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Arius: There are several entries into the table that have notes scribbled into the margin in a slightly feminine looking hand. They question the validity of the crimes or the information gathering methods.
Elizabeth: There are 3 more bodies on the ground on the first floor, all of which seem to have been killed violently.
Garth: the men are still verbally jeering at the noble right now, 5 of the crowd are circling him with makeshift weapons. You can see some stones and foodstuffs being hurled at the young man from deeper in the crowd. You also hear a louder group a few streets over, when you glance that way, you see flames leaping up from one of the buildings.
"It's annotated by someone--possibly a woman, though I'm no expert at graphology. Do these dates and crimes have any particular significance to any of you? Or perhaps you'd care to explain why you were using these pages for bedtime reading, Gaedren?"
"I'm also still waiting to here what you have to say about the brooch, old fellow."
Garth: the men are still verbally jeering at the noble right now, 5 of the crowd are circling him with makeshift weapons. You can see some stones and foodstuffs being hurled at the young man from deeper in the crowd. You also hear a louder group a few streets over, when you glance that way, you see flames leaping up from one of the buildings.
"What are you louts thinking?" shouts Garth, "You trying to press a nobleman there? Your captain won't thank you for the trouble that will bring down on his ship. Why don't you shove off and find an easier mark?"
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Elizabeth:
Group with Lamm:
One of my more skilled Lambs pinched the broach off of a thief, who we believe took it from the jeweler who was repairing it He looks at those from the city you know, the one who was hung for thievery last month? He keeps his eyes on his pet, sneering an Anju for making it so docile.
Ox's real name is in the pages with an annotation political? but by who? for the crime that got him thrown out of the guard. there are other annotations like more political crap and I need to find this 'anon. source' You hear some noises from down the waterfront, a few screams and possibly the sounds of a fight going on.
Garth:
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Group with Lamm:
One of my more skilled Lambs pinched the broach off of a thief, who we believe took it from the jeweler who was repairing it He looks at those from the city you know, the one who was hung for thievery last month? He keeps his eyes on his pet, sneering an Anju for making it so docile.
Ox's real name is in the pages with an annotation political? but by who? for the crime that got him thrown out of the guard. there are other annotations like more political crap and I need to find this 'anon. source' You hear some noises from down the waterfront, a few screams and possibly the sounds of a fight going on.
Anju and Tikaani both look up at the same time at the sounds coming from outside.
"You hear something? It sounds like there's someone else here!"
Anju grips her staff
"Unfortunate that you can't give us anything more solid. Whose handwriting is this?"
Deception to detect lies (1d20+4=9)
The distant shouts startled Keth, who was had not become adjusted to the cities noises again. Looking from Anju to Arius The Half Orc shook his head...he thought. 'we need action not words' but kept his spear still as the instinct to plunge it into Lamms heart almost overtook him again.
"Well grab Lamm up and lets get him to the guard...or shove him on the ocean, either is fine with me. If we dont plan to kill him, Id just as soon be free of his filthy presence...and Anju what of this shivers? or am I not good enough to know because of my heritage?" The last part like ice dripping from his tongue.
Garth: one of the men drops his weapon and mingles with the crowd, the others keep circling, yelling But he's with the witch of a queen - she'll damn us all with her bids for power! Now that she's in charge You knew that the king was sick, but this throws you for a loop, for the queen to be in charge means that the king has officially passed without an heir.
This was bad news indeed, for Garth knew that the Queen had little compassion for the people. "What do you think she'll do if one of her supporters is killed in Old Town?" asks Garth, "You will bring her wrath down on us all!"
Garth steps forward and draws his sword. "I can't let that happen. Let him go."
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The distant shouts startled Keth, who was had not become adjusted to the cities noises again. Looking from Anju to Arius The Half Orc shook his head...he thought. 'we need action not words' but kept his spear still as the instinct to plunge it into Lamms heart almost overtook him again.
"Well grab Lamm up and lets get him to the guard...or shove him on the ocean, either is fine with me. If we dont plan to kill him, Id just as soon be free of his filthy presence...and Anju what of this shivers? or am I not good enough to know because of my heritage?" The last part like ice dripping from his tongue.
Anju responds to Keth sharply
"Shivers is a most vile poison.This charlatan came to my village and tricked my people into drinking the stuff and now they are all poisoned by it. Unfortunately Lamm here is the only one who knows anything about the scoundrel who creates the shivers."
Looking over at Ox
"Ox, could you please be the one to take Lamm? We have to get moving!"
Arius finally notices the shouts as well. "Very well, let's go, as long as we have the ledger and the rest of the items."
"And Lamm, of course."
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Elizabeth heads down the stairs into the hold of the boat. Once there, she notices the open door leading out onto the walkway. She walks slowly along the walkway and peers cautiously into the area through the door. She hears raised voices and so creeps slowly around the edges of the room to better hear what is being said.
Stealth. (1d20+8=21)
Perception (Listen). (1d20+6=15)
Elizabeth
Group with in fishery:
Garth
ALL:
When you get to Zellara's you immediately notice the 'presence' of the place has changed. Where there were paintings and incense before, now there are bare walls and the smell of a heavy dust. It seems as though everything metal in the room has been pilfered weeks ago, All that is left is the table and chairs the group had sat at earlier, and those have cleared areas on the seat and back, showing where you each sat.. Out of nowhere Zellara literally appears in front of you, tears streaming down her face. She thanks you for avenging her and apologizes for slightly misleading you as to who and what she was. She tells you how she thought you would balk at helping a ghost, and that she spent nie a month collecting information on all of you. She looks around and states that one of her heroes she attempted to assemble on the quest still hasn't shown up. Then she says never mind. She tells you that she lives in her harrow deck, and after Arius removes it from his pocket, explains how she can help you in future encounters.
How she can help:
Hand-painted images decorate this Harrow deck, the
frames gilt in silver so that under lighting they sparkle and
flash. Despite the worn condition of the card backs, the
images on the faces are so vibrant they seem to move when
viewed out of the corner of the eye. The deck itself handles
with surprising ease, almost shuffling itself. A bent, torn, or
lost card always seems to mend itself or reappear when no
one is looking.
These features are subtle manifestations of the spirit
that haunts the cards. In life, Zellara lived by this deck,
and in death, she has become the deck. Although this
magical Harrow deck wasn’t created using the standard
method for creating magic items, it should nonetheless
be treated as an intelligent magic item. Zellara can sense
the world around the deck via sight and sound, and she
can communicate with anyone who holds the deck via
empathy. She can create a major image once per day, often
doing so to generate an image of herself manipulating
the cards—in this manner, she can carry on conversations
with other creatures. She can also identify a magic item’s
properties if one of her cards is touched to it, as the
spell identify, up to 3 times per day. When she does so,
knowledge of the item identified manifests in the mind of
one creature she chooses who is also holding at least one
card, or she can opt to describe the item’s functions via a
major image.
Zellara’s Harrow deck has a special purpose as well:
to defend and protect the city of Korvosa, her home in
life and in death. In order to attain this purpose, she
can periodically perform powerful Harrow readings
for those she has chosen as Korvosa’s defenders
Before she dematerializes, Branahm asks if Zellara has any other things that she needs done to put her affairs in order.
Keth helped Arius get Lamm to his feet..fighting back the urge to slap around the villain. He backed away as Ox came forward to take over the supervision of the the prisoner...
When the Elven Druidess explained the Poison, shivers, to him the hair on the back of his neck stood on end...he thought, more proof that Lamm is as dark hearted and deserving of death...but even more..hints that Lamm has not been without guidance. A more sinister pereon behind the scenes has been hinted at....
"Anju, that is vile indeed. I may want to assist you in getting to the bottom of this...that is if an Elf like you would not turn my aid away."
then he turned to Arius..."My only concern with turning Lamm over to the guards is how many of them he has on the payroll...and we may just find ourselves facing him again.....but this time we would be the hunted"
Garth stares at his name on the back of the Harrow card and feels a chill travel down his spine. How could this be? He was fairly certain that he had never seen that thug before. Determined to find out what was going on, Garth starts heading for the address on the back of the card.
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Elizabeth hears that the others are going to take Lamm in to the authorities and suddenly bursts into the room, startling those inside, but heading straight for Lamm, with Caress held steadily before her.
"I can't believe you are going to turn this monster in after what you have just said he's done", she yells. "He deserves a long slow death, but I'd be happy to give him a quick one as compensation for what he's put me through."
She raises her arm to strike at Lamm, but as she sees the old man cower before her, her hand is stayed. "Hah, look at you, you're pathetic. You don't deserve the afterlife, you deserve to rot forever in a filthy jail cell." She turns to the others. "Take him to the authorities, but I want to be there when you do."
She prods Caress into lamm's back to get him moving towards the others and then introduces herself. "My name is Elizabeth and my father is a prominent Wizard at the Acadamae. I was ther under his tutelage until this piece of filth decided to implicate me in one of his crimes. I was cleared, but the social stigma attatched drove my father to kick me out to live on the streets and to not return until I could prove myself to him. This worm has cost me everything and I meant to see him pay for it, whether in all his coin or his life. I will have to be satisfied however with whatever justice the city deems fit to bestow on him."
She thinks for a moment and then says to herself, but so the others can hear, "Then I must try to find out about that Harrow Card I found on the half-orc and what it has to do with me. It obviously had some magic to it... I wonder who I could see about it?"
Branahm bows. "I am Branahm Pelgane, a servant of Torag. All of us here have suffered from this reprobate's crimes as you have. If the gods show mercy to him, the city magistrates will punish him appropriately; regardless of their decision, we will not let him harm any more people."
Arius' lips narrow at the mention of the Academae, but he bows slightly. "I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune. Arius Pelgane, at your service."
"A Harrow card, you say?" He draws a brightly colored deck from his belt pouch. "Is the pattern is the same as this deck? We may have--or have had--an acquaintance in common."
Garth made his way to the address on the back of the Harrow card. "House looks deserted." he thinks as the sees the run down little place. "Well maybe I can find some clue about this card, or at least a place to sleep tonight." Garth enters the front door, only to stop short in surprise as he finds a group of people standing in the mostly empty room.
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Keth helped Arius get Lamm to his feet..fighting back the urge to slap around the villain. He backed away as Ox came forward to take over the supervision of the the prisoner...
When the Elven Druidess explained the Poison, shivers, to him the hair on the back of his neck stood on end...he thought, more proof that Lamm is as dark hearted and deserving of death...but even more..hints that Lamm has not been without guidance. A more sinister pereon behind the scenes has been hinted at....
"Anju, that is vile indeed. I may want to assist you in getting to the bottom of this...that is if an Elf like you would not turn my aid away."
then he turned to Arius..."My only concern with turning Lamm over to the guards is how many of them he has on the payroll...and we may just find ourselves facing him again.....but this time we would be the hunted"
Anju responds to Keth with a seemingly welcome tone in her voice.
"I would not turn away your aid. You and I share a reverence to nature that most find hard to understand. Hopefully with Ox's supervision and influence we can get Lamm put away for good."
As Anju and the rest of the group is about to leave Elizabeth comes into the room and introduces herself.
"I am Anju, a druid of Mierani Forest. Pleased to meet you."
Zellara's house:
After Zellara's spirit disappears, Arius says, "Arius Pelgane, magician, at your service. Since our ghostly patroness Zellara invited you here, I assume that you have a past entanglement with Gaedren Lamm. What is it?"
Zarella's House
Turn the card over: It's the Forge card.
Keth grinned from ear to ear when Anju 'accepted' his help...He thought 'This is a first...an Elf accepting me.' He said to her..."yes nature is where I do not feel ...out of place. I suffered for many years from the hands of this evil creature..." he gestured with his spear towards Lamm who was under Ox's watchful eye.
"Im still not convinced on the idea of turning Lamm over to the authorities. Im willing to bet he has more than a few officials on the payroll. Hopefully Ox can at lead us to one whos less corrupt than my fears."
Elizabteh comes around the corner...and Keth notices right away her reaction to Lamm and chuckles...and responds behind the crimelord by a few feat "Your evil has brought many to your doorstep tonight Lamm....feel any fear? Your time is nigh. Well met Elizabeth. I am Keth called Longstrider by a few. We are on our way to turn Lamm over for justice to be done..."
He says the last part with skeptism apparent in his voice...
making their way through the streets, Keth cant help but notice the growing numbers of mobs "what is going on here?" he remarks....
In the House:
Ox pulls Lamm to his feet and mumbles about getting him to the closest guardspost before shuffling him out the door.
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Elizabeth sways seductively up to Arius and looks greedily at the Harrow Deck.
"That is a fine magical item you have there. With one such as her living inside it it is sure to come in handy. Do you have the magical skill needed to properly handle it though I wonder. My father is an Instructor at the Acadamae and so I might be able to help you to understand it if you would like." She realizes that she is staring at it and slowly draws her eyes up to meet Arius', giving him an inviting smile. "Or not, the choice is entirely yours."
She gives him one last smile and then turns around and slinks away, following Ox and swaying her hips as she goes.
Elizabeth sways seductively up to Arius and looks greedily at the Harrow Deck.
"That is a fine magical item you have there. With one such as her living inside it it is sure to come in handy. Do you have the magical skill needed to properly handle it though I wonder. My father is an Instructor at the Acadamae and so I might be able to help you to understand it if you would like." She realizes that she is staring at it and slowly draws her eyes up to meet Arius', giving him an inviting smile. "Or not, the choice is entirely yours."
She gives him one last smile and then turns around and slinks away, following Ox and swaying her hips as she goes.
Arius swallows nervously at Elizabeth's approach, but at the mention of her father, he stiffens.
"Academaec certification is not a necessary prerequisite for magical skill. But you may look at the deck if you'd like. Fascinating though it is, I can't claim that it is my personal item."
"My impression from Zellara's last speech was that her ghost expected us to use the deck to 'defend Korvosa' somehow. I suggest that we not mention its unusual properties to other mages--particularly the Academae--to reduce the chance of thievery."
"I will accompany Ox. Come, sister. We may need your testimony."
Branahm follows Ox and his captive. After a moment, Alika follows him.
"I'll join you as soon as we finish up here."
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Arius swallows nervously at Elizabeth's approach, but at the mention of her father, he stiffens.
"Academaec certification is not a necessary prerequisite for magical skill. But you may look at the deck if you'd like. Fascinating though it is, I can't claim that it is my personal item."
"My impression from Zellara's last speech was that her ghost expected us to use the deck to 'defend Korvosa' somehow. I suggest that we not mention its unusual properties to other mages--particularly the Academae--to reduce the chance of thievery."
"Oh I know all too well that Academaec certification isn't everything it's cracked up to be. My father pressured me into my studies against my will, but that doesn't mean that I don't know a thing or two. I have no itntention of showing it to my father or any of his stuffy colleagues. I was offering to look at it myself. I am a novice, but I just thought that if noone else had any magical skills that I might be able to help. I will take a look at them after we see this piece of filth to the authorities. I only hope that they will be able to hold him and he doesn't pay his way out."
"Well, I'd appreciate you taking a look at it then, if only to have another magician to compare notes with."
"As for Lamm, we have a lot of evidence, so the charges should stick. And we need him alive to clear Ox."
The Trip to the house was uneventful, though the increasing activity in the streets made him nervous, Keth followed along. Upon arriving at the house..the sight of the ghost took him aback, and even though his comrades seemed at ease...it took quite some time for the half orc to calm down enough to approach Arius...
"You seem very at ease with the spirit. Ive always heard that spirits were to be shunned."....
he shivers and then remarks to Ox..."Please do not let this one get away with his crimes..."
To Lamm, Keth growls..."If you manage to wiggle out of this, the next time I see you will be the last..." he glances at his spear point as if to drive home his point...
"You seem very at ease with the spirit. Ive always heard that spirits were to be shunned."
"A wise general policy. However, we've done Zellara a good turn, and I don't think that she is ill-intentioned toward the living--except Lamm, of course, and we can hardly blame her for that."
"Also, I would very much like to analyze the dweomers on her Harrow deck. I think that it's a type of magic that has been insufficiently studied."
Garth looks at the ghostly woman "How have you tangled me in your net witch? Why is my name upon this card?"
"I am curious as well about these card...You all seem to have been brought together for a purpose that invloves this spirit... What could that be? Does that not make you wonder? Why were you all chose? I am just glad my involvement is by choice and not the predictions/needs of an apparaition."
Branaham:
While passing one such mob, a wild-haired and sick-looking old man fixates on Branaham, convinced that he appeared to the man in a dream, and that his nearing death during a time of great sickness and peril during Korvosa’s “darkest hour”.
Rags looks around and lets everyone knows of his plans to organize the Lambs into a legal, paying information gathering service, asking for volunteers. Rumil agrees to help, at least until it is off the ground, and the 2 take off. On their way out Rags tells you to check the shingles above the bookshops if the group needs to get ahold of one of them.
Zallara's ghost Looks at Kirth. I chose these people for more than one reason: 1) I know they had scores to settle with Lamm on their own. 2) they were available at the time. 3) they were varied enough that I could feel confident in the result of their endevours. My Strength to materialize away from my harrow deck was wavering, and this was my last chance. to get out of Lamm's clutches
"Alika, stay close. I don't like the looks of this."
To the man:
"Calm yourself, sir. What did you see?"
"We've captured Lamm, and Rags and Rumil can channel the Lambs into more reputable pursuits. But I still have some questions about the book and the brooch. What shall we do with them?
"Also, we didn't uncover enough information about shivers to help Anju's village. I can't speak for my brother, but I will help to find the antidote if I can."
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Elizabeth follows Ox and Branham to the door and says, "alright, you boys make sure he gets to a good home now." She stays watching them until they turn around a corner, then heads back into the house to see the others.
"The streets out there are getting worse I think. They seem to be taking the death of the Old Man quite hard. Can't say I blame them really. Last thing we need is that b~%$& taking over. Maybe we should all crash here for the night and see how things pan out. I for one wouldn't like to be caught out there on the streets if rioting starts." She looks around at the rag tag group. "That is of course unless you have something else in mind?"
"That's probably the wise thing to do. I saw a couple of mobs already on my way here and someone even started a fire." Says Garth. "Besides I have nowhere else to go just now, so if its all the same to you I will stay here tonight."
Zallara's ghost Looks at Kirth. I chose these people for more than one reason: 1) I know they had scores to settle with Lamm on their own. 2) they were available at the time. 3) they were varied enough that I could feel confident in the result of their endevours. My Strength to materialize away from my harrow deck was wavering, and this was my last chance. to get out of Lamm's clutches
Garth looks at the ghostly woman "How have you tangled me in your net witch? Why is my name upon this card?"
"...I for one wouldn't like to be caught out there on the streets if rioting starts." She looks around at the rag tag group. "That is of course unless you have something else in mind?"
Arius pales. "Wait, the King is dead? Do you know how it happened?"
"If any of you want to risk the streets again, I'd appreciate your help. I want to catch up with Branahm to make sure that my sister is safe--and that Lamm doesn't get away in the confusion."
the hair on the back of Keths neck stood up as The Witch's spirit talked. he felt very uncomfortable with the ghost. When Arius questioned Elizabeth and the Kings death was brought up and Arius asked for who wanted to go out into the streets again, he jumped at the chance.."Ill go. Anythings better than standing around"
He didnt want to say what was really on his mind, it wouldnt do for these folks to know of his supersticious nature and the icy fear that gripped his heart at the moment. He really didnt care whther the King was dead or not...his rule had never helped Keth. One thing was for certain though, he didnt want to chance losing Lamm to the crowds and city....
"Ready when you are Arius"