Meliandri also notices some suspicious characters in the crowd who are not focused on the protest, but have other things in mind.
Jhen listens in on some talking about the state of town.
Salonius also overhears something interesting.
Fhingle has no fun here though. He is too small to see anything and to busy not being stepped on to notice anything.
Some of the protesters call for their new lord-mayor to lift his unreasonable restrictions, while others call for an end to foreign rule and demand a proper election to determine Lord-Mayor Bainilus’s successor. Many seem content merely to yell and agitate, but a growing minority show their unabashed support of Barzillai Thrune by arguing back at the protesters.
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The creepy little halfling climbs up on the bench by Saul and Salonius.
"Greetings again, Fhingle. Do yourself a favor and stay to the side with us; this crowd is starting to get a little rowdy, just as we expected. And I see the Chelish Citizen Goons out there and they are aching for a fight! Oh, ah Salonius, this halfling hangs out at the Villegre coffeehouse.He's a good bean. Just don't let his social awkardness turn you off. Salonious, Fhingle. Fhingle, Salonius."
Saul continues watching out for Meliandri. If he can catch sight of her in the thick of things, he will give a nod to Salonius and disappear into the crowd to stand close to her.
They're right, Jhen agreed. Soon we will have nowhere to call our own. The swordsman stood there and stewed and cannot help himself as he yelled,
Salonius frowns, things are not looking good, trouble brews, do people really think a tyrant will listen to their demands? And who would kill tieflings? Their parentage is not their fault, is it anti Thrunian sentiment, stirred by the brutality of the new regime, or simply the Slasher taking advantage of the disruption to recommence?
To Fhingle he offers a distracted smile, "A pleasure to meet you I am sure, please forgive me for being disinclined to engage in small talk given the circumstances."
- Kintargo partisans, who despise Cheliax’s tightening grip on their city and demand local rule
- economic conservatives, who feel the squeeze as Thrune enacts new taxes and business policies
- advocates of democracy, whose bitterest complaint is Thrune’s appointment instead of legal election
- anarchists, who hope the protest turns into a good riot
- and Chelish loyalists, who support Thrune’s actions to curb the city’s dissentious streak
Despite being able to take the temperature of the crowd, with Peeko's whispered opinions proving more incisive than his own Salonius elects to remain calm.
"Democracy sounds a fine thing, but could Kintargo survive alone like that? Perhaps a limited form of democracy and local rule in the short term, with the clearly defined intent of advancing to a purer democratic form in the future? But I think the clear goal ought to be either deposing Thrune, or curbing his excesses - if he could be rendered reasonable we need not fear retaliation from the Queen, though it does seem unlikely..." He says, just loud enough for those nearby to hear. Power to the people is a fine thing, but mob rule is another and in many ways amounts to the same thing. It might be appropriate to spend a few years educating the masses before allowing them to pick a leader; or at least to carefully vet the leadership candidates.
Fhingle looks up at Saul, smiles then moves to his side so as to not get stepped on.
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All these different groups. I see some business owners, that batch that I always see at the pub talking politics, and more than a few rabble rousers that are more likely to start a brawl at the pub than talk. There is no leadership here, that is for certain. Just a disorganized mob.
Saul keeps close to Meliandri. He doesn't interact with her unless she happens to notice him, otherwise it would feel too much like he was purposely following her. Which, of course, he is.
Jhen looks around and sizes up the crowd surprised at the diverse turnout. He fingers the hilt of his rapier as he watches some Chelish loyalist in the crowd, How dare they show up here.
He shouts louder,
As the protest’s third hour draws to a close, you note that the crowd’s tenor is increasingly hostile. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the bells of the Cathedral of Asmodeus ring out three peals. A moment later, Barzillai Thrune throws wide the windows and their curtains to address the crowd below. Thrune is an imposing man dressed in red, orange, and black clothing and an ornate breastplate, all emblazoned with the pentagram of Asmodeus and the cross of Cheliax. Middle-aged, with short, dark hair and a diabolical mace cradled in his hands, the lord-mayor of Kintargo addresses the crowd with a condescending sneer. The gathering swiftly grows quiet as he clears his throat to give a short speech.
"Ah, my adoring little chickadees. I am sorry to say I have not yet adapted to your quaint, country ways, being accustomed as I am to the sophistication and learning of Egorian. Nonetheless, know I have heard your concerns, and that I appreciate your valued feedback, and I know we shall eventually find a mutual understanding in the fullness of time. I take pride in updating Kintargo’s quaint, outdated laws to the modern standards the city deserves, and strengthening its ties with the empire in these cruel times, but obviously I have approached my duties too aggressively."
"You say you chafe at the presence of nonnatives in positions of power? That authorities not of this city have no place as its leaders? That you will not be yoked by intruders? Your lord-mayor hears you. And so it is with a heavy heart that I issue this proclamation, in response to your demands: all ships’ captains are hereafter barred from leaving their vessels and setting foot on Kintargo docks or streets, under pain of... let’s say... squassation!"
Someone in the crowd throws a handful of manure at Barzillai. Though the putrid projectile misses Barzillai's noble personage, the lord-mayor nonetheless flinches and spills wine across his ornate clothing. With his wardrobe and dignity endangered, the lord-mayor's demeanor shifts from amused to bellicose. He shrieks, "Enough of this! Nox, run them off, arrest them, or kill them. I don’t care which!" before retreating into the opera house and slamming the windows. Down below, Nox immediately mobilizes the dottari, who draw their weapons. At the same time, men and women throughout the crowd pull back their cloaks, revealing matching armbands, truncheons, and the sadistic grins of Chelish Citizens’ Group members eager to mete out some 'justice'.
Two of them come towards Saul and Meliandri, and two more to Salonius and Fhingle. In the crowd the shoving and pushing starts, as the first citizens try to flee the scence.
One of the Chelish Citizen Group thugs swings his mace at Saul, trying to knock him out. Why Saul? Probably bad luck. Wrong place, wrong time. But Saul is lucky and he easily evades the mace.
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"Gah!" The goon came out of nowhere, and Saul is able to lunge to the side just in time. A million thoughts run through his head in a millisecond.
So it begins! But I shouldn't have left myself in the middle of the crowd! Confound this job. Gotta get the dame out of here and into a safer place, now! But I can't leave her here with swingy mcgee here. Blast it! The place is going crazy so let's hope no one will remember what I am about to do!"
It's been a long time since his spear was more than a walking stick, but Saul takes a five-foot step backwards from the goon and runs him through.
"Miss Meliandri! It's me, the cat-guy. I don't want to see you get hurt, let's get out of here! Head toward the botanist! Do you remember him? He's right over there!" Saul points toward Salonius.
The guy from the Chelish Citizen group is shocked. He expected to rough up some common folks to spread fear. He wasn't prepared to run into the business of a deadly weapon. Blood runs down the thugs armor and Sauls spear.
Meliandri shakes her head, sticking out her tongue instead and drawing her rapier. Her stop-thrust finds a weak spot in the other thug's armor, drawing blood for the first time in her life.
Looks like the parade armor on that woman is not just a nice decoration. The second thug doesn't even get a try before he is faced with his own blood running down to the pavement. With no one around to back them up at this spot, these two immediately lose interest in this fight and retreat into the crowd, putting their cloaks back on to hide the embarrassing defeat.
Salonius looks to Peeko, "Okay Peeks we are going with Operation "Big Bird"!"
Peeko leaps from his Master's shoulder and begins twitching madly and screeeching in the air! Meanwhile a retreating Salonius casts a spell,rubbing a scrap of fleece between his fingers as he gesticulates.
Suddenly the tiny thrush is replaced by a vast twenty foot tall owl bear with fiery glowing eyes and a dark flickering aura of purple fire burning around it! It stands between the Chelish Citizens Brigade members and Salonius and Fhingle. Clearly the roiling dark purple flame would immolate anyone foolish enough to get close to this horror...
Components V, S, F (a bit of fleece)
EFFECT
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Effect visual figment that cannot extend beyond four 10-ft. cubes + one 10-ft. cube/level (S)
Duration concentration
Saving Throw Will disbelief (if interacted with); Spell Resistance no
DESCRIPTION
This spell creates the visual illusion of an object, creature, or force, as visualized by you. The illusion does not create sound, smell, texture, or temperature. You can move the image within the limits of the size of the effect.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHRRR! Tremble before the owl inspiring might of Peeko! Bwahahahaha! Peeko regularly feasts upon ten or more at a time! Peeko feasts! Squirm for Peeko trembling mortals Peeko likes his food to squirm! Squirm for Peeko!" Peeko bellows at the top of his lungs, from his position flying in the "owlbear's head" Operation Big Bird is the most fun of the operations! Peeko has fun!
At the fringe of the protest an Owlbear appears out of nowhere. Panic breaks out as the large beast moves towards the crowd. Some of the people stand there aghast, but the larger part of the starts to flee in panic - well flee in another direction, as the flew already from the dottari. Which includes one of the thugs approaching Salonius and Fhingle.
The other one has seen the caster and believes this monster can be put out of existence by knocking out the caster. But he misses.
"What is going on? Saul where are you?" Fhingle asks loudly, doing his best to not get stamped on.
Jhen's surprise quickly turns to anger at Thrune's order. While he pushes his way toward the advancing Dottari he draws his rapier and warns,
The crowd moves away from the dottari, and the owlbear, which is standing east of the protest. Moving is almost impossible in any other direction than west. Some, who are more afraid of the dottari than this creature who has yet done nothing but threatening in a very juvenile way, make a run for it to the east, down the road, but they are to few to be a hindrance.
This saves Salonius from beeing pushed by the mob, but leaves him alone with one of the thugs. Saul and Meliandri are also at the fringe to the south. They are almost out of the crowd and could leave to the east too, if it weren't for the owlbear. Fhingle also benefits from Salonius' actions as he has the bench for himself now. Only Jhen is still in the thick of it as he presses for the front line, with the dottari.
While all this going on you suddenly hear an angry, gurgling cry. Someone threw a dagger at Nox, and landed a lucky hit. The dagger sticks in her throat. You watch flabbergasted, as she simply rips it out, throws it away, and the wound starts closing again.
With a furious bellow the owlbear turns and strides towards Salonius thrusting a massive paw down at the man harassing its Master. As the great paw entirely blocks the thug's view of the wizard Salonius rushes away ducking behind a nearby tree hoping to get out of his foe's eye line.
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"Peeko squashes you like a juicy bug, you impotent worm! Peeko squashes you!" The familiar bellows as he follows along inside his Master's illusion, staying within the head well out of range of melee weapons.
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Saul watches in amazement as the Dottari leader pulls a dagger out of her neck and simply ignores it. Saul looks at Meliandri and says, " Ma'am, let's get out of here! I'm not about to leave you standing here by yourself, but we need to move before we end up in the slammer."
There is pandemonium everywhere.
As she looks at the blood on her rapier, Mels feels a rush of adreneline. She shoves through a few people toward the edge of the room, nods at Saul, and then follows him out of the crowd.
The thug beats at the owlbear in desperation, only to find he has been fooled. As the creature becomes translucent, he searches where that caster went, but can't find him.
Jhen stops in his tracks as he watches Nox pull the dagger from her throat. He reconsiders his advance and quickly joins the crowd as it hustles away from the dottari.
As Saul knows the voice of Peeko well enough by now, he decides to leave the opposite way than most of the crowd, despite the 'Owlbear'.
The single thug gives up on Salonius and joins some of his companions to have some more fun with the crowd. Especially these democratic cretins who dare to oppose House Thrune.
With this threat gone Salonius comes out of hiding to join Saul, Meliandri and Fhingle to get away from the opera.
Nox disappears into the opera house, only to reappear a moment later with her pet. You wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the otherworldly bay. A hound engulfed in flames, like summoned directly from hell. As the beast breathes fire into the crowd panic breaks out and people get trampled.
Within moments everything is over, and the dottari start collecting the bodies of those left behind on the ground.
Jhen gets pushed with the crowd in the other direction.
Saul leads the small group away and off the main road, just in case someone decides to go after the protestors. But there he hears the sound of steel clashing against steel alongside a cry of pain from a nearby alley, and spots a group of five Chelish Citizens’ Group thugs just as they knock a man to the ground.
Four unconscious thugs lie sprawled nearby, and it looks like the remaining thugs are preparing to administer a coup de grace to the fallen victim.
"There are people who could use my help, we could go back and help them could we not? " Fhingle asks sincerely
Still holding her rapier, Meliandri takes a few deep breaths. Her face is paler than usual as she turns toward Fhingle. ”I think that might be the stupidest thing anyone ‘as said today.” Without waiting for much of a response, she walks toward the front of the group.
The adrenaline is bleeding off, and she stifles a yawn as they go around a corner into an alley. Quickly pulling her blade into a fencing stance, she starts yelling her head off at the men threatening the civilian. ”IN THE FACE OF UNLOOKED FOR VIOLENCE, WE MUST STOP AT NOTHING! ANYTHING WE ‘AVE MUST BE USED TO SAVE THE KINTARGO WE KNOW!”
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Saul glances quickly around the alley, his internal monologue racing once again. A decision has to be made immediately!
Just us four versus these five? Is it time to make a stand? Do I stand by and let a band of bullies end this life? Well, certainly I will not let Meliandri do it alone!
Saul turns to the others, and agrees with Meli. "I'm done talking and thinking! I'm doing something! Will you join me?"
And without waiting for their answers, as there is simply no time to do so, Saul throws himself toward the five goons who seem about to dishonorably kill a man on the ground.
Salonius drops the illusion relieved as the thug leaves him be, and follows Peeko to rejoin Saul, Fhingle, and Meliandri.
Seeing the unfolding drama he rushes forward and flings a handful of brightly colored sand at the men, which bursts out into a surging cone of horrifically vibrant scintillating colors that envelop the aggressors in a psychedelic colliderscope assaulting their senses.
omponents V, S, M (red, yellow, and blue powder or colored sand)
EFFECT
Range 15 ft.
Area cone-shaped burst
Duration instantaneous; see text
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes
DESCRIPTION
A vivid cone of clashing colors springs forth from your hand, causing creatures to become stunned, perhaps also blinded, and possibly knocking them unconscious. Each creature within the cone is affected according to its HD.
2 HD or less: The creature is unconscious, blinded, and stunned for 2d4 rounds, then blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, and then stunned for 1 round. (Only living creatures are knocked unconscious.)
3 or 4 HD: The creature is blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, then stunned for 1 round.
5 or more HD: The creature is stunned for 1 round.
Sightless creatures are not affected by color spray.
Jhen finds himself briskly walking alone trying to control his anger at Thrune’s heavy handed tactics. Brooding over these events he almost misses the assault in the alleyway. Before he rushes in he notices a group of concerned citizens ready to intervene. Without hesitation he draws his rapier and takes an almost identical stance to Meli, ”You heard the lady for the Kintargo we love!”
Meliandri intrudes on the scene startling the thugs. They just got out of a hard fight, and now that they wanted to seal their victory in blood, four more people come along. They take a defensive stance.
But they are too slow for Salonius. He keeps some distance to the group to stay out of reach of that mace the thug wields and covers three of them in a cloud of magical dust. Which sends all three of them to the ground unconscious.
Jhen's attempt at intimidation impresses no one.
The next thug storms at the mage and beats him in revenge.
Saul runs his spear into the thug, that wounded Salonius.
Mels rolls her eyes at Jhens, trying to place him. The context isn't right, but she's sure she's seen him before. After a second, she shakes her head. She keeps shouting as she moves forward into battle, though her face isn't exactly filled with confidence. Neither is her sword-arm as she thrusts an easily-parried thrust.
Peeko flies over and begins savagely pecking at the throat of one of the unconscious thugs, "Peeko takes you out before Master notices, you poop person! Ahahaha! Peeko takes you out!"
Fhingle winds up his sling and les a rock fly at one of the men not being engaged.
Meliandri comes to help Salonius even though she doesn't hit. Fhingle hits the other guy at the head. The guy with the bump at the head attacks Saul, in hopes to help out his wounded friend long enough until all of his companions come to their senses again. At least he hopes they will, as they seem unharmed.
But he pays a high price for that attempt himself, before adding some serious wound to Saul.
Salonius pales as he steps backwards clutching his wounded not quite able to believe someone just hit him with a mace, I feel like a bruised fruit, how strange.
Staggering a little and chuckling to himself woozily, he shakes his head and focuses readying to cast a spell if his companions fail to down this lout before he can cause more trouble.
Target one humanoid creature
Duration 1 hour/level
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes
FAQ/Errata
Charm person makes a humanoid “friendly” to you, as per the rules found in the Diplomacy skill, but it also allows you to issue orders to the target, making an opposed Charisma check to convince the target to do something that it would not normally do. How does that work?
The charm person spell (and charm monster by extension) makes the target your friend. It will treat you kindly (although maybe not your allies) and will generally help you as long as your interests align. This is mostly in the purview of the GM. If you ask the creature to do something that it would not normally do (in relation to your friendship), that is when the opposed Charisma check comes into play. For example, if you use charm person to befriend an orc, the orc might share his grog with you and talk with you about the upcoming raid on a nearby settlement. If you asked him to help you fight some skeletons, he might very well lend a hand. If you asked him to help you till a field, however, you might need to make that check to convince him to do it.
[Source]
DESCRIPTION
This charm makes a humanoid creature regard you as its trusted friend and ally (treat the target’s attitude as friendly). If the creature is currently being threatened or attacked by you or your allies, however, it receives a +5 bonus on its saving throw.
The spell does not enable you to control the charmed person as if it were an automaton, but it perceives your words and actions in the most favorable way. You can try to give the subject orders, but you must win an opposed Charisma check to convince it to do anything it wouldn’t ordinarily do. (Retries are not allowed.) An affected creature never obeys suicidal or obviously harmful orders, but it might be convinced that something very dangerous is worth doing. Any act by you or your apparent allies that threatens the charmed person breaks the spell. You must speak the person’s language to communicate your commands, or else be good at pantomiming.
Seeing Saul get thumped by the thug with the mace Jhen darts in and thrusts his rapier at the man's midsection. He looks to Saul and asked, "Need a hand?"
Jhen brings down the thug that attacked Saul. Standing alone against three armed and able humans, the remaining conscious thug decides to take to his heels.
With the immediate threats gone, Fhingle notices that he knows that guy the thugs were roughing up from the Longroad Coffeehouse. It is another one of those Laria took in to help.
With a quick bow toward Saul, "Jhen at your service." He barely a pauses and continues, "No time for idle chit chat. Mark my words that fellow is going to come back with help." He moves towards the victim of the assault and examines him, "We need to get this man to a healer." Nervously he adds, Regardless, we best make tracks. I have a feeling that if we are caught that devil Thrune will see us hang for this."
The man is wounded and dying.
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Saul staggers back from the vicious mace blow.
I would say I'm getting too old for this, but I have never done this! A good gumshoe gets by without directly confronting the angry lover of the cheating wife...
Saul introduces himself to Jhen. "Thanks, Mac. Your timing is spot on. You were at the protest, right?"
Saul bends over in pain. This whole thing is certainly no Sunday School Picnic, but the job is pressing on him.
Action 1: Recognizing that the man on the ground is in worse condition than he, Saul draws his single cure light wounds potion that he always keeps for emergencies and dumps it down the strangers throat. Doesn't seem to do much, but hopefully the man won't bleed right out.
Action 2: A prepared gumshoes also keeps a bit of rope on his person at all times. Saul grabs his loop and wraps it all around the unconscious goons' hands and feet.
"S, I have a great idea. Can we take off their Chelish Citizen Group emblems and make these goons smell like cheap liquor? Maybe they'll get thrown into your old cell. And anyone else have a potion? I used mine up, and now I feel like I'm about to collapse."
Fhingle moves over to Salonius, looking him up and down. "Those looks severe I can help."
Fhingle looks at the downed man as well. If we can move away from these men I can heal you all at once.
With the potion and the channel you manage to patch the man up good enough to wake him. At first he is confused, but as soon as he realizes what happened, he tells "Thank you very much, you saved my life!"
"I'm Rexus Victocora" as he sees that two of his saviours are wounded, he adds "Please let us leave quickly, I knocked some of them out with magic, but they will wake up soon and we'd face a fight again!"
If you agree to leave, Rexus suggests the Longroad Coffeehouse as the place to go to.
Fhingle tries to help the man up, "Laria will want to see you." Fhingle says