Emi is quite surprised by how well the smoke works to divert the crowd, far better than she had expected. Although Neziana's smoke stick isn't yet going, she doesn't want to waste any of the time they have before the trick is discovered.
Emileva pulls herself up onto to stage after telling Nebbin and Tassira "Come on, it's time!
Once she's on the stage, she looks around at the actor and crew there to see what they are doing, and if any of them are armed.
Tassira scrambles for the stage alongside Kayleigh & Emi!
And she makes it up to the stage easily!
Thank goodness I left Ravnos outside...
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Nebbin tries to climb, staying "in character" as he holds tight to his "crutch." Unfortunately, climbing is really difficult while holding onto a disguised quarterstaff and pretending to limp, and he gets nowhere.
Neziana, seeing the first smoke stick start to roil and the crowd already rushing away, holds on to her alchemical tool and waits for a moment, seeing if any opportunity presents itself before joining the others on stage.
There are four men and a woman on stage, all dressed as nobles. The woman wears a ridiculous tall hat in a style no one's worn for a century. The same is true for one of the men, though his is a saggy hat affair. No one is visibly armed. There are two more actresses in balconies above the stage. There are also the music galleries to either side, one of them directly above the smokestick. These are so low-lit that people sitting up there are just shadows. Coughing shadows, in the case of the nearside gallery.
The actors on the stage and in the balconies are stunned by the crowd's reaction too. They clearly don't know whether to run with the crowd or flee backstage. One of them opens the center stage door (which is a double-door) and calls back uncertainly.
"Is there a fire?! Pilts, Arnau!? Is the backstage on fire?"
"Yes of course there must be a fire somewhere!" The gasping reply comes from the nearside musician's gallery. "Find the damned fire and put it out! There's paints and stains back there!"
The two double doors that you entered by suddenly seem small with so many people trying to move through them at once. The bouncers in front of you are the slowest to realize what's going on and the least concerned. They're in a two-on-two tussle with sailors in a crowd full of their mates. They collide into Nebbin as he tries to mount the stage causing him to miss his vault.
Nebbin tries again to scramble up on stage, this time with more success.
Oh yeah, I'm not really hurt and don't have to pretend to limp! Stupid Nebbin!
He clutches the "crutch" in front of him, leaning on it like an overlong cane.
"EVERYONE! RUN AWAY! THERE'S A FIRE!" he bellows, pointing toward the rear doors.
Neziana continues to wait, heart beating more quickly, as she doesn't want to drop her own smoke stick yet and wants to make sure no one comes up on her strange ... "friends" ... from behind them.
Once Nebbon is onstage, Emileva moves to the closest door, immediately to her right, and opens it.
Kayleigh gives Em an appreciative nod for her decisiveness as she passes through the doorway and starts looking around backstage for Crayden. Belatedly, she remembers that she's supposed to be fleeing a fire and coughs a few times into the sleeve of the shirt she wears over her chain shirt.
The huge man has a stage presence he would never recognize in himself. Towering three-and-a-half feet taller than normal magnifies him six times in the crowd's eyes and his message goes straight home. Several of the bouncers join the stream of onlookers headed for the exit doors.
The actress on stage with Nebbin shrieks in fright and runs headlong off the side of the stage, falling awkwardly in the process. Her ridiculous hat fouls the brazier, slung low to shed maximum light on what was supposed to be a daytime street scene. Burning coals rain down on the side of the stage and on the fallen actress. She screams in pain as the stage catches fire for real.
Kayleigh plunges backstage, directly into a long unfinished room filled with racks of clothes. A door on the far west end of the room is labeled Ladies Dressing and the door on the near end is labeled for men. A set of double-doors in the center open onto a further backstage area. Kayleigh's and Emi's view is constrained, but what you see are all kinds of stage backdrops and props piled up haphazardly. There's signs of life in every direction. Voices in the dressing rooms and people in the backstage area. A boy comes running out of men's dressing behind Kayleigh screaming about a fire. He doesn't even notice you there until he runs straight into the cleric. He blinks, perhaps convincing himself she's an actor, then tries to pull away in panic.
Nebbin jumps a little, having scared himself, before remembering that there's not actually a fire ... until there is!
"Hold on, I'll help you!" he calls, rushing over to the actress to try to help her up, just barely remembering to bring along his crutch.
"Oh, for the love of..." Neziana huffs as she sees Nebbin again go after the person in distress instead of following the plan.
She drops her own smoke stick -- even though it's probably not necessary at this point -- and vaults onto the stage, heading to try to put out the fire before it gets started.
Whatever he's doing now better not leave Tassira in trouble, she thinks.
...oh, no.
Tassira cringes as the stage catches fire (for real this time), but is about to follow Nebbin over to help the actress when she sees Neziana leaping to her aid as well.
Right. They've got this under control, I think--need to stick to the plan.
She darts backstage with Kayleigh and Emi to find the priest they're here to rescue.
Emi is about to follow Kayleigh through the door when she hears the racket from the brazier disaster.
Cursing, she stops and takes off her cloak. She tosses it to Tassira.
"Give this to Nebbin so he can put that poor girl out!"
She then follows Kayleigh to look for the priest.
[ooc]If Tassira is already through the door before Emileva, she will instead run over to toss the cloak to Nebbin herself, then run back to follow Kayleigh.[ooc}
Kayleigh and Emileva hurry through the further door. This rear storage room spans the entire width of the performance hall and is packed full of decades worth of stage backdrops and props. Fortunately, the stage prop you're looking for is right by the doors, ready for the final act of the play. Crayden's inert form is bound hand and foot to a piece of wood painted like a false-wall that leans up against the nearest pile of backdrops (12,25). The priest is unconscious though he appears at first glance to be uninjured.
Out on stage, Nebbin is going to need more than a cloak to arrest the fire. There are no curtains or convenient sandbags around. Instead there's a layer of straw on the floor that readily takes up the flame. The dry cloth of the stage and its wooden frame similarly take fire. The woman who Nebbin intends to rescue is not burnt, she's burning and her pain-filled screaming is the stuff of nightmares. Without drastic action, the fire is not going to be stopped.
It's time to go. Those bouncers who weren't convinced by Nebbin's proclamation are convinced by the very obvious fire and join the stream of folks leaving by the exits.
"Bastards!" Kayleigh hisses when she spies Crayden's unmoving form, though the curse is probably drowned out by the hysterical screaming going on throughout the burning theater. The Milanite priestess moves to her friend and immediately casts cure light wounds to hopefully bring him around.
While Kayleigh is reviving her friend, Emileva cuts his bonds with her kukri.
"We need to get him into those clothes as quickly as we can. There's an actual fire out on the stage now. We have to get out of here fast."
Nebbin gasps as he realizes the woman is on fire and there's nothing nearby to put it out with. Wincing, he tries to bat the flames out as he drags the woman away.
Neziana keeps an eye out to make sure no one comes to try to stop this disastrous rescue.
If the priest is even here... I'm starting to think I'm more in danger by being with this lunkhead and the rest of them. Maybe I should strike back out on my own if we get out of here... No matter how cute Tassira is.
Tassira pokes her head back around to the stage and sees that the actress on fire isn't doing so well.
She has a flash of inspiration, however...
Would my ray of frost spell work? I have to try!
Nebbin must jump back down to the pit floor to help the unfortunate woman. He hauls her out of the flames, now swirling around the column and spreading across the stage. Tassira braves the running flames to approach the edge of the stage so she can cast down on Nebbin and the burned girl. Between his smothering and Tassira's ray of frost they're able to smother the fires on her person, but she's badly burnt. She stammers out a pain-wracked thanks, struggling to her feet to escape the blaze.
Their rescue complete, Nebbin and Tassira turn back to the growing conflagration. There's a closing length of stage between the pillar and the wall still clear of flames, the place where Tassira stands. The real fire has chased the remaining actors backstage, where Kayleigh and Emileva have disappeared.
---
Backstage, Emileva's knife slices through the bonds pinning Crayden to the false door. He collapses into Emileva's arms as Kayleigh mumbles the words of her spell. He comes to in a state of delirium, mumbling phrases of nonsense. His stare is vacant and lucid by turns changing between the two states rapidly. At once he recognizes Kayleigh, agreeing to wear the clothes then suddenly doesn't and struggles against her help.
The strength returns to his legs though, and he's standing upright when the stream of panicked actors and stage hands come through the doors headed for the rear exit. They bring the smell of fire with them, fire and fear. The majority of them don't even acknowledge Emi and Kayleigh standing there. They're focused on the doors and safety from the fire.
One of them calls to the ladies as he flees.
"Leave him and run! He's good as dead and Pilts won't want him saved anyway!"
Soon musicians are joining the flow, coming down the stairs from the upper floor with their instruments. All of them are yelling in panic at one another, collectively raising the din in the narrow room to a low roar.
"Clear out of the way!" a shrill voice comes down to you from up the stairs. "Let us through or these guards will cut you down! Stand aside!"
Tassira sighs in relief. "Thank Nethys that worked." She looks at her hands with a little smile.
"Now, let's get the priest out of here." She taps Nebbin and points backstage, where Kayleigh & Emileva disappeared.
I was considering burning this place down anyway... but now I'm glad I didn't go through with it.
While holding up Crayden Emi tries to keep him still enough for Kayleigh to get the new clothes on him. She soon becomes impatient with the struggle though.
"Forget about the clothes. It doesn't matter anymore. We need to round up the others and get out of here. I don't think anyone will seriously try to stop us now.
She takes one of the priest's arms over her shoulders and indicates for Kayleigh to do the same with the other. They can either walk him or drag him along as need be.
HP 22/25
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (-2 to all when raging), DR 1/-
Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +0 (+2 Will when raging)
CMD 18
Rage: 0/11; Harrow points: 3/3; Auspicious Mark (1d6) 0/1
Effects:
Tears fill Nebbin's eyes as he waits and wonders what to do.
At Tassira's order he nods, and rushes toward the back to help.
Neziana's flesh crawls, a cold fear filling her as the room fills with flame and smoke.
"We have to go!" she calls, looking back to see if there's a way out the way they came in or if it's still too crowded with other fleeing patrons.
Disaster!
Hearing a voice she fears belongs to Pilts, Kayleigh mutters a quick "Sorry!" and tosses the breeches she bought for Crayden over his head in the hopes it'll keep the theater owner from recognizing him during the escape.
Figuring that Pilts will use a back exit to flee, Kayleigh ushers Emileva and the priest through the door leading back to the Pit, nearly crashing into Nebbin.
"Got him!" she reports with the briefest of smiles. "Can we get out...?"
Her eyes widen at the sight of the growing conflagration. "Holy Roses! This place really is on fire!"
"Yes. We really need to go now." Oddly, Tassira's calmed down a lot now that the team's all together again.
She covers her mouth as more smoke fills the room.
The smoke in the room is increasingly oppressive.
Most of the crowd has escaped at this point. In each direction there's still a bouncer. A couple of these men took their jobs seriously enough to make sure the crowd got out before saving themselves. Nebbin, Kayleigh and Emileva are able to shuttle Crayden to the stage's edge and get him down to the pit floor.
You're midway through this operation when Pilts comes bursting through the stage doors.
"My stage!" he screams. "My playhouse!!"
One of his guards trails him, lingering by the stage door. Pilts looks around in desperation, not believing his eyes. His gaze settles on your little group as you flee the stage, but briefly. Maybe he figures you to be the last dregs of his fleeing crowd.
"Get out of here!" he screams at you and the last of his bouncers, before retreating back through the stage door towards the rear exit. His guard is happy to follow.
The crowd outside the playhouse is combative. People scream at one another, desperate to find those they were separated from in the crowd or belligerent at being cheated of the show. Smoke pours out of the open playhouse doors. To the rear of the playhouse, those who escaped by the rear exit are joining the crowd in front of the burning building.
There's a crowd in the plaza beyond the fence in front of the building who are chanting for the building to burn. Some of the folks who were in the building take exception to this and fights are breaking out.
This is going to turn into another riot.
"We need to get out of here!" Nebbin says urgently.
Kayleigh nods at Nebbin's words as she and Emileva help Crayden out the door. Hearing some of the tension and outrage outside the place, she decides to do a little complaining as well so the group won't seem suspicious as they make their escape.
"Well! I'm glad we didn't pay extra for balcony seating!" she huffs, trying to sound vaguely offended by the proceedings. "And our poor friend gets trampled on the way out! Unacceptable!"
In a classic example of bad timing, Kayleigh has the misfortune to glance at Crayden as she utters those words. Trampled so badly that his pants ended up on top of his head! she finds herself thinking. The pressures and horrors of the last two days plus the lack of sleep finally catch up with her: Kayleigh feels the hysterical giggle fit coming upon her and tries to squelch it but only succeeds in giving an undignified, unladylike snort instead.
Once outside Emileva ask Nebbin "Could you help Kayleigh with him? There's something I need to do."
Once Nebbin is helping with Crayden, she tells them to go ahead and start back. But Emi takes a rapid swing through the crowd to look for the injured actress.
My plan, my responsibility.
Nebbin looks confused.
"Why would we have paid for balcony seating? It would have been harder to get to the stage," he says...
"Oh, of course!" he answers Emileva, being distracted by the new task.
He takes the cleric easily in his arms, carrying him as if he were a child.
Seeing how ridiculously easy it is for mighty Nebbin to carry Crayden, Kayleigh looks anxiously after the departing form of Emileva.
"Tassira--please collect Neziana and lead Nebbin back to the temple," she says quietly. "I'll go with Emileva and make sure she's safe."
Without waiting for an answer, Kayleigh turns and rushes in Emi's footsteps. The dark spectre of what Emileva did to the gnome prisoner in the fishery tries to rear its ugly face in the back of the cleric's mind, but Kayleigh swiftly shoves the notion back down. No, it doesn't feel like this is a revenge thing she decides, thinking not only of Emi's reason for going back inside the burning building but of her own as well. Whatever she's doing...I've got her back.
Tassira simply nods and moves to get Neziana's & Nebbin's attention.
"Come on--we need to go. Now."
When Emileva notices Kayleigh trying to catch her, she stops to wait.
"I'm glad to see you Kayleigh. There are a couple of things I have to do before I can leave, and one of them I can't do myself" she says as she continues to look around.
"My smokestick idea was supposed to ensure bystanders didn't get hurt. But one of the actors on stage, a woman, was burned, maybe badly. If we can find her can you heal her?"
"Sure thing!" Kayleigh gushes before her face turns troubled. "...Although it might blow my cover. How did the fire start, anyhow? I was so focused on getting backstage and rescuing Crayden that I didn't even notice things had gotten so out of hand."
After a pause, she quietly adds, "And what's the second thing you...we...need to do?"
"Yes, it might not be entirely safe, this crowd may be very anti-clerical and Milani or Aroden could be a difference without a distinction to them. But we can try to do it discreetly."
The other thing is doing something about the fire. I don't care about the theater, and I figure you don't either." Emi says with a smile.
"But it could spread to other buildings if it really gets out of control. I'm going to try getting some people together to wet the neighboring buildings down at least."
Kayleigh averts her eyes when Emi suggests that she probably doesn't care if the theater burns to the ground. Can she read my mind? the cleric wonders, quite ashamed by how much she'd let her hunger for revenge cloud her thoughts recently.
"I also prepare create water every day so the poor people and invalids of Old Korvosa won't have to go thirsty or travel to the wells," she tells Em. "I guess I could help in your second task as well."
"I'm sorry I misjudged you," she blurts out, surprising even herself a bit with the sudden admission. In a firmer voice she then vows, "I've got your back. Point me in the right direction and tell me what to do."
Happily, this building has no immediate neighbors, but is separated from other buildings by the yard, a fence, and a street. It's totally free-standing, like the Temple of Aroden. This lets you focus on the woman.
The last you saw of the wounded woman she was fleeing by the door opposite the one you used. All exits, including the rear one open into the yard. To get to the street you must come to the front of the property, and this is where the crowd is still jammed up, The square where the yard lets out is filled with an unhappy mix of rioters and sailors. You search through this glut of people as they trickle through the gates and back out into the streets, but come up empty.
Working around to the other side of the building you finally find the actress surrounded by some of her peers, huddled as far away from the burning building as the yard allows. She moans in pain as some of her friends try to comfort her. The others stare open-mouthed at the playhouse as the hungry fire inside grows and the volume of smoke increases.
---
Nebbin, Tassira and Neziana bear a confused and ridiculous Crayden away from the scene as quickly as they can. Neziana winces each time the big man inadvertently shoves another fellow crowd member aside. Another witness. Yes, I saw a big man and two women carrying someone through the crowd, escaping the burning building. She pulls her hood down lower, obscuring her face entirely as they move through the streets.
"Let's do this as anonymously as possible," Kayleigh whispers to Emileva. "I just need to be within 30 feet of her for my healing channels to take effect."
Once the two women are within range, Kayleigh surreptitiously fingers her holy symbol and stares up at the burning playhouse, pretending to take in the spectacle while actually channeling positive energy three times in succession. The cleric then whispers to Emi, "Do you want to go sneak a peek at the burned woman to see if that did the trick?"
Nebbin keeps looking back, concerned that Kayleigh is back in the murderous crowd, but continues trying to make his way back to their makeshift home.
"I'm sorry I misjudged you," she blurts out, surprising even herself a bit with the sudden admission. In a firmer voice she then vows, "I've got your back. Point me in the right direction and tell me what to do."
A surprised and quizzical look passes over Emileva's face, but she just replies with "Oh, I doubt you misjudged me" with a wry smile.
"Good, thank you. Let's go then."
Emi nods silently and moves to get a look at the actress.
Nebbin finds himself muttering apologies to his neighbors left and right in the human flood. Yet with patience, he and the two wizards are able to escape the press and break into more open streets.
Here knots of people cluster together in pools of light under the odd working corner lamp, or before an open door. You skate past these, catching small glimpses of conversations. Deals being made. Things and people being bought. By the time you spot the Temple bell tower it comes as a great relief.
---
Milani's grace flows through Kayleigh, pulsing out in all directions, washing over everyone it touches. She realizes the absurdity of people not feeling the spell as she casts it. All around her people let out an audible sigh, as if the anxiety of the fire is lifted off their shoulders. Even folks outside the playhouse fence, passer-bys on the street get affected by the goddess's warm energy. From the gaggle of players clustered nearby you hear a collective shout of surprise as the actress realizes her wounds are gone.
Emi leans in to hear what they're saying. Her dress is scorched in the front, the material gone. But the flesh she exhibits beneath is just pink and warm, not hideously cooked like just a moment before.
"It's a miracle," one actor proclaims.
Another ponders to his friends as their playhouse burns. "You know, that old man Chester was telling me that the playhouse sits where an old Temple of Aroden once stood. He said that accounted for at least half its ghosts."
Another stands up and draws a player's false sword he still wears from an upcoming scene. "Maybe she just learned to heal fast!" he jokes, darkly. "We should investigate!"
Several of the actors laugh at his joke but are quickly hissed down by one of the others with a little more common sense. From across the dark, flame-lit yard Pilts stares at them for a moment, then says something to the guards standing next to him.
Tassira feels a wave of relief once the trio finally reaches the temple of Aroden.
"Great. Perfect--let's get him inside."
Now maybe I can check on my own apartment, and see if everything's alright...
Ravnos sidles up next to Crayden and meows.
When Emileva checks back and reports on the woman's improved condition, Kayleigh seems satisfied. On the way back to the Temple of Aorden, though, she asks Emi's opinion on a dangerous action she's contemplating.
"I know we're trying to keep a low profile and all, but...well, honestly, the old Kayleigh Fairwind would be expected to show up if there were a fire or other such incident in the neighborhood, offering to heal the wounded and mend torn and tattered clothing and the like. Honestly, right now, a part of me wants to let the bastards suffer! Imagine--kidnapping and killing a kindly old priest for entertainment! But...it's what I do; it's who I am. It's probably just wishful thinking, but maybe if these...cretins...see someone actually helping those less fortunate than themselves, they'll change their ways. I figure if I don't make the first move and provide a good example, they never will. Oh, I'm such a softy! If I were to don my Milanite tabard and come back to heal those wounded...would you accompany me to watch my back?"
Nebbin sighs happily and brings his slight burden inside, where he sets him back down.
"See? All safe now!"
He looks nervously back at the door for the others to return -- if they're not back in five minutes, he'll go out after to find them.