Coran is going to move up to 4f and shoot his crossbow at the Goblin in 4b
Attack
Damage
Roman steps behind Byron and says, trying to make his voice sound calm. "It's over. They overwhelmed us this time, and we can't retreat and leave Jo and Xianae to them. Accepting their terms is a rational thing."
As he says that, he does not let go of his bow and arrow.
Coran looks at Roman then at all the blood coming from Jo and Xianae finally at Whitechin. He reloads his Crossbow ready to shoot the closest Golbin if they attack "We'll listen." Coran prays to both Cayden and Abadar that this turns out well, or Whitechin will pay.
Emmett frowns deeply at Roman and Coran. Fear has gripped him and the words of hope his companions have uttered he so desperately want to believe. He holds his gesture and pauses long enough to see what happens next.
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The bugbear lets out a low, dark laugh "That is a good decision. You all would have been dead." Whitechin takes a step forward and pushes a foot at Jo's unconscious body. "This one should have known better. At least he seems to have fallen in with some with better heads on their shoulders. Here is my deal." He strokes a white-haired chin thoughtfully and continues, "Your intrusion on my home has made a bad situation for me even worse. The northern ruins are my territory. But, I seem to have some undesirable competition that has recently moved in. A band of tieflings calling themselves the Bastards of Erebus. Fashion themselves the spawn of Hell or something. They've set themselves up in an old church further north of here. I was going to take care of this myself, but you've left me with a few less men. So, I need you to send them a message. A message with your steel and spells. In exchange, I'll spare your lives. Do we have a deal?"
Coran looks at the rest of his group wondering what everyone thinks about this deal "So we take care of the Bastards and you don't kill us. What I don't see is how this helps you save face with our unannounced visit into your home." he pauses looking at his party and then the goblins "What is stopping you from sending those ones after us when we done the job, not saying you aren't a trust worthy man but we did cause you to lose face." Coran pauses waiting to see if any of the others have anything to add.
Diplomacy
Emmett looks at Coran with bewildered eyes. First they have us stop, then Coran taunts the brute. What am I missing? Are we just buying time? He slowly replaces his vest as he decides there isn't much he can do but follow along.
"Whitechin offers good terms Coran, though your concerns are also sound and should be addressed as well. As a man of the law, I can see other grey areas that should be clarified before we agree to your terms. For example: What of the Bastards' possessions. Will the spoils of our endeavour become our possession? And what of the locale the Bastards occupy? And what about the territory they control?"
Not to mention whether there is a time limit for us to accomplish our dead, but I won't mention that...
Emmett smiles at Whitechin.
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Whitechin smiles broadly at Coran, "Memories are short here north of the wall. A bugbear might forget that his home was invaded if those responsible did him a favor." He turns to Emmett. "Any of their possessions are yours to take. They are holed up in an old church of Old Deadeye. Destroy it or leave it empty. Their territory is mine."
Emmett makes a curt bow at Whitechin: "We will take our leave then, and report back on our endeavour. Where further North would we find that church?"
He then looks at Jo's massive bleeding body. "We need to carry Jo back up... I'm not sure about waking him where he is..."
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"I can provide you assist with that, but I think your instinct to wake him elsewhere is a good one." Whitechin turns to the thin goblin with hungry eyes and barks "Bottlefly! Bring them a chest of the healing potions." The goblin's eyes flash for a moment, but then gestures to two of the others and scurries off. "You'll head northwest of here. Further into the ruins. You'll know the building by its bell tower. It is surrounded by a number of buildings that each had a shop on the first floor and a residence of the second. There's also a barn nearby with a hitching post."
As he finishes, the thin goblin and two of the others return with a small chest and set it down by Emmett with a little "thunk." The three return to their positions as Whitechin speaks again. "Oh, one more thing. To ensure you don't simply heal yourselves and return...which would be a bad idea anyway...I'm going to keep one of you as a hostage. That girl there." He points to Moondark. "She's too young and skinny to do you any good against the Bastards anyway. She stays with me. If you're successful, you'll find her safe upon your return. My spies will be watching."
Emmett gets nervous from the goblins moving around him. He recalls the monstrous horrors Nanny Thromjas filled his young mind with. He nods as they drop the chest, in a surreal state.
"But wait, we need the girl! She's great for scouting. And surely you don't expect us to go there today!? That would be suicide. We need to prepare!"
Coran looks at Whitechin, "I don't have a problem doing your bidding, but because your defenses were very difficult we have mostly exhusted our resources and might need the day to rest and recover so we can deal with the Bastards at full strength."
then looking at Moondark and Emmett then back Whitechin We might need her to help with scouting the church."
Diplomacy
"Help us then get Jo and Xianae to the surface!"
Once up, he'll assist Coran in administering healing.
Roman carefully weighs the bugbear's words, looking for hidden catches.
"So, we help you get the Bastards' territory and we're free? No strings attached?"
"You mentioned your spies in the Bastard's area of operations. No doubt you have your own attack plan prepared. Do you know any of their weak points? Any tricks we should be on the lookout for?"
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"I attach no strings. You keep your lives if you help me with the Bastards. We've done some scouting. I know they keep a lookout in the tower, but we haven't seen any patrols. If you work your way between the surrounding buildings, you should be able to get within about 50 feet before they have any chance of spotting you from the tower. I was going to call in a couple favors for extra help and see about getting my goblins into a couple of the nearby buildings, then see if we could come at them quietly from multiple directions, hopefully without alerting their watch."
Byron eyes Whitechin dubiously.
"Well, we had better get Jo out of here before we wake him up, then. Otherwise, I imagine it would be difficult to convince him *not* to keep attacking... That said, if we point him at another target, it will probably be easier to 'distract' him..."
"All right. Yes, help will be appreciated. I'll supervise the lifting and moving through. Let's start by waking up Xianae and explain what the deal is. Coran, would you cure her with the potions?"
Emmett keeps an eye on the Goblins, making sure no one gets isolated.
Emett gives her a sheepish smile: "We won't leave you here long..."
"Our options are few, yet, I feel great anger and a wish for revenge... For now, I suggest we head back to Mother Mudlumm's and ask her advice. She knows the area and the players better than us. Plus, she might be able to put some wisdom in Jo's head. Your actions have almost spelled our doom, and now Moondark is Whitechin's hostage. On top of that, instead of freeing the city from the likes of Whitechin, we're improving his hold and his strength by getting rid of the competition for him!"
I look to Emmett and the others as I awake, looking at the Goblin ready to attack. But seeing that nobody else is attacking, I lower my hand and await an explanation. Once I have been told what is going on think about it, "So we's are helpin' Whitechin now? That doesn't seems like a good's idea. What's stopping's him from attacking's us afterwards?"
Byron shrugs.
"I agree, we are strengthening his position, and that is something we really did not want. However, we had little choice; both you and Jo were unconscious, Xianae, and Whitechin had... a significant... number of allies backing him up. A wise man knows when he is outmatched, and withdraws... knowing that he can always come back later to finish the job; something I, at least, definitely intend to do."
Coran is glad to get of this place and back to the city. He nods agreeing with Byron "Let's get to Mother Mudlumm's and try to work out what we should do about the Bastards"
Jo mumbles and grumbles as he opens his eyes. He attempts to get up but feels the pain and ache of his recent wounds.
Hand to his head he says "Wha happen'd? Jo feels like he hit by a bull?"
"Jo, your actions have almost spelled our doom, and now Moondark is Whitechin's hostage! On top of that, instead of freeing the city from the likes of Whitechin, we're improving his hold and his strength by getting rid of the competition for him!"
I look at Byron, "I understand's, next time's we will shows them. Thanks for getting me's outta there's."
I then turn to Jo, "I don't remember's much, jus' a room's of Goblins 'n' then black's. We's were given an offer's, which we took for now's."
Roman paces back and forth, deep in thought, and nods at Byron's words.
"We have been forced into a tactical retreat, but we still got our bases covered.
Whitechin and the Bastards are competing for the territory - either way, by removing one of them, we give room for another to grow.
Once we deal with the Bastards, we are not bound by obligations against Whitechin.
Dealing with the Bastards gives us an opportunity to present our work to the authorities. We know Whitechin's lair location and layout. If we find any support from the Dottari, we could give this information to them in exchange for their help in the raid on Whitechin. Vengeance will be ours."
Byron nods.
"That sounds reasonable to me, Roman."
With a harsh sigh when the Dottari are mentioned Coran begins
"We first have to find a Dottari that doesn't believe we are up to no good. If we do happen to find one that wil listen, what will stop them from arresting us for being collaborators of Whitechin who just want him out of the way so they can take over his territory and activities."
"I think we should take things into our own hands with Whitechin bringing him down ourselves after we deal with the Bastards. If we have to take the law into our hands we will make sure it is done right, for the city and it's people."
Emmett listens to his companions as they make their way to Mother's. His shoulders are sagging from the defeat, but an idea springs through him, lifting his spirit: "I say, why not have someone else do the work for us? Can't we get the Bastards to come to terms with Whitechin? He cannot know it's us, for Moondark would be put to the blade... Yet, if it could be done!"
Jo looks at Emmett with some contempt. He does not like being talked down to "Especially by this little man who don't carry no weapon but his mouth!"
He stands up shakely and scowls at Emmett. "Jo not see you do nuffin!" but then he restrains himself.
"You right doh. Jo lets his angry get best of him sometimes. Next time Jo try to fink more before runnin' into danger like dat. Jo sorry for little girl. She seem pretty brave, doh. Jo say we go and get her!"
He then listens to the others chattering away about what to do next and quickly loses interest. "They tell Jo what to do and Jo do it. Too much thinkin for Jo." Jo looks over his hammer to make sure it is in good order.
"Dang, Jo hit Whitechin with a pretty good shot. He must be tougher than Jo thought." he thinks to himself.
Sighing "I think the Bastards go deeper than Whitechin and We believe. They have been on our radar for a while, we even talked about dealing with them, so this is our chance." Coran thinks backs to the other groups that were in the conversation smiling slightly.
"So when we get to Mother's House we need to see if the Bastard's have been heard of beyond what we know from Whitechin. Then we take them out setting eyes on a goal of taking out Whitechin and getting Moondark back when done." looking at Emmett "We have to do this ourselves, for Moondark and The Children of Westcrown"
Emmetts smiles at Coran and nods: "Ay! This is wisdom. Let's deal with them then."
While heading back to the Mothers I turn to Coran, "So's Shama ... Coran, what's happenin'? We helpin' Whitechin 'n' then turning's on him? Or jus' letting him go's?"
Looking at Xianae and smiling at her calling him by name. "I think we should deal with the Bastards First then decide about Whitechin." Coran pauses thoughtfully "I think besides researching the Bastards we should do a little looking into Whitechin businesses and see how best to hit him or not. I really don't want to let him go."