Adventure Log IV

PLEASED TO ‘MEAT’ YOU PT 2

After delivering Verik Vancasteran to the Cressida Croft at the Citadel, their next assignment was to keep watch on the building “All the World’s Meat” and report/deal with any continued usurpers. Over the next 5 days the party split up and created ‘shift’s’ so they could keep an eye on any movement at the establishment without being seen. As each member of the party made their way to The World’s Meat they could feel a mood change in Korvosa. Civil unrest in the city had made it feel tense, aggressive and uneasy. They saw people were behaving in chaotic and angry ways and seemed to inflict unnecessary pain and suffering on others. The whole city was on edge. Word had it that even the Ambassadors from other provinces that were based here had fled the city out of fear for their lives.  Other rumours, like bad miasmas, flew through the air too - the guards were ready to flee the city, certain noble houses wanted to take the crown, the Shoanti- an indiginous group driven from the area centuries ago- were planning to use the upheaval to retake the city, Otyughs were attacking at will etc. But one rumour that Trevor had heard troubled him. Guards were looking into the murder of four people in Old Korvosa-these were the thugs that had attached the party a week ago-and the penalty for murder was death-but worse than that, it was also being reported that the Cerulean Society (aka The Thieves Guild) were also looking into this. This was another level of danger-if the Cerulean society found out they had killed these thugs and they were seeking revenge, they wouldn’t just take it out on them, but their friends and loved ones too. The party’s actions against those thugs, albeit in self-defence, could potentially lead to terrible and devastating consequences.

Unable to do anything about it, the party eventually decided to meet up and discuss what they had seen at All The World’s Meat. Even though Verik was no longer in the picture, the workers there continued to hand out meat. However, the party observed that the workers were now being ‘selective’ as to who would receive it. Furthermore, and quite troubling, the amount of meat they were handing out, didn't seem to match the number of livestock that was coming in. So, the question was, who was now running this operation and where was the ‘extra meat’ coming from?

The party knew that if they were to walk into the building again, they would instantly be recognised, which could result in all sorts of trouble. Therefore, they needed a new strategy. Trevor pointed out that Taylan wasn’t with them last time, so the guards would have no idea who he was. The group suggested that Taylan should enter the shop and try and ask for some meat, possibly even try to work for them. If he could infiltrate their ranks, they could get the information they need. Taylan agreed and set off. Alone.

Taylan walked towards the shop. Looking up, he could see the image of the fat, smiling cow sign that hung above- it felt like it was almost taunting him. Once inside he could see a long counter and a door behind it. He could also see a table with displays of cut meat before a wide, grimy window. Horrible, dirty flies flew around the meat-enough to make anyone gag. Two guards —Baldrago (a tall man with bushy eyebrows) and Malder (a wheezy like man) stood behind the counter and looked down on him as if he were a piece of dirt. They asked him what he wanted.  Acting desperate, Taylan pleaded with guards to give him some meat for his poor sick mother. Baldrago, in no uncertain terms, told him to ‘fuck off’. Quick as a flash, Taylan said those were the exact same words his father said to him. Infuriated with the presence of this peasant, Baldrago picked Taylan up by the scruff of his neck and threw him out of the shop into the streets.

As he lay there in the dirt and mud, feeling down and out, a well dressed pretty girl walked directly past Taylan and directly into the shop. The guards smiled as she walked in and she was instantly given meat by the guards. They even told her to come again. “So much for handing out meat to the poor” thought Taylan.

Undeterred by this, Taylan brushed off the dirt, stood up and made his way back to the shop. Baldrago and Malder could see he was coming back which infuriated them. It was obvious they were going to give Taylan a good kicking. Just as the guards made their move, it was at that exact time that Byron decided to reveal himself and started calling out Taylan’s name. The guards, seeing the famous pit fighter, stopped in their tracks in awe. Taylan then shouted out to Byron and the guards were confused that this powerful fighting pit barbarian actually knew the scrawny, dirty, little oik that lay beneath them. That’s when Taylan said Byron was his dad! It was a lie of course, but both Taylan and Byron (much to his ire) now had to play this game. The guards were astonished by this and started to apologise for the way they treated Taylan. Byron then suggested they could make it up to him by giving him some meat. The guards agreed, albeit reluctantly. Taylan using their embarrassment, then suggested he could come and work for them- he had “small supple hands” which could come in handy! The guards said no, but Byron kept on pushing them to give him a job, even suggesting he’d give them free tickets to his next pit fight. An agreement was made that Taylan could return in the morning and they could talk about it then. Byron and Taylan left with the meat and returned to the party.

When the party looked at the meat, everything seemed fine at first. But then Calli spotted a small serpent tattoo. The meat was clearly human. The idea that these guards had been delievering free human meat to the unsuspecting citizens of Korvosa made the party sick to their stomachs. Looking at the serpent tattoo again, Trevor remembered a thug from Old Korvosa who had the same tattoo. He had owed money, lots and lots of money. But the word on the street was that his debt had been settled. No-one knew how, but curiously this thug had gone ‘missing’ for a long time now. Looking at the tattoo, Trevor now knew why. This also explained where they were getting all the ‘extra meat’ from. Now it was a question of why and how.

The party decided to return to the shop the next morning. The plan was to sneak into the back at the shop when the guards were distracted i.e. by the queue of people who would be wanting their free meat. Sure enough, when the sun rose, long queues began to form from people eager to get hold of the meat. The party knew they had to act soon-the idea that these people would soon be eating human consumption was horrendous.

Like before, the party snuck around the back of the building to the shed which housed the cart. And just like before, Byron used his crowbar to break the lock. As they entered the building, they could smell the stench of mud, manure and animals from the cattle pen opposite. Those from Old Korvosa (Byron, Trevor and Taylan) were used to such smells. But Calli was not, she was used to the more sweet and delicate perfumes of life, so these ‘toxic fumes’ made her nauseas.  Worse than that though, Calli had the distinct feeling that someone or something was watching them, albeit she couldn’t tell who, what, where or how. Curious, she poked her head through the cattle fence and was confronted by a cow-which just mooed at her. Mystery solved she thought.

At the end of the shed was another door. Once again Byron used his crowbar to open, but Taylan also helped by using his acid wand to melt the lock. As the metal lock dissolved, Byron opened the door, and he could see a nightmarish blood-stained straw chamber.  The potent smell of slaughter hung ominously in the air. A grim metal rail was attached to the ceiling, where meat hooks hung here and there. This was clearly a killing room. As Byron quickly scanned the room, he could see one of the thugs was sliding a dead carcass on the rails through some double doors on the opposite side.  Byron quickly closed his door so that he wouldn’t be seen. Luckily for him and the party, the thug didn't notice anything. The sound of his footsteps disappearing into the distance, indicated to the party that the coast was clear and that they could enter.

Gingerly opening the door again, the party entered one by one trying to be as silent as they possibly could. It was a grim site. As they explored the room, they could see a bloodstained grill covering a wide hole in the floor. whuich led down to the sewers. Clearly this is where the blood would drain from carcasses on meat hooks above. However, upon closer inspection, Trevor noticed that beneath the grill it seemed devoid of any blood and guts. Clearly then, this is where Otiyughs must come and ‘feed’.

The party could also see two large vats of water: one boiling and one cold. As one member of the party pointed out, these vats would be used to strip a body of its skin/feathers etc. There were a couple of large butcher blocks and various reeking vats of detritus. Trevor spotted a human thigh bone sticking out of one of them.

Trevor started to feel uneasy about this place. He was used to seeing blood and guts but not like this. Byron, recognising he was uncomfortable, immediately came over to try and calm him down. He reassured Trevor that all was ok, there was nothing to worry about. But Byron knew there was. The last thing the party needed was the appearance of Shiv-Trevor's chaotically evil alter ego to mess things up.

Calli herself wasn't feeling very well either. This place was like a scene out of a nightmare. There was blood and guts all over the floors. She consoled herself by using prestidigitation to keep the area directly under her clean as she moved through the filth. She didn’t want to carry any more than the bad memories away with her from this place.

The party continued to explore the blood-soaked murder room and spied two animal pens. The party decided to bypass them though just in case they disturbed any animals which would alert the guards. Talking of which, the party could also see a corridor which led directly to the shop front where the two guards were serving customers. A connecting door to the shop front and the corridor currently stood open. If the guards turned around, they would see the party. The party knew from their days of watching that there were four guards total, but they mostly worked in shifts of two. If they could separate them off and nullify the others quickly and quietly enough it would make the job much easier for everyone. Nightingale and Calli then hit upon a genius idea. Nightingale would cast his spell ‘close door’ while Calli would cast ‘ghost sound’ to make it look like a wind blew the door shut naturally. Once closed, Byron would then wedge something under the door to prevent the guards coming in. Nightingale and Calli set themselves up and then cast their spells simultaneously. The wind whistled through the corridor and the door slowly closed. Byron, then using all the stealth he could muster, crept cautiously and silently to the door and placed the wedge. The party then waited. Their hearts beat faster and faster waiting for the guards to react. At any moment they could burst through the doors and then all hell would break loose. But nothing came. Their plan worked!

Relieved, the party’s next step was to see what lay upon the next floor of the building. For in that same corridor there was a set of steps leading upwards. Byron led the way, followed by Trevor and Nightingale. Surprisingly for two huge barbarians they crept up the stairs like death itself. Not even a whisper of their presence could be heard.

At the top they found themselves in another room which contained a round table with a stack of playing cards and four wooden chairs. An open cabinet could also be seen, and a variety of bedrolls rolled up against one of the walls. However, laying on a bedroll fast asleep was a guard. It was the weaselly man they had identified as Korello. Using ‘sign language’ Nightingale made it clear they should kill the man, but Trevor disagreed. That would be out and out murder. All the party needed to do was interrogate the guards and let Kroft take it from there. There was a heated few moments of gestures and whispers, until the rest of the party was sure they were going to wake him up with the debate. Finally Byron took Trevor’s side and indicated we should try without murder to start with. Trevor put his large hand over the sleeping man’s mouth and his axe next to his throat. The man woke startled to see this brute of a thing standing over him, staring at him with dreadful eyes and large teeth, but he didn’t dare move or call out out of fear that the axe would slice his throat, and Trevor then knocked the man unconscious. The party then gagged him and tied him up-ready to interrogate him afterwards. Calli bound him with her silk rope, and Taylan spotted there was a weakness and strengthened the knot.

Unfortunately their moral debate had roused someone in what used to be Verik’s office. Byron listened at the door and signalled he could hear someone moving around. Byron threw open the door and attempted to grab the guard, who was the final of the four guards named Ponz. A broad, brutish fellow. Ponz managed to avoid the grapple and cry out, so Nightingale, quick as flash, drew his rapier and pierced the man through the throat. He’d used an acid spell on the blade, so that it cauterised as it wounded, saving the man from death and leaving him merely unconscious.

Down below the guards had heard the commotion from above. One of them shouted out, “oy what’s going on up there?” Trevor, foolishly replied in a dodgy accent “bad dream!”. The guards suspicious of the voice then asked, “who’s that?”. Not able to think straight, whilst looking at Taylan, Trevor replied “His dad?” The guards knew they had been infiltrated and then tried to open the doors, but the wedge Byron had placed earlier made it impossible. They began crying out that there were thieves in the building, and the people who had been waiting for their mean ran out into the streets shouting out the news. The party sprang into action, Byron, Taylan and Trevor ran down the stairs ready to tackle the two remaining thugs, Malder and Baldrago. Nightingale and Calli stood on the stairs ready to attack from above once the door opened. As the guards tried to bash down the doors, Byron suddenly removed the wedge which caused Malder to trip over Baldrago as they plunged through the door, landing prone. Byron was able to get in some brutal slashes with his mighty claws. Taylan blasted the still standing one with a magic missile, and Calli swung a chair that sailed past and shattered harmlessly on the counter behind them. Nightingale made a daring leap over the side of the stairs, landing directly on top of the fallen guard and plunging his rapier into the man sending lightning ricocheting through the man’s chainmail armour and seemingly killing him. Trevor, reluctant to fight, drew his axe and brought it heavily down, but missed his target. Gale looked up at Baldrago and commanded “Don’t you fucking move.” Baldrago immediately dropped his weapon and put his hands up, surrendering to the party who had so thoroughly defeated them.

They locked the front doors and brought the last guard upstairs to where the other two were still tied up and unconscious. Trevor removed the gag from the thug and explained in no uncertain terms that he needed to tell them what was going on here. Fearing for his life, he explained that he’d had the idea to make extra money doing jobs as hired muscle on the side and running the operation subtly while carrying out Verik’s orders. That was the “special cut” the party had heard about. But after Verik vanished, Ponz saw a way that they could double their money by selling the meat from the people they were hired to rough up. And no-one would know they were doing it, as people were eating the evidence. Baldrago pleaded he never agreed with it, and Ponz had done all the butchering. Calli sensed this was only partially true. Trevor asked how they got the bodies in, and he explained through the sewers, and avoided the Otyughs by feeding them well before they needed to travel. Calli asked if he’d ever eaten any of the people himself, and the man did a poor job lying about it. Nightingale pressed the issue, asking if he’d had ever killed a child and then sold it’s meat to the people. Baldrago claimed he hadn’t, but Gale knew this was the angle he needed to get through to the others how much they deserved to die. He asked again about killing children, or killing people with children leaving them orphans alone in the world. This was enough for Byron, who crushed the guard’s skull between his claws.

Trevor had already been on edge, but at this his eyes bulged; his whole body seemed to be on fire. This thug was a child killer, a child eater. There was no greater crime. He should killed, he should slaughtered. Pure towering rage, poured through Trevor’s body like a dam that had burst its banks. Pure hatred, anger, fury lanced through his blood like a poultice. But this was no ordinary anger this was a chaotic, frenzied, rampage of evil and Trevor transformed into Shiv.

Shiv began spitting insults at everyone within sight, just as guards appeared at the shops front demanding to be let in. Their timing couldn’t be any worse. If Shiv saw them, he would surely try to attack and slaughter them and that would mean all the party’s lives would be deemed forfeit by the law. Calli and Taylan bolted downstairs to try and deal with the watch, while Byron leaped into action and wrapped his arms around Shiv in a grapple to stop him from attacking. As he did so, a strange slimy, acidic quality seemed to ooze from Shiv’s body which made it hard to keep hold of him. Not only that but Shiv’s strength was immense. He was a brute of half orc-full of sinew and muscle and fury. It would take all of Byron’s strength to hold him.

Realising he was being held by Byron, Shiv looked at his ‘oppressor’ and barred all his fangs and screamed. It was a terrifying and intimidating sight, to see this blood thirsty monster wanting to rip and cut Bryon’s flesh. A lesser mortal would’ve let go of the beast and run screaming. Nevertheless, despite the monsterous intimidation before him, the fighting pit man held on. His long history pit fighting had given him the experience he needed to keep focused on his task.

Meanwhile down on the shopfront the guards could hear the commotion coming from above. Taylan got there first and initially tried to make up a lie, but Calli gently moved him aside, and greeted them eagerly. “I’m SO glad you’ve made it to back us up, Kroft sent us. These monsters were feeding human meat to the masses!” The ruckus continued in the background as she kept talking. “We’re just finishing up, don’t come in just yet, it isn’t safe!” She spoke with such confidence, and luckily the watch leader had heard that Kroft had hired some freelancers, so the man nodded and asked where the exits were to the building and sent some people around the guard it. Calli and Taylan relocked the door and rushed back upstairs to help.

The sounds of struggle continued to be heard upstairs. Nightingale had run over and placed his hands on Shiv which caused the brute to be dazed for a second. Shiv’s mind went blank and was unable to act-it was like his whole body was in a cloud of fog, and he couldn’t move, but the moment passed, and his fury increased. Shiv, like a tornado wanted to reap havoc and devastation to everything in his sight. He just wanted to kill and maim, rip and tear. But most of all he wanted to see blood.  He wanted to spill lots and lots of blood. But no matter how much he twisted and turned, no matter how much he writhed and spat, no matter how much he flexed his own considerable muscles, he couldn’t break free of the vice like grip of the pit fighter. Which infuriated him even more. To add to his vexation, the small, miserable, pathetic looking urchin (Taylan), whom he would break in two with his little fingers when he had the chance, returned and weakened his strength with an unnaturally cold touch. And the uppity, gentlemen, with the stupid hat and moustache that made him look like a perfumed ponce (Nightingale) kept on using his magic to make his head spin. And last but not least the stuck up fancy woman (Calli) who had begun singing to the group made him want to vomit on her and stick her ridiculous parasol up her arse! It was beyond frustrating to Shiv, that these weak and worthless mortals were causing him so much distress. He knew as soon as he could break free, he would snap their bones and desecrate their bodies.

Byron knew this would be the case as well, and knew he had to act. Somehow, he managed to hurl Shiv to the ground and pin him there. He knew his rage would dissipate soon and when it did his strength would be sapped. He also knew that would be the case for Shiv, but who would be exhausted first, was anyone’s guess.  It took every ounce of skill, strength and will for Byron to hold onto the beast. Never had he been tested so thoroughly. He knew everyone’s life was on the line, and he could not fail them. He breath became ragged, desperate for air as the struggle of gripping onto this monster took its toll on his body. But suddenly, after what seemed like an eternity, Shiv’s rage began to fade as did his strength and as he did so, a change took place. The oily acidic skin seemed to disappear, the snarling face of a chaotic beast started to smooth and eventually all that was left was the kind but exhausted face of Trevor. The fight was over.

Relived, the party then knew they had limited time to search the place before the watch came in. They spread out, and while they were distracted, Nightingale killed the unconscious guards. He stomped on Korello’s neck, and stabbed into Ponz and Malder again so that it looked like they’d died as a result of the previous wounds. As far as he was concerned, justice had been served. Later on, when the group came to collect them, it seemed like the guard’s neck was accidently broken in the chaos of controlling Shiv. Due to Trevor’s ‘blackout’, he couldn’t remember the fight and accepted Nightingale’s word. While going through Verik’s drawers Calli again had the strange sensation of being watched. She shook it off, and attributed it to the overall scrutiny the group was under now from multiple angles. The party’s search had recovered a good deal of gold, and some other odds and ends that might be useful to them.

They finally let the watch in and gave them a carefully worded summary of what had been transpiring. They were impressed by the party’s due diligence, and stated they would make their heroics known. As much as this brought Calli an internal joy, the group as a whole knew this was a bad idea. They still hadn’t passed on the information that the powerful Arkona family had been behind it, and didn’t want to place yet another target on their backs. Nightingale suggested the watch take all the credit as an example to the people that no one is above the law, not even their own guards, and that corruption is not as rampant as the people are claiming on the streets. The watch leader really seemed to like this idea, and agreed it would be done.

The party returned to the citadel and reported their findings and actions to Field Marshall Cressida Kroft, who was once again impressed by their success. She then invited them into her office where she introduced them to a tall well-built, handsome man, with flowing white locks. Nightingale recognised him instantly and did a complicated flourish with his sword in salute. The man bowed deeply and gracefully to them and introduced himself as Vencarlo Orisini- one of Korvosa’s most respected and renowned teachers of fencing. Orsini greeted Gale first, offering condolences, “I was grieved to hear,” but does not say to what. Nightengale quickly moved the conversation along, and no one notices the brief sad look at the floor Calli gave at the mention. Next Orisini turned to kiss Calli’s hand, and followed by greeting the rest of the group warmly in turn.

Each member of the party bowed to him (albeit Taylan’s effort only confirmed he didn’t have the airs and graces of a gentlemen) and introduced themselves. It was clear that Orsini knew the exploits of all of them; he said he was fan of Byron and his extraordinary fighting prowess in the pits, he knew that The Cracked Weasel was the safest Inn in all of Old Korvosa thanks to its bouncer- Trevor, and that he’d heard Taylan had once entertained Royalty. Kroft lets them know Orsini is critical of the current government but has always been a good friend and advisor of hers and that he’d brought troubling news.

A man named Darvayne Gios Amprei- an ambassador from Cheliax, intended to undermine Korvosa’s economy to the point where he would buy up large portions of the city from desperate landholders and establish himself in a position of power. It was imperative that he be stopped. However, they simply couldn’t just kill the man, as that could lead to terrible consequences. Possibly even make him a martyr in the eyes of Cheliaxians which lead to outright war. Therefore, they had to take a different approach. Orsini had learned that Amprei had been seen numerous times at a place called the Eel’s End in Old Korvosa. This was a well-known vice den to Taylan, Byron and Trevor run by a notorious gangster called Devargo Barvasi-the King of Spiders. A very dangerous, smart, and sinister, violent individual whose ‘webs’ stretched across the city like a virus. Cressida explained she couldn’t send her own troops to infiltrate Eel’s End as Devargo would spot them a mile away, but she could send the party in. No-one would suspect them. The plan, she said, was to secure an audience with Devargo and find out what he knew about Amprei and his illicit dealings. She wanted the party to obtain any ‘ammunition’ to stop any attempts of Cheliax ‘cutting Korvosa off’. At that point, she warned Devargo would not be willing to part information easy. So she handed the party a 1000gps to use as a bribe. She also said if things got violent, no-one would mourn the ‘killing of a spider’. Orsini offered to escort the party there.

Before they left, Calli asks Cressida if there’s some form of identification they could carry to prove they were in her employ, as the situation earlier with the watch could have gone much worse, and they don’t want to be risking their own lives without something to back up their claims. Kroft says not immediately, but she’d look at having something created for them. Not entirely reassured by this, the party departs.

Here ends Adventure log IV