The polearm wielder is put back down by a bolt of force before he can even stand!
Warren stands and prepares to trade arrows with the archer!
The archer swears, then steps back and tries to finish the healer before things get further out of hand:
,
,
Both arrows skip off Garnult's armor!
Yer done for boy. Better throw down that peashooter an run, you know whats best. Garnult says through bloodied teeth.
Garnult steps up to the archer and rings his bell, but good!
Zot!
Warren mutely attacks the archer.
Warren's arrow misses the mark, but just barely!
The archer continues trying to put down the healer:
,
,
The first arrow sinks into a chink in Garnult's armor, while the second skips off!
Party up!
Garnult keeps coming forward
The archer falls!
Garnult spits a mouthful of blood on the ground and says Shoulda listened.
Garnult gathers his allies together and and heals them.
What about him? Garnult points at the remaining wizard.
The blinded caster is sitting with his back along the ravine wall, fidgeting with his fingers and looking scared.
After ensuring his allies are alive, Garnult will go bludgeon the caster into submission.
Moving forward Garnult says You choice you skinny little twig, cast one spell and I'll break ya like I did the other two. if he resists, bad things happen.
Warren gathers the archers and polearm wielders gear into a pile.
"Cassidy when you are ready would you check this stuff for magical emanations? You may want to talk to the wizard before Garnult reduces him to mush. I think his blood is up currently and you can usually sweet-talk information out of people."
Tolbert hauls himself from the ground with a groan.
"What in Hell was that all about? Oh, and someone fetch me that wand."
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The blinded caster knows better than to resist being restrained, and the other two are unconscious, so there's no issue with going through their gear.
Loot list (I'm not interested in going through a bunch of Spellcraft checks for this stuff):
1x wand of scorching ray (7 charges left)
3x potion of shield of faith (CL3), and 3x empty vials with the same label
1x potion of bull's strength, and 1x empty vial with the same label
1x potion of cat's grace, and 1x empty vial with the same label
1x masterwork composite longbow (STR +1)
1x masterwork glaive
913gp
Assorted mundane crap
Figured it was safe to assume a rummaging through pockets, etc. But if you're going for a strip search or whatever, you'll need to announce that.
Now why you and your mates do something stupid like TRY and kill us?" Garnult says to the wizard
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The caster sighs, dejected. "We're a hit squad. You were our targets. Simple as that."
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"Well done everyone. Sorry I wasn't much help. Anyone need the cure light wounds wand?"
Cassidy will pull out the wand, use it on herself once and will pass it off to anyone else who needs it.
Afterwards, Cassidy will turn to the blind wizard to assist w/questioning,though a little out of temper, seeing how badly her teammates where hurt.
"What do you mean it's a simple as that. Who hired you and why did they want us dead?"
The man looks rather shaken, sweating a bit and breathing rapidly, his gray-pupiled eyes darting back and forth. He clearly feels he's caught between a rock and a hard place.
"Look, lady," he says, "In our line of work, talking about your superiors is a good way to get yourself killed. Higher-ups don't take kindly to the underlings spilling the beans. You gotta understand that, right?"
You all notice that he's phrasing himself like he's acting as a member of an organization as opposed to, say, a freelance hit-man who just took a one-time contract.
You both pick up that this guy is really fretting, like he's torn between trying to be helpful so that you'll spare him, versus being scared of being killed if he betrays his superiors. You think that if you could offer him reasonable assurance of survival, he might cough up some info in exchange.
"I do understand. A few miles back is the town of Woodhaven, you can go there as a place to lie low for awhile, I'll write a note on your behalf to Captain A. I imagine she will offer you protection at our request, but only if you give us valuable information."
That didna work so well for yer buds eh? Garnult says a thumb pointing to the bodies Dwarves don't go down that easy ya ken?
"Cassidy, thank you for the wand. You will need to use it on me though, as I can't"
"It looks like we'll have to head back to Woodhaven with this lot and try again."
The blind man perks up a bit at Cassidy's offer.
"Do... do you really think I could get into prison?" he asks hopefully.
"Why yes, if you confess, we can bypass the trial to save the city coffers the expense. I think that would please everyone involved. Assuming you tell us what we want to know, of course."
Garnult harumphs loudly and says Or. You can resist and I've got some hanging rope right here. Bandits and highwaymen get hung....
The blind man straightens up, showing the beginnings of an excited smile. "Get me safely into prison, and I'll tell you anything you want to know."
"Well, it looks like we head back to Woodhaven for now."
You pack up the unconscious pair and begin heading back to Woodhaven, leading your blinded captive by his bonds (and slowly, since he's not used to being blind). As you get underway, he asks, "So, what do you want to know?"
"What's the name and objective of the organization you worked for, and why they are so interested in us?"
"Well," he says as he shuffles forward carefully down the path, "We don't exactly have a name, since we're not really into advertising ourselves, but I work—well, worked—for the thieves' guild in Zunberg. I'm mostly just an enforcer, so I don't know all the reasons for everything, but there was some talk of maybe establishing a chapter in Woodhaven, but that got scrapped when we got a report that some folks busted that operation. Now, I don't know what you all are after, but I guess the higher-ups were worried that your business with the Woodhaven thieves might lead you to us, so we were given a rough description and told to make sure you never made it to Zunberg. Then, well, you know how it went from there..."
"Do you know the names or physical description of your bosses and where to find them?" "Also, did you hear anything about a rock being received by your group recently?"
Garnult grunts in response to the man's forthcoming attitude. Sounds like I've got a problem needs fixin in Zunberg.
"If they're that worried about us, it sounds like they have some grand ambitions. I think we're on the right track."
The man continues to speak: "No one meets more than one tier of leadership. That is, while you might meet the person who gives you orders, but you won't meet the person who gives that person orders. I honestly don't even know how many rungs the ladder has, so to speak."
To Cassidy's second question, he replies, "As an enforcer, I generally don't know what goods move in or out of the guild unless I'm taking it off a target. I haven't heard anything about 'a rock', I'm afraid."
"You have be most helpful so far, but your information hasn't been very specific. The thieves' guild in Zunberg has acquired something that belongs to us. We want to get it back. We need some type of lead: a name, a location, something. Anything along those lines?"
Garnult eyes the man sidelong. His hand rests on his warhammer.
Garnult eyes the man sidelong. His hand rests on his warhammer.
Then, Garnult realizes that the man is completely unaware of his gesture, on account of being blind.
"Oh, you're trying to get something back?" the man says. "Hm... Well, you could try posing as buyers, maybe? Or you could go to the woman I report to and see if she knows any team leaders outside of Enforcement. She's a human woman who carries a sword and wears light armor. She's very particular; her home-based office on the east side of town is very tidy and she polishes her armor every day. I think that's to help keep up her public facade of being a straight-laced worshipper of Iomedae. Her name is Leyva Toldril. How you get the information out of her is something I'll leave to you."
The man pauses a moment, thinking, then says, "Also, you could try looking for the blue-skinned man who gave me and my team your description. Presumably you know what he looks like, and he's as likely as not to know what's going on. I don't know where to find him, but I bet he's not exactly hard to spot in a crowd, you know?"
Cassidy makes a frustrated face at the enforcer and than says"thanks" in a sweet voice to him.
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The rest of the trip back to Woodhaven passes uneventfully, and you reach the city in the early evening. After handing off your captives to the local authorities, you head to the inn for some much-needed rest.
The next morning, you hit the road again. By late afternoon, you can see the skyline of Zunberg ahead; you'll get there in probably another half-hour of walking.
Garnult is good with that.