When the dwarf champion removes his helm, you are still uncertain as to whether there is any resemblance to your friend Gromff.
Miro decides to stick around, in the hopes that a closer glimpse of this dwarven champion should present itself.
Just as Gromff is finishing the last of his armor, his attention is drawn to the fires. There is only a moments hesitation as he takes in the scene before making a decision. "Aye. Let's go," he says in agreement. When the bearded devil and the other two figures make their appearance he can only surmise they are the cause. But first things first. He forcefully drags the barbarian lad off the road and towards cover. If they engaged the devil they wouldn't have time to help the people. "Don't even think about it," he says just in case Roland gets the idea to attack. "We need to get to the farm first and see if there are wounded."
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Catcher watches it all in silence.
Her still face hiding all of her of emotions. He was disgusted by what she saw. With each cheering, her anger rose and when Gromk battle was at an end, all she wanted was to conjure fire in a storm of vengeance to punish all of those that had enjoyed the sacrifice of the slaves.
Not yet she thought I am still not powerful enough, but one day… she promises herself.
Trying to shake off the rage, she smiles a forceful smile to Edwin, nudging him in the exit direction.
Once they leave the second ring, she is all business again, smiling as a little child.
”Did you see that? That was amazing! I was sooo rooting for the Giant! It was a shame that he lost! Damn, I’ve bet all almost all my money on him!” she complains in a loud voice as she scans the area for any of the arena workers, as she find one, she drags Edwin with her.
”Hey, mister. I’m so sorry to disturb you, but me and grandpa would very much want to meet the dwarf champion! And for that, I would be willing to give all my money.” she says showing about 30 golden pieces and waiting anxiously for an answer.
Miro does not trust himself to speak yet, and merely nods along with what Catcher is saying, playing the wizened grandfather to her excitable teenager.
Gromff, Roland, and Tessandriel,
You hustle through the wheat field toward the farmhouse engulfed in flame. The fires in the fields haven't stretched in your direction yet but they seemed to grow more fierce even you run. After a few minutes of running you reach the farmhouse and see that it is almost completely surrounded by walls of searing flame, but a room with a broken-out side window seems relatively fire-free from your position outside. Hopping through the broken window you find yourself face to face with a small creature made of liquid molten rock, shaped like a ugly misshapen gremlin. It doesn't appear to have noticed you yet and it continues to press itself bodily into walls, furniture, and anything else that will catch flame.
A sudden muffled chorus of screaming can be heard from the direction of the barn, almost unheard for the roaring fire and crackling/popping of the burning house you stand in/near. Not only do you all turn your heads to look at the sound, but so does the creature of flame. It finally notices your presence and makes an awful gurgling sound that might be construed as a laugh, but makes not direct aggressive action.
A large brutish guard and usher waves people on through the corridors, moving them along toward the exits. Catcher flashes a considerable sum of gold, causing the man to double-take. He looks at Catcher and Miro, then waves his hand, motioning them off to the side. Out of the side of his mouth he says "Thirty gold eh? You got a deal. Stand here for a few minutes while the crowd thins out, I'll take you to him."
A shifty-looking halfling passerby seems to have noticed the discussed transaction and says to Miro quietly, "He's lying. I can get you to see him, but not until tomorrow."
You are unable to tell whether either one are lying to you. They both appear to be sincere.
Grandpa nods, glad they were able to escape the possible con. He was determined to talk to Catcher later about how to talk to people, get them to do what you would like. Preferably without that much coin! She was lucky they weren't beaten the moment they walked out.
Gromff stares down the little fire gremlin. Never had he seen a creature like this but seeing as it was burning the house down, it had to go. "Roland, check on those screams. Tess search the house for survivors. I'll handle the little flaming turd." He then grabs his holy symbol and a transparent shield tinged red forms around him.
"Good idea! And then when I find farmers burning to ashes I can heal them!" He's obviously irritated, but leaves seeking whatever is in the barn and hoping there are more fire things in there.
Catcher and Miro,
You exit the arena without further ado. It is now past dark. You have been in the city for about six and a half hours.
You walk several blocks down the street from the arena but its flickering lanterns that illuminate decorative statues along its outer wall are still visible, standing stories higher than any building in near proximity. A cold evening breeze carries the strong scent of burning and ash. You haven't seen evidence of any buildings on fire, but some great fire must be burning somewhere nearby.
The cool night's air is occasionally mitigated by braziers along the larger thoroughfares, casting warmth and light into the dark street. The night grows colder with every passing road it seems, but a sudden chill goes up Miro's back as he realizes he is being followed. There are at least two men keeping their distance, keeping to the shadows, and clearing trying to keep hidden. Details of the pursuers are scarce, but they appear to be human men. They are getting closer.
"Yes, Sabrina, you're right. You never know how dangerous the streets of a big city like this are at night." Miro slides his eyes to where their pursuers lie, hopefully drawing Catcher's attention to them.
If there is a posted Inn nearby, Miro will drag Catcher into it, no matter how seedy or upscale it looks.
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Blissfully unaware of anything, Sabrina continues walking with Edwin, and is more than a little annoyed when he drags her around.
She is the one that do the dragging, not the other way around!
”I don’t know.” she says to Edwin commentary about danger “You know, this is really my first time to enjoy a city. Being a slave, then a mage apprentice on a city where mages are hunted made me never have time to ‘go outside’…” she says with a somewhat sad voice.
Miro is in near panic, the wizard's declaration of her former slavery and being a mage only further exacerbating things. He whispers fiercely through clenched teeth. "Danger!"
Gromff sends Roland off to the barn to see what can be done, while he himself stays inside the house to quell the evil within. With a temporary near-invulnerability to flames, the dwarf priest brings down blow after blow from his morning star, not stopping until the lava-elemental was defeated. It's remains changed color as they began to cool, but then winked out and disappeared.
Tessandriel darts through the house as best she can, but most of the structure is fully aflame and filled with choking thick smoke. From what she could see, there was no indication of people in the farmhouse.
Roland grumbling to the dwarf, runs off toward the muffled screams coming from the barn. As he draws closer there is no doubt that the screams are voices of people, yelling for help, seemingly trapped inside. Mixed cries of help!, we're trapped!, and heavy coughing come from just behind the barn doors. Roland yells for them to stand back and goes at the doors with a barbarians fury. After a couple blows from his magic hammer the door is shattered. The broken planks are ripped away by the trapped farmers, they pour out into the yard coughing and crying.
There are six people here and none could be older than fifteen if you had to guess. The oldest is a pretty red head girl who holds a young baby in her arms. In between her coughs she gets out the message to Roland, "There's a...creature inside...made of flame.. its destroying everything!" The thick black clouds of smoke puffing out of the barn doors and hayloft make Roland consider his next decision.
Miro ushers Catcher inside the first inn they happen across, eschewing any scrutiny of the establishment in order to simply get off the dark streets. The pair stop into a inn with wooden plank sign that looks like a chess board, emblazoned with a simple over-sized pawn over the checkered field. In common above the doors it reads "The Pawn Broker". Upon entering the inn it doesn't appear to be a pawn shop or have any relationship to one, that you can tell. The tables are filled, the bar is lined with drinking customers, and the air is filled with the smell of cheap ale, fresh bread, and hot stew. Walking amongst the tables is a lady dwarf minstrel, singing "Dwarves of the Smokey Mountains,". Her skill on the guitar seems to surpass her singing skill by a longshot.
There doesn't appear to be even a single open table. There is room at the bar however. An old grizzled bearded human man with a red eye patch is tending bar.
After slaying the creature of fire Gromff realizes that the house about ready to collapse. Fire resistance wouldn't help in that situation at all. He tries to keep the flames at bay with conjured water but it was a lost cause. Instead he kept an escape route free of flames so when Tess returns with news that no one seems to be in the house, they are able to make their escape. Outside he goes to see how Roland is doing. Most likely Roland informs him of the creature in the barn. "Leave it. The barn ain't gonna make it and the creature'll return to its plane soon enough. What I'm wonderin is how this happened."
Although Roland wanted to kill it, there was absolutely no point in doing it. It was in its terrain, and the bard was certainly lost at that time. If it ever came out of the barn they would have a serious talk, but now the other folks were a better hope of drawing the enemy's attention.
"I left it already. Now, why in seven hells did they leave you to die inside that place? Who are you?"
Miro looks over his shoulder for their company as he continues to guide Catcher to the bar. He whispers, "We were being followed. Play it cool, in case they come in."
He walks to the bar, wizard in hand, smiling widely at the man behind the counter. "Two ales, if you please." After an appropriate pause, he grins even wider. "And one for the lass."
The young redheaded farm girl tells Roland and Gromff a frightening recanting of recent events.
"Mother and father were killed by that hulk of a devil and his two cronies just minutes before you arrived. The devilish group broke down our front door in the middle of supper and began raving about our parents' traitorous deeds... something about smuggling people in and out of the city. They said our family would pay for their insolence, and they cut papa down on the spot. Mama too. Then they dragged us kids out to the barn while the man began mixing vials of potion and powders... he threw down his concoction and out burst those flame-creatures. They started burning down everything in sight-- the fields, the house, and then they locked us up in the barn with one of em. Its still in there!"
The grizzled bar keep eyes Miro and Catcher with his one remaining eye, and produces three mugs of ale. "A silver and 2 coppers. Just so's you know, we aint got rooms left. The fights filled us to the brim, see. Common room's pretty full, but you might could find some room on the floor. Common room's 'round the corner there if yer int'rested." He points around toward the end of the bar where the room curves out of sight. His eyes are drawn to the entry where a burly man holds the door open for a couple of town guards. You're certain you saw one of the guards stuffing a coin pouch into a pocket as he enters. The burly man then points to the pair of you at the bar. The guards enter, short swords drawn.
"Oi there. Yes you two. Come with us quietly and there'll be less trouble."
The barkeep looks at the untouched mugs, then to you two. He has a resigned sad look in his eye suddenly.
Gromff turns away from the sad eyes of the children and scratches his head as he thinks for a moment. "Bah, damn it all. Whole worlds gone crazier than a vein o mithril." "If ye got someplace to go ye better head there now. And don't tell anyone we helped ye or they'll be after us too. If ye don't then I guess ye'll have ta come with us though I ain't certain what to do after that," he says with his arms crossed.
Miro uses the distraction to chant softly, casting a spell.
If they fall, he will start to dart upstairs (assuming there is an upstairs), trying to drag the woman behind him. He chuckles wryly, "Come, my love!"
Catcher tosses a mug of ale at a full table near the door, shattering the mug and another it impacted, spraying foam and booze over multiple patrons. The now foam-covered angry patrons stand up and begin yelling for revenge. They step up toward Catcher, momentarily blocking the guards' path. Working in tandem, Miro begins his spellcasting the moment Catcher threw the mug, targeting his conjured grease on the floor underneath the guards and all of the disgruntled taverngoers. Nearly everyone in the area of effect goes down in a heap, crashing onto one another to a multitude of fwoop! slipping sounds. One town guard manages to keep his balance, though he is in the midst of a pile of angry slippery bodies. He angrily thrusts his shortsword toward Catcher as the pair run up the stair case, but his attack falls short.
The bard and mage hustle upstairs to escape the commotion. Down the stairwell you can hear raucous laughter, angry cursing, and tumbled furniture.
You two reach a landing. From here you see a long hallway lined with numbered doors, you see a another flight of steps that go up to the third (and presumably highest) floor, and you see a pair of windows that face the side of the building. The standing guard is at the base of the stairwell in pursuit.
Miro looks behind them, noticing a guard still in pursuit. His adrenaline is pumping, and he tries not to smile from the excitement he is feeling. Sure, he is running from an authority figure, but this was the kind of escape you heard in song! He frantically tries to tug Catcher along, up the stairs to the third floor.
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Almost all her things where left with the others, with her, only some coins and a dagger. Catcher huge and heavy bag was not in her way, and she could run, maybe even outrun the guard… However, her partner short legs were making things worse from them.
So, as the Halfling tug her along the third floor, in a swift movement he picks him up as a small child, and run upstairs ”Just mind the one following his, let me do the running.” she says frantically.
Roland finds it pretty funny that the dwarf is sending them away. "You're sounding like a jerk, Gromff! Hey kid, we just saved you. We're the good guys. Why don't you tell us what your father was really doing? How was he slipping in and out of town? We could use that information, cause the devils certainly don't like us..."
Gromff was a little surprised. That was an impressive bit of forethought on Roland's part even if he hadn't thought through why they should stay low. Little ironic since they would need to stay that way if they wanted to go through Archdale. "That's why I don't want them talking about this. Less attention we bring the better. Especially when two of ours are still behind enemy lines," he says. He nods to the kid to speak though. His information could be valuable.
Catcher scoops up her diminutive friend Miro in her very capable arms and runs up the last flight of stairs. As you reach the top floor of the inn you hear heavy footfalls behind you in the stairwell. This third floor is much like the second, with a long hallway with numbered rooms (spaced farther apart than the previous floor, indicating larger rooms) and a pair of windows right near where you stand at the landing.
To Roland and Gromff the redhead gal explains that there is a secret tunnel that leads from their barn floor all the way into Sweetwaters. She says it was supposed to be a secret even from her but she knew what her parents were up to, and she was proud of them for keeping people safe in this evil-ridden world.
With that bit of knowledge imparted (feel free to ask more questions if you have them) the eldest child informs that their uncle has a farm nearby and they would retreat there immediately. With almost nothing in their arms but each other, they depart westward toward the road.
Miro nearly laughs in excitement. "Out the window, love!" if the wizard gets them through the window, the halfling shouts a word and they slowly descend to street level.
Nearly out of options the pair crash through the third story window. With glass shards in their clothes and cutting their skin, they slowly and safely descend back to the ground with a bit of magic.
You're both now between the inn and the one-story building next door. It's a dark alleyway, but short. There is a space behind the buildings that is even darker than the alley you're standing in. From here you see light spilling out into the street from the inn's front doors you entered just a minute ago.
Miro,
Your sharp eyes catch movement in the alley behind the inn. Just a bit of purple moonlight accented the small figure momentarily, and you think whoever it is was probably surprised by your defenestration, and had to hide hastily. The figure is small, like you. Probably a gnome or halfling if you had to guess.
Gromff will have her tell him exactly where it is in the barn and where it ends up in the town. He will then take them back to the wagon and let them take whatever they can carry before letting them run off to their uncle's likely a safer place than with them. Most likely Roland or Tess will want to make sure they get there safely and if they don't he will suggest one of them to follow along. He will stay with the wagon in case Miro or Catcher returns. Wonder what's taking them.
Miro laughs at Catcher's admonishment just before they bust through the window. The shards of glass sure stung, but that was an exit if there ever was one!
"There's someone over there. A little someone." Miro whispers. He chuckles, mumbling, "Yes, my love." His grin is playful as his features change into that of a human child of about 4 years of age.
Roland believes there may be more to it. "Well, if there is a tunnel that takes us in the city, there could be others that take us out on the other side..."
The figure hiding in the shadows behind The Pawn Broker inn speaks to Miro and Catcher. "You appear more able to look after yourselves than we anticipated. That bit of magic there--" he seems to be addressing Miro's recent change in appearance--"will be helpful, but with the girl still looking the same, you won't survive the night. If you have more magic, I suggest you use it before anyone else sees you. Quickly now, they'll be here any moment. You can run that way." In the darkness you can barely see him gesture behind the inn and to the dark beyond. It seems to go on down the length of the street behind the buildings.
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The farm girl tells Gromff, Roland, and Tess that she doesn't actually know where in the barn the tunnel is, but just by knowing it is there it probably won't be that hard to find.
The trio of heroes lead the children back to the road, back to where their wagon is parked alongside the fields. There the children take a few cloaks and some dried meat to snack on. After a short goodbye and hugs all around thanking the party for rescuing them, the diminished farm family departs.
Miro's eyes widen at the words of the little man. Hmmmm...behind them lay certain capture and an unknown fate. Ahead, the same likely awaited them at the gates. He reaches into his pouch and pulls out a potion, handing it to Catcher. "Drink this and turn into something. Be creative!" He then proceeds to hop down and follow the figure into the alley.
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You are small as a child, but don’t be naive as one! the mage thinks about her partner attitude, but with no real option, she takes the potion and think’s up a new appearance.
A young woman with short black hair, wearing earthy colors and a leather apron, a bit fatty for her age and size. She has sunken eyes, thinning hair and wears dirty clothes, and runs dragging her feet and keeping her head down, as someone the life had taken its toll.
She follows the seemingly four years old kid, into the darkness, but ready to get her dagger if need arises.
Roland looks at the burning Barn, certain that they would need to wait for several hours before looking for the secret passage underneath it. "We should wait for that thing to cool down before moving in. The smoke might kill us if we do it now. Why are they taking so long, dammit?!"
Gromff, Roland, Tess,
Night has fallen. The stars and moons are high in the sky and your friends have not yet returned from Sweetwaters.
Miro and Catcher,
As you hustle by him the shadowy figure says, "I will deal with any guards who come this way. Hurry now. The consortium cares for you and this land. For the peace!"
"We should go after them!"