What do I need? A STR check:
Karin: 22 [atk-one dead]
Gurdough: 21 [guidance]
Ekuur: 19 [stuck!]
Qurresia: 18 [healbomb]
Thelnarin: 18 [Atk-miss]
Pulgh:17 [MISFIRE II]
Street toughs: 16 [attacking]
Karrin speeds past the toughs in a blur. Ferissirion strikes Pulgh, and rips him open. The blue axe follows into the head of one of the toughs standing by their leader. The tough's left eyeball explodes out in a gout of frozen blood and oracular juices
Ekuur is stuck fast, but able to move his body somewhat
Pulgh staggers ...
Whatever he was planning doesn't occur
Ekuur casts freedom of movement on himself. Concentration
attack
damage plus
Ekuur feels the goop's hold on him dissolve
The thugs in the windows, seeing their tanglefoot bags ineffective, duck out and disappear. The thug on the ground stays prone, sensing the futility of rising. The last thug standing in front swings on Thelnarin
He connects, slicing the young acolyte
The last thug near Pulgh decides discretion is the better part of valor. He turns and runs for the alleyways surrounding the temples. Pulgh stands alone, bleeding.
After a long Peak of shopping, Justin heads back to the Rose. He seems to be the first one back, and decides to take a meal at the Copper cauldron and have a pint or two before the others arrive. Nari, Seph, Merle, and Rhiannon decide to head back after a few hours of entertaining the children at the Gatehouse. They arrive later in the Afterpeak and discover Justin playing a game of cyvasse with Renkar at the Copper Cauldron. A platter of meats, bread and cheeses lies partially demolished in fromt of them.
"Ware your dragon, Renkar!" Justin chortles as he moves an elephant-shaped piece
Issac decides that after making the faux faction badges he might as well head back. He saunters through the dark roads of Sigil until he reaches the cheerily-lit doorway of the Copper Cauldron. It looks like he is the last one there . The common room is full of good smells and a happy buzz of conversation
Gurdough once again imbues Thelnarin with guidance.
Merle sits down to watch the game helping herself to some of the platter.
"Your friends have left you, scum. Time to pay your reparations." Ekuur closes the gap (move action) and swings his trikal at the man.
trikal
damage plus fire
Thelnarin tries again to hit the thug in front of him.
attack
damage
Qurresia casts cure light wounds on Thelnarin.
Karrin lets the goon run away (rather then taking an AoO) But she does give Pulgh another chop:
If Pulgh is still up after that she'll try to sock him in the jaw:
Non lethal damage:
Isaac takes a seat near Renkar and the rest of the team, rolling himself a cigarette and ordering his usual from the kitchen. The Godsman turns his head away and exhales a puff of anise-scented smoke.
"Have a top-shelf Peak, cutters?"
"No biggy," Karrin says with a shrug, "Ekuur and his followers pretty much did all the work, I was just on mop up detail. I think the big crystal axe scared them a bit though . . . didn't you Ferissirion?" Karrin asks her axe, talking to it much like one might a baby or favorite pet, "Such a scary thing you are! Did you scare those nasty men? I bet you did! I'm going to get some picks and give you such a good cleaning after this!"
Karrin glances up at Isaac, "What about you? Have you been busy?"
"Aye, lanned a few Darks about this antipeak's case and did some work at the Foundry that may come in useful later... but I'll give ye the Dark o' that in private."
"Gotta," Karrin says with a nod, "We gonna go shopping later? I got my cut of our latest exploits burning a hole in my pocket!"
"No biggy," Karrin says with a shrug, "Ekuur and his followers pretty much did all the work, I was just on mop up detail. I think the big crystal axe scared them a bit though . . . didn't you Ferissirion?" Karrin asks her axe, talking to it much like one might a baby or favorite pet, "Such a scary thing you are! Did you scare those nasty men? I bet you did! I'm going to get some picks and give you such a good cleaning after this!"
Karrin glances up at Isaac, "What about you? Have you been busy?"
Ekuur grimaces a bit, and his pride will not allow Karrin to downplay her role. "I beg to differ. I think Karrin could have probably handled all of them on her own, considering I and my disciples could land few blows. I fear we must intensify our combat training, and soon. I must humbly thank Karrin for her help, and am embarrassed at my own failure."
"What are you talking about?" Karrin asks, "You guys healed me, and buffed me with magic, and did all the leg work for the investigation and stuff. If I hadn't been there you'd have just used those spells on yourself and done pretty much the same thing. The only difference is I'm front line so I was able to put out a bit more punishment then you guys. If I hadn't been there you'd have still done the job, but it would have taken a bit longer is all. I mean, it's kind of good that I did lay out a good whooping on those punks, cuz if you could have matched me I'd be out of a job now wouldn't I?"
Justin makes his way to the table, waving at the now-familiar staff and holding up a finger to indicate he needs a drink. Looks pensive, then adds another finger to indicate two. He joins the others at the table with a nod, smirking just a bit as hears the last of the interplay between Karrin and Ekuur.
"Sounds like I missed all the fun. I was tempted to throw my own party,... but without you guys it just wouldn't have been as much fun. So I left it." He smirks enigmatically.
"I did pick up a couple of useful scrolls. Without knowing what we're getting into it wasn't possible to cover ALL the bases,... and I was, um,... a little shorter on cash than I had realized." He shrugs, almost embarrassed, but not quite. "But I did manage to pick up a couple of things that should be helpful if we get in a pinch."
Renkar looks pleased
"Well, my blessings on your venture this evening. Stay wary and remember that anything could be hiding in that building"
"You don't have to tell me Boss," Karrin says, "My middle name could be wary, call me Karrin warin' Kind."
"You don't have to tell me Boss," Karrin says, "My middle name could be wary, call me Karrin warin' Kind."
Justin snorts, then chokes, his beverage exiting his nose to return to his mug.
"Sorry,..." He manages to cough out, "Wrong pipe,..." The wizard waves off the others.
"That happens to me sometimes," Karrin says with a nod, "I sometimes laugh when I drink too. I never choked on food though, which is good cuz that can be fatal I hear, but I'm usually really careful and chew my food at least a dozen times, and I usually don't eat bones, those this one time I was having buffalo wings, which taste a lot like chicken by the way, Must be a weird sort of animal with all those wings I'd think, but anyways I thought cuz they were small and crunchy and stuff that maybe I could eat buffalo wing bones, anyways, long story short you can't . . . or at least you shouldn't."
"Buffalo wings,... don't eat the bones,... taste like chicken,... got it." Justin smiles and nods, having absolutely no clue what Karrin is talking about. Again.
That used to bother him a lot more. Justin finally realized, and acknowledged, that in spite of all his knowledge, Karrin has simply seen a lot more of the multiverse than he has. Yet.
"They're really spicy," Karrin says, "So they probably come from somewhere hot, but I used to get them all the time at the World Serpent Inn, Man I miss that place, I haven't been back there in like forever, it was really the first friendly place I'd ever visited on the planes, and it was where Renkar and I met. Also free food, which is something I like . . . "
Merle listening to the conversation licks her lips she had no idea what Buffalow wings were but they sounded good. A tiny bit of drool appearing in the corner of her mouth as she imagined what the thing must look like.
At the Temple District...
Pulgh sees himself deserted, and his foes surrounding him. He drops to his knees and wails
"Mercy!"
There is a commotion at the back of the crowd, and several red-armored Harmonium seem to be headed towards the group
"MAKE WAY!"
At the Copper Cauldron
Dinner wraps up, and the group readies to head out
The group heads out into the foggy Antipeak air, bellies full and mind refreshed.
The darkness is wrapped in a heavy cloak of fog, thick as nine-day stew. Copperman's Way is busy as usual, but the sights and sounds are muted. The creaks of the wains and shouts of the drovers seem to come from far away.
The Market Ward segues into the Lady's Ward, the shops becoming more ornate and florid. Drover's wains give way to elaborate palanquins and carraiges headed to one soiree or another. The few pedestrians are Hardheads or groups of young bravos in elaborate getups and fanciful masks.
The Court District is quiet, but the Temple District is alive. Antipeak brings out the nocturnal cults, and the party has to wait as several parades wend their torchlit way towards fog-blurred temples.
The Lower Ward rears up, the crowded tenements of Doomguard Walk frown over the potholed cobbles. The streets become thronged with scarred tough cutters, well-heeled with killing iron.
The Great Foundry slides by, the smokestacks belching their eternal sulfuric clouds into the foggy sky. Alehouse Row is alive with its usual bacchanal riot. The party steps lively to avoid the many puddles of vomit.
Heading through the dwarvish neighborhood of Gurincraag, the party ends up in the industrial marketplace named Anvil Square.
Anvil Square is a fairly large plaza with a big fountain in the center. Many dwarves live in the area, and the local tenements and shops reflect their prediliction for squat, solid buildings. Not only garden variety dwarves but Duergar, Derro, Gully Dwarves and several other even more exotic types can be glimpsed in the small-statured crowds swarming about the grey-cobbled square.
Pink Pearl Way angles off spinwards of Anvil Square. Following the oddly-named street, the party begins to enter the fringes of the Shattered Temple District.
The immense Temple of Aoskar looms over the neighborhood, its crumbling buttresses looking like the ribcage of some fantastical sea beast stranded on a beach. Many of the crumbling facades along the road have grimy nautical flourishes, perhaps pointing to some ocean connection long ago. The thickening rain drips off brown-stained seahorses and gushes from sea-serpent drainspouts.
The ruined church lies off Pink Pearl Way on the corner of two small side streets called Crayfish Walk and Nickle Street. The nearby buildings are very disreputable and half-crumbled. Athar namers move about the local tenements, doing their best to scrape a living from the stony streets.
The group approaches the ruined church. On its left is a dark warehouse-looking building. There is an empty lot to the right of it. The church itself is square, with what is left of a hemispherical dome on its roof. The dome has long since fallen. The walls look as if they are ready to collapse. There is a small debris-strewn yard about the church, with razorvine snaking from the rubble in a black tangle. There is no sign of tombstones or other monuments around this small open area.
There is little sign of any Defier presence on the streets, but the street is fogbound and dark.
"Welcome to my parlor,..." mutters Justin with a wry smirk.
"So what's the plan?"
"Have a look around first I guess."
"The boss told us they went less obvious with the guarding, to try and not attract any more attention to the area. So we know they're here."
Justin pointedly looks towards the small shack that the giant-kin who seemed to be in charge came out of last time they 'visited'.
"Too obvious. They probably have a couple of goons in there because we expect it. Now to find where they think we DON'T expect them to be."
The mage slowly studies the area. Knowing full well he won't see half of what Isaac will see at a glance. But hoping to spot any magical guards/wards they might have set up.
"Yes but Isaac had some top secret ideas and stuff that he didn't want to share over at the Copper Cauldron, so now I'm interested to hear what they are."
As the Harmonium guards approach, Ekuur looks to Karrin. "Do we hand this scum over to them, or do we run ourselves? I am still not clear on how this city runs, to be honest."
"Yes, I am interested in Isaac's plan. I am not one who is typically very good at stealth."
Isaac takes a quick look over the neighborhood and tonight's case before replying.
Perception (urban):
He detaches a jangling sack from his belt and pulls out a handful of tokens- pins, in truth. Though a little crude, they're readily identifiable as Athar faction pins.
"Right, cutters- I tumbled teh the fact that we ain't all knights o' the post by nature, eh? So I reckoned the best course fer this case is fer some of us teh walk straight in. The Dark of it is, the temple holds a portal- and the Defiers sent some sods through that they ain't heard from again."
"So you bashers what need yer armor or ain't too keen on the shadows, ye stroll in like yer the rescue team while the rest of us slip in through the rear. Havin' a master o' disguise don't hurt, but really all ye need is teh barge in like ye got the tallest pike at the Bathhouse, eh? Act like yer in a hurry, you know, don't give 'em any screed about the Powers and don't rattle yer bonebox too long with any berk in charge."
"And don't let 'em tumble teh the fact that these are forgeries. Factions tend teh get wadded up about that.", he adds.
"Well seeing as I'm a total master of disguise," says a now mustached Karrin, "I guess you got those for someone else."
Justin examines the pin, giving Isaac a thoughtful glance.
"Nice." He says, pinning it just under his coat collar where it can be flashed, but not easily inspected.
"So, Karrin, Ekuur and I through the front door, and Isaac, Merle and Nari in the back?" He asks with the distracted gaze of a wizard already mentally reviewing his spells.
"Right, so I need a heardhead disguise," Karrin says whilst digging through her disguise kit, "I think I can totally do that. Maybe a woolen hat to hide the horns. I got a detective badge case here that I can replace badges with and a notebook cuz officials are always taking notes and stuff. Now to get into character . . .
"Right now," Karrin growls in a deep voice, "What's all this then? Don't you folk have some place to be? Move along there's nothing to see here."
As the Harmonium guards approach, Ekuur looks to Karrin. "Do we hand this scum over to them, or do we run ourselves? I am still not clear on how this city runs, to be honest."
"Yes, I am interested in Isaac's plan. I am not one who is typically very good at stealth."
At the Temple district
The Harmonium appear, and case the area. A no-nonsense Notary Five directs a squadron of Notary Ones. The squad scatters, talking to witnesses and taking possession of the bodies. The Notary Five walks up and addresses the group
"Who's in charge here?"
"I guess that would be me," Karrin says, "Sorry about the mess. Tried to talk them out of fighting, then I suggested non violent stuff, you know just fisticuffs and stuff, and then when they drew steel I tried using the flat of my axe, but as you can see from the cuts that they starting playing for keeps . . . and that's when the killing started. I brained that one there, he should be alright in a bit, clipped those two there, and then I got that one there, and even though I tried to pull the swing a bit I'm afraid that I had a bit too much pepper on it. I didn't want to hurt anyone but when the squishes decide to attack sometimes I can't avoid maiming them.
"Anyways I guess we're willing to help in whatever way we can with your investigation, the silver rose mercenary company tries to maintain a cordial relationship with the Harmonium."
"Anyways I guess we're willing to help in whatever way we can with your investigation, the silver rose mercenary company tries to maintain a cordial relationship with the Harmonium."
The Notary Five takes a look at the battered form of Pulgh sprawled in the dirt
"Well, I know this berk. Low level cony catcher and shakedown dog. I'll just need you contact information."
He sticks out a red-armored hand
"I'm Belisarus. "
He looks at Ferissirion
"That berk there isn't packing much meat in the old brain box is he? Taking you lot on openly I mean."
Slang:
Meanwhile..At the ruined church..
Whatever had been going on with the church was much more low level now. The party discusses options in the shadow of a narrow alley, the echoing drips from a dozen mermaid waterspouts masking their words. An occasional gleam from a distant palanquin lantern or a smoky hooded torch lights the crumbling entryway.
"Anyways I guess we're willing to help in whatever way we can with your investigation, the silver rose mercenary company tries to maintain a cordial relationship with the Harmonium."The Notary Five takes a look at the battered form of Pulgh sprawled in the dirt
"Well, I know this berk. Low level cony catcher and shakedown dog. I'll just need you contact information."
He sticks out a red-armored hand
"I'm Belisarus. "
He looks at Ferissirion
"That berk there isn't packing much meat in the old brain box is he? Taking you lot on openly I mean."
Slang: ** spoiler omitted **
"Karrin Kind," Karrin says with a smile, "And again I'm really sorry about the mess. Good merc shouldn't be making work for the local authority, you folks usually got enough problems on your hands, but sometimes you stumble across folks that just aren't reasonable. This Bert was shaking down local churches for protection money. You don't need to be a genius to know how that would work. I mean even if you assume that the locals are all pushovers, this is the cage, and the multiverse does have a lot of real mean bloods that worship all sorts of deities . . . and this being the cage you got to assume that they're only a doorway away.
"Some people take religion very seriously," Karrin says as she adjusts her holy symbol of Rao, "And most aren't as forgiving as me or my friend Ekuur here."
Perception (yeah right!):
1d20+10
Aaaaahhh! Shape shifter! Nari changed her avatar pic again!
Perception
"Anyways I guess we're willing to help in whatever way we can with your investigation, the silver rose mercenary company tries to maintain a cordial relationship with the Harmonium."The Notary Five takes a look at the battered form of Pulgh sprawled in the dirt
"Well, I know this berk. Low level cony catcher and shakedown dog. I'll just need you contact information."
He sticks out a red-armored hand
"I'm Belisarus. "
He looks at Ferissirion
"That berk there isn't packing much meat in the old brain box is he? Taking you lot on openly I mean."
Slang: ** spoiler omitted **
"Karrin Kind," Karrin says with a smile, "And again I'm really sorry about the mess. Good merc shouldn't be making work for the local authority, you folks usually got enough problems on your hands, but sometimes you stumble across folks that just aren't reasonable. This Bert was shaking down local churches for protection money. You don't need to be a genius to know how that would work. I mean even if you assume that the locals are all pushovers, this is the cage, and the multiverse does have a lot of real mean bloods that worship all sorts of deities . . . and this being the cage you got to assume that they're only a doorway away.
"Some people take religion very seriously," Karrin says as she adjusts her holy symbol of Rao, "And most aren't as forgiving as me or my friend Ekuur here."
Ekuur snuffs the flame on his trikal and simply nods at Belisarus. He turns to his own followers, and tells them, "This scum will not bother us again, unless he has a death wish. I have business with the Company tonight, so please return to the temple and open for this evening's services. You have made me proud."
Meanwhile..At the ruined church..
Whatever had been going on with the church was much more low level now. The party discusses options in the shadow of a narrow alley, the echoing drips from a dozen mermaid waterspouts masking their words. An occasional gleam from a distant palanquin lantern or a smoky hooded torch lights the crumbling entryway.
perception