Torith steps back once more from his attacker and stares at them as he aims his next attack.
"Maybe I should have backed off while i had the chance."
The assassins continue their pursuit.
And Torith goes down.
----
----
Torith lets the assassins run as he quickly checks on his new friends and only finds Belir conscious.
}"Belir! Do you have any healing magic or mundane healing knowledge? I wish right now i'd learnt my mother's healing skills as well! As i'm not much use here i'll go for help."
Torith runs around ramblehouse shouting for help, then heads outside still shouting.
"Guards! Guards! Alarm! Intruders in ramblehouse! We have injured in need of aid!"
Cham, the proprieter, comes in from the common room. She is in a nightshirt. "What is all the ruckus about? I don't have 'guards'.. what is going on? What is all this blood?"
Cham sends one of her help to run to Sanctuary, which is nearby. Ten minutes later, a cleric shows up, carrying a pack of curatives.
He quickly checks each of the downed people, and sees who is alive (dwarves) and who is not (2 assassins).
Then he speaks with Belir and Torith.
"Ok, I think your friends will survive, but they will require much bedrest and care. Here, help me move them to their beds."
While recovering in his bed, Thozar has very fitful sleep. He is clearly having a nightmare, protesting and squirming abound. When he finally wakes with a start, he is sweating and the taste of blood is in his mouth. I was over due for that... gets worse every time...
Finally taking stock of his body, he notices a vicious cut in his stomach. After letting out a long, painful groan, he attempts to commune with the earth for the power to heal his wounds. I can barely feel the ground here... tonight I sleep somewhere else.
When he sees his first companion, he quickly speaks up, "What happened? I remember sounds in the night, walking out into the hallway, and then all goes dark... How is everyone else?"
Ulark awakens at his brother Kharl's house calm and refreshed. After a nice breakfest with his kin, the paladin dons his armor and heads over to the Ramblehouse to meet up with the others.
Perhaps that Katreza toother might know something then. Though I do wonder why Rodrick was so keen to trust so much of his counsel with the orcs rather than his own blood.
Ulark's befuddlement quickly turns into shock, then fear, then shame as he sees, for the second day in a row, a crowd outside the Ramblehouse's entrance.
No, not another. You rested and slept while more pain was spreading!
The dwarf tries to elbow his way brusquely through the crowd to the interior. Looking around for any of the other dwarves, he asks the innkeep or the guard What happened? Another on the slab? Who? The other dwarves with me yesterday: where are they now?
Torith watches as the local priests do their work.
When they're finished he purchases a healing potion and thanks them for their help saving his allies.
He takes his turn watching over the others as they rest and heal while mulling over what happened.
Whoever they were they caught as at our weakest, just like the damn hill giants back home. I cannot let this happen again! We must be more vigilant as this termite nest we've kicked will likely not calm down any time soon.
|
Belir searches through the two assassin's and finds two vials. Kneeling beside Kragmyr he pours the potion down his throat.
Kragmyr's eyes flit open and he gives the second potion to Thuradin.
"You lads alright? Who were those guys?" Belir asks as his own blood mixes onto his night robes and beard. "You lot able to move enough to help the others?"
Thuradin's eyes flutter open as the restorative potion heals some of his wounds. the last thing he remembered was being attacked by while he slept and the ensuing battle before he fell. Given the fact that he was still alive he assumes that the party was victorious.
Belir's words finally penetrate the fog of his thoughts as he sits up to examine his surroundings.
Getting to his feet he staggers over to the still unconscious Thozar and after dismissing his memorized prayer calls upon the healing power of Torag to heal his companion.
With a start, Thozar sputters awake. "What happened? I remember sounds in the night, walking out into the hallway, and then all goes dark... How is everyone else?"
"What happened? By me grandfather's hairy arse, assassins tried to slit our throats while we slept! Put a fookin' blade in me chest. "
Kragmyr says this as he sits on the edge of his bed. He is shirtless, and a scar can be seen, evidence of the magical healing which saves his life.
"Belir saved our lives. He fought off the last o' the assassins, an' revived me an' Thuradin. Between us we were able to call upon the gods an' the ancestors to revive the rest o' us. Though the local priests did most o' the initial work, an' were paid well for their generosity." As Kragmyr spoke, his tone changed from anger to one of professionalism, speaking as if he were reading from his book of grudges, which itself had gained a new entry.
With your plan in place, it only takes a day or two to recover from your wounds. During this time, you are able to sell off the excess equipment.
Meanwhile, there are many theories and rumors bouncing around, but no one is really sure who they were or why they wanted to kill you.
Assassins... These are dire time we have found ourselves in.
"My head is a touch foggy. What leads do we have left to pursue? We must redouble our efforts to discover what is going on, not to mention our security," he asks the troupe of dwarves.
Ulark listens to Kragmyr's raving with horror and shame.
Assualted in your own beds? Corr! Praise Angradd you fought them off.
The dwarf slams his fist against the doorframe in frustration. We had all the signs. Suspected the inn weren't secure. And I didn't even think to suggest a watch for you. S'why I cant linger here: this town gets me soft. Complacent, lets my guard down. He turns to Belir. Thank the gods you managed to save the lot of us.
---
Aye, guards up every night. At the least. And while we've had the - needed - time to mend so have they. We need to dig up the bottom here quickly.
Rodrick's friend said the lad spoke to another toother, Katreza, at the Sanctuary 'cross the way. Maybe he spilled his thoughts to the orc?
The paladin's eyes suddenly widen in horror of his own forgetfulness.
Wait! Omast, where's he? If you were struck, the guard might have been as well.
When you find Omast in the next room, he is snoring deeply... and sleeps through most of the next day!
"We must find out how deep the rot goes and then excise it or we may spill more Dwarven blood."
Thozar shakes Omast by the shoulder, hoping to wake him from his deep slumber. Hopefully he knows something we can use!
"What? Oh, it's you again... what do you want?"
After a few minutes to wake up, Omast joins you for a meal. He does seem a lot more coherent than before.
"I still mourn the loss of Rodrick, but I suppose you all are right. We can't get too complacent or we will all be overrun by orcs. I need to get back to my post, but if I can help you all any further, let me know."
It's good to hear. Ulark responds with relief to the sobering captain. Fear dark times are coming, and coming soon. All'l be needed quick enough.
Sanctuary is easy to find, as it is nearby, and the priests there have already made your acquaintance. You ask about Katreza, and he does usually enjoy a room there, but he has not been back since Rodrick's death. He bed was made, and room neat, so there is no sign of a struggle.
"Don't take so much of the blame on yourself Ulark. I think we all got complacent here, but we won't be so again!"
After Torith eats his breakfast in silence he finally speaks again to the other Dwarves.
"I guess we have two names to still follow up on. This smiths apprentice and whoever this Melira is. There is something foul we've unearthed here, and i for one plan to keep digging!"
Thuradin spends the next couple of days tending to himself and his wounded comrades. Once everyone is fully healed he heads with them to the Sanctuary to talk to this Katreza fellow. Once he finds out that the man has gone into hiding and after examining his room he looks at his friends and says "It seems that he has a better sense of self preservation than we do. Maybe he knows something that he might think makes him a target. We need to find him and find out what it is."
Gundar follows silently to the Sanctuary. Since awakening from his wounded stupor, he had been pondering the events. He spoke only once on the walk.
"Mayhaps we don't sleep in the ramblehouse tonight. Even with proper vigilance, it is a poor place for defense. Perhaps the patrol captains will allow us to bed down at the barracks instead. Or even make camp outside, somewhere within the walls."
Gundar tries not to show it, but now that there was danger within the city he longed to leave it and return to the wilderness, where at least he knew how to handle himself - and didn't get cut down like a green sapling in one blow.
"Aye, a good idea on the barracks. Mayhaps they've identified the bodies of the assassins too. Could give us an idea of who they were and who hired them."
"It is decided then, let us see what the guards have come up with. Surely they will be able to at least point us to someone who knew either of those two better!" Like Gundar, Thozar is also feeling a little down after the ordeal with the assassins and can't wait to be in the wilderness again.
You get to the barracks, and no one has any real clues about the assassins.
Coor Ulark says as the septet finds another potential lead lost. I feel like we're pacing circles.
The dwarf stops and thinks. With the dead's secret commited - Brinya - and the missin' Katreza...Rodrick was meeting with many a totther in his last days. Chance he may have spoke with more. Are there other half's in Trunau he may've made words with?
"I suppose we can look, but the trail seems to have run cold... Anybody else have an idea? We can't leave this unanswered." Thozar sits on the ground for a moment, feeling the dirt between his fingers as he thinks.
"Aye...well whomever did this had gold. Unleashed hounds on us. Means either had kennels here, or bribed the guards to let them in. Also hired assassins. Whom the guards have no information on. So foreigners, and thus hired. This means that the guards are in on this, have been bribed into silence...or are afraid. Might as well go do as Ulark says. Got to do something."
"If these people think we're trouble and they've already tried to remove us twice then maybe they'll try again. If so we need to capture one of them or track them back to whichever hole theyclimbed out from. I don't like being so passive but if we have no other leads that may be the only thing we can do."
Listening to the other's nervous wariness about another attack, Ulark thinks out loud as he goes over their finds in his head.
Unfortunately, the clerics can't tell you much more, other than he had a soft-spot for other half-orcs in the community and was a friend of Rodrik's.
Way I see it, can't feel Rodrick's girl having a hand in this. But if Katreza kept ties with the other toothers, there's a chance she may know more. Or the smith: she's a half too, right? Maybe we go back and see if one of them can find the man.
Seems like all the leads we have keep sliding towards that clan.
"Let us all go together and requestion those half breeds!" Thozar begins moving in direction of the smith. It would be a shame if it turned out we were lied to, but there is too much at stake to leave stones unturned.
You get back to Clamor quickly enough. Sara Morninghawk welcomes you back in. "Hello, again. What can I do for you gents?"
I had no luck last time we were here, hopefully one of my more talkative companions will take the lead here...
Thuradin steps up and greets the young woman "Good morning, Ms. Morninghawk. My friends and I are searching for someone you might know, a man named Katreza. We believe that he may know something about Rodrick Grath's demise. Given what we've learned and the recent attempt on our lives, you've heard about that I surmise, we think his life might be in danger as well. It is important that we speak with him before anything... untoward happens." He lets the implication of what's been left unsaid sink in before he continues "If you do not know his whereabouts perhaps you know someone who does' his voice becomes almost a plea as he finishes speaking.
"I think i'll wait outside. I think the rest of you will do better with me not getting in the way and stumbling over my words."
Ulark nods to Sara as Thuradin speaks plainly and directly about the situation.
Miss Morninghawk, I know you do good work here and some of us came to see you earlier. But we're out of places to turn and I've got a pit in the gut that says time's coming short too. We mean the man no harm, but still need a few words with 'im.
The paladin's words come out a bit slurred though...
Kragmyr walks forward to approach the half orc, though obviously he is out of his element. "Aye. Right done with people tryin' to kill us. Tell us what ye know 'fore whomever sent assassins after us goes for your friend as well."
"Right. There is someone here who wants to talk to you as well..."
She opens a door to the back, and out shuffles an elderly half-orc that you are sure must be Katreza.
Ulark eyes the aged half-orc as he moves out. Katreza, yes?
The dwarf does a tiny bow. Good to see you're still walking. But we have a few questions for you about Rodrick if you can spare a few words.