Wits nods and begins to work quickly. Here goes...
Craft: Alchemy:
Wits nods and begins to work quickly. Here goes...
Craft: Alchemy: 1d20+11
No wait, maybe it didn't. Good, cause that was a great roll.
This!
Emanual and Witz work for some time, opening casks, mixing ingredients, and hotly debating the best way to stack the load. Witz movements are quick and efficient, moving just the right amount of reagent from this vial, to that flask, and adding wicks trimmed to the right length.
Emanual's approach is a little more gung-hoe. He piles the bags of flour over the top of everything else, and then uses his sword to rip them open as much as possible, covering himself and Witz in the process.
Emanual takes one handle of the barrow, whilst Dean takes the other. Luc moves to one of the massive doors, and prepares to open it.
"The rest of you may want to clear back a bit, we don't know how big a bang this will be, and we need some space to get clear." Luc says quietly.
"You will have plenty of time, the way I set those fuses." Wits says, but begins to move back anyway.
As the others move back out of sight, and into the other corridor, Luc prepares the others "On my count, I'll open the door, you two rush in, drop the barrow 10 or 15 ft in, and then get back out. I'll slam the door behind you, it opens out words, so it wont impede you, but it will stop the bloody imp from getting out. Once we hear the bang, we can charge back in, and hopefully see the damned thing. Did anyone get a net?"
Dean and Emanuel shake their heads, "Hopefully one of the others has a net." Dean says.
The noise of the others recedes to a faint echo before Luc begins to count. "One, two, Three, GO!". The barrow lurches forwards, slowly at first, then gaining momentum. Liquids sloshing, and the weight shifting as the load settles. Luc gets the door open barely in time, and the barrow rocks precariously to the left as Emanuel tries to avoid the solid stone. The barrow's momentum pulls the two drivers into the great hall, and as Luc moves to slam the door shut, he sees his worst nightmare.
Another of the monstrosities from before is stood before the door, the wheelbarrow misses it, and it takes a great swipe at Emanuel as he passes by, knocking him to the ground. The loss of a driver causes the cart to topple, it's contents spewing onto the flagstones. Liquid contacts with a fuse, and as the door slams shut, there is a second, mirrored boom from inside. This boom is so low pitched as to be inaudible though, the shock wave is felt through the stone, and it is shortly followed by a blast that launches Luc and the door across the antechamber.
Above, in the town of Sandpoint, the shock wave is felt, and people stop to stare at the wave it causes in the bay. Inside the town hall, the mayor is knocked to her knees as the room shakes, glass ornaments (gifts from the Kaijitsu's) crash to the floor and shatter.
Outside, near the glass works, the road partially collapses, leaving cracked and over turned cobble stones. Dogs begin to howl, then silence over takes the town.
The group in the corridor are knocked prone by the blast, a cloud of dust and stone debris overtaking them, blotting out all light. When the dust finally clears, and their ears stop ringing, they all look to Witz
"I say, gents! That turned out rather better than I expected! Has anyone seen my ear?"
Sitting in his office, Deputy Soldatovic sits running his whetstone along the edge of one of his chakrum as he prepares to close down for the day when the rumbling from the glassworks takes place. Shelves with various items shake and one falls down with a bang. "Aroden's beard! What is this then?" He stands and picks up the fallen shelf, carefully hooking it back onto the screws in the wall. Then he meticulously replaces the displaced items, frowning at a cracked model of a Hellknight guard. He walks over to the weapons rack and clips his long and short swords to his belt before picking up his heavy shield and clamping it into place on the holder on his left forearm. He grips it tight. "I guess a deputy's day is never done."
Feeling the minor "earthquake" hit the town of Sandpoint, Casey manages to keep himself steady. He then straighten's his duster, adjusts his hat, and then places a new toothpick in his mouth. " 'Bout time." He says out loud to no one, "I was startin' to get bored." He grabs his gun and heads out to investigate.
In the basement of the Academy, Jerjia is standing just outside the shocker lizard enclosure, enjoying the wandering sparks buzzing in the air over the shipment of lizards she had just delivered, when a dull boom knocks her off her feet. The room rides the shockwave rolling through the ground momentarily, serendipitously rolling her down the suddenly tilting floor to the opposite wall just before the startled lizards deliver a massive communal shockwave of their own. The smell of ozone drifts through what remains of the room as Jerjia sits up and looks around her. The ground seems to have shifted from beneath one side of the room, and the stone floor has cracked and collapsed into the sudden void. The lizard enclosure has been torn open, and she sees the sparking reptiles escaping one by one into the crack between the sections of floor. Act of 'god,' she thinks to herself with a crooked smile. Can't blame the supplier. They signed for the delivery and will have to pay for another batch. She watches the last lizard go cheerfully, then checks her many pockets. Finding her pet in one of them, she checks him over carefully to make sure he wasn't hurt when she fell, then carefully buttons him back in. "C'mon, Sparky; let's go see what happened."
Feeling the minor "earthquake" hit the town of Sandpoint, Casey manages to keep himself steady. He then straighten's his duster, adjusts his hat, and then places a new toothpick in his mouth. " 'Bout time." He says out loud to no one, "I was startin' to get bored." He grabs his gun and heads out to investigate.
Reynard rises slowly coughing at the dust and smoke to affix Witz with a glare that is part astonishment and part incredulity.
"You're gonna get us all killed one 'o these days."
Reynard rises slowly coughing at the dust and smoke to affix Witz with a glare that is part astonishment and part incredulity.
"You're gonna get us all killed one 'o these days."
Wits is coughing up various bits of the tanglefoot substance and looking for his left ear, which sadly, seems to be missing. He'll then begin a body count and try to see who and what survived the initial blast. (If anyone didn't, he may harvest small pieces of their body for further testing, if no one is watching...)
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Wits is coughing up various bits of the tanglefoot substance and looking for his left ear, which sadly, seems to be missing. He'll then begin a body count and try to see who and what survived the initial blast. (If anyone didn't, he may harvest small pieces of their body for further testing, if no one is watching...)
Ok, just to be clear, you are stood in what's left of the corridor. Where you would have entered into the Antechamber, there is now a wall of rubble, that shifts slightly if you touch it...
Wits touches the wall of rubble and watches it shift and move.
"Oh my. I believe we may have entombed our comrades. And my ear. We're going to need engineers and laborers to remove this rubble. I believe my ear is lost forever..."
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Wits touches the wall of rubble and watches it shift and move.
"Oh my. I believe we may have entombed our comrades. And my ear. We're going to need engineers and laborers to remove this rubble. I believe my ear is lost forever..."
You and Reynard of the original 5, and the rest need to get themselves somewhere to get introduced :)
Jerjia comes up the stairs to find the Academy abuzz with activity, as people run everywhere to assess damage and examine delicate machinery to see if it has been ruined. "Your basement's broken," she tells someone as she walks past, waving over her shoulder vaguely, and out into the open air.
"Reynard? Are you still alive? If you die, can I use your body for science?" Wits pulls forth a small vial, adds several reagents, shakes it until the white liquid turns blue and hands it over to Reynard. "This will heal some of your wounds. I think. I'm relatively sure it won't kill you."
The damage aboveground doesn't seem all that bad to Jerjia; the Academy basement must have just been unlucky enough to be sitting on some unstable soil. That doesn't mean that people aren't running around and panicking enough for a major disaster; perhaps the recent goblin attack at the festival just has them all on edge. Jerjia snaps her goggles over her eyes to protect them from the dust in the air and wanders around enjoying the panic. She notices several of the local constabulary all running in the same direction and follows, curious. They seem to be gathering outside the Glassworks.
Casey, noticing local law enforcement all heading in the same direction, waits until it clears and then follows. "Lawmen. Dangit. Well, where there's trouble, that's where they'll be. 'Bout the only thing their good at. Findin' trouble. At least it ain't me they're lookin' for." He mutters to himself and then adds a passing thought, "I hope." He reinforces his grip on his gun and lowers his hat a bit as he makes his way towards the Glassworks.
Adonai slings his bandoleer of gear over his shoulder and latches it down tight. He makes quick survey of his office to be sure everything is tidy, checks himself in the mirror to straighten his uniform, and to see if his armor is dressed properly. His badge is over his left breast and he is ready. He leaves the room and tells the dispatcher that he is going out to investigate the explosion, and not to wait up at the end of her shift.
Heading down the street, he quickly determines the direction of the most panic and heads that way. He moves at a decent trot, slowed by his heavy armor, but glad for its protection for it has saved his life a time or two. Some good citizens smile as they feel the moderate power of his Aura of Good while other less savory people frown or shy away. He waves and smiles at the folk who he makes eye contact with and assures the panicked that things will be okay, that he is 'on top of it'.
Soon he finds the rubble and collapsed road beyond a crowd of curious onlookers, gawking, hoping to see a body or someone injured, or a loved one that may be trapped. He notices a pick pocket and grabs the boy, maybe twelve. "Give it here kid!" The scared youth complies. "Now tell the good sir you are sorry and that it will never happen again." The teen taps the victim on the shoulder, and shyly apologizes for taking his pocket watch. At Adonai's urging, the man graciously accepts it back and goes back to watching the scene. "Don't let me catch you doing that again, or its the slammer for you." The kid nods with his eyes wide. "Tell you what. If you need to make a coin head down to the Brooks Street precinct and tell them Officer Soldatovic sent you. They'll know what to do." He rustles the boys hair and lightly pushes him off in the right direction.
He works his way through the crowd and stands in front of the glassworks. Now what do we have here?
Outside, the bobbys who were near the glass works move to stop the onlookers getting too close. "Keep back from the building! It may not be safe." shouts a man with more silver stripes to his shoulder than the others.
After a few minutes the Inspector pushes through, has a word with the man in charge, and then with one of the younger men, then settles in to wait. The young man scuttles into the building, looking cautiously at the lintel as he goes.
As Witz and Reynard recover themselves, a flickering light is seen from the passageway behind, someone has come down from outside. The body soon resolves itself to be a young bobby, with one of the new flash lights, powered by a small, trapped electrical elemental.
The bobby stops when he finally sees the tow dust covered me. "Ah, survivors, we were sure none of you would be alive. The inspector is outside, he requests your presence immediately!"
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As the young bobby enters the Glassworks and raises the elemental-powered torch, the shocker lizard in Jerjia's pocket pops out expectantly and fixes its gaze on his retreating back. "Electricity, eh, Sparky?" the gnome asks. "Interesting! Must be one of those new inventions they were talking about at the Academy. Let's see if we can get close enough to take a look at one of those." The small figure slips through the crowd toward the men in uniform, looking for another of the "flash-lights" on their belts, and tries to sidle up next to one of them.
"Ah, officer. We must organize an excavation of this rubble, with shoring up of the passageways. And if you find an ear, I'd like it back. As a souvenir if nothing else. And any spare body parts you locate. Perhaps I could create a servant out of them, honor their memories, you know. Fitting, I think." Wits pauses, then tilts his head to allow a stream of dust and blood to pour from his ruined ear. "Well, lead on officer. Let us meet your superior."
Noticing the small humanoid coming out of the Glassworks, he waits to see if any other survivors are left. That's a tough hombre to be able to survive that kinda blast. Looks like he lost 'n ear. Don't seem to bother 'im none. Mighty impressive. Casey watches and waits to see what the officers are going to do with the gnome.
"Ah, officer. We must organize an excavation of this rubble, with shoring up of the passageways. And if you find an ear, I'd like it back. As a souvenir if nothing else. And any spare body parts you locate. Perhaps I could create a servant out of them, honor their memories, you know. Fitting, I think." Wits pauses, then tilts his head to allow a stream of dust and blood to pour from his ruined ear. "Well, lead on officer. Let us meet your superior."
The young man looks at the wall of solid rock very dubiously, then nods to Witz and Reynard, and and leads them outside.
The inspector looks cold, and angry. He clasps his hands together,a dn inhales on an expensive looking cigar. Once he notices you he rushes over, manoeuvring you away from the anyone else's earshot. "That damned explosion is going to take some explaining! You near took down half the town! Looks like you got half of your friends killed too. I need you to not be here. There's already a crowd, and the local paper boys can't be far behind. That explosion must have woken even them! Get back to where you are staying, get yourselves cleaned up, and be in my office at 6pm to give me an explanation of what the bloody hell you've been doing." With that he turns and walks away.
"Oh, I see," Jerjia breathes, inspecting the flashlight hanging right at her eye-level. "Flipping the switch opens the window ... but it's in there all the time, sparking away ... plotting, do you think, what it will do to the people who've kept it trapped if it ever gets out?" She raises her eyes with a sly smile to the bobby who has just noticed the gnome hovering around his belt.
Seeing the officer walk away from the survivors, Casey moves toward them to find out more. Removing his toothpick, "Looks like you fellas did a pretty good number to this town." He looks around seeing the repercussions of the blast, and also noticing no one else seeming to come out of the Glassworks, "Where's the rest o' your group? The way I figure, either you two are the baddest hombres this side of Golarion to survive a blast like that, or y'all just wound up on the odds side of survivin' and the rest of 'em on the odds side of not. Now which is it?" He asks as he returns the toothpick back to his mouth.
Wits looks up the man with the toothpick. "I say, I rather thought we did quite well down there. Mission accomplished, and all. We definitely entombed the threat, saved the town, did the heroic thing. We seem to have lost several members of our band, though, in the process. And my ear. Acceptable losses, I suppose. Not to worry, though. I believe their remains or their living selves, as it were will be recovered soon. Now, who are you again?"
Casey listening to the small humanoid and trying his best to keep up, responds after wondering the whole time how he got all that out in one breath. "Names Jayne. Casey Jayne. Most people call me Jayne. Well, those that know me, that is." He looks at the missing ear of Wits. "You ought to count your chickens that's all you lost. Most times, those that live, usually lose arms or legs." He says as a matter of fact.
Reynard brushes some of the rubble out of his beard before reaching out to shake the man's hand.
"The name's Reynard, and this is Wits and trust me with this one around you need a combination of badass and lucky to make it through."
Wits looks askance at Reynard. "At any rate, Mr. Jayne, what is your business with the glassworks? I assure you that the previous owner is quite deceased. Most of the merchandise is probably slightly damaged by the blast. And we, I believe, are in need of a bath before we present ourselves to the good Inspector again. I am headed to the Rusty Dragon. Do you believe Ameiko will have recovered enough to provide proper bathing services?"
"The name's Reynard, and this is Wits and trust me with this one around you need a combination of badass and lucky to make it through."
An slight smile forms on his lips, "I wouldn't wanna live any other way." He grabs the end of his hat with his fingers and nods to Raynard.
Wits looks askance at Reynard. "At any rate, Mr. Jayne, what is your business with the glassworks? I assure you that the previous owner is quite deceased. Most of the merchandise is probably slightly damaged by the blast. And we, I believe, are in need of a bath before we present ourselves to the good Inspector again. I am headed to the Rusty Dragon. Do you believe Ameiko will have recovered enough to provide proper bathing services?"
Again, doing his best to keep up, "Just Jayne. Got no use for mister. And I got no business. Heard the blast, it's been a while since I've seen trouble, so I figger'd I'd come lookin' for it." He says as if that's the norm. "As far as the Rusty Dragon, I'm sure as shootin' they'll have somethin' for you. I just came from there and they ain't to affected by it. You know you really ought to have that ear checked out. That's a mighty nice wound, but I've seen others die with far less." He warns.
You've all got some loot to sort out, some cash to distribute I expect, and some documents to peruse.... You have time enough to get that done either before or after the meeting with the inspector. What do you want to do?
You've all got some loot to sort out, some cash to distribute I expect, and some documents to peruse.... You have time enough to get that done either before or after the meeting with the inspector. What do you want to do?
What is left of the afternoon passes in a haze of steam, and back rubs for Witz and Reynard. Ameiko is still recuperating, but she is awake, and makes it known that the survivors should be treated in the best possible fashion.
Father Zantos is called for, and uses his powers to heal Reynard. Witz, decides against this form of magical healing, wanting to test his mutigen concoction first instead, so the Father leaves a potion and leaves him to it.
A nice meal, and a small dram of cognac later, and Reynard and Witz are once again stood in the inspectors office. Three others are also there, having been called from their respective places, or collected by the inspector on his way back to the station.
"First, I want to say again, thank you for your work against the goblins. You have foiled a lot of their plots, although it seems not all. I'll come back to that later. What has gone on beneath Sandpoint though, is another matter. You have caused a great deal of destruction. Many of the things damaged will cost the town dearly to fix. You owe the people of this town now, as much as they may have owed you before today.
"What has happened with Lonjiku is lamentable, but unfixable. The business will pass to his daughter to deal with I presume, once she is ready. My men have spoken to her, gently. It is obvious that her recovery will take some time, and the loss will haunt her for long to come. That she lost her father, and brother is bad enough, to find her brother to be the cause, is despicable.
[b]"With that, we circle back to the goblins. We recovered Tsuto's journal from Ameiko. It details the raid, and arguments that have been occuring between the factions that took part. It also details where the goblins are hiding out, and who is leading them. The hobgoblin Bruthasmus is involved some how, and some others we cannot place. Although how much the journal is wotht is debatable, as it would seem Tsuto has gone mad, if the graphics are anything to go by."
At this point the inspector turns the book, to show pictures of a hauntingly beautiful girl. Well, she was beautiful, until someone replaced her hand with a red claw, and gave her horns. Her armour is worked to show off a scarred belly, and some of the images, are down right erotic.
"These pictures show a girl from the town named Nuelia, who dies a few years back. Obviously the boy's obsession with him, took his mind.
"So, as you have dealt so well with the goblins. I want you to investigate this lair Tsuto details. It may well lead to nothing, but it may well solve the problem for good. They are at a place known locally as Thistletop, and I can give you a map to get there if you need it.
"Now, these three fine fellows are going to help you. They have skills I think you will find complementary to your own, in the face of your lost comrades."
"Madness!" Exclaims the tall blonde armored man. "Apparently not dead, but turned to become a worshipper of the Mother of Monsters if these are portraits and not just drawings of a twisted psychopath. This is a strange thing to be occurring here in Sandpoint. It seems that this story has many twists to it but by Aroden I will help get to the bottom of this. The sheriff has given me leave to investigate this discovery and do what is necessary to rid Golarion of this evil. I am Deputy Adonai Soldatovic, but you may call me Adon on this venture. The large deputy doffs his hat and holds it in front of his heart, giving a slight nod.
Wits scratches the ruin of his ear. "Is there anyone local who may know the surrounding hinterland well enough to hazard a guess as to where these goblins might be holing up? Oh, and I am Wits Fizzlewick, master chymist and maker of wonders. And I'll have you know, Inspector, that a less skilled chymist would have blown the town completely up. It took skill to only shake it a bit..."
The female gnome sits sulkily in a chair made for a larger person, her feet dangling high above the floor. "I'm Jerjia Nimburhombus, and I'm here under protest," she says, with an angry look at the inspector. "It was all a misunderstanding. I wasn't threatening the bobby; I was just speculating about what might happen if that elemental got out. And I wasn't trying to steal his 'flash-light'; I just wanted to look at it for a while. And Sparky is neither a dangerous beast nor a concealed weapon; he was just trying to protect me from your officer's manhandling. If he hadn't been so spooked by what I said about his elemental getting out, he would have noticed it was just a bitten finger and a mild electrical shock and wouldn't have soiled his pants. There was no reason to sentence me to 'community service.'"
Completely ignoring Witz's questions, and assertions, the Inspector turns to the others.
"Despite the stories we tell young children, the dead do not rise. The man must have been mad, cavorting with goblins tells us that. You, girl, are getting out of town. This trip may teach you to respect my Authority!"
Reynard listens to the comments of his new allies and old, raising his eyebrows at the religios fervor of the large blond man.
"I swear this just got worsehe mutters under his breath.
"We'll track down the bastards and burn out their nest for good. You can count on us Inspector."
Casey, removing the toothpick from his mouth and then tossing it, "Names Jayne. Casey Jayne." He tips his hat in greeting, grabs his musket and rests the barrel of it on his shoulder. "Let's go kill us some goblins." He says as he replaces the old toothpick with a new one.