"HOW Exactly do you know that??!?? Maybe they are desperate? Wives, kids, buddies with no legs. Broken by the weight of those who don't CARE! " Magpie yells at the big guy, moving closer getting quieter "I... I did bad things, Lamm made us, broke us. But I did them."
The half orc is right next to him "You don't know. So this is murder not justice. Let the city choose, or take them to the guard, either is better than this."
"Please"
Vera frowns as Krovax guts one of the attackers on the ground. But it isn't until Magpie speaks up that she feels compelled to do so too. "They were wrong, but people can change if given the chance. Are we too busy to give them a chance?"
Kali sighs and shakes her head at Krovax "You have a serious problem. Would Vanny approve of this new "you"? Think about that next time you want to rip parts from bodies please. She may be gone, but that doesn't mean you need to let your soul leave your body."
Kali spurs Falcor into action and moves off ahead of your group to a shop in the distance. She dismounts and heads inside, picking up a new bow and returns back to Falcor several minutes later.
Krovax stops and glares at Kali as she heads off. But something she said perhaps rattled him, as he instead walks away from the man on the ground.
"She was my soul. It's already gone."
You gather up the three remaining cutpurses and pull them along, their feet bumping the ground, until you find a guard station. You hand over the three to the guards, who nod and after a little counting, retrieves three gold ingots, each worth 25 gold pieces. The prisoners are placed into holding cells you see in the back of the station are brimming with naer-do-Wells already. ”Korvosa thanks you,” says the guard, and you leave to head to Shoreline Drinkhall. It’s about 7:00 pm, and the sun has set, though the sky is still lit by a muted violet light. As you travel, you periodically spot winged creatures flying above you, in the shingles, and still hear fighting from time to time, but some of it has been brought under control. The hellknights have been busy.
Two orcs with brass knuckles stand watch, one on the inside and one on the outside. They look extremely formidable. A warm chattering and the inviting light of a tavern beckons you temptingly into the interior. The orcs do not appear threatened by your group, and stand watch for other threats.
"Thank you" she whispers to the big man. She doesn't feel sorry for the one that died, he had tried to kill them an all, her worries are more for them, the ones with her.
Magpie gives the two big orcs a look. Her parents weren't orc, just half orcs like her, but still took the prejudices that their orc blood brought them. Truly she had no ideas if all the stories were true.
As they start to move along, Magpie notices the one of the steel giants lagging behind, and then kicks herself from no noticing the massive wounds he's sporting. "You could ask for help, really you could."
Then her cities allotment of being able to help like this today is spent. So shopping...
and then two for Kali
Kali returns to the group after shopping for a new bow. When Mags heals her, she breathes out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Mags, that is so much better." Looking down from atop Falcor she adds "I appreciate you looking out after me. I have your back out there."
"Thanks for getting Krovax to stop," Vera tells Kali, as the remaining prisoners are spared. "He seems really lost, but you're able to get through to him, sometimes."
As they continue their wanderings. Vera tries starting up a conversation with Shi, probably the most approachable person left besides Mags. "So I get the sense you're from very far away. What brings you all the way to Korvosa, of all places?"
Finally, as they arrive at the tavern, Vera peers inside longingly. "Finally! I'm starving, let's go!" She heads straight in to find a table that can seat the lot of them.
When they get an opportunity to purchase items Shi luckily finds a blade similar to her own that had been gathering dust in a shop, this one however was of much better quality. She looked for some replacement armor and while no one had any in the style of her homeland, she found a breastplate that was particularly well crafted.
After upgrading her weapon and armor she was ready to continue on with her new companions. When Vera came over to talk she smiled "Oh, I.. uh... it wasn't really my choice. I mean, someone brought me here. They rescued me and I had nothing else left so I came here with them."
"One. No one travels alone..."
Marcus snorts. He didn't seem particularly interested in accepting orders from the addict who got high off their loot and ditched them at the first opportunity.
"You don't seem all that interested in just helping out, but you were invaluable in the fight with Lamm. If you don't have something better to do, why don't you join us? You'll get an even split of the loot and, like I said, I bet returning that brooch will bring in some gold. Plus, you'll have some allies if you ever need any help with anything."
Marcus listens quietly, nodding at the end. "The city is a f%$#ing mess right now and I'd rather have some fighters at my back. Even less reliable than I'd like, better than being on my own. I'm with you, for now." He nods to her plan, letting her arrange things. Shi Ni has seemed pretty competent thus far.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Marcus nods to Magda, shaking his head almost as if he were drunk. "Eh? Yea...yeah, right." It looks like he is on the verge of collapse, having to fight to stay conscious.
After the healing he looks much better. He flexes his wounds, frowning at them. Huh, different healing magic. Weird. He shrugs it off, not really caring but just being a little curious.
"Someone just brought you here?" responds Vera to Shi. "Like you were someone's slave or something? I'm glad you were rescued, then. Seems like a whole bunch of us got ourselves out of unfortunate situations."
* * *
At the tavern, Vera plops herself at a table, and starts ordering anything and everything she can imagine. Bread, cheese, stew, meat, fish, wine, ale. As the server seems to question whether a little girl had any business ordering so much stuff, Vera pulls out a few gold coin and sets it on the table. "We're celebrating! It's a special occasion."
As she waits for the food, she shuffles the harrow deck she obtained from Gaedren and draws three cards.
The Sickness.
The Rakshasa.
The Uprising.
"Hm . . . these are troubling cards for Korvosa. The Sickness points to corruption, famine, plague, pestilence, and disease. An infestation at the heart of the city. The Rakshasa speaks of plots to achieve domination, control, and slavery. And the uprising--a rebellion perhaps driven by more powerful forces. Ugh. Do you think the rioters who call the Queen a usurper are correct? The signs are unusually strong."
Krovax grunts dismissively at the girl using the witches deck. He eats in silence, seemingly deep in thought. He eventually gets up and says to the others, ”So. Have we decided what to do with the item we found?”
Shi lets out a brief laugh "Oh, no, no he saved me. Everyone else I knew was dead. I had nothing left in my homeland. He offered for me to come back with him so I did."
***
When they arrived at the tavern Shi made sure to pull her cloak over her and cover her face as best she could. She made the rounds doing her best to gather any information about the current state of the city and anywhere they could potentially help out and more importantly what exactly happened with the king and queen.
Kali heads to the bar area and decides to do some questioning of her own, however, Kali is not a people person.
She marches up to people atop Falcor and uses her position in the military to gather information, all diplomatic like such as holding her bow in her hands while shouting "Tell me what you know about the King!" or letting Falcor get close to eating their face while she says "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE QUEEN!"
Magpie goes into the bar, because she's rarely been allowed in such a place, well not the ones without fungus growing on the walls, and all the people are drugged out zombies. She slides into a chair looking around like a tourist. "not one rat" she whistles softly.
As the giant's eyes move across them all, she realizes he's waiting for someone to answer "Sell it? Or tying to give it back... well that is impossible. She's the queen and we're..." she doesn't really have a word for what they were but she shrugs. "I don't know." she admits "But..." turning to Vera she asks "... what about that fancy dagger? Can you do the same 'viewing' on it? Just to have as much information as possible."
In any lulls of her speaking and needing to listen to her own band of oddities, she'll listen to the words of those around her, and if anything sounds along the lines of what there looking for, she'll ask about it like a dump but impressionable child.
The bouncers let everyone in, though the outside one laugh when Kaliyah tries to bring her hippogriff into the tavern. "You're joking, right, marine? Tie him up, over there. We'll give him some food while you eat." The others are allowed in, no fuss.
The orc inside nods at Magda, "stay safe, little one."
The Shoreline Drinkhall is set with long, orderly tables. The patrons are military men and women, from marines, to the guard, to a few stern-looking hellknights quietly drinking in the corner, longshoreman, and a handful of sailors.
It is, remarkably, safe, with quiet conversations and the clink of glasses. The waiters and waitresses deliver food with a pleasant smile, but there is something of a pall over the drinkhall. Many of these people look exhausted, and they are taking in the order and safety of a night out and quiet conversations among friends and colleagues.
You take one of the empty tables on the side, and order food and drink. The waitress nods, and raises her eyebrows when the teenage girls order drinks. She brings everything out in a few trips, dropping the last part off for Magda and Vera separately, with the food looking a little more presentable than with the others.
As for the cheese, it is good quality, hard and tasty, but with more rind than you might like. The stew is servicable and consists mostly of root vegetables, with little meat. The bread is a bit stale, but works well with the stew. And the beer is good, but a simple wheat beer without a complex flavor profile.
People speak quietly at nearby tables, not looking at you as you eat, and keeping to themselves.
----------------------
Shi attempts to strike up a conversation with eclectic group of sailors, diverse in type and countenance. They happen to be from Tian Xia, and are overjoyed to see one of their countrywomen. They carry on a lively conversation with her, and buy her a drink. There's a clever wayang, a wily looking Tengu, and a number of humans of different ethnicities. You spend a few hours speaking with them, and find the following rumor:
"“All sorts of unsavory groups are capitalizing on the unrest. Thieves, anarchists, wererats, and even cultists of the goddess of undeath are plotting against us in the shadows!” One of the other sailors nods "The sooner we leave, the better.
---------------------------------------------------
Kali spends even more time than Shi, carousing with some of the marines, who recognize her. They brush off her rude attempts at commiserating, and invite her to drink and share tales. Little is consequential for some time, until one of the grizzled older sergeants nods, at the mention of the King and Queen.
"King Eodred always did have a weakness for young women. Even after he married Ileosa, he continued to pursue idle dalliances with attractive artists, performers, and debutantes who visited the castle." One of the others responds, nodding "King Eodred kept up his secret affairs to the day he died. Ironic, in a sense, if what I’ve heard is true—that he was murdered in his sleep by one of his paramours!”
-----------------------
Magda, after a little while strikes up the conversation with the full-blooded orc bouncer, watching him as he works the crowd. It is an easy night, so he has time to relate to her his life growing up in the city, and how he used to be a thief, but turned over a new leaf when his boss asked him to hurt someone. He then got recruited to be a guard, and broke a rich kid's arm accidentally, and now is here. He doesn't seem bitter, oddly enough.
He does mention a few things of interest in the conversation, notably, “You know the Shoanti right? Long time thorns in the side of Korvosa? Well I saw some coming into the city a few days ago, but mark my words the Shoanti aren’t here to broker peace. They’re just sizing us up in preparation for war...” Later, in regards to the king that's being discussed a nearby table, he says "I heard that King Eodred didn’t die of old age—he was made
sick and thus murdered by someone he trusted! My money’s on the castle seneschal, Neolandus. Why else would he flee Korvosa after Eodred’s death?"
-----------------------------------------
Vera works the magic of the cards for some time, and at the end, feels a tingle as she reads the three that she drew. It is extremely strange.
Zellara speaks to you through your mind, [b]"I can feel the power you are harnessing, even from here. Did you find some other way to use the harrow? Well done daughter...[/ooc]
"Lovely tavern, maybe we can just stay here for the night?" Vera is seen stuffing herself with food and drink.
As Krovax asks what to do with the brooch, Vera is uncertain. "Does anyone know anyone who knows the Queen? I don't see how we just walk up to her and hand it back. In my vision, there was an armored lady by the Queen's side. Anyone know who that might be?"
"Oh, right, the dagger. Speaking of returning things. It's worth a shot." Vera takes the dagger and concentrates on what knowledge it might hold.
Marcus doesn't take part in the information gathering. Instead he sits himself at the bar, turned around and watching over the area closely.
Magda enjoys hanging out the bouncer, listening to all his stories. Reminded her of other times. Back at the table, Magda just shakes her head at knowing the queen, though she doesn't really think she was truly being asked.
You get the sense that people are tired, and appreciate the respite from the chaos outside. The bouncers are happy that folks aren’t getting rowdy. For the first time in days, there is a semblance of peace and calm. Even the drunks are just sleeping instead of becoming belligerent.
The dagger is the style of blade used by one of Korvosa’s most notorious killers, a person who slaughtered over 15 dozen victims between 4690 and 4697 before their killing spree mysteriously ended, the notorious "Key-Lock Killer." When growing up, for a time, the city was living in fear that the Key-Lock Killer would return.
Kali rejoins the others after carousing with the locals and gathering some information about the king. "So it sounds like he liked the ladies so much that someone used it against him to bring him down."
As the others begin discussing the gossip of the King and Queen, except for Vera who was uncertain, Krovax sighed in frustration and stood up, walking for the door out.
Shi joins the others after talking with the sailors from Tien Xia. She mentions to those gathered "Sounds like in addition to the normal crazies taking advantage of the chaos there may be wererats and some cult of 'the goddess of undeath' whoever that is. Sounds like we have our work cut out if we hope to return some normalcy to the city."
Vera gasps in surprise as she shares what she knows of the dagger.
"I see a dull glimpse of a shaggy-looking man walking through a darkened home, and smiling. Hair falls over his round face, and he is clean shaven. The man is wearing a smock and gloves, and he opens the door to a bedroom. In the bedroom, I see approach a sleeping woman and him raise this dagger up, plunging it into the woman’s torso before the vision goes dark."
Vera leaves her trance and returns to reality. "That was a very old vision, from a long time ago. Whoever owned this dagger did a very evil thing."
As she departs from her trance, she sees Krovax leaving the tavern. "Hey, Krovax, where are you going? We can't leave yet, there's so much food left!"
”I have a promise to keep. I will catch up with you at dawn at the inn,” he calls over his shoulder without waiting for a reply.
Kali shouts ”Hey! No going alone, dammit! Your breaking the first rule!”
She sighs and says ”Someone go with him please? He’s my family, I don’t want him to die.”
She really hopes someone else volunteers so she doesn’t need to go herself. She looks around the table and asks ”Anyone?”
Magda dashes out after the big man even as Kali speaks, after dumping a plate full of all sorts of goodies into her pouch for later.
"Hey wait!" she yells and then catches up to him because she's fast and he is weighed down with hundreds of pounds of steel "I... I know I'm not the most punchy, or scary, and I yell at you almost as much as you yell at your sister. But I agreed with you all when you insisted we shouldn't go about alone. So... I'll watch your back. Krovax." this being the first time she used his name. Gives him a toothy smile as well.
”I said you lot shouldn’t go out alone. Get back inside. Besides, I am going to one of the safest places in the city right now,” he replied. He then turned and looked her in the eye before motioning with his head back towards the tavern.
”Go.”
Magda narrowed her eyes at the bigger man, considered snapping back at him. But didn't she instead tried to find that word she heard people tell people who told people to do one thing then they did another "HippoKite" she called him and then went back into the tavern.
Kali watches the door, waiting to see if Mags would return. It's likely he sent her away. She'll probably appear in 3...2...1...0. Oh. I meant 5...4...3...2
When Magda walks through the door, Kali just shakes her head. She doesn't have to ask what happened, she knows what happened. "Unbelievable." she remarks to herself.
"Let's go then, I'm going to get Falcor." she says, heading outside to pick up her hippogrif.
Magda follows Krovax to the Citadel in secret. After some time and her sending a message inside, he eventually returns and walks straight past her, growling ”Come on.”
He walks back to the Inn in silence. Once there he tells the others ”I’ve managed to arrange a meeting to return this to the Queen in the morning.”
Magda just came back into the tavern to tell the others that she's going to be following the big guy, make sure he's not going get into any more trouble with them v=bit watching out for him. Then she dashes out and follows the lug.
Somehow he sees her, all that food made her lumpy slow it seems, but surprise beyond surprise, he didn't berate her none, allowed her to keep up with him and see the outside of the citadel.
And then made her wait for a forever and three. Outside, but with a couple of interesting guards who told her all sorts of great stories about squirrels being the true overlords of the city and something about wanting to play hide the oyster. She pretended to have no idea what in the flipping hells he was getting on about.
Finally, and she means FINALLY, Krovax comes out "So... what were you doing in there on the guard lady's cot?" she asks very not subtly as they head out to met up with the others again.
Everyone says goodbye to those at the Drinkhall, thanking the staff for their efficiency, reasonable service.
By about 10:00 pm, everyone leaves the Drinkhall and heads across the bridge to the closest inn of reasonable quality, the Creaky Hammock, located near the Citadel. Krovax and Magda also show up around this time.
”You know NOTHING of what you are talking about! And when I say for you to not meddle in my affairs, I mean just that! I allowed it this time to show you that there was nothing to concern yourself with. But clearly you’ve learned nothing. After that comment, if I EVER catch you sniffing around my business again, you will regret it. Do. You. Understand?”
A man she was starting to trust grabs her and slams her agains the wall. Making her relive her childhood all over in a matter of seconds. She hears little of what he has to say, just concentrates on the horror of his eyes, seeing the knives, fists, all of it...
And then she loses it.
Screaming "F@+@ you! F%&$ YOU! You are no better than Lamm throwing kids around cause you are upset, hurting people just because you WANT TO! I HOPED for You! That what the f&@%ing comment was about. HOPE you stupid bully!" she brings her legs up and slams them into him, breaking his hold and dropping her to her knees on the ground. "But don't worry I will NEVER do so again. Stay with your guard captain or f&$! off alone, I don't give a flipping s#+@."
Grabbing her stuff she heads off on her own, back to her own place for the night. Sewers are better than hanging out with him anywhere.
Krovax just glared at her as she storms off. His features slowly soften before he eventually turns and heads on his way.
She’s got spirit. Good. Maybe she will survive this madness.
Magda doesn’t actually return to the Creaky Hammock. Krovax is also gone.
The rest of you pay for the lodging at the creaky hammock. Decorated with a nautical theme, the Creaky Hammock tends to serve ships’ crews in port for a few days, but the service is good, and most of the party feels refreshed and happy, more or less, to go to sleep in a warm bed with guards at the door. Falcor is stabled and happy, and for a moment it seems the anarchy is a world away.
You sleep poorly, in a small room used for storing tools off of a storm sewer. Within the room, you stuff yourself behind some empty barrels, hoping to stay out of sight, as the door doesn't lock. You stuff a few barrels with tools, and brace the door as best as you can. The night is seemingly uneventful, but the next morning, you see the signs of a humanoid in the muck just outside the door, and that they had attempted to get in, with strain evident on the brace.
They very, very nearly succeded.
You find your old haunt, undisturbed. An abandoned section of the tunnels, not visible easily if you don't already know about it, accessible only by climbing up and over a ledge, your old trinkets and mementos are still there, tucked in the void where loose bricks were removed.
The next morning, you all wake up bright and early, seemingly no worse the wear. The owner and proprietor of the Creaky Hammock is an old salty sailor woman, who's up at the crack of dawn with hot, buttered and honeyed porridge, dark coffee, and delicious eggs, spiced with red pepper flakes. The party eats their fill, and pays they gather in the common room, wondering what happened to their possibly erstwhile companions.
At about 8:00 am, Magda shows up, looking a bit tired, but not especially worse for wear. A few minutes later, Krovax also arrives,
wearing newer clothes, and scrubbed clean.
Krovax walks in and heads to the table the others are gathered at. He doesn’t sit, but says ”I have managed to make arrangements for us to return the brooch to the Queen. You should all make yourselves as presentable as you desire for such an audience. We should be heading to the castle soon. Given the situation within the city, I’m certain a bit of leeway will be given to any lapse in decorum we express.”
Magda slips in, smelling a bit ripe "Just found a nook to get away a bit, that's all" she'll answer to questions of where she was. She's eating heartily, eyes widening in delicious glee at the eggs, having never experienced anything remotely that good.
Krovax comes in and makes his announcement, startling her more with his words than his presence. "The Queen... why in the ---?!?" she really doesn't have the words to respond, even remotely to understand why she would involved in meeting the queen. But she stops, cocking her head to listen to something unheard. After a second she swears her favorite word "balls" softly.
"I need a bath then. And a place to put my things." Magpie carries every thing on intrinsic value on her back. So she'll go hand find the inn keep, and pay what she needs to for a room and a bath.
Kali had a restful night which was surprising to her given everything that was going on. Maybe it was the fact that Lamm was gone, but she didn't truly believe that. Even with him gone she was still stuck with so much loss attributed to the foul man. With the city in chaos, it's apparent there are a lot of foul men out there. She took an oath to protect the city and really that's all she has left. That and Falcor.
In the morning she gets up early to get some food for Falcor and spend some time with himbefore heading out of the stables back inside to get a meal and a bath herself. When Magda mentions bathing, she accompies the half-orc.
While walking together she asks "So where did you and Krovax go yesterday after you left?"
"That guard place we went to earlier. The citadel... made me wait outside so I don't know what he did." Magda responded, an angry weight in her voice at the part of the memory she left out. Baths for the Lambs were always a group thing, so once in , she starts stripping her armor and many layers of clothes without comment.
Kali had been forced overcome her anxeity of group bathing when getting indoctrinated with the marines, so doesn't mind the situation either. As she sets all of her armor aside and grabs a bar of sope, asking Mags to get her back for her.
"He's an a@%@!*~, but he's still family and I don't want him to die. Likely he would be jumped and overwhelmed and his ego would not allow him to survive in numbers."
Turning the good side of her face to the half-orc, she offers a half-smile "Well thank you for accompanying him, I appreciate it even though he would never say that. "
Magda accepts the soap and works on the other woman's back. The burns on her do not phase her, the litany of small scars on the girls says she's used to them.
She gives a brief smile, but doesn't answer, instead changes the subject "Why are WE meeting with the queen? Us?!? You, maybe the steel meat sacks, Vera could charm an ant but Me, these makes no sense."
Kali shrugs "Why anything? I don't know. I guess Vera wanted to get this brooch back, maybe? Oh. You mean why are you coming along? I guess we're sticking together, right? It's not like you're going in by yourself. We can use your eyes and ears there, Magda. You move quickly and quietly, with a knack for spotting trouble and things. If I were to have anyone by my side, it's you."