Lorick returns Orisini's look with a blank stare of his own. Said there are Lamms in charge. Not that everyone were Lamms so don't get your knickers in a twist. The big man folds his arms Considerin' you're coming to us for help, and the city guard are sniffing around you I figure that you're not particularly in charge either in any case. So my comment don't apply to you.
Tyenar locks eyes with Trinia, unblinking. Then looks at Orisini, biting his lip.
"I'll try to help." the sylph finally says "Do you have already a route to get out of the city?"
Orisini chuckles good-naturedly at Lorick's remarks. "That's good to hear; that level of disillusionment doesn't normally set in until much older. I should hate to see it blossom too early."
He then looks at Tyenar. "I can supply you with horses and sustenance for the journey. I plan on sending Trinia to Harse - it's a small town some 60 miles from here - there's a chap I know at the inn there; the imaginatively-named Travelers' Rest. He knows people in the ranches thereabouts, they're a fine place to be lost when the authorities want you." His eyes twinkle. "Not that I would know about such things, of course."
He turns serious again. "The man you're looking for is named Jasan Adriel. Tell him that Vencarlo sent you and he'll know what that means. As for leaving Korvosa, I would suggest that less is more; the authorities will be on the lookout for anything blatant, like magic."
Trinia looks at you all, her green eyes alight with gratitude - and curiosity. "Vencarlo's told me about you, how you stormed Eel's End and took down Gaedren Lamm when nobody else would - I'm sure if anyone can get me away safely, it's you."
Lorick shrugs at Trinia We'll see. To the others I travel light but I don't know anything about wilderness stuff. We setting out now or later?
Juliet blushes, a bit of embarrasement creeping up her neck and cheeks. "Hold your trotting horses, sister. I've, uhh, never actually been outside of Korvosa. Never ridden a horse. Can't tell directions, either. Hopefully someone here knows how to do these things. Anyone?"
Xenia looked like she'd never ridden a horse either. Lorick admitted as much. Briefly looking at Evelyn, Juliet just frowned. That left one option. "Tyenar? You know anything about getting along out there?"
"What I can do, is talk us past the guards, if we need to. Perhaps we're travelling entertainers? I can sing, Lorick can be a strongman, Xenia the illusionist, the Kid our medium. Tyenar... our apprentice? Or perhaps we can go via boat?"
Any hidden or less known ways out of the city for the poor folk that nobody else bothers with?
Evelyn thinks a while and scratches her chin, then shrugs. "That's probably better than my idea" she concludes.
"Let's hope there are less casualties this time..." Tyenar sighs at Trinia's comment as he starts thumbing trough his notes.
"I'm from the countryside around Korvosa, actually." the Sylph says, giving a skim at one of his notes before passing to the next "I'd say that finding a way to exit the city without passing trough the gates would be ideal, but if we have to do that, I think that leaving the city in smaller groups and meeting up out of town would be best.". He stops on another, before frowning and passing to another.
"Also...I've been working on the last weeks on a way to make my potions work on people without provoking copious amounts of internal bleeding. If they don't check for magic at the gate, I can make any of us look completely different."
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Xenia looks at the others:
I have ridden before, but I will not claim to be an expert by any means. I spent years traveling with a caravan, but cannot say that I am familiar with this particular village.
As far as escaping from the city, I will leave that up to you all as this is not one of my strengths, although I could probably make illusions to cover us up and make distractions.
"I'm not going to be any good with a horse, either," Trinia admits. "Put me on the roofs of the city though and it's another story..."
Orisini sighs. "Alright. Forget the horses. They'd probably draw attention anyway. But it will take you longer to get there and back."
"We'll have to leave the city by foot, anyway." Tyenar closes up his notebook "Our best bet to leave the city is just to go trough the gates like everyone during the peak hours. As long as we don't draw attention or something is weird, the guards won't look at us for more than a few seconds. I can make an extract for me and Trinia to look as inconspicuous as possible, and we'll just walk out of the gates."
Lorick shrugs They ain't going to detect your magic are they?
"If I'm right, and I am fairly sure that that is the case, they usually don't check for magic."
Juliet shrugs. "Fair enough. Make you two look like not yous, and we'll take a Sunday stroll. What about weapons and equipment? Guard going to be suspicious if we take gear with us?"
"Also...I've been working on the last weeks on a way to make my potions work on people without provoking copious amounts of internal bleeding."
Trinia looks disbelieving. "C'mon - you want me to drink something, you're gonna have to do better than that!" She shudders. "Copious amounts of internal bleeding... - I'm not sold on this idea, you know?"
EDIT: Juliet would know that the Guard aren't going to worry too much about what people leaving the city are carrying, and some sort of weaponry for self-defence would be expected.
Evelyn shrugs "Shes done pretty well so far"
"As I said, they don't do that anymore"Tyenar frowns, a gust of wind blowing around him. "And that was a worst case scenario: never had problems like that even when I started. If you're not sure about this, here's my notes on-" the sylph moves to his backpack to fetch another note book, before stopping "I don't suppose you speak Auran? Wait, tell you what."
Pulling over a nearby chair, Tyenar starts pulling out a couple of alembics, and starts concocting an extract. After barely a minute, he fills an iron vial with a blueish vial.
"Anyone wants to try? Drink it, then visualize a person in your head."
Lorick nods at Trinia. Let's do a trail run of what you could look like to slip out the Gates
Trinia looks at you all dubiously, before taking the vial from Tyenar and sniffing it cautiously. "Hmm." She suddenly grins, boyishly. "Here goes nothing!" Tipping the contents into her mouth, her outline blurs for a couple of seconds, before emerging as... an identical copy of Evelyn. Staring into a mirror, she pats herself down, cautiously. "Ah. I see it really is just the appearance that changes." The voice is not Evelyn's, but it has the identical tone, the same street-bred twang, that Evelyn has. It would take a skilled listener to tell them apart.
Her form wavers again, this time becoming Xenia. "Fascinating. I wonder how this is done." Again, the tone and intonations are an almost exact mimic of the part-Shoanti girl.
She looks at you. "Acting is part of my trade - on which note..." she morphs again, into Juliet this time. She winks at the fencer: "Not gonna try your voice, it'd be too tricky - 'slike you took all your education and breeding and ground it into the cobbles of the streets." She leers, slightly; still in Juliet's face. "Bet the posh boys love you..." Turning away suddenly, Trinia changes again, settling on a non-descript Chelish face, dressed in garb that could belong to any serving-girl in any establishment in Korvosa.
She smiles. "How long does this last?"
Juliet whistles as Trinia changes shapes. Fancy. Nonplussed at the fugitive's assessment of her, Juliet merely frowns and shrugs. "I do alright, sister. We got enough time to get Trinia to the gates and through from here?"
"It should last about thirty minutes." Tyenar replies "I can prepare a couple more, so we won't risk it wearing off before we get out."
Well. Let's get on with it then Lorick says. Where do we meet? I've got something to take care of.
"Trinia can stay with me until it's time" offers Evelyn
Trinia gives you all a grateful look. "Thank you. I'm in your hands."
She looks at Evelyn. "What do you propose?"
...
Late Afternoon
The first part of the escape journey is uneventful: a slow walk through the city down to High Bridge and then up to Dwarfwalk Road, mingling with the afternoon’s merchants leaving the city. Groups of guards (who now bear crimson tunics to proclaim their allegiance to the new queen), Hellknights and mercenaries patrol the streets. The patrols cast sidelong glances at you; as you get closer to the gate, they become more frequent, the stares more lingering.
Even disguised, Trinia sinks deeper into the shadow of her cowled cloak; to try and make the time pass more quickly, she starts conversations, with questions both aimless and probing: who you are, how you came to know Orisini, what do you do for fun, that sort of thing.
She asks nothing about your role in taking down Gaedren Lamm, and reveals little about herself.
Travelling on foot in this way, you reach the gate. Every cart, every wagon, is being searched. Foot passengers - particularly those travelling alone - are keenly scrutinised.
Finally, it is your group's turn. The 5-man Guard duty stationed at the gate looks bored, but their sergeant (whom you don't recognise) fixes you with a long stare. "State your business."
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Diplomacy(gather info):
--> While the group is in the line to leave, Xenia will chat with others in the line to determine what their purpose for leaving is. Her goal is to find a commonality that the guards doing the questioning have the least questions about before allowing people to leave.
Stepping forward, Xenia bows to the guard.
My lord. We have been in the city since before the unrest began. All of us have family in the towns and villages to the northeast of the city and decided that traveling together was wise. All of us wish to make sure that our loved ones are safe in this difficult time. Xenia then names 4 or 5 villages that are accessible through this gate, but which are in more or less the opposite direction from their actual destination.
Bluff:
Diplomacy:
Juliet places her arm over Xenia's shoulders, protectively. "Her ma's sick, sarge. Doesn't get around well these days. Chronic condition... uhhh, tenitious?"
Fumbling for an ongoing condition, Juliet strings a few syllables together, hoping the guard won't notice. Or he'll be ashamed of his ignorance? Girl, just keep your mouth shut!
The Sergeant's eyes glaze over about eight words into Xenia's story. "Next!"
In no time at all, you're through the gate, outside the city. Trinia looks at the rest of you with disbelief and a broad grin; once the walls of Korvosa are lost from sight, she gives each of you an impulsive hug, her eyes brimming with tears. "I can never repay you for that."
Long walk ahead. You ain't safe yet Lorick reminds the bard. Let's keep going
After a while he looks around to make sure they're alone.
So you just the easiest scapegoat or is there some other reason they have it out for you?
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Xenia shrugs at Trinia:
Amazing how easy it is to manipulate a weak mind. Cannot say I like doing it, but sometimes a little white lie saves a lot of blood and hardship.
She then nods in agreement with Lorick.
Yup, probably is not going to be the easiest trek. We can stick to the roads for a while, but I think we might want to take less travelled paths, unless someone can disguise Trinia all the time. Eventually we will run into someone who was in the square a few days ago, and they are going to be VERY interested in the rewards the queen is likely to give.
"Yep," Juliet says, nodding. "Keep your cloak-hood up and head down, especially if we pass anyone. How far are these ranchers. Are we going to have to... sleep out here?"
As they leave Korvosa, Evelyn unconsciously gravitates towards the others. Having never been out of the city it had never occurred to her how wide and...flat it would be. The smell was strange too, and made her nervous, which had the side effect of making her clingy.
"Yup, let's start to move: maybe we'll make it in time before nightfall." Tyenar nods at Juliet "If that isn't the case, we'll just camp. Maybe we should have brought along a tent..."
Trinia gives Evelyn a sympathetic look: "I've never been outside the city either; I will miss it - especially the rooftops. There's nothing like the thrill of bounding across The Shingles, knowing that whatever is happening far below can't affect you... when you're up there, the wind blowing through your hair, there's nothing you can't outrun! Or so I used to think, anyway. Did you ever try it?"
Despite Xenia's misgivings, you manage to travel along the road without attracting undue attention: any would-be reward claimants are looking for a girl on her own, not someone accompanied by friends. With her hood up they would have trouble picking Trinia out of a crowd, even without her disguise.
You have a long way to travel though: as Orisini stated, the town of Harse is 60 miles from Korvosa. On foot, that's a 3-day journey. Fortunately, there are inns along the route: the road to Korvosa is well-travelled. With luck, you should just get lost amid your fellow hostellers.
With luck.
Juliet sighs as she realizes the enormity of the task in front of them. Getting by with a wanted fugitive for three days in the boonies of Varisia, and keeping hers - and her friends - heads? Why, oh why, was she willing to jump as high as Orisini asked her? Oh, right she remembers, shooting Evelyn a dirty look. I'll help, the singer thinks, mentally imitating the kid's voice. Sighing, Juliet wraps her cloak around herself and casts a quick glance towards their caged bird. "Keep that cloakhood up, eh, sister?"
At least there was a road.
"It's fun running around the Shingles, yes." Tyenar smiles weakly "And they're great to get someone off your back that's running after you."
Looks like I won't be running around there for a bit myself.
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Xenia looks around at the others, a large butterfly now sitting on her shoulder.
If we act like we belong and do not try to hide everything, we should not have a problem. If we spend the whole time trying to hide Trinia, people are going to ask questions. We should keep her disguised, but out in the open.
Lorick nods Alright then. Let's find a resting spot before nightfall
Night
The hostel you find is busy, crowded with people on their way to and from Korvosa. Most are human, with the occasional half-elf and half-orc in their midst; to one side, occupying the table in the corner, a party of Kyonin elves sits fastidiously in the common room.
Fortunately, nobody seems interested in you - the hostel owner, a dreadlocked Shoanti woman stooped with age, gives you a key to your room and a meal for a few silver and moves on to the next customer.
The young boy continues wandering trying very hard not to burst out in tears
Gasping, Juliet sits up in her bed, kicking the bedsheets away from her sweaty frame. Feeling the cool air against her, she breathes deep and closes her eyes, but not before checking to see that Spite still rests by the bed table, in easy reach. Got to stop eating so close to bedtime, girl.
The next morning, Juliet looks ill; unkempt, slightly smelly, and with deep circles under her eyes. Looking at their charge, the woman sighs. Traveling was the worst.
Evelyn wakes from her nightmare and casts an angry glare at the deck of cards hanging from her bag before doing her best to return to sleep.
The next morning she is in no pleasant mood, greeting her companions with a glare and a "hurmph"
Lorick is uncharacteristically the last one up. He looks at everyone else blearily. Don't think I'm cut out for this country living
Tyenar wakes with a startle, jumping on his bed. He had been having nightmares since they brought down Eel's end, but this one felt particularly...ominous.
"If everything goes smoothly, we'll be back in no time." Tyenar comments the morning after to Lorick.
Late Afternoon
Over a week.
Over a week of blisters; of unforgiving road; of endless, endless walking; of sodden, straw-filled mattresses in surly hostels; of constant suspicion and fear of prying eyes. Over a week, too, of one another's constant company.
In the end, though, delivering Trinia to the Traveler's Rest inn in Harse, a barely one-horse town was as straightforward as Orisini had promised: Jasan Adriel - Orisini's contact - was waiting for you, with your reward, a purse of 500 in gold.
Trinia's heartfelt sobs of gratitude were the only way she could repay you, along with a warm lingering hug and a kiss on the cheek. The last you saw of her, she was wiping her eyes while Adriel gently settled her on his horse before the pair of them rode away.
All that was left for you to do was to make the return journey back to Korvosa: more road; more blisters; the same hostels.
Finally, however, you arrive outside your home city, its walls and towers and gates standing unchanged from when you left.
Some things have clearly changed, however - and not necessarily for the better. Like the armoured woman who heads up the Guard post by the gate; clad all in steel, her words echo with a harsh, metallic ring as she questions all who seek admittance to Korvosa.
Like the posters, plastered on every main thoroughfare:
By Decree of Her Royal Majesty, the Radiant Queen Ileosa, all citizens and members of the Korvosan Guard are to aid and admit the newly established order of the Gray Maidens. The Maidens answer directly to the Crimson Throne, and will be called upon as necessary to augment and strengthen the peace where the Korvosan Guard will not suffice. Impeding or distracting the Gray Maidens in the pursuit of their duties is punishable by imprisonment. Impersonating one of the Gray Maidens is punishable by death.
Don't think we're gonna get by that one as easy as we got by the Guards on the way out. Lorick says to the others as they get close. I know a few ways to get in an out of the city sneaky like. But a big group would get noticed. Maybe we can use that by ones and twos.
Not used to long, hard travels, Tyenar barely holds himself up when the group reaches Korvosa, silently walking after the others with the last of his strengths.
However, as they reach the gates, the Sylph springs back to life as he notices the unusual figure examining people entering the city.
"That's new." he comments, jotting notes on his journal while they wait in line, stopping to write just when the armored woman questions him at the entrance.
When the party is back in the city, the Sylph pulls out his journal again and starts flipping trough its pages.
"I wasn't expecting a new military order to be formed in a week while we were away." Tyenar comments, pointing at one of the posters "The queen doesn't have that many supporters, as far as I know: I don't think that instituting a personal militia will help that. I'm not sure she's even allowed do that: judging from the posters, they're not a part of the guard."
Juliet snorts as she looks to the ground, and away from a nearby "Gray Maiden."
"Yeah, most people think she's been a right ****. And those 'Maidens' are... worrisome, eh? I dunno, though. She's been alright with us."
A twinge of guilt passes over Juliet's face. What was she doing? Breaking the law, and not like little laws, either. Treason. Treason to a royal that had given her financial security, and put her on the path, in some ways, to her freedom. Sighing, she let the guilt go. Can't go about life dwelling on the past.
"So, should we let the fencer know his peacock is free, then?"
Turning the singer makes her way towards Old Korvosa.