s another thousand gold in it for you. Dead, he’s only worth half that...Oh I almost forgot I mentioned the brooch you found to some people and it seems the queen has granted you an audience so you can return it. I believe she has a reward to offer you for it's return as well. So before you do anything else you should go to the castle."
I can promises that i will undertake all the mission you ask Lady Marsh i like answering only to me. Nut there are not much things that are worse than deserting trained guardsmen that can pry on the populace during time of trouble. So i will gladly accept the mission. he says bowing to her out of respect that she earned in the field
"More gold, pretty lady? I'll drag him back here by his ears if you'll give me another sack of that gold."
Kira listens intently and nods her agreement when the Marshal finishes up "It would be an honor to help the city gain some order once again."
Hearing the name and location she thinks back on her knowledge of the area, trying to remember if there is anything important about Verik or All the World's Meat.
Cassiel nods as he listens to Kroft. Verik's desertion sounded noble at first--hell, part of him could sympathize with the guy. Still, if he's taking other guards with him when he leaves, that could only make an already unstable situation worse.
"Won't be a problem, Boss." Cassiel takes the badge she offers him and pockets it.
"So, Queen first? Then off to find Verik?" He turns to the rest of the party.
Kira nods "That does sound like the best course of action."
Kira takes her share of the reward and pockets it for later use.
Ylenna nods. "First the Queen, see what she has to say about that brooch. Then the butcher's shop. But, we should all remain on guard this whole time. Remember that somebody was playing us for some reason or another when we were set up to catch Lamm. Not that I'm complaining: we did catch him, and rescued my brother. But there are things going on here that we don't understand, so we should remain cautious."
"Maybe the Queen is looking for a new boy toy! After the appropriate period of grieving, of course," Crain adds with a devious smile.
You arrive at the castle front gates and find it heavily defended. Twenty guards armed with halberts and crossbows stand watch.
You are quickly challenged as you approach but when you explain you have come to return the stolen brooch they nod and send word to the castle.
You are allowed to enter the courtyard but even then no less than eight guards are watching you crossbows at the ready.
you wait a short while and finaly you are are greeted by a beautiful woman dressed in magnificent full plate armor—the queen’s handmaiden, bodyguard, and closest companion: Sabina Merrin. Who now has a badge marking her as captain of the royal guard.
"Greetings" she says nodding curtly. "They tell me you've something that belongs to the queen. Is this correct?"
After you show her the brooch she smiles and looks to the guards.
"You may return to your posts. These folk pose no treat to the queen." as the guards disperse she motion for you to follow her and starts walking towards the castle.
As you approach the Throne room you see a group of royal guards.
"No weapons beyond this point. Hand them over to these men and they will be returned after your audience is over...How would you like to be introduced when I announce you to the queen?"