Smacking the verrick (1d20+3=10, 1d6+3=5)
Tzu swings, misses, and prepares to die defending her charge.
The verrik dispassionately dodges the brave litorian and casually stabs her.
Tzuchaleny collapses to the ground.
As she collapses, Tzu flings herself in front of Keiva, trying with her last conscious thought to prevent harm coming to the one she is bound to protect.
Pendrick stares in shock as his friend hits the ground
soren, tzu...this looks bad...I think he killed her!
Ashen faced, the Warmain throws himself at the Verrik; using his grief to power an extra surge to his attack.
After Keiva's icy attack, Pendrick's massive blow is enough to drop the verrik to unconsciousness.
Tzu is barely aware of the world slipping away from her. Some tiny part of consciousness berates her for her failure ...
"Keiva, help Tzu, I'll do what I can to fold bandages and help"
Pendrick jumps to the aide of his fallen comrade.
"Tzu!" Keiva screams as her friend falls to the floor, barely aware of Pendrick taking down the verrik as she rushes to the litorian's side. "Please don't let her die," she prays to Tebu the Just-Quick-Enough, god of narrow escapes, as she rummages in her pouches for bandages and poultices. Keiva adds more prayers to more gods, whispering a profusion of names and titles as she struggles to save Tzu's life. After a quick prayer to Akatha, The Skilled One, Keiva's eyes sparkle and she goes to work.
Keiva lets out a huge sigh of relief as she manages to stanch Tzu's wounds. Her whole body is shaking. "Thank you," she murmurs to no god in particular, or to all of them. She strokes her friend's head, gently cleaning the blood from her fur. "Be strong, Tzu. You'll be all right. You have to be."
Tebu and Akatha answer the faen witch's prayers, and Tzu is now no longer dying.
In her dreams, Tzu wanders the limerick-strewn greengage orchards, looking for Ruther Four-Claws.
"Bravely done Keiva! I thought Ironthumb had abandoned us there...my faith was lacking." He looks down at his shaking, bloodsoaked hands: "Sorry about that Keiva, the legends are pretty vague when it comes to carnage" Pendrick smiles tightly,
vague so idiots like me will take up the sword with thoughts only of glory...still, still a breathing idiot
then nods to himself and grins.
"Good to be alive Keiva, good to be alive!" Still smiling, he belts the Verrick on the head with the pommel of his sword and, after a glance around the room, pulls shut the door and searches his fallen foe.
"The gods smile upon those who help themselves," Keiva says. "They won't do it for us. What's important is that Tzu is all right, but I won't be able to do anything more for her until tomorrow. Perhaps we should look around and see what we can find. Also, did we search the man being beaten outside? The verrik said he had something he wanted. And make sure you tie him up, Pendrick."
Search (1d20+4=20)
Using the materials at hand, on the sibeccai corpses and whatever clothing the now-naked Verrik can spare, Pendrick methodically hogties and gags the Verrik.
The knots completed, Pendrick tilts his head to the side and purses his lips for a second. Snapping his fingers, he pulls a club from his pack and delivers a pair of solid blows to the back of the Verrik's skull
"That'll do, that'll do"
Whistling softly, Pendrick sets about collecting the bodies of survivors and victims. Turning the room where Tzu fell into a fortified hospital ward, and the room with the Sibeccai into a morgue.
Keiva finds a pouch containing a tiny journal, even too small for her hands. She realizes it's a spryte register, a lorebook and diary kept by explorers amongst her people (as faen lorerolls) and their evolved counterparts, the sprytes.
Also in the pouch are 30 queens (gp), 1 broken glass vial of purple ink, a tiny scroll hidden in the vial, which seems to be a map, and an inch long quill.
After a few hours the man who was the mugging victim earlier revives.
Pendrick finds that the verrik has a well-made longsword (masterwork), an elegant longshield (masterwork), a leather coat, and a potion.
The floor has a trapdoor in it, which has been uncovered (it was hidden by a rug).
Purrs gently as her claws open and close rhythmically. Gradually, she is starting to heal.
As the night progresses, the rescued man comes to and introduces himself as Leagar Bookman. He expresses great regret at the injury of Shekebbet and Tzu, but thanks you for rescuing him and his belongings, but he is curious as to why you were all up in the attic?
Tzu and Shekebbet remain unconscious but stable.
Oh ho, here we have it!
Pendrick gives the Verrik another crack on the head: "in case he's listening in and faking it" he explains.
"Is this about the little statue? No need to worry, we murdered it while we were looking out for your interests. Speaking of your interests, I'm surprised there's been no mention o' the clinky sort of gratitude?"
The man looks stunned, "You mean, you destroyed the statue! What?! You wrecked my property and you expect me to be grateful!"
"We also saved your life, and all the rest of your property, besides. That statue was an abomination and tried to kill us. I doubt you'll get an apology from any of us."
"But perhaps you wouldn't mind telling us who your enemy here is, Master Bookman," Keiva asks, gesturing to the unconscious verrik. "He certainly knew you. What was he looking for?"
Keiva turns her attention to the spryte lorebook and scroll, to see if she can read anything on them. Once she's finished that, she'll gingerly take a sip of the verrik's potion, trying to identify it and hoping it might help her friends.
"An abomination! How can you of all people say that!?! It was a faen guardian statuette. Didn't you see the wards?"
He then sees Keiva looking at the book, "Ahem! He was looking for that! Which happens to be mine. I thank you for saving my life, but that does not entitle you to go taking my belongings!" he adds in disbelief.
"This is all very well for you people who go off gallivanting into the town ruins, or for your sort", he points at Pendrick "the so-called 'guard', but some of us don't rifle through other people's belongings."
"Now, if you please, could you return my things? Don't worry, I'll pay you."
Pendrick stops and stares blankly at Leagar for several seconds.
"Maybe this isn't the time to get into it. But...WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? You weren't saved by Angel's Wings tonight, it was us, and we were happy to do it. But PEOPLE DIED,and it easily could have been the four of us! And now you're giving us cack about your malevolent little homoculous, and not a word about sparing a bobber to help heal those who nearly died in your service ..."
Pendrick pauses for another few seconds:
"You know, you're right. You owe us nothing. Good luck in the future."
"I just said I would pay you. You guard are all the same." he mutters.
"I said I was grateful, but it seems everyone's the same in the cesspit town."
"If you really feel that way, would it be smart to take that tone? If we were really 'all the same' I mean?".
Pendrick scratches his head: "I'm not.. we're not.. Guardsmen. We have to improvise, and that means using whatever we can to stay alive. What do you expect a faen and mojh magister to do when they get within a giant's reach of fancy magic? I mean, look at her go, she'll have read your little book in the time it would take me to make out the first words!"
Pendrick clears his throat:
"Listen, I'm sorry for a lot of things that happened here tonight. But look, we're all still alive...I'm Pendrick, pleased to meet you on this side of Ironthumb's fortress."
Bookman sighs, "Yes, I... this has been very hectic to say the least. You at least, look like one of the Town Watch, and well... some of them would sell their own grandmothers."
He sits down with exhaustion, "Yes, that was dangerous magic you awoke. They were crafted to guard children, you see, and being of faen crafting, it is also a work of art."
"It was well-crafted, I'll give you that," Keiva replies. "But something was wrong with it. There were no children to protect, and it attacked us. It pushed Shekebbet down the stairs, nearly killing him! We only defended ourselves."
She waves the lorebook at him. "What is your interest with all things faen, anyways?"