Merry Christmas!
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The door is not trapped and the lock isn't that good. Tisha wouldn't be faster if she had the actual key. Inside with the help of some magical light from Narciso you find the shop looks just like when Narciso left it in the afternoon. The only change is, that there are no vials with the cure here and the cash box is gone.
Using manacles is great as it is fast as only a few moments later the first one wakes again - only to be force fed one of Briggi's used socks.
"Well, if that counts as dancing, then of course I can dance. John replies. He gets up, does a curtsy and adds "It would be my pleasure."
The guards drop to the ground.
"I'll get the boss." The guard replies and turns to walk around the corner of the building.
"Who of you is in charge of the purse? That's the only one I'm talking to." The guard replies unmoved. "By the way, I'm just offering a special service for the benefit of the daughter of the marchioness. YOU are bartering with her life to save some coins. I'm sure the marchioness will thank you profoundly for that."
"A marchioness? If you brought a marchioness' purse maybe there will be an exception." the guard replies - his interest piqued.
Georges drops the fighting stick and pulls out the flute. He intones a lighthearted piece that invites to frolic around.
"No, not now." The guard replies looking sternly at Narciso. "It will be again tomorrow after sunrise."
"You just grab a guy and hop around to the music together. It's not that hard." Clark tries to encourage Jewel. Georges rolls his eyes so hard one might fear they get stuck looking at the insides of his head.
"Might as well. But what will we do then?" Georges inquires. "We two could make music and the others do dancing? How about that?"
The shop has no windows at the back. The house behind has a light burning inside, but there is no one seen.
"Duh - ye can't be dead and alive." George replies not paying enough attention for a moment. "WHOA - careful there."
After returning the favor of a proper poke George inquires "Til death, or do we have another way to tell who won?"
The wet drippings from the barrel lead into the building behind the shop.
George evades Tarjun's attack and easily puts the point of his stick again on Tarjun's chest. "Looks like you're joining Clara's club of dead people." he chuckles.
"Another execution? Or did I just catch you on the wrong foot?"
The front door opens inward and has no handle.
George picks up the stick and holds it like a blade. "En garde?
While Ernhild and Briggi discuss how to solve the issue with the guards, they leave their post, walk the narrow path towards the second row of houses behind the shop and reemerge a few minutes later moving an empty barrel. One crosses the road, coming dangerously close to Tisha's hiding spot. He waves the other guy, who brings over the barrel and they exchange it for a full rainwater barrel from a neighbour. Then they carefully move the full barrel back to somewhere behind Lavender before they take up their positions in front of the shop again.
Tisha finds a nice place between two buidings on the other side of the road from Lavender where she can observe the shop and also see who passes behind the building. Shortly before darkness the shop owner comes out. "Dear customers. The shop will be closed soon. We'll serve another 30 customers, but the rest of you has to come tomorrow again. I'm sorry, but we're here all day. We can't work the night too. Thank you for your understanding and I hope to see you tomorrow." There isn't too much understanding in the crowd to be thankful for, but the bouncers of the shop make it clear, that there are no other options to beeing understanding if they want to be served the next day. Some are muttering curses under their breath, others start crying as they are sent off, but eventually the last customers are served and the rest disperses. The two girls working the counter leave and the door is locked by the owner from the inside. The bouncers stay in front of the door.
"I think I'll go back to staring at nymphs while listening to good music." George throws in. "Or do you plan anything else that is more entertaining than the current state of affairs?"
John looks surprised at Jewel's outburst. "Can't take a joke, eh?" "It's all good planning for the future. And the next generation of lumberjacks will be really grateful for that new forest nearby. And Dwayne, or whoever he sells his business to will be too. And for sure George here will appreciate that Dwayne's business won't leave this place as grass steppe." "But for us lumberjacks here today it is simply more work. With no penny paid extra and no other benefit. And as we're talking who has the s!+*tiest work day here and now that is a valid point if you like it or not."
"You don't look like you've seen too many lost harvests. And even if you sloth around in the woods to make new friends you'll get a meal in the evening. If you want to see what real life looks for us, you can join us and get yelled at by Dwayne for not matching the quota of trees. " John offers. "And when you just caught up with that, some tree hugger kids with too much time at hand show up with an angry walking tree and make your work even harder."
"Oh sweet summer child. Are your parents looking to adopt? I'm free to take for that" John throws in. "I'd take a year or two of this half assed farm work you have to do over cutting trees any day."
"Yes?" Kroft asks, looking up from her paperwork.
"When did you tell them that?" George inquires suspecting you of the use of dark magic.
When opening the vial a pleasant flowery smell emerges. It has a sweet taste and a bitter aftertaste. But for details about the ingredients special knowledge is necessary.
Alchemy DC22: The 'remedy' consists of water, sugar and some run-of-the-mill perfume ingredients.
There is nothing magical about the bag Narciso holds and its content. I think hiring an alchemist is something rich people would do. Or do they offer such services at the magic academia? Zellara also has no first ahdn knowledge of that topic.
"Once the feast is over I'm sure you can join us for a day to see how it is." George offers.
"There is collecting berries and roots, collecting firewood, hunting, searching for shelter when moving to another area. It's not getting boring if that is what you mean?" George answers.
With Ernhild out of the way, a tense silent order returns to the queue interrupted by a cough here and there. Tisha finds out that the openings in this apartment are done very thoroughly and even a crowbar might not be enough to get in there.
A narrow path between Lavender and the next shop leads to the second row of buildings. Behind the shop runs a path parallel to Summoning street. The buildings are probably the living space for those running the shops. Directly behind Lavender are two apartments, one of which has its door and windows boarded over. "A providient decision." the woman praises Narciso while one of the girls packs the goods into a cloth and ties it up with twine. As she hands it over the woman continues "Thank you for your purchase, have a nice day and I hope to see you back!" "Once you make her move to the end of the queue!" the man replies. But the anger of the crowd is now muffled as a city guard takes over handling the issue.
"You have to go to stinky cities and stand in some corner of the market hoping enough people come past that throw you a coin in your hat! "
"Hey lady, no cutting in line!" "Yeah, get to the back!" "Who do you think you are!" "That's a cleric of Abadar! Not enough that they send us away for being poor, now they try pushing us around here too!" The crowd is not happy and with that backing one man gets bold enough to stand in Ernhild's way.
"It's always a good idea to plan ahead. You never know when you catch something again. And the queue in front of the shop isn't getting any shorter." "And the cure wont spoil for at least half a year."
"It is one of those vials and the cost is a mere twenty silver - and you drink it. Simple as that." the woman cheerfully explains.
"We are not travelling entertainers and you won't earn any money playing for us." George tries to nip that idea in the bud. "We only make music for the fun of it. Not to appease to a random crowd to earn a few coins."
"You find shelter when you need it. A cave, a large tree. But most of the time you just get wet. What's the issue? And when it gets cold, you can leave and go somewhere where it is warm." George shrugs.
"Two sails." He answers and quickly puts the vial away, before Ernhild gets any ideas.
While Tisha and Briggi argue about what to do, Narciso stands in line and manages to get into the shop. Heady scents twist throughout the cramped but stylish perfumery. A dizzying assortment of bottles—from gaudy ceramic containers to graceful crystalline vials—lines a variety of lace- and ribbon-strewn tables, shelves, and racks, as well as an eye-catching display in the wide front window. Across from the front door’s lavender-tinted glass panes runs a long counter, stacked high with hundreds of simple clay phials bearing round, magenta stoppers. Behind the counter, violet flourishes swoop across a sign reading, Lavender’s Luxuriant Liniment: Either You’ve Got It, or You’ve Had It. Inside the shop at the door stand two well-dressed men with purple cravats discreetly hold saps and keep their eyes on the shop’s patrons, ready to put down any trouble. Behind the counter are two local women working relentlessly as cashiers. Besides them stands a very enthusiastic woman greeting every customer personally and welcoming them to Lavender and praising her goods.
"Spare clothes? A bed? A roof over my head when the weather sucks? Something to make a fire?" Clark recounts the basics.
Lavender, one of the better-known and noted perfume boutiques in Korvosa, stands amid a row of tightly packed shops just off of Summoning Street. A queue of eager Korvosans standing in a line that stretches nearly four blocks from the perfumery’s distinctive amethyst-shaded windows. Many of these people look healthy, but several bear the early but obvious symptoms of blood veil: hacking coughs and blisters. The line threads through the street and into the store. The queue moves at a slow but steady pace and every minute a customer comes out of the shop, some with a vial in hand.
Clark scratches his head. "That is not very much that you're taking along."
"Utility belts are great. The few things you really need you can put there." George replies presenting the one he is wearing with a knife, a pouch and a place for his flute.
"By the gods, I hope not." Kroft calls out.
The lumberajcks applaud the performance enthusiastically. "Nah. We don't build houses. Where would I put those instruments?"
George is impressed. First and foremost by the progress Tarjun made. He pulls out his own pan flute and joins into the tune harmonizing over it.
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