Ayako limps up the walkway and stretches out her hand to touch Sebastion. Your time isn't now, good Sebastion. Live past this battle.
Gobblegut continues to splash and struggle in the water and once again Nadya's curse is the only thing keeping the creature from tearing into her.
Sebastian snarls at Gaedren, dodging out of the way of the deft strike. Suddenly, icy pain grips Sebastian. Some force pushes the crossbow bolt out of his side with a sickening sound, and the bleeding hole closes over with faint scar tissue. Something dark clouds his mind, and suddenly it's not enough to watch Gaedren die on his blade. He wants to see the man suffer. Stepping around Gaedren with an evil grin, Sebastian lowers his shoulder and charges forward.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Col moves next to Sebastian and helps him with his attack Go to hell old man.
Gaedren swings wildly in surprise at Sebastian's maneuver as he is pushed off the ledge into the pool below. All he can mutter is a "No...!" before hitting the water. He struggles to swim but with the raging gator kicking up waves, he is pulled under.
Gobblegut turns towards Gaedren who had tortured it over the years just as much as he tortured the orphans and attacks the easy prey. A cloud of blood rises to the surface but neither Gaedren or Gobblegut reappear.
Her breath coming quickly, Nadya looks down into the red water, unable to believe it is over so quickly. "He's gone. Truly gone. You did it Sebastian. Is the boy all right Col?"
Looking down into the bloody water, Col spits, Good riddance. Looking toward Nadya he replies, I don't know, I'll go check Col goes back to check on the child.
Ayako's breath was comign at a faster pace as the conflict against Lamm came to an end, she wa sunused to such exertion and stood with her hand on her chest.
Rest mother.. she thinks and looks at the others.Everyone else is unhurt?
The boy is alive but unconscious and in bad shape. It looks like the child was probably not well even before the beating he received down here. He is sickly thin and has rashes indicating disease. Most of his body is bruised and you wouldn't be surprised if a number of bones were broken. You surmise the orphan probably outlived his usefulness with Gaedren and would not have survived the night if you hadn't intervened. He should live but it'll take time as much as healing for him to recover from his ordeal.
Ayako, the lad is in bad shape is there anything you can do for him? Col inquires.
As Gaedren's blood clouds the water, the darkness gripping Sebastian dissipates. He takes a deep breath, suddenly feeling conflicted. He couldn't bring himself to pity the man; Lamm deserved what he got and more. But something about it seemed wrong. Not the killing, not even how he had died (which had been rather poetic in Sebastian' mind), but the way it made him feel. In the moment, he had relished it. Gaedren's screams of terror as all his life's hateful abuses were returned to him in full force made music like a choir of the damned in concert with the snapping of alligator jaws and cracking bones. As it built to its crescendo, the explosive violence of the spectacle thrilled him in that moment in ways he'd never felt before! But as the actors left the stage and the gruesome play came to its inevitable conclusion, Sebastian was left feeling disgusted with himself and at his part in the production. He had been willing to be used, and Fate had used him, but he never expected it would leave his soul feeling so violated. He looks down at his side, fingering his new scar. He had a lot of new scars tonight.
Col's voice breaks Sebastian out of his spell, and he glances at Ayako. He was grateful for her healing; he might have been dead twice over if not for the woman and her mysterious powers. But such healing came at a cost, and already he was beginning to feel it weigh on his soul. He draws the potion from his belt, offering it up. "Give him this," he says. "Shelyn's best. Fizzy strawberry."
Place him on the floor over here. Ayako sets a blanket out and begins checking the boy, taking out her healing kit and beginning basic care for his ills.
Ayako's hands seem to tremble though, the nervousness of her first battle, sweat and spots of blood on her hands resulted in her fumbling with the bandages and salves.
Ayako bandages up the orphan then administers Sebastian's healing potion. You hear the frail boy's bones cracking back into place and many of his exterior cuts and bruises begin to fade. The boy coughs up the last vestiges of the potion as he wakes and he silently glances around confused. Then he simply whispers, "Gaedren?"
Dead. Ayako says simply.He will bedevil children no more. Can you stand? We'll take you someplace safe for food and rest.
"I think so," says the boy. He takes Ayako's hand to steady himself and manages to pull himself up to a wobbly standing position. "Just please no more dock dumplings," he jokes. The boy waits for Ayako to lead him.
Meanwhile, Col takes a peak into the small room in the corner.
This foul-smelling room seems to be a combination bedroom and study. A wooden bed with a lumpy mattress stands against the east wall, while a round table heaped with dirty plates, bread crusts, stained goblets, fruit rinds, and scuttling cockroaches sits nearby. At the foot of the bed sits a large strongbox, a slighty rusted lock securing its lid. A sagging dresser filled with moth-eaten clothes well past their glory days is in one corner—what appears to be a wooden hatbox surrounded by a small cloud of flies sits atop this dresser.
Nadya enters the room with Col, immediately wrinkling her nose at Lamm's disgusting lair. "Who would live in such a place? It's revolting. I have a bad feeling the key to that strongbox might be in Gobblegut's belly by now. Any chance you know how to get past that lock? I'm probably going to regret offering this, but I'll look at that dresser and the hatbox." Trying to touch things as little as possible, Nadya looks through the dresser and hatbox.
The dresser contains nothing but clothes but the hatbox actually contains something shocking-Zellara's severed head, poorly preserved and decorated with unsightly makeup in a crude attempt to give her sagging flesh the semblance of life. Her Harrow deck sits in a smaller wooden box under the stump of her neck.
Nadya drops the lid of the hatbox at the sight of the severed head. It falls to the floor with a wooden clatter as Nadya gasps. "What?!? How?!? Col, it's Zellara. Her head. Did he somehow kidnap and kill her while we were upstairs?"
Ayako hears Nadya's cry and goes to the room. Zellara, she is dead? She goes over to the hatbox.
This..is very odd. The head is rotting like it has been severed for weeks.
"If that's Zellara," Sebastian says, staring at the head, "then who was that other fortune-teller?"
Looking at the head Col turns to Ayako and asks, Are you sure? That can't be possible we just left her a few hours ago. Col searches his mind for other logical explanations and lamely submits, Did she mention having a twin sister? Either that we're mistaken about the time of her death.
She said nothing of a sister, I believe we should head back to her house after getting the children settled. we need answers.
"Grab the lockbox and let us away from here. I don't want to linger in Gaedren's lair any longer than necessary."
Ayako heads up and helps gather the children together.
Lamm will trouble you no more, we will take you to a temple of Pharesma or Sarenae and get you warm beds and good food.
I thought it would feel different knowing Lamm is dead but I don't feel any different. I'll meet you at Zellara's
Col is unable to open the strongbox with his first attempt so he tucks it under his arm, Nadya quickly pockets Zellara’s harrow deck, Ayako leads the orphan boy, and the party all heads back upstairs. When you get back to the first floor, you find that all but two of the children have vanished into the night. Only Tiora and Kesker remain.
“The children don’t know trust. They wouldn’t stay. But Kesker can’t walk on his own. I couldn’t leave him. I see you saved the other boy. I thought for sure he was dead but I’m glad that he’s not. You seem like good people. We’ll go with you.” Tiora explains.
Sebastian hefts Giggles over his shoulder and the party heads down Warehouse Way with Ayako and Nadya helping the three children along. Your destinations, Zellara’s Home, Citadel Volshyenek, and the Grand Cathedral of Pharasma all lie to the south.
However as you head down the street it quickly becomes apparent that something terrible has happened. Korvosa is in flames. Smoke rises on the horizon. The frantic clang of alarm bells sing out in harmony with a multifarious cacophony of screams, the clash of steel on steel, moans, and even the periodic detonation of arcane power. A wing of Sable Company hippogriff riders swoops overhead, angling toward Castle Korvosa at a breakneck pace. One of the badly wounded mounts rains blood down on the street around you before it succumbs and crashes headlong into a statue, taking its rider and itself to a bone-crunching demise. The others in the flight do not pause to check on their fallen ally. Amid the chaos, the voice of a Korvosan herald cuts through the din: “The king is dead! Long live the queen!” only to be shouted down by ragged cries of “Hang the queen!” and “The usurper whore must die!”
Through an alleyway, you spot a contingent of hellknights clad in dark iron armor and horned helms pursuing a small gang of what appear to be looters and you hurry out of the way as quick as possible.
Barely 17 years old when she took Eodred II’s side in 4704 AR, Queen Ileosa has managed a minor miracle in the past 4 years—she’s single-handedly shifted the dislike and disapproval away from King Eodred to herself with her open distaste for Korvosa (a city she’s been heard to call “a backwater colonial village” more than once).
The hellknights in Korvosa belong to the Order of the Nail which is headquartered in Citadel Vraid to the south of the city and answer to Korvosa's money. Their leader Lictor Severs DiVri will send Hellknights to Korvosa at the royalties behest for a price.
Ayako is dreadfully uninformed. Must be all that time writing bad poetry instead of going outside.
"Gods, has all the city gone insane while we were seeking Lamm? This must be The Uprising manifested. Zellara saw it in my reading. I don't think splitting up is a good idea now. Let's go to Zellara's together, then the Citadel, then the Grand Cathedral."
Indeed, Zellara's.
I agree, to Zellara's, children stay close.
Hell Knights .
Sable Company.
King.
Queen.
You duck into Zellara's home narrowly avoiding another mob of angry dock workers. However you are again surprised to find her home abandoned, looking as if it had been empty for weeks. No sign of food, the wall hangings, the rugs, or Zellara herself can be found—the furniture is in pieces scattered throughout the room.
Once everyone is inside the house, Nadya notices the harrow deck she found in the Old Fishery begins to glow. Shortly after, a ghostly image of Zellara manifests before you. The children, obviously spooked, cower behind Ayako for protection.
"Be calm my friends. We are still friends. As you've probably surmised by now, I am dead. I apologize for the deception but I was afraid you would not trust me if I revealed my true nature earlier. But now that you know, let me share my full story."
"A year ago, I lost my only son to Lamm. After my Harrow deck (my only source of income and an heirloom handed down to me by my mother) was pickpocketed by one of Lamm’s Little Lambs, my son Eran took it upon himself to get back the deck. He was murdered by Gaedren’s thugs and his head and hands were returned to me in a box as a gift and a threat. I went to the Korvosan Guard, but they had little additional time or resources to devote to Lamm. The Guard told me, "We know he’s trouble, and we’re doing the best we can to find him—sorry for your loss, but that’s all we can do for you now.""
"Frustrated, desperate, and harboring a growing need for revenge, I took it upon myself to track down Lamm, drawing upon the Harrow’s divinations for aid. My latent magical skill, combined with my persistence and obsession, unfortunately gave me results. I discovered the location of Gaedren’s current hideout, but was myself seen. Gaedren’s thugs grabbed me and brought me below the old fishery to stand tall before the master. Old Lamm was impressed that I went through so much trouble, but when I spat on him and cursed him, his anger got the better of him and he ordered me killed. My body he fed to his alligator, but he saved my head which he kept in a box in his lair alongside my stolen cards. These cards, bloodstained and discarded, became the focus for my anguish and despair. My spirit infused them, haunted them, and I used my newfound supernatural power to bring you together to take down Gaedren Lamm."
"Unlike a true ghost, my influence doesn’t extend far beyond my cards and my home—they are my links to the living world. I can sense the anguish and despair of all those in Korvosa whom Gaedren’s evil has touched and hurt. I cast my mind outward, and before long narrowed down my search to a small group of those in whom I sensed the greatest honor, the greatest strength, the greatest potential, and the greatest anger. I sensed you."
"And now the deed is done and I am still here. I sense my fate is now tied to you and this city. My new-found purpose is to defend and protect the city of Korvosa, my home in life and death. Take my harrow deck with you and periodically you will be able to call on me for guidance. However for now, there is little more I can provide at this time."
Aura moderate divination; CL 10th
Slot —; Price —; Weight 1 lb
STATISTICS
Alignment CG; Ego 8
Senses 60 ft. vision and hearing
Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 13
Communication empathy
Lesser Powers identify 3/day, major image 1/day
Special Purpose defend Korvosa
DESCRIPTION
Hand-painted images decorate this Harrow deck, the frames gilt in silver so that under lighting they sparkle and flash. Despite the worn condition of the card backs, the images on the faces are so vibrant they seem to move when viewed out of the corner of the eye. The deck itself handles with surprising ease, almost shuffling itself. A bent, torn, or lost card always seems to mend itself or reappear when no one is looking.
"If Zellara is still bound, then we still have work to do. Korvosa still needs us!" Sebastian had expected that this night would be the first and last time he would find himself journeying with these strangers, but clearly that wasn't to be the case. The city had its little problems, and people like him had always been around to take care of them, but tonight the start of something bigger had begun. Mother, Father, forgive me. I can't come home just yet. Take care tonight, morning is on its way.
Inside the house, the mobs can still be heard, crying out for the Queen's death. Those fools. They'll have to get through Sabina before they'll lay a hand on her. Not bloody likely!
Ayko watches quietly as Zellara manifests in the empty room. So we were hired by a ghost, not surprising that Lamm's outrages would lead to this
There is indeed trouble in the city, there are riots and people say the king is dead.
I knew something was off with this whole situation. What can we hope to do considering the magnitude of the eventsgoing on in the city?
Nadya listens to Zellara, pieces of the puzzle falling into place. Of course...I should have known. When Zellara finishes, she replies "Thank you for gathering us all Zellara. I fear I might have ended as you had I tried to pursue him myself." She looks around. "If the city needs us, I will do what I can. Col, I'm not sure what we can do, but perhaps we should start as we originally planned. Turn Giggles in to the guard. And find a good home for the children. Should we sleep here tonight and see if the city calms? Or press on and hope we can find shelter with the guard at Citadel Volshyenek?"
It is indeed hazardous tonight and with the soldiers no doubt ready to strike first and forget questions, we may very be best served waiting here.
Probally best if we hold up here for the night. and safest. However, if everyone else wants to set off tonight I'm game.
"Sorry Sebastian. I know you haven't voted, but I think that's three of us that want to stay the night. Hopefully that's all right with you. I'm sure we can keep Giggles in the manacles and hopefully it will be safer to move with the children in the morning."
Sebastian wrinkles his nose at this. "Democracy? I wouldn't have taken you lot for Andoren sympathizers." He sighs, accepting the situation. "Very well. But if we're settling in for the night, I'm going to take a quick look around the block. There may be others nearby that could use some help tonight. I should be back within the hour."
Keep safe. Ayako sees about getting the children settled, looking to see if there are any beds and giving them water from their skins.
Some dried apples? This and jerky is all we have right now. Once you rest properly, we'll get you to the Temple of Pharesma, I can help you get beds there and good food.
Sebastian heads out to do a quick patrol. It doesn't take him long before he comes across another riot in progress. From a distance he hears shouts of "Die, dandy!" and "Death to the Whore-Queen!" As Sebastian comes across the edge of the riot he spots a mob of six men wielding shovels, chair-legs, and lengths of iron pipe surrounding a beardless young nobleman. One of the laborers, a fat bald man with greasy muttonchops framing his rotund face, jeers and addresses the young man in a booming voice, "Bet'cha never worked an honest day's wage in your life, eh, Queen's Man? M'brother had his arm crushed by a barrel on the docks when he was younger than you. Never raised a mug of ale with that wrist again. Wanna know what it feels like?"
Meanwhile, at Zellara's home, Nadya makes sure Giggles is secures while Ayako tends to the children. Unfortunately there is no longer any furniture in this small home and you'll be resting on the hard floors tonight. With the sounds of the chaos echoing through the night, it will be a long night indeed.
Now that the group is out of any immediate danger, Col takes his time to carefully pick the lock on the strongbox he procured from the Old Fishery. Within minutes he succeeds and the lid pops open. Inside is a number of treasures each wrapped in cloth and tied shut with twine.
The treasures include a narrow teak cigar case inlaid with tiny bits of jade, a 2-pound gold ingot bearing the Cheliax coat of arms, a miniature gold crown, a fist-sized scrimshaw carving of a kraken with garnets for eyes, a silver ring bearing the inscription "For Emmah—the light in my nights," a highly realistic and highly scandalous ivory figurine of two entwined succubi, a masterwork shuriken, an adamantine arrowhead, an abalone-shell holy symbol of Shelyn, a tiny glass tube containing a dose of liquid (magic), an obsidian wand (magic), a crystalline vial containing a dose of liquid (magic), and a bejeweled brooch with a broken clasp.
Even to an untrained eye, this brooch is obviously the most valuable object in the entire collection. The circular gold brooch depicts a pseudodragon and an imp coiled around each other in an almost yin-yang pattern. The pseudodragon’s eye is an amethyst, while the imp's eye is an emerald.
Ayako merely shakes her head after examining the items. [b]Alas, I do not know what these might be.
Sebastian breathes deeply. The air is filled with the excitement of collective madness, and he wasn't about to let it go to waste. The others seemed tired after their encounter with Gaedren, but Sebastian was left feeling unfulfilled. Vincent was avenged and could rest easy, but his avenger would have no peace. The city still needed him, now more than ever.
It wasn't long before he found what he was looking for. A group of angry men had some unlucky nobleman cornered, and from the looks of it they were about to work him over. Disgusting. Korvosans are supposed to be better than this! Sauntering over with characteristic swagger, he calls out to them. [B]"Come off it, lads! You've made your point!
Nadya stifles a laugh, "Andoran has nothing to do with it. But be careful Sebastian. It sounds bad out there." Once Giggles is secure, she joins Ayako and Col going through the items from the lockbox. When it comes time to see if she can identify the magical liquids, she pulls out Zellara's deck. Drawing a card and tapping it to the vials, she explains "This first one is an oil that you coat your weaponry with. Once you do, it is more likely to cause a grievous wound. This second one is also for coating one's weapon. It is called silversheen and is particularly effective against certain creatures. Most of the items I have no idea of their value, but the vial that holds the silversheen is worth 50 gold and that silver ring is worth 150 gold."
Hmmm, what do we have here? Col examines the rest of the items.
A few of these items a quite valuable, the rest I'm not to sure about. Astonished he continues, Wow, I think this Gold Brooch belongs to the Queen. No wait, I am certain it does.Lamm sure had his hand in a lot of things. I wonder if there might be a reward for it?
This wand is an arcane wand of the spell Magic Missile. Magic bolts fly and damage targets. Not usable by me.
Sebastian's bravado is not enough to disperse the mob but it does shake up some of them. The crowd parts and the fat man turns to shouts out to Sebastian. "Well, what'da'ya know boys. It's our lucky day. Another Queen-lover has volunteered for a beating. Now would you prefer I break your arm or your leg?" He approaches with a metal pipe in his hand. The rest of the crowd forms a circle around you two and the cowering noble.
Tiora, unable to sleep, rattles off some questions to Ayako and the others, "Miss Ayako, why are you helping us? Are you an orphan too? Are you a priestess of Pharasma? Are they nice there? I found that brooch you were looking at. I pick-pocketed it off another thief. Is it valuable? Gaedren gave me a sweet pastry when I found it, so it must be important."
Sebastian grins ruthlessly at the man's challenge, setting a certain savagery to simmering in his blood. As the brute's fellow thugs surround him, Sebastian begins circling his foe clockwise, drawing his dagger from his belt. "You probably think you have me outnumbered," he says, pacing slowly. "But that's the way it goes with these things. Once I break you," he says, twirling his dagger between thumb and forefinger in his outstretched hand, "I'll only have to fight one or two of your more enthusiastic friends. The rest will run. They always do." As he completes a full revolution, he stops, twisting his body with his shield arm extended forward and his dagger held out behind. "Just remember," he says, cracking his neck with a drawn out twist of his head. "You asked for this." Eager for the fight, he waves the man over, poised to strike.