The Bank of Abadar would really like this to be real, but they're not sure. They will hire an alchemist to take a look over it. If alchemist thinks it might work, the Bank will fund it. So much value will be destroyed if Old Korvosa is lost to the blood veil.

Anyway! That's all she can do for the plague. If she dies horribly, so goes it, she's done her math and accepted the risk. Back home, remove her disguise, and... this is the sort of thing which might make the guard call everyone it can find.

Does she have any mail? (...for her normal account. that is. The secret one she can't really use to receive anything, unless she wants it to rapidly become no longer secret.)

The Bank has no mail in her normal account at this time.

Good to know. In that case... where was she? Ah, right.

In that case she will withdraw some money, drop a few hints that she wants to hire someone to paint portraits in good silk robes. With all this happening, people will be gathering to do something about it, surely? Oh, no, she doesn't think you would tell her even if you did know, don't worry. People meeting always need good clothing, though, so it's the perfect chance to sell some clothing at an emergency markup, don't you think?

Nobody should actually be watching for this. Whatever of the conspiracy is left seemingly didn't catch her letter, and monitoring the Bank is much higher priority than monitoring painters Ileosa might have had a grudge against. Even so, shine no light.

Now — Actually, first she will ensure she's fully geared. She remembers those minor reinforcements helping her in the sewers, better to not forget them.

After that, to the painters on her list, one by one. Some of them will be unavailable for one reason or another in the current environment. She does, however, look like a reasonably wealthy possible client. Can she get in to see them, at least for a few minutes to ask them some questions and promptly turn them down as unsuitable for one reason or another? Do any of them look like she remembers the painter Ileosa tried to execute looking?

Tencednil can find a few painters that serve wealthy clients around North Point and Midland. Some are friendly, some are not, but most are about as uninteresting as one might expect. Or very interesting, if you're an art person.

Eventually, deep in Midland, she finds someone by local recommendation who looks similar to the painter from last time.

Trinia Sabor is a cheerful young woman whose apartment is also her workspace. A surprising number of canvases, some finished and some not, are laid out across the entrance.

"Hello! I'm Trinia." She holds out a hand.

Hmm. Definitely an option, worth investigating later. Will she know anything herself? Maybe. Try to get something now, remember the name, and look for other ways to follow up.

"Hello! Tencednil." She smiles a little and shakes Trinia's hand, dipping her head slightly as she does. "You came highly recommended. I'm glad you had time for me, I'm things must be a little strange with the Queen suddenly vanishing." She stresses that, rolling her eyes a little.

"But what is it to her that it makes my life harder, I suppose."  A quirk of her head, a lifted eyebrow, and an open and inviting look in her eyes — she is clearly inviting Trinia to comment on the disappearance, and how it might have affected her life.

"Oh, yes, it's very sad. Eodred first and then Ileosa so quickly after. I wonder if it was the same assassin..." She sighs. "The shortest reign of a monarch in Korvosa's history. I actually painted a portrait of Eodred only a few months ago. I'm a little worried people will think I'm cursed as well."

A portrait of Eodred? That would be a while in the palace, which must mean she was near Ileosa regularly. Personal grudge? Something she saw? It always could be entirely unrelated, but that seems unlikely... No clean way to probe for what exactly happened while she was there, not while staying on topic. Oh well.

"Very impressive, to have the King— ah, the late King, I'm not even used to saying that yet— hire your work. And it would be hard to have a shorter reign than our late Queen, if late she is. What other work have you done recently?"

From here on, she mostly draws Trinia into the same conversation as she's had with other artists. What have they done, can she see some of their recent work, do they have experience painting different sorts of materials, can she see some examples... Nothing particularly contentful, just consistent with the story she's telling.

And eventually... "Thank you, your work is definitely impressive. I'll have to see more options before making a decision, of course, but you are on the list. Perhaps I'll see you again soon!" And with a bright smile and a quick wave, off she goes to the next painter.

Does anyone else have similarly plausible physical traits? Even if they did, a recent painting of Eodred definitely points to Trinia more than average.

Nobody else is quite as similar to the description she remembers. Given her contact with the royal family it seems likely Trinia was the painter Blackjack saved. Of course, she can't be certain.

That definitely seems likely. After talking to this many painters, though, it is getting late, and this is not the best time to be out on the streets in the dark. She returns home, mentions her excuse to Mother — not worth the cost, the nobility will have made their decisions too soon for a painter to influence anything, but she'll ensure she doesn't contradict it anywhere people can see — and gets to sleep somewhat early. She is still trying to reset to the Korvosan sun's rising and setting.

The throne be cursed, ye say? Cursed? We fear no curse, for there is none greater than the Hell to which we are already damned. Ileosa has clearly outlived her usefulness. She couldn't even bother to die properly.

The seneschal is missing. The line of succession is broken. In such times, there is always opportunity. The late Queen Domina's sister's son's brother's son still lives as the last with the name Arabasti. An unremarkable slave of their Lord, but he will have to do. The empire will cover all of Golarion. Infrexus will not allow otherwise.

House Arkona has never been more popular than it is now. The poor ask for homes and the Arkona build them. The starving ask for food and the Arkona teach them to fish. The downtrodden ask for drugs and the Arkona deal them. The victims ask for security and the Arkona fund expansions for the Guard. The wealthy call him mad, but Lord Glorio Arkona's returns have only grown higher and higher every year. Everyone else is doing evil wrong. This is how you do evil right.

While the recent scandal with the King and the current disaster of blood veil may seem to tarnish them, this will pass. So long as they still live and Cheliax doesn't conquer them. Hell isn't the fun kind of evil. Perhaps now is the time for a new royal house. If Glorio pulls this off, the city might come to love him more than even Eodred I.

House Jeggare makes money. Not the kind of money the Arkona make, with their little urban redevelopment strategies. The kind of money you make when you own a quarter of the entire city's economy. The kind of money you make when you ban all guilds except your guild, because noble families aren't guilds but they sure can collect taxes at ports they own. They kind of money you make when you get the Bank of Abadar to give you their best rates because you're already so rich they don't have any other choice. During the civil war, the Jeggare sold to everybody and sided with nobody. When the ashes settled and House Thrune won the Jeggare funded the largest temple of Asmodeus in the world. They serve no god but the coin, which the only god that really matters.

All of this turmoil is really interrupting their profits. You can't sell to the dead. The throne be cursed. If they must have a monarch, let it be one who delivers a working economy. If they can't have that, they should have no monarch at all.

House Leroung was once above the petty squabbling of their lessers. They were better in the ways that truly mattered. They run the best universities in every city in what used to be the Cheliax of Aroden. So what if the Acadamae teaches wizardry—they teach culture and mathematics and history and astronomy and a hundred other subjects. Without the terrible death rate. Everyone begged for their children to be educated at their most prestigious institutions.

To their misfortune, House Leroung is still above the petty squabbling of their lessers. Internal strife has consumed them. The war and the war after that carved their family into pieces. They own the University of Korvosa and the University of Egorian and the Academy in Almas. The last family reunion did not end well. One day they'll finally finish destroying each other until nothing remains of their work but ash. For now, they wait.

Lady Eliasia Leroung, head of House Leroung and headmistress of the University of Korvosa, returns home in the evening to an unmarked letter on her desk.

She opens it and reads.

Lady Eliasia,

I've been in the area recently. You may have spotted my work. I would like to apologize for the mess. I assure you, it was truly necessary. The royal house is practically extinguished. The seneschal will not return. Cheliax will send another slave of Hell to replace the one who failed them. I believe it is in both of our interests to avoid this outcome. The time of the monarchy in Korvosa has come to an end. This experiment has failed. The system before the Crimson Throne, of Lord Magistrates elected by the nobility, was clearly far better. Korvosa adopted the monarchy to appease Cheliax, and it has led you only to ruin. Hell can never be appeased, only destroyed.

With love,
F

Eliasia has never particularly cared about the monarchy, but if she wants it gone, the Korvosan branch of House Leroung will ensure it never returns.

The others make their paltry sums. Power, wealth, knowledge, law. House Ornelos makes wizards.

Theirs is a most difficult craft. The students and their families complain about the Acadamae's death rate. Most of them never realize how large the Ornelos family graveyard really is. It's not easy to become a great wizard. It's also not hard. You simply need to live when everyone else dies. You can be pathetic and go to an afterlife and spend thousands of years slowly gaining enough power to do something interesting. Or you can be a wizard. The correct choice is obvious.

Toff Ornelos lived when everyone else died. He rules the Acadamae with an iron fist. None deny his power. All in the city respect and fear him. 

Toff's great grandfather lived when everyone else died. His enemies rule one ninth of the entire universe. He lives in spite of it. He lives because of it. He lives.

To be something so mundane as a king? Who would ever want that?

House Zenderholm wants most of all for the instability to be over. Law and order must be restored. Korvosa cannot afford to be intimidated by assassinations. Giving into threats only makes people threaten you more.

The Zenderholm are arbiters and magistrates and lawyers and diplomats. Korvosa needs a leader who brings the rule of law above all else. It is unlikely they will hold the throne when this is over... but that will not stop them from trying. The need is dire and the others are unworthy or unwilling. Chaos must be scourged from the world. The eye will never blink under their rule.

The Bank of Abadar keeps having to raise their rates. The city falls apart around them. At this point it's obvious the monarchy was a mistake. Expanding Eodred I's power may have led to great prosperity, but the disaster his successors have wrought erases all that was gained then. If the Great Houses and the lesser nobility see sense, they will amend the city charter and choose a more stable model of governance. They hope Cheliax won't act rashly. They don't want to cease diplomatic relations with them. Or worse, end up fighting some sort of war. Those are very bad for business.

In the short term, the Bank will help the Guard maintain order on the streets. The economy must not collapse further.