Duncan makes his way to the front of the warehouse and rejoins the rest of the party.
The guard that was held and released appears confused with the various mental assaults on his mind. Finally, he looks at the boss with the strange eyes and face, drops his weapon, and jumps down from the crates.
He lands poorly, twisting his ankle but not seriously injuring himself as he runs towards the back of the warehouse, looking terrified.
Garnult manages to hold the boss's arm back from killing herself.
Her eyes return to normal, but the strange glowing lines still cover her face. (As Duncan approaches - and Maeltheron if he does so as well - he notices that the patterns of the lines are similar to the creature and obelisk in the sewer.)
In her normal voice, she says, "You have no idea what's coming. If you did, you wouldn't bother wasting your time trying to fight it. We're all dead - you just haven't realized it yet."
[ooc]Don't worry. I also dm my own game, and my posts are often late as well.
Wow..... Alwyn walks up to the boss Fun fact, I was dead once, and that was torture. This sure doesn't feel like that. I'm pretty sure I would know if I was forced to endure such torture once more.He motions to the guard Should I get him?
"Been dead already, huh? Well, you picked the perfect time to come back. At least you get to see the end of the world."
Unless stopped, the other guard continues to limp in a panic into the back office.
Alwyn runs towards the guard Hey! Come back! We won't hurt you!
The fleeing guards slows a bit and turns to respond, but is still heading back to the office.
"You had better run! You don't know what that thing can do! It's gonna get in our heads again." He stops for a moment to point at one of the other guards who shot himself. "I'm not gonna be like one a them! Whatever is clawing around in the boss's head ain't getting me again. Hey, I don't know who ya are and got no beef with ya, so I'm telling you to kill the boss then start running and don't look back!"
Do you not think we should inquire as to what, or do we just kill her?
"This whole thing is pretty creepy...and I am not sure that maybe she could not take us over somehow. As much as I want to question her, I am afraid of what she can still do to us. What do the rest of you think?"
The boss rolls her eyes and mutters under her breath something rude about growing a spine. She then looks up at Duncan and Maeltheron as they approach, sizing them up.
She smiles wickedly at them, "Yes, I am going to crawl into your pathetic little heads and make you kill each other just for laughs!!"
She then yanks her arms out of Garnult's grasp and charges at Maeltheron bringing her sword back to prepare to strike at him.
Duncan runs her through with his shortsward, as well as punching her in the throat.
Attack (unarmed):
Damage:
Attack (short swaor):
Damage:
Duncan's sword pierces her abdomen and his punch snaps her neck, killing her.
Her eyes and the geometric lines on her face glow white hot and her body convulses briefly before falling limp. The smell of burnt flesh spreads throughout the area, as her eyes and the lines fade leaving behind only smoky charred marks.
A couple thuds of some things being knocked over echo from the back of the otherwise silent warehouse (from the direction Alvyn chased the guard), followed by a pleading voice you can't quite make out.
There are 3 doors on the far side of the room, and the guard is running towards the middle one. He sees you as he runs stumbling around the table. He knocks a couple chairs over behind him, and begs "I don't want no more to do wit' this! Just lemme get away from... whatever is in the boss! I won't be bothering no one no more! Please!!"
"Well that was a hell of a thing! Where is that other guard? Maybe we should check her body for anything that might shed some light on what was going on here?"
Indeed...
Mael begins to search her.
Garnult watches Alvyn with his hammer in hand, ready to smash something if it moves funny.
In addition to her scimitar (which looks finely crafted), the boss has a ring of several keys. There does not seem to be anything else noteworthy on her.
In the meeting room, the guard reaches the middle door and opens it, but hesitates. "Wine??! That thing is gonna get into our heads and make us kill ourselves! Or worse! Sure, I believe you probably ain't gonna kill me, but I can't say that 'bout whatever thing the boss is now. Look, there's a back door outta this place through here. If yer smart, you'll follow me and start running and not look back!"
He still appears terrified - but at least waits in the doorway, watching you.
"She's... dead? You sure?" He calms a bit by this, but only a little. "I'll pass on the wine - gonna need somethin' stronger before I get as far away as I can!"
"I'm not going to go back in there, tho. For all I know, it's controllin' ya now, and this is a trap. Even if it's not..." His voice trails off to almost a whisper, "I don't wanna see 'em again after... what it made 'em do."
He stiffens up again, "So what do ya want? I've been through enough, I say. I got nothing against ya, if ya got nothing against me. So ya only got a coupla minutes then I'm finding the fastest way outta this town."
Duncan looks the fellow over then asks if he has seen their friend.
"She was last seen somewhere around here, according to others. Have you noticed anyone like that around here?"
"Yeah, I recognize her. She was talking with the boss - Janine -
about wanting in on our business. But, see, the boss didn't trust her. Thought she was playing us. So we lured her into a meeting but we managed to get a jump on her - the elf lady yer looking for. Boss wanted her alive, tho, so we tied her up and took her to the boss's office like the others." He points to the door on his left.
He turns and looks at the door, and then at the dusty meeting table. Struggling to remember, he says, "The last time the boss called us here, she said we had a new business, better profit. We wuz to stop smuggling and start nabbing folk... just beggars, out of town folk...said not to worry about the Watch, they'd think it was the ice beast folks have been rumoring about. So just like your friend, we took them to... her office."
A confused look crosses his face, and he seems to be almost talking to himself now, trying to sort out his memories, "The fellas thought it might be some sorta ransom deal... or something, with nabbing folk. But I don't know... what she did with them. It's all... fuzzy. Not sure why we never thought to ask. Thinkin' back, the boss was acting weird, but back then, it all seemed... ok. It sorta, I dunno, all made sense at the time."
He suddenly catches himself and realizes who he is talking to. "But I didn't hurt yer friend. Honest! You saw what happened to the boss - what she did to the others! Ya did something to snap me outta it, but you know I didn't hurt yer friend. I didn't do nothing on purpose. We wuz just smugglers. We weren't hurting no one. I swear! Then it just... changed."
Meal rushes to the office door and attempts to open it.
Meal rushes to the office door and attempts to open it.
Duncan, check her person for a key, or come and xisplay your skills on this locked office door, please.
Duncan quickly searches the body of the dead woman, looking for a key (and anything else he might find!).
Just nabbing folk huh. No clue what was gonna happen to em? Bah.
Just nabbing folk huh. No clue what was gonna happen to em? Bah.
"What? You think we all wanted to kill ourselves on naught but a glance from her??! Janine was a good boss - before whatever happened to her. But we're just looking for some easy money. Nothing worth shooting ourselves in the head over!"
Mael opens to the door and finds a neat and tidy office with a large desk with some papers on it, a chair, and several wooden filing cabinets. There is another wooden door nearby and across the room there is a large iron door with three large locks on it.
Mael enters thd room and begins to investigate the desk anx thd iron door. He hands the keys back to Duncan, and says,
Can you check for ouf benefactor, Duncan? She may be behind the cell door.
In addition to those, there is an additional note that says: "More of the True Masters are arriving. Shuluth requires more merchandise." It is signed 'Lucian'.
Taking the sword, Duncan enters the room and begins to look around.
Perception:
Investigation:
More interested in the metal door, Duncan gives the room a cursory look before examining the metal door, then the wood one.
Perception on wood door:
Perception on iron door:
Some papers like the fliers we saw and one note. Come on in, all. We need to ask our friend who Lucian or Shuluth are? Lucian signed a note that reads, "More of the True Masters are arriving. Shuluth requires more merchandise."
There also seems to be a bit of a different smell coming from the vicinity of the iron door, but it's hard to place. The door seems to seal off the space beyond quite well.
The guard seems to be getting a bit more comfortable, but still looks eager to leave. But hearing Maeltheron speak up, he replies, "The Captain? Huh! Lucian is the Captain of the City Guard. I knew some of them were on the take, but I didn't think the Captain would be. Always seemed on the up and up. Maybe turned a blind eye to some of the less harmful stuff, but was pretty harsh in shutting down everything else when he found it. Didn't realize the boss was working right with him. No idea who that other is. Never heard of 'im."
Duncan tries the keys he found on the iron door. If none seem to work, he will pick the lock.
Duncan tries the keys he found on the iron door. If none seem to work, he will pick the lock.
Maeltheron stares at the grizzly scene before him, and he scans the room for the whereabouts of Aleanor.
Get in here everyone.
None of the heads belongs to our benefactor, but there is a locked trap door under that ice block. Come, Duncan, help me move this block so you can unlock the door. Aleanor may be below.
Mael puts a shoulder to the ice.
Duncan stands dumbfounded at the room. Such perverse torture he has not encountered before and he feels his gore rise. He watches as Mael searches the heads and lets out a breath he did not realize he was holding as it is revealed that none of the heads belong to Aleanor.
As Mael starts to move the ice block away from the trap door, Duncan gives him a hand, then tries the keys on the ring to see if any will open the lock.
It is unfortunately, just a small compartment that contains a chest.
The guard slowly and nervously approaches the office and peaks inside. Seeing even a glimpse of the vault from across the room, he retches a bit and hurries back into the meeting room. "What-? What was the boss up to?! I... we... we had no idea. I swears! Whatever it was in her head done this! The boss woulda never done this on her own! I... gotta get outta here. I'm leaving, and I really think you should all get outta town too. Get as far away as you can!"
Perception:
Perception (Dis):
Duncan examines the chest for traps and checks to see if it is locked. He will first try the ring of keys, then pick the lock if none of them work.
You don't notice any traps. It is locked, but none of the keys seem to work.
Taking out his thieves tools, Duncan gets to work opening the locked chest.
Open lock (Dex):
And again if I can.
Open lock (Dex):
Mael hovers while Duncan sets to work.