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"Oh Bastard, I speak Dragon. I am not merely the daring swordarm you see, but a scribe, and translator as well." He turns to address the dragons.
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"Your son tried to attack us. We could have killed him off but avoided to do so, merely subduing him. We can cure him if you promise to discuss things peacefully. We are no thieves, we were sent here to check on you and discover why you were acting violently towards the Inn's clients" Vanya answers back with her thoughts.
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"This won't do. This won't do at all!"
Fimfinkle pushes his way through the taller folk. How could we have ever hurt such innocent creatures
"Please, my name is Fimfinkle, let me heal your son. This has been a terrible misunderstanding and we'd very much like to help. I bought you a pie." Fimfinkle slowly brandishes the pie he pilfered from the kitchen.
Vanya, Fimfinkle, and the rest of the partly quickly calm the pseudodragons' fears. The lead dragon explains, There was a human, short and fat, with a white coat. He snuck in last night and stole three eggs, the dirty thief! I apologize, I assumed you were working with him and come back to steal more.
One of the eggs met an unfortunate end on the stairs, as I'm sure you saw. Clearly all of this has left us quite angry but if you can find the other two missing eggs we will stop searching the inn and harassing the guests looking for them.
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Glancing towards Vanya, he mumbles "You don't say... "
'I wonder what the man said to my companion with that being the case...Seems the kitchen could use a good searching.'
"I am truly saddened by your loss. Though not a parent myself, I hate to see unnecessary malice in any form. Should we bring the offspring back to you here if we manage to locate them?"
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"The thief asked me to take more of your eggs... no matter he will answer for his theft and for crushing one of your eggs!" Vanya promises before moving back to the first floor and calling the man named Craik.
"Craik! Come here. I've got what you were looking for!" she says trying sounding convincing
Craik, Lady Qualstair’s personal chef, is down in the kitchen arguing with Lomen again. When Vanya calls to him, he comes rushing towards the stairs. "Oh really? Please, bring them this way. After a quick inspection to ensure they aren't cracked, I'll get you your reward..."
Craik responds to Vanya, "Oh no, just step over here and pass them to me and I will give them to my Mistress. You'll get your reward, don't worry."
Craik cowers and squeals at the sight of an open blade and with open hostility from Vanya. She pushes him back into the corner of the kitchen as the others move away and pretend to ignore the shady dealings going on. Craik sputters, "Really, they were for my Mistress, no one else was paying me! They're in her room, just down the hall! Please, put the blade away, the others are staring!"
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"I don't think so..." says Vanya pouncing on the cook kukri's suddenly appearing in her hands!
"Dear gods woman! Must you draw your blades at every opportunity. I am surprised the washer woman is not bleeding on the floor merely because you thought that you might have her at a disadvantage while her hands were full. I am sorry sir. We are shamed by this untamed harridan, and our ability to control her bloodthirsty urges." Abaal turns to the party. "My fellows, I suggest we leave immediately to find the local constabulary and bring them here to incarcerate Vanya for her violent rudeness to our hosts. Let us be away." He turns back. "Master Craik, we shall return for you soon, within an hour at the longest. Remain brave."
"And who would that mistress be, exactly? Name names, man or I'll gut you like a fish! You are the reason for all of this! The pseudodragons were angered by the theft of their eggs!" says Vanya keeping her blades out and just a few inches away from Craik's face.
"I told you-or at least you surely know-that I'm Lady Qualstair’s personal chef!"
Craik at first moves to cling to Abaal for saving him from Vanya but then quickly shrinks away again when he realizes he is not yet out of hot water.
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"And you stole the eggs because you wanted to make an omelette for lady Qualstair out of it? Sounds about right... working abroad for so long I somehow lost my appreciation for the ways of our oh so wise and farsighted leaders..." says Vanya sounding really scornful. Then the taldan woman takes the eggs back to the pseudodragons while giving Craik and Abaal a low growl as she passes by them.
After that's done Vanya goes searching for the inn's proprietor and asks:"Now that the unpleasantness with the pseudodragons should be sorted out we need to ask you a few questions. Seems like there's a few disasters waiting to strike. I think we might have stopped one of them by saving those poor pseudodragon eggs from being turned into omelettes by your cook. But we were foretold about 3 of them, so I'd like to ask if you heard about anything suspicious happening here in Korvosa"
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Shaking his head as the events unfold, the gnome let's out an audible sigh.
Not the best way to handle that, but no one was harmed and the children were returned to the rightful place...I can live with that for now. Will need to be mindful of those two though he considers.
Looking towards the innkeeper, he adds an additional request. "We're in search of a Varisian soothsayer. Have you seen her or knowledge of where she may be found? Also, we have been given some of them fortune cards regarding events to unfold. Any chance you could give us some insight on them?"
Up in the tower, the pseudodragons are ecstatic to have their eggs returned to them. Although they are saddened that one has been lost, they are at least grateful that you were able to help them. We will forever sing praises in your names! one of them says.
Another adds, Last autumn, we lost another egg. Quite impulsively we stole a hippogriff egg to replace our lost one.
A third voice continues in your head, Now this hippogriff is part of our family, but we are worried that fate has tried to punish us for the theft by making us lose yet another egg this year.
Following an intense conference of chirps and growls, the first voice continues, We wish to make amends for our past mistake and hope that this rights our wrong and returns fate to its course. We could never give up our dear hippogriff now but we hope that you will accept one of our young brood into your family. It is time for him to leave the nest and he will need a good mentor and we think that you are just the sort to raise him. There are happy and encourages chirps from the others as one of the younger pseudodragons flies down to perch on Abaal's shoulder.
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Back down below, the proprietor of the inn Cadmion rejoices that you have solved the issue with the pseudodragons and is glad to hear that they will calm down now and stay in the tower. "Really, I knew I could count on a group from the Acadamae like you!" He rewards you with a platinum statuette worth 1,500 gp.
When asked about the cards and the fortune teller, Cadmion thinks for a moment before answering, "Well, I don't know anything about Harrow cards myself, to be perfectly honest. But there was just such a woman in the lobby yesterday, depositing a stack of flyers for the Green Market." He leads you back out to the lobby and over to one of the tables where there are various papers advertising local businesses for the inn guests to look through.
Cadmion points out the flyers to you. These flyers resemble the cards Foxglove gave to you, but you see that they bear an additional phrase: “Free samples to foreign visitors!”
Cadmion shrugs. "I didn't know the woman and I haven't seen her around since. I hope this is of some help. And if you ever need anything else-or a place to stay-just come back any time. Discounted rates for life, I promise!"
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Fimfinkle elbows Jax in the thigh and whispers through gritted teeth "Jax, my good fellow, he literally just told us a woman came by with them yesterday."
"Cadmion, this woman you saw, she wasn't by any chance a scraggly looking half-elf with black hair and rotting teeth? Possibly of Varisian descent?".
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"And you stole the eggs because you wanted to make an omelette for lady Qualstair out of it? Sounds about right... working abroad for so long I somehow lost my appreciation for the ways of our oh so wise and farsighted leaders..." says Vanya sounding really scornful. Then the taldan woman takes the eggs back to the pseudodragons while giving Craik and Abaal a low growl as she passes by them.
"Poor woman's infatuated with me. Alas one living as dangerously as I cannot drag another with him into nearly certain death. Best I break it off quick." Abaal says quietly to chef.
_________
....one of the younger pseudodragons flies down to perch on Abaal's shoulder.
"Why Mister pseudodragon is perched upon my shoulder! It's the truth. It's actual. Everything is now satisfactual." Abaal beams.
_________"These are so bogus man, they're fakes. Where'd you get them?"
Abaal inspects one of the fliers himself. He rubs the paper between his sword-calloused fingers appraisingly. "Well they certainly feel like real handbills. Say, 'free samples to foreign visitors'!"
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"We should head to the Green Market to find her. Perhaps these 'false' flyers will be key." Libertus says as he looks over the parchment before crumpling it up and tossing it into the fires of the hearth.
Since the group has no other leads, Libertus will indeed head to the Green Market if there are no objections.
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"Hold up Libertus. The Green Market is owned by our lady. We were to investigate the meaning of these cards prior to going there. There must be some place a downtrodden subject may find shelter. Remember, we are supposed to be accomplished investigators afterall." He pleads.
Thanking the innkeeper for his time and generosity, Hastard makes one final request. "Though appreciated, the discount is truly unnecessary. If I may trouble you one last time... Say one was down on their luck and was unable to afford such luxurious accommodations; where might they bed down for a night?"
"Hold up Libertus. The Green Market is owned by our lady. We were to investigate the meaning of these cards prior to going there. There must be some place a downtrodden subject may find shelter. Remember, we are supposed to be accomplished investigators afterall." He pleads.
Thanking the innkeeper for his time and generosity, Hastard makes one final request. "Though appreciated, the discount is truly unnecessary. If I may trouble you one last time... Say one was down on their luck and was unable to afford such luxurious accommodations; where might they bed down for a night?"
Cadmion thinks for a moment. "Of course, you need not worry ever again when you need a place to stay... but, hypothetically... it is hard to say, for a place like that is really not in competition with me so I do not pay them any mind. But I would think some place in Old Korvosa would be quite cheap. There is some interesting architecture in that part of town but also some quite dilapidated homes and businesses that have not yet been restored."
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Looking to Hastard, Libertus tilts his head oddly. "We have no leads on the remaining two cards and you want to squat in abandoned buildings when we could rest at an actual inn?" says Libertus, dumbfounded.
Libertus shrugs. "Oh well, let us head to the Old District and find a proper mud pit for your hog. Perhaps we will pass some travelling Varisians and get lucky." he says, clearly unconvinced that the scraggly-headed woman would be so easy to find after doling out such terrible fortune and then disappearing.
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As they head towards Old Korvosa, Hastard atop his boar compaions, he tries to recall useful information of the area.
Smiling, he offers "My friend Libertus, as the proprietor was unfamiliar with the lady we seek, it's seems to reason she is staying at a less upstanding location. Though cheaper, such places should still have a manager that may be able to assist us."
"Cadmion, this woman you saw, she wasn't by any chance a scraggly looking half-elf with black hair and rotting teeth? Possibly of Varisian descent?".
When asked about the cards and the fortune teller, Cadmion thinks for a moment before answering, "Well, I don't know anything about Harrow cards myself, to be perfectly honest. But there was just such a woman in the lobby yesterday, depositing a stack of flyers for the Green Market."
Libertus watches as the group investigates the remaining two cards' portents, but he quickly adds. "The two hints we have received are the Harrow Cards: Betrayal and Cricket. Do either of these two things remind you of something that the Society might be interested in?" he asks firmly.
Cadmion gives a soft snort as if thinking of something funny. "Actually, it's funny that you should just be asking about cheap and less-than-reputable places to stay in Old Korvosa. I've heard it said that the Betrayal is also known as “Viamio’s Kiss”, after Lord Amrys Viamio. You've heard of him right? The city’s most famous traitor in all our history. Well, there's only one building in Korvosa that still bears his legacy. It's known as Traitor’s Mews, an old dilapidated manor and it's right in Old Korvosa."
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Wedged among the many-tiered tenements that clog Korvosa’s poorest district, this rambling black-brick manor house has been claimed by displaced families. The wary eyes of countless waifs, beggars, and other people in tattered clothes peer through shattered windows, their spirits as weathered as the building itself.
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Frowning at the sight, Hastard mumbles "Poor lost souls. Perhaps we can ease their torment."
Turning to Abaal, he remarks "We aren't searching to bed down for the night young sir. We are searching for the woman that foresaw the demise of our lady. Seems this may be a valid place to check."
As Vanya begins her search, the gnome hops off his companion and trudges towards the door. "Hello, there! We mean no harm. We are simple investigators searching for a young lady. Perhaps you could assist us?"
Facing the decrepit building, Hastard decides to take a straight-forward approach by announcing himself and his intentions. The door is not locked, nor is it even closed properly as it now hangs crooked on its hinges. The formerly opulent entry hall is filled with piles of straw and rags that serve as chairs, as well as the tattered sacks where its residents keep their meager possessions.
In Varisia, homeless people and beggars are collectively referred to as the Empty, a reference to both their lack of opportunities and the lack of concern most of Korvosan society holds for their well-being. There must be around 100 Empties here. They look to a sunken-eyed woman to determine how to approach the strangers entering their hideout.
She says, "I can try." A young boy clings to her skirt as she steps forward, his eyes full of worry, and she pulls him close reassuringly.
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"Hello there. I'm Vanya" says the taldan woman extending her hand at the approaching person.
"Looks like you could use some help with your lodgings... Maybe we trade a few coins for information?" she comments as a couple of gold coins suddenly appear in her hands climbing up and down her fingers apparently of their own volition!
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Looking at Vanya's poultry attempts to appease the woman, Hastard sighs. "M'lady, please pardon my companions lack of manners. Her heart may be in the right place, but her words seem to be lacking. We are in search of a Varisian woman whom may be staying here. Unfortunately, we aren't quite clear on her name, though she's a scraggly looking half-elf with black hair and rotting teeth. She may have information we need to prevent a catastrophe or two."
Taking in the appearance of the Empty, he adds "Perhaps my female companion has the right idea." Pulling out a gold coin, he passes it to the woman. "Please accept this and use it for anything you may feel is right."