| Greely smiles knowingly. "Rewards. I thought one of you might get to that. Well, the city is paying 10 gold per person returned, with a bonus if you can bring back the culprits. Fifty gold to bring them all back; a hundred extra if you get the kidnappers. If you can't get them alive, their bodies are still worth half. Your priority is protecting the children. You will have to be debriefed by the city to collect your rewards, of course, but I don't think that will be a problem. No objections to truth magic, I trust?"
"Oh," he adds, "Also any spoils from the kidnappers are yours. Of course if they have something that was stolen from one of the women or children, the victim should get it back, but . . . anything besides that, you may either keep, or if the city wants it - unlikely as that may be - they'll pay you well for it. Word of advice there when dealing with magistrates: don't hold back, and if you screw up, don't lie about it."
"You have at most one week to accomplish this; you probably don't need me to tell you, but with each passing day the trail grows colder and it will be harder to accomplish the mission at all. If you need rations or anything, feel free to talk to one of my staff and we'll set you up at cost." He nods at a passing serving girl, who smiles at the group uncertainly and does a rough impression of a curtsey.
"Good luck. Now, if you have no questions, I've got a meeting I'm late for. Anyone?" He looks at each of you in turn, checking to see if you have any last-minute questions for him. |