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The Erinyes inclines her head as if considering the priestess plea before slowly shaking her head:"No, I don't think so. The contract was clear. You broke the agreement and now you need to pay the penalty. It's really simple and straightforward, and as a servant of the Lord of the Ninth you should know this as verbatim" so saying the fiend raises her hand in a dramatical fashion and suddenly something impossibly quick jumps out of her mane of black hair and binds Aula faster than the eye can follow.
The priestess tries to scream but her ties are so tight she can only whimper and wiggle a little beofre being rendered completely helpless. Then her bound and contorted form is lifted into the air until level with the Erinyes who then turns her attention to the slowly retreating Silver Ravens.
"As for you, mortals..." she says "You have my thanks. By ruining this one's little plans you consigned her to my master's loving care. I look forward to be playing with her and I hope we'll meet again in your lifetime and under different circumstances so I'll be able to properly convey my gratitude".
The Erinyes black wings open wide and then close on Aula Tanessen's weakly struggling form pressing it towards her. Suddenly air ripples again and they are both gone, leaving just a single black feather gently floating down on the altar's stone floor...
Valrani retrieves the feather that fell from the devil.
"I for one hope never to see her again, but somehow... I have a sense of foreboding that we won't be quite that lucky."
She quickly checks the area for any other traces of residual magic.
"We should leave, surely someone will have senced the arrival of a powerful devil and be coming to investigate."
"Yes, let's leave while we still have our lives my pretties. Make sure and grab any weapons or valuables we left behind up til now. We don't run our resistance on free will and good looks, do we ladies and gentlemen!"
And with a smile hidden with her mask, she turns and leads the way out of the slaughter-house tomb.
Before leaving, Valrani quickly scans the room for any residual magic that may have been left behind.
Standing up Morricone bows to the cleric just before she leaves."I hope you will be given just the right show! And do not come back for encore, your performance was ... lacking!"
The Hound helps carry the prisoners out to safety as they leave. Turning to his new teammates he says "Maybe we should secure the rest of this place? Are we sure all the threats are gone?
He asks with a grimace, his will is keeping his body going.
Rocco nearly collapses to the floor with relief as the Erinyes seizes Tanessen and disappears. "Ohmygods....ohmygods...ohmygods...," he pants out as he tries to recover his wits. "Do you guys realize what that thing was?!" he asks, his finger raised toward the altar. "It was an Erinyes. And in case you don't know what that means, it means death to us." His arm falls slack by his side and he continues to breathe rapidly, just barely managing to keep from hyperventilating. He removes his mask and wipes a copious amount of sweat from his brow.
Kurglunn, sensing his master's distress, releases the Hound and makes his way over to Rocco. The phantom kneels beside the panicked halfling and lays a phantasmal hand on his shoulder, offering a moment of comfort.
"Thanks, Kurglunn. I know you're here to help. Stay close okay?" Kurglunn simply nods in reply and stands a few feet from his master as the halfling joins in the efforts to locate and secure any valuables.
Walking with the wounded Morricone does his best to address their worries, smile and encourage them that all will be well.
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As the dangerous outsider and the now captive evil priestess disappear the Silver Ravens are finally able to relax a bit. Rocco quickly scans the room for potential tresure discovering an hidden stone panel under the altar
Searching the other rooms yelds more bounty...
Besides
-The 2 dottari each had 1 chain shirt, 1 light steel shield, 1 heavy mace, 1 heavy crossbow with 19 bolts, 11 gp
-The 4 thugs each had 1 studded leather armor, 1 light mace, 1 pair of manacles, 1 bronze Thrune pendant, 4 gp
Rocco discovers the hidden panel beneath the altar and commences to try his hand at opening the compartment, Kurglunn kneeling beside him, holding his tools ready for the halfling to use.
As the evil witch yelled his name, though it was hidden behind a shawl, Morricone has no need to hide his face.
Walking down the line, Morricone will ask the people where they lived, if they need an escort home, some warm food, distributing what he has, asking if his friends have food or water to distribute.
As the people start to trust him, at least a bit, Morricone starts asking about their torment, if someone was in league with the vile abductor, if they heard anything important.
As Morricone is busy, can someone else check for magical auras?
Trying to check the areas and items for magical aura, she hears the fear in Rocco's voice. Lirotha gets obviously frustrated at how easily he is shocked.
"Yes, an be-damned Erinyes Rocco! Did you think to stand up to the might of Thrune and not encounter Devils at some point Short-stack? Besides, I'm be more afraid of her master. Erinyes are still fairly low-level/go-between devils in my book."
"But powerful enough to snare with no difficulty a powerful priestess of a superior arch-devil to that which she reports." notes Valrani.
"Let us gather what we can from here - that which we can't use we can supply to other rebels or sell for coin. But this place wearies me, and I would like to be gone from it."
"Oh is that right, Lirotha? Well, why didn't ya say so? Hells! You might as well have said that to her when she was here! Maybe we can get her to come back so you can tell her she's a low-level go-between devil." The halfling shoots Lirotha a nasty glance over his shoulder as he pauses in the midst of his work of getting into the panel under the altar. "I know we're facing devil-worshiping scum, but that doesn't mean I'm eager to come face to face with the devils themselves. If ya ask me, you're a fool if you're looking t' mix it up with 'em." He turns back to his work.
"Sorry," he says a moment later. "Things just got a bit hairy there for a moment. I know we'll have tough fights like this again, it's part of the gig I suppose. I just...I'm not a soldier, ya know? I'm hardly more than a punk off the street. It's only Kurglunn and the...abilities that came with him that make me anything more than that." He swipes his arm across his brow again before turning back to the task at hand. "Give me another minute here and I should be in, I think. Maybe that'll help clear things up for us a bit."
Regretting her biting words, Lirotha tries to pass off Rocco' words as an aberration waving her hand as if to clear the air.
"I'm not trying to get under your skin Rocco. We just...need to be mentally prepared for what these bastards throw at us. I'm no soldier either, so we need to OUT-THINK the enemy here. Direct confrontation too much or at the wrong time will quickly finish us off. But, keep your tiny chin up my friend! You obviously offer much more than what Kurglunn provides! No offense Kurgi! Besides, however would we have opened that alter lock without you."
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As Lirotha examines them the book, the ring, gloves, boots, cloak and scabbard resonate as magical to detect magic spells.
Aura: faint transmutation
CL: 5th
Weight: 01 lbs
Description: The scribblings (in infernal) of one Fabius Sarini, obviously a long gone scion of House Sarini who dedicated himself to the dangerous business of binding devils. The book does not actually contain any rituals or spells. What it does contain is just badly written musings on Hell, the outer realms, general cosmology and extraplanar creatures ecologies. Strangely enough, whoever holds the book finds himself much more knowledgeable on such topics despite the dreary prose of the late would be devil binder.
Holding Fabius Sarini's Manual of Fiendish Evocation and other grand revelations gives a +5 competence bonus on Knowledge (planes) checks
The Hound leans against a nearby wall. Clothes and cloak torn, bloody gashes on his body he looks like the walking dead, or near to it. As he holsters his pistol and knife, beneath his mask and fedora his gravelly voice rings out.
"We survived little one. That's all that matters, and saved innocents. Good work was done here."
He looks up and walks over to Rocco and puts a hand on the halflings shoulder as he walks by "Get some sleep, tomorrow is another fight. It's going to be a long war, you'll need your rest. And after what I saw tonight, we're going to need you and your ghostly friend if we're to win this." he finishes with a nod to Kurglunn then starts walking off with the rest of the group, a noticeable limp in his walk.
- No Dice
-No Dice
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After the shock of the latest happenings fades away a little the two former prisoners seem to fully realize what happened. They give you their names, Lucca and Gustavus and thank you profusely for your timely rescue.
Thanks to Morricone's friendly's attitude they soon explain what happened to them. Apparently they were at Aria's Park during the rally against Barzillai's Thrune but unlike you, when the Woman with the huge hellhound and the dottari dispersed the crowds they ended up being captured by the loyalists and put in Castle Kintargo's jails with hundreds of other unfortunates. While some of their companions were eventually released they were bought by Aula Tanessen claiming the right to do so in the name of the church of Asmodeus, claiming them as slaves. Aula obtained the necessary documentation and was named their owner but never brought them to Asmodeus' Cathedral. She brought them to other dungeons where they were tortured and subjected to some kind of heinous ritual involving scarnification and marking. Then they were brought to these catacombs where they found out a number of the previous prisoners waiting chained to the wall. Two by two their new companions disappeared into the depths of the Sarini's crypt and never returned. When their turn came they discovered the dessicated bodies of their former companions and Aula Tanessen mumbling arcane words surrounded by a bluish halo. The last thing they remember before being brought back to their senses by your intervention are the dead eyes of the other prisoners staring at them and the certainty that something terrible was going to befall them.
Lirotha will touch both prisoners with her healing touch HEX!
Seeing a possible way to hurt the Thrunies even more, Lirotha will ask a about the dungeons.
"Could you tell us anything at all about the jail holding the hundreds of other prisoners you were first kept at? While I doubt we can help them all directly right now, there may be a chance to rescue some of them if we know more about the location, layout of the dungeon, or any weakness you may have seen accidentally."
Oren examines the magical ring once told of its properties. "I could use something to make it harder for those zombies to punch me," she offers, holding the cloak out for Rocco. She mostly listens to the freed prisoners tell their story, and waits for an answer to Lirotha's query about the prison.
Rocco stands by as Lucca and Gustavus tell their story. When they finish, he shakes his head and says in a croaking voice, "I'm so sorry you suffered all of that. Seems like Tanessen was sacrificing you to gain more power for herself. But I wonder if you ever found out anything else about what she was hoping to accomplish? Did she ever ask you for some kind of information or anything like that?"
As for who gets what, it probably would be a good idea for Oren to take the ring since she's in melee more. I'm using the cloak of elvenkind, though so I don't have that slot open. One of you guys can take the Cloak of Resistance. Or Kurglunn can use it when he's manifested like this. Whatever works best.
"This is a horrible fate. I am just so glad, that we were in time to save you. And quite unhappy to be to late for the others."
The Hound stands aside quietly (being the tall dark and bleeding...I mean brooding, and listens to the survivors stories.
Oren nods at the others as she slips the ring on her finger. "If we sell what we found, I can restock my potion supply. Looks like we all might need curative draughts."
Rocco looks over at Oren as the rest of the group continues to question the victims and whispers to her, "Yeah, potions would be good for the middle of a fight, but a wand would be really great for in between. Maybe we can afford a bit of both now that we have some coin!"
Rocco looks over at Oren as the rest of the group continues to question the victims and whispers to her, "Yeah, potions would be good for the middle of a fight, but a wand would be really great for in between. Maybe we can afford a bit of both now that we have some coin!"
Valrani looks over the gear. "None of this especially speaks to me. Perhaps the ring, as I seem to be getting in the front line a lot."
Val tries on the cloak, adjusting it over her shoulders.
"My thanks. Let us hope it is a long time before we need such protections, although I can't help but fear otherwise."
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Lucca answeers Roco's inquires:"Not really. She wasn't even particularly angry with us for opposing Thrune. She just bought us from the dottari and then marked us before sacrificing us 2 by 2. We were just means to an end for her, I guess, which makes her even more despicable"
After cleaning the crypts of any valuable they could find the Silver Ravens move back to the Wasp's Nest bringing Lucca and the other survivor back with them. As they can't go back to their homes, having officially being sold to the church of Asmodeus as slaves, the team offers them to stay at the Wasp Nest, explaining a little about the rebellion. Luckily they both seem more than glad to have a place to stay and an opportunity to keep up the fight against the oppressor Thrune.
A couple of days after the whole "Tanessen incident" is over with a new problem knocks on the Silver Raven's door, bearing the familiar uniforms of the Dottari. Three of them, looking menacing and commanding present themselves to Laria's door demanding to fully inspect her establishment for “suspicious activity and unsavory practices”. Apparently someone sent them a letter mentioning Laria's backery as an hotspot for sedition... The three are in the open and the fact they are investigating Laria's is well known to their superiors who sent them. Fighting them in the street doesn't seem the best of options, which means the Silver Ravens will have to find a way to get rid of them without raising too much suspicion.
Valrani sits at the table, a sly smile playing over her face. She stands and approaches Laria and then Donati.
"Hello there. I am Valrani. Laria's solicitor. As Law Abdiding citizens I am sure you have the appropriate paperwork to come barging in here."
A wicked smile crosses her face.
"I do believe the law has consequences for unauthorised trespass on private citizens premises. "
"May I see that letter please?"
Drinking coffee at a corner table, Lirotha has her Harrow cards out and is practicing her Harrowing with anybody who wishes to have their fortune's read at no charge.
She's closely observing the Dottari however, as much as she can with her ears and from the corner of her eye, but she's also continuously trying to think of a way to get rid of them!
Rocco sits beside Lirotha, a cup of coffee on the table in front of him and a cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth. As the Dottari make their presence very clearly known, he leans over to the card reader and whispers, "You think maybe now would be a good time for a little haunting?"
In the recesses of his mind, Kurglunn stirs.
Lirotha nods slowly as she looks at the cards laid out before her, and carefully whispers back to Rocco.
"Get him ready sweets...maybe make a distraction outside to draw their attention away from here? On my signal..."
Suddenly as if from nowhere Talon Bishop stands behind the guards in the street.
"AHEM!! Excuse me sirs. Good day. I couldn't help but overhear. And seeing as the way to the best coffee in all of Kintargo, and I have yet to have any today, I am a bit testy so you'll excuse my tone. But what evidence or proof do you have that leads you to such a fine and upstanding establishment? Hurry now please. Don't delay. Speak up already." he says his hands on his hips.
Oren watches silently, not sure how best to try and help diffuse the tension. She chooses to wait, and add her support when it might mean the most.
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"Solicitor? Do halflings even get solicitors now?" one of the dottari shakes his head in disbelief advancing on Valrani and showing her the letter. The missive is written in tidy script suggesting “suspicious activity and unsavory practices” at the shop. Valrani knows that under Thrune's law the guards don't need any other warrant to search Laria's place. Which is exactly what they tell Talon's:"Mind your own business, citizen. We are doing our duty in order to stamp out the seditious element threatening Kintargo from within! And we are well within our rights to do so according to the law as set by mayor Thrune!"
Lirotha listens closely to the Dottari's conversation hearing it out clearly enough.