BRIDGEFRONT (7 Desnus)
Nebbin hustles down Nacre Street, throwing quick glances down alleyways as he makes his way south. He moves with purpose, yet not at full speed, so he doesn't get too far ahead of the rest of his friends.
On the left (east) is the street leading to Helvara's place; no Kayleigh. Indeed, there's no sign of the young Milanite anywhere. The further south, the closer you come to the Artist's Overground, likely hideout of Rolth's elf accomplice Jolistina and Kayleigh's arch-enemy (if she has such a thing)--Pilts Swastel.
Soon you've gone about as far south as you can, reaching the point where Nacre meets up with Merciless Way South (aka Hook Street). The queen's quarantine zone has crept westward and now reaches a side street just short of the Artist's Overground. Six imposing Gray Maidens stand at a makeshift blockade of two wagons and a handful of barrels; their swords are drawn, but they stand their ground. In the shadowed alleys nearby, a few citizens cower but still can't take their eyes off the scene. Further east, more Gray Maidens are busily dragging bloody corpses into a pile. It appears that dozens of Korvosans were slain in the battle.
There is still no sign of Kayleigh.
Emi grimaces as Nebbin and Firinne fly out into the street. It's not that there's any decision to make other than going to find Kayleigh, it's that a little more care in doing so would be a really good idea.
She follows them.
BRIDGEFRONT (7 Desnus)
"We'll be back soon," Tassira tells Felix. "I hope...." Ravnos meows her support.
The mageling stays by Emi's side for the jaunt south. The pair and Firinne, like Nebbin, do not spot the missing cleric en route and eventually join Nebbin not far from the site of the battle.
Nebbin can't quite decide if he's relieved he doesn't see Kayleigh hurt somewhere, or more panicked that he can't find her. As bad as the Gray Maidens would be, what if Rolth or Jolistina caught her?! Looking around frantically, he spots one of the cowering citizens and heads over, trying to calm them.
"Have you seen a beautiful woman, with alabaster skin and short hair the color of gold?" he asks. "She's about my age, and probably was trying to help anyone who was hurt."
BRIDGEFRONT (7 Desnus)
The middle-aged man Nebbin singles out looks up at the giant and points back the way the party came. Apparently, Nebbin's concerned tone and kindly face cause the fellow to blurt out some additional information.
"'Twas just like you said, sir. Pretty lady came lookin' to heal the wounded--even tried to get to the fallen, in case they weren't quite dead. But a big fellow in spiky black armor cut her off before she got to the Iron Ladies what did all the killin'. Probably a good thing...."
"Anyhow, your friend and the armored guy argued briefly, but then they gathered the injured and headed north up Narce Street."
Firinne recalls seeing a gathered group in an alley about a block back the way you came; she didn't mention it earlier because she didn't see Kayleigh among them and is street-smart enough to know that dangerous gangs often do their business in such out-of-the-way places.
As your group prepares to backtrack, the man makes one final comment to Nebbin: "If you and this fellow in black was to fight...my money'd be on you!"
The man's description sounds a lot like it could be either Spike or Lefty, Madame Helvara's bodyguards.
BRIDGEFRONT: THE ALLEY (7 Desnus)
A pair of men--common laborers by the looks of them--emerge from the alley where Firinne spotted the gathering earlier. Though their clothing is bloody, both seem none the worse for wear, moving with pain-free ease. Entering the alley, you spy more folks chatting quietly. Kayleigh is among them, the recipient of grateful praise: Apparently, the healer's used a positive energy channel on a group of citizens injured in the street battle. Lounging with his back against a wall is Lefty, one of Madame Helvara's bodyguards. He nods a greeting to those of you he knows before examining Firinne more closely.
Kayleigh grimaces and apologizes for not waiting at the oneiromancery as she was supposed to, but when bloodied people started passing the shop and she heard what had occurred, she had to try to help. She adds that Lefty was present when she reached the scene and talked her into not trying to pass the barricade to try to help the fallen.
Lefty chimes in that he was out on an errand for Helvara and witnessed the massacre. He claims that the stand-off was tense but not violent at first, but then more citizens showed up to protest and more Gray Maidens were brought in as reinforcements. "The Maidens' leader ordered the crowd to disperse, citing the Queen's authority in dealing with the plague. She sounded very grim, like this was a final warning, and several citizens indeed fled. But then a couple of cowards in the back threw garbage and rocks, the Gray Maidens' swords were drawn, and a massacre ensued."
Another 20 feet down the alley from where Kayleigh and Lefty stand, a smallish figure cloaked in a dirty brown cape sits crouched near a pile of trash, perhaps attempting to remain unseen.
Emi notices Firinne stop, which causes her to notice Kayleigh.
She trots onward telling Firinne "I'll go find Nebbin and bring him back."
Nebbin sighs in relief, his body sagging much like it does after one of his bursts of temper. "You shouldn't have run off! You could have been hurt!" he exclaims.
He notices the figure off down the alley, but as it doesn't appear to be Kayleigh or a Gray Maiden, he ignores it for now.
BRIDGEFRONT: THE ALLEY (7 Desnus)
"I didn't run off!" Kayleigh replies. " I let Felix and Madame Carrington know where I was going...in general terms, at least." With a shrug and vague hand-wave at the wounded around her, the healer adds, "I couldn't stand around and do nothing. My help was needed here, so I came."
It's tough to tell exactly from whom the figure is hiding, but you're pretty sure the stealth is intentional--you can smell the pile of garbage it's near from where you stand. The figure's smallish and its cloak filthy; an educated guess is it's a person forced to live on the streets.
Additional Spoiler Below.
Though it's next to impossible to discern if the figure hides from Kayleigh, your group, the marauding Gray Maidens or all of the above, it seems to now be watching your group.
Eventually assauged, Nebbin's nose wrinkles. "I think that poor guy might be scared," he says quietly, not wanting to embarrass him. "I think he's standing in a pile of poop."
Emi also notices the figure down the alley and keeps an eye on it since Nebbin is mostly busy with Kayleigh.
BRIDGEFRONT: THE ALLEY (7 Desnus)
You believe Nebbin's assumption is wrong--the cloaked figure seems to be female, and middle-aged to old.
You also notice her look in Kayleigh's direction...but more at the morningstar that hangs from her belt than at the cleric herself.
Emi mutters to Nebbin "I'm going to see what that's about" and proceeds down the alley toward the presumed older woman. When she's close enough to speak without raising her voice, Emi speaks.
"Is there something you need? If so what is it? If not you'd be better off inside. There's a lot of violence on the streets today."
BRIDGEFRONT: THE ALLEY (7 Desnus)
The figure tenses a bit as Emi approaches, but when there's no malice or threat in the young swordswoman's tone, the being's head tilts up appraisingly. The small part of the old woman's face that is revealed is ugly and haggard; her teeth are particularly bad, yellowed and misaligned.
"I wish to speak with the healer...in private," the old woman rasps. "And with you, the giant, and your other friends. I have a request of you all, and it involves the blood veil. There are dangers, and I cannot reward you much."
Your street sense tells you the old woman is in the alley for a purpose, quite possibly waiting to see if she can get Kayleigh alone. Combining her hideous looks with the way she was staring at Kayleigh's silver morningstar, you get a sudden insight and believe the woman to be a wererat in human form.
At present, she doesn't seem beligerent.
Emi relaxes a little since the old woman doesn't seem to be any immediate threat. She nods in understanding.
"I'll go tell them. It might be a few minutes. You'll wait here?"
BRIDGEFRONT: THE ALLEY (7 Desnus)
The old woman nods up at Emi, her mouth twitching into one of the gnarliest smiles the young warrior has ever seen.
Once Kayleigh has dismissed the thankful wounded folk she's healed, the group can speak with the old woman. "So young...all so young," the old woman mutters, "yet caring, responsible, and wise beyond your years. I am Eries, called Yelloweyes by my people, and I am a wererat. Almost all cities have one or more conclaves of wererats, and Korvosa is no exception. Here we are shunned, forced to eek out an existence in the sewers, only venturing into the streets long after dark. We may engage in some criminal behavior, I admit, but mainly to survive. Most of our people have a 'live and let live' attitude...but not all."
"With the outbreak of blood veil in the city, our people and the rats we cohabitate with have increasingly been accused of spreading this awful disease. There has been violence, but things will soon escalate. One of our number--a rather hateful fellow by the name of Girrigz--is calling for war against the city, weakened as it is by the endemic. Most of our people are against such a course of action...but Girrigz is both powerful and intimidating. Were he to be...eliminated...I believe most of our people would be content to return to our meager existence of surviving in the shadows. If Girrigz has his way, it is likely there will be many casualties on both sides."
The woman pauses to see if you have any questions and perhaps to gage your reaction to her tale thus far....
Emi listes to the old woman, comparing what she says to anything she's heard in the past about ratfolk in the city, looking for differences or confirmation that she is being reasonably straight and forthcoming in her story.
After Eries finishes her part about Girrigz, Emi does ask for a point to be clarified.
"So we're all understanding each other, what you're asking us to do is assassinate this Girrigz. Does this get to the heart of what you want?"
BRIDGEFRONT: THE ALLEY (7 Desnus)
Eries grimaces at Emi's blunt word choice but after a moment's consideration nods in agreement. "Girrigz is master of our nest, being the only one born with lycanthropy; he infected the rest of us. I believe if he is removed, his followers can go back to the way things were before the plague hit. We might even be able to help the overcity: It seems we are immune or at least strongly resistant to the plague. Perhaps we could gather the dead in one or two places after dark to minimize the surface folk's exposure to the blood veil."
Kayleigh seems hesitant about helping the wererat woman, pointing out that the group already has other pressing matters to attend to.
Eries stares up at the cleric, perhaps judging her. "Removing Girrigz could probably wait a day or two--he and his most trusted lieutenants are gathering weapons and supplies for their little war. Right now, I'd estimate that Girrigz has maybe a half-dozen soldiers; if he's given more than another day or two, that number may well double or even triple."
Nebbin shifts uncomfortably.
"It doesn't sound like we can wait too long, but ... maybe that also doesn't have to take too long to do either? And maybe the wererats can help us if we have to get around the city without being seen?"
Emi clarifies for Eries.
"No value judgement attached to the word 'assassinate' by me. I was thinking in terms of how it's done. You're wanting Girrigz eliminated, but we're not looking at a situation with two warring factions, one of which we're killing off right? As little loss of life as possible, even among his supporters right?"
BRIDGEFRONT: THE ALLEY (7 Desnus)
"Girrigz's headquarters is in the sewers," Eries informs the party. "It's fairly small--four chambers plus any guards that might be in the sewer tunnels. You should be able to deal with him quickly...unless he flees. Chasing him through the island's sewers would be dangerous...but I think Girrigz's pride and hatred of humans would compel him to stand and fight to the bitter end."
Turning to Emi, the elderly wererat gives a nod. "You have the right of it. I daresay that those who follow him into war today would go back to a quiet life were Girrigz removed. So yes--spare his followers, if possible. As I said before, Girrigz is the only natural lycanthrope in our nest; with him gone, we can live out the rest of our lives in peace beneath the streets."
"Is there, um, anyway to make sure we're not turned into rats too? No offense?"
"We'll want silver for this right?" she asks Eries.
Also just to satisfy her curiosity, "You keep mentioning Girrigz as a 'natural' lycanthrope while the rest of you are not. Why is that an important difference? What does it mean to you?"
BRIDGEFRONT: THE ALLEY (7 Desnus)
Eries's glance again shifts to Kayleigh's silver morningstar. "Yes, silver is a bane to all werecreatures, but Girrigz would be even more difficult to harm with mundane weapons."
Shifting her gaze to Emi, Eries continues. "Only the bite of a natural lycanthrope can pass on the curse to another; you have nothing to fear--save a more mundane disease, perhaps--should any of Girrigz's minions manage to nip you. And should that happen, you have one of the island's brightest young healers at your disposal!"
Kayleigh blushes slightly at Eries's praise, but it's not entirely unwarranted: The cleric has indeed obtained quite a bit of knowledge about how to treat lycanthropy from her time spent at the Pantheon of Many. "I'm not powerful enough to remove the disease with magic," the healer admits. "I'm not even sure if Lady d'Bear or Archbanker Tuttle can remove the disease. But we can use wolfsbane if one of us is bitten--I should be able to counteract any damage its poison might do. And I'll bring along a healer's kit to be safe."
Fírinne nods solemnly to Eries. "I understand the risk you and yours are taking in telling us this. We won't let you down."
BRIDGEFRONT (Madame Carrington's Oneiromancery; 7 Desnus)
Again, Felix is waiting outside Carrington’s Oneiromancery when your reunited party makes its way north up Nacre Street, headed for the shops in and around the Night Market. ”The Madame wishes to speak with you,” he announces to the group, holding the door to the shop open for the party. ”She’s in the back—at the reading table.” As the heroes pass him, they notice that Felix is upset. ”She’s not quite herself…,” he sighs as they pass.
Madame Carrington awaits at her table, seated in her wheelchair. Kayleigh’s restoration spell has done wonders for her: she seems stronger of body, less gnarled and decrepit. ”The Harrow deck, please,” she gently demands of Tassira in a deeper tone than usual. Then she asks the party to seat themselves on the other side of the table.
Carrington removes five cards off the top of the deck, placing one before each of you; then she takes another four cards from the deck and holds them before Firinne, asking the tiefling to pick one. That card is then placed face-down in front of the tiefling. Carrington also moves the card currently sitting before Firinne a bit off to the side.
”Your card is The Sickness. Its meaning is readily apparent, especially here on a quarantined island. You must help confront the blood veil epidemic. Yet for you, one with what some might call tainted blood running through your veins, there may be a second meaning: not just corruption of your mortal body but of your very soul as well! Be on your guard, young one!”
Later, when the Sickness card reappears in the main reading, the harrower’s eyes again narrow and focus mainly upon Firinne. ”Whether you want it or not, your presence in the city at this time is most timely. One Milanite has left and the other is filled with self-doubt and seems content to merely treat the symptoms of what threatens to kill our city. A more direct action is needed; perhaps you can help excise the blood veil by taking your blade to the cancer that corrupts Korvosa.”
Carrington nods once, then gasps and coughs a bit. When she's recovered, she again appears to be her old, misshapen self again, tired and weak. "Zellara wanted your new friend to be woven into the fabric of what's going on in our city...what you fight to expose and what you fight to protect," the oneiromancer explains, her voice again creaky and nearly spent. "Zellara's spirit will need to rest a while now to regain its power. The same can be said for me, both physically and mentally. My thanks again for the rescue."
Carrington turns to Tassira one last time as the party prepares to depart for their shopping spree. "Continue to keep that Harrow deck safe, my dear. I feel it likely that Zellara will need to speak to you through me again before things are done."
A series of emotions play out across Fírinne's face during the reading. Bemusement, annoyance, even a sort of grim acceptance. At the end, she gives Madame Carrington a polite nod and is silent until they're safely outside.
She looks at the others, opening her mouth to say something, but pauses with a glance back at Carrington's. After a half-beat she returns her gaze to the party and smiles. "Shall we be off?"
Emi moves up to walk beside Firinne as they move off.
In a not terribly serious tone of voice she says to her "now you're really in our little club. Those readings come up now and then. I can't claim to have ever found to be anything other than totally baffling."
Fírinne stifles a laugh, raising a hand to cover her smile. "I've learned the hard way not to argue with elders when they're talking about your 'purpose' or 'destiny.'"
Nebbin's a little frustrated with the reading. If he could just cut the bloodveil, he would. But that's not possible. Not to mention that he insulted Kayleigh! Still, he bites his tongue and gets ready to go try to maybe do something they can to actually help.
THE STREETS OF OLD KORVOSA (7 Desnus)
Kayleigh frowns in mild disapproval as Emi and Firinne are a bit disrespectful toward Madame Carrington (and, most probably, Zellara's spirit) and the magic of the Harrow. She falls into place beside Nebbin as the group again saunters south down Nacre Street. A bit short of the alley where they first met her, Eries emerges from the shadows of a side alley and beckons to the group. She leads them to sewer grate that is tightly padlocked.
"My people don't use this entry point to the sewers, so if you can bypass the lock, there'll be less chance of an untimely encounter with any wererats, be they patrols or simply normal comings and goings. Also, if you enter via this grate, there's less likely to be any suspicion that you were pointed in Girrigz's direction by one of his own."
The elder wererat gives the party directions to Girrigz's hideaway while Emi goes to work on the padlock; though it's of decent quality and might very well keep the riff-raff out of the city's sewers, it is no match for Emi's talented fingers.
The party enters the sewers and follows Eries's directions, heading mainly south and east. The canals have narrow ledges on each side of a slow-moving stream of water and waste. The ledges aren't particularly slick, but you don't want to fall into the raw sewage.
Through the disgustingly visible haze of noxious sewer reek, the flow of unmentionable slop through the sewer tunnel’s channel unexpectedly forks. Most of the muck continues on its expected path, but a small stream of ooze diverts off through a wide cleft in the moldy masonry wall. The man-sized crack cuts deep into the rock behind the wall, and wisps of thin white smoke issue forth. The flickering light of a flame or small campfire emanates from within the cave system beyond.
Nebbin and Kayleigh press south briefly, finding two thick grates of rusted iron hedging in the section of sewer tunnel around the corner. The one further east seems much newer. From a human-sized crack in the northern wall seeps a steady flow of sewage, oozing into the greater flow of tainted water. A hulking pile of filth and debris partially blocks the stream of offal, forming a cart-sized clot in this disgusting artery.
Well aware of the presence of otyughs in the sewers, Emi is suspicious of the large pile. It seems about the right size. She halts the party's movement toward it. "Might be an otyugh, wait while I look.".
She positions herself for a good view of it and looks for signs of movement, like breathing, aside from for obvious stuff like skin, appendages, and so forth.
Nebbin waits. Ugh, indeed, he thinks, though he tries not to show how gross this is. He didn't have much growing up, but they always tried to keep clean.
He holds his sword out, ready to face any threats that could come their way.
SEWERS OF OLD KORVOSA (7 Desnus)
Emi's sharp eyes pay dividends: There is indeed a living otyugh mostly-buried in the great pile of offal. One of its tentacles--laden with eyes--lies glittering atop the muck, its orbs all pointed in your party's direction. Fortunately, the bar grates seem capable of keeping the beast at bay, but there's a wide opening in the tunnel wall north of it that it just might be able to waddle through.
Otyughs are large aberrations capable of seeing in the dark. They are actually fairly intelligent and capable of some measure of speech.
Otyughs are disease-carriers (What isn't in Korvosa these days?). One attacks with a bite from its large mouth and a pair of spiky tentacles capable of constricting prey.
Nebbin applies the silversheen, hoping they can avoid having to fight this otyugh -- whatever that is, exactly.
Similarly, Fírinne applies the alchemical paste to her rapier before peering around the corner at the beast and quickly pulling back. "Dangerous, but they can be reasoned with. We might be able to barter passage with something it values, like food."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Worth a try. This isn't something I want to get distracted by. Just remember they can grab you, stay well back."
Emi stage whispers over to the beast.
"PSST! Hey! You there! We need to come through and you're resting across the path. Can we convince you to move and let us pass? We don't want to bother you, and we don't want trouble."
SEWERS OF OLD KORVOSA (7 Desnus)
The tentacle Emi spied earlier rises out of the mound of filth. The eyes along the length of it blink once and then the bulk of the otyugh rises, revealing a wide, toothy maw. "Got bad hungeries!" the thing wails in a blubbery tone. "Mean rat hoomans trap me here! Can't fit through hole! Can't reach...bar-gate-up lever!" A second tentacle--sans eyes--points east beyond the second grate.
Emi's not so sure about what she's about to do, but she does it anyway.
if we got you out of the trap you're in, that would make us friends right? That's what friends do isn't it, help each other out with problems?"
Meanwhile she points out the hole to Firinne, motioning for her to take a look.
Nebbin nods, hoping they can avoid having to fight this thing. It can't hurt to let it out, right?
SEWERS OF OLD KORVOSA (7 Desnus)
"Friends? Yup! Let me out and I not eat youz," the otyugh promises.
A closer inspection of the western gate reveals that its lifting mechanism is rusted through and broken; the heavy gate will have to be lifted by hand and will likely require multiple people...some of whom will probably have to stand in the sewage stream.
Kayleigh whispers that she doesn't trust the otyugh to keep its word and that releasing it might prove dangerous, or even disastrous.
"I can't lie, I have a soft spot for ugly outcasts," Fírinne says, poking her head into the gap in the wall. "I say give him a chance."
Nebbin's ready to help, but Kayleigh's words stop him.
"Maybe we shouldn't," he whispers. "If there's another way around..."
SEWERS OF OLD KORVOSA (7 Desnus)
As Firinne pokes her head into the hole in the wall, a couple of things happen: An ungodly shriek emanates from within, the awful keening echoing throughout the tennels...and several dark shapes--rodents of unusual size and composition--swarm her!
SEWERS OF OLD KORVOSA (7 Desnus)
As the shriek fills the air and is soon joined by the chittering of dire rats, Ravnos absolutely freaks! She leaps out of Tassira's pack and skitters off the edge of the sewer ledge. Although Ravnos (mostly) lands on some detritus floating in the sewer channel, her paws get a bit wet...which freaks her out even more! She shoots back the way you all came like a bolt of furry lightning, Tassira chasing frantically.