The watch members lead the way out of the Underbridge. Veric, who has been standing back joins you and notes the thickening cloud cover and cold winds that are picking up. "Didn't sound like you're heading back to the boat tonight. I can make sure the kid and your cook get back to the Bloody Fortune. Anything else that you want me to pass along?"
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"Well I'm used to dressing up... so if you want me to be the decoy, I can go along with that... that is if I can keep the outfit once we've captured the villains".
Jim thinks for a moment before replying to Veric. "Warn everyone about the sleet coming, if they haven't already figured it out. And tell the Cap'n not to worry about us...we're old hands at this sort of thing.
"Rafe, you have another one of those potions for me?"
Jim feels the first potion wear off rather abruptly and considers taking his remaining potion while responding to Veric. The interim captain of the Black Goat nods bout the sleet and shrugs at the request for Rafe. "If the kid has another, I'll send it by courier to the tower." Then he takes his leave.
Jim feels the weight of anything more than his clothes and couple light items, even his armor slows him down.
The group passes through the Dockway again staying closer to the cliffside this time and stops by a small apartment building where Menzir ducks in to retrieve his spare robes for Dingus. Then the group continues southward into the Lowcleft District which apparently caters mostly to the city's nightlife. Even this early in the afternoon there is boisterous activity and drinking though the activity looks to be moving indoors as the biting wind now carries tiny droplets of icy water.
Kaul shrugs with a sage nod;
"Hur. Forgot ye like to dress up to the nines Ding... be my guest mate. You be the bait and me and Lopps'll be the jaws o' the trap... Then..."
Grinning like a Angler-Fish, the brute theatically opens his claw, then "clacks" it closed;
"...SNAP! Hur-hur-hur"
The group continues south until they reach the edge of the city where a gigantic tower fills the gap in defenses between the city atop the limestone escarpment and the fortified wall running down to the river. The tower is truly immense even in comparison to the Irespan at the opposite side of Magnimar. It ascends the full height of the cliff and then a couple hundred feet more to tower over the upper city. You reach the great gates just as the storm breaks and hail pounds down on Magnimar.
The guards lead you through the great gates and several formidable chambers lined with murder holes and punctuated by heavy portcullises up several series of stairs into a maze of barracks, storage, and equipment rooms. Corliss and Kaul have to help Jim with the several flights of stairs. Finally, you're admitted into what appears a briefing room and told to make yourselves as comfortable as possible for a bit.
"Whew. Takes it out of you. Give me a minute to catch my breath, hey? Damn that shade for doing this to us!"
Watch Captain Cassody returns after a couple hours with some rain cloaks. "Looks like you might need these. It's still blowing pretty hard out there, but at least you'll be sheltered within Underbridge. I'd call it off tonight except for that fact. Do you have a plan?"
"Not much of one--something like what you were doing with Menzir, but we've got someone can see in the dark. Have you a map of the area where the others were taken? That would help us plan."
"...Have you a map of the area where the others were taken? That would help us plan."
"The murder victim, Tavor, was killed near the piling known as the Gecko. It's the support column closest to the cliff and at the edge of Dockway. We haven't any bodies or witnesses for the other priests so..," she shrugs.
"I've got a handful o' spells what may come in handy," Corliss tells the others quietly. "A searin' light fer starters, plus I can summon lightnin' again, now that Bessie an' me are back on fair terms. Can even summon a critter or three! That's not includin' three bull's strengths fer Jim and Kaul."
"So at dusk we'll head for the Gecko, then wander around it for a mite. Trolling for trouble, hey?" He grins.
Dingus smartly jumps to attention and salutes...
"Aye"!
Later, some guards bring the crew food from the mess hall somewhere in the immense structure and finally Dingus changes into the priests vestments in preparation. Menzir inspects Dingus afterwards and assures him that the stole is not worn wrapped around the neck like a scarf.
Covered with the dark oil cloth ponchos, the crew are led once more to the ground floor of the Arvensoar and to the gates where a heavy wet sleet falls beyond filling the dark streets with slush.
No courier carrying another of Rafe's potions appeared, but Jim still has one left from the two Rafe gave him previously.
Jim looks the serpentine sorcerer up and down. "No surprises, mate...you wear it better than he did. Let's go."
Kaul leans in to his shipmates, gruff whisper on his cleft lip;
"Hur. Want Ol' Kauly to do dark in the shadows? Give anythin' that takes the bait a bigger bite?"
The Watch Captain wishes the crew good fortune and they step out into the storm. Visibility is reduced to a half a block by the pounding rain and the crew have to shout to speak among themselves. Jim has noticeable difficulty in walking through the inundation in his drained state. Again, Corliss and Kaul half support, half drag him down the street while Dingus tries to protect the opulent robes from the freezing torrent.
Even with the ponchos, everyone is soaked and shivering by the time they finally step beneath the shielding ceiling of the Irespan and into the Underbridge.
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Corliss struggles with the frigid conditions. "It b-b-be c-colder than a witch's t-t-teat!" he stutters and his words puff steam into the night air. "C-c-colder than one o' them Irrisen witch's teats, even! G-g-g-garn!"
Despite his poncho, Kaul too feels the nip of the cold, which only improves his belligerent mood.
"Feckin rain. Dibbs' fickle god at it again..."
Lopper feels heavy in his paw as he slogs along.
FORT Save
And Dingus finds that by positioning the stole in just the right area the divine finery is very warm.
Jim's years of experience at sea have toughened him up despite his debilitation. and he's soldiering on.
Dingus' fastidious care of his borrowed golden robes leaves him not much worse for wear after the journey through the freezing rain The efforts to assist Jim however have left Corliss and Kaul wet and shivering. Maybe learning to secure a poncho properly is one benefit derived from Jim's Naval experience because he remains mostly dry in comparison to Corliss and Kaul. They are left to clench their fists in an attempt to revive fingers left numb by exposure to the foul northern squall.
There is little ambient light in the Underbridge tonight. The faintest of light from small fires glimmers between the rough boards siding the occasional hovel or illuminating a shabby tent from within. The giant bridge overhead provides shelter from the falling sleet, but it does nothing to stop the frigid stream of storm water that rushes down the cliff and through the slums threatening to wash the inattentive pedestrian or an ill-placed hovel into the sea.
Soaked and salty, a tired Kaul attempts to lurk in the shadows where it might be more dry;
Dingus wracks his memory for the exact mannerisms of his doppelgänger target and begins to move.
Bluff
Jim keeps his distance from Dingus while remaining near Kaul, the only one in the party who can see any distance at the moment.
It is dark. Only Kaul can see clearly enough to slip into an alley, his natural habitat. Jim has sense enough to keep close to Kaul. Corliss wades into an ankle deep rivulet and steps back out quickly losing everyone in the pitch.
Dingus feels along the nearest building, moving tentatively ahead of the others tracking off the walls of the shacks along the street and nearly falls over a pile of foul smelling refuse at the corner. The trash pile gives a outraged shout and what appears to be a curse in a guttural tongue. Risking a light spell, Dingus finds himself looking down at a dwarf that smells as bad as Dibbets after a bender.
"Bless you child"!
Dingus stops makes some holy gesture and drops a few coppers to the dwarf.
The dwarf hurriedly gathers the coins and stares blearily into the light. "Beware, holy man. The Dark Angel hunts tonight."
Dingus stops in his tracks and stares at the grubby Dwarf.
"tell me more? What do you mean? Who is that"?
Diplomacy
The dwarf stares in awe at the Righteous Old Priest before him. He scratches at his beard, pulling an ant out and flicking it away absentmindedly. "The Dark Angel ushe to be on topt the Shadow Clock. Shhe disappear before the Guvaner knockt it down and now shhe taking her revenge!" he slurs loudly. "I sheesh her myself!"
"My that sounds very scary. Where might she appear? Don't want to be anywhere near there".
The dwarf's eyes grow large as he points to a small ruined building to the east. "At the Graves over there. Stay here, priesht! You've been kind to meesh. I don't want you to DIE!" The reeking dwarf latches on to Dingus' leg.
Dingus lays a gentle hand on the dwarves head, and begins to extract his leg.
"Now...now child. If there is something dangerous and unholy there it is up to the Divine to alleviate this threat. I shall take caution, and be back to get you help... if you want it that is".
The dwarf frowns as if trying to understand all the priest says, then shrugs and lays back down cradling his empty bottle.
Kaul listens and watches from the nearby shadows, Lopper drawn, beady eyes eager for violent action...
Jim's eyes are unable to pierce the murk except for the foxfire glow around Dingus, but he hisses to Kaul, "Keep your eyes open for anything targeting Snake-Hips there."
Having offered convincing words of solace to the now passed out dwarf, Dingus spares no thought as to what sort of toxic rotgut could lay a dwarf so low, but cautiously moves in the direction that the dwarf indicated.
Sure enough, what appears to be a small ruined shrine fills a clear space between the hovels. Only the back wall still stands near its original height; the front and side walls have collapsed to perhaps waist level at most. The floor appears to have once been marble blocks, but they are now cracked and crumbling under a layer of grime. In fact, three human-sized piles eerily resembling cairns occupy the center of the ruin. It occurs to Dingus that they might be the graves that the dwarf mentioned. Why anyone would so roughly inter bodies in the center of a shrine is an unanswered question. They certainly aren't recent burials though seem miraculously untouched by the scavenger populous of Underbridge.
Dingus' attention is drawn to the other feature of the sad shrine: a full-sized statue of stern-countenanced angel stands to the side of the old pocked and graffiti covered altar.
Kaul silently slips up to where the unconscious dwarf lies with Jim struggling to stay right behind. They see the glow of Dingus' light disappear behind the ruined wall across the street.
Dingus draws forth the mangy hand that has helped him out so many times and prepares to bathe the area in light if required. He then steps close enough to the statue to sense any magical forces emanating from it.
Corliss tries to keep up with Jim and Kaul. The accumulating sleet, however, makes his attempts at stealth difficult.
Feck! Where's he going? Hard enough to keep track of him in this sh1te.... Jim follows the light, keeping as quiet as he can.
Keelhaul Kaul-
Madman Jim-
Dingus-
Corliss-
foe-
The three sneaks creep up to the shrine, but hear only silence on the other side of the wall.
Hearing nothing, Kaul presses onward in the wake of the snake...
Kaul creeps around the corner with only the slight scuff of his heel on uneven stone as a giveaway. Neither occupant in the shrine notices though as Kaul sees Dingus on the ground struggling with a black stone statue of an angel. Oddly, no sound is heard of the intense struggle.
Seeing Ding on the ground, the brute bosun pays little heed to the apparent silence.
Instead Lopper creeps into his field of vision with an urgent nod of its axe-head.
Heeding the sage advice from his hatchet , Kaul lumbers toward the snake and angel grapple match.
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Corliss scoots after Kaul, his namesake black boots utterly failing and scraping up a storm as he tries to move silently. The jig being up, the priest moves to engage, rapier drawn.
Dingus is taken aback by the sudden movement of the statue. His fangs immediately descend, but his initial reaction is to try and escape this creatures grasp. The sudden silence surrounding him informs him that his nastier spells will probably fail unless he can get away.
He feels the magic of his new ring coursing through his body, and he is able to twist in unusual sinuous ways that he was never capable of before donning it.
Escape artist
But unfortunately, he has yet to grasp the nuances of this new body control, and only succeeds in scraping his knee on the rough pavement.
Dingus twists in the stony grasp, but is unable to break free. Kaul moves over a broken wall into the crumbling shrine. Corliss follows more slowly, hindered by the dim light and shattered floor. Jim moves with more agility and is right behind Kaul.
From the shadows behind the altar, a Sczarni thug appears and tries to stab Kaul from behind, but the thug dodges even before he registers the attacker and the deadly dagger misses. The angel shifts its grasp to Dingus' neck and begins silently choking the sorcerer.