With a grim nod, suitable for the serious business they are about to embark on, Zalen follows the others out the door.
The swordmen and heroes exited the citadel quickly. Hardly had they stepped out, the man drew a crisp breath of air. "Forgive Cressida. She is worn out so badly, I fear for her. This latest bit is just so... mind-boggling in its horror... I think this is the first time she more or less orders a straight off-the-book execution."
As they passed through the streets, he added. "Did you know I trained her? Back in the day, she was one of my three last Students. Graul, her and Sabina." The aging man took a look towards the sky "I guess I am rambling. Forgive me. She had me run errants for her all week." There was a hint of something deeper in his face, as if remembering that time was bittersweet. "Either way, All the Worlds Meet is on 22 Stirge Street. The shop owner was arrested for Tax Evasion a year ago, some squatters settled down on the slaughterhouse and continued to operate. Like so many seized properties, no one really stopped them - they even started to apply for an official license. Then the Cow Hammer Boys, as our defectors call themselves, moved in. Free Meat glossed over any objections from the community."
He walked the group right to the final intersection, where Stirge street branched off. "I know I should not ask you this, but... Cressida is one of the good ones. If you help her, you help Korvosa, that I believe. Right now, she merely is trying to do it all by herself."
Zalen takes in all the information his fencing hero gives and files it away. When the swordsmaster finishes Zalen speaks
"Yes, I noticed Commander Kroft's exhaustion but didn't feel it my place to really say anything. Perhaps as an old friend and mentor to her you might do so? I am sure she would listen to you. Her serivce is essential to the city in this time of crises, if the Commander runs herslef into colapse the whole city may suffer for it. Also, as I know you are aware, tired people make mistakes..."
Leaving his comment to settle for a momment, Zalen continues onto the matter at hand "Do you happen to know why these guardsmen defected in the first place? Had they always been known as trouble-makers? Had they always been particularily violent or disturbed? And do they have a leader?"
Ayedah was dwelling over what the others were hinting at being so horrible about the situation they had been asked to help with. She found the killings reprehensible if they were really taking place, but the way Kroft and Vencarlo spoke, it seemed like there was more they were getting at.
As they left, she saw Vencarlo with more and more admiration as he spoke. He certainly struck her as a good sort, and it seemed clear to her that he and Kroft cared deeply for their city.
As they passed through the streets, he added. "Did you know I trained her? Back in the day, she was one of my three last Students. Graul, her and Sabina."
Ayedah raised an eyebrow. "Sabina? The queen's guard?" And he trained Kroft too. He really must be a respected warrior...
"I know I should not ask you this, but... Cressida is one of the good ones. If you help her, you help Korvosa, that I believe. Right now, she merely is trying to do it all by herself."
Ayedah simply nodded. It was clear in her eyes that she believed him.
"I know I should not ask you this, but... Cressida is one of the good ones. If you help her, you help Korvosa, that I believe. Right now, she merely is trying to do it all by herself."
"I know. That's why we're here." Alandra said softly.
"I know. She will do as she seems best, of course. Forgive me, I am just somewhat worried" He decided to change topics to something more relevant to the matter at hand. "The Cow Hammer Boys do have a leader, their former Sergeant. Verik Vancaskerkin, native of Riddleport. A filthy opportunist, but so far always just barely managing not to get thrown out face first. Oh, and his people stick to him like tar."
Ayedah's remark brought him back to the other topic. He pulled in air. "I trained three students before going into retirement. Grau Soldano, Cressida Kroft, and Sabina Merrin. Sabina and Grau had this horrible falling out, and she joined the Royal Guard days after." He clearly wasn't telling everything about this incident.
"Anyway, this is long past. You just remind her of these days, and probably she would listen to you a dozen times before she considers my opinion in any personal matter again." He looked down the lane, and shrugged. "This is Stirge Street. I need to get into Grey, so this is where we part ways."
DM TN:
Alandra:
When Alandra heard the name Verik Vancaskerkin, she stiffened.
"He's on my list!" she whispered to Ayedah.
Ayedah was just beginning to wonder about the "falling out" between Sabina and this Grau person when she saw the younger Shoanti stiffen. After Alandra's whispering, her face became a grim mask.
Gods, how many of this city's worst has she suffered in her life? Though she was still bothered by the girl's seeming bloodthirstiness, everything that had been said seemed to paint the man they were after as someone deserving a place on her list.
"22 Stirge street ... right down there. Should we pretend to be customers?"
Evening was slowly approaching the city. It would be another two hours before curfew, and there still were several people waiting in front of the slaughterhouse. No longer dozens, but an elderly woman, a young rosy-cheeked girl and an older man with a very unfortunate beard, who turned his face from halfway presentable to wild bushels of hair.
Giving his young companion an ernest look of approval Zalen says "That is an excellent idea Alandra, well done. What say you head in as a customer and scope out the inside of the place, i'll sneak around the outside and see what I can find and Ayedah, maybe you could station yourself somewhere strategic outside where you can keep an eye on the building without being seen, try and get an idea of who else might be watching the building and to be back-up should either of us need it? Then we can meet back here in, say 30 min and compare notes. How does that sound to you both?" Zalen doesn't quite look Ayedah in the eye as he details his quick plan
SM 16
Though Zalen seemed distracted for some reason, his plan was as good as any; Ayedah simply nodded, "Alright." She was sure of herself as she began to step away from the others and looking about for a good place to stay that would appear inconspicuous before she remembered that everything she knew about stealth applied only to highlands of the Plateau. Here in the city, it didn't seem to count for much.
For a moment she wondered about posing as a prostitute across the street, distasteful as the idea was to her. She frowned at how ridiculous the idea of anyone mistaking her for one seemed as soon as it came into her mind. [i]What if I just wait with those other people?[/ooc]
"Sure, Z." Alandra said, and drew her big cloak more tightly around her, with the hood up. She then ambled nonchalantly over to the crowd in front of All the World's Meat and tried to get a glimpse inside.
Inside the shop, an ugly, pock-marked man handed out meat. The pieces were large and not well-hung. In fact, they were barely bled dry from the stains on the counter. Nevertheless, flies abounded in the room. The worst combination of warmth and humidity.
All in all, three more men in chain mail with hastily removed insignia were loitering around the storeroom. None of them looked like what she remembered of Verik Vancaskerkin's face.
The bearded man mumbled something about "skipping the line", but for the moment none of the inhabitants of the shop seemed to notice her. However, the "customer" didn't pay, but instead heaped praise on the pock-marked man, who seemed quite eager to get him out of his sight.
Alandra continued to look into the room as her eyes adjusted to its dim interior.
As the approaching evening begins to slowly cloak the day in shadow, Zalen attempts to do likewise, blending in (1d20+7 =21) with any darkened areas he finds as he does an outside reconnoissance of the place. He will climb (1d20+4 =22) any adjoining buildings to try and get closer for a better look (1d20+6=10).
The rosy-cheeked girl approached Alandra as she continued to spy into the room. "Hey, no skipping in line, sweet-cakes. I've waited for half an hour now, and I'll be damned if I don't bring something home for mother. We're late enough as is."
The bearded man now entered the shop, and quickly bowed. He began to talk to the pock-marked man in a subdued voice
Alandra, Perception, DC 15
Alandra, Knowledge: Local DC 10, only if previous roll succeeded
She quickly scanned the layout of the storefront, but the girl seemed insistent to get some kind of response.
Zalen could get a rather good overview from his vantage point. Beside the storefront, there was an empty cattle pen. Probably the animals due to be slaughtered arrived there in the morning hours. Two large doors opened into the slaughterhouse proper, where in all likelyhood, the animals were killed.
All in all, the building looked relatively normal and harmless. Other than the customers standing in line, not too much traffic... nice and quiet.
"Hey, no skipping in line, sweet-cakes. I've waited for half an hour now, and I'll be damned if I don't bring something home for mother. We're late enough as is."
"Oh, sorry, I was just looking for someone."
Alandra walked away form the store and down the street, looking for Zalen.
The other side of the street contained an assortment of small businesses - the typical Korvosan architecture allowed generous access of flat roofs. However, them being multi-storied, with living appartments atop the businesses, it would take a good daring leap to get down to the slaughterhouse. It might even result in broken bones and necks.
Ayedah moved slowly from shopfront to shopfront, trying to look as if she was a new arrival gawking at all the new sights, which was true enough. She kept her eyes open for anyone else watching or hanging around the butcher's shop, and listened intently for any sign of trouble. She tried to keep Alandra within view as much as she could manage, but having Zalen out of sight for so long was making her nervous.
Alandra tried to make eye contact with Ayedah and motion with her head to meet around the corner at the spot Zalen had designated.
Ayedah saw Alandra signalling for her to move. She made her way back to the corner, trying to appear as casual as she could. She wondered what the others had managed to find.
While still in his elevated position, Zalen searches (1d20+6=20) for any access routes into the building from the upper floors.
Zalen surveyed the surroundings with a trained eye, and finally found what he had been looking for - a pathway along the shingles, which would lead him to the upstairs portion of the slaughterhouse. It was probably not much, a bedroom and a small office.
Getting there would be quite a challenge, though. Due to the cattle pens and otherwise somewhat detached locations, a healthy leap of ten feet would be required to cross over to the other house when they pursued the best route on the other side of the road. Even then, that would place them on the roof, not in the building, so they'd either need to demolish parts of the roof, or acrobatically crash through the shutters.
Zalen takes careful note of the rooftop entrance and spends a moment trying to figure out (Int check ) the best way to get to it. He then hurries to meet up with his friends and compares notes with them.
"There's a butcher and three men that look like deserters in there, but I didn't see that rat turd Vancakserkin." Alandra told Zalen.
"I did not really see anyone suspicious outside the shop. Just people waiting for food." Ayedah said, scratching the back of her head and shrugging.
As the last of the people standing in line received their free handouts, Verik himself showed up. The deserter looked up and down the streets, but did not seem to pay the four too much mind. "Board up for the day, we've got a lot of work to do!" he announced to his cronies, who followed his command all too eagerly.
Zalen suggests to his companions "perhaps we should follow them and see what they're up to? Killing them is one thing, but I think stopping their..." he pauses with a quick unconscious glance to Ayedah "... distasteful practices is even more important. Mayhap they can lead us to others who are involved?"
He rubs his chin for a moment in his classic thinking posture then says "I could follow them discreetly at a safe distance and then the rest of you could follow me a bit further back. How does that sound?"
Krek felt fantastic. He'd just had an exciting night in many ways, and, while the recent events left him with little actual battling done by himself, he'd been in the thick of a few combats. As he ascended from the basement to look for some bread, he thought briefly of how meager his life had been before a few days ago. Lifting crates for tradesmen, delivering object for people from place to place.... it got boring - quickly. The lack of responsibility was great, to be sure, but he wasn't much more with any duty even with the "orders" from the field marshal. Naturally, the spice bread had been eaten by Trep and the girls, leaving none for him. He was famished! With a sigh, he glanced around for a morsel of something. Trep, the early riser he was if there was something or someone do to, had likely finished off anything - or shared it with the girl he could hear with him below.
Finding nothing, he sat at the table and drummed his fingers. He could head off to the Pantheon and see how the kids were doing. While having no desire to be a father himself, Krek had a fondness for children - himself having no enjoyable childhood likely being a key reason. Also, Krek could pay the field marshal a visit - he assumed that's where the rest of his co-workers went after the evening.
Fishing through his pouch, he found the remnants of the money spent yesterday. It was plenty for his purposes - he was used to having much less. Above both of those two aforethought events would have to come a trip to a bakery to get something to eat. He nodded to himself - yes. Food first, then a visit to the officer, then the children. That was the fullest a schedule had been for him in a long time - he didn't usually plan things in advance.
Krek headed downstairs to put on some clothes. Noting the silence ensuing other than his feet, Trep was asleep again. That man had to be among the most useless of men when people needed him. Squeezing himself into his drab, worn garbs, the coarse half-Orc walked up the stairs, grabbed his rusty sword, and departed.
"I could follow them discreetly at a safe distance and then the rest of you could follow me a bit further back. How does that sound?"
"That sounds fine Zalen. Just don't lose him!"
"Are you sure you can do this without being seen?" Ayedah couldn't hide her worry. She didn't mean to doubt Zalen, but he had always struck her as more flashy than stealthy. But he does know this city far more than I do..., she thought, remembering how much she would stick out attempting such a thing. "You will be far enough away from them so that you can get back to us, right?"
Although not entirely confident of his sneaking skills himself (The rogue was reminded once again that although Ayedah may be naive, she certainly did not lack intelligence and insight. For she was completely right, his skills Did lie more in the areas of charm and guile than sneaky thievery. Yet being able to come and going quietly Had certainly served him well on several occasions in the past...) Zalen nevertheless flashed his confidant grin trying to convince (1d20+8=14) his friends that he was.
"Of course blossom! No need to worry your pretty head about it. They won't even know I'm there." ' I hope!' He couldn't help adding mentally.
"You two just make sure to keep close enough to see me should I need help but far enough so that you and the ones I'm following can't see each other. Ok?"
And putting action to word the mostly confidant rogue starts to surreptitiously (1d20+7 =23) follow their prey.
EDIT: Ah, thanks Alandra! Please add that +1 to the stealth check GM TN
OOC
-Not sure if this works or would apply but I'd like Zalen to be able to use a Knowledge Local (1d20+6=23) check to help aid him in following the murderous guards. You know like maybe knowing the immediate area ahead might help him hide better? Or even divine where they're going and skip a street ahead and good 'spy' stuff like that. Would that work?
-Not sure if we waiting for Krek or not before continuing? If we are that's fine, he can probably just be written into the story as we go, no?
"Wait a sec Zalen." Alandra mutters a quick prayer to Pharasma and touches Zalen. "May Pharasma be with you."
"And your ancestors as well." Ayedah added. Zalen seemed confident enough to be in good cheer, but he almost always seemed that way to her. Just be ready to run in if he needs help... She checked the earthbreaker strapped to her back, making sure she could pull it away at a moment's notice.
Zalen followed the last few customers for a few streets, but it ended up without any further interesting insights. They just seemed to have come for the meat, and not for any more sinister task - at least not obviously so.
However, just as he came back, something all the more interesting occurred. The Cow Hammer Boys left the butcher shop in full force, six heavily muscled strong, with Verrik the odd man out with his much thinner, but no less viscous frame.
They seemed to be up for some dark dealings - armed and armored in the uniforms they stole when deserting. They probably would even grant them save passage despite the nearing curtfew.
"There he is!" Alandra hissed.
The group tailed the renegade guardsmen, and finally came closer to the old Korvosan docks. The guard uniforms let them pass without question - and the groups writ of passage did the same.
In Old Korvosa, they moved a side street. "Alright, two arrests. Whores both. They've been asking questions." Verrik announced, close to a small home. "Arrest them, and... you know the drill"
Ayedah whispered to Alandra as they followed after Zalen. "That smaller man?" She wondered for a moment if they should try to enter their shop while they were out, but they were already on the move. Though she was sure of herself, she didn't like the odds that their quarry's numbers presented.
"Yes, that's Verik. He's one of the ones I meant when I said some of the guards were bad."
Mmmm. Krek had purchased a couple of meat pies from a local baker before heading back to the marshal. The pies were well-done, and they sold for cheap because of it. Krek loved his meat slightly burned though, and he was all the more happy because of it.
Arriving at the military station, he told a guard his motive for the visit and waited to be led to her. Honestly, this type of visit isn't something he would do, but he'd been having such an exciting time with his co-workers, he wanted to see if he could get in any more of those types of situations.
He yawned. The sun was a bit bright for him.
"Yes, that's Verik. He's one of the ones I meant when I said some of the guards were bad."
"Hm... I wonder what their business here is." Ayedah tried not to let her worry show, but she truly wondered whether or not Alandra's anger might put the priestess in danger. She kept a close eye on Zalen, waiting for the first hint of a signal.
There was a brief commotion inside the building, with some cursing and screaming - and the gang marched out two woman in their sleeping clothes, with a blanked thrown over each. "This is a bad trick! We've not done anything. You've just..." one of them protested, but the other just shook her head, dejected.
"Don't you get it, Plum? We're not going to make it. This isn't some shakedown."