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Borden sings...
When I got that feeling, I need some... cleri-cal healing... clerical clerical oooh yeah.
Lets be off then - nothing like a good hanging, especially when we know they have the wrong person... Sheeesh. This is a tough city. Nothing like Absolom
"Huh, Erik? Do you still have that magic hat of yours? Perhaps it's best if one of us goes in disguise. Heck, we might all disguise ourselves, just to be on the safe side!"
Roj shakes his head. "We've done nothing wrong, there's no need to disguise ourselves. If you'd like to, go ahead, but I intend to go as myself, and as a representative of the Dawn. I'm certain she'd want to witness this."
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The trip accross the city is a quiet affair, although close to the castle a crowd seems to be building. The guards on the gatehouse are a mixture of Sbale company, and guards. The guards Gwen recognizes, so a with a smile you are let through while most other are stopped.
The execution, well, it is not an affair to be missed. The toast of Korvosa is in attendance in garish gowns, fine capes, and enough jewels to blind a common man. The overall feel of the event is that of a grand ball or party, not an assassin’s public execution. Various dignitaries are making the rounds, chatting to each other. Most stop and visibly move away from your group, obviously wondering what ruffians are doing here.
One notable personage not in attendance is Vencarlo Orisini, although given his outspoken disdain for the queen, this shouldn’t really be a surprise!
As the afternoon wears on, Queen Ileosa emerges amid a great flourish and pomp as heralds announce her arrival with a fanfare of music and drums. This queen is not the subdued mourner you met earlier in this adventure—Queen Ileosa has fully accepted the mantle of sole monarch now, and carries herself with poise, style, and grace. She wears a green and white silk dress worth thousands of gold coins, and is attended by a small army of servants. Chief among these is Sabina, her expression neutral but ever watchful for possible problems in the crowd.
Ileosa takes her seat in a high throne-like chair at one end of the public courtyard, while the headman’s block stands ominously at the other. The executioner is a towering, muscular man wearing an executioner’s helm and idly holding an immense axe—he remains motionless until his services are called upon.
As sunset draws near, the expectant excitement in the crowd builds. When the ominous beating of a single large drum begins, the assembled gawkers fall silent. The drum sets the pace for Trinia’s procession to the headsman’s block. As they reach the headsman’s block, one of the guards removes Trinia’s shackles and the hood, revealing a very frightened woman who nonetheless bravely holds back her tears, if only barely. Trinia is led up onto the platform, her arms bound behind her back by a leather cord, and she is forced to kneel over the wooden block before the headsman as Queen Ileosa stands and addresses the crowd.
The Queen stands, and the crowd goes silent. "Fellow Korvosans! You have suffered greatly these past few weeks. Homes have burned, family members have died, fortunes have been lost. I feel your suffering, for not only have I lost a beloved husband, but with each riot, each burning home, each act of anarchy, my heart bleeds a little more. This has been a trying time for us, yet the torment is at an end. Before you is the face of your anguish and pain. Do not be deceived by this murderer’s timid nature—she is a black-hearted assassin, a seductress and sinner, a viper amidst us all. I offer you all her death as a salve against the hatred and hurt you have suffered. Her death will not rebuild Korvosa, nor will it bring back the king, yet tomorrow will be a new dawn—a dawn over a city ready to rise from the edge of anarchy to become stronger than ever before!"
"And so, without further delay, let us usher in this new dawn with justice! OFF WITH HER HEAD!"
As the headsman hefts his axe, the already silent crowd freezes in anticipation. Yet just before he swings, the headsman gives a strange little grunt and staggers. His raised axe falters as he reaches with one hand to the small of his back and then brings it to his face, the fingers dripping with blood. An instant later, he cries out in pain and drops the axe as a dagger embeds itself in the back of his other hand. The axe sinks itself in the block inches from Trinia’s head, and the headsman
doubles over in pain, revealing a second dagger that’s already embedded in the small of his back. Trinia rises to her knees, glancing up at the executioner in shock as a scream echoes through the crowded courtyard: "By the gods! It’s Blackjack!"
An instant later, a man dressed in a hooded cloak and leather armor springs onto the executioner’s block. He wields a rapier in one hand and a dagger in the other. Blackjack cuts the bonds on Trinia’s wrists and then throws the dagger down to pin the executioner’s left foot to the wood below. He quickly helps Trinia to her feet and then briefly turns to address the shocked crowd. "“Yes indeed, my queen! Let us usher in justice, but let that be justice for Korvosa, not this shambles you petulantly call a monarchy! Long live Korvosa! Down with the Queen!"
Blackjack’s words spread like fire, causing the crowd to erupt into a frenzy of activity. Some demand that he release the assassin while others call for the queen to step down from the Crimson Throne. Queen Ileosa stands stunned for a few moments, whispers something to Sabina, and then quickly turns to flee into Castle Korvosa, Sabina and a dozen guards behind her to cover her retreat. The remaining guards in the courtyard move to apprehend Blackjack, but the gathered nobles, thirsty for blood, make it difficult to move. At the same time, the executioner recovers from his wounds and lifts his axe once again over Blackjack, who seems to have momentarily forgotten the man in his apparent delight at having forced the queen to flee.
Shit - that guy AGAIN? When does he find time to sleep?, Borden starts pushing through the crowd towards the headsman... to help either the executioner or the girl. He's a bit conflicted. He doesn't want to see Trina die but he's sorta working for the government these days. He is starting to think he may want to reconsider that decision.
"Well, this is certainly an interesting turn of events, and no mistake..."
He then begins to purposefully push his way through the crowd, following in Borden's wake, with a clear intention of helping to maintain order...
As the action suddenly rises, Rojerick feels just a touch of desire to voice protest, but swallows it. This is what's right. The queen couldn't have made a mistake; she must know something we didn't about Miss Sabor. His eyes take in the scene as he stands witness to the execution.
Blackjack's arrival throws his thoughts into chaos, and Roj takes in the guards pushing forward toward the 'hero' and the executioner. Either way, it would be wrong to let him die without giving him a chance to defend himself. The guards will surely catch him if that brute doesn't kill him, and then he'll be able to say his piece.
Roj coughs once, then gives a quick shout. "BEHIND!" There's no time for anything more.
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Against all the odds, Blackjack hears Roj's cry and shifts just enough to avoid the incoming axe. He kicks the executioner in the knee, and grabs Trinia's hand. They run arround the platform, jump over some boxes and gain the wall. Blackjack pauses to drink a potion, bows to the crowd, bows again directly at Roj, and turns to leap from the wall.
The crowd outside cheers while the guard look around in confusion, their leaders no-where to be seen.
"Holy sh1t and f**k! I told you, didn't I? It's not her! It's not, I'm telling you! And, hmmm.... She looks like, I don't know, like she's missing a friday, d'you know what I mean, like she's not in her right mind right now! Erik, could it be some kind of magic that's confusing her?"
Exhausted, jostled by the crowd, and feeling completely out of place as a street rat amongst all this finery, Erik can barely catch glimpses of the executioner's block.
Still, Gwen's words catch his attention, and he climbs up onto a chair to scrutinize the bewildered girl.
"I can't tell!" Frustration is thick in his voice. "Maybe? I'm too far!"
"Well, so much for that..."
Once Blackjack and the 'murderess' have escaped, Basil immediately slows his pace, and stops with a sigh, shaking his head.
He then turns around, and prepares to head back to (hopefully) finally get paid for doing something right.
Borden follows Basil's lead. Simply put, it wasn't worth the effort to chase things up. All he could hope was the mob wouldnt turn this gathering into a riot[/b].
Roj will enjoy as much time as possible with his daughter, while making frequent visits to the local Temple of Sarenrae and meeting up with his fellow party-members occasionally. Other than that, no real down-time checks or anything.
Seated around the ghost's table a few hours after the excitement at Castle Korvosa, Roj addresses the party. "I believe that either the queen, Blackjack, or the Guard will call on us again. These riots will certainly not stop, especially with the rescue at the castle, and we'll almost certainly be needed to help with such tasks the guard cannot handle, which seems to be all of them. Sarenrae has granted you to me as companions, and I'd like to stay near to you; the Goddess doesn't give her gifts cheaply."
"We have a few options on where to live, should we decide on a base of operations together. The ghost's house..." He gestures around him expansively. "...Needs some work to be hospitable, especially should I decide to bring my daughter here, but it's a good location with plenty of room for five or six. The old fishery needs the most work, and we'd likely never get the smell I smelled from blocks away to go away, but it seemed spacious from the outside. Finally, I think my apartment in Midland is too small for us all to be comfortable."
"We should decide on that, and also visit someone with money to spend. We have a quite large stockpile of things we've found, and it could be turned into coins or useful materials. I for one could use a new set of armor, or some sort of magical assistance. Let us decide now what we need to be doing."
Basil looks thoughtful.
"I think I would prefer to renovate the ghost's house. The stench of the fishery aside, that has too many bad associations, and I think we cause me to dwell too much on much less pleasant times..."
He then nods.
"I agree, we should inventory (and sell) what we have found; it will be nice to have some decent weapons and armour, at last!"
Sounds good to me - we can also use that last guy we found as a broker to sell anything we don't want - be easier to have him move the goods than to try to move it ourselves.
"What about Rilka? She's a good friend and she treated us fairly last time, didn't she? As for the place, I too would love to renovate Zellara's place and make it our official base of operations, so to speak. I don't know the first thing about renovating though, how do we go about it and how much will it cost?"
"Rilka could certainly work; we have used her services in the past, and parted on good terms. As to renovating, well, we should probably conduct a careful analysis of the building to see what, exactly, we need to do."
That's a good one Basil - not sure we are the carpenter types though. Lets just get a carpenter or a builder in and get them to give us a few quotes on a price.
Surely Gwen knows at least one good, honest carpenter...
or two...
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Rilka's shop is very much as you left it last time, giving the impression that the chaos wasn't all a result of the riots. The halfling woman looks you all over.
"Well, well. I am surprised you are all still alive, and with a few newcomers to your little band. I expected with your line of work you'd be long dead int he riots. What have you been up to these past few days? Or is it too secret for your old friend?"
Nothing so secret - doing a spot of work helping keeping the peace... with limited success. We've a bit of business for you. Selling some curios we've picked up
"Agreed. We're curious about the price for this stuff. Could be valuable, but we have little use for it." Roj shows Rilka the "sell" list.
Eric is content to simply follow along, clearly not particular about where he's living, as long as he gets a corner for himself and his studies.
Eric than inspects Rilka carefully, and begins to wander about the shop, hands linked behind his back, inspecting the wares.
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"Right down to business a usual boys? I'll have none of that." Rilka says with a sly grin. She's obviously interested in the item, but she puts most of her attention on Gwen, swiftly followed by Eric.
"Keeping the peace? Who's peace was it you were keeping? Last I saw you, you were on your way to see the Queen?" Barely pausing for breath, she moves round the counter to investigate Eric a bit more closely. "Don't go hiding boy, you have too pretty a face to hide it at the back like that." Eric finds his back against a shelf of curios, and the small woman on tip toes to put a hand on his cheek.
Eric's first instinct is to watch his money pouch. His second instinct is to blush, and slide out from his corner as deftly as he can to ghost behind Rojer. "Hiding? I wasn't hiding. Just - er - looking around. For things. To buy?"
He looks almost accusingly at his friends. Where have you brought me!
Gwen looks uncomfortable, shifting on her feet under Rilka's inquisitive gaze. After a while, she speaks in a low and hesitant tone.
"Rilka, we're friends, right? So you will believe me when I say, what we've been doing lately, it's all been for a good cause, but when I try to look at the bigger picture, I'm not so sure of anything anymore. I don't understand politics, never have. I never cared, really. It's just that... things don't seem so clear-cut to me anymore, and I'm having troubles understanding where it is that a simple and honest person like me is supposed to stand.
Perhaps you can help me understand a bit what's really going on in this city?"
Erik, the attention no longer focused on him, drifts closer, curious as to the halfling woman's take on the events he and his friends have been swept up in.
"Where do your sympathies like, Miss Rilka? With the queen, or with..?" He's not quite sure whom the opposition might be, beyond a certain rogue avenger, but he's happy to let Rilka provide him with a name if she has one.
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"I'm not much different than you girl, I don't follow the turnings of the big wheel, I make mi life between the little gears. I would say that I wouldn't go against the queen. She doesn't look a one to take that well. I'd say that Blackjack has put himself center stage. Which is not the safest of places to be. There's change in the air girl. I can smell that."
Yeah - I can smell it too just not sure if its sweet or sour. Somethings going to happen.
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Rilka ponders Bordan's words as she laws over the items.
"You've collected quite an esoteric arrangement here. I think I can get rid of most of it. That robe of bones will sell to the museum without questions I expect, which should keep the foul thing out of Evil hands."
"I will give you 10 thousand gold for the lot."
Erik glances at his companions, and then nods to Rilka.
"Ten thousand. Gold pieces. I - yes. That's a lot of gold." He seems almost awestruck by the amount, but he quickly catches himself. "A lot of gold we've fairly earned and deserve in exchange for our goods. That is."
The sum paid over, Erik quickly splits it between the party members, and then leads the way out the door, disappearing his purse under his coat. "So! We're pretty rich. Not filthy rich, but we easily have more gold now than I thought I'd ever see in this lifetime. What now? Buy a brothel? An elephant? What do people even do with this much gold?"
He seems to be mostly in jest, but the sheer glee he's feeling is making him playful.
"Seriously though. What's next? Should we check in with the authorities and see if they need help with something or other?"
Probably not a bad idea - 10,000 split six ways is 1,666 gold coins apiece. I'll add that to my bank account. I'll drop off the 66 coins to the local orphanage to look after those kids we rescued earlier.