Ath:
"Anything in particular you want? We don't have much but I'll see what I can do"
Pausing briefly in her digging in cupboards she looks over at Atherton again. "Oh, and I couldn't get hold of Reth. So, we can either try again or risk going to return the queen's property without him, it means we won't need to cut him but will have to try harder to come across as upstanding, concerned citizens." Slowly she smiles again "I haven't worn my 'innocent, upstanding member of the populace' dress in a while.
Calandra
Pausing briefly in her digging in cupboards she looks over at Atherton again. "Oh, and I couldn't get hold of Reth. So, we can either try again or risk going to return the queen's property without him, it means we won't need to cut him but will have to try harder to come across as upstanding, concerned citizens." Slowly she smiles again "I haven't worn my 'innocent, upstanding member of the populace' dress in a while.
"Since he's Sable we might not have to cut him. You know, upholding the law and seeing that justice is done. Even if he wants a payoff, we can probably convince him to do it for something other than coin. Aiding in the return of the Queen's property would be quite a feather in his cap, could get him noticed by his superiors. The military types are suckers for the quick promotion thing. We'll find a way to get Reth or someone else equally useful to help us."
Ath:
"At least you don't need to worry about them meddling too much this morning, they tend to sleep in as often as they can" She continues to explain as she moves across the kitchen and starts to stoke the fire into life to make something warm to eat and drink.
"So... breakfast and then an attempt to find Reth?"
Calandra
"At least you don't need to worry about them meddling too much this morning, they tend to sleep in as often as they can"
"Good. The less interference the better."
"So... breakfast and then an attempt to find Reth?"
"Sounds good to me. If we can't find him easily, I have a few contacts who might help track him down. We should figure out what our story will be too; even with Reth there, questions will be asked. How did we get the brooch?"
Ath:
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Reth and Malik:
Time, passes, slowly. So very, very slowly. But Sometime just after dawn, the next morning, you are called to the office of the sergeant who accosted you the night before.
"Rethvian Ardimai, just the person. Could you tell me why there are a man and a woman kicking their heels in the gatehouse asking after you?"
Calandra
Nevyn and Malik:
Time, passes, slowly. So very, very slowly. But Sometime just after dawn, the next morning, you are called to the office of the sergeant who accosted you the night before.
"Rethvian Ardimai, just the person. Could you tell me why there are a man and a woman kicking their heels in the gatehouse asking after you?"
To the sergeant, "Not entirely certain sir. Did they give names or say what their business was? I'll go see what this is about as I know your right buried at the moment." With that he heads to the gatehouse thinking the sergeant wants nothing to do with one more complication to his day.
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Ath and Cal:
As you move through Korvosa in the early morning light, it becomes obvious that the immediate violence has dissipated for the moment. The strets of the once vibrant city, are now deserted, with houses boarded up against the return of the gangs of thugs. The odd crowd of people in a doorway can be seen, huddled together and obviously rady to flee at a moments notice, but almost all speaking of "that harridin", the "gold diging murderer" with only the odd voice raised in protest, in defence of the queen.
It takes little trouble to get to the Sable companies buildings, and even here, the mob seems to have retreated somewhat. Most of the hoard has returned to their hoes, with only a few tens of people settled in by the saftey of the compounds walls.
The guard on duty is brisk, and obviously tired, but not unhelpful, and at the mention of Reth's name, he takes you inside the guardhouse, whilst another man goes into the main building propper.
Reth and Malik:
As Reth turns to leave, the seargent brings his riding crop crashing to the desk. "This is my office, recruit and I will ask the questions. You will leave when you are told to, and not before, you insolent thug.
"How you concern yourself with the people at the gate is your own problem. Your team has not returned, and your marine's hippogiff has been fround dead at the scene of a oythugh uprising. As we do not have enough marines for all of the recruits now, you, and others like you are being conscripted into the guard.
"So deal with your friends and make your way to the barracks of the korvosan guard, there you will be given duties, and I will not have to see your arrogant face again."
With that he turns to the window, hands clasped behind him, and shaking in rage. The interview is obviously over.
Reth:
"Come on, Reth. Let's go. He's not worth the effort. I really hope it's Cal and Ath down there."
Nevyn and Malik:
Reth:
As they make their way towards the gatehouse, having picked up their stuff first from their room and giving a goodbye and shake-hands to the others they have played cards with.
"At least I am not being conscripted, too. The guard is too corrupt to have any influence in the order of the city at all. I wouldn't be too sure, if she wants us for our good looks. There has to be more involved with that. But I am piqued nonetheless."
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Reth & Malik:
As you enter the guard house you are greeted by Calandra and Atherton. The latter leaning insolently, and obviously bored against the only table, whilst Cal sits joking with the guard...
Cal and Ath:
Ath:
As the other two men enter the room Calandra looks up, her expression faintly surprised at seeing Malik still with the Sable initiate but she soon smiles bightly at the pair. "Hi boys, missed me?" She asks with a playful grin.
When Malik sees Atherton with Calandra he stops for a moment and blinks with his eyes, before putting on a smile. "Sure did, you could have skinned us pretty easily while we were playing cards to kill the time, until the havok in the city subsided. I'd have liked to help, but we were grounded. And how did you both fare?"
"Sure did, you could have skinned us pretty easily while we were playing cards to kill the time..."
"Been working hard? Defending the peace and upholding justice?" Atherton asks snidely.
"And how did you both fare?"
"Oh, not too badly, considering." Atherton says with a shrug and a faint, smug smile.
As the other two men enter the room Calandra looks up, her expression faintly surprised at seeing Malik still with the Sable initiate but she soon smiles bightly at the pair. "Hi boys, missed me?" She asks with a playful grin.
Smiling widely, "Does the hippogryph miss the wind beneath it's wings? I am most assuredly glad for your assistance in breakin us out of our losing streak. It's good to see you both well."
"Been working hard? Defending the peace and upholding justice?" Atherton asks snidely.
Raises an eyebrow in Atherton's direction, "Working? You bet. That fifth wasn't just gonna take no for an answer but Malik here proved the hero and put it down. Peace? Maybe. Justice? I leave that to the guard and Hellknights to handle. Why, what would you have of us?"
"We kept ourselves busy" Calandra replies with another smile "And thankfully my sisters weren't caught in any of the rioting, I just had to deal with them getting bored, which was a task in itself." She half jokes before walking over to Reth and greeting him with a hug.
"But nevermind all that, there's something I need to talk to you about"
"But nevermind all that, there's something I need to talk to you about"
He returns the hug picking her up off her feet with one arm, "Good to hear that your sisters are safe too. My help has been requested by the guard so if you all don't mind let's walk while we talk. Been kept in here too long, need to get some air." Purposely guiding her away from the group of Company recruits that have been gathering with not so subtle interest.
"Sure!" She replies brightly before gently taking Reth's arm and walking along beside him "Helping the guard?" She asks curiously, intrigue overriding the reason she'd come to talk to him, at least for the time being. "Are they shorthanded?" She adds, her tone a little concerned, Taletha had been making more and more comments about joining the guard or sable company recently and if she heard about this it would only encourage her.
"Are they shorthanded?"
"I think we are all shorthanded at the moment. The Company lost quite a few men, so I imagine it's the same over there. That's why I and some other men have been reassigned, not enough of our officers survived to rebuild the patrols. So a bit of consolidatin is going on to help protect the city until things sort out a bit more. So what's on your mind?"
The young Varisian frowns a little at Reth's news, her concern briefly wrinkling her forehead before she shakes it off. Shifting a little closer to Reth she speaks quietly so, hopefully, only he will hear. "I found something during the riots, and before you ask, yes I really did just find it. Ath and I think it belongs to someone important and we want to return it but don't want to be accused of being the ones who took it. So, I guess what I wanted to talk to you about was this, Mr. Upstanding Citizen... do you want to escort us to the Queen's court?" She finishes with a bright, hopeful grin.
Reth looks a little caught off guard by her request and takes a moment to consider what she just said. "It would be my honor too but you should be warned I'm not exactly the courtly type. Which means to say I'm not sure that my presence will help." He looks over and sees her big innocent questioning eyes looking up at him......awwww hell. "Which means to say that I'll do it but I am unsure whether we can get into the Queen's court at this juncture. I think she has her hands quite full or do you have an audience already set up?" He asks in all seriousness. "Oh and......what is it and who does it belong too? Nothin dangerous I hope."
"Not dangerous at all" She assures Reth with a small thankful squeeze of his arm as he agrees to help. "The item is a piece that if the stories I've heard are to be believed, and my sources are usually fairly sturdy, actually belongs to the Queen herself. It's something she cared enough about to have sent out for repairs, which is when it 'disappeared' so I'm sure she'll want it back but I'm just scared that if I went up there alone, or with just Ath I'd be accused of taking it or being involved somehow and I really don't fancy the idea of having the Queen mad at me."
Reth's easy going smile returns, "I don't think anyone fancies being on the Queen's bad side. She may however ask about how you came by it, what will you tell her and do you want to do this now?"
"How about we tell her half of the truth. We found the stash of an infamous thief of the city. He was responsible for the theft, and we did not kill him. Well, the alligator did the job for us, didn't he? We don't need to say anything about our intent."
Malik is somehow a bit miffed, but his eyes are guarded.
"I'll tell her the truth, that I came by it during the rioting and decided that the second things calmed down that I'd return it" She tells him with a smile "So maybe it would be for the best to return it as soon as possible" She decides.
Slowly she turns her attention to Malik and gives him a weak smile "Why elaborate beyond finding it?" She asks curiously "Hopefully she'll just be happy enough to see it back..."
"That can be our first explanation. If she wants to know more, we tell her about the thieves that attacked Reth and as they fled, we found her thing in the items on the street, where they dropped their loot."
Calandra gives a smile and a nod before lightly taking Malik's arm in her free arm, happily walking along between him and Reth. "Sounds like we have a plan then!" She declares brightly, giving Atherton a small smile to include him in the planning.
Atherton follows Malik, Reth and Calandra wordlessly, listening to them plan.
"Sounds like we have a plan then!"
"Works for me. The sooner we can get it out of our hands the better."
Reth throws his head back and laughs, "So striding up to the castles front gate sayin we have a bit of something the Queen misplaced is the plan? Could work." He shrugs obviously amused, at the very least I'll have a heck of a story to tell around the card table. "I wouldn't be concerned too much about offin Lamm, I am sure the Queen might even be more appreciative that the scoundrel that stole her "piece" met such an end. No no, not to worry, I'll say nary a word as you weave your tale as you see fit. As you say I'm just along to be an upstandin citizen. I hope she is as appreciative as your friends led you to believe she will be." With that he nods his head toward the castle watching over the city. "Shall we?" He tosses his apple core aside and heads that way.
Cal has a distinct bounce in her step as she walks arm in arm with Reth and Malik towards the castle. "Well this should be a new and exciting experience for us all" She declares brightly with a grin at Atherton, feeling briefly irritated that she doesn't have enough arms to walk closely with all three men.
"Let's just keep this short. The less time I spend with the people who pull the strings for the Guard the better." Atherton says sourly from the back of the group. He's slipping back into his usual bad mood.
Reth gently seperates from Cal and nods toward Atherton, "Think someone might be experiencin Zon-Kuthon's touch". He walks slightly in front of the group just enjoying the city after two days in the barracks.
"What the devil are you on about?"
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Your path towards the castle takes a circuitous route, rather longer than in normal times, due to the small outbreaks of violence still happening all over the city.
Most of these a group with your skills avoids easily, but as you turn one corner you are confronted by 5 men, obviously normal men in normal times, one wearing the apron of a butcher, and another wielding a candlestick.
They each hold an improvised weapon, and as you turn and see them, you hear one shout "So queens man, ready to die?" while another cackles, "yeah, kill the dandy".
They have their backs turned, towards you.
Hearing the shouts, Atherton glances around, looking for the most expedient path to avoid the mob.
Looking at Calandra, he says "Not again. Let's just be on our way. We have buisness to do and their's is none of our concern."
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Hearing the shouts, Atherton begins looking around, trying to find an easy way around the mob. Looking at Calandra, he says "Not again. Let's just be on our way. We have buisness to do and it's none of our concern."
ath (and anyone who beats a DC15 perception check)
This is an angry mob of mostly normal people, they only carry improvised weapons, and don't look liek they would stand up to a focused assault
The word 'dandy' rings in Calandra's ears, probably male, lacking in sense and quite rich, a small detour to defuse the situation wouldn't cause too much harm. Besides the people assaulting him could probably be talked down.
Smiling lightly at Atherton she gives a small wink "Come on this really shouldn't take long at all, it's probably easier to go through them than around them"
"Let me quiet them down a bit first, they seem so bland. I'd like to color it up a bit."
Reth smiles and nods at Maliks suggestion. He takes out his shield as he tenses ready to spring into the fray should the need arise.
Smiling lightly at Atherton she gives a small wink "Come on this really shouldn't take long at all, it's probably easier to go through them than around them"
"I beg to differ." Atherton mutters. Although unhappy with staying, he doesn't take off on his own either, or wait for the others to deal with the threat.
Malik waves his hands and a colorful display engulfs the group of men in front of him.
Atherton draws a dagger from a scabbard on his belt and waits, warily watching the two remaining thugs.
Calandra wanders nonchalantly over to the group of men and stands amongst them with her hands on her hips. "Well this doesn't look like much fun, does it?" She declares giving a bright grin at the group. Focusing her attention on the two remaining men she gives a small wink "Why don't you two go find yourselves a drink, it'll be so much easier and a whole lot more fun than this" She inclines her head at their fallen comrades.
Placing his hand on his sword hilt his voice lowers menacingly, "I'd take her up on her suggestion because the alternative either leaves you bleedin out or rottin in some cell. I prefer the bleedin option, less paperwork."
"Bleedin' you want? Okay... This incantation takes a bit longer."
Malik begins to wave his hands in an intricate fashion and intones something about draining the blood from the victims.