Killian sees a familiar face nodding to him. He nods back, with a slight, half-hearted wave.
'Isn't that man the Bum Sage?' Pretty sure I've met him once or twice before.'
Killian moves to join the larger group, and perhaps engage one of his new acquaintances.
Ariela leans back against a nearby tree and crosses her harms as she looks around. "That tengu seemed to tink something bad was about to happen. Do you get that vibe?"
Aram frowns and stows his pipe in one of the inner pockets of his cloak, before pushing back the hood of his cloak and raising his staff. He points to one of the men he noticed earlier with his staff, one of the infiltrators, and raises his voice, screaming to be heard.
"LOOK AROUND YOU FRIENDS, LOOK AT THE MAN I POINT AT, WATCH WHO HE INTERACTS WITH FOR THEY ARE NO FRIENDS OF OURS. BETRAYERS I SAY, PLANTS BY THE GOVERNMENT TO INTRODUCE DISSENTERS AND ENEMIES IN TO OUR MIDST. FIND THEM AND DRIVE THEM FROM US. TAKE HEED OR IT WILL BE OUR UNDOING!"
That's not good.
Ariela pushes off the tree at the sound of the shouting Halfling. To Kessa she remarks, "Uh oh. That sounds like more than tense and angry to me. Keep your blade at the ready, it sounds like trouble is just around the corner."
The investigator looks over at Killian and once making contact she nods to the man Aram indicated.
Killian sees Ariela's nod, and returns with one of his own.
He makes his way over to the man she indicated, trying to blend with the crowd. He tries to keep a nonchalant pace to his walk, and doesn't beeline for the group he's watching. Instead, he moves to a nearby cluster of people, and backs up slowly, hands in his pockets. He tries for an air of disinterest.
Ariela remarks to Kessa, winking at the warpriest"I'm off to stir up trouble. I'm going to try and neutralize that one before he tries something untoward. I need a distraction of some kind to draw his attention." Without waiting for a response she moves off into the crowd with a barely audible afterthought of "Oh, and do try to keep me from getting shot this time, hmmm?" Kessa loves me for this. I mean I'm the one keeping excitement in her life, right"
Making her way indirectly to the identified man, she approaches from the opposite angle of Killian and does her best to mask her approach with the people around her.
Once Kessa does whatever she is going to do to distract the man, she 'accidentally' bumps into him as her hand flies toward whatever weapon she can find on him.
Concealing whatever she took behind her back with her left hand, she holds her right hand to her cheek and gasps apologetically. "I'm sooooo sorry! I wasn't watching where I was walking, my apologies." before turning and shifting the item to her front and continuing to put distance between her and the man.
The crowd is starting to get noticeably restless. Adam's voice struggles to reach through the hubbub of competing voices, between the chants the lectures and the general jeering from the the hoard of protestors.
Nevertheless, a number of people near Aram appear to take heed of his warning, and start to yell angrily along about dissenters and government plants in the crowd. In particular, a group that was standing behind the fountain appear to take great offence. They start picking up rocks and tearing branches off trees and start stepping towards the crowd.
As Ariela bumps into the man - successfully pulling a light mace out of a concealed holder near his waist - he turns to look at her. A lean, pale man, he looks down at her with a flicker of scorn. It is quickly replaced by a warm smile. In awkward voice, he says "That's ok, um, miss. We're both here protesting that blasted house Thrune together, just watch yourself."
She smiles at the pale man and plays it off with as much girlish charm as she can muster, "Gee, thanks. I will."
Ariela circles around to meet Killian, concealing the mace away from the man she stripped it from and a huge smug grin on her face. "I think he'll be a little less of a threat now. Still, keep your eyes on him. I'm going to work around to see if anyone else stands out."
Aram frowned, turning towards the group behind the fountain, before a slow smile began to cross his face. He began to draw forth on his power, runes beginning to flow down from his lips as he began to whisper in a quiet, hissing voice. "Bạn sẽ nói chuyện vàng và họ sẽ lắng nghe!"
He moved around to the back of the fountain and swept back his cloak, rapping his staff hard against the stone as he began to speak, to catch the attention of those angry elements.
"KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED BROTHERS AND SISTERS, YOU KNOW THE SNAKE IS AMONG YOU. ACT NOT IN ANGER, IT IS WHAT THEY WANT. BE COLD, BE CAREFUL, DO NOT JUMP IN TO THE FIRE." He turned, gesturing towards the front of the park and the guards there. "THERE THEY STAND, THE ENEMY. THEY ARE AFRAID, THEY SET THE WOLF AMONG THE SHEEP, THEY THINK WE ARE LAMBS FOR THE SLAUGHTER BUT THEY ARE WRONG! WE ARE NO SHEEP, NO ANIMAL SO EASILY COWED, WE. ARE. LIONS!" He yelled, throwing his arms wide.
Aram giggled to himself a little wildly, drunk on the whole affair.
Sitting on the fountain's edge, Metronicus is VERY impressed by the halfling's speech, and begins to applaude.
As the crowd reacts to Aram's words and reaches a fever pitch, again the bells ring. This time three loud drones blot out all other sound, signifying that it is three minutes past the third hour (as is the norm for these bells).
A few moments later - as the hum of the bells are still fading from the air - the wide windows on the third floor of the opera house are flung open. Standing in the window is an imposing, middle aged man. He is dressed in red, orange, and black clothing and an ornate breastplate emblazoned with the pentagram of Asmodeus and the cross of Cheliax. Cradling a wicked looking mace in one hand, and a rich gilded goblet in the other, the man peers down on the hushed assembly and starts to speak:
"Ah, my adoring little chickadees. I am sorry to say I have not yet adapted to your quaint, country ways, being accustomed as I am to the sophistication and learning of Egorian. Nonetheless, know I have heard your concerns, and that I appreciate your valued feedback, and I know we shall eventually find a mutual understanding in the fullness of time. I take pride in updating Kintargo's quaint, outdated laws to the standards the city deserves, and strengthening its ties with the empire in these cruel times, but obviously I have approached my duties too aggressively.”
“You say you chafe at the presence of non-natives in positions of power? That authorities not of this city have no places as its leaders? That you will not be yoked by intruders? Your lord-mayor hears you. And so it is with a heavy heart that I issue this proclamation, in response to your demands: all ships’ captains are hereafter barred from leaving their vessels and setting foot on Kintargo docks or streets, under pain of… let’s say… squassation!”
This is Barzillai’s 8th proclamation since taking up the mayorship, but the first to include any form of torture.
Zakli mouths the word "Torture" as his eyes widen. Maybe closing the opera isn't the worst thing about this occupation... glad I am not a ship captain, but what if performers are next?
"Whaa!" exclaims the druid. "What in the Abyss do sea captains have to do with anything?"
Crady said this more to himself than anyone in particular. He looks down to Ol' Vic as if to get confirmation they both heard the same thing.
Killian quickly realizes he missed something important. A few of the faces in the crowd look panicked at some of the speaker's words.
'I must have missed something. What now?
As the full weight of Thrune's words sink in, the crowd immediately starts booing and jeering. From somewhere in the middle of the crowd, a handful of manure arches up towards the lord-mayor. The putrid projectile misses Barzillai by barely an inch, however the lord-mayor nonetheless flinches and in doing so spills some wine from his goblet across the collar of this clothes.
Instantly, the lord-mayor’s demeanor shifts from amused to bellicose.
“Enough of this! Nox, run them out, arrest them, or kill them. I don’t care which!”
And with that, Thrune sweeps through the doorway behind him, slamming it shut as he goes.
Down below, the woman by the opera house door yells an instruction to the guards near her, who draw their weapons. At the same time, the men and women throughout the crowd that Kessa and Aram had spotted pull back their cloaks, revealing matching armbands, truncheons, and with sadistic glee start attacking the crowd around them. Pandemonium breaks loose as many protestors take up the fight, whilst many more attempt to flee out of aria park by any means necessary.
"Vic! You keep your head down! I'll meet ya at the Tooth & Nail for that soup I owe ya!
Metronicus readies his quarter staff for lump distribution.
"Gloved man! Wait, I'm coming to you!"
Panic fills Killian's voice, as he realizes he may lose his contact in the ensuing conflict.
Tessa watches the mayhem unfold with a frown. Trouble indeed. She steps up on the rim of the fountain and survey's the scene. She pulls out her rapier and calls out to Kessa,
When she hears Killian and fears he may flee she places a hand on his forearm, "Wait! You are needed here!"
Persuasion-
"DON'T SHY BACK NOW BROTHERS AND SISTERS. RISE UP AGAINST THIS OPPRESSION, RISE UP AND FIGHT BACK!"
Spinning his staff with one hand, Aram slams it point down on to the stone, throwing back his cloak and pulling from it's folds, a heavy leather bound tome. He flips through the pages for a second, before smiling and nodding. He rests his staff in the crook of his elbow as he focused on the two enemies before him, swaying his palm back and forth in a hypnotic pattern, as his voice becomes harsh and hissing.
"Các lắc lư con rắn, đó là đôi mắt sáng với những lời hứa của giấc ngủ vĩnh hằng!"
As Aram finished casting his spell, he smiles, flicking his staff back in to his hand, before saying in a calm and commanding voice. "Drop your weapons friends, you do not wish to harm us!" Aiming his words at the two thugs.
Zakli, not really knowing why he thought coming here was a good idea, tries to sort out what is going on.
Aram - 28
Kessa - 22
Guards - 20
Ariella - 16
Crady - 16
Thugs - 14
Zakli - 12
Killian - 10
The thug in the crowd, having brandished his weapon promptly drops it to the ground in a stupor. His companion, just outside of the crowd stares at him for a moment, before yelling "Eustic, what in the seventeenth circle of hell has come over you?"
At Barzillai's word, Nox's guards start to spread out into the crowd and attack the citizens, using their heavy maces and without apparent concern as to whether they are using lethal damage.
Two citizens fall, unconscious in pools of blood. Others pull away, obviously badly wounded. There are screams of fear and anger amongst the crowd.
"Uhh, is that blood? They are really hurting those people... er, us people, I suppose! Yikes!"
Killian looks concerned, but not surprised. He expected this would end well. He certainly wanted to be wrong, however.
Aram growls sharply and makes to step forward, gripping his staff tightly as he stares around at the cruelty of the guards. 'F#@&ing cowards... They'll get theirs!'
Ariela slips her rapier to her hand and attempts to flank any one of the heavy mace thugs if possible. If not she just thrusts her rapier forward as she attempts to defuse the situation. She listens to Aram's words about fighting back and shouts, "Kessa! Killian!"
The various thugs in the crowd, in their turn, wade in, swinging their clubs ...
... no crit
.
"Yikes!"
Zakli has no interest in being beaten, and defensively backs away. "I am a performer, not a ruffian! Surely, you recognize this!"
Zakli begins a singing performance of an operetta he knows, trying to inspire the crowd and any would be allies to dispatch these club-happy guards.
As the Mace swings towards his head, Aram twists aside, his cloak hipping around him like it had a will of its own. He glared at the thug, leveling his gaze at the man before him.
"You are in over your head here son, best you turn around and run now, or you MIGHT just make me mad!"
Nothing to see here ...
The citizens start to panic, and where possible, run, leaving behind the bodies of their comrades. From the crowded throng, a knife is thrown, hitting Nox directly in the neck (a lucky shot). A couple of her guards drag her back into the building, blood spurting from what seems to be a fatal wound.
Three of the escaping citizens are felled by Nox's ditorri guards.
The thugs also lash out at escaping citizens, leaving a few with fairly nasty looking bumps.
Killian hears Ariela cry out for him, and he turns to one of the guards. He approaches with his hands open, palms up.
"Lets try to resolve this peacefully! No one else need be hurt. Lay down your weapon."
When he gets close enough, his hands lash out, clawing at the man's face.
The thug recoils from Killian's attack as the claw rakes across his face.
Aram ducks out of the way of the man who had accosted him and, using his small size to his advantage, made his way towards the heavily armored soldiers at the front.
He called upon his power, flipping to a page in his book and beginning to speak in a hissing tone once again. "Mbele yako akili yako na mwanga ni wangu!"
He pulled a handful of mixed sands from the pouch on his belt and with a little leap, cast them before him. The sand solidified and sprayed outwards, flashing with bright dazzling lights.