"there's snot on her book, his nose exploded in it when it hit, should we tell her? No, you're right, she'd frown at that..." Magda mutters to herself, looking a bit taunt at the sudden display of violence.
The half orc stays standing, in the back, but pokes her head over a shoulder "The queen said to help." the word queen bringing back the image of warm beauty that is flummoxing her mind somewhat "So we need to ask you that, yes?"
Marcus shares the disgust against Verik. It doesn't matter that he didn't intend for things to go this bad, he made a choice to be a deserter and his own incompetence and cowardice was to blame.
Marcus snatches the coin out of the air, taking a brief glance before distributing it to the different party members. He nods in agreement with Krovax, but waits to see how she responds to Magda's question.
Kaliyah listens quietly as judgment is handed out to the deserter. She too thinks that the Field Marshall is being lenient, but doesn't add her two bits to the conversation.
With the situation of Verik and the others handled, Kaliyah asks "What's next, Field Marshall? Where are we needed?" When it's over, she salutes and exits as she follows the others out.
Shi winces a bit as the book crunches Verrik's nose. Not for the fact that she felt bad for the man, but just that it looked like it really hurt. As the others ask what they need to do Shi interjects "Maybe we should look into this Arkona woman? I mean, something seems fishy there to me..." She shrugs and then looks to Cressida "Of course, unless you have something more pressing for us?"
"Can we? She's a noble like person, right? Can't she just have us killed for talking to her?" beatings had beat into her to stay away from them. Might be money but brought crap loads of trouble.
Kaliyah frowns. "Killed for talking to her? That's just nonsense."
Is it though? Can she? she thinks, folding her hands in front of her.
The nobility in Korvosa, even the king or queen, are supposed to follow the laws, on penalty of the appropriate punishment. There is no law against talking to people or walking around on the city street, but there are laws against trespassing and the like. That said, it is almost certainly the case that amoral wealthy people (nobility or otherwise, and nobility tend to be wealthy) can use money to make problems go away, and there simply is not enough law enforcement for a city of this size to catch every crime. In addition, with magic, it can be even easier to hide crimes, as one can make bodies actually disappear.
For reference, House Arkona is the second-wealthiest House in Korvosa.
Field Marshall Kroft says, ”an interesting idea Shi. But I caution you to be discreet. Futher, any investigation you do cannot was sanctioned by the guard - it will be extra curricular, as it were. I’ll speak plainly - we cannot afford, in a literal sense, to lose the financial support from the Arkonas. If you find something, let me know, but please understand that what you are investigating could be extremely dangerous.” Cressida Kroft looks at the books in front of her bitterly, ”if only we could extricate ourselves from this arrangement- but the guards have to eat. Perhaps this is something we can look into once the city is calmed?” She cocks her head as if thinking, ”yes, I’ll keep my own ears open - you aren’t my only resources of course, but until I can confirm more, keep this close, if you would.”
She straightens up. ”No, I have no other mission now - you are all free to do what you will, but stay together if you leave the citadel, there is still unrest. Check in each morning, and if I need you in a emergency I have ways to find you. I personally thank you all for your service. You are dismissed.” She nods curtly and goes back to her paperwork.
Marcus's lip curls in disgust when Field Marshall Kroft reveals their politically unstable position. Afraid to do their job because of funding. Whenever I think they might not be as bad, they prove me wrong.
"Field Marshall, if we were to find out critical information, am I correct to assume there would be a reward? Most likely a hefty one given the delicate nature of this matter?"
Kali rolls her eyes at Marcus's comment. Always with the coin, this one.
She raises her eyebrows at Marcus’ assertion. ”Yes, if we found evidence that this was part of a larger pattern, to nefarious ends, we could seize their assets and give you all a finder’s fee. But I caution you to be very careful.” She stares at Marcus’ grumpily lined face. ”Not for my safety, but for yours.”
Marcus nods, turning to leave. He wasn't adverse to doing some detective work for this incident, but definitely not as a favor to the guard.
Once they are dismissed and are aware from the Field Marshall, Kaliyah turns to Marcus and declares "You know there are more important things in life then coin, right? Like "doing the right thing" or "saving peoples lives". It shouldn't always just be about making your purse larger, Marcus."
"Spare me the sermon, junkie."
"I hope insulting me makes you feel like a bigger, stronger man." she replies quickly without thinking.
Kaliyah tries to not let his jab get to her, but it does cause her to stop walking for a brief second as it catches her off guard. She quickly shakes it off though and doubles her pace to catch back up and says "Yeah, okay. I have a problem, I'm not going to deny it. I don't think I've lied to anyone about it, but I'm not hiding under a crate getting high, am I? Hmm? she says, raising her eyebrows at the end.
"All I am saying is the rest of us aren't out here asking how much money we're going to make each time we do something we're supposed to be doing. Maybe you could too."
Marcus normally doesn't let bickering even have him change where he's looking, like it's all white noise that's irrelevant. But he stops and turns on her, face hard. He raises a hand, counting off.
"One: You stole drugs from me in the middle of the night, meaning you're willing to betray your allies for your addiction. That means getting high is more important than our trust."
"Two: When you're in this line of work you don't get to be 'off the clock'. You and your group could be attacked at any time, including when you're resting. That means getting high is more important than your own life or the lives of your comrades."
"Three: Drugs aren't cheap, and you're spending part of your cut on them instead of up-keeping your arms and equipment. That means getting high is more important than being at your most deadly even when you're sober, which also risks you and your comrades lives."
He lowers his hand. "I don't give a shit what f+#~ed-up vice you have. The only one who can judge you is whatever god you believe in. I care about my own skin, and junkies make unreliable teammates that can't be trusted, which puts me in danger."
"Every time I crash into the front lines I am putting my life and my trust into every ally behind me, which is why when we were fighting down in that water-soaked shithouse I kept fighting even when I knew I was going to go down."
"Anything else you need explained?"
Kali wants to explain that she was never given a choice about being offered the drugs and not only were they taken from here, but he nearly broke her wrist keeping them from her.
But she doesn't explain it or anything else to him. She lets herself be judged and criticized for all to hear without offering any defense or justification at all, even though she badly wants to. She stares up at him, cringing as he counts off problem after problem. After the third finger goes up she looks away, unable to meet his gaze any longer. When he finishes she answers him with complete silence, nothing to say.
She silently shakes her head no and turns away from him, falling behind everyone else to walk by herself.
When Marcus finishes his rant, Krovax steps over to him and says sternly ”That’s enough,” but makes no further interjection on Kali’s behalf.
Perhaps the pain of his words will make their mark. Maybe I should have been more forceful with her all those times before. Catharsis comes through pain.
Seeking to steer the conversation back to more focused matters, he adds ”We will not be able to simply tromp about their holdings. We will need to secure invitation, if we pursue this. But, I do not see the point in doing so. If their dealings were so transparent as to crumble after a brief search and investigation by mercenaries, they’d have been toppled and arrested years ago.”
"Oh great, we're yelling at people Again. Look I can count too. One you are an ass, two you are an ass, three you are an ass..." Magda the diplomat keeps mutter-counting for a bit in the back with Kali.
At the suggestion of getting an invitation she manages to stop, she was getting lost in the thirties anyway. "Princesses don't offer invitations to gutter half orcs, so I'm out... though the Queen did... " she frowns still fuddled a bit "unless they are doing that thing where they hunt people... i've heard of that, It's a thing." muttering again.
"If we got nothing else to do, and we're the Guard types, we should patrol, see if anything pops up we can make safe." she finally gets to a suggestion.
Marcus turns away, not seeming vindictive about the scathing points he made to Kaliyah. "Krovax speaks wisely. You should know that this kind of...subterfuge is not my specialty. I don't have the training or patience for it. But I have helped with similar missions, I'm usually brought along as a bodyguard and just keep my mouth shut."
Shi stays quiet at Kali and Marcus go back and forth. She frowns when Marcus scolds her so harshly but doesn't say anything as Magda already has it handled. When the conversation turns back to the more immediate matter Shi suggests "Well, I'm pretty good at talking to people and convincing them to see things my way, though I do stand out a bit in a crowd. It may be worth getting my friend Asoka involved instead in that regard."
She thinks a moment before continuing "Before any of that though, maybe we should spend some time canvasing for information. See if there isn't any useful information we can gather that would help our goals?"
"Then it seems we have a course of action. Everyone see what you can learn and meet back where we first met this time tomorrow. If you wish to travel in pairs for safety, I wouldn't say it would be a poor decision," Krovax adds before heading off into the city on his own.
"Mhmm, think I'll work on selling the extra equipment from the butchers. Speak now if you want something."
8 tanglefoot bags - 50gp each - 400gp
8 thunderstones - 30gp each - 240gp
3 longbows - 75gp each - 225gp
4 longswords - 15gp each - 60gp
2 mwk chainmail - 300gp each - 600gp
2 mwk studded leather - 175gp each - 350gp
240gp
1 light crossbow (Marcus selling his) - 35gp
Claimed by Marcus (will share the potions)
4 potions of cure light wounds - 50gp each - 200gp
1 longbow - 75gp
Oddly though she likes Marcus very little, the half-orc scavenger that would horde everything she could and defend it with tooth and knife, trusts the rusty can of metal to sell and divide up the spoils evenly.
She wonders at that and considers going with him but a whisper from the city says nice things about his particular ethics so she stops.
And she has no interest in following the other can anywhere without a dozen people between him and her.
So she turns to the remaining three. "So... all together or break up into twos? Or no groups and we wander about to get stabbed?"
When Kaliyah says don't go off by yourselves, Krovax disregards and does whatever he wants. When Krovax suggests pairing up, it's a good idea?
Kaliyah scoffs and rolls her eyes. "I'll go with Mags." she volunteers.
Shi looks to Mags and Kali and notes "Perhaps it is better if we stick together as Cressida noted? If the men are too stubborn to take her advice that is on them."
Magda gives a toothy grin, "Good! We can go about keeping people safe and find out what we can bout the noble person."
Marcus has pulled out a notepad, where is he writing with surprisingly good handwriting all of the equipment and the expected market values of them. "I'm taking a longbow, and selling my crossbow. We should keep the healing potions. If nobody wants those arrows I'll take them, they're well made. Speak now, or it's getting turned into coin."
Krovax is alone, trying to keep to the shadows, heading through Korvosa, he turns a corner and spys an official-looking man in the roadway ahead, holding a clipboard, and watching as people go by. He periodically stops folks, and speaks to them, and they hand him a small amount of coin. He spots Krovax and approaches, and Krovax can't seem to get away, as the man is relatively fast.
What does he do?
After a little while traveling through the city to an inn where they can gather information, they get to a rougher part of town, where they see that not all the mob has been dispersed. It is a little before noon, and it appears that a riot where a mob of thugs wielding shovels, chair-legs, and other club-like weapons surround beardless young nobleman. One of the laborers, a burly woman with greasy strings of hair framing her rotund face, jeers and addresses the young man in a booming voice, “Bet’cha never worked an honest day’s wage in your life, eh, Queen’s Man? M’brother had his arm crushed by a barrel on the docks when he was younger than you. Never raised a mug of ale with that wrist again. Wanna know what it feels like?” The man appears afraid.
Marcus frowns at the mob, crossing his arms. Thought the guard has cleaned all this mess up. He chews on their options for a moment, then lowers his voice as he speaks to the others. "We're trying to find information about nobles, right? We save this kid and he'd probably be grateful enough to give us some information."
Shi nods to Marcus and steps out in front of the group calling out the crowd holding one of her hands up to show she is coming in peace but also holding her blade, still in the scabbard with her other hand.
"Woh, hold on a minute. This town has been through a lot the last few days and you all don't need to go making matters worse. These young men didn't do anything to you, as far as you know they could be good guys that actually try and help out the community... you go bashing on them and how is that going to turn out? Might make you feel better in the moment but then there will be repercussions and more pain and suffering all around. Why don't you all just let these gentlemen go and you get back to your own business?"
Marcus scans the crowd, looking for anybody that may not seemed persuaded by Shi Ni and is still thinking about causing some trouble. He gives them that hard stare that says Don't try it. Marcus may not have much of an air of importance about him, but he's still a huge bastard to be on the wrong side of.
Krovax encounters a tax collector who is more than what he seems, but manages to drive the crafty fellow off. He disappears into the alleyways of Korvosa.
The crowd listens to Shi, and most shake their heads in shame, and drop their improvised clubs. They back away, mumbling apologies to the man. The large woman stares the rest of you down until Marcus manages to stare her down too, and she glances over her shoulder at the lack of support, and heads away, dropping the broken broom handle she had and heading back towards the alleys. The man, shaken a bit, nods towards the group in thanks, and fumbling with a fine looking gold ring, he hands it to Shi, thanking her, "oh, a great many thanks, miss. Here, please take this, and split it amongst yourselves. My name is Amin. Amin Jalento, and I believe you saved me from quite the beating. That ring is worth a good amount... I dearly appreciate what you did for me." He straightens up and checks his satchel and appears to be ready to head out, beads of sweat evident on his face.
"Why didn't ya give this to them? Say that you're sorry the lady's brother got hurt, even though it didn have nothing to do with you, and this is just to make sure he can get by." Magda asks, curious.
"This ring? I it's worth... If I had given that one ring to them, they would have likely just beaten me looking for more money. The others would've fought over the rest of my rings! Or just killed me. Plus, you're not supposed to reward people who resort to such... thuggery. They'll think it works!" He sniffs indignantly. "If they had asked nicely, I would've given them all a bit of money - I have some here." He pats his pouch, "what I can, some of it is payment for some of my employees and such. That's the other reason why I couldn't just give them everything. What would my staff do?"
He folds his hands, "I'd have gotten beaten, lost all my things, and would have also had to deal with Jeremiah, Sorcha, Pavlo, Kremnish, and the others, wanting their wages! I don't have enough liquidity to pay them otherwise. Abadar knows what they'd do to me then, what with all the troubles." He's stammering now a bit at the group, and looks apologetic.
Magda listens, since she truly was curious, "Good answer. Jeremiah, Sorcha, Pavlo... Kremnish, and the others... what do they do?" still curious, especially since she lost him on a couple of his words, wondering why he'd need water to pay them.
”Eh? They work at my family’s manufactory, making small metal items like brass buttons, bronze plaques, pipes and the like. We focus on crafting things that are alloys of copper. But please, I am running late, and the bank will be closed if don’t leave soon...” He looks up at the position of the sun in the sky, clearly worried.
"Okay. Bye!" Magda waves.
Kali eyes the man when he gives us the expensive item so quickly, but she doesn't pick up on anything other than a thankful man. She holds her tongue for now as Mags seems to be the voice of reason and is doing the talking.
After he leaves she says "If it was all he had, maybe we should have let him keep it?"
"hmmm... no, the city says if we suggested giving it back Marcus would tackle us both."
Vera attempts to identify the dagger and the weapon.
Vera notes that the magical arrows they found earlier are +1 arrows. She is unable to identify the dagger, however.
The party, having helped the noble out from being mobbed, makes their way to a nicer tavern to get information about the goings on in the city, and see if they can find anything out about the Arkonas. The rest of the trip is uneventful. They head towards the Traveling Man, the nicest tavern in Old Korvosa, which is where a lot of the old money of the city resides.
This small tavern’s main claim to fame is its proximity to the largest of the otyugh plugs used by the city to feed its sewer-cleaning “allies.”
Everyone takes a little time eating some decent quality food, drinking decent water, coffee, ale or otherwise, and talking to the locals.
Shi talks to some shifty-looking types and gets the following tidbit of rumor.
Most of the visiting ambassadors in Korvosa have fled the city; those few who are staying behind are doing so because of personal issues at home. I’ve heard that Ambassador Amprei from Cheliax is one of the latter; there’s something he’s hiding from that’s keeping him from returning to Cheliax.
Magda talks to some workers who work for the Department of Public Works (in the Sanitation Bureau).
Vera talks to what looks like a gaggle of low-level wizards about magic for a bit.
“The Acadamae’s closed its doors and says the doors will stay closed until the troubles in Korvosa die down. Can’t say I blame them!”
Historically, the Arkonas have been involved in most of the criminal enterprises in the city for the last two hundred years. Recently, however, they have paid for the razing of their properties that were formerly used for crime, and replacement with dense tenement blocks of housing for the poorer members of Korvosa society.
One of the wizards mentions that for further information about the Arkonas, one might want to visit a records office, a library, or a seedier tavern, however, they are known to have been dangerous in the past, and do not care much for people snooping into their business.
Magda's eyes get big when she meets the people RESPONSIBLE for the sewers!!!! !!! !!!! She lists intently, with a stupid grin shaking their hands. "Thank you for all you do"
In awe she makes it back to the others, "Those heroes over there said something about nailed hellknights leaving the city."
"Hellknights giving up? I guess nothing lasts anymore." It appears Marcus had some level of respect for the Hellknights.
"Hmm, the Arkonas turning over a new leaf? We have a few leads now at least. We should start with the library, then the records office, then the taverns. Increasing levels of risk."
Kali doesn't participate in the conversation now that Marcus has weighed in, she doesn't want to be put in a situation where she stabs him in the eye with one of her new arrows. Whatever Magda decides to do, Kali backs her play.
"INCREASING RISK!" Magda pales "The Library is... the... nooooo... I went in once, and only once. A wrinkled demon came out of nowhere and hissed at me if I even LOOKED at one of her precious BOOKS She'd Eat me!" she can be convinced though.
Shi eventually saunters over after talking with some of the more shady folk in the tavern. "I heard that most of the visiting ambassadors in Korvosa have fled the city; those few who are staying behind are doing so because of personal issues at home. Apparently Ambassador Amprei from Cheliax is one of the latter; its rumored there’s something he’s hiding from that’s keeping him from returning to Cheliax." She shrugs and notes "I suppose if we ever run out of things to do we could look into it, may be a reward involved for fixing it, but in the meantime I agree with Marcus's plan. Let's check out the library first."
Magda doesn't argue. The half orc just grips her long spear ready for a fight.
The Jeggare Library at the University of Korvosa is open during the day, or at night for those with special access. It is open to students and faculty at the university, but the public may request access for a nominal fee. It contains books to be read on the premises alone, and is one of the largest repositories of knowledge in Southern Korvosa. The books are well organized and comprehensive, though they largely shy away from instructions on magic use, with those books largely being held by the Acadamae.
Jeggare Library also houses the largest collection of private journals in the city, including the original journals of Saint Alika Epakena, Montlarion Jeggare, and Queen Domina. These journals are stored beneath the library, in a Vault that serves as an actual vault. The Korvosan Guard constantly patrols the library, as does an abjuration student of the Acadamae (the protection of irreplaceable city relics outweighs the semi-friendly rivalry of the two institutes of learning).
Complexity: 18 (low)
Languages: Common (Taldan)
Research Check: Knowledge (history, untrained), Knowledge (nobility, untrained), Knowledge (local), Profession (Scribe or Librarian); Knowledge Bonus +4
Knowledge Points: 20
The Hall of Commerce is the part of city hall run by the Magistrate of Commerce. Commerce governs taxes, union breaking, and city fees. Fees are collected when permits are granted but permits are issued, however, by the Magistrate of Standards, who requires very specific forms to be issued across halls. Commerce has a record of all contracts in the city, and contracts are often seen as less than legal if not filed here. The church of Abadar and Asmodeus both work here to maintain the records and ensure contracts are fair.
Every property within the city and their owners are catalogued in great maps, held in books, block by block, which are only edited in the presence of the Magistrate of Commerce and Standards and a priest of either Abadar or Asmodeus (the fees which are collected during every property sale). As well, one can find the records of all property sales, tax collections, liens, deed restrictions, easements, and fee-paying associations (though never work unions) that exist within the city, for every piece of property, organized by block and lot in great cabinets, with a filing system that is baffling to almost anyone who is not well-trained in navigation. Every company must be registered here as well, some of which are used to obfuscate the original owner. These companies are not cross-referenced with property records, or anything like that, so the process of investigating anything is arduous and difficult. For this reason, other than the original map books (copies of which are available to peruse), the records are open to the public, so so long as things are requested with the right forms and a mess isn’t made.
Complexity: 25 (average)
Languages: Common (Taldan), Infernal
Research Check: Diplomacy, Knowledge (Local), Linguistics, Profession (Barrister), Profession (Bureaucrat, untrained), Profession (Scribe). Knowledge Bonus -1
Knowledge Points: 24
Shi heads to the library with the others. The place is huge and the task ahead seems daunting but, they have some time and its not like there is anything else pressing right now so she pays her usage fee and looks to the others and gives them her thoughts on a plan "So Marcus, why don't you stick with me and we will look into the family directly see if we can trace their roots and money and get a better feel for them as a whole. Vera, Magda and Kali why don't you see if you can dig up anything about their areas of influence and their impact on the city, any incidents they've been involved in or the like?"
She looks at each of them for any suggestions or thoughts.
Magda fidgets, looking nervous and out of place "I... don't read very well." she admits.
But she's willing to try and help Vera and Kali as best she can.