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Sirettis knows Underbridge is Magnimar's most dangerous and seedy district, infested with rats, brothels, and gambling dens.
The warehouse is easy enough to find given Sheila's map, and you're now standing just outside of it. The stench of dead rats, raw sewage, and cheap perfume is all too powerful here. A set of wooden double doors blocks the entrance. The windowless warehouse is quiet save for the odd creature gnawing at whatever rotten food scraps might have been accidentally disposed of here.
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Mr Peppers nods along with Sirettis's statements to Miss Heidmarch as to the 'unsavoriness' of this work, but deep down he was happy to have been able to use his control of magic to their advantage. "Lets hope the other tasks are more straight forward and less slimy." I'll need to take a read of those scandalous love letters though, whew!
Mr Peppers heads with the others to the rotten section of town, pinching his nose most of the way in disgust "This is pretty vile! Maybe if we move slow enough I can clean a path so we don't ruin our fine shoes in this mess!"
He draws out his wand of armor and summons in some.. just in case.
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The rat scurries into a crack in the warehouse doors when Gallix tries to get a closer look at it.
Peeking into the doors, you see a dimly lit and poorly organized storeroom, with at least a half dozen workers carting around cases of supplies from pile to pile. The workers look strangely unhuman, with long noses, whiskers, and tufts of hair growing from their arms.
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D slips into the warehouse and moves up closer to the rat-like workers.
"So we gotta unload all of this crap? I thought Kresch was gonna try to get that rune key directly," one of the workers says, a shiny golden cup falling off the top of the crate.
"Too obvious. I bet we're tryin' to move this product on the market first, then use the funds to buy the key outright. At least, that's what she told us. Who knows. Seems too stuffy. ....Hey, grab that satchel, will you? Just nabbed it this morning," another responds.
They both stop in place, turning as their noses perk up. It's the scent of D, though they can't pinpoint where he is... Just yet. "Hey, do you smell that? Boss! Someone's here!"
Sir D immediately recognizes Kresch further inside the warehouse from his earlier scouting.
-- Bold is up --
Sir D
Dotted pink, green, black
Kresch Vaor
Mr. Peppers, Sirettis
Dotted blue, red, orange
Cup, Longjing, Gallix, Uesugi
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D moves a crate using his mind, impeding some of the rat creature's movement.
"They're onto us, fellow verminkin. Go on, stop them," Kresch commands. "Now!" The first set of ratpeople and their pets rush forward. Luckily, the doors are only big enough to allow two to attack!
Kresch stands in place for now, waiting for a more opportune moment.
-- Bold is up --
Sir D
Dotted pink, green, black
Kresch Vaor (delay)
Mr. Peppers, Sirettis
Dotted blue, red, orange
Cup, Longjing, Gallix, Uesugi
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"Oh, this won't do! Hehehee!" Sirettis conjures a billow of
Solid Fog, hoping to slow them down a bit.
She pulls out her silver mace. "Oh well. Surprise factory inspection!"
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Sirettis' plume of thick fog fills the warehouse!
"You're right, lady, this won't do!" Kresch Vaor yells out at Sirettis, then begins casting a spell.
Meanwhile, the other wererats slowly stumble through the fog.
-- Bold is up --
Sir D
Dotted pink, green, black
Mr. Peppers, Sirettis
Dotted blue, red, yellow, Kresch Vaor
Cup, Longjing, Gallix, Uesugi
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Counterspell (Su): By expending 1 point from her arcane reservoir, the arcanist can attempt to counter a spell as it is being cast. She must identify the spell being cast as normal. If she successfully does so, the arcanist can attempt to counter the spell as an immediate action and by expending an available arcanist spell slot of a level at least one higher than the level of the spell being cast. To counterspell, the arcanist must attempt a dispel check as if using dispel magic. If the spell being countered is one that the arcanist has prepared, she can instead expend an available arcanist spell slot of the same level, and she receives a +5 bonus on the dispel check. Counterspelling in this way does not trigger any feats or other abilities that normally occur when a spellcaster successfully counters a spell.
“Mighty Dragon Atta-a-a-ack!”
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Gallix's eyes go wide as he sees the crowd of enemies and vermin, though it's not clear if the expression is one of shock or of delight. As the enemies swarm toward the Red Arms, he strikes back with a barrage of kicks and punches, aiming one of his strikes at the sword of the ratfolk who attacked him.
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Mr. Peppers dispel attempt fizzles, allowing the caster to continue, and D misses his mark. Gallix rips the short sword from the wererat's hairy hands, then clobbers it in the chest, and flattens the rat companion while he's at it. Uesugi takes down two ratfolk with three slices of his katana.
Green steps up and attacks back at Gallix twice, missing both times, and his rat does the same.
No one manages to touch the Red Arm team!
-- Bold is up --
Sir D
Dotted green, black
Mr. Peppers, Sirettis
Dotted blue, red, yellow, Kresch Vaor
Cup, Longjing, Gallix, Uesugi
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Cathedral of Abadar will soon open its doors for the public auction! Anyone interested in participating must be within the cathedral in fifteen minutes. Once the auction starts, the doors will close. This is not an open door auction and no one will be admitted to the auction once the bidding starts"
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Mr. Peppers peppers the rat's nest with missiles, killing one of the rat companions and knocking three others prone.
Sirettis get bitten by one of the filthy rats. The swarm summoning completes, and a swarm of - you guessed it - rats appears next to Mr. Peppers!
Vaor casts another spell, this time conjuring a flaming sphere next to Sirettis and directing it for her legs.
-- Bold is up --
Sir D
Dotted green (-5, prone), dotted black (-4, prone), black (-2, prone)
Mr. Peppers, Sirettis (-2)
Dotted blue, red, yellow, Kresch Vaor, swarm
Cup, Longjing, Gallix, Uesugi
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Gallix punches the green wererat into submission and moves ahead hastily, landing a third hook across the red-eyed wererat's jaw. "Gah, I've been stung harder by a mosquito!"
Uesugi finely dices a wererat with his katana, then chops a dire rat in two. The warehouse entrance is littered in rat corpses in no small way aided by D's blast, which disintegrates the swarm.
-- Bold is up --
Sir D
Mr. Peppers (-5), Sirettis (-12)
Dotted blue, dotted red (-11), red, yellow, Kresch Vaor
Cup, Longjing, Gallix, Uesugi
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Longjing flies forward to Kresch, staying within the cloud, and follows up Cup’s Glitterdust with his own trick. “Mighty Dragon Inkspray!”
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Closing his eyes as rat juice is splattered all over him Mr Peppers takes a deep breath, trying to keep his composure. "Thank you D. Lets see if I can't take care of that ball of flames in there.."
He daintily moves into the warehouse and points at the flaming sphere, crushing his fingers together in hopes to snuffing the fire for at least a little while. The flames go cold and a smile erupts across tall, dark and spattered.
Spell Disruption (Su): The arcanist can temporarily disrupt a spell by expending 1 point from her arcane reservoir and succeeding at a dispel check against the spell, as dispel magic. This ability suppresses a spell effect for a number of rounds equal to the arcanist's Charisma modifier (minimum 1). If the spell affects multiple creatures, this ability only suppresses the spell for one creature. At the end of this duration, the spell resumes and the suppressed rounds do not count against its total duration. This ability can be used on unwilling targets, but the arcanist must succeed at a melee touch attack, and the target may attempt a Will saving throw to negate the effect. This ability has no effect on spells that are instantaneous or have a duration of permanent.
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Sirettis flies above the clouds, trying to evade the melee she seems to be surrounded in (and the fireball trying to engulf her.)
If she survives, she climbs out of the cloud. 20 feet above the ground, she simply stares at Kresch. "She's right you know. We didn't come here to kill. Tell your crew to calm down so we can stop the bloodshed here."
Sirettis casts Charm Monster to crush Kresch's will and stop the bloodshed. DC 20 Will Save to resist.
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Kresch Vaor suddenly sees nothing but dust, and despite Sirettis' spell failing, she drops to her knees. "Alright, you've made your point! Stop killing my family already! You even got little cousin Timmy!" She grumbles, attempting to limp over and inspect her family's wounds.
When the dust clears, and she has a clear glimpse of the bloodshed at the front door, Kresch turns back into her human form. "I know you cannot possibly be here to inspect this warehouse - our home - so why are you here? Have you been hired to murder my young ones?" She asks icily, rubbing her eyes.
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Sirettis dispels the cloud, lands and uses her healing hex to provide healing to anyone who is wounded and still alive.
"I cannot do anything to those who have passed, my apologies." Sirettis touches another one. "But you did attack us as soon as we entered. We were sent here to find out why you wanted the Key. The real reason."
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Kresch continues to tend to her family's wounds. "Blasted key, I don't care about the damn thing anyway! Go ahead, search. You'll see what I mean." She points towards the back of the warehouse.
Cup moves into the office in the back of the warehouse, and uncovers a strange note shoved beneath a pile of papers on a desk.
The last of the attendees are shuffled into the Cathedral of Abadar and the crowd eagerly await the beginning of the auction. A portly man takes to the stage, and with a voice like a foghorn declares ”The auction is open!” which sets off a hum through the crowd as people start jostling for position and readying their auction bidding paddles, as though they were cutlasses with which to defeat the auction itself!
Kresch Vaor looks around at the readied auction-slayers with a broken resolve “Bah, too much for an old key. Proctor, I’m out. Have one of your clergymen transfer my deposit to my personal account.” then sits back down.
The bidding then begins with fury, paddles being thrust into the air representing thousands of gold at a time
The Duchesses seem a bit distant, and very quickly exit the bidding.
As the numbers rise, Maiveer Sloan calls out, he pleads with the auctioneer, “I don’t have the funds on hand, but let my organization put down credit on the key. I can have the extra funds in a few months and you know we’re good for it.” The Auctioneer purses his heavy lips in sympathetic understanding. The Proctor interjects ”The rules state this auction would be a fast sell only with coin in hand” Maiveer pleads further ”Sir! I protest! I have been victimised and robbed - and though I make no issue of it now I protest that I would have had the coin had it not been so! The rogues, robbers, and conspirators sit right under this very roof and gain from this injustice!” The proctor, having none of it, simply turns to Sloan ”Contain yourself or the church will have you removed.”
As order is almost restored, a group of toughs barges in and heads straight for Dymal Rinks - ”Minvandu wants a word”. He begins to protest, but two burly half-orcs simply grab an arm each and pick him up and start walking out. Sheila Heidmarch makes a gesture that is very clear - do NOT get involved. Minvandu’s chief legbreaker pauses at the Proctor ”Sorry about that interruption, bit of confusion needing to be dealt with. Whatever deposit Rinks tried to put down on the auction belongs to our employer, Mr. Minvandu. I’ll send someone around later to collect it, after the boss has a few private words with Rinks”. Rinks is then dragged out of the auction house, kicking and screaming.
The auction begins again in earnest, with some Pathfinders baulking at the sums being thrown around and consider wandering to a nearby tavern instead. The number of bidders begins to rapidly thin…
Doctor Landis starts making an offer,then thinks better of it - some concern playing at the back of his mind no doubt. He lowers his hand, and simply gestures that he’s cut himself off by waving his hand across his throat.
Falrig Sneve seems spooked by Doctors Landis withdrawing and it triggers him too “Too rich for my blood. Fold!”
With only Pathfinders and Lady Kaddren in the bidding war, the atmosphere gets tense - it is clear that Lady Kaddren is determined to win… yet as she is about to bid a breathtaking sum, a runner presents her with a note which she quickly reads. After, she grimaces at the assembled Pathfinders and their Venture Captain and in a threatening tone says, “This time, you got lucky. From here out, you might want to watch your backs.” Then she turns to the proctor and tells him, “You can close my bids out.” After, she tucks the note into her cloak and storms out.
The Auctioneer continues “Going, going, gone! And sold to table seven with the red coloured paddle for a final price of sixty thousand gold pieces! Table seven please send one representative to the front of the room to claim your prize!”
A seasoned Pathfinder, Eadie Navhelan from the winning table strides out to collect.
Without warning, a tremendous flash of light and smoke appears behind the auctioneer, and the very fabric of reality is sliced open. Seconds later, a black-robed figure steps through the rift and pulls a jagged black-bladed dagger across the auctioneer’s throat sending a shower of blood into the screaming crowd of bidders. The remorseless assassin snatches the Runecarved Key and in a fit of mad laughter bursts into dozens of shadowy black forms, each fleeing from the cathedral in a different direction.
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Suddenly an ear-piercing whistle sounds. Without warning, the stained glass windows of the cathedral simultaneously shatter inward in a colorful barrage of flying glass.
Mayhem fills the cathedral with the crowd cowering behind their arms in attempt to avoid the spray of glass!
Amid the rain of glass shards, a horde of cultists come crashing through the windows, surrounding you and the patrons inside and blocking your escape and pursuit of the assassin.
"So foolish of you... All of you! To think you could win the key!"
The key thieves are getting away! Finish these cultists quickly and chase them down!
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-- Bold is up --
Cup
Blue, Yellow
Sir D, Mr. Peppers
Green, Red
Siretis, Gallix, Uesugi, Longjing
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♫ It’s the shower of glass
It’s the time to choose
Time to move your ass
No time to lose
Murderers and thieves
Surround on all sides
But team, no one leaves
‘Til we save some lives
So much fuss about one key
And between us it’ll be
One hellacious fight
Does might make right?
We’ll have to see
Withstand the wrath
Find our own path
To victory!
Let’s take the field
We’re the Red Arm
Soon, all revealed
No innocents harmed
It’s the shower of glass
It’s the time to choose
Time to move your ass
No time to lose ♫
As Cup sings, she casts Good Hope.
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As Cup fills the cathedral with an inspiring song, one of the cultists pulls out a scroll and reads from it, his eyes glowing as the words burn off the page.
Another cultist has no need for a scroll, and waves his arms expertly, casting a spell.
A thick, soupy cloud of fog spills out from the center of the cathedral, its smell a mix of rotten eggs and cabbage.
-- Bold is up --
Cup (-16)
Blue, Yellow
Sir D, Mr. Peppers
Green, Red
Siretis, Gallix, Uesugi, Longjing
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Mr Peppers does his best to cover his face from the glass shards but he's far too distracted by the sounds of spells being cast and gets some cuts through what remained of his false life spell. "Ahhhhh my eyes!!" He hollers, quickly covering his mouth and nose from the smell. "Arrgh my nose!! Anyone get that scroll I missed it, but he sure is taking a LONG time to cast it."
Valuing his own lunch and his nose, not to mention the quality of his favorite cloak, Mr Peppers tries to focus his power to 'waft away' the cloud for at least a few seconds.
"Ahhh much better!" He then draws out his loaded crossbow.
Spell Disruption (Su): The arcanist can temporarily disrupt a spell by expending 1 point from her arcane reservoir and succeeding at a dispel check against the spell, as dispel magic. This ability suppresses a spell effect for a number of rounds equal to the arcanist's Charisma modifier (minimum 1). If the spell affects multiple creatures, this ability only suppresses the spell for one creature. At the end of this duration, the spell resumes and the suppressed rounds do not count against its total duration. This ability can be used on unwilling targets, but the arcanist must succeed at a melee touch attack, and the target may attempt a Will saving throw to negate the effect. This ability has no effect on spells that are instantaneous or have a duration of permanent.