DM Flykiller's Council of Thieves
Game Master flykiller

Basically, if casting a full round spell is all you do in your round, you finish casting at the start of your next turn (leaving you vulnerable to being interrupted by damage/etc), which leaves your whole turn free to act. However, if you move before starting your cast, then you forfeit the next round's standard action.

Illithia calls down the power of Shelyn on the thug. Bishop's life was ebbing away, and she couldn't wait. She must protect her friend. (Swift action to Smite Evil). With all the force of Shelyn behind her, Illithia delivers a powerful blow to the thug who was threatening her companion.

Glaive /w Power Attack and Smite Evil: 1d20 + 5 - 1 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 5 - 1 + 3 = 21
Damage: (1d10 + 4 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 4 + 3 + 1 = 18)

Hooray!

Well, I'm sure Illithia will have mixed feelings, but at least we're safe for now. At least, I hope we're safe; if this guy has that many hp to spare we're in more trouble. : s

Shelyn guides Illithia's glaive straight and true, and it cuts right into the thug's heart, stopping the blood flow instantly. As the muscular tiefling falls down, with his dying breath he mutters "You cannot stop us"...
The street falls silent, save for the snores of the magically tranquilized tieflings. Dracius leans towards Bishop and stabilizes him.
The silence is broken by hurried footsteps - this is Ferrucio catching up with you.
You have a minute before the three tieflings get up.

Ferrucio's Perception check to notice the other tieflings have been taken out: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14; probably good enough

Ferrucio turns around to face the rest of the group--he looks around momentarily, then quickly puts his purloined mace back in a belt loop before removing his crossbow from its spot on his opposite hip, and then loading it.

He makes a movement in the air with one hand, and then points at Illithia. She hears his voice in her ear.

You notice Ferrucio now has his crossbow trained at the sleeping tiefling's head.

Dario quickly walks over to the two sleeping tieflings who tried to come up from behind them. He gently takes the dagger and scimitar away from them, also looking for anything else loose to take from the bodies such as potions or backup weapons.

He hefts the scimitar, testing its weight. He swings it with a flourish. "Not bad." He looks to the others. "Well, what do we do with them? This is probably our best chance to learn about the Bastards, but do we want risk bringing them back to the Church?"

Sorry, I totally missed that one was still up. My bad. However, with the smite taking him down, Dracius will change his (slightly delayed) action to a CLW on Bishop.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

Bishop instinctively grabs his head as he wakes from unconsciousness. "Never doin' that again. Eh, who am I kidding? Probably will." He looks around and sees the tiefling with the giant glaive wound in his chest. "Are you alright?" He asks Illithia.

As he's disarming the tieflings, Dario suddenly remembers the rope he has in his bag. "We can tie them up!" The Professor dashes over to his bag and pull out a long length of rope and begins cutting short sections to tie their hands.

"It was necessary." Illithia says shakily. It was worth to see Bishop awake again. Illithia offers a hand to him, allowing healing energies to flow into him.

Lay on Hands: 1d6 ⇒ 3

"I... I couldn't stomach killing unarmed, sleeping men. Evil though they may be, they might still be redeemed. The tieflings of this city need to be shown compassion. If we treat them with brutality, we are no better than House Thrune."

"Thanks, Illithia." Bishop says as she heals him. "So what are we gonna do with them then? We're not gonna take them to the dottari, are we?"

Dracius smiles at Illitia's statement, "I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who could not abide the sheer... ugliness... of such murders. I say we take one with us to question, and leave the others here, tied up, and let them be an object lesson to the others."

Ferrucio hurries up to the group, his loaded crossbow still in his hand.

Find the most intelligent looking one, then, and let's get out of here, he says. Now, who wants to carry our prisoner back? Bear in mind he'll wake up as soon as we pick him up. Best to gag him as well.

"Fine, let's just take one of these two. They were at least smart enough to try sneaking up from behind." Dario looks down at the two laying at his feet. He tries to see if anything sets them apart from a standard footpad. "We can take him some place to question him. Then we can just leave him there."

Perception 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

If nothing stands out, then Dario will choose the ones who was armed with the dagger.

They both are more or less standard footpads. The one with the scimitar looks younger and also uglier, at least by Chelaxian human standards. The scimitar loses its orange glow the moment it is taken out of the tiefling's hand. The one with the knife has multiple scars on his arms and face, probably marks left in knifefights. He also snores louder. Other than that, it's hard to judge their intelligence while they're asleep.

"Let's take this one. Doesn't take a scholar to see an orange glow as evidence of magic." Dario examines the scimitar appreciatively, then works to tie up the tiefling.

As Dario examines the scimitar, he doesn't see anything which could hint at its magical nature. Several dents, imperfect balance, far from top quality steel - pretty standard fare which can be found in any city trading with Qadira or the elves. It did look magical when the tiefling attacked with it, though.

Perhaps he is a magus, and has the capacity to channel his arcane power into his weapon at will? Ferrucio suggests.

Ferrucio waves them off once Dario has tied up and gagged their prisoner. You four go ahead, I'll keep watch on these two to make sure they don't follow.

He secretes himself behind a broken wall.

Stealth check to hide from any tieflings who wake up earlier than expected: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

"Oh I heard about those at the lodge. They can take out whole parties on a whim. Glad he isn't a problem anymore."

Sense Motive: 1d20 ⇒ 7 Of course, couldn't pass anyway

"They can only be so dangerous when they aren't asleep." Dario grins at Bishop. "And hopefully without their weapon. Give me a hand with him, but watch out, he'll probably wake up."

He turns to Ferrucio, who seems intent on staying behind. "Might be better if you come with us and leave these two. We might need you to help question him, especially if he can cast spells. But if you still want to stay, meet us back at the church. We'll question him in a random alley and then leave him there."

"That's true." Bishop helps Dario carefully pick one up.

Illithia also assists wherever she's needed, and though she feels as though they might be kidnapping this tiefling, perhaps it was necessary to redeem the whole organization.

Dario and Bishop pick up the bound and gagged tiefling, who wakes up and starts moaning and twitching chaotically, his mind still not completely free of the shackles of the magical sleep. Illithia and Dracius follow close by, casting periodic looks back.
How far do you want to carry him? The district is not completely deserted and there is a chance to run into someone with your prey, the longer you carry him. You are several minutes away from the wall if you go straight back, probably a dozen blocks. Or you could try going sideways if you're not afraid of losing your orientation.

Didn't realize we were still in the tiefling district. That changes some things.

Dario leads the group down just a couple blocks and then makes a sharp right, then a left at the very next block. He looks around for an isolated place to question the tiefling. "We better make this fast. We need to get out of here." He quickly searches the tiefling's clothes, looking for spell components as well as a spellbook.

Finally, he questions the prisoner. "Ok, we could have cut your throat while you were asleep, so consider yourself lucky that you're alive. If you answer a few questions, you'll get to stay that way. Now, tell us why the Bastards are robbing people. And who is the leader?" Dario reaches into a pouch for more rose petals and holds them ready if the tiefling should try to raise an alarm.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Search him for spellbook and spell components. Ready action to cast Sleep again if he tries to yell out for help.

Bishop will just hold the prisoner still while Dario does the interrogating. Considering he proved to be a joke in the fight, saying anything would just hurt his chances.

Dracius will keep an eye out for trouble while Dario asks his questions.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

"Hey what is Ferrucio doing with that crossbow?" Bishop points towards the wizards location.

We may not be able to see Ferrucio at all, since we described ourselves as moving some distance. Even if we can see him, distance penalties might prevent us making the requisite perception. need Flykiller on this one.

More in the discussion thread. : )

Pity filled Illithia, and her face softened. Her voice was gentle and reassuring. "You don't have to live like this you know. We can give you a bed and food. We are trying to make Westcrown... and maybe eventually Cheliax, a better place." Her voice grew a bit harder to drive her last point home. "Unless you'd prefer to waste your life on meaningless banditry, and die young."

Dracius nods, "I recommend you consider what the lady is saying. A life spent pursuing such ugliness is a life wasted."

Of course, I wonder if he's truly repentant or just sorry that he's been caught.... wait, did he say mummies?

Dracius cocks his head and says, "I'm sorry. Did you say that they would feed you to the mummies? In addition to adding the horrible, ugly evil of giving a living sentient creature over to the undead to the list of horrible things the Bastards do... I have to ask... which mummies would those be?"

Upon hearing the kindness in your voice, the tiefling calms down somewhat, and his voice gets cocky undertones.

"Hey I may be a failure, but at least I'm not a traitor! Wait... Make Cheliax a better place... So you're not with a gang? Just who do you work for? The Hellknights? A foreign government? A noble family?" He is clearly unable to grasp this whole 'fight for the greater good' thing.
At the mention of mummies, however, he begins cowering again.
"Yes, there are mummies... rotten flesh and wrappings and all... Like the scare tales go. Sheila threatened to feed any traitor or deserter to them. They are said to be able to track you down anywhere in Westcrown. I would think she's just messing with us, but I saw a mummy myself once, locked in a room, moaning and shambling. Since then I secretly carried that holy water with me."

Illithia was no expert on the undead, perhaps Dracius knew a thing or two about mummies. They did seem to unsettle him. "We don't work for anyone. We're a group of people who want to make Westcrown a better place. Shelyn willing, a better place for everyone." Illithia emphasized the last word, as if to say 'yes, tieflings too'.

Heh, might as well not bother spoilering all this any more. : )

Ferrucio, satisfied that the tieflings are dead, and surprised (but not terribly alarmed) by the blood thirst of the summoned eagle, immediately bends down to retrieve his crossbow bolt from the tiefling's eye, and then heads down the alley to retrieve the bolt he fired earlier.

(Broken or not, Ferrucio simply doesn't want to leave any possessions behind that could be used to aid a scry spell. It's also worth noting that the eagle sticks around for two rounds, so it could really do a number on the tiefling before it winks out.)

Having assured himself that he's left nothing behind, Ferrucio turns his attention to the task of finding the others. He trots down to the corner the others vanished around, and looks carefully to see if there are any signs of their passage.

Ferrucio's Survival check (untrained): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

Presuming he finds a trail, Ferrucio hurries to catch up, listening carefully for a familiar voice.

Perception to locate the others along the trail: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

I didn't make it clear enough - the perception checks above were for the group, not for Ferrucio. I'll repost them here.

Ferrucio demonstrates a surprising prowess in urban orienteering and finds the group within 5 minutes.

As Ferrucio rounds a corner, having spotted the tell-tale shape of Illithia's boot-print in a patch of mud on the cobbles, he hears the voices of his companions. He decides to stay out of sight for the moment to assess the situation.

Ferrucio's Stealth check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

"Enough. We've been here too long already." He looks at the tiefling. "You've earned your life. Just remember that there are better ways of living than with the Bastards." He sets the flask of Holy Water down beside him. "And you can have this back. I wouldn't want to face mummies without it either."

He turns to the others. "Let's go."

Ferrucio remains in cover, for now. (Continue to use Stealth check result from above.)

Bishop nods his head in agreement.

Are you going to untie him?

Dracius says, "One moment. I'd rather encourage him to make a better decision about his future than just going back."

Dracius leans in with his dagger drawn, his expression somewhat harsh. "There are far better choices than going back and having your soul devoured by the undead -- or having your soul destroyed and corrupted by those you call your allies."

He begins to partially cut through the ropes, weakening them without cutting through, "So, while you're breaking out of these ropes, I want you to think about the life you were living, how you were in fear of your own friends and leaders, and to think, instead about the simple beauty of living a life with meaning, one where you help yourself by helping others."

He takes back the flask of Holy Water and smiles, "Maybe this will help you think things through instead of running back to the supposed safety of your little gang."

He stands and puts his dagger away, saying, "Those ropes shouldn't give you any trouble, now, but I wouldn't recommend breaking out until we're out of sight. It might make the paladin angry and, as we say, full of smite..... And remember, we left you alive and gave you the choice of what sort of man you care to be and what sort of life you care to live."

Perform (act): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19 (trying to be dramatic)

His tone suddenly turns dark as he finishes with a flourish, "But if we see you again, up to your old tricks, or worse... we'll know that you made your choice, and will treat you accordingly."

Dario turns away to regain his bearings. He mutters under his breath.

He turns back to the group. "Let's go. Now."

I'm not sure if Ferrucio is going to show yourself to you or keep hiding, so I'll continue after his reply.

Ferrucio listens to Dario and Dracius, marvelling at their naïveté in thinking the tiefling could be redeemed. But then, that's what worship of the fickle gods got you--an assumption that everyone was able to change their mind, turn over a new leaf, and other assorted misbegotten beliefs in the power of forgiveness.

Momentarily distracted by his dark mood, Ferrucio is almost surprised when the group begins trooping away, leaving the tiefling tied up, if only loosely. Ferrucio waits until the others are well out of sight before he emerges from his hiding place, weapon in hand.

If the tiefling has not freed himself by then...Ferrucio holds a dagger to the tiefling's throat.

If the tiefling has freed himself...Ferrucio hefts his crossbow and covers the tiefling.

I can see you're wondering who I am, he says quietly, forcing as much menace into his voice as he can. Consider me the man who ties up loose ends.

If the tiefling has freed himself, Ferrucio motions with his crossbow for the tiefling to lie down on the ground.

I'm like a conscience, Ferrucio continues, only I don't bother with tiresome things like right or wrong, I just do what needs to be done--which often includes killing people who get in our way. The others you met--they're good people.

I am not.

You have thirty seconds to tell me everything you know about the entrances, exits, alarms and patrols used by the Bastards of Erebus. Don't leave anything out. If you make it good, then perhaps I'll let you go. If you don't, well...

He pauses.

Tick tock.

Ferrucio's Intimidate check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Seriosly, that dice roller is broken. I'll do the post tomorrow.

Wait until it screws me over in a life/death situation. ; )

Perception
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

"Hey now, that was uncalled for. He might be a bastard, no pun intended, but anyone can change. Back at the lodge I met a few of 'em. Most were right jerks, but I trusted them enough to have my back."