Una looks at the others surrounding the table.
"How can we be certain this information is correct? With the proper address in hand, 'justice' will come swifter at our hands than at the hands of the Hellknights, who seem to have other motivations at hand."
Vic frowns, still feeling uneasy among this strange crowd. He doesn’t exactly like the lady’s story but it’s at least plausible. Anyone who has ever worked for Lamm has heard stories about his vengefulness towards those who dare steal from him.
“So you want us to, what, barge in there and put him to the sword? I doubt the old man would make it that easy. He knows he has enemies. Some kind of idea of what we might be walking into would be nice. And like the lady says, how do we know this is even accurate? Where’d you get the information?”
"As she said," Pierre replied to Vic, "She paid bribes, asked around and consulted her Harrow deck. Aside from the last, it's pretty much how anyone gets any information in this city." Pierre studied her for a moment; his grasp of people told him that she was indeed telling the truth, but there was something else she wasn't quite telling them.
"You're holding something back," Pierre accused, "I believe you're telling us the truth about where Lamm is holed up, but there's something you aren't telling us. If we're going to head to his lair, then we need to know everything you know. After all, we can quite easily verify your information by heading out there and watching the traffic in and out of the building, and if you're wrong..." Pierre trails off, but casts a glance over his shoulder at the hulking form of Shakhan and lets the threat go unspoken.
Shakhan, perhaps unintentionally, rises to Pierre's implied intimidation. His voice grates with a deep bassy growl: "Lamm never leaves his back open. I'll tear through who stands in my way and Lamm!" A vein in Shakhan's forehead bulges as he speaks - marking the whiteness of the scar in stark contrast.
"I rest my case," Pierre says, with a smirk.
"As she said," Pierre replied to Vic, "She paid bribes, asked around and consulted her Harrow deck. Aside from the last, it's pretty much how anyone gets any information in this city." Pierre studied her for a moment; his grasp of people told him that she was indeed telling the truth, but there was something else she wasn't quite telling them.
"You're holding something back," Pierre accused, "I believe you're telling us the truth about where Lamm is holed up, but there's something you aren't telling us. If we're going to head to his lair, then we need to know everything you know. After all, we can quite easily verify your information by heading out there and watching the traffic in and out of the building, and if you're wrong..." Pierre trails off, but casts a glance over his shoulder at the hulking form of Shakhan and lets the threat go unspoken.
1d20+6
The enigmatic woman replies, "Indeed, you have the right of it. It is...difficult to explain. You might say that I simply listen to the music of the city, and that my Harrow cards tell me more than most. Yet, I have revealed all that I can for now. I encourage you to do this very thing...go to the fishery. See what you find there. Will Lamm be unguarded, unwary? You all know the old bastard better than that. It will certainly be dangerous. But you have capabilities of your own, this is why the cards have chosen you. Trust at least that we all want Lamm to pay for what he has done. We have this much in common. So, I entreat you for your help."
Zellara's plea seems truly sincere, maybe even a touch desperate.
Hytogg rises to his feet and with a flourish begins to speak...first clearing his throat, then a pregnant pause.
"Wait friends...wait". "Let's look at things logically for a bit".
"First of all the Hellnights have little interest in what goes on in the city, short of outright rioting". "They are more interested in threats from afar, and their own agenda".
"Second the City Watch will take care of things if you put it right in front of their face, but don't have the resources to investigate every petty thief in the city".
"Our host has done us a great boon, by telling us where we might all find our hated enemy". "We don't have to go blustering in with all blades flashing". "We can take our time, and case the joint, and talk to the neighbors to get a feel for what we're up against".
"So let's put aside our doubts and suspicions for the moment, and take advantage of this opportunity". "If we're careful, in our information gathering, and diligent in our plan we have nothing to lose and everything to gain".
"Yes, I think that we first need to verify this information, and if it does indeed prove to be true, then we will gather as much information as we can before we chop the head off of the snake," Pierre's tone of voice had changed from playful to vengeful. With the thought of Lamm being so close, dark thoughts began to surface. Dark thoughts of vengeance against the man who had ruined his sister's reputation.
Pierre suddenly snapped out of his reverie, and looked at his new compatriots.
"We can find this warehouse with ease, I imagine, come let's find out what we can."
Shakhan grunts, his face sneering in disdain. "What is this? DON'T YOU HATE LAMM?! I know where he is. I will go and kill him." With a look at Zellara, "if he is not there, we know the information is false." Shakhan rises, his axe to hand. "I don't give a hellknight's cry about justice, but Lamm will die tonight. If you want to be there, then... be there."
Pierre rolls his eyes and sighs. There were times that a wagonload of muscle and no brains were a boon; this was not one of them.
"My dear boy," Pierre said, with a slight tone of annoyance, "We can't just go rushing headlong into Lamm's own lair. He has bodyguards, and Calistra knows what else. I've every intention of killing that thin bag of bones, but we have to do it in a way we know none of us are going to die."
Guy’s right, Vic says in agreement with Pierre. If you’re going to rush in head first like a pack of brainless ogres, you can do it without me. If I wanted to get myself killed, I could have handled that on my own months ago. Brute force alone isn't going be enough to tackle Lamm or he'd have been out of the game years ago.
Vic still isn’t happy with the woman’s explanation of how she got the information of course. The vagaries of unnamed contacts and magic don’t exactly inspire him with confidence. Still, there’s no harm in casing the place as the wizard suggested. It’s not likely a better opportunity to catch Lamm off guard is ever going to present itself.
To Zellara, I take it you won’t be coming with us? We supposed to meet you here later on or is this the extent of your involvement?
Shakhan rumples his face. "Hah! If you think that Lamm will still be there; or that your information gathering won't alert him. Where a sudden assault would take him by surprise." At the wizard: " You might have learned in your magics that being prepared is all important - but a warrior learns to take his enemy by surprise."
"Well if you want to rush in there, without finding out exactly what's in store, then be my guest. We'll wait outside and finish them off as they come out," Pierre replied. He turns to the rest of the group.
"If that's all, I'm eager to head over to this address and see to finishing off Lamm," Pierre said, "Every minute we wait gives him more time to disappear somewhere else."
"I agree that we need a little more information to determine what threat we are facing, but such information should be gathered discreetly so that we retain surprise and initiative when we do strike."
Una looks over at the hulking warrior with an understanding gaze.
"Strike with speed, but accuracy counts as well. And accuracy, in this case, unfortunately requires more information."
Shakhan spits angrily to the floor, but he'll wait his anger a while yet. Accuracy? Bah. As if Lamm would let himself be singled out. There will be bells, whistleblowers, henchmen, and certainly traps - what did the Moth say? Children? Damn cockroaches.
"So we are in agreement then," Pierre says, relieved that the man-mountain has at least seen some sense, "We head over to this warehouse, spend a little time making sure that we've got the right place and then hit it hard?"
To Zellara, I take it you won’t be coming with us? We supposed to meet you here later on or is this the extent of your involvement?
"Yes, it would be well to return here after the business with Lamm is done. You may well find that you have additional questions for me at that time." There is a sense of melancholy about the woman as she says this, but she shakes it off quickly.
As the others speak, Zellara nods emphatically. "A sound plan, I agree. Best not to wait long, else Lamm may pull up his tent stakes and disappear once again. Now, I have little in the way of material aid to offer...but I do have my Harrow deck. Before you depart, I would perform a Harrowing for you. Who knows what mysteries may be revealed in the telling?"
Zellara skillfully shuffles her deck, and then lays out a grid of nine cards, face down in a 3x3 square. The atmosphere in the room becomes even more surreal, the cloying scent of the incense suffusing the senses, as the Varisian woman flips over the top left card and speaks in a sonorous tone.
"We begin with the past."
"The Hidden Truth. It represents seeing past the obvious. Do not be afraid to accept that there may be a greater reason for your assembly here tonight than simply your shared grieveance with Lamm."
Zellara flips over the next card below.
"The Queen Mother. Knowledge through fealty. But fealty to whom? King Eodred, or someone else?"
The last card in the first column reveals...
"The Trumpet. Usually a card which speaks of the declaration of power...but here, it is misaligned. Power simply for power's sake. I fear that bold machinations may be in play somewhere in Korvosa."
"Now for the present."
Zellara flips over the top card in the center column.
"The Empty Throne. Loss brings good fortune. Do not give up faith, even when all seems lost."
Flipping the next card, Zellara reveals, "The Cricket, representing speed and quick passage. May you find this in your efforts to bring Lamm to justice, and in what may follow after..."
"And finally, The Marriage. A union of persons or ideas. But in this position, a union which will prove to be disastrous."
"Finally, the future."
Zellara turns over the first card in the last column."The Avalanche. Here, misaligned, meaning that disaster may be averted. This is welcome news indeed."
"Next, The Bear. Here we see that brute force reigns." The fortune teller's eyes raise to gaze upon Shakhan for a moment. "Hmmm...of course."
Flipping over the ninth and final card, Zellara reveals "The Cyclone. This card speaks of tumultuous, evil plots. Are they merely the plans of Gaedren Lamm, or does something even more dire wait in the winds?"
With these words, the haze in the room seems to lift a bit. "The Harrowing has ended. The time has now come for you to move against Lamm. Go with Desna's blessing."
Pierre watched with detached interest; he had learnt that all kinds of divination could yield important results and this Zellara certainly seemed to be a competent Harrower.
"Thank you for your time," Pierre said once she was finished, "Hopefully we shall return to you with great news."
"Come, let us leave and give Lamm a taste of his own medicine."
Shakhan clearly seems at unease by the Harrow reading. Not willing to withdraw from it, but not embracing it either. When Zellara points him out during the reading he goes an ever so slightly paler shade and a "Curses!" escapes his lips. Why?! Blasted!! I'm not a toy for destiny!
Una raised an eyebrow at the Harrowing, but said nothing, as she was not a believer in such mystic oddities.
"Then we will depart, and find out what we can so we can strike Lamm before he can disappear again."
Vic follows the others out of the room, not so sure he liked Zellara’s tone when she said they’d meet again later. It didn‘t sound like she was anticipating a victory celebration exactly. “Harrow readings…. huh. Sideshows for suckers, you ask me….”
He stops once they’re out on the street and sizes up his current, and probably temporary, compatriots. Not exactly a group he’d have picked himself. Except maybe the big guy. He looks like he can handle himself in a fight at least, if he can keep his temper in check. The others? Hard to say. Hopefully they know their business, since his neck might be on the block if things go sideways. He hates depending on unknowns.
“So how do you want to do this? Normally I’d say some kind of disguises might be a good idea so we won‘t draw attention, but I don’t want to waste too much time. A few more hours and the sun will be up. On the other hand, if anyone needs anything, we better get it now. Who knows how things are going to go down once we get there.”
Una hefts the crossbow as she disarms it and lifts it to her shoulder, looking around the street with a wary eye.
"I would say that we spend a discreet hour gathering information about this location and Lamm's 'way of doing things', then hit with precision and speed at the weakest point. Disguises may be necessary for gathering information, but the assault should be as direct and swift as possible, and preferably under cover of darkness, which we will have tonight."
"Don't worry about disguises," Pierre said, "I have that covered." Pierre will take the lead as they head for the warehouse.
The business with Zellara concluded for now, the party sets off into the darkened streets of Korvosa, making way to the address the fortune-teller provided: Westpier 17. For those familiar with the city, it's not too difficult to find.
The mood of the city is hushed, guarded even. There are few people out and about on the streets, and those who can be seen are little more than guarded shadows, flitting from one darkened alleyway to another. It seems as though Korvosa is waiting...holding her breath...
Within a short time, the group has arrived down at the docks near the Jeggare River, and stands across the narrow street from the fishery at Westpier 17. The reek of brine and the stink of week-dead fish hang thickly in the air here. The old double doors in the side of the weathered building across the way are tightly closed, with a drooping signpost hanging above. The sign it once displayed is long gone, leaving behind only a single short length of rusted chain, clinking softly in the night breeze. On the north side of the building appears to be some kind of wide loading dock, while a wooden boardwalk runs around the south side of the fishery out of view. All seems quiet within...for now.
Shakhan looks grimly at the fishery. His shield and battleaxe at the ready. He surveys the scene once, twice, then steps out of view of the fishery. In spite of the grim expression he seems remarkably at ease now - the kind of relaxed tension that is common to veterans of many battles. "Go then, do what you must. I doubt you will find anything that will get the job done better than these", motioning to his shield and axe, "Lamm will die tonight."
Pierre stumbled out towards the fishery, disguised as a short, paunchy drunk. He made an act of stumbling around in case anyone was watching him from the darkened windows of the silent building.
Trying to act as though he was looking for somewhere to bed down for the night, he took his time to look the fishery over for entrances and windows. Once he was happy he knew all of the entrances and potential exits, he stumbled back to the group.
"Double doors at the front, with a few front-facing windows. One single door down a walkway," he said, instantly dropping the act and relinquishing the disguise self he had cast upon himself.
"Everything looks quiet, I think this is probably the best chance we'll get," he continued, "It looks pretty rundown; we could probably set fire to it and kill anyone who runs out unless they're a child."
Pierre stumbled out towards the fishery, disguised as a short, paunchy drunk. He made an act of stumbling around in case anyone was watching him from the darkened windows of the silent building.
Trying to act as though he was looking for somewhere to bed down for the night, he took his time to look the fishery over for entrances and windows. Once he was happy he knew all of the entrances and potential exits, he stumbled back to the group.
"Double doors at the front, with a few front-facing windows. One single door down a walkway," he said, instantly dropping the act and relinquishing the disguise self he had cast upon himself.
"Everything looks quiet, I think this is probably the best chance we'll get," he continued, "It looks pretty rundown; we could probably set fire to it and kill anyone who runs out unless they're a child."
Hytogg looks at the man incrediously, "Burn it down"! "Are you mad"? "First of all Arson is illegal in Korvosa last time I checked, and we'd probably burn down this whole section of the city". "And what if there are innocents inside". Nethys knows he has a history of capturing and using people...especially children". "I think we can do better than that".
"The question is do we sneak in or a frontal assault, or a combination of the two". "Frankly I've waited too long for this day to fail". "I'd be in favor of waiting a day to check their routines, and talk to some locals about what they've seen". "We don't even know for sure he's in there". "This could be a whole elaborate trap of somekind".
"Let's not let our eagerness for revenge cloud our judgement".
Una listens to Pierre's report.
"Can anything be seen through the windows, or is the place entirely darkened?"
She agrees with Pierre's desire to burn down the building, should such a feat seem tactically plausible, but listens to the Wizard's argument as well.
"A small, tactically placed fire could serve as a distraction to the inhabitants. Setting the entire building aflame would cause more alarm and attention then we would want, but something small and controllable could be exactly what we need."
"No, no, Hytogg is right, a fire would cause too much disturbance, especially in a small space like this. Lamm would probably escape by tossing himself into the river anyway," Pierre sighs, drumming his fingers against his chin for a few moments.
"I think that Shakhan might be right; attack now and without mercy, it's a relatively small building and as long as we don't split up I think we'll be just fine. Shakhan and Una, if you take the lead, Vic and I can come in the rear and Hytogg can strike from the centre of us. Any issues with that plan?"
"Burn the place is bad; attracts too much unneeded attention from the guards. If some runts are inside, then they could be chained up as well."
Vic isn’t nearly as hostile to the idea of setting fire to the fishery as Hytogg. It sounds a lot safer than breaking in, actually. However, there’s just too good a chance they could lose Lamm in the resulting chaos. The old man is crafty, he may even have a back exit of some kind, one that would get him out unseen.
Great. Brute force it is, I guess. I suggest we enter through the side door along the walkway. Busting through front doors leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I’ll see if I can work the lock…”
"I feel an I told you so moment coming on, but if we're determined to go on in with no information then I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be".
"Can someone tell me why exactly we don't want to wait a day and observe, and find out more information"?
Una looks at the Wizard.
"If you were Lamm, would you remain in the same place for more than a day? Observation has its place, and its uses. But here is not one of them. We have gathered what information we can, now we only need to find the weakest link in the armor."
Una looks at the Wizard.
"If you were Lamm, would you remain in the same place for more than a day? Observation has its place, and its uses. But here is not one of them. We have gathered what information we can, now we only need to find the weakest link in the armor."
"i would think he would keep a hideout until forced from it". "Do we even know who owns this building...No". "Do we know what kind of forces he has Marshalled and what he has guarding him...No". "Do we know what he is using the building for...No. "Do we even know for sure he's in there...again No." "All you fighter types should use the muscle between your ears a little more, and not the ones that wield your weapons".
"Besides, if we're watching the place we'll see him leave, and can follow him then". "Like I said, I'm in, but I'm never happy going in blind, which is what we're doing".
Una arches an eyebrow at the Wizard's assault on her intelligence but says nothing in direct response.
"It would take days to determine the answers to the questions you have posed, and days we do not have. An hour, perhaps, as I mentioned before. Lamm also is too street-wary to remain in one place for too long. You might not know much about that though."
Una readies her crossbow, examining its simple mechanisms.
"Lawbreakers know never to stay in one place for too long. Not one of them would risk capture for a small taste of security."
She looks over at the building.
"Normally, my dear Hytogg, I would be in complete agreement," Pierre says, "However, I saw that the fishery backs out onto the river. It's not unlikely that Lamm will have access to a boat and if he takes to water then he will be long gone before we ever catch up to him and we'll be back to square one."
As Vic outlays his plan to sneak to the side door, Pierre nods but interjects, "I doubt the walkway is very strong like the rest of the factory it seems to be in a state of disrepair, I suggest we walk down it one at a time."
Shakhan frowns, furrows on his forehead as he hears Pierre's assessment of the walkway. "I want to go via the front door. None should escape, and I don't think I can walk those planks quietly."
Shakhan frowns, furrows on his forehead as he hears Pierre's assessment of the walkway. "I want to go via the front door. None should escape, and I don't think I can walk those planks quietly."
Hytogg throws up his hands in exasperation, "Just my luck, I finally get a chance for revenge on Lamm, and I'm surrounded by hot tempered imbeciles". "Fine...If we're determined to raid this hideout like a bunch of goblins looking for a fight, then let's get it over with". "Just don't expect me to stick around and pull your corpses out".
Shakhan shows what might, in good light, be called a smirk - though it could just as well be called a predatory smile, "Just don't get in my way. Lamm and any thugs inside will aim for soft targets like yourself." The thought of Lamm sombers him slightly, his teeth appear more predatory for a moment. "Let's go!" He makes for the double-door.
"Shakhan, wait! We still do not know enough of what we are facing. Help me to get on the roof and from there we can plan a more tactical assault."
Una frowns at his anxiousness to assault the building directly.
Shakhan appears somewhat irritated at the interruption, but motions Una to him and closes hands to give her a leg-up. "This is the last of my patience, Lamm does not deserve to die of old age."
"Neither do I. Nor do I want him to live to fight another day. If there is a route of escape, I will try to cut it off."
Hytogg leads nothing, not being good at breaking and entering. As soon as entry is made, and danger sensed he will cast Mage Armor upon himself.
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Ready for the action :)
In nearby alley, a cloaked halfling watches the group. "We'll the fortune teller did say there would be others. I just hop this lot is up to the task. Lamm needs to pay and I plan on being there when it happens. Having made up his mind, the halfling cautiously approaches the group with a smile "It appears the fortune teller ha sbeen busy my firends. Allow me to introduce myself, Zadarra the Amazing, at your service. That is if you our goals are the same." At the last staement his smile vanishes and with a wicked glint in his eyes he says "Let us see if we can find a quiet way into this palce before Lamm realizes that death in on his doorstep."