Tisha keep looking for a way out.
Tisha keeps searching to find the way through.
Trinia avoids the jagged nails protruding from the roof. She wonders that is nailed to the ceiling from the other side for them to stick out like that. The big angry cat stops her for a moment before she notices, that the mean behaviour is just a bluff.
It looks like we have bee...
He puts on some dark glasses.
Painted into corner.
YARGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Tisha Tries to avoid the drain spider nest.
I'm losing her here...
Trinia finds the path blocked by 'special-constructions'. She throws herself at it with her shoulder, to no avail.
Seeing the woman ahead, Tisha tries desperately to catch her.
Move!!! Tisha yells at the beggar and slides past him.
Might as well head back. Briggi heads back to the late fortune teller's house.
The blockage resists Trinia.
Tisha tries to flip over the nails ahead.
Tisha jumps and finds a way to spring onto Trinia’s rooftop.
Stop running! We are trying to take you someplace where you can tell your story before a mob tries to string you up!
"So you can 'string' me after I tell my story?" Trinia scoffs at Tisha "No thank you." She points a wand at Tisha.
Don’t do this. I dont want to hurt you, but I will defend myself.
She draws her spear but does not attack.
The Korvosa watch commander she thinks something is off with how you are being set up…. Come with us, tell her your side of the story and she may be able to defend you. She has been honest in all the dealings we have seen. And really seems to worry about the people of the city.
I heard rumors of the hellknights starting to look for you, and if they get involved you know they will have no mercy no matter what you say. Hell they might hurt your neighbors looking for you if they think they are right. This city has had enough unrest, let’s both try to keep the shingles safe today.
"Oh, come on. You want me to believe that the commander will stand up to the queen and not follow her order? You are a liar, or you are delusional." Trinia replies.
"If you want my story - well, I didn't do anything to the king. I painted a portrait and got paid for it. That's it."
I don’t know how far she will go to stand against a direct order from the queen. But I do know she will do far more then the order of the Nail will.
If you really only painted a portrait then can you think of any reason the queen would be pointing at you?
The way I understand it the queen is about to publicly announce you are the killer , so there is most likely also a mob coming and they will be out for blood. My team can get you out of here and my guess is if the queen is after you, you are going to need someone in your corner. Let us help you.
Team you hearing this? Anyone find anything to support or refute her story?
"She did already. What do you think why I'm running." Trinia replies rolling her eyes. "And you can't think of a single reason the queen would point at me but me being a murder. Oh my sweet summer child. You ever heard of something like a scapegoat?"
"Either for for the public to vent their unfounded anger on. Or if the king was really murdered, to distract from who it was. How about you ask your queen who had the most benefit of the king's death?"
"If you really want to help me, you help me get out of the city."
The possibility you are a scapegoat is the whole reason we are talking. If we knew you were guilty of murder the gloves would have come off when you first cast a spell at me.
As for getting you out of the city, do you have any proof you are innocent? Show me proof, or convince Commander Kroft and I’ll personally make sure you get safely out of the city.
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Ernhild stops dead in her tracks when she hears the echoes of Tisha's conversation with Trinia. She listens carefully, and chimes in:
"It's up to the accusation to provide proofs that you're the culprit - it's much harder to prove that you didn't do the thing you're accused of. She may not have a defense beyond 'I swear I was not in the room when the King died, and no one directly saw me murdering him.' Unless you can prove you were somewhere else, how are you going to back up your claim?"
"What exactly does the Queen have to accuse her, beyond her word?"
"What proof do they have that I'm the murder?" Trinia objects. "And it's not that I'm wanted for a trial. The queen declared the verdict. That's a set up and any options where I take part in that play ends with my death."
"So make your decision - are you loyal to the queen and help her murder me? Are you going to look the other way? Or are you helping me to get out of this?"
When Briggi hears what Ernhild relays to him, he sighs and doesn't transmit his next words to the others. I'm obligated to obey Kroft's orders and return Trinia to her. I'm probably on thin ice due to my past mess ups and losing her on purpsoe is just not something I can do.
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Ernhild stays silent for a moment, as she thinks this over. Her next words are also for Briggi's ears alone. "Much as I'd like to believe in this city's institutions, I have very little hope that she will be trialed fairly. She is the easy culprit; the city has been driven into chaos since the death of the King. What Korvosa needs is to point fingers and pretend that they have everything under control."
"I cannot, in good conscience, send Trinia to an almost certain death without any tangible proof that she did murder the King."
Meanwhile, Narciso , makes a whispered argument for expedience: "I'm ages back, and Briggi and Ernhild haven't left the apartment... I'd advise against letting it come to a fight. Not getting paid is better than buying the farm."
Ernhild, want to try to catch up to Tisha?
I…. Gods I can’t believe I’m doing this….
Best I can offer is to take you someplace nobody will ever look for you while we try to find out the truth. You can hide there and we can keep you safe. You will have to hide inside for a bit but it will be far better accommodations than a cell or the dungeon.
Does that work for you?
"The best offer you made so far. Where?" Trinia inquires.
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"We probably won't make it in time, but let's try," Ernhild briskly sets off to find Trisha.
Briggi heads over the roofs. Fully willing to smack problems away with his sap.
For right now a small home that I’m guessing is about comparable to your flat, but with no relation in any way to you. Then we evaluate from there if we need something even more secure.
More than that I will not say now as I have no idea who might overhear and want to turn informant for the queens coin.
If this all goes to the Abyss, I am going to have to go Troll Slayer.
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It takes a while to get on the roofs - especially when you're a dwarf wearing a cumbersome chainmail. Eventually, though, Ernhild finds herself facing Tisha and Trinia.
"We're with her," she introduces herself and Briggi succinctly, with a gesture towards Tisha. "We've heard everything going on."
"I agree that we should retreat to a safer place. If you mind following us."
"How do we get there? Obviously I can't walk the streets." Trinia inquires.
You can get out if nobody knows it’s you.. I’ve got a brown wig and a cloak if you are really good at acting we could try to pass you off as a drunk friend.
Or if you don’t mind getting dirty, we have a couple sheets and some cows blood we make a stretcher and carry you out of here as someone who needs to go to the Bank of Abadar for healing.
For right now a small home that I’m guessing is about comparable to your flat, but with no relation in any way to you. Then we evaluate from there if we need something even more secure.
More than that I will not say now as I have no idea who might overhear and want to turn informant for the queens coin.
Narciso is still catching up when this offer is made and thinks to himself "So now we're going to be sheltering a fugitive whom the whole city is after, and someone who may actually be an assassin?! Whatever else, Trinia is no simple painter, not when she's casting spells and leading you a merry chase over the rooftops... Well, what's done is done."
With a sigh, he continues, catching up by following the dwarves as they navigate the rooftops, and then coming up the stairs of the abandoned tenement...
With Trinia persuaded and dressed up as someone else the two come down to street level to meet with Narciso who was halfway after them and the dwarves that come out of the building after they gave up on pestering the neighbours. Not going back to the flat, Narciso navigates Ernhild and Briggi to the side street they are in.
Together you move through the city in two groups. One ahead to scout the way, that no mob is coming that way and the other one with Trinia at a safe distance. As most of the mob comes from the palace towards the shingles, the route along the water is relatively empty and you reach Zellara's home without anyone noticing Trinia or trying to follow you.
Narciso volunteers to be one of the scouts. When we get close to Zellara's, he volunteers to his partner "I'll check the house" and darts ahead and inside. Once inside, he addresses the ghost in the room (Zellara): "Zellara, we're bringing someone here to hide out. She's called Trinia. I don't trust the story she's fed Tisha. Don't show yourself, and keep a careful eye on her; she might be up to some bad news..."
Briggi follows, looking like he ate something foul.
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Ernhild eyes Briggi, but she cannot say anything with Trinia being so close to them.
Whatever her responsibility is in this whole affair, they have at least succeeded in bringing her to a place she doesn't intend to run away from. It was better than nothing.
Narciso's mistrust was not misplaced, though. Clearly Trinia had not told everything she knew. Perhaps they had just gained some time to investigate further.
But justice was rarely about making decisions with all the cards in your hand, and all the facts known to the judges.
Trinia looks around the house mentally preparing the evacuation plan. "So, what now?"
I don't know of anyplace out of the city. Lived her my whole life, anyone ele have an idea?
"I didn't have time to make plans. One minute I was thinking about where I'd get my next job and the next moment I'm hunted by half the city. Just away. Don't know where, just away from this mess." Trinia replies.
Wel... Briggi doesn't like doing anything other than taking her to Kroft but the others are set on it.
I dunno if anyone else has moved in, but maybe hide her at Lamm's fishery?
I thought about that but it’s not the most comfortable given the state we left it in.
Before we go to next steps. Trinia how about you tell us exactly what happened between you and the king and queen. Also where you were the night the king died. Knowing that may give us a better idea of what the next steps should be.
Please be honest no matter how bad things seem for you. I want to defend you to people who have an open mind, and to do that we need to know the whole story.
Trinia throwns her hands in the air. "My hopes of you persuading anyone are naught. Because you are so blinded by the queens accusation of me, that you can't persuade yourself to think of other possibilities."
"I finished the portrait half a month before the king died and haven't seen him since. And then he falls ill of an illness, that not even the high priest of Abadar can cure."
"And while the king fights for his life, I sit in my chamber and enjoy the few gold I earned with the painting and wait for someone to point fingers at me? And have you asked yourself why I should kill the king? Or do you think I did it for an ungodly amount of money for some sinister organisation - oh wait, I have no money."
"This is stupid on so many levels, and that the mob and you fall for that lie hook line and sinker gives me no hope that there is a point in persuading anyone."
"How about you come up with a plausible chain of events where I am the murderer? And it should be one where not everyone else in the castle who saw the king every day even after I left could be put in as a culprit too."
Narciso makes sure the table is between him and Trinia before putting in his two cents:
"I agree there is little to no hard evidence to point to you killing the king, but let's step back from that question, and talk about what we do have evidence for ... Instead, who and what are you? You're not just a portrait painter. You threw a spell on Tisha, have a wand that I'd guess you can use, and led Tisha a truly merry chase over the rooftops. And I suspect you let Tisha catch up to you... You have significant skills, and not just those of an artist. So again, what are you?"
"I'm just someone liveing in the Shingles, as I'm too poor to live somewhere else. And I'm good at running away - well not good enough obviously. And yes, I can use some magic tricks. As can at least one of you. And this stick" she pulls out the wand "could be from a garbage bin and empty for all you know."