Seeing his opening, Torsten went for broke, charging at the woman. He didn't have time to activate his runes, which truth be told, were starting to run out anyways. He reasoned that in an event like this, the chase had to be ended sooner rather than later.
Unfortunately, Yhrrilka continues to struggle getting up the wall.
Everyone is experiencing difficulties at the moment, but the amount of trouble Trinia is having with the drainpipe means it's likely only a matter of time before you catch up with her.
Macaria is the closest to Trinia, but the shortcut she took emerges right in the middle of a nest of stirges!
- Influence DC 15
- Perception DC 17
Torsten
- Acrobatics DC 15
- Athletics DC 20
Yhrrilka
- Athletics DC 20
- Escape Artist DC 25
As Yhrrilka tries again to scramble up the wall, she notes an odd shape to one of the bricks. It has the same weird corner that, in her harrow deck, The Owl card does, which was one of the cards she drew in her morning's divinations. Using that spot as a handhold, she hauls herself up.
Face flush with frustration, Torsten drew upon his magic once more as he powered his way over the walls and across the rooftops. ”We’re nay fookin’ tryin’ to hurt ye, damned fool!” He yelled at her.
Macaria feels caged by all the styrges, and while she would love to talk her way out of this, she doesn't really have the upper hand... nor the time.
With an otherworldly scream, she lets out the forces from Hell, consuming most of the styrges and leaving a trail of corpses that will surely haunt her when she has the time to cope with it.
Macaria annihilates the stirges and continues onward. The only thing separating her from Trinia is a wide gap between their two buildings. A clothesline spans the distance and appears to be well-secured.
- Acrobatics DC 20
- Athletics DC 25
Yhrrilka faces a gap between rooftops as well, but it's much narrower.
- Acrobatics DC 15
- Athletics DC 20
Torsten powers his way across the rooftops and finds himself surrounded by dead stirges.
Seeing his opening Torsten took it! Head down he barreled forward...and tripped over a dead stirge. The dwarf fell to the ground face first, only barely being able to arrest his fall with his hands.
Yhrrilka again finds the going a bit rougher than she'd hoped for. This girl better be worth all this trouble, she thinks to herself.
Macaria makes one final effort...
...but falls short for a wide margin.
Fate can be a cruel mistress sometimes. Everyone fails to progress due to various setbacks.
With a guttural snarl, Yhrrilka clambers over the obstacle in front of her. She's starting to get annoyed here.
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Torsten groaned as he got to his feet, feeling quite foolish as he did so. He told himself that it wasn't really his fault...this was not what dwarves were known for!
With a powerful last effort, Macaria jumps forward to try to catch her target...
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"Shhh! You'll reveal yourself to everyone! We're trying to help, here!"
Setting how future their efforts to calm her down are, Maca considers actually grappling her, but immediately changes her mind and asks for divine interference.
As Macaria's spell washes over her, Trinia breaks down in tears. "I'm innocent; I didn't kill him. I swear by all that's beautiful, I've been framed. Please, you have to believe me! I don't want to die!"
Yhrrilka's unable to get a solid read on the situation, but Torsten thinks the girl's plea seems genuine. Macaria, meanwhile, is completely convinced she's telling the truth.
Keeping his annoyance in check Torsten said ”I believe her. But just as importantly we’re getting paid to make sure she doesn’t get framed or killed by a mom. Let’s get the lass to safety, aye?”
Seriously annoyed at having had to chase Trinia, Ril is a little too worked up to react to Trinia with anything more than an annoyed wave of her hand. "Yes, fine. But from here on, you stick with us, okay? You run again, I'm not chasing you," she says, as she tries to figure the most direct way to where Kroft's agents are situated.
"Girl, you certainly gave us a good chase! We're here to help!" Macaria quickly takes her by the hand, firmly but gently, and drives her back to street level taking care to stay unnoticed.
"Where to?" she asks Torsten and Ril.
Guiding the girl somewhere safe, she sits with her. "Listen there's people who want to hear what you've got to say. They can protect you, and they want to unearth the truth. You can tell us everything, calmly, we're on your side."
Maca looks at her friends, asking for help if she feels the girl is going to snap again.
Torsten shrugged. If Macaria wanted to talk, he had no problem with letting her talk. Still, he kept an eye out for any trouble. Exposed as they were, he was worried about being spotted by those with ill intent.
Trinia, unfortunately, has little that can help her case. According to her story, she was commissioned to paint a portrait of King Eodred and was ecstatic for the opportunity. She's apparently a rather talented artist but hadn't achieved much fame. This commission was going to be her big chance to get her name out there and become well-known. The painting sessions went well, and she was paid quite a lot of gold - which she promptly shared with her friends and neighbors. She was saddened to hear about King Eodred's death; he'd seemed healthy during the painting sessions. When she heard that she'd been accused of murdering him, she didn't know what to do, so she locked herself in her apartment. Surely the authorities would realize they'd made a mistake before too long.
Ril listens to Trinia's tale, her brow furrowed with concern. "There's not a lot to work with there, but Marshal Kroft is not one to let the truth slip away from her. We'll deliver you to her people, which should at least eliminate the mob- lynching threat." Looking around, Ril tries to get her bearings and figure where they were supposed to take Trinia.
The Korvosan Guard is stretched very thinly, and none are immediately available. Fortunately, the chase ended near the fishery where Lamm met his end. Nobody seems to have claimed it yet, so it's probably safe to lie low here for a short time. From there, it's not too terribly far to Citadel Volshyenek - which is also right on the water. Perhaps a boat could be sent....
Torsten breathed a sigh of relief in that everything seemed to have ended up alright. If nothing else, their small group was starting to prove itself to Cressida, and they were earning good coin. That, and he supposed that what they had done was a good deed.
While Yhrrilka is happy to see Trinia off to the Marshal's care, she's troubled by some of what Kroft said about the Queen and her plans. She hopes the woman was just being paranoid...
Macaria lets the thing go and walks away, but not before throwing a last gaze at Lamm's unclaimed fishery...
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It was a slow day, which meant that when a drunken sailor came in, Torsten decided to take the man's coin. He was quickly coming to the conclusion that it had been a mistake. The man had *demanded* a tattoo of a mermaid that he swore he saw while sailing to the isolated island nation of Hermea. The man hadn't stopped drinking even while getting the tattoo, and was loudly recounting how he had eloped with the fair/fishy-maiden. The constant buzzing of the man's voice, the way he squirmed while he drank, and wouldn't stop demanding changes to the tattoo was driving the dwarf crazy. Torsten was ready to tear the man's head off when half-way through it he realized that it wasn't a mermaid, but rather a half-dragon, the daughter of none other than Mengkare himself! Torsten's tools almost snapped in his hands as the man drunkenly said that the dwarf had to change the color of the tattoo to reflect this. By the time that the ordeal was over, and the man was vomiting outside the shop, Torsten was left questioning his life choices, and was hoping that someone (anyone!) would come in offering another job that would bring the chance for indiscriminate violence.
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Ril smirks at Torsten's misfortune. As she's working on her own customer, without looking up, she says to her partner, "I think we should have a new rule. If they come in drunk, and they aren't Cayden Cailean himself, we can refuse business." As her customer shifts in her seat to try and get a look at what's going on between Ril and Torsten, the half-orc says to the lady, "If you insist on squirming while I do this, the picture I am drawing on your arm will look a lot less like lilies, and a lot more like a particularly gruesome injury I saw inflicted in a battle on the Flood Road three summers ago. Okay?"
Torsten
Not your best work by any means, but that's not really your fault. Clients who are under the influence are typically pretty awful.
Yhrrilka
The priests at the Dawnflower House introduce you to Sage She has a bit of an artistic streak, it seems. However, if you adopt her, you'll also have to take Mister Quackers.
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The following morning, you receive an urgent summons from Marshal Kroft. When you arrive, you find the guards appear unusually agitated and nervous. One tells you, "Thank the heavens you're here. One of those Shoanti kids went and got himself killed, and now the rest of them are all worked up - if it's not one riot about to erupt, it's another! Field Marshal Kroft's in her office now, trying to talk some sense into the Shoanti ambassador."
Ril smiles as she introduces herself to Sage. "Hello, my name is Yhrrilka; my friends call me Ril. The priests tell me you have some artistic talent. I make tattoos, and put my art on people's bodies," she says, holding out her hands to show Sage the flames that circle each of her wrists. "If you would like, I would love to have you come to our shop and learn to do what I do."
She raises an eyebrow as 'Mister Quackers' takes a moment to express his opinion of the matter. "Duck may come too, but I hope he is not one to get underfoot…"
At The Citadel
When the party arrives at the Marshal's office, Ril is slightly annoyed at the assumption she knows what the guard is talking about. "What Shoanti kids? Killed by who?" She realizes that at least part of her irritation is because this is pulling her away from her commitment, not just to the shop, but now to Sage as well.
"Hmph. Shoanti. Rough folks, aye? Aye, wonder what fools would cross them." Torsten added.
Macaria directs her steps towards the council, her brand new 300 coins and some of her remaining funds with her in a bag.
After much waiting, paper filling and asking, she stands in front of the clerk. "G'day! I'd like to purchase a terrain and register it on my behalf."
"Well, certainly the job will be welcome, at least on my part, if it brings some cash. Double combo of it helps the community." Maca gets ready to go meet Marshall Kroft.
Macaria
The clerk looks over your paperwork with mild disinterest. "All appears to be in order thus far. I see there is currently a business occupying the location. If you wish to reopen it, there will be an additional form. Who is the registrant?"
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Yhrrilka
Sage seems excited for the opportunity. "I love to draw! And don't worry about Mister Quackers - he's very well-behaved." The duck quacks happily as she pets his head.
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Shoanti in Korvosa
The Shoanti are an ancient people whose heritage stretches back to the Thassilonian Empire. They share a heritage with the Varisian, Kellid, and Ulfen people. They lived in relative peace with those who shared their lands, but a large amount of territory was taken from them by Chelish colonists. About 300 years ago, some of this land became the city of Korvosa. Since then, things remain tense between the city-dwellers and the Shoanti, although some on both sides have been trying to find a way to peacefully coexist.
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You find Cressida Kroft in her office with an elderly Shoanti man who regards you sternly as you enter. Cressida introduces him as Shaman Thousand Bones of the Skoan-Quah. She explains that last night, a young warrior named Gaekhen was murdered by a mob of 'vigilantes' who blame the city's troubles on the Shoanti. She then turns the floor over to Thousand Bones.
"My people have worked hard to understand those who dwell in Korvosa, yet it seems each day we see new examples of how this city's people work just as hard to foster old hatreds. My grandson is dead, beaten to death by cowards in your city street. I do not blame you, yet still Gaekhen is dead, and my son and his kin are not so forgiving as I. They wish to return to the Skoan-Quah in the Cinderlands, to join with the Sklar-Quah and rally to war against Korvosa. This would be disastrous for both our peoples. Amends must be made.
"Our ways are not as yours. If a body does not go whole to the fires of the ancestors, the smoke of a warrior's spirit cannot rise to the Great Sky. If I could send Gaekhen's body to the Great Sky with honor and dignity, his father and brothers would listen to me and stay their wrath - the talks of peace between my people and yours could continue. But he was not just murdered. His body was taken from the scene of his death, sold by a peddler of corpses to a necromancer known as Rolth, a criminal to both our peoples. I have spoken with the spirits, and they have revealed to me that Gaekhen's body has been taken to a place below this city's graveyard, a place the spirits call the Dead Warrens.
"With this knowledge, I could surely lead a group of my finest warriors into your graveyard to retrieve Gaekhen's body, but this would be seen as an act of aggression by your people. No, it falls to you to make amends for what has been done. You must bring me Gaekhen's body, lest we be forced to recover him ourselves. And although it pains my heart to say it, we will not be gentle if it comes to this."
Torsten nodded sympathetically. "Sure yer not dwarves?" He asked, when the man finished talking. "Our people sound right similar. Aye, I'm down for this. What did the lad look like? There'll likely be a load of bodies down there. Would be good to know who to bring back."
While Thousand Bones is speaking, there's a moment when someone looking at Yhrrilka would see her almost buckle with disappointment at hearing this story, a pained expression on her face.
The Shoanti have been putting up with this shit for centuries, and you're going to come in and clear a path for orcish acceptance just like that? Who's the bigger fool, the Chief for sending you here, or you for saying yes?
With a deep breath, Ril composes herself, and forces herself to meet the shaman's gaze. "Volokh, as another who came to this city seeking acceptance of her people, I'm sorry you had to go through this. As a daughter of both Belkzen and Sarenrae, I would be honored to retrieve your grandson's body from this necromancer. As Torsten asked, please tell us of any unique features he had, the better to identify him."
Maca doesn't know what to say. "Do you mean the fishery? Well, I don't know anything about fish... And I had other plans for the place, but... Would it have extra charge?"
After all, she needs money to build the orphanage...
Maca, as a Pharasmian representative, feels obliged to help the young warrior's spirit find peace. "The dead should be with the dead and the living with the living. Tell us more so we can help."
Macaria
"If you are reopening the previous business or starting a new one, there will be additional paperwork and license fees. If you are merely retaining the structure, you simply need to sign here."
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Thousand Bones nods curtly. "My grandson had seen 18 summers and had short brown hair. There's also a scar from a firepelt's claw on his left cheek." He then exits the room without awaiting a reply. Field Marshall Kroft apologizes for his brusqueness and promises you'll be well-rewarded if this task can be done swiftly.
Yhrrilka nods at the Marshal. "I'm sure, but the coin isn't the part I'm worried about here. I know the Warrens are down at the south edge of town; is there anything else you can tell us, or are we going in cold?"
Maca happily signs, acquiring a patch of land and a building as a first step of many. "I'll come back when I'm ready to open my business." Walking out to the street again, smiling, she goes to have a look at her new acquisition.