"Well she's a ghost so..." Daud says with a nonchalant shrug before grabbing a piece of meat. "What is it you two do exactly? Are you explorers or burglars or something else?" he keeps his tone flat as he throws their earlier estimates back at them.
"Something else." Amira replies with a hint of a smile. "This city has an awareness....a will of it's own. She cares for her people. I see to it that her will is 'represented'. Cassandra here believes in the work, although honestly I think she just likes n excuse to run along the rooftops."
"So a traceur and a... cityspeaker?" Daud pauses, unsure really of the correct term for the girl. "Met a few like that up in Kaer Maga. They could talk to statues like people and track through streets like they were fresh animal trails... I'm assuming that's what you are, or were you just being poetic when you anthromorphised Korvosa?"
"That's as good a description as any I suppose. My poetry tends to be a bit more.....dynamic."
Daud can't help but let out a dark chuckle. "You'll have to remind me to come to one of your readings then. Speaking of, what song has the city been singing to you lately?"
"A ghost explains it." Cassandra says in between bites. She's devoured near half the food tray by itself. "You don't need to know the spirit of the city to know things are efffed up. King dying. Rioting. Perfectly loyal noble families being arrested for treason. The whole thing is a mess?"
Cassandra teleports ten feet, so she's standing next to Amira. There's not even a flash of light or a sound. She just crosses the space instantly without crossing the space.
"Some days I wish I had never left the Acadamae."
Daud actually stops eating as he sees the shorter woman blink in and out of existence. "So you would be an arcanist of sorts? Since you mentioned that place... and the whole stepping in and out of reality thing." he asks as he pushes the rest of the trays of food towards her.
"Well there's a whole lot that isn't right about it all, and the turmoil and chaos in the streets are just symptoms of something toxic deep down. I aim to get to the bottom of it." Amira says taking a few bites t a much slower pace than her ravenous friend.
"Then you must only go to the castle and crawl under the queen, you'll find your answers there. Or go to the garrison and find Commander Croft..." Daud stops mid-sentence as his face turns sour. "On second thought you'd just have to go to the castle, you'd find Croft bent over with her reamed out ass in the Queen's lap. Happily following any order her Lord gives as she squeals like a pig."
"I'm a wizard." Cassandra says as she snags another chunk of cheese. The Ioun stone that circles her head changes orbit to avoid the hand as she stuffs it in her mouth.
"Conjurer, technically. I should call Park inside. He's my familiar. He stayed outside in case we needed rescuing."
She sniggers at Daud's description of the queen and her.. Ahem... Special friend.
Amira raises an eyebrow at the description of the Queen's connection to the head of the garrison.
"I take it you've no love for the Queen then."
"I have no love for tyrants nor those who blindly follow orders. Especially those that sentence an innocent woman to death." His face has gone from sour to a full on snarl, matching his voice in its aggression.
Letting out something in between a breath and a growl he asks Amira, without breaking eye contact, "What does the city think of her queen?"
"That woman is not her queen." Amira says quietly. "She hs done nothing to ensure that the people are safe during all this chaos, her actions are those of a self interested power hungry coward who seeks to abuse power gained through sheer misfortune."
Letting his stare linger for a bit his features eventually soften before he leans back against the wall. "Okay, you? I like."
The day passes along, as Wednesday and Tolenn settle down and get to know their new, eccentric friends. Much thought is given to the current state of affairs, and the group's general dislike of the Queen, but the mood is still light, Wednesday and Tolenn still basking in the ultimate justice that prevailed as Trinia escaped.
Meanwhile, Terri helps Tayce for a while before donning her ill-fitting Shelynite garments and performing her duties as a priestess of the Goddess of Beauty. Though her priestly cohorts have nothing but praise for her, she sighs as the curvier women walk about her, but goes about her tasks as well as any of them.
Night falls, and the bustling city settles down to slumber, a relative peace reigning this night. No rioting crowds can be heard, nor horns, nor any of the other frequent nightly occurrences that have plagued Korvosa this past week. Everyone falls asleep, feeling relatively safe and secure, the four in Zellara's house, Terri in her tiny apartment.
___________________________________________________________
Around midnight, everyone in both places is awakened by a terrible wooden screech, following shortly by the mighty thunder of a trebuchet being fired. As the disorientation of sleep leaves, the group again hears the sound of the mighty siege weapon being launched. As the four in Zellara's home go outside to see what the commotion is about, they find the streets filled with roused people, looking about with expressions ranging from simple curiosity to fear. After the trials of the previous week, the sound of the weapon being fired appears ready to fray the nerves of the folk here.
As the group stands there, they again hear the sound of the mechanism firing, and can even in the distance see a huge, flaming missile arcing through the air before disappearing behind the buildings of the city around them.
As Terri goes outside, she finds the residents of Trail's End up, most looking fearful as a small brig slowly sails past on the Jeggare River, aflame from bow to stern. As it quickly slips beneath the water, the young priestess believes she sees a single pale yellow lantern hanging from a post near the front of the ship.
"I don't remember them ever having to fire those." Cassandra says as she stares off into the distance. The urge to climb up to the rooftops makes her fingers twitch. Park sits on her shoulder, gibbering softly.
Growling at having been rudely awoken twice in a row he makes his way down with others at the sounds of the explosions in the same manner he had reacted to their visitors.
Stepping outside and taking in the renewed chaos he casts a glance at the Cobblestone Druid. "Was wondering when this city was going to tear itself apart."
Cassandra delves through her memory and her recent rooftop runnings, trying to recall where there might be mighty trebuchets in the City. The only places she can think of are on the walls facing the Bay, and on North Bridge, facing up and down the Jeggare River. With that being the case, it is most likely coming from the sea or river.
Cassandra does the math in her head. She's actually not bad at it, considering her education.
"City's being attacked by boat." she thinks out loud. "Either from the sea or the river."
Now that the group is outside, and can take the time to get oriented, it is most definitely not coming from the Bay.
Daud actually blinks for a moment before being able to speak. "Who attacks a city with a friggin boat!?"
Amira looks round, trying to shake off the grogginess of sleep.
"Someone hoping to approach unnoticed." Amira replies fastening the final buckles on her armor and checking her weapons.
As the group stands outside, trying to determine what might be going on, there is another boom heard, and another flaming shot goes soaring into the air from the vicinity of North Bridge, arcing north up the river before sinking out of the companions' limited sight. A half dozen more shots ring out, each with a lower arc than the previous, the last two not even rising above the sky line of Korvosa. Afterwards, there is silence.
The crowd waits outside a few more minutes, waiting to hear alarm bells or the like. When it appears nothing more is forthcoming, most shrug their shoulders, yawn, and go back inside.
The young priestess says a silent prayer for those on the boat, and that Korvosa isn't about to experience a fresh disaster.
During the discussions Tolenn, remains quiet,merely filling flagons and removing plates when needed. Glad that the two newcomers and Daud have quicly come to a shared opinion on the ills of the city, she refrains for now from voicing her own cautions, not willing to spoil the beginnings of camaraderie with needless debate.
Such passion they all have! It is good that we've been drawn together. Hopefully I can serve as a balance for their more energetic opinions." she thinks to herself, smiliing a bit at one of Daud's more vociferous outbursts.
-----
Later when woken by the siege engines, she runs outside with the others, gazing wide-eyed at the flaming spheres flying through the sky.
Raising an eyebrow at Cassandra's declaration, "The sea or the river, you say? If it were a clandestine landing, surely the trebuchet were a trifle overkill. I wonder what's really at play here."
"Only one way to find out. Try to keep up." Cassandra says. She unholsters her mithral grappling hook, twirls and lets fly.
The hook hits perfectly, lodging in the sweetest spot on the roof. Cassandra scrambles up it.
"Someone grab my grappling hook after you climb up!" Cassandra shouts before she takes off running.
Tolenn watches the conjurer scamper away on the slippery tiles of the Korvosan rooftops. Turning to Amira, "Does she do this often?"
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Being the most skilled at it, the conjurer reaches the buildings near the river long before the others. Everything is silent...whatever had drawn the attention of the massive trebuchets is either gone, or resides at the bottom of the Jeggare River. The guards on North Bridge seem a bit numerous in number, but otherwise there is no indication there was even an incident, at this point.
Tolenn approaches one of the guards, her manner confident "Guardsman, we saw the trebuchet rounds fall this way. Did you see their target?" she asks.
Diplomacy
"Twas a ship, lady. It's taken care of..." The guard seems irritable, from his look likely because he thinks he was woken up for nothing serious. Looking out over the river, it's surprising to think that just a short time ago there was a menace warranting a use of the thunderous trebuchets.
"Do you know why the ship needed to be taken care of? Or is it just open season on sea vessels?" Daud reaponds, his own irritation matching the guard's.
Tolenn glances at Daud, then looks back at the guard, "The ship, was it leaving Korvosa, or arriving from the sea?"
The guards huffs at being questioned, then sighs in boredom and fatigue, turning to Tolenn, the more amiable of the pair. "Twas arriving from the sea, lady. Bearing a single lantern. Multiple attempts were made to hail the vessel, but there was no response. We were left with little choice but to sink her."
Tolenn watches the conjurer scamper away on the slippery tiles of the Korvosan rooftops. Turning to Amira, "Does she do this often?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
”All the time,” Amira replies with a hint of a smile before grabbing the rope.
Climbing to the top, she grabs the grappling hook once she realizes the others would prefer more conventional methods, then takes off, running along the rooftops, leaping and jumping with an almost unimaginable skill, keeping to the shadows as she does.
As they wait for the others and Tolen begins to question the guards, she lurks silently atop a ledge overlooking the other two, completely and utterly still.
At the lackluster reveal Daud shrugs non-chalently. "Do you know if their gonna send anybldy to investigate the wreck?"
The guard shakes his head. "Doubt it. River's around a hundred foot deep over there. What kind of durned fool sails a boat in the middle of the night and don't answer the guard hail, anyway?" The man harrumphs and walks away.
"Wonder if either of our new friends has some magic for that." Daud thinks aloud for a moment before turning to Tolenn. "If not I'm out of ideas. Other than going to get something to drink or eat."
Hearing the guard's response, Amira smiles to herself. When the sun arose she would commune with the city and the power of the land, and in doing so might just be able to investigate the wreck.
Cassandra quietly thanks Amira and fastens the grappling hook back to her belt. She watches the exchange of paladin and warrior with the guardsmen.
"So," Cassandra says, jabbing Amira in the ribs with her elbow. "What have you got for underwater exploration?"
"When the sun comes up I can change the spells I can call on to increase my swimming speed and keep a bubble of air around my head." Amira responds ignoring the elbow jab as usual.
Cassandra peers out onto the river.
"Just you? Damn. Well, I'll have to wait to hear what you find, then." Cassandra covers her mouth and yawns.
"Maybe after a nap, though."
The rest of the night passes uneventfully for all, and the morning ushers in a gorgeous day, full of sunshine and warmth. Besides for the occasional curious talk on the street, last night's brief occurrence seems to have been all but forgotten.
"Let me grab my pack."
In less than a minute, she's dragging Tayce behind her as she hurries through the streets to Brienna.
It's just a fever, so why do I feel like there's something much, much worse on the horizon.
Even though he should have seen it coming he still grumbled when the rays of the morning sun began heating the house and woke him up for the third time. Wiping the sleep from his eyes he goes and knocks on the door to the room he believes Amira is staying in.
Upon opening the door, Terri sees that Tayce's worry seems well-founded. Brienna looks feverish, fatigued, and her face is broken out in patches of rash, with a couple of blisters forming on her left cheek, it seems. The girl seems asleep to begin with, but as the two enter she slowly drags open her eyes, following the movement of the two women sluggishly.
Awakening just before dawn as always, Amira draws the blinds from the window and sits skyclad, cross-legged on her bed, her eyes closed and mind open as she communes with the city, reaching out to feel the activity, the life teeming within. The change that came with the rising sun always brought with it a magic of it's own as she realms of day and night shifted, the city "belonging" to a different set of people.
She reaches the state she always anticipated the most, that moment when her spirit touched that of Korvosa herself, ancient ad powerful, yet subtle. With it came images, unclear in their meaning yet certain in their danger, water and the darkness below, death. She could almost feel the city's presence, like the arms of a mother protecting a child, proud of the curiosity yet afraid. A fear that came from knowledge of danger the child could not yet understand.
I accept your wisdom. I will wait, but we shall find out what is amiss, I promise it.
As the rays of the sun touch her skin she smiles, feeling the energy and subtle natural magics infuse her. A heavy-handed knock on the door draws her attention as she opens her eyes, wrapping the bed-sheet around her.
"Come in." she says quietly.
At her permission Daud opens the door and enters, smirking slightly at the state Amira is in before quickly pushing the expression from his face. Closing the door he keeps his eyes to hers as he speaks. "Apologies for bothering you milady, but I was curious if the city would allow you and perhaps others to explore the wreck in the river?"