Mach folds his arms. "Odd as it sounds, Petey's got a point. And since he was so kind to bring it up, he can take first watch."
He turns and starts heading back outside the structure, to the trapdoor with the ladder. "We'll need to find a more defensible spot than this."
Petronicus grabs another hit off the healing wand before heading after Mach, "Hey, what do you mean I get the first shift? You're the one that can see in the dark."
"Because it was your idea. And because Quint, Standing Bear & Um'bala need rest to get their mojo back." Mach shrugs.
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"Mach brings up an interesting point, (). I say we quietly end them. If we take them back to the town guard, they are most likely to be hanged by the morning for the crimes anyway, won't they?"
Petronicus scratches his head. "So Um'bala, is that a yes or a no to killing them now? For a Garundi you know quite a bit about Magnimar's legal system, but maybe that's just the Shard talking. Speaking of which, Lady Heidmarch said you might be able to detect one if it's close by, you being the Shard Bearer and all. Do you feel anything?"
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"I'm not a big fan of executions, honestly," Um'bala says at last. "At least not for petty crimes like these. They're guilty of, what, defending their homes? We'd fight just as hard for ours. As for the Shard..."
Um'bala holds the Shard in front of him with both hands, like a divining rod, and closes his eyes, trying to feel if there's any sort of tug towards another piece of the Star.
"I do not condone the killing of those who cannot fight against us. If they die fighting us so be it. But I will not have any part in slaying those who cannot defend themselves in a proper fight. It is without honor..." Standing Bear says quite firmly.
"I'm firmly on the side of not killing them. I would never want to harm a lady and executing one is even worse. If a lady should happen to die in combat then it is a shame, but it happened. Let us just rest here as they will probably leave us alone now."
Oh, what do THEY know? It'd be much, MUCH easier to kill them. Kill them. Kill them. Kill them before they strike again. They won't be held by rope or spell. KILL THEM!
Mach looks increasingly uncomfortable. "I... I don't know..." He bites his lip and looks away.
Petronicus throws up his hands and then points an accusatory finger at Quintus, Um'Bala, and Standing Bear. "Okay, then one of you gets to watch these ladies while I get a good night's sleep ... or day's sleep, or whatever time it is now."
He then turns to the spellcasters. "How long are they likely to be out?"
After about a minute of concentration, Um'bala starts to feel a glimmer of something, a kind of pulling sensation that seems to draw him down, deeper into the ancient bones of the Crow.
"A minute or two and they will wake up, quite irritated I imagine. I tied them securely and checked them for hidden blades. They should be fine as long as they don't struggle too much." The shoanti replies to Petronicus.
"Are you tied to this place some how as well Um'bala?" Standing Bear says in surprise in response to the wizards exclamation.
"A minute or two and they will wake up, quite irritated I imagine. I tied them securely and checked them for hidden blades. They should be fine as long as they don't struggle too much." The shoanti replies to Petronicus.
"A minute? Is that all?" Petronicus replies, true concern on his face. He pulls out his sap and stalks over to the nearest sleeping Tower Girl.
"Anyone mind if I club them into unconsciousness? That should put them out for a bit longer."
"I don't like the idea of clubbing a woman while she is down, but in this case I do realize that it must happen, so fell free Krupt."
Quintus sets up for taking watch for the night.
Mach shakes his head. "Do it."
Having gotten the go-ahead from the others, the Chelaxian moves quickly among the supine women, striking them in the back of the head with his kosh with as much force as he can muster. Some are knocked unconscious immediately from the blow, while others briefly awaken and cry out in pain before being dispatched by the second or third blow.
Before he reaches the last one, he offers the sap to Mach. "Care to do the final one? You're pretty good at finding their soft spots."
Mach narrows his eyes at Krupt before warily taking the sap and standing over the prone woman.
He hesitates for a second. That won't kill her. Use your knife. Stab her. Kill her. Easier that way.
Then he briefly shakes his head and thumps her on the neck with the sap.
Oh, you're no fun at all. Good. I don't like killing.
With all the Tower Girls "taken care of", the party settles down to rest. The floor of the chamber is not particularly comfortable, what with the stone floors and the exposure to the cold, harbor air through the open doorway.
The party's rest is uninterrupted for a number of hours until the sun comes up, and a cold, grey light comes filtering in.
Throughout the rest, the people on watch hear noises from other parts of the Crow: the cawing of gulls, the skitter of vermin, and the slow lapping of waves against the stone pilings far below. The only noticeable absence is a lack of human sounds. It seems the Tower Girls have either been defeated, have fled, or are holed up in another part of the Thassilonian structure.
Just before noon the last person wakes and makes his morning rituals: preparing spells for the day, praying, eating a quick breakfast of trail rations, or sharpening weapons.
Petronicus sleeps fitfully, tossing and turning, unable to get comfortable on the cold, stone floor with only his traveling cloak under him.
Next time we do this I am bringing a proper bed roll. I should never have thrown that last one away, no matter how disgusting it was. That thing served me well after I left Cheliax and ...
His thoughts drift back to his rather abrupt departure from Kintargo after his final argument with his eldest brother. His mother had died when Petronicus was barely out of diapers, and his father the year before. His eldest brother Jaacov had inherited the lion's share of the family estate and money, what little was left after House Thrune had confiscated most of it at the end of the Chelish civil war. Turns out his father had taken too long to swing his support behind Queen Abrogail's cause; the crown had never forgiven them.
With little family support, Petronicus had apprenticed himself to his demon-hunter uncle, Veya, a craggy, old fighter with too many stories and failing wits. He quickly learned to identify the various types of minor demons by their appearance, smell, and personality. The speed at which he learned gained him Uncle Veya's respect, and Petronicus thought he had at least found a true calling. Then one night after a heavy bout of drinking, Petronicus discovered his uncle swinging from a rafter, his face distorted and bloated in death.
Now without any means of support, he had returned home to his brother Jaacov, hat in hand, but found that the intervening years had turned his brother cold and aloof.
It was bad enough that I had to come grovelling back to the family, but then to be rejected by my own flesh and blood ... I didn't think it could get any worse.
His thoughts continue to plague him until he finally falls once again into a light sleep, only to be awoken a few hours later for his turn at guard duty.
Mach groggily gets himself together as the party prepares to resume their exploration of the Crow. "Alright, we've lingered here long enough--let's finish exploring this place."
Petronicus wipes the last sleep out of his eyes. "For once I agree with you, Star. Can you fix the ladder again so we can climb up and continue?"
"Also, what do we do with these girls?" he says, indicating the now conscious, but still tied up Tower Girls ungracefully piled in a corner.
"You feel free to figure that out. I'm going to fix the damn ladder." Mach starts fiddling with it, hoping to put it back in working order.
Quintus tries to talk with the Tower Girls in the hopes of solving this without any more violence.
"Look we didn't come here to fight you and we don't even care what you're doing here. We're just exploring this place, so we can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way which I would prefer is that you agree to leave us alone and we let you all go minus your weapons. The hard way is that you don't agree, and we have to knock you all out again while we explore and then knock you out again as we get our rope and leave. Why don't we just do this the easy way?"
Quintus tries to be charming, but he also keeps an eye out for deception knowing that some might just accept the offer and then turn on them. He also makes sure that everyone else is paying attention for any deception as he had been fooled by a pretty face before.
The Tower Girls seem to hear to what Quintus is saying and nod in agreement. "If you are true to your word, then untie us. We will make our way down to the jetty below and take one of our boats into Magnimar. You'll never have to worry about us again."
Quintus gets the feeling the woman is speaking sincerely, and is quite terrified.
"You feel free to figure that out. I'm going to fix the damn ladder." Mach starts fiddling with it, hoping to put it back in working order.
[dice=Disable Device]1d20+11
With some hard work, including a brief moment dangling unaided over a hundred feet above the docks below, Mach is able to reconnect the ladder to the trapdoor above, making it a quick climb to once again ascend to the topmost (at least that you've found) level of the Crow.
"It gladdens me to see we can part without issue ladies. I bid you farewell."
"Ladder's fixed." Mach chimes in, fixing the ladder back in place. At least Nimt's ring would have kept me from dying if I fell...
Petronicus tries to glower at the Tower girls, but ends up looking more constipated than anything else.
Petronicus makes sure that the Tower Girls actually leave the Crow, escorting them down to the docks with their hands tied.
He returns a few minutes later, smirking. "They had a few choice words for me upon their departure. Let's just say they aren't ladies."
Now reunited, the party makes its way back up through the trap door in the ceiling above the precipice. From there it makes its way through the Crow's uppermost level, finally descending down the spiral staircase to the large room where the last large battle was fought. From here there are three exits: one to the north, one to the east, and one to the south; the fleeing Tower Girls took the route south.
Unlike before, there are no sources of light in this room, although there are faint sources of indirect, natural light to the north.
Quintus motions off to the south.
"Since that's where the last Tower Girl went we might want to explore down there first."
Quintus also waves his hands and summons up a few dancing lights to give light for the group as they travel.
Mach takes point, as usual. He grimaces when Quintus conjures up lights.
Great--why not let the Girls know we're still here with a light show? Maybe we can charge them money for it.
Mach scouts about 30 feet ahead of the party, trying to be as quiet as possible. The rest of the group does their best not to be too terribly loud, but some are better than others at this.
The southern corridor continues for about 30 feet before the western wall opens up into a larger hall of some kind. Two tables of planks and trestles have been set up here, and a large alcove holds the ashes and soot stains of many recent fires, along with a stone statue of a beautiful woman holding a ranseur. The room otherwise seems dark and empty and contains no other visible exits.
The corridor that you have been following continues south for another 20 feet before turning east and out of sight.
Petronicus carefully moves into the room, his guisarme held high. He scans the room, and finding it without any obvious threats, moves over to the statue and stands next to Um'bala.
"I looked at a few books back at Lady Heidmarch's place. This looks to be a statue of Alaznist, the ancient runelord of Wrath. I wonder what she is doing here? As far as I knew, all of this territory was part of Sorshen's Realm of Lust. Maybe she kept it around for target practice? Nice ranseur, though."
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Um'bala winces at Petronicus' words. "Of course, Alaznist! That's who this was. How could I have forgotten the ruler of Bakrakhan? Isn't this a buffer zone between Sorshen, Alaznist and Karzoug's ancient realms, though? After all, the Sandpoint artifacts suggest Alaznist had holdings in this part of the Lost Coast."