Kurasaviel hefted his blade.
"You begin to cast a spell and all bets are off. We have questions. Answer them and maybe we can all walk away. Agreed?"
The man Calder is addressing scratches his chin underneath his beard. "Uhm." he says, pausing for a moment. "Snorri was one of Asvig's peers. He died a bit ago, and he's gonna join his ancestors tomorrow. We were all drinking to his memory."
The man shrugs. "I'm not sure. Maybe this Ulf guy is dead? Snorri is dead."
In the other room, Helva takes the littlest step away from them, still in a cautious pose. "Sure. If you put away your weapons, I'll answer your questions."
Kurasaviel smirked.
"The sword will have to stay in my hands, I'm afraid. After all, it hardly seems fair if you can stop me from moving with a few words and my only means of stopping you is safely put away. No, this way we're both armed and able to defend ourselves."
"Now, we're looking for a sword that Asvig recently acquired. Know anything about that?"
Helva creases her face and takes another step back. "Alright. I'll just keep a few feet's distance, then."
"The curved sword my love stole from that pathetic old man? Yeah. We gave it over to Thorburg. Uh, Thorburg Silverskorr, the leader of the Rimerunners. He did that theft on her behalf. Got a good bonus for it as well," she says, smirking. "It'll be in the Guild House or the Castle."
Kurasaviel filed that information away, making sure to make a mental note to ask about the Rimerunners later.
"See? We can all get what we want. One more question, then I'll tell you what's going to happen. I just want to know if you know of any secret entrances to either of the places you mentioned. As for what's going to happen; you and yours have attacked my friends, and from what I can tell, that's happened more than once. So, we're going to exact some payment. We're going to take your valuables; any magical items you have or anything of that sort. In return, we're going to leave here and you can get some help for your husband who, last I checked, was slowly bleeding to death in the other room. After that, we stay clear of each other. We don't encounter you or your forces anymore, and vice versa. How does that sound?"
Helva snorts. "Secret entrances? What do you think it is, a clubhouse?" She shakes her head. "Even if there were secret entrances to a legitimate mercantile guild's main base and its leader's home, I wouldn't know about them. I don't work for them, only Asvig does."
She rolls her eyes at Kurasaviel's offer. "Yeah, that sounds awesome. Break into our house, kill our guests, disrupt the whole night... and then offer us our lives and homes back and call it mercy. Have fun with that. Sure, we won't bother you. I doubt you'll be around too much longer to be bothered anyway. Did you want me to go around the room, collecting valuables from the bodies of my friends, organizing them nicely and speaking like a sweet soft Southern milk drinker?"
Calder asks the warrior. "Where is the funeral being held?"
The warrior eyes his axe, but then he eyes Calder's bloody axe as well and reconsiders. "The shore on the eastern end of the island. His flagship is getting ignited at dawn."
Ukshakka frowns, losing focus on the guy's face for a second. "I'm pretty sure I know exactly where he's talking about. Do you think Ulf will be there?"
"No," Tallak interrupts the negotiations with the witch, "Asvig dies. Only reason he hasn't died on my spear yet is for a chance for you southerners to ask your questions."
Helva raises her eyebrows high. "Is there some universe where you think that I'm just going to allow you to murder my husband?"
Kurasaviel blinked at Tallak's words, not knowing the effect they would have on Helva. His hand tensed around his sword, ready to act at even the hint of violence from Helva.
"Well...seems I don't speak for everyone. That gonna be a dealbreaker?"
"I'll let you figure that one out on your own." she says, smirking. "Let's see... will maybe murdering a woman's husband grind diplomacy to a halt? The only reason I'm even talking to you is because he," she says, indicating Kurasaviel, "said that we'd be totally golden on the violence front."
Calder nods in response to Uksahakka. "We'll head there as soon as we're done here."
Kurasaviel shrugged.
"Sorry. I tried."
With that, he moved forward and struck, wanting to get a jump against Helva.
Tallak shoulders his spear as the witch falls to Kurasaviel's blade. He looks at the half-elf and nods. "Unfortunate. But probably necessary."
He turns and heads back to the main hall, clicking his tongue to call Ursus to his heel. As he moves back inside, he stands over Asvig, clenching his grip around his spear tightly. He looks to Ameiko and says, "I am honor-bound to kill this...filth. But if you have questions for him first, I am willing to provide him healing enough for you to ask them. But, he dies by my spear before we leave."
Kurasaviel couldn't quite bring himself to look at Ameiko. He had never killed anyone before. He hadn't wanted to kill Helva, but he was wise enough to know that Tallak would not be moved from his course of action. Better for the group as a whole to not leave enemies to nip at their heels. Kurasaviel knew that, but he was still shaken by what he'd just done.
"Helva divulged that Asvig stole the blade at the behest of the Rimerunners, and that it's probably either in the Castle or with the Thieves Guild. Maybe Asvig knows more."
Without saying another word, eyes far away, Kurasaviel retrieved a flask of whiskey from his pack, taking a long drink to take the edge off.
"Maybe we don't tell him we're going to kill him before we ask him questions. People are a little easier to get answers out of if they don't think you're going to kill them when you're done asking questions," adds Matin.
"Or if you don't tell them you're going to murder their husband," Kurasaviel agreed.
"Clara, can you make sure Asvig doesn't die before we get to question him." Calder asks Clara. He makes sure the warriors leave without making any trouble.
Ameiko hesitantly walks over towards Asvig. "Anybody got any rope? I can heal him if we tie his hands." Meanwhile, Ukshakka quickly sweeps Asvig's weapon and shield away from him.
The Ulfen warriors kind of awkwardly begin to sidle away, starting to leave after about a minute if nobody stops them.
Tallak clenches his teeth, clearly not wanting to do what he is about to do, but he leans down and places a hand over the fallen Ulfen'a chest. A pale green light flows from his hand to the wounds of the man, closing them slightly.
__________
Asvig gasps to life, his eyes snapping open. One of his hands goes to the still-bleeding wound on his chest left by Kurasaviel, and the other goes to the ground, scrabbling around him for a weapon. Not finding one, Asvig looks up to find the whole group standing over him. He clenches his teeth, thinks for a moment, and then opens his mouth to talk. "If you want to talk, you'll need to heal all of my wounds."
Kurasaviel takes up a position that keeps Asvig in easy reach of his blade, and watches as Tallak heals him. Seeing the prone Ulfen's eyes flutter open, Kurasaviel spoke.
"Heeeeey, buddy. How's it going? How ya feeling? Probably not good, huh? So I'll make this simple. We have some questions. Answer them and we'll keep this as painless as possible," Kurasaviel said, purposely leaving out promises of safety. He glanced at Ameiko, nodding towards Asvig when he had her attention.
"This lovey lady is looking for a blade you stole at the behest of the Rimerunners. We'd very much like to know where that might be located."
He grunts and tries to sit up, making it up onto one arm. "I said," he growls, spitting out blood. "You'll need to heal me all the way before I can even think about saying anything."
"Yeah...that's probably off the table. You're a man of means, though, I'm sure you'll be able to help yourself. So instead, how about answer our questions and maybe we don't have to get nasty?"
Asvig levels a gaze at Kurasaviel. "No," he says. He leaves it at that.
Kurasaviel shrugged.
"Guys? This is your show. What do you want to do?"
Poking her head through the legs of the taller folk around her, Clara asks, "You've sent men to try to ambush and kill us. Why? What will happen if we parlay here and then let you live? What assurances can you make that you'll return our mercy in kind?"
"If he doesn't want to talk then let Tallack have him." Calder says, not giving a damn about Asvig. "Plenty of others we can get talking. We'll drop his corpse in the midden."
Matin draws his dagger from his belt, and begins to idly flip it between his hands as he steps towards Asvig. "Look. You've already seen what we can do. And you were the first person to go down, as I recall, despite having a sorceress and a bunch of thugs helping you out. Do you really think getting healed up is going to make any difference?" he says, pointing his dagger at Asvig, pantomiming throwing the dagger at the man before returning to flipping it between his hands. "This has been a pretty bad day for you. Just answer the questions so it doesn't get any worse, and then maybe we can talk about getting you healed, alright?"
Asvig chuckles, looking Matin straight in the eye. "Have it your way, then."
"The men I sent to ambush you were sent on behalf of-" he begins, but before he can get the whole sentence out, he chokes. A strangled gurgle later, he coughs out a mouthful of blood, leaning forward onto his hands. He looks up, and his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth are all leaking blood. His skin turns a flushed, uncomfortable red as blood rushes to his head, and he begins to shudder. He opens his mouth, blood spilling out, but manages to get out - "See?" before he falls down, dead.
Ameiko takes a step back, covering her mouth with her hand. "Whoa." she says.
Clara throws up a bit in her mouth. "Eww, yeah, whoa indeed. That's what happened to that guy Irissa charmed, too. There's some kind of powerful curse or enchantment on these folks."
Kurasaviel's mouth dropped open. He looked on in horror, caught completely off guard by what had just occurred.
"That would have been good to know."
Clara giggles nervously. "Hehehehehehe, now that you mention it...but, well, that first guy was working for Asvig...it never occurred to me but Asvig must be working for someone even tougher, who enchanted both of them!"
Taking her eyes off of the gruesome corpse, she continues, "Well we better get out of here before too long. There were other guests on the road and all. Before we do though, Asvig certainly isn't going to be answering our questions for us so let's take a thorough look around for any clues that might help us understand who's thumb he was under.
"Could that green half-troll sorcerer you ran afoul of do this kind of thing, Matin?"
Clara scratches her head, leaving a smear of soot in her hair. I could swear there was something familiar about this? Nah, maybe not.
Clara had a point, so Kurasavie got to work looking around for anything they might have missed. He spoke as he did so.
"Helva revealed some information. Apparently Asvig stole the blade for the Rimerunners, so I need a run down on who exactly they are. She thought the sword was either in the Thieve's Guild or in the castle."
As Asvig begins to spurt blood and strain against the magics assailing him, Tallak yells out, "NO!" He thrusts his spear through the man's chest, the spearhead dripping with fresh blood on the far side of the man's chest. He leans down to look into the man's eyes before muttering "For Drakon."
Sandru speaks up - "If I remember right, there was talk of the Rimerunners being some... mercantile guild, right? They should have a center of operation. Ameiko and I can find out where it is and sell off everything you don't want while you go after this Ulf fellow."
Kurasaviel was too shrewd not to notice Sandru's not so subtle method of getting Ameiko out of direct confrontations, but he held his tongue. Instead, he merely nodded.
"Where are we headed, then?"
Turning his gaze away from Asvig after some time, Tallak replies, "Word of,this will reach the Rimerunner's soon enough. We should move against them before they can take further defensive measures. But, it would be wise to take a night to prepare."
He looks around at everyone before asking, "Anybody hurt? I can tend your wounds before we rest."
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Kurasaviel searches the house, finding a couple of interesting and valuable things in what appears to be an office room - a well-appointed room with a desk, chair, a nicely-paned window facing outward, and a stack of paper and envelopes on the desk. On a side table are two opened letters, each from a 'T S'.
The first reads, 'My dearest Asvig, I have a new job for you. A young woman and her retinue approach Kalsgard from the south. I have word that they will be traveling Varisian-caravan style, and will be approaching Brinewall in one weeks' time. This woman is a threat to me and the Frozen Shadows. If you would, please send a group of your men down by dragonship to accost and kill them, and instruct your soldiers to bring the head of a white-haired Tian woman to my desk. Enclosed is half of your payment.'
The second reads, 'Words cannot express my disappointment that you have failed me. Wodes has informed me that the young woman and all of her retinue have reached the city. Your punishment for your failure will come later, and someone else (somebody with more ability and promise than yourself and your stuffy Ulfen ways) will be assigned to the job this time. I wanted to keep you appraised because if you saw the young woman, you are ordered to have her followed and report it to Wodes. We wouldn't want you trying and failing again to gain my favor.'
The second interesting thing is what appears to be a petite safe. A thin metal box can be found amongst many mundane files and papers, one with a fairly nice lock on it.
Sandru and Ameiko make moves to leave, with the pair picking up all of the gear that the rest of the party didn't claim. "Come on," says Sandru. "Let's head back to the caravan. Ameiko and I have a long day ahead of us tomorrow if we want to sell all of this stuff, and you guys have to get up early if you want to make it to that funeral and save that stranger."
Ukshakka looks a bit put off by that last bit, but announces all the same, "Hey, if you guys are gonna get onto that dragonship, you'll need something. I'll need a bit to prepare it, but can you guys meet me outside the city, about a half-mile, on the eastern shore? Tomorrow morning, an hour or so before dawn? I'll have something to help."
Kurasaviel carefully put the papers in his pack, making a mental note to discuss this finding with the group later in the evening. Glancing at the safe, Kurasaviel couldn't suppress a grin as he slid his tools into his hands...
And deftly picked the lock. The coins were certainly odd, but valuable. Finding everyone ready to leave, Kurasaviel rejoined them.
"Found some things we'll all be interested in. We'll discuss it at camp. I think we'll all meet before dawn. Be safe."
Once the group has claimed all they desire, Tallak gathers them all together for a moment of healing prayer to the gods.
Tallak removes the arms and armor from his sworn enemy and quietly joins the others in their walk back to the caravan. Once there, he looks over the weapon and armor, muttering to himself, "Perhaps now you will serve someone with some honor..." before replacing his own gear with them. He takes his own handmade wares to the loot pile Ameiko and Sandru have accumulated and lays his old gear with it. "Sell it. Give it to someone who needs it in the caravan. Whatever you wish."
He turns to leave, but stops and turns back to face Ameiko. "My life-debt has bound me to Koya, and it seems she has a strong loyalty to you as her leader, Ameiko. As such, I too am in your service. I apologize for my outburst at you earlier. However, if you would be open to receiving my counsel, I am willing to offer it, should you desire."
Calder nods at Ukshakka. "We will be there at that time."
Sandru escorts everyone out of Asvig's empty house and back to the Bone Quarter, where there is still some leftover soup and warm-ish places to sleep in the caravan's wagons, big thick sleeping bags being made available. Anybody wanting to sleep in an inn separately from the group is absolutely able to do so, but a fast night is warranted.
By the time everyone is up and Tallak has finished re-preparing his spells, the sky has already begun to shift from the black of night to the grey of morning. It is an overcast morning today, and it looks like it might rain. After morning preparations and a hasty breakfast, the group goes according to plan down the coastline on the outside of Kalsgard. They pass a number of piers before entering plain tundra shoreline, continuing to walk for only a few minutes before coming upon Ukshakka, who has pushed a number of thin, long wooden boats towards the shore. She waves as they approach, beckoning them forward. "Hey!" she says. "Attacking the boat before it leaves is probably suicide - it's guarded by a dozen of the Karls' guard. Tough warriors, they are. So! I grabbed a couple of kayaks. That way, we can row out to the ship after it sets sail and before it lights ablaze, grab Ulf, and get out with nobody any the wiser!" She beams, obviously proud of herself. "Do all of you know how to use these?"