"Everything okay with the book?", Lyla asks as Althea flips through the pages. The halfling then starts going through Devargo's belongings—first, the dresser and the bed, and finally the wooden chest.
"Oh, certainly. Not a page out of place... if he had, he'd be beggin' me ta kill him when I'm through with him." Althea says, a sharp look in her eye.
The dresser contains mostly changes of clothes, some of them dirty, some of them filled with holes. The bed is comfortably soft with a thick wool blanket.
The sea chest is not trapped, and the lock is very complex. It stubbornly refuses to open, even with Lyla's best efforts.
Majenko flies over and taps Lyla on the shoulder, pointing at the ring of keys in Demitri's possession.
Vencarlo laughs. "A well-mannered lady, isn't she, Cressida?" He looks back at Karri. "But an 'us' usually means more than one. And the only 'us' I see right now is myself, you, Cressida, Judge Zenderholm and the corporal here." He gestures to each of the people he names. "So, where, may I ask, are the rest?"
Lyla turns around and sees the pseudodragon. "Oh. Thanks, birdie!" She walks up to Jakob and grabs the key ring–"May I?"–and then goes back to the chest, trying each key until she finds the right one.
Soon enough, Lyla unlocks the chest with one of the keys on Devargo's keyring.
Inside, she finds:
--a jasper studded amulet worth 500 gp
--a gold necklace fitted with emeralds worth 600 gp
--a mother-of-pearl horn worth 50 gp
--a ring that bears a tiny jade dragonfly
--a scroll bearing arcane writing
--a pink elixir
--two pouches of dust
--six sacks of 100 gp each
Lyla cannot help but smile with satisfaction upon inspecting the contents of the chest. She picks up each object, studies them for a moment and then tosses them back in the chest, as a child unwrapping a pile of gifts.
She pockets the scroll and winks at Althea. "New recipe for the formulae book". She then starts placing the items in her backpack, to divide later among themselves. "The spoils are ours, right?", she asks Demitri, ready to defend her right to the loot.
She throws her backpack over her shoulder and goes back to the lower deck's main corrido. Once she gets there, she walks up to the door leading into the chamber adjacent to Devargo's bedroom and enters the unexplored room.
"Yep. None of it is evidence so have at it."
The door opens to a room with three washbasins and three stalls. It appears to be a privy.
As Ortik & Jakob come back above decks with the unconscious man, Judge Zenderholm excuses herself and approaches the two men.
"Admirable work. Now, what happened to him?" She asks in a clear, business-like tone. She looks the spider-bitten man over, one hand holding the golden key of Abadar around her neck.
"Spiders. He has a lot of poison in his system. He needs to be brought to a temple. He's one of Devargo's men I think."
"We did what we could to halt the venom, but he's been savaged by the things. I'm sure we could get him to turn on his former master if his life can be saved."
Karri says quietly to Orisini, Here are the others I spoke of... Her voice trails off and she hopes the conversation will shift away from her. Better to stand aside than let people ask too many questions!
Jakob stands with the injured man slung over his shoulder like a sack of grain, looking at the Field Marshall with helpless admiration.
"Miss, Maam" he says by way of greeting to her and Zenobia. Then he turns to Orsini and extends his hand, which Majenko takes as an offer to perch on it. "I'm Jakob ... and this is Majenko. Where should I put this man?"
Vencarlo shakes Jakob's hand. "Ah, the gentlemen who kept the lovely mageling safe, I presume?" He says with a quick glance over at Karri.
Majenko chirps and nods, bringing his attention back to the rest of the group. "And a pseudodragon as well?" He chuckles before letting Jakob's hand go. "Tonight's been quite full of surprises, no?"
Zenobia looks the unconscious man over before resting a hand on his head and uttering a prayer to Abadar. His pallor improves, but his breathing is still quite shallow.
"I've halted the progression of the poison in him for now, but he needs proper attention." She turns to the remaining guardsmen and snaps her fingers. Griggs and two other guards take the poisoned man off Jakob & Ortik's hands.
"Bring this man to the Bank of Abadar. I'll make sure he receives proper treatment there." She orders the guardsmen. With a nod of approval from Kroft, the three guards carry the poisoned man off into the night.
"Demitri." He says as he shakes Vencarlo's hand. "Yes, tonight has been eventful."
Lyla remains on the lower deck and opens the double door at the end of the corridor.
The double doors open to a forward hold in the ship, packed with crates, barrels and tables. A set of crates arranged on the port side of the hold are cracked open, and the smell of ammonia mixed with spider venom leaks from them. There are several doses of refined shiver here...
...and across from them, you can see several crates and barrels with various foodstuffs poking out of them.
"Yes, keeping the shiver in the same room as the ship's meals. Can't imagine how that can go wrong." Althea dryly pipes up, still cradling her formula book.
"Isn't it?" Vencarlo returns Demitri's handshake. "I had just finished teaching for the day when I heard the Korvosan Guard marching through Old Korvosa. And not just a single patrol--it seemed like just about every available guardsman was called in." He glances over at Judge Zenderholm, who folds her arms behind her back impassively. "And the Hanging Judge herself was coming along?" He chuckles. "Well, I had to come along and see after that."
He turns back to Demitri. "Am I correct in assuming all this was your idea, ser?"
Lyla nods at Althea's words. "Yeah... every time you forget people can be stupid, something like this comes along to remind you." She steps in and carefully examines the crates and their contents, avoiding contact with the shiver and holding her breath to resist the fumes. She then steps out of the room and opens the last closed door.
The hold appears to be used mainly as a food storage area and a testament to how lazy Devargo can be with regards to his workers' safety. There is little of value here, with the exception of at least seven vials: six of shiver (worth about 25 gp apiece), and one of what appears to be dream spider venom.
The last door in the hall opens into a room where the stench of ammonia becomes mixed with alcohol, making the air difficult to breathe. Two large fireplaces are built into the curving wall of the ship’s hull here, each fitted with an iron bar on which dangle several cauldrons. Firewood is stacked to the north in a haphazard mound. Dozens of empty glass vials sit atop the mantles of each fireplace.
Two men and one woman look up at you and Althea as the door opens. They're all dressed in stained, filthy clothes and they look sleep-deprived and hungry.
The lady speaks up, relief evident on her face. "Oh, praise the Dawnflower! I thought we heard the sounds of battle outside: what's going on?" Her two male co-workers look to you as well.
"I can't claim credit for this one. I only helped. The credit goes to our intrepid halfling, Lyla who is currently searching the rest of the ship."
Before leaving the cargo hold, Lyla stowes the spider venom. She pulls out a phial from her alchemical toolkit and pours its content on each of the seven shiver vials, rending the drug inert and safe to dispose of. The girl then spills the contents on the floor of the ship, and makes a mental note to warn Kroft to throw away the food stored here.
Opening the last door, Lyla is not surprised to see the people inside, having been warned of the presence of other prisoners by the poisoned man trapped in the webbing. Still, their poor living conditions turn her stomach. Is this how they were treating Althea?, she wonders.
"We're with the Korvosan guard. We just arrested Devargo and his men. Are you his cooks?"
Vencarlo arches an eyebrow in surprise. "Really?" He rests a hand on his chin. "Would you be so kind as to introduce me to her?"
Kroft gives him a suspicious look, but says nothing.
The lady and her men breathe a sigh of relief. "Yes. We are--rather, we were--his cooks. Paid well enough, but--"
"--but not enough to justify stuffing us in his own layer of 'ell." The man in the bandanna speaks up. "I used to 'ave a respectable little shop in Ol' Korvosa 'ere..."
The lady nods. "I'm Therese. These two are Ratt & Jacen." She points to the man in the bandanna & the pudgy-looking one respectively.
Lyla squints her left eye, measuring up the cooks. "You were in Devargo's payroll... willingly?"
"She'll be back soon enough. At least she better be."
Therese's tone turns cold. "As if we had much choice. I used to work as an assistant at the Acadamae--I had experience with brewing potions and the like. I suppose I was lucky enough not to be used as a test subject for the students when I was fired..."
Ratt wipes his hand across his bandanna. "'E found us first. We didn't go lookin' to cross 'im--I didn't, at least. 'E found my shop, threatened to put my son in the harbour if I didn't go with 'im." He bites his lip.
Jacen, the pudgy one, remains curiously quiet.
"Hmmm... okay, you can tell your stories to Field Marshall Kroft, then. I know–I mean, I can imagine what it's like to be strong-armed by these guys, so you got my sympathy as long as you forget the recipe for shiver the moment you step through that door. Pack up your things and move, you're free."
Lyla tells Althea to go first and waits for the prisoners to follow the old woman; as they leave, she quickly replenishes her alchemical kit with a few materials and sprints to the end of the walking line. She is the last one to reach the upper deck, right behind the prisoners.
The prisoners emerge into the open air of Old Korvosa, coughing from the sudden intake of fresh, salty air. Field Marshal Kroft & Judge Zenderholm moves to assist them down to the docks, but Althea remains by Lyla's side.
Vencarlo eyes the hobbit as she emerges from below decks. "Ah! The mastermind herself has seen fit to step forward!" He says with a jovial tone and arms spread wide as he approaches her. "And she brought Cressida & Zenobia the gift of freed lives, too."
Lyla halts when she realizes the man is speaking about her. The halfling takes a good look at the human and recognizes the fencer Vencarlo Orisini. She looks at Kroft with a clueless expression. "What's with this guy?", the girl asks out loud. She then turns to speak directly to Vencarlo. "Thanks for the compliment—I guess—but I think you're a little late, buddy. No one left for you to poke with your sword..."
"Be nice. He just asked whose idea it was to come here. And I gave credit where it was due."
Ortik follows along with Kroft and Zenderholm to assist the prisoners off of the boats. "And a good thing too," Ortik says. "It looks like Devargo was ramping up his shiver production. There was going to be a lot of the stuff hitting the streets, if we didn't intervene."
Karri, still embarrassed at her lack of control is silent, but she thinks on Ortik's words. A lot of shiver would mean more ruined lives, more knives in alleys. We stopped that, didn't we? Kasdaye interrupts her reverie with a sort of mental throat clearing: Karri's toes tingle as her breath catches and the demon intrudes. Command me and we will make all of Korvosa safe as your dear Zellara would like. Is that too much to ask?. Karri thinks about Kasdaye's words. No, it's not. The demon pushes gently, Then let me help, it's all I want to do. Serve you. Karri breaks Kasdaye's offer brusquely: No, never. You only want a doorway, and I will not be your meatbag. In her head, there is silence, but she is sure for a moment she can hear a gull cry, 'soyousay-soyousay'. Frowning, she turns back to her friends.
"How unfortunate for me, then." Vencarlo chuckles, resting a gloved hand on his rapier. "I had a few new fencing tricks I was looking forward to trying out."
"Don't look at me, Lyla--I didn't invite him!" Kroft calls back over her shoulder.
Vencarlo just shrugs and smiles in response.
"Excuse me, folks--" Althea speaks up, stepping forward on mildly shaking legs. "--but would you be so kind as to show an old lady back to her home?" She looks around warily, still clutching her formula book. "You know how bad things can get in Korvosa at this time of night..."
"I still need to take care of a few things, but I suppose Griggs could take you, Althea." She looks at Kroft. "Would that be alright, boss?"
She looks over her shoulder. "Griggs! Get over here!" She calls out as the weedy guardsman returns to the scene. "Show Ms. Althea here back home, would you?"
Griggs simply nods and offers his arm to Althea, who takes it. "Right, no problem, boss." He gives the party a nod. "Have a good evening, cutter." He calls back at Lyla as the two of them leave.
"I suppose we're done here then."
Karri stands just behind Demitri and nods, "Yes, seems Devargo has been sent a bill for his vulgarity. Shall we go?"
Vencarlo laughs. "An excellent idea. Let's be off." He turns and begins making his way off the docks, pausing at the end.
"Shall we?"
Did Don Orsini just invite himself to come with us? Karri remains silent as she follows her friends to wherever it is they decide to go.
Vencarlo walks through the streets of Old Korvosa with the party, occasionally twirling his rapier for effect.
"Miss Lyla, I have to ask--did you really plan that escapade at Eel's End by yourself?" He asks. From the look on his face, he's quite impressed by her.
Before they start moving, Lyla calls Kroft to the side and asks to speak to Devargo later. "We have some catching up to do, and... I need to ask him something." The halfling walks away to meet her allies but stops halfway. She turns around and walks back to Kroft. "Thank you. For Althea, you know."
She meets the others as they move away from the Eel's End, wondering why Vencarlo Orisini insists on accompanying them. When he asks her about the plan, Lyla's eyes move upward as she thinks about what just happened. "I'd say we mostly improvised", she replies, dodging the credit for the operation. Vencarlo's interest bothers her a little; as they stroll along the narrow streets, she presses the matter. "If you don't mind me asking, why do you care about any of this?" she asks, trying not to sound too abrasive.
"Why do I care?" Vencarlo shrugs. "I live here. It's about time someone stood up for the common folk of Korvosa."
"Before you ask, I literally live here." He gestures to the surrounding rough neighbourhood. "My home is just a couple of streets down."
"And besides, the only one who ever tries is that stubborn fool Blackjack." He scoffs. "He tries, bless his heart, but he's only one man."
Ortik smirks at the mention of the vigilante. "There are others," he says to the duelist. "Though they perform their work quietly, and with less attention. Never underestimate the power of a single voice rising above the faceless masses. History is filled with people who were 'only one man' against odds as bad as these, if not worse."
"Yeah, Blackjack..." Lyla sighs, disheartened. "I used to like that story, too. But when nobodies like us have to step up, it probably means he's not doing that great at his job, is he? I think people should start helping themselves, 'cause Blackjack is doing jack for them. When was the last time anyone saw him, anyway?" The girl remembers how the little Lamms used to hold on to the hope that Blackjack would someday appear out of nowhere to set them free, a bitter memory indeed.
"Never heard of him. Indeed, where is he now when the city needs him?"
"Over ten years." Vencarlo sighs. He sounds genuinely disheartened. "It's been over ten years since anyone last heard from him."
He looks into the distance. "People around here often wonder where he's gone, and why he left. They grew dependent on him, certainly... enough that his absence is sorely felt." He turns back to the party. "Perhaps he believed Korvosa didn't need him any longer, and wished to rest. That the day he could retire and let the little guy fend for himself was on the horizon."
He snorts derisively. "Shows what he knew. Between the child kidnappings, the riots, and now..." He waves a hand in the direction of Eel's End. "...this, I'd say he's overdue to return."
"Well, I wouldn't hold my breath."