"We don't have to feed him to the roc. There is enough melted glass here. We can do to him what he helped do to the old man. He is smart. Probably a leader. Probably this was his idea." In case any softhearted city folk started to think actually releasing the goblin was a good idea, she points dramatically at the corpse in the glass, hopefully letting it sink into them this was not a creature that was going to leave to contribute productively to society.
"Either way, we've heard enough. We need to see if the pubmistress is still alive."
"A bow eh, well that's a start, it could mean anything between a side weapon and master archer but its a start" Began Veryl as he carefully kept his fingers wrapped around the back of the goblin's neck, insuring that the bound creature would get no chance to take a bite out of his hand.
"Ah Miro, It seems you haven't met Merwyn's pet...I have no idea where it came from, but it likes goblin meat so I can already feel that we will be the best of friends" The well dressed man then turned to face Kalig Revenge for a man you've never met before...hopefully I won't end up on her bad side He narrowed his eyes at the deceased elder and then turned to the goblin Well the little beast deserves it, would have probably tried to wolf down my other glove if I was wearing it
"Alright goblin, I see that threats really won't work with you so here is how this will work...tell me something useful or I'll let the half-orc and the roc decide what to do with you, if your lucky they'll be in a sharing mood and ask me to slice you cleanly in half...and that I can do very well He patted the hilt of his sheathed sword with his free hand, as he gave their prisoner a smug smile.
"I will tell you anything you want to know but I don't know what it is you want to know. I have told you everything about the master and his sister. Please don't let that thing eat me."
"Why did the master have his father killed? Why are you working for him? What are his goals?"
The goblin looks genuinely terrified now. "I don't know why he killed his father. I work for him because I was told to by clan leader. I don't know what he wants to do. He lets us do what we want, so we were happy to do just that."
"Are we done with this thing? It has nothing else useful to say." Kalig leans over and picks up a large shard of glass with a gloved hand, adequate to cleanly cut the goblin's throat, and begins to walk toward it.
Miro frowns, stepping in front of Kalig. "There's no need to be cruel. Use a real blade and get it done in one swing."
"I don't have a blade." She waves to his scimitar. "Be my guest."
"He doesn't like goblin meat, only live goblin." She touches foreheads with the roc. "I think he's good for the day though. If he eats too much goblin, he'll gain too much weight to fly."
Horatio growls in frustration, letting a stream of curses in the rapid, musical Varisian tongue slip from his lips. He agitatedly pulls his rapier free from his belt, thrusting it at the half-orc. "Let the poor bastard die with some dignity, at least. And do it quickly - Ameiko still needs our help."
Kalig was ready to let Miro do the honors, but as he had not acted, she takes the rapier from Horatio. She raises her eyebrow at the bard, silently wondering why he doesn't do it himself, but he was a more civilized man than she was and likely didn't have the stomach for it. She holds up the slender, to her, strangely balanced sword, and holds it awkwardly and in entirely the wrong way. Fortunately the target is bound and helpless, so she should not have difficulty jabbing and slicing at its exposes throat.
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(Scimitar) and then Dervish Dance - #justsaying
Kalig was ready to let Miro do the honors, but as he had not acted, she takes the rapier from Horatio. She raises her eyebrow at the bard, silently wondering why he doesn't do it himself, but he was a more civilized man than she was and likely didn't have the stomach for it. She holds up the slender, to her, strangely balanced sword, and holds it awkwardly and in entirely the wrong way. Fortunately the target is bound and helpless, so she should not have difficulty jabbing and slicing at its exposes throat.
Despite her awkwardness with the blade, Kalig's knowledge of anatomy is sufficient to know exactly where to slice the goblin's throat to end its life quickly and relatively painlessly. The only downside is the blood that sprays the group as it watches the execution.
Kalig avoids the spray from the puncture wound, and then wipes off her hands on a rag at her belt. For all that she has few qualms about killing in this way, she is bothered by being unclean.
Kalig examines the goblin and its comrades for anything of interest--particularly notes with orders or other things that would tie them to Tsuto.
"Now, let us find Ameiko."
Merwyn half-heartedly steps aside as blood spurts from the helpless goblin. "Normally, I would say that the blood of fallen foes adds a certain splash of color to an otherwise plain garment, but in this case, I think I would start to look like a lawn gnome."
She looks over at Horatio. "Are you alright? Is something the matter?"
Her attention more on the room and apparently standing a little too close, Breaca is splashed by the goblin's blood. After her initial surprise, she just laughs. "I guess it is I who will be the lawn gnome today then." She smirks as she moves towards the door and glances down the hall to be sure it was still empty. We should move quickly."
Mere seconds passed between him letting go of the goblin's neck and it being opened up by the bard's rapier, courtesy of Kalig. His eyes were on her and her victim as she did the deed, and he had reacted a little too slowly to the gushing stream of blood that escaped the veins of the green skinned creature. The long sleeves of his white shirt despite being folded ended up being marred by the crimson drop that flew his way, he also noted that some found their way to his pantaloons.
"It seems that these goblins are determined to ruin every piece of clothing I own" He sighed in annoyance, but besides that he didn't appear a bit bothered by what he witnessed "At this rate I'll look like a savage ruffian before I finally meet Mel" As he spoke these words, he unsheathed his sword and prepared to move forward Still a ways to go, and a few more lessons to dispense along the way...especially to Ameiko's brother
Horatio quickly spins to one side side as the blood sprays forth, missing his boots by an inch. He shakes his head slightly to Merwyn as he retrieves his rapier from Kalig, mouth set in a hard line. "Nothing's wrong. Now, he said Ameiko's being kept downstairs. We should hurry." Sheathing the blade, he follows Veryl.
Through some simple trial and error, you identify the room that contains the stairs that lead downstairs to the basement.
Due to the noise of the furnaces, you are confident your movements will not have been heard by anyone below.
As you carefuilly make your way down thr stairs, you step around crates and barrels that appear to store raw materials. Just to the east of the stairs, a brick wall has been dismantled to reveal an older passageway leading south.
There are three possible doors to choose from. All are closed and look identical.
As the party walks down the passageway, Merwyn uses prestidigitation to clean up any blood-spatters on her friends' clothing. "Three doors, the classic conundrum. Where is the gatekeeper to give us the riddle?"
"Left. Always the left."
Studying the doors intently, Veryl tries to see if they appeared to be peculiar in someway or tampered with.
"Anyone here knows how to spot traps? He asked, his eyes still on the doors, now trying to discern their workmanship and what material they were made from and how just how tough it is...in case they needed more, basic ways of going through them.
It was when his eyes were drawn away from the puzzle ahead of him that he noticed the blood marks that marred his clothes were gone, he looked about himself in surprise raising each to see that if he had somehow mistaken or forgotten the exact area that was covered by the blood of his enemies Well this is strange...
Kalig kneels, examining the floor. "I've spotted a snare or two. I'm sure others here have as well. But before any trapseeking, let us try to see where they might have gone. Instead of just guess." She looks at the ground, hoping that in a glass factory there might be grains of sand, dust, or glass on the ground to help indicate passage of other creatures by their disturbance. She is looking for signs of both someone walking as well as of someone being dragged. "Breaca, you are good at hunting, let me know if you see something I don't."
Breaca nods. "Good idea." She shoulders her bow and crouches low to the floor as she joins Kalig in scouring the floor, walls, furniture... looking for signs of scuffle, blood, torn clothing... anything that might yield a clue or sign of further mischief or the direction Ameiko may have been taken. She grumbles as they work. "I've had far more experience in field or forest than in glass shops though I fear."
There is general scuffling etc. on the stone floor but nothing that would indicate one door is more likely to hold Ameiko than any other.
You decide to carefully open your first chosen door - as quietly as you can. Inside you see this room is used to store glassware, windows, and other finished goods.
Horatio looks around the room briefly, eyes narrowing in frustration. Knowing Ameiko is close, he makes his way to the next door, waiting for the rest of the party to join him.
"While you open that door," Kalig says to Horatio, pointing to the door he is approaching, "I'll open this one. No reason to waste any more time."
Not bothering to search for traps, but certainly staying on the alert, Kalig reaches for the rightmost door.
The bard nods to Kalig, flattening his back against the wall. His eyes close briefly as he takes a deep breath to calm himself, then he reaches to the side, pushing the door open.
Both doors are locked!
Both doors are locked!
Miro carefully unlocks the door. No doubt a secondary storage room, it has recently turned it into an impromptu holding cell.
Ameiko lies on her side on the floor in here, bound at the wrists and ankles with rope and blindfolded and gagged with strips of leather.
"Ameiko!" Horatio pushes past Miro, rushing into the room and kneeling beside the captive. He pulls the gag and blindfold from her face before setting to work on the ropes, eyes skimming over her form for any wounds or signs of violence. In his haste, he doesn't consider the possibility of a trap - he works on instinct, seeing only someone who needs his help.
Kalig reaches into her pouch and procures one of the berries she enchanted earlier. "Here," she says to Horatio, stepping into the door's frame and holding out the goodberry. "If you can wake her, give her this."
Ameiko is conscious but badly wounded. Her position is at least stable but incapable of speech unless she is healed.
As you stand over her, you are aware of the sound of a key turning in the door of the room next door.
The bard's relief at finding Ameiko alive is matched by rage at the sight of her wounds. He gently taps her cheeks, trying to clear her mind. "C'mon, look at me. Stay awake, there. The heroes are here." He forces himself to smile, putting on a brave face for his own benefit as much as anyone else's.
The sound of a key being turned in the next door turns his blood to ice, however. "Sounds like we've got company!" he manages to laugh, masking his fear with bravado - or attempting to, as his too-wide eyes betray his panic. Working with haste, he takes the offered berry from Kalig, helps Ameiko swallow it, guides her to her feet (if possible) and positions himself in front of her, rapier drawn. He shifts into an awkward fighting stance, heart pounding, glancing nervously at his companions for guidance.
"Hora-!" Miro shakes his head, still kneeling as he puts away his lock picking set. Upon the sound he draws his rapier.
It appeared to Veryl that surprise was something he would have to get used to with this group. Instead of springing a trap as he had suspected when they would when they opened the door, they were instead treated to the shocking sight of Ameiko; lying on the ground, wounded and bound. Seeing such violence rarely effected the former street tough, as he had seen plenty of it when he was just a fourteen year old, but this to him was different...this came very close to being personal. The forge of anger within him roared as he looked..Tsuto would kill his own father and do this to his own sister, and that was one of the things that Veryl could not forgive.
The only sign of a crack in the warrior's calm mask, was the slight downward shift of the line his lips drew into a frown. Originally he had come here to put this would be trouble maker out of his misery to send a message to any up and coming trouble makers; Sandpoint was his town now...but this changed everything, Tsuto not only didn't appreciate still having a family, he was freely hurting and killing them Forget lessons, this man...no this brat is going to die PAINFULLY Before he could mull any further on these dark thoughts, his ears picked up a sound from the door next to the makeshift cell of Ameiko,in reaction to this his fingers clenched the hilt of his weapon tightly and a truly menacing, wild grin appeared on his face.
With little to no warning he pulled his right leg back and delivered a swift kick to the door hoping to slam it into the face of whoever was trying to open it.
At the sound, Kalig turns, loosing her flail.
Merwyn motions her Roc to assist Veryl in holding the door closed after he slams it, if he decides to do that.
Breaca's relief at finding Ameiko alive is short lived as she also hears the key. As Veryl moves to slam the door, she steps back and draws her bow, ready to shoot should an enemy break through.