Ravens turns to the speaking man.
"What? Traitors?! NO! I serve Syra and always have!" Ravens, though insulted, has more pressing matters to attend to.
"Do any of you have healing magic? Or skill? I do think I can save this one!"
Ravens will try again to revive Lionel.
Heal check to stabilize
Valeska heads over to Ravens. "Let me see..."
"We've been held captive since nightfall! Underground somewhere. We escaped with the help of Ser Lionel! Gods truth! We're figuring out what is going on as much as you all. We heard about the joust. That's where Bruthazmus led the main assault. What about the chapel?" The third one says.
"Save him if he can. Yes, go help him Valeska. He looks dead to me. A shame. A loss we couldn't afford." The older man shares his grim, pragmatic view of the world through his words.
The men are inclined to listen to your words, Ser Bregan, although still suspicious.
"If you are not traitors or bandits.. where are they now?"
Another lone firework shoots off the burning cart.
The transportation safeguards are failing.
Valeska rushes to Lionel's side, pulls an herb from her pouch, crushes it in her hands, and rubs Lionel's face. She places her hand to his neck. A moment later she reaches over with her other hand and shuts Lionel's eyes.
"I'm sorry. He waits for Pharasma now."
She looks up suddenly. "The bandits... The buildings! Right here!"
She dives behind the kiosk next to the archery range, looking for bow and arrows.
"I'm sorry. He waits for Pharasma now."
"Damn."
I have failed yet again. I won't fail Syra. SYRA!?!?
Ravens runs to the building at F26 and begins to yell for Syra. He'll open the door and look in before scrambling to the next house.
"SYRA! ARE YOU HERE!? ARE YOU HURT!?!"
Perception
As you may know, Ser Bregan, it seems a particularly nasty ranger named Bruthazmus is leading the recent attacks on caravans and those who brave the lands for trapping/logging.
"Bruthazmus?" Bregan wonders aloud as the man speaks.
Where have I heard that name? And how does his one know it was him? I've only heard of him by reputation.
"If you words are true, we will know soon enough." Bregan gives a lingering look to everyone present, inclusive of Vishoon and Areanna.
"As for Lionel, I find it disturbing he would release you, then come charging at me for my life unprovoked."
Is he even a follower of this Erastil? I saw him earlier with his bow, and he could barely hit the target...
Bregan trots over to the building that Valeska suggested was where the bridal party sought shelter. He knocks on it loudly with his mailed fist.
"My..." he struggles with the word. "Lord - Are you within? It is..." The next word comes difficult as well. "Ser Bregan."
Once again, she reflexively checks her poultice.
Hearing the the bandits(?) talk to the knight
Vishoon looks a bit perplexed. They seemed like bandits.
Hmm did we kill an innocent man? he did attack the knight. Well at least I never really attacked him, I cant be blamed for his death
Seeing that Ser Bergen is woundedYou are wounded...let me help with that." and Cast Cure Light Wounds on him
Heal:
"Why do we stop here, do you think the people in there are not safe? We should be hunting the rest of the bandits, and finding this Bruthazmus person."
Vishoon looks around and sees if there are any more bandits to be seen
and hopes he can tell the difference between them and guards
Perception:
"Syra! Where are you?!?"
Areanna moves over to the group that is now gather. She has stopped her song for now and she is looking about. She looks at Bregan. "I saw you at the tavern the other night. I will help where I can but can you tell me what is going on? Why has Lionel betrayed us and where are the bride and groom?
Valeska, remembering that the bandits are nearby, ducks over to the archery range and spots a mediocre looking shortbow and a quiver with 20 arrows in it. You're comforted that your ward is still up and strong.
Vishoon you heal Ser Bregan . Since the start of the attack, the bandits in guards armor look indistinguishable from guards. Others are wearing worn leather and cloaks of various dark, muted colors. There is no "uniform" appearance.
Ravens flies to the houses and screams for Syra.
The three men follow Ser Bregan over to the northeast building. He bang's on the door and once again there is no response from inside the locked structure.
"LOOK OUT!" One of them shouts! He tries to control his horse.
Tavens' overgrowth spell has caused the fire to spread over more of the cart as the fire burns away the grass, but the magics of the spell cause it to regrow. The fireworks cart, fully enveloped in flames, makes a creaky sound and several large fireworks sizzle and fly out of the cart up into the sky in different directions. The buildings shake at the nearby explosions.
Areanna will move to follow Ser Bregan and duck for cover when the cart explodes. She will then look to the door Bregan is pounding on. "Hello! Gregan? Syra are you in there? Its me Areanna! She will then wait for a response.
Looking in the toolshed, Ravens will do a quick look for a usable weapon.
Perception
Looking for a scythe or a sickle.
If Ravens sees one, he'll grab it before running to X23 (avoiding the fireworks) to open the door there.
"SYRA!!"
Ravens will open the door.
Bregan stops his pounding on the door to utter something that sounds like a thanks to Vishoon.
That should prove he's on the right side, right?
"If there's no answer, likely they have descended into a basement for safety."
The knight glances at the burning debris.
I thought the worst was over.
Lionel's horse rears and flees.
Neither Areanna's nor Ser Bregan's pleas yield any response. All you hear are the fireworks and your banging on the doors.
In the shed, next to a plow, is a scythe that looks well-used but the blade is in good condition. Ravens snatches the plow and flies over to the southern building. The smoke, debris and fire makes it difficult to get to the door. You hear the sounds of people inside. The entire building is filled with smoke. You step over a few burning pieces of wood and open the door. It is very difficult to see, but inside of the house you see the outline of two armed men in the thick smoke. Both are choking, coughing. *Wheeze cough*"Yield! Help..*Cough*us!". More fireworks launch from the cart.
One spiral dragon looking firework screeches and flies straight into a window of the G18 building. The sparkles and crackles inside are followed by screams and a deep moan as the building partially collapses. There is so much smoke and rubble from the explosion you cannot tell where in the house they were. Only the back corner remains fairly standing. The horse behind the house's tether snaps and tries to get away.
Through the smoke you see 3 men approaching the bunch of you around the northwest building. They are unarmed, coughing "yield!".
Areanna will move quickly to the three unarmed men. "Hello, we are friends. Who are you and do you need assistance?" She has the bow ready just in case things turn sour.
With people, and possibly Syra inside, and in danger, Ravens will pull out his trusty signal whistle.
Taking a deep breathe of choking smoke, Raven will tweet like he's never tweeted before.
"TWEEE-EEE-EEEE!!!!"
::cough, hack:: One more blow!
"TWEEE-EEE-EEEE!!!!"
::cough, hack::
Ravens knows there is someone out there who would has heard the whistle before, someone brave and noble, someone strong and true, someone who, Ravens hopes, is the hero thinks them to be. Someone who, because they are a good friend, will come running to the whistle.
C'mon, Luck! Come help me! I need you!
::cough, hack::
Norocol twitches and whinnies in response to some distant, high pitched screeching sound.
"What in the Nine Hells is that?" Bregan demands outloud of nobody in particular.
The horse begins to trot towards the origin of the pitched noise, of course bringing it's rider wherever it may go.
As the knight comes upon the people trapped inside the shed, Bregan stops.
The men are armed, and they are not leaving on their own...
"Get out! Before you all suffocate."
"We surrender!"*Cough* The men look covered in soot, dirt, sweat, and blood much like yourselves. The ugliest one says "Please don't kill us ma'am!" They hustle over to you, hands up, away from the smoke and fire. "Take us in! We give up! Better than burnin'!"
The knights who are with you, Areanna, say nothing. They are awaiting your orders but you can tell they are fidgety and ready to avenge their friends on a moment's notice.
Ser Bregan and Ravens hear from inside the building:
"SOMEONE THERE?" *cough cough*
"I CAN'T SEE YA. ITS TOO SMOKY! WE GIVE UP! HELP US"
Valeska- you see Ravens and Ser Bregan near the burning house. It is very smoky but you can make out their forms. Even from where you are the smoke is hot and black. It must be brutal up there.
Areanna looks at the men with her. "We need to get as many people out of here as possible. Are there any other survivors anywhere else?"
She looks to each of them hoping for some kind of response.
"We came here to find survivors! We agree about getting people out, but these are bandits and hardly people, Milady! What are your orders? What says the other man? The strong one with the spear."
The three unarmed men stand close waiting for you two and the knights to decide their fates.
Bregan sighs at men whose self-preservation instinct fails them, leaving them unable to clearly see the best method to their own livelihood.
"Follow the sound of the damned whistling out to the door. It is only smoke."
If they are claiming to give up, they are likely part of the thugs who started this mess.
Bregan keeps his sword handy to see that they drop all arms upon coming into view.
Areanna will point over at the building where Raven and Ser Bregan are. "There! In that building, there may he survivors. Let's help get them out, Break the door down if you have too and hurry. Areanna will rush over and attempt to assist Bregan and Raven in getting the door open.
Seeing Areanna and Ser Bregan heading toward a burning building.
He Turns to the Guards "Take their weapons. We may need help saving people, and the more help the better, we can deal with them otherwise when everyone is safe
He Turns to the bandits Surrender you weapons now, and help us and they may take that into account later, or we can run you through now, and if you try to run, make no mistake...I have no qualms about running this spear through yer back"
hoping to intimidate them into helping
Intimidate :
and oh by the way....do any of you know Tevok Berksley
assuming that roll is good enough to intimidate
"Follow the knight and woman, there are probably people that need to be pulled from that building." Vishoon will head to the building, keeping the bandits in front of him
Valeska grasps the bow and quiver. She is utterly unsure of her ability with the weapon, but she knows there's no time to train.
At this moment, however, she realizes that she can do little more than get in the way. So, she bolts from her position back behind the archery range, northward to behind the nearest building. She makes her way from there to the burning building in the middle, calling out "Anyone in there? Can you get out?"
"LUCK! You came!"
::cough, hack, struggle for breath::
"Luck, the hero horse" will be what they will call him after today!
Resisting the urge to hug Luck, Ravens will turn his attention to helping the people in the building and helping Luck.
Cast Create Water on Luck, spraying his back and tail with 2 gallons of water, hopefully providing some protection from the fire.
::cough, hack, struggle for breath::
"Don't worry about the fire, Luck...break down that door with your knight-smiting hooves!" Ravens exhorts Luck between hacks and coughs.
Almost as an afterthought, Ravens waves weakly to Bregan on the horse.
Oh, he's here too. Uhm...good.
::cough, hack, struggle for breath::
Ravens snatches the plow and flies over to the southern building. The smoke, debris and fire makes it difficult to get to the door. You hear the sounds of people inside. The entire building is filled with smoke. You step over a few burning pieces of wood and open the door. It is very difficult to see, but inside of the house you see the outline of two armed men in the thick smoke. Both are choking, coughing.
Ravens feels so much braver now that his good friend Luck is nearby.
As Bregan finishes his sentence you see two men hurry out of the smoking building coughing and weezing. They dropped their weapons as they escaped.
Areanna, Bregan, Ravens and Luck look on and from the door two men come out of the door and fall coughing. "Thank ye thank ye!" The men aren't wearing the uniform of guards but the dull leather armor of bandits. Luck looks extremely disappointed as his chance of being the hero deep down he knows he is vanishes before him.
Vishoon successfully intimidates the guards. "We have none! Promise! Mercy!" The guards listen to your orders and hastily search the three bandits for weapons. None are found."Tevok? Nevar 'eard o' him."*Cough*
Vishoon follows his new "friends" into the building Areanna and Bregan are at and start pulling people out of the building. And when the people are out, hearing Valeska call out, "Go help her too" pointing at Valeska with his spear
Valeska spots a dwarf crawling out of the demolished house. Although uninjured he is covered in dust and smoke.
*cough* "I swear, the gears were oiled.... the state of friction.... given the predominance of lubricant.... doesn't accou"*cough* *cough* *cough*
A dwarf, a bit small by dwarven standards, stands up and begins dusting himself off. His well-trimmed and braided beard is covered in the same ink-dark soot stains as those on his fingertips. He's mumbling to himself, seemingly unaware of the fire very nearby. "Perhaps, lamp oil as a lubricant.... couldn't have been, I didn't see a spark... it seems there may have been an external influence.. Oh my, hello, what's happening here?" *cough* *cough*
"You two, down the hill over here." Bregan barks more words at the two likely bandits dressed in leather.
Once a safe distance away, he calls to the men formerly under Lionel's command and beckons them over.
"Watch these two, and ensure they don't cause any more harm."
Finally satisfied, Bregan will do a last circuit on his horse before spotting the dwarf emerging from another smoldering building near Valeska.
As he approaches, he eyes the dwarf and nods to himself.
I doubt a dwarf would be a thief.
Areanna approaches the dwarf ::Cough:: You are the dwarf from the tavern last night, what are you doing here? She will then move to help him out of the smoke. "We need to get out of here." Areanna will look around to see if there is any other people who need help.
He looks in turn to each of the people nearing, before addressing the elf "I'm a dwarf, that was indeed at the tavern last night... I'm not THE dwarf... there were two... or at least two.. do we really look that much alike.." He looks back at her *cough* "Oh. Yes, I was. My name is Holbrecht, you had provided some sort of entertainment to the patrons... I guess I could say to me... I technically was a patron... but what did she do, I don't remember.." *cough* He points to Ser Bregan, "He was there, that I remember, he spoke decent dwarven." He seems proud of himself for what he remembers of the tavern, staring at Areanna blankly. Realization strikes him suddenly, "Oh. You asked... something... asked... what I'm doing here!" He again seems satisfied with himself *cough* "Oh. Here, what I'm doing, I was loaned access to this shop by Volioker... the OTHER dwarf at the tavern.. He said I could use this old workshop to hone my skills" He turns to look at the smoke billowing up from the area, continuing to dust himself off he starts walking from the building. "Yeah, leaving would be prudent, very astute." *cough*
Ravens, seeing no Syra in the burning building (just dumb humans), curses and moves to the building door of X22. (Ravens will move the long way around (via R28) to avoid the fire.)
::hack, cough::
Taking deep breaths, Ravens will try the door and see if Syra is inside.
"SYRA!"
::hack, cough::
Bregan rides his horse once more about the buildings, shouting loud enough that anyone inside should be able to hear his voice.
"This is..."
[i]You know your new title, why do you hesitate?
"Ser Bregan. If anyone's left in these buildings, it's safe to come out now."
He gives the others - Valeska, Holbrecht, Areanna, and Vishoon a knowing look while wondering where Ravens has run off to.
"How about we get everyone back to the chapel as a safe house?"
Bregan will presume anyone else left in the buildings is either a brigand who deserves death by asphyxiation or a suicidal fool too afraid to yell for additional help. He'll ride a larger circuit around the area to ensure the path back to the chapel is secure.
*cough* As Holbrecht walks away from the burning, half-collapsed building, he notices the fireworks. *cough* "Ooh, fireworks, I didn't even know the vendor was near... I must have a look at them... the marvel that is the powder within... most amazing... though, I'm certain the fire isn't good for them... I wonder what effect it has on their chemical stability?"*cough* as he mumbles he tries to get as close as the heat will allow to investigate the nature of the incendiaries.
*cough* Calling back to some of the nearby prisoners, without looking just waving them over *cough**cough*"Hey, some of you come help me get a few of these out of the fire here. They are just going to waste."*cough*
Through the windows you see slumped bodies of several people. Most of them bloody. Opening the door, you see a small shack with the bodies of a man, a woman, and a bandit all dead. The man and woman are holding hands as they lay lifeless. There is no Syra or Gregan in this building.
Checking the bodies you see they have been dead for quite a while by knife wounds. The third person in the room seems more freshly dead of a knife wound as well but this one seems self-inflicted.
You hear something from below the ground. It sounds quiet and is dampened by the floor but it sounds like a person.
The men listen to Ser Bregan and the five captured prisoners are under the watchful eyes of the three knights.
Valeska, thankful that the dwarf is safe, is nonetheless stunned when he starts talking about grabbing fireworks. "No! Let them waste! People first!" she cries, as she continues her westward run back to the original barn that she saw the wedding party enter. Clenching her poultice, she starts banging on the walls with her fists. "We have to get you out of here! The bandits are defeated, but there's still a fire! Please! Get out now!"
Uncertain what people the young lady is referring to, Holbrecht follows her over to the building she begins pounding on. "Hmm, I think the door is over on this side... unless you are trying to get through the wall... but that would be silly. Ah, yes, the door is here. I suggest you try this way." he rattles the door, "Here's your problem, it seems to be locked." He kneels a little to peer into the lock, absently fishing at his pockets looking for the right item, but not turning to look in the pouch itself. "What is that, a point three... a point seven? No, I see what I need, it's a simple point four with a counter lever" He pulls out two thin metal rods with fine points at the end and begins working at the lock.
Holbrecht fiddles with the door and you hear an unclick as the doors become unlocked. You try to open the door and it opens a slight crack, revealing a steel bar barricading the door. Through the crack in the door you see the barn is dark and empty. A few barrels are around as well as a few drops and small poolss of dried blood on the ground.
The opening the doors lets much needed natural light into the building. The barn is unoccupied and mostly empty except for a few crates and barrels. There are many footprints leading to a thinly disguised large rectangle in the ground. Approaching this rectangle reveals it to be a hatch. You can feel cool air and very slight echos of motion below.
Areanna too will follow after Valeska and Holbrecht to the barn. "Maybe I can use my bow to lift this bar. Or rather, someone stronger than me could try something."
Valeska you hear no more sounds from the collapsed building. It appears the dwarf was the only survivor. Who knows how many people were in that house.
Among the prisoners, you hear one mutter "Catch them with their pants down he said... easy gold and riches and revenge he said...
I knew this was a bad idea."
Ravens will feel sad for the people, but knows he needs to find his beloved.
Sounds below? In the ground!?
Ravens will begin to look for a hatch/trapdoor.
Perception
"Syra? Are you down there?"
Valeska ducks under the bar and runs to the square in the ground. "Hello?" she calls out before attempting to open the trap door. "This is Valeska. The bandits are stopped, but there's a fire now and we need to get you out to safety."
She then attempts to life the door.
Ravens you do not find a trapdoor or a hatch and it seems the sound your hear below you offers no response to your cries.
Valeska squeezes her thin frame through the door and under the bar. She gets stuck halfway but you force yourself through. You easily slide the metal rod out from the door and the door opens for everyone.
As you enter the building, the mounted knights ask Ser Bregan
"Ser, what should you have us do with these prisoners?"
Another bandit quietly mutters "We request a trial."
Bregan sighs as many of the others continue to inspect buildings amid the smoke.
Persistent lot.
"You three, continue to ensure these bandits cause no more harm. I need to see why the others tarry." The knight assumes the men will have some instincts of self-preservation and at least won't stand down wind in the smoke.
Upon seeing the dwarf has managed to open the sealed door and the fortune-teller disappear inside, he drops off his horse and makes his way to the portal to ensure Valeska is safe.