She smiles at Emileva as she reaches over to gently take the card from her hand. Why it means Emileva, as it is the card of your choosing. In that way, it may act as a marker for some special part that you are to play, or have played in the wider message of the spread. By itself, this card has great power. It may draw your eye to a solution to that which blocks you. That is its character, but the context of the spread is the key to everything. It's also a card of order restored, for the locksmith does not destroy to defeat, but rather reasserts the order of positive possession, by supplying the key that was lost.
As her attention turns to Nebbin, she tries hard to catch his eyes and keep them. The Dancer, Nebbin Elsbet, is in synchronization to the rhythms around her and moves through her steps with intent and confidence. Today her name is also Nebbin, and her footsteps will trace or foretell your own, should we see them.
Both cards disappear back into the deck.
Neziana doesn't tear up at the tale like Nebbin. She as heard enough such stories in her short life to be hardened to it by now. Instead she nods bitterly at the seer's tale. "That's Lamm for you alright. Killing people left and right. As I said earlier. It doesn't appear as if the authorities care enough to take him out, or maybe they were bribed to stay away. Either way, no one will deal with him if we don't take matters in our own hands. I've been wronged by him myself plenty, losing both my youth and my mother to his greedy clutches. In fact I've been thinking that I would like to pay him back, but I've been uncertain if I could do anything alone. Now I hopefully don't have to do it alone..."
Neziana watches eagerly as the woman starts dealing out cards. "A harrowing? Most interesting. I've heard about it, but I haven't actually ever partaken in one. I certainly would learn to like more. There are so many interesting topics though and we only got so much time." If I get to chose, I would like to learn more magic. But you don't always get to chose. She takes one of the cards and study it. "The avalanche? Is this an omen of some catastrophic event, or is it simply my marker in the reading as for the others?"
Kayleigh reluctantly takes a card. "The Demon's Lantern," she announces shakily. "Didn't you just mention that card a moment ago? Also...was there some significance to the cards you used for our notes to draw us to your little gathering?"
Her thoughts are drawn back to The Carnival card and its depictions of the creepy jester, the terrified child, and the lurking figure (Gaedren Lamm!) in the background.
[i]Hmpf, My card was pretty self-explanatory. A lying snake.[/i Emileva thinks wryly.
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Indeed it is Neziana. A harbinger of unresistible disaster. Or most potently a reference to some disaster in the past, for each card is colored by a personality that's harder to see - this is part of the talent we call 'the sight'. And the Avalanche is colored by the past.
Her smile takes some warmth for the first time since you meant her. This Avalanche is named Neziana, as well. We shall watch for her in the spread.
She takes the card and adds it to the deck and turns to Kayleigh.
Yes, like the Avalanche, the Demon's Lantern is not an omen of good when it appears in an aligned position in the field, but when misaligned it can rather indicate a light to escape by. This lantern shines for Kayleigh, for good or ill.
She takes the last card back and begins to shuffle the deck again.
As for the cards that bore your message, the cards chose you. You'll find the answer to why in your own reading, I think.
The cards finally come to rest again, and Zellara begins to build a field of cards, three by three, one column at a time. As the cards are revealed, she calls them out.
The first pillar of the reading stands in our past. These cards speak of it.
The Carnival... a place of tricks and sometimes traps. While it does indeed lie in your past, you've moved past that time and this card lies out of alignment. The Tyrant... yes certainly a Tyrant over the young is what Gaedran has been. This card speaks of pain in your past that comes from a paternal influence. And the Juggler... perfectly misaligned, a pity for the Juggler speaks of the strength of fate, but misaligned it says that some great doom awaits - that the fates may have spun you a very hard road to walk. And as a card in the suit of Keys, this is a very strong card indeed. I fear this card and its omen. Some doom rooted in the past has found its thread running through your reading.
She begins the next column. The cards of the present are... The Inquisitor. The alignment of this card is poor and it begs to be looked past. The Peacock... perfectly aligned and in the suit of Keys! This is the card of personal transformation, in this reading, the peacock crows! It proclaims a metamorphosis that has already begun. Last is the Midwife... again perfectly misaligned. It portends the arrival of terrible danger, but its threat is outshined by the splendor of the Peacocks transformation.
[b]The last column is the one that most folks who walk through my door most want to see, the markers in your future. The Snakebite... in an indifferent alignment. It whispers from its dimished position in this field, but it's always perilous to ignore the Snakebite. The Waxworks... again in a poor aligment. The card signifies total helplessness, but in this context where it is so compromised, it too asks to be set aside. The last card of the spread is The Fiend. This card is a card of calamity, not suited to its place in the future, as we see it here. Here the card serves a pretty distinct marker of a coming calamity that will take many lives.
The absence of your choosing cards in this spread may indicate that much of the calamity foretold here is out of your hands, and that you will experience it rather than shaping it. The misaligned Juggler truly brings this point home. But the most powerful card of this spread is the one that marks your personal transformation into something that you're not today.
Neziana's eyes blaze with curiosity from underneath her hood. "Death in the past. That much is true. At least for me, and for you as well. I hope the signs of danger in this reading does not carry over it's meaning to any of us. A strong reading of personal transformation is very nice to know about. I know what I would like to do and that I can't do it yet. I only hope this signifies that and not something far more sinister." If I'll learn magic, that'll certainly be a big transformation. Maybe this'll show that I'll manage to learn it despite being thrown out of the Acadamae.
"The signs of the future worries me though. Total helplessness in the face of calamity and as you say, without any of our cards to to help affect things. Though that reminds me, didn't someone get the snakebite? What can we do? What should we do, in the face of such an ominous reading? How are these things related to Gaedren? Does this tell us anything about how to best approach dealing with him?" As fascinated as Neziana is by the grandiose omens of the reading, she still feels like they have a job to do and she ends up going back to something they can actually plan here and now.
Gaedran Lamm runs the same fencing operation he always has, but today he also runs a small illicit business creating some kind of nasty fish-slurry out of an old fishery down by the docks. The address is Westpier 17. This I learned not from the cards, but from some few contacts I have among my kin.
The chaos in the city is the perfect cover for such an operation. The guard have more on their plate than they can handle - they're not going to waste their time investigating.
Nebbin nods as the Harrower talks, eyes looking troubled.
Is she saying I have to dance? But I don't even know how! I can't juggle either. Maybe she thought my door was someone else's and I'm not supposed to be here? Should I tell her? I don't want her to feel bad about making a mistake, though...
He looks back and forth between the woman with the gloves and the fortune teller.
They seem to know what they're doing, though. I guess they can tell me when they want me to go home.
"So, what should we do now?" he asks to the space between the two women as he's unable to determine which one he really should ask.
So, to sum up: Grim past, check. Calamitous present, danger in the present. Look out the window on to any street in the city right now. Calamitous future, given the past and present, not a bad assumption.
Takeaways: We will be transformed. Okay sounds like life. We cannot stop calamity, and will experience it. Again, sounds like life.
Emileva is left skeptical of the reading, but not unmoved. Zellara does have a way with dramatics she has to admit. Perhaps she would have been more inclined to give the reading credence if it had not been so gloomy. Isn't that the way with all harrowers? Great news or terrible news, never "meh" news.
Em does take interest in being given an address though. If it proves to be a good piece of information, the showmanship was certainly a small price for cutting down on the footwork she had to do.
"Thank you for all that Madame Zellara." She looks around at the others Zellara has gathered. "Shall be on our way to the docks then? All of us together will have a better chance at taking down Lamm than each of us alone. And it's true that the time is right."
Tassira keeps quiet as Madame Zellara performs her Harrow reading, even as Ravnos squirms about in her lap trying to get a better view of the cards.
"...I was the one who received the Snakebite, Neziana." The mageling meekly says, one hand resting on her familiar's head for comfort. "And I think we should perhaps investigate this Westpier 17 soon, before the worst comes to pass."
Neziana nods to the two other women. "You mean we should investigate so the worst will come to pass, for Gaedren that is. I won't put any fingers in between. Either way someone is likely to not come out of this alive. I just hope it's him, not us."
She looks towards Nebbin. "What do we do now? Should I spell it out for you more clearly muscle-head? We go to the pier and deal with Gaedren. Permanently." She lets the words sink in. "You heard the story of what happened to her son right? Gaedren won't let you alone after you beat up one of his men. Only way out is to take him out first." Her words to Nebbin so far have been harsh, but suddenly she changes to a sweeter tone. "Besides, us girls really could use your strong arms to protect us."
Neziana is only appearing to wear one glove, the other hand is bare. Though if one were to study it closely one would see that it was indeed fur.
Kayleigh doesn't know what to make of her first ever harrow reading. The part about personal transformation strikes a familiar note with her--she hears Garlan's words of a few hours earlier: 'a priestess dedicated to the goddess of uprisings.'
But that's not me! Kayleigh thinks, almost in a panic. She feels she's about to be swept away by some force she can't control.
"I'll accompany you folks," Kayleigh says a bit uncertainly, "but only to find the missing boy I seek. I'll heal you if needed, but I'm not one for violence. My life's mission is to heal the sick and wounded and care for the downtrodden...not to bring more pain, suffering, and violence to this city."
She crosses her arms over her chest in a stance of defiance and finality...all too aware of the spiky-headed morningstar that dangles from her hip.
Well...at least it's a clean, bloodless object of destruction! the young woman thinks, a bit embarrassed.
Emileva smirks slightly at Neziana's angle for sweet-talking Nebbin.
Protect us indeed... Have to admit a guy that size would likely be very helpful though.
Neziana shakes her head at the priestess' words. The disappointment is clear in her tone as she speaks to the girl whom she once shared captivity with. "Are you really that naive Kayleigh? You know as well as me that removing Gaedren from this city will make it a place with less pain, suffering and violence. You gotta break eggs in order to make an omelette. Sometimes violence is necessary."
The tiefling's tone softens as she continues. "Still, it's nice that you'll accompany us and use your powers to aid us. I guess we'll see if you'll stick to your words once we get there."
"To be honest, I'm finding myself in agreement with Kayleigh." Tassira speaks up. "I don't doubt that Lamm's a menace to other people. But I don't feel that violence is necessarily the best answer."
"I'll assist you to the best of my ability in subduing him and bringing him to justice, don't get me wrong. I'm just... uncomfortable with the idea of just killing him."
Nebbin flinches back as the woman with the one glove -- that's weird, he thinks in a small corner of his mind as he realizes she's not wearing two, but maybe she lost the other one -- yells at him.
As she finishes her entreaty, though, he nods slowly.
"Well, I don't want anything to happen to any of you. I don't really know how to fight or anything, but if you think I can help, I will. Sometimes people are scared of me, if they don't know me, so maybe I can scare them?"
Gaedran and his men are killers. This is how they rule over the swarm of younglings that do most of his fencing work. The one who cut my son, the cards told me that he won his right of passage in doing that deed. This is how a man like Gaedran creates killers. But most of the hands that do his bidding belong to children, who must not be held responsible for the things that this vile man terrorizes them into doing.
Thank you for helping me! In the end, I think we help each other and the city itself.
She sees you out her door and bids you farewell from the top of the steps.
-*-
On Lancet street where there's not much business and not much to loot the scene hasn't changed that much. The crowd sounds either a little bit louder or maybe a little nearer. As you make your way down the riverfront you can see that there are fires burning both to the north, likely in Old Korvosa, and also to the west somewhere over by the castle. The inshore breeze blows the smell and a little of the sting of it directly to you.
Your first glimpse of the fishery is from the eves of a building across the street from it (looking at the south west of the building). The fishery is a freestanding ramshackle of a building hard by the water - even built out over the water in part on stilts. The main entrance to the place is at street level on the side opposite the river. From where you stand, it looks like there's a raised deck - possibly a loading dock on the far side of the building. The few windows that once existed on this side are boarded up.
An old single-masted boat has been hauled up next to the fishery and a pier has been built on this side that goes around the aft of the boat (facing you) and the along the far rail. To all appearances she still floats, but judging from the slime on her lines she hasn't moved from that spot in a very long time. Her mast stands there naked and forlorn, looming over the structure. The only sign of life in the scene is a vagrant sitting on the first step of the pier sheltering in the malodorous shade of the fishery.
Kayleigh instinctively takes three steps toward the nearest street heading north before stopping and turning to face the others. "It looks like I'm needed back in Old Korvosa," she says, again turning to look at the distant plume of smoke to the north. "Let's get this over with quickly, shall we? Anyone who has some sort of plan...tell me what to do and I'll do my best. Raiding businesses isn't something I make a habit of doing."
Emileva peers at the old building through squinted eyes for a few moments.
"I'd like to have a better idea what our options for entering the place are. The front door wouldn't be my first choice if there are others."
"What say we take a look at that loading dock on the far side?" she says, looking at Neziana. Or do you prefer to do that kind of work alone?"
"Sadly I haven't been to this place before. Though it's not too surprising. Gaedren changes his location rather frequently. I imagine that haven't changed since I was there..." Neziana muses.
"I think it's better if only one of us go. The more people there are, the easier it is to be spotted. I can do it. I was always good at hiding when I was younger, needed it to survive. Those skills haven't dissipated. I hope the vagrant haven't seen us already though, we are making quite the comotion here. He might be a lookout for Lamm." Neziana says.
She looks over at the others to see if anyone else want anything. "Anyone else got any suggestions before I'm off? I'll just check what's around the building, then I'll come back."
At the end of the loading dock, is a steep wooden stair that goes down to a very short landing just a few feet above the water. There's another door into the building at the end of that landing.
Tassira clearly isn't used to the smells of this part of town--normally, she gave the docks as wide a berth as she could as she walked to Theumanexus. Today, however, she's standing off to the side of a ramshackle fishery that looked like it was home to more rats than dead fish, with a bunch of would-be rescuers/vigilantes (of whom she only knew one).
"...if worst comes to worst, I do have a spell that can drop any of Gaedren's men that we come across." Her fingers twiddle together. Ravnos peeks out from her backpack, watching the fishery with interest.
Neziana sneaks around carefully. I hope I don't get found out. I don't want another beating, or worse. But Gaedren gotta pay. That's worth risking some for.
Even though this part of the city isn't familiar to her, old habits prove hard to kick for Kayleigh. She approaches the vagrant and offers him a piece of slightly-past-prime fruit, warning the fellow to eat around the mushy parts.
Kayleigh examines the man for weapons or anything else out of the ordinary and tries to watch his response to her small kindness to get a clue as to whether the fellow is actually some kind of lookout for Lamm.
As Emileva waits, this time with the luxury of not worrying about an ambush, she muses on how strange it feels to be back in Midland. Madame Zellara's house was practically in her old neighborhood, and they had passed within a block of one of Uncle Franzus' warehouses.
She isn't too worried that she might run into Franzus considering today's chaos. He would not be out in it, except perhaps to protect his property. Either way, he would be too preoccupied to notice if they did come within sight of each other. He probably wouldn't recognize her anyway in her current clothes. Still, she kept her cloak's hood up until they were well past any area where she might come across him.
She hasn't the slightest idea what she would say to him if she did.
Funny though how Lamm turned out to be almost on top of my old home.
Nebbin waits, shifting nervously from foot to foot as he waits.
After a good 30 seconds that Neziana is out of sight, he turns to Emileva.
"Do you think she's still OK? What if Mr. Lamm caught her? Should we go see and make sure nothing happened?"
Emileva glaces up at Nebbin. "No... Let's keep waiting. Kayleigh has a good idea there." She nods in the priest's direction.
"Let's see what she might find out about that man. I also think we might know if the she caught. If the vagrant is a sentry, he'd be called inside to answer for his inattention. Give Neziana some time, what she's doing is slow work."
Nebbin nods and moves toward Kayleigh and the vagrant.
That makes sense.
"No!" Emileva grabs Nebbin's arm to stop him as he begins walking.
"We need to wait. We don't want to ruin her deception. Let him keep thinking she's just here doing charitable work" she whispers.
The chap in question is dirty as only someone who sleeps in the dirt can be. His hair sticks out in odd directions and his beard is knotted and patchy. But he fixes a greedy eye on Kayleigh long before she reaches him. At the appearance of the fruit he smiles revealing a scant few broken teeth.
Nooooooooo. Them mushy parts's the only spot I kin get a purchase on't sweety. He takes the fruit gratefully and immediately begins gnawing on it. Kayleigh sees no evident weapon, but his eyes do roam your person, either checking out your figure or your possessions - likely both.
Nebbin leaps back at Emileva's words, cringing as he realized he was about to get them all killed!
Kayleigh begins munching on a piece of fruit herself, both to quiet her hunger and to give Neziana more time to do her secretive scouting. In between mouthfuls, she asks the vagrant a few questions: "Have you noticed anything unusual in the streets following the proclamation of the king's death? Are some citizens rioting? Do you feel safe on the streets?" Looking at the plumes of smoke rising above parts of Old Korvosa and over by the castle, she adds, "It seems there's unrest in some places at least."
Neziana is both relived and a bit disappointed to see no further people around the corner. The tiefling girl manages to sneak back without being seen.
"There doesn't seem to be any other people outside except for the Vagrant. There are two doors over on the other side, one leading into some kind of hall from where I heard voices The other down by the river. One of those is probably better to use than the one in plain view. The Vagrant will spot us if we go there. I'm pretty confident he is a spotter for Lamm though. We would do best to avoid him. Wait, where is Kayleigh?..." Neziana looks worried around, realizing the healer is gone.
The man practically snorts apple at you. Safe!? Can't say I feel particularly safe, but that ain't new. It's definney less safe up the road today though, he says with a chuckle, hand pointing to the smoke. I say Korvosa's a dangerous place for everyone right now, ol man or young lass, this street or the one up the road. Korvosa's had a queen before, of course, but she weren't no lass...
As Kayleigh stands there discussing Korvosan politics with the salt of the earth, there's a sudden bang, squeal and crash from the other side of the building as the loading bay doors fly open. A gravelly voice directs the efforts of several young boys as they roll a large barrel onto the ramp and down the steps towards the waiting wagon.
Careful you louts! Stave in that barrel with yer carelessness and I'll stave in yer heads! From your angle you can't see the workers well, but the bearer of the voice remains at the loading dock's near-side rail, facing away from the street and Kayleigh. You can see about half his profile and the greenish tint of skin, rounded shoulder and jutting jaw make you suspect him to be half orc.
Tassira nervously keeps her fingers at the ready as she waits for Kayleigh to come back.
Nebbin jumps slightly at the bang, wondering if he's going to have to rush to help. He wraps his fingers more tightly around his board, making sure his grip is secure.
Emileva nods at Neziana. "Agreed. The side doors are better. Maybe we could go up a block and circle around to the other side."
The noisy opening of the door by the barrel handlers puts that idea to rest though.
Em frowns and then peeks around the corner.
"Well, looks like there's plenty of people inside anyway. We can either wait for them to finish and hope they go back inside. or just walk on over there and get on with this. We won't be going far into the place before it turns ugly either way."
Kayleigh looks up at the disturbance and yelling from the half-orc and then goes back to eating her pear and chatting with the vagrant.
With some rough encouragement the boys heft the barrel up into the wagon and settle it in next to the others.
Alright, back to work! As the kids turn back to the building he gives the slowest one a strong kick, sending the boy headlong into the loading dock steps. He stands there holding his sides and laughing at the motionless kid. As he starts back up the steps he hoists the crying boy into the air by his britches, tossing him bodily back into the fishery.
Perhaps because of his focus on the child, or perhaps due to impaired vision from an eyepatch he wears, he fails to see Kayleigh. It also sounds like he left the loading bay doors open behind him when he went back in, because his railing and the child's cries may be heard plainly in the street.
When Kayleigh's attention returns to the vagrant she finds him gaining his feet.
Ye don' have any more of 'em fruits, do ya sweety?
"One piece left!" Kayleigh announces with a smile, handing the fellow the last apple in her bag. "Enjoy it and stay well, my friend."
The priestess walks meanders toward the others casually. "I think the vagrant's alright," she says as she nears them. "What's the plan?'
"Well, we're all back here and they're all back inside. Should we circle around to the other side by going up a block, then try entering through the loading dock doors?"
Neziana shakes her head. "The vagrant is absolutely not all right. I saw the way he was looking at you. Definitely a lookout for Lamm. We can only hope he didn't get suspicious. Anyway, it sounds like they left the loading doors open. We should take the opportunity to sneak in while it's open. The question now is. How can we get there without the vagrant noticing? Or are we better off simply taking him out so he doesn't tell about his meeting with you? Whatever we choose, we don't have much time." Neziana's hand closes around the hilt of her rapier while she looks to the others with trepidation.
Kayleigh briefly considers speaking up in defense of the poor vagrant when a little dose of reality hits her: Neziana was far superior to her in nearly all facets when she was one of Lamm's Lambs; it follows that Neziana would still be sharper than she at detecting one of Lamm's underlings and knowing how the old curmudgeon runs his operation. Kayleigh holds her tongue for a while before blurting out, "Emileva's plan sounds good to me."
Tassira winces when she hears the child's crying and has to fight the urge to just walk in the door and start throwing magic about. "I like Emileva's plan."
...wow. How paranoid is she? Lamm must've really been worse than she claims if she's seeing his influence almost everywhere.
"Where would we take him?" Nebbin asks. "Maybe Kayleigh could tell him she has more fruit if he wants to go get it? Or make him think something else is going on?"
He looks around.
"Having Kayleigh go back to him now would be beyond suspicious. Let's go with sneaking around then. I'll go first and if we have to cross his field of vision, we'll wait until he looks another way before crossing. Calmly mind you. We don't want any clinking armor or weapons cause him to turn his head our way. It might be a good idea to have your weapons at hand, just in case. Let's go." Neziana draws her rapier and starts moving, waving the others to follow.
The party makes a circuitous route around the fishery, taking care to be well out of the sight of the vagrant on the pier. Approaching the fishery from the north side you all get to see the raised loading dock and the doors that Neziana described. You also get a face-full of stench with every gust of breeze. It's a stomach-turning mixture of yesterday's catch and some sharper tang that's hard to place.
The loading bay doors now stand wide open, and the half-loaded wain makes a decent piece of cover as it sits right before them at the foot of the loading dock steps. The left side of the loading dock has a set of wooden stairs that go down to another landing and a door into the building that's only a few feet above the river. On this side the pier ends at the end of the building, and the boat beyond looks no more seaworthy from the front than it does from the back.
Even at a distance you can make out several figures moving around in the dankness beyond the loading bay doors. You can also make out the sounds of the boys continued abuse somewhere within. The vagrant returned to his place by the pier and reclines there now, apparently oblivious to your stalking.