Kayleigh totally misinterprets Vedika's sigh. To Brigita she says with a soft smile, "Save a couple of those pecans for Vedika, if you have any left. I think she likes them."
"Alright, let's make our way to Vencarlo before another roving band of these idiots comes across us." Ariadne says as the kids begin to disperse.
Brid looks in the bag and sees a small cluster stuck in the back, and offers it to Vedika with a shrug. She relents about going to break the Emperor first, accepting the groups decision about Vencarlo being the priority.
"Probably ought to hide the bodies," Kayleigh comments as she starts to drag a dead thug by the ankles toward a nearby alley. She stops suddenly and looks up at her friends. "Unless the plan is to send a message to the Emperor...but we can always do that later, after we've seen Master Orisini and heard what he has to say."
Sadly the news has spread quickly and as you travel towards Vencarlo's you see another squad of thugs strutting their way towards you.
.
You can see them coming. What are you doing now?
There are howls of shock and fear as the Thugs are bathed in glittering lights.
What are you doing now?
"Hit 'em while they can't see."
Kayleigh closes on the thugs, morningstar ready for some attempted thumping.
Ariadne breaks into a run, her blade lashing out in a horizontal slash against the leader.
Brig rushes forward, a tad too aggressively, to crush a blind fool.
Like the others, Zahur charges to attack the thugs.
Kayleigh advances.
Ariadne slashes Orange.
Brigita misses.
Zahur hits Red hard. Red's axe clatters to the cobblestones.
Orange swings at Ariadne.
Just missing.
Yellow swings at Brigita
Hitting hard.
Red tries to run away.
Green stumbles around blindly.
The party can now act.
Vedika rushes in to slash green while he's still blind.
Brig tries to hammer the one thug trapped between them, but searing pain erupts in her back as another thug stabs her.
After stabbing the fleeing thug, Zahur steps around to continue his assault and help Brigita.
Vedika stabs Green.
Brigita hammers Orange
Zahur guts Red, then cuts and dirms Yellow, followed up by hitting Green. His hook spinning around the battle like a demented claw.
Kayleigh & Ariadne to act!
"Are we going to try to take a prisoner for interrogation?" Kayleigh asks the others. Toward that end, the cleric closes in and tries to jab the butt end of her weapon into the gut of a blinded, already injured thug to try to knock the wind out of him.
for
Ariadne contnues to attack her blinded opponent after just managing to avoid his counterattack.
Kayleigh clobbers Orange with a dull thunk as she tries to knock him out.
Ariadne cuts Orange.
Orange swings blindly at the attackers around him.
Emboldened by his success Yellow swings again at Brigita.
Green withdraws in a panic.
The party can now act!
Vedika chases down her quarry .
... but, predictably, misses.
Brig seeks to end the one surrounded () quickly so someone can go help Vedika
Kayleigh sighs and takes another swing. "You know, you could make this a lot easier and less painful by just surrendering and answering a few simple questions...."
for
As Brig obliterates their opponent, Ariadne dashes down the alley after Vedika and the goon she was chasing, uttering an incantation before throwing her hand out, a quartet of glowing daggers made of pure force flying unerringly to strike the fleeing goon in the back.
Brigita splatters Orange.
.
Ariadne Magic missiles Green.
Zahur kicks Green and makes him groan in pain.
.
Yellow decides it's getting a little too dangerous for him and withdraws.
The party can now act!
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Kayleigh gives up on trying to take prisoners and instead starts looting the fallen.
Trusting Vedika and Zahur to finish the takedown, Ariadne turns on her heel, going after the other fleeing goon, her free hand going through an intricate arcane gesture as she unleashes a shout, her outstretched palm projecting a blast of force with the power of a running drop-kick, blasting her target squarely in the back.
Zahur follows up with a series of kicks to convince the fleeing thug that he should keep down.
Brig notes the others surrounding the one, so aids Ari in taking down the other.
Zahur kicks Green to the ground unconscious.
Ariadne blasts Yellow
.
Brigita hustles up and hits him solidly.
Kayleigh finds no magic equipment.
.
.
What are you doing now?
After making sure the thug is disarmed and has his hands tied or shackled, Kayleigh casts a couple of healing spells, the first (and more powerful one) on Brigita, the second on the prisoner. Then, still wearing her plaguebringer's mask, she tilts her head to the side (in a manner she hopes the man finds disconcerting) and starts her interrogation.
"Alright--we spared you; in return, we expect you to answer a few simple questions. Truthfully. What's the status of the blood veil on the island? And what's the deal with this 'Emperor' you serve--not very well, might I point out. You just got whooped by a bunch of girls plus our...uh...Death-Dealer." She motions toward Zahur. "We've just got a few errands to run on the island and then we'll be on our way and out of your hair. Seems like a reasonable request...but is your Emperor going to make a big deal out of it and force us to whoop him as well? That would be unfortunate for all involved, I imagine."
x 1.5 = 19
x 1.5 = 13
Brig sighs in relief as Kayleigh takes most of her pain away. "Thank you" she squeezes the other woman's shoulder before checking the dead for anything they might need to take with them.
As Kayleigh ask the man questions, Brig shakes off the blood and skin off her hammer. It might be intimidating but she is too frustrated and distracted by that bits that seem to be stuck for it to be effective.
.
1. Still traces of Blood veil, but it has mostly died out. Some of the cure was smuggled in and there are a few Alchemists here who made more.
In his previous life, the Emperor of Old Korvosa was a man named Pilts Swastel, owner of Exemplary Execrables, a notorious playhouse that specialized in violent, gruesome productions.
Pilts was already a bit unhinged before Korvosa fell apart, but the riots, a bout with blood veil, and the quarantine pushed him the rest of the way to derangement.
Given his knack for showboating and organizing crowds and his horrifying imagination, it was a relatively simple thing for him to transition from theater director to gang lord.
The emperor’s imagination has captured the admiration of the mob he rules—from the gory but entertaining real-life plays he produces to new ventures, such as the extremely popular game of blood pig, his followers look to him for ongoing distractions from the horrors of their new world.
Yet the emperor is also a primary source of that same horror. His obsession with an extravagantly carved guillotine has created a constant need for new victims, and when the mob can’t provide the emperor with such playthings to go under the blade of his favorite toy, he is boundlessly creative in finding reasons to punish random followers with his “tall knife” for transgressions against his new laws.
Today, Pilts’s position of power is growing. Every day, his mob absorbs or murders more of Old Korvosa’s remaining citizens, and his resulting influence expands.
Of the hundreds of people who lived in Old Dock, most have joined Pilts’s mob, if only to avoid being branded traitors by the emperor and then forced to take part in his violent entertainment.
Those who revel in the chaos quickly ascend to the role of soldiers in the mob, where they serve as leaders and commanders, and the majority
of the petty thugs under their control obey out of fear.
Few have openly opposed the Pilts’s mob yet, and as a result, these thugs wildly overestimate their own power and strength. Their attitude toward intruders is one of haughty and profane disdain.
Lewd comments are hurled, racial epithets howled, and insults of all manner are lobbed. The thugs command the intruders to explain their presence in Old Korvosa. Any response other than “We’re here to join you,” is met with laughter and scorn, followed by an order to hand over their weapons.
People who do so are then escorted to Pilts’s Palace to be judged by the emperor.
Not much of a problem with Blood veil. Big problems with the Emperor. What are you doing?
Vedika shrugs and says, "I guess overthrowing one tyrant monarch is good practice for the next."
"Agreed, but we should perhaps look for the Vencarlo guy first, no?"
"I thought we'd already established that."
"Looks like that cure you whipped up has made its way into Old Korvosa as well," Kayleigh tells Brig, happy that she shouldn't have to worry about prepping lots of remove disease spells or using her healing channels to remove the blood veil from everyday citizens. Like Zahur and Vedika, the cleric's ready to move on to the meeting with Vencarlo before any more of the Emperor's thugs make their lives temporarily inconvenient.
Vencarlo’s home is a humble building just east of his academy—or at least, where his academy once stood, for the once-proud structure is no more. It was burned to the ground in a recent fire.
The only door into Vencarlo’s home is closed but not locked, and the building’s interior is warm but quiet and unlit. Announcements of arrival, whether knocks on the door or calls out for Vencarlo, go unanswered.
.
What are you doing now?
"We continue on to Vencarlo's unless they make it impossible, then we deal with this 'Emperor'" Ariadne says with a nod
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A small welling of muted pride is seen in Brig's face at Kayleigh's mention of her work. Pride since she never considered she would make something to help others like that. Muted since the amount of death that happened before it was discovered is still staggering.
At the door, unlocked with no response, Brig drinks several potions (). Her hand hovers over her mutagen, but doesn't pull it out. This Emperor will require her full attention, she decides.
She looks around the door for recent tracks.
"Hum, he probably fled or was taken." Zahur says, once he knows the burned building used to be this Vencarlo guy's academy. "You ready?" He asks Brigita before forcing the door open.
"Ready" the blacksmith nods.
The door is not locked or trapped. Brigita doesn't notice any tracks outside the building.
.
A1. Entrance: Here, an elegant and colorful Vudrani throw rug covers much of the floor of this otherwise empty front room.
A2. Workshop: This is a well-stocked workshop for decorating and repairing bladed weapons. Several partially repaired daggers and rapiers lie on the table. None are particularly valuable.
A3. Bathroom: This room contains a freestanding bathtub and a toilet.
A4. Study: A single leather chair sits at a desk, while two tall cabinets filled with books about sword fighting and philosophy stand to the east. The papers on the desk are mostly accounting documents and ledgers for Vencarlo’s academy.
It appears that up until the death of King Eodred II, Vencarlo’s academy was doing rather well, but then business turned bad as students failed to
show and Vencarlo took an increasing number of breaks from teaching.
A5. Pantry: Food and water are stored here, although the perishable food has gone bad. Vencarlo had no kitchen to speak of, as he generally has prepared food brought in and takes his meals in the living room or in his workshop.
A6. Living Room: Two large sofas face a brick fireplace. A fire burns brightly inside the hearth, despite the fact that the building seems to be abandoned.
.
Stairs up is the only available route. What are you doing now?
Kayleigh follows the others from her standard rearguard position. While her friends use their eyes and ears to look for Vencarlo or clues to his whereabouts, Kayleigh casts detect magic and scans each room in turn, looking for any magical items or clues.
"Given that everything perishable's gone bad, he, or his staff, haven't been here for a while. Weeks at least." Ariadne says, taking in the situation. "Which makes the fire not make much sense unless it's magic."
"On it," Kayleigh's voice echoes from within the mask as she turns her gaze toward the fireplace to detect any emanations that might be coming from the fire.
The fire has no traces of magic. Someone must have lit it recently?