Pocky wipes the blood from her face. She decides her kicks will be lethal. Her goddess Aella will kindly provide the lightning.
If he falls, Pocky will keep kicking him.
If he is unconscious, Pocky will keep kicking him.
If his bones are crushed to rubble, Pocky will keep kicking him.
Still invisible, Ci Ci flies out the door and down the hall, staying near the ceiling.
She extends her hand and surrounds the man with light again. "Flash! Ahhh!"
Mara chased after the little halfling monk, who seemed determined to get herself into trouble! Concentrating on her phylactery, Mara directed some healing to Pocky
Dervak just hangs out and watches the battle. Pocky seems to have things well in hand.
Theophilus watches (mouth wide open) as the sweet little girl totally f#*+s his ass up!
He turns to Dervak.
Want to play cards with us?
The White Rabbit is wearing a dealers cap.
Pocky hears a sharp crack of bone as her leg impacts, somehow miraculously he remains standing and lucid. Pocky shows no mercy and continues to beat the man with a flurry of kick after kick, each time a jolt of electricity jumps at him but Pocky can see it doesn’t leave a small singe mark.
The man is fighting pain but remains mostly unfazed Pocky's attacks, which is when Ci Ci manages to power through the man’s surprising resistance to her spells and burn away his evil flesh. He slumps over defeated.
The defeated man's form slowly changes and twists into a blue-skinned outsider, her body is a foul landscape of blazing rashes, oozing pustules, and taut blisters.
He turns to Dervak.
Want to play cards with us?The White Rabbit is wearing a dealers cap.
Dervak will play a hand of cards.
Once it became clear that the combat was over, Mara investigated Pocky's report of an unconscious man in the corner bedroom.
Pocky looks upon the defeated.
“I suppose guising oneself tricks foes into underestimating you. It would have been more convincing without the trio of floating heads.” She looks up—“Nice work, Miss Barchetta.”—and smiles at…
Oh, where did she go?
“Er… Miss Barchetta??”
Ci Ci dismisses her Invisibility and slowly descends to the floor, landing softly.
”He...she?...shook off the last one, so I put a bit more oomph into this one,” she say to Pocky. ”I’ve got to try and pull my weight around here somehow.”
The bound and gagged man matches the description of Dahab, complete with a poorly healing wound where his ear was removed. He is unconscious but alive and in no immediate danger of dying.
The bedroom contains a large bed covered in silk sheets sits in the eastern side of this L-shaped room. A standing mirror and armoire occupy the northern portion of the room. Tooled and carved leather pictures of mountains and desert landscapes cover this room’s walls.
Mara called out to the others, "It's Dahab! He's unconscious but OK, other than the missing ear."
She prayed to reveal magic auras and searched the room.
When the others joined her she said, "I guess we don't need to meet the kidnappers at dawn. I could really use some sleep. How about I meditate for a few minutes for a prayer to create a nice hidden space to rest?"
The paintings are valuable, five in total each could be sold at 200 gold each. Beneath the bed Mara finds a suit of bolstering leather lamellar armor.
Theo takes in a deep breath!
Smells like teen spirit! So, we resting here?
Mara replied to Theo, "I'm going to meditate for a prayer to create an an extradimensional underground space. It has to be in a natural, unworked area, so I can't do it in the tannery."
"Sounds good, Mara. We should wake up this guy and talk to him. Make sure he is who we think he is. Find out what happened."
Pocky agrees, “Sleeping in a pocket dimension sounds splendid. Surely the earless one is the right man. Not as surely: did we kill the sole kidnapper, or is there a group?
“The man I knocked out, as well as the one-eared one that we have rescued, should both be able to provide answers, once awake.”
As she speaks, Pocky’s wounds seem to heal on their own…
…though she still has gashes cross-hatched all over her body.
"Alright, let's wake him up," Mara replied. She knelt down beside the unconscious man and healed him.
"You're safe now," she reassured him.
She also healed Pocky some more.
Theophilus will also hit him and Pocky with a Healing hex.
After a spell from each is cast, Pocky says, “Thank you both. Ah… the wand is not necessary. I feel fine now.”
She says of the man she knocked out, “How do you all feel about incentivizing information out of ‘Sleeping Brutie?’ That is to say, we tie him to a chair and bring him to the wildcats’ room?
“My ability to keep animals at bay will keep him safe. He will not be, if left there. We wouldn’t leave him to be devoured alive, of course, but he has no reason to think that. Certainly not here, in a land where slaves are sold to die screaming for entertainment purposes.”
The man wakes introduces himself as Dahab, the Hyena princess's spy. "Thank you for rescuing me! I was put under "Fazar's" spell like all of the tannery workers. He was trying to lure Njano into the open so that he could take her place. I'll put in a good word for you, return to her estate when you're ready and I'm sure she'll reward you handsomely!" If you let him he heads off to report to his boss.
You find a place that is out of sight and are able to rest uneventfully.
Ci Ci settles in to a comfortable sitting position. "Well, whatever that thing was, it can steal faces and identities. Before we let him go, shouldn't we make sure Dahab here isn't one, too? If I were a cunning, face-stealing creature, it might profit me to work with a partner of the same race, who can take the place of the kidnapped loyal servant."
She looks to see if the others are having similar thoughts.
Theophilus and the White Rabbit begin pulling on his ears.
Theo stops.
Nothing to see here.
The White Rabbit gives a thumbs up to Dervak
Allegra will scan him with Detect Fiendish Presence and Detect Chaos. "These won't be conclusive, but they should cover quite a few of the possibilities."
Allegra's spells don't detect anything.
Mara said to Dahab, "We can offer you a safe place to rest for a few hours. I'm going to create an extradimensional space where we should be undisturbed. Unfortunately, reattaching your ear is beyond my skill at present."
Then she found a quiet spot to meditate for a few minutes.
The next day after returning with Dahab, Njano is delighted, "And you even fixed his ear! Biting Lash's fortress is called Blossoming Thorn." A slave marks the location on a map for you.
Blossoming Thorn
Grim granite walls rise 30 feet between each floor. The ground floor has only one entrance, and none of the walls have any outer windows. The second level of the fortress has a few windows that look down into the inner courtyard. These windows are large enough to let in some light and fire a ranged weapon through. The second floor is capped with lush gardens. A single arched entrance allows access, but it is barred by an iron portcullis.
A dark tunnel holds four gnoll guards and another portcullis bars the way into a shady circular yard.
"Again, we have the same choice - stealth, trickery, negotiation, or force.
Lowls had dealings with Biting Lash. Buying slaves. She may know where he has gone. So we need to speak to Biting Lash. I don't really mind uf we do that the easy way or the hard way."
The White Rabbit is seen donning a karate outfit (because he can't remember how to spell gui?).
"If they'll speak with us peacefully, I see no reason to come to blows."
Pocky says, “Still, let me know if you’d like me to slip through a wall or fly to the roof.”
1st lvl (6): Ant Haul, Cure Light Wounds, Liberating Command, Protection from Evil, Remove Fear, Unbreakable Heart, Color Spray (spirit)
2nd lvl (6): Barkskin x3, Calm Emotions, Delay Poison, Spiritual Weapon, hypnotic pattern (spirit)
3rd lvl (6): Heroism x3, Dispel Magic, Fly, Sleet Storm, Daylight (spirit)
4th lvl (5): Blessing of Fervor, Fear, Freedom of Movement, Slowing Mud, Spiritual Ally, Rainbow Pattern (spirit)
5th lvl (3): Baleful Polymorph, Breath of Life x2, Overland Flight (spirit)
6th lvl (2): Greater Dispel Magic, Wall of Stone, Chain Lightning (spirit)
Mara enjoyed a peaceful rest in the sylvan hideaway that she had created. After eating breakfast, she meditated and prepared for Biting Lash's fortress. She hoped to find the information that they needed peacefully, but was prepared in case that proved impractical. She cast a couple of initial spells before leaving.
When they arrived at the fortress of Blossoming Thorn, she offered her opinion, "I think we should attempt negotiation. It's information that we want anyway. Fighting has a tendency to shot down other options, so let's try diplomacy."
She recited a few more prayers to boost the party. Once she was finished, she looked at the exterior of the building, trying to spot dangers and obstacles that might not be so obvious.
Ci Ci nods in agreement. "So, what is our story? Do we just walk up, knock, and ask to see the resident? If we're going to make something up, we need to get our story straight."
"I suggest we offer Biting Lash the chance to give us the information we want in exchange for their miserable life."
Dervak thinks a bit.
"Or, you can say we are associates of Lowls who were delayed but have now come to assist him in his endeavors."
Theophilus--and the White Rabbit--play cards early in the morning. The White Rabbit wins; as usual....
Theo casts spells.
Theophilus looks at the fortress with a frown.
So, what is our reason for visiting? How can we convince them to allow an audience?
The White Rabbit nods sagely.
We need something to either Bluff, or Diplomacy with...
Mara talked to her allies about her plan, "I'm going to see if the guards will let us in. As Dervak suggests, I'll say we are associates of Lowls here to assist him. If they say he's already been here and left, I'll ask for an audience with Biting Lash, so we can get directions to catch up with him. If necessary, I may offer a financial incentive."
She waited until the first stars came out before approaching the guards. She introduced herself, "Hello there, my name is Mara. My group are associates of Count Hasterton Lowls. He is scheduled to meet Biting Lash, and we're here to assist him."
One of the guards stifles a laugh, "Drux let Drorreth know about our visitors." The inner portcullis opens to let one of the guards through.
Mara told the others, "I don't think they believe me about being Lowl's helpers. But I just had a vision. I think someone is trapped inside a stone cell — perhaps an ally."
"Yep. Think you're right."
Dervak Str-rages, using Greater Bloodrage to apply the effects of Enlarge Person, and smashes through the portcullis.
Theophilus--and the White Rabbit just stare at Mara; as the laughing gnolls announce them...
They both then turn to look at Dervak.
I see that we won't be awaiting a reply...
The White Rabbit begins doing some stretches...
Pocky is more than happy to kick slavers to death. She says to the guards, “You obviously prefer honesty, so know this: your only prospect for survival is to direct us to the prisoner my friend mentioned. Whichever of you does not die first, consider it as your friends fall.”
Pocky sinks into her jabbing stance.
Mara was disappointed that things seemed to be headed in a violent direction. I guess I should have said things differently. She followed Dervak through the gate.
The portcullis' metal bars bend and groan at under the massive strength of Dervak until two of the bars snap under the strain.