Rod falls prone; slides 5 feet to the starboard.
Woman with big sword: 18++
Man with rapier: 18+
"The ship": 18
Runzyl: 19 Bless, Bulls Strength, Magic Circle Against Evil, Protection Ritual
Ezreal: 18- Bless, False Life, Mage Armor, Protection Ritual
Gnarly: 17 Bless
Trose: 16 Bless , Protection Ritual
Janosz: 15 Bless , Protection Ritual
Lightbringer: 14 Bless, Magic Weapon, Protection From Evil
Bool: 12 Bless
Rodergo: 10 Bless, Bulls Strength
Arek: 9 Bless
Ceshto: 7 Bless
Dwarf: 5
Runzyl steadies himself as the ship lurches, then immediately rushes headlong at Rodergo's attacker . He delivers a savage blow to the woman's backside then immediately cuts in front of her to stand alongside the cleric, seething with barely-contained rage.
Runzyl's blade slices into the woman's back. She snarls and swings in riposte, but fails to ocnnect.
Runzyl's blade slices into the woman's back. She snarls and swings in riposte, but fails to ocnnect.
“We are here for the criminal Marrius,” Lightbringer calls to the dwarf, trying to struggle to his feet. “If you surrender him to us, our quarrel is ended. If you fight us, you will die.” This is not delivered angrily, or as a threat, more a statement of fact.
"Gaaaaaah!!! It hurts bad!!!"
Lightbringer swivels his head towards where Rodergo lies on the deck a few feet away from him, bleeding badly. “I will help you Flamebearer,” he says, reaching out his hand.
Naah...kill the problems. I'll heal myself; I just was roleplaying.
"The criminal Marrius, eh? Well, that's a matter of perspective, methinks."
When the ship lurches Ezreal steadies himself against the side railing of the ship, but is in a prime position to see the Tharashk transport smashed by the larger ship and the driver tumbling to his death. The driver works his controls uselessly, but it is apparent that nothing is happening. Throwing out a spell reflexively, webbing explodes between towers just below the transport and the mage turns back to assess his former-countrymen.
"The criminal Marrius, eh? Well, that's a matter of perspective, methinks."
If I can interject a statement,
If not, maybe I'll say that on my action.
The tough white strands engulf the falling skycoach and it dangles several hundred feet above the ground, bouncing slightly and swaying in the wind.
The dwarf grins and nods approvingly at Ezreal. "Nice move, laddie."
Right then, "what do you mean by that, dwarf?"
"What do you mean by that, dwarf?"
"Are we fighting or chatting, lad?" asks the dwarf laconically. "Did that Cannith witch send you to cover her trail by talking us to death?"
"We don't work for your boss, that wanton Cannith wench!!!"
"Sure, you just killed five members of our crew to prove you're our friends, right? And Boru up by Ardev? Less talk, Flame boy, we need to be fighting." He hefts his axe and shield.
diplo r 20+9
"We could fight later; I promise we will, even if you still want to and we don't. And Runzyl will want to at least, that I guarantee."
The combatants are frozen in a tableau. The woman with the greatsword and Runzyl glower at each other, teeth bared, weapons raised but unmoving. The dwarf stands braced in the doorway, his axe and shield in his hands. Ezreal gazes over the side where the skycoach hangs suspended, and Lightbringer is on his hands and knees, eyes fixed on Rodergo where he sprawls by the rail. Trose is on the rear deck at the top of the stairs, looking down on proceedings, the half-orcs at their positions around him, while Gnarly and Janosz take aim with their bows. Wounded and dying lie mute on the deck.
Nobody moves.
The dwarf turns to look at the man holding the rapier, a question in his eyes. The man nods.
"Alright," he says with the harsh consonants of a Karnnathi accent, "What do you want to say?"
"We're not working for that wench. If you're not, I assume Faith, a warforged, and Norn, a magical artificier are NOT prisoner on this boat.
And if Marrius....is not working for her....we're gowks."
“Did Marrius, with this boat, not kidnap a warforged monk and her orphan charges? Did Marrius and his crew not break into the Tharashk enclave earlier today and kidnap an artificer, handing him over to Karile d’Cannith? Is Marrius not in Karile’s confidence, and does he not have the pass glyph to Forgehold?” Lightbringer speaks slowly but loudly, climbing to his feet.
“Did Marrius, with this boat, not kidnap a warforged monk and her orphan charges? Did Marrius and his crew not break into the Tharashk enclave earlier today and kidnap an artificer, handing him over to Karile d’Cannith? Is Marrius not in Karile’s confidence, and does he not have the pass glyph to Forgehold?” Lightbringer speaks slowly but loudly, climbing to his feet.
"I'm Marrius," says the man, no longer poised for attacks but still with his rapier unsheathed, "You can address your questions to me.
"You are fine ones to talk - hauling off to Droaam at her order, dragging Norn back to Sharn and trying to ransom him back to that witch. And we would never have even attempted attacking the Tharashk enclave if she hadn't threatened the children - we had no choice. So if you are here to silence the last witnesses to her vile schemes then know we will fight to the last drop of our blood not to let them fall into her hands again."
The dwarf growls and the woman leans in towards Runzyl, her eyes narrowed with fury.
Runzyl's tension abates, his lips turning up in a smile of genuine goodwill as he relaxes the grip on his burning blade, stowing it in the sheath upon his back and extends his hand to shake the woman's.
"You fight with honor and conviction. I am pleased that we need not be enemies," the Valenar says evenly. He looks to Rodergo and nods, then looks back to her. "An excellent blow."
"The...crew..."
the bleeding cleric drops weapon; shield; tries to cure/heal/see if there's any amongst them that he can stave off from the final dirtnap.
heal rolls 18, 17, 10, 9, 16 +7 skill
heal rolls are 25, 24, 17, 16, 23.
"aww, hell...what a mess."
Then I'll be willing to heal anybody I can't stabilize or whatever.
Lightbringer stands straight, speaking slowly, addressing Marrius now. “If you speak truly,” he begins, “then we have all been played for fools by d’Cannith.”
He seems to be thinking still, but then looks about at the dead and dying sky sailors on the deck. “If you will allow us to help them, I propose a truce.”
If this offer is accepted, he (and Rod?) will go about and see if they can stabilise the wounded and dying. Either way, Lightbringer will continue talking.
“We went to Droaam not on Karile’s instruction, but on our own accord, to rescue Norn from the Triune. Once we had him, he wished to explore the option of returning to Karile. Yes, once we returned, we used the knowledge of Norn’s return as a bargaining tool to attempt to secure the safety of the children, but we would not ransom him.
“But do I hear you? Are the children safe? What of Faith? Our plan here was to use your glyph key to get into Forgehold, and rescue Norn, Faith and the orphans.”
Marrius acquiesces to Lightbringer and Rodergo attending to the wonded. One has passed on to Dolurrh, but the others can be saved. The woman continues to glower at Runzyl, ignoring his proffered hand, blood dripping down the back of her legs.
"The children are safe - Karile had no further use for them once we obtained the artificer for her, so we took them. As for the warforged - I don't know. And if you want the glyph, go ahead and take it." He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a metal disc on a chain, which he tosses to Lightbringer.
"We dropped off the artificer at Facility 5 in the Forgehold - the glyph will get you past the guards and traps on the way in and, if you are lucky, out. But she is well defended - she has a troop of Cannith warforged with her.
"And she is.... changed. I don't know how else to describe it. She was always ruthless but she never seemed, I don't know, inhuman when we first knew her. She gives me the creeps now, and I'm not the only one."
The dwarf grunts in assent. "Aye, she's a queer one now, and no mistake."
"So if you'll excuse us," continues Marrius, "I think our business here is done. We have one, maybe two, dragonmarked houses to run away from, so forgive us if we don't give you an itinerary. Sal, give them all featherfall tokens - I don't want to take the time docking again."
A gnome materialises in midair dressed in comfortable-looking, mildly flamboyant clothing with a velvet hat and buckled shoes. He gently touches down, and heads inside the fo'c'sle. A shifter woman appears, well within striking distance of Ezreal, winks at him and sheathes her two daggers. The crewman who disappeared earlier, a half-elf, reappears at the helm, and the ship begins to swoop lower over the city. Even the woman locked in a staring contest with Runzyl relaxes slightly, straightening up and lowering her weapon.
Lightbringer nods in thanks or agreement. But he asks, “Where are the children. We swore that they would be returned safely to the monastery. And what did Karile want with Faith? What did she hold over you for you to take her, and the children?”
"The children are on board. We are heading somewhere quiet and going to retire - our association with Karile was quite lucrative. We've got attached to the kids, frankly, and they have little to go back for - we are planning on setting up an orphanage at our destination.
"Karile told us Faith was a rogue model of warforged and that we needed to take her to keep her from harming anyone (and embarrassing House Cannith) and we had no intention of hanging on to the kids at first. But things got out of hand - Karile said we should keep for the time being them to keep the warforged compliant. Then, of course, she used them to get us to attack House Tharashk."
Ez jerks back involuntarily when the shifter suddenly appears, but quickly regains his composure. The thought of allowing Marrius and his happy band to retire peacefully and settle down with a family of orphans causes Ezreal's teeth to clench and his stomach to burn, but from a practical standpoint... the mage speaks up, "Right now- Karile is is deserving of our complete and undivided attention, and if Marrius," he practically snarls the name "is willing to hand over the glyph pass I can't see the point in wasting time and resources here. But whether Karile duped you all or not how do you think you are going to outrun House Tharashk? They know YOU as their attackers, not the d'Cannith and they have built a reputation for being relentless. Will you live on the run like fugitives with this band of orphans? Don't think you are going to settle down and live in obscurity after this!"
Ez jerks back involuntarily when the shifter suddenly appears, but quickly regains his composure. The thought of allowing Marrius and his happy band to retire peacefully and settle down with a family of orphans causes Ezreal's teeth to clench and his stomach to burn, but from a practical standpoint... the mage speaks up, "Right now- Karile is is deserving of our complete and undivided attention, and if Marrius," he practically snarls the name "is willing to hand over the glyph pass I can't see the point in wasting time and resources here. But whether Karile duped you all or not how do you think you are going to outrun House Tharashk? They know YOU as their attackers, not the d'Cannith and they have built a reputation for being relentless. Will you live on the run like fugitives with this band of orphans? Don't think you are going to settle down and live in obscurity after this!"
"Maybe we can come to an arrangement with House Tharashk. I don't know, but we have been fugitives for a while."
He glances over at Ezreal. "You seem to have a problem with me, friend. Let me guess - you're Navy, right?"
"Well, now what? Seems like we have a date with Carile...only there won't be much talking involved this time.
I wonder though, at her mood change for the worse.
I thought we and this good dwarf were as wasps caught in her web about to sting eachother to death, but....I wonder how tangled this web truly is now."
Lightbringer speaks;
“Marrius, I sense no evil intent in you, and I thank you for the help you have provided us,” he holds up the glyph.
“Still, to flee Sharn now would be a mistake. House Tharashk will hold you responsible in part at least for the raid, and to flee is akin to an admission of guilt. I think the House of Finding will not let you escape for long.
“If you were to stay, we could more convincingly argue your case to the House, that you, like ourselves,” he glances over at the dead body on the deck, “were duped by d’Cannith into regrettable actions. Better still, if you were to help us deal with Karile, your intentions to make amends would be clear. I urge you to do so.”
He looks at Marrius for a moment. “But we do not have the time to convince or force you to stay if you choose not to, so I must respect your choice for now. But I must ask you not to bring the children into a situation where they may be caught up in retributions by House Tharashk or House Cannith against you. If you give them over to our custody, I will have our friends here,” he gestures to where Arek and Bool stand on the stair, “escort them to House Tharashk’s safety before we act to disrupt Karile’s plans.”
"I'm not going up against Karile," he says flatly, "And we're not giving the kids to you. You want to go and kill Karile - fine with me. But I don't know you and just because we both hate Karile doesn't mean I trust you."