With a single stroke, Amiri clubs the Spider into unconsciousness.
"That was too easy, isn't this a illusion Ezren? Can someone check if she's not pretending??"
"I'm not the expert Cairo or Kyra is, but she appears to be truly unconscious to me. Let's do a quick search of the room and our opponent, then make our way out of here."
Ezren searches Ouidda, then casts detect magic on anything he finds and throughout the room in general.
"That's a good question...Ezren? Teleport maybe? Cairo?" says the barbarian while taking 20 to search the room for items and documents.
"I can transport Ouidda, myself and one other person out of here through a dimensional door. Since Cairo managed to enter the front door by showing his gold to the gendarmes at the door, it shouldn't be at all suspicious if he's seen inside. Given how easy it was for us to make our way downstairs and into the basement, I'd think Cairo and one other person could just walk out of here."
Looking down at the unconscious Ouidda, an idea comes to Ezren. "I'll take her and either Amiri or Aerynne with me, and transport us to the alleyway behind the building where we climbed in the window. It was very quiet there, should be no problem. And we'll just pretend that Ouidda is passed out drunk and we need to get her home. Nobody should bother two women and an old man stumbling down the street."
"What do you think? I've still got a potion of flight, so the two who stay should have no problem getting past that rug trap and out of here "
A spell, a show of coins, and wink later, the party is outside the Parlor and on their way back to the safehouse. The group makes their way down the streets gathering little interest from the streets of Riddleports and even those catching a glimpse of Amiri seemingly bearing an unconscious noblewoman doesn't seem to phase people much. Arrving at their destination, the group is quickly let in.
Grandmaster Torch’s elegant suite in the Cypher Lodge appears just as it did earlier today, except that the Sczarni entrepreneur Guaril Karela is absent. Grandmaster Torch lounges in a chair, reading, while his half-orc bodyguards stand casually behind him.
He smiles when the party enters and puts his book down. One of torch's guards brings a chair in adjacent to the Grandmaster and Torch follows by patting it's seat indicating she should be seated next to him.
"Well done. Those bonds are tight I trust?"
"The safe one dies of age. You can check it yourself, here, take it." She says while moving to the chair to put the fully bound woman. Amiri will stand aside the spider, in case anything happens.
"And just as important, she won't be talking for a bit. I'm sure you're aware of this, Grandmaster, but I'd keep her tied and gagged when you're with her, unless you absolutely need her to talk to answer questions. She's got a silver tongue, had Amiri and Cairo at each other's throats in an instant. But I'm sure you'll take the necessary safeguards."
Ezren looks around and smiles at his companions, then says, "I'm not known for effusive praise or great boasts, Grandmaster Torch, but we did well tonight. Clockwork guards, a series of magical traps, and the spider in her nest - and brought her in alive, which I wasn't sure was going to happen."
"Yes, you've done well. So well that I'd like you here to watch as I get the answer to a long awaited question. Please give me some room. I promise you my guards will be able to handle things if she tries any tricks."
Torch makes a shooing motion, urging Amiri to back up.
She steps back, reluctantly at first, but keeps moving getting closer to the group.
He's not gonna ask her hand is he?
Torch gives Amiri an nod of thanks and produces a wand. He checks her bindings one more time and then taps the Spider with it a few times, mending her wounds and massive black eye.
Ouidda rouses, groggily, but awake enough. Torch leans over and whispers in her ear. The Spider glares at the group and then whispers something back.
Grandmaster Torch nods agreeably to Ouidda and turns to the party.
“My endless thanks to each of you, Pathfinders, for your loyal service but now I’ve finally got something to hold over the Decemvirate, so I’m striking out on my own.” As he says this, Grandmaster Torch draws a dagger and drives it into Ouidda’s throat, killing her.
"You've all served admirably so I'll offer you this one chance to come with me and see the Ten finally brought low", he says as he passes his guards a knowing look.
How dare you!
Amiri takes the offered chance, yes, the chance to charge the closest enemy while drawing her large sword and feeling the blood heat up:
|
Aerynne is ever so slightly stunned by Torch's comment.
"I thought the war with the Shadow Lodge was ended years ago? What the hell are you doing, Torch?! Do you want those days of bloodshed to return?!"
She draws her pistol but does not fire it yet, instead waiting to see what Torch and his guards will do.
Amiri's frenzied charge lands a vicious blow on the nearest bodyguard.
The Grandmaster shakes his head in disappointment, "The war with the Shadow Lodge ended but not my war. I won't be finished until every one of those fools pay for what they've done..."
"I'd hoped you all had more vision than that."
Without another word, Torch wraps his cloak around himself and vanishes from sight.
Aerynne levels her firearm and fires off an explosive shot at one of the guards.
Two of Torch's brawny orcish thugs surround Amiri with their long curved blades while the one wounded by the gunslinger closes in for revenge.
Amiri swings wildly, first at the one who was already hit, and as soon as he passes out she changes to the other one:
With three brutal blows, Amiri cuts down one of the thugs.
Aerynne's bullets tear holes through the guard menacing her but he still stands.
Concerned about the guard right near him, Ezren steps quickly back, then sends his cane flying at the thug.
Ezren's flying cane thwacks one of the half-orcs in the temple with a solid hit.
Bloodied and outnumbered, the guards continue to fight.
Without a second thought, Amiri cuts down another guard leaving one remaining.
Ezren takes another step back, and lets his cane fly at the head of the surviving guard.
Aerynne retreats behind her companions but, like a beast smelling blood, the half-orc eagerly keeps on her heels.
With a fierce snarl, he slashes at her again.
In a flurry of gunfire, the last thug goes down leaving the party alone in Torch's safehouse.
From the front room the door can be heard opening and a familiar voice calls out.
"Torch? Have you heard anything from our mutual friends? I heard that was some trouble at the Spider's Parlor."
Guaril Karela looks around with indifference when he enters the blood-soaked and gunpowder-stinking room.
"What happened here?" the greasy Varisian asks.
"That is... bad..." Gauril says with less than his usual swagger.
"We've got to go - get you lot in hiding until things cool off. If I know Torch, and I know Torch, he's gunna have plans in place to pawn this off - probably on you. Come on. I know a guy."
"We knew Torch had issues but I always hoped he'd buried them", Karela explains.
"Anyways, we don't have time for extended explanations. Like I said, we gotta move before the heat arrives. We can talk once you're all safe."
True to his word, Gauril Karela gets the party to a Sczarni safehouse and also true to his word, an hour later Riddleport's gendarmes are scouring the streets for them in force.
After a week, the heat dies down enough for the group to be smuggled out of the city and another week after that, they make it to Magnimar.
Arriving at Heidmarch manor, the group is ushered into an opulent meeting room where Sheila Heidmarch, Drandle Dreng, and Ambrus Valsin. It seems the senior Venture Captains left from the Grand Lodge immediately upon hearing of Torch's betrayal. After a thorough debriefing, the Venture-Captains express concern over Torch's betrayal and the information he now holds over their heads but pass none of the blame to the party - the Grandmaster had everyone fooled.