Travis Starter smiles and leans back on his wooden bench, adjusting his chains and looking fairly relaxed. "Right then, where to start? Nilasa and Ford and me go way back as I said, but we hadn't run together in over two years...and hadn't pulled a con or job with each other in nearly five years I guess. She needed a place to stay after coming back down from the Cloudwood, and knew Ford and me wouldn't sell her out." Travis shakes his head, still seemingly angry about being imprisoned on her behalf. "Maybe we should've, but we didn't, as she was our friend. But she changed you see. She was a believer now, serving that sorceress Gale and her outlaw rebels - everyone knows she and her kind were burnin' factories down to ash, some with poor lads and lasses still locked inside! But Nilasa says Gale's not to blame, that she hadn't been doin' all this arson - even if she was the one to try and kill that Westman fellow or a few factory owners besides. I almost believed Nilasa I did, but who else would be burnin' down factories and those that built them up in this town other than Gale?"
Travis seems eager and continues on. "So Nilasa's all proud of herself now and her cause, and has this big smuggling deal going down. Which, if I recall correctly, happens to be a'going down tonight - so you're gonna keep yer word and get Ford and me outta here right? Back on good solid ground you are? Because if you are, constables, you'll know that while Nilasa left us to rot in the bilges here, she's got smuggling plans with her friend The House Elf here in Pine Island...got herself a weapons deal with some new outfit called The Family, to buy up a host of old magic weapons to dole out to Gale and her bands up in the Cloudwood. And it's goin' down tonight, so let's be real clear that I'm helpin' you to stop those rebel fanatics from bein' armed on your watch..."
The sailors and laborer locals all pretty much scoff and turn their backs on Tobias for all of his friendly inquiries, though even the surly rough-and-tumble crowd know better than to start up a scrap with a fully-fledged officer of the Constabulary. It's clear though that he's not getting anywhere...and the scowling bartender pretty much tells him so when he pours more gillweed "juice" into his cup.
"Look, kingsman, there's not a one here that wants to get tangled up in your sodded plots, savvy?" Tobias and Jesselle both note that the rum mixed into the yellow-green citrus drink masks something akin to sea water or something salty that makes the drinker more thirsty. From the looks of the side gaming rooms and the number of patrons in this afternoon, even if they do know they don't seem to mind.
A nearby old salt sailor at the bar pipes up to Jesselle and Tobias then, his crusted visage still showing a keen set of sharp old eyes under the wrinkles and scars. "Any cur can point ya to a small outfit for smugglin' whatevers ya want there, greycloaks. But the subject is sore talk these days - if yer lookin' for a larger haul to move in or out, well, these days it's about this new upstart group with all the money..."
"Shut yer mouth, Jimmers!" The bartender scowls deeper and slaps his hand on the wooden bar at the old sailor.
"You shut yours! Why you worried about these outsiders muscling in, non local types, non Risuri, and you're protecting their ways? They wiped out Mags' Merries and Roland's Piper Crew which used ta' call this stretch home, or don't ya remember that far back to the fortnight?"
The bartender looks uncomfortable with the exchange, and shifts his stance to being overly unconcerned about it. "Mags and Roland wiped each other's crews out, and you know it Jim. Talkin' about it to the lawgivers isn't gonna bring 'em back."
The old salt sailor called Jim fixes a stare at both Tobias and Jesselle, saying with a drink to his lips, "Them's The Family that's come in now, signin' up lots of small crews with decks as well as crowns, takin' over all the usual byways n' business. Can't smuggle s#$% in a chamber pot without goin' through them now, or so it seems."
”I see” Fethryth reaches across the table and pours a bit of brandy into Ford’s cup. ”Do you know where these wands are? Or the location of Nilasa’s contact? See, I know a thing or two about old elven magic. Getting those wands and passing them out to people, especially ones that don’t know magic? Like handing a bunch of lit firecrackers to a toddler and hoping they don’t blow their head off.” She shakes her head. ”We need to get those things off the street.”
"That's the thing you see, Nilasa was trying to sort out if this newcomer smuggling group, The Family, could be trusted not to cross her or Gale. Nilasa had heard the outfit was good through...through her friend who called himself The House Elf. I guess he'd joined up with The Family and gave her introductions of a sort, but he was the sort who believed in what Nilasa and Gale and all those traditional types were doing."
Taking another sip of the brandy Fethryth offers and relishing it like a man tasting water after a day or two lost at sea, Ford continues on. "She was gonna put it all on the line. The third night of Summer, so tonight I guess. She had to get the shipment out at sea, so she needed to know if the crews the Family was using were good...and good at keepin' their end of the bargain. Her 'House Elf' friend thought so, but Nilasa wasn't so sure you see. Thousands of crowns in gold and jewels...no...maybe ten or a score times that was on the line! I asked her where'd she get all this money that she could live like a lord in North Shore or somewheres and she said something like 'when Gale has friends with the merfolk that scavenged a dozen centuries of shipwrecks out in the Avery Sea, money isn't the problem' or something near to that. But they had to get with a Family smuggling crew, and make their meet out past the bay somewhere late tonight."
”That you are Mr. Starter. And we are grateful you are coming forth with this information.” Emerson stands up from the table and tells the closest guard to inform the Director that the constables will be taking the two prisoners with them. He sits back down and continues his conversation with Travis. ”So who is this House Elf and how do we find him? Do you have any information on where the transaction will occur tonight?”
Travis shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head. "I'd tell ya that after all that I've been through, but I don't know where either is at. All I know is that her 'House Elf' friend is a 'him' and not a 'her' and that he's somewheres in Pine Island. I did ask why he's called that, and she said he was a prester...presterdig...he was a maker of magic tricks. A showman type, you know, to impress a parlor or summer galas and the like."
Tobias leaves the counter and shrugs at the bartender before heading toward Jimmers.
"How does one go through the family exactly? Do they have a contact anywhere nearby?"
He slides a few crowns onto the table with a smile.
The old sailor grins a gaptoothed grin at Tobias and offers a salute with his knuckles, even as the bartender swears at him and walks away to the other side of the bar. "Oh, I'm too old for all of that business now," says the sailor even as he deftly pockets the crowns. "But I don't like outsiders comin' in and changin' us all around, even if Flint itself is all changed and nothin' like the old days n' ways."
Sailor Jimmers looks around a moment, then says to them, "Don't know that there's a safe contact to give ya, fer you or me...I still gotta answer to those that are runnin' their business and their crews. But down in The Stray on the East Bank side, there's a shiny coffee house where a lot of business gets done over Yerasol coffee and outsider-type food. That place is called Cippiano's Coffee...if yer lookin' fer The Family in an open kind of way, that's the place to go."
"You ever see her with a doctor, or hear her talking about a man named Wolfgang von Recklinghausen? We need to know everything about her plans, even if you don't think them important. Has anyone else come asking about her in recent days?" Anneca presses hard, knowing she can get actionable knowledge - and compare it to the interrogation of the other prisoner. "And who's this 'House Elf'?"
Jesselle sat back and let Tobias take the lead, unsure of how to approach the actual locals. Especially when Tobias remained in uniform, something she noticed about her colleagues. The fact that someone spoke up was rather surprising and advantageous.
"I suppose than, it is a good thing we want to do something about them, at least in the more immediate future," Jesselle comments.
She takes a gold coin from her pocket and slides it across to the old sailor, Thank you for your candor."
She looks to Tobias, "If there is nothing else?
Ford looks at Anneca uncomfortably, yet also with a look of genuine confusion that suggests to the constables he's not trying to be evasive. "A doctor? No, no one that was like that or that foreign fellah you just said. I mean she hated Danorans like we all do, but bragged she was workin' some con on 'em with a sod she was sidling up to, and was gonna tell Travis and me once she pulled it off...was gonna celebrate it with us...but she didn't pull it off, did she?"
After an uncomfortable pause, Ford says to them, "I didn't know The House Elf, so I can't tell you where to find him in Pine Island. What she did say once was that he had a wife that she liked a lot...so I guess yer lookin' for a married man. And short...his name was part of some act where he played up not bein' real tall and such. I don't know nuthin' else - I've been here for more than days and no one's ever asked anythin' of Travis or me since we got here."
The excise cutter Audacious sits moored at the official docks of Pine Island's more southerly "Upper Bay" section, a focal point for the district's police presence, dockmaster inspectors and one of the largest canals that cuts deeply into the bayou's interiors. It is a crossroads of sorts, both canals and roadways, just outside the guarded posts of the dock area.
The four constables from Goodson's Reformatory were ready to leave well over an hour before, but the paperwork and formalities of taking two prisoners with them from Derek Goodson took more time than they had wished. Yet with all papers signed and stamped, both Ford Sorghum and Travis Starter were "free men" relatively speaking; compliant in a small hold of the Audacious, they both speak freely that whatever comes next is better than where they have been. For Travis Starter, the news of Nilasa's murder comes as a serious blow to him, for all the upset and blame he had of his former friend in how they landed into this predicament originally.
Fortunately, the later-than-intended disembarkation of the four constables just after the three-tone bells did not keep Tobias or Jesselle overly waiting, who they themselves had to hoof it all the way down from the Lower Bay district areas to meet them. Here they are closer to The Stray's West Bank than to the Lower Bay fringes and "The Knob" area that marks Pine Island's most northern end at the edge of Flint Bay. Both groups meet and relate what they have discovered...and though the day is now well into the afternoon it seems they have at least discovered more than when they left the Royal Docks back in Central.
Taking the cue from Jesselle, Tobias smiles at their talkative new friend and tips his bowler hat.
"Thank ya!" He smiles and heads out of the shoddy bar.
"Off to the Stray then, have you ever heard of this coffee house? Worried that asking around for it might give us up before we get there, but I can probably sweet talk a few locals again if we need to."
After the interrogations of the two prisoners, Emerson finds Derek Goodson while the transfer paperwork is being processed. After a little small talk inquiring about the upcoming wedding plans, Emerson asks Goodson about the reformatory. ”Director, you seemed to be a little flustered this morning about the state of affairs here. Is there something the matter than we as constables can assist you with?”
Jesselle doesn’t recall anything notable about Cippiano’s Coffee House, other than she faintly recalls a R&D researcher she was chatting with back in Spring mention a popular new shoppe in The Stray that served excellent Yerasol coffee and interesting pastries from beyond Risur. It’s possible that Willem may have known more about it as The Stray is where he resided, but after the events of this morning he is no longer around to ask. Despite Fethryth also being a denizen of The Stray area, she has rarely looked around much beyond her own neighborhood and does not recall anything about it.
With time starting to ebb in the afternoon of this Third day of Summer, the reunited group of constables decides to throw their efforts into finding the location of this ‘House Elf’ and his connections to the upcoming smuggling event Nilasa had been arranging, rather than head to Cippiano’s Coffee House and hope for a chance opportunity to uncover something about The Family. Fortunately, Tobias and Jesselle have already done much of the legwork in finding some suitable taverns to ask information on in Pine Island, and although Fethryth, Gemma and Anneca are not very well suited to chumming it up with tavern-fly locals and asking questions with nuance and subtlety, the other two plus Emerson can easily traverse those methods. So it’s back up to the Lower Bay section of Pine Island and The Lonely Harlot Inn, where half of them sit serenely at a table to not cause a stir while the other half mingles and asks their questions.
Just over an hour later, the group of six constables find themselves in the very northerly reaches of the Lower Bay neighborhoods of Pine Island, at a place some locals call “The Knob” while others call it “The Crown” – so noted for the way it looks on a map, as if the location was at the crown or top of some vulture’s head with its “beak” stretching eastwards into Flint Bay, the easternmost of three small barrier islands just offshore to their due north.
The group stands on the street along a stretch of two-story rowhouse shops lining it, with a similar set of rowhouse shops one street over and a rather informal market bazaar stretched along an open area at the far end of the streets. It’s actually a nicer portion of Pine Island by the outward appearance of it, non affluent at all but similar to any artisan’s neighborhood found in Eastside or Bosum Strand. The buildings are still wooden and work from salt air and wind, but it has its own charm that is unmistakable. Here, the constables hear the sounds of children playing nearby, talking and laughter from various locals and the faint sound of fiddle music from somewhere deeper in the market bazaar. Certainly not the place a Central elite would think of with smugglers or their allies…but only fools would think criminals and their activities are limited only to places of violence and squalor.
There are many stories about ‘The House Elf’ from their tavern talk, with different accounts of his appearance and skill in magic. A hanging wooden sign out front is faded but stands out by stylish engraving of ‘The House Elf’ on it along with a painted carving of what seems to be a brownie or other smiling fey doing magic by a hearth. Another sign nearby the door simply says ‘Call Upon Anytime for Parties, Galas, Festivals, Extravaganzas and other Revelries!’ in similar woodwork.
Though no one has come in or out of the shoppe in the last few minutes, it seems like it should be open for business, with no signs or boarding up of entryway to think otherwise.
Gemma stands on the street with the others, observing the exterior of the House Elf's shop.
"So. Who wants to go with me? Maybe Jesselle and Emerson? The rest can stay outside and cover our backs...or chase him down if he runs. Hopefully this will get us what we need. We're starting to get kind of late in the day."
"Sure Gemma, I will accompany you." He turns and gives Jesselle a quizical look. "Shall we?
Fethryth nods. "Works for me". She'll start looking outside for anything strange or out of the ordinary.
"Sure... Tobias or myself can join you." She says to Gemma... As Emerson asks, she nods with a smile, "Yes, of course. I was merely considering if I have heard of this place before. I am drawing a blank."
Gemma, Emerson and Jesselle enter the abode of 'The House Elf' while Tobias, Fethryth and Anneca remain just outside the entrance of the place, watching the area around for any signs of disturbance.
To the left of the entrance abuts another row shop, but there is a small service alleyway to the right of the shop, which winds back in between the buildings to what appears to be an intersecting alleyway that separates the rowshops of this street from the adjacent row one street over. No signs of trouble or movement can be seen by the three outside, and in all respects the area seems to be quite calm.
As the other three constables enter through the one main door, they come into a large entry room some twenty feet deep and over twice as long wide, with simple wooden doors both opposite the front entrance as well as to their right; to their left is a rickety wooden set of stairs that leads up to the building's wooden rafters, with wooden plank walkways criss-crossing overhead instead of a proper second floor. Ropes and pulleys hang down from the rafters at various places, along with dusty velvet curtains and a few small keg barrels held aloft by ropes. The place smells dusty with a slight presence of some chemical fumes that Emerson knows as some derivative of firedust. As they walk in, there are stacked wooden beams and ropes laid upon the floor to either side of the entrance - apparently props and sections of a movable stage that could be constructed given time and effort. The whole place feels like a used workshop...certainly no one would actually entertain guests in this mess.
A series of growling hisses and snorts alerts the three constables to a series of four steel cages on the far left wall just beyond the stairs, whereupon they see caged four creatures the size of large cats or smaller dogs, with black or brown fur but all with distinct white fur atop their heads and upper backs. They seem irked and very aggressive, baring teeth at them. Fortunately for the constables, the cages all appear to be closed and barred with steel pins.
"Hush now! What's all the commo...shun," says a short man in bright crimson low boots starting to come down the steps, which the constables quickly determine is not a human but a gnome. The gnomish male has curly coppery hair under a fancy yellow bowler hat, with garish attire of an azure vest and orange shirt underneath, brown trousers with golden embroidery along the hems and a black cane. He twirls at the edges of an impishly coppery mustache curled at the ends, and bows grandly to them.
"Oh! Well hello there friends! Welcome! Welcome to the fair domicile of The House Elf, of which I am he! How may I be...um...how may I be...of service?" Still upon the stairs some thirty feet from them and ten feet up, the gnomish magician stammers and pauses in his otherwise practiced introduction, noticing now that the trio are dressed in the attire of the R.H.C. Yet 'The House Elf' recovers quickly and says to them while absently fondling a golden wedding ring on his right hand, "Ahh...I must say this is an esteemed pleasure to be visited by three of the Royal Constabulary! How may I be of service to our King this day...I normally don't venture across the bay to Central very often, but I would make an exception if you desire magical entertainment of the highest caliber at a government event! Yes indeedy!"
"We can't speak for the King, but I do know someone who is to be married soon and may be interested in your services. I would be happy to put you in contact with him." Constable Hill walks towards the cages slightly, trying to determine what kind of creatures are locked within. "Curious creatures. Where did you get them?" He pretends to shake himself from a errant train of thought. "My appologies. It has been a long day and my mind sometimes wanders."
He walks back towards the others and asks "We would just like to ask you a few questions regarding a local business arrangement. Is there a place we can all sit and perhaps have a cup of tea?"
"Ahh, wonderful wonderful! Blander Wareye at your service!" The gnome who calls himself 'The House Elf' bows grandly with a flourish of his hand to Emerson, smiling with delight. He looks briefly back upstairs to his left and sighs. "Alas I am not equipped in my shop for tea and such...work work work you know!" He chuckles and adds, "My wife and I have but a 'small' abode and usually we take our tea elsewhere in the neighborhood, but I hope this will not dissuade you from discussing business?"
Nodding to the other two constables in his shoppe, he smiles and says, "Ahh yes well my pets are called 'crowned badgers' and are originally from Ber, though most are extinct in that region now. Some of my people brought some over the Anthras into our southern grasslands some centuries ago, and that is where I procured these four fine friends here...trained them myself you know! Quite remarkable, wouldn't you agree?"
Still standing on the steps, Mister Wareye says amenably, "Though I am already engaged in another show for later this evening, I would be happy to discuss future business arrangements! What did you fine constables have in mind that only The House Elf can provide like no other?"
Jesselle was happy to let Emerson start but can see that the gnome has obviously either not gotten the importance of what would bring the Constabulary to his door... and interject.
"Perhaps we should put it a little more bluntly, Mr. Wareye, we are not in need of your, entertainment, services this day. Should we though, we will be sure to let you know." Jesselle pauses, "Today, we are in need of some information."
She than starts, "First, if you have yet to hear, we are sorry to inform you that Nilasa, has passed. Second, we are investigating the events that let to her passing. Lastly, we would ask your cooperation in this matter, if you could?"
”Oh? Waitwhatsthat…you…OHHHH…I see…” Blander’s merry capering to possibly landing a wonderfully unexpected performance is dashed across his face, followed by a slowly dawning recognition of what Jesselle has just related to him. He mustache starts to twitch and he twirls it absently, nodding his head at the constable but his eyes clearly lost in startled thought.
”Well now indeedy…a solemn prospect that is to hear but OF COURSE I’ll help! Help’s my other surname in the Dreaming it is! Well now, anything for the King and our Risuri homeland! Yessiree! It’s getting to be about time to close the shop anyway, so I can just take care of that and then we can retire over to my work stage where I can at least fetch you something proper to…”
A door opens faintly somewhere away from them. ”Blander? Blander dear?” calls out a woman’s voice somewhere upstairs and towards the opposite side of the shop from the front door. ”Blander...I hear voices…do you have company?”
”Yes dear, oh yes I was just about to come and tell you,” answers Blander with a sheepish grin and shrug to the three constables nearby. ”It’s just getting late and I’ve already made triple of what I expected to do this day, but one never knows what else is waiting in the wings just beyond the nest…ahem…but enough about my work-a-work plans so let me not further disappoint my esteemed…”
Blander Wareye, a.k.a ‘The House Elf’ raises a flourishing hand right in mid-sentence, and suddenly a metal bolt mechanism on the wall pitches forward just above the four badger cages, the action acting like a pulley lever which raises the cage doors to all four at the same time without so much as a squeak or grating sound.
The four crown badgers start hissing and growling as soon as the doors slide open, each one narrowing its beady eyes towards the constables and clearly trained to defend their master.
As for Blander, his eyes are wide and he looks almost ashamed or sorry for what he’s just done, but it’s clear he has no intention of talking to the constables on the subject of Nilasa Hume or his involvements with her. Some sort of rustling can be heard upstairs, but there is no way to tell from the front of the workshop what that may be about.
It is Gemma Atherton who heeds her instincts for a fight first, standing next to the other two in clear sight of ‘The House Elf’ at the top of the stairs as well as the badger cages on the wall, but too far away from either at the moment to do anything about any of them…
The House Elf Workshop - Ground Floor
Gemma was hoping there wasn't going to be a fight but the more Blander talked the more tense she got. So when he finally was stupid enough to release his badgers, she wasn't entirely taken aback.
She shakes her head for a quick moment and then heads straight to Blander intending to stop the fight before it ever gets really started. Chasing a gnomish magician through the alleys here had a high chance of failure and she didn't want to take the chance.
Pulling her tonfa as she makes her way up the stairs, she intends to strongly encourage the gnome to stay put.
"You really shouldn't have done that Mr. Wareye."
Unfortunately, she pulls her punch a little too much in her intent to subdue without truly injuring the gnome and misses.
Great, Gemma. Great opener. Dammit!
Blander gives a little shriek and shouts out ”SIC ‘EM!” in Risuri Primordeal speak, then adds a quick apologetic ”SORRY!” as he retreats up the last few steps onto a somewhat rickety series of wooden plank boards some fifteen feet above the floor that criss-cross across the rafters of his workshop. In this case his escape route takes him away from the area the constables are at over into the main portion of his workshop which is separated downstairs by a wooden wall and doorway from the entrance portion of the shoppe…now threatened by several snarling badgers.
Gemma can barely see that the boards run across the shop to the far side that is shrouded in darkness, though it seems there is more planking on the far side that makes up something like a balcony area.
The House Elf Workshop - Ground Floor
The House Elf Workshop - Second Floor
Jesslle did not expect the reaction, but then it did not really matter either. As the cages pop open and the small female disappears setting his angry critters upon them.
The young woman reacts quickly, not before Gemma who is already up the stairs, but fast enough. She speaks her strange arcane words, "Fac apel la puterea Arcane, face neted această suprafață," while flipping small bit of white-yellowish substance towards the ground before them. The substance disappears as a brown sludge appears on the ground before the cages.
She than steps the door and pushes it open and states to those waiting outside the shop, "He's on the run, look for a gnome, red hair and mustache, dressed... to stand out."
"Did...did he pass us?" Tobias questions a little confused. He knows he can be oblivious but didn't think Feth or Anneca would miss a gnome running by.
Why didn't I go in for the negotiations? He thinks, beating himself for not offering his diplomatic expertise but he starts to move.
"There's an alleyway on the side of the house, maybe he's headed there!" He rushes toward the right of the house, drawing his weapon as he does.
Sure enough, the four badgers snarl and leap from their prepared cages, jumping down to the floor and scampering forward towards Emerson and Jesselle ahead of them. Yet the magical casting of Jesselle’s greasy floor sends two of the animals into a terrible tumble, sliding into each other and then completely collapsing in the buttery mess, furred claws and legs and snouts everywhere.
Still, two of the badgers slide across the greasy floor and reach Emerson, both ferocious little things attempting to chomp down on his bum foot and leg in their loyal attempt to defend their gnomish master, completely ignoring Gemma up upon the stairs above them.
Tobias no sooner rounds the corner to the alleyway when he sees a leather-clad guard round the corner on the complete other side of the alley towards him. What’s odd to Tobias is that the guard rounded the corner from where the alley opens up onto the neighboring street, from a completely different building that sits behind the workshop of The House Elf. The guard snarls and draws a stout-looking club, his intentions towards Tobias being perfectly clear.
Gemma on the stairwell can barely see the arrival of someone new to the far-side plank balcony that Blander has trundled over to, though their voices carry clearly enough for anyone inside the shop to hear them.
”DANISCA! It’s the R.H.C. and they KNOW about Nilasa and they want to KNOW about the…’
”SHADDUP BLANDER!” interrupts the same female voice that addressed Blander a few moments before as his wife in the upstairs living quarters area. Her voice is much harsher now, and with a tinge of steeled finality that suggests who is the dominant one in the pairing, at least during times of crisis. ”Get to the passway door and Aris is ready there – I’ll keep these lickspittles down – NOW GET GOING!”
With that the female seems ready to make some sort of stand against the first constable that dares climb to the top of the steps…but what can she possibly do?
The House Elf Workshop - Ground Floor
The House Elf Workshop - Second Floor
Anneca follows Tobias as he rounds the corner, pulling out her firearm as she turns it herself. "He doesn't look friendly," she observes in her usual droll manner. She keeps an eye on the alleyway, trying to work out potential angles of attack and escape. The architecture of the buildings ought to give some clues as to the relationship between them. As she pulls closer, she keeps one eye on the guard and another on the buildings, looking for a clue as to how he might escape.
Emerson yells out in pain as the badger bites his bad leg. He kicks the thing free and jumps up the stairs as the two creatures snap at the air where he used to be. He readies his carbine and levels it at Blander as soon as he crests the stairs. BOOM! The rapport echoes through the building as his shot speeds towards his target.
Even as Emerson fires a shot to hit the hapless House Elf up on the planks by his wife, Danisca Wareye lobs a globe of swirling colors back in the direction of Emerson in an attempt to splatter him right at the top of the stairs. Unfortunately in her intensity she overshoots Emerson, the globe impacts well past him on some unused planking just over the head of Jesselle. The swirls coalesce to form a dark gloom that sizzles and mars the boards, pitting them with the rot and stain of entropy. Strange as it may seem, Emerson thinks somewhat of the constable Arthur Wilde when he beholds the gnomish woman throw her unstable bomb at him.
Once every combat you may touch an ally and give them insight into future actions. The touched ally chooses one of the following; Attack Roll, Saving Throw, Skill Check or Concentration Check, and then rolls a d20. The next time the ally would roll for the selected action, they may use the previously rolled result or opt to make a new roll. Other abilities that allow re-rolls may not be used in conjunction with this ability. If the action would have multiple rolls (such as iterative attacks), only the first roll is replaced.
Seeing that Anneca is following Emerson, Fethryth decides to go in the front door. She pushes in past Jesselle, looks at the badgers and raises her eyebrows. "Well, that's not what I was expecting." Instead of taking a swing at once she rests a hand on Emerson's shoulder. It glows faintly for a few seconds before fading.
Gemma gives a quick nod and a "You okay?" as she makes her way past Emerson. The question was more rhetorical than anything else as she was slightly more concerned about who was throwing acidic bombs.
She quickly makes her way up the remaining stairs, drawing her pepperbox in the process, stepping deftly onto the planking to set her feet before firing. She easily spies both Blander and his wife but realizes they're slightly farther away than she'd hoped. She knows that if she can down Blander then it may give his wife pause. She aims and takes her shot.
Gemma grits her teeth and prepares to move again after the wild miss.
DAMMIT!
Perhaps it was just bad luck that Gemma misses so poorly with the first shot of her new pepperbox pistol, but at the moment of her pulling the trigger she feels a brief jolt and the metallic ping of a bolt giving way; instinctively she changes her stance and hops her feet to either side, just as the rickety wooden planking underneath her gives way with a clever three-foot square trapdoor falling into something she never expected. Right below her on a makeshift stage in what appears to be the main portion of the House Elf’s workshop is a large glass and metal tank of water, well over a person’s height and lined with golden thread around its top edges. The tank is clearly designed for some sort of escape act that may be part of the gnome’s theatrical tricks, yet here it also serves as a tank to drop a hapless person atop the planking directly within, complete with a wire-triggered metal lid that now slams down atop the tank and clicks with finality. Luckily for Gemma, she has not fallen within it and does not find herself trapped within and drowning, for that was clearly the intent…
…it is also not lost upon Gemma that a second similar water-filled tank of glass and steel sits just fifteen paces beyond her and right under the plank walkway that connects to where both Blander and Danisca are standing, almost as if they hoped to lure the constable into the trap right in front of them. Standing precariously on the edges of the planking as she is, Gemma notes the wooden trapdoor she stands over has cannot reset on its own, a clear indicator of the first trap she has involuntarily sprung.
”You…YOU JUST SHOT ME!” exclaims the wounded Blander Wareye, looking down at the torn vest and blood streaming from the carbine wound that could have been fatal if but a handspan in another direction. The gnomish entertainer shrieks and utters a strange staccato of melodic syllables back at the pair of constables, and POOF! in response a tremendous glittering cloud of amber dust comes erupting down upon both Emerson and Gemma, the dust carpeting the wooden planks, upper stairwell and even portions of the entrance room and adjacent workstage room that Gemma now stands precariously over. The glittering dust sparkles and swirls around them both in an attempt to disorient and blind their vision, but somehow both constables manage to keep their vision clear of the stuff even as the rest of their uniforms are completely covered by it.
With his wife’s insistence the wounded ‘House Elf’ does not remain to judge his handiwork, but instead retreats back towards the far rear door that she herself came from, beating a hasty retreat back towards safety from more gunfire.
The House Elf Workshop - Ground Floor
The House Elf Workshop - Second Floor
"We may want to get out of here," Jesselle says to Fethryth. "These critters are rarely fun to deal with on the best of days. We can try to catch this guy from the outside."
Jesselle casts quick glance around the room to get some idea where things might be when she tried to find out where she is going from the outside. She opens and door again and exits
"I got the door."
"He's not in range of any of my abilties, cover me if you can?" Tobias asks Anneca quietly to before he rushes forward into the alleyway, wondering if his colleagues have had any luck. We need someone to communicate when we're split. He think as he slows to a stop just in front of the boxes, hoping he's baited the guard forward, but hasn't left himself vulnerable to attack.
The badger that sunk its teeth into Emerson’s leg apparently hasn’t had enough of him yet, decidedly scampering away from Fethryth to trundle up the stairs and go after him some more. Fethryth wasn’t prepared for the vicious onslaught of badgers when she entered the room to aid Emerson and whiffs badly on a kick against it, the badger speed catching her offguard. It makes its way up the stairs and nips Emerson once again from behind on the heal, its claws ready to hamstring him if he remains there.
It’s an inglorious ending Fethryth must conclude, of death by badgers. The small yet vicious little animal turns its full wrath upon her…and though she deftly fends off its bite the little beast in turn leaps onto her exposed leg, sinking sharp claws in and rending flesh and muscle almost to the bone. She tries to shake it off and barely manages so, bright blood spilling across the floor as she does. It’s almost comical with Jesselle simply standing there to hold the door open for Fethryth as she gets mauled by badger, but the pain and dizziness is quite real.
As for the two other badgers caught in Jesselle’s magically greased floor, they seem to have lost all notions of defending their master. One manages to scramble out of the area and back to the farthest corner by the cages, hissing and furiously trying to lick its paws to get the decidedly unpleasant substance off of itself. The other badger gains its footing…only to fall once again in a heap and crash upon the floor, letting out a pitiful growling groan as it cannot right itself.
Counter to Tobias Utegg’s anticipation that his tactical challenge in the middle of the alleyway will spur on the leather-clad guard to attack him, both constables see a very different reaction. The guard sees Tobias with his great blade drawn, looks to Anneca beyond him in similar grey uniform, widens his eyes…and promptly spins on his heal to retreat back the way he came out of the alley to the shopfront on the other street.
Tobias watches the guard retreat in clear cowardice, but also understands now the relationship between the two shops on different streets: not only do they share a side alleyway between them with service doors from each building that both open up to it, but just overhead on the second floor there is an enclosed wooden catwalk that connects the buildings directly, which must allow access between the upper floors of both The House Elf’s workshop and the other shop that stands behind it.
Who knows what other guardians lurk in the other shop sitting behind the abode of ‘The House Elf’ this day?
The House Elf Workshop - Ground Floor
The House Elf Workshop - Second Floor
"SURRENDER OR YOU RISK BEING SHOT AGAIN!" Fethryth yells at Blander Wareye. That's all she's able to get out before there's a badger climbing up her leg. "Son of a b%&%*" she grunts out a curse as she flings the creature off of her.
Fethryth turns to Jesselle "Go, I'll help these two.". She takes off up the stairs, twisting and turning to avoid the badgers as she does so.
"Cover you? How about you cover me?" Anneca rushes past Tobias, pistol at the ready to engage the gnome or any guards that might come to his aid. She scans down the alley and up both walls, looking for the full measure of the place. If he makes his way out through this direction, he'll come headlong into the two of them.
Anneca moves past Tobias and rounds the corner to the alleyway that serves the back of the shops to each street, disregarding the foul stenches of stale water, refuse and molding wood. To her dismay there’s nothing especially remarkable as to what’s been done to link the two separate shops on separate streets together: an enclosed wooden catwalk has been constructed on the upper story to accomplish this. Anneca notes the construction is poor but serviceable and reinforced well – the catwalk roofing and sides have been coated with tar and some standard weatherproofing agent that would more likely smolder and smoke that burn immediately. She notes the catwalk is not fully high enough for human-sized folk to walk comfortably, but she sees no obvious weaknesses to bring it down. The wooden service door underneath it is made of old rickety wood and is as poor quality as much of the seaworn construction found here in Pine Island, with newer planks simply tacked over the old to reinforce bits that have worn or rotted over time. A similar looking door on the House Elf shoppe side is likewise unremarkable.
Danisca smiles wickedly at the constables upstairs - two completely covered in amber-colored sparkledust - and retorts, ”Come any closer and I’ll burn ya to ash for hurtin’ me Blander doll!” She withdraws another glass globe from her satchel and shakes it vigorously as the colors swirl and intensify, then gives a rousing swing to hurl it right towards Gemma who precariously straddles the open trapdoor to the water tank below.
”Juggle this bootlicker!” quips Danisca, who lets loose her throw…but in her zest it slips from her grasp at the last moment and flies nearly straight up into the roof rafters, coming down to crash and burst right in front of her. The concoction this time appears greenish and sizzles both the wood planking and the front of the female alchemist’s clothes and shoes. ”AHH! MIVENPIXELTHRAS….” the gnomish expletive goes on as she hastily moves back from the acidic spray and retreats towards her bleeding husband.
The House Elf Workshop - Ground Floor
The House Elf Workshop - Second Floor
Emerson yells at the badger and tries to shake it loose. He pulls his pepperbox and shoots from the hip but the shaking from the small, vicious creature still gnawing on his pant leg throws off his aim.
Gemma is not at all happy about how this is turning out...although truth be told, it could be much worse. Wary of her footing, she moves forward, dropping the tonfa so that she can ratchet the pepperbox to take another shot. All her attention has been on Blander so far, but she's realizing that his wife seems to be the tougher of the opponents.
She stops right before the next trap door and fires at Danisca.
Unfortunately, this shot is no good either.
”PRISMATTIUS STUPIFICIUS!” bellows Blander in a shrill voice that borders upon panic, motioning with his hands outward towards a spot somewhere between Gemma and Fethryth on the wooden plank walkway. Instantly a swirling mass of colors blooms in the air around and between the constables, though the effect catches Gemma within its sphere of bedazzling influence. Unlike the glittered explosion of fey dust that carpeted them just a few moments before, this time the colors are more serene and beautiful to behold, as if watching a sea of color and pattern that moves to an inaudible symphonic rhythm. It is the most beautiful thing Gemma can imagine seeing in quite some time, and simply must stand there to behold it for as long as it lasts, lest she miss even one iota of its beauty.
"HaHA! That'll do it! Come love, let's beat our retreat from these ignorant and ill-informed interlopers!" Blander still dabs at his bullet wound even as he shuffles through the doorway into...somewhere else that neither Fethryth or Emerson can make out. Yet ahead of them upon the planks, the shimmering colors of Blander's magic that have caught up Gemma do not fade with his departure.
The House Elf Workshop - Ground Floor
The House Elf Workshop - Second Floor
As Fethryh is first attacked by one of the small badgers and than heads upstairs with Gemma and Emerson she closes the door. "Good luck in there..."
The woman than turns and quickly makes her away down the side the building As she rounds the corner she can just spot Tobias and heads in his direction.
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"Cover you, with my lack of ranged...anything? Yeah, sure." Tobias mutters as he follows after Anneca. Though looking at the catwalk, an idea does spring into his mind and he mentally projects a sound onto the catwalk, hoping to forestall anyone that might be exiting the building from above his reach.
The sound of multiple boots marching across the walk way springs to life and Tobias adds his own voice, hoping to add authenticity to his illusion.
"Get that door open!"
The largest and most furious badger unleashes his fury upon Emerson’s exposed legs upon the stairwell, deftly dodging the occasional boot kicked in his direction. Yet his bite and claws fail to pierce through the hard leather boots.
The second badger snarls and scampers towards the front door that Jesselle closes, its small body slamming into the door with an audible thud and its claws starting to mark up the wood. Woe be to any hapless fellow that would come into The House Elf’s shoppe unaware!
As for the two other badgers of Blander Wareye, one continues to rise and exit Jesselle’s spell, only to fall and crash around a third time, its groans positively pitiful. The other spits and growls in the relative safety of the room’s corner near its cage, having no intention to go forward again.
What happened to the shoppe guard that ran away from the two constables in the alleyway? Unfortunately for Tobias and Anneca, they did not follow around to the front of the adjacent shop to know…
”WATCH YERSELVES LADY N’ GENT!” shouts a gruff-sounding man from the second story of the adjacent shop right near the enclosed catwalk. ”THEY’RE IN HERES SOMEWHERES SOMEHOW!” Bootsteps can be heard in a hurried rush in that adjacent shop’s second story, but there’s no telling who or how many…
The House Elf & Adjacent Shop - Ground Floor
The House Elf & Adjacent Shop - Second Floor
"Gemma, Gemma! Ah dammit" Fethryth swears and starts moving forward.
She moves past the first trap ok...
And the second one too. She *could* tear off after the fleeing pair, but she wasn't born yesterday. She peeks around the corner instead
hp 11/11; AC 16/16T/14FF; +1F/+2R/+3W
Anneca scoffs at Tobias. "What, do you have to touch them to get in their heads? Don't tell me you've got to kiss them before they listen to you. No wonder it never works!" With his magic hopefully blocking the second-story exit, Anneca runs to the ground-level door. Pointing her firearm into the doorway, she yanks it open and prepares to step in the threshold. At the same time, she keeps an eye on the upper level, in case she needs to break away and head the gnome off as he heads into the side building.