She looks askance at Yaziyah and Magda, raising an eyebrow as they explain themselves. She tests the doorknob of her apartment and sees that it’s been picked, while keeping her hand on one of the vials. Slowly, she responds ”so, just to be clear - you admit to breaking into my apartment and my lab, to find out if Lavender’s Linament is all that I promised?” She chuckles, ”I am a well-trained alchemist - I know how to make antiplague. It is much too expensive for regular people. Lavender’s Linament is affordable.” She seems to take in the attire of Magda and Yaziyah, and exhales ”vague accusations will be hard for you two to substantiate if you’ve broken into my apartment, you know that, right? Just leave and forget about this, okay? I won’t get the guard or anyone else involved. ” She seems sincere that she doesn’t want to start a fight or make any trouble.
The door next to Magda opens inward and a big man, still angry, looks to attack her with his heavy flail, but Vendra raises her hand, and he stops, and nods. The door next to Vendra also opens, with the other guard looking around. He growls something in Skald to Vendra, who nods, and he stands in the doorway of the apartment.
Meanwhile, the line goes down as another person keep makes a purchase -entering the shop as another person leaves. Marcus and Vera stand next to the line and watch what’s happening in the southern alley.
The guard clomps away with his heavy boots, leaving back into Vendra’s apartment.
Vera cleans her fingernails as she keeps "listening" in on Vendra.
"How, exactly, is it affordable and still effective? And don't get me wrong, we are not making accusations, we are simply trying to find out the truth. You think us thieves or extortionists, but we do care about this city and the people in it. If you are the same, then we can perhaps find common ground." Yaziyah begins to pace back and forth between the walls of the alley, hoping that the motion will keep the guards' attention on her and not whatever might be happening at their backs.
Alone and not knowing what to look for, Erasmo decides to tries his luck in a gamble. He looks for a vial and fills it with whatever liquid he can reach, before sneaking away towards the west room, where he knows to be a door.
Seeing it blocked by one of the large thugs and knowing there is no other way out, he bolts towards the man, trying to slide between his legs to freedom, while yelling. "I got the proof! It is a scam as I've said!"
Erasmo slips under the burly guard’s legs and surprises everyone with his presence. There is a sudden explosion of activity. The guard next to Vendra moves up with his flail adjacent to Yazi,
Vendra narrows her eyes as Erasmo, and retrieves the bottle of perfume, she says to the guards, ” slå dem ut, hele denne greia stinker.” She lobs it with precision towards Magda, Yazi, and Erasmo, and even hitting the guard in the abandoned apartment but covering all with strong, sickly sweet perfume which also blasts in an area - creating a gas which hangs over the ground. The smell is overpowering.
She shouts, ” Bjørn, lukk butikken og hjelp.” She calls out to the three in the stench pile, ”like I said - just get out of here. We have the right to protect ourselves - and master halfling, leave what you stole, unless you really are a thief.” The voice is calming amidst the burgeoning chaos.
Well. S##&. He was hoping to avoid open violence. But as long as she was using non-lethal tactics and offering an escape...he moved over further into the alley, calmly watching the situation, but keeping his weapons sheathed and his arms folded.
Vera follows Marcus (and gets behind him). Now that she's wandered close, she figures she should continue to play her helpful persona. "Yeah, scram you scheming thieves!" she says with gusto.
She continues to listen to Vendra's surface thoughts.
"I am... urghh..." Erasmo says as he tries to hold his breakfast. "... a thief! Call the guards!"
"Oh, that's... nice." Magda breaths in deep, overpowering smells ain't overpowering to one that spends her time in the sewers more than out of them. She backs away from the big guy with his big flail, still trying to talk their way out of violence. "You got your business, we won't do nuthing to get in the way, as long as this is really something that helps people. Now you just stay there while we figure that out." the last sentence is directed at the big guy with the big flail as she casts hold person on him.
The man next to Magda easily avoids being disabled by the poisonous gas, but he can't resist Magda's magic, and he grits his teeth, paralyzed. Vendra frowns as she hears what Magda's done. "No - that's not how this works, miss. You broke into my home and have used magic to paralyze my employee. This ends now."
She looks like she's going to retrieve another bottle of perfume, but then cups her hand around her mouth and shouts,
She smiles at Yazdi, who is the only one she can see clearly, then turns her head, to Vera and Marcus "the pair of you much too close for my comfort - given how you were accusing me of fraud earlier." She gestures at Marcus, "it can't be a coincidence. Thief or not, please leave." She gestures vaguely towards the exit to the alley to the north. "Lavender's is closed for business for the rest of the day, including this alley - which I own." The guard just inside her apartment steps out - and seems to match Marcus in height. He has more barely-controlled rage - and holds his flail at the ready. He stands between Vendra and Marcus
The guard remaining in the shop leaves and ushers all of the patrons out towards the street while watching Marcus.
Vendra turns back to Erasmo, Magda, and Yazdi. She adds, "I would advise you again to leave as soon as possible. The guards have their hands full, and they won't take kindly to miscreants roughing up a person working to make the city a better place with wild, unfounded accusations." She smiles sadly.
Magda studders to a halt, mentally and physically "No. One. Owns. THE ALLEYS!!" she yells back, obviously angry at the very notion. "we should run." she suggests to her friends.
Yaziyah wrinkles her nose at the permeating smell. "Too sweet for my taste. I don't get the recent obsession with sugary notes. Are you asking to get bitten by imps?"
Vendra shouting for guards has her frowning. Yes, an investigation into this business was what they wanted, but she supposed there was a reason why it was them who had been sent to do that, and not the regular guards. And judging by how adept this woman was at spinning words, it had been the right call.
Still, this is probably not what Kroft had in mind, and a public confrontation with the guards was the last thing Yaziyah wanted. Once Erasmo is clear of the guards, she turns tail as well - something that stings terribly and fills her with anger and shame, but the alternatives would be undoubtedly much worse.
Marcus shrugs, surprisingly calm given the situation. There were words that could be said. Sure I'm not the first one to accuse you of that, you don't own the alley, I'm just an onlooker, lots of things. But she was both intelligent, charismatic, and calm headed. A very dangerous combination if she wanted to make his life hard with red tape.
Marcus stands there a moment longer, still calm with his arms folded, appraising the surprisingly large man in his face. Wouldn't use a flail in an alley. Limits your attack arcs, easy to disarm you. Should carry a short sword, or at least a dagger. Even a mace would be better. Even something like a flamberge is better than that, at least it's long enough to force space. He thought about saying that too, but why give advice to somebody that may end up getting you killed?
As the others down the alley flee Marcus nods in approval. "Right you are, looks like you have everything under control." He doesn't elaborate, letting the seed of doubt about why he's really here be planted just a bit deeper. He puts a protective arm around Vera and guides her north out of the alley.
Erasmo climbs the walls, just to get away from the cloud and from the bodyguard's reach. Once in a safe place, he sits. He adds to the yelling.
To Vendra, Erasmo blinks, which would be a neat gesture if he was not trying to calm his guts. "We are friends with the guards, sweetheart. But fear not. Soon the guard will have this sample I have with me. I'm sure it will be indeed a cure, right? You have nothing to worry about."
"Well, everything under control except for that weird tree halfling," adds Vera. "Sorry it's been such a bad day, miss." She shakes her head as if to bemoan the state of Korvosa and follows Marcus's protective lead northward.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Vendra's guards seem to calm down, though they are still watchful. In turn, each confers with Vendra, and then with themselves, speaking Skald. The perfume dissipates, and Vendra moves to the entrance of her shop - a basket of Lavender's Linament at hand. Eager customers seem to have waited out the commotion, and with an air of comfort and generosity - she hands out linament to those who come calling, though the perfume store remains closed. Those who were rushed out of the store, by way of apology, seem to get a discount. One guard stands near her, and the remainder stand in the alley near the doorway - watching Erasmo on the roof.
After about fifteen minutes, a few of the Korvosan guard come up, being led by what looks like a messenger boy. The guard look to be on the younger-end of middle-aged, and are bearing the typical weapons of guardsfolk.
They're sweating a bit from the exertion, and when they spy Erasmo on the roof, they look confused. After making sure the doors are openable, the guards are given free reign of the alley and Vendra's personal effects. She grabs two vials of linament and places the basket near the door just inside of her shop, closes said door, and locks it, slipping the key expertly into some hidden fold of cloth on her person.
She excuses herself while Sven guards the northern entrance of the alley, and greets the two guards, "thank you, officers. Honestly, I can't really explain what happened. That fellow - " she points at Erasmo still on the roof, "has a vial of some of my alchemical supplies, and he's been raving about how I'm a fraud." She inclines her head, "I thought he was a common thief, but he had two other companions - a tall woman and a younger half-orc woman. I can't imagine what they wanted - they didn't steal much in valuable components that I had stored," She glances up at Erasmo, "I'd guess the fellow took water? I'm honestly more concerned for his safety at this point." She looks up at him with pity and concern, "this plague has frayed everyone's nerves - but we can't have odd folks breaking into people's homes as part of a conspiracy theory, right?" She retrieves the two vial of linament she has stored on her belt and hands them to the guards, "here, examine these if you like."
Haversmith looks confused, and shakes his head, "no, ma'am." He gestures at Erasmo to come down, "Sir, I don't know what's been going on - but you should explain yourself." Vendra smiles at Erasmo when the two guards are looking up, and it reminds Erasmo eerily of a cat which has caught a mouse.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Erasmo climbs down. "Apologies for the ruse and commotion, lady." He offers the shopkeeper. "I was told you were selling some fake remedies and was profiting on the expense of the sick." He reveals his hand and pockets, showing that he actually had stolen nothing.
"Knowing now that Miss Vendra apparently made a breakthrough against the disease, you should present the offered samples to the Queen's Physicians and the churches of Pharasma and Abadar. I'm sure they'll reward the lady properly for her discovery, since this concoction should be produced in mass to help the whole city." He says, looking at the woman and trying to see if she betrays anything, while trying to hide he is not really convinced of her innocence.
Erasmo hides the small vial of unknown materials on his person as he comes down.
Vendra shakes her head, sadly, ”no - Lavender’s Linament is not a breakthrough against blood veil, but thankfully we never advertised it as such.” She opens up her hands, ”it is a Linament. A tincture which may alleviate symptoms of any disease or provide resistance to infection.” She looks down, ”my grandmother gave me a home remedy for such a Linament. What I sell is very inexpensive- and depending on the person, it may help.” She gestures at the vials she handed over to the two guards. Tears begin to well in her eyes, causing them to shine, and her voice goes a little higher, ”I wasn’t selling fake remedies! Test what I gave you if you must! And he and two other accomplices broke into my homes, including the second apartment I use for a laboratory! He - “ she points at Erasmo ”stole a vial of something in the process, he showed us that he did - my guards will testify to that. He must have hidden it in a secret place - there! That bulge under his armpit!”
She points at where the vial was hidden and then wrings her hands, ”look, maybe he’s lying and is working for a competitor of mine - my inventory is quite valuable - he can’t just break into my home and steal things!” She’s shaking a bit. Her guards look confused, but one approaches and hands her an oversized tissue and puts their hand on her shoulder.
She cries a bit, it looks like she’s trying to hold it together, and then blows her nose in the tissue.
The guards look at the small bulge and their expressions harden, ”Erasmo, sir, I don’t know what’s going on - you haven’t been out of the guard very long, but please hand over what you took.”
Vendra wipes her eyes, ”I don’t want him to go to prison - I just want all of these people to leave me alone, you know? If he gives back what he took, I would ask that you not press charges. I can get a better lock.” She points at Erasmo, ”but you have to promise you and your friends will stay away from Lavender’s, okay?”
One guard extends his hand, waiting for the vial, and the other folds her arms. They await Erasmo’s action and response.
She wrings her hands, ”look, maybe he’s lying and is working for a competitor of mine - my inventory is quite valuable - he can’t just break into my home and steal things!” She’s shaking a bit. Her guards look confused, but one approaches and hands her an oversized tissue and puts their hand on her shoulder.
She cries a bit, it looks like she’s trying to hold it together, and then blows her nose in the tissue.
The guards look at Erasmo and their expressions harden, one adds ”Erasmo, sir, I don’t know what’s going on - you haven’t been out of the guard very long, but please hand over what you took.”
Vendra wipes her eyes, ”I don’t want him to go to prison - I just want all of these people to leave me alone, you know? If he gives back what he took, I would ask that you not press charges. I can get a better lock.” She points at Erasmo, ”but you have to promise you and your friends will stay away from Lavender’s, okay?”
One guard extends his hand, waiting for the vial, and the other folds her arms. They await Erasmo’s action and response.
"Go ahead, Cole, frisk me if you must." He steps towards the guard, raising his hands. "I've already said my piece. I was just concerned that Miss Vendra was selling water and profiting from the poor."
Turning to Vendra, he continues. "If you are truthful to what you have said, fear nothing, for we'll certainly leave you alone."
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Vendra puts her hands on her hips, ”my guards would testify that he stole something, but I suppose it’s besides the point. He might have stolen ingredients, water, I couldn’t get a good look - but the theft can be excused. The burglary…” Vendra looks at the Korvosan guards, ”my understanding of the law is that breaking into people’s homes, for any reason, tends to be against it?”
The guards look torn in the situation, but Cole nods ”true enough. Burglary is against the law. Sir, you haven’t admitted it but it sounds like you aren’t denying it either, regardless of your intentions or if you stole anything. And we don’t have proof that Vendra has done anything to anyone nefarious. Heck, she gave us these to test.” Cole holds up the vial. ”We can have this tested, but the burglary … if she wants to press charges then we have to arrest you, Sir.” Cole turns to Vendra questioningly. Haversmith has a frown on his face the entire time.
Vendra takes a beat and says, ”my offer still stands - if they promise to leave me alone, I won’t press charges even though we know he broke into my apartment. I heard what you said before, Master Halfling - am under no obligation to give these to the doctors or to the church to test, and it would be pointless - they are not trained in alchemy for the most part. The remedies are not magical, they are alchemical - mixed with advanced natural philosophy.” She draws herself up proudly ”I may sell perfume but I know my craft. It seems unlikely they would understand how it functions! And who’s to say they wouldn’t try to drive me out of business! The church is everyone’s normal source of remedies. Of course they would try to stop a competitor so they would keep their business. Same thing with the doctors. They have a monopoly! I wouldn’t accept their judgement… even if they were well trained.” She holds up a finger, ”and I have a neighborhood of folks who haven’t complained.”
She sighs and turns the finger into a hand, ”but I don’t want any trouble. Test what I gave you if you’d like. But you have to get him to promise he and all of his accomplices will stay away from here and my home until all the testing is done. I stand by my product, so I know it works well, but if the guard finds a trustworthy neutral arbiter I would stand by their judgement. But I would agree to this and won’t press charges only if they all leave me and my property alone. Is that understood? I have a business to run. Do we have a deal?” She extends her hand to the guards who shake it reluctantly, and to Erasmo in turn.
The guards seem annoyed by the whole situation, but nod when she shakes their hand, seemingly agreeing. They wait for Erasmo’s response.
Erasmo offers his hand to the woman. "We have a deal."
Later that day, Erasmo returns to the place he has hidden the vial he had stolen and return it to the others.
Marcus's frown lightens at the woman's speech. Much more than we could have asked for. He looks to Erasmo, nodding to him.
****************
Watching Erasmo and the guards, she inclines her head, "well then, off you go. Remember our agreement. I will hold you to it." She waits as Erasmo leaves through the alley, followed by the guard. Marcus and Vera, in the street area north of the shop, watch furtively as the commotion ends and the few onlookers move on. The line reforms, and Vendra moves into her shop. She retrieves a clipboard and excuses herself from the front of the line - it looks like she's taking inventory of the perfume she seems to be working on this indefinitely.
One guard remains in the store with her, looking out the window.
One stands in the alley, directing traffic sternly.
One stands near the intersection of the east and west alleys, in front of the door to her apartment.
The last is missing.
Vera and Marcus depart when nothing changes after a while. Vendra keeps doing inventory, and checking prices, and soon opens the store up for customers.
"Lantern lady." Magda says matter of factly "The one that took notice of us all for a while before needing to get back to the lights. She cared enough to root around for the truth until its known or not... and she'll listen, I reckin."
"I was reading Vendra's thoughts while she was going through all of the morning. It's definitely a little bit of a con game with the guy in the store recommending the cure. The one thought that seemed suspicious was that we couldn't prove anything. I think she's hiding something, but it's possible she believes in her cure anyway."
"Marcus--mind handing me a vial of the antidote? I'm no alchemist, but maybe I can get some sense of how this stuff is made?"
Vera enters into a seance with the object for a minute.
"I think we should try a few paths. Maybe one vial to Meira, another to Ishani, and another to Miss Cressida?"
Yaziyah is quiet for a while, frowning fiercely with an inward-looking expression. After some time, the Shoanti speaks up. "I do not like this woman one bit." There seems to be more that she would like to say on the topic, but she shakes her head with a visible effort, and turns to Marcus. "You are more knowledgeable about these things than I am - what reason could someone have to hire Ulfen guards?"
Marcus hands over the samples to Vera. He nods to her suggestion to have them distributed to multiple sources.
Marcus raises a brow at Yazi. "What reason does somebody have to hire any muscle, regardless of background?" He looks back and frowns at the building. "Ulfens were historically a warrior people and that still thrives in the blood of many of them. Lot of my men are Ulfen. Good at what they do. Bit reckless."
"She's trying to TAKE the alleyways!!" Magda frets still as her slightly off mind cannot fathom such horrors. "Besides that... the city is concerned, just not being clear why??? We're not done here, not with her, or what she is doing." she says, as they wait for Vera's magic to tell them things.
Vera gets the impression that the object, as it were, was created recently, within the last day. She gets a vision of Vendra mixing things in what looks like a large bowl. The woman is examining some of her supplies, measuring them, and with satisfaction - adding them to the mixture. Vera can’t identify the materials - other than that the water that is used is seemingly river water from a barrel which is open.
"Everything is fishy... the guards, the secret room, the way she was looking to make us leave before calling the guards..." He says as he counts on his fingers. "But unless we can prove it..." He then shrugs.
Vera shares what she sees. "My sense is that Vendra made the cure recently, in the last day. So it's really all her idea."
She shrugs back at Erasmo. "I'll go take this vial to Ishani," she volunteers, wanting an excuse to go see him. "Maybe Mags and Yazi can track down Meira, while you head over to Kroft?"
Meira:
They find Meira at the barracks of the lamplighters, reading a book in her bunk. She agrees to help and gets to work testing things.
Meira notes that she distilled it down into various components. She notes that it looks like the water is river water, but that there are trace amounts of myrrh, copper, alcohol, and what must be perfume (though she isn’t an expert on the last item). She notes that it seems like it might do something useful to ward off diseases - especially the myrrh and copper, since precious metals and myrrh are components of antiplague. She isn’t exactly sure but she seems to hope that it’s cheap, whatever it is.
Ishani:
Ishani agrees to help, and detects magic. Finding nothing he takes it to the church for analysis. A little while later they come back and note that it seems that they bring it back and note that it isn’t useful, and that people should continue to use Abadarian services for their disease healing. Ishani shrugs apologetically and pays for the services out of his own pocket.
Kroft:
She is not available, but a sergeant notes that she isn’t an alchemist. They recommend the lamplighters, but when Meira is mentioned as a source for another person, they point to a shop across the river run by an older Varisian woman for a third opinion. The woman has a reputation at being honest.
A short trip and a wait later and the shopkeeper notes that it isn’t very useful. She doesn’t go into detail but she also notes algae, a lack of purity, and the woman recommends says it’s mostly useless and to buy traditional antiplague. She also notes that she sells antiplague and points at it on the shelf nearby.
When they are at the place where Kroft should be but isn't, Magda will ask about something that nagging the back of her brain about river water and sunken boats and people worshipping flies "Hey... um... guard guy? Remember that lady we talked to the krofty that killed all those people in some town called..." Magda has issues with names but digs it out with a spoon "Beorandy?? Yes. Lady named Andaisin. Made people sick and all. Do you got any descriptions of her back in the books you all keep about people that do back things and should be watched out for?" Magda is assuming that such things exist since she has seen a library once and it was so filled she thinks everything is in a book somewhere now.
"Well, doesn't seem like anyone thinks this stuff works particularly well. At best it's very diluted antiplague. If people are thinking this is a cure, they're obviously mistaken. An old man I spoke with in line said that there's a broadsheet about this cure. Maybe if that has outlandish claims, we'll have enough evidence to get Vendra's shady business shut down?"
Vera will see if she can track down one of these broadsheets. Though before she commences her search, she is sure to assume a more drab, Chelaxian appearance!
The guard doesn’t seem to know what Magda is talking about, not whom Lady Andaisin is.
Vendra has owned Lavender for about five years and has lived in Korvosa much longer. People remember that she used to sell perfume from a cart before she bought her current space. She got a little wealthy because her perfumes are very well regarded and stylish, made from quality ambergris and other fresh essences.
Once the results are gathered, Erasmo voices his opinion. "Well, no one need to be a genius to know that river water should not be in anything we ingest, unless you are into turd and piss."
"So it is a scam... the thing does nothing and is only selling because people are desperate and because she has hired others to spread the word that it is awesome." He seems angry, but also a bit surprised. "Quite a good scam, since even with three opinions on the matter, we can't certainly prove anything... wonder what Kroft would like is to do."
"Antiplague is not a cure and does far more than this bog water does. So her selling it as a cure is a scam, even if it does do a small modicum of help. We tell Kroft what we found and act on her direction."
"Very well. While you do that, I'll speak to my people, some of them must have bought this liniment of hers and can tell me if it did anything at all."
Vera tries again to get a copy of the broadsheet as evidence of Vendra's overstated claims.
Yazi can find a few Shoanti who took the linament - and one person got sicker. The others seem like they aren’t worse for wear, though two seem to have improved. It’s not consistent.
Vera manages to find a sheet, looks like they were printed at similar house to one which publishes the “news of the city”. The sheet is faded and worn but says “Lavender’s Luxurious Linament - Either You’ve Got It or You Had It”. The sheet notes - “Made of Essential Oils and Secret Ingredients” and “Loaggri Family Remedy” and “Used By The Loaggri to Ward Off Disease for Six Generations” and “The Church Won’t Help - So Help Yourself!” and “Can’t Afford a Doctor? Try my Linament!” There’s a picture of a glass vial that is nicer quality than the ones you were given.
In small text is what looks like a print of a handwritten letter. The ink was cheap and must have faded here and there: the city has given me so much, I thought to return the favor. Using the hig——- quality ingredients - —-, as well as secret —-tial oils and ing——ents, you can buy a Linament just like what —- —— used in the Loaggri family for six ——-tions to ward off pox and plague. Our family survived every plague in every —-y from —-th to so—- , and grandma always said it was her Linament that kept her healthy. It will dull your pain and help you recover, too if you are sick. Try now!”
It notes the price is 2 gp. By the time this info is tracked down, it's about 4:00 pm.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
.
Vera naturally shares the broadsheet and any other info she has once she's reconvened with the group. She hopes the others find something interesting too.
"You know, this Vendra lady may be taking advantage of the situation, but she has a point. The Abadarians won't help anyone who isn't noble-blooded. Ishani was ordered--ordered!-not to use his magics for giving free cures to the poor. If the cure actually has some use, it might make sense to leave an option out there. Instead of shutting her down, do you think there's a way to get Vendra to sell something that's more effective at a fair price?"
"We were asked to investigate, and we did that. We bring out intel to Kroft and she will decide how the city will respond. That is as much as we were asked to do, acting any further on our own would make us vigilantes pretending to uphold the law."
"I agree the woman is running a scam, and that is the opinion I will deliver to Kroft, but we do not act on our own authority."
"The Krofty needs to know." Magda agrees, though that alone is odd since the ruler of the guard is not her favorite person, even though she has to admit shs is GOOD for the city, reluctantly agree at least. "I'll keep an eye on the place tonight just in case things go from shady to worse... like the butchers. Don't forget to feed the chickens." it is not 100% sure who she is telling about the chickens, but it is highly important.
Magda will find a semi shadowy place within viewing distance of the alleyway to behind the shop and set up a watch. While she is getting into place she'll let the city hide her a bit.
Yaziyah returns with little results from her door-to-door survey. "I could not find anything conclusive about the real effects of the liniment," she says with a weary sigh as she slumps to the floor against the wall, stretching her long legs in front of her.
She nods to Vera, acknowledging her point. "This has irked me as well. Poor people who cannot afford the services of the temples have no alternative, so there's little wonder they fall prey to hacks and charlatans. I've been trying to heal people as much as I can in my spare time, but with us running errands for the guard that has been a little difficult. And I'm just one person."
She rubs a hand over her face, massaging the side of her nose. "Let's see what Kroft says, then, but I am inclined to support Vera's idea, as little as I like this Vendra."
"The rich pay the Abadarian and do get healed. The poor pay Vendra and do not. To me that is the only thing that matters. Vendra is selling hope, feeding on the fear of the people."
He sighs. "I do not believe she'll change her ways on her own will... but perhaps we can force her. How about we spread the rumor that if one buys the linament and it doesn't work, the person should return to the shop for a refund?"
The party (other than Magda who heads to the shop to watch) returns back to the citadel, with a little more information, requesting guidance. They try to enter, and the sergeant notes that Kroft is around this time, and checks to see if she's busy.
The field marshal of the city is at her desk, and doesn't stand up when the party enters, though she does look up from the mountain of paperwork that she has. Her cheeks are sallow and she's pale, as if she recently got over something, or was sick. "Any news?"
Magda finds an alley across the street from the window and hides, hooded. Vendra looks to be in her store and the store is closed early, which Magda can tell through the window. She also seems to be directing her Ulfen guards to move various boxes from the shop, through the side alley, and into the back. When people come up and ask for the linament, she seems to apologize and turns them away.
Marcus inexplicably takes lead. "She's aelling river water with just enough chemicals in it to detect as really watered down antiplague. Probably does nothing, but she's smart enough to weasel her way around the scam. She's really toeing the line, morally it's wrong but legally it's complicated. I think there's a strong case for false advertising that would be won, but it would be a bit of a fight to win that argument without violating her rights."
Kroft takes a beat, "okay." She sighs, and stares down at the paper in front of her, then looks back up, "I did get word of the report from Cole. You indicated you wouldn't come back, I know, without the results. I assume you can back the conclusion up? I guess the guards has to leave her alone, though, I suppose I couldn't stop you from having a discussion with her about the morals - since you have the findings - per the deal." She drums her fingers on the table, then yells for the sergeant, "Tell Haversmith and Cole that the restraining order is satisfied." The sergeant calls back, "aye Field Marshal."
She picks up her pen, and dips it in ink, then looks back at Marcus, "remember, Marcus, when you have a hammer - everything can look like a nail. Your godfather learned that lesson twenty years ago, and it served him well. Give Magda my regards." She returns to her writing.