Garran eyes Lord Arkona carefully, trying to detect deception. Still, he recognized this kind of tactic. The Arkonas had something the group wanted, and Lord Arkona would use that as leverage to get them to do something for him.
Garran motioned the others in close to him, and whispered, "I suspect that if we do something for the Arkonas, we'll be able to see Orsini and Kalepopolis. Do we wait for them to offer it, or do we ask if we can do something for them?"
Is there a way we can work together? We must speak with the men, immediately. If they are alive, bring them to us, Seltyn whispers through the spell, heard only by his friends.
"Yes, that would be possible eventually." He pauses with a smile. He looks at you, prolonging the pauses as he bring his glass to his lips and that a sip. "Sadly, they are not here, that would be too dangerous for them, with all the unrest and sickness going around. We had to move them to a secure location. Is there anything else you would like to inquire about."
Nodding slightly and his smile fades.
Tis a good thing you did move them to a...secure location. The queen's agents are all over the city looking for those two. I am amazed that we got here before they did, then again I am certain that you are prepared to entertain the grey maidens. You are after all very generous hosts.Alistair shakes his head
...and this is why I no longer go to court.
So cutting through this bullshit and getting to the point of the matter. You are limited on time before the queen's faithful find the same intelligence that we did and follow the clues to your doorsteps. This in turn will lead them to this other secure location. That type of scrutiny is not good for business. Now I gather that you do not like her...hell not many outside the queen's inner circle do. Suffice it to say that we are willing to give you plausible deniability on their whereabouts. What do you want in return for allowing us to walk out of here with both men...unharmed.
"You are right in a way. While the queen seems to have left this part on town to die off, she isn't someone that we would support on the throne. Someone better suited would be better off." He looks at his sister and it almost seems like they are having a silent discussion between them. After almost a minute, he looks back at you. "There might be something we can arrange, but sadly I can't allow the risk of moving both of them here. Name one that you Absolutely need to see and I will arrange to have them escorted back here. That is my offer."
Kyras says nothing and looks to Alistair.
Garran whispers over the spell, "We need the seneschal. He had information for Field Marshal Kroft, and that's why we came here."
Alika keeps silent and lets the talker do the talkin'—interrupting would just confuse things more.
Yes, the seneschal.
"So, which one shall ut be? Day time is wasting and this city isn't getting any safer."
Alistair fiddles with the hilt of his weapon as he watches the two look at each other.
I hear your offer and understand your current situation. If you can only move one here safely then we would need to talk with Lord Neolandis Kalepopolis.
He holds up his left hand while keeping his right hand resting on the hilt of his weapon.
Your offer does not include a reward for services. Before we conclude this part of the deal...I need to know what it will cost us up front.
Alistair looks from one Arkona to the other and finally lets a knowing gaze settle on the lady Arkona. His voice is calm and diplomatic.
...perhaps we could go to both men instead of the risk moving them here.
Let's move, The elf says through the spell.
"And reveal their location? I think not." He smiles again as he takes another sip of his wine. "Don't you worry, we will have your man here in a day. As for the price, I would just ask that you remember who it is that you helped you today." He finishes his glass of wine and walks back toward the bottle. "Now, come back in a day and we will be able to conclude this business. I believe you know your way out." Not waiting for your answer, he starts pouring himself another glass.
As they others leave, Alistair turns to Garran
I understand that we need this man but am reading this correctly.
They are giving us what we want in exchange for us to remember who it is that we helped. I am very much agaisnt leaving a deal open ended like this. I am thinking this will come back to bite us in the ass sometime soon.
Garran says, "I concur, but short of violence, I don't see any other options - and that assumes that there is any record of their location anywhere apart from Arkona's head. Whoever guards them may be under orders to kill them if something happens here. He is clever and dangerous - not a combination that benefits us. We'll play along for now, but keep an eye out for the double cross."
Seltyn waves his wand and suddenly it's tomorrow. :)
A mighty wizard is he!
After another night at the academy, you return to the mansion. This time you use the main door and you are guided by a manservant to the jungle room once again. At the same spot are the two siblings enjoying what look likes a nice conversation with that seneschal. "Ah, there you are. As promised, the Seneschal Kalepopolis is here, unarmed and perfectly healthy. Now, if you want to have a conversation in private, there is a room nearby where you can talk."
Very well. We're keen to know what he can tell us.
"A private room would be appreciated, thank you."
Nodding at Garran, Alistair lets his gaze fall on the mysterious duo.
Yes...A private room would be best. One without any of those third eyes within...Please and thank you.
"Oh, no problem at all. Let see if we can find you some where comfortable." He gestures toward the that you used to enter the jungle room. Back in the main hall, he guides you to another set of double doors. Opening them, he waves you inside. "I hope this will satisfy you. You walk inside with the room with the seneschal. [b]"Just come see us when you are done." With that he closes the doors.
After a few seconds, the seneschal looks at you. "They told me you have questions. We have to hurry, for every moment I am in town, the queen's agents move closer to my location."
Garran quickly looks over the Seneschal, making sure this is actually him.
Seltyn will do the same.
Let's start there. Why is the queen after you?
Alistiar holds a hand up for the others to wait.
First let us secure this room to make sure we are not being spied on by magic or mundane means. We also need to verify that who we have here is the genuine article.
Once all is found to be on the up and up, Alistiar nods for the others to continue.
Alika glances to Seltyn to wait for him to report what he sees with his magical sight.
Seltyn inspects first the room. Looking pretty much everywhere, he finds no sign of any magical auras. Next he looks at the Seneschal. His arcane sight spell do reveal that the person in front of him has no magical items, but do possess some arcane magical talents. His power is just shy of being of moderate strength.
After the inspection, Neolandus looks at you. "So, are we good?"
Kyras takes a position where he can watch the door and remains silent.
Yes. Tell us why you're here.
"Field Marshal Kroft sent us to look for you. She indicated you had information she needed."
Alistair nods as Garran speaks.
"Salvator, a good trusted friend of mine brought me here from protection. So far, I can say that this is way better than trying to stay hidden in a city of death. Though I do wish I could do more to help my city, stepping outside might mean my death"
"So the good Field Marshal is still alive. That is good. While I am safe here, informations of what is happening out there is hard to get." He pauses for a second, looks at the door and then back at you. His voice is lower, as if afraid that someone else would hear. "Yes, I have some informations about the queen. While the first one is probably not a surprise anymore, I am very confident that she killed that King. I confronted her about it, and not even a day later, red mantis assassin tried to kill me. Take that as you want, but for me, this is confirmation that she did indeed do it."
"While I was on the run and before meeting with Salvator, I manage to do some investigation. She was often exploring that depth of the castle. My investigation revealed that there was an old pyramid built by the Shoanti. When Korvosa was founded, they built the castle on it, using the pyramid as foundation. I found out that deep inside that pyramid was an old and powerful evil relic called Midnight’s Teeth. Now I know this sound crazy, but I am pretty sure that the Queen found that artifact and it transformed her from a petulant woman to the tyrant we are seeing right now. I am unsure what exactly is the relic, but if we could find some Shoanti willing to help, I am sure we could find out what we can do against it."
Garran grimaced. Shoanti weren't the most friendly towards Korvosans - finding one willing to help was likely to be difficult, at best.
"We've met Salvator - he was under the impression that, while he had brought you here for protection, you were forcibly being held hostage by the Arkonas, along with Vencarlo Orsini. Is that not the case?"
"Quite the conspiracy," murmurs Alika.
The elf knows a bit about the Shoanti, and even speaks the language.
If we could get to the pyramid, we might find some Shoanti who aren't too pleased about the castle built on top of it. They might help us.
"Vencarlo Orsini? I'm afraid that I haven't seen him. He might be in another safe house of the Arkonas. As for being forcibly help hostage, I'm afraid I have to contradict you there. I was sent to a safe house, but I wasn't being held against my will. They were rather quite nice, maybe a bit too much which I suspect I will have to reimburse one way or another."
Do you know of any Shoanti that you trust, ones that would be willing to answer some questions and maybe even helps us?
"I don't know of one directly, but we do have two possibilities. Both lies outside of the city walls." He pauses for a second as he walks over to one of the table. He grabs some of the decoration and place then in a certain pattern on the table. "Here we have Korvosa. Here's Veldraine, Harse and Kaer Maga. Since the Shoanti dwell in the Cinderlands, the best place to get up there is by Kaer Maga. There we should try to contact the Skoan-Quah, the Tribe of the Skull. They are perhaps the easiest tribe to approach since they sometimes come here to talk with Korvosian official. Now once in the desert of the Cinderlands, I have no idea where to go. This is where the second possibilities come in. In Kaer Maga, we should look for a man known as The Cinderlander. While not the friendliest, he is the best guide to help us find the Shoanti." He looks at each of you, waiting for you questions or decision.
Us? Are you going with us, then? I have no problem with that. We need a way out of here, and some mounts would be useful.
Garran nods. "I think finding the Shoanti to learn more of this relic is valuable. I imagine getting out of the city might be easier than trying to get back across the river from Old Korvosa at the moment."
The Cinderlander. Sounds like a guide to me. I vote to find him.
The more information we have the better off we will be to remove her from power. We need to tread carefully as the city could pay the price for our actions. I agree that finding the Shoanti is our best option.
"So... how do we get out of the city? Everything's pretty locked down due to the unrest. We either need a smuggler, or a good combination of invisibility and nondetection. Or we need to somehow teleport the whole team."
"I'm willing to join me if you want to. I'm not a seasoned adventurers like you are, but I can fend for myself if needed to." He then turns to Alika. "The Arkonas can sneak us out if you want. We are already on the edge of the city, it wouldn't be hard to get out. Just need to cross the river."
Seltyn can get everyone across with a combo of teleportation spells.