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Vanya uses the scroll to keep the overall structure of the painting changing the faces of the "triumphant heroes" with those of her current companions. Everyon eis given an heroic role while pushing back an horde of demons. Lady Morilla's visage is also included overlooking the battlefield as the herald of Shelyn, while the demons' faces all resemble Minovitas traits one way or another. As final touch the Taldan rogue adds Minovitas himself to the painting, but instead of the triumphant image depicted in the drawing altered by Erevan, here lord Minovitas is shown running away from the battlefield with a look of pure terror distorting his visage while the heroes of the crusade hold the line saving the day...
Once finished Vanya looks pleased and nods at Erevan, chuckling softly:"Now you see? This is why they say the pen is mightier than the sword!"
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Erevan frowns. "The pen is much more boring than the sword," he mourns. "I could have bested all the guards, then we could have taken the paintings and pretended to be the guards. Now that would have been much more enjoyable. But this will have to do," he says, admiring his own work.
"It took me like three hours to finish the shading on the upper lip. It's probably the best drawing I've ever done."
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Just in the moment you are finished with the last painint you hear a crash outside the warehouse and you think it's time to collect your brute companion before she can set the museum on fire and leave the place as soon as possible. Once outside a silver-grey raven approaches you and sits down on Erevan's shoulder. The bird has letter on its claw.
I have learned that Lord Minovitas is preparing to give a speech
just before unveiling the paintings to a crowd of the influential elite.
I encourage you to be in that crowd with me – but not too close, lest
others draw their own connections. No doubt Minovitas’s poor taste in
art will draw some jeers, but to ensure maximum effect, we must
prime the crowd so that they are not sympathetic toward the lord’s
embarrassment. As you chat with the other guests, be sure to share
a few facts about his lordship’s distasteful habits. I leave it to you
whether these are true or fanciful fabrications.
We shall meet at the same teahouse afterward.
Pree returns looking scuffed. She spits out a pair of teeth. "Don't worry. They're not mine"
"Cool, can I have your cut?"
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"In case you've forgotten the distasteful facts about Minovitas, here's what I remember..."
Aryn clears here throat and sums her knowledge of Lord Minovitas up: "Minovitas's a lazy bum who likes drink. His superiors have formally censured him on at least two occasions for "ignoble conduct," which is a fancy way of saying he committed felonies. Any commoner would go to jail for that. What's more, there are several Taldans who have begun telling stories of Minovitas's habitual exploitation of his ancestral lands and its people. At least two of these rumormongers have disappeared very suddenly in the past month."
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You have a little time in which to enjoy the grand opening of the Opparan Trade Commission, a reception that involves lavish finger food, expensive drinks, and exposure to many of Foreign Quarter’s and Absalom’s leading citizens. Inisde the museum a whole room is reserved for Minovitas' paintings. Meanwhile the workers have put the painings at the wall, but they are still covered with white blankets. The guests are holding drinks, fingerfood and talking to each other while they are waiting for the unveiling of the paintings.
Um, is that a buffet or an exhibit?
Pree eats an exhibit. "What?!"
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Vanya starts mingling with the crowd:"Nice party, eh? At least minovitas still knows how to throw one but I don't know how much it will help him with Prince Sativan... I heard he wasn't pleased withour host after he tried to sabotage Lady Morilla's effort to help the crusade... and she suceeded while he failed. I believe the Lion Blades have started investigating Minovitas' activities here in Absalom and back in Oppara. I wouldn't be surprised if this was Minovitas' last party in along time so I think we've better enjoy it till it lasts!"
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"I like Lord Minovitas's taste of wine, but it's a shame he drinks so much of it," Aryn says after mingling with a small group of women at the reception.
"Didn't you know? He's an alcoholic, that man. Doesn't act very noble once he gets drunk, I'll let you know. Even his superiors have addressed him about it, at no less then two occasions! Ignoble conduct is what they called it. Well, we all know what that means, don't we?"
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Quinnik tries to mingle with the crowd but is obviously out of place. he spends time talking about topics he know such as nature and local gossip. During his conversations about local news he casually mentions "Ah yes Lord Minovita is a generous host as long as you behave while here. What do I mean, well there are rumors floating around that people who are cross with the Lord or at odds with the man suddenly disappear. I know Ludicris right.. but then again some people have never been seen again and those people had negative dealings with the Lord... could all be coincidence too.. .or not.... something about exploiting his ancestral lands... these finger food dishes are wonderful."
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"Yes, I have it on good authority that Lord Minovitas is training to be a bloatmage--what else could explain his rather large frame? Not to mention, the times he's supposedly been in Mendev, preparing for an assault on the Worldwound, he's been sighted in the Ankar-Te district of Kaer Maga, drinking and carousing with the 'twice-born'. He's quite gluttonous and licentious, you know."
Shungur gulps his drink a little nervously. Did I lay it on too thick? he wonders. My tribesmen would kill me for getting this civilized.
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About an hour after the opening of the exhibition to the guests Lord Minovitas finally starts his speech. "Welcome esteemed colleagues and honored guests. On this historic day, the glorious Opparan Trade Commission is open for business! But it is not just commerce that we commemorate today; we also recognize the valor of several of the greatest heroes of our time who have fought in Mendev’s recent crusade and pushed back the demon threat so that others might live in peace. Yet this was not accomplished alone, and in an alliance of nations we found our strength. With the establishment of this facility here in Absalom, the Commission hopes to continue this alliance and further promote fair and equitable trade to the benefit of all.
With great honor, I dedicate this embassy to its founding members, whose esteemed accomplishments shall be forever commemorated by the work of the world-renowned painter Amya Illanaf!"
With that, Lord Minovitas gestures dramatically as if expecting someone to unveil the paintings for him. When that fails, he strides over to the first painting and theatrically whips off its cover while smiling to the audience. He repeats the action with several other paintings before realizing that the art has been altered. Furious, he unveils the other paintings.
He is able to regains some composure before concluding the presentation and although you see some of the guests giggling or smiling the majority of the crowd responds excitedly to the speech and sympathetically applauds when the paintings are unveiled.
"I’m appalled and disappointed that the same nobles who once opposed us now seek to steal our glory by claiming that creating the army was their idea. While I thank you for today’s efforts to rebuke them, I fear they’ll simply continue to perpetrate this fraud back in Taldor. Worse, should they succeed, it will only reinforce the ‘do nothing’ nobility and be another nail in Taldor’s coffin. And if it’s a coffin they’re building, I refuse to be buried with them. This is not unique to Taldor, yet in other lands I have met nobles who have their people’s needs in mind and greater vision of how to accomplish their goals. Rarely are these members of royal families, but many have their respective monarchs’ ears. Rather than recreate the Taldan empire of old, we shall promote an enlightened aristocracy that promotes the virtues of strong, wise governance. I do not expect a response now, but I invite you to join me in this endeavor."
During the meeting with Lady Morilla, there is a quiet knock on the door followed by a woman saying, "My lady sends her thanks." A sealed missive then slides under the door.
It's the seal of Princess Eutropia of Taldor.
Lady Morilla picks it up and stores it for later.
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It's almost evening and you decide to join the Commemorative Service spectacle. At moonrise, a nondenominational commemorative service takes place in the Docks district. The service is somber and those remembering Grayrain and his accomplishments take turns speaking. The event is comparatively small, as most who needed to say goodbye to Grayrain did so earlier in the month at his funeral. After the service, many of those in attendance retire to taverns along the waterfront or in the Foreign Quarter.
Throughout inauguration festivities, Silver Crusade faction leader Ollystra Zadrian maintains her high profile. She tracks you down at the festive to request your aid.
"While I am happy to see you here, I have come because I need someone I can trust to help me right a grievous injustice. When Queen Galfrey called for troops during the Fifth Mendevian Crusade, many who answered her call were criminals in their homelands who joined our cause in efforts to seek redemption. For their valor and sacrifice, Queen Galfrey granted them a warrior’s pardon. Despite this official declaration, a number of bounty hunters followed these criminals north. Either ignorant of the declaration or in defiance of it, they have begun capturing several of these felons-turned-war-heroes and turning them in for profit. More troubling, when they cannot claim their bounties, these hunters simply sell our heroes off as slaves. I have learned that three of these champions are to be auctioned in the slave pits of Absalom today. What’s more, I am familiar with the particular villain who is hoping to buy all three — an unfitting end for these redeemed souls. Such auctions are generally closed to the public, and those bidding are required to purchase special coins in advance. Fortunately, the Society owes us many favors for our valor over the past year, and they were willing to provide me both seats at the auction and auction coins. However, I’m too well known in Absalom, and my appearance at the auction would jeopardize the mission. Please, attend the auction, buy the freedom of these crusaders, and bring them to the Grand Lodge to give them a true fresh start. Do you agree? Any questions?"
Erevan's eyes narrow at the mention of slaves.
"I was briefly a slave," the swordsman says as he points to a brand on his right hand. "I would very much like to free these men."
"Were you a crook beforehand? I mean bounty hunters don't follow you to a war zone for chump change. These may have been some some right bastards?" Then she adds for the Silver Crusader "No offense, but whatever you are running away from has to be bad if you a war with the powers of the Abyss seems like an alternative."
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"Unfortunately, if you do not purchase the slaves and set the free, they are not free officially and may be captured again and put back into slavery. I do not approve of slavery, but this is not the time to overthrow the entire institution and risk the slaves’ lives. Perhaps in the future the circumstances will be different. For now, we play their game and do a little good where we can." Zadrian answers and hands you a rolled leather coin purse containing 30 bronze coins.
"These are special coins. The inscrutable individual running the auction is a large Varisian man known as Bounder Stig. He runs a closed, buy-in auction, meaning the only people allowed to bid are those who have previously paid to signed up for the action and purchased special bidding coins. The coins are worth 25 gp each, use them wisely as I can't offer more at the moment. If you got outbid, that's bad, but we will look for a new chance to free the slaves later. Don't try to get them with force."
"Ooo, I could cause a distraction...." Pree says while wrapping her fists.
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"Midley Blackburn, a name familiar to many of the slave traders. He’s also a genius with disguises, and he seems to delight in looking a little different for every auction. I trust you’ll be able to identify him once bidding begins." Zadrian answers to Vanya's question.
"There is no name involved. Just show them your auction coins and you will get access. The bidding starts in about an hour." the Venture Lady answers Aryn.
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"We've got 30 coins and we need to "purchase" 3 people, so we've got to manage our resources wisely. Besides there's no guarantee we'll be able to place the winning bid by spending 13 coins but we'll most surely lose a bid with 4 coins left. Unless we aim to save just 2 out of 3 of these unfortunates. says Vanya to Quinnik.
Then she turns towards Ollystra and asks:"And by the way... can you tell us the names of the 3 we need to resque? I doubt the auction will deal with just 3 people..."
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"Of course, the names are Talmar, a former bandit from Isger; Holianda Wist, a swindler from the River Kingdoms and Elwyhir Eshikonas, a mystic exiled from the Land of the Linnorm Kings. But I doubt Bounder remembers their names."
The slave pits of Absalom get their name from the deep pits in which slaves wait in plain view of potential buyers. The site hosts auctions regularly, many of them operating through licensed auctioneers such as Bounder Stig.
Once you show your auction coins the man at the entrance grubmles and tells you to find a spot. Several more groups arrive after you in the end there are about 50 people representing perhaps a dozen bidding parties.
The auctioneer crosses names off a list as people arrive, and then he launches into his opening banter.
"Alright, enough of the chitchat! Anyone up fer bidding find a spot around the pits. Anyone else… shove off! Today, I’m holding a quick sale auction! That means I’m doing this quick. Any of ya with complaints can stick around to thank the pesky Andorens that keep showing up and getting’ in me business. I have three slaves to offer. Each auction is one bid per slave, got it? No haggling today, and no complaints! Look at yer bid coins an you’ll know I already got yer money. I ain’t havin’ no arguments today neither, so don’t nobody spill blood on my block unless you paid for it. So here’s how it works. I put a slave up for auction and anyone interested writes down a bid. I check the offers and the slave goes off to the highest unique bid. If yer bid’s the same as anyone else’s, ya both lose. I ain’t got time to sort out no arguments. Remember, I keep all bids, so even if ya don’t win, I’m still taking yer coins, so if you can’t afford to lose ‘em, don’t place a bloody bid! Lastly, the bids for all auctions start at 8 coins. I ain’t repeating that and if there’s anyone dumb enough to offer me less than 200 gold, don’t expect me to take any more offers from ya, period. All clear?"
The maximum bid the clients are thinking/talking about are between 9 and 12 coins.