Some time earlier, Bashiel tried to guess the values of the items they picked up.
Varor listens to every word everyone says, he listens to their emotions and their sincerity, and bites down every angry comment that he could make, every hate-filled word that he wants to say as Brin starts throwing junk that bounces off Zellara. He realizes there's no point, his mindset is the outsider of this group and there's no point in trying to make them understand his own worldview. As Brin goes to ask her about the key shaped dagger Varor simply gets up and leaves.
Always the outsider, never the right side. I wonder if this is how the high priest feels. Ha, maybe this is how Varor felt.
Bashiel nods along with everyone's questions, then follows with one of his own while taking out the jeweled brooch. "Zellara, you don't happen to know anything about this brooch we found in Lamm s stash? It seems very strange."
After her answer he says, "Now that your grudge is done Zellara, you will pass on to Pharasma, I trust?" He levels a hard gaze on her, not willing to allow her to give an ambiguous reply.
Zellara eyes the brooch, speaking aloud to no one in particular as she considers it. "A housedrake and an imp entwined... nothing on the back, no inscription... a broken clasp..." She turns it several times in her hands, holding it to different angles, running fingers over the surface before finally handing it back.
"I've no special insights into it, I'm afraid, though the mixing of the housedrake and imp almost certainly links it to Korvosa, so it's either of local manufacture or was made for a Korvosan. And only one of substantial wealth. Beyond that, it's not magical, so again, purely of a decorative nature. I doubt many in the city could afford it and fewer could safely wear it in the open."
To Bashiel's last question, she shrugs. "I have no idea. I'd rather be with my son than be here, bound to those cards. Whether that is the will of Pharasma or another isn't really within my ken to say."
"Great. So a 'nob is involved or some wealthy merchant. I-, hold on. Does anyone else hear that? Bells, lots of them. And...getting closer?"
Brin runs outside as soon as Kalem mentions it. Taking out a piece of candy as he goes. (mage armor) and holding it in his hands.
Quinlan ponders all he has seen of late now that he has time to catch his breath... then tilts his head to one side as folks speak of the shiver.
"You found shiver? it must be destroyed, lest it fall in the hands of those who would spread it around. The stuff is quite vile and designed to addict its users for the profit of those who make and sell it. There are no mitigating properties of the stuff... Please! Trust me in this... it will serve no other purpose!"
He turns to the sound of bells. "That's not a promising sound... there's no reason for bells to ring except maybe if the city is under attack, the queen has given birth to an heir, or the king is dead. As far as I know, the queen wasn't with child and no one would dare attack Korvosa." He walks to the door and looks outside to see what's going on..
Outside, the bells across Korvosa have crescendoed into a deafening clamour. The few people who call this part of Korvosa home and others who arrive early for work are milling about in the street, looking about in confusion. Bits and pieces of the conversations can be heard:
"What's all this about? It's barely four bells."
"Look there. Is it fire?"
"Are we under attack? Who would attack?"
"The King is dead! The King is dead! Long live the Queen!"
"The gold-digging harlot!? To the Hells with her and you!"
Scuffles are beginning to break out and just as you deliberate whether and how to deal with that, your attention is brought skyward. A flight of mounted griffons passes by but there is also a shower of blood. One is badly wounded and comes falling out of the sky, the rider thrown and slamming into the rooftops before his body eventually lands on the street. The griffon itself crashes thunderously into a warehouse down the block, collapsing the front of the building around its corpse. Between bodies falling from the sky and the ringing of the bells, masses of imps and house drakes have launched themselves into the sky and begun their own mid-air melee.
With the death of the king, the city has fallen into chaos. Angry sentiment against the queen has boiled over with riots and looting breaking out all over.
Kalem almost quipped about how it was too bad that he was stuck here where there wouldn't be any good looting, but controlled himself. He doubted that Bashiel would find it amusing. Instead, he said dryly "So, what's with the griffon and house drake aerial battle? The king is dead, but is this now a civil war for the throne?" He was being serious. He didn't know, anything really, about the ruling house or their political opponents. He just assumed that the griffons and drakes belonged to warring factions, and hoped that someone could fill him in.
Brin runs over to the Griffon rider that fell out of the sky to check to see if he is still alive. Getting to the body Brin checks for a pulse.
"Varor, can you see about this man! Gods hurry!"
While Brin is overwhelmed by the blood and limbs at impossible angles, Varor likely has no trouble telling: the man is dead, his back broken in the fall.
It takes barely a glance for Varor to know that the man is not getting up, He's already dead, and even if he wasn't I couldn't heal him, and he's just the first of many. Look to the skies Brin, bodies are about to rain down, and with raining bodies comes raining chaos. he says. then turns to the others, Does anybody have any place we can go to hold up while we were out the storm? If not I recommend we go to the church of Sarenrae. he finishes with his mind racing while waiting for a response.
Great, just great, just fantastic! If this day hasn't already been bad enough, now this. What's going to happen now? What's happening now?
Is the king dead? Is the queen dead? She certainly wasn't with child, that would have been news way in advance, and it wouldn't send everything into frenzy like this. What did Zellara say, that the king laid ill? why didn't I keep up with recent events. If what she said is true, that means that the king probably died. Well I guess it is about time that the curse of the crimson throne took him.
"I see no reason we can't stay at Zellara's and ride this out... but I can tell that Bashiel will probably want to head to his station and report in... I can't imagine the city would be a safe place for a lone guardsman with rioting and such going on. Perhaps it would be best if we escort him there?"
"I say we split up, half go to the church and half to the Station. I myself would prefer to stay away from any kind of armed guards until we know what's happening."
Bashiel wipes a hand across his face in an attempt to clear his tiredness, but it's a futile effort. He stares at the sky and across the city with disbelief. "Why now?" he mutters.
He rushes over to the hippogriff rider and checks to see if they are anyone he knows in the Sable Company. He crosses his fingers that Mirya was able to stay clear of this chaos.
As people voice their ideas, Bashiel interjects, "I don't know what's going on here Kalem. But I don't think we can afford to just hide out somewhere, hoping it'll blow over. Someone is trying to assert their control over the city and we might not like how things look when they're done. If you're willing to join me
I'd like to check the status of things at the nearest Guardpost. After that, I hope we can aid any people nearby in need of help."
Bashiel looks at the presumably unenthusiastic faces of his allies and adds in "In times like this, people who rise to the opportunity can earn the favor of many a moneyed or powerful individual. I know you're all handy in a fight, so you have a lot to gain of you're willing to aid in a time like this. "
Varor shakes his head, "But this isn't going to be a fight this is going to be a riot, but whatever the case we need to get somewhere organized and safe, so which is closer a guard post or my church?" He asked, having forgotten where the guard posts were specifically long ago.
It looks as if the hippogriff was felled by combination of a rusty harpoon, likely used an an improvised weapon, and a series of strikes from imps that have taken to the sky.
Even from your limited vantage, it's apparent the city is rapidly descending into anarchy. While you may not closely follow politics of the court, you all know the broad fundamentals.
The king was of advanced years and poor health. A few years ago, he married his significantly younger queen. Many have suggested she was little more than a gold digger. Others whispers darker rumors, that she was poisoning the king.
Loyalists have dismissed those claims, pointing out the queen was herself of noble birth (albeit Chelaxian rather than Korvosan) and the king had been without a wife or heir. Further, there's been no evidence whatsoever that the queen was poisoning her husband, only observations that he was in ill health, not uncommon for a man of his age.
But the divide grew deep for some of the public with political factions breaking along those lines. It seems unlikely this will descend into a civil war or that some rioters could break the defenses of Castle Korvosa but that doesn't lessen the reality of the unrest or the danger posed by looters and rioters.
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Ilsa looks numb and exhausted.
"This is going to complicate things so much more," she says, feeling jealousy welling up inside her that Gregor had found his son so easily.
"Let's go with Bashiel to the guard," she agrees. "But I don't think we should split up. If there are powerful forces at work, we need to stay together for our own safety."
"Ok I'm in, lets go to the Guard post. Someone in the group has to watch over all of you." Brin says with a smile. "However I don't know about yall but if there is rioting I would like to stop by my shop to secure my place. Cookies future wife is waiting by the fire. haha."
Bashiel shakes his head at Brin's odd comment, but says "Once we have stock of the situation, securing everyone's homes would be a good move. Varor, if you're worried about the church, we can stop there as well. I'm worried for my family too."
"Either way, we should go together, safety in numbers after all" He reflexively ducks as another crash resounds in the distance.
"Well, this is the first time that a watchman has brought me to, uhm, nevermind. Let's get going."
Having decided to head towards a place of law and order, Bashiel is able to identify the closest location of permanently stationed Korvosan Guard. Coincidentally it is also their headquarters: the Citadel.
While en route, the chaos steadily grows around you but most of the looters and rioters fade away and scatter as you approach, not caring to tangle with a group of obviously armed people. Behind you glows the amber light of flames consuming parts of the city. All around you is the clamour of the bells. Above you twirl the imps and housedrakes, both groups driven into a frenzy by the madness around them yet, despite their constant swooping and clawing at one another, very few corpses make it to the street.
As you turn onto an avenue that will take you east to the citadel, your luck falters. Ahead you see a group of guardsmen in a scrum with looters. One of them, standing behind the rest, seems to be goading them on. His back is to you and the guardsmen are on the opposite side. The ringleader yells, "Toadies and lackies of the usurper, we will not give in to the harlot queen's rule! Korvosa will remain for Korvosans!"
The civilians yell in agreement, throw some rocks at the guards. One is hit in the head, collapsing before being pulled back behind the line. A sergeant calls for calm but it's too late. The guardsmen charge, clubs drawn and swords sheethed.
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Round 1
Rioters
Party
Guards
The rioters heave into it swinging their own clubs but without the skill or restraint of a trained guardsman. One misses, the other three hit with one of their blows striking a guard solidly in the side of his head. All of the guards are hit by the rioters, stunned by their ferocity. The ring leaders yells out, "Death to traitors!!!"
Your turn.
Quinlan takes a step forward, then draws and drinks an extract of shield, just in case one of the rioters, or for that matter an overzealous guardsman, gets an idea to try to clonk him on the head.
Brin gets out a piece of candy and readies it, he appears hesitant to choose one side or the other.
Varor steps forward and yells, "What is the matter with all of you! This city going to hell and you are fighting each other like a bunch of children! What are all of you fighting the guards that were put on duty while the king he sat on the throne for? If you all want to stand against the "false queen" then why don't you start by acting like adults, instead of a bunch of idiotic, mindless, thugs! Think about the words you're saying and why you're saying them. And if he is so ideological and so adamant and brave about standing against the "false queen" then why isn't he leading, from the front?" He finishes. pointing to the clear instigator in the back hoping that is planned to turn the rioters against him works.
"THe last thing we need to do right now is to devolve into chaos... take your stand, by all means, if you have one, but peacefully.. .nothing will be gained by random fighting in the streets. Have your say, but in calm voices, not under a flag of anarchy."
The fight has been joined and your entreaties of peace and reason fall on wars already ringing with blood. The ringleader, however, has taken notice of you, his eyes narrowing and lips pulling back in a frown as he considers this new development.
Seeing that diplomacy had failed, Kalem pulled the hammer off of his back. Standing up as tall as he could, and ensuring that his hood was down so that his coal black skin could be seen he called out "Looks like we're going to get to do this the FUN way! There's a bounty for each looter brought in, and they're not too picky on their condition. Try not to kill them, we only get paid for the live ones. And let's get this done before Captain Holtz gets here and ruins our payday."
Bashiel shakes his head in dismay when the earnest diplomacy of his allies falls flat. He calls out only loud enough for his allies to hear "Looks like they've been swept up by that man in the back, if we can knock him out they might lose their confidence. But please, lets not shed any more blood this night if we don't have to."
When Kalem delivers his threat, Bashiel stares uncomprehending at the tiefling for a moment before realizing what he intends. He checks over his cloak to ensure that it continues to cover his guardsman's uniform, then draws his mace and hefts it in what he hopes is a menacing manner.
He points the mace at the ringleader and calls in a louder voice "I hope we don't have to hurt any of you too much. The dungeons are a lot less comfortable when you're covered in bruises."
Brin is delaying too, he doesn't know who he will be joining.
Though savagely battered by the rioters, the guardsmen return the blows, raining club blows down upon the rioters' heads and bodies. One of the rioters collapses to the ground, unconscious, while another is bloodied from a crack to the jaw.
The ringleader yells, "More of the harlot's lapdogs, boys! Time to run. Grab him and let's go!"
They seem to be making ready to retreat.
Unwilling to let the instigator get away to cause trouble elsewhere, Bashiel charges in towards him. He swings his mace in, though he angles the blow to knock the man out rather than cause any serious injury.
"You're going nowhere!"
Brin looks at Ilsa, "Did he just say grab him?" raising his eyebrows.
there might be more to this than I thought.....
The ringleader yells in alarm (and with a hint of panic) as Bashiel charges him, the pommel of Bashiel's dagger cracking into the man's shoulder blade. Two of the rioters grab their unconscious comrade and try to escape from the fight, while the ringleader and the last of them take a full round action to withdraw.
The rioter who was already battered by the guards collapses. When the third is hit, he drops the unconscious ally and retreats, joining his already fleeing colleagues.