Pluck moves up to the edge of the bridge and tries to make his way up the smooth surface.
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The woman, bleeding and buffeted by the air elemental, coughs slightly and scans the horizon. Shielding her face with her hands from the bright sun, she smiles and points at a ship passing closer.
"Ve, mia rajdo estas proksima . Mi nur havas kelkajn momentojn lasita por vi," she says with a smile.
She bows with some flourish, draws a bolt from her quiver, and sends it soaring toward Nel. It strikes her cheek, nearly missing her eye .
Hissing in pain as the arrow falls short of blinding her, Nel grits her teeth at the taunt. "Mi timas ke vi devos postdatigi vian vojaĝo. Ni ankoraŭ havas iun devo." the half-elf spits out, as she rushes forward, bringing her blade down in a mighty swing, putting all of her weight behind the blow.
However her attack misses, creating a loud grinding noise as she leaves a new deep gash in the cyphergate. "Consider that your final warning. Surrender or die." Nel hisses out in common with a fire burning in her eyes.
Tamiro charges the dark elf, his sword held in both hands as he swings down on her, but swings far wide as the elf dodges out of the way.
"Stand still and let me kill you!"
Pluck shakes his head, seeing that he won't be able to get close enough to cast his last spell for a little longer. He keeps pressing his way up the arch.
Ianez follows the party up the arch, finding the handholds and ledges that eluded him on his first attempt.
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The woman braces as she sees both Nel and Tamiro charge toward her, and blinks in surprise when neither of them makes contact with her.
"Abraxas gvidas mian manon! Eble li juĝos vin kulpa de krimoj kontraŭ regno," she says with a laugh and a quick step back.
She draws out another bolt, loads her hand crossbow and pulls the trigger. Her aim is off, and the bolt clatters against one of the metal plates in Tamiro's armor.
Tamiro steps up and swings at the dark elf again.
"Die!"
Pluck moves forward, but stays clear of Mazra, Tamiro and Nel. Knowing he really has only one last chance to help stop here, Pluck begins weaving the words of another spell. He flicks a bit of butter from his pouch and points toward the arch right under the woman's feet.
Nel moves up to close the gap, frowning heavily at the situation. "I'm sorry Mazra, it doesn't look like I can make a path currently." She turns her attention to the downed drow, before she reaches back and attempts to shock the woman in the face, however all that Nel manages to do is strike the cyphergate.
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Spitting on the ground, the woman glares at Pluck and mutters a few words, a prayer to Abraxas.
She stands up .
Pluck staggers as the blast of sound nearly overwhelms him, nearly dropping to the surface of the arch. "Yow! She really does not like me." Out of options, Pluck backs off down the surface, hoping Nel and Tamiro can finish the fight.
Ianez emerges, blinking, into the light and reorients himself before closing and firing.
"Stay down foul woman!" Tamiro yells, as he tries to strike the woman as she stands.
Pulling back he tries, again to lash at her to no avail.
Seeing an opportunity while the drow stands up, Nel leans back slightly to give her all to the punch. The sicking sound of crunching cartilage carries through the air. "Now stay down!" Nel shouts at the woman, probably a bit too loud, but it is clear that the cavalier does not care.
The archaeologist continues to close before firing again. "What is she saying?"
Barely on his feet, Pluck gives up trying to stand on the uncertain surface and lowers himself to the ground.
"Die! Die! Die! You foul elf witch!" Tamiro yells in rage at the dexterous target.
Ianez gives the victorious warriors a quick smile before following Pluck down. "I have some curing for you." He casts a spell on the wizard.
Bending down to check for a pulse on the dark skinned woman, Nel wipes her brow with the back of her hand. "That was a hard fight." Unsure if she was feeling a feint pulse, Nel bends down to pick the woman up. "Alright... So how do we get back to the goblin? I'm not too keen in staying up here for too long." Taking in the view from the top of the Cyphergate, Nel feels a sense of calm as she watches some of the citizens mill about the pirate city.
Pluck crawls back to his feet and wipes the cold sweat off his brow. "Gods. Thanks Ianez." Seeing Nel and Mazra crouched over the drow woman, he groans "Hard fight? Nearly the death of me. Maybe all of us. I guess we've established that boogeywomen do exist. Going to take her body back?"
After healing the wizard, Ianez looks around and orients himself. "I think the Goblin is over that way, or we could go back the way we came."
"I agree with Mazra that we should just go back the way we came. But, let's wrap her in a cloak anyway. If worse comes to worst, I'll tell anyone that sees her body that she contracted a horrible skin disease and died, but that we've got it under control and they shouldn't get too close."
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Dragging the woman's body back down through the Cyphergate, past the tunnels and up the rickety ladder slick with mildew is quiet, leaving the party plenty of time to debrief from the experience, pause in contemplation or simply catch their breath after a long journey. You do pass by the pool with the grick still trapped in it and the troglodyte you bound and left behind.
Entering into the Gold Goblin is still a bit of a shock; yesterdays' raid has left the place in mass disrepair. Chairs are shattered in the common room, and bodies of slain guards and Saul are laid out in the back rooms. As the new and rightful owners of the Gold Goblin, you have much work ahead of you in order to bring everything back in order, but also much profit to be made.
Later that evening, while Gildi is taking refuse out, she comes back in, screaming. Going outside, it is obvious what her frightened her. A light arcs down from the sky.. The falling star does not burn out - rather, it continues to grow and its tail gets ever larger.
The murmur shakes through the crowds gathering outside to watch the spectacle. Somewhere, a child starts crying, and then another one. A parent yells. The crowd begins to move, vibrating with panic as the light crows ever-bigger. The falling star arcs over the city and out to the sea, trailing behind it a smoky scar and the sound of thunder.
A strange false dawn rises in the south for a moment before a brilliant blast of light fills the horizon. A tremendous explosion rolls through Riddleport, billowing hot air as the ground shakes violently. A few shingles from the Gold Goblin come loose and crash on the ground, shattering.
As the tremor continues, an angry orange ball of fire rises into the sky on the horizon over the Devil's Elbow, spreading an ominous mushroom-shaped cloud.
By this time, much of Riddleport has gathered at the wharves and southern points of town for a better view of the distant holocaust. A few minutes later, the water of Riddleport Bay suddenly retreats into a bizarre and sudden low tide, revealing several sunken wrecks and flopping fish and more than a few stranded sharks.
Less than a minute later, water comes rushing back in toward Riddleport, a 7-foot-tall wall of churning froths that slams into the waterfront with incredible power. Screams erupt from the wharves.
Ianez looks around the remnants of the melee upstairs. "I am guessing that you don't mean it to look like this. Even for Riddleport, this is extreme." He finds a relatively undamaged chair and pulls it up before sitting down. "Do you mind if I stay with you for a while? I can earn my keep somehow, if you need me to. The thing is--" He leans forward, keen interest gleaming in his eyes. "--this is a great mystery, and I'm one for solving such things. I'd like to stay on and see this through. As you've seen, I'm capable enough."
Nel stops a moment to untie the troglodyte and return his dice and small bone carvings. As she reenters the gold goblin, Nel suddenly feels very overwhelmed with the task set before her. Placing the woman in the room Saul used to keep the bandits in the first night, Nel is sure to disarm her of anything that could be used to take her own life, as well as her armor and any valuables. Placing the items in the bin where they take collateral for large amounts of chips, she locks the door to the room before going outside to watch the spectacle.
She throws her arm over her eyes as the hot air blasts through the port town, and somehow manages to keep her footing before watching with dismay as another tidal wave washes over the wharf district. "That's the second time this month. What is going on?" As the water recedes, Nel grasps onto a prone halfling, righting him before working her way back home.
She finally collapses on one of the gambling tables, muttering "Yeah, yeah I know." as the table groans in objection before righting herself. "We'll have to go over an interview process, if you don't mind Ianez, but I don't think that will be a problem." As she speaks, Nel begins the arduous process of removing her armor. "We've had a few issues in the past where certain employees would result to violence before all other options had be exterminated." Finally ride of the scale mail, Nel chucks it across the room in annoyance, glad to be rid of the constricting armor.
"Pluck," turning her bleary eyes to the other half-elf. "do you know where Kwava wandered off to? That woman's still alive, she's just been knocked into unconsciousness. I'm sure that he would like to talk to her." Straightening up her tabard, Nel begins to help Gildi with cleaning up the main room.
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Mazra will assist Nel in freeing the troglodyte.
At the Goblin, Mazra will look for sheets or other linens to shroud the Dark Elf woman's body. "I will take better care of the body in the morning. Is there anyone in this town we should warn about what we found?"
Mazra will move the other bodies into the room, "We need to take the corpses out of town and cremate them." He too will then help Gildi with cleaning up the place. When Gildi comes in screaming, Mazra rushes outside. He looks on fascinated at the falling star. When it explodes, Mazra manages to keep his feet.
The Cleric will aid others who may have fallen. When he sees the water from the bay retreat, "That doesn't look good." When the tidal wave hits, he will render aid wherever possible.
At some point he will create some ale and offer it to the party.