"Can anybody open those doors quietly? I could put guards asleep if there are any."
Edita seems nervous as she clearly hasn't done anything like this before.
Garran tightens his grip on his bastard sword, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. Gaedren had to be close, and he would not get away. "If we can't, we might be able to head down to that lower door - assuming it connects to the upper floor from the inside."
The Oni whispers to his compatriots, "I could probably unlock the doors quietly, but they would probably be prepared for us coming in through the front. I would suggest the lower door."
The Oni grips the hilts of his blades, "The time is soon... Soon justice will be done..."
Alistair nods as he draws his weapon.
Lower door it is then.
"Okay, let's go then." she says, determination sparkling in her eyes.
You make your way past the loading doors and down the stairs to the lower door, as quietly as you can. Carefully trying it, you find it locked from inside.
Garran motions The One to the front to open the lock, taking up a position right to the side of the door so he can move in quickly if there are foes to subdue.
The oni whispers to the group, "Give me a second... I think I can get this...
The Oni spends a few seconds tinkering with the rusty lock but finds it firmly stuck and one of his lockpicks snaps with an audible crack!
You hold your breath for a few seconds but nothing happens, no alarm is raised.
You spot a small ragged figure, a child or perhaps a halfling, scurrying among the docks a few hundred feet away in the direction of the fishery.
Alistair watches the masked man attempt to pick the lock.
Grayson made it look so easy. I guess it is harder than it looks.
Mivaela follows the others quietly, barely containing her rage. She's smart enough to know that no matter how much she wants to charge in and tear the place apart, subtlety is their best option.
She winces as the Oni cracks his lock pick. Trying to quietly creep up, she whispers, "Mind if I try your picks? Not an expert, but I've tried a time or two."
Mivaela's attempt starts well as she manages to apply just enough leverage to move a few notches inside the lock, but the final pin is stuck hard and doesn't budge. Frustrated, she removes the picks a bit too sharply than necessary, and the rusty pins fall into place with a screeching sound, immediately followed by a loud growling and barking from inside the building.
You hear muffled voices and footsteps approaching the door, but it stays locked: "Hush, Bloo! Hush! Sit! Who's there?!", a gruff voice asks loudly from the inside.
Garran's bastard sword is out, gripped in both hands, ready to strike. He points at the door, then makes a kicking motion, indicating that they should perhaps try to break down the door.
Mivaela winces at the noise and silently mouths "Sorry."
With a shrug, she tries her best younger voice, hoping it hasn't been too long since she was one of Lamm's Lambs. In a louder whisper she says, "Quick lemme in! Tha guard followed me, but I lost 'em. I gotta duck in quick a'fore they come back!"
Mivaela shakes her head and steps back. She draws a dagger and motions for someone to go ahead and bash the door in.
The oni sighs. "Who would have though it would be so hard to pick a rusty old lock. Guess we do this the hard way." Following Garran's lead, the Oni draws and readies his blades.
maybe we should have talked amongst ourselves to figure out who can do what before we assaulted this mans home...oh well can not be helped now
Alistair moves himself to the side of the door and tries to make himself as small as possible. To hide from view of the door or windows.
Edita falls a few steps behind the others and nervously fingers at her spell component pouch.
There is some shuffling about behind the door, accompanied by continuous barking, but no direct response to Mivaela's plea.
Garran lifts a booted foot and kicks the door hard. Once open, he looks to see what the room on the other side looks like.
Garran's kick smashes the door off its hinges and it falls inwards right onto a ragged-looking child about 10 years of age who was about to open it from the inside. As the child screams in pain, Garran notices four other children armed with whatever they had on hand standing inside the room with a look of desperate resolve on their dirty and starved faces, a mangy cur who is about to leap on him, and an ugly scarred half-orc missing one eye standing on a catwalk in the back of the room, who wickedly chortles as he watches the kid struggling to get up from beneath the fallen door.
The half-orc licks his lips and weighs a flail in his hand as he shouts in the same voice you heard from the outside: "Get the intruders! Go on, you worthless suckers, before I gave you a nudge with my little toy! I'll go get help, back in a sec."
The kids grasp their broomsticks, wooden paddles and fileting knives in abject fear of their taskmaster, while he approaches the door and shouts: "Yagrin, we've got company!"
"Children... He's using children!?!" The oni seethes and flicks his wrist, adjusting the grip on his blades to a non lethal stance.
Mivaela yells to the kids, "Don't defend those monsters. I was one of you, but the goddess of vengeance has led me here to kill these creatures and set you free!" Then she waves her hands in the air muttering an incantation and then points dramatically at the half-orc, "Calistria, break that scum's feeble mind!"
Mivaela's words have no effect on the mutt Bloo, who leaps at Garran across the room:
But its teeth are unable to pierce the fighter's armor.
The kids look unwavered. "That's a tall tale but I don't see you killing anyone just yet, while I have seen them killing", says the oldest one.
The half-orc giggles stupidly at the kid's remark.
Seeing that the others have made contact with some enemy, Alistair tries to look into the room. He hears the child under the door and his smile disappears. Then the gut wrenching feeling of shame washes over him as he understands that these kids will defend this monster.Children.....why have the gods given up on us.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Alistair lets his voice be heard. A deep commanding voice barks out orders. He turns an yells back up the way they came. Sergeant, this whole building is to be cleared. You are ordered to use deadly force against any hostile and are to engage immediately.
He turns towards the children.
This is Captain Del`Agante of the Korvosan Guard. If you wish to live drop your weapons and surrender now. If you impede the arrest of Gaedren Lamm then your actions will be met with force. You are surrounded and outnumbered, Gaedren Lamm is going to jail one way or another. I do not wish to see you beside him in a cell or in a shallow grave. This is your last chance.
Alistiar looks at the others and shrugs, mouthing the words"sounded good"
He now waits to see what is going to happen as the path is not clear for him to enter the room just yet.
Garran winces slightly as he sees that he kicked the door in on one of the kids, knowing they were used as pawns and nothing more. He didn't want to hurt them, but the dog attacking him, on the other hand, he had no such compunctions about. Sword held in both hands, Garran sweeps his sword at the mongrel, putting power into his swing.
Garran's mighty swing abruptly ends the dog's miserable life, its mangled body lifted by the blade's edge and thrown aside with furious force. The kids' eyes widen in horror but the dazed half-orc just somberly says "What a Bloo-p!" before bursting out in a fit of snorting laughter.
Appalled at using kids as guards but seeing no other way to get through, The Oni does his best to incapacitate the children without causing them permanent harm.
The Oni slinks out of the shadows and knocks out the closest boy with a hilt to the forehead before the kid has a chance to react.
Upon seeing a masked vigilante, the other kids exchange glances: "you ain't no guards!"
Not wishing to be the next ones tasting Oni's blade, they retreat to a nearby water basin, readying their improvised weapons against assault, much to the dismay of the half-orc who starts to regain his senses.
Edita casts Sleep on all of the children. "Please, just don't resist..." she thinks.
Two children fall to the floor, snoozing. The third one is left standing, though he cannot resist a wide yawn.
The half-orc's eyes go wide as his charges fall asleep on the job, but his mind is still struggling with Mivaela's spell and he cannot do much about it. The last kid gives a furtive look behind himself, and noticing that his master is not a threat right now, drops to his knees.
"Please, sirs, let me go! Do not kill me, I'm just a poor orphan, I've done nothing wrong to you!"
"We won't hurt you. I used to be like you. We're here to kill Lamm and these filthy cronies!"
Mivaela moves into the room to get closer to the half-orc and throws a dagger at him.
Garran knows he's too far away from the half-orc to strike at him, so he steps further into the room, pulling out his crossbow as he does so, and shoots the half-orc with it. Unfortunately, the bolt flies past it.
Alistair walks into the room and looks around.
Well the children will be safe for now. There may be more around here.
We are her to take Lamm into custody. You will be fed and treated fairly. This I swear as long as you sit there and tell us where Lamm is. Help us and you can break free of this hell hole. Who else is here besides Mr. laughs.
He points to the half-orc...
[i]"The children are safe for now. Now to take out the ringleader..."[i] The Oni thinks to himself as he makes his way up the stairs. He then points his katana at the half-orc and says gruffly, "Your charges have left you and you're now out numbered. Throw down your weapon and tell me where Lamm is ... NOW!"
Mivaela's dagger hits the half-orc, but The Oni's threats have little effect on the hardened criminal.
Another man appears from the door - a sour-faced human with short blond hair who is dressed like he inherited his clothes from a rich grandfather. He gives a disdainful look at the half-orc and sighs, then takes out a wand and shoots a blob of acid at Mivaela:
But the caustic stuff lands harmlessly at her feet.
Edita speaks firmly but gentle to the awake child: "Go! Get to safety!"
Then she makes a few steps forward until she stands right beside Garran. A few mumbled arcane words and a bright flash of light appears in front of the half-orc.
The light flare fully wakes up the half-orc. He roars at seeing most of the children incapacitated, and rushes towards The Oni, flail swinging.
The Oni's katana cuts air within an inch of the half-orc as the flail swings hard from above:
Unable to close on the half-orc, Garran reloads his crossbow and looses it at the human with the wand.
Alistair sees that the others have to take on the man with the wand. It was the bigger threat at the moment and he wanted to take down the half orc right away. Moving through the crowd of people with grace and speed, he makes it over to stab at the half orc with great difficulty. The high ground and stairwell made things difficult to attack.
He could have waited for the thing to come to us first
Tactics people, work together. We need to do this together as a team or as individuals we will fail.
Mivaela looks at the man with the wand in utter disgust that shifts to rage. "Think you're gonna shoot some acid at me?! You use that on these kids to keep them in line or something? Guess what, when the kids get older, they turn into us, and none of you are escaping our revenge!"
Then Mivaela mutters something, takes a deep breath in, and then spits a large glob of goo directly at the man with the wand.
The Oni audibly growls as the flail crashes into him. He then swings both his swords at the half orc.
Neither Alistair nor Oni are able to inflict any damage to the half-orc.
Garran's bolt hits the man in the shoulder. He squeals and looks at the bolt stuck in him, then back on Garran: "That's.. That's blood on MY BEST FROCK!", he screams in a high pitched voice with whiny overtones.
Before he can add anything, he is covered in Mivaela's sticky goo, making him literally choke with disgust.
Frustrated, he manages to produce a small stone and throw it under Mivaela's feet:
The stone hits the floor with a deafening BANG, making you feel dizzy and surely alerting all the occupants of the building.
Flinching at the loud sound, Edita takes a few quick steps up the other stairs and shoots her crossbow at the ugly wand-wielder.
Edita's aim leaves much to be desired and misses her almost stationary target.
The half-orc winces at the loud explosion: "That was louder than your dog's bark, Yargin! By the way did you notice he's dead? Tee hee!"
The disturbing toothy grin doesn't leave his face as he resumes his assault on The Oni:
But this time the Oni is prepared and the flail just raises dust and splinters from the ladder step.
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Alistair gives a look over his shoulder at the man...a look of disbelief.
Your best frock..that...that is your best frock...
He shakes his head a bit as he keeps the half orc in view.
Well if you made better life choices, you would be able to dress appropriately instead of in a drab, thread bared, cotton tunic that is only good for wiping out a chamber pot.
He laughs a bit
Best frock....indeed that was a good one...
He makes his voice all whinny and high pitched, imitating that man
MY BEST FROCK!
After making fun of the man, Alistair turns his attention to the half orc.
Care to come down here and dance little kobold.