Kaliyah was tormenting herself with guilt when Krovax spews this vengeful, fanatical approach to torturing him. She pulls her hands away from her face and looks up at him with a confused and perplexed look on her face. She stares at him and for the first time sees someone other than the man she has grown up knowing this last decade. Growing up with him always around, he was like a loving older brother to her. Always there when she needed him and a generally happy spirit.
Krovax has been around as a friend of the family for so long before he married her sister that she feels like she knows him better than most do, but this? Who is this? What is this venom inside of him?. It’s almost as if the pain of Vanora’s death has eaten away at his soul. Can that happens?. While this moment of pain helped pivot Kali’s life in the right direction, it appears to have to have had the opposite effect on him. She grows concerned for his well being, but now is not the right time to discuss such things.
”What? What are you taking about?” she finally says, unable to figure out why he wants so much pain. ”There’s no need for all of that, he just needs to be gone.”
Lowering her voice again she adds [b]”I’m going to put an arrow in each of his eyes. I practice every day.“[/b
Kali stares up at Krovax, confused. "What? What are you talking about? What is all this torturing nonsense? He just needs to die Krovax, no need to get wicked in the process."
Kaliyah had grown up with this man for the last decade. He had been around long before he married Vanora in courtship and friendship and he was essentially her older brother. Krovax had always been there for her to catch her when she fell, even though she never asked for it. Well at least not initially...
He had always been positive and looking how to clean up this city and improve things around here, not torturing bad men. This venom he spews, it must be due to his loss and how he is handling it.
Taking her hands away from her face she stares up at the large man. "Every day I practice putting an arrow through his eyes. I'm going to shoot him down for what he's done to us."
Turning away she says flatly, "I just want him dead."
Krovax picks Kali up and shoves her against the wall in a surprising display of aggression! He holds her there, her feet dangling a bit beneath her as he glares at her intensely, a hate burning in his eyes she has never seen before.
”No!” he growls through gnashed teeth. ”He is mine and no one else’s! He will PAY for what he has done! He doesn’t get to have a swift death! Not after what he has taken from me! Not after everything else he has apparently done!”
Kali’s eyes widen and she nearly loses her bladder. She doesn’t struggle, she’s too stunned and afraid of this man in front of her. Her body starts to tremble with fear as she sudden is reminded of her rib injuries from earlier, pain lancing through her body. The tears she fought back moments of go from guilt now spill from her eyes in fear.
Groaning in pain she whimpers ”You’re hurting me.” as she closes her eyes and prepares to be hit or beaten again. This isn’t the first time she’s been beaten mind you, she’s done some shady s~&+ to score a hit in the past. Not to mention all of the dirty things Gaedran made her do.
”I deserve iit, get it over please. I can take it.” she whimpers as the tears spill from her eyes.
When the two apparent step-siblings began to talk Asoka went to work getting ready. She eyes the locked and still closed chest and then briefly shook her head to herself. She retrieved the bag of healing supplies and placed it back in the chest from where it came. Collecting the booze and glasses and doing the same.
Walking over to the chair with her bag in it she places her harrow card inside and shuffles through it for a moment when she hears the commotion behind her as Krovax pins Kaliyah to a wall. She stares at the two a moment deciding the best course of action seeing Kaliyah accepting her fate and Krovax harboring such rage. Not moving to get involved instead she notes "It is getting late, we should leave. It seems we all have a meeting to go to and you two arguing about how you are going to murder someone isn't going to make much difference if we miss the meeting and don't get any information..."
Making a concentrated effort to draw their attention away from one another she 'accidentally' knocks over the chair as she pulls her bag up and tosses it over her shoulder, the promptly moves to sit it upright again.
Krovax evens his breathing and nods to their host. He lets Kali down gently and says, his body trembling with hate, ”I’ll have no desire to hurt you, Little Bird. But,” he pauses as he looks to their host to include her in this statement, ”If you want Gaedren to pay for whatever wrongs he has done to you, I assure you, leaving his fate to me will see that penance paid and then some. But deprive me of my vengeance...”
He doesn’t add anything further, his point made. He raises the hood of his cloak over his head and helps Kali into her own armor before following their host to this clandestine meeting...
Truth be told, Kaliyah wasn’t listening to a word that Asoka was saying. She closed her eyes and zoned everything else out, preparing to be punched in the face. When the pain doesn’t come and she hears a chair fall over, she opens her eyes just as Krovax lowers her to the ground. Wiping away the tears she spilled earlier, she straightens up and nods to what he says. As she stares up at him, it’s quite apparent that she is absolutely terrified of him, a trembling lower lip giving away her feigned attempt at bravado.
When he doesn’t hurt at all and then goes to help her put her armor on, she is very confused. This is a dream. I fell asleep in the barracks after my shift. This cannot actually be happening. Can it?
Moving in slow motion, she follows Asoka and Krovax as they leave the secret hideout and set off on their way towards their destination. It takes her at least ten minutes to clear her mind enough to speak, finally breaking the awkward silence between the three of them. Looking at Asoka she speaks up ”So, Asoka, right? It’s Asoka? What is it Gaedren has done to you, if I may ask. Why are you seeking him out?”
Seeing the situation diffused she goes to unlock the door and lead the others out. After they pass she closes and locks the door then walks ahead to lead them on. She takes them back almost a completely different way then they came.
Eventually when Kali speaks up she shrugs. ”Like I said I don’t know the man, I don’t know if he has done anything or just knows something important. My hope for this meeting is to find out where he does fit in...”
She pauses for a long while then finally adds ”My fiancé... he is gone... some how Gaedren is linked to it...”
”Oh.” she says sadly. ”I’m sorry to hear that. How long has he been missing? Have you reported him to the Guard and Marines? Tomorrow I can try to requisition some time for a flyover an area you think he might be in?”
It suddenly occurs to her that her fiancé is likely already dead.
Whoops. Ok, that’s awkward. Change the subject Kali.
Kali thinks that it is odd that she doesn’t know Gaedren but she’s looking for him. Tugging the cloak tighter to the left side of her face and holding it over the burned area while she talks, she says ”You don’t even know him? Gaedran, that is. He’s despicable! A complete low life. A user of people. A manipulator of the weak. I’m sorry you’re mixed up in all of this.”
Turning away from Krovax so that she could clearly speak directly to Asoka she whispers ”He deserves to die.”
Asoka stops and gives the woman a questioning look and just shakes her her head as she goes on about reporting her fiance missing, which helps to drive the point home that Kali eventually realizes. After an awkward pause she continues on her way and nods to Kali's words "I've gathered as much both about the man and your desire to see him dead. If he was indeed involved in K..." she hesitates and adjusts "my fiances death, then I have no qualms in working to see him pay for his crime. It sounds like Korvosa would be better off without him either way."
Kali refrains from rolling her eyes. Why does everyone want to question and torture him? It'd be so much easier to just kill him and be done with it!
Kicking a stone down the cobblestone path as they walk, Kali lets the conversation die down for a few minutes. She speaks again, filling the silence with nervous chatter. "So. What is it you do around town Asoka? How do you earn your coin?"
Asoka looks at Kali a moment and squints trying to decide whether the woman was digging or just carrying on polite conversation, finally deciding it was the later she replies "Luckily, my fiance left me with most of what I need to get by. However, I enjoy dancing and it helps to make ends meet..."
Catching Kali by surprise she verbalizes a "Hmm." before walking several more steps. Not wanting to talk about the dead fiancee and unsure how to respond to that she says "I don't know how to dance." she decides on.
Kicking the stone down the cobblestone path some more she asks "You dance for money? Is that somewhere around here? Can I come watch sometime?"
Asoka shurgs "Here and there. I can give you a personal performance sometime if you like, or maybe lessons?"
Kali isn't the sharpest kid around the city by any means, having spent her time honing other crafts. But when Asoka keeps talking around her questions and not answering them directly, she knows what's going on. It'd probably be the right thing to do to just ignore it, but that's not her style.
Looking over at Asoka she offers a weak smile "Yeah. Maybe." she says, her heart not into the response as her interest seems to wane.
Biting her lip she tries to figure out whether to speak up or shut up. "Hey look. I get it. Okay? I'm some burnt up girl you found dying on a floor in a s!*&hole pub that I didn't belong in. Thanks for saving my life, I owe you one. But, you don't owe me anything and if you don't like my questions, that's cool. You can tell me that you know, I'm not going to be offended by that. I'll just shut up about it. I didn't mean nothing by it. Just trying to be friendly is all."
Shoving her hands into her cloak, she pushes forward in front of Asoka and Krovax, walking ahead of them by herself.
Asoka glances over at Korvax when Kali huffs off ahead of them and then shrugs. As long as Korvax doesn't seem to take issue with their interaction Asoka will let it lie not really interested in sharing her life story with this relative stranger.
After a few minutes of silence though she thinks This woman doesn't like the silence, if we don't talk about something she is going to ask another question... so instead asks a question herself "I heard you and Korvax, right... talking earlier. You mentioned your burns just now, and he seemed to imply earlier it was Gaedran's fault. Is that why you are looking to murder him? I've noticed you make an effort to cover them, so I assume they are somewhat recent and you haven't learned to accept them as a part of who you are, so can only assume the connection..."
”It’s Krovax,” he corrects quietly. He doesn’t seem too interested in adding more, instead scanning their surroundings and watching for ambush.
Finding the place wasn't too hard. The city was always pretty good at nudging one where they really need to go. An annoying trait when said one wasn't really sure if this is the place one wants to be. But... sigh... one was there anyway.
Now what.
Wait. Of course... too early.
So find a shadowy corner and perch like one of those black birds waiting for an old timer to wheeze their last.
Magpie does a decent job of it, an alley across the way, in a nook with a pile of something not dead. The cat burrows into it a bit to be sure and nothing screams so probably.
Contented the half orc sets to watching to see... something?
Kaliyah did not expect Asoka to come back up and talk to her. She certainly did not expect her to march up and drill down into her soul like that. Visibly cringing, she pulls her cloak tighter around her face and tries to make herself smaller. Her voice trails off before she can even start her statement "I..."
Turning away from Asoka, she looks to the left and says quietly "Why does it matter that I want him dead?"
Asoka shrugs "I suppose it doesn't, especially if he is as bad as you say. Just save your eye gouging arrows until the rest of us get answers..."
Not long after they finally arrive at Lancet Street. She pauses and pulls the hood of her cloak over her head, letting the others walk ahead a bit. Now close to dusk, she moves toward the house looking for any signs of an ambush letting her 'friends' walk into it first if there was one.
She had planned to get to her safe house, change and come back to stake the place out, but as fate would have it she already ran into the 'others' mentioned in the note on the back. She just wanted to make sure there weren't other 'others' that might be drawing people into a trap.
.
Sitting in the cheese shop on Lancet Street, Vera tries to get a good view of anyone coming or going from the apartment. But she really can't see much at all from the table that was situated so far from the window. She really wanted to sit closer, but then her head would be right by the window, and someone else might notice her just sitting there, staring out awkwardly. Surely where she was sitting would be less obvious.
She sighs. It was getting hard to explain why she had been staying in this cheese shop for so long. But she had given the shopkeeper a very pleasant fortune, so he seemed content to let her play with her cards. She expends her nervous energy by performing parlor tricks, making a card disappear from one hand, then reappear in the other.
Note that the last vignette is unpleasant, it was a bit hard to write. Feel free to skip this if it might make you uncomfortable (it has an oblique reference to child abuse).
The little boy shivered as the wind blew up from the bay, his thin, loose clothes poorly insulating him from the winter wind. Korvosa was warm, for Varisia, but it could get chilly during the winter. He shivered and folded his arms in front of him, while the half-orc stood over him... giggling. The old man stood nearby, leaning on a cane. "Conrad, what are we to do with you. You're short, this week, again. You know that such a thing cannot stand. You remember what happened to Ellen, last month?" He smiled, with feigned sweetness, though his cloudy eyes betrayed his hard heart.
Conrad looked down, as tears silently started to fall from his eyes, "papa, there was some festival, the corner was deserted. And I couldn't go to the festival - the Rat's Nest pushed us out, they said I was on their turf." He looked up plaintively at the old man, who had ambled up and was looking down sympathetically. He pat the boy on the head, and removed a wrapped sweet from his filthy vest pocket, handing it to the boy and saying, "I know, we can fix this, and we will, Conrad. This is for you. Don't say that papa never gave you anything, heh, heh" he cackled briefly and ruffled the boy's hair again, and turned and limped towards his office. Before entering, he turned to the half-orc, and nodded curtly, paused, sighed, and then entered the office.
The big half-orc looked down at the sniffling Conrad, who was distracted, and had started eating his candy, and drew his morningstar, aiming low at the kid's legs. Almost overcome with laughter, he steadied his weaponarm and drew back...
Vignette 5/5
In response to how bad Gaedran is, she shakes her head. [smaller]"I know you don't know me and my word has no weight with you, but hear me on this one thing if nothing else. He is a bad man and this city deserves better than him. I will remove him given the opportunity, consequences be damned."
"I'm willing to let you all question him, fine. Torture him of you must, but don't you dare let him get away from us. I've worked too hard for this opportunity and I do not intend to let him breathe a moment longer than he must. If he looks like he might escape or get away, I'll place an arrow in the back of his head without flinching."
When they arrive at their destination, Kaliyah doesn't mind going first. She looks around for signs of trouble, hoping to find Gaedran tied up on a bench or something.
A drop of rain hits the card, quickly sucked in by the dry material, bloating and distorting the face of the man wielding a hammer.
Another mystery note. Marcus stows away the card in a pocket, sheltered from the spattering of rain. He looks up, frowning at the scattered clouds, as if his displeasure alone could return the sun. Around him there is the vague buzz of activity that always accompanies the slums of Korvosa, and although an occasional drifter eyes him greedily, it does not take long for their look to shift towards caution as they slipped off into the grey streets.
His gauntleted fingers tap on his left bicep as he folds his arms, the quick succession of metal taps dully echoing down the alley he stands at the mouth of. But not one from the same person. An introduction, unsigned in case of interception. A cautious, potential ally. His hand stops, his frown deepening into a scowl. Or someone that wants to come off as that, in order to lure me into a trap. Gaedren Lamm... He clenches his fist, making his armor groan in protest. The only thing Marcus knows is that he is a dangerous criminal, and this may be his way of typing up loose ends.
A soft, amused exhale escapes from Marcus's nostrils; the closest his weather-worn face ever gets to smiling. Marcus was not a frayed rope. He was a bar of iron. He would not so easily be snipped.
Decision made, he turns down the alley, heavy armored steps making the rats of the city skitter away and fall into silence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun is beginning to dip below the horizon, the light level already going fast as the building block the rays of light on Lancet Street. Another seemingly quiet night, but 3 Lancet Street would be eventful soon enough.
Heavy, armored footsteps are heard coming towards the building. A tall, broad figure is the source of them. A wall of a man, wearing grey scale mail and dark brown leathers, striding purposely forward towards 3 Lancet Street. He has a rhythmic clinking of metal as he walks, and the source is obvious; the man is positively bristling with weapons. A large, flat greatsword rests on his upper back, hilt rising behind his head. A morningstar on his left hip, a crossbow on his right, daggers in hilts attached to the left side of his chest and on the outside of each thigh, and half a dozen large circular throwing blades hanging in an overlapping fashion on the small of his back.
As he gets closer his face comes into view as the lights from street illuminate him. He has close-cropped brown hair and hard brown eyes, and frown lines that look like they've been chiseled out of stone onto a weathered face. Faint scars cross over his exposed skin, most notably a large one crossing above his left eye. Underneath that all he is still a fairly young man, but his face looks like one that would be worn by an old veteran.
The man crosses his arms, standing openly in the light and slowly sweeping the street, heavy frown meeting every angle from the front of the building. Unlike many men of his size, his movements are slow and deliberate, well oiled and practiced to move in ways to not disturb the arsenal attached to him.
Asoka stands outside 3 Lancet Street and watches as Kali heads inside. Seeing the well armored and armed man come down the street moving in their direction she gives him a questioning look but doesn't move from her spot. Instead she just leans against the wall and watches seeing if he plans to approach the house or is merely passing by.
That is a LOT of well-armed folks, thinks Vera, as she watches the Sable Company soldier enter, while two heavily armored men and another woman stand outside. Too well armed to be common robbers. Probably the type who could protect you if this is some clever trap, right?
A small young Varisian girl, barely a teenager, leaves a nearby cheese shop and begins to approach 3 Lancet Street. She wears a vibrant green dress and seems to be bouncing with excitement. As the watchful woman notices her, Vera smiles, waves, and makes her introduction.
"Hi, were you summoned here too? It's not every day that people start gathering around an old abandoned home. I'm Vera, by the way. Fortune-teller extraordinaire!"
Krovax towards the newcomers, his hand falling to his sword, but not making any move to draw it just yet. He just studies them cautiously for now for any signs they pose a threat...
The large man locks gazes with the woman leaning against the wall for a moment. Then his gaze moves on as he continues scanning, eyes stopping to examine each person as they approach. Finally, they come to rest on the other heavily armed person of the group.
He locks gazes with the man for a moment. They share a moment, the one that only seasoned fighters share, of those who live on the edge of a blade, planning the the most efficient way to kill each other at the drop of a pin should the need arise, all while staring blankly with a relaxed posture.
The large man's gaze finally breaks away and he approaches the house. He slowly reaches into his pocket, taking out the tarot card and holding it up. "I received this message. Which one of you sent it?" His voice is gravely and rough, and he levels a heavy frown at the increasingly eclectic group that is gathering.
While not initially aware of those that had fallen in behind her, the chatter among them catches her attention. Though she had expected to find Gaedran, it doesn't surprise her at all when it's not him at all that they find. She is quite surprise when Marcus holds up another card however.
Walking back to the group she asks Vera "Forture teller? It was you who sent us these cards then? Explain yourself."
Looking at Krovax with his hand on his sword, she sense trouble. Pulling an arrow out of her quiver, she nocks it and readies to fire at a target when it presents itself. She asks flatly "Where is Gaedran?"
Vera recoils as the armored man's hand goes to his sword, and the ranger pulls out her bow.
"Woah, woah, not me. Not me!" Vera pulls out her own card, The Joke, signed by the same mysterious hand. "Just another girl who got one of these messages about Gaedren." She tries to look as innocent and disarming as possible. Her eyes flit to the sides, as she evaluates possible escape paths at this introduction gone wrong.
Marcus folds his arms, not seeming very concerned about the drawn and nearly-drawn weapons. More than one mystery note, to unrelated people. Too many people at once for it to be a trap. He looks to the house. After a moment of consideration, he exhales sharply and strides towards the door. He stops at the door, then raises a mailed fist and knocks, loudly.
3 Lancet Street is a run-down, two-story townhouse (approximately 20’ wide), with a short stair leading to a first floor elevated above the street and, another short stair leading to the basement below the street (for a total of three visible stories), typical of other buildings on the block and in the neighborhood. It appears to have once had a business of some type in the basement, though any identifying sign appears to be missing from a pair of chains which once hung from a carved oaken signpost that still extends a short distance from the building. The other residences on the block appear to have been built with similar purposes, with many of the nearby basements appear to be lodgings for students and artists, boarding houses for traveling merchants, or rental spaces for general purpose (such as art studios). Some have no obvious markings, so you suspect they are simply apartments, or are in continuous use by the owner.
Most windows are dark at the moment, with no sign of movement betraying the presence of any other creature, other than the basement. The soft yellow glow of fine tallow lanterns is clear through the broad window, though they are obscured somewhat by the opaque linen curtains drawn in such a way as to block visibility.
Marcus finds the door yields easily under the pressure of his knock, and swings inward.
The interior of this small, humble floor consists of a single cozy chamber filled with a fragrant haze of flowers and strong spice, and a small door near the far wall. The aroma comes from several sticks of incense smoldering in wall-mounted burners that look like butterfly-winged elves, with lanterns hanging nearby for light. The smoke gives the room a dreamy feel. The walls are draped with brocaded tapestries, one showing a black-skulled beast juggling human hearts, and another showing a pair of angels dancing atop a snow-blasted mountain. A third tapestry on the far wall depicts a tall, hooded figure shrouded in mist, holding a flaming sword in a skeletal hand. Several brightly colored rugs cover the floor, but the room’s only furnishings are a wooden table covered by a bright red throw cloth and several elegant, tall-backed chairs. A basket covered by blue cloth sits under the table.
Marcus groans unhappily under his breath, eyes scanning over the macabre interior. An invitation to a home was sent out, for this? Either something is wrong, or somebody has an intense flair for the dramatic. He flares his nostrils. I really hope something is wrong.
Marcus scans the doorstep and the immediate interior for any sign of something that may be dangerous to him, before stepping in.
Marcus steps inside, completely ignoring if the others are following him or continuing to argue among themselves outside. He takes another scan of the room now that he's inside and has a better angle. Then he sucks in air through his nostrils and raises his voice. "Hey! I received your card, show yourself!"
He waits a few moments to see if something happens, or if somebody reveals themselves. If nothing happens, he starts slowly walking towards where the light was creeping through the broad window.
Kali is not going to miss an opportunity to bury an arrow in Gaedran before the others can let him escape. She quickly moves behind whoever this other man is, weapon held low but ready.
When she gets inside she spins around and looks for signs of trouble before continuing onward. For the benefit of those that have not entered yet, she says quietly "I don't see anyone in here."
There is no response, but a cursory sweep of the room allows you to see a small, folded piece of paper on the table.
Marcus sees that the curtains are old, and block the view to outside as effectively as they blocked the view to the interior of the room, having been pinned to the edges and interior windowsill.
"There's a note." she says as she moves to the note and opens it up quickly, scanning the contents. Her brow wrinkles as she frowns as she reads it and when she finishes she shoves it into her pocket.
The pale-skinned woman in standard Sable Company marine attire hides her face behind a hooded cloak, pulling it a little tighter around her face as she turns to face the others. "The person that gave us the cards isn't here. They want us to wait and eat and drink stuff from the basket under the table while we wait."
She looks around and says "I'm not eating anything until I know what is going on here. Gaedran could have written that and lured us all here for we know. This could be a trap."
She looks around nervously and moves to place her back against a wall where she can't be flanked.
"So you were right, so what." Magpie whispers to no one as the sticky mermaid people arrive. Two others to boot. Too armored, too loud, and too suspicious of each other to be a group before this little meeting. So no trap from at least people.
"What's the worse that can happen..." her mind fills in all the worst without being really asked to, and they are pretty worst... but the cat is already moving.
A tawny alley cat comes strutting through the people and into the open door, followed closely by a teenager with a mop of black hair pulled back with a red scarf. Carrying a long spear, whip on her hip, and dagger on the other, with a pack full of odds and ends.
She gives a toothy smile showing the most obvious signs of her mixed heritage (certain teeth being small for an orc but not so much for a human) besides her big nose that is. "Hi all!" as brightly as a nervous young woman can surrounded by way too armed people.
"Oi, wait!" she says as weapons might swing her way, "I've been summoned by the great unknown missing person who lives here too." fishing out her own harrow card as quick as can be and showing it.
As Vera sees a cat followed by another young girl suddenly appear and walk into the home, she feels surprisingly reassured. Someone who was NOT armed to the teeth and ready to kill whoever had invited them here. With the confidence that she was not the only young girl, Vera enters the home, and immediately smells the aroma of incense and the energy of the colorful and otherworldly tapestries. The place felt intimately familiar.
When she sees the armored man tromping about, the ranger still with her bow out, and the half-orc trying desperately to be friendly, she knows she has to intervene. "Please, calm down! Some nice man or woman has invited us to their home. Where I come from, that means you should take off your shoes, sit down, and be respectful." To make her point, she takes off her shoes, pulls out a chair at the table and sits on it. She takes out the card that summoned her here and starts twirling it around her fingers quite adeptly.
Magda looks at her shoes, "We need to...? oh okay." sitting, unlacing, and pulling off her heavy boots. Looking up female sticky with a bow, "You said food? Oh there?" moving in holy socks she moves to the basket.
”I’d rather our mystery host be as prompt as they expected us. I could be doing real work...” Krovax says as he moves through the room, checking behind the tapestries.
Asoka just stands and watches as the mottle group of strangers assembles and enters the home. She doesn't know what exactly is going on, but something seems off about this whole thing. She hears the others talking from outside and looks both ways down the street making sure no one else in particular is watching before she enters, the last one in, and closes the door behind them.
Pulling back the hood of her cloak to reveal her auburn hair, she finds a place in the corner of the room near the front door where she can keep an eye on the others and the door set in the far wall.
Retrieving the food from the basket, Magda samples a bit of the bread and judges that it is a bit stale but well-made, and the wine inside is not fine, but much better than what she is used to.
The door creaks open again after a few minutes of silence, and an attractive middle-aged Varisian woman with long, dark hair enters the small room. She smiles at the assembled people and sits at the table, drawing from a fold in her loose clothes, a fine-looking harrow deck, placing said deck in front of her on the table. She smiles again, and gestures towards the six chairs, her eyes sweeping over each party member in turn. With a soft, but clear voice, she says "Please, sit, we have much to discuss." She pauses, and then adds, "It concerns Gaedren Lamm."
You get the impression that the woman's eyes linger on Vera slightly longer than anyone else.
”There shouldn’t be much to discuss at all. Did he have something to do with the murder of my wife, or does he know who did? And if so, where is he?” Krovax asks, taking a step towards the woman.
Asoka maintains her position as Korvax is the first to initiate with the woman. From behind him she adds to his questions "Also, how did you know to reach out to us each and more importantly, how did you manage to slip us your little cards?"
The woman watches as Krovax steps forward, and gestures for him softly to sit in one of the seats, ”Please, Krovax.” She watches him knowingly for a moment, then slides her gaze to Asoka, ”Asoka” and makes the same gesture. She folds her hands and waits.
Krovax looks at Kali and Asoka before groaning in frustration and taking a seat. ”I’ve no time for idle prattle...”
Asoka shakes her head and eventually comes to take a seat next to Krovax, figuring if this is some sort of trick he is the best one to be close to.
Kali watches the middle-aged woman enter the room and command everyone's attention. She watches as Krovax takes a seat at the table. Kali says "Look lady. I'm sure you have a real fancy speak prepared that is going to eventually lead us to Gaedran, right? Well if we can just cut to the end where you tell us where he is then I can go make everyone here happy."
When Krovax and Asoka both look at her knowing what her intentions are, she slumps her shoulders and pulls her hooded cloak a little tighter and murmurs "Well, make most people happy."