As Garran enters the front of the shop, Nicoleta gestures toward the hall with a toss of her head. "The other one went that way," she says, without taking her eyes off her opponent.
Moving quickly to get to the door, Alistair sighs as he sees that his way is blocked by to many people. Looking up at the window above to see if anyone notices. Not able to see anything from this angel helps the young noblemen to make up his mind.
He moves quickly through the crowded room up over the counter to land beside the door with weapons in drawn and ready. His body pushes back into the corner in hopes of hiding him from view.
Party Buffs:
Alika HP: 15/15 - AC 16/12/14 Status:
Alistair HP: 17/17 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Danni HP: 18/18 - AC: 13/12/11 Status:
Garran HP: 26/26 - AC: 17 (19 w/shield)/11/16 (18) Status:
Nicoleta HP: 13/15 - AC: 17/17/12 Status:
________________________________
Order: Nicoleta (22), Alistair (18), Alika (10), Garran (6) Danni (4), Cow Hammer Boys (3)
In the surprise round, Alika casts divine favor.
Alika opens door to store.
Nicoleta uses flurry of blows vs. Malder for 8 non-lethal damage.
Danni moves.
Garran moves.
Alistair moves.
Malder draws sap and hits Nicoleta for 2 non-lethal.
Baldrago draws longbow and moves.
Malder manages to avoid most of Nicoleta’s blows, but one catches him in the jaw. The fat man grunts in pain and reaches for the dhampir, but upon noticing the others, instead draws a sap. He swings the leather club towards Nicoleta, rapping it painfully against one of her hands. ”Baldrago, help! We’re under attack!”
Baldrago returns to the room with a longbow, although he misses Alistair waiting in the corner.
"That's the best you've got, Fatso?" Nicoleta taunts. "Whatsamatter? Belly eat your balls?" The monk weaves around feinting with one punch before spinning and catching the large man with a kick to the side of the head.
Garran, seeing he was unable to move past the fat man, Nicoleta, and Alika attempts to climb up on the counter.
His armor gets in the way the first time, but the second time he succeeds, preparing to kick the man in the head.
We might want to keep one of them alive..for now
Alistair steps away from the wall, placing a rapier tip agaisnt the neck of the guard and the other tip pokes at his lower back. Using enough force to get his attention without drawing blood.
Easy there. I suggest you toss your weapons and drop to your knees. I would hate to kill you for being stupid. Your little business here is closed. The house is surrounded...it is over and you are under arrest.
Alistair keeps his smile but is ready for the guard to resist. Waiting to run him through if he turns violent.
Noting that Nicoleta is fighting to subdue the opponents, Alika draws her scimitar and moves to threaten the foes with it, though mostly to help Nicoleta find a place to land one of her strikes.
Danni's not sure she can help too much from the back, but there's one thing she can do. She points her finger at the man Nicoleta is fighting and utters a gutteral curse.
Malder’s reply to Nicoleta is a grunt before falling heavily to the ground, knocked unconscious by her high kick. Baldrago can do little but gawk as Garran rushes forward and drives a mailed gauntlet into his gut. The tall man drops to his knees, groaning. Between dry heaves, he looks up at Alistair, his eyes pleading. "Don’t… kill…"
"Oh, don't be such a big baby," Nicoleta comments with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Of course he's not going to kill you. We're tasked with bringing you in alive."
She moves to peek through the open doorway to see if anyone is coming down the hall.
"That way the city guard can hang you for desertion," she adds.
With the entryway cleared, Danni moves swiftly inside. She leaves her hawk alert outside to keep watch. "Well, we're inside, that's step 1," she says. "Ask how many others are here."
Nicoleta nods at Danni's suggestion.
"Now there's a possibility that you might escape as we're bringing you back to the tower," she continues with a wry grin. "We might be just too occupied managing all your friends. Because there's ... how many of them?"
She raises an eyebrow at the prompting question, waiting for an answer.
Alistair shakes his head...
I will not kill you Baldrago...but that is just me.
He sees that the man is on his knees and surrounded...
No time to wait for the man to talk. Got to move quick and hope for the best. Would have been better to come in all quiet and slow like.
No time for this...Garran we should move...before anyone else comes looking for them. Push on with the advantage while we can.
Alistair turns and move for the door that Baldrago came through.
"Or we could do that ..." Nicoleta says with a shrug as Alistair moves to the hallway.
Garran says, "Not yet - tie them up and gag them first to make sure they don't run, sound the alarm, or come up behind us to stab us in the back."
Garran proceeds to do so with the conscious one.
"Good thought," the monk says, patting Garran on the shoulder. "Getting stabbed in the back could just ruin someone's night."
Danni keeps her eyes fixed on the door above while Garran ties the thugs up.
Alika is about to sheathe her scimitar, but she thinks better of it and instead keeps the weapon handy just in case.
oh...let them live then...
He pushes past the door and moves towards the stairs. Both weapons out and ready.
Close quarters. This will not be fun if we get caught in this hallway. We need to move and get to ground of our choosing.
Baldrago sputters for a moment before replying to Nicoleta. "There are three more. Parns and Karralo, they're likely on the killing floor, and Verik. He's upstairs in the office, more'n likely."
The hallway that leads away from the counter is dimly lit, the only source of light coming from beneath a set of double doors to the south. A staircase on one side leads up to the second floor.
The sound of muffled conversation can be heard from the other side of the doors.
Nicoleta reaches out a hand to Alistair's shoulder.
"We need to decide which is more important," she says quietly. "If we head to the back first, then Verik may be able to make his escape out the front while we deal with the other two. I think we should head upstairs first and corner our primary prey before he gets away. Then we deal with the small fish."
She waits for his response, glancing nervously up the stairs.
Garran nods in agreement. "Verik is our primary target - we should take care of him first, then get the other two."
Danni nods her assent and whispers, "I'll stand outside the double doors down here. If anyone comes out, I can probably take care of them." She moves closer to the big doors, trying to make out the conversation.
Nicoleta looks at Danni and then at the double doors. "If you need any help ... any help," she says quietly, "You yell out like someone poked your bum, ok?"
Without another word, she shifts around the corner and slinks up the stairs.
"Verik is our primary target - we should take care of him first, then get the other two."
Nodding slightly as he moves up the stairs.
Aye. Big fish first then the little minnows later. If they flee we have names...should not be to hard to find them.Alistair slowly ascend the stairs.
Garran will take rear guard up the stairs - that way if Danni needed help, he could be in position to do so.
"Got another one then?"
"Aye."
"What does that make it? Four in one week?"
"Aye."
"I don't know about this business anymore, Parns. Beating some folk for silver is one thing, bu—"
"Say, how do you reckon the pit stays so clean?"
"Down there? Some manner of creatures. Ain't seen them."
The conversation is drowned out by the sounds of sawing.
The stairs lead up and into a small room containing a round table surrounded by four wooden chairs. A stack of cards sits on the tabletop. A cabinet to the southwest hangs open, revealing a tangle of clothes and blankets. Four thin bedrolls lie rolled up against the north wall. The room reeks of body odor, dirty laundry, and stale food.
A door in the south wall is slightly cracked, flickering torchlight spilling out into the breakroom.
Danni shudders a little at what she caught of their conversation. Creatures? She stays on guard in case they decide to head this way.
Alika moves as silently as she can, which is not very. Still, she keeps craning her head back and forth, watching corners and even glancing at the ceiling from time to time, expecting an ambush of some sort.
Nicoleta steps to the door and glances back at her companions. She holds up her fingers and begins folding them down in a countdown. When she reaches a closed fist, she kicks the door open hoping to surprise their quarry.
Garran stays at the rear, near the stairs, so he can move to either support Danni or the others as needed.
A single large desk stands in the eastern part of this large office, transformed into a makeshift bed by a bedroll and several blankets and pillows. A chamber pot rests under it. A table and three chairs sit to the west; a lantern and several papers lie strewn across it. One paper in particular is pinned to the tabletop by an exquisite silver dagger.
"What th—"
A handsome man dressed in the armor and livery of the Korvosan guard startles up from the table, nearly knocking one of the chairs over in the process. He is unarmed, except for the dagger on his belt, although a bow and quiver of arrows are slung over the chair and a spear leans against the wall behind him.
"Verik Vancaskerkin," Nicoleta begins, moving quickly into the room and up to the surprised man. "By the authority of Marshall Kroft and the city of Korvosa, I place you under arrest for desertion." She smiles, showing her teeth. "Now you can come peacefully, but I'm kinda hoping you'll resist just a little." She holds up a hand with her fingers spaced a quarter inch apart. "Your flunkies downstairs went down without any real fight and I've been feeling the urge to kick the shit out of someone tonight. So far I've been denied. So what do you say? Make a girl happy."
Garran stays put, ready to move into the room if things turn violent.
...I place you...ok...
Alistair looks to Garran and waits beside him.
"Personally I'd be just as happy if you toss your weapon aside and come into custody peacefully," says Alika.
Nikoleta turns and directs her protruding tongue in Alika's direction. "You're no fun," she comments before turning back to the ex-guardsman.
Party Buffs:
Alika HP: 15/15 - AC 16/12/14 Status:
Alistair HP: 17/17 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Danni HP: 18/18 - AC: 13/12/11 Status:
Garran HP: 26/26 - AC: 17 (19 w/shield)/11/16 (18) Status:
Nicoleta HP: 13/15 - AC: 17/17/12 Status:
________________________________
Order: Nicoleta (19), Garran (13), Alistair (12), Danni (13), Alika (9), Vancaskerkin (7)
Vancaskerin narrows his eyes. "Is that what they're calling it? Desertion? I call it helping the people."
The ex-guard grabs for his spear.
The dhampir steps in, not reluctant at all to bypass any more negotiations. "Yeah, you can dress it up in all the pretty words you want," she says as he easily dodges a quick punch. "But when you sign up for a term with the city guard and then skip off to do your own shit ..." A roundhouse kick catches the man in the jaw. "... they call that desertion, f@#@-face."
Danni internally sighs. How come it never goes smooth? She begins to cast a spell, holding it until the door opens.
Garran motions Alistair to assist Nicoleta and Alika while he waits to see if Danni needs any help down the stairs.
Alistair casually walks over to the doorway and looks in over Alika's shoulder. He leans against the door frame and smiles widely at the ex guard.
Master Vancaskerkin...you are...or more appropriately were a guard of the city. There was a chain of command to follow and you decided against that for personal gain. Not to help those in need...it was all about you. I have met your kind before...selfish, self absorbed...care about no one but themselves. What is sad is that you conned Baldrago, Malder, Parns and Karralo into helping you. Now they are not going to help you as they are all tied up. You have one chance to come out of this alive...you know exactly how this will end for you. Your choices have done more harm than good. This city is in need of the guard for protection...you picked the wrong time to try a solo act.
"Yeah, Alistair, talk him into unconsciousness," Nicoleta mutters as she bobs on her feet watching Verik's spear warily. "That'll work."
Alistair continues to smile.
Alika pauses briefly to see the effects of Danni's color spray before she acts.
Party Buffs:
Alika HP: 15/15 - AC 16/12/14 Status:
Alistair HP: 17/17 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Danni HP: 18/18 - AC: 13/12/11 Status:
Garran HP: 26/26 - AC: 17 (19 w/shield)/11/16 (18) Status:
Nicoleta HP: 13/15 - AC: 17/17/12 Status:
________________________________
Order: Nicoleta (19), Brigands (15), Garran (13), Alistair (12), Danni (13), Alika (9), Vancaskerkin (7)
Garran readies action to go downstairs if Danni needs help.
Verik grunts as Nicoleta’s foot catches him in the jaw. He stumbles, but doesn’t fall, and spits a wad of bloody spit onto the floor. "You don't know anything about me," he replies to Alistair. "And I'm not coming with you." The ex-sergeant lunges with his spear, the bladed point slicing across Nicoleta's stomach.
Downstairs, the doors in front of Danni are thrown open to reveal a grim chamber strewn with blood-stained straw. The reek of slaughter almost overpowers the sorcerer, but she unleashes her magic directly into the face of the unsuspecting deserter. The man, a thin Varisian man with a sallow complexion shields his eyes from the swirling colors in time to resist the effects of the spell.
The room beyond him is a killing floor. Meat hooks dangle from a metal track affixed to the ceiling that allows the hooks and their gory loads to be moved easily around the room. In the northwest corner, a large hammer sits on the floor amid a permanent bloodstain. To the south, a crimson-stained grill covers a wide hole in the floor. Just north of the grill lie two large vats of water, one boiling. Two immense butcher blocks stand to the easy next to barrels of salt, and in the southeast corner sits a reeking vat of cast-off meat and bones.
A second man, broad-shouldered Taldan with long sideburns, looks up
surprised from one of blocks, heavy cleaver in hand and the butchered remains of a cow before him.