Meyanda turns to take in the new arrival. Her glance flits between the bodyguards and back to the woman in question, clearly an appraisal of whether she and Holg could take them. She keeps her sword balanced on her shoulder and waits in a relaxed pose.
Holg looks eyes wide at Molly and Fifteen conversation, with a loud laugh he pads at the halfling's back "Seems you managed a lioness at home!"
Acknowledging the whip, Holg decides to step forward and stop the Technique League from getting the gun "Hum. It happens My Lady, that we were bartering with Baron Drund first about the item"
The Kellid first tries to have an imposing but well behaved start.
But it seems he takes a bit too much on the "imposing".
The Shade narrows her eyes as she stares down Holg. She takes a step back as she draws her energized whip, causing it to flare to life with a crackle and a hum. "The gun will be mine. You will leave this place at once, or I will make you pay for your insolence!"
Her two bodyguards, each a burly Garundi man, draw their longswords as well.
Her annoyance at the shopkeeper finally finds a focus. In the flash of an eye, Molly draws and fires her musket and the woman's whip falls to the ground. "Now why don't we all just calm down a bit, nah? Before someone gets hurt," she says, keeping the weapon raised.
Holg's eyes shine as the woman unfurls the whip, his hands going automatically to the hilt of his sword.
The Kellid though halts when Molly shots Shade's weapon "I won't mind bartering with a good fight. What do you think? Let's get to an agreement, whomever wins the fight gets the right to buy the piece. Mind you?"
The man holds back, a wide smile of enjoyment in his face.
The Shade narrows her eyes as she stares down Holg. She takes a step back as she draws her energized whip, causing it to flare to life with a crackle and a hum. "The gun will be mine. You will leave this place at once, or I will make you pay for your insolence!"
Her two bodyguards, each a burly Garundi man, draw their longswords as well.
Fireday glowers at The Shade as she makes her threatening demand.
"So much for the free market," he says. "Answer me this: are you a member of the Technic League?"
Molly shoots the Shade's hands, causing her to drop the monowhip. "Fools! You dare defy the will of the Technic League?" she shouts, answering Fireday's question. She grabs the whip from the floor and casts a spell, disappearing from sight.
Meanwhile, her bodyguards move forward to confront Holg! They fly into a rage as they attack with their greatswords! One scores a critical hit, ripping open a vicious wound!
Holg grits his teeth when the blade nearly severs his right arm, but he quickly fights back the pain drawing a distorted smile in his face "I supposed that is an acceptance to the bartering!"
With a shout he goes into a rage himself he goes against the one that stroke hard on him while using his weapon mastery to perform a shield of swings against newer attacks "Gorum destroy my rivals!" If possible he tries to step to the side to flank with Fifteen, Meyanda or Fireday.
With his rage, Holg's scent enhances, making him able to detect if the invisible Shade comes by an adjacent square.
Fifteen, well practised at fighting with Holg by now, steps smoothly into place on the other side of one of the bodyguards. Her blades are almost unbelievably fast.
In a blistering display of prowess she cuts one of the bodyguards down, removing his arms, legs and head almost too fast to see...
Meyanda moves right into place, rushing to heave her huge sword off her shoulder and swing it improbably at the same bodyguard that Holg is fighting.
Molly shoots the Shade's hands, causing her to drop the monowhip. "Fools! You dare defy the will of the Technic League?" she shouts, answering Fireday's question. She grabs the whip from the floor and casts a spell, disappearing from sight.
"Yes, we dare! Your order's evil is a cancer that has rotted the heart of Numeria for too long. And the only way to deal with a cancer is to cut it out of the body," Fireday replies. Then he glares as the Shade disappears.
"NO YOU BLOODY !" he barks as he tries to locate them in the fray.
Fireday takes a deep breath and focuses where he expects the Shade will be.
"Almighty Inheritor! As you called on the Starstone to reveal your enemies as your Seventh Act, I call on you to reveal ours!"
Then, rather than trying to cast a spell on the Shade, he attempts to use Iomedae's power to tear apart the spell the Shade just used!
Kaska doesn't see much reason to go after the bodyguards. They're well screwed by the time she can even twitch. Instead she keeps her sense focused on finding the Shade and hoping Fireday's spell knocks out her magic.
The two bodyguards quickly fall to Fifteen's flashing blades and the brutal blows from Holg and Meyanda. Fireday successfully dispels the Shade's invisibility, revealing her to the group!
Kaska recites a quick incantation, "kömpelö härkä!" and rushes to touch the Shade.
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"Fine, tried to play it soft and you don't want to play soft. Playing it hard it is then," she mutters to herself as she takes aim at the now visible Shade.
"For Victory. For the Heart," Fireday says as his friends lay into the now-revealed Shade. You can almost HEAR the smirk in his voice.
Before the Shade can react, Molly unloads several bullets into her chest and head. Blood flies, splattering Baron Drund's display cases, and the Technic League agent falls lifeless to the floor!
The other visitors to the Night Market scream in panic and move to flee while the baron's bodyguards quickly gather up his gear and make a swift exit as well. Soon, it is only you standing over the bodies of those you have slain.
Meyanda makes a moue and says, "I guess that could've gone worse. But now we have to track down the Baron to finalize our purchase. How annoying."
Fifteen delicately plucks the access card from the spreading pool of blood that is the shade, but doesn't seem interested in the rest of the gear.
"You shot very well." She says to Molly, offering a small smile. "No-one who hears about this will underestimate you again."
"Yeah, good shot" Holg pushes the bodies with a kick before looting them "I guess this means we won the bartering"
Taking the commset he looks at the others "Do you think it is set in a frequency to talk with their base camp?"
When you activate the commset, you hear a female voice on the other end of it. "Yes, what is it? Hello? Shade, is that you?"
Taking the commset, Molly speaks into it. "No, it's not. She was a right c!*% and got what she deserved." She then hands the unit back to Holg with a shrug. She gives Fifteen's tunic a tug and when the android leans down to her, presses her lips against her wife's. "Your opinion is the only one that matters to me," she says with a smile.
"Well I find your marksmanship quite impressive." Fifteen replies. "Maybe even thrilling."
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Holg accepts the commset from Molly's hands "Hi there! We have a message for your boss. Who is speaking?"
The large man looks up in the sky waiting for an answer.
"Holg, if I may?" Fireday asks, walking up.
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The voice hesitates, then cautiously replies, ”I serve only myself. Who are you? What has happened to the Shade?”
Holg clicks the commset communications button, then adds "Ok, then you should know we came after you. We will not stop until we have severed each and all of Unity's tendrils and the Kellid people are free again. This is the way" with a smile, the man releases the communication button and nods in agreement to Fireday handing him the commset.
"So where can we find more Technique League heads to chop down now?" Holg takes Shade's body and looks for a barrel to hide it, then closes the barrel and takes it over his shoulder "We will have some interrogation time with this one back at home"
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"The Shade chose to do things the Technic League way, stoking fear in the innocent to cheat them of what they had earned. But we were not afraid, and you will face justice soon. Justice for every Kellid enslaved, every android dissected, every secret stolen, justice for all of Numeria" Fireday says into the commset. "You have no one to blame for this but yourselves...years ago, you made me when you slew an android on the run and then murdered the friends who found me when I awoke in that android's form. And now, I come to avenge those deaths and the countless more on your hands."
He switches it off and looks at the rest of the group.
"Damn, that felt good! I've wanted to say something like that to them since the day I was practically born, and with that, they had no choice but to listen."
The commset beeps shortly after Fireday switches it off. You can hear the same woman’s voice on the other end. ”Listen. I admire your obvious fervor and passion. In fact, I’m relieved that you took out the Shade, since I’ve suspected the woman was planning to betray me soon anyway. But with one ally lost, I’m eager to find more allies.
“We share similar goals. I am interested in seeing the Technic League shaken up, and I suspect that you are the exact tools I need to see this happen. I promise to help you as much as I can, including setting up caches of supplies here and there when possible or using my resources to help you achieve certain goals if you agree to help me defeat the leader of the Technic League, Ozmyn Zaidow. What do you say?”
Fireday's eyes widen at the mention of Zaidow.
"I know that name."
He hits the button again.
"You have my attention."
Then he turns to the others.
"We should probably go somewhere more private to have this conversation."
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"You're going to trust someone on the other end of that ... that thing?" Molly questions, frowning. "Whoever it is ... they were that witch's ally. That makes them untrustworthy. That they're willing to toss the woman aside and try to make a deal with us makes me even less likely to trust them. It's a bad idea all round." She shakes her head.
Holg pads Fireday as he empties himself "Well said my friend"
"C'mon this cannot be a trap" the Kellid answers Molly.
Following Fireday advise, Holg follows the android to a more private place, perhaps a lone alley, or just returning home.
Once you are safe in the inn you are staying at, you speak more with the woman on the commset. She tells you that your chances of defeating Ozmyn Zaidow will be greatest if you can first turn the Black Sovereign against the Technic League—or at the very least, take him out of the picture. As long as Kevoth-Kul retains his position of apparent power, the bulk of Starfall’s populace will remain cowed out of fear and respect for the position. But if you can either convince the Black Sovereign to call for the people of Starfall to rise up against the Technic League or show the citizens that the Black Sovereign is not the man they believe him to be (such as by defeating him in public combat), the Technic League will be forced to go on the defensive and won’t be able to gather their resources to defend the compound.
There are two other advantages to infiltrating the Palace of Fallen Stars. First, a secret tunnel to the Technic League compound is somewhere in the palace’s dungeon, and securing it would give you a stealthy way to invade the compound from below. Second, one of Ozmyn Zaidow’s most loyal supporters, Captain Ghartone, has been assigned as liaison to the Black Sovereign and keeps his laboratories in the palace. If you can find and defeat Ghartone before bringing the fight to the Technic League compound, you remove one of Ozmyn’s more powerful allies and likely gain a few additional pieces of helpful gear in the process.
Meyanda absorbs this new information and then slowly says, "I agree, we can't trust this person. They're probably just using us to decapitate the leadership of the Technic League so they can take it over."
"It would be nice to turn Kevoth-Kull against them... but I must honestly admit that I am very much enthusiastic about the idea of Holg challenging the Black Sovereign to single combat, and Gorum take the loser!"
Holg raises an eyebrow surprised by Meyanda's suggestion but equally pleased "That would certainly be the way to resolve this"
The Kellid looks at Kaska quickly feeling the pressure of her stare "But perhaps we can try to talk him over first. As ruler of the Kellids he deserves some respect and the margin of the doubt. But if he backs up the League... then..." Holg draws his greatsword and stabs it into the floor with great force "Then Gorum take the loser!"
"Obviously we can't trust this Leaguer. They're nothing if not duplicitous and opportunistic," Fireday agrees. "But I have history with this Ozmyn Zaidow: when the Crusaders who discovered me were ambushed and murdered for harboring me, it was he who led them. I meant it when I said the League created me: Zaidow's hunting party slew the android whose soul my body previously housed, allowing me to be born, and then baptized me in fire, blood and fear. I can think of no justice more poetic than to strip away his cronies and defenses one by one before finishing him once and for all."
He sighs.
"All said, even if our 'ally' is merely using us as a sword to take down her own rivals, it is still the best course of action. Regardless of how we deal with the Black Sovereign, if we take down Zaidow it will break the League's power, so she'll inherit very little, and we can always take her down too once the dust has settled. I think it would be MORE than nice if we can stir Kevoth-Kul from his complacency. To hear people here speak of him...he sounds more like a victim of the League's evil than a beneficiary of it..."
Fifteen shrugs, she cares little for the politics of Numeria or the Technic League. Her concerns lie within Silver Mountain itself, but this is the most efficient way in there, so she just gives Molly's shoulder a squeeze and lets the Gorumites plan death, destruction and war, as is their wont.
"Exactly Fireday! Since when collapsing the current system by chaos and strength has resulted in a less fair and just system?" Holg nods approving Fireday's plan "Let's remember Mockery also wants us to free Kevoth-Kul for the Kellids to revolt and Khonnir already pointed out that there might be treacherous captains willing to help us"
"Thus, it seems the first step to infiltrate the League is to find that tunnel in the palace's dungeon" after a few seconds of extreme effort of thought and planning Holg comes up with something "I have an idea! Why don't we just visit the palace requesting an audience as the tribe of the Red Talons? We find that tunnel and defeat Captain Ghartone in the laboratories, then, or before, we talk with the Black Sovereign?"
Holg will also attempt to cast speak with the dead on Shade to try gather extra information.
Unfortunately, the Shade's body resists Holg's attempt to speak with it.
Holg curses the corpse for ghosting his chat attempts "It seems I am not going to be answered"
"Well, we need a way into the Palace of Fallen Stars. If you do not think requesting an audience will not work, why it should not?" the Kellid makes a pause soothing the amulet around his neck, a greatsword stabbed on a mountain "Then we can perhaps ask around for a way in"
Assuming the group is in fact based on Mockery's safe lodge, he asks him directly "Do you know of anyone that can sneak us into the Palace or grant us an audience with the Black Sovereign?"
"Most of the guardians of the palace are loyal to either the Black Sovereign or the Technic League," Mockery says. "But I have heard rumors that the Sovereign's consort, a woman named Kul-Inkit, hasn't been spending much time with him lately. In fact, she rarely emerges from her quarters in the southeast dome. It's possible she may be sympathetic to our goals, if you can somehow get in contact with her."
"Whose counsel does Kul-Inkit keep besides that of the Sovereign himself? What channels must we "swim through" so to speak, to alert her that we wish to speak with her? Fireday asks Mockery.
”She has several handmaidens and servants. Perhaps one of them could help arrange a meeting with her.”
"We should enter the palace slicing down everyone that opposes us. If they are not strong enough to beat us, then they will win an audience by sure" but when the protests from Kaska and others emerge, Holg steps back "Oh, well, you can try contacting those maidens and do your talking thing. But once that has proven wrong, you will see. They will listen"
The Kellid stabs his sword on the ground energetically.
Meyanda taps Holg's sword with her own, making a slight metallic ringing sound.
"No glory in charging into a fight you know you'll lose, unless you're making a statement for a hopeless cause," she says. "And our cause is not hopeless!"
She grins slyly and says, "Tactics are also part of warfare."
"You know, Holg? By now I'm convinced you're doing this on purpose to get a rise out of us," Fireday comments dryly. "And that's REALLY not good for your blade."
Holg looks confused "Uh, oh? I do not understand Fireday, what is wrong now?"
The Kellid seems to find the solution "Oh! You want to have me only for you to fight!" the man laughs and pads the android in the back "If you want to train a bit you just have to say my friend!"
"You might have a point Meyanda. Tactics is part of war. Ok, let's write some letters and try to contact those maidens" Hogl sits in a table and starts writing slowly a letter requesting a discrete audience with Kul-Inkit.
It has come to our knowledge the Black Sovereign is has changed a lot in recent times and you need help to calm him down and find his place on Numeria's order.
If you want to talk, meet with us at the Red Reaver tavern tomorrow at midnight.
Faithful Kellid loyals.
The Kellid adds the seal of the Red Talons, then gives the letter to the Mockery "Can you make this note arrive to some of Kul-Inkit maidens?"