As you bring your weapon down, the trainee pleads for his life, which you have mercifully granted to him. The headache will probably last for weeks, but he will live. In fact all three have a chance at surviving after your magic stops the bleeding of the dying armiger.
All three are out cold.
"It was not time for these ones to visit Pharasmas halls of justice, hopefully they will go on to do great things"
"So...lock them in the storeroom? I'm sure a shovel or pick up against the door would keep them occupied and out of our hair for a time.
And which way do those sword signs point? Which way are we going?"
Garidan will dismiss the grease spell.
You travel for another forty feet or so before coming on a T-intersection.
"Bah, I think I got the sun in my eyes..."
Tanrov checks the arrow pointing to the left and then notes the loose brickwork, he approaches and attempts to remove the brick.
"The arrow is here a bit scuffed maybe and I think I've found another hidey hole behind a brick"
Behind the brick, Tanrov recovers a small bag which jingles with coinage and two bottles of the same size and shape as the potions Penumbra had stashed. Twelve gold coins and two small obsidian stones are in the bag.
Following the arrow leads you to a dead end with a metal ladder.
With the three yet-to-be knights taken care of and stowed away, Mimazaran followed the group silently, keeping his eye out for anything suspicious. His mind, however, returned to that nagging notion in the back of his head. "Hey," he eventually said to whoever was next to him, "Penumbra seemed to know a lot about us, a lot more than she probably should have...how do you think that is?" It just kept bugging him how she seemed to know about how he could manipulate the shadows, and from how she spoke, it seemed like she knew it was more than just to put on a puppet show. "You don't think she's been spying on us for who knows how long, do you?"
With that thought out there, the hidey-hole was found, and the obsidian stones were brought to his attention. With a glance, he attempted to figure out their value, if it was significant. He otherwise took the potion given to him and waited to hear the thoughts of the humans and tiefling that he had just met not even an hour ago.
Martino only hears very little from above. Distant, faded city sounds come through.
As best as Mim can tell, each of the stones is worth ten gold pieces.
"In a city of lies and corruption, I'm sure few secrets are safe Mimazaran. Tell me, can you change your appearance to look like others? Maybe you could climb out first and take a look around and see if it is safe, as something besides yourself."
With the defeat of the trainees, Cato closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He lets it out slowly, as if deflating. When he reopens his eyes, they regain their clarity from before the fight. The lumbering man seems for a moment tired, and old.
"Hey," he eventually said to whoever was next to him, "Penumbra seemed to know a lot about us, a lot more than she probably should have...how do you think that is?" It just kept bugging him how she seemed to know about how he could manipulate the shadows, and from how she spoke, it seemed like she knew it was more than just to put on a puppet show. "You don't think she's been spying on us for who knows how long, do you?"
Cato gives Mimazaran a tired smile. "Wouldn't take much digging in my case," Cato says after Garidan has said his piece. The Chelaxian removes a gauntlet to reveal a patch on his palm of scarred, burnt skin. It takes the shape of the letter "S" - a common mark identifying Chelish slaves - but the S has been overlaid with two diagonal lines crossing it out. Below it are two elaborate and ornate letters branded into his skin: D I. "Some might say I wear my opinions on my sleeve," Cato says with a half-hearted chuckle. "Near 'nuff to it, anyway."
"Any case," Cato says, donning the gauntlet and clapping his hands together to signify a change of topic, "Garidan has the right of it. Best see if it's safe."
Mimazaran had to admit that it seemed like Garidan was right, but he still felt a little off about the whole situation: when he woke up that day, he didn't really imagine himself under Westcrown in the sewers, trying to find his way to a safehouse so he could learn more about how to make the city better, all because a woman approached him after a kid's birthday party. He also shuddered as Cato revealed a major part of his past, having only heard stories about slaves in Chelliax, finding himself fortunate that he was hidden away by his adoptive father and wasn't put at risk of becoming a slave himself.
It also seemed that both of the humans wanted him to scout ahead, Garidan wanting him to don a disguise. "I certainly can't make myself look human," he informed the two of them, "so it may not be as safe as one of you two, but I do cling to the shadows well." Not wanting to waste a spell unless he had to, though, he just climbed up the ladder as quietly as possible, his small body not having much weight to strain the metal ladder. He made his way to the top, readying himself to cast Vanish if he had to, making sure his gangly arms had enough room to properly do so.
"I can actually change my shape to look human, but any human coming out of the sewers will be suspicious whereas if our stealthy friend here can remain unseen, that would be better."
"Really? That is remarkable, and good to know sir. Your secret is safe with me."
Mimazaran finds that the access point leads to a very safe location for everyone to exit from, the inside of an abandoned building. He sees no movement, and the only sounds are from the city outside of the broken and boarded up windows. The building has a vaulted roof, and is filled with broken wood from seems likely to have been furniture at some point in the past. The sewer access is in a small cubicle of a room and some flies buzz by annoyingly. Murals appear to have adorned the ceiling, but they have been heavily defaced with graffiti.
"Thank Iomadae you made it," Penumbra's whispered voice says from outside the room. "Is everyone alright?"
Mimazaran almost immediately knew that they were in a shrine to the fallen god, Aroden, as soon as he peeked his head up. "I supposed the diabloists wouldn't think to look in here," he whispered back, making a gesture behind him to inform the rest that it was safe to come up. He pulled himself up fully afterwards, sighing slightly in relief. "We're fine, by the way," he then answered Penumbra's question. "We ran into skeletons and Dottari, but they were handled quickly."
Garidan will wait until everyone else is up before climbing up last.
Once up and into the room, Garidan made it a point to stand on the access grate that they just climbed up through. He wanted to be sure no one else would follow them up, at least without his knowledge.
"So now that we have a moment of relative safety, I'd like to ask a question Ms. Penumbra. Just how is it that you seem to know so much about us? I must admit, it has some of us just a bit on edge knowing that you and your associates have been actively spying on us, and apparently for some time. Just what is it you want from us, exactly?"
"Arael and I have been watching the six of you for some time, I should be upfront about that. Why? Well, those we've assembled are excellent support, and some may have what it takes to be true heroes. You, however, have advanced training and knowledge, not to mention the guts, to advance us to the next phase of our plan. We need to build a core group of heroes to lead the citizens. We believe you're exactly who we need." She glances out a window before continuing, "In fact, in a few minutes, you should be meeting some of our support staff."
"You really think we could be heroes?" Martino asked, his voice cracking on the last word. "Sure, I'm out after curfew some nights, but doesn't it take more than that to be a hero?"
"I know you can be heroes, all of you," Penumbra says with firm resolve and utter confidence. "And that is exactly what Westcrown needs. We didn't make these choices lightly."
"Yeah, right. You and your faith, Penumbra. Faith in the gods, faith in this...rabble! Get off the grate, you big oaf!" A gruff female voice shouts out from beneath Garidan. "From down here you look like one of those obnoxious Hellknight armigers I kept evading to get here this afternoon. C'mon, move, fool!"
"That," Penumbra says with a smirk, "is one of our top financiers, and resident advocate of Asmodeus, Yakopulio. Garidan, if you would be so kind?"
"You know I hate being associated with any religion, Penumbra, especially Asmodeus. Blasted devil knows nothing about profit. But I get your meaning. I've got Amaya with me, though she still isn't interested in making some extra money, no matter how easy it is."
Garidan will step off of the grate, and reposition himself on top of it again once the new arrival(s) has entered.
A gnome wearing purple velvet, an outrageous feathered cap, and tall platform shoes manages to silently climb up. Following close behind her is an extremely beautiful, exotic, human. The shape of her eyes suggests Tian ancestry. Unlike the gnome, she is dressed very plainly in baggy craftsman's clothes.
She speaks softly, with her eyes downcast, "Penumbrako, would you please ask Mama-san to discontinue her uncomfortable overtures?"
"Yako, for the last time, you're not here to recruit new streetwalkers, you're here to bring us information your girls picked up from their, uh, working relationships and to make sure we consider all angles of a plan. I can't have you running off our allies. You told me you were sick of the dottari and Hellknights harming the girls, right?"
"Fine, but, well, look at 'er!" Yakopulio says, pointing at Amaya, who blushes profoundly. "Anyway, no new news, but the girls haven't started for the night yet. I heard about Arael. Who are these dolts? They look even more stupid than your average man."
"They're capable, that's all you need to know for now. Go grab a drink, Arael stocked some decent wine over by the altar." Penumbra points to a smashed stone rectangle.
The corner of Cato's mouth ticks up in amusement. "Look stupid. Good," he says, nodding to the gnome. "Ones that look smart seem more threatening. Nothing more dangerous than underestimation."
Cato turns his head slowly back to Penumbra. "Speaking of Hellknights. Encountered a few in sewers. Apprentices; Order of the Rack by their garb. Knocked out now. Doubt they have much information, but might be best to check on."
"I think you need to consider your brash words next time for were we in less need of your assistance I may be tempted to send you to face Pharasmas justice myself"
Thinking for a while about just what Penumbra was telling them, Mimazaran thought he had it figured out. "In other words," he said, throwing his thoughts out there, "you want us to be the ones out in the open, drawing all the attention that you don't want, so we can get blamed for everything that goes wrong." There was a sly smile across the Wayang's lips, portraying that he was just merely jesting. "Perhaps the best an actor such as myself can do is rally the people in our favor, but I must admit that, while I am loathe to say it, you'd do better to find yourself a human actor."
Then came in the other two, one rather gaudy and the other much less. The gnome talked of girls, and it didn't take much for Mimazaran to jump to conclusions about what kind of girls they were talking about. "Speak for yourself about looking stupid," he jested back when that comment was made, then shook a hand at the offer of wine; he was still underaged, according to Wayang society, the little he knew about his own culture.
Penumbra shakes her head, "No one should be out in the open on this just yet. Arael wanted to do that and look where he is right now. He's put some of our associates at risk. I can get word to Janiven not to return to Vizio's, and alert a few others. I think it would be best when we engage in our operations if we were to mask our appearances in some way. We don't want to be completely concealed; we need the people to notice someone sticking up for them. But the Rack has spies and will go after friends and family if they can."
She turns to Cato, "You are likely correct, all they would have been told is to nab anyone in the sewers. They wouldn't have real intelligence we could use."
Then she looks at Yako and says, "Making them angry would be akin to making Arael or myself angry. You wouldn't like them when they're angry."
"Arael," Cato tilts his head. "The name keeps coming up. Who is he? How was he taken?"
Penumbra sighs, gathers her thoughts, and then addresses the question. "Arael is an openly defiant elven priest of Iomadae. He disagrees with me about keeping our identities hidden, so hopefully if we can recover him - which is what I intend to do - maybe he'll have learned that it is necessary. He is a little too hopeful that the citizens will stand up and fight for the betterment of the city with just a touch of inspiration. I'm more realistic. I know it will take time to truly make a change."
"He trained me in certain aspects of combat, and he's a dedicated individual to the cause of good. We have conflict, he and I, but I know his intentions are good. He saw you fight, Cato."
"How he was taken, I don't know exactly yet. I think, that any of you who need to get home to friends and family to avoid suspicion and the shadow beasts and night patrols, may want to do so soon. Anyone who wishes to stay the night here, should. I will certainly call upon you all tomorrow to help with the rescue mission, but I need to gather some intelligence on where he is and what has happened. Many of the...civilians among us respect him more than they do me, which probably only encourages his argument about being more open, but also means his rescue is a necessary evil in my book. Plus, Morosino said the Order of the Rack was trying to take custody, and I won't leave one of our members in their hands to be tortured."
"I have everything I need strapped to my back. I will remain here for the night, to help ensure the safety of his location."
Mimazaran was still rather suspicious about the whole situation, but seeing that he didn't have any work lined up and nothing better to do, he decided there that he would see how far it took him. "If we're really going to do this," he said somewhat bemused, "I'm going to need to get back home and get my crossbow; I'm no good in a fight without it. To be honest, I've never fired the thing, but I can't do any worse with it than with this dagger." As if to prove his point, he flexed his thin arms, immediately dropping them down and feigning like he could barely hold them up. "While I can slink my way home from here just fine, it would probably be best if I had an escort or two with me, just in case I somehow get spotted and can't simply vanish away."
"You have done as I have asked Mimazaran, I shall do as you ask."
Garidan will accompany Mimazaran to retrieve his gear.
You can make it there and back without any trouble. Most citizens you pass are too busy rushing to their own homes and the dottari are more interested in getting lamps lit. What few Hellknights you see are marching with purpose and likewise ignoring the general population.
By the time you two have returned, several humans have arrived. One of the men and the woman appear to be native to Cheliax, the other man has darker skin, a well groomed beard, and wears multicolored clothing that would be both exotic and fashionable, were they not covered in dirt and soot. The trio sit with Amaya near a lamp with a low flame chatting quietly and trying to ignore the new recruits, as they view all of you.
The obnoxious gnome and Penumbra have departed. Anyone who remained behind while you retrieved Mimazaran's weapon can update you that the gnome loudly announced it was time to get to work and left shortly after you and Penumbra left a few minutes later saying she needed to 'check in with her contacts'.
Mimazaran was slightly surprised to see that there was very little trouble getting to and from his home, supposing that their identities had not truly been dispatched to the Rack after all. With his small crossbow tucked under his shirt, as well as his hide shirt which he wore under his typical outfit of dark, showy clothes, he felt a little safer. "I thank you for your company," he thanked Garidan as they got back to the shrine, which seemed less abandoned than the last time he was there.
Looking at the three unfamiliar faces of the humans--other than the ones he was in the sewers with previously--, the small Wayang gave each of them a nod. "I assume we all share a mutual friend with one rather mysterious lady," was what he decided to greet them with. "If this is true, perhaps we should get better acquainted with each other before the day is done."
The trio looks at you curiously for a moment, then the woman nods and introduces you to the group, "I am Mathalen, and this," she points to the other Chelish man, "is Ermolos," the man smiles and offers you a beefy, calloused hand, "and Larko. I believe you have already met Amaya?"
Ermolos bows slightly from his sitting position, but says nothing. Amaya says, "Larko-san is not unfriendly. He just rarely speaks unless he has something important to say. Quite the opposite of Mama-san." She seems to have grown more comfortable without the Gnome madame.
Mimazaran offered the three each a smile, then lightly shook his head at the hand that was offered. "I mean no disrespect by not taking your hand," he explained. "It's just that my hand is rather small and weak: yours is not." He looked at the man called Larko, and then nodded to him. "You're from Garund, are you not?" he then asked him. "I fear I know the answer, but what brings a man such as yourself to Westcrown, and even more, to join this cause?"
Ermolos chuckles. "No offense taken. Have a seat if you like."
Larko speaks without a trace of accent and says, "Actually, my family traveled here when I was young. I can only say that I feel I must do what is right and that Penumbra and Arael believe I could be helpful outside of the city."
"Useful outside the city? Why outside and not in asks Tanrov brusquely
"If this draws the attention of the authorities, we may well find ourselves outside the city for a time. I think we ultimately share goals, so... what's the next step?" Rurik says in an attempt to move the conversation forward.
"He saw you fight, Cato."
"Narrows it down to half the nation," Cato says, with a hint of a smile.
the man smiles and offers you a beefy, calloused hand, "and Larko. I believe you have already met Amaya?"
Cato removes his gauntlet to give Ermolos a handshake. Cato's hands have the rough, calloused texture common to those who spend their days working with them. "Pleasure," he says, attempting to match the amount of pressure in his fellow Chelaxian's handshake. Cato then gives each of the others introduced a look of acknowledgement.
"If this draws the attention of the authorities, we may well find ourselves outside the city for a time. I think we ultimately share goals, so... what's the next step?" Rurik says in an attempt to move the conversation forward.
"Next is sleep. After that..." Cato makes a vague gesture. "Information. Where Arael is taken. See if perhaps Yako's more'n just talk. Find the elf, spring him. One more ally, Rack has bloodied nose, drinks all around." The Chelaxian raises an imaginary cup in salute.
"'Course," Cato adds with a cautionary finger upraised, "Easier said than done."
Can I get a list of who we've met please and GM could you keep a list please in say the campaign page, unless the group prefers someone else do it. It will be much more convenient than trolling through all the posts especially seeing as you've mentioned that these people are possible to develop useful in game relationships with.
"If this draws the attention of the authorities, we may well find ourselves outside the city for a time. I think we ultimately share goals, so... what's the next step?" Rurik says in an attempt to move the conversation forward.
"Indeed," Ermolos agrees, "Also, the Rack has a fortress just outside of the city and Penumbra has asked that I keep track of the comings and goings of important people. "
Tanrov flicks his tail from side to side as he listens to the various chatter in the room, he rubs a horn on the right side of his head against a beam then says
"I assume we shall not all be working directly together, so how will we communicate our findings? We can't keep all coming to this place or it will eventually attract attention?
Larko returns to his quiet ways. He takes a few moments to contemplate the newly assembled crew individually. His face shows no emotion and he seems to have no visible judgment, though he does spend a few seconds longer on Tanrov than anyone else.
Ermolos' grip is strong, though Cato could likely beat him in an arm-wrestle.
Mathalen nods in agreement with Cato and adds, "Yakopulio, while annoying, will come through. Her employees are quite skilled, and both the dottari and Hellknights frequently visit them. There may be a few more individuals joining us tonight, though it is getting dark so maybe not. I would anticipate that we will have the information we require in the morning to 'spring the elf.'"
"I assume we shall not all be working directly together, so how will we communicate our findings? We can't keep all coming to this place or it will eventually attract attention?
It is Amaya who answers this question. "Penumbrako has mentioned the use of something she calls, 'dead drops' to pass messages on. She also informed us that if things go well, she will likely turn this particular safe house over to her new lieutenants. I am guessing you are they?"
Ermolos - You do have a note regarding an Ermolos the Elder, a native Wiscrani adventurer who was a suspected member of the Pathfinders. He disappeared several years ago. Something tells you this is not that man, Ermolos the Elder was in his fifties, and this Ermolos is closer to thirty.
Yakopulio - A well-known madame in your circles who has a reputation for clean girls. Her name is always accompanied in briefings with the admonishment to, "be very wary of divulging information to her girls."
Mathalen - Was at one time a dottari trainee who washed out, and an Armiger who washed out. She has been monitored from time to time, always working a new job.
Victor Statham - A once well-like, highly respected dramatic performer and minor noble who fell to a scandal like so many before him. When the other nobles learned he had adopted a non-Human child, the actor took his own life.