Not yet appraised with what the situation truly was... Phillip kept his mouth shut for the moment, apart from seeking further directions as he looked around the entrance room.
Perception:
Directly ahead, past the lobby, the room spills into a modest chapel. A dozen worn-out pews and mismatched benches are arrayed in front of a plain wooden pulpit. A nervous-looking man is standing behind the last bench, looking at the staircase anxiously. He jumps a little, startled as you open the door. Your keen eyes pick out what appear to be fresh drops of blood on a few of the stairs and trailing on into the dining area.
Having dispatched the clubman, Gristav steps back into the front hallway, stepping over the prone body. Snake heals the half-elf, urging haste in retrieving Braddon.
The door visible on the east end of the hallway shudders under a blow from the other side, clearly identifying the room into which Braddon has been locked. Before Gristav and Snake can do anything about it, however, there are footsteps from the stairs; a moment later, the man they recently saw seeking Father Kreun in the kitchen appears, the crossbow bolt now extracted from his shoulder. "By his black fingers!" he cries in panic, when he sees the three prone figures on the floor. "They've killed them all!" He turns a gaze half-vengeful and half-afraid on Gristav and Snake as he draws a cutlass.
Regarding the swordsman, Gristav sincerely and warmly praises him, walking away. "Good man. Brave man. Draws sword at two-to-one odds, when better odds and men are fallen, and we stand. Go tell your master: They're alive, we don't want anyone dead. I'm still honestly wondering, just what explains all this bullying and brandishing..."
The other man, Knuckles, climbs the stairs, but you see him stop in horror before reaching the top. "By his black fingers! They've killed them all!"
A flash of annoyance crosses the priest's face. "Badeye," he calls through the door, "go upstairs with Knuckles and take care of it!"
The aptly-named Badeye steps up behind you. "You've been asked nicely," he growls down your back. "Step on in and be sociable."
Words come to Phillip and are laid out "I am manhandled outside your door, then as I enter under my own intent you attempt to force yourself upon my mind. What little patience I have is spent Aita... choose your words carefully before my ears are closed to you."
Gristav reassures the cutlass-wielding man of his compatriots' well-being as he crosses to the door behind which Braddon is imprisoned. He is just realizing, to his consternation, that the only way to unlock the door will be with a key when Badeye charges to the top of the stairs, fixing Snake with a threatening glare.
Seeing Badeye move up the stairs, Snake sighs. "Oh crap." Moving back a bit, Snake then emits forth a bit of his arcane power, targeting the thug.
"I am manhandled outside your door, then as I enter under my own intent you attempt to force yourself upon my mind. What little patience I have is spent Aita... choose your words carefully before my ears are closed to you."
The priest spreads his hands with a smirk. "I only want a little information. Are you working for Marzo or directly for the man upstairs ... Kane, he's calling himself?"
Snake bestows on Badeye a glare that should have turned his blood to icewater and his knees to jelly ... but perhaps the fact that only one eye is looking the witch's way prevents the fear from taking proper hold. The walleyed man shivers but holds his ground. Next to him, Knuckles shows no interest in shoving past him, instead waiting on the larger man to lead the way.
"No rush. I'm safe in here."
"I could meet you downstairs if you want. There's a window."
"No rush. I'm safe in here."
"I could meet you downstairs if you want. There's a window."
"Mi ne scias kie estas la ŝlosilo estas, kaj mi ne tuj estos permesitaj serĉi. Ni ne estas sekura ĉi tie. Eliro, kaj revenas kun eltiritaj klingo. La mapache rigardas, Li apogas vin."
Gristav, as usual, keeps talking, as he walks away.
"Yes yes, we'll get the key and let you out...", Gris seems to vent his vexation. It was genuine vexation, but at the keyed door, not Braddon.
Seeing a second of the brigand-deacons, Gristav asks, "Ah, have you the key? I'm feeling pressed for time, and if I need to search, I'll need to be ungentle..."
Gristav settles his stance, contemplating a Coup-de-Grace against the stoutest of the bowmen.
"Vojaĝante."
Having exchanged words with Braddon through the door, Gristav moves back to the unconscious men by the window overlooking the street, uneasily aware of the amount of time that has passed since the spell which disabled them was cast. Still, he keeps his words light and his front unruffled.
"Aye, I've a key," Badeye growls back, "but the closest you'll get to it is hearing it turn in the lock from the wrong side of the door." He begins to move off of the staircase in your direction....
Having exchanged words with Braddon through the door, Gristav moves back to the unconscious men by the window overlooking the street, uneasily aware of the amount of time that has passed since the spell which disabled them was cast. Still, he keeps his words light and his front unruffled.
"Aye, I've a key," Badeye growls back, "but the closest you'll get to it is hearing it turn in the lock from the wrong side of the door." He begins to move off of the staircase in your direction....
"You mean to attack and imprison us?", Gristav maths aloud, then sighs, and sweeps his stave in a circle of scintillate stellati, spellstriking the fallen longbowman. Power flares, and frost fluffs, the chilled air condensing the erstwhile enforcer's exhaled air, and then the next breath. Proof, the man still lived. Though only Gristav may have noticed, he was thankful of it.
Arcing the riming stave up in a broad arc, Gristav reports, "There's more in here, for you, or for him..." Gris nods at the crumpled crossbowman. "If we're to battle, I won't have them at my back. Now, go tell your master: we should speak. He, should come to the bottom of the stairs. You, should leave the key."
"You," Badeye replies, "should stop telling people what to do." He rounds the end of the railing and advances on Gristav, stepping over the fallen clubman without a glance and grasping at the ashen staff.
"You," Badeye replies, "should stop telling people what to do." He rounds the end of the railing and advances on Gristav, stepping over the fallen clubman without a glance and grasping at the ashen staff.
Gristav's reflexive no-you-don't recoiling from the grab transforms into a full turn, delivering much of the hip, all of the arms, a bit of the back leg, and a paralyzing pulse of coruscating cold. "You're quite right", Gristav accepts apologetically. "Would you please", the half-elf hopes, "...go suggest to the Father we might trade words rather than minions?"
Badeye's strength is no match for Gristav's determination to keep hold of his weapon; having taken both a firm rap from the cudgel and a numbing bite from the half-elf's spell, he is too slow and stiff to snatch the staff away. "Oh, the Father's having words all right," the man leers through chattering teeth. "We caught your halfling sneak."
For the moment, he seems content to talk, making no aggressive moves in your direction, despite the sounds of a scuffle above your heads. The nervous-looking man in the chapel area scoots a little closer, as if interested in the conversation.
Badeye's strength is no match for Gristav's determination to keep hold of his weapon; having taken both a firm rap from the cudgel and a numbing bite from the half-elf's spell, he is too slow and stiff to snatch the staff away. "Oh, the Father's having words all right," the man leers through chattering teeth. "We caught your halfling sneak."
"Oh? He's not mine. Still, you should hope he's well. Is that what this is about, all the bullying and brandishing, the drawn swords and sigils? That's what I want the Father to do; explain..."
"You're going to make me break you, aren't you?", Gristav laments.
The man on the staircase doesn't seem to be in any hurry to join Badeye, instead watching from his position of safety behind the railing.
Unable to move closer to where he can aid Gristav in combat, Snake continues his magical assault.
"I'm not in the habit of talking business while other matters are still being pounded out. You should see to your house first, Aita."
The priest's face hardens. "You'd rather wait until your companions are subdued and out of the way? Fine." He glances at the man at his elbow with some annoyance. "You. Make yourself useful." He nods to the staircase.
A little hesitantly, the man moves toward the stairs; unwilling to risk the proximity, you jump for the open door; but at your first movement, the priest pulls a black symbol from beneath his white robes, and a wave of life-sapping energy pulses through the room. The man Beltias just ordered upstairs stops, wide-eyed, and drives his own dagger into his gut; at the same time, screams and wild keening erupt from the dining room as some of the beggars smash the earthenware crockery to slash themselves and others turn murderously on their neighbors.
Knowledge (Religion-untrained):
Feeling the so called priest's energy wash over him Phillip channels his individuality and will of self-determination to resist Kreun's intent. A headache begins to swell and pound as the halfling endures and sees the madness unfold as Madrat turns upon himself...
When channeling negative energy to harm, affected creatures take only half the normal damage but take an additional penalty or harmful effect; a successful saving throw negates the additional penalty or effect but does not reduce the damage any further.
As you duck out of the mission suddenly gone mad, you recognize the device in the priest's outstretched hand as a featureless black mask, the holy symbol of Norgorber, god of thieves and assassins. At the eastern corner of the building, the walleyed man's partner, Rasper, is still standing, staring at something around the corner.
The man on the stairs stares at the confrontation between Badeye and Gristav in blind panic. Charging up the stairs, he slashes at the dazed man's back, the blade of his cutlass clinking off a metal stud on the larger man's leather armor.
The man on the stairs stares at the confrontation between Badeye and Gristav in blind panic. Charging up the stairs, he slashes at the dazed man's back, the blade of his cutlass clinking off...
"That's hardly fairplay!", Gristav laments. "I suppose you've both, chosen your sides. Pay attention, then: it's done like this...", Gristav grimly grandstands.
"All this, to imprison one man? I don't suppose, you could find that key?", Gris asks the turncoat.
A moment later, Braddon comes into view from the northeast corner of the building, his oversized sword undoubtedly the reason the man he's following looked so desperate. The half-elf appears also to be heading for the front doors.
As you hare around the corner, you see no sign of the man, but you do spy Phillip across the street from the front stoop, in the entrance to an alley. The halfling must have seen which way the other man went.
Gristav's staff thumps twice firmly into the dazed man, the second time with an arcane sizzle which leaves behind an elegant glyph branded incongrously into the rough stubble of his cheek; however, despite the bludgeoning he has taken, the man refuses to topple and fall, absorbing the punishing blows obdurately.
The man behind him doesn't seem to register Gristav's question, still staring wildly, while Badeye's mental fog seems to clear.
"Herepus, you remember I said very little was illegal in Riddleport? Well, they've hit upon it!", Gristav said in descending tones. "Madness and mercenary murder. We've got to clear our path, quickly; we're needed below."
Catching sight of Knuckles attacking Badeye, Snake finds this all even more confusing. "I told you Kreun was crooked. And if you heard what I just heard, according to Raccoon, he worships the 'Reaper' - who or whatever that is. And you're blocking my way." Snake then concentrates a glare upon the overgrown thug.
Behind Badeye, the other man seems suddenly to realize where he is and what he has done. "Cripes, Badeye," he cringes. "I don't know what came over me. For a moment there, you looked like...." He shakes his head, trying to rid himself of the nightmare vision.
Unwilling to stick around and risk Badeye's ire, the second man turns and darts back down to the foot of the stairs.
Catching sight of Knuckles attacking Badeye, Snake finds this all even more confusing. "I told you Kreun was crooked. And if you heard what I just heard, according to Raccoon, he worships the 'Reaper' - who or whatever that is. And you're blocking my way."
"You did", Gristav agrees. "Did you note my surprise? Hear me argue? But who knew then, this was an assassins' cult? I'd guess neither..."
Brand 1 HP (Fort sv 13), and Tienish glyph
Unwilling to be trampled by the longshanks seeking shelter away from the murderhouse, Phillip allows them free passage.
Braddon is only too happy to let the people rush past and he holds his sword in check unless one of them pulls a weapon on him.
"Who's Mumsy?" he asks as Phillip arrives. "They're getting her for us!"
Braddon attempts to push his way in, drawing his second sword as he does so.