"I'm with Ava, Hargrove only if absolutely needed. A worst case fall back."
Marta taps the table.
"So how does this sound, we approach Korda and offer her an out on the condition she tells us what we want to know now and we confirm it is true. She says no, we threaten to tell the Warden about her tattoos and how she is using them and to make sure she spends all her time in that cell, cutting her off."
She looks to see how that is received,
"I don't think Hargrove can get her out with a snap of his fingers, he will need to arrange something with the other members of the council and will take time, if it works at all. We, on the other hand, can easily get her out. If she is going to need to sit in her cell and wait, without communicating with her gang, I suspect the longer wait will be less appealing to her."
Marta looks thoughtful a moment,
"I also think I will go around and speak with the Absolution council members, get a feel for them."
She then looks around at the rest of the group,
"What do you think? Do we approach her with that? Also, we need to approach her without the Warden being there otherwise the threat on the tattoos is meaningless. Can you get that opportunity?"
She looks to the guard group.
((Okay, offering a suggested path forward to get moving on this and also asking if the Guard team can propose it to Korda!))
From what everyone has seen so far, the guards will be the only ones that can freely interact with Korda without the warden being present. The rest can try but you get the sense other guards may intervene.
No one is aware what time tomorrow that the Hargroves will be arriving, but it would be reasonable to suspect it won't be at first light unless they're already camped outside the prison, or they're traveling across the ice or tundra in the dark. Possible, but dangerous. Assuming they leave Peltarch early, they would arrive by lunch time, giving you a couple of hours anyway to try and carry out any plans you agree on.
No one has seen the absolution council members since they retired to their rooms. Given the hour, it would be reasonable to assume they're sleeping, as likely is the warden.
Ava nods, agreeing with the plan. "That sounds reasonable to me. Hopefully Jan and I will be able to go out on duty on our own tomorrow, or with Geoff so we can talk freely without worry of other guards. So we offer her an out if she tells us what we want to know and if she doesn't, threaten to tell the warden of her tattoo. And I'm sorry, but I missed part I feel... how are we going to get her out?"
"Getting back our heirlooms and artifacts is more important than keeping her locked up here," Hammerdasher says. Then he smiles. "Besides, we don't have to promise to get her to safety once she's out."
The night passes uneventfully, and everyone actually sleeps quite well. Granted those in the guest chambers suffered less from snoring and unpleasant odours emanating from the mass of guards sleeping in the barracks.
Come morning the prison stirs itself into daytime mode with the hallways lights brighter than they were in the evening. The mess hall is a buzz of activity as the guards eat breakfast before going about their assigned duties. Everyone meets Chef Tiny Toulaine, a hulking, jovial man who seems to always have an enormous saucepan in hand roams about the mess hall making sure everyone is eating.
"Eat. Eat. You're all too small," Toulaine says of the group, especially to Geffroi and Ethel.
Jan, Avaria, Soren and Geffroi were about to find themselves assigned to guard tower duty but Jan was able to convince her old comrade, Yula Dargeria, the guard captain to move them to exercise escort duty. The other guards who were originally assigned that task seem quite happy to switch.
Escort duty will consist of the four of them taking one prisoner at a time to the courtyard for their daily exercise. It will put the four outside for a good part of the day which will be cold, but it is their best chance of talking to Korda out of earshot of anyone else.
At one table, near the entrance to the kitchen, Warden Marta Marthannis sits with the Absolution Councillors. You haven't been able to make out all of the conversation yet, but it appears they moved quickly through the hearings yesterday and are making ready to depart the prison today.
((@Thor, would it be beneficial or detrimental to us if the Councillors stay? Are Absolution meetings set and no options for last minute additions?))
The other Marta eats breakfast with team Dwarf and comments,
"Surprisingly good accommodations here, probably the best I've had in months."
She takes a bite of her breakfast and, checking to make sure Tiny isn't around, and says more quietly and in dwarven,
"Breakfast is mediocre but plentiful. I suppose fresh fruit is hard to come by this time of year and given the location."
She will attempt to eaves drop on the Councillors as best she can without being obvious, but can't really get much over the noise of plates, chatter and scraping.
((From what Marrin has gathered in her travels and her brief stay here, the Absolution meetings are held to determine if someone has behaved well enough to be released early. You’re not sure if you’ve ever heard of the relevant ‘lord’ just saying they don’t want the person in prison anymore - they were the ones calling the shots in the first place. It’s quite possible all you need is Hammerdasher to make the call))
Ava pats Jan on the back once the deal is made for them to be taking the prisoners to the yard, "Nice job. That will help with the conversation that needs to be had. I suppose we have to take them out in order though? I don't want anyone watching us to think anything is out of the ordinary." She hefts on her outer layers and grabs her weapon, standing at the door and ready to proceed.
Once you quickly finish breakfast, Jan, Avaria, Soren and Geffroi make their way back to the Surveillance Hub in the Panopticon.
There they’re shown the duty order and see that they have to take Ishar for exercise first, followed by Korda, and then Barlo Rageblade.
“Rageblade might not be going today,” the duty officer says from behind the console that still dominates the small room. “I heard he might be getting released. If the other two want extra time, you can give it to them.”
He leans over to what looks like the bell of a trumpet and speaks into it.
“Ishar, exercise in five,” his amplified voice echoes from outside in the Panopticon. He then looks over at the four of you and shakes his head. “She’s going to be in a foul mood this morning.”
TEAM DWARF
Marta/Marrin wasn’t able to hear anything of use from the warden and councillors. Once the trio of councillors head back to their chambers, presumably to pack, the warden notices the group of dwarves and Ethel and looks about to come over to them. But when she sees Marta heading her way, she smiles and waits.
“No, there are rarely any surprises in those hearings,” the warden says. “It’s not often a prisoner is so delusional that they don’t know what their behaviour here has been. But they all get a hearing once a year.”
Her smile falters a little and she adds “though it seems somewhat cruel to go through the process for some that you know won’t have a chance for possibly decades to come.”
"Seems like a waste of time as well. Is it primarily behavior here that decides or are there outside factors that get considered? Sick relatives or deaths and the like?"
She'll wave the Warden back to where the rest of the dwarves are sitting.
"And back to Korda, did you have any ideas? We have be trying to figure out an option that doesn't involve requesting her release just to get back some of what she took in the first place."
The warden's face hardens and eyes narrow a little when Marrin/Marta describes the hearings as a waste of time.
"Perhaps you and the rest of your group have experienced enough of the prison," the Warden says.
Out of an inherent decency and politeness she does listen to Marrin/Marta's question.
"Ideas about Korda?" the warden asks, seemingly genuinely confused. "She stays here until her term is up, or her sentence is commuted. If the Hargroves do, as you've said, want to break her out, they may find that to be a difficult endeavour. However, I know you as well as I know them. While precautions will be taken, Lord Hargrove will receive the benefit of the doubt."
Marta waves a hand in front of herself like to rid the air of smoke between her and Warden,
"I see I have offended again without meaning to, I don't mean the Absolution meetings themselves are a waste of time but in having them for people that have no chance for decades. In those cases it becomes more of a bureaucratic exercise that inflicts harm, of which there are already too many of."
Marta nods along to what the Warden says,
"Absolutely, and Korda remaining here is our strong preference but leaves our clan without the items she stole and potentially at risk to the Hargroves, or any other party Korda decides to share information on it to. It is a difficult choice to make."
On the topic of the Hargroves,
"We don't know exactly what the Hargroves will do, but we know what they are capable of first hand. Forewarned is forearmed."
To her next point on not knowing the Dwarf group,
"You have met Ithleviur before,"
She nods to Ithleviur,
"And know both his reputation as well as that of Clan Hammerdasher, who we represent. And while I have made an ass of myself, I ask that you don't let that rust your impression of either Ithlevuir or the Clan."
((Marrin isn't really doing well with her interactions with the Warden...
Refresh my memory @Thor, the Hargroves can't commute Korda's sentence so they would need to break her out?))
Ava takes careful note of who is going where from the guard commander, but at his last comment just to them, she raises an eyebrow. "And why is she going to be in a foul mood?"
((Correct. Hargrove has no say over Korda’s sentence - unless he’s some howbecome head of Hammerdasher’s clan as well. Freedom may be one thing Korda wants that the Hargrove could try to grant.))
The Warden seems mollified and does nod respectfully to Ithleviur Hammerdasher.
”My apologies Lord Ithleviur. I do know you and your clan to be honorable.” she says. She takes a deep breath then continues. “I have some work to finish up. One of our recent prisoners is to be released today. once I have dealt with that I can accompany you to question Korda again before the Hargrove arrive.”
———————————————————
The watch commander looks at Avaria and shakes his head.
”Ishar? She really thought she’d be released today. She’s been insistent since she’s been here that she was set up for the murders that got her a spot up here. Just be careful. She’s deadly.”
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"I'm with Ava, Hargrove only if absolutely needed. A worst case fall back."
Marta taps the table.
"So how does this sound, we approach Korda and offer her an out on the condition she tells us what we want to know now and we confirm it is true. She says no, we threaten to tell the Warden about her tattoos and how she is using them and to make sure she spends all her time in that cell, cutting her off."
She looks to see how that is received,
"I don't think Hargrove can get her out with a snap of his fingers, he will need to arrange something with the other members of the council and will take time, if it works at all. We, on the other hand, can easily get her out. If she is going to need to sit in her cell and wait, without communicating with her gang, I suspect the longer wait will be less appealing to her."
Marta looks thoughtful a moment,
"I also think I will go around and speak with the Absolution council members, get a feel for them."
She then looks around at the rest of the group,
"What do you think? Do we approach her with that? Also, we need to approach her without the Warden being there otherwise the threat on the tattoos is meaningless. Can you get that opportunity?"
She looks to the guard group.
((Okay, offering a suggested path forward to get moving on this and also asking if the Guard team can propose it to Korda!))
From what everyone has seen so far, the guards will be the only ones that can freely interact with Korda without the warden being present. The rest can try but you get the sense other guards may intervene.
No one is aware what time tomorrow that the Hargroves will be arriving, but it would be reasonable to suspect it won't be at first light unless they're already camped outside the prison, or they're traveling across the ice or tundra in the dark. Possible, but dangerous. Assuming they leave Peltarch early, they would arrive by lunch time, giving you a couple of hours anyway to try and carry out any plans you agree on.
No one has seen the absolution council members since they retired to their rooms. Given the hour, it would be reasonable to assume they're sleeping, as likely is the warden.
There's the layout of the prison again, now that you have more information.
The Hargroves would either be coming by ice ship to the dock, or overland to the entrance by the stables.
Ava nods, agreeing with the plan. "That sounds reasonable to me. Hopefully Jan and I will be able to go out on duty on our own tomorrow, or with Geoff so we can talk freely without worry of other guards. So we offer her an out if she tells us what we want to know and if she doesn't, threaten to tell the warden of her tattoo. And I'm sorry, but I missed part I feel... how are we going to get her out?"
"We get her out nice and legal, Ithleviur drops his clan's charges against her."
Marta nods to Hammerdasher, making sure he is onboard still.
Hammerdasher frowns but nods.
"Getting back our heirlooms and artifacts is more important than keeping her locked up here," Hammerdasher says. Then he smiles. "Besides, we don't have to promise to get her to safety once she's out."
---------------------------------------------------
Unless there's more you want to discuss, we can jump to the next morning.
((If everyone is okay with the offered plan, Marta is ready to get schmoozing with wardens and absolution councilors!))
((Works for me!))
The night passes uneventfully, and everyone actually sleeps quite well. Granted those in the guest chambers suffered less from snoring and unpleasant odours emanating from the mass of guards sleeping in the barracks.
Come morning the prison stirs itself into daytime mode with the hallways lights brighter than they were in the evening. The mess hall is a buzz of activity as the guards eat breakfast before going about their assigned duties. Everyone meets Chef Tiny Toulaine, a hulking, jovial man who seems to always have an enormous saucepan in hand roams about the mess hall making sure everyone is eating.
"Eat. Eat. You're all too small," Toulaine says of the group, especially to Geffroi and Ethel.
Jan, Avaria, Soren and Geffroi were about to find themselves assigned to guard tower duty but Jan was able to convince her old comrade, Yula Dargeria, the guard captain to move them to exercise escort duty. The other guards who were originally assigned that task seem quite happy to switch.
Escort duty will consist of the four of them taking one prisoner at a time to the courtyard for their daily exercise. It will put the four outside for a good part of the day which will be cold, but it is their best chance of talking to Korda out of earshot of anyone else.
At one table, near the entrance to the kitchen, Warden Marta Marthannis sits with the Absolution Councillors. You haven't been able to make out all of the conversation yet, but it appears they moved quickly through the hearings yesterday and are making ready to depart the prison today.
((@Thor, would it be beneficial or detrimental to us if the Councillors stay? Are Absolution meetings set and no options for last minute additions?))
The other Marta eats breakfast with team Dwarf and comments,
"Surprisingly good accommodations here, probably the best I've had in months."
She takes a bite of her breakfast and, checking to make sure Tiny isn't around, and says more quietly and in dwarven,
"Breakfast is mediocre but plentiful. I suppose fresh fruit is hard to come by this time of year and given the location."
She will attempt to eaves drop on the Councillors as best she can without being obvious, but can't really get much over the noise of plates, chatter and scraping.
Perception: 8
((From what Marrin has gathered in her travels and her brief stay here, the Absolution meetings are held to determine if someone has behaved well enough to be released early. You’re not sure if you’ve ever heard of the relevant ‘lord’ just saying they don’t want the person in prison anymore - they were the ones calling the shots in the first place. It’s quite possible all you need is Hammerdasher to make the call))
Ava pats Jan on the back once the deal is made for them to be taking the prisoners to the yard, "Nice job. That will help with the conversation that needs to be had. I suppose we have to take them out in order though? I don't want anyone watching us to think anything is out of the ordinary." She hefts on her outer layers and grabs her weapon, standing at the door and ready to proceed.
Marta heads over to the Warden after she splits up from the councilors.
"Good morning Warden. Any surprises yesterday at the meeting?"
TEAM GUARD
Once you quickly finish breakfast, Jan, Avaria, Soren and Geffroi make their way back to the Surveillance Hub in the Panopticon.
There they’re shown the duty order and see that they have to take Ishar for exercise first, followed by Korda, and then Barlo Rageblade.
“Rageblade might not be going today,” the duty officer says from behind the console that still dominates the small room. “I heard he might be getting released. If the other two want extra time, you can give it to them.”
He leans over to what looks like the bell of a trumpet and speaks into it.
“Ishar, exercise in five,” his amplified voice echoes from outside in the Panopticon. He then looks over at the four of you and shakes his head. “She’s going to be in a foul mood this morning.”
TEAM DWARF
Marta/Marrin wasn’t able to hear anything of use from the warden and councillors. Once the trio of councillors head back to their chambers, presumably to pack, the warden notices the group of dwarves and Ethel and looks about to come over to them. But when she sees Marta heading her way, she smiles and waits.
“No, there are rarely any surprises in those hearings,” the warden says. “It’s not often a prisoner is so delusional that they don’t know what their behaviour here has been. But they all get a hearing once a year.”
Her smile falters a little and she adds “though it seems somewhat cruel to go through the process for some that you know won’t have a chance for possibly decades to come.”
"Seems like a waste of time as well. Is it primarily behavior here that decides or are there outside factors that get considered? Sick relatives or deaths and the like?"
She'll wave the Warden back to where the rest of the dwarves are sitting.
"And back to Korda, did you have any ideas? We have be trying to figure out an option that doesn't involve requesting her release just to get back some of what she took in the first place."
The warden's face hardens and eyes narrow a little when Marrin/Marta describes the hearings as a waste of time.
"Perhaps you and the rest of your group have experienced enough of the prison," the Warden says.
Out of an inherent decency and politeness she does listen to Marrin/Marta's question.
"Ideas about Korda?" the warden asks, seemingly genuinely confused. "She stays here until her term is up, or her sentence is commuted. If the Hargroves do, as you've said, want to break her out, they may find that to be a difficult endeavour. However, I know you as well as I know them. While precautions will be taken, Lord Hargrove will receive the benefit of the doubt."
Marta waves a hand in front of herself like to rid the air of smoke between her and Warden,
"I see I have offended again without meaning to, I don't mean the Absolution meetings themselves are a waste of time but in having them for people that have no chance for decades. In those cases it becomes more of a bureaucratic exercise that inflicts harm, of which there are already too many of."
Marta nods along to what the Warden says,
"Absolutely, and Korda remaining here is our strong preference but leaves our clan without the items she stole and potentially at risk to the Hargroves, or any other party Korda decides to share information on it to. It is a difficult choice to make."
On the topic of the Hargroves,
"We don't know exactly what the Hargroves will do, but we know what they are capable of first hand. Forewarned is forearmed."
To her next point on not knowing the Dwarf group,
"You have met Ithleviur before,"
She nods to Ithleviur,
"And know both his reputation as well as that of Clan Hammerdasher, who we represent. And while I have made an ass of myself, I ask that you don't let that rust your impression of either Ithlevuir or the Clan."
((Marrin isn't really doing well with her interactions with the Warden...
Refresh my memory @Thor, the Hargroves can't commute Korda's sentence so they would need to break her out?))
Ava takes careful note of who is going where from the guard commander, but at his last comment just to them, she raises an eyebrow. "And why is she going to be in a foul mood?"
((Correct. Hargrove has no say over Korda’s sentence - unless he’s some howbecome head of Hammerdasher’s clan as well. Freedom may be one thing Korda wants that the Hargrove could try to grant.))
The Warden seems mollified and does nod respectfully to Ithleviur Hammerdasher.
”My apologies Lord Ithleviur. I do know you and your clan to be honorable.” she says. She takes a deep breath then continues. “I have some work to finish up. One of our recent prisoners is to be released today. once I have dealt with that I can accompany you to question Korda again before the Hargrove arrive.”
———————————————————
The watch commander looks at Avaria and shakes his head.
”Ishar? She really thought she’d be released today. She’s been insistent since she’s been here that she was set up for the murders that got her a spot up here. Just be careful. She’s deadly.”