Lyla is alarmed by Rosie's interest in the coin. What the heck did she see in that?
She pulls out another coin and rushes to the gnome, hoping to get the gold piece back. "Wait, Miss Rosie, I think I've given you my lucky coin by mistake, would you mind giving it back? Here's another one for the clothes."
Having finished with Karri's order of clothes, Rosie looks back at the gold piece she was playing with.
Lyla running up to her draws her attention. "Oh? Certainly, young lady. Here." She says, giving her the coin she was holding. She takes the new one and begins studying it with the same fervor she had for the other one.
Except this time, she starts singing a little song.
"Lost little gold piece,
Lonely little gold piece,
The size of a throne.
Lost little gold piece,
Silly little gold piece,
Now you're not a-lone!"
She looks up from the gold piece. "Will that be all, Madames and sirs?"
Lyla scratches her head as she carefully analyzes the coin.
It's a perfectly ordinary gold piece, as far as you can tell.
"Let's just wait for them back at Zellara's then." Demitri replies before heading back there.
Whispering to Lyla, Gnomish eccentrics?" Karri looks outside and sees the sun is much further on than when they entered Rosie's. "Maybe we should be moving, then?"
Rosie looks out the window at the sun. "Mmm, yes. Late afternoon. At least, oh..." She looks at the ceiling. "...three hours to close!" Her eyes widen. "THREE HOURS?!" She leaps up and begins racing about the shop, organizing the remaining sets of clothing.
"Yesyesyes, busybusybusy! Have a nice day!" She calls out from within the shop.
The walk back to Zellara's is considerably quieter than it normally is, heading down Sunrise Boulevard onto Harborview.
Well, except for halfway down Harborview Boulevard, where someone is yelling and making a racket.
The two of you come across a crowd of people halfway down Harborview Boulevard South. Standing atop a pile of crates next to a warehouse is a man clad in yellow and orange robes, his face covered by a yellow hood. You can see a strange red rash on his neck and hands, almost as if someone ground layers of skin from his body with a rock.
His voice is thick with an Ulfen accent.
The man's preaching pauses when he sees the two of you.
"What are you on about? And what happened to you? What curse?"
Jakob grabs Demitri by the arm, keeping him from getting too close to the strange man. He looks around quickly to see if there are any guardsmen near.
Seeing none, he whispers at the man. "Be quiet, man. If the Queen's men hear you they'll have your head off."
Jakob doesn't see any guardsmen about.
Well, the crowd is quite large--it could be hiding a few.
The robed man climbs down from his boxes. The crowd parts a bit for him, seemingly more out of revulsion than anything else.
"You. And you!" He points to Demitri first, then Jakob. "Two men of power who came to me as I slept! Aye, for a dream foretold your coming: foretold that you would stand against the FILTH and AGONY of the CITY'S SOUL!" He staggers towards the two men.
"The Curse? Truly, you must live under ROCKS to not know of it! A CURSE MOST FOUL was laid upon the seat of power, laid by none other than the TRIBES who came BEFORE! THE TRIBES WHOSE LAND WE STOLE!" He raises his arms to the sky. "No ruler who takes the throne shall have an heir! Not only that, but he will see court of the Lady of Graves LONG BEFORE his appointed time! It is KNOWN!" He stops about 15 feet away from Demitri & Jakob. "I, Heimskr, have seen it! Seen you fall as WHEAT BEFORE A SCYTHE! AND THE CITY DYING WITH YOU!"
At this point, Jakob & Demitri can see more sores along the man's arms. It's obvious he's diseased.
Watching the group return to the street, Marissel rejoins them. Lyla and Karri, what have you done with Ortik? You seem to have traded him for this gentleman, he says, a smile on his face, who seems to smell of . . . lilac?
"Listen, you need to get to a healer. You are not well."
"And what good would a healer do me? Can they peel off this flesh and grant me one anew? Aye! ANY healer can do that! But answer me this: CAN I?! Nay, I cannot! The Master of the First Vault demands a TITHE from its supplicants! The Prince of Darkness demands a PRICE I cannot--and indeed WILL NEVER--pay! And The Eternal Rose..." Heimskr sobs.
"...I am no longer worthy of looking upon her halls." His voice is barely a whisper now. He coughs, a wet, hacking sound.
"I'm just trying to help you. What does Abadar, Asmodeus, and Shelyn have to do with this?"
Heimskr looks up at Demitri.
"Abadar... it is the duty of his priesthood to never heal without a fee. Asmodeus... all it would cost would be my soul. Or servitude to a being that cares only for itself." He's being much quieter than he was on his boxes. The crowd is beginning to disperse.
"And Shelyn... I was faithful to her once. Before... this." He coughs, gesturing to his arms. "Leprosy. I caught it not here, but elsewhere. I did not know I had it until it was far too late, and to make things worse, my holy symbol was stolen." He sighs. "How am I to call myself Her priest if I cannot even heal myself?"
"It takes more than just having a holy symbol to be a priest. But if we got you a new one, could you heal yourself?"
"Jasmine, actually," Ortik replies gruffly, following his remark with a sly wink. "You're welcome to come with us as we sell these baubles for coin."
Jakob flinches away at the mention of leprosy, but he understands the man's misery. Keeping a distance, he tries to think.
"What were you saying about a curse?" he asks. "Whose land was this?"
"Aye. I could... if the Eternal Rose would allow me." Heimskr nods.
He addresses Jakob next. "Truly? You do not know?" He asks, an eyebrow arched. "The land Korvosa was settled on was never ours to begin with. The Shoanti were the ones who came before us, to whom the land rightfully belongs. The Chelish folk took it from them through fire and blood, and have long since been rivals." He coughs wetly into his fist.
"Now, the Shoanti live upon the Storval Plateau, and have claimed the Cinderlands as their new home."
"I think I can get a holy symbol for you. So are you saying the Shoanti cursed this city?"
"That bouncer was Shoanti," Jakob says, but shakes his head a moment later. He didn't think it likely that a bouncer would be laying curses on whole cities.
"If they were driven into the cinderlands, can you blame them?" he says.
"For being angry? No. But for punishing the whole city? That is a different story. Just look at the chaos."
"The chaos was caused by the death of the king, not some tribal curse," Jakob says. "Unless you're simply going to take the word of this madman."
"Maybe the curse caused the king's demise. I really don't know what to believe, other than this man needs help."
The man coughs again. "That's a rumor that has been around since the founding of Korvosa. I do not know if it has any real truth to it, but it's entirely possible... and it gives the citizens here a reason to distrust Shoanti, even more so than Varisian folk."
"And if you can find me a holy symbol, perhaps Lady Shelyn will finally allow me back into her sanctuary. Rest assured, you would have the gratitude of a brother of The Eternal Rose." He says, his eyes lighting up. From the looks of things, this might be the first bit of good news he's had in a long time.
Your group leaves Rosie's, the owner waving pleasantly as you leave.
The walk to Bluetide Gold Concerns is crowded as it usually is in North Point. Shoppers wander about The Dock Trade, buying, selling, and occasionally getting robbed on deals. You find the goldsmith without much of a problem.
The shop itself is plain enough on the outside, aside from a window showing the interior of the shop. A bell rings as you walk in, and a lovely young brunette with her hair in a ponytail and clad in a violet dress walks out to the counter. The wall behind her is lined with many necklaces and rings, all crafted from gold.
Her eyes widen as she sees Ortik's and Lyla's clothes. Specifically, their color.
"Um... 'two by two, clothes of blue?'" She asks. Her hands are wringing slightly.
Lyla looks at the woman with a puzzled expression. Without giving it too much thought, she blurts out "A-hem... three by three, gold and... filigree...?", she offers. What the heck am I saying?
The lady sighs in relief when Lyla replies.
"Oh... you're not one of them."
She straightens up and offers you a smile. "Welcome to Bluetide Gold Concerns!. I'm Tiora Bluetide, owner & operator of this shop. These necklaces here?" She points to the necklaces behind her. "I made them all myself. How may I help you today?"
Lyla shrugs her shoulders. Yeah, whatever.
In response to Tiora, the girl claps her hand to compliment the goldsmith. "Beautiful, Ms. Bluetide, but it just so happens we're here to sell rather than to buy. My associates and I have something that you would really dig–I mean, something that should appeal to you", she says snapping her fingers. Noticing that nothing happens, she looks to the rest of the group and sees that they have missed her cue. She looks at Ortik and mutters under her breath "Pst! The gold ingot! Aaah! Never mind!" She reaches for her backpack, which she'd given to Ortik for him to carry, and pulls out the gold ingot with the Chelish coat of arms, getting on the tip of ter toes to place it over the counter.
"You see, this is imperial gold; the purest, finest metal you will find, not that cra... a-hem, adultered gold some try to sell. I represent wealthy nobles who seek a mutually benefitial agreement here; they have 12 more of these, and are willing to grace you with enough gold to put that dreaded Nash's Gold Finishing out of business–that is, of course, assuming you make a generous offer, yes?" Lyla smiles at Tiora while she waits for a reply.
Demitri will retrieve the abalone shell-holy symbol that the party retrieved while in Lamm's lair. "Will this do?"
Marissel looks quizzical at the mention of blue clothes. He looks down holding out his arms, then mutters to himself, No, but I do have hands of blue . . . then he stops, hearing Lyla's little speech. He stands straight, looking ahead, a slight grimace of distaste spreading across his lips.
The man's eyes widen as Demitri produces the holy symbol.
"That... that's the holy symbol that was stolen from me! Where did you find it?" He takes it from Demitri and cradles it in his hands like a newborn baby. "I had thought it gone forever..."
Tiora listens to Lyla's spiel, inspecting the Chelish gold brick closely as she continues.
The mention of putting Nash's Gold Finishing out of business causes her to chuckle. "Well, when you put it THAT way..." She sets the brick down. "May I ask what your benefactors want made from these?" A nervous look appears on her face.
Ortik smirks a moment as he recognizes the pass phrase Tiora mentions. Oh, good, something I can use to pretend to be offended by later.
Jakob watches the Heimskr closely as he reaches out for the holy symbol, but the man's gratitude and happiness are unmistakable.
"We found it in the trove of a gang of thieves," Jakob said, glancing at Demitri, uncertain how much to say. "I am glad we were able to return it to you."
"Yes, it was among many stolen goods we recovered."
Heimskr's eyes start tearing up. "Thank you. Thank you both for showing such charity to a fool like me." He coughs again, this time into his sleeve.
"I need to return to the Sanctuary. I must pray for the forgiveness of the Eternal Rose... I lost my way, and nearly my life." He looks at the two of you. "If you ever find yourselves in need, the Sanctuary of Shelyn is in North Point, a couple streets down from the Jeggare Circle. Tell them Brother Heimskr sent you: I owe you a debt, friends."
He hangs the holy symbol of Shelyn around his neck and bows to you. He folds his arms into his robes and walks down Harborview Boulevard, his head held high.
"Trust me, I understand the part about losing your way." Demitri responds before Heimskr takes his leave. "Let's get back to Zellara'sso we can come up with a plan."
Lyla laughs affectedtdly. "You see, we are not interested in jewelry at all. You, on the other hand, need raw materials to keep your business going; the better the gold, the better the final product, right? We will sell you these ingots. After you are done turning all of it into rings, earrings, necklaces... they will be worth at least twice whay you will pay us. So, yes, We wish to cash this gold–unless you want to pass on such fine product, in which case I could offer this opportunity to someone else–Nash, perhaps?"
Tiora flinches at the mention of Nash.
"Of course not. Far be it from HIM to get the better end of a deal, eh?" She chuckles nervously while dismissively waving a hand.
"*ahem* But enough about Nash and his sub-standard workmanship. I'm prepared to offer 100 gold pieces per gold brick you have. I'll wager Nash couldn't beat that on his best day!" She puffs up her chest, trying to adopt a prideful posture.
It comes across as being more comical than professional.
You reach Zellara's home without further incident. Looking in through the window, you can see a few of the kids playing.
Nadia can be seen sitting on the front step of Zellara's house. She gets up and runs over to hug her father when you approach.
She looks up with bright eyes, her hair still covering the burns on her face. They appear to be healing, if slowly.
Demitri picks up his little girl and holds her. "Why aren't you playing with the others?"
Nadia returns Demitri's hug.
"They're scared of me." She says, closing her eyes and burying her head in her father's shoulder.
"The acid man threatened to do worse to them if he caught them with me. They're still scared of him."
"I see. Don't worry. In time they'll see you for the wonderful little girl that you are. But for now, you can spend time with daddy. What do you want to do?"
"Per'aps we'll see," Ortik says as he unfolds his arms. "And maybe he'll have a warmer welcome for us as well, one where we're not assumed to be common thieves." He reaches out to take the ingot away, forcing Tiora to decide immediately if she wants the business.
Tiora lays a hand on the ingot before Ortik can take it back.
*Ahem* "Perhaps you didn't hear me, sir. I said I'm offering 100 Crowns per gold ingot. And from the look in your eye, you're not inclined to make the walk to Nash's anyway." She looks Ortik in the eye.
"Besides, when have I EVER thought you were a common thief?"
Nadia looks at her father.
"I want to go home. I don't want to bother the ghost lady. She isn't around anymore... did she leave because of the others?" She says, her hands gripping Demitri's clothes. She looks back at Zellara's home.
"I know, but I have to help people. The ghost lady is very kind, I don't believe you would bother her. She'll be back I promise. I can't leave you at home right now. Tell you what. We'll take a quick trip home to get some of your things. You can get some of your favorite toys. And if you want to bring some back for the other kids, I think they might want to play with you more. What do you think?" Demitri then looks to Jakob. "Would you mind staying here to watch the kids until the others get back? Just tell them I needed to stop by my home. I won't be long."
Nadia smiles.
"Okay."
She climbs down from her father and stays close to him.
Jakob looks slightly panicked at the thought of being left alone in a house full of children, but then he remembered his success at calming them down that morning (was it?).
"Take your time, he says to Demitri. "We'll try not to get into too much trouble." He starts making a head count.