CH. 11: The Show Must Go On

[Haahque]

With Haahqae arriving so early and the appearance that things are set up as is, he decides to practice a few of the trickier juggling routines in his performance, to make sure that they go smoothly. While he juggles he'll keep an eye out for passer-byes that might look trustworthy enough to collect money for him.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Grand Market)
While practicing, Haahqae keeps an eye out for anyone who looks trustworthy. While he is doing so, a young girl approaches. She's human, perhaps around 12, with a mop of black hair. She watches him intently, trying to follow the torches with her eyes as he juggles.

Kendra Synclair (Prefect's Mansion)
"I know you're doing the best you can," Norris says. "It can't be easy, trying to take care of everything by yourself. I just hope it won't be for much longer."

Grubnick (Grand Market)
"He knows?" repeats Delharn. "Hmm, do you think he's a threat? I can try and target him, if you want...make sure he doesn't walk away, if you think he might try and expose you. It'd be easy enough to do in the chaos. Then again, you might be in a better position if you agree to help him out."

Grubnick's stomach rumbles a bit. The sun is at its zenith, meaning it's noon time and he has yet to eat anything today.

Arulia Seroth (Farmer's Street)
Arulia and Niniva manage to slip away while the crowd is distracted, then they continue on their way toward Kendra's home.

"I don't know...I mean, I'd never want to sell my body, even for such a large amount of coin. I hope we're never that desperate," she says, completely oblivious to just how bad things are for the family. "But she said some interesting things. I had heard the clerics could heal, like in the old stories, but I didn't know they could make food and all of that other stuff, too. It might be worth checking out...I mean, not even the Seekers could perform miracles, after all."

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (North Sewers)
The party is forced to back up and head the opposite direction. This time, they take the south passage. It eventually turns to the west, revealing another intersection. However, this one has a door to the north and a door to the south. The northern door has no lock, but there's a big padlock on the southern door.

[Chris1234]

When this is relayed back to Shima he suggests, loudly enough, "Go north. It shouldn't be trapped. We can come back to the locked door on the left later and it'll maybe warn us it some batters it down from the other side.."
Despite declaring that the right-hand (northern) door shouldn't be trapped, the dwarf still takes some paces rearwards (and looking rearwards too) so as to be just over 20' away when Felran opens the northern door.

{OOC: If people are away for a day or so, am happy to steer from the the back...}

[BishGada]

"Well... " Tulbas tells Magnus, "what did you have in mind for our practice then?"

[HorizonsDream]

"It is a little stressful," Kendra admits."But I use to take care of everything on my own before," she adds with a small smile. "Though, I think my family thinks that I have sold my soul or something."

[Haahque]

A young girl, watching him as he juggles, looking innocently on with awe at his tricks. No parent or guardian in sight. In a way, it reminds Haahqae of different times. This wasn't something he's seen since moving to the big city of haven. When he arrived there were way too many people around for a girl like this to stand out, the performances in the tankard were crude in a sense, the purity of his art marred by the drinking and poverty and lack of respect that often reared its ugly head in that tavern. Here he was, a scene of the purity of his art reflected in the purity of this young girl, and it helped that she was one of the few people in this city that doesn't tower over him. It is... refreshing after all his recent hardship. Maybe it's a good omen for the show to come. That's a heartening thought.

After a couple minutes as Haahqae finishes the routine he was practicing when the girl arrives, he switches over to a much easier juggling routine, one he can do without paying attention to it, so that he can talk to his new fan (assuming that she stays that long). This way he's able to talk as he juggles. "Hello there, my name is Haahqae. Are you enjoying watching me juggle?"

It seems right to engage her in conversation somehow. Maybe being reminded of performing in small towns without having to worry about winter or wars or whatnot put him in a better mood, one where he can just think about being an entertainer and not have to worry about... anything.

[djhyland]

"I don't think that there's any thing wrong with selling my body, at least if it's my choice to do so and not anyone else's," Arulia begins. "But I wouldn't want to do so for the Army or the Dragon Queen. I don't trust what that woman said about how well they'll treat women in the brothel, and I don't believe that the Church can't do anything about the Army. They're all responsible for what's happened to Haven, and I don't want to help them, least of all by working at the brothel." She sighs, and hesitates a moment before continuing. "But if things get bad enough, I'll do it. But I don't want you to. If it's not as safe as that woman claims, I'd rather have it be me there than you. I don't want to send you into somewhere instead of me, like I did to Cassilda."

Arulia shakes her head as if to clear the guilty thoughts from her head. When she speaks again, she changes the subject. "It is not only the Dragon Queen's priests that can do such things, you know. There are others who can, too." She bites her tongue to keep herself from saying more. While Cassilda and Camilla might have told Niniva about her secret, she can't be sure. And if they haven't, she imagines that she'd be better sharing it with Niniva somewhere else than a public street.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Grand Market)
"Haa-kay," the young woman repeats. "That's a weird name. You aren't a dwarf, are you? You look different from them. M'name's Camilla. How do you do that? Is it magic?" she asks, referring to his ability to juggle.

Kendra Synclair (Prefect's Mansion)
"I imagine they aren't the only ones," Norris replies. "I've heard people talk in my own social circles...that we sold out to the army. But we must do what we can to survive, and I'm sure your family understands that."

Tulbas Erogund (Mageware Shop)
"Today we will focus on impaired casting," Magnus reveals, handing the young elf a blindfold. "Casting with impaired vision, then impaired hearing, impaired speech, impaired movement and finally, impaired concentration. After all, you will rarely be in a position to cast spells under optimal conditions. Especially during the Test."

Arulia Seroth (Farmer's Street)
"I know you are skeptical, because of what happened with the Seekers," Niniva responds. "But I think these ones are different from them or the Belzorites. I mean, they can perform real miracles. They cleaned up crime and got rid of all of those refugees. I mean...say what you will about them, but can you imagine what would have happened to this city if they had never come? We had riots in the streets, crazy cults everywhere, homeless clogging up the inns, criminals on every corner...it was anarchy. The city was going to self-destruct at that rate. We might all be dead by now..."

To her second comment, she replies, "Well, where are they now? How come they weren't here to save the city when it was falling apart? How come they aren't offering free food and healing? I haven't seen any, have you?" She shrugs. "Maybe they exist or maybe they don't, but they don't seem to be doing much to help if they do. Anyway, I'm just saying, I don't see any reason not to give the church a chance. If nothing else, that free food would really help the family out."

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (North Sewers)
While Shima keeps his distance, Felran opens the door to reveal a tunnel heading north that branches to the west. The light of Ne-Chanz's torch, however, reveals quite a bit of garbage strewn along the hall. The refuse includes small bones (likely from rats), rotting apple cores (covered in maggots and buzzing flies), rusted and broken tools, scraps of fabric, and even a bit of dried feces.

[Chris1234]

Seeing Ne-Chanz start to advance, the dwarf scurries to catch up with the pair, suggesting from the rear, "That's what I'd do: just keep going until we find a room or something interesting or untoward. Otherwise, just go through any doors that aren't locked. Call up the dwarf, that's me, for any locked doors." He smiles and adds, "If there's a fork in the corridor, with nothing else to choose from, go right."

[HorizonsDream]

"Maybe," Kendra says. She seems a little down for a few moments before she finally clears the expression from her face. "I should probably go. I wanted to make sure that you were okay. I should probably check on Arulia's father to give her an update on how he is doing as well."

[TristenC]

Grubnick sighs. No, I don't want to kill him. He's kept quiet and that means I might be able to trust him. There are precious few people I can say that about in town right now... I don't want him to take the blame for it either, but if he suspects I have something to do with the attack, I'm not sure what he'll do... His stomach grumbles a bit. Hard to think on an empty stomach. We should get some grub soon. Why did it have to be someone I know? Figures... Aside from pointing out the prefect, I'm not sure what else I can do without getting spotted. Maybe I can quietly get off a few spells in the bedlam... You should be really careful too. Maybe we can plant some of those 'surprises' in the seating area where they'll be trampled to set them off rather than throwing them... that way at least they can't find you by watching them be thrown.

[djhyland]

Arulia looks about furtively and shakes her head. Seeing nobody close enough to overhear, she leans close to Niniva and whispers. "That's not what I mean. I mean that there are other old gods, not just the Dragon Queen, who can grant miracles."

Stepping away from her sister, Arulia begins walking again towards Kendra's house. "And as for the rest, do you honestly think that sending the refugees away to work as slaves is a good thing?" she asks primly. "Will you still think so if we can't afford to live here anymore and get sent away ourselves?" She shakes her head again, and this time more violently. "No, I would rather still have the refugees here, along with the customers for Father's nails and Mother's shoes. I would rather not have to consider selling myself to the brothel or to some suitor to support our family. And I would rather not have Father imprisoned for no reason than have the Dragon Queen's church in town!"

[Haahque]

Haahqae is rather used to people mispronouncing his name. In hindsight, he might have wanted to pick a name that was easier to pronounce for people who aren’t schooled in the ancient tongues. But once you pick a name and start travelling the world, it’s not like you could just change it, now is it?

“No, I’m not a dwarf, I’m a gnome. We’re rather rare in this part of the world, but far, far away there’s lot of us, in the glorious Mount Nevermind. I will return there someday.” Haahqae’s voice is soft and light, his mind caught in the moment with this girl. For some reason she seems to be someone special. Maybe Haahqae’s just imagining that part.

“Nice to meet you Camilla. None of this is magic, it just takes a lot of practice. You start off with just tossing up an object, it can be anything, a stick, a rock, a torch, and catching it. You have to make sure you catch it every time, then try throwing up two at the same time and catching them both.” Haahqae will continue, demonstrating some basic techniques to Camilla. If she seems interested and strong enough, he’ll even let her try and juggle two of his torches, walking her through the basics.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Grand Market)
"Gnomes? I thought those were made up, like faeries and dragons...well, maybe not like dragons," Camilla comments, as she recalls that dragons are, indeed, quite real after all. "Mount Nevermind? That's a weird name, too. Do gnomes always give things weird names?" she asks.

At his explanation of juggling, she remarks, "That sounds easy." However, after he gives her a couple of unlit torches to try for herself, she finds it far more difficult than she would have imagined. She simply lacks the manual dexterity for juggling, although if she devoted herself to practicing for years, she might one day manage it.

Kendra Synclair (Prefect's Mansion)
Norris nods to Kendra. "Try and stay safe. I hope to see you again soon." He moves in to kiss her.

Grubnick (Grand Market)
"Fair enough," Delharn replies. "Never thought gnomes were trustworthy myself. Then again, not too long ago, I'd have said the same thing about goblins. Alright, we can set up some traps before the show starts. We'll have to be careful not to be caught, though. When you're done here, we can go grab some lunch."

Arulia Seroth (Farmer's Street)
"That is what I mean," Niniva replies. "I've heard there are other old gods, but they are nowhere to be found. Why didn't they show up and save the town instead of the Dragon Queen? Why don't they have an army and dragons? If they really exist, they don't seem to care about us or are too weak to do anything for us."

As they continue to Kendra's place, she says, "We don't know they were enslaved. The official word is they were sent somewhere to work. But what other solution was there, even if that's so? The city couldn't afford to give them all free homes and free food. They would have starved come winter anyway. And I'm not worried about our family. As soon as father gets out of jail, things can go back to normal. Until then, you're taking care of the forge and Cassilda has that job at the weaponsmithy. I mean, don't get me wrong, things in the city aren't perfect but they are much better than they were before, you have to agree."

Felran, Ne-Chanz and Shima (North Sewers)
"Maybe you should scout ahead," Felran suggests to the dwarf. "Make sure it's safe before we continue further."

[Chris1234]

"Sure. Please wait here and be quiet as you can, please. Leave the door ajar but shield the light so that it doesn't blind my infravision. If I'm not back in 10 minutes, come a-looking. Thanks." Shima replies.

The dwarf switches to stealth mode, spear and shield equipped, and steps beyond the range of the torch and then continues when his infravision kicks in.
He keeps going until he finds a room or door or something interesting or untoward whereupon he intends to fetch the others. If there's a fork in the corridor, with nothing else to choose from, he goes right.