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Cressida smiles some at your words and gives a nod of her head. "Worry not, I am not intending to follow you around and look over your shoulders. You will be serving as independent agents for the guard, answering to me personally. There are always tasks which I can use outside agents for, particularly ones who seem skilled with stealth and spell."
“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.”
"You needn't set out immediately, you may stay in the barracks tonight if you wish. I will also put in a good word with Theandra Darklight who owns the Three Rings Tavern in the Five Corners district. Should you require them, you will have a line of credit there to cover your room and board and long as you work for the guard. I have dealt with adventurers before and Theandra treats them well, you should be able to secure space for planning as you need as well."
Fortune smiles at her, "Sounds like we are on the same page and hopefully we won't disappoint you. We'll go look into this deserter for you."
As the discussion turns to tracking Vancaskerkin down, Shadowleaf's eyes light up with an inner fire. As the discussion draws to a close he smiles coldly, "So young one, to the hunt." He enjoys hunting and you are glad his "smile" isn't directed at you. "Field Marshall, do you know of a master armsman(weaponsmith) that is still open?"
Fortune shudders at Shadowleaf's (he is still having trouble thinking about him as father) look. What is it costing us to store the gold at the bank of Abdar?
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Cressida considers the question. "If you need to purchase arms or armor, then I believe that the gold market is still open and it is not far from here. They will certainly have a smith working within. If you simply need repairs or maintenance on your equipment then you can feel free to stop by the forge we have in-house, our smith has been working around the clock to try and keep up with our demand."
When you seem ready to leave, Cressida will add in an extra caution. "Do be careful out there. There is much more happening out there then you may expect. The people are on edge and taking sides, and our men can only keep up the shifts we have for so much longer, especially as we have men becoming wounded. We are spread thin, but have been able to quell the moments of violence that have sprouted so far, but it is growing worse and I suspect we have a lot further to go. Doesn't help much that the hellknights and queen have butted heads, their heavy tactics and absolution is only stirring the pot and her attempts to order them around as if they were her guard are pushing them to be more firm handed with the people. The city is ready for an explosion. With luck you and my guard will be able to alleviate some of this pressure before it comes to that."
When you make your way to the gold market, you will see that it is indeed open, but barely so. The sable company have locked the place down and are keeping it open as a place for locals to get necessary supplies, but even just a few moments will show you that most of those who leave the place do so empty handed. The market itself is a huge bazaar, or would be were it not for the fact that most of the stalls being empty. With the recent surges of rioting any non-local merchants seem to have left town and you hear mutters from the peasants that the wagons of goods aren't likely to return until the merchants have figured out just what sort of taxes the new leadership may be charging no less when the streets are safer.
When you enter the huge tent, you can make out the sounds of several smiths working, local craftsmen, particularly those who deal with weapons and armor are doing quite well in these troubled times. What is missing, due to the lack of external traffic, are the farmers and merchants bringing food into the city and this seems to be what most of the townsfolk who enter the tent are looking for. At the moment only one merchant has any real supplies out and he is calling out prices that are far out of the range of the peasants for what meager supplies he has remaining. There are several other booths with signs up proclaiming that fish will be available in the morning, first come first serve, but its obvious that there is no way a town this side can live off what its harbor or even the surrounding farms produce, especially when its people are in a panic and hording.
Shadowleaf will ask her aide, as he doesn't want to use anymore of her time, if Vancaskerkin left a bedroll or personal item with his scent on them, for the dogs. Just covering the possibilities if we need to track him down.
At the market Shadowleaf will look for a 14 str, mw Short Composite Bow (75+300+75+75=525gp) and/or a mw Guisarme (309gp).
How much is durable(trail rations and such) food going for?
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You can easily pick up the bow and Guisarme from the smith, though the Guisarme is unusual enough that he doesn't have it with him and will deliver it to you that evening.
Rations are running about 5gp per days worth, which while not so high for you guys is pretty astronomical for peasants, and unless supplies begin to trickle into town soon, you would expect that to get worse.
Truly running on a skeleton crew, Cressida doesn't have any personal staff that are not out in the field. She will confirm that Vancaskerkin stayed in the barracks regularly and will personally lead you to his bunk so the dogs can get a good sniff.
Fortune will look for raw materials to craft some Varisian Idols and perhaps a shoulder wand "holster" and also a wand case. The holster to keep a wand secure, relatively hidden, but accessible.
He will also look for a wand of CLW (1st level = 750gp).
As a side note, Vallis the raven is usually around(30'-100') watching, but rarely in direct contact. What do you think would be "standard familiar protocol" for wizards in Korvosa? Are most obvious about them, or do they try to keep them secret?
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The general materials would be fairly easy to aquire within the market, and you could find a half dozen stones that would be suited to carving into the idols. There aren't any true wand sheaths here, the two real magic shops in town would be a better place to find such things, but the acadamae is shut down and so its shop is likely closed down as well. However, it would be easy to improvise such a thing with some cord and a small quiver, allowing you to keep the wand near at hand but be able to cover it with a cloak at least.
Including the holster supplies, just say the first set of raw materials would cost 20gp and you can get up to 5 more at 16gp 7sp.
The trip across town to the inn is likely filled with some excitement, but if you keep your head down it is nothing that draws you directly in. On the way you will pass several mobs of people, some shouting for food or for the queen to step down. From a distance you will see one of the crowds being driven back by a team of hellknights, a handful of peasants being cut down by the armored warriors before the people begin to flee, shouting back curses at the knights.
When you arrive at the Three Rings Inn, the tavern is full to overflowing with people and a large carved sign above the bar proclaims that supplies are to be rationed until further notice. Still, the people seem to want to gather where others are and they can feel safe.
Introducing yourself to Theandra will get you a curt nod and she will lead you back to your room, apologizing for its small size but it was all she was able to secure with the influx of people. The room itself is little more then a double wide closet with two cots in it and a nightstand that holds a lamp atop, but it does have a simple lock on the door at least.
Fortune is saddened to see the violence and bloodshed, the Hellknights in particular earn his disdain (though that is probably just his CG prejudice showing). He wants to intervene in every case, but his commonsense and native intelligence overcome that desire. What good would it do to get himself killed in some random skirmish? By all accounts from the Harrow done by Zellara, they are meant for something important. So Fortune will help when it is safe. Checking the wounded/dead after the fighting has moved on (using Stabilize and spontaneous clw), that sort of thing. Never leaving his name.
At the Inn he will ask that they save any rotten food they have till tomorrow (planning on Purify food/drink) and thank her for the beds. With 2 guys, 1 raven and 3 dogs, it's probably pretty crowded.
After settling in, Fortune will mingle and try to pickup a sense of what people are talking about. He won't get involved, he will just listen and carve and think (about his father). He will just take his scarf, holy symbol(under his shirt), tools, 1 set of raw materials and a few gp, leaving the rest with SL in the room. I imagine SL will take this time to do some dog care.
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There is much talk among the others in the tavern, most is worried about where food may be coming from or how they might get out of the city. Perhaps surprisingly you overhear someone mention All The Worlds Meat as a place that is giving out meat for a short time each morning and that if they are willing to get up early, they can maybe get some food for the family there.
The majority of the rest of the talk in the tavern is about the queen and her new reign. There are several staunch supporters of the queen, most of who have met her at some point and feel that she seemed kind and a powerful speaker and that she will be good for the city. Many of the others believe that either she has wild spending habits(something the past king was known for) and will only drive the city further into squalor and use the current rioting as an example, or are passing along the conspiracy that the queen may have killed the king herself. These people speak of the disappearance of the castle's seneshal at the time of the kings death as an example of her disposing of someone who may have known of her plot, while others say the opposite, that it may have been the seneshal himself who did the king in and he fled to hide from his punishment.
Beyond rumors being passed around, the night will pass safely and uneventfully(unless you cause some event) within the tavern and within your room leaving you mostly resting and ready to start on your day.
Except for asking for directions to All the Worlds Meat, Fortune just absorbs the local talk. As he does so he begins to remember places and stories from his childhood. The city and it's people begin to become more familiar. He also learns much about the political situation. Eventually he figures it's time to go to bed.
Arriving at the room, Fortune tells Shadowleaf, "Ok, I accept the possibility that you could be my Father. I just need some time, tell me how you met." They talk a bit and then go to sleep.
The next day he will go down and use purify food and water, if their hostess needs it, before heading off to their target. The intention is to scout out the location as early as possible, after a good night's rest. If we arrive early enough we might even try to purchase some meat (using the simplest of "disguises", different(local) clothes).
Shadowleaf will hunt around that night for rats with his new mw shuriken, using anything he catches as dog food (being discreet (in bags) with the dead rats). It also let's him scout out the area around their new home base.
When asked by Fortune, he will tell his story; he found her trespassing in an elven forest after a winter storm, but looking into her eyes he just couldn't slay her. He nursed her back to health...
On arrival Shadowleaf will hang back with the dogs. Let's not give them any reason to connect them just yet.
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Theandra most certainly will make use of your purifying abilities the next morning as they are trying to save whatever scraps they can, and if you can take some fouled meat and make it usable for a stew she is very grateful.
As you are about to make your way out in the morning, you ask Theandra if she knows just where All the World's Meat is located, and to your surprise she is aware of it, though from the look on her face she has mixed feelings about the place. [b]"That butcher shop is up on Stirge Street, was shut down for a while but some folks opened the place back up a coupld days ago. They are all that is keeping some of the poorer folks from starving already I think, with their program of free meat in the morning, but I can't say those running it are all right. I hear they call themselves the cow hammer boys and hire out for a bit of mercenary work on the side, for anyone who might ask about 'the nights special cuts'.
The city seems to be in a rapid state of deterioration as you walk through it, the few and far between riots of the previous day have increased in number and you can see the exhaustion in the faces of the guards trying to stem back the tides of people as the shear numbers fight to overcome the martial law.
Still, if you are aware of your surroundings a rioting crowd is quite easy to hear long before they are aware of you and so by weaving around some of the more crowded squares, you are able to make it to the market easily enough.
A sign bearing the image of a fat, smiling cow hangs above the entrance to this shop. Inside, a long counter runs over half the room’s width, beyond which a door stands ajar. A low bench sits against the east wall, while to the north a marble-topped table displays cuts of meat before a wide, grimy window. A few flies crawl and circle in the air above the meat.
Even in the first hours of light there is a crowd of at least a dozen standing out the front door of the shop. It seems whenever one leaves with a bundle a new one is arriving to replace him, and the meat slowly disappears from the window display.
Fortune finds himself in another moral quandary. These people are giving away meat for free, surely a good deed. Yet, most people are not that altruistic, so he wonders what their angle is. After a 1st pass by to eyeball the location Fortune will set up out of sight of the shop, where he can intercept a customer.
He will try to catch a customer alone and then will step forth boldly, holy symbol obvious, and state "Hold friend, I am a humble servant of Desna and have heard of the good work that is being done here. Is it true that they are giving food away for free? Surely this deserves my Goddesses blessing. May I see the meat please?" SL(and dogs) are around a corner, out of sight. Vallis the raven is watching our backs.
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Taking a bit of time to scout out the building, you get a bit more of a view of the place. The storefront moves back further then the other stores around it, and it looks like there is some sort of fenced off yard area back there. The fence is taller then you can easily see over without climbing, but the smell certainly indicates that there are some animals there.
The man you catch hold of seems quite nervous about the idea of handing over his meat for you to look at, eyeing you suspiciously. At best he'll give you a glimpse of it, and while the meat looks of an extremely poor quality and the cut is done so poorly it isn't very identifyable, it does at least appear to be fresh. He'll refuse to let you cast any spell on the meat as if he suspects that you will just magic it away.
If you are willing to stop a second person at some point, that one will be a bit more willing to let you look. The cut is of a better quality, though the meat isn't much better. It appears to be some sort of beef, but its extremely lean and stringy. Still the person is very cautious of it.
This person is much more talkative about it, seeming excited. "Yes, yes! I do not know just where this kindness comes from, but these men give away whatever meat they can. They have said that if we line up here each morning they will offer up whatever beef or pork they have been able to secure the day before. Its not much and yesterday I didn't arrive until noon and it was all gone, but this will certainly feed my family! I made sure to be very early today!"
For the first man, Fortune will not press the issue. He will give him a generic "May the blessings of Desna go with you in these dark times."
The 2nd will also get the blessing, but also a silver piece for his trouble. "It appears fresh. Surely these are good men."
Fortune will send Vallis to fly over the pen, 200' up in the air to scout. Meanwhile, they will look around for a good hiding place to hole up near the shop.
Using the disguise kit to make himself look different (not to like anyone, just to look not entirely like himself), Shadowleaf (and the new dog) will go into the store as the last of the food is being given away. His hands will be in plain view and not on his weapons.
Fortune will be out of sight nearby with the 2 older dogs and Vallis will be observing through the window (instructed to alert Fortune if SL is attacked or goes into the back).
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It takes about a half-hour of waiting in line to reach the front of the shop and when you step inside there is a tall man with bushy eyebrows standing behind the counter grabbing chunks of meat from the display case and handing it to the customers one at a time. Beside the door a man with a slight wheeze who doesn't seem to quite fit in his chainmail from the way he shifts watches over the proceedings, ensuring that there is no trouble.
As you approach the counter, you are given a bit of a look, but the man doesn't seem to think it would be worth it to give any sort of hassle for you and just hands you a chunk of the meat, muttering for you to be on your way before calling out "Five more, Malder." The wheezing man nods his head and puts his arm across the door five people behind you, yelling at the rest of the line. "Thats it. Better luck tomorrow, folks."
Shadowleaf will stand patiently in line, though he is alway looking around. When he finally gets in and is given some meat, he steps aside but doesn't leave. "I am looking for work and I was wondering if you needed some help the "nights special cuts". I'm good with animals and blades."
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The two look at each other and then wait for the last hunk of meat to be handed out and then they close the door behind them. The one by the door turns and looks at you with his arms across his chest. "'Fraid we don't need much help with our ventures, fella. Now, if you have some issue you need taken care of, then we certainly are for hire."
Edit: Looking at the meat, the cuts don't seem overly familiar to you, though from its color it seems to be either pork or beef.
Outside, Fortune waits for a signal from Vallis and examines the building. Does it have cracks and such where you could look in from the outside? patience was never his strong suit.
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There is the front window to the shop, but it is mostly taken up by the display-case so you can just see the tops of heads. Enough you could tell if a fight was breaking out, but without being pretty obvious and getting right up against the window and stretching to look in, you probably can't see much more then that.
With a warriors eye, Shadowleaf will look them over, how competent do they seem? With a sniff, "To bad, I'll bet none of you are as good with a bow as I am. So, can you point me to someone who is hiring?"
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Both of them seem comfortable with their weapons and gear, but they don't have the strict disciplined look of real long term soldiers.
The man with the heavy bushy eyebrows gives a bit of a smirk and crosses his arms across his chest, revealing a longsword at his hip which was hidden behind his apron before. "Eh, maybe not, elf. We ain't spent so much time shooting at trees. We have our skills though. Maybe you could take to farming? Your kind is skilled with that stuff, right?"
The other man chuckles a bit, leaning over and nudging his partner. "Don't be so down on 'im, Baldrago. Maybe the man's got skills. I hear the guard is hiring." They both set to chuckling at that.
"No thanks, too many orders. Say, how much to find someone? A lowlife scum named Gaedren Lamm."
"Let me think about it." And Shadowleaf will start to leave. As he exits he asks, "What's up with the give away. Charity is not a normal mercenary virtue?"
Fortune will try to observe if SL is watched or followed, otherwise they will meet back at the hiding place and discuss their next step. The food give away and the mercenary work are so at odds with each other that they really don't know what's going on. Fortune will take this time to fill his open slots with Hypnotism and Sanctuary. They will feed the meat to the dogs (after it's been purified).
Fortune will go up and politely knock on the door, with Rufus. Shadowleaf is hiding and watching. Vallis is watching Sl's back.
"Hello, I'm not here to get anything, I'm here to give you something."
Fortune will talk to Rufus, "Hey Dog, it looks like these men don't want the most valuable thing in the world. I guess we can leave" and start to walk away.
Shadowleaf watches his son and fingers his kukri. The Mr Bushy Eyebrows guy has made his list of "people who are prey".
He stops and talks with Rufus, "You were right, they did open the door." Turning to the men, "I have heard of your good work here and have come to offer you the blessings of the Lady of Dreams. May I speak with your boss."
To the dog, "Dog, I don't think they want the blessing. Yeah, you're right. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't look it in the mouth. Wait, you can give a horse a drink, but not a gift....or whatever. I do wish you would get your adages straight." Then to the men, "Keep up your good works." Turns and leaves.
Sl and Fortune come up with a plan, (this is the outline)
step 1- Check out the Old Fishery/ship, again. Set up ambushes, traps and such.
step 2- Sl returns (he has had a windfall) and hires them to "take care of Lamm" who lives in the ship behind this abandoned fishery.
step 3- ambush anyone who comes (sleep, nets, etc...)
So they will head over to the Old Fishery and see what has happened to it.
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Trying to judge the two guards gives you the idea that they are cocky, somewhat dismissive of you and certainly seem to be enjoying the bullying aspect of the power they have over the peasants that come in here.
Going back to the fishery, it looks much as how you left it, though the main room seems to have been ransacked, likely by poor folk who came in for dock dumplings and found the place empty. The place was abandoned before Gaedren took over though and the city still hasn't tried to reclaim it since you drove him out.
If you are going to look into the ship, opening the door reveals the inner cabin to be completely full of spiderwebs and likely hasn't been entered by anyone in a long time.
"Hold on a moment, but be ready to close the door" and Fortune will summon a celestial dire rat to run into the room to see if there are any bigger spiders.
Fortune will dismiss the summoned rat while Sl closes the door, "Hmm, that was a big spider."
Shadowleaf will scout around and find a good ambush location. A good hiding place across the way with a good view of the Old Fishery. They will also visit the Citadel and ask how many guards have defected, picking up that many manacles.
The next morning Shadowleaf will then return to the store and try to hire them with 50gp (making sure the gp look like they are from a real person) that he "found". According to his information, Gaedren lives hidden in the ship behind the Old Fishery. "Please bring Gaedren in alive so I can have a "chat" with him." The way he strokes his weapons on the word "chat" leaves little to the imagination as to what he really means.