I was waiting for him to ask for a relocation fee…. That seems to match what I’ve heard of you guardsman.
Briggi ignores Tisha. We have the kids, a ghost and whatever is going on now. Letting this two copper thug off saves us the trouble of hauling him around.
Narciso threatens Yargin : Stand in the corner, looking at the wall, or I'll feed you another crossbow bolt", while motioning the others over for a whispered conference, several yards away...
"He's a witness that we killed Gaedren...How much trouble could that make us if he went to the guard? Also, he's been Gaedren's right hand for years, and is just as guilty...."
Lamm is a slimebucket who peddled drugs and enslaved kids. We'll get a pat on the back.
"Lamm was a slimbucket who peddled drugs and enslaved kids all right. Everyone knew. For some reason the guard never took him down... I always figured he had a 'friend' or three in the guard, who might not be happy about the reduction in their income."
It would be All four of our word that Gaedren attacked us as we tried to take him into custody vs his words of what happened. At least in my old militia that would go a long way to proving it was a clean kill.
But I am not sure how your city guard works with criminals if they are brought in. Downside with that is we might have to share some of the stuff we recovered from here as evidence rather then trying to return it to its rightful owners.
Of course your guard commanded may not believe that we were here at the request of a ghost…
Of every option just letting him go seems the worst. Then we would always have to watch our backs as he may try to get revenge.
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"We drop him off at the temple of Abadar with the rest of the orphans. Official story is that a city guard," she glances meaningfully at Briggi, "got a lead from an undisclosed source about Lamm's hideout for the night. He got helped out by a few allies, but sadly Lamm resisted arrest and couldn't be taken alive. No one needs to know about Zellara - or the few items that need to be returned."
"Would that get you into trouble with your superiors?" she asks the other dwarf of the team.
That sounds workable to me. I hereby deputize all of you.
What would bankers do with a two bit thief and orphans? Wouldn’t they need to be taken to the Korvosan Guard?
Tisha is genuinely confused why a financial institution would keep prisoners or orphans.
Ive heard the church only helps those who can pay, and I doubt any of them have much gold.
That is a good point. Kids to the temple then, I will help pay if they need a fee.
Any other questions for him. She points at Yargin or do we head upstairs, do a quick search, heal the kids and get out of here?
"Yeah, hey Yargin, what do your keys open?"
"There is a locked box in the office upstairs. The brass one is for the doors."
How do you keep track of the Kids you hold? Names, who is worth a ransom, who is a trustworthy and can be sent out to steal, who has to be watched…
Who did you take them from? Sure would be helpful to know, if fact perhaps convincing more of them into letting you go.
The box in Yagrin's office that the iron key opens contains a garnet
amulet worth 100 gp.
On the way to Yagrin's office which leads outside you become aware what the frantic clang of alarm bells is about. They sing out in harmony with a multifarious cacophony of screams, the clash of steel on steel, shrieks of terror, and even the periodic detonation of arcane power. A wing of Sable Company hippogriff riders swoops overhead, angling
toward Castle Korvosa at a breakneck pace.
No, we can’t leave kids and you here defenseless. What if whatever is attacking the city comes here? Heal them and let’s escort them through this chaos to someplace safer.
Let's get going then. Right now we are just jawing away and not doing anything.
Colgrim will lead the way.
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Ernhild spends her remaining positive energy healing the kids, unsure of whether or not it will be enough. Thankfully, her faith grants her enough magic this time, and many kids get up.
"Move out," she instructs them as soon as they wake up. "Lamm is dead, and there's trouble outside. Support each other if some of you can't walk."
Tisha is watching Yargin closely as they move.
After healing and Ernhild’s announcement Tisha continues a speaking to the group at large.
We are taking you to someplace where we can heal you if you are hurt, and then if you want we can get you to someplace that can feed and house you for now. Those of you who choose to go, will be treated better than you were here, I’ll be checking in to make sure of that.
Oh and this one.. She points her spear at Yargin Will be going to jail. So you don’t have to listen to anything he says.
She takes up a position a little behind Yargin making it clear she will stab him if he tries to run.
Hopefully that heads off some trouble on our way. We may have our hands full with the fighting in the street.
The kids follow out of the fishery into the streets and Yagrin still doesn't try anything. In the distance you see fires lighting up the cloudy sky and you hear the riots that broke out around Korvosa Castle. In this area at the river most people just locked their doors tight in hopes this will pass soon.
As soon as you move away from the river through the narrow alleys kids start to disapper and once you notice the dwindling numbers the rest starts running. Sliding under parked carts, jumping into basement windows, disappearing behind corners. It's their turf and your chances of stopping them are naught.
Just let the little buggers go. We have more important things to do.
Tisha continues focusing on Yargin to make sure he does not disappear too.
Lets get him to your watch station. Tisha agrees
When the group reach the watch station, they find it abandoned. There is room in the cells though and the keys are where they should be.
Yagrin whines "What about leaving for Kear Maga?"
Well sheet. Briggi curses as he sees the place abandoned. We can't take him with us and everyone is out so I am ok with cutting him loose.
Narciso turns to Yagrin and says levelly "You should run farther than Kaer Maga... These lot won't let me kill you out of hand as payback, but if I find you again, they might not be around..." Then he turns his back on Yagrin, giving him leave to run.
He abused and kidnapped kids, and you seriously are going to let him go? Lock him in the cell and file a report. But if he walks out of here, we are guilty for every child he abuses in the future. Are you good with that because I’m not.
She looks at Ernhild
Tisha gives a satisfied smile as she turns back to the others.
That's two votes to put him in jail. Come on Guardsman, I know you will do the right thing.
She looks hard at Briggi.
Fine, fine. Sorry Yagrin. Briggi marches the thug into the cell and locks it.
When he’s locked up Tisha relaxes a bit.
Do you need to write up a report or anything? If not I’d say we try to find out what’s going on as we head back to Zellara’s.
Briggi scribbles an explanation about Yagrin and puts it on the desk for the other guard when they show up. Let's get going.
After this short stop at the constabulary the group moves on to visit Zellara once more.
As you return, you find Zellara’s home abandoned, and showing clear signs of having been empty for weeks. No sign of the food, the wall hangings, the rugs, and the room is under a thick layer of dust disturbed only by the footprints you left yourself on your prior visit.
Out of thin air Zellara appears in the room. "Welcome back and congratulations on removing Gaedren from Korvosa. And thank you for retrieving my Harrow Deck."
"Last time we met, I left out a little detail - that I tried to retrieve the deck myself and failed horribly. But as fate has it, I am the harrow deck now."
"I imagine you might have some questions?"
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Narciso's eyes narrow and his voice is tinged with suspicion: "You've been avenged on Gaedren and your deck has been retrieved, but you're still here. You still want something on this mortal plane. What is it?"
Can you tell us more of what is happening, or do you just know about Gaedren. And was the story of your son true?
And what do you mean you are the harrow deck?
Don't know a thing about ghosts, so are you staying here for some reason?
Zellara looks, and if you dare touch her feels real.
"There is no son. And I'm no ghost. I care a lot about Korvosa, if you're asking for unfinished business."
"The harrow deck was my life. Everything revolved around it. And now that my body was fed to the croc and my rotting head put in a box, the deck is my body. This..." she tells, pointing at herself "is magic that I - the deck - can do."
"But as for leaving this plane of existence, I don't see why I should. And you would do well to take me along. As you for sure can use some help in what lies before you."
"As for what is happening... King Edored is dead. And not everyone is happy with Queen Ileosa claiming the throne."
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Ernhild takes out the harrow deck from her pocket, and seems to consider it for a while. "I suppose it'd be useless to ask you how you know that."
"I doubt paperwork at the temple will be of much interest for you to watch, so what do you think lies before us? What are you interested in seeing? Some royal unrest? A civil war? A conflict with another country?"
Zellara smiles her brightest smile "It's magic." Then she goes on to tell - others might say fabulate - about you becoming heroes in the changes to come, about a fight good vs. evil, and a long journey and hard choices that will decide if you'll come out victorious.
It sounds not as concise and decided as the information about Gaedren was, and more what you'd expect from a soothsayer. A sceptic may object that you'll be able to match that foretelling to a lot of things in retrospect. But it points in a direction that doesn't sound like your current day to day life.
Seeing the sceptic looks she adds "You can't see the future as you can see today. The future isn't decided yet and so everything you see is blurred."
Can you manipulate things in the Physical world other then the Deck?
"No." Zellara replies. "I can do this illusion, identify magic and do readings with the deck."
"And when I'm not doing this kind of appearance I can talk to the mind of the one who carries me."
oh, having a ghostly adviser sounds fun! Can we keep her? Please?
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Only if you promise to eat your veggies.
oh, having a ghostly adviser sounds fun! Can we keep her? Please?
"She's already manipulated us into one potentially lethal situation. Yeah, we all had reasons to be there, and we did get to settle with Gaedren, but you can't tell me she played it any kind of straight. What's she going to get us into next?"