Taken aback by the unexpected ire of her formerly friendly acquaintence, Ziomarra's expression quickly shifts from surprise, to confusion, to anger, to fury.
In her fury, she fixes Milos with a baleful gaze that almost cuts into his soul.
She then lets loose a rapid fire of Varisian...
"Ai fost întors la răscruce de drumuri? În primul rând, eu nu s-ar da de gol un privitor la afaceri de familie! În al doilea rând, am ieșit din drumul meu de a nu afla ce prieten. N-am mai vrut să știu cât de scăzut oamenii noștri ar putea apleca! În al treilea rând, abia am știut Perotus. I-am dat o pereche de citiri, dar asta a fost tot. El era încă cu tabăra când am plecat!În cele din urmă, mi-ar fi mai cu caravana dacă Alexandru nu m-ai fi forțat să dau date false pentru cei din exterior, pentru a le înșela din bani! Asta nu este ceea ce este darul meu pentru! Desn'-ar fi blestemat întreaga caravana dacă aș fi făcut ceea ce a vrut!"
Switching to Taldane, she adds, "And if you see Alexandru, tell him I'm so sorry to hear about his hand, but he only has himself to blame. I had nothing to do with that!"
She turns her back to Milos and sits back down at the table with her friends. Her mood now seems black. She knocks back the brandy still in her glass and pours herself another. She then sits in stony silence, an expression of sadness and anger on her face.
She remembers all too well the reactions some of the men had had when they drank too much ale. Several would throw up the next morning, and many complained of headaches. She was fortunate, the first time, not to have drunk much, so she felt none of the aftereffects. She looks at her mug. This is just one, though, right? I'll be careful. She lifts the mug again. "Eh, how bad could it--"
She's interrupted by what sounds like (though she can't understand a word) an angry outburst from Ziomarra. Hers isn't the only head that turns. When the woman finally sits down in a huff, Nalathi grimaces. "That can't be good." Taking her mug with her, she hops down and heads to the table where Ziomarra, Brianna, and Teldon are sitting. "You... uh... what's wrong, Zee?"
Teldon momentarily turns his attention toward Nalathi and Zee, curious and completely uncertain how the latter will respond. His attentive barely lasts beyond her initial reaction as he quickly slips deep into thought. As wine and song continue to flow around him, he retreats inward, methodically examining the indices of spells and alchemical compounds he has committed to memory, searching for those which could cause behavior matching that described of this Gregor fellow.
"It should matter, though. No one's life is any less or any more than another person's life." Joanna says quietly.
"Is there anyone who might know something, or have an idea about where to start looking? Please, I can't just sit by while people are snatched from the streets and their homes."
"Trei luni lungi petrecute putrezesc în închisoare în Kaer Maga ... asa ca nu te duci vorbesc despre familie . Alexandru ai primit în caravana ... si tu ne rambursat cu trădare"
Wilting under Ziomarra's verbal assault, Milos makes a great show of turning to ignore her...and, under the influence of Evil Eye, spills his drink over his britches. Cursing Ziomarra, "Vrăjitoare!!!"
...the humiliated and damp Sczarni storms out of the inn...
Teldon - there are many compounds that could, at least for a short period of time, render an individual idiotic. One that you have heard of being used in Varisia is Swampseer's Poison...cultivated and refined by Boggards, ingested in sufficient quantities, this poison could have such an effect...
Not long after Ziomarra and Milos have had their heated exchange, the scrawny serving lad comes over with another bottle of Apricot Spirits, "I thought you could probably use a refill?", seeing a space next to Briana, he asks "May I?", and without waiting for a response, sits down next to her..."Are you sure you haven't been here before? I recognise your face from somewhere...I'm sure of it...". Pouring a fresh drink for Briana, "I'm Pavel by the way..."
Over at Joanna's table, the women are busy trying to talk Joanna down...eventually conceding defeat in their attempt to get her to lighten up, they suggest that she either talks to the victim's families, the City Watch over at Arvensoar or, just possibly, investigate whether these people are winding up in hospitals or asylums....
Joanna thanks the three women and assures them she'll be fine, and won't do anything reckless, before standing up and leaving the tavern. As she winds her way through the thoroughfares and streets of Dockway, she asks anyone who looked like they might know something where she might find someone related to one of the people who had disappeared or if any of them had turned up, or if there was someplace rumored to be their hideout.
"I believe our new associate has left alone... that would, I think, be unwise just on account of the disappearances but after our reception at the carnival it seems doubly so... She doesn't seem to like being helped but perhaps we should go after her?"
* * * *
After Milos calls Zee a "witch"...
"Yes, I am a witch. Remember that! And by the way, we let you into our caravan! And you replay us by getting us all into trouble with the locals! Ai hoti comune!"
After Milos and his cronies storm off, Zee collapses in her chair in silence.
* * * *
As Nalathi comes up to her asking whether she's all right, Zee vcan't help but give her short-statured friend a mirthless smile. "Sorry if I made a scene. That was an old friend... or at least he had been. He's Sczarni, but we had always been friendly. It would seem that one of their scams went wrong shortly after I left them-- and somebody blamed me for its failure. I really shouldn't care... but I do. I was born in that caravan, and lived there almost my whole life... and it would seem that now I cannot go back. It shouldn't matter, but this saddens me."
She fishes out her Harrow deck, shuffles, and lays out three cards:
...Neutral
...Neutral
...Chaotic
...Good
...Lawful
...Good
Speaking as much to herself as to anyone who is listening, she interprets the simple spread...
"The first card is the past, and how it affects the present. The Foreign Trader represents an honest deal willingly entered, but one that may have unforseen circumstances. I think that shows when my caravan agreed to merge with Milos' after the plague in Korvosa six years ago, and how that would eventually cause me to have to leave.
"The next card represents the present, and it would be hard to have a more appropriate card than The Publican. It represents friendship, camarderie, and a place of safety." She looks at her three new friends, "And perhaps a new family.
"The final card shows a glimpse at the future. The The Paladin is another very good sign. It represents strength, a sense of purpose, and standing up for what is right. I think that I am being reassured that we are on the right path."
At that, Teldon notes that Joanna has left the tavern.
"And that last card may represent our wayward friend as well. Perhaps we should follow her."
Nalathi nods in sympathy, but quickly loses interest when the woman pulls out her deck of cards. What exactly they do the little warrior isn't sure, but the things Zee starts saying over them may as well have been a foreign language. Taking another drink, she notices Joanna's absence when Teldon mentions it. She takes a quick head count of her new allies. "You're right," she says, pursing her lips. "Why'd she leave? You think maybe she's trying to find that creepy guy who approached her outside Zograthy's tent?" This suggestion makes little sense, but as the ale starts to wear on Nalathi's cognition it seems logical enough to her. "To... you know... get back at him or something?"
"I'm not certain what she was hoping to accomplish..." Teldon states matter of factly as he rises, gathers his things, and prepares to head outside with his companions. "I think I overheard her saying something about not doing anything reckless moments before she recklessly headed into darkened unfamiliar streets alone."
"Let's go."
Zee gathers her cards, stands, and tosses some coins on the table. She heads to the door, stopping just outside it. She looks up and down the street for a sign of the young priestess.
In response to Nalathi's question, "Honestly, I have no idea what she's up to."
Before heading for the door, Zee sees the table at which Jo had been sitting. She approaches the three Varisian women still sitting there.
"Bună seara! Îmi pare rău să vă deranjez, dar știi unde prietenul meu Joanna a fugit la?"
Joanna, taking her leave of the women from the Bazaar, heads out into the early evening…and without looking to check that her friends are following, heads eastwards. The streets are a little less busy than an hour previous and she soon works her way around the curve of the harbour into Dockway…the district still bustles with people working at stalls, eating at the harbourside and, as high tide approaches, finishing loading of ships headed away from Magnimar. Up streets, down lanes and further into the district she travels, asking the same question and getting the same response…If we knew, we’d have dealt with it already
…until after asking the question of patrons at yet another traditional Varisian stall, a ragged clothed man with wild eyes, approaches Joanna.
”The Slaves you say? The ones that the Nidalese feel free to take from our homes?….oh yes…I know something about that”, the man’s voice drops to a whisper ”I don’t know where they are keeping them after snatching them but every week they move them to a disused tavern in Dockway…and, after midnight, they row them out to a waiting ship”
”I’ve been to the City Guards but, you know how it is, they’re not interested…if I tell you where the slaves will be, will you rescue them? There’s a shipment due tonight”
By the time that you have seen Joanna get up and leave the bar, paid for your drinks, said farewell to a slightly dejected Pavel and asked Joanna’s acquaintances about her likely destination (discovering that she’s either gone to find families of the disappeared…most of whom would be in Dockway… headed to Arvensoar or checking out the asylums)….your friend has long since disappeared into the evening crowds.
As you look to the left and right, Briana finds that Pavel has followed her, timidly he asks, ”Will you be coming around this way again? I could buy you a drink…or maybe I’ll bump into your twin?”, he laughs awkwardly…
"I will certainly try to." Joanna promises the man.
As they emerge from the tavern to find Joanna long gone, Teldon scowls slightly at the length of time it took for their small band to make their exit.
"Well... I think we'd need to pass through Dockway to reach either of the other places, so that would be the most logical place to begin looking for her," he offers stepping out into the street. "Tell me, Zee, do you have any contacts in that neighborhood who might be knowledgeable about the buying, selling, or manufacturing of poisons? These abductors Jo has gone after may be using something called Swampseer's Poison to perpetrate the disappearances."
"I agree-- let's see if we can find Joanna in Dockway. Poisons? Well, I try not to associate with the sort who would sell such things, but I just might know someone..."
"I wouldn't be worried if Joanna was staying in well-lit, well-traveled areas. Magnimar is a big city, and it's safe enough overall. But in a city like Magnimar, if you go out looking for trouble, you'll be sure to find it. Zograthy was able to take one look at her and size her up accurately-- and there are others around here who are both more malevolent and better at assessing their prey. I'm also hoping Joanna doesn't blunder into a dangerous part of town like Washer's Row... or somehow manages to cross the Night Scales... or, worse, the Gallowed."
Ziomarra - although Poisoners are used by the Sczarni and, in your short time within the city, you have certainly encountered a few Sczarni...you don't know where they might source poisons from.
Pavel smiles at the suggestion that Briana will ask for him if she returns this direction and, apologising that he needs to get back to work, runs back into the Inn...
...heading back into Dockway, you make your way along the Avenue of Sails (one of the main thoroughfares lined with stalls, auction houses, taverns and more than one brothel) looking for Joanna...asking the occasional likely looking local, it seems that someone fitting Joanna's description has been along this way asking questions...although none of the people you ask know where she was headed next. It is a frustrating search made more difficult as the sun begins to gradually set and the side streets become more gloomy.
After an hour or so of searching, the noise within the streets suddenly escalates and, turning a corner, you come across a large rabble forming outside the 'Shucked Oyster', an ostentatiously large brothel positioned on the main thoroughfare through Dockway...shouts of...
"String them up!!!"
"No...drown them, it's what they deserve"
"Damned Slavers!!!"
...fill the street. Looking into the rabble, you can see two bloodied men being pushed along as they protest their innocence...their garb is nautical and as black as night.
A woman next to you turns and excitedly declares, "We've found them at last...now they'll get what's owed to them..."
The ragged man smiles a toothless smile at Joanna's willingness to help, "Let's talk somewhere where we won't be overheard...it wouldn't do for the slavers to know you were coming". He withdraws slightly into the alleyway that he originally appeared from, "That's better...It's an old tavern they use...it's next to the wharf and long since empty...", stopping and looking Joanna up and down, the man asks "How well do you know Dockway? Will you be able to find it?"
"NO! WAIT!" Teldon shouts as loudly as he can manage. Then, turning to his companions he continues with a sense of urgency, "you have to stop them- if they lynch these men without properly questioning them we may lose our only real lead on finding Natalya!"
Zee turns to the woman in the crowd who explained the scene to us. She quickly aks, "How do you know that these are the slavers?"
"I'm sure I can find my way, besides I won't be going alone." Joanna tells the man.
"Did this old tavern have a name, or some moniker everyone referred to it by?"
The crowd are oblivious to Teldon's protestation...from somewhere on your right, a stone is thrown...this is starting to get pretty ugly...
The woman replies to Ziomarra and then returns to shouting for justice, "They got caught sneaking out the back of the Oyster with one of the girls...just look at them...damned Nidalese"
"You won't be alone? Oh, I suppose that's good...how many of you will there be? I'm not sure how many slavers work the operation at that end..."
"It'll be enough." Joanna says as her eyes narrow.
"Why did you want to know how many will be there in the first place?"
Nalathi's companions' reactions of horror and disgust confuse her. Their mission definitely would go much smoother with these men alive, there's no doubt about that. But she gets the feeling that's not their only reason. "Well, sure." she says in response to Briana. "I mean, obviously WE need them alive for now. But they don't know that. And why would these people need Guards? They seem to have the situation pretty well under control. Guards would just get in the way."
Ziomarra apparently goes into a trance, gesticulating oddly and speaking strange words. A faintly-glowing, vaguely-humanoid shape appears near her, and starts flying around her in circles.
With the figure circling her, she shouts, "STOP THIS!! THE SPIRITS SAY WE MUST KEEP THEM ALIVE!! DO NOT ANGER THE SPIRITS!!"
"WE NEED THEM ALIVE IF WE HOPE TO RESCUE THE OTHERS THEY HAVE TAKEN!! DO NOT ANGER THE SPIRITS!!"
After a moment of this ploy not working, she shouts,
"YOU HAVE ANGERED THE SPIRITS! STOP THIS "
The glowing figure then silently glides toward the crowd.
"PEOPLE OF DOCKWAY," Teldon begins shouting again as he steps up on small crate in front of a nearby business, waving his longspear in the air, "USE YOUR MINDS- PROVE YOU ARE NOT THE ANIMALS SOME IN THE SUMMIT BELIEVE YOU TO BE!"
Banging the butt of his spear against whichever object in reach looks loudest, he continues, "YOU CAN EXECUTE THESE MEN WHENEVER YOU LIKE BUT IF, IN YOUR HASTE FOR VENGEANCE, YOU DO NOT PROPERLY INTERROGATE THEM WE ALL LOSE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GLEAM VALUABLE INFORMATION FROM THEM REGARDING THE LOCATIONS OF THE ABDUCTEES!"
"THE SPIRITS SAY DON'T KILL THEM! THEY CAN TELL US WHERE THE MISSING PEOPLE ARE!!"
There is definitely something amiss here, your 'informant' is either lying, hiding something or just very anxious...
"It's...it's my son....yes, yes, it's my Son...they snatched him last week...what if there was too many of you and those Nidalese saw you coming? They'd have a chance to kill him and hide the evidence...you should go alone, or at least only a few of you, don't you see?"
The man starts to babble, "It's the Puffy Pelican...upstairs, that's where they move them to...please? If no one goes tonight then I've lost my son forever!!!! Say you'll help..."
The crowd gasps in awe as 'the spirit' appears and then flies above them...Ziomarra's pronouncements, in conjunction with Teldon's slightly blunt reasoning are enough to prompt the rabble to ask questions...
"They're right...this could be our chance to get our sons and daughters back..."
That, and similar questions, rumble around the crowd for a few short moments before someone shouts to Ziomarra
"Will the spirits help us? Can they make these Slavers talk?"
...over the low level grumbling within the crowd, you can hear the younger of the two 'Nidalese' sobbing...
"I will, and I will make sure your son makes back alive." Joanna tells the man.
Assuming you're not lying to me and this is a trap.
She makes sure to commit the man's appearance to memory before leaving. Something was very, very off, and it was putting her on edge.
She giggles at Ziomarra's deception. I'm not even used to magic, and I can tell what's going on. Slipping easily through the legs of the crowd, her fingers accidentally hooking around someone's coin purse, she makes her way toward the two men.
She steps in close to the younger of the two, a man clearly overwhelmed by the circumstances and therefore (perhaps) more likely to talk. She addresses him in a low tone. "This is your chance. If you help me, my friends and I might be able to get you out of this. Where've you been taking people?"
With all of the distractions, Nalathi's accidental transfer of coin purse ownership nets her 35 silver pieces, a key and a folded up guide to the monuments of Magnimar
Through sobs and barely controlled tears, the man protests his innocence, "We haven't taken anyone one!!! I...I....don't know why they think we have....Me and Viktor....we were....we were....just going back to our tent with Lady Joanna...she said we could get a better deal if we did it back at ours...and then someone saw us leaving....and then....", the man breaks down, "DONT LET THEM KILL US!!! We haven't done these things they say we done...."
I'm no master of spirits... or deception... I'd better leave this to Briana and Zee, they were both talking about spirits back at the manor...
Teldon briefly begins to open his mouth as if to speak, then thinks better of it and looks expectantly at Briana and Zee...
After finding her friends have run off, Joanna heads back out and soon finds the crowd in front of the Shucked Oyster.
"Excuse me," Joanna asks on of the people on the fringe, "but could you tell me what's going on here?"
The glowing figure circles the two 'Nidalese' then returns to Ziomarra. It hovers near her for a moment and Zee apparently exchanges words with it. "BRING THEM HERE, UNHARMED!" orders Zee.
(The crowd should be still under the influence of Zee's earlier Intimidate check.)
The ghostly figure hovers silently next to Zee while the crowd brings the two objects of the crowd's ire over.
Ziomarra’s parlour trick continues to captivate the crowd but when she suggests that the Nidalese should be turned over to them, the rabble start to become less compliant…
”Why should we?”
”What will the spirts do?”
”Yeah, those spirits didn’t stop them slavers from taking my wife”
Things start to look a lot less favourable for the captives as people start turning their attention, away from the ghostly human form, back to the ‘Nidalese’. The cries for justice start to rise again when Briana intervenes…a small thunderstorm forming nearby to Ziomarra’s apparition, soaking one particularly vocal person within the mob….almost instantly the crowd are cowed…and they finally comply with Ziomarra’s instruction…bustling the captives over towards Teldon, Briana and Ziomarra.
Still in an apparent trance, Ziomarra ‘channels’ the questions to the captives. The older of the two, who has maintained some composure through the entire event, answers the questions…
”What are your names?”…”Victor and Androv”
”Where are you from?”…”We sailed over from Nisroch…two weeks back”
”What ship do you sail on?”…”The Midnight Mermaid…she’s a merchant ship”
”Who is the girl you were with?”…”Lady Joanna…she’s one of the girls from the Shucked Oyster…she said she wanted to come back to our tent”
”Where is she now?”…”She went back into the Oyster when someone saw us sneaking out”
”Are you slavers?”…”No….Never….We never took nobody”
”Did you have anything to do with the people who have gone missing?”…”No….Now, we didn’t…you must believe us”
As Ziomarra pronounces their innocence, the crowd starts to dissipate…and when someone shouts ”CITY WATCH!!!”, they scatter…leaving just you and a patrol of three guards marching along the street towards you…
At the edge of the crowd, which has swollen to at least two hundred people, a man replies in a quivering voice, ”The spirits are angry…those folk over there are trying to appease them…”
…from the periphery of the crowd, Joanna can watch the entire charade…right until the crowd scatters and she finally gets a clear view of her friends standing with the rescued Nidalese.
"Thanks for the assist, Briana!"
Addressing the Nidalese sailors, "It seems the crowd got the Nidalese part right, but we could tell you're not slavers. As you can see, there have been disappearances in town recently, and tensions are running high. The leading rumor is slavers from Nidal, but I think something else entirely is going on. I hope our little show didn't frighten you. We had to do something to appease that mob."
Zee then suggests that everyone should wait for the city guards and to tell the what happened. "They might actually know something about the disappearances... And Natalya, for that matter!"
"WATCHMEN," Teldon cries out to the three guards as they draw near, "these men were apprehended by a lynch mob under suspicion of being slavers involved with the recent string of abductions. The mob is apparently now satisfied that they are innocent but they claim to be from a vessel known as the Midnight Mermaid, perhaps you should take them to the ship to confirm their account and inspect it for slaves."
Climbing down off the crate, he says to Briana and Zee, "Come, I think we had best pay a visit to this Lady Joanna." With that he begins walking away from the city watch and the two bloodied men in the street, back towards the Shucked Oyster.
Spotting Joanna along the way, he calls back to Briana and Zee, "HEY, I FOUND JOANNA! BUT I"VE LOST SIGHT OF NALATHI..." As he draws closer to the young priestess he says to her, "follow me, we are going to speak with a woman who shares your first name... perhaps you can use that to establish a rapport with her and convince her to speak honestly with us."
The Nidalese sailors, emotionally drained after their ordeal, listen to Ziomarra’s explanation as to why they may have been mistaken for something they weren’t…and, with barely held back tears of relief, thank you for dispersing the lynch mob. The City Watch, dressed in dark cloaks and equipped with halberds, hail you and ask for an explanation as to what has just happened…and why the street has suddenly emptied.
…as you explain and hand the men over to the authorities, the guards take note of Teldon’s suggestion to confirm the truth of the Nidalese Sailors’ stories and, when Ziomarra broaches the subject of the disappearances, ask her to take it up with Watch Officer Kasadei back at Arvensoar, ”You should try in the morning though, it is too late in the evening now…”. Taking their leave of you, and having shackled the Nidalese, ’As much for their protection as ours…’, the officers of the watch march towards the dockside…
Why would she steal away with two clients when the brothel provides accommodations... if these men are innocent, perhaps there was an abduction taking place just not the one these simple folk expected... perhaps the Lady Joanna meant to entice them to a private location where she could drug them with Swampseer's poison and wait for the true slavers to arrive to collect them... Teldon's mind spins as he walks.
She groans as the city guard approaches-- she can't actually see them, with so many people around, but she hears the shouts. The crowd scatters like roaches. This is why you don't involve the guards, she thinks to herself. Even if those men had been guilty, the people would've scattered all the same. She rejoins her allies, hoping the guards don't stay long.
Things happen a little to quickly for Joanna to follow, but once Teldon mentions the other Joanna, she shakes her head.
"I don't think we have time. If the guard has this in hand, we need to hurry."
Once everyone is back together, she gives them the brief tale of what she found.
"I met a man that claimed that the slavers are staging a pickup tonight at midnight at the Puffy Pelican, an abandoned tavern somewhere in Dockside. He claims they have his son, but he kept asking me how many people were going to be with me. I didn't tell him how many of us there are, but I think this is a trap. I don't know if it's by the slaver's or if it's meant for some other purpose, but we had better be careful either way."