Aerodus lowers his bow. He turns to the others. "I say two of us stack at the door in this room. And the other two in the door down the corridor. Andando and Venator at the door in this room and the mage and I at the corridor. That way, each team will have both a melee attacker and an ranged attacker. As well as some support through magic. Team one will have divine magic and Team two will have arcane magic." He turns back to Jirani and growls out, "Be sure to keep him silent." Turning to Lia, he says, "Come on, mage. You're in front." He walks over to his position, bow at the ready and hood up over his head.
Lia rolls her eyes at Aerodus.
"I have a name, you know. It's not that hard to remember."
She walks in front of Aerodus, ready to kick the door in.
She may or may not be imagining Aerodus' face on the door to give her additional incentive.
Aerodus rolls his eyes. "Fine then, Lia. I'm sorry if I'm fixated on the fact that you're an arcane user. Which I really don't care for."
"Fixate on taking down Lamm, not on my magic. He's more important right now." Lia snaps back, then turns to kick in the door.
|
The floor here is slick with seawater, bits of seaweed, and fish blood—the air is thick with the accompanying scent. Wooden catwalks to the north and south allow access to the western part of the fishery, while the floor here is only five feet above the river below. An open bay to the south allows direct access to the sloppy, muddy water, while to the northwest stands an immense ten-foot-tall wooden vat, its sides caked and waterproofed with tar. Inside is a foul-looking mixture of chum, seawater, and who knows what else. To the east are stacked many barrels and crates, each marked in paint with a fish. Nearly two dozen small hammocks hang from under the catwalks, each with its own ratty blanket and pillow.
You see a half-orc shoting at some more orphans to keep working on the vats stirring in some terrible fish gruel of some sort
Lia walks into the room, nonchalantly twirling her sword. She fixes the half-orc with a smile.
It's not a warm smile. All it does is show her teeth.
"Good afternoon."
Venator also comes into the room, although by a different door, and scans the room for more threats, since the half-orc seems not that much of a guard.
Venator seeks to gain some time to approach the man before he tries to take a hostage/to flee.
"Oh, nevermind us, you may get back to your job. We're just checking in on the merchandise."
Lia keeps smiling as she walks along the catwalk.
"I'm looking for Gaedren Lamm. Perhaps you've heard of him: vicious, greedy, overly fond of little children? Any of that ring a bell?"
She looks over at the children stirring the vat of fish gunk. "Yes... this place looks about right." She looks back at the half-orc. "See, the gnome upstairs was... less than cooperative with us when I asked him where Lamm is. Do you, perchance, know where he is?"
It's obvious Lia's friendly demeanor is masking a palpable anger. It colors her words in a less-than-favorable light.
Aerodus walks in, bow still at the ready. He snarls at the half-orc, hoping to cow him into submission.
He steps next to Lia and whispers, "Okay, he's told us where Lamm is. Can we kill him now?"
Lia looks at Aerodus. Her free hand clenches into a fist and relaxes.
The lackeys should be arrested. Odds are, they won't have powerful friends that'll have them released once we hand them over to the law. Lamm, on the other hand...
"Do whatever you want. I'm here for Lamm." She whispers back.
As the group was threatening to lose control - at least on Venator's point of view - he decided to put some sense back on them.
"Why would you kill him Aerodus?"
Aerodus shrugs. "We don't need him anymore, do we? Besides, if we don't, then odds are it'll come back to bite us in the arse. I've learned that the hard way. If you don't want me to kill him, then I'll stay my hand."
Venator voice is controlled, knowing they don't have all this time, but still he wants to give some guidance, and thus speaks, much like a teacher would.
"This is not about what I want or not. He's a person, and if his crimes are beyond repair he should be judged and punished by the proper authorities. I know we heard some bad things, but let's presume law still applies to this city. The power comes from the people, and once they know this men were using children as slaves, and selling them, justice will be done. Just remember that, but do whatever you want."
Aerodus frowns. He mutters, "Fine. But if he makes a single move against us, then I won't hold back." He continues to stalk the catwalks, watching and waiting.
"Don't you find it weird to see all these slavers without much of a real protection? Some guards, perhaps?"
Lia walks further down the catwalk. She addresses the half-orc once again.
"Sir, I do not know who you are or what you really want. If you are merely trying to make some coin, I can tell you that there are much better ways of doing so... ways that don't involve kidnapping children and forcing them into slave labor. If you let these kids go and leave, that will be the end of it from me. I will not seek to harm you, provided you take this opportunity to make things right. But if you take one more step towards that hole, I will follow you."
She glares at him. "And I *will* kill you."
Deciding his course of action, the Cleric shots at the man before he has a chance to notice.
!
Seeing the half-orc leap to the attack causes Lia's grip on her sword to tighten.
So much for doing this the easy way...
Swinging at the Orc!
"Oh, Oh! I'm in trouble!"
Lia runs off the catwalk, chasing after the half-orc as he runs at Venator. The incantation for the grease spell comes to mind...
She raises her free hand and points it at the half-orc's weapon.
"Unguo!"
The half-orc's weapon is suddenly coated with a slippery layer of grease, trying to slip from his grasp.
Venator was about to jump from the stairs and away from the Orc, but now he does not have a weapon, and cannot hit that hard. Hopefully. He recharges his crossbow and sends another bolt at the poor creature.
!
!
"Third time's a charm!"
Having somehow gained time, Venator recharges his crossbow with a new bolt and shots again!
!
!
---Round 2---
Andando twirls his blades trying to find a rhythm to the combat.
And he whirls around like an idiot.
Lia clenches her free hand as the half-orc falls, two crossbow bolts sticking out of him.
"Now we need to get to Lamm."
She turns to one of the kids. "Do you know how we can get to Lamm?"
Lia walks over and takes a look through the hole in the floor.
Lia stands up.
"Looks like the only way down to Lamm is through this hole... I'm not sure it's safe, though. It'd be easy for him to pick us off as we climb down." She paces back and forth in front of the hole.
Seeing the half-orc die without taking an arrow from him, Aerodus's mood sours even more. Keeping his bow drawn, he stalks off the catwalk. Looking down the hole, it's clear that he's impatient about waiting.
Venator starts to swiftly recharges his crossbow, but then he realizes the Orc has fallen, and thus he keeps looking at it, uncertain of what he had done, but it passes soon enough, and he walks past the body.
"There must be another way to enter, but if this is the only way in they have no way to escape."
Lia sheathes her sword and returns to the bound prisoner.
"We know where Lamm is--but there's a 30-foot drop into the water separating us from him. Is there an alternate route we can take to get to him?" She asks, one hand on the hilt of her blade. Her eyes narrow.
"And no lying. Your half-orc friend refused to cooperate with us, and now he's dead."
Andando darts for the ladder, sliding down with ease. Once at the bottom he waits for his group mates to join him.
Lia nods. "Good. Thank you."
She follows suit, blade readied.
Aerodus makes his way down the ladder. But not before shooting a glare at the gnome. Once at the bottom, he gets his bow and arrow ready again.