Devil Woman

Finally, the last entry for our last mega-gaming sunday.

It's getting quite exciting...

The Curse of the Crimson Throne

Part 13: Into Old Korvosa

A week after our discovery of a cure for Blood Veil, most of Korvosa was returning to normal. However, the island of Old Korvosa was still under quarantine, without any sign of it being lifted. No-one knew what was happening over there. The people must be running out of food. It was as if the oldest part of the city had been severed and left to rot.

Suddenly, we were told that there was going to be an announcement by the Queen - her first public appearance since the beginning of the plague. We made our way up to the Palace and stood in the courtyard with the rest of the cityfolk.

Queen Ileosa appeared, wearing a new crown, that seemed to be made of teeth or bones. Next to her stood Sabina, her bodyguard, now dressed in the armour of the Grey Maidens. Also with her was a fat, sweaty, balding man, whom I had never seen before, Field Marshall Kroft, and Commandant Marcus Endrin, head of the Sable Company - Reda's commanding officer.

The Queen made a speech about the plague coming to an end. She introduced the fat man as Togomor, the new Seneschal of Korvosa. She also said that due to the losses in both the City Guard and the Sable Company, the Sable Company were being disbanded and merged into the City Guard, whom itself would be under the control of the Grey Maidens. She announced that Sabina was now the commanding officer of the Grey Maidens.

She then asked for Commandant Endrin to hand over his badge of office to her. Marcus raised the badge and threw it at the Queen. Stunned, the queen looked at him aghast. And then, with a swift movement and a shout of "You must die!", Marcus Endrin drew out his crossbow, pointed it at the queen's head and pulled the trigger. For a moment Queen Ileosa stood motionless, a crossbow bolt protruding from her brow, a thin trickle of blood emerging from the wound. But then she reached up and pulled out the bolt. With lightning fast reactions, she grabbed hold of Commandant Endrin around the throat and lifted him off the ground. As he struggled to breathe, the queen took hold of the bolt that had been in her own head and with a sickening crack she thrust it into Endrin's head, between his eyes. His body convulsed, and he died right there in front of us. With a look of defiance, she turned to the crowd and said "This is what happens to all enemies of Korvosa!" As she said it, she looked straight at our group and glared at us. Then Togomor came up beside her, took her hand, and with a flash of magical energy they were gone.

Stunned by what had been seen, the populace returned home. We left the palace, not sure of what to do. A few hours later, we received a message to meet with Field Marshall Kroft.

Cressida Kroft was very agitated. She couldn't believe what had happened to her friend Marcus. She then told us that a few days beforehand she had received a letter from Vencarlo Orisini that had said that he had found some disturbing information about the queen. She may have made a pact with a devil! At first, the Field Marshall hadn't believed the letter, but after the show that the queen had given us a few hours earlier, she was starting to think it was true.

Vencarlo's letter had also asked for us to come and see him. However, his home and his fencing school were on the quarantined island of Old Korvosa. We were going to have to break the quarantine and get across to the island somehow.

So, in the cover of night, Reda used her hippogriff mount to fly us all over to a quiet part of the island where there were no guard patrols.

Old Korvosa had descended into anarchy. Food was almost gone. People were scared. Mobs and gangs had started to stalk the streets. We even heard that someone claiming to be the Emperor of Old Korvosa had taken control of the island. The cityfolk were in a desperate state.

We made our way up to Vencarlo's home. However, no-one seemed to be at home. Our knock went unanswered, and when we tried the door, we discovered that it was unlocked. Cautiously we explored Vencarlo's home, trying to find any sign of him. When we reached the upstairs rooms, we we ambushed by a pair of Red mantis assassins!

Let me tell you of the Red Mantis. They are known throughout the world as the finest assassins that can ever be hired. They dress in red and wear helmets that resemble insect heads. They are fanatics and promise that once a contract has been taken out on someone, that person will remain permanently dead.If a victim is raised from the dead, the Red Mantis seek them out and kill them again.

The assassins were no match for us, and they were soon disposed of. Searching Vencarlo's home, we found no sign of him. However, what we did find surprised us all. Hidden in a secret compartment in the bedroom we found a box containing a set of black clothes, a black cape and mask, and a silver rapier marked with a "B". Vencarlo Orisini was Blackjack!

Where was Vencarlo? Why were there Red Mantis assassins at his home? We were about to find out, and we were also about to have an audience with the new Emperor of Old Korvosa. But that, my friends, will be told in the next installment of our tale...