Curse of the Crimson Thread: Escape from Old Korvosa [IC]

[Moriar]

Standing in front of the tavern, Vivino says to the others, "let us get a drink while Ridwan acquires a skiff. We can wait until then.

That ok to all and you Ridwan?"

[lostsole31]

Ridwan looks to Barris....

[Kvard51]

Barris nods to Ridwan and says, “I believe that is our best option, although someone who could watch his back would not go amiss.”

[lostsole31]

"He looks helpless," smirks Linzi as she looks to Dane. "Want me to go as his armed escort?"

[Rithryn]

"Probably for the best, I'd go myself but as you can see I wouldn't be of much help in a stealth mission. Stay safe out there."
Dane taps hus armor to emphasize his point.

[lostsole31]

Linzi and Ridwan head out to secure a skiff, leaving the rest of the party in the Three Rings Tavern.

Barmaid comes to take everyone's order ....

[Moriar]

"Greetings!" Vivino says to the barmaid. "We will take a round of ales to get us started. Thank you" Vivino does his best to smile soothingly but likely comes across as awkward/creepy.

[Ason]

Ernak stays quiet as the others debate where to go, content with any selection, but he grins eagerly when the Three Rings Tavern is at last picked.

As the party enters the tavern, he gives a respectful nod to the Shoanti bouncer. When Vivino orders the ales for the party, Ernak merrily chimes in with a friendly pat on his shoulder, "This round of ales are on me, friends. I want you to enjoy your first trip to Theandra's."

Once seated, the giant of a man then leans back with a stretch as he lazily surveys the place for anything beyond the ordinary barflies.

[lostsole31]

Drinks are brought out.

[Sienna]

"Well, if you're offering, I won't turn down a free drink," Runa says, "Nothing much else to do but sit tight for a while, so may as well make the most of it while we're here, yeah?"

[lostsole31]

Ridwan and Linzi will return some time later. Linzi begins, "It turns out, that nobody will 'lose' their skiff to Old Korvosa. The wall has so many Gray Maidens looking over into the water, they could never come 'back.'"

"'Back,' but not 'to'," Ridwan interjects. "Nobody cares about people going to Old Korvosa, figuring a few less agitators being among 'their kind.' But it's the getting back that's the issue.'"

"So," Linzi picks up, "there are those willing to sell us rowboats for about 50 gp a pop, and it would probably take us two rowboats for all of us to get across, even if Northman-woman-girl flies on her scaled whatsit, hidden from above."

[Rithryn]

Dane speaks up taking out a 100 gp gem.
"I can purchase the boats, I'm not short this amount of money."

[Sienna]

"Works for me. Getting out is a bridge we can cross when we get there, I suppose," Runa says, scooping some of the food into a pouch for Diva, "'Course, that also means that we can't easily come back for anything you've forgotten. Best double check that you've got all you need before we commit to this."

[lostsole31]

Linzi sucks in softly with an "oooh" and a face that looks like it ate a lemon. "Yeah, about that. They dropped the bridges going to Old Korvosa. They really, truly mean for that district to eat itself into the void."

[Moriar]

"That is terrible to hear that the people are being in such a fashion," Vivino says. "As for going there I am sure my sister will understand going into the place as long as I promise to help the people there of course," he gives a wry smile at that.

"Speaking of which, should we try to bring in supplies for the people there?"

[lostsole31]

Linzi whispers to Dane, feeling that an open opinion, despite being Dane's valet, would be untoward.

Spoiler: Dane

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"We don't know what we'll find, how we'll find, or who we'll find. I think you and your friends are the 'needed supplies,' because we can't help everyone in Old Korvosa with goods, but if we bring a bunch of stuff in, we might do more harm than good and get mobbed."

[Rithryn]

Dane nods in agreement with Linzi before speaking to the group.
"Perhaps we should avoid unnecessary attention to ourselves, the best and fastest way to help these people is to find out what is going on and solve it."

[Ason]

Ernak's customary grin falls into tight-lipped concentration as the cohorts give their report.

"We can't feed everybody, but I am bringing something for my family over there," he says curtly, "I'll see if I can order meals to-go 'for the group' from the tavern before we leave. Then I'll be ready to set out immediately."

Spoiler: OoC

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I don't know this particular tavern's policy on doggy bags, but Ernak hopes to buy 2 days' worth of bundles/packages of less/non-perishable foods (e.g. bread, cheese, pickled vegetables, jug of ale, etc). He plans to give these to his parents, should he find them, so they each have at least 1 day of good food. He'll buy the best less/non-perishable food this tavern has on hand (i.e. good meal if they sell it, common meal if not, poor meal if not that either).

While I would prefer Ernak buy enough food to last his parents more than 1 measly day, each days' worth of food for them comes out to 6 meals total. And while ordering 6 meals to-go would not be too suspicious given our 6-person party + 2 just-arriving cohorts, even Ernak would realize ordering much more might raise the staff's eyebrows. I can roleplay his request for to-go meals in spoiler tags or via Discord if you wish, but he's essentially going to act as if he's ordering food to-go for the party to have later on in the night.

If the tavern does not offer to-go meals, Ernak will wrack his brain for any places selling food that might be open at this time of night. He will not ask the party for ideas on such places, however, as he does not trust any of them enough yet to talk much more about a family concern like this.

[lostsole31]

There are no doggy-bags or carry-out orders. In fact, even though there was a recent pandemic, surprisingly Korvosa did not come up with a food delivery service.

There are also no 24-hour Stop-n-Shops, Giants, Eagles, Kroger's, or the like.

[Sienna]

"Thinking they might not be as big a fan as Diva is about eating random leftovers out of a leather pouch, but I'll eat bugs off the ground sometimes so I won't judge them," Runa says, winking at the group as though she just said something incredibly attractive. "...Jokes aside, I'm not sure we're in a position to spearhead some kind of humanitarian movement here. Don't overthink it, yeah?"

[Ason]

Ernak returns from his chat with the waitstaff, shaking his head. He sinks into his chair and glumly states, "It seems the question of relieving hunger is a moot point regardless, if the plan is to leave tonight. So I am ready to go posthaste."

He then contemplates his ale quietly.

[Moriar]

"Very well," Vivino agrees. "Let us get in there as soon as possible to to help as best we can before we look to help the population as a whole."

[Rithryn]

"Alright, let's head out under the xover of night and take the skiffs over."

[Dusk Raven]

Jacintha had listened to the conversation in silence, her instincts being to observe rather than to interfere. But now, she speaks up. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be. And for what it's worth, bringing food for people probably isn't the best idea. There's no way we could bring enough to make a difference, and we'd definitely draw too much attention if we tried. We might still stand out as it is."

[lostsole31]

After waiting out the clock, and Linzi having already mentioned to the person that was going to sell boats to them that it would be after the sun had set, and after significant conversation and food (but only a careful ingestion of drink), the party ... such as it is now ... leaves for North Point.

Linzi smacks her head and feels bad. She was so focused on the fact that she heard that all of the wooden bridges to Old Korvosa had been burned and wrecked, but does mention that the stone Jeggare Bridge does still exist .... but you don't want any part of that. While it is a physical link between Endrin Isle and the mainland, it is crawling with all sorts of Gray Maidens and fortifications that whether or not one wants to be allowed to go to Old Korvosa, there are too many unknown or unfriendly faces looking at your faces.

The man with the boats - one Brado Buteo - is there with several men, drinking and lounging while waiting for you. He has two rowboats. Assuming Runa flies across with Diva, the rest of the party can split between the two boats in cramped quarters.

The rowboats are decrepit. You are likely to get a few splinters from the worn oars that haven't seen a sanding cloth or paint in some time. These rowboats are definitely at the end of their lives, but Brado protests and says they will get you where you need to go, but assumes you aren't coming back.

Do you quietly pay the man, or do you try to talk him down from the 50 gp per boat, or otherwise interact with him in some way beyond purchase?

[Ason]

En route to the seller, Ernak asks Ridwan and Linzi, "Say... did you give the seller any cover story to excuse our late-night boat shopping? Did he seem suspicious? Either way, we should be as nondescript as possible when we meet the guy, lest he report us to the Maidens."

During the sale itself, Ernak tries to read the general mood and trustworthiness of the seller and his friends. He also tries to keep any chatter during the exchange itself amicable.

Spoiler: OoC

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Since it's not Ernak's money to spend, he's not going to make a call on whether to haggle or not, but he'll try to interject as needed to keep the situation positive. Depending on Linzi's/Ridwan's answer to his question en route, on his sense motive check to gain a hunch of the seller's trustworthiness, or on any dialogue that follows, Ernak may have specific dialogue later, but his initial goal is to just play wingman to the cohorts and Dane.

[lostsole31]

En route, Linzi mentions that the cost for sub-par boats that are going to be beached and left, possibly abandoned ... was the price of silence and no questions.

[Sienna]

"I dunno about you all, but I like that price point," Runa says.

[Moriar]

"Aye, let us pay the man and be on our way," Vivino says. "Though I think that I will alter my appearance a bit just in case my appearance is known."

As they get closer to the man, Vivino's form shifts into that of a half orc of sizable portions.

Spoiler: Disguise

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Using hat of disguise to appear as a hulking half orc of about the same size

[lostsole31]

Dane gives the man a simple sapphire, extremely tiny for that size of gemstone, and that teensy-weensy sapphire is good enough for Brado who mutters, "Buono fortuna" - a modern Chelaxian wish for luck.

The party and their decreit rowboats make the crossing now that it's after dark, rowing along the northern shore over the Jeggare River and then coming around on land to enter the city via North Bridge - the far side of the Narrows of St. Alika, where many buildings have burned or been partially destroyed by looters. These desolate places remain dark now at night, making it easier to avoid detection there.

Once the boats are pulled up on shore, they realize they are being approached by a wild-eyed human wearing an ill-fitting suit of leather armor, striding purposefully down the street toward Old Dock (and the party), sword in hand. He shouts as he approaches, "Curse you and your kind! Death to the Emperor!"

The man is 60' from the party. What do you do?