Nebbin's brow furrows.
We knew they were butchers, didn't we? I mean we're in a butcher's shop. But she said it like she doesn't like butchers. Maybe she doesn't eat meat? But why wouldn't you eat meat?
Still, after a moment's thought, he nods and watches over the prisoners. He awkwardly puts his bloodstained sword in its sheath.
Hearing the concerned calls of his companions, Regeris stalks over, holding his bow loosely in his hand. His weapon clatters to the floor as he sees what the rest of the group sees.
Regeris' world view is centred mostly around systems and how people exist within them. Commoners committing small evils is a problem with the city more than the commoner. True evil was reserved for the undead, the devils, and the dark Gods. Or so he thought.
"This... this is an abomination!" he roars, finally losing his temper. "Why?! Why would they do this?"
Nebbin flinches at the roar but continues to watch over the prisoners.
Tassira takes one look at the grisly scene and her eyes widen to unheard of sizes.
"...nope." Is the last thing she says before she wobbles on her feet and staggers away, her hand over her mouth.
Emi looks toward Regeris, her face ashen. In a husky voice she quietly says "We need to know who that is, and why. Do you think you can get it from them?"
Kayleigh nods at Emileva's words and turns to Regeris. "And while you're doing that, Em and I can check out the rest of this place for more evidence and any stragglers. Maybe Tassira could come with us, if she's up to it. You and Nebbin should be able to deal with Verik and his goons if they try to escape while we're elsewhere."
Regeris composes himself, snatching his bow from the ground.
"I will absolutely get it from them. Kayleigh, I'll need you to heal Verik to consciousness. Nebbin, with me. Look scary."
Shouldering his bow, he grabs the mutilated body part and hauls it out of the room, over towards the bound captives. He patiently waits for Verik to get woken up.
Tassira averts her eyes and wordlessly follows Kayleigh.
Nebbin pulls his still-wet blade from its scabbard with a moist-sounding <<splorch>> and stands trying to grimace near Regeris, as instructed.
The slight red hue still staining the bright metal adds to the menacing image the big man presents.
Regeris walks up to the bound captives and casually tosses the mutilated carcass onto Verik's lap.
He doesn't draw a weapon but instead lets Nebbins stand there and look scary. Regeris' words are his typical deep, gravelly rasp and barely contain his simmering rage.
"My name is Regeris of Milani. We came here to bring you to justice, but now your words are going to determine whether or not you end up looking like this poor bastard you butchered and fed to hungry Korvosans. You are going to explain what your operation is here, who - if anyone - you work for, and what brought you to commit this act of unspeakable evil. Then you are going to tell me who these bodies are. If you fail to answer in a manner that satisfies me, I am going to gut you like a trout."
Emi looks through the room with Kayleigh.
The room beyond the last set of double doors consists of a short hall and a set of stables. There's little sign these have been used for actual livestock - it seems the exterior yard is used for that. Perhaps they haven't had enough animals recently to need these stables. Clearly they've found alternate sources of meat for the big altruistic giveaway that this butcher shop is known for. There are several human tracks through the muck, though.
Each stable has a dirt floor, an empty water trough, and heaps of unused hay.
---
Verik flinches as the dismembered leg is tossed in his lap and pushes instinctively away with his heels. Of course being bound as he is, he's not able to make any headway and eventually stops, resigning himself to sit there but refusing to look at the gore.
At first he seems defiant. Blood oozes from his wounded shoulder as he twists away from Regeris's assault.
One of the other guards, the one with blood running out of his ears from the beating he took from the flat of Nebbin's blade speaks up.
"I told ye Verik, tha the guard wouldn't leave us alone forever. I told ye all tha they'd be comin'. Kroft's gonna string us up fer shoor, Verik. We're all gonna swing cause you can't keep yer dick in yer pants!"
"Shut up, Parns!" Verik replies, though not with alot of conviction.
"Look," Nebbin replies to Regeris, "I don't remember who that b##$& was. Some whore who couldn't keep her dresses down - her husband wanted her gone and paid good money for it. If our boys hadn't done it someone else would have. Same as anyone else who's run foul of the Cowhammer boys since the King's death and the city's gone to s@&+."
"There hasn't been any law at all in this city! At least the fear we've created in the street has stopped some from acting their worst. At least folks knew if you crossed your neighbors there could be hell to pay."
He glances down at the mess in his lap.
"Folks were starving. There wasn't anything that people could afford to buy... Most of what we've done here was good. And if some of it wasn't, well, the folks that got free meat didn't know no better and they didn't starve."
He looks at the two men menacing him, hoping he's said enough to appease them and possibly save his own skin.
Kayleigh listens to Vancaskerkin and his thugs reply to Regeris's threats and questions in the next room even as she gives the stables a quick once-over. Then she returns to the main room and gazes upon the monsters wearing the guise of men.
Nebbin pauses for a moment in confusion at the outburst before a dark look comes on his face as he realizes what the guards are admitting to.
"You hurt some poor girl?" he says, the menace dripping from his voice sounding real for perhaps the first time since Regeris has met him and tried to get him to act mean. "And then FED her to people?!"
He hefts the sword and takes a step toward Verik, perhaps not even realizing he's doing it.
As Kayleigh starts back to the other room, Emi looks up from the tracks.
"Don't let them be killed. Or if you can't stop that, at least first follow up on what was said about Verik's behavior being instigated by a woman he's involved with. And try to get some names of the people they've killed, or who paid them to do it. And ask about an accounts ledger, if they kept one of those it might be just as good. There are other guilty people out there to track down yet."
She goes back to studying the tracks. If they seem to form a pattern leading to something she will follow them. If they seem random she will let it go.
Kayleigh nods in acknowledgement to Emi as she heads back into what has become the interrogation chamber. When she sees the Demon's Lantern hovering over each of the prisoners--the foul, evil, irredeemable prisoners--she very nearly forgets Emi's words of just a few seconds ago, so great is the urge to take justice into her own hands against these murderers. Seeing Nebbin in an apparently equal state of seething rage helps Kayleigh regain a measure of self-control. She steps between Nebbin and the prisoners, holding one open hand out toward her friend in a 'Stop' gesture. Then she turns to the captives, trying to keep her anger in check.
"You didn't answer the Inquisitor's question," she tells Verik coldly as she motions toward Regeris. "Who do you take your marching orders from? This mystery woman your friend mentioned? Or are you the one who gives the orders?"
Regeris nods over to Kayleigh as she holds Nebbin back.
"Talk about the woman first," he says darkly.
Regeris carefully studies Verik's face, judging his responses.
Verik takes a hard swallow and looks back and forth between his questioners before responding.
"I give the orders," he replies.
The other guard shakes his head. Clearly with his life on the line he's not willing to let Verik answer for him anymore. "No. If you ain't gonna give up the Arkona girl then I will. She ain't showin' me no leg an these folks here's gonna kill us."
Verik shoots a venomous stare at Parns. "Meliya's got nothing to do with it! Yes, I have a lover who talked me into taking over the butcher shop and feeding people. Everyone knows the Arkonas look out for folks here in Old Korvosa. They're old blood and old money, right? The family's always thought of the island as their own - regardless of who sat the throne."
"But she's got nothing to do with this," gesturing with his chin to the leg in his lap. "That was us. Me... and Drago. And Parns." This last is said with a bloody smile.
Regeris has the sense that the truth is complicated here. That there are rivalries coming home in this conversation, and that Verik may still be hiding something.
If Parns wasn't restrained you think he might go after Verik at this point.
"He's lyin! I didn't decide nothin'. I ain't no boss o'no one!" He looks back and forth between Kayleigh and Regeris in growing desperation.
"I'll prove you true that I ain't no boss. You want to know where his loot is? You want the money? I'll tell ye happy, cause it ain't mine and never was gonna be!"
The tracks in the stable are a mess - hopelessly confused by old straw covering older straw. All of it dried and disused. Emileva's not able to figure out anything more about the stables except that they haven't likely been used to house animals in a very long time.
Emi doesn't want to move on to another part of the building until at least some of the others are ready as well. She also doesn't want to distract from the tension Regeris, Kayleigh, and Nebbin have created for pushing the prisoners to answer questions by walking back into the other room.
She decides to stay put for the moment. While she's there anyway she might as well give the stables another good look.
Kayleigh nods grimly for Parns to continue. She also makes a mental note to actively investigate this Arkona scion, Meliya.
Tassira is proving to be unnervingly silent as the interrogation continues. It's likely that a small part of her has died inside as a result of today.
Regeris nods once and helps Parns up, still bound.
"I'll be happy to say you were helpful."
He looks at Verik with a neutral expression.
"I don't think you need a lecture on morality. I may as well spread the word of the Goddess to a goblin. You offered information when asked and unless you feel a need to offer anything else we are done. You'll be taken to the guard to face your crimes."
Regeris takes a bit to secure their bonds once more.
"Anyone with enough determination can escape bonds. Don't let them out of our sight. I'll stand guard if someone wants to follow Parns - more than one of us please."
Giving Tassira his best attempt at a sympathetic look (which he's not very good at), Regeris sits opposite to the bound men, his bow and arrow handy to shoot anyone who tries to escape. He does Verik the small kindness of removing the partially-butchered corpse from his lap.
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When she hears the interrogation concluding in the other room Emileva walks back in. She takes a knee across from Verik and looks carefully at his face.
"If I were where you are right now, I would beg for an immediate death, and pray my name quickly vanished from all memory."
Her eyes narrow as she looks at him.
"Just think of it. You will go and have your trial, maybe. You may not be aware of it, but he Korvosan Guard is very busy these days. But regardless of which way you meet your end there, and it is coming soon, everyone will know what you've done. You will be the one who comes to mind and is mentioned when no other comparison to the truly awful will do. You will be the monster parents warn their children of to get them to behave. You will be cursed, Korvosans will spit when they say your name."
"And I have a wager for you. When we talk to the Arkona woman, and we will certainly talk to her, she will deny even knowing who you are. Whether she laughs at the very idea, or recoils in horror, or dismisses you coldly, is something we will have to see. But she will. Whatever you think was between the two of you, trust me when I say you were absolutely nothing to her. You won't even have that when you die."
Emi stands up and turns to Regaris.
"We should finish here before anything else. Let's hang them on those meat hooks until we're ready to go. That way one person to watch them should be plenty."
"Wait! You never said who the girl was" Nebbin says
"And who's her husband?" he adds, a strange, hard menace in his voice.
Regeris certainly thinks there are elements of truth in both men's testimony. He's more inclined to believe Parns when it comes to the question of leadership - that certainly Parns is an orders-taker. As to Meliya Arkona's involvement or knowledge in the travesty that's occurred here, Regeris is unsure. There's a chance Verik's telling true and she was not involved - and there's also a chance that he's being used. He's certainly upset at his fate, and it's hard to disentangle that from any doubts that he himself may be getting played.
As Emi lays in to him his dark eyes dart this way and that and his mouth works silently, like he's chewing his tongue. He endures her rebuke without offering anything more of his own. When Nebbin asks his question, Verik simply stares at him.
When offered a lift to his feet, Parns stands shakily and leads some part of your team back into the stables that Emi'd just searched. He gestures with his jaw at the disused trough in the corner.
"It's buried in a sack under that trough. There's a sack filled with the money we'm made off the killins. I didn't want no piece of this business, but Drago was a hard man to say 'no' to."
He looks back and forth between your faces, looking for some sign of your intentions.
The ground below the trough is soft, like its been turned a couple times. Under about a foot of dirt you find a brown sack that jingles when its lifted from the ground.
Regeris looks to Parns.
"Let's try it this way - if you don't know who you killed - who hired you?"
Regardless of how the questioning goes, Regeris goes to speak quietly with the others.
"We're done here I think. Keep in mind they're going to be in a situation for a lot more questioning soon enough. Let's just get out of this awful place and deliver them to the guard. We can tell Cressida what's happened. The question is what we do with the Arkona information."
"We still haven't checked upstairs," Kayleigh answers in a low whisper. "There could still be more evidence or co-conspirators to find. Perhaps a couple of us could stand watch over the prisoners while the others do a quick search?"
"I didn't kill that girl and I don't know who hired the boys to do it. I reckin it was the husband - like he said. Drago was jealous of the killins - it's what he liked most to do. Only time someone other than Drago got to kill someone was if things got complicated and there was more than one person involved in the hit. Then someone else on the hit got to do one o'the victims. I never really wanted to kill none of them, so they made me into a butcher... mostly of cows and such..."
The Arkonas are an ancient noble family in Korvosa. They make their fortune dealing in Vudrani goods - their company makes use of family contacts in that far off land to supply merchant shipping with a constant stream of exotics - anything you can image from Vudra. The return on these items are such that the Arkonas have become one of the wealthiest families in the city.
The family has taken a keen interest in Old Korvosa over the generations. They are reckoned as one of the great philanthropic families in the district, though most folks also recognize that they're involved in every ring of organized crime in the district as well. Glorio Arkona is the patriarch of the family - though young for such an important role. His younger sister's name is Meliya.
--
Down the last remaining hall you come to the front office of the Butcher's shop - this is the room you could see through the front glass earlier in the evening. There's a counter with a stool behind it, and a meat case in the front window filled with flies and brown blood from meat stored here earlier today.
The stairs lead up to a small office that someone's been using as a makeshift bedroom. There's a bedroll in one corner along with blankets and a pillow. A desk is pushed off to one corner of the room and two more vials identical to the one carried by Verik (cure light wounds). There are also various papers strewn across the desk. One such paper is pinned there by an ornate silver dagger in a Vudrani or possibly Qadiran style. Lastly a fine composite longbow bow and a quiver of expertly crafted arrows stands in the corner of the room.
Nebbin waits with Kayleigh, continuing to glower as angrily as anyone's seen him. A faint growl emanates from his throat as he grinds the point of his sword into the dirt floor.
Before she goes to search the other rooms, Emi leans in close to Kayleigh's ear.
"If you feel like talking to them, we still don't know how this bunch links up to Pilts Swastel... Anything they say about him might be useful."
In her search the main thing Emileva is looking for is a ledger or list of payments. She searches the front office and asks Tassira and Regeris to look also, telling them what she wants to find.
Upstairs she does the same, starting with the papers on the desk. The obvious place to start is the stabbed paper. She carefully pulls the knife free so as not to damage the paper.
"What do you think Tassira?" she asks holding it up. "It would look nice on your belt."
She then reads the papers.
A quiet and still disturbed Tassira takes a look at the dagger and tilts her head.
"...strange. Isn't that evidence, though? Or something?"
Emi shrugs.
"I'm doubting the guard will bother coming here themselves. I suppose we could ask if they need it, and give it over if they do. But really I think they will be more than happy to just string up Verik and company and call it a day. They're not going to investigate anything."
"...well..."
Tassira tentatively takes the dagger and looks it over.
Kayleigh grimaces uncharacteristically when Emi suggests trying to ask about any connections these men have to Pilts Swastel, but she manages a nod and approaches the captives again. The Demon's Lantern still hovers over each, lighting up the men's eyes like those of wolves at the very edge of a campfire's light while simultaneously darkening the young woman's soul. She'd wondered at the connection herself and wanted to ask...but didn't quite trust herself to do so without losing either her nerve or her cool. Taking a deep breath, she addresses Parne, though her eyes dart briefly to Verik.
"We know that Baldrago killed an elderly priest of Aroden in Old Korvosa with that hammer of his," she begins. "We also know that he or the crew he ran with that night delivered a second priest to Pilts Swastel at Exemplary Excrables. Who ordered that and what is your connection to Swastel?"
Regeris mutters a detect magic spell as he stalks with the group. Spotting the longbow, he happily grabs it to give a good look over. He also briefly inspects the dagger.
"We're dealing with the Korvosan guard, they're not going to be particularly thorough. And we need funding, tools, and equipment in order to continue to defend the city. Verik's longbow is a good start."
The papers consist mostly of an accounting ledger of livestock and meat sales. It seems Verik was also running the normal shop business here and was tracking how much he spent of pigs, goats and cows, and who he purchased them from. There's a daily sales total in a separate column. The records cover the last couple of days - likely since he opened the shop.
The page with the dagger pinning it appears to be a duty roster for the constabulary. Several names are marked with a capital 'R', a few more with a 'D'. The names of Baldrago, Parnes, Malder, Karralo and Divucic are circled. Graud Soldado's name along with about twelve others have no mark at all.
Scanning the goods for magical auras, the potions register (of course). Both the dagger and the arrows also radiate minor enchantments. The bow is of masterwork quality (composite longbow with a +3 Str rating).
Parnes face goes blank at the mention of Pilts. "I weren't involved in that either. Drago led the hit on the ol' church. Said them priests weren't no good to themselves or anyone else - thas what he said. Said no one would miss 'em."
He looks down at his shuffling feet as he says this.
"I reckon he was pretty wrong on that score. S'what he gets for messin' with gods n'priests. Damn fool said we was goin' back to finish 'em for good n'all too. Dead god or not, I didn't want nothing to do with that kind of job. I don't know what them priests could'a done to get on Drago's bad side - course Drago didn't really have another side, did he?"
Verik just shakes his head as Parnes runs his mouth.
"Keep talking idiot," he says.
"Anyone want to take a look at this and see if it makes sense?" Emileva holds the paper that had the dagger thrust through it up.
"It has notations about the local Korvosan Guards on it, but it's not clear what they mean. My guess is 'D' is for dead and 'R' is recruited by Verik. But his buddies here are circled without 'R's by their names. That's all I can figure. It might make more sense to Grau if we show it to him."
Regeris looks over the bow and decides to keep his bow.
"This one is a little more than I can draw. Excellent weapon though."
He glances to Tassira.
"There are some magical enchantments on a few of these items. See if you can identify them, please. And take the dagger Emi - althouhg it may be reasonable to figure out what it does first. There is some sort of enchantment on it."
Back with Verik and the guards, Regeris looks to the others.
"Do we have any further questions?"
The presence of the Demon's Lantern hovering over the heads of the captives unsettled Kayleigh more than she let on. Since no one else mentioned seeing them, the young woman assumed that this was some ghostly, supernatural effect from Zellara's Harrow reading. Kayleigh was used to experiencing magical power through her connection with Milani; this new source of magical might unnerved her and seemed to interject itself to some degree between Kayleigh and her divine connection to Milani's will.
The teenaged priestess blinks suddenly, realizing that she's been unconsciously ignoring Emileva and Regeris. Taking another look at Parne--still visibly distorted and as wicked-looking as his boss Verik (though Kayleigh's sure on some level that the henchman isn't as black-souled as the fallen guard)--the priestess turns to Regeris.
"I think we're done here. Let's take them to Field Marshal Kroft...and to their fates, whatever that may be."
Tassira starts looking over the magic items...
The group can reasonably assume that the potions are cure light wounds. The arrows are a full quiver of 20 arrows +1. Nothing more can be told about the dagger.
The prisoners are hauled to their feet and form a shabby, limping queue of wounded as you exit the shop by the yard. The sun has set but the sky still contains enough ambient light to easily spot the helmets, spears and crimson cloaks of the assembled guards outside.
"Halt!" comes the shouted command from the shadows across the street. There are archers among the shadows as well, and your blood runs cold as you begin to suspect the double-cross.
Tassira groans on the inside. Brilliant.
"Gentlemen, we have everything under control here. Field Marshal Kroft has given us the authority to arrest these criminals. There's no need to panic."
That last line seems to have been thrown in to settle herself down.
Emileva stops walking and doesn't make any sudden moves.
Of course there's suddenly plenty of guards available for screwing us over. But why?
Regeris freezes in place as he hears the command. He slowly blows out his cheeks. Realizing Tassira is doing what she can to get the situation under control, he refrains from speaking, but instead tries to get an idea of the number of archers and any other hidden assailants.