"I did not get hit anywhere, Faedrin. Perhaps you and your sister could take a lesson from me. I see no such lack of wounds on either of you." Dareon arches an eyebrow at his elven companion before sliding off of the divide between rooms and into the next room. "Come!" he calls into the next room. "We have work to do."
"Well, if you could onto this rope I throw over, that would help me a bit at least." Tanjvats suggested meekly. He wasn't looking forward to more unassisted clambering.
Elrawien seems to be coming back to herself as the two men bicker, "Oh, so you've been watching us closely, have you? We haven't exactly clarified which of us you prefer." she states with a faux pout, resigning herself to not expecting an answer, she continues. "We do have work to do, but I think we should bathe and find ourselves a little privacy first. Then we could discuss all manner of the lessons we can teach one another."
She hoists herself to her feet, leaning against the wall for balance and takes the end of the rope Tanjvats indicated, before carefully picking her way across what little floor remains. "Now, don't think I'm able to support you while I have this, I'm just delivering it to this strapping young man here." as she holds the end out for Dareon once she arrives.
Tanjvats pulled himself over to the next door with Dareon's help. It was difficult holding onto the rope with his excrement-covered hands.
Is that a piece of lettuce? Ugh! Gods, I need a bath!
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The dwarf rings his beard out - getting the muck out of it's spongy nature as best he can. He looks to his compatriots, nodding to them all as they make their way up towards the entrance. "C'mon lad's. Lets get this over with."
He moves on to the undiscovered area, pulling his Waraxe from it's leather holder. Grunting slightly, but it turns into a laugh as he walks rather heavy-footedly, remembering his fight with the Barrels and the absurdity of it.
Dareon follows behind Gaileyon, longsword and torch back in his hands, ready to hoist himself up to the next door and move forward. "Best be cautious, my stout and vertically challenged comrade.", he murmurs.
Given the poor condition of the building, the door opens simply enough, and with a little scrambling on the part of all participants, everyone is able to climb over the threshold into the next room.
This room is also floorless, with only an exposed septic pit where the floor should be. A dry sewer pipe extends from the wall of this pit. The west wall is dominated by a massive brick fireplace that still remains anchored in place, overlooking the sewage. A ladder extends from the sewage to the fire-blackened hearth above. As in other rooms, the ceiling here has collapsed to reveal the attic space.
Tanjvats slogged, slipped and scrabbled to keep up with everyone.
Noting the ladder, he looked hopefully at the fireplace. Maybe this is where they could stop wading through the filth?
But another part of him looked to the sewer pipe, expecting either more danger or the likely path forward. He gave the pipe a long, searching stare.
Faedrin hops up onto the threshold and gracefully side steps into the room, balanced on the edge of the floor while holding onto the door frame with one hand. His expression sours immediately as he sees yet more sewage where a floor should be. "Why don't these people believe in good, solid floors? Ah, what a bother. Beside that, we seem to be running out of house for our elusive Natalya to be hiding in. Anyone think she might have slipped down that dry pipe?"
Dareon hops up behind Faedrin, but doesn't pause on his way into the room, dropping straight into the pit with a metallic *thump* and walking straight towards the dry pipe. "I don't know if you've noticed, but generally, goblins are pretty averse to pristine conditions."
When he reaches the pipe, he stoops to look inside.
Above the fireplace, there is a semi-solid chunk of the attic still in place, and your eyes are all drawn to it as a woman's voice calls down. "Who do you think you are that you can come force your way into my new hideout, and assault my gang? Don't you know who you're dealing with? You've made a BIG mistake.
Tanjvats couldn't spot the source of the words near the attic, and so whirled around a bit, scanning the walls and dry pipe to see if it was an echo, or a ruse.
Faedrin peers up into the attic space, only hearing a voice call out. He remarks off handedly to his companions, "It seems our Natalya has squirreled herself away in the attic. I suppose that's better than down another sewage pipe."
Dareon doesn't even look up when he hears the woman call - he's not entirely sure where the voice is coming from, and he doesn't want to seem a fool by looking in the wrong direction. He calls out back, though, his rich, resonant voice ringing out, "Natalya, I presume? If you wish to give yourself up, you will be unharmed and bereft of mistreatment. I recommend you take that option."
Faedrin looks down at Dareon as he calls out to Natalya while slogging through more sewage. He shakes his head then corrects, "We're here to help her, not apprehend her, Dareon. It's true she'll be safer with us, but that's a decision she should be free to make after she hears our case."
The voice from the attic barks back a harsh laugh, and snide retort "Hah! Give up, to you guys? Why do you useless mutts think I need your help? Actually, if you give yourselves up, MAYBE you will be unharmed and bereft of mistreatment. It's up to you. I could use some cronies in my new gang."
Following Faedrin's comment, Tanjvats addressed himself towards the attic.
"Yes, you could use some more cronies, as you have fewer than you did just a few minutes ago. We have fought our way in here and pulled ourselves through filth to reach you. Our mission and message are important enough for this...", he indicated his foul and soaked clothing. "There is no reason for you to doubt either our resolve or our ability. Please. Let's talk and not fight."
|
As he ventured back to the lodge through the darker parts of the streets, his cloak flowing with an unnerving grace, Oz felt a bit sullen. He had almost been bested by a pitiful excuse for a sorcerer. His hands had betrayed him in the finest possible moment, and he choked back his own shame.
Reaching into his cloak, he grabbed the mask, an object he held most dear, and placed it upon the shadow of his face. The smile on it was eternal, unlike his own, and beneath that shroud of foolishness lied a man that happened to be quite contrite.
The ground was oddly cold as he walked back, rotating a dagger in his hand. He couldn't help but wonder what the others were up to. At that thought, he clumsily stepped into a puddle of rain water and immediately began to wipe off the crisp, clear, fresh wetness. His feet were cold enough.
Gaileyon's look around the place doesn't divine a central pillar or point of support. The frame has done well enough to hold up the old building, even in its current condition, and all the framing seems to be focused on each of the corners and along the longer walls.
The most sturdy part possibly being the old hearth that, unlike everything else in here, doesn't rest down in the muck. It still holds up the chunk of attic above it as well, the one solid piece the voice is coming down from.
"Oh, we are talking, as I have not yet begun to fight. Know that for sure, but you all haven't said anything I think worth listening to yet. All you've done so far is say you're here to help, and I should give myself over to you either in surrender or mutual agreement. So, if you're here to sell me something, have at it, but you better be offering something that's worth wasting my precious time."
Faedrin looks up toward the attic, still struggling to see anything in the dappled shadows above but hearing the voice clearly enough.
"I, for one, am very happy to maintain the not-fighting part of our current dialogue, Natalya. To put it plainly, we're here because Sheila sent us to find you. She's worried the Sczarni or the Tower Girls might have caught on to you and that they'd hurt you... or, well, worse. She wants to maintain your- ahhh, business relationship, but was hoping we'd be able to find you and then see you safely to Heidmarch Manor. We are honestly and earnestly here to help you, Natalya."
"Lady, we aren't here to SELL you anything., Dareon growls. We're here to save your g!%!!!n life. Stop being so ungrateful and just come down."
Dareon thrusts the torch around the room ahead of him, looking for how she might have gotten up there. Up the chimney on the inside or the outside? By just leaping?
"Faedrin, I hope you have some more of that hyper-leaping juice in you. You might need to go get her."
"So Sheila thinks she can just have some lap dogs come fetch me whenever she likes? I don't need her false protection, she can't just expect me, ME, to get things for her. Again, I don't need 'help' I'm in complete control. For the first time ever I am finally going to realize my dreams and potential. The last thing I need is some armored up sword-for-brains trying to act like I'm a hopeless waif that should just be happy he felt like telling me what to do, just so he can try and be some kind of hero."
Faedrin sighs. "Your dreams? Your potential? They have you here- in sewage with goblins as your only companions. You don't think you were doing better before?"
"No one has me anywhere, I'm in control here. This is my choice. I don't need them, or her, or you. I will start from the ground up, and I will be better than the Tower Girls, better than the Pathfinders, better than all the Sczarni. I can do anything I want."
Faedrin looks plaintively to Gaileyon, "She might need to be mistaken for a table or perhaps some crates, if you catch my meaning."
He turns his attention back to Natalya, worry plain in voice as he begins to suspect something is very wrong with the girl, "So what is it that you want exactly, Natalya?"
Something's happened to her... something's driven her mad.
"I don't believe you know what you're talking about, girl. You can wallow in filth all you like, but don't expect to rule an empire from a collapsing building or get away with theft and contract-breaking when a junior group of the least malicious organization after you can get to you as easily as we did."
"What do I want? I want to be the one to decide what I do and when, no one has the right to tell me what to do. I am better than all of you. Every empire starts somewhere, and just because you found me doesn't mean you have me under your thumb, you can't control me."
Just before Gaileyon bellows his frustration, Faedrin tries a quick change of approach suspecting more and more that the girl's been driven to megalomania by something. He hopes to get at least a hint of the truth before bolts, swords, and literal feces start flying.
"For you to have put so much together in so short a time as this proves your deservedness, but what's given you such confidence in your obvious greatness, Natalya? Surely something changed that helped open your eyes to the glorious truth of your sweeping superiority?"
Tanjvats listened to Faedrin's words and Natalya's increasingly strange responses with alarm.
He took a couple of moments to scan the fireplace and attic area again, to see if he could spot anything.
He surreptitiously made sure his crossbow was ready to be raised and fired if the time came.
"Something changed all right. We were stuck staying with Fenster after the falling out with the Wreckwash. Once we got to the new hideout, it was I that found the hidden passage to better parts. I was the one who found the item the Pathfinders wanted me to hand over to them. Where would they both be without all I've done? I don't need either group holding me back, not when I finally realized all that I've done on my own."
"So, you've found a hidden passage, and a valuable object. Given that you can now "do anything you want"...what is it you want? If you're going to be bigger than the Sczarni, the Tower Girls and the Pathfinders, what kind of organization do you want to build?"
Convinced that he wasn't going to spot the voice, and growing less certain that Natalya was even sane enough for this to end peaceably, he shrugged to Dareon and suggested the ladder with his eyes.
Faedrin nods along as Tanjvats speaks, looking up into the gloomy space above their heads. "And wouldn't you rather have capable agents like us working for you and your new organization rather than goblins? Perhaps you could even claim Heidmarch Manor as your new base. We couldn't take it from the Heidmarch's on our own, but with you leading us..." He trails off with his last sentence, the promise of glory and prestige palpable in the silence that follows.
Surreptitiously, Dareon hands the torch he's holding to somebody and moves to climb up the ladder with one hand and his sword drawn.
As some of the group begins to move, gather about burnt out hearth, she responds to Faedrin's last comment "What kind of fool do you take me for? You are trying to trick me into walking right into the den of that Pathfinder b%*@& so I can be her little errand girl. I'm sick of your patronizing tone, and you are all wasting my time. I will say this once, leave now, or you will be the first victims of my new crew."
As Dareon begins to make his way up the ladder, the torch lobs over his head into the fireplace. Dareon can just see a ladder stuffed into the chimney of the hearth, leading up into the attic. The light also adds a little more detail to the surroundings.
Dareon hasn't been listening to the petulant girl from above for some time now, actually, and grimly moves to the hearth, trying to climb up the ladder. He takes a tighter grip on his sword, the leather of his gauntlets squeaking.
As Natalya rebukes him, Faedrin responds with a grin and a shrug of his narrow shoulders, "Can't blame me for trying at least. Natalya, I would now like to introduce you to Dareon and Gaileyon, whom, unless I miss my guess, will in short turn be introducing you to their fists." He offers a sweeping bow and indicates the two men even as his rapier slides free from its sheath.
"I knew you would try to betray me, you are all jealous of my excellence! You will all fail trying to fight me and my crew! Get 'em, boys!" At her command the sound of activity can be heard and a fight is about to begin.
That's when it happens. From the darker recesses of the hearth a sinuous form snaps out to strike at the climbing Dareon. Its reluctance is evident as it merely snaps forward but doesn't even get close to the man. That's when you can see that, despite it being a snake it has the head of a goblin.
Elrawein
Faedrin
Gaileyon
Tanjvats
Natalya
Goblins
GS
With barely a moment's pause after issuing her command, her voice can be heard raised in an odd chant, the words of a spell evident as she continues.
Round 1:
Faedrin -
Goblins -
Elrawein -
Gaileyon -
Dareon -
GS - misses Dareon
Tanjvats -
Natalya - casts a spell
Casting Tanjvats a plaintive look, Faedrin maintains his position near the divinely blessed half orc and rather than rushing into the fray he instead sends a tiny orb of acid arcing through the air toward the goblin-headed snake. He then shifts his stance slightly, seemingly ready to burst into motion at the earliest opportunity.
HP: 3/8
AC: 19 (15 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 16
F/R/W: +2/+4/+3 (+2 vs enchantment, immune sleep)
Arcane Pool used: 3/5
Spells Prepared:
Cantrips (3) - acid splash, daze, disrupt undead
Level 1 (1) - expeditious retreat [ ], jump [X]
Ongoing Effects
Spell Dance: 1/10 rounds
Faedrin conjures up a ball of acid, and launches it up over Dareon to splash on the hearth the snake is huddled in. The stone of the edifice providing a good barrier between the snake and the newcomers.
From the attic, two goblins become visible from over the edge as they both fire their bows down at the Gaileyon, the dwarf being the obvious target for them. One arrow plinks off his armor, and the other just plops into the muck beside him.
Round 1:
Elrawein -
Gaileyon -
Dareon -
GS - misses Dareon
Tanjvats -
Natalya - casts a spell
Faedrin - cast Acid splash, miss snake. Activate dance
Goblin 1 - Miss Gaileyon
Goblin 2 - Miss Gaileyon
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Gaileyon grins a toothy grin as the Goblins try to attack him with their bows. He looks up at them, shaking his head, and decides to draw his shield, changing his grip upon his Waraxe to a single handed grip. "Let the lot of you try and hit me! If you do, understand your death by my hands will be garanteed!"
Dareon grins, raises his sword at the creature in front of him, and swings it forcefully. "Learn to brush your teeth, beast!"
Tanjvats caught Faed's plaintive glance, and finally noticed the blood seeping from beneath the covering of filth.
He quickly pulled out his long-treasured scroll and cast its healing magic on the elf.
With the two goblins making their presence known, Elrawien moves quickly to try and put one out of commission for a few seconds at least. She begins a spell, and tries to daze the southernmost one. It stands befuddled for way too long.
As Gaileyon armors up a little more, he tosses a threat at the other goblin, the one that dinged his armor. The goblin actually worries a little overmuch, causing it to doubt whether it actually wants to hit the dwarf after all.
Dareon takes the last step off the short ladder to the hearth, and swings his sword at the goblin-headed snake. Unfortunately there are just too many detractors, and his attack doesn't even come close.
At the same time the snake strikes back at him, once again darting from the safety of his hideaway to nip at Dareon. Once again the solid stone hearth proves to be a much greater obstacle, causing the snake to also get nowhere near its target.
Tanjvats, at the onset of danger, recognizes the need Faedrin has for a little divine intervention. He leans over and offers the benefits of a scroll he'd been carrying. The wounds on Faedrin close as he casts.
Up above, on the attic platform, Natalya can once again be heard casting a spell, but there is yet again no visible effect.
Round 2:
Faedrin - cast Acid splash, miss snake. Activate dance
Goblin 1 - Shaken 1 rnd Miss Gaileyon
Goblin 2 - Dazed 1 rnd Miss Gaileyon
Elrawein - Dazed Goblin 2
Gaileyon - Readied shield, demoralized goblin 1
Dareon - Missed snake
GS - missed Dareon
Tanjvats - cast CLW on Fade
Natalya - casts a spell
Faedrin claps Tanjvats on the shoulder with gratitude before looking back up to the attic above. He gestures at the same goblin his sister gestured at a few seconds before as he sheaths his rapier. "I can't hear her well enough to tell what she's doing, Dareon. Be careful down there!"
HP: 8/8
AC: 19 (15 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 16
F/R/W: +2/+4/+3 (+2 vs enchantment, immune sleep)
Arcane Pool used: 3/5
Spells Prepared:
Cantrips (3) - acid splash, daze, disrupt undead
Level 1 (1) - expeditious retreat [ ], jump [X]
Ongoing Effects
Spell Dance: 2/10 rounds