Rojerick is quiet and respectful during the Queen's speech, paying attention except to eye Sabina's sword professionally. Once he's certain she could take him in a fight, he goes back to listening to the queen.
"Gwen, you confuse me. First you think the queen's a murderer with no evidence, and then you meet her and you're so excited about it. I do think that talking to this...Kroft? Yes, at the least, talking to Kroft would be a good idea, but first, we should find out what's in the box."
Basil nods thoughtfully.
"I will admit, I had been focused on revenge for so long... I had not really thought about any long term goals."
He then sighs.
"The city is in turmoil, however, and as a loyal citizen, I could not in good conscience stand by and let it slide into anarchy... although being paid for it does add a certain degree of appeal."
You said that right my large friend... a bit of honey to make the medicine go down smoother... Hey, that may be something I can use. "Korvosa's underworld has risen up like a disease in the aftermath of the Kings Death. We are the cure"... Hmmm needs some work. "Crime is the disease - Meet the cure"
He thinks for a moment and waves his hand dismissively. Nah - too tacky - no one would ever use that.
Anyways, crack open that coffer - how much did we score? Got debts to pay.
Gwen blushes at Rojerick's words.
Well... that's gossip, you know how these things go, common people like to talk themselves into believing things about rich and powerful people, but to SEE her in person and talk to her, or well BE talked to by her, that's a whole different pair of shoes man! Anyway I never said I believed it for sure. And what has this got to do with helping the guard and the city? Nothing, I think, I would do that even if I knew for sure that something was amiss with the king's death.
Are you guys sure you want to open that box in front of the guards?
Safest place in all Kovosa right here! More guards per foot here than anywhere else in town. We divvy up here and even if one of us gets into trouble after leaving then not all is lost.
Basil thinks for a moment, before tactfully suggesting:
"This is indeed probably the best place to split our finder's fee - doing it on the streets is liable to attract entirely the wrong sort of attention."
Uh, ok, if you think so, that's your stuff anyway
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Opening the box reveals a red velvet lined interior, with 12 gold ingots pressed with the seal of the Crown of Korvosa. These are known throughout the city (although rarely seen by the likes of you) to be a Standard, with each bar being worth exactly 100GP to any money changer.
The guards leave you a lone for a few minutes, but eventually one of them comes forward. "Hi, I'm Germain, I'm to take you to the field Marshall when you are ready. Did you leave any weapons to be collected?"
Hi German, nice to meet you man, yes we have some stuff to collect, plus I need to send a message to my mom and dad, could you arrange that for me? That would be awfully nice of you pal.
Basil nods to the man.
"Indeed we did. Would it be possible to reclaim them now?"
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"Indeed we did. Would it be possible to reclaim them now?"
"Absolutely, come this way. I'd advise that you see the Field Marshall before you attend anything else. She's busy, and will be expecting you. But I don't think you'll be there long, like I said, she's busy." He grins, seeming to find that last comment amusing.
Lead on then man!
Basil nods.
"Fair enough."
He then follows the guard, innocently trying to strike-up a conversation.
"Is the Field Marshall normally not particularly over-worked?"
Basil nods sympathetically.
"True, there *was* a fair bit of anarchy out there... I suppose it makes sense for additional forces to be temporarily contracted for additional tasks - 'state of emergency', and all that..."
He follows along, keeping a wary eye out for any trouble on the way...
Rojerick listens to the conversation while adjusting his shield-strap to make it more comfortable. "Even before the king's death, it seemed there was a bit of anarchy. Still, I suppose the guard and the Sables did the best they could."
"Uh, German? What can you tell us about this Citadel Volshey...Volshia...Volshyeynyek? What's it like?"
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"Citadel Volshyenek, It's located in Midland, not too far, and overlooks Jeggare Harbor. It serves as the base of operations for the Korvosan Guard. It's running on pretty much a skeleton crew, even now, most of the guards are either resting up, or off fighting the insurgents."
A few mile or so of walking, brings you to the Citadel, to find you are expected. You are shown into the office of the Field Marshall, an attractive, dark-haired human woman dressed in red armor. She looks like she hasn't slept in days, but is bearing it well.
"Ah yes—you are the ones sent by Queen Ileosa. Greetings— my name is Cressida, and heroes of your caliber are exactly what Korvosa needs now. You’ve been on the streets. You know better than me how bad things are out there. It’s breaking my heart to see Korvosa tear herself apart like this. Every little bit of aid we can get from upstanding citizens like you helps. If you’re willing, I’d very much like to retain your services as agents of the Guard. I don’t need to say, of course, that you’ll be well compensated for these services."
Basil nods.
"That sounds like a fairly reasonable sort of arrangement. What sort of jobs do you have in mind?"
"What exactly are we going against, ma'am? Mindless mob or some kind of organized group?"
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She smiles at your willingness to help, then continues with a sigh.
"Korvosa’s got enough troubles as it is without my own men losing their way and going rogue. As much as it pains me to admit, though, this has happened several times already. Many guards have deserted their posts, more concerned about friends and family than the city. I can understand this, yet not all of the deserters have family—some of them are simply using the riots as an excuse for personal gain.
"One such man is Verik Vancaskerkin. Worse than a lone deserter, he’s convinced a small group of fellow guards that Queen Ileosa is going to ruin the city. Whether she does or doesn’t isn’t the point—right now, we’ve got a city-wide crisis on our hands, and I need all of my guards
working with me to see us through. A deserter is worse than a lost resource—it’s an infection. I can’t afford to pull any of my other patrols off duty to deal with Vancaskerkin, and I’d rather not expose any of them to him anyway, since I neither want Vancaskerkin to infect more guards with his talk of secession, nor do I want some overly patriotic guard killing Vancaskerkin outright. I need impartial, skilled talent. Like you."
"Vancaskerkin and his men have holed up in an abandoned butcher’s shop up in Northgate—the place was called All the World’s Meat. I need you to check out the place. Try to avoid killing any of the deserters if you can, but if you must, they brought it upon themselves when they threw in their lot with Vancaskerkin. For him, I’d really prefer it if you could capture him alive and return him to me for interrogation, but if he makes that impossible, I’ll accept his body as well.
"Finally, see if you can find out why Verik deserted—if there’s more to
it than simple personal politics, I need to know immediately. Bring me Verik alive, and there’s another thousand gold in it for you. Dead,
he’s only worth half that."
Grim work but I'm your man fer such
Gwen nods vigorously at Marshall Kroft's words "Whether she does or doesn’t isn’t the point—right now, we’ve got a city-wide crisis on our hands". It's quite obvious that she likes this woman's practical approach.
"Yes ma'am! Do we know how many men are holed up there with the deserter Verik? How are they geared up?"
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"Good. As far as we can tell there are five of them, including Vancaskerkin. They have their normal gear as guards, plus anything they owned themselves, or may have acquired in the troubles."
"I can offer you the hospitality of the barracks for tonight if you wish to rest and eat. If you don't have anywhere else to stay. I can also arrange for a line of credit at a local tavern. I've used parties like yourselves before, so I know what outsiders generally need. You all seem to be quite local, but the offer stands."
Basil nods.
"That seems like a fairly generous offer."
He then turns to the others, asking:
"Shall we go in at night? They are unlikely to be expecting a raid, so we are more likely to have the element of surprise then..."
Answering Basil's question:
"I agree, that might be the best time to act, but I suggest a stealthy look around before we go in. In the meantime, I'd like to buy a few things that might be useful."
Then, in a whisper:
"... and, uh, I'd rather not go home tonight... Roj, could I crash out at your place for the night? Or were you guys thinking of staying here in the barracks? It could be a good thing to get to know our new colleagues."
"I do need to get back home tonight. Alitsa will have missed me, I'm sure. I would, however, like to do some shopping as well. My armor has proven less than able to defend me. You can sleep at my apartment, but it'll have to be the floor. I have no spare beds."
I'm gonna sleep in the barracks! Stayin' at the Queens expense... I also plan of a few drinks... after I check on those kids tonight
"Then I'll sleep in the barracks too, and make sure that our friend Borden wakes up in time! Let's meet tomorrow before dawn right out of the citadel so that we can reach our destination before the sun comes up, ok? In the meantime, I have an itch to go and take a quick look around this abandoned butcher's shop. Anyone fancy coming with me?"
How about we do it together so we can back each other up tomorrow during the day... It's a risk if only some of us go. And then do a late night attack? Element of surprise an' all that.
"Some of us are stealthier than others, my friend..." *Looks at Rojerick's armor*
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"Thank you, I will leave the job in your capable hands then, and have places arranged for you."
With that she begns to rise, obviously thinks better of it, and sits again. Taking a small bell from her desk, she rings it, and a guard comes right in.
"Some of these people would like a place to sleep in the barracks tonight while they do some work for us. I also need a runner. Could you make the arrangements please?"
I'll need a letter too, letting the patrols know we need to move around and give us access to the barracks
"I believe Borden's plan is better. I may not be the stealthiest, but if there's fighting during the day, there may be innocents there, and I will not be responsible for their deaths."
Gwen, mate - Between our night time at the docks and this days events, there is no way I am up for something stressful - sneaking or fighting in the small hours of the morning to come, we've barely slept as it is. Rojericks barely seen his recovered child and I've vagrant kids to check in on - Cayden would never forgive me otherwise.
It can wait a day, orright? You want to propose some other way we can use some resting time less stressfully then maybe I'm the right man fer that particular job, but otherwise scoping that place out without us being there in case something hits the wagon spokes, just needs one thing to go wrong and then we're now doing a different sort of job - one day is all we ask - we can ask for maps on sewers or search for rumours during day hours then hit it at night
Uh... ok man, I never needed much sleep anyway but if you do I'm not pushing this further. Tomorrow it is then.
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Four hours of wandering the street around All the World's Meat, reveals the following information.
Borden, after some roistering and then sleep, takes to the streets asking after the Meat works.
However his persistent hangover from over enjoyment of Caydens gift the night before makes him a very poor conversationalist- surly at best and just plain unwilling to do more than mumble (when he could be bothered to speak) at worst.