After talking to Hakeen and Reg for a moment the guard walks off to speak with another guard. In a short while he come back. "Yes you should present your self to the Queen at once." The Guard walks you a short pace to a set of stairs. "All weapons must be left here" he says sternly .
"As you wish," Reg nods looking at the others for agreement.
Euphegenia has no problem with that order and hands over her weapons, sidling up close to Reg she smiles and whispers, "Nicely done Laddie,"
Hakeen places the sling and stones where the guard indicates then he waits impatiently while the others do the same.
Reg unties the scabbard of his shortsword and dagger from his belt and hands them over with just a nod.
Bean sits his walking stick down with everyone else's gear.
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A group of obviously nervous guards armed with heavy crossbows and swords escort you up to the castle. As they reach the top of the pyramid and the wide stairs curling up to the castle’s third floor, where the Crimson Throne awaits, you are greeted by a beautiful woman dressed in magnificent full plate armor. As you approach she says “Greetings. They tell me you’ve something that belongs to the queen. Is this correct?” Keen shows her the brooch, she then smiles and steps aside, holding out a hand to welcome the you to Castle Korvosa. As the guards
make to follow, she steps in. “You may return to your posts. These heroes pose no threat to the queen.” You continue to walk fallowing the woman and she asks "How would you like to be introduced?" As you approach a large set of doors.
"I am Hakeen Duhaan I am from distant Calimshan. How about you? What should I call you? Are all of the queen's guards as beautiful as you are?"
Reg takes in the sight of the full plate clad warrior maiden suspecting she might be even more formidable than the guards who had left them in her charge.
"I am Bean, follower of Sune. I believe that will sum it up nicely." Bean offers with a shrug.
"My name is Reg, I guess thats about the only important part ma'am," Reg pipes up still trying to get the measure of the woman warrior.
The woman nods, tells you to stay until you are announced. You stand before the large intecitly worked doors, and you can hear you names and titles being called the doors open and as you walk though them you see Queen Ileosa sitting upon the Crimson Throne. She is a vision of celestial beauty despite the black mourning dress and veil she wears in honor of her husband’s death. A small silver coffer sits in her lap. The throne room itself is pristine but strangely empty—an open area with a
vaulted ceiling, stained glass windows of past kings and queens looking down from the eastern wall, and crimson tapestries hanging along the others. An immense fireplace offers additional light and heat to the hall, and a silk carpet provides a gently arching path to the throne’s base. The guard captian takes the brooch from you and hands it over to her queen with a flourish, then takes up a position at the throne’s left
side as Ileosa addresses you.
"This brooch was stolen from me some time ago—I had not expected to see it again, truth be told. And yet, here on my darkest day, you come before me with kindness. The return of this brooch is much more
than an honorable deed. It is inspiration. It is hope.
“I love Korvosa, as my husband did before me. His death has shocked the city as it has me, but I will not see his legacy destroyed in death, and I shall not see my city torn apart. All Korvosa stands at the precipice of a disaster wrought by her citizens—these riots cannot continue. You have already done my heart a great service in returning this bauble to me on this dark day, and you shall be rewarded. Yet, perhaps you can serve your city more.
“If you so choose, I shall have Sabina see to it that you have an escort of guards when you leave here—they can see to your safe journey to Citadel Volshyenek. I shall send word ahead of you to Field Marshal Cressida Kroft to let her know you are on the way—the Korvosan Guard is stretched thin, and it can certainly use the aid of heroes such as yourself. Now, I need to retire to my personal quarters—my grief has drained me. Again, I thank you for the kindness you have shown me, and I
hope your days of serving the crown are only just beginning.”
With that the Queen speaks to the captain Sabina then departs , Sabina comes forward and hands you the small silver chest. "This is your reward for the Brooch, Do you need an escort to the Citadel?" The way she speaks leaves little dought going to Citadel Volshyenek is not a request.
"I would need an escort but only because I don't know the way around your fair city," Bean smoothly offers.
Apart from giving her name as "Euphegenia Doubtfire, priestess of the Red Knight,"[b/] when asked, she remains quite and withdraw, a little overwhelmed with meeting the Queen.
She is more than willing to head to Citadel Volshyenek to see what aid she can provide, as they leave the chamber she comments to Reg [b]"di you hear that Laddy? She called us Heros! The Queen called us heros! Who would of thought that?"
Apart from giving her name as "Euphegenia Doubtfire, priestess of the Red Knight,"[b/] when asked, she remains quite and withdraw, a little overwhelmed with meeting the Queen.
She is more than willing to head to Citadel Volshyenek to see what aid she can provide, as they leave the chamber she comments to Reg [b]"di you hear that Laddy? She called us Heros! The Queen called us heros! Who would of thought that?"
Reg smiles back but doesn't answer as he wonders what could be stretching the resources of Korvosa so much it would need their help?
Citadel Volshyenek is located in Midland, overlooking Jeggare Harbor, where it serves as the base of operations for the Korvosan Guard. Its a massive structure that harkens back to the city's older days and almost looks out of place among the newer walls and buildings of some parts of the city.
Two nervous guards stand at the entrance to the Yard, but as the queen promised, you are expected. They quickly wave the party through, and one guard escorts you into the central keep, where a harried and tired-looking woman rises from her desk to greet you She is an attractive, dark-haired human woman dressed in red armor. She introduces herself as Field Marshal Cressida Kroftand asks for your names as she you to sit
"“Ah yes—you are the ones sent by Queen Ileosa. Greetings— heroes of your caliber are exactly what Korvosa needs now. You’ve been on the streets. You know better than me how bad things are out there. It’s breaking my heart to see Korvosa tear herself apart like this. Every little bit of aid we can get from upstanding citizens like you helps.
If you’re willing, I’d very much like to retain your services as agents of the Guard. I don’t need to say, of course, that you’ll be well compensated for these services.”
Citadel Volshyenek is located in Midland, overlooking Jeggare Harbor, where it serves as the base of operations for the Korvosan Guard. Its a massive structure that harkens back to the city's older days and almost looks out of place among the newer walls and buildings of some parts of the city.
Two nervous guards stand at the entrance to the Yard, but as the queen promised, you are expected. They quickly wave the party through, and one guard escorts you into the central keep, where a harried and tired-looking woman rises from her desk to greet you She is an attractive, dark-haired human woman dressed in red armor. She introduces herself as Field Marshal Cressida Kroftand asks for your names as she you to sit
"“Ah yes—you are the ones sent by Queen Ileosa. Greetings— heroes of your caliber are exactly what Korvosa needs now. You’ve been on the streets. You know better than me how bad things are out there. It’s breaking my heart to see Korvosa tear herself apart like this. Every little bit of aid we can get from upstanding citizens like you helps.
If you’re willing, I’d very much like to retain your services as agents of the Guard. I don’t need to say, of course, that you’ll be well compensated for these services.”
"Perhaps you could explain what you need our help with," Reg asks feeling very much out of place.
Keen just follows Reg's lead and keeps quiet for a change.
Elric is quietly overwhelmed by the whole of this. He was content to make a living with his stable wife in a stable city as a simple blacksmith. Over the course of such little time these things had been taken from him. Hardly over seven months now he had lost his young wife and their unborn child. He had half-believed that Taking Lamm's life would make him happy and he would return to carving out a living as a blacksmith. Perhaps these things would have came to pass if the city which he had chose to settle in wasn't so obviously falling apart. And so here he was now, Praised as a hero. Revenge had left him no happier. And honestly, he supposed he knew that it wouldn't-but he accepted it was something that had to be done. Here now, he longed for the Coast of The Moonshae's. But he didn't let this longing overwhelm him. He had a city to save, he supposed. And he couldn't deny the work of heroes had proven to be much more generous upon his coffers than the work of a struggling sea-front blacksmith. So he hefted his axe upon his shoulders, how it felt lighter all the time, and followed Reg's lead in the matter.
Euphegenia looks around at the others to gain their general mood while she listens to the answer to Reg's question.
Upon hearing Regs words the feild marshal sets back in her seat and starts to speak
“Korvosa’s got enough troubles as it is without my own men losing their way and going rogue. As much as it pains me to admit, though, this has happened several times already. Many guards have deserted their posts, more concerned about friends and family than the city. I can understand this, yet not all of the deserters have family—some of them are simply using the riots as an excuse for personal gain. One such man is Verik Vancaskerkin. Worse than a lone deserter, he’s convinced a small group of fellow guards that Queen Ileosa is going to ruin the city Whether she does or doesn’t isn’t the point—right now, we’ve got a city-wide crisis on our hands, and I need all of my guards
working with me to see us through. A deserter is worse than a lost resource—it’s an infection. I can’t afford to pull any of my other patrols off duty to deal with Vancaskerkin, and I’d rather not expose any of them to him anyway, since I neither want Vancaskerkin to infect more guards with his talk of secession, nor do I want some overly patriotic guard killing Vancaskerkin outright. I need impartial,skilled talent. Like you.
“Vancaskerkin and his men have holed up in an abandoned butcher’s shop up in Northgate—the place was called All the World’s Meat. I need you to check out the place. Try to avoid killing any of the deserters if you can, but if you must, they brought it upon themselves when they threw in their lot with Vancaskerkin. For him, I’d really prefer it if you could capture him alive and return him to me for interrogation, but if he makes that impossible, I’ll accept his body as well. Finally, see if you can find out why Verik deserted—if there’s more to it than simple personal politics, I need to know immediately. Bring me Verik alive, and there’s another thousand gold in it for you. Dead, he’s only worth half that.”
edit: Orik Vancaskerin is a NPC in Rise of the Runelords.
“Vancaskerkin and his men have holed up in an abandoned butcher’s shop up in Northgate—the place was called All the World’s Meat. I need you to check out the place. Try to avoid killing any of the deserters if you can, but if you must, they brought it upon themselves when they threw in their lot with Vancaskerkin. For him, I’d really prefer it if you could capture him alive and return him to me for interrogation, but if he makes that impossible, I’ll accept his body as well. Finally, see if you can find out why Verik deserted—if there’s more to it than simple personal politics, I need to know immediately. Bring me Verik alive, and there’s another thousand gold in it for you. Dead, he’s only worth half that.”[/b]
"Then we need to gather information on him and his locale, how many people he has working for him, how well connected he is and what he's been doing since holing up at this abandoned butcher's shop," Reg muses.
"Okay unless any of you have any objections or queries of your own against looking into this?" Reg asks the others stepping back to see if they had any questions of their own.
"We can find some turncoats, I can do that."
"I will find out what I can... maybe we could talk him into turning himself in?" Bean offers, "Probably not highly likely, but... Captain what if he does? What would likely happen to him? It might be easier if we can convince him that coming back isn't tantamount to a death sentence."
"I will find out what I can... maybe we could talk him into turning himself in?" Bean offers, "Probably not highly likely, but... Captain what if he does? What would likely happen to him? It might be easier if we can convince him that coming back isn't tantamount to a death sentence."
"It would depend on his reasons I'd assume," Reg looks back at their employer for an answer to Bean's query.
"Ah Bean, I like your idea of talking to them, always worth a try."
"Aye, I can forgive a man for turning to his family in his needs, but nay canna I forgive a man for deserting his duty for his own ends," Euphegenia mutters, "let them just try to refuse our surrender terms," she continues, talking to no one in particular.
The Field marshal listens to you speak and then starts to talk. " Yes dereliction of duty is a crime, you hurt not only yourself but allow chaos into the city. As for Vancaskerkin, he came her a few years ago from riddleport I do believe. I do not know how well he is connected, however four guards men left with him Baldrago , Malder, Karralo and Parns.' She seats forward and looks at the group " I have no issue with you looking inot this and finding what you need to. If you can get him to turn himself in well all the better. I do ask you not cause more chaos on the street then already is there'
"What is the penalty for dereliction of duty?" Bean asks, "Not saying he shouldn't pay for his crime, I just want to go in knowing the full spread before I offer the gambit."
"What is the penalty for dereliction of duty?" Bean asks, "Not saying he shouldn't pay for his crime, I just want to go in knowing the full spread before I offer the gambit."
"And whether he has any reason to have second thoughts over this action of his," Reg nods in agreement with Bean's thinking.
"How dangerous is this guy? What about the guys he's with? Are we headed into the grinder here? Is this guy solo or is he allied with someone?"
" dereliction of duty in they city's time of need? Just leaving his post, deserting with a band going rogue, Five years no less at lest" She says, her voice makes it clear she means it
" As for him I know little of the men and do not know if he hatched his plot alone, I do know he took those closest to him when he left, Deserters all.' She spat
"At least its not the death sentence I suppose," Reg notes wondering what caused the man to desert more importantly why he stayed in Korvosa rather than flee it.
"Sounds fair, well the worse that will happen is he doesn't care... I'll go see if I can find out anything more about our missing soldiers," Bean nods to the group, "Anyone coming with?"
Elric steps forward from his silence at Bean's request."I'll come along Bean." Hesitating for a moment he clarifies."In case talks go south. You understand."
"As you probably realise, I have no diplomacy skills, but I can back the big laddie up if needed." she indicates Elric by poining with her thumb at him as she speaks.
"I'll come along if you don't mind, it'll be interesting to see where this leads," Reg asks.
"Well we don't want too big of a crowd either... don't want to make people antsy, or think we are after them in a big mean way, however the four of us should be fine... Elric just try to not look... threatening -- People don't talk much if they think their head is about to be removed from their shoulders," Bean offers before heading out.
Keen shrugs. "Sounds interesting. I don't think this guy is coming in easy anyhow."
Bean takes Elric and starts looking for additional information on the deserting soldiers, making sure to stop by their normal watering holes and talking to the soldiers that didn't desert to see if they have any additional information that might be useful, but that they didn't want to share with 'offical' channels.
:: Gather Information 1d20+8=18 ::
You spent a day among the varies parts of the city. The city seems unstable with parts barely held in check and other parts lawless. Riots while mostly put down have caused hardship throughout the city with some merchants not coming in for fear of being over come by mobs, thugs and beggars.
Among all this you have found out a few things. Vancaskerkin has holed up in an old butcher shop called All world's meat. It seems him and his men have been giving out meat for free to the people of that district. As such They think of the man as a saint and grow hostile toward anyone they think means him harm. This caused a little bit of an issue but nothing you where unable to talk your way out of.