Hmm, Mr. Black seems not to have noticed you, Qarxan. I wonder if we can use that to our advantage?
Quite a hornet's nest we've stumbled into. Deston, just exactly how trustworthy is this 'old friend' of yours?
'Indeed, gnomes are often overlooked, excepting when he have large snakes at our bid and call. They are a afraid of mother, I have the oddest hunch that this boy, and his equally ladish sounding companion have something to do with a certain powerful noble. Who else would have such specific interest in us?'
'It seems to me that we have been given a rather unique oppurtunity. Re-hide the note perhaps, then tie him up and question him as if we had not read it. I'm going to go prepare my formula and arcana, call me if he awakes, please?'
"If he was supposed to coinfirm our identity and then return, I expect he is overdue. I think i'll leave the questioning to you and check out downstairs to see if anyone has come lookign for him." Checking his daggers to make sure they are close at hand, Talic heads down to the common room, picking a corner table that offers a good view of the door.
"Samisel, I do not know what has happened here in the years I've been gone, but I would venture to say that Garret would be trustworthy. We may have parted in a bad way, but he was not known for either subtlety or deceit. However, he also wasn't of as much importance as he seems to be now."Deston responds.
He then looks at the boy and points to his outfit.
"I would hazard to guess that the embroidered P stands for Pendergast and the mother they speak of is probably Emilia. If so, this might present us with an excellent opportunity as they are the ones that own the Calypsia."
On the floor, the inebriated youth begins to stir, as if he may soon wake up.
Deston tells the others what he remembers of the Penderghasts."The note says Duncan so that kind of confirms who this is. It looks like the two younger twins want out of that household. Let's put a little fear in this one and then we can hold out the hope of helping them. We might get some good inside information from them."
'I agree! Squeaze him for a little information aswell, while he's afraid.'
"This child is not needfully our enemy unless we make him one. Let us question him, but with firmness and not cruelty."
Gingerly, with Lynnara looking on, Deston and Samisel prop the unconscious youth in a chair and strip him of his belongings, while Qarxan and Emmentian bind him tightly with rope. Talic returns to the room and informs everyone that they are indeed alone. Just as the last knot is secured, the boy begins to rouse, suddenly coming to with a start. He squints against the morning sunlight beaming in through the windows. He then tries to move, his eyes widening with surprise when he can't. Paniced, Duncan squirms madly in his chair, rocking back so far that he topples over. Only then does he notice the companions gathered in the room, peering intently at him.
"Oh, no. Oh please, please don't kill me. I don't wanna die." he begins to sob and babble incoherently, with tears and mucus streaming down his face.
Deston says to Lynnara,"You or one of the others better question him then, most of the people I have questioned over the last few years were much worse for the wear when I finished."
Deston then walks to the side of the room and takes a seat to watch.
Samisel crouches down in front of Duncan. Good morning, child. You seem to have a quite unflattering opinion of us. Why would we want to kill you? We merely found you passed out drunk in our rooms. We tried to sit you in the chair but had to tie you down to keep you from falling out. What is your name, youngster, and why did you choose our common room to sleep off your carousel?
Diplomacy
When the boy finally realizes he is in no immediate danger of death, he quiets his sobbing.
"My name's Duncan," he sniffs. "Look, I'm sorry that I ended up in your room. I didn't mean you any harm or nothing, I was just supposed to see if you were here and then report back to Elise, my sister. I wasn't even gonna go through with it last night, but then a pretty lady downstairs offered me a drink, so I drank it, and then she offered me another one, so I drank that one too, and before I knew it I was walking upstairs. That's the last thing I remember, honest. Please just let me go. I won't say a word about you to anyone, promise."
He squints and looks at the window in surprise, as if just realizing how late in the morning it is.
"Please, sirs, and ma'am, you gotta let me go. Please!" he pleads as he once again squirms against his restraints.
This is an incredibly clumsy attempt at spycraft, one that children might have indeed come up with... possibly desperate children if what has been said before is correct. I think we should take this opportunity for an improv meet with the boy's sister."
She turns to the boy
"Now child we are not going to hurt you and as soon as possible you're going to be reunited with your sister but this is very important.. For your and your sister's sake, you need to tell us all you remember about the woman who was giving you drinks last night."
After helping to tie up the boy, Emmentian walks back to another chair in the corner of the room to watch the interrogation, resting a fot on his knee casually.
"blond hair and dazzling blue eyes no doubt," he speaks to himself under his breath at Lynnara's question, "hardly the true mystery here.".
Sensing the kindness in Lynnara's eyes, Duncan swallows the lump in his throat and mutters in a whisper. "No, she had dark hair. She looked a little bit older than I was, and she was pretty, you know? I had never met anyone like her before, and she seemed to really like me. I mean, she was very... flirtatious. She would lean in close and touch my arm and say things I had never had a girl say to me before. I...I liked her." he looked down at his feet.
"She said her name was Katherine, but wanted me to call her Kat. I remember thinking that was funny because of her eyes. They weren't like normal people's eyes. They were yellow and shaped like a cat's. At first I didn't know what to say to her, but after I drank the drink she offered me, it was easier to talk to her. She asked me lots of questions about why I was here, and about you guys. At first I wasn't gonna tell her anything, but she seemed impressed that I had made it this far. I think towards the end she was the one who encouraged me to come upstairs to find you. I guess I... I guess I must have passed out. I've never really drank before, except for watered wine at the dinner table when mum entertains guests."
He looks up suddenly."Look, I'm sorry. I've told you everything I know. Can I please go now? If I don't reach my sister soon there will be... trouble." he says with a frown.
Seeing nothing unusual and getting bored, Talic makes his way back to their room. As the others question the kid, Talic wonders if he could perhaps disguise himself as the child.
Qarxan keeps his ears on the conversation as he finishes readying his spells for the day.
As I guessed, a Prenderghast boy. The boy really. We have drawn some attention already. This will be an interesting few days indeed, he thinks to himself.
Samisel steps back from the boy and motions to the others to come closer. We should release him and follow him back to his sister. Perhaps our appearance will shake loose some information. We should also ask around the bar for information about this Kat person. She sounds like the type people would notice, he whispers.
Emmentian pushes himself up from his seat slowly, and walks over to lean in to converse with the group. "Perhaps," he comments quietly, "but he might be willing to take us to his sister. I'm also curious as to who it is that wanted him to check up on us, and more importantly why... though it seems that such answers might be more forthcoming from his sister."
Lynnara pauses for a moment after Samisel and Emmentian put forth thier ideas.
"I agree with the both of you. One way or another either by his choice or his movements, let us meet with his sister. We can give him the chance to take us to her volountarily or simply shadow him to her if he refuses. Doing some background checking wouldn't hurt either."
I'd prefer to stay in the shadows behind the group, see if we're being followed or walking into something unpleasant. If there's any sign of trouble, I'll signal"
"I also agree."says Deston,"And I also think Talic has the right idea about looking for shadows. We need to get a better idea of exactly what the 'factions' are in this mess."
With the party in agreement, they pose the question of meeting his sister to Duncan, who soon makes it very clear that he wants no part of the venture.
"I can't." he says firmly, yet with a tremor in his voice. "If they knew I spoke to you, or that you guys know who I am, they would kill me, and probably do even worse to Elise. Please, just forget you ever saw me. I won't say a word to them about you, I promise."
Reluctantly, the companions cut him loose, and the hung-over young man hastily gathers his belongings and runs out of the room, tripping over himself as he tries to get dressed and make his way downstairs at the same time.
The party waits a few moments, then heads after him, determined to tail him without being seen.
The party pursues the young man through the streets of the city, finding it very difficult to match his pace while remaining covert. Suddenly, the boy looks behind him and sees the companions hustling after him. His eyes grow wide with shock and he immediately takes off down a nearby alleyway. The party gives up all pretenses of stealth and begins to sprint after Duncan, weaving this way and that through the crowded streets.
As they round a corner, they see Duncan run up to a small contingent of ORCA guards, one of them dressed in impressive ceremonial armor and brandishing a halberd.
"Help!" Duncan screams breathlessly. "I am Duncan Penderghast, son and vassal to Emilia Penderghast, and these people,"he wheezes, pointing to the party, "are trying to kill me!"
As one, the three grim faced, heavily armed men turn and begin to advance on the party, weapons drawn.
cursing his companions for their lack of stealth, Talic tries to whisper advice as they move, but it is to no avail.
Iniative
'Oh poppycock! That didn't end well!'
Init:
If by the time it gets to my turn we're entrenched in battle, the first move will be to cast Bless on the party.
If we're looking to disengage, then her action will be to cast Obscuring Mist to cover our retreat. She will also do this if we decide to disengage later.
I don't think we want to fight these guards, it gains us nothing, Samisel says to his friends. He holds his ground but does not pull his sword.
Talic will take cover behind the nearest cart and ready his sling to hurl a stone at the first guard that attacks the group.
"Remind me to teach you guys how to be subtle", says Talic, though he throws a wink at the party to show he merely jests.
In that case Talic aims for the guy with the crossbow...
Samisel draws his blade, points at the guard captain and says, Come dance with me, knave!, then charges.
Attack Charging
Attack if he can't charge
Damage
AC -4 (vs. anyone other than the guard captain)
AC -2 (vs. guard captain)
All allies get +1 melee attack vs. guard captain
Deston smiles(not that anyone can tell) draws his pistol as he moves up and shoots the guard with the crossbow.
Qarxan moves forward to catch as many guards as he can in his color spray.
He finishes the spell and a riot of prismatic dissonance burst from his hand an washes over thr guards. (DC 16)
Emmentian hisses to Cirrus and the pair move forwards towards the oncoming guards, the snake staying close to the legs of the gnome, while Emmentian himself continues to let out the bestial sound as he moves. After a few steps, the shaman rears back his head and the hiss reaches a new pitch as a forked tongue emerges from his mouth and a pair of vicious looking fangs protrude outwards.
Lynnara casts her Bless as scheduled.
Talic fires off a stone, his aim just shy of true, and watches in dismay as the rock bounces harmlessly off the guard's armor. Suddenly Samisel shouts and sprints forward, drawing the ire of the heavily armored knight captain, distracting him from the rest of the party. The guard leverages his halberd, trying to block the ferocious elf, but Samisel will not be denied. He delivers a viscous upswing with his elven curved blade, biting through his opponents chain mail and scoring a deep gash in the man's side. The guard stumbles a bit, calling out to his companions for help. As his fellow swordsman moves to intercept, Qarxan draws power from the air and blasts all three of the ORCA infantry with a dazzling miasma of vivid ethereal color. Instantly, the two lesser guards scream and drop their weapons, scratching at their eyes as they are blinded by the spell. The wounded captain, however, shakes off the effects and sets his teeth against the pain, ready for war.
Behind Qarxan, the ever opportunistic Deston draws a pistol from his belt and smoothly fires off a round at the now defenseless crossbowman, grazing him across the shoulder. The other blinded man begins to stumble toward Emmentian and Cirrus, where now a dark transformation brews within the serpent shaman. Finally, a sense of peace and conviction flows through the companions, bolstering them on to victory.
With both his companions out of commission, the heavily armored captain shrugs off his wounds and suddenly thrusts with his halberd, puncturing Samisel's armor and punching a deep, bloody hole in the young elf's abdomen. He then backs up a few feet, reaching for a potion in the pouch on his belt.
Qarxan woops then moves back away from the combat.
He then draws and loads his light crossbow.