Spidre glides past the fallen foes, the rush of wind through his robes muffling his footfall as he engages the goblins.
,
,
Villainy - Goblins in the heart of town!
Thyra bleeds!
Pietro rushes forward, but breaks his streak and misses!
Halsere roasts the mage, who stops moving!
Spidre wounds one of the goblins badly!
The wounded goblin draws a second dagger and retaliates against Spidre!
,
Still reeling from his own wounds, he falters and misses!
The other goblin takes on the cleric!
,
Pietro suffers a nasty cut on his arm!
The captain takes a swing at Pietro!
,
Pietro dodges!
Pietro retaliates against the goblin that injured him.
Thyra's unconscious body is quickly enveloped in a pool of blood, whether all hers or the dying guard next to her makes it hard to tell.
Spidre continues to dance with the goblin threat, sidestepping slashes and making quick stabs.
,
,
Pietro misses the mark, but Spidre fells one goblin and badly wounds the other!
Halsere casts sleep again at his foes.
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The captain and the remaining goblin fall!
The bloodlust finally subsiding from where it clouded his vision, Pietro directs a healing command at Thyra. Then he leaves the goblins to his elf friend, and focuses on the enemy captain wizard.
Thyra shakes off the grogginess of her near death experience, looks around surveying the carnage in this guard house and the still living enemy Wizard. She stands up picking up her battleaxe along the way.
"I've gotta mighty pain in me side but it looks like this fight is nearly over"
Breathing deeply and going into a focused state she finds some inner reserves to help finish stabilizing her.
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Thyra's face is matted from her sweat-matted copper-red hair, made all the more vibrant from still damp blood.
"My apologies Halsare, I must've suffered quite a wound, me eyes deceived for a moment and thought ya were the enemy wizard."
She will try to stabilize any of the dying guards, if there are any left to stabilize.
"This'll be a problem, captain of tha guard workin' with goblin-scum."
Spidre puts the points of his blades to the throats of the two sleeping--the captain and the goblin--and stands very still. A small sound, barely audible, escapes his mask as his shoulders bounce slightly. As the mask faces down, it is easier to imagine it a light sob than a small chuckle, but the line between them seems very thin.
Halsere wobbles slighty on his feet. That last spell took it out of him.
Lets tie this lot up and run for the major RIGHT now... I confess I thought we'd be framed for this but these goblins will see us through.
"Perhaps we should send a runner to inform Lord Korrigan, while the rest of us interrogate the guard."
Dont interrogate - wait for the lord mayor. With that Halsere runs for the Lord Mayors office.
"Aye Helsere, ya run and get the Lord Mayor, may Torm grant ya safety!"
Thyra will offer some short prayers to the guards that died during the scuffle while she waits for her companion to return with the mayor.
Halsere hurries back to Korrigan Manor, but is stopped outside the mayor's office by a group of guards.
"I'm sorry," one of them says, "But Lord Korrigan is not accepting visitors at this time." Pointing behind you toward another office, he adds, "Feel free to see the secretary to schedule an appointment, but understand that the Lord Mayor is a very busy man. You aren't likely to see him for a very. Long. Time."
The guards' facial expressions look rather severe, giving Halsere the impression that they suspect he's learned something, and wish to give him a subtle reminder of exactly who is really in charge of Radlebb Keep.
"You put up quite a fight there, ya miserable curs. So tell me, what would make a man turn against his own city like that?"
The guards' facial expressions look rather severe, giving Halsere the impression that they suspect he's learned something, and wish to give him a subtle reminder of exactly who is really in charge of Radlebb Keep.
Fine then guard - who do I see about a corrupt official and their GOBLINS which are in town and under citizens arrest? Should we let the Goblins go then? By the way what is YOUR name - I want to get it right when we eventually see the Lord Mayor and tell him we had to let it all go for a toss because of this?
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Spidre drops a coil of rope next to the sleeping captain of the guard and leaves the large cleric to make his own inferences. Once the man is tied up, Spidre focuses on the goblin. Disarmed and dragged to a corner, the creature is hopelessly outmatched by the elf. The blank expression of his wooden mask is all that greets the waking goblin besides two pointed blades ready to strike.
The guard just blinks, unimpressed, as though the material of Halsere's threat is completely irrelevant to him. After a moment, he says, "You can leave now. Sleep tight tonight, and remember to lock your door, as there have been a lot of break-ins lately."
The awakened captain responds to Pietro's question: "If I told you anything, my boss would do way worse to me than kill me, so I'm not saying a thing."
Meanwhile, the goblin spits, then shouts something in Goblin.
"Stupid human captain, I knew we shouldn't have agreed to work with him!"
Halsere returns to the shop - thoroughly convinced that they have no support, and that ALL the guards are corrupt.
Thyra will help Pietro tie up the guard captain and afterwards will pile up the weapons and shields in a corner of the room.
At the return of Halsere, Thyra exclaims "Halsere, ya've returned, were's the Lord Mayor? Are ya hiding him somewhere?"
Allowing Halsere a chance to survey the scene before continuing, "The Guard Captain hasn't helped a lick yet, neither the Goblin-scum. Maybe ya can talk 'em into spilling some secrets?"
My deduction is the guards are deeply corrupt - the guards at the Lord Mayors denied me entrance or interview and brushed off my claims when I believe they knew damn well what I was talking about. I also believe that we'll be getting a night time visit of discontented parties.
I am not sure what we can do at this point in regards to the guards.
As for the questioning, I have a charm that MAY help but I'll need to rest an hour. If we work on the Goblin, does anyone talk its language? I think we need to work on the guards first, then the captain then the goblin but we can't afford to do that here lest other guards return. We'll need to gag em' and walk them to the outskirts of town.
Has anyone checked the other cells? Maybe we can find some prisoners to free and collaborate our story?
While those who need it take a breather, the party makes a disturbing discovery: the jail is completely empty. Not a single cell contains a prisoner.
The cells don't look like they've fallen into disuse over time; rather, they look like they've been filled and emptied repeatedly.
"The cells are empty, but don't seem to be unused. In fact, I'd say they've been used repeatedly... Oh, I bet the guard has been using the prison for free lodging, and they didn't want to arrest anyone and give up the cell! Although, that doesn't account for whatever's going on with the Lord, but it's a working theory."
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A deep, disgusted chuckle rises up behind Spidre's mask. When he speaks, his words take on a hollow, hissing tone from the obstructing mask. "You fools. Townsfolk are being arrested, but these cells are empty. Where are the prisoners then?" Spidre asks, taking a step back from the goblin to wave his sword around the premises.
"These cells are holding pens. This town is not being robbed of petty trinkets, but of its very people." The elf lets out an indignant grunt before turning his mask slowly back to the goblin. "Let us hope they are only slaves..."
Aye Pietro and Spidre - I'd say the prisoners are being sold into slavery by these lot here and to the goblins. We've a lot to discuss with these men - a lot. Maybe we can put them in the cells for now and at night time smuggle them out of town to a place where we won't be interrupted. Lets start our interrogation with the guards, then move to the captain and finish with the Goblins - we'll need to know where their lair is.
Halsere moves, with help, the prisoners to their cells.
Keep watch for other guards coming in, we may be able to capture more, while I rest for an hour and review my spells.
For my charm to be most effective, we'll need to be friendly to the subject we pick for my spell. Use calm words, offer them food and drink, offer to loosen their bonds - in short treat them in a friendly manner to make them lower their mental guards. I think this spell is best saved for the Captain but if you think the minds of the guards themselves will be more malleable and there is greater reward of information, then I can use it on them. That said? I only get one chance at this until the 'morrow
Lets start with the Captain then... if it works, well and good. If not we can see what we can get from the guards and have another crack at the Captain. We'll finish with the goblins.
Halsere moves the Captain to the chair in the main office and smiles encouragingly at him.
Water Captain? Something to eat? Its plain to see that you are good man but in a bad situation and nothing works best for that case than sharing your problems with a friend - we might even consider loosening your bonds. If things go well, why you could walk away free and without any blame... let me go over to confer.
Halsere moves outside of the Captains range of vision and casts Charm Person at him.
DC13
You attempt to charm a humanoid you can see within range. It must make a Wisdom saving throw, and does so with advantage if you or your companions are fighting it. If it fails the saving throw, it is charmed by you until the spell ends or until you or your companions do anything harmful to it. The charmed creature regards you as a friendly acquaintance. When the spell ends, the creature knows it w as charmed by you.
He comes back around to face the prisoner.
Tell me Captain - would you consider me a friend? I'd be hurt if you wouldn't...
"If the guards are regularly selling slaves, perhaps we can simply hole up here in the guard station and wait for the slavers to arrive for the latest batch, or otherwise make contact with us."
The hissing voice from behind the mask turns to Pietro in private, after the prisoners have been locked up. "No, there will be no slavers coming today. The cells are empty." Spidre gestures with his blade, then continues. "But Halsere reports the guards will look for us this evening. We should already be outside of the city by then. Can anyone here track goblins?" he asks of the others.
The captain just glares back at Halsere, though he also shows quite a bit of fear, and is sweating a bit.
Oh well, he sighs. One could only hope. We'll work on his finger nails in due course - gag him take him back to his cell and we'll start with his men.
"Slavery! I can't imagine such treachery. We must get to tha bottom of this"
Thyra moves around the guard house and will try and investigate the room the captain came from.
"Not much in tha way of evidance in there," Thyra purses her lips and paces the room before rejoining the group. "Maybe another guard we have will talk ta us if tha Captain won't?"
Thyra will move back to the entrance and try and bar the door if possible, using furniture or if there is a barring mechanism she'll use that.
"Rather not have a patrol sneak up on us" Thyra explains while trying to bar the door.
Looking in the captain's office where he had been in conference with the goblins, Thyra finds that a table is laid out with papers that look like a floor plan or blueprints or something. The location it depicts is not labeled, but several doors and windows have been marked.
You're pretty sure this is the layout of Stefan Manor and the surrounding area. Duke Stefan rules Specularum to the southeast, and is a significant figure of the nobility who is active in regional politics even outside Specularum. He's well known to be an upstanding and compassionate man, well-loved by his people.
Spidre considers the papers for a moment, whatever eyes lie behind the mask quickly scanning over the blueprints.
"Stefan Manor of Specularum. It seems the good Duke is in for... trouble."
History untrained
Not the foggiest but lets keep it it may be valuable, Halsere looks for evidence in jail records for arrests etc as well as when the prisoners may have left or been sold while the others question the guards.
Investigation
Looking through the office's paperwork, Halsere finds that the records rapidly get less detailed starting a few months back, almost as though they stopped caring.
Meanwhile, at the mention of the discovery of the plot against Duke Stefan, the captain begins to look even more agitated: pale, sweaty, and breathing heavily. The other guard looks like he's not quite sure what's going on, but seems to be growing alarmed by the look of the captain.
Spidre calls for a private conversation. "Kill the captain. Release the goblin. Track it. Then we can head for Stefan Manor to warn Duke Stefan. He may be able to help us further."
I'm against murder for the moment - there is a lot we may be able to get from him and the others - a signed confession at the least. As for the goblins, Thats maybe not a bad idea but I'd prefer to put them on the end of a rope and have them lead us to their lair. Otherwise we run the risk of losing their trail.
"We aint killing a captive, that's just. . . dirty. Turning to Halsere "Halsere, sweet talk this guard with me, I'm not the best with words"
Walking over to the other guard, Thyra kneels down so she is eye-to-eye with the bound guard. "I'm Thyra Fireforge, a faithful of Torm, do ya know him? He is a good and justly God. We aren't looking ta hurt ya and I mourn the death of tha other guards. If you help us, that'll be a big step to redeeming ya-self. I'd rather not see ya hanged."
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Look my friend things are grim all over but we can avoid any nastiness and more over look to some clemency for you if you tell us what the situation is here. We're not monsters, and deep down, I know you're not one either. Tell us everything you know.
Persausion or
The guard swallows nervously and nods, then says, "Captain got a gig with somebody, dunno who, I assumed some slaver or somebody. We keep dropping people off at a cave up north, and money keeps coming in. These bein' hard times, I tried not to think about what we were doin'. Got my own stuff to deal with, ya know? Anyway, eventually the captain started gettin' real nervous, said he was on thin ice with his boss, and we started gettin' more aggressive with sending people north. Captain even said somethin' about doing something extra on the side; I think that might be the Duke Stefan business you were just talkin' about, but he didn't talk about it really. Said he was gonna negotiate help from some goblins for a side job that might save his relationship with his boss. But that just started the other day."
Each time the guard mentions a detail, you can hear the captain groan as though with despair. By the end of the guard's tale, the captain is sobbing, and begins screaming, "KILL ME! OH HELLS, HE'S GONNA FIND ME! PLEASE! I'LL TELL YOU ANYTHING IF YOU JUST PROMISE TO KILL ME!"
The captain keeps screaming, unceasing in his plea for death. Meanwhile, the guard you were talking to looks bewildered and alarmed, like he has no idea why the captain is acting that way.
Well now watchman, you've made the right choice and you won't find us ungrateful. Back to your cell for now but we'll figure something out for you.
He goes to the jail cell that holds the Captain.
If you truly wish to die then the best way you can be ready to face the gods is by clearing the slate and helping us to save others. If death is the price of your information then we can help you and even make it seem honourable, an atonement for your sins. Tell us everything and don't spare the details.
Halsere opens his forgery kit for ink and paper and prepares to take the Captains statement. As the Captain speaks, Halsere writes in down in small neat script.
His face showing a bizarre mix of relief and panic, the captain speaks frantically:
"My boss isn't a common slaver; he's some kind of wizard or something. I've never met him directly, though the rumor is he's a vampire himself. I don't know his name, but when I pick up orders from him, the notes are always signed 'V.K.'. He—"
The other guard interrupts: "Wait, not a slaver?" he asks. "Then what were all those people for?"
The captain grimaces, then says, "He's turning them into undead creatures. I've gotten the impression that he's raising an army for something. An army of the dead."
The other guard has gone white as a sheet and is hyperventilating a bit, aghast at this news.
"That's why I need you to kill me," says the captain. "See, he can animate the dead just fine and all, but he prefers his victims alive. Something about being able to make stronger creatures when he changes them directly than when he raises a corpse. Also, rumor has it that he enjoys the pain that's caused from the transformation of the living."
About this time, the other guard vomits.
"See, if you kill me," the captain explains, "Then the worst VK can do is animate my bones. Won't really affect me at all, best I understand it. But if you leave alive, he'll find me. He'll find me and punish me for failing him! I don't wanna do it! I don't wanna get turned!"
He looks at you a moment, then looks as though he's had a thought. "Oh, and the Stefan Manor thing," he adds, his voice sounding like he's pleading with everything he's got to offer, "Nothin's been done on that yet. See, I was hopin' to impress the boss, get on his good side... I thought if I went off on my own and overthrew the duke, and presented VK with Specularum as a gift, then I'd be set. So I offered to pay the goblins to help, but this was my first meeting to plan. Nothing's in motion yet, so you don't have to worry."
He smiles, as though hoping this news pleases you.
The other guard, pale and trembling, calls out weakly, "D-do you think you could kill me too, while you're at it?"