Pyron will switch to his crossbow. He will move forward with the dog next to him. He'll pat the dog as they move forward. Pyron will not take the lead this time.
Gaius, with hopes that he can find an entrance to Lamm's hiding spot, will examine the portion of the wall that Vuk was sniffing around.
Gaius steps up to the area found by Vuk, inspecting here, prodding there, pushing over here. He is about to give up the search when he notices a slight gap in the middle of a plank. A gap that shouldn't be there. Some dusting of cobwebs later, and the outline of a secret door is exposed. The opening latch has been cleverly disguised as a knot on a nearby plank.
As Gaius finds the hidden door and motions for Tolenn to open it Daud will inspect it for traps, spiders were bad enough.
Pyron readies his crossbow for any sign of trouble.
Tolenn accepts Pyron's blessing with a small smile, then turns to Gaius "Your words give me relief, for I had hoped to avoid giving offence.".
Adjusting her gear she allows the others to conduct their search for the door Vuk has sniffed out.
Steeling herself, Tolenn takes the lead and with a quick backward glance to ensure the others were ready, open the door, slowly.
A quick once-over by Daud ensures the door has no discernible traps. Tolenn accepts a neutral blessing from Pyron, then activates the latch. The secret door falls forward quickly, with a loud crack against what appears to be an under pier. About 80 feet to the south you see a warped door set into what appears to be a basement for the building you were just in. In the water to the west you make out the dorsal fin of a small shark.
Quiet from here on in, and take your time along the pier if needed.
Gaius calls upon Calistria's aid again, this time to search for danger.
As the group proceeds down the pier single file, Gaius scans the dark area for any surprises, and finds none. The ill-fitted door ahead beckons.
Pyron has his crossbow at the ready to shoot at an enemy that may attempt to attack when the door is opened.
Tolenn pauses at the doorway, ten years of suppressed emotion and mental suffering come to the forefront as she stands at the threshold of the creature who left her for dead those years ago. The light chop of the water is the only sound heard in the small cramped space as Pyron's glow bathes the companions in a holy light.
Pyron thinks better of it, though he keeps the crossbow in his main hand, and takes his emblem of the guard out with his free hand.
Although he says nothing, those listening might take in an increasingly louder grinding noise coming from his mouth as he stands ready, his sword in his hand seemingly rusting out of a thirst for blood.
Her heart beating a rapid tempo withing her chest, Tolenn stops at the door, then looks back at each of her companions, meeting each set of eyes briefly.
She then turns back to the door, takes a deep breath, draws her scimitar and with a quick prayer to Saranae begins to open the door, gently seeing what its action is...it is too warped to open slowly, or does she have to put her shoulder into it.
Book Text: A narrow space exists under the fishery, with about four feet of room between the floor of the building above and the languid,
foamy river water below. Wooden pilings support the building,
and moss and cobwebs hang thick from ropes and rusted chains
between them. A wooden walkway floats on the river surface,
winding along the inner wall of pilings that supports the building’s
frame above, leading from the sodden barge to the east all the way
west to a wooden door that leads into an understructure below the
fishery’s landbound half.
As Tolenn pushes on the door, it gives, but resentfully, squealing with every inch of movement. Anybody in the room is surely aware of you. As it happens, there is another in the room. A someone that has burned an impression in Tolenn's mind for the past many years. An elderly man, his face lined partially from his years, and partially from the decades of cruelty he has engaged in, faces you, a crossbow at the ready in his right hand. He grins maliciously, but under the grin you can sense his uncertainly, his fear. These are not children he faces, but full-grown and well-equipped adults. And he knows them. Gathering his resolve, he quickly speaks:
"Ahhh, Tolenn, you little sow! I knew I should have kicked you a few more times, just to make sure!"
"Hello, Gaius, how is your friend doing? Recovering well?"
He shakes his finger, "Daud, you're a little late to save your lover, I would think. Maybe you wanted to join her?"
"Pyron, my friend, your parents are truly wonderful people. Tell me, what are they doing these days?"
You see a splashing in the pool while he speaks, and see the tip of a large crocodilian tail as it slips back under the water.
Turn 1 Initiative:
Tolenn, Gobblegut, Vuk & Daud, Gaius, Lamm, Pyron
Loudly, Before anybody attacks anyone else, first, Lamm you are under arrest for your crimes. Second, I need to know if you were behind the murders of my parents and if you sent their murderer. Answer me!
"He doesn't need arms or legs to talk!"
All the fear and trepidation that Tolenn was feeling fell away as she looked upon the pathetic man before her.
"Your time is at an end, Lamm! Your injustices have now come to roost, surrender and your soul may yet be saved!" Tolenn intones solemnly, her scimitar held out before her pointed at Lamm's heart.
Gobblegut thrashes around in the water in agitation, his tail sending small waves thrashing against the sides of his pool. He attempts to climb to the walkway.
Lamm cackles gleefully as Gobblegut clambers up the side after the Paladin's approach. His mirth is stopped short as the reptile swings its head back and forth between the two.
"Gobblegut?"
Wednesday and Vuk will move past Gaius towards the confrontation but he adressss Gobblegut as he does. "A fellow miserable soul? Now is chance noble creature of the waterways! Your oppressor is right before you!"
Gaius follows Wednesday, watching him try to mollify the confused animal.
.
Maybe this will make its choice easier...
Gaius tosses the enormous spider into the water with a splash, hoping to entice the crocodile.
Then, seeing his quarry, Gaius narrows his eyes on the wicked old man. At first seething with anger, he remembers the lessons of his past and calms himself, not letting his emotions overcome him.
Lamm! You have hurt us all but I come not on my own behalf, but that of the Lady Calistria, whom you have sorely wounded. The pleasures of this world are hers and hers alone, yet your drugs cloud people's minds, making them forsake their real passions for illusory ones, all the while hastening their deaths so they may not enact vengeance for what you have done. I name you anathema in her eyes, and sentence you to your fate.
Lamm sneers at Pyron, "Go to hell, freak! Greater men than you have tried to arrest me. Some have succeeded. It matters not, fool!" It apparently does not occur to Lamm that he is advocating a more violent approach on the party's part.
Lamm looks to Gaius, looking confused during most of his intense speech. At the end he rolls his eyes, then assesses his own situation. Not good. He takes his chances and attempts to skirt past the alligator, hoping the spider or Tolenn provides enough distraction.
Gobblegut keeps his focus on the live, moving prey. As Lamm attempts to tiptoe past him, the alligator lunges at him, mouth opening wide.
The alligator grabs Lamm's right leg with a lunge, then slides back into the water. The old man holds his ground a moment, bleeding profusely, eyes wide with shock. The weight of the reptile pulls him forward inexorably to the water's edge. In panic he yells, "Help me!", before he is pulled over the edge with a splash.
I am not risking my life to save him. Let's wait to see what fate has for him though.
"To be eaten upon by one he tread upon and then s!!$ted out. I can't think of a better ending for him."
Gaius draws his crossbow, again asking for Calistria's guidance.
The half-elf watches the ironic scene with interest, then calls out to the old thug.
Though it is more than you deserve I will help you--not to escape the creature's jaws but to speed you on your way to the Boneyard. Ask for this mercy and I will grant it.
His tone is serious, his words sincere.
Lamm manages to break the surface of the water once, gasping, clearly panicked beyond reason or comprehension. Gaius' offer of mercy is therefore ignored. The offer becomes quickly moot as the hungry alligator clamps down on the leg and starts to roll, sinking deeper and deeper into the pool, bubbles escaping from Lamm's mouth, clouds of blood leaking from his leg as the two descend. The struggles last a bare few seconds, and Korvosa's plague upon children is no more.
Well, I told him he was arrested. He refused. You judged him to his fate in Calistria's name. It looks like she had her pleasure through this gator.
Well, I'd like to fetch something to show proof that we were down here, something that is his. How about his dog?
Anyone see anything?
The room itself is literally filled with junk. The area Lamm started in has piles of assorted baubles that likely wouldn't fetch coppers on the streets. Leather bands, badly damaged kerchiefs, that sort of thing. Most of the curiosities are stored in crated in the Northwest corner of the room. It appears that any treasure in this room likely resides in a bloody mess at the bottom of the pool. There is a door to a smaller room to the Southwest.
There's likely some stuff in the next room, but just in case he has set any traps, I do not want to go first while in my condition.
Tolenn watches Lamm's grisly fate impassively, eyeing the rough patch of water where he had finally disappearaed until the water calmed, leaving not trace of the vile man's existence.
"A fitting end, I think. Well done Master Daud!" she says brightly to Wednesday.
Sliding her scimitar into its sash, she joins in picking through Lamm's junk, "I'd hope his cache is about here, those children will need some funds to start again, and since they earned most of it on the streets...."
She nods to Pyron and walks to the door, tests its handle to see if it is locked.
Gaius raises the crossbow, ready to shoot the already dying man, but resigns Lamm to his fate.
Yes, his reign has ended. Lead the way...
The half-elf's eyes linger a moment on the grisly sight in the water before he turns to follow the others.
Gaius, your quick scan of the door reveals nothing of interest. Tolenn, the door opens easily to your touch.
Book Text: This foul-smelling room seems to be a combination
bedroom and study. A wooden bed with
a lumpy mattress stands against the east wall,
while a round table heaped with dirty plates, bread
crusts, stained goblets, fruit rinds, and scuttling
cockroaches sits nearby. At the foot of the bed sits a
large strongbox, a slighty rusted lock securing its
lid. A sagging dresser filled with moth-eaten
clothes well past their glory days is in one
corner—what appears to be a wooden
hatbox surrounded by a small cloud of
flies sits atop this dresser.
As noted, apparently Lamm's final years were full of a lack of concern for personal hygiene.
We should take the box and move--Lamm's a small meal for a creature that size.
"I merely appealed to the creature's better nature." he'll reply humbly to Tolenn.
Alright, let's do so. Let's gather the children and the other guys that are unconscious and go back to the sergeant. Let this day be over.
While Gaius is occupied with the strongbox, Tolenn pokes about some of the other junk in the room, finally coming to the dresser and the hat box.
Head cocked to one side she gently picks it up and gives is a gentle shake.
Gaius swiftly enters the room. He warily inspects the strongbox, ignoring the vermin buzzing around him. Satisfied, he picks it up, grunting a bit at the weight of it.
Meanwhile, Tolenn finds what she likely suspects in the room, a mound of junk. As she picks up the hat box and gives it a shake, she is startled to find a decapitated head fall out of it! The head drops to the floor, bouncing slightly before resting with the face up. Even through the heavy decomposition and the recently-added thick make-up, you can tell that this head belonged to the fortune-teller Zellara. On the dresser, likely underneath the head until now, is a small wooden box.
Daud raises an eyebrow as the head of their employer falls to the floor. "Revenge always finds a way... Your Goddess is having a field day with us, Uprising."