The Merlin relaxes and stands, watching Machaera bury the greataxe in Giggles. With a small grunt he whirls silently to investigate the room he'd sprinted through moments before.
Io, suddenly remembering something, pulling out the six small pouches she found in the cabinet from the other room, looking inside.
The Merlin walks casually down the stairs and helps search the area.
"... the Shingles. Man, that was a hard hit."
“You may be sure, I wouldn’t recommend the Shackles,” Machaera chimes in, grinning ruefully to acknowledge Headsman’s self-correction. The lanky elf looks around her uneasily, and her resumption of a manner more in keeping with a sophisticated salon than her current surroundings is obviously meant to keep her mind off the bloody mess at her feet. “They’re far too hot and humid at the best of times, if not raining already, and the locals are something else entirely.”
It was, if not the only, almost certainly the best way. –Or most expedient. –I didn’t say I liked it! –Yet. Unless Yanis and Headsman need help in sorting the children out, Machaera moves to join the Black Merlin and Io as they complete their search of the warehouse, trying not to let memories of the past and anxieties for the future resume their maddening dialogue in her head. And where was Lamm in all this, she wonders. Lurking somewhere in the old ship beyond the warehouse proper? Anyone’s guess, really, with the lunatic wretch.
Machaera's axe strike slays the green furred wolfman, and Io finds these various items of villainy on the poor, troubled wolfmen the group just put down.
Giggles-
Flail
Breasplate
Composite Longbow, +4 Str
20 arrows
3 potions (marked drink for healing, ya green furred giggling berk!)Signed by Gerry Maelfactor, tielfing alchemist at large for the Free League of Sigil)
72 gp
Hookshanks
studded leather
masterwork kukri
disguise kit
key to cabinet
7 gp
XP 200 to each party member. 666 total is the current total for each member of the group.
Also, since I know someone will ask, there are a total of 5 orphanges in Korvosa, spread throughout the city. Note, all orphanages are investigated monthly by the priests of Abadar and Sarenrae, and are licensed to the state, but run by various operators who have to meet the requirements as laid down by law. These operators are considered to be government officials, whether religious, independent contractors, or direct extensions of Korvosa's other governmental entities.
1. Korvosa’s Mercy (North Point): The largest of
Korvosa’s state-run orphanages, Korvosa’s Mercy has a
long-standing association with the military.
2.Scrapper Hall (Midland): Although this building is
relatively small, the highly regimented work hours that
orphans endure here push the limits of legality, and the
orphanage’s staff members often clash with the priestly
inspectors from both Abadar and Sarenrae’s faith.
3.Riverside House (Midland) This mid-sized orphanage is also Korvosa’s oldest. This group, given its connection to the streets, will know that the orphanage is fairly well run, without the direct pipe from orphanage to military or workhouse that Korvosa's Mercy or Scrapper Hall are.
4. Dawnflower House (Midland): Dawnflower House is
the only one of the five orphanages to be run by actual clerics. This orphanage is well known for both its mercy and piety, since it is run by cleric of Sarenrae.
5. Little House (East Shore): The smallest of
Korvosa’s orphanages is also the newest. Administered by
a philanthropic halfling named Bek Blerkian, the Little
House focuses primarily on non-human orphans.
Io, suddenly remembering something, pulling out the six small pouches she found in the cabinet from the other room, looking inside.
She finds neatly counted stacks of coins in the sacks, four of which contain 50 cp each, and two of which contain 50 sp each.
After seeing to everyone, Yanis will pick up the key.
"lets see what you unlock," Walking over to the cupboard he looks around to make sure everyone is still ok. "I will be opening this now, incase I die please see to my donkey."
A slight smirk comes to his darkened face, with that he put the key in the lock and turns the key.
The orphans react with various emotions, from shouts of job to paroxysms of terror at the death of their tormentors. One, a small orc boy, pipes up that he doesn't want to go to the street, after seeing his orcish mom sold to Gaedren by a pair of troll pimps from Kaer Maga, and her never coming back from her last visit on her way to Uncle John. He also mumbles something about her being eaten by an othyuggity? Another, a ten year old human girl with brown hair, says something about Old Wolf taking them to Heaven on his magic boat, after his trip with Princess, Duke, and the new kid Spider Monkey finish their trip in a couple of hours. They might even get double pastries every day, like we did!
Io nods at her find, dropping the coins in with the quickly-accumulating pile of loot, making sure she hides it afterwards to prevent any one walking off with any of their spoils. She takes one look at the orphans, and decides she's better off staying to the side.
Headsman blinks a few times at the girl's revelation, trembling visibly.
"... the old sack! He dares!"
"What do they do on those trips?" Headsman asks, crouching to stand closer to the girl's height. "I need to know, it's really important."
I'm gonna kill him! I swear to Gorum, I'll plant my axe through his face if it's the last thing I do!
After helping toss the room for anything of use, the Merlin begins to look to their next move. We haven't exactly been stealthy, anyone in the area knows Gaedren's under seige. He moves to the eastern wall and attempts to catch a view of the ship through the windows. I reckon I might be able to clear the gap no problem, catch them by surprise.
The Black Merlin catches Albatross' eye and waves him over. Showing his associate the boat he offers up his plan. 'If we can make the jump it'll give us two points of attack on the ship. I feel like we've only seen a fraction of Lamm's forces.' He watches his other companions as he speaks.
Loot spreadsheet updated.
Anything in A6?
Also, while I'm thinking about it, do we have anyone with appraise that wants to check out the gems we found?Io nods at her find, dropping the coins in with the quickly-accumulating pile of loot, making sure she hides it afterwards to prevent any one walking off with any of their spoils. She takes one look at the orphans, and decides she's better off staying to the side.
@Io 1300 and nope. Though you do hear some Iron Maiden in the background....
@Yanis It appears to open the same cupboard that Io opened earlier.Io and Yanis also find the cabinet in A6 appears to contain the fishery's accounts for the last several years.
After helping toss the room for anything of use, the Merlin begins to look to their next move. We haven't exactly been stealthy, anyone in the area knows Gaedren's under seige. He moves to the eastern wall and attempts to catch a view of the ship through the windows. I reckon I might be able to clear the gap no problem, catch them by surprise.
The Black Merlin catches Albatross' eye and waves him over. Showing his associate the boat he offers up his plan. 'If we can make the jump it'll give us two points of attack on the ship. I feel like we've only seen a fraction of Lamm's forces.' He watches his other companions as he speaks.
The windows are all boarded up. even the ones facing the ship.
After helping toss the room for anything of use, the Merlin begins to look to their next move. We haven't exactly been stealthy, anyone in the area knows Gaedren's under seige. He moves to the eastern wall and attempts to catch a view of the ship through the windows. I reckon I might be able to clear the gap no problem, catch them by surprise.
The Black Merlin catches Albatross' eye and waves him over. Showing his associate the boat he offers up his plan. 'If we can make the jump it'll give us two points of attack on the ship. I feel like we've only seen a fraction of Lamm's forces.' He watches his other companions as he speaks.
After helping toss the room for anything of use, the Merlin begins to look to their next move. We haven't exactly been stealthy, anyone in the area knows Gaedren's under seige. He moves to the eastern wall and attempts to catch a view of the ship through the windows. I reckon I might be able to clear the gap no problem, catch them by surprise.
The Black Merlin catches Albatross' eye and waves him over. Showing his associate the boat he offers up his plan. 'If we can make the jump it'll give us two points of attack on the ship. I feel like we've only seen a fraction of Lamm's forces.' He watches his other companions as he speaks.
"Are you thinking of assaulting the boat or using it to descend to the lower level from here?"
Machaera tries not to get in the way as Headsman tries to calm the orphans and sort out what’s going on. She is baffled by the question of how she might help. How to whip up an incendiary, bottle lightning, look for the right spell for almost anything – that she knows, but talking to a gang of scared children? She looks up in alarm, though, at something she hears one of the girls say.
“Magic” boat? If the child meant the wreck out back, surely she wasn’t that naïve, and Machaera’s imagination raced through the horrors the girl’s mind might be unconsciously protecting her from. Those children won’t come back, if we don’t move quickly. Seeing Headsman reaching the same conclusion, she catches his eye and gestures discreetly for him to wait a moment and keep the girl talking. Machaera’s got plans for Giggles’ potions, but she’s seen more than enough of the world than to trust the labels on strange bottles and vials, so she takes a moment to focus and examine their contents properly.
'If we can pry the boards from one of these windows I was thinking we could get to the boat. There may be a way down out there, I haven't seen another way down yet.'
The Merlin eyes each of the windows looking for one that might have loose boards.
The only other way the you have seen is the staircase on the right side of the building down to the ship, on A3.
@Headsman The kid seems to shrink from your fury, but says the following "I'm not sure. We're all supposed to go to Heaven and live as lambs in the fields up there, sailing across the water, and Old Biter will be our shepherd to protect from the wolves outside."
Io moves to search the crates piled up in the corner.
Yanis will look over the young girl, being concerned about her comments.
@Yanis From a distance or a physical examination?
@Io You find nothing but tools for mixing fish into slurry, nails, some more hammocks, etc. Nothing of value.
@Machaera 3 potions of cure light wounds, 1st level, alchemist
@The Black Merlin They're all pretty nailed in tight, though you could try to knock a hole in them.
Physical
Relieved to find that the potions do what their label says, Machaera moves around the room, distributing largesse. Approaching Headsman, she offers him a potion and speaks quietly over the girl’s head, “Here, take this, it will help. I have a feeling we might not want to wait too long.” She smiles down at the girl in what she hopes is a reassuring manner, but what can she say? That she’s too young for Heaven? That eventually she’ll be able to have pastries whenever she wants?
Turning away, she moves on to Io, to whom she can voice her suspicions more openly, further away from the crowd of scared children. “We’re going to have to keep moving: Headsman’s friends aren’t here, but are being taken wherever Lambs that have outlived their usefulness go. At least, I expect, unless wolves bring lambs to “Heaven” any other way. Drink this, first, though, for your wounds.”
Headsman swallows back his rage, mentally beating himself up for scaring the girl like that.
"Alright, run along with the others. You're safe now."
Once the girl is gone, he takes the potion and looks to Machaera. "You sure about these?"
Once confirmed, he shrugs and takes a swig.
@Yanis From a closer visual exam, you notice that she apparently has a bite mark from canine jaws on her right arm, as well as what look like some other form of puncture. A syringe, perhaps?
'Those windows look pretty secure, I don't think we'll be able to get to the boat that way without more effort than it's worth.' The Merlin thinks for a miment. 'The roof! We could send a few up over while the rest move in from the gangplank.' He looks around the room trying to predict volunteers.
"Child please come sit down, I need to make sure that bite doesn't get infected."
The girl comes over, warily eyeing Yanis, but she seems to be a bit more trusting then the rest of the orphans, who have quieted down after their initial joy at being rescued.
@Yanis You find no poison on her.
So a couple of kids pipe up after Yanis checks out the girl. "So what's going to happen to us now? Are we going to the Shingles and rob the people there? Are you going to be our new parents? Why do you wear such creepy masks? Are you all birds? That's a cool axe covered all in gore and Giggle's blood! Can the elfy lady make more rainbows to send us to Heaven? And so on. Two dozen kids can make a ton of noise, not that reports from a black powder pistol are any less subtle.
Headsman's interest is piqued by the kids asking about the Shingles.
"Alright, alright. Calm down, one thing at a time. I don't know what Lamm had you kids doing, but you deserve better. There's a lot of us teenagers and children looking out for each other. Some of the older kids take up jobs to help feed everyone, and teach younger ones, like you, so you can find a life. I won't lie, it's not an easy fantasy, but unlike this place, you don't have to take orders from an old creep turned into a mutt."
Then, reminding himself that there are some kinds too young to really understand, he adds: "It's kind of like we have our own little castle hidden in town. We help each other with what we can, and if you grow up to be strong like me, you can help protect the others. It's not exactly like a family, but it's pretty close."
“Sounds reasonable,” Machaera agrees, as the Black Merlin considers possible approaches to the old ship behind the warehouse. “Mind you, I’m not much of a climber. I suppose that means I’m perfect for the distraction going around the ordinary way?”
Hearing something about the “elfy lady” over the rising hubbub as the kids start getting restive again, Machaera’s grateful that names aren’t a huge business tonight. This was the part of town where the song was actually sung, though it was never hugely popular.
Watch out for her potions, her shivs and her spells!
All her best magic is awful bad!
She’ll drink your blood! She’ll bake your bones! She’s that
Damnable witch, she’s Machaera the Mad!
It was awful. Shelyn would thank her if she ever tracks down and murders the poetaster who perpetrated it. Fortunately, the lurid broadside’s chances were quashed when the truth came out and she was acquitted, but Machaera has no illusions about the ongoing reasonableness of Korvosa’s court of public opinion.
Anyway, Headsman looks like he could use some help, though the boy’s clearly got a good heart and is doing better than she could. Still, she’s got an idea. Drifting over, she joins in, “It’s not Heaven either, but most of you are far too young. You have your whole lives to live yet.”
“Believe me,” she adds conspiratorially, “I’m a hundred years old, and I’m still waiting! But we’ll find places for you to go, and, one day, you will get to Heaven. And the best part is, even right now…”
She winks. “…you’ll never have to jump for these smelly old wolves again!”
@Yanis From a distance or a physical examination?
@Io You find nothing but tools for mixing fish into slurry, nails, some more hammocks, etc. Nothing of value.
@Machaera 3 potions of cure light wounds, 1st level, alchemist
@The Black Merlin They're all pretty nailed in tight, though you could try to knock a hole in them.
Corvus will give a quick attempt to remove the nailed in boards:
Corvus knocks out a couple of boards (as an aside, with a hammer, weapon, thieve's tools? Crowbar? Just curious.)
The kids seem to take Headsman's mention in stride. One of them says "If it's closer to getting us to Heaven that sounds lovelly. Do the kids really take care of each other? They don't stab each other or have to shovel fish from the river or the sea into the vat to make 5 day old fish slurry?" Or go pick poketing and snatching during the day?
Another human kid pipes up: "A hundred years old! How are you not wrinkly and full of whisky flavored with pickle juice? Dummy, elves live longer then humans do, even I know that, pipes up a ratfolk.
When Merlin suggests going on the roof, Io nods. "Sounds good to me. However… Birdy, you may want to look out." She takes a few steps back, then charges directly at the boarded-up windows, pouring all of her strength into the charge.
Corvus knocks out a couple of boards (as an aside, with a hammer, weapon, thieve's tools? Crowbar? Just curious.)
The kids seem to take Headsman's mention in stride. One of them says "If it's closer to getting us to Heaven that sounds lovelly. Do the kids really take care of each other? They don't stab each other or have to shovel fish from the river or the sea into the vat to make 5 day old fish slurry?" Or go pick poketing and snatching during the day?
Another human kid pipes up: "A hundred years old! How are you not wrinkly and full of whisky flavored with pickle juice? Dummy, elves live longer then humans do, even I know that, pipes up a ratfolk.
Masterwork Theives' Tools...
"I Think we should be taking the children to one of the orphanages around town. I will make sure to put a word in for them and I will look after their care. Now to getting them all there without drawing attention to ourselves."
Yanis says all this before the boards start to crack and break.
"Well I guess they now know we are here for sure. Children lets find somewhere safe to hide shall we, then we will be back to get you."
When Merlin suggests going on the roof, Io nods. "Sounds good to me. However… Birdy, you may want to look out." She takes a few steps back, then charges directly at the boarded-up windows, pouring all of her strength into the charge.
[dice=Strength Check]1d20+4
[dice=Two-Handed Power Attack Shield Slam]1d6+10
Your attempt to burst the boards fails, though your slam seems to knock another board out. Where is the druid when you need one?
The kids all go "OOH She's breaking stuff! Can we break stuff too?"
Headsman laughs boisterously. "... you know what? Why not. You kids deserve to let off some frustrations, and it might get Lamm to come to us rather than the other way around. Be careful not to hurt yourselves, alright?"
"As for the other questions, let's talk about it once my buddies and I done dealing with Gaedrenn, alright?"
The Black Merlin stands stunned for a moment as Io hurls herself at the boarded up window. Hearing the kids, and then Headsman's encouragement, the vigilante climbs to the catwalk to cover the entrances.
'Anyone want to volunteer to cross the gangplank?'
Your attempt to burst the boards fails, though your slam seems to knock another board out. Where is the druid when you need one?When Merlin suggests going on the roof, Io nods. "Sounds good to me. However… Birdy, you may want to look out." She takes a few steps back, then charges directly at the boarded-up windows, pouring all of her strength into the charge.
[dice=Strength Check]1d20+4
[dice=Two-Handed Power Attack Shield Slam]1d6+10
The Albatross turns to Io, "Don't hurt yourself now on the way through. Yanis has his hands full with the kids."
The Black Merlin stands stunned for a moment as Io hurls herself at the boarded up window. Hearing the kids, and then Headsman's encouragement, the vigilante climbs to the catwalk to cover the entrances.
'Anyone want to volunteer to cross the gangplank?'
The Albatross makes a quick hand gesture to indicate that they should move and starts to head in that direction.
Machaera stifles a sigh as Headsman bows to the impossibility of keeping a couple of dozen rambunctious orphans in some sense of order. Her scruples extract a last, hopeless admonishment to the group from her, as she points Yanis out, “Alright, but be careful. We don’t want any of you getting hurt. Listen to the good doctor, and once we get through the windows, stay back.”
She nods at the Black Merlin’s request for volunteers to go the normal way. As she passes Io on the way out, she pauses as the young woman takes a step back before hurling herself at the window’s boards again. One hand on her hip and the other raised to offer a firm recommendation, Machaera adds, mock sternly, “That goes for you too. Well, the being careful bit. And drink that potion! Mage’s orders.”
With that, the elf whisks off up the catwalk back to the nearest door outside. Opening it, she draws her sword and takes a look around to see if anyone’s come from out back to investigate the commotion inside before stepping onto the walkway. It looks like there’s no handrail, and she really doesn’t feel like a dip in the river if someone doesn’t want her to get by.
The Merlin allows Machaera to take the lead and falls in behind the arcane-minded elf. Before he leaves the room he calls back to the window team.
'Give us a minute to get into position, we'll try to hit them at the same time.' With that The Black Merlin heads for the door to the upper walk-way to the ship.
"Alright, let's go. I'll take point." Headsman calls out, pushing past Machaera to take the frontmost position.
Yanis will move the children to the front door where they came in, putting them in the office and locking the door.
"Stay here, we shall be back in a few minutes and will take you to your new homes then."
After that he will move back out with the rest, readying his spear and following them out.