Audria's expression makes it clear, as young and naive as she may look, for that matter, as young and naive as she is, she doesn't believe for a moment they were trying to help him avoid trouble. Despite her own feelings about the situation, she finds it funny how quickly they scattered once she'd made her presence known.
Talanaliel is less restrained in her amusement.
"Audria, the Mob Breaker they should call you," the thrush trills as she lands on the young woman's shoulder.
"I think titles and epithets like that are too grandiose for me," Audria says with a chuckle.
"Better?" Talanaliel's question is quiet, lost on the wind before it gets more than a few paces from Audria.
"A little, maybe."
"Just keep in mind, Audria, Lamm's no expert on you. You've got courage, and that's no small thing."
Audria nods, not fully in agreement with Talanaliel, but knowing better than to disagree too much with her feathered friend.
"And," Talanaliel says with much less good humor, "the butcherbird's right. The best way to make Lamm pay is to live well."
Audria snorts as she stifles a life.
"You really shouldn't call her that, Tallyfeather."
Talanaliel harumphs and fluffs out her feathers, but Audria can see the twinkle in her eyes. She isn't half as annoyed as she is puts on.
"Don't you have a bauble to return?"
Audria chuckles as she starts making her way to the others.
Audria puts her hands by her face to show she's unarmed as she sees the crossbows swiveling her way.
"We're not looking for trouble! We just wanted to get to the Eyes of the Peacock to get something looked at," she says, trying her best to sound confident, and managing it surprisingly well. "We found something and wanted to make sure it got back to it's owner."
The Korvosan Guardsman behind the barred grate eyes the group. “If that’s the case, you’ll have no problem relinquishing any arms you have on your persons.” His unfriendly bark sounds rather skeptical.
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"I-- I want to believe you," Audria says slowly. "It's just-- I-- I try. I really do try, and anytime I feel like I'm getting better, he's right there, telling me that I'm nothing, that I'm a hypocrite, or that I'm not-- not worth the trouble."
Shrike rises smoothly to her feet like she hasn't been crouched for the last five minutes, and offers a hand to pull Audria up too. "So prove him wrong."
As the group reaches the plaza and gets close enough to see and hear the obvious prelude to a mobbing, Shrike draws the blackjack and is just opening her mouth to shout a threatening warning from that distance for the crowd to stand down when a streak of colorful robes and blonde hair barrels directly past her, almost to the edge of the mob itself.
Realization hits with a kind of calm horror. She isn't wearing any armor. She's running at eight people wielding clubs with no weapon or armor.
Shrike breaks into a dead run after the girl, and upon reaching her, silently swivels the mask back and forth, assessing threats, blackjack ready in one hand. But it seems her scolding has actually worked to distract the crowd, and they are dispersing, especially once their target — a young man, clean-shaven, noble by his clothes, but no one she knows — sees the chance and takes to his heels. Nevertheless, she remains there until they have actually gone, attempting to radiate enough menace to show that the girl does have backup if anyone gets any bright ideas.
"Let's just go around," Shrike mutters, already edging back the way they came.
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Audria reaches out and takes Shrike's hand and stands with the taller woman's help. As she does, the haystack of strawberry blonde locks turns into a shower of tiny, star-struck gems of all seven colors of the rainbow. The gems tinkle for a bit before fading into nothingness.
"Guess, I can't do anything but try, can I," she says, a faint smile on her lips. Her voice is still husky, but it holds a note of genuine humor in it.
"We could, but given where we're going, we're almost certain to find another barricade," Audria whispers back to Shrike before returning her attention to the guard.
"Could we not bind our weapons," Audria asks. "Forgive me, I do not doubt your intentions, but I think I would feel safer if my companions did not have to give up their arms. We've already faced imps taking advantage of the chaos, I'd rather not try fending them off unarmed."
Abella nods languidly. ”Why yes! Could we not peacebond them? I do not think we should be without recourse in the event that we run into people who threaten us? In fact, I would argue the show of sheathed weapons can be a deterrent against further violence.”
Somehow, she manages to prevent herself from going off on a tangent or inserting a random joke at the guards’ expense.
“Everything north of here is secure. So the only danger is foolishly allowing hidden dissidents armed to the teeth to get past this checkpoint without removing the threat of surprise attack,” he says wearily as if he’s tired of having to explain this. It’s highly likely this isn’t the first time he’s made such statements today.
“You can also hand over the lost item, and we will see it delivered to the proper owners, if you’d prefer.”
"I am not a dissident, I am a firm believer in the law and your ability to enforce it. Can you not make us a part of your group? We can then help you out."
He had not eaten in a while and his tone got a little edgy.
Secure from invisible flying imps. Are they sapskulls or do they just think we are? Shrike manages not to say it out loud, nor any of her similarly pungent opinions about the Korvosan Guard's ability or willingness to enforce the law — Oh yes. Like they did with Lamm?
"Could go around," she mutters again, with more emphasis, for the group's ears only. She of course means backtracking and using the rooftop routes to get to their destination, although for all she knows they've been blocked off too. "Or ask for the senior constable." Since it involves the royal family, surely that warrants the attention of whoever is in charge here. And she had thought Abella wanted to take the brooch to some place like this first, anyway, because she had some kind of connection. Although hadn't that connection — this "Beth" — also shared the name of her late sister, even though she had spoken in the present tense? It is possible Abella has a more tenuous grasp on time and reality than she previously understood.
Shrike does not attempt to address the guardsman herself. All other things being equal, those of the group who are not wearing anonymizing animal masks and bristling with weapons should probably be the ones to represent them to the robins.
"We should walk away. There's always more than one way through the city..."
Audria sighs as she hear's Pip's testy tone and realizes the others didn't catch what the guardsman's words mean. There wasn't any going around, not if they'd cordoned off this entire section of the city.
"Abella, you still have the brooch, don't you," Audria asks. "Would it be alright if I took it?"
Turning back to the guard, she makes an offer.
"Very well, Would you be able to spare someone to escort me to the Eye of the Peacock? I promise you that I am unarmed, but I will not protest if you wish to confirm that."
The guard nods and replies, “That goes without saying. Even without your weapons, you will be escorted by Korvosan Guard and watched by Sable Company patrols for all business this close to City Hall.”
As if on cue, a small patrol of Sable Company hippogriff riders soar over a building short distance away before turning to glide out of sight.
the Korvosan Guardsman at the grill steps back and makes a gesture. A portion of the barricade begins to slide open far enough for Audria to pass through. A pair of the Guard waits at the ready to be her escort watching both her and the surroundings carefully.
"I will give up my weapons and come along as well." Garrett says from the back of the group.
Shrike holds the crossbow loaded but pointed at the ground, as usual for her while walking through the streets in these dangerous times, and looks to Abella for a decision. She's the one holding the trinket, after all. While she still doesn't trust the robins or like the thought of handing over her weapons, the notion of having an armed escort rather than just being turned loose defenseless on the streets ahead is more palatable.
The storefront is designed to blend in with the building's overall aesthetic, but has an actual display window of glass filled with very expensive looking jewelry of all types and shapes. A sihedron appears inlaid into the glass with the words Eye of the Peacock ringing the design's top half. One of the escorts stations herself outside the store while the other accompanies those who made the journey inside and remains near the entrance while the business is conducted. A small bell hanging above the entryway gives a soft tinkling as the opening of the door makes contact, and the shop owner emerges from behind a curtain of beads.
"Welcome to the Eye of the Peacock," the well-dressed gnome says. He wears a pair of pressed azure slacks and a long-sleeved dress shirt of a similar color with an emerald vest. A small gold chain connects a monocle on his left eye to a button on the vest. "I'm Gladiorus Nizlasty, your humble servant in the search for fine jewelry and accessories. What beautiful gemstones bring you in today?"
”Oh they have a system with little papers and everything! I do love to trade things for pieces of paper. Can never have enough paper.” She offers-up her weapons, convinced by the banality of the scene and the bureaucracy that it will be fine. If the coppers give her trouble later about getting her sword back, she can just invoke the dead sister bit.
Audria is surprised to see both Garrett and Abella join her. She has no weapons to give up and while her brightly colored robes aren't as revealing as those favored by some of the priests and priestesses, they are a close enough fit to make hiding anything under them difficult. Seeing the mass of guardsmen and hellknights, she realizes that the men at the barricade had good reason to be sure of this area's security.
Talanaliel rides her shoulder, shying away from the hellknights whenever they passed close by.
"Have there always been so many," she asks Audria. The young paladin can only shrug. Even after joining Shelyn's clergy, she had no desire to learn more about the hellknight orders, and even now, she doesn't want to learn any more than she needs to keep the people she cares about safe.
"We'll be fine," Audria reassures her friend and guide. "See? There's the shop. We'll be out of here in no time."
"Good morning, Master Nizlasty. I hope you're doing well. I haven't seen you at the Sanctuary in a while," she says with a smile. "As for what brings us in, we were hoping you could tell us more about this." She gestures to Abella, hoping that she'd take the cue to reveal the brooch and being thankful that neither Trinia nor Eliana were here to twit her own her lapse into theatrics.
Maybe Merula's-- no, Shrike's? Whoever she is and whatever her name, her penchant for the dramatic seems to be rubbing off on Audria at least a little. It is something that she'll have to ask her about later. At the moment, she needs to pay attention and hopefully smooth things over if it looks like they'll be getting into hot water.
Shrike hesitates, but follows suit with Abella without a word, trailing in as the last of the group to put down her weapons before the bored-looking guardsman. It takes a minute. The heavy crossbow, which she unloads and uncocks first, and its seven bolts. The guisarme, its haft right below the head wrapped in twine. The greasy man's cosh and his dagger, from her belt. Lamm's dagger, tucked at the small of her back. Two small and oddly angled broad-bladed knives from her boots. Finally, from her sleeve, a wickedly sharp seven-pointed throwing star. She gets the list, takes her time checking it, and tucks it into her pouch, resolving to have one of the magic users check on the magic dagger when they return, to be sure it has not been swapped for a nonmagical one.
As they travel she eyes the Hellknights with disfavor behind the mask while appearing to look straight ahead. It is good news that they seem to be planning to pacify the rest of the city soon, and they have significant forces to do it with. But by the snippets of conversation, they and the Guard have not yet secured the district where the Sanctuary of Shelyn is located at all. Again she wonders why they made time to go harass the priests about doing exactly what they have done here to keep people safe — from looters and other ordinary hazards, anyway. She's still not sure what any of the regular authorities are supposed to do about suddenly aggressive imp behavior, for if the pestilential things really want to get into somewhere and cause trouble, they seem tailor-made to do it.
Shrike files in behind the others and half-turns so that she can watch both the shop-owner Nizlasty and the street outside through the sihedron-inlaid glass window. The pieces on display look very fine, at least to her untrained eye. It makes sense, since this shop is so close to City Hall: its usual customers are likely ministers and other well-heeled bureaucrats.
Pip hands over his weapons and then looks at Donnal and then a soaring hippogriff. Pip tries to hide his disappointment that Donnal cannot fly, but cheers up knowing with magic, maybe someday he can.
"This is an orderly operation. Who is in charge of this, I mean at the very top?"
"This is an orderly operation. Who is in charge of this, I mean at the very top?"
The administrative guardsman responds to Pip's question while carefully inking the details of the halfling's weapons.
"Field Marshal Cressida Kroft leads the soldiers of the Korvosan Guard. We serve the City of Korvosa first and foremost."
"Good morning, Master Nizlasty. I hope you're doing well. I haven't seen you at the Sanctuary in a while," she says with a smile. "As for what brings us in, we were hoping you could tell us more about this." She gestures to Abella, hoping that she'd take the cue to reveal the brooch and being thankful that neither Trinia nor Eliana were here to twit her own her lapse into theatrics.
The gnome turns his wide eyes and pleasant smile towards the thanergist expectantly.
"She must be very busy. Have you seen her around at all?" Garrett asks as he hands over his weapons.
The man looks up at Garrett and blinks. "Not recently, considering the conditions. But yes, I have seen the Field Marshall around before the death of his majesty the king. She stopped by to inspect this station not even a week ago."
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Abella is lazily checking her nails when Audria looks to her. It takes a long several seconds before she finally notices everyone waiting on her and she produces the brooch. ”Ta-da and all that.”
If Eliana or, Shelyn have mercy, Trinia ever finds out about this, I'll never live it down.
Audria feels her cheeks heat as a faint blush colors them. She has another reason to feel embarrassed as she realizes she put Abella on the spot.
Could be worse, I guess.
Talanaliel twitters quietly on her shoulder, obviously amused.
"Uh, Yes. We were hoping you could help us get it to its rightful owner," she explains after hesitating just a moment too long.
Seeing the guards distracted by the armory that Shrike carried, she slipped a wand into her own sleeve. The dagger, hidden on the back of her waist and covered by her belt, she left in place. Her steady hands laid the quarterstaff and crossbow on the table before she quickly followed after the others.
The walk through the better part of the city was a stark reminder to Lina about the differences that money could afford. More guards, more patrols, and hardly any people about. Shut-ins by choice? Or force, I wonder?
Still, she saw no violence, no looting, no mobs looking to take advantage of the situation and she had to wonder. Are the poor really not worth protecting?
As the others entered the Eye of the Peacock, Lina remains outside with the guard. She leaned against the store, one foot on the ground and the other against the wall as she asked casually "how bad is it out there?"
Lina successfully manages to sneak a couple of weapons past the checkpoint.
"My, my," the gnome mutters to himself. "And how did you say you came across this item?" He hurriedly places the paper back below the counter.
"Worst I've ever seen or heard about. Who knew the city would explode like this after hearing about King Eodred? So many patrol precincts completely cutoff from the main headquarters. The citizens causing the unrest attacked all law enforcement on sight without any warning. The Korvosan Guard and Sable Company had good positions here due to City Hall, so when several Hellknight patrols retreated here to regroup, it kind of became a base of operations. They cleared all these streets and setup checkpoints. Right now the imperative is to link City Hall back up to Castle Korvosa. But first the higher ups are aiming for reaching the University of Korvosa."
She gives Lina a once over. "If you have any contacts with the rebels, you'd best inform them they should stop this foolishness. I've already heard, there won't be any investigations if the unrest just stopped tomorrow, but the longer it goes on and more damage occurs, they will be looking to make examples." The guardswoman gives Lina a hard eye.
"We found it among all the crazy things going on out there. Do you know there are imps just flying down the street?" Garrett says with a wide eyed shake of his head as a way to avoid fully answering the question.
Audria looks to Talanaliel and sighs as the bird nods. She wondered about the paper, and now she wonders if the jeweler will believe them.
"I think he's going to need more than that," Audria tells Garrett before turning her attention back to Mr. Nizlasty. "We found it among the ill-gotten spoils of one Gaedren Lamm. I don't know how he got it, but we figured it would be something that the owner would want back. I guess that paper was a notice about it going missing?"
The gnome proprietor seems to evaluate Garrett and Audria's statements for a moment then nods.
"You sound truthful enough, and if your intent is indeed to turn it over to the owner, I certainly have a surprise for you!"
He produces the paper from below the counter and lays it next to the brooch. It shows a very well-drawn image of the brooch along with a listing for a reward which can be claimed at Castle Korvosa.
The brooch belongs to none other than Queen Ileosa Arabasti herself.
Audria's eyebrows disappear under her bangs as she sees the listing.
"Oh... wow... Th-this is something," Audria mutters suddenly feeling very, very underdressed for the occasion.
"Do you have some gem dust I could bathe in," Talanaliel asks Mr. Nizlasty. "I mean, I guess I have to dress up, but I don't wear clothing."
"Dire news" Lina replied, her eyes downcast towards the street. "If you've lost brothers in arms, I'm sorry. If I had any sway with the rebels, I would do whatever it took to stop all this madness. Some people will use any excuse to gain favor" she said with a slow shake of her head. "I fear this wick has been burning long before today."
"Between you and me, I'd much rather not see any more Hellknights in Korvosa than we already do if not less."
Master Nizlasty chuckles while admiring the thrush. "Nothing free, I'm afraid, but if your owner is looking to sell...?" he raises a rather bushy inquisitive eyebrow at the young Audria, "I'd have no problem making those feathers glisten as a shop mascot. You're no peacock, but that's not the point of the name anyway."
Shrike does not outwardly react to the news. They had known the brooch was related to the royal family, and she has lived in the shadow of Castle Korvosa, one way or another, for most of her life. Yet despite the promise of a reward, it seems unlikely to be of immediate benefit if they must travel to the castle themselves and convince someone of the harmlessness of their errand. It is at least a mile away by the most direct main routes, and while she does not doubt that the private guards of the many noble houses of the Heights will have easily repulsed any crowds of angry commoner arsonists or looters from their employers' own property, she has no reason to think that would extend to safety in the main streets even of that wealthy district. Especially when all of the city's law enforcement seems to be clustered here instead.
"In her shoes I'd not open the gates of Castle Korvosa right now for anything. Certainly not a brooch." The croaking voice sounds dispassionate; the mask turns to Master Nizlasty. "You know anything about what's happening or why? We've heard a lot of shouting. Not much of sense."
Audria feels herself cheering up a little at Master Nizlasty's obvious good cheer and his offer to help Talanaliel look her best for a royal appointment. She opens her mouth to apologize to the jeweler for not having anything to sell when Shrike speaks up. It is a good question, but the way she said it...
Audria tries not to shiver. She knows people can be cold, after all, look at what happened to her when her mother died, but after being around Brother Theolan, Eliana, Trinia, and everyone else at the temple, it felt cloying, like something trying to choke the happiness out of her.
Then again, it could also be what happened in the alley beside Von Heller's House of Song and Love earlier.
Sensing her falling mood, Talanaliel gently rubs her head against Audria's cheek, reminding her that she's not alone in this, as Master Nizlasty answers Shrike's inquiry.
Upon hearing of the brooch’s provenance, Abella laughs out loud. ”And they say revenge doesn’t pay! How in Zon-Kuthon’s pierced nipples did Lamm get his hands on something like that? And that ancient scalp of his probably had no idea what he even had!” She actually twirls once, stars in her eyes. A favor for royalty! This is the beginning of the story of how she brings Cainabeth back from the Boneyard.
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"A lot of folk never expected Her Majesty Queen Ileosa Arabasti to become the ruler of Korvosa. Some of her...behavior has not been received well by the public at large. And now seeing the city and its lands under her control has caused many who were merely disgruntled to become much more volatile in their views," Gladiorus says conspiratorially.
"Don't know what they did expect then. Never a whisper of an heir. Doesn't take a fortuneteller to know a young woman will outlive an old man." The masked elf's voice is still unemotional. The monarchy is a fact of life in Korvosa, but Lania never cared much for either the spendthrift, dissipated Eodred or the selfish, spoilt schoolroom chit he finally married. She thinks that the merchants and many cityfolk liked him because he was good for trade, and trade is the lifeblood of the city. But she has been much too occupied with her own concerns to follow any royal scandals in detail since the wedding, or know how exactly the Queen had mortally offended so many of the common people. Probably just being herself in public. Mamma would know. She still follows the society papers obsessively. From certain things she and Junie have said, Lania thinks vaguely that the King had been sick for a long time, but can't recall for how long, or if he has living relatives with any kind of legitimate claim to the throne instead. She asks with the same dispassion, "These volatiles organizing around anyone? Have a replacement they want, or a new kind of government?"
Regardless of the answer, one of her ears flicks and she changes the subject, trying to whet Gladiorus's interest in the recovered trinkets. "There were a few other things in the same thieves' den. Seem less likely to be returnable. Don't suppose you'd be interested in taking a look." She steps back for most of the process, however, suspecting that others like the enthusiastic Pippip will do better at talking up the value of the gewgaws.
Abella, still with stars in her eyes, focuses for the moment on the business at-hand. A gold in the hand is worth two in the Queen’s brooch, as it were. ”So, old buddy, old pal, old chum a’ mine, since we are to shortly be the talk of the town, how about you give us a generous price on all these fine accoutrements. Make it a good deal, and I will make sure we mention you by name as a businessperson of quality to the Queen’s people and in the inevitable human interest story in the paper.”
"Oh, right. I forgot about those," Audria says as she blushes and avoids looking Master Nizlasty in the eyes.
Pip was embarassed about the shop at first, but when the negotiations start, he gets excited. He decides to show his knowledge of the value of things to start off, then begins to follow Abella's lead.
"Yes, this is the first of many sales with us and the follow on clients that will follow given my noble connections with the landed gentry and my compatriots influence in town with the artistic folks."
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As Abella and Pippip talk of how the party's potential contact with the royalty of Korvosa could catapult his business, he nods greedily and provides a generous amount over what the items are likely to be worth.
Lina smiled lazily. "Between you and me, I think we have too many Hellknights already."
"Take care of yourself out there and stay safe. No telling how much all of this will shake the city."
Lina gave a curt nod as she pushed herself off of the building. She gave a quick look around before turning and heading toward the door.
"I'm Lina by the way. Nice to meet someone with a good head on their shoulders."
With that, she opened the door and headed inside.
"So, what I'd miss? Where to next?"
The gnome proprietor gives the starry-eyed team one final bit of advice.
"Go ahead and take this flyer, so the palace guards will understand why you've come. But I'd definitely say you'll want to wait a couple of days to give the Guards and the Sable Co. more time to get a handle on the unrest. Right now, you're not likely to get into Castle Korvosa with all the threats towards Her Majesty. You'd probably be suspected of some kind of plot if you insist on trying to get close to the throne."
"Thank you for the advice. It'd also give us time to make sure we're presentable."
Audria starts to leave, but turns back as she remembers something.
"Before I go, can you tell me anything about who this might belong to?"
She holds out the abalone holy symbol of Shelyn for his inspection.
The gnome proprietor gives the starry-eyed team one final bit of advice.
"Go ahead and take this flyer, so the palace guards will understand why you've come. But I'd definitely say you'll want to wait a couple of days to give the Guards and the Sable Co. more time to get a handle on the unrest. Right now, you're not likely to get into Castle Korvosa with all the threats towards Her Majesty. You'd probably be suspected of some kind of plot if you insist on trying to get close to the throne."
"Thanks." Shrike takes the flyer. The jeweler seems to agree with her suspicion that they won't be allowed in under the current circumstances. Useful to know.
"So, what I'd miss? Where to next?"
Shrike hands Lina the flyer. "Can't get in yet." She looks at Garrett. "Zellara's?"
She sets off when the group does to retrieve their weapons. At the barricade, when readjusting how her crossbow lies on its strap, a hard corner of something inside the large pouch at her waist digs painfully into her skin, and she stills.
Pip gathers his items at the checkpoint. He is happy they are converting the treasure to more liquid assets, he did appreciate liquidity as many rich nobles saddled themselves with expensive assets and hobbies.
"The brooch is something we should research more. I think we must understand its significance as it appears it is the most significant part of the items Lamm had."
"If I can have the Shiver, I will think about a clever use for it. I would think it can be useful."
Abella is rather dejected that she has to wait to cash in her meet-the-queen and show up in the paper token, but the gnome did offer good advice that she cannot complain about. She is too caught up with thinking about being recognized publicly and how this might be the jumpstart of bigger and better things.
"I need to go by my family's shop. Hopefully, everyone is ok. The shop did not have much to steal." Garrett says.
"Where is it? Could we stop by on the way back to the temple? I want to track down the other children Lamm had under his thumb, but I don't think making sure your family's okay first will hurt anything."
"I need to go by my family's shop. Hopefully, everyone is ok. The shop did not have much to steal." Garrett says.
The shrike mask dips slightly in silent assent to this plan.