"Mmmmmmm", Copper groans quietly, "Id say we have enough time to help him, that's for sure, but considering what we are trying to do here, I don't like the idea of helping 'Queen's man' over there. I won't start anything with them myself, but I won't sit back if the rest of you help him either."
"Perhaps if we find a way to indirectly disperse the crowd, the bravos causing the ruckus will lose their support and move on."
Through the alleyway that seperates you from the crowd, you can just make out a small group of what appear to be disgruntled laborers. A couple of onlookers can also be seen, but from the other side of the thin alleyway you can't really see who exactly they are threatening.
"Heh, I've got an idea. Let me see now." Copper says as he tries to position himself behind Neva, the only person he is standing with who is tall enough to block anyone's line of sight to him, and begins casting a short spell. When the spell is finished, he cups his hands near his mouth, and then points at two of the men standing close by the aggressor of the confrontation.
Down the alleyway, magical words fill their ears, saying, "The guard is coming! Let's get out of here!"
Felgar leans in close to Rutter and whispers.
I be ready if'n they want some of me axe...
"I'm inclined to agree with Copper. Helping the 'Queen's man' is going to put us in a tight spot. Still, let's see how young this kid is..."
Rutter starts pushing his way through the crowd, murmuring things in agreement with the aggressors...
"I gotta see this!"
"Effing queen!"
"What's this ponce doing in our neighborhood?"
And so on...
"If everyone else can keep the crowd's attention off of me, I can provide a more tangible distraction if required."
Felgar shrugs his shoulders...
We be paid by the Queen! Oh well...
Felgar follows on Rutter's heels nudging his way through the crowd.
Neva tried several times to turn around to see what Copper was doing before she realized she was being used for cover. Ah...a ruse of some sort...
She took a reasonably natural pose and pretended to be looking over the heads of the gathered crowd. As Rutter and Felgar started pushing through, she began breathing more deeply, keeping herself calm as the situation developed.
She turn to Pravlox and whispered seriously, "Come over here, dear. Stay close to me if want."
At Copper's whispered words one of the ruffian's looks around with worry marring his features, "Didja hear that? They sez the guards is commin'". At this the other answers, "Yeah, I heered it. Donchew worry none, Gunter, ittas probly some nosy neighbor tryin ta get us offa them's street."
As Rutter moves forward to get a closer look, with Felgar close by to back him up if necessary, the young man pleads again to his bullies. "Please, just let me go on about my business. I can pay you if you will not hurt me." Being close enough to see the speaker, Rutter and Felgar get a good look the young man. He looks to be dressed like a noble, with a well-trimmed red vest with a gold brocade, deep brown leggings with neither a scuff nor a stitch. He is maybe seventeen, with short cropped black hair and deep brown eyes.
At his pleading the antagonist, a fat bald man with greasy muttonchops framing his rotund face jeers and addresses the young man. "Dat's 'ow it awways is wif you foke. You tink you ken jus pay yo way outta everyfink. Wewl, yowr money wont gif m'bruffer 'is arm back, and now you an 'im wiwl be da same." At this he raises his length of iron pipe to try and bring it down on the upraised arm of the kneeling young nobleman.
"Stupid fools never learn do they? Oh well." Pravlox mutters under his breath as he concentrates for a few seconds while trying to hide exactly what he is doing, and suddenly a tiny celestial viper appears to crawl out of one of the building beside him into I6.
Felgar nudges his way to J12 with his back up against the wall and readies his War Axe to draw quickly. As he passes Rutter he speaks lowly,
What be the play here?
Copper keeps a vigilant eye on the crowd, but begins uttering the magic-filled words of a protective spell. When completed, a faint aura surrounds him, as if he was wearing magical armor over his clothing.
Rutter saunters into the crowd, trying to blend in among the other rabble. He finds his natural accent, considering the company.
"Bugger your bruvver! You c'n speak fer yerself! I'd rather 'ave his money than 'is bloodstains." Rutter looks to others in the crowd, hoping to bring them to his way of thinking. "What about you all? You rather 'ave blood or gold?"
As Rutter suggests accepting the gold there are a few grumbles of agreement, but they all seem non-committal. The lead, however, spits a response over his shoulder at the idea. "Dat's da problem, dey finks dey can jus frow money at us an' we'wl jus disappear! Wewl no'h dis time boyo!"
He brings the iron pipe down, in an overhead swing, hitting the arm with a loud crack. The young noble cries out in pain and cradles his now damaged arm.
Round 1
Felgar -
Rutter -
Pravlox - Summoned Celestial Viper
Thugs -
Copper - Cast Mage Armor
Hearing the crack of the pipe on the noble's arm, Neva gritted her teeth. She whispered a quick spell, calling upon Pharasma's blessing.
"Lady, give your sight to us in this time of need!"
Felgar Will attempt to Bull Rush the person who attacked the boy (assuming he is in K10) and push him to L9.
Bull Rush:
Leave off there big guy!
Pravlox also takes the time to cast some mage armor around himself, as the viper strikes at crowd member 7.
Rutter draws his two kukri. "If ya care so little 'bout money, then, we'll take yers as well. An' ennywan else's hangin' about. So rest o' youse can pay up or piss off!"
Rutter keeps an eye on the two to his sides (6 & 8). If either make a move to draw a weapon or attack, or anything besides run off, Rutter will attack them.
As Neva's spell emboldens your actions, Felgar moves into action, pushing forward to shove the angry fat man away from his quarry. The man swings a wild backhand at the dwarf as he shoves him violently backwards.
From the back you hear "AHH! Something bit me, that hurts, I'm outta here!" As one of the outer onlookers decides that he doesn't have the fight in him any more.
Seeing the dwarf spring in and assault their comrade, the men all move to bring their weapons to bear. As the the one nearest Felgar prepares to swing his shovel, Rutter strikes at him, and the realized threat behind him unsettles his swing and he goes wide.
At this the crowd rushes in, a mass of swinging work implements, broom handles, pipes, shovels, and rakes. With all the swinging, a few were bound to connect, and both Felgar and Rutter each get a good lump for their troubles.
T8 Attacks Felgar, interrupted by Rutter's ready
T1 Moves back to K10 and Attacks Felgar miss
T2 Moves to J10 and Attacks Felgar miss
T3 Moves to K11 and Attacks Felgar , damage
T4 Moves to I10 and Attacks Rutter miss
T5 Moves to I9 and Attacks Rutter , damage
T6 Moves to H9 and Attacks Rutter miss
Cast Mage Armor (1 rnd)
Neva - Cast Bless (1 rnd)
Felgar -
Rutter -
Pravlox - Summoned Celestial Viper (1 rnd), Cast Mage Armor
Thugs - 1-6, and 8 attacked, 7 ran
Copper moves in towards the crowd, drawing a wand from his sleeve as he moves. Once he is next to Rutter, he mutters an arcane activation word, "Loslaten!". The wand spews a cone of bright yellow, red, and blue lights over four of the thugs, as well as the young man they are trying to save.
Copper steps up to the crowd and blankets the majority of them in a scintillating layer of color. As the blanket settles amongst the men their attention is drawn to it as it mesmerizes them to unconsciousness. The young man appears to not have fallen sway to the lights, hunched over cradling his wounded arm.
T2
T4
T5
QM
Neva's turn
Neva shuffled forward a few steps, drawing out her crossbow and loading it quickly. Breathe in...and out
Felgar swings his Dwarven War Axe at the thug in I11 from a flanking position with Copper.
Taste me axe you scum!
ATT:
DAM:
Rutter steps over one of the fallen peasants and attacks the leader.
Round 2
The viper slithers forward to G9 and attacks thug 6 as Pravlox moves forward to G12 and launches an small orb of acid at T3.
As Neva eases up towards the fight Felgar swings down with a solid hit, opening the enemy from collarbone to hip with a great gash. The foe looks down long enough to see his injury before falling to the ground, and begins bleeding out.
Rutter, seeing only two enemies left in fighting form, steps over one of the victims of Copper's spray of color. He then dishes out two slashes to the one foe left standing near him, leaving the man much worse for the wear.
The viper, lingering on the outskirts after his last victim ran away, slithers closer to the next nearest man. He strikes and his teeth sink into the leg of Rutter's target. The combination of the cuts and the viper's bite leave the man unable to do anything lest his life drains out of him. He pleads "I give, I give, please don't kill me, you guys can have the queen's man's money. I don't want it!"
As the viper bites, Pravlox himself launches a small swirling globule of acid at the last man left untouched. Unfortunately, the man's proximity to the dwarf makes him a hard target to hit without striking Felgar instead.
Seeing what happened to all the rest of the crowd, the last man decides to get away as fast as he can.
Copper steps over the downed bodies, drawing his second wand from his left sleeve as he does so, closing on the young man they just saved. Grabbing him by the collar, Copper takes the time to turn back to his companions and say wth a bit of a growl, "You lot deal with them. I'll collect from him."
He pushes the young man towards a wall, keeping his back to the lone conscious thug, and shoves his wand into the man's ribs. "Play along, and you'll get out of this safely." he whispers. Once the man bumps into the wall, he says much more loudly, so the thug is sure to here, "Alright, hand over your gold. After all, it's the least you can do after we just stuck out our necks to save your sorry arse."
While the frantic man digs in his pocket, Copper resumes whispering, "We are on a special mission assigned to us by the Queen. Meet us back at the Citadel tomorrow morning, and I'll do my best to make sure you get your gold back. Now hurry...and act scared."
Assuming the man concedes and hands over the coin pouch, Copper glares at him for a moment and shakes the bag, "That's it?", he says, speaking loudly again, "Bah! Get outta here before I change my mind about just takin yer gold!"
Deciding that the moment had come for proper effect on the remaining individuals, Pravlox dismisses the viper with a wave of his hand, and starts to concentrate on the square in front of him. First, a scar appears floating in mid air, and slowly, over the course of a minute, shadows extend from that scar and take the form of a wingless wyvern standing in front of the halfling, with the scar still visible upon it's face.
Felgar smiles broadly and cleans the blood off of his War Axe on his fallen enemy. He then walks to stand over the one concious thug in case he decides to get up.
I'd be stayin' down if'n I were you!
Neva looked cautiously at the wyvern, impressed but wary.
However, long habit soon brought her attention back to the spilled blood. Speaking to the wounded, any onlookers and perhaps even the dead, she said "Heed the dwarf, and take no more aggressive action. But Pharasma save those that she will"
As the healing energy coursed outward from her, she gave a soft prayer, just loud enough for those close enough to hear: "Greed leads to death, so turn away from it and be mended."
The young lad's eyes grow wide with fear as he is pressed against the wall the point of the wand against his chest. As Copper whispers to him, his shoulders ease markedly and his face is blanketed by a look of relief. Realizing his mistake he quickly tries to reestablish his previous fear, but it comes across forced. No worries, though, as the thugs are in no shape to worry about the noble's expression. To Copper he whispers back, "Thank you all SO much. I am Amin Jalento, of House Jalento." he states with an abundance of pride. "If it weren't for you guys showing up, I don't know what would have happened." He looks down to his left side with a dip of his head to get Copper to follow his gaze. "Take what's in my purse, no need to return it, it's the least I can do. I can't grab it with this arm" He holds up the injured arm a little to emphasize his point.
Just then Neva steps out and annoints the alleyway with a wash of vitality. The begging thug, backs up before running off. The dying one flutters his eyelids open as he feels the area of the cut to find only a long scar. The other four, however, remain unconscious in the street.
Amin flexes his arm a little before reaching down himself instead and dumps out five platinum into Copper's hand. He gathers himself up, and after released by Copper, runs off down the street.
"You wanna check the conscious ones before the others wake up, Rutter?", Copper says, twirling a wand in his right hand, while he slips the handful of coin into his pocket with his left.
Neva smiles at Copper's wand twirl, impressed at his ability to play a role smoothly in such a dangerous situation.
She moves among the fallen thugs. The dead she arranges in respectful poses. Those incapacitated by Copper's spell she leaves as they fell, staying out of Rutter's way as he searched the bodies.
So what be the plan? Eels End?
Rutter waves his blades threateningly at the two conscious thugs. "I told you 'pay up or piss off'. You didn't piss off, so now you pay up."
If they don't have much, Rutter pockets it anyway, and tells them, "I should kill you for wasting my time. Remember your place next time you think of acting big. Now get out of here."
If they have nothing, Rutter shakes his head. "I should kill you right now for wasting my time. Give us your clothes then. Maybe this lesson will teach you to remember your place next time you think of acting big. Now get out of here."
After they run off, Rutter searches the downed thugs.
Hardcore, Rutter - I be likin' your style.
As Pravlox finishes concentrating, the creature startles the party by speaking. "You really need to get out of the habit of these encounters you know." Pravlox replies a bit defensively, "Hey, no one died, or at least I don't think anyone died, though a bunch of them s&@% their drawers quite effectively. At any rate, these folks are the ones that took care of Him. Folks, meet Rex, the one who tracked down your scent."
The scared and or unconscious thugs give what little they have, and between them it numbers close to a mere eighteen silver. As you remain a crowd of neighbors, once hiding from the unruly mob, begin to emerge from their homes to get a look at the end result of the scuffle. A few murmurs can be heard from the crowd about the rescuers, or possibly rival gang that has taken over their streets.
Neva cocked an eyebrow at Rutter, but was unable to suppress a smile. "Pfft. If they were in labor I'd cut off their pants. Seeing as they're not, I'll pass on getting us named the 'Gang of the Perverted Grandmother'. Take their coins, but leave them their trousers."
But she did appreciate his point about humiliating the thugs to reduce the chance of retaliation. She looked at the gathering crowd and then arched backward, her hands on the backs of her hips. "I wish they'd all run away. This stooping is killing my back."
She wasn't even lying.
Rutter regards the small dragon that's appeared and that seems to know one of the new party members. "What is it?"
He thinks about all the new people he's met over the last few days. He comments to Copper, "Still, it's not the shadiest creature we've had to work with."
"Do you mean the drug addict, or the bondage-loving little girl, but either way, this thing is definitely better." Copper agrees, looking over to the creature, "Er...No offense meant, of course. I'm just not entirely sure what you are.
When the crowd disperses, Copper tosses a platium coin to each of his companions, "He said not to worry about getting the money back to him, and he offered his thanks. Shall we be going, then?"
"Perhaps if you are done here, we should continue this discussion as we move. As Pravlox as said, my name is Rex, though my full name is a bit longer. I am a spirit that bound to Pravlox's at his birth and Lamm triggered the release of my physical form when he tried to kill Pravlox." Rex talks, carrying Pravlox on his back, keeping up with the party comfortably as they travel.
Well, pleased to meet ya, Rex. Thanks fer the coin, Copper. Can anyone tell me more 'bout the visit to Eel's End?