Nonchalantly approaching the northwest corner of the palace at the street level, you don’t yet spy any of the Emperor’s thugs . Li secures a length of rope to her grappling bolt and fires it up into the floorboards of the room above.
Li pulls on the rope to make sure it's secure. Satisfied that it'll hold, she scrambles up it. She is unsure how much time they have before the compound is alerted and gaining higher ground will allow her to cover the others with her crossbow as they climb.
This large room might once have been an attic storage area, but the rafters above now brood over an empty chamber. To the northwest, a large portion of the roof and floor below have collapsed entirely, leaving a void looking out over the sodden skyline of Old Korvosa.
The area beside the collapsed floor is unstable. As Li placed her weight onto it, it begins to crumble!
"Spirits help me, climbing through the window in my old age." the shaman grumbles as she grabs hold of the rope. Her booted feet slip and scrape against the wall and her arms tremble with effort as she attempts to scale up to the first floor.
Oh my god!
Li nimbly steps away from the crumbling floor and finds purchase on a sturdier joist. Before she can contemplate how the others will fair walking on such conditions, she catches movement out of the corner of her eye. It be squirmin'. I be hatin' things that be squirmin'
Garvid's quiet grunts are louder than the rustling of his armour as he makes his way up the rope. Up the rope. In full plate. Carrying a weapon. Quietly... Should probably start making the new recruits in the guard to that, too., his thoughts travel down a more sadistic route. The crumbling of the floor as Li disappears on the floor, though, grasps his attention, as he hisses up the rope, "Li! You okay?"
After an initial unsteadiness, Leah steadily climbed the rope after Garvid. Hardly a stealthy entry, this.
After casting his invisibility spell on everyone, and disguising his disgruntlement over nobody being suitable impressed at his new magics, Talfryn awaits to go last, pacing back and forth as he ransacks his mind for some dignified manner to climb the rope.
Finding none, he at last heave a sigh of resignation, and hauls himself up as best he can, taking scant comfort in the fact that he's invisible.
Upon gaining the roof, he barely has time to heave a sigh of relief before the whole structure begins to collapse beneath his weight!
He catches his foot, managing to step onto a crossbeam and there secure himself.
Laori stays quiet, stepping back several yards and murmering a prayer, then she seems to float up toward the opening in the floorboards of the upper level, staying to the air just above the broken flooring.
"Uhh guys," she whispers ominously, There's, like, something in here."
"I hope it wants to play!"
Yazi reaches ten feet before tumbling down to the ground.
Garvid: 62/72
Kynes: 47/52
Laori: -0
Li: 59/61
Talfryn: 57/57
Yazi: 45/49
Li hears her name and tries to warn them before anyone else came up. "I be fine but I ain't alone. Be careful when ya be gettin' up here. Tha floor be crumbly."
The rogue gasps as she hears someone fall. "Mebbe we can be pullin' tha rope up an' it be tied ta whoever be fallin'. Probably shouldn't be leavin' tha rope danglin' down there anyways."
Damn as the floor gives way beneath his feet.
"Oof! A little help here..." Yaziyah curses as she slips from the rope and falls in an ungraceful heap. How did both Garvid and Talfryn manage to scale the wall, but she can't? Damn these old bones. Li's suggestion is hardly dignified, but she is feeling very tired from the previous attempts, so to hells with dignity. The Shoanti ties the rope around herself and tugs on it to signal those above to pull her up.
As Garvid manages to reach all the way up the rope, he reaches to wipe his brow, only to see the rotten floorboards give way under Kynes' legs. "Oh, son of a-...", he blurts out as he takes a small step forward, the planks giving way under the guard's considerable heft, as he crashes down to the floor below.
Kynes and Garvid tumble unceremoniously down onto the cobblestones, just as Yazi is hoisted up by Li’s rope.
And that is precisely when the occupants of the room’s rafters attack from above. Six hunched-over wretches with long, pliable arms like tentacles capped with wide, spiny claws slither across the exposed beams overhead. Reaching, reaching...
___________________________
Garvid: 62/72
Kynes: 46/52
Laori: -0
Li: 59/61
Talfryn: 57/57
Yazi: 45/49
Pink: on fire!
"Ah. Huff. Thank... thank you." Yaziyah breathes heavily as she clears the windowsill, spilling into the room beyond and narrowly avoiding tumbling down through the hole in the floor.
...Drat." she curses as she notices movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking around desperately for their meat shield, she spots Garvid and Kynes on the floor below. "We should all get down there, easier to defend from these... whatever they are." In a space with precarious footing and pushed up against the edge of the collapsed floor, it didn't seem like the best idea to stand and fight. She pauses just long enough to ask for the spirits' protection before tip-toeing past Lord Talfryn and dropping onto the floor below.
”...Drat." Yazi curses as she notices movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking around desperately for their meat shield, she spots Garvid and Kynes on the floor below. "We should all get down there, easier to defend from these... whatever they are." In a space with precarious footing and pushed up against the edge of the collapsed floor, it didn't seem like the best idea to stand and fight. She pauses just long enough to ask for the spirits' protection before tip-toeing past Lord Talfryn and dropping onto the floor below.
The creatures crawl forward, their tentacles reaching down to snatch up a tasty meal. One flies at Laori, but she’s quick enough to dodge out of the way . However, three tentacles lash Talfryn, one slipping around his torso and squeezing the breath out of him!
___________________________
hit
hit
hit
miss
From the cobblestones below, Kynes curses. He'd rather stick to the ground, but there is no helping it. Helping Garvid up, who gave a quick groan, he began clambering up the rope again.
Abadar-damned clumsy-arsed bastard..., Garvid's angry and panicked internal thoughts fuel him as he grabs onto the rope once again. Stifled swears pulse on his reddening face as he pushes himself upwards. A grumbling thanks to Kynes later, he's already at the top of the stairs.
Taking 10s to get there, but if the party drops down, he'll follow. Douple move, if possible.
Li is torn. Most of their group is down below and so it made the most sense to drop down to join them. However, she couldn't leave Lord Talfryn by himself and there was no way for him to quickly get below without hurting himself. Even though he is invisible, she can't leave him alone.
Li's concern for Lord Talfryn distracts her just long enough for the creatures to quickly close in, eliminating the space she needs to fire her crossbow. Flicking her wrist, a dagger appears in her hand and she stabs outwards.
"Stop fighting the pull of the earth!" hisses Yaziyah. "Get down here, all of you, you don't want to fight on those rickety boards."
Laori sighs as she floats back down. "Aw, no fun. Their skins would make the absolute cutest pair of boots."
You find yourselves back down on the cobblestones. The creatures do not descend from their perch in the ruined room. Around the bend, you can hear voices rising as thugs draw near. Laori uncoils her spiked chain, letting it rattle onto the stones. "New friends!"
Garvid: 62/72
Kynes: 46/52
Laori: -0
Li: 59/61
Talfryn: 57/57
Yazi: 40/49
Garvid raises his halberd, his left hand rubbing against his bruised ribs. "Up to you. We'd need to hide the rope and ourselves, and that bastard's men are already suspicious, so not much hope to catch them unaware any more." And I am damn tired of monkeying around like a thief.
If there are too many, I'll be friendly.
"So be it. The spirits deny us subterfuge." Unknotting the rope from around her waist, Yaziyah gets ready for a confrontation.
Li is less willing to give up the shadows in the base of the building than the others. Maybe she could be of more use if the others didn't know she was there.
A group of eight thugs rounds the bends, axes brandished. Two point. ”Oi! At’s dem, wit’ dat witch! Raise th’alarm!”
Handbells begin to ring out through the complex as the alarm is raised. Heads begin to pop out from windows and running footfalls draw closer.
”Alroit! Enuf kiddie play. Drop yer weapons! You too, sweet’art!” One points her ax at Li lurking in the shadows.
Witch, eh? I'll show you witch. Yaziyah is short on patience now, and thoroughly disgusted by this Emperor and his thugs. Scooping up a little dirt, she spits on it and makes a complicated gesture with her other hand at the incoming mob. Foul, sticky mud begins to form over their bodies and faces.
"Good.", Garvid grunts out as the thugs move out, as he moves his way through the debris, kicking planks as bricks as he moves. "Now we don't have to chase you down.", he grins as he swings his halberd at one of the men already in deep mud.
Rage Rounds: 2/16
Li cringes internally as she is spotted in the shadows. But she had spent a great deal of time in Old Korvosa and was not easily intimidated. Li's eyes narrow and she raises her crossbow in a flash, "I ain't be takin' orders from ya. If ya be wantin' me weapon then come get it."
Scum.Kynes spits Your feeble attempt to intimidate us is laughable; you think your little band of grunts have the muscle to stop us? HA! The extract burns his tongue, as the gravelly tonic continued to terrorize his throat. His nostrils flaring with smoke. I SEE PATHETIC SHADOWS AFRAID TO WITNESS THE LIGHT!! Flames erupt around him in a flared ring.
”Yoo’ve brou’ blood int’ our house!” One thug replies with a sneer. ”Yoo asked fer’t!” They raise their axes!
Witch, eh? I'll show you witch. Yaziyah is short on patience now, and thoroughly disgusted by this Emperor and his thugs. Scooping up a little dirt, she spits on it and makes a complicated gesture with her other hand at the incoming mob. Foul, sticky mud begins to form over their bodies and faces, though does little more than inconvenience them.
”Scum.” Kynes spits. ”Your feeble attempt to intimidate us is laughable; you think your little band of grunts have the muscle to stop us? HA!” The extract burns his tongue, as the gravelly tonic continued to terrorize his throat. His nostrils flaring with smoke. ”I SEE PATHETIC SHADOWS AFRAID TO WITNESS THE LIGHT!!” Flames erupt around him in a flared ring.
"Good.", Garvid grunts out as the thugs move out, as he moves his way through the debris, kicking planks as bricks as he moves. "Now we don't have to chase you down.", he grins as he swings his halberd at one of the men already in deep mud, cleaving deep through leather and flesh.
Li cringes internally as she is spotted in the shadows. But she had spent a great deal of time in Old Korvosa and was not easily intimidated. Li's eyes narrow and she raises her crossbow in a flash, "I ain't be takin' orders from ya. If ya be wantin' me weapon then come get it." She fires two bolts into the nearest cultist before Talfryn, trying to cover the aged man from any who might molest him, even unseen.
hit
miss
hit
The thugs close in. Three confront Garvid, trying to disable the big man with their sharp-edged axes! Two bury their blades in the space between his armor!
hit
hit, 8 dmg
Another charges straight for Li, only to smash into the invisible Talfryn. A look of surprise and confusion crosses his face as he cautiously grabs at the air in an attempt to determine what’s happened.
Two more assault Li, returning the favor of her sharp bolts!
hit
miss
Two close in on Yazi, wounding her badly.
miss
hit, possible crit
no!
Laori brandishes her holy symbol. ”You guys are so lame! Like, submit to the power of the Dark Lord and stuff!” A wave of negative energy spills forth, shriveling the flesh of the thugs.
fail!
___________________________
Garvid: 54/72 (65/83)
Kynes: 46/52
Laori: -0
Li: 47/61
Talfryn: 57/57
Yazi: 27/49
As the bodies close in on Li, she releases her crossbow to hang from the sling around her to free her hands. Then in a flash, a dagger appears in her hand and she lashes out at the one who made her bleed.
Yaziyah hisses in pain as the axe blade bites into her flesh and falls back a step. While one hand fumbles at her belt to retrieve a healing stick, just in case, her other hand rips out a few threads from the coloured tassels hanging on her sleeve, then moves in an arc, leaving a faint glittering trail behind it. A twisting, shimmering veil twenty feet tall springs into being between their group and the thugs, the inner side of it only hinting at the maddening, alien patterns that the strange colours form on its other side.
Garvid's eyes instinctively glances at Yazi as her multicoloured magic spreads onto the air. The sickening shimmering doesn't prove to be to his fancy, however, and he turns his head away. "Yeah, I don't much care about who started it.", he grunts out, as he swings his halberd wildly at his foes. The first one crashes heavily towards a man's shield, buffeting him a foot backwards. With a roar, he brings down the flat of the blade onto the second man's head over his shield, the crack of steel meeting skull crashing onto the battlefield. "Drop it!", he roars at a man brandishing an axe.
[dice=Confirm Damage, "non-lethal"]2d10+48[/dice]
Studying the man next to him, he sends his bladed scarf at the man's eyes in a brutal swing.
As chaos explodes around them, blades flash, cries are shouted and curses thrown, Talfryn resists the urge to unleash greater magics and instead reaches for a spell that has grown so instinctive that he need no longer memorize it. Within the palace of his mind he examines the various glowing spells he has memorized, parsing their constructs and evaluating their possible utility in the moments to come, to finally discard Pugwampi's Grace and convert it to his favorite spell.
Haste.
With a cry, disdainful of the men that threaten him on all sides, he unleashes the wave of magic, invigorating his allies and causing the world about them to slow as they are filled with a terrible and unnatural speed.
As chaos explodes around them, blades flash, cries are shouted and curses thrown, Talfryn resists the urge to unleash greater magics and instead reaches for a spell that has grown so instinctive that he need no longer memorize it. Within the palace of his mind he examines the various glowing spells he has memorized, parsing their constructs and evaluating their possible utility in the moments to come, to finally discard Pugwampi's Grace and convert it to his favorite spell.
Haste.
With a cry, disdainful of the men that threaten him on all sides, he unleashes the wave of magic, invigorating his allies and causing the world about them to slow as they are filled with a terrible and unnatural speed.
As the bodies close in on Li, she releases her crossbow to hang from the sling around her to free her hands. Then in a flash, a dagger appears in her hand and she lashes out at the one who made her bleed.
hit
Yaziyah hisses in pain as the axe blade bites into her flesh and falls back a step. While one hand fumbles at her belt to retrieve a healing stick, just in case, her other hand rips out a few threads from the coloured tassels hanging on her sleeve, then moves in an arc, leaving a faint glittering trail behind it. A twisting, shimmering veil twenty feet tall springs into being between their group and the thugs, the inner side of it only hinting at the maddening, alien patterns that the strange colours form on its other side.
Four of the thugs keel forward and retch violently, spattering Li and Talfryn’s shoes with the remains of this morning’s breakfast and a questionable amount of ale.
Garvid's eyes instinctively glances at Yazi as her multicoloured magic spreads onto the air. The sickening shimmering doesn't prove to be to his fancy, however, and he turns his head away. "Yeah, I don't much care about who started it.", he grunts out, as he swings his halberd wildly at his foes. The first one crashes heavily towards a man's shield, buffeting him a foot backwards. With a roar, he brings down the flat of the blade onto the second man's head over his shield, the crack of steel meeting skull crashing onto the battlefield. "Drop it!", he roars at a man brandishing an axe.
Studying the man next to him, Kynes sends his bladed scarf at the man's eyes in a brutal swing.
no
”Oh f’fook’s sake Tolly!” one of the thugs screams at his nauseated ally, lowering his axe. ”Parley! Parley! What’dya want?”
___________________________
Garvid: 54/72 (65/83)
Kynes: 46/52
Laori: -0
Li: 47/61
Talfryn: 57/57
Yazi: 27/49
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"We want this city to stop ripping itself apart. We want fair governance. We want actionable solutions to the most pressing issues that Korvosa is dealing with. We want the rich and powerful to stop using the underrepresented as disposable pawns. We want justice, actual justice." Fists clenched, eyes blazing, Yaziyah delivers her speech through gritted teeth.
She takes a deep breath.
But failing that, we want the painter. Salvator Scream. Alive and as sane as possible."
Garvid's glance carries over Yazi with eyes wide open, before nodding, deeply impressed. Damn. Wordy. But true. Guess Lord Talfryn's influence gets us all. "She said it better than I can." Placing his halberd on his shoulder, he clears his throat. "I want for the city to stop murdering each other, so I can go back to short patrols, interrupted by long pastry breaks. And Scream knows something that gets us one step closer to getting that sorted."
Or we can just beat you in the head some more. There is always that option. Kyne's grim helm leers down upon the man.
Li wrinkles her nose in disgust as her boots are spattered by vomit. She roughly nudges the nauseated offenders away with her feet, wiping the sick off her boots in the process.
Her hasted movement stills as Yazi, Garvid, and Kynes choose to parley. She keeps her weapon at the ready, not trusting the thugs to not start the fighting again should they regain the upper hand. It's not like they actually wanted to know what they wanted, it was only because they couldn't currently beat them by force.
While the others talk, she keeps a focused eye and ear on their surroundings to make sure they aren't surprised by anything.
Lord Talfryn opts to remain invisible, choosing discretion over valor, and hedges around the group, the fickle powers of the sorcerous spells he memorized playing through his mind with feverish intensity.
It would be so easy to open a vast, acid-filled pit beneath the feet of these fools. To plunge them in and be rid of them, to clear the board, as it were, of these pernicious pawns, opening the way for an attack on the bishops, rooks, and king.
But no. Yazi's words steady him, and he studies her, impressed and sobered by the inspiring words she speaks.
No, no, best not to start walking down that path, he admonishes himself. Easy there, old boy, we cannot let these heady draughts sway out temperament so easily. Deep breaths and all that. Patience and temperance, after all, are virtues to be observed even when in the breach.
The man kicks Tolly in the rear, pushing him onto the ground where the man clutches his stomach in agony. ”Useless welp. Alroit, could jus’ asked. Th’ Emperor’ll be th’ one sayin’ who sees th’ pain’er. Yoo’ll fol’ us, and be mindin’ yer manners. ‘Tis a great hona’ to keep audience!”
More guards arrive, but word quickly spreads of the newcomers and their request to visit upon the Emperor of Old Korvosa. A few run ahead to announce your presence, while a collection of “soldiers” escorts you into the palace.
The interior of this home has been gutted. A huge mound of rubble--broken timbers, bits of wall, ruined furniture, and other debris--lies heaped in the center of the room. Rickety wooden stairs wind up to a splintered hole in the wall near the roof above. They creak under your weight, but hold.
What was once an attic has been cleared of all clutter, leaving a large open area under exposed rafters and the roof above. Rope bridges lead to other areas outside of the room to the northeast and southwest, and a flight of stairs descends to a lower floor to the northwest.
This open-air balcony is twenty-five feet off the ground and overlooks a large open rooftop. It is shielded from rain and sun by a brightly colored canvas roof that extends up over the area like a half-dome, held in place by a wooden framework. The inside of the canvas has been decorated with scenes of gruesome debauchery; battlefields, executions, torture chambers, and human-eating monsters all vie for space. The balcony contains two major features of note. The first is a high-backed throne that looks like a poor man’s version of the Crimson Throne, a thing of blood-red cushions and silks and spikes. Directly west of the throne stands an intimidating device: a tall guillotine of carved wood and bone, its base depicting grasping demonic feet and the housing of its glittering blade a leering demonic face.
The large, flat roof of the long building below has been converted into a strange sort of marshaling yard or game field. Two large square areas have been outlined with what could be blood, while at either end to the west and east, small wooden cages have been set up to the side of a hole in the roof that drops into the upper floor of the building below. Flights of stairs lead up from the roof to a balcony to the north and the gently slanted roof of a building to the south.
Two gently sloped rooftops overlook a flat roof to the north. The northern slopes of these roofs are littered with boards, stacks of shingles, and other impromptu seats, transforming the area into a sort of arena-style seating. The southern slopes are falling into disrepair, and it’s obvious the materials to build the northern sides’ seating were harvested from there. The roofs are packed with throngs of lowlifes and crooks, all eager to see what new entertainments their emperor has crafted for them.
Pilts Swastel is an odious man--a thin Chelaxian cursed by acne, made worse by his obvious recent bout with blood veil. His outfit seems pulled from an extensive collection of stage costumes, mixed and matched in an unseemly variation on what he must believe to be royal attire. That his finery is threadbare and ratty gives him the look more of a vagrant king than actual royalty.
King Pilts is attended by thugs and what could be a child, but more likely a gnome. The creature is dressed in the leather of a court executioner, though one of the eye holes in his hood is stitched over. He attends the Tall Knife with a razor ax and a gleam in his eye.
”So!” Pilts proclaims, standing from his “throne” and brandishing a cracked wooden scepter, ”You’re the upstarts who’ve invaded my palace!” He scans the lot of you with clear disappointment. ”Not what I had expected, I must say. Still, how very naughty! Naughty naughty!” He tsks, waving his stick. ”And uncouth! Aren’t you going to kneel to your king?”
As the party marches through the torn-apart and deprecated house, titled a 'palace', the guardsman's eyes snap at every move and every gesture from those around him. Right into the belly of the beast. Though we're a little harder to swallow than most.
Kneel?, Garvid's mind snaps back to the sight of Andaisin in the catacombs beneath Korvosa. "Can't say it crossed my mind, no.", Garvid answers curtly to the man, as he casually leans onto his halberd. "Though if that makes you feel better, you're not the first one to be refused the honour."
Staring at one of the 'royal guards', recently mishandled by the party, he snaps his head back at Pilts. "We want to know where's Salvator Scream. For now, nothing more and nothing less. You give us that, and we walk out of here." Swapping the halberd to his other hand, he raises an eyebrow. "I'd say that's a pretty good deal." I'd much rather feed him to his own guillotine. But... even if we manage it, until we lift the quarantine, there's just going to be another Pilts, or another gang. Chewing the bitter thoughts in his mouth, Garvid adds. "Sounds good?"
Li's eyes constantly scan her surroundings looking for possible exits as well as sizing up the Emperor's guards. She keeps quiet and stays towards the back of the group.
When they're brought before the Emperor, she can't help thinking that he looks like he's found his clothes in the reject pile from the theatre. But she knows not to underestimate him because the stories they've been told suggest he can be quite sadistic. Her gaze passes over the guillotine which speaks to the level of depravity that the citizens of Old Korvosa face and her hands close into fists.
Li's eyes narrow slightly at his not-so-subtle suggestion they kneel. She says nothing but she also doesn't move. However, her muscles tense in anticipation of a fight. She smiles slightly at Garvid's words and studies the Emperor and guards for their reactions.
Eminently reasonable.
Oh, how she wanted to curse this odious man and watch him writhe! But she is not stupid, she recognizes that they would not walk out of this alive if she did so - and the city needs them alive. Apparently, Garvid recognizes this as well. Yaziyah nods her head at his words, keeping herself tall and surveying the "king" and his "court" with cool appraisal.