That's very mature of you. Where's the Field Marshall?

Look in a mirror.

Where can I find Sabina Merrin.

Say the magic words~

Please tell me where I can find Sabina Merrin?

Those weren't the magic words. Have you ever heard of the wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest?

Seems safer to just recite the spell as it was given.

Where

*sigh*

can I find Cave Marshall Sabina Merrin.

Ileosa's inner circle took over a side tunnel for only themselves. Booted everyone else out.

You can find them over there.

Field Marshal, are you interruptible?

...You can call me Sabina, Kroft.

What do you need?

Apparently what Cressida Kroft needed was a guilty conscience.

Sabina Merrin was a Korvosan Guard before Ileosa headhunted her. Wherever life thereafter takes a Guardsman, and whatever their political differences, that remains a sacred bond.

I wanted to deliver the Field Marshall's seal.

And the keys and passwords to Citadel Volshyenek.

And I need to brief you on the responsibilities you'll be taking over.

There's basically infinite work to hand off. You need to figure out who's alive and dead and pay the dead Guardsmen's survivors if they have any, account for our equipment and expended consumables, pay various people for services rendered last night, collect payments from various people for services rendered last night, and figure out which standing rewards you're on the hook to deliver.

A lot of that can't be done from within the Vault, or at least not right now, but we need some kind of estimate of our assets and ongoing expenses. There's a laundry list of urgent missions outside the Vault we'd like to hire the Pathfinders for but don't know if we can afford. And within the Vault, the Korvosan Guard is desperately understaffed. Breaking up fights takes me away from the things which only I can do, and it's not lost on me that you're in this tunnel bodyguarding the Queen, which you can't do and run this organization. You need to hire more Guardsmen, decide who to promote to Watch Sergeant, and decide who you trust to protect our Queen.

Field -

Cressida.

I will need you to show me what and where I should sign.

Creessida Kroft gives Sabina a comforting smile, an ‘I know you didn’t ask for this, I don’t blame you, it’s not your fault,’ smile to answer the apology the Field Marshall has written on her face but doesn't dare to voice aloud in Queen Ileosa’s vicinity.

‘Don’t trust me as a friend,’ Cressida Kroft does not say. ‘My loyalty is to Korvosa, neither you nor your faction, who I frankly view as villains,’ she does not explain, ‘and the extent to which you hand me the reigns is the precise extent to which I will not hand them back.’

"Don't worry," says the Watch Sergeant. "We'll figure this out together."

The deceit might be bad for her Law – or maybe not. She’s certainly seen worse from Lawful Ornher Reebs.

Then it must be bad for her Good – but then, Vencarlo Orisini used to bamboozle Korvosa’s elite in the most audacious way. He’d joke about his exploits while Cressida laughed and shook her head, and Vencarlo glowed as Good as any fighter.

Alright. So she's following the letter of the Law, in service of the greater Good.

But maybe it’s bad somehow for her Lawful Good in conjunction, a diagonal move towards True Neutral. Something something cashing in on a reputation for straight-shooting. She isn't a theologian.

It feels like it should be bad for her alignment. Whether or not it really is, what she knows for sure is it’s bad for her Cressida Kroft. It isn't who she wants to be.

Don't worry. We'll figure this out together. With a friendly smile.

...It’s been such a very long night.

Yup, we’ll figure this out together. Just the three of us and the outside accountants I decide to hire.

Surprise, surprise, it turns out I have ears, bitch.

Don’t think I didn’t see what you were doing.

Unless the decision routes through me, Kroft, you won’t be spending a single copper cap.

In Korvosa a copper coin is called a 'pinch.'

Well the same thing holds for copper pinches.

:D

Ow! What the Abyss?

YOU SAID "PINCHES" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

now you get pinches[1]

-

1. Guide to Korvosa, page 5: “Calling multiple copper coins ‘pinches’ elicits laughs and painful tweaks on the arm or backside.”↩

I HATE THIS STUPID BACKWATER PROVINCE AND EVERYONE IN IT.

:(