Arianna nods in agreement with the guard's request and conditions for entrance as she hands over her dagger and staff.
The guard gratefully accepts the weapons from Arianna, placing them in a footlocker in the guardhouse. "There's a good little bird, all nice and peaceful. The rest o' ya can learn from her." He says, his eyes on Durriken and Fingers in particular.
Durriken unbuckles his sword belt slowly, passing the dagger, axe, and sword to one of the guards. He bends down and plucks the dagger from his boot, tossing it into the footlocker.
If things get bad, one dagger won't make a difference, and if they find it...
He twists his wrist and deftly catches his third dagger as it springs from its sheathe, adding it to the growing pile of weapons.
Gyllan senses that the guard is speaking the truth as he sees it. He unbuckles his sword belt and sets it down, adding his other weapons to the pile as well. "You too, Fingers. Let's get this over with so we can get our weapons back."
Fingers unbuckles his sword belt and hands over his cache of daggers, albeit reluctantly.
The guardsman, satisfied you are now all unarmed, leads up a staircase and then up another curved stair, which rises three stories, and into an antechamber outside the throne room of the Castle.
The antechamber is sparsely furnished, the carpet is rich and thick, and the one couch looks quite comfortable. From a side door, a strikingly beautiful woman in magnificently shining full plate armor appears. She moves with an ease and grace considering the weight and bulk of her armor. Her dark eyes search each of you over as she speaks: "I am Sabina Merrin, the Queen's bodyguard and handmaiden. Tell me how do you wish to be addressed to Her Majesty?"
Gyllan rolls his eyes a bit at Corso’s dramatic presentation, then turns his attention to Sabina Merrin, which gives him pause, briefly, as he sees just how beautiful she is. ”I am called Gyllan Dow, my lady. I look forward to learning more about how I can be of assistance in Korvosa’s time of need.”
"I'm with them." Fingers mumbles nearly unintelligibly.
" Durriken Garde, bowyer." Trying mightily to hide his unease at their situation, he stares the woman in the eyes, taking her measure.
Arianna raises an eyebrow and thinks to herself, hearing Corso's speach. I'm not so sure I agree with everything he said, but his heart is in the right place...
"Greetings, I am Arianna Elizabeta Sirmikova. A pleasure to meet you." she says with a slight bow of her head.
"Very well then, come this way, Her Majesty is most interested to meet a group of civic minded adventurers." says the darkly beautiful warrior. She begins to lead you out into the hallway, and as the soldiers follow she turns and dismisses them. "You may return to your posts. These heroes pose no threat to the Queen."
As you continue down the corridor, you come to a set of ornate double doors. Merrin pushes open the doors and announces in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, I am pleased to present the heroes you requested. They are Corso of the Gaczi family, Gyllan Dow, Durriken Garde, and Arianna Elizabeta Sirmikova. They wish to serve Korvosa, and humbly await your request."
She ushers you forward and instructs you to bow. In front of you on the Crimson Throne of Korvosa sits Queen Ileosa. She is a vision of celestial beauty despite the black mourning dress and veil she wears in honor of her husband's death.
The throne room itself is pristine but strangely empty -- an open area with a vaulted ceiling, stained glass windows of past kings and queens looking down from the eastern wall, and crimson tapestries hanging along others. An immense fireplace offers additional light and heat to the hall, and a silk carpet provides a gently arching path to the base of the throne. Sabina takes a position at the Queen's left side as she address you.
"I love Korvosa, as my husband did before me. His death has shocked the city as it has me, but i will not see his legacy destroyed in death, and I shall not see my city torn apart. All Korvosa stands at the precipice of a disaster wrought by her citizens - these riots cannot continue. You have done my heart good by standing up for Right on this dark day. Yet perhaps you can serve your city more."
"If you so choose, I shall have Sabina see to it that you have an escort of guard when you leave here -- they can see to your safe journey to Citadel Volshyenek. I shall send word ahead of you to Field Marshal Cressida Kroft to let her know you are on the way -- the Korvosan Guard is stretched thin, and it can certainly use the aid of heroes such as yourself. Now, I need to retire to my personal quarters -- my grief has drained me. Again, I thank you for your service to Korvosa, and I hope your days of serving the crown are only just beginning."
Gyllan bows deeply, then speaks, ”It is an honor to meet you, my queen, and to have you entrust us with such a mission at a critical time for our city. But I don’t understand, why are we to travel to Citadel Volshyenek? What would you have us do there?”
As he awaits the answer, he thinks on what the queen has said and studies her closely, wondering, What’s really going on here?
The Queen and Sabina Merrin's eyebrows shoot up as Corso mentions the brooch.
"You have the queen's missing brooch? Her favorite?" asks Sabina suspiciously. "How did you come by this item? It was stolen a week or more ago are you thieves as well as mercenaries?" She flares to beautiful anger, taking a threatening step towards you .
The Queen however restrains her with a hand signal, and the handmaiden responds instantly, stopping her advance, but still seething visibly. "Come now, lovely Sabina, these heroes are not thieves, surely. Tell us, you recovered the jewelry from some low-life in the Shingles did you not? And you have wisely brought it back to us? Reveal it and share in our happiness; we shall give thee a reward for thine courtesy."
She snaps her fingers, and a door groom runs out. "We are sorry if we were unclear, dear Gyllan, but we mean for you to help Field Marshal Croft with some 'irregular' duties, things her soldiers aren't particularly trained for, but which must be done to secure the city and keep it safe. She will brief you on the specifics once you arrive at the Citadel."
The groom returns bearing a silver coffer, which he leaves with the Queen re-assuming his place at the door. "Now return our favorite brooch and be rewarded properly." she smiles a dazzling smile, even through the mourning veil.
Durriken looks over at the others. Give it to her so we can be on our way. Even knowing that his fears are irrational at this point, he can't help feeling uncomfortable in the current situation.
Gyllan watches as Corso hands over the brooch to the queen, thinking, Not sure I trust her at all. What does she mean by 'rewarded properly' and what kind of 'irregular' duties are we being asked to take on? From what I've heard about the queen, I'm sure she wouldn't hesitate to feed us to the fires burning all over Korvosa if we even look at her funny.
As Corso approaches, the Queen takes the brooch from him. "Thank you for your kindness, good sir." she says, handing him the silver coffer, which is much heavier than he expected.
The Queen then repeats her excuses, and Sabina Merrin leads you from the throne room back to the antechamber you waited in previously. Able to finally peek in the silver box, Corso finds it holds 10 silver ingots, each stamped with the royal seal of Korvosa.
Sabina nods to each of you, "Thank you for your service, I trust you can find Marshal Croft tomorrow on your own?" She snaps at one of the guards and directs him to escort you back to the gatehouse to recover your arms and then to the base of the Grand Mastaba.
You find your gear and weapons the same as you left them and the guards take you down the old pyramid steps to the town. A few fires still burn, but the riots of the evening have subsided as night comes on.
.
The troop of guards stop at the foot of the Mastaba. Where are you going?" the guard captain asks. "We have business in the city, and will walk with you some of the way, but once our path diverge, we must stick to our mission."
Corso knows that Korvosan silver ingots are worth 100gp apiece, so a total of 1000, added to your loot tracker.
If you are going to shop/gear up, you may want to see about unloading some of that stuff as well.
If you want to go directly to the Citadel in the morning, chime in and I'll move the action along.
The group splits up for the night, agreeing to meet in the bazaar in the morning at a pre-arranged time, to sell of gear, and acquire any needed items since they may be entering the Queen's service later in the day.
Fingers suggests that he take the precious items to be sold, and use one of his local contacts to liquidate the stuff overnight, returning with coin to share in the morrow.
Fingers returns with the coin, and leads the group to the Gold Market in the Midlands area of Korvosa, which coincidentally, is not far from Citadel Volshyenek. Gold Market is the premiere bazaar area in all of Korvosa, if it's for sale you can probably find someone buying or selling it here. Early in the morning, fishwives and butlers haggle over the fresh catch, and foreign voices mingle with the low born and nobles of the city. Dwarves from Janderhoff have a pavilion with an armed guard, inside some of the most wonderful jewelry in all of Varisia.
"Couldn't get as good a prices on some o' this stuff, but came back with a fair amount." He tosses little bags filled with 45pp each to the group.
With coins in hand, the group splits up to find what treasures they may before fulfilling their obligations to the Queen.
Once business is complete in the Gold Market and heroes are suitably equipped, if a little lighter in the purse, they make their way to Citadel Volshyenek -- the fortress home of the Korvosan Guard.
Activity here is a a flurry of soldiers moving here and there, drilling, exercising, running messages, or just lounging about -- Soldiers are everywhere.
The Citadel is guarded by a moathouse, which is open, a drawbridge which is down, and then an inner bailey with a lowered porticullis. Two guards in full dress uniform, which apparently includes a ceremonial sword stand watch at the inner gate and call challenge to you as you approach:
In the name of the King, halt and state your business with the Guard!"
Gyllan looks askance at Corso’s brusque air as the foppish noble speaks so lightly of the king’s death.
Turning to the guards, he shrugs and says, ”It’s true, what he says, the queen herself asked us to come and see Marshal Croft. I never would have believed it if I heard of such a thing – stories get pretty bent as they run around the city, right? But I saw and heard it myself, Queen Ileosa asking us to report to Citadel Volshyenek and meet with the Field Marshal. So you’d best be lettin’ us in to do the queen’s bidding, don’t you think?”
The man gives Corso a cold look and whispers under his breath. "That she-wolf ain't been coronated yet, and until she is, I'm callin' out the King's name. Ask me, it outta be Seneschal who is actin' regent while we find a new king rather'n that gold diggin' whore on the throne."
In a louder voice: "If you're here to see the Field Marshall, then come in with Abadar's blessing. Corporal Kazgis will show you to her office."
The Citadel is awash with activity, a squadron of hippogriffs from the Sable Company sits in the courtyard, munching happily. Soldiers jog by in formation, while others drill with pike and shortsword.
Soon, you are shown into the central keep, and an austere ground floor office. The guard Corporal stands at attention near the door. You wait several minutes for the Field Marshal to arrive.
Durriken quietly takes in the interior of the citadel, the guards, and the activity as they pass through. He considers the guard's words regarding the Seneschal and the Queen.
A rift? Who is really running the city right now?
Arianna's eyebrows raise at the man's obvious hatred for the presumed queen of Korvosa, as she thinks to herself, I'm not sure I like where this is going...could this be the beginning of a cival war for Korvosa's throne?
Soon, the outer door bursts open and an attractive dark-haired human woman, dressed in red armor, brushes into the room. She nods to you and then introduces herself. "I am Field Marshal Croft, commander of the Korvosan Guard."
As you respond with your names to her, it is easy to see the edges of exhaustion on her features, as if she didn't sleep all night, and may not get that luxury for a while. She sighs deeply and continues:
"Ah yes --you are the ones sent by Queen Ileosa. Greetings --my nam is Cressida, and heroes of your caliber are exactly what Korvosa needs now. You've been on the streets. You know better than me how bad things are out there. It's breaking my heart to see Korvosa tear herself apart like this. Every little bit of aid we can get from upstanding citizens like you helps. If you're willing, I'd very much like to retain your services as agents of the Guard. I don't need to say, of course, that you will be well compensated for these services."
The Field Marshall continues, after just a moment's silence:[/b]Korvosa's got enough troubles as it is, without my own men losing their way and going rogue. As much as it pains me to admit, though, this has happened several times already. Many guards have deserted their posts, more concerned, about friends and family than the city. I can understand this, yet not all of the deserters have family -- some of them are simply using the riots as an excuse for personal gain. One such man is Verik Vancaskerkin. Worse than a lone deserter, he's convinced a small group of fellow guards that Queen Ileosa going to ruin the city."[/b]
"Whether she does or doesn't isn't the point -- right now. we've got a city-wide crises on our hands and I need all of my guards working with me to see us through. A deserter is worse than a lost resource; it's an infection. I can't afford to pull any of my other patrols off duty to deal with Vancaskerkin, and I'd rather not expose any of them to to him anyway, since I neither want Vancaskerkin to infect more guards with his talk of secession, nor do I want some overly patriotic guard killing Vancaskerkin outright, I need impartial skilled talent. Like you."
"Vancaskerkin and his men have holed up in an abandoned butcher's shop in Northgate -- the place is called All the World's Meat. I need you to check out the place. Try to avoid killing any of the deserters if you can, but if you must, they brought it upon themselves when they threw their lot in with Vancaskerkin. For him, I'd really appreciate if yo could capture him alive and return him to me for interrogation, but if he makes that impossible, I'll accept his body as well. Finally, see if you can find out why VErik deserted -- if there's more to it than simple personal politics, I need to know immediately."
"Bring me Verik alive and there's another 1000gp in it for you, Dead he's worth only half that.
She sighs again, looking for someone to ask questions.
Hm, I wonder...
Durriken clears his throat. "How did you find out he deserted? We might be able to infiltrate the group if we get uniforms and a likely unit to be coming from - someone the deserters weren't likely to have crossed paths with before." He pauses. "Maybe...Gyllan and I could get in, then bring the other three in once we establish ourselves to help mop up?"
"That's a great idea, Durriken. If there's some outlander unit that might have been brought to the city to help bring order, and we could have deserted from it once we saw the opportunity?"
Looking back to Marshall Croft, he asks, "Do you know how many men Verik has managed to get to join him? What are we up against?"
The Field Marshal frowns, a line wrinkling her forehead. "Four maybe five others defected from his unit, but Vancaskerkin is the ring-leader be sure. They've holed themselves up in that Northgate neighborhood, handing out free food from the butcher's shop in exchange with help managing any outsiders."
She considers your plan. "It might work, but it may not. Few units from outside the city are in Korvosa; the Guard handles most of the chores here. However you approach him, Vancaskerkin must be taken down, better to us alive than dead, the reward for his capture will be steep indeed."
Durriken grunts. "Maybe we just use the fop," He nods at Corso, "as bait. Say we caught him nosing around. Turn him in. Look for a reward." He shrugs. "Either way, if we want to take these guys alive, we stand a better chance if we get to the ring leader without having to fight our way in."
Cressida shrugs looking at the piles of paper spread before her. "Your approach is your own, all I ask for is results. I have arranged for rooms for you, and a line of credit, with The Three Rings Tavern in Five Corners. You should find those accommodations to your liking. Once you have Vancaskerkin, or proof of his demise, return to me and claim your reward. I salute you for your service to the City!"
With that she calls for one of her adjutants, who escorts you from her office and hands you a portfolio. Inside is a rendering of Verik Vancaskerkin and a rough sketch of the neighborhood around All the World's Meat which is located at 22 Stirge Street in Northgate.
As they head out of the office, Gyllan says, "There's no reason we can't just show up as ourselves and say we want to join Vancaskerkin. We can say we heard he wants to stop the queen, and we do too. He may prefer to join with other guardsmen, but I'm guessing he wouldn't say no to a hardy bunch like us offering our services. And it beats just walking up to him and starting to swing our blades, especially if we're supposed to bring him in alive, as you say, Durriken."
Durriken glares at Corso as the group leaves. "So don't wear it. Drawing attention to yourself isn't always a good idea." He looks at Gyllan. "Your call. We have two of those bags of glue. We can grab a few more and cut some rope to lengths for quickly tying up those we are able to subdue. She can put them to sleep as well. If we have to fight, I won't risk trying to subdue anyone but the ringleader. Too dangerous."
All the World's Meat turns out to be a storefront butcher shop in Northgate, near Long Bridge which connects the peninsula of Korvosa to the mainland. The once gentrified neighborhoods in this area have slipped and only the poor and declining remain. Fine homes are boarded up or hulking wrecks. Once fabulous gardens are overgrown and weed-choked. It seems time has not been good here.
Casing the shop, you find the front entrance has a big glass display case with various cuts of meat, and a store counter. The west side of the building has a stockade-like wooden fence enclosing an open air area of some kind. The fence is too high to see over well, but there is a gate leading onto an alley on the southwest corner. Wheel ruts leading up the gate make it look as if this is a loading entrance.
There is a small second floor structure atop the store. As you stand across the street, poor folk enter the store and leave with parcels of what you must assume are various cuts of meat.
By all accounts, it is a working butcher shop...
Gyllan studies the shop a bit, watching its clientele enter and exit and wondering if there is more to this situation than meets the eye. As he does so, he thinks on what he has heard about All the World’s Meat. Funny name. I wonder why someone would call a butcher shop
that?
On a whim, he picks a customer at random, a middle-aged woman, and approaches her, asking, ”Excuse me, ma’am. Seems this place does a pretty brisk business, even in such troubled times as these. I’m always on the lookout for a good deal – do they have good meat, at a good price?” He considers her carefully as she responds, looking for any signs that she’s hiding something, or being less than truthful about the nature of the business.
As Gyllan talks to the customer, Durriken moves down the street some, trying to avoid the group looking like a group. As he does so, he scans the building and the streets for anything out of place.
(+2 against humans)