Korvosa Unchained - CotCT playtesting new rules (Inactive)

Game Master Darkness Rising

Evelyn breaks away from her companions and heads for Hookshanks directly.

She tries her best with the longsword, but her inexperience with the weapon is clear.

Although still feeling terrible, Xenia feels as though she has shaken off the worst of the poison coursing through her veins.

Lorick continues attacking the monster in front of him. Blows land. Not as strong as they should but still the monster is hurt.

The spider-headed being lurches under the impact of Lorick's attacks, but - just about - stays upright. It replies in kind, sickle-shaped claws scything wickedly through the air and lancing into Lorick's chest.

The thing slowly, almost casually, tears several long strips of flesh from Lorick's torso, before holding them up and feeding them into its maw. It chitters, again.

Hookshanks nimbly sidesteps Evelyn's clumsy attacks, peering up at the girl in recognition. "I remember you... mouthy little girl, you was. Not so little any more though. Now, why don't you be a good girl and put that sword down; you remember what happens to naughty girls and boys, I 'spect..."

With that, he steps back and his whip, laced with broken glass and rusty nails, slashes Evelyn cruelly; the gnome aims at her face, her eyes, anywhere that looks exposed.

ROUND 8

Party is up

Is the man-spider still blinded? If so, there is a miss chance.

Round 8

Unsure of whether it is any use, Xenia continues to assist Tyenar in searching, before beginning to move back to the others ready to flee the inferno.

"Damnit!" Tyenar curses when he doesn't find anything around the throne, and at Lorick falling to the creature's attack. Moving next to the monk, the Sylph takes the cap off the healing potion that was given to him by the guard, and administers it to Lorick.

Juliet uses the distraction caused by Lorick's injury to stab the creature, twice, in its back, before casting a look back towards Evelyn. Dammnit, kid!

Xenia finds nothing, and her search is thorough enough that she suspects there is nothing to find.

Tyenar revives Lorick, but it takes all his attention. It is therefore left to Juliet to dispatch the spider-headed monstrosity, which she does with one quick strike, before moving to engage Hookshanks. The little gnome howls with rage as her sword pierces his flesh: "No fair! CHEATS! Not allowed to gang up on I..."

Evelyn and Lorick are up

Almost, but not quite dead, Lorick looks around blearily. Get away from here... he manages to murmur before picking up Sia and moving towards the exit. He pauses on the way to lash out at the nasty little gnome.

Lorick's second attack connects with the enraged Hookshanks, who squeals in dismay and pain.

Evelyn up

"I'm going to bury you face down in a shallow gravy, you bastard." hisses Evelyn as she clutches at her wounded features. Angry, she swings her longsword with abandon.

Cursing that she did not find anything, Xenia moves over and tries to help pull the body of Lamm out of the inferno. Being not particularly strong to start with, and weakened by the poison, her attempt is ineffective at best.

Surprisingly, the unstable and ill feeling tattoo artist somehow gets a perfect grip on the former crime lord's collar, easily dragging his lifeless corpse behind her.

With so many people surrounding Hookshanks, Evelyn is able to swing her sword past the gnome's guard, hacking him to pieces. He squeals and weeps for mercy "No - don't kill I! Pleeeease don't kill I!!!" but bleeds out rapidly.

The giant spiders are still sluggish from the spell Xenia zapped them with - they are unable to react when the floor suddenly gives way beneath them, dropping them into the inferno beneath. Burnt spider smells vile.

Looting the bodies, you find the following.

Combat Over - well done, everyone

You make it out of the Eel's End with moments to spare - the top of the ship simply collapses, aflame, into the hold. Already the blaze has spread to the other ships moored on the pier: the panicked denizens run, straight into the arms of the waiting Korvosan Guard...

MOONDAY, 26 GOZRAN 4715 A.R.

Early Afternoon

Eel's End is burning.

Not just the ship that bears that name: the whole of Lamm's once-untouchable empire is going up in flame, the dry wood of the moored ships providing perfect fuel for the blaze. The Goldenhawk fared worst, being the smallest - it caught fire almost immediately, its mast sputtering like a Chelish candle firework; the flat, bargelike structure of the Twin Tigers held up slightly better, but it too caught. The House of Clouds and the Dragon's Breath resisted, their soggy exterior timbers proving to be flame-resistant, but all of the ships were lashed together, and ultimately the ravaging fire spread everywhere.

Even the pier caught light, at the last.

Acting-captain Soldado and his Guard were not idle: the threat of fire is an ever-present in Korvosa and several bucket-chains were immediately formed, swabbing down nearby buildings and the roofing thatch downwind of any flaring sparks. Local businesses are promptly evacuated, just in case the blaze spread, but their prompt work means that it is contained.

Not a single, solitary, drop of water is thrown onto Eel's End. Let it burn. Nobody says as much, but the consensus is clear.

Even as the fire rages at its height, the sky splits open and the storm arrives, with a crash of thunder. Spears of lightning stab at the Jeggare river, flashing sideways across the sky; the rain is torrential. The promised storm has arrived.

Still, Eel's End continues to burn.

With Eel's End burning in the background Evelyn begins to frantically search her former tormentors corpses. First Lamm, then his two henchmen. She ignores gold or trinkets entirely and becomes increasingly desperate as she goes. By the time she finishes turning out the pockets of Ladlzo tears are streaming down her face.

Her normal composure is thrown away. She hiccups and stutters as she breaks down entirely. She can't do much besides sob and shakily move to the body of Hookshanks. Something has broken down inside Evelyn and years of bottled up sorrow have come pouring out.

Finally, she manages to find her prize. A small, tarnished ring emerges from one of the gnome's belt pouch. Evelyn shouts, a mixture or surprise, joy, and more sobbing hiccups. She clutches tightly to her chest and falls down to her rump, still sobbing.

Feeling weak and drained, Xenia drags the bleeding form of Lamm out of the burning ship and onto the dock, not stopping until she and the others, who are pulling the dead forms of Lamm's lieutenants, reaches a safe point on the docks. Looking down, she suddenly collapses into a sitting position.

We should get everything stripped off of them. The guard is only going to hold back the hordes for so long.

With that, Xenia begins to strip off the armor and other magic items from Lamm, tossing each one into the bag of holding to be identified later.

Suddenly she stops:
Did anyone see Tivera? I didn't see her in there.

She then grabs Lamm's head and shakes it.
WHERE IS SHE!!!!

She then smashes his head back into the dock where it strikes with a sickening thunk.

Lorick just sits at the foot of the pier, cross legged out of habit, cradling Sia's head in his lap as he stares out over the grey waters. He doesn't seem to notice the fire as it rages through Eel's end or the flurry of activity to prevent it from flooding. Even as the heavens crack open and rain falls in sheets onto the dock and the salt water below Lorick doesn't move.

Sorry guys, don't see how Lorick can be a fun character for a bit

Juliet scoops up the kid, all mewling however many pounds of her, and carries Evelyn outside, setting the girl back on her rump a safe distance from the blaze. Then, it is back for any living Lamms, and then lastly for the dead. She keeps her eyes and ears alert for any signs of Tybalt, pushing any sense of dread aside with a simple admonition. You're going to wish he burned up next time he's eaten all your food, girl.

-------

Moving fast, Juliet helps Xenia strip the crime bosses of their belongings, smiling a bit as the women work. What would Lamm think, the last remains of his empire stuffed into his bag of holding by his killers? Smiling even broader, Juliet turns to the other woman. "I can tell you're a Moth, dear. You strip a body as good as any."

--------

When Xenia starts smashing Lamm's head into the dock, Juliet steps back. Yeah, definitely a Moth.

"Oi, who's Tivera? I'm looking for my brother, Ty. Perhaps we can look for them together, yeah?"

---------

Her mood is crushed as soon as she spies Lorick sitting in the rain. Approaching the big man, she sits down next to him, looking at the spectacular fire consuming Eel's End. "Where you sleeping tonight, Lorick? You need a place to crash? You're welcome at my apartment. Shouldn't be alone, chinney?"

The Jaw was too much the silent type. It wasn't good to be all bottled up like that. The Moths understood. Yeah, they'd scream, and wail, and get good and fighting-angry-drunk, and the whole neighborhood wouldn't sleep for days any time someone passed. But that was the point. Get it all out. Rage, rage, against the dying of the light. There's a reason a Moth wrote that poem.

"We'll get her a good send-off tomorrow."

The singer turned drug-addict turned duelist turned back to the conflagration at Eel's End. Emotions ran through her, like rain into the Jegger River. One thought, though, kept returning to mind.

That fire. It was the single most beautiful thing Juliet had ever seen.

MOONDAY, 26 GOZRAN 4715 A.R.

Late Afternoon

Eel's End is no more.

What the fire didn't get, the river did: as ropes and fastenings burned and frayed, the entire structure ultimately just sank. The odd plank of wood lingers for a while on the surface of the Jeggare, before drifting out of sight on the storm-lashed current.

Even the ash is gone, the streets scoured clean by the driving rain.

Realising that you weren't going anywhere soon, acting-Captain Soldado commandeered a length of canvas from somewhere, and had it put up; it has provided a makeshift field-tent under which you could watch the destruction, out of the torrential rain.

Meanwhile, the Guard have had their hands full with those fleeing the stricken pier. Those known to be Lamm's associates have been rounded up and carted off to jail - shocked and subdued, most went without a struggle. Those who turn out to have been in Eel's End against their will are given a much kinder treatment. One such, a starveling girl little more than a waif, spots Xenia and hurls herself into her arms, weeping so hard she can barely speak, choking out her apologies and regrets between wracking sobs.

The Lambs - those dozen or so that survived - have proved to be trickier. Their first instinct was just to run, scattering like raindrops and returning to the streets; but Soldado has plied them with food and hot drink, putting down his own coin to buy up most of the contents of the local street-vendors' carts. After some negotiations between the acting-Captain and the two oldest Lambs (a girl, Hanna, of no more than nine and a boy, Yonas, maybe a year or so older) they agreed to stay, for now. Besides, watching Eel's End burn is a treat they won't see again.

Soldado wants the Lambs provided for in one of the local orphanages, and has offered to send for the priests to come and take them in. Hanna and Yonas flatly refuse at first, having bad experiences of institutional life; but eventually Soldado (possibly drawing heavily on ancestral memories of horse-trading and bargaining of the sort Varisians have indulged in since time immemorial) wheedles them into agreeing to be taken in by the Shelynites. Hanna and Yonas figure that a bunch of soppy, artsy priests can't be that hard to run away from if things go bad, and there's no harm in a warm bed for tonight.

On the subject of clergy, Soldado has also sent for a healer, who arrives in the form of Ishani Dhatri, the Vudran priest who seems to be almost on secondment to the Guard these days. Quietly, and without fuss he attends to healing your wounds - the physical ones, at least. There's little magic for mental scarring.

He murmurs his own gratitude for your actions, explaining: "Shortly after we arrived from Vudra, my mother died; my sister was admitted to the Academae and I was taken in by the church of Abadar - but even then, Lamm was a scourge of orphans; we were lucky to escape his grasp. Thanks to you, no more children will have to fear that fate." Abadar is big on tangible expressions of gratitude, and Dhatri hands each of you a gift from one of his belt-pouches: a golden key on a silver chain, the holy symbol of his god.

The sad-eyed priest hovers over Lorick for some time without speaking, before tentatively touching Sia's brow with a spell that makes her body glow briefly with a soft light, which fades gently away. "There. Nothing will harm her now." He quietly waits for a few moments to see if Lorick will engage, before tactfully leaving him in solitude.

Sorry for the delay, assume that Tyenar's actions here are when Eel's End is still burning (before today's post). Will post the rest once Tyenar knows if the two Lambs are okay.
Just after they run out of Eel's End dragging the corpses of Lamm and his lackeys, Tyenar turns around and starts to stare at the former seat of power of the King of Spiders going up in flames.

Or at lest, staring in the general direction of Eel's End. The sylph's eyes seems only half-intent on looking at the physical burning building, instead seemingly more focused on an unseen something behind the burning ship.
The fire caught on really fast: Eel's End must have been moored here for years...
Tyenar didn't have a long history with Lamm like the others: seeing Lamm's home go down in flame didn't have a cathartic effect like it did for most of the others on the pier. Indeed, he barely hears what's happening around him, everyone's voices distant and confused.

It takes Tyenar a good half a minute to realize that it has started to rain and, when the Sylph finally realizes it, he looks at his hands only to see them shaking like mad: all his body, in fact, was trembling like a leaf, and the winds around him had grown completely still.

Tyenar looks in dazed disbelief at his rapier, the blood being slowly washed away by the rain, and turns his head to the ground at his right to stare at Davor's body.
Did I...I killed him, right?
The half-orc's hateful glare, still painted on his face, almost seem to answer the Sylph's question.
Tyenar starts to sweat and breath heavily, unable to form a single coherent thought in his head for the first time of his life as a creeping sense of dread assails him.
I killed him! Gods, I killed him!

Fortunately, the sound of the nearby Lambs talking with the guard manages to snap, temporarily, Tyenar back to reality.
"Ander! Timmor!" he shouts, almost tripping as he runs towards the Lambs, searching for the two young boys.

The Lamb spokesgirl, Hanna, cocks an eye at Tyenar as he calls out: "You Ander's friend, right? The one Half-Pint calls 'Fairyfoot' I guess. Yeah?"

She speaks with a blithe self-confidence that the young have in abundance but few retain to adulthood - those who do, end up in positions of authority. "Won't find him here. Timmor neither. Dancing Elf took 'em both with 'im."

A small gasp goes up from the assembled Lambs: the Dancing Elf! One of the younger ones pipes up "I saw him! He was-" but a glare from Hanna silences him. She's enjoying the limelight and not about to yield it to anyone. "Hush, you! Ooo's tellin' this story, you or me? You wanna come up 'ere and argue wiv that Guard? Nah, din't fink so. So hush up an' let me tell this, ok?"

Hierarchical order temporarily restored, Hanna turns back to Tyenar, brimming with pride. "Saw the 'ole fing. That elf, gods know where 'e come from, but 'e danced right through Lamm's boys - they cut at 'im an' they stabbed at 'im, but it din't make no difference, 'e just laughed it off. The Dancing Elf." Her voice is a close to a reverential whisper as a street-urchin's can ever be.

She snaps out of it. "Anyway, you saw it - the 'ole place caved in, floor dropped right out - an' the Dancing Elf saw what was 'appening, an' 'e dances right over to Timmor an' Ander, scoops 'em up an'-"

Hanna clicks her fingers. "Took 'em wiv 'im. Saw this burst of light, an' they turned into a shower of green sparks, an' floated up an' away, right into the sky."

"So don't worry 'bout your friends. Dancing Elf has 'em, an' they're safe wiv 'im. 'E'll send 'em back, we just gotta wait. Time don't work for 'em same as it does for us, see? Could be ages before they come back."

The older boy, Yonas, gives Tyenar a Look; it's the look a kid has when they've kind-of sort-of worked out that the tooth fairy and the Festival Father can't possibly be real, but they so desperately want it to be true that they're afraid of saying anything, in case they jinx it...

As he hears the former Lambs' recount about Ander, Timmor, and the "Dancing Elf", Tyenar expression goes from confusion, to fear, to an expressionless numbness.
"I-I see. Thanks." the Sylph mutters before going back to where the rest of the group is, without uttering a word.
The little mental clearness he had gotten back a few minutes ago dissolves away, and Tyenar stars again to stare off in the direction of Eel's End, his mind completely blank.

Lorick nods mechanically at the priest as he tactfully withdraws. To Juliet he says slowly, as if his mind is only reluctantly coming back to the thorny matters of the living world, Got some stuff to take care of, don't usually get funerals 'round here, but I think she'd like something nice. I'll be at the Grave Lady's place, in the Grays.

And saying that he rises up and ,carrying the prostate form of Sia in his arms, sets out, alone, into the rain. Funerals were a foreign concept to the street kids of Old Korsova, and Lamm's underlings were sent off to the afterlife screaming as they were lowered into the pit at Eel's End. Those were the two things he and Sia had been. It was all that Sia would ever be.

So it was with only a hazy idea of what to do that Lorick stumps through the streets, looking far more haggered than the dead body he was carrying. He gets a few stares from the few people on the streets he passed, mostly the Guards deployed to contain any possible spillover of violence from what had just happened though the weather was doing a far better job of that then they could have, but they didn't stop him. Perhaps they didn't dare.

They hadn't lived long enough in the new place that Sia had acquired for herself as one of Lamm's Lieutenant for it to feel like home, but it had started to. Lorick unlocks the door and carefully places Sia's body on a couch pausing to wipe the rain drops out of her closed eyes. Then he goes through her things quickly, sweeping hew very newly acquired jewelry and baubles into his well worn sack. He stops for a little while at a box far older and far less well made at the back of one of the drawers. She had always placed far more importance on physical things than he had and in the box he found mementos of the hard won bits of happiness of her younger life; The shiny bits of glass that she had collected as a girl imagining them to be jewels, The little trinkets that Lorick had, at first, stolen for her, and then later scraped together enough coin to buy. He picks it up, it was small, more of a large wallet than anything else, and, very carefully, slips it into one of the hidden thieve's pockets of her armor. He knew her secrets just as much as she knew his. It didn't seem fair that he was the only one left carrying them.

Then picking her up again he leaves the apartment, not bothering to lock it. He walks all the way from Old Korvosa to the Grand Cathedral of Pharasma. It's a long walk but he doesn't really notice the time passing.

Inside he finds an attendant. I want... to pay for a funeral, got the gems to pay for it. And I'd like her to be buried with the rest he says and then he sits down. There doesn't seem to be anything else to do.

__________________
LORICK
__________________

Eel's End, as was

There is a cordon of Guard stationed around the remains of the jetty; they look at you dubiously, but stand aside for you at a barked order from acting-Captain Soldado. The man looks at you, evidently weighing up whether to offer you an escort or to leave you alone; on the basis that discretion is the better part of almost everything, he nods at you and leaves you to it.

Some things you just have to do alone.

The Cathedral of Pharasma

You recognise the acolyte on duty: it's the younger of the two sisters, the one you rescued from the Dead Warrens a lifetime ago (her name's Jepsara, but it's possible you don't recall that). The girl recognises you immediately, her eyes wide with hero-worship but sharpening immediately when she sees your burden. "Of course, Sir; wait here while I find someone." Immensely glad to be of help to someone who saved her life, she speeds off at a run, throwing any would-be priestly dignity to the wind.

She returns minutes later, this time slow and grave (although part of that is to do with the tray she's carrying) with the elderly Father Gellantara in tow; his white fluffy hair gives him an impromptu halo when the light is behind him. His eyes glisten as he looks at you and at Sia. "Ah, my son, what a burden of grief is yours! But fear not: the Lady of Graves will smile in judgement on this one, I have no doubt. And I'll have no talk of payment! You and your friends returned our brightest jewel to us-" he ruffles the young girl's hair "-and we owe you a debt for that."

Jepsara serves you both a cup of tea, curtsies deeply to you, and then departs; but not before squeezing your hand in wordless sympathy.

Father Gellantara settles down in his seat with a sigh, old bones creaking in the chill Spring air. In the solid stone walls of the Cathedral, the storm outside is nothing more than an intermittent rumble. "So tell me, my son, when would you like the funeral to be? We shall take good care of her until then."

__________________
EVELYN, JULIET,
TYENAR & XENIA
__________________

Early Evening

Eel's End, as was

Gradually, it becomes clear that the work of the Guard is done; the crowd abates (in this rain, there was never much of one to start with: rain is the copper's friend) and a group of Shelynite nuns arrive to collect the Lambs. They have brought with them some warm clothing, blankets and a few toys for the younger ones; they converse for some moments with Hanna and Yonas. Initially suspicious, the two of them ultimately nod: there's something about the nuns' soft eyes that suggests kindness.

Forming up protectively around their new young charges, the nuns shepherd the Lambs away.

Finally, with nothing left to do, acting-Captain Soldado approaches you. "We should, uh, make our report to the Field-Marshal now." And I hope to every god in existence that you actually have something for her is the unspoken phrase which hangs in the air.

Citadel Volshyenek

You are shown swiftly - briskly, even - into Kroft's office. The Field-Marshal is sitting at her desk, busying herself with a number of extremely official-looking documents; you can't get a proper view from where you are, but they're what you imagine arrest warrants and execution warrants might look like.

Kroft doesn't look up, and she doesn't offer you a seat. "Ah, Sergeant, good of you to arrive. I'm afraid that after overseeing that display, I can't possibly address you as acting-Captain. Whether you end this meeting as a Sergeant is still to be decided."

Soldado gives a crisp salute, his gaze fixed on the wall by Kroft's head. "Ma'am."

Finally, Kroft looks up at you, noting Lorick's absence but saying nothing. She is silent for a long while.

...

..

.

"So tell me: was there something unclear about my orders? I am struggling to understand how 'find out if Lamm has anything on the Chelish Ambassador' became 'kill everyone in Eel's End and burn it down behind you.' Perhaps you can explain? At the very least, PLEASE tell me you actually have something to show for the trouble you've caused."

Juliet paces the room as Kroft lays into the Sergeant, and then things stretch out into silence, the duelist's face pinched and worried. She'd meant to talk with the others about what could be in that chest, but things had taken a turn. Lorick, gone, the others in various amounts of distress, and her brother disappeared. Juliet simply was consumed by other things, until Soldado insisted they accompany him to file this report. Oh well, the axe would fall where it would.

But Juliet wasn't going to stick her neck out to meet it.

"Oi, not Soldado's fault the place burned down. He's stationed outside, what's he supposed to do? And not our fault either. You let that place fester in the underbelly of the city for years. You claimed paid vice taxes made the man immune to scrutiny, but fact was, people got on that ship and never left. All. The. Time. Do vice taxes cover murder? Ask any of those Little Lambs about the wings hanging in the ship. They'll tell you a cruel story. And they could have told you many others, over the years, if you were interested in listening. Instead, a lot of people had to die today so-"

Cutting herself off before she finishes her sentence, so that I could get my freedom, Juliet pauses and takes a deep breath.

"We tried subtlety, but Lamm saw right through it. Stabbed a woman right in front of us, with a poisoned dagger. She's at the Boneyard now. Then everything just went... sideways. One of the street kids got spooked, what with them getting murdered all over the place, and threw a lantern, and then that was that. There was no undoing that terrified child's action."

Eel's End should have burned years ago."

The corners of Soldado's mouth twitch slightly as Juliet goes on her rant; Kroft just listens, intently; her eyes never leave the singers'. She doesn't interrupt, just waits patiently for Juliet to finish.

"Feeling better now? I can't run this city on moral outrage, Miss D'Artangen. So, did you get anything useful in the process? Other than a vast sense of satisfaction, I mean."

Tyenar doesn't utter a single word on the road to Citadel Volshnyek, weakly shuffling along the rest of the party. He doesn't say anything when the Marshall chastise them, or when Juliet goes on her tirade. Aside from a slight flinch when the singer mentions how many died that day, the Sylph remains deathly still.

"There should be something here." Tyenar says to Kroft, with a tone even lower than usual. Motioning to the bag of holding, the Sylph tugs at the cabinet to pull it out until someone helps him to actually drag the furniture out.
Silently, the young man pulls out his lockpicking tools and starts to work, his movements as mechanical as they are precise. With his mind completely blank, there was nothing but the methodical actions required to crack the cabinet: a tug here, a push there, hold a bumper over there, then a twist, and then a swipe.
Tyenar gasps and recoils back as the lock opens, looking at it as he had just seen a ghost. Staying away from the cabinet, he waits for someone else to open it.

Disable Device, spend 1 Inspiration: 1d20 + 13 + 1d6 ⇒ (19) + 13 + (5) = 37

Kroft raises an eyebrow as the darkwood, adamantine-bound chest slides greasily out of the Bag. Now that you have a proper chance to look at it, it's easy to believe it once belonged to Gaedran Lamm: it has an air of menace about it (despite the fact it's a chest), as though it could easily rear up and rip out your throat (which is stupid: it's a chest).

Inked in something dark, that is almost certainly dried blood, a series of evil-looking sigils are printed across its rim.

The Field-marshal nods. "It's a Hopeless Case. I've seen these before." She's interrupted by Tyenar getting out his lockpicking tools (the sylph might later reflect on the wisdom of doing this in the office of the Field-marshal of the Korvosan Guard), which merits a raised eyebrow; Kroft gestures at him, with a murmured "Please, be my guest..." It's almost like she knows something he doesn't.

The next few minutes prove to be some of the most frustrating of Tyenar's life: every.single.time he thinks he's cracked it, that he's in, something... happens to the lock. Like it's toying with him, changing its pins and tumblers when he isn't testing them, giving in to his probing tools and then pushing them back.

Eventually, whatever game it was playing, the Case tires of; there's a metallic crunching sound as the lock yanks the lockpicks out of Tyenar's hands, swallowing them whole; a few, almost musical, springing sounds later, there's a *p'tui* and the wrecked, mangled remains are ejected onto the floor.

The Case has no expression whatsoever (repeat: it's a chest), but that doesn't stop it from looking smug.

The Cathedral of Pharasma

Tomorrow I think Lorick rumbles finally There may be a few more coming. I... he looks up to the priest I'm not.. wasn't.. like her. Pharasma probably ain't gonna send me to the same place is she... I mean after I get judged?

"Oh for the love-" and Evelyn rolls her eyes. "Stop playing with the box, give it here." The young woman sets the case on the desk and starts to examine it. "Marshal Kroft, please be patient for a little while longer. It has been a...long day and I'm sure it goes without saying, but Lamm wasn't exactly in a cooperative mood. You still have plenty of captives whom I'm sure you could interview, and what my friend has failed to explain is that this chest belonged to Lamm personally. Whatever may be inside is likely of interest to your investigation."

"Mmm. Abyssal, nasty stuff. Alright, let's see what we've got here." and she gently sets her hands on the chest, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow with concentration.

The Cathedral of Pharasma

Father Gellantara nods. "Of course. We shall see you then."

He smiles slightly in answer to Lorick's question; it's one he has heard (in some iteration or other) many, many times. "My son, we have a saying: each soul finds its own level. Time in the After passes differently from the Here-and-now, and a soul may wander - apart from the damned, of course, but we need not dwell on that."

He sips his tea, giving Lorick time to try and absorb some of the mysteries of metaphysics that are being imparted. "Souls are free, my son, more free than you can possibly imagine - their destination is not final, if the soul wishes it not to be so."

================

Citadel Volshyenek

"It's a Hopeless Case." The distaste in Kroft's voice is pronounced. "As I said, I've seen them before. A lost soul is driven inside it, to take refuge from a fiend; it will resist opening, except with the key, which is silver, or..." She trails off and moves to the safe in the wall just behind her chair.

Opening the safe, Kroft produces a locked box, which she opens with a key hung round her neck. From a velvet cloth, she produces a gleaming mithral set of... look. We're in the office of the Field-marshal of the Korvosan Guard; we're going to have to call them locksmith's tools.

Throwing them to Tyenar, she gives a wry smile. "I've no doubt your skills are better than mine; I want them back, mind."

With his inspiration and experience, Tyenar is easily able to open the lock - whatever is inside flinches away from the mithral, with a barely-audible protest and a slight smell of burning as the picks interact with the lock.

Lifting the lid of the Case, the sylph sees an uncountable number of folders, clearly ordered and labelled - in Abyssal script. "Thank you, Master Checkeredpage - I'll take it from here." Retrieving the mithral tools, Kroft tips up the Case, dumping the folders onto her desk. "Ah. Alphabetical. That should make it easier... yes, here we go: Amprei."

Opening the folder, she retrieves an assortment of letters; reading through them, she blushes and hastily puts them away. "It appears the ambassador has taken to writing and receiving... frank notes with one of his lovers. Sadly for him, she's married. If this got out, it would ruin him. No wonder Lamm had a hold over him."

For the first time, she looks at you and smiles, slightly. "Well done."

...

Her demeanour changes as she looks at Soldado. "Sergeant. I have good reports coming in from local shopkeepers, informing me that when the fire broke out you took prompt action to avoid it spreading. Commendable."

Soldado salutes, his expression and gaze unchanged. "Ma'am."

Turning away from him, she walks over and looks out of the window, hands clasped behind her back. "But I'm also told that you took no action to prevent Eel's End burning; I understand, in fact, that you ordered your men not to fight the blaze."

Turning back, she fixes him with a stare. "Would you care to explain your actions, Sergeant?"

Soldado clears his throat. "Well, Ma'am, I looked at the orphans who'd escaped, and the life they'd clearly suffered; and I thought about all the crimes we knew Lamm had committed but could never prove - the murders, the drug-running, all the innocents he'd killed and all the lives he'd ruined, and I just thought..." He trails off.

Kroft arches an eyebrow, unaccustomed to being kept waiting. "Yes, Sergeant?"

Soldado looks her straight in the eye. "I thought: let the whole f!@@ing place burn to the waterline. Ma'am."

There is a long silence.

Evelyn tries to spy if there is a folder for herself in the chest and, if so, attempts to steal it away.

The Cathedral of Pharasma

Free huh. Lorick says and closes his eyes That's all I wanted for her.

He falls asleep.

During the pause, Evelyn tries, and fails, to spot her name in a bundle of files written in an unfamiliar language.

Kroft briefly passes a hand across her eyes. "I see. Then it seems I have no choice. I'm promoting you to Captain, effective from the first of this month. You're owed a small amount of back pay, which you'll need to collect from the treasurer."

Soldado looks poleaxed. "Ma'am?"

Ignoring him, Kroft quickly scribbles her signature across some of the papers, and hands them over. "Congratulations, Captain. Remember: the Guard serves Korvosa first, the Crown second."

The new Captain remembers himself just enough to salute. "Ma'am."

Kroft dismisses him with a wave, and Soldado withdraws, looking like he's walking on air.

She turns her attention back to you.

"You have done me two favours today: retrieving the information I sent you for, and ridding Korvosa of Gaedran Lamm. Officially, I can only reward you for the first - I cannot encourage vigilante action or zealous crusades." She looks at Juliet, then at each of you, then back at Juliet. "I trust I make myself clear."

"Nevertheless, I am glad to offer you this reward."

She gives each of you a certified letter of credit from the Bank of Abadar, for 500 in gold, drawn on the Guard's account; as well as a certified letter of credit, drawn on Kroft's personal account, for 1,000 in gold.

Xenia, who is still rather awestruck dealing directly with the Field Marshall, listens to the others. She is about to open her mouth to add some details, when another member of the group speak. Finally when the Sergeant has been promoted and left and the rewards are being handed out, she speaks briefly.

Ma'am, for your report, I think it would be wise to include that Lamm was not the only person . . . evil living in that tinderbox. You may have heard that he would drop those he did not like into a pit. Well, Lorick went into that pit during the fight, and was probably the first to ever come out alive. What followed him was a nightmare, far worse than the fire. I do not know what it was, but a man-spider followed him up, and with it were two spiders the size of a cart. It was the fighting of these creatures that caused us to be unable to try to stem the fire.

She pauses for a moment and licks her lips.
Also, I doubt it would have mattered what Soldado would have done. That ancient ship was a combination of dry wood and oiled canvas. As your reports likely state, it went up faster than tinder. We fled that place, and all who survived did as well, less than a minute or so after the blaze started.

Suddenly realizing that Kroft is not listening and watching her intently, Xenia stops and blushes.
I'm sorry Ma'am. I just wanted to make sure that you had all the facts for any report you must file.

She then accepts the note, blushing again at the sheer value of what was being given her, more than she had ever earned . . . been given at one time in her life.

It is Juliet's turn to stare - hard - at the wall. "No vigilante action. Got it."

Casting a long look at the papers spilled out onto the table, unable to make any sense of them but certain that her name is in that pile somewhere, Juliet sighs, and folds the letters of credit into her cloak's pocket.

"Thanks, Commander. Be seein' ya. Or not. That's OK too."

The Cathedral of Pharasma

When you wake up, you find that someone has put a blanket over you; on the bench beside you, the novice Jepsara has done her best to maintain a waking vigil, but has fallen asleep. It must be late: the place is quiet.

Citadel Volshyenek

Kroft smiles. "Thank you for your services. If you want to carry on working for me, I'm sure Korvosa could use the help."

The storm has not abated: rain hammers into the ground, and waterfalls cascade from the gutters. Lightning flickers across the sky, followed by the crash of thunder.

Other than that, it is a beautiful Spring evening.

Xenia nods to Kroft:
I have not been with this group as long as most. But, the relief I felt when I knew that Tivera and other young people would no longer be the victims of the horrid Lamm was without measure. I would like to join you in the fight to free this city from other evils that might beset this city.

MOONDAY, 26 GOZRAN 4715 A.R.

Evening

Xenia gets a nod from Kroft, together with the shadow of an approving smile. "I am glad to have you on board, Miss Fabrenth. Please do what you can to keep your companions on this side of the law."

Juliet finds that Orisini's Academy is closed up: Vencarlo is apparently in chamber with Korvosa's Council, trying to get an audience with Her Majesty. She also hears that the Cerulean Society (Korvosa's thieves' Guild) is doing a pretty good job of hunting down the remainder of Lamm's cronies. There is no love lost there: for several decades, the half-elf held off both the Guard and the Guild through guile and ruthlessness - with him gone, the Cerulean Society is taking vengeance with extreme prejudice. There's nothing she can add to that. When she gets home, she finds a note pinned to her door: Hey Jules - Lamm sent me to find you. You need to get to Eel's End asap! Might crash at yours later, so get some food in, OK? - T.

Of course, her apartment is empty.

Evelyn's enquiries about Lamm's body take her to Ianril: the dwarf looks shifty for a few moments, before telling her that the bodies of Lamm and the others were handed over to Grey District. If no next of kin comes forward in the next day, they will all be buried in the pauper's grave. "Why'd you, uh, want to know?"

Tyenar's feet lead him to the Sisters of Good Hope, a Shelynite orphanage. There he finds the Lambs, all fed and dressed in smarter new clothes. It looks like some of them might even stay for a while. Hanna's story about the Dancing Elf disappearing in a shower of sparks with Timmor and Ander has spread, and now most of the other Lambs also claim to have seen the exact same thing. After a few moments, the nuns quietly escort Tyenar out, politely - but firmly - closing the door behind him.

Nobody else has any information - or much interest - about the people he's looking for.

"That man put me through a hell like I can't even describe, Ianril. I need to see him. I need to make sure it's...over. Surely you understand? It hasn't been easy for the guard either, has it?"

The dwarf's face crinkles and he reaches out an arm to give Evelyn's shoulder a clumsy pat. He looks like he'd say something, if he knew what.

In the oddly companionable silence, he nods, before escorting Evelyn over to the morgue, where the day's bodies are catalogued before burial.

The air is chill and damp, and the priests of Pharasma work soundlessly, wrapping the bodies in black shrouds of homespun cloth and preparing them for their final long rest.

Lamm and the rest of his cronies who were dragged out of the burning ship lie on a trestle in the corner.

No brother, no duelist, no enemies to hunt and no desire to get into the sightline of the Cerulean Society, Juliet decides to see if she still has a job.

Hand on the door of Ricci's Opera House, Juliet hesitates - is this what she really wants to do with her freedom? A job? - and half expecting the Opera House to still be closed, gives the door a shove...

The door swings open at Juliet's push, and she finds herself witnessing an argument.

On the one side: a priest of Abadar, garbed in the gold silk of an apostle-advocate; his fleshy jowls wobble as he speaks in soft tones, apparently on behalf of Ricci and the church. He is in the middle of explaining that yes, in fact, by virtue of the contract, the church does now own Ricci's assets - and that no, the church has not inherited any of Ricci's liabilities. His greasy voice has an air of satisfaction as he points this out.

On the other side: the singers and performers who have worked at Ricci's and are currently being told that they won't be getting any of the pay they're owed. They are being spoken for by a visibly angry Svetalta Mirukova, who looks like she is torn between spitting at the apostle-advocate's feet, or lamping him one on the jaw. Neither course of action would be wise.

Albert Ricci himself is strangely silent, subdued; unwilling to stand up to the priest or get involved in the dispute, his eyes roam around the room, avoiding eye contact - which is why he notices the door open (the others haven't spotted Juliet yet). He looks at her pleadingly, as if willing her to just turn around and pretend she was never here.

Evelyn nods silently at the sight, doing her best to maintain a composed face. Emotions still churned violently in her chest at the sight of the corpse and it was all she could do not to have some manner of outburst. Finally she says in a low, yet strangely emotionless tone "Thank you, Ianril. You've provided me a great deal of closure. You are a good man." She punctuates her final words by placing her hand on the dwarfs shoulder before turning away to leave the place. As she walks away, ideas already run through her head as to her next move...

But it was growing late, and she was weary. For now such things would have to wait until tomorrow. Evelyn makes her way home to the Grey District. Along the way, she stops by the Pharsman church to check in with the people there, and to pass along a donation to ease her conscience. She also runs into Lorick there and delivers his portion of Kroft's reward.

========

In her shanty, before turning in for the night, she takes out the deck of cards and tries to conjure the fortune teller's spirit. Lamm was dead now, perhaps it had something to say?

Tyenar slowly makes his way back to his home (for now...) after having no success with finding any information with the Lamms. Actively searching after Ander and Timmor was certainly better than doing nothing, he kept telling to himself.
It seems weird that everyone else of the Lamms got out aside from them...

Entering his room, the Sylph takes off and tucks out of sight his Rapier and Leather Armor. With shaky hands, he pulls out a vial and several alchemical reagents, mixing them in silence for about a minute: when he's finished, Tyenar gulps the extract in one shot and crashes on his bed, fast asleep.

After leaving the meeting with Kroft, Xenia heads back to her small flat where she finds Tivera curled up in a ball. The combination of withdrawal from whatever drug Lamm had been feeding her, together with the trauma of seeing so much death and mayhem had obviously overwhelmed the poor girl.

After getting a hot meal into Tivera's stomach, Xenia just held the girl and discussed the options. It was clear that Korvosa was not a safe place for anyone, especially a Varisian teenager. Finally, it dawned on Xenia that Petrivar was going to need a new assistant if Xenia was going to be working for Kroft and fighting with the strange lot she had fallen in with to stop the ills that seemed to be continuously befalling the city.

After getting a fairly good, albeit restless, nights sleep, Xenia took Tivera down to Petrivar's tattoo parlor and after some discussion, Petrivar agreed, especially since he was no longer paying tribute to Lamm, to take in the young girl.

With that, Xenia headed back out, deciding to go to the temple of Pharasma as that was a place she expected to find at the very least Lorick mourning Sai,