GM Bill Cressida Kroft's page

Kroft sighs, "At least that's closer to a problem seen by cities other than Korvosa. It's almost like normalcy," she adds with a wry smile. "I figured the issue under Bookkeepers would be related to smuggling or some other schemes by the Cerulean Society. A vendetta between wererats and rabble-rousers is worse, but at least it makes more sense than everything else going on around here."
"Thank you once again for looking into the city's trouble spots. The Guard is shorter staffed than ever with my budget being cut further. But you shall not go unrewarded for your efforts. I will instruct the quartermaster to put some of our armory contracts at your disposal. It may be a slower process than a cash reward, but the queen has yet to throttle that connection."

If anybody wants upgrades to weapons or armor or other reasonably guard-oriented gear, one item or upgrade can be obtained at cost + time it takes to craft it.

As far as the rest of the people gathered in the Citadel's courtyard, Bishop d'Bear seems particularly intent on sizing up Tolenn and Wednesday.

The streets are dark and quiet for the most part with little more than the sounds of a few stray animals scrabbling for food and the hiss and twitter of house drakes living in the eaves of buildings. But there is some activity around Citadel Volshynek.

Lanterns light the courtyard where several carts are being loaded with crates. A couple of dozen guards stand about, alert for trouble. A number of high representatives of the local temples are in attendance including Bishop Keppira d’Bear from the church of Pharasma, Archbanker Darb Tuttle from the church of Abadar, and High Priestess Iolana Kerekes from the church of Sarenrae. Field Marshall Kroft stand with them, overseeing the operation.

The guard at the front gate, escorting you in, catches Kroft's attention and she waves you over.
"First batch of cure for the blood veil. The guard are delivering it to distribution centers to be ready for first light. What bring you to the Citadel so late at night?" she asks.

At this point, a series of WHUMPs can be heard to the north and puffs of smoke arise along the bridges between Endrin Isle and the mainland.

"And now she's blow the damn bridges to quarantine Old Korvosa. And that means she has the Acadamae too."

"The queen. Field Marshall Kroft speaks back up at this point.

"They have the queen in common. But if you shut that a@@#&#% you call a mouth once in a while, Wednesday, you might figure a few other things out. The queen has power and position. She's got money and that means she has the Hellknights. She's still got the magistrates and they do frown on sedition and regicide. She has the support of a substantial number of the people in the city. Anyone opposing her has to be very careful. Not everyone has the freedom of an itinerant adventurer. You get to stir the pot while others try to give you cover or clean up the aftermath. And if the s$+& hits the fan, you get to walk away. Lucky you."

Glorio has generally been available in two ways - either by visiting the Arkona manor (a fairly large property with beautiful gardens complete with topiary that honors the Vudran-based trade fortune) and when he makes his rounds through the streets of Old Korvosa on Endrin Isle. On a typical day, he draws a pretty decent crowd - children come out for the candies he gives to them, and their parents for the money he gives away. How the quarantine of Old Korvosa may have affected these methods is, as yet, unknown.

"If you want to pursue this further with Glorio Arkona, be my guest. Whether he is involved in the plague or not, he may have informants who know a bit or two about it. I would advise you to tread carefully, though. Enemies of the Arkonas have been known to disappear. "

"Victor, Marcus is a friend and completely trustworthy. You can speak freely in front of him." She dismisses her other officers.

"The Arkonas have their hands in lots of petty criminal affairs, including "protection" rackets. It wouldn't surprise me if Lavender is one of the businesses under Arkona protection. It would probably generate a lot of money for his coffers and get him influence in one of the nicer neighborhoods. Spreading a plague doesn't seem like it would be in Glorio's interests, though. The people most affected are the poor souls he pays and, ultimately, preys upon."
"It's hard enough understanding a motive for spreading a plague in the first place, even harder to reconcile why a crime boss would do so."

In response to Tolenn's query, Kroft offers a suggestion. "If you're looking for something to do that would help us out, there was a bit of trouble at the Bookmaker recently and we've been too busy to follow up on it. The proprietor, Costa Serimus, thinks his shop is haunted. A priestess of Pharasma checked it out and found no presence of ghosts or undead creatures, but my men did find a hidden entrance to the vaults under the city. It might bear checking out."

Commandant Endrin extends his greetings throughout the group cordially, but otherwise doesn't interfere with your conversation with Field Marshall Kroft.

Kroft accepts any samples offered. "Samples, excellent. I will see to it that they are examined by one of our alchemists today. Vendra Loaggri had better hope these check out. I don't think the magistrates will look kindly on her if her remedy is harmful or even useless."

The people in front of Lavender don't even try to hide their relief when Wednesday starts moving away from the area in front of the store.

The walk (or roofrun) back to Citadel Volshyenek goes reasonably swiftly in the quiet streets of Korvosa. As you get closer, you can see a cloud of black smoke rising from the Gray District at the south end of the city. Unable to keep up with burials, the Cathedral of Pharasma today starts a program of mass pyres to cremate plague victims.

At the Citadel, you find Field Marshall Kroft on the wall with a set of maps and officers. Marcus Endrin, Commandant of the Sable Company, is with her. They're looking out over the Jaggare River, coordinating forces. At your approach, Kroft welcomes you.

"Welcome back, I trust things went well at Lavender?" She then notices a curious look from Endrin. "Ah, yes. These are the people I was telling you about, Marcus." She then makes introductions about since, to her knowledge, many of you have not met Commandant Endrin before...

posting a map of Korvosa cribbed from the Player's Guide PDF so I ended up getting it without its labels - I'll label some things from time to time on it.

"Vendra and her Lavender shop came to our attention once before. A few years ago, she apparently found a nest of imps and thought it would be a good idea to run a promotion. She posted a big "Free Imp with Every Purchase" sign and tried giving them away. Let's just say it didn't work as she planned. She was fined for disturbing the peace and the property damage her neighbors suffered."
"She's not exactly high on our list of threats to the city, normally, but she has enough of a history that I am skeptical of her motives. And with the crowds that are starting to congregate for his 'cure', I'm worried about a more serious incident."

"There may be some trouble brewing, exactly how much we do not yet know. With all the activity around the hostel, particularly from the temples, rumors have been spreading like wildfire that a cure has been found. It hasn't yet, but the rumors themselves aren't the problem."
"Yesterday, a perfume shop called Lavender started selling something they call a cure. My guess is it's snake oil, but I can't rule out the possibility that the owner of the shop, Vendra Loaggri, has a connection to the Urgathoa cult and an inside track on either a cure or another way of keeping the disease going. When my guards went there yesterday, the crowd nearly rioted, so I need someone to take a less official approach."
"If you can, find out what she's selling. I will give you a warrant to arrest her if what she is selling isn't a legitimate cure. And in the unlikely event it is a cure, I want to know the source."

Time to get moving forward again

As you enter Citadel Volshyenek, it seems that the guard compliment on duty is a skeleton of its normal size even during the day. Being familiar with your presence in and about the fortress, the guards wave you through, leaving you to make your way to Kroft's office on your own.

Field Marshall Kroft's offices are open with her busy at her desk pouring over some paperwork. Several coffee-stained mugs are scattered about along with a few plates of food scraps. She waves you in and indicates the benches across from her desk.
"Come in. I trust you are well-rested after your ordeals with the hostel? You'll be happy to know that, in conjunction with the city's temples, we have put the surviving prisoners in safe and comfortable accommodations. The prisoners who are immune to the blood veil are cooperating--willingly--with our efforts to find a cure. The First Bank of Abadar have even suspended their own rules and are providing then with care without direct compensation. That must be a first."

"What is it? You look like there's something that doesn't fit." Amira says to Croft, noting the woman's expression.

Kroft sighs, "I've got enough to round up any doctors that may be about the city, assuming they haven't already gone into hiding. But there's nothing here I can take to the arbiters to get anyone higher than that. The Arkonas sold the warehouse they made into the hostel months ago and this is all new construction. And unless there are references in the research notes, I've nothing linking the cult's crimes to the queen. Davaulus had a royal appointment, but he seems to have kept a barrier of secrecy between the upper and lower chambers. Whether he did that to keep the queen distant from his crimes deliberately or not, it will effectively do so. This is all going to require a lot of care to deal with."

"In the meantime, we have this in hand here. You and your companions should get some rest. You have well earned it. I will send word of any further developments."

A moment ago there was just one shadow of a living being projecting itself on to the walls of the hospice's entrance, now there were several. Guards and clerics alike entered the building without hesitation. Victor raised his eyebrow when they took notice of him but had nothing to say to the ones that did not address him personally. Though his lack of social interaction ended when he saw Marshal Kroft enter. At first the mage rolled his eyes, then followed with a mock salute of the Korvosan Guards.

"Did ya get my present of three Grey Maidens? It's not easy being an agent for the queen" He said in transparent mockery before going back to manipulating his shadow, only sparing the leader of the guards sparse bits of attention.

Kraft gives Victor a quizzical look. Then, writing off his remark as an obscure joke, returns to her business. Her clerks buzz with activity, documenting the crimes of the Urgathoans, but she just seems to get increasingly frustrated as she looks over their notes.

Sorry I haven't posted sooner. I was a little under the weather yesterday. Thought it might have been food poisoning, but it seems to be more like a little stomach bug and exhaustion.

Cressida Kroft is clearly shocked at the full extent the cultists had gone to. "Rolth again?!? It seems that worm has gotten more ambitious." She gets up from her desk, grabs her sword belt off its peg on the wall, and buckles up. "Show me. I'll bring a detail of guards to secure the hostel. If the priests can't make it safe we will raze it. Whatever evidence you've got, keep it together. Keep it pristine. The arbiters are tough - they won't accept just hearsay, particularly against a noble family. We will have to do this carefully."

Once she makes it to the main garrison floor, a few shouted orders and a detail of 15 men is on hand with a couple of legal clerks. "Men, we've got a death cult active in a local warehouse converted to a sick hostel. Priests are on the way. Do not touch anything. We will secure the property and let the priests do their job."

Citadel Volshyenek seems to be staffed by a skeleton garrison these days as there are only a few guards awake and active for a late evening. But when you near Field Marshall Croft's office, you hear plenty of activity in the form of raised voices.

"Damn it, Marcus! I need someone in the castle I can trust and that the people actually like. I don't have anybody else!"

"Neolandus is gone, Marcus. I know what he meant to you, but he's gone. I need you to take his place, not throw yourself into your job because you don't want to face that fact!"

Kroft's office door bursts open and Marcus Endrin, Commandant of the Sable Company, stalks out without another word. The field marshall sighs in frustration as he does so.
Then she spots Amira and Cassandra. "Sorry about that. I wasn't expecting other visitors. Have you got something on Davaulus and his physicians?"