"If you want to pursue this further with Glorio Arkona, be my guest. Whether he is involved in the plague or not, he may have informants who know a bit or two about it. I would advise you to tread carefully, though. Enemies of the Arkonas have been known to disappear. "
"I'll be sure to disappear on my own if it comes to that" Victor hid both his hands in his pockets "And stop sounding so sincere when your warning us. I might end up believing ya gave a damn if something happened to me"
"The parts of your body that fight disease and keep you alive...do you not care for them Victor? Her concern is sincere. We are the only thing that has kept this plague from being far worse so far. Anyone with true concern for this city shares a concern for the others trying to keep her alive." Amira says looking at the sorcerer.
Wednesday arches a brow at the cobblestone druid. "And here this whole time I thought you were smart. This piece of s~*@ doesn't give a damn about us or the city. The only thing she cares about is waiting for the next chance for the queen to ask her to bend forward and spread her cheeks."
"And to answer your analogy, no, otherwise I wouldn't drink."
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"The parts of your body that fight disease and keep you alive...do you not care for them Victor? Her concern is sincere. We are the only thing that has kept this plague from being far worse so far. Anyone with true concern for this city shares a concern for the others trying to keep her alive."
Victor never hated sense or logic, on the contrary he was fond of both...but on the occasions where they set him up to appear foolish he flirted with the idea of breaking ties with them, just like he flirted with the idea of turning invisible so he can avoid answering Amira's logical rebuttal, but he knew better than to waste his power on such trivial things and settled on a grumbling surrender.
Oh he wished he could tell her that Kroft did not fit her example, but she had been not only kinder but more sensible than all the authority figures he met to date... And he hated that fact, he wanted to point at something to show her that the Marshal was no different from the other guardsmen he dealt with but he always came up empty and at such times the only thing he could do was object as silently as possible in an effort to ward off looking like a fool.
"And here this whole time I thought you were smart. This piece of s&~! doesn't give a damn about us or the city. The only thing she cares about is waiting for the next chance for the queen to ask her to bend forward and spread her cheeks."
"And to answer your analogy, no, otherwise I wouldn't drink."
On this day though he would probably not get any further attention. Thanks to a man who was all too willing to get himself killed verbally and physically. Victor wondered at times if Wednesday had any survival instincts If he did they probably moved to greener pastures He did not know what life held for this man or how he was still alive for that matter, but one thing he did know, if he ever got the chance to raise children he would use Wednesday as an example of things you should not say lest you found yourself flogged or with a noose around your neck.
Marcus Endrin steps up in front of Wednesday. His voice is firm and angry but controlled.
"The Field Marshall told me about your childish vulgarity. I'd say she overestimated your wit but not your immaturity. On that, she was right on target."
"You are contemptible. By your words to the Field Marshall, you insult not just her, but every other person working to keep this city from flying apart. You need to either apologize or leave the Citadel before I throw you out."
Wednesday cocks his head to the side as the man steps in front of him. "Excuse me? You can rightfully go forth and fornicate and with yourself if you think that she can consider herself a reservoir for good hope for everyone else's endeavors seeing as how everyone else but her is trying to keep his city from destroying itself."
"So no, I will not apologize to some worthless wretch who lies to those she employs in an attempt to appear a benevolent hero but then turns around and sentences an innocent woman to death all to appease her beloved queen."
"And I will not apologize to some incompetent bootlicker who, when presented with evidence as to the cause of the plague, immediately tries to blame some thug trying to scam coins out of the frightened rabble rather than the obvious cause."
Amira turns slowly to glare at Wednesday, the utter disgust clear on her face. "I have had it with your bull$#!+. You have yet to utter a single useful word. Please in your infinite wisdom, enlighten us as t the cause of this plague and the brilliant solution you've come up with that we are all to dull to understand. Each person here, every one of us wants to safe this city and the people in it. But you, you just want to be right. You want to see it burn." she says the anger taking on a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"Every one of us is trying our damnedest to save the city we each love in our own way, to fight to save the people in it, and you just want to gloat that your useless suicidal outlook wins in the end."
As she continues to speak, the druid is almost shaking with anger."We all have something to protect, and will do to protect from this all." she continues practically shouting.
"What do you love? WHAT DO YOU CARE ABOUT??!!?? You sit there all smug and you snipe and you b@&~! and discredit the people who are the reason more people aren't dead, while you'll be just as happy to see everyone in this city dead! Because than we'd all be like you are inside!"
Turning that same focused look from the other man to Amira he listens silently as she rants, once she finishes however he smiles and just breaks down into deep, dark chuckles. "No, you're right. I really don't give a damn about this wretched city. I could care less if every one of its citizens dropped dead or the whole thing went up in flames and ashes."
Halting he takes a thoughtful look while still keeping that feral smile. "Actually no, that's a lie. I'd actually be quite happy if that happened. So you're right on that. "
"But for why I stay?... I don't really know anymore. I'm just following you and Tolenn Dessert and Tangled Briar around. I guess... the more dark and f#+!ed up something is," as he talks, his smile falters, "the more it's attracted to light and the good. Cause why I don't have a problem with this city tearing itself apart, I'd rather not anyone be as miserable as me."
"As for the plague that was rather obvious, he'll, you were there! The queen's guards. The queen's physicians. What do they have in common?"
As he laughs at the though of her beloved city and everyone in it dying, Amira musters every ounce of control she has not to drive a starknife into his eye. Turning she looks directly at Tolenn. "Straight from his own mouth." she says locking eyes with the other woman.
Turning back to Wednesday her voice drops to a low, deadly growl. "I have no idea why she keeps you around, because you're beneath even pity, the fact that you've fought on the same side is the only thing of any worth you've done so far. So do us all a favor and shut the @$%^ up and keep your head down until we point out something for you to kill, since that's the only thing you're good at."
"The queen. Field Marshall Kroft speaks back up at this point.
"They have the queen in common. But if you shut that a%!+@+& you call a mouth once in a while, Wednesday, you might figure a few other things out. The queen has power and position. She's got money and that means she has the Hellknights. She's still got the magistrates and they do frown on sedition and regicide. She has the support of a substantial number of the people in the city. Anyone opposing her has to be very careful. Not everyone has the freedom of an itinerant adventurer. You get to stir the pot while others try to give you cover or clean up the aftermath. And if the s~*! hits the fan, you get to walk away. Lucky you."
At this point, a series of WHUMPs can be heard to the north and puffs of smoke arise along the bridges between Endrin Isle and the mainland.
"And now she's blow the damn bridges to quarantine Old Korvosa. And that means she has the Acadamae too."
Leaning in toward the Druid he lowers his voice, but not enough so that the others couldn't hear. "Or you could stop f#$*ing around and just kill me already. Then no one would have to put up with me again."
Turning back to Croft he just shrugs. "So you're not a complete moron. Good to know. And what freedom do I have? You talk like me or anyone here is actually important in the grand scheme of things."
Once the thumps reach he turns to look in their direction. "Well of course she has the Acadame, she's Chelish. Devilhumpers tend to stick together."
A drop of shadow fell upwards as if pulled by an invisible force and latched on to Victor's right arm, morphing into the morbid gauntlet that usually appeared when he conjured up his spells. The sorcerer partially knelt to the stones below them put his now taloned finger tips on the floor and clenched them into a fist slowly, dragging the claw like protrusions across the stone and giving rise to a loud screech.
The sound echoed about them for a few moments before halting suddenly "Ya know? I am tempted to make several copies of Amira that mimic her every move and word just so she could drown out yer voice. Why? Cause I like listening to sense and listening to yer nonsense wants to make me bloody murder something" Victor stood up, the gauntlet falling to tatters as he rose from his spot.
"So why are ya here? Ya keep saying ya don't care about this city, no that ya will be happy if it all burns, so why are ya with us? So if we failed ya can say 'hey, I told ya it would come to this'" Victor exhaled loudly, not bothering to hide his discontent or anger.
"Cause if that is the reason, then ya are by far the pettiest and saddest man I've seen to date, and I've seen some sad sights let me tell ya" Victor walked away from the group for a few steps then turned towards them "But I don't think that's it, ya don't look stupid. Which is too bad that would have answered a whole lot of questions" Victor put both his hands in his pockets once more and took a deep breath.
"And while ya tease yer brain with that one, here is another one for the road...Ya have issues with Kroft, right? She made a bad call got a friend convicted, right? Yeh I'd be bloody livid if that happened to me" Victor puts his right hand to his forehead "But what was she supposed to do, let yer friend go and take the axe for her? Why?" The hand that was on his forehead rose up to his hair.
"Its bloody amazing, ya make my whining about her sound like bloody compliments. No, congratulations! Ya actually made me feel for the first time in my life that a guard has the right of it, and I may forgive ya for a lot of things Wednesday, even the bloody things ya say about this cesspool! Cause its my cesspool thank ya very much! But I won't forgive that ya made me feel that a guard was in the right! Bloody never!"
"Look ya want to help us follow along, ya don't want to, its a big city, yer a big boy and I am sure ya can amuse yerself" Victor turned to walk but then turned around as if he remembered something "Oh and one more thing...I am Chelish" A strand of darkness rose from his silhouette and almost instantly covered his face, till there was no features to be seen, except for two rows of bluish teeth that hung out on a face that appeared to have no cheeks or lips.
"So if ya don't like seeing us, bugger off to Ustalav and go hump one of the corpses ya all love to keep around yer homes. Maybe one of yer local necromancers can even make her moan for ya"
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Tolenn nods her understanding of Croft's suggestion, then turns and looks out over her city. She watches as plumes of oily smoke rise in silent memorial of those killed by the Veil.
She hears Wednesday's customary venom cut the air towards his favorite whipping post, Marshall Croft. A small smile twitches the scars on her face as Croft then Amira take Wednesday to task.
She turns to catch Amira's glare, which Tolenn accepts with equanimity, knowing full well that Wednesday would probably not be a member of the group if not for her presence. Still, Tolenn believes that despite his vehement protestations to the contrary, Wednesday does indeed care....it's just so twisted by the trajedies of his life it remains clouded by his pain and self loathing.
She glances at Wednesday,seething , glaring at the Marshall, then back to Amira. She then waits for Victor to say his piece before saying,
"Come friends, let us hie to the bookstore, therd is still daylight enough to do some more good this day. Our frustrations are obvious, let's not take them out on each other. Wednesday, come away. Good day, Marshall
She thinks it best not to tell Wednesday that she also counts Cheliax as her families homeland.
Wednesday throws his arms out to the side in frustration. "Then murder me and be done with it, okay!"
"Kroft didn't make a "bad call", she outright lied to us! She could have told us to take Trinia somewhere else if we caught her, or at the very least just not bring her back to her, but no! She told us to bring her to her to keep her safe from the queen. She. F*%!ING. LIED."
"And I meant nationality, not ethnicity."
"Then what do you suggest I take my frustrations out on aside from the cause?" he flatly asks the paladin.
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Tolenn's eyes narrow and she suddenly walks right up to Wednesday, making the man take an involuntary step back.
"The cause? You see Croft as the cause?" Tolenn asks, leaning in close, grabbing Wednesday's shoulder and spininng him like a regdoll to look at the now towering plume of smoke.
"Is she the cause of that?" she asks , then spins the man to face old Korvosa, where dust rose over the remains of the storied bridges "Or is she the cause of that?
She then gently turns Wednesday to face the ziggurat of the Royal castle, "There, Wednesday, there is the cause. Tolen says directly into his ear, "The Queen, Wednesday, the Queen. Direct your frustrations towards her, as do I"
"The cause of my frustrations." Wednesday tries to get out as Tolenn plays him like a top, but it's probbaly lost in her actions.
At her final proclamation he just slumps his head forward. "Why can't any of you bastards just kill me already so I don't have to do this anymore? You don't like putting up with me. I don't like putting up with me."
Tolenn looks at her friend, her head slightly cocked to one side. Reaching out, she grasps his chin and raises his head until he meets her eye, "I put up with you just fine. Come, we have work to do."
Her tone is brisk but cheerful, she turns to walks away, giving a salute to the Marshall and her companion.
She looks at the others, "Any of you know aught of this bookstore and its proprietor?"
"... how?" is all he mumbles as starts to follow in behind her.
Knowing relatively little of the bookstore other than its reputation, Tolenn leads the group away from Citadel Volshenek. The walk isn't far (marked on the Map of Korvosa) since the Bookmaker shop is still in the Midland neighborhood.
The shop is packed with bookshelves and only narrow avenues between them. The wares vary from expensive, hand scribed, and illuminated works, to much newer works printed by woodblock or metal presses. Rather than having a traditional counter, the proprietor sits on a stool at a tall scribe's desk. The proprietor himself is thin and angular with wispy graying hairs on his mostly bald head. He looks at the curious looking group in front of him with a bit of surprise.
"Good gentlefolk, is there something I can help you with here?"
"You informed the guards you had concerns your shop was haunted?" Wednesday flatly and nonchalantly says as he begins looking over some of the books and tomes.
Seeing that Wednesday had the owner's attention, Victor stepped away from the group and walked to the middle of the shop. The smell of old books and ink a welcome change to the smells of the streets.
The sorcerer spread out his arcane energies in all directions, causing his shadow to pulse multiple times as it spread to the edges of its owner's range of magical detection.
Along the walk over to the bookstore, Amira at some point realizes that Cassandra had subtly had them hang back a bit, distracting her from her seething anger. Not only was her presence calming but the fact that Park, sitting on his mistress' shoulder was tossing discarded peanut shells at her had actually managed to dredge up a smile.
Forcing herself to shake of the fury that had gripped her, the druidess flashes Cass a grin, letting her know her ploy to shift her mood had worked, as always.
Whispering the words to a spell, she feels an boosting of her already keen senses, allowing her to take in all the minor details of what she sees.
As they enter the eclectic bookshop, she smiles. Though nowhere near as well read as her partner, the scent of old books was one she enjoyed immensely, promising old knowledge and secrets long unspoken in the waking world.
As she notes Victor's face taking on a focused yet distant look, that she'd seen on Cassandra countless times, she realizes that the street mage was scanning the shop with a magical gaze. Silently she stands inside the store looking around, taking it all in as her mind runs through everything she knew about the location and the nature or things that might cross over form the spirit plane.
As she does, her partner nonchalantly browses the shelves, noting anything that might draw undue attention to the shop.
Tolenn allows Wednesday to talk with the owner, joining the others in walking about the shop. To her the amount of reading material here was overwhelming. Able to read, her exposure to the printed word was limited to holy scripture.
She notices Victor, eyes closed, obviously seeking, searching for something arcane.
Nodding she begins to do what she can do determine the nature of the 'haunting'.
Closing her eyes, she reaches out and seeks that which was anathema to her own nature...
The proprietor's eyes light up with the announcement that you're here for the ghost problem. "AH! Excellent! I had hoped that someone would be along... though I didn't expect such an... eclectic... group. No matter. I am Costa Serimus and welcome to my shop." He indicates his stacks with a sweep of his arm. "If you want to know about something, chances are I have a source for you to consult for your answers." He starts moving toward the back of the shop. "Please, follow me."
Neither Tolenn nor Victor detect anything unexpected with their powers - Tolenn finds no evil within range, nor does Victor detect any magic (aside from equipment carried by his companions).
Nor is Amira able to detect anything particularly out of out ordinary with the Bookmaker. The shop seems unlikely to carry any really dangerous works - that's usually the purview of the Gilded Orrery which caters to the Acadamae and its arcane clientele - and those would be more likely to attract the attention of dangerous creatures beyond normal existence. In fact, nothing seems out of ordinary at all... except for one thing. The signs are subtle, but a side window of the shop's seems to have attracted attention from critters. Judging from the claw marks all around the sill and hairs, rats appear to have taken a shine to that window area.
"Down here is where the guards found a way into the vaults below the city. The priestess of Pharasma assured me there was no hint of a ghost, but I am still worried. What if it's something worse?" Costa says as he leads whomever follows him down to the cellar.
"What exactly has been occurring to make you think your shop is haunted?" Wednesday flatly asks as he follows the man down.
"I can't sense anything magical" The mage ran his hand through his short hair "Nice place, quiet...can't get much of that these days" He added as he followed after their host.
"Indeed. Quite ordinary." Tolenn comments, following along down the steps.
"How long have you had a problem with rats?" Amira asks the proprietor as they start heading down.
Costa carries on conversationally with Wednesday, "It started with the noises. My home is above the shop and I would hear noises late at night. At first I thought it was someone come to rob my shop, but when I checked it out there was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing stolen. But other nights it would be a moaning sound, like the damned come back from Hell, I thought. That really put the fright in me."
He leads the group into the cellar, currently cluttered with many shelves in various states of breakdown or partial repair as well as other bits of furniture and book-binding tools. He's waiting for the group to assemble as he hears Amira's question.
"Rats? I haven't seen any rats. I usually watch for them closely because they've been known to chew up the leather bindings of my books. What makes you think I have a rat problem?"
"That window upstairs. There are claw marks all around it and traces of rat hairs. It looks like they've used it as an entry point regularly." Amira continues, clearly on a train of thought. "The question is, what would suddenly draw rats to your store and yet not have them eating the books?"
"How many days ago did this start? And do you have any regulars that changed habits right before this started? Or maybe new customers started showing up after this started?" Asked Victor in rapid succession as he looked around the cellar. The sorcerer walked to the nearest shadow and began manipulating it slightly as he gave the matter some thought.
"It has been going on the past week," Costa answers Victor. "But I can't think of anyone whose behavior has changed - other than virtually all of my most regular customers cutting back on visits. I fear they're afraid of catching the plague, so I don't blame them. No significant new customers either."
"I had no idea I had rats. That might account for some of the noises I've heard, but not the moaning. That didn't sound like a rat at all." Costa continues as he leads you to one of the corners of the cellar. A metal grate is set in the floor.
"That's it. That drain, if the guards are to be believed, isn't just for water. I assumed it just ran into the sewer for water drainage, but they said it was too big to have been intended just for water - that someone must have had it enlarged or built this way - like for smuggling or somesuch. But I've seen no sign of any criminal activities of my clients"
A little bit of reek rises up through the grate, but not overly much.
Tolenn crouches by the grate, not bothered by the noisome airs emanating from its depth. She casts about, looking for any evidence the grate has been disturbed recently.
Wednesday peers down into the grating as well.
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Cassandra stayed out of the fight. Unless Amira was literally drawing blood, trying to calm her down in the middle of a rage wasn't worth the trouble. As for Wednesday... well, there's no hatred like self-hatred.
Along the way, she can't help but catch up to Amira and whisper in her ear.
"Later, we can play queen and criminal and you can yell at me like that if you want. I'll even let you use the leather bindings."
In the shop now, Cassandra considers the possibilities.
"How far do these tunnels go?" she wonders, "Do you think we could use them to reach and help the people who have been cut off by her Majesty's mercies?"
Cassandra pulls a pebble from her spellpouch and kisses it. It begins to shine with bright light. She drops it down the grate to provide a better view.
There's a knock on the door of the shop. Terri had been busy with her fellow clergy of Shelyn and she'd just now caught up to her friends and companions at the shop that the Field Marshal had mentioned.
"Hello? I'm with the group that the Field Marshal Kroft sent," she says, a little unsure if she has the right address, "she said that we might be able to help with a situation here."
It appears that the grate has been moved recently - it certainly seems to get used more often than one would expect in a fairly old cellar for a mature shop. Amira even notices there is more sign of rats passing along here and through the grate.
The pebble Cassandra drops falls about 15 feet and bounces about a little. It provides a little amount of illumination that reveals a damp tunnel.
When Terri arrives, she finds nobody in particular minding the store, but can hear the discussion of several people, including her friends, coming from the rear of the store.
Terri follows the voices to the back of the shop.
"Hey, what's going on?"
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The sight of the petite blond seemed to melt some of the bitterness that Victor was freely expressing; no longer was he showing a deep frown, his lips opting for a more casual and neutral straight line. He walked away from where he stood and made his way to Terri, his hands tucked away in his pockets.
"Would ya believe that we went from ghosts, to rats, to sewers?" The mage stood closer to the cleric than he would any other member of their group.
Following his question was an explanation of what they went through while she was away and whatever answers their current host gave them till this moment.
Cassandra glances up.
"Hi, Terri. Wednesday went insane in front of important people. He and Amira nearly killed each other. Now we're investigating a haunting that might be rats coming up from secret tunnels! Very exciting."
"Yeah, so apparently voicing your distaste of someone instead of bottling it up is a form of insanity now. And I didn't nearly kill The Trumpet." Wednesday states with a roll of his eyes.
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Cassandra looks up at Wednesday and laughs.
"Really? That's your argument?" she asks, "I'm a hyper-impulsive rooftop leaper with magic powers and no self-control and even I know that you wait until LATER to vent when you don't like the person giving you jobs that align with the goals of your group, especially when those goals are helpful to the people you're trying to protect."
"Impulsive and spineless go hand in hand. What good does venting at people who aren't the cause do? That's not pointing anything out, that's just whining uselessly without fear of repercussion."
"Whatever." Cassandra says, putting her hand up between her and Wednesday. "When you're only one emotion you're just boring."
She stands up from her crouch. "Let's go explore tunnels!"