Regeris draws back the curtains on a man, standing in the corner brandishing a drawn scimitar with wicked teeth along its blade. The man lets out a whispered curse as he sees the others filing into the room. The inquisitor has just enough time to register the threat of the odd, drawn blade before the man's off-hand lashes out. Something small leaves his hand and impacts on the hearthstone of the fireplace with a thunderous, deafening crash.
The intense noise coming from the room startles Emileva, obviously something's happening and probably not a good thing. She draws her falchion.
On reflex, Tassira yelps and summons up a magical protective incantation!
Kayleigh manages to blink once before the thunderstone steals her sense of hearing. Her wince turns to a frown as she informs the attacker (likely way too loudly),
She closes on the man, glowing morningstar in hand but not yet raised to strike.
Nebbin winces as the loud noises deafens him, blinking back tears a few times. Weaving his way around the crowded room, Nebbin approaches the man.
he shouts, trying to hear himself.
Regeris backpedals away from the wicked looking blade and its cloaked wielder, catching a glimpse as he does of a bare foot sticking up awkwardly out of the tub. His hands find the familiar bow grip and arrow. Nebbin shoulders past the retreating inquisitor, placing his square frame between the archer and the threat.
Kayleigh pushes open the door to her left to find another cloaked attacker on the other side. He grasps the door's edge as it swings his way and steps into the doorway, shortsword in hand.
The first attacker lashes out at Nebbin with his saw-toothed blade. The big warrior is spared a terrible wound by twisting away from the thrust at the last minute. Instead the blade traces a superficial slice across Nebbin's chest. .
Regeris immediately clutches his ears as the thunderstone goes off, and takes the brief moment he has to draw his bow. He looks around wildly, seeing his companions shout and hearing nothing. Realizing he has little to add he spots the masked man attacking Nebbin. Unable to communicate with his friends he realizes they're in a fight to the death, and looses an arrow at the man attacking Kayleigh. However, the close quarters completely foul his arrow, and he just smacks his bow against the wall.
Confronted with a hooded figure that's unlikely to be the girly artist the group was sent to bring in, Kayleigh nonetheless silently screams the words before bringing her silvery morningstar around toward the person's ribcage. She also shifts slightly in the hopes that Emileva or someone else will join her in the fight.
for
Emi isn't sure what she'll find when she enters the room, but it's a quick and easy assessment when she does. The figure to the right is at some distance, and both Nebbin and Regeris are there. They will need room to work.
Kayleigh is confront another man immediately to the left. She would have to actually run past him to get to the other. Decision made, she slips in beside Kayleigh. The space and bodies are tight for a wide swing with her blade, so Emi aims a slashing thrust across the man's torso.
HP 30/34
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (-2 to all when raging), DR 1/-
Fort +5, Ref +3 (+1 vs. traps), Will +1 (+2 Will when raging)
CMD 19 (21 vs. grapple)
Rage: 0/13; Harrow points: 3/3; Auspicious Mark (1d6) 0/1
Effects:
Nebbin cries,
Not aware of what's going on across the room, he hesitates, hoping the man will realize it's a case of mistaken identity and he doesn't need to try to kill Nebbin. He's ready, though, if the man doesn't stop, to teach him a lesson.
Tassira enters the room, sees Nebbin struggling with one of the assailants, and moves up to subdue the man...
"Imbre Coloris!"
...with a carefully-aimed burst of colour, angled to get the wall and the target. Preferably without blasting Nebbin as well.
Nebbin's attacker shields his eyes from Tassira's glamor and appears unaffected by it.
The second attacker parries furiously but is struck by both Emileva and Kayleigh. As Emi makes her attack a crossbow bolt caroms off the jamb of the doorway and nicks her shoulder . She glances over her shoulder to find that the door to the flat across the hall has opened and a new attacker stands in the doorway reloading his weapon.
Nebbin's attacker presses the fight, triggering the big man's attack. Unfortunately the big weapon fails to land on the lithe attacker. The wicked blade lashes out again, grazing Nebbin's forearm. .
Hearing the *whizz* of a crossbow bolt flying in through the doorway, Tassira decides to move to a different spot and return fire.
Y'know, since my Colour Spray didn't do any good.
HP 29/34
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (-2 to all when raging), DR 1/-
Fort +5, Ref +3 (+1 vs. traps), Will +1 (+2 Will when raging)
CMD 19 (21 vs. grapple)
Rage: 0/13; Harrow points: 3/3; Auspicious Mark (1d6) 0/1
Effects:
Nebbin hisses in pain and cuts back at the mean jerk who keeps attacking him for no reason. He thought maybe this was all some sort of confusion or misunderstanding, but he's got two cuts now, and enough is enough, even for him!
The ringing in his ears is really distracting, though, and his blow isn't even close.
Kayleigh flinches as Emi reacts to the crossbow bolt the priestess neither saw nor heard coming. She's pretty sure she just emitted a girly half-scream, which makes her half embarrassed and half angry. Gritting her teeth, she again swings for the man's ribs.
for
The surprise crossbow nick, along with the sudden appearance of a surprise shooter, makes Emileva's adrenaline surge. Even though she's now had a moment to study her adversary, she's off her rhythm and doesn't manage to land a blow.
Regeris shakes his head rapidly, trying to patiently take down his opponents as his ears ring painfully.
Tassira and Regeris both miss with their missile attacks. In firing directly through his allies, Regeris has to overcome cover as well.
Kayleigh's opponent tries in vain to twist away from the cleric's angry blow. The morningstar lands full on the man's ribs. Flesh and bones yield and the attacker drops to the ground, unconscious and dying.
The shooter down the hall trains his weapon at Tassira. Happily his bolt sails harmlessly past the mage's face and embeds itself in the wall behind her.
Nebbin's swing is wild and the first attacker easily evades the attack. He screams out to his cohorts.
"The girl's not with them!"
He tries to tumble around the warrior and head for the window, but instead provokes an attack with his clumsiness.
HP 29/34
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (-2 to all when raging), DR 1/-
Fort +5, Ref +3 (+1 vs. traps), Will +1 (+2 Will when raging)
CMD 19 (21 vs. grapple)
Rage: 0/13; Harrow points: 3/3; Auspicious Mark (1d6) 0/1
Effects:
"WHAT?" Nebbin shouts back in return, unable to hear the man.
He appreciates the man not trying to kill him anymore, but he's pretty sure Regeris, and maybe Emileva, will want to talk to him, so clubs him hard in the head with the flat of his blade as hard as he can.
Wait--Trinia's not with them? Then she isn't dead yet. Thank Nethys--I was fearing the worst!
Hearing the news, Tassira marches out into the hallway while the shooter is reloading, raises a wrapped palm, and her eyes flash with magic.
"Imbre Coloris!"
Another burst of colours and lights erupts from her fingertips, engulfing the man...
Nebbin's blade catches the assailant on the temple with a sickening crunch. The man's eyes roll up into his head and he drops to the ground.
Tassira's bold advance toward the archer clearly unnerves the man. His eyes grow wild in panic as he furiously reloads his weapon, making it all the easier to catch him with the unexpected burst of illusionary lights. He falls backward, casting aside his crossbow and hitting the ground hard.
Nebbin's gaze is drawn to the bare foot sticking up over the rim of the bathtub. There's a woman lying on her face on the bottom. The back of her head is a bloody mess where someone, presumably one of these men, has bashed it in for her. She lies in a shallow pool of her own blood.
Nothing else moves in the flat, the hall, or the other apartment flat whence the third assailant came. The place appears to be your to explore, but there's no obvious signs of your own quarry either.
"OH NO!" Nebbin shouts. "I THINK THEY KILLED HER!"
The big man rushes over to see if it's too late to save the woman.
Tassira hears Nebbin's yelling, and remembering that a thunderstone was set off next to him, opts not to say anything.
She kneels down and digs out a length of rope from her backpack, beginning to tie up the unconscious crossbowman. She makes sure he has no other weapons on him before tying him up.
"So, assaulting a Guardswoman, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder... quite a rap sheet you're getting for yourself." She says out loud to the helpless would-be murderer.
Kayleigh's pleasantly surprised at her flash of martial prowess in downing her attacker; she's equally pleased when Nebbin and Tassira take down the other two in short order.
she praises the others, still too loudly thanks to her deafness. Her lack of hearing spares her a tough moral choice, however: Not hearing Nebbin's words about another victim, the priestess grimly sets to stabilizing the intruder she and Emi dropped.
Miserably, Regeris looks at the others before pointing at his ears before shaking his head. He looks very, very angry. When he finds the body int he tub, he turns completely white. He tries to help with Kayleigh to see if anything can be done for her.
I've failed...
It doesn't take a much in the way of medical knowledge to see that the victim in the tub is long beyond help. Rigamortis has long since set in and the woman's body refuses to be moved from its awkward, head-down position. From a cursory examination, however, it's apparent that this is not the young woman you've been tasked to find. She's older - what hair is not soaked in blood is wispy and grey.
In the second flat, where Tassira's unconscious and bound attacker lies, the mage finds two more victims, a woman and a teenage boy, both of them also dead. The assailant has several other weapons on him. One of the blades, a long dagger with an ornate handle is crusted with blood. These men have slaughtered what look to be innocent peasants in their homes. All three of the attackers have wads of paper shoved in their ears - protection against the thunderstone that's deafened so many of you.
The bound man makes no reaction when Tassira lists his crimes. He doesn't even seem phased by his blindness.
Tassira hauls the captured crossbowman before the others. "What do you reckon we ought to do with them? They've got enough criminal charges against them to put them away for a long time."
"At least this one's smart enough to exercise his right to remain silent."
Nebbin's jaw sets as he realizes how many people they killed.
he yells,
he adds.
Realizing that the woman int he tub is not the young artist they've been sent to help but instead very probably her aunt, Regeris remains silent, unable to communicate much with his companions.
Instead, he checks around the windows and outside area to see if there's been any recent bootscuffs or damage from someone leaving the tenement the hard way. He speaks, a little loudly, as he gets to work.
"Can't interrogate if I can't hear! I think that was her stepmother!"
Kayleigh removes the weapons, armor, and other gear from the men she and Nebbin dropped; then she turns to Tassira and asks,
Kayleigh spies Nebbin yelling something. She shrugs at him and says, A bit belatedly, she catches herself as a dreamy smile appears on her face: Nebbin seems much more intelligent when I can't hear what he's saying....
Assuming that Tassira's got rope to spare, Kayleigh binds the other two prisoners. She thinks a bit and quietly says, "The woman in the tub's been dead awhile, so our quarry likely hasn't been here today. Did these killers just get here before us or was our tip bad...maybe setting us up to be silenced as well?"
Tassira winces and gives Kayleigh a length of rope she has left over to tie another two prisoners up with.
Nebbin furrows his brow as Kayleigh tries to talk to him.
Can you weapon me? What does that mean? I guess...
He holds out his big sword to the pretty Milanite cleric, hoping she can carry it. Seeing Regeris looking out the windows, he goes and looks out the door.
Kayleigh blinks in surprise as Nebbin offers her his sword. After reattaching her silver morningstar to her belt, she takes the big man's weapon in both hands. She looks at him expectantly, wondering what he's about to do that he apparently needs both hands free to accomplish. When Nebbin merely moves to the door and peers outside, she gets bored and cleans a bit of blood off the blade where her friend brained the intruder, smiling a bit at the memory of the decisive KO blow.
Regeris's examination of the wall outside the window doesn't really reveal anything that looks overtly like what he seeks, or anything that looks particularly fresh. There's no tangible sign that Trinia's been here. It seems that the tip was either in error and these guys got it too, or this was a setup aimed at you.
Regeris grumbles, turning to the others. "Not here! Maybe they had the same information! We need to know who they work for!"
Oh, that's so nice, Nebbin thinks smiling broadly at Kayleigh. She wanted to clean it!
He blushes a bit as she smiles and doesn't quite meet her eyes -- feet on the floor -- as he goes to retrieve the weapon.
Emileva steps in to help the interrogation since Regeris's communication skills are so compromised. She tries to intimidate, even going so far as to draw blood with a blade pressed against the throat of one of the killers. The perps eyes go wide and his nostrils flare in fear or defiance, but his mouth only screws up in a knot and he makes no sound at all. Maybe the three take comfort in each other's presence, or maybe these are truly the cold-blooded monsters that evidence would suggest. Certainly there's no sign of remorse for the innocent lives they've taken here.
Their gear and their confidence suggest a competence beyond what they showed in combat. If they were laying in ambush for you five, they clearly should have brought more muscle. In the end, the only conclusion you can draw is that they were truly waiting for the accused woman - making a team of three practically overkill.
In the end you find yourselves no closer to locating the missing artist. Emileva shrugs, casting an asking glance over at Nebbin's attempts to look mean and collecting her things in preparation to leave this place. The fact that three people lie dead here and a thuderstone went off in this room, and yet no one has come to investigate just reinforces your perception that Bridgeport is a completely lawless district.
Emi eyes the three killers darkly, thumbing the edge of one of the killer's long knives as the others try to figure out next steps.
Kayleigh suggests, still too loudly.
Tassira sighs and nods at Kayleigh.
I'll wait until their hearing comes back before I talk to her again.
"SHOULD WE LOOK AROUND THE REST OF THE BUILDING FIRST? MAYBE SOMEONE KNOWS WHERE SHE IS?" Nebbin asks loudly once he realizes Emileva couldn't get any information from the three thugs.
Regeris simply broods in the corner, his face fixed in an expression of cold fury as he stares at the men who murdered Trinia's stepmother. As Kayleigh starts to figure out a way to deal with the prisoners, he finally speaks up, miming as he speaks too loudly.
"What are we doing with them?!"
The other captives come back to consciousness as Milani's divine power washes over them. Like their blinded companion, they show no inclination to talk.
Kayleigh rethinks her initial plan about where to take the prisoners. She moves to Tassira and whispers into the mage's ear, "Since we don't know how these people found out about our quarry, maybe we ought not take them back to the local watch station...in case it's compromised. I trust Field Marshal Kroft: I think we should march them directly to her."
"Indeed." Tassira whispers in reply. "And we should let her know the tip was bad."
Nebbin breathes a sigh of relief as he can hear again, or at least hear better.
"But we should search the building first, in case she's still here!" he argues. "Maybe Emileva can watch them while we do that?"
Although Kayleigh's reluctant to leave Emi alone with the prisoners (though this time she's not worried about Emi harming them, but the other way around should they get loose), she's never seen Nebbin so insistent upon something.
"Can you handle watching all three for a short time?" the priestess asks Emileva in a whisper. "We'll keep someone on this floor at all times, and you can yell if you need us."
She then approaches Nebbin, a quizzical look in her eyes and the corners of her mouth bending upward in what might be a suppressed smile.
"Your instincts are telling you there's something more to be learned here, eh?" she asks. Not waiting for a reply, she adds, "Well, let's see how sharp they are, OK?"
"No, I think it was Grau, who said she'd be here. I mean, sometimes I go to different rooms in the church, so just because she's not here here doesn't mean she's not here somewhere," Nebbin replies.
"Maybe we should go try to ask around, and see if anyone knows??
"I think Grau said that it was Field Marshal Kroft who wanted this Trinia girl brought in to ensure she gets a fair shake from the system," Kayleigh says quietly. "I trust both of them...but there could still be someone along the lines who's leaking information to some bad people."
Nodding at Nebbin, she adds, "I've got your back. You do the knockin' and I'll do the talkin', OK?"
Emi nods her agreement to the plan and settles in to watch the bound up prisoners, cold steel bared and laying across her lap while the others go about their search.
There's a stairway just outside the stepmother's apartment that leads back down to the second floor of the building. A rap on the first door doesn't bring any response at first, but upon knocking a second time someone within answers. The voice is male, and somewhat wavering, as if the speaker may be long in the tooth.
"Go away, whoever you are! We've nothing here for you! Go away or we'll summon the guard! We don't want no trouble."
It occurs to you that the thunderclap upstairs cannot have gone unheard elsewhere in the rickety old building. There's a possibility there's a ruse on, but perhaps more likely the people living here are frightened by the din they've heard and have barricaded themselves in. Good luck rarely comes knocking at your door these days in Bridgeport.