Still feeling tingly in the lips from Helvara's kiss, Tassira is content to let the beautiful madame lead her away.
"I was worried you were involved in that business in east Bridgefront last night. The gang war. I told you that things were becoming unbalanced. That Devargo had started something serious, and that by taking him down you could not help but get dragged in. Now it's happening..."
The mage blinks in confusion. "Wait--what, exactly, are you talking about? I don't remember getting involved in a gang war last night..."
Rajeek turns to the priestess who saved him.
"No. The legends of my homeland say she ruled for 500 years. Andrasanji the splendid and terrible, a queen whose armies covered the earth. The histories of my homeland are filled with such. But it was her obsession with Dradjit that wrought her fall. He was a comely slave who she took obsession with. But he was really a devil... a Rakshasa in my mother tongue, and he discovered the secrets of her power. It is said he killed and ate her, and became more powerful in the doing."
"I haven't heard his name since my childhood. A devil who my mother would frighten us with. 'Come inside before nightfall, or Dradjit and the Bat King will take you up, fly off with you into the night, and drink your blood.' It would terrify my brother."
He snatches at the air with his hands to illustrate, shaking his head and smiling for the first time since you've met him.
---
"You mean something dangerous happened in the city and you weren't in the middle of it?"
Helvara chuckles to herself, but Tassira can see that she's masking some real anxiety.
"We heard the rivalry between Pilts and the Society came to a head last night. A minor gang, the Gold Boys, were taken down along with some businesses they protected in eastern Bridgefront. Pilts is supposedly styling himself as the 'Emperor of Old Korvosa' now and openly challenging the traditional powers of the Society. He's aligned himself with the Spiders, challenging Arkona power. It's real trouble. We're sitting on the fault-line now, and I don't know who I'm going to need to pay off to keep my people safe."
"Maybe both until this all shakes out. Used to be, you could just pay off the guard and be relatively safe. Of course you were just paying the Society a different way."
She suddenly blanches, clearly recalling who the party sometimes works for.
"No offense, love! I know you and your friends aren't part of that whole web."
Kayleigh manages a nervous smile in reply to Rajeek's rare grin, but it's clear the cleric's nervous and out of her limited element.
"Rak...shasa? What's that?" she asks, looking around for Tassira and noticing for the first time, apparently, that the smartest member of their party isn't present to address her ignorance on the subject.
"The other name we've come across recently is Mog Lathur," the priestess adds, watching Anpujit for any signs of recognition. "Is this being another legendary Vudran entity?"
"Well... it's funny you mention a web." Tassira gives a nervous chuckle.
"Last night, we... we may have just made enemies of a dream-spider cult responsible for producing the shiver that's been such a problem for Korvosa before now." She folds her hands on the table. "Apparently, those who have taken shiver before are prone to nightmares involving horrific spiders and the moon--and the cultists are convinced that they can use those shiver-dreams as a conversion tool."
"They call themselves the 'Brotherhood', or the 'sons and daughters of Mog Lathur'."
Nebbin is, as usual, oblivious to Kayleigh's distress.
"I think he might have come here," he tells Rajeek, though he deson't offer the details about where exactly they found the mention, or how close it might be.
"And what's the Bat King?" he asks.
He grimaces. "Shape-shifting fiends with the heads of cats. Political masterminds and foes of terrible power. The Calistrian shrine of concern to Helvara, it was despoiled by a follower of Dradjit named Vimanda. Is that a Vudran name?"
Rajeek shakes his head at Kayleigh.
"I've never heard of a Mog Lathur, no."
He turns to Regeris and considers his question.
"Yes, that is a girl's name in Vudra. Not a common one, but one I've heard before."
He shrugs at Nebbin's comment.
"The Bat King is another Vudran fairy tale. Like Dradjit. A boogey man we conjure up to scare our children into behaving."
---
Helvara nods.
"Sure sounds like one and the same to me. Shiver-spider cult or Brotherhood feels like one organization. Seems Pilts might have added them to his list of allies. If they've made common cause against the Society, there's your fault line for this gang war. So word on the street is they might be winning, for now. The Cerulean Society will be looking for ways to strike back. If the Gold Boys streets are added to Pilts's domain, he already has all of lower Bridgefront."
"That definitely puts the House of Silks on the front line."
Worry lines crease Helvara's forehead as she sits back in her seat to ponder.
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Kayleigh frets a bit when the Mog Lathur angle goes nowhere fast. Her brain hasn't yet fully recovered from her recent sleepless nights, apparently, because her thoughts then turn to wondering if Ravnos could be a rakshasa.
Cat head? Check. Smart enough to be a mastermind? Check. And Ravnos even sounds like it could be a Vudran name....
Shaking her head lightly to chase away the crazy thoughts, the cleric turns to Emi. "You wanted to go back to the Temple of Aroden to re-equip for our little swim, right? I need to treat Carawyn and anyone else who's still sick there, so I'll come with, maybe while the others buy gear."
"...oh. Of COURSE Swastel is involved in this." Tassira sighs in resignation.
"But if the Brotherhood is eliminated, that'd set him back, wouldn't it?"
Ravnos emerges from Tassira's pack and sits on the table.
Regeris nods slowly, and then breathes a little uneasily, unhappy to invoke the name of the powerful family.
"Now we see if these forces intersect. The first is this cult, the Brotherhood of Spiders and if you know much of them. The second is... well, what can you tell me about the Arkonas?"
Emi spends a little while sitting in a chair, then shifts to reclining on a fainting couch for a while. In between the two pieces of furniture, she decides she's parched and goes looking for a cup of whatever might be on hand to drink.
"The Spiders and the Arkonas are two snakes fighting for the same nest, yes? The Arkona family is Vudrani, everyone knows this. They import most of the Vudrani goods that may be found in the city. We could not run our business. The spices we cook with, the clothing and jewelry, without the Arkona shipping business bringing the goods over the ocean we would have no source for them. But they also bring the Vudrani shiver. It has always been thus, since my brother and I came to Korvosa."
"Today they are so rich and powerful, it seems they have their fingers in everything. That they own Endrin Isle."
"The Spiders are these dark folk who Devargo began dealing with. Local producers of the shiver drug. They have an evil look to them, no? They called Devargo the King of Spiders, but he was just a minor criminal. He wasn't their king. That must be someone much more powerful."
"Devargo's involvement with the Spiders is why we abandoned the Tiger's Tail. I would not want to suffer questioning at the Spiders' hands after you lot took him down. Better to hide, and start somewhere new."
---
Helvara nods slowly.
"Yes, I think he's only bold enough to challenge Arkona hegemony because he has powerful friends. Were the Brotherhood to fall, the balance of power on the street might shift back to even, or possibly back to the Society's favor. This attack last night is the closest thing to open warfare between the gangs that I've seen since coming to this city, and it's the first time I've really thought of the fall of the Guard as a blow to the Arkonas. By maintaining a peace under the aegis of that family, they were effectively allies."
She reaches out and scratches behind Ravnos's ear with long manicured nails.
"Strange when you think of it like that..."
So caught up is the priestess in her own musings, Kayleigh nearly misses Regeris's mention of Vimanda. Her eyes go wide.
"Vimanda! The elf spirit mentioned that Vimanda was responsible for desecrating her tomb, but also that she wore a different skin! Holy Roses! Could she be one of these rakshasa things?"
Since the heroes themselves seem to know very little about the creatures of legend, Kayleigh asks the two Vudran men if the tales of rakshasas mention any of their special weaknesses. Raising her silver morningstar, she asks, "Should we use silver weapons to fight them? Or perhaps ones crafted from cold iron?"
Nebbin continues to wait, talk of rakshasas and Vudra, for that matter, well out of his wheelhouse. Still, Rajeek's words do stir him a little.
"We're not going to run away! If the queen and herguards can't make us run, we're not going to let some crazy Spider-men do that either," he says, rejecting that idea out of hand. "They should look out for us! We stopped Devargo, and their bookstore too!"
Tassira looks down in thought. Ravnos rubs against Helvara's hand.
"...Do you happen to know where this Brotherhood is striking from? Where their hideout is?"
"So the 'Spiders', as you call them, seem to be very familiar with the Vudrani deities and demons you've mentioned. If they're in opposition to the Arkonas, are their any other Vudrani families with the knowledge and resources to challenge the Arkonas, even from behind the scenes, secretly?"
Regeris nods slowly as Kayleigh speaks. "So there is a rakshasa in Korvosa... despoiling shrines for some reason. But why? What's the game?"
Rajeek shakes his head and smiles his widest apologetic smile.
"I know nothing of fighting demons and the like."
In reply to Emi he says, "Devargo couldn't have pointed to my homeland on a map. He was the only Spider I knew, and he seemed little concerned with our gods."
Downstairs, Helvara also shakes her head.
"Honestly, I've tried to stay away from the trade and the merchants entirely. I'd heard they were thick in the Night Market. This alliance with Pilts is a recent one, so taking him down might hurt them, or vice versa, but I don't know that the Overground is a 'hideout' for them per se."
"I don't know."
The wind swiftly leaves Kayleigh's proverbial sails as Rajeek has no answers to her questions and she has none for Regeris's.
"Back to the temple?" she asks the others. "I still have to purge the blood veil from the Lambs there; I hope Garlan and Crayden haven't caught it as well! Or do we shop a bit for our underwater expedition? Or maybe both?"
Regeris nods grimly. "I didn't take Devargo for some form of mystic. I think he simply provided the shiver which allowed this cult to take root. Let's do our shopping, check in on the lambs, and then go for a swim."
The party chooses a northern route back through Bridgefront. Wave Street is too close to the Overground and Pilts's demesne. Arkona Street is just as broad and populated, and dumps the group closer to the Reefclaw Run where shopping is convenient.
At the intersection of Shale Street the group encounters the Pharasmin's Wain and evidence of the gang fight that Helvara alluded to. The bodies are stowed away by now, but dark blood still stains the cobbles where combatants fell and died. A second Wain sits a block south of the intersection and a cluster of brothers stands together in conversation.
The group recognizes the alley that the Wain blocks as the way to Lavender's shop.
The Reefclaw Run is crowded with vendors selling the morning's catch. In spite of the disease, the living go about what business they may. As the home market for much of the fishing fleet that docks in Old Dock, Reefclaw is the perfect place to outfit for a swim and even potentially charter a ride out to the area of interest.
As you peruse the vendors, Ishan keeps pace with Regeris and strikes up idle conversation.
"I wish I could be more help with the Vudrani aspects of your investigation. I am Vudrani, by blood. But the Brothers removed me at such a young age, first to the confines of the church and later here to Korvosa, that I lost most of the culture of my birth. In truth it was a mercy. I remember hunger and squalor. Heat and desperation in the streets. Barely anything of my mother tongue and really nothing of the gods of my homeland."
Nebbin stops and looks down the alley, trying to see what he can see.
"It's probably just a coincidence, right?" he says to the others .
--
In the market, he looks around, guided by Emileva as he looks for a new weapon that can help him.
Not having been part of the stakeout of Lavender's shop, Kayleigh makes no connection between the shop's proximity and the gang violence. Instead, she approaches the gathered Pharasmin wain, flashes her watch badge, and asks for details of what went down.
----------------
In the marketplace, Kayleigh reminds the others of the spooky black dagger claimed from the spider cultists. Afraid to wield the dark weapon herself, though, the cheapskate cleric picks up a basic spear.
As he walks, Regeris nods over to Ishan. "It's a time for all of us to learn, then. Although the Arkonas have been power brokers in Korvosa for who-knows-how-long, I never thought to learn about Vudra itself and instead focused on the machinery of the city, like a clock. It never occurred to me to realize that someone built that clock to run a certain way, and those motivations are important."
---
Regeris approaches the Wain with Kayleigh, speaking up bursquely. "Who was this war between? Do you know what started it?"
A dark-skinned Pharasmin who you have not met before answers.
"It's gangs, bleeding one another. There were twelve dead here. Hard to tell one side from another. And two businesses raided and gutted just down the alley. A bakery and a perfume shop."
He kicks at the ground and looks back down the alley towards the site of the mayhem.
"We don't investigate, you know? Staying out of the fray means no one interferes when we come to collect the dead."
While you talk to the one, the other brothers disperse to their wagons in preparation of leaving.
---
Ishan replies.
"So much of His teachings focus on the beneficial effects of civilized commerce. The avoidance of morality in our tenants has always been a mystery to me. But faith and mystery are compatible, right? One can believe without possessing perfect knowledge. It only requires faith that the higher being's perspective is wiser than your own. It only requires that you not value your own ego over your faith."
"The Arkona family certainly provides organization in an otherwise chaotic portion of the city. Their methods are distasteful. Earlier when Rajeek made the point that without the Arkona family his business could not function, I felt close to a realization. Seeing a decent family business enabled by Arkona commerce felt like a moment of epiphany for me."
"Seeing these bodies in the streets... some of these corpses are little more than boys... the epiphany seems far away again."
Nebbin looks upset at the carnage, the type of situation he all-too-easily could have been caught up with in his own youth had he been a different sort of person.
"Maybe someone in the stores saw something, or closer?" he suggests.
Emi picks up a spear for herself, and okays Nebbin's choice of a halberd. Just be be sure though, when they come across a watering trough she takes the opportunity to show Nebbin the halberd's limitations. She has him move his hand through the water in both slashing and poking gestures, making sure he notes how the water impedes a slash. So use the halberd like a spear, not an axe."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"I'm going to go have a look at the shops."
The fraudster Lavender might be small potatoes compared to most of the things they have to worry about, but Emi would like the satisfaction of seeing something they've looked into resolved.
Although she's trying to surreptitiously eavesdrop on the conversation between Regeris and Ishan, Kayleigh's also giving Nebbin her own softy version of the side-eye, trying to judge how he's feeling after the incident with Tassira the previous day and the apparently unfulfilling apology attempt earlier this morning. That the big guy's asking relevant questions and not just moping seems a hopeful sign.
The mention of a perfume shop rings a bell in Kayleigh's memory. If it's the same place Regeris, Emi, and Tassira were investigating for selling a potentially false cure for the blood veil, her three friends will want to investigate and will be best suited to pick up on anything out of the ordinary at the site. (And there goes Emi now!) Seizing one of Nebbin's hands firmly, she says, "Good idea," while leading him to the nearest wain. "We can canvass the area and look for witnesses, but first let's take a look at the dead--see if there are any spider tattoos or other clues on the bodies." Once at the wagon, she asks the Pharasmans if any unusual weapons were seen or found, especially strange sickles shaped like a spider's leg.
Tassira moves to follow Emi, keeping quiet for now.
Examining the bodies in the wain doesn't reveal any additional clues. It's hard to be absolutely certain, but Regeris is pretty sure that some of the deceased are the same ruffians that the group encountered on their evening scouting mission around the perfumery. One of the poor guys who was manhandling the water cask, as well as some of the muscle from that encounter lie there in the thin shrouds provided by Pharasma's followers. Their wounds are bruises and stabs, not the slashes the group experienced first hand in the bookshop fight.
Emi's stroll down the alley brings her to Lavender's storefront. The large window in the front of the shop is shattered and a wide pool of drying blood stains the cobbles outside. Someone bled out right here, and the snake oil saleswoman has plainly been put out of business. Her goods lie scattered and broken on the ground inside and the whole place reeks of spilled and mingled scents. There's nothing here to suggest the fate of Lavender herself.
The bakery is two doors down and on the other side of the alley. It too was ruined by the fighting. Flour, caked here and there with blood lies in a thin layer over everything. Crocks are broken and even the oven was wrecked by the attackers. The message here is brutal and plain. Whoever was providing protection for this business failed. From the rumors, it seems obvious that the Gold Boys were the ones that fell.
In terms of witnesses, it's perhaps not that surprising that no one lingers to tell the tale of the fight. There's no one around to even deny they saw anything. The alley is deserted, and at each turn doors are shut and windows drawn.
"As is so often the case, evil turns upon itself," Kayleigh comments, trying to sound profound. Turning to Ishan she asks, "I don't suppose we ought to convert Lavender's shop into a hospice, do you? Seems we might get visitors looking for protection money as well."
"We don't really have any money to give them," Nebbin objects. His voice hardens again. "Plus, I'm pretty sure I can protect us here. If they try to mess with us, they won't make that mistake a second time!"
He does look a bit disappointed that there won't be any pastries from the bakery, since those are always a nice treat.
He kicks over some of the debris to see if he can see anything more about what might have happened.
"So much of His teachings focus on the beneficial effects of civilized commerce. The avoidance of morality in our tenants has always been a mystery to me. But faith and mystery are compatible, right? One can believe without possessing perfect knowledge. It only requires faith that the higher being's perspective is wiser than your own. It only requires that you not value your own ego over your faith."
"The Arkona family certainly provides organization in an otherwise chaotic portion of the city. Their methods are distasteful. Earlier when Rajeek made the point that without the Arkona family his business could not function, I felt close to a realization. Seeing a decent family business enabled by Arkona commerce felt like a moment of epiphany for me."
"Seeing these bodies in the streets... some of these corpses are little more than boys... the epiphany seems far away again."
Regeris nods slowly. "That's why I left the faith. When I realized that the dying children in the streets were the result of a system working as it had been designed. That the laws and rules applied differently and were warped by the presence of the ruling classes. The machine works... but why? To whose benefit? I thought that society itself was this masterpiece of design. But as a taxmaster my work was... cruel."
---
Regeris looks over the scene of the horrific gang violence, taking a moment to examine the bodies. "Clubs and daggers I reckon, nothing sophisticated. It shouldn't be a mystery to find out who took down the Gold Boys - the truth will reveal itself."
He makes his way into Lavender's shop to figure out what the grifter had been up to.
A further scouring of the two scenes of violence doesn't turn up anything else useful, and after kicking around a bit, the group feels pulled along by the day's remaining schedule.
At the market the group finds no trouble. The weapons chosen for the mission are found in a shop just off the square. A patrol of four guards from the Old Dock garrison keep a watchful eye on the goings-on here, a welcome change from the chaotic streets of Bridgefront. But there are many open stalls in the market square itself. It's plain that the Blood Veil is still having a terrible effect on this part of town. Everywhere there are tired, colorless faces, coughing and rash. The sheer number of potential infections crowded in these few blocks tempers a little of the enthusiasm that came with the morning's newfound powers.
The return to the temple drives much of the remaining optimism away. The steps of the temple are covered with petitioners. Word of the Kayleigh and Ishan's success with the disease must be spreading, for a score or more desperate citizens cluster around the closed door of Aroden's house.
Ishan looks from the crowd of miserables to the guards standing vigil on the wall opposite the Narrows and blanches.
"With a crowd like this, it's a wonder the Queen's Physicians haven't come here yet," he says, an edge of panic in his voice. "This crowd is sure to draw them here first when they decide to come over into Old Korvosa."
Although Ishan's words ring true in her ears, Kayleigh doesn't panic. In fact, the practical side of the young cleric sees an opportunity in the desperate crowd. Burying her usually kind and altruistic spirit temporarily, she steps toward the crowd with a confidence her true self doesn't feel.
"Greetings good citizens of Old Korvosa! My name is Kayleigh, and I'll do what I can to help you fight off the blood veil. First, please step away from the temple; I wouldn't want the Queen to mistakenly hold the good Arodenites therein in some way complicit in my treating of the blood veil. And I cannot guarantee that I can heal you all of the blood veil--my powers are limited. Also, just removing the disease doesn't make one immune to catching it again."
The priestess details some of the ways to lessen the chance of contacting the disease, all the while urging the crowd to move off the temple stairs so her friends can get inside. Before starting to treat the ill, Kayleigh reluctantly plumbs her captive audience for information, asking how many in the throng had sought assistance from the Queen's physicians and what the results of those treatments had been. After that line of questioning has run its course, she asks the crowd if any among them knows of a secure location in Old Korvosa where a hospice might be set up so the innocent priests of Aroden wouldn't incur the Queen's wrath should her healing become known to the crown.
Once she has her answers, Kayleigh promises to do what she can for the throng, saying she must first go inside the temple to gather wash bowls and other supplies needed for the treatments.
Inside, she speaks with Garlan and Crayden, asking how the Lambs are doing and if the blood veil has infected anyone else inside the temple walls since last they spoke.
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Nebbin waits to see what happens, wondering if he should try to get everyone to leave to protect their home. He can understand why they're here, but he's not going to let them put anyone at risk.
Starting suddenly, he scans the crowd to see if any of them have spider tattoos or anything that might mark them as more than they seem. He smiles to himself. The old Nebbin never would have thought to do something like that.
The crowd migrates off the stairs of the temple as Kayleigh asks, though some move a little easier than others. Treating the ill outside the temple Kayleigh picks up three addresses of abandoned places in the Old Dock district where she might be able to setup a clandestine hospice. None of them are familiar, so the places will have to be investigated to see if their promise holds true.
When the group enters the temple, they're dismayed to find that Crayden is sick and his elderly constitution is not bearing up well under the Blood Veil's assault. His breathing is weak and raspy and his rash has an ugly grey hue. This old man has been through a lot in a very short time and no healing prayer can undo the ravages of time. Still he breathes easier after the blessing and falls into a much deeper sleep as the priestess quietly leaves his bedside.
He and Carawyn's illnesses are the only ones the young cleric finds under the roof, so a single prayer purges both victims of infection. This turns out to be a blessing in itself, as the diseased crowd waiting outside proves to be more than she can manage. There are dozens of petitioners outside, many of them in quite late stages of the disease. Ishan's face is frozen in a perpetual frown of worry as he moves from one knot of victims to another. He saves his holy blessings for the worst of the worst, a grim triage process that wounds the soul. Too many are turned away with only the meanest of mundane help administered. Kayleigh's new tools are awesome in power and will surely save anyone in her immediate circle from succumbing to the disease. But the experience leaves the whole party with a more realistic picture of the young priestess's power to affect the wider fate of the city.
This infection must be stopped from continuing to spread. Whatever is causing it to fester here in the streets of Korvosa must be discovered, and fast.
Asking about the Queen's Physicians yields a diversity of responses. Some are frankly desperate for any kind of help and would gladly admit themselves to their care were they to establish a hospice of their own in Old Dock. The rumor is their hospices in other parts of the city are filled with patients already. One distraught woman is less sure though.
"My husband went to them on the first day they setup down in Midland and I've had no word of him since then. In the meantime the rest of my family has caught the Veil. Both of my children and my mother and brother."
She presents her two children, a boy and girl not yet in their teens for inspection. They have fevers and rashes, but no cough yet to speak of, and so do not merit a healing prayer in their current state. Not with so many others with more advanced symptoms surrounding them.
"If he don't come home soon, with my brother laid up too, I just don't know how we'll feed ourselves. By the grace o' the neighbors, I expect."
She wipes a tear from her daughter's dirty cheek and thanks Kayleigh for the basic care she's given.
---
Others in the party easily locate an eligible fisherwoman eager to provide charter for the group's journey out on the river. She asks a mere 10 gold for an afternoon of her time. Two able-bodied sons form the rest of her crew. She names her vessel 'Londra's Labor', after herself and possibly her boys, and she names a location on the piers of eastern Old Dock where the vessel will await.
Kayleigh sets about her grim duty resolutely. Though it's clear early on that the blood veil is too widespread and tenacious for her to defeat on her own, she's still able to do something to beat it back in some of its victims and give those she treats a semblance of hope.
As she and Ishan finally come toward the end of the gathered sick folk, Kayleigh frets at the words of the woman with the two children. After treating the symptoms of the kiddos, the priestess chats briefly in private with their mother. After getting both addresses of the hospice across the bridge and the woman's home, Kayleigh quietly promises to find time tomorrow to visit and heal her mother and brother to give the family a fighting chance. She also slips the woman what little cash she carries around with her (probably about 2 gp total) to help with her family's expenses.
Once the crowd has dwindled away, she enters the temple to grab a new frugal supply of spending money and slips into the shrine to Milani for a quick prayer session. It is here--alone, out of sight of the others--that she breaks down briefly, troubled that her kindness in casting her lone prepared lesser restoration spell on Rajeek may have almost cost Crayden his life. After a quick cry, Kayleigh again steels herself for action. She knows that this is the nature of the beast that is the blood veil: It can strike anyone at any time. Her plan had been to save the spell in case anything was amiss at the temple, but her kind-heartedness couldn't leave old Rajeek in a vulnerable state even with the disease at least temporarily removed from him. In choosing to fortify Rajeek, she'd unwittingly left Crayden vulnerable.
I need to ask Ishan if he'd be willing to steal a wand of lesser restoration from the Bank of Abadar she thinks, and a strangled laugh escapes her lips. I need to buy one myself is her follow-up thought, but she knows she doesn't have the funds currently...and she won't be asking her friends to contribute. They need to upgrade their weapons and gear, she knows, for she suspects a bloody conflict with the Queen's physicians and Gray Maidens may be inevitable.
Though she's not sure what Field Marshal Kroft expects the party to find in the shipwreck of the plague vessel, the presence of the ship in nearby waters just before the blood veil rolled into the city can't be mere coincidence. Perhaps a few survivors swam to shore and spread the plague.
In any event, she'd prepared spells for the expedition, and sticking to a schedule was a good thing in the face of the roadblocks the blood veil had a tendency to throw in front of her. Drying her eyes she sought out the others. "Are we ready to go swimming?"
The huge crowd at the temple has Regeris' face a dark cloud as it becomes clear they are an inevitable target for the physicians. For whatever, their treatment of a plague is a source of power for them, and that means that Kayleigh's healing will be a threat to that power.
Such as it is. Once it is clear that the priestess' miraculous healing powers will only save a few, he spends a while assisting with his own more mundane healing abilities before excusing himself to go pray with the roses for Crayden's health and the health of the city. As well for that of his colleagues, whatever comes next will likely be dire.
The following morning Regeris is his stone-faced self, and he nods once at Kayleigh. "Let's get our supplies. I hope that this ship leads us to some clear way forward. Rolth seems like such a distant problem with all this illness."
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Afternoon finds the party down on the piers of western Old Dock. The light onshore breeze is perfect for blowing the craft across the river and a total lack of clouds forecasts no incoming weather and the best possible visibility - perfect conditions for a swim. One of Londra's boys collects the fare and steers each of the group to a place to sit that's out of the way of the crew. Before long the boat is pushed off and steering its way out into the flow, one of a dozen or so others undoubtedly headed out for the late catch.
Londra cross-references the notes on the location of the sinking with her own considerable knowledge of the river as she pilots the craft out. From this spot on the water, carts and wagons crossing by the High Bridge are visible. Korvosa's hills rise above the long North Point wall, festooned with towers and trebuchets. It's easy to imagine them tossing huge boulders at Londra's Labor and sending the boat to the riverbottom.
"Eighty feet of water here," Londra calls out, as one of her boys works a kedge line at the bow. "They say wrecks make good fishing. Fish are curious creatures, after all. This is about the spot rumor says the ship went down. I fished it twice myself, though I can't say we caught much. Maybe the fish can smell the plague?"
Her other boy hooks a ladder over the stern of the boat and looks at the party expectantly. It's pretty clear they're all eager to see some honest-to-gods magic. The dark waters of the Jeggare swirl around the stern as the group contemplates the swim.
Kayleigh's unusually quiet on the boat; it's obvious she's nervous, likely because plumbing the depths for a shipwreck is well out of her comfort zone. When Londra stops the boat, the young Milanite does one final check of her gear, practices holding her spear in her right hand while twiddling the fingers of her left (mimicking spellcasting), and then takes a deep breath. She casts a light spell on Nebbin's weapon, commenting that she's got a daylight spell prepared in case it's really dark at the river's bottom; then she waits for Ishan to cast water breathing on the party. When that's done, the reticent cleric allows her friends to enter the water first. Right before it's her turn to descend, she casts a quick guidance spell on herself...just to be safe.
Nebbin looks eager for the entire boat ride. This is out of his realm of experience, but he's glad to be doing something, and hopefully making some progress against this infection. He's not special like Kayleigh, but if this helps stop the disease, maybe he won't feel quite as useless.
Nebbin looks at the others and takes a deep gulp of oxygen, holding his breath as he jumps feet first into the water, his new halberd in hand.
Before setting out in the boat, Tassira makes sure to leave Ravnos on shore somewhere quiet.
As the group stands perched near the gunwale, Ishan mutters a prayer and lifts his golden focus up to reflect the afternoon sunlight. Abadar's power washes over the group's heads and they suddenly feel compelled to pull the water swirling below their feet into their lungs. Plunging into the surprisingly cold water, the sweet brine of the river penetrates their lungs and sinuses with its salty, slightly stinging tang.
The light of the sun pierces well down into the column of green-brown water, throwing spears of light beyond the limits of their surface-adapted eyesight. As their final lung-fulls of air are blown out their mouths and nostrils, their natural buoyancy leaves them and the weight of their clothes and items pulls them down into the murky depths of the river. As they descend deeper, Londra's last call echoes in their ears.
"Look north for the wreck, and good luck! We'll hold place here until you come back!"
Gripping a basic spear as his only weapon beyond a silver dagger in his boot, Regeris plunges into the water, intentionally sucking in a lungful of water and getting past the panic of the experience as quickly as possible.
The fact Regeris is not a trained swimmer becomes completely apparent as he loses his orientation and begins flailing and spinning in circles.
Emi stays quiet, watching the water closely on the way out. She can swim, but she's not a swimmer. She's not sure if there's anyone who goes into the waters around Korvosa for anything like pleasure or sport, leaving aside drowning, currents, and predators, it's simply too filthy.
Once the boat is on the spot, Emi sheds her boots and shirt, opting for tight trousers and her chainmail shirt only. Her hair is braided to keep it out of her way. Instead of her typical weapons array, Emi takes the rapier she's recently acquired, her new spear, and a dagger in a sheath strapped to her leg.
She jumps into the water feet first, and isn't very quick to adapt over to breathing water. She lets herself sink as she adjusts. Then, when she's breathing easily again, she starts to control her descent to stay grouped with the others.
Like Nebbin, Kayleigh can't resist initially holding her breath as she sinks into the water. A non-swimmer, the first few seconds of the descent are terrifying: The priestess's armor begins to drag her downward at a faster rate, and the frightened Milanite sucks in some water as she tries to slow her sink. It's mildly comforting when she doesn't drown as water fills her lungs.
Like the others, Nebbin leaves most of his usual equipment at home, though he still has his halberd and armor, along with his few magical items. His natural strength and time growing up near the river makes him a solid swimmer, but he's ill accustomed to actually breathing the water, and his attempts to keep his eyes on Kayleigh and the others, causes him to flounder -- sinking far more quickly than he'd intended.
Tassira falls into the water and displays all the swimming proficiency of a drunken, limbless giraffe.