Samantha blinks in surprise , because the half-orc is still alive, but uses her chance and tries to finish what she started.
As the Orc moves, Weyland springs into action charging at the Orc with his weapon of choice, the spiked chain.
Melee Attack -
Melee Damage -
But the weapon misses its intended foe.
Vedika brushes past Samantha from behind, leaps fluidly through the air and over the half-orc's strike zone, and bounces up with a twist before landing on the crates on the other side of the orc.
Hearing the commotion has started, Wenzeslaus peeks inside.
Wenzeslaus tries to soften Weyland's threatening image:"Don't be afraid, we've come to set you free!"
Nicolai moves past Wenzeslaus and into the room. once his eyes adjust to the gloom he moves in behind Samantha and begins to cast a spell. As he finishes his incantation "Luminas Saltatus" he says as four glowing globes appear in mid air, shedding light for all to see.
As Nicolai's lights illuminate the room, Weyland's strike glances off the half-orc but Samantha gets another strike on him. Vedika flips over the crates gracefully to surround the bizarrely giggling thug.
The children are simply terrified, and cower against the ground under the balcony, unsure of what to do, but certainly not trusting the frightening people who just stormed in.
Giggles, the half-orc, maniacally swings his flail through the air hoping to smash in Samantha's skull, but his muscles are still stiff from sleep and the swing misses her easily.
Up at the balcony, the door flies opens and a vicious halfling emerges with a candle in one hand and a wicked kukri in the other. He comes charging down the stairs, heedless of the candle he's carrying, but first facing Bellis's bomb.
As the door flies open, Bellis hurls a bomb at the sudden flash of light.
The wicked looking halfling, Hookshanks, starts to charge down the stairs, but as the flare of sparks explodes along the wall next to him, he lets out a meek "yelp!" and stops in his tracks. He glances about the room, rubbing his eyes from the glare of the dancing lights, and the electric explosion that went off right in front of them. "Bloo, sic 'em! Brats, get these &%$^#s or I'll feed ya ta the dog!! Get 'em!"
Almost in unison, the kids look up at him stumbling at the top of the stairs, then at the surrounded giggling half orc, and finally at the beheaded beast that might have been a dog... and they just cower deeper in to the corners - all choosing to stay out of this mess.
Vedika lashes out with her machete at the half-orc, now that she's on the other side of him and able to flank with her allies.
As Giggles is focused on Samantha, Vedika strikes him in the back! He staggers a bit - either he is still very groggy, or he is severely wounded.
"Have another one, you bastard!" Bellis yells, quickly mixing another bomb and hurling it at the halfling.
Weyland sends his chain at the Orc once more, this time attempting to trip the foe.
CMB -
Unfortunately, Weyland is unable to connect with the foe and safely avoid his allies so the chain slams harmlessly into the ceiling.
Nicolai will approach the children huddled underneath the catwalks, keeping his voice calm "We are here for Lamm. Tell me where we can find him, then get out. After tonight he won't be able to hurt you, or anyone else, ever again."
'how hard is his head, feels like it's filled with rocks'
Samantha strikes at the gigging half-orc
WenzeslausBot fires his crossbow at the halfling, but the shot goes too high and thuds into the ceiling.
After Vedika's solid hit, unfortunately Weyland misses, and Samantha's weapon bounces uselessly off of the half-orc's chest. As Nicolai moves forward to calm the children, they flinch in fear of his advance. A little boy, maybe 7 years old if that, yells out "Help! They're gonna kill us!! Gonna kill all us!"
Blood pours from the half-orc's gaping head wound and the machete gash in his back. He sees himself surrounded and chuckles, "Now this is a party!!" as he reaches into his vest and pulls out a dirty glass bottle. While swinging his flail over his head to try to keep everyone back he flips off the top of the bottle and chugs it.
Hookshanks, the vicious halfling, twitches as the spark bomb lands a direct hit and causes his muscles to convulse for a moment. Panting, he yells, "Brats, why are you hiding?!! Kill these $&*@ers or we'll feed ya to the - .... dog?" The halfling finally sees the beheaded mutt through the commotion and his eyes go wide. Then he looks to his half-orc companion covered in blood, then turns back to stare at Bellis genuinely confused. "Who the $#%#& are you???"
He half-heartedly throws the candle down the stairs and then runs into the room he emerged from, fleeing for his life.
Vedika gashes the half-orc as he pulls out the potion, then backswings hard and slashes him again with her short but heavy blade.
Weyland shortens the chain and attacks the half-orc.
Finally Weyland connects as does his companion.
He stops, spins and charges at the stairs this time using the chain to pull down the Halfling off of his feet, "We are the vengeance you and yours have had coming for a long, long time..."
CMB But the chain is blocked by the bannister.
I know I'll get the hang of this soon enough!
Samantha swings her mace againstthe half-orc with growing anoyance at his refusal to die or at least fall unconscious.
Samantha runs after the fleeing halfling.
Realising that his escape would be worse for the stealth than a little explosion the alchemist drops the piece of ruble she was holding and grabs one of her Bombs to lob after the fleeing enemy
Samantha runs after the fleeing halfling.
Wary for an ambush from the vanished halfling, she drops her ruble and takes one of the vials she prepared before coming here and drinks it.
+2 if orc
+4 if halfling
Vedika and Weyland take advantage of his focus on the potion to strike the half-orc hard, but Samantha, frustrated, misses him. Weyland is positive ther half-orc is going to fall, and as one of the his knees buckles slightly, the smile goes away from his face. ”That’s. Not. FUNNY!”
He manages to chug the potion, and his wounds close slightly, but still leaving him severely wounded. His smile returns - even more maniacal and deeply insane now. He cries out “Now who’s gonna DIE?!!” just as Vedika chops her blade into his gut, sure this will finish him off.
He looks down at it and then back at Vedika. ”Guess it’s not meeheeheehee!”
Samantha in her frustration swings wildly at the half-orc, but misses him entirely and instead smashes open a barrel of pungent fish.
Bellis draws her crossbow and loads it, trying to decide on chasing the halfling or helping finish the half-orc and calming the children when the smell hits her. "Gah, how can you stand this smell?" she asks the children.
Wenzeslaus takes a step into the dark and pungent room. The smells of rotting fish and blood intensify, nearly causing him to gag. He decides to hold fire until he can make some sense of the chaos inside and focuses on supporting his halfling ally.
Nicolai tries to calm the children down "No one is here to kill you, we just want to find Gaedren Lamm. If you can tell us where he is this all be over that much quicker." Failing again, he throws his hands up in the air and thinks to himself "Fine, we'll just have to do this the hard way." Turning to face the stairs he draws, spans, and loads his crossbow.
Giggles the half-orc is severely bloodied and definitely staggering. The only thing holding him up is spite. As Weyland charges after the halfling, Giggles yells, "Maybe you gonna die?!" and swings at Weyland's back, striking him with a solid hit.
Giggles turns and laughs a deep, hearty, foul breathed laugh in Vedika's face as he swings the flail back towards her, but misses.
Off balance from the miss and his knees buckling, Giggles winks at Vedika as he coughs up blood. "Fooled ya. Guess it's me gonna die. Hee hee cough cough Ug... worst dream ev-" Then Giggles finally collapses on the ground, dying.
-----------------------------
At the top of the stairs, Weyland sees into the next room:
The stink in this room, a mixture of fish and sweat, is enough to make the eyes water. To the east, a large wooden trough holds a hideous mound of half-rancid fish, seaweed, and brine. Filthy river water and fish blood stain the floor around this trough. A pair of wooden chutes lead from this trough through holes in the eastern wall into a larger room beyond. To the west, a desk and chair sit in one corner while a tall cabinet sits in the other.
-----------------------------
The kids are still very unsure of the group, but seeing both the dog and half-orc killed and none of the group attacking them, they calm somewhat. Most still seem to feel safest huddled under the stairs and walkway, and the rest just want to stay with the group.
One small child tugs at Nicolai's shirt and silently points down, likely indicating a lower level.
Nicolai smiles at the young waif "Thank you." he says "Now take the others and go. Lamm will trouble you no more. Go to one of the city orphanages, they will take you in."
He takes a step and peers through the opening in the floor to see what might be underneath.
"Sita?" says Vedika as she absently flicks Giggles' blood to one side off her blade. She looks over the children, hoping for the sight of a familiar face.
Several of the kids talk over each other, replying to Nicolai,
"But I don't know where no orphanages are!"
"Do I have to? I'm not an orphan."
"I'm not no orphan neither! I miss my family! Can you take me home?"
"Whatsa city orfanjus?"
Unfortunately, Vedika does not see Sita, but another girl speaks up, "Uh, miss, he took Sita yesterday. Took her and a coupla other kids. Took 'em down below and said he had ta test something. We haven't seen them since."
"That does not sound good!" Bellis said.
Samantha sighs, looking at the fallen half-orc unsure what to feel. Deciding that she has more important things to do, she turns around towards the group and the kids. " ok, wait here till we are finished, afterwards we will help you find your families or a good orphanage if there is none left. But first we need to know who's in this building beside that halfling and Lamm."
Samantha sighs, looking at the fallen half-orc unsure what to feel. Deciding that she has more important things to do, she turns around towards the group and the kids. " ok, wait here till we are finished, afterwards we will help you find your families or a good orphanage if there is none left. But first we need to know who's in this building beside that halfling and Lamm."
Now that others are talking and the immediate threats are gone, more children seem comfortable opening up.
"There's Mister Yargin. He likes to burn stuff with acid... and sometimes us when we're bad."
"And don't forget Gobblegut!" At the mention of this name, all the kids instantly go silent in fear. The one who spoke up sounds more nervous now, having said that name aloud. "It... it's a monster Boss Lamm has. We ain't never seen it, but we heard it. They say it's even meaner and uglier than Bloo and if we ain't useful no more... they gonna feed us to Gobblegut!"
All the kids nod their heads in wide-eyed fear. One starts to cry, "I don't wanna be fed to no one."
"Stay here until we get back." Bellis tells the children. "And if we don't return, get out of here. He won't have the men to find you again so easily." With a quick look down at the dead Half-Orc, she guides her machine up the stairs to join Weyland.
Weyland grunts at the pain, Sloppy, should have made sure he was dead...
Weyland moves forward ignoring the pain as best he can, he heads up the stairs looking for this Yargin.
Hearing the ruckus has stopped, Wenzeslaus steps further into the room. "Anybody hurt? Come to me if you need help."
He focuses on his grimoire, repeating the occult formulae which channel the force of the life spirits into the living flesh.
Samantha starts to follow Welland, alert and with her weapon ready for an ambush by that halfling.
Those who went upstairs enter a purtrid upper workroom.
The only doors out are a set of double doors onto the walkway you entered from, and another that looks to leads to a front office.
The main door to the outside is now wide open to the street There are also 2 doors to the East, and another to the South that are all closed.
---------------------------------------
For Nicolai and anyone else who looks through the hole in the floor:
There's no sign of the halfling or who/whatever this "Yargin" is.
Weyland nods to Samantha and points to the office doors.
Continuing to pad towards them quite proficiently for a big man as he gets near he kicks them open, and rolls into the room in case a foe with a bow is on the other side.
Acrobatics
He grimaces as its found empty....
----------------------------------
Perception
1: What you came through
2: To the outside (and all of you snuck past, seeing a candle light inside)
3: Door that Weyland kicked in and tumbled into.
The Front Office that Weyland is in has the following doors:
1: Weyland kicked in
2 & 3: On the East wall
4: South wall
5: Main door to the outside - which is wide open to the street
That help? If not, just let me know!
Samantha carefully follows Weyland into the room, a bomb ready to be thrown. She points with her mace at the southern door and whispers "I heard something "
Vedika follows along with her gore-covered machete still in hand and nods to Samantha. She points to her ear, then points to the southern door.