Dolgrin glares at the backs of the crime lord and his minions as they depart the Goblin. Too generous by far. Seems being all nice didn't get us anything but empty pockets for the House.
"Ah see it, Lass. Now go fetch the dwarf or the elf." Alayna scans the room for snake-escape routes.
Unfortunatly for the poor Alayna, the viper doesn't have the decency to wait for her comrades to come. Maybe the reptile considers the scullery as its new territory...
vs
However, the blonde pirate is even quicker thant the viper!
in the big room, Dolgrin spots nothing unusual. Both staff and customers are speaking in ushered tones, with fear still in their hearts, but there is no visible panic.
Alayna sees the snake moving towards her and sets up a simple low thrust.
for
for
She keeps the tip o' the rapier down, waiting for the snake's lethal strike!
for
not only the viper misses, but it is striken twice by the vivacious volcanic vixen.
Not a good day to be a viper.
Snake HP 5/13
AC 14/11/13,
Init +5
F+5 R+4 W+1
Melee bite +2 (1d4-1+poison, save Fort DC 13; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Con; cure 1 save.
The reptile is still alive, if barely, and maybe someone will come to Alayna's help before she cuts herself a new belt into the snake?
Stabbing once more, Alayna tries to finish this minor threat to the Goblin!
for
Her luck however does not hold! "By Desna's sparklin' teets!" she curses and awaits another fanged assault.
for
Once again, the viper misses, her viscious fangs biting only Alayna's steel.
Swift and deadly, the blonde pirate counter attacks, but her blade doesn't kill the snake...
"Tough bugger!" Alayna keeps working the scales off the scarlet serpent.
for
Cameron waits until Nessa is back from doing what she by her very nature needed to do. While she was gone, he watched the sleeping child worriedly wondering, [i]'What will become of this child? Nessa is driven to release like an opium smoker. I fear what might happen to her and those around her if she could not find surcease.'[/b]
He does his best at hiding those doubts when she returns and he asks her, "I'm heading back, you coming come too?"
She hesitates for a moment before continuing, "I know at least you and Alayna are leery of me keeping Sylee, you don't think I can do right by her, and what she will turn out like growing up in a home with a nympho like myself. I want you to know that, despite what you might think, I won't let her come to harm if I can prevent it, and if she does may the damned soul prey they can outrun me because I will hunt them and I will make them plead for death before I send their soul to the deepest pit of the abyss I can find for them." Her words are dead serious, far more serious than you have ever heard her be other than when she agreed to be Sylee's new mommy.
Cameron (I assume) escorts Nessa back to the goblin.
Nessa walks back to the Goblin with Cameron talking about her childhood growing up in the temple as they go.
Snake HP 2/13
AC 14/11/13,
Init +5
F+5 R+4 W+1
Melee bite +2 (1d4-1+poison, save Fort DC 13; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Con; cure 1 save.
Getting a little frustrated with this snake, Alayna looks up and sees a heavy shelf to her left. She grabs the frames and yanks it hard, pulling the shelves down and onto the snake. She jumps in the air and shouts with glee as she sees the frame hit the floor, separating the thing's head from the rest of it's body.
for
for
Cameron and Nessa arrive back at the goblin just in time to greeted by a frantic cook. "Woah! Slow down, what do you mean Bryan was attacked by a snake?! Take us there!" shots Cameron as he races to the kitchen. He examines the apprentice and tries to call on Desna for healing! He touches the wound with his holy symbol and whispers, "Oh great dreamer! Help this humble apprentice live to realize his dreams!"
The snake is crushed and killed by the shelf, and the blonde pirate can rejoice!
But the cook's apprentice is still lying on the floor, bleeding and poisoned.
Until, out of nowhere (well, back from the Calistrian's temple, but Alayna can't know that: he still has his pants on.^^) Cameron comes in and uses his magic to close the young man's wounds.
He will still need to recover from the poison, of course, but his life isn't endangered any more. He's pale and feeble, but breathing
Cameron attempts to suck the poison out of the wound, "Ugh! Disgusting!! I got some of it out, but we need to get him to a temple. Alayna, can you help me carry him?"
Cameron moves to pick up the fellow.
Alayna stands, flabbergasted that Cameron simply ignored her! "Oi, then what ov me? I did the 'ard work o' making soup bait o' the serpent!" She steps into the scullery, "Bah. No mind, lemme 'elp you wit' the boy." She puts her shoulder into the work and helps Cameron get the lad to somewhere safe. Joking she says, "Like the world's fastest drunk-'ere's a lad what din't watch 'is Ps n' Qs"
The pirate shouts over her shoulder to the cook that summoned her in the first place, "'Ey! Save the hide when you make tha soup. I need a new belt!"
Entering the casino with Cameron Nessa hears the same things he does and rushes to the back. She looks at Alayna and asks, "What happened?"
"A scarlet viper the shade o' a man too long in hand took a taste o' Lil' Wayne the cook's 'prentice." She stands up a bit taller, "but yers truly made sure it'd not get a taste a' the sweetest bits!" She grins, proud that someone noticed her efforts!
Seeing the paper Nessa bends down to pick it up, her skirt too short to hide anything from those behind her. Pickng the note up she reads it her curiosity peaked.
Cameron snaps to and grins sheepishly at Alayna. "Sorry, he was about to die and needed all of my attention. Still you did good! That snake would have killed him for sure if you hadn't intervened, still might do in fact, unless we can get him to a skilled healer... I dont think I got all the poison out."
Cameron glances down at the man, "I can't carry him alone, can I get a hand please?"
When he notices Nessa reading something he tries to avoid looking, and gazes at Alayna. A moment passrs and curiosity gets the better of him, "Found something Nessa?"
Seeing poor Cameron shouldering the ragged fellow, Krucina runs up and supports his other side.
Here, let's hurry and get him some help. You know your way to the various healing halls, lead the way!
Looking at the dwarf, she grins and says, "Can you clear a path? Move the cattle so we can get him help?"
Dolgrin steps ahead of the others and glares along the path he plans to take. "Make way for the injured," he says, shouldering people aside to give room for those carrying the man to pass.
Looking back over her shoulder at Cameron's question, and seeing him trying not to look at her backside, Nessa slides her tail along her leg and slaps her own backside with the spaded tip of it before standing up and giggling at the man. She saunters over, staying well clear of Cameron and Krucina lifting the man up to take him to the healer and says, "Yes, I found this not on the ground." Her lips purse in a moue as she reads it over once again, "It seems to be from whoever put that snake in here in the first place. Poor thing, it got left here and then killed just for being cranky. I wish I'd been here, I might have been able to deal with it without killing it." She shrugs her shoulders, "Oh well."
Cameron rolls his eyes when Nessa teases him, with the ghost of a smile on his lips. When Krucina helps carry the injured lad, Cameron simply says "Thanks Krucina." On the way to the temple there's time for him to muse, 'An odd one, keeps herself to herself and those eyes are quite something... Still I'm glad of her help!'
With Cameron, Dolgrin, and Krucina take the injured man to a healer, and Hel otherwise occupied, that leave only Alayna and Nessa standing around. Nessa looks at the woman and says to her, "Looks like it's just us." Some concern showing through as she continues Nessa asks, "Are you alright Krucina?"
"Aye, jus'tus. An' ta do wha?" Alayna gets back to the tedious chore of watching the Goblin for signs of bad people doing bad things...
"To stand here and watch I guess. My girls seem to have things in hand down there." Nessa leans back against the wall, "So Alayna, thanks for taking care of Sylee for a while today, I really appreciate it." She seems nervous for a moment and says, "I know you don't care for me, and don't think me fit to be a mother to Sylee, but why do you assume that's the case without knowing me?" Nessa's tail flicks side to side restlessly, "It seems that only Dolgrin has not judged me before he got to know me. I just don't get what the rest of you find so unpleasant about me." She continues on, "I know most people aren't fans of my kind, but I doubt that's the problem. I just can't understand what I've done to be disliked so much by all of you."
Alayna smiles first, Is nae dislike, just worry... "I dannae dislike ya, or yer kind," she raises a hand, asking to be allowed to finish, "by kind I be meanin' yer profession - old as it may be - tis no place to raise a chil'" Alayna looks Nessa up and down, "By the Pit girl, you even stir me! Tha's nae a bad thing - mayhap one day we'll have a tryst? But you an' I ain't the matter 'ere. It's Sylee. Your job, my job, this," she spreads her arms showing the Goblin, "is nae a chil's home anymore than a bilge or the Cap'n's bunk. You an' I live a'lives a' violence. Tis' nae a fit place for a chil'. You 'ave ta see that, true as I can say it." Alayna is standing relaxed, not angry at all. Almost as if she knew what her answer was before she was asked. But still, the pirate girl is earnest, not angry. "An' now, you can smell the changing tide-it's going out and leav'n the stink of a'thing long buried by the brine. Should we drag sweet Sylee with us wher'ever our ship sails?"
As one of Nessa's girls passes by Alayna snatches to drinks from her tray, "Thanks Lass." Alayna passes one to Nessa, "But ta' us, demon-girl..." she raises her glass and then downs it in one pull. Once done she asks bluntly, "Where was ya born, Nessa? What's yer story? Or may'ap I shou' start?"
Nessa considers Alayna's words, relieved that it's not dislike but concern for the girl Sylee that has caused this problem. It's a concern that Nessa can readily understand. "I know that it's dangerous, that we aren't the safest people to be around. But think about this, is it any safer on the streets? She had no one, no brothers, no sisters, not father...not mother," her voice has a definite bit of pain at the word mother, "She had no one to keep her safe, warm, to hold her when she was scared, to comfort her, to tend to her when she was sick. How is her current state any less more dangerous than that?" Nessa sounds quite passionate by now, as though she seriously believes what she is saying, "Now, she has a mother, a scary mother, but a mother." With an amused smile she looks at Alayna and adds, "She almost has two mothers. She has a father figure n Cameron, and maybe even an aunt and uncle in Krucina and Dolgrin. Hal is just, well, Hal. She has a roof over her head, good food, protection from all of us, plus the entire temple where we are staying."
Nessa pauses a moment and continues wistfully as her tail begins to slowly move side to side in a languorous s-curve, "Did you realize that Calistrians consider children sacrosanct, completely of limits. They are protected and coddled, as they should be, they are given the choice of what they wish to do with their lives. Children remind us of the innocence we no longer have, at least that's what I think. So please, explain to me how safe she is now compared to before?" Nessa considers Alayna's question of whether to drag Sylee along wherever she may go and Nessa is forced to think long and hard about the question. Finally she answers, "I-i don't know. I'm not sure I can part with her that easily." There are tears in her eyes as she speaks, tears that she quickly dashes away when one of the serving girls comes by.
Gladly accepting the drink from Alayna, Nessa follows suit, raising the glass, "To us," then downs it. "My story huh? You're the second person today to hear some of it. Cameron asked me earlier when he took me to the temple for a bit after that bastard Zilcher left. I guess I can give you the short version. Around sixty-four years ago there was a serial rapist, he'd been abducting street walkers, sticking to those from the fringes of the trade with the least contact with the House of the Silken Veil. He had taken quite a few and would have gotten away safely if he hadn't gotten in a hurry. The last person he took was an abbess of the temple, like myself, a rare variety of humanoid called a vishkanya, she was one of the most attractive courtesan's the temple had at the time. It also brought the temples wrath down on him."
Nessa takes a nother drink before she continues, "It took a few weeks to track him down. By then it was too late to save any of the women. The enforcers broke in to find him holding the last infant of his spree, a little tiefling girl with little bitty bat wings and tail. Before he could flee or fight, the one behind his spree came back through an opened gate, a gate straight to the abyss. A succubus was behind this scheme, the women he had taken were impregnated by him and the succubus then the pregnancies accelerated from months to days. The bodies of their previous victims were just lying there and the Vishkanya woman was dying. The high priest of the time managed to drive off the succubus, banishing her for a period of one-hundred years from the material plane, she took her stooge with her giving him his just deserts."
Polishing off the glass, Nessa continues the story. The whole time she's told it as though it meant little to her, though the vishkanya woman seems the only part that bothers her, "The vishkanya still had some breath in her, they let her hold her daughter as she died. She named the girl Nessa." There is a definite tear at this point and she pauses, catching her breath and snagging another drink as it passes by, downing it in one gulp. Newly fortified she continues, "I was taken in and raised by the temple. I was given all I could ever need, and though they encouraged me to find what I wanted in life and to go for it, I knew all along I simply wanted to be what I have become, an abbess of the temple. They never encouraged me, in fact they tried to encourage me to do other things, but I was drawn to that life, a life literally in my very should because of that succubus. Eventually I developed sorcery and found it much more to my liking than the wisdom necessary for one to channel the power of the divine. My magic has a thing for poison and acid, for reptiles and enchantment. It's what I do, what I enjoy.
"All I say is tha' we give Sylee to some folks that can an' will take good care o' the lass. That Dawnflower's priest. I ain't n'er heard a foul word a'bou tha' Kelishite. You don' right by the girl as a foster, but as much as you wan'ta play mother to her, we can'nae give her wha' she really be needin'. A stable deck under her feet and a stiff wind pushin' 'er on'ward." Alyana grins broadly, and adds, "B'sides if'n we find 'er a good family, then we can care for the whole lot as Patrons!" I just can't say the point - bein' raised by a where'll make 'er a whore. I saw 'er playin' at it t'day!
"A' borked tale if ever there was one!" Alayna calls another round, and if Nessa's willing, spends the night 'watching' the Goblin while enjoying Demon-Girl's company and hopefully good humor. 'Ave ya ever thought ta' find this succubus that seemed to be making brood for 'erself? That'd be a right prop'r tale ta share with yer mates."
Nessa considers what Alayna said, trying to avoid her knee jerk reaction of instant anger. It takes her a moment before she can reply civilly, "I get what you're saying, but I don't know. Right now I think I need here as much as she needs me, and unless things change I feel I need to give this the best try I can. If something happens where the danger becomes too much, and Sylee can be convinced to choose the option, then I might change my mind but not until then. I won't agree to more than that and I ask you respect that even if you don't think it's right."
Nessa considers the question that Alayna asks, "I don't know why I would care to bother. I never knew my mother, though I admit I did miss her presence in my life, I wouldn't even know how to find the demon if I wanted to. Still...if the chance to deal with her comes, and it won't require a trip to the abyss to do it, then I might well take the chance to enact some serious revenge on her, and I would certainly need help to take her down."
The note found earlier by Nessa shows a crude drawing of Saul Vancaskerkin, now with both hands missing and a brief threat scribbled
below: “Looking to go two for two, Saul? Pack up, get out of town, and you’ll be fine!”
Cameron soon realises that the closest temple is the temple of Calistria. Not sure about the "respectable" priests part, anyway...Another possibility would be the St Caspieran mission, as the priest there offered his help.
Dogrin takes the wounded and poisoned man and starts to walk to the door, as Nessa and Alayna engages in girly's talk around a few drinks.
Looking at the note, Nessa comes to a conclusion that the bad news can't wait. She looks at Alayna and says, "Thanks for the talk, I'll think over what you've said, just don't expect me to follow it. Right now I need to deliver this note to Saul, it's meant for him." she shows Alayna the note before heading to Saul's office.
Nessa looks at the guards to Saul's office and says, "I have a message fro Saul, I found it in the scullery after the attack." She knocks on the door and waits for Saul to answer.
Cameron muses, "The closest temple is Calistria's, I don't think that's really the kind of care he needs. There are others but they're a little bit of a hike. I'll have another go at getting rid of the venom."
Now the panic is over, Cameron has time to remember what he's supposed to do. Died monk's hood, hen weed and cinnamon bark tea, something of a purgative but it'll counteract the effects of the venom. He dashes back into the goblin and fetches his bag of dried herbs and a kettle of boiling water from the kitchen. He immerses the herbal bundle in the steaming water and after a little bit he decants some of the brownish liquid into an earthen ware cup and helps the lad to drink some. As expected the boy can't hold it down but he feel a lot better afterwords and some of the color returns to his cheeks.
"I think he'll be OK" murmurs Cameron to the others.
Who is there? Ne..Nesssssa? Enter, girl!
Saul's voice is unstable...he probably had a few drinks.
Finally, you remember how to treat the poison, and under your care the
man's cheeks take back some color. He vomits and spits a little on you, but he's still unconcious. It would be better if Dolgrin or someone else put him in a bed
Saul is indeed, quite drunk. When he sees the paper, he has an hard smile, as if he has suddenly sobered up.
Well, we must do something good if that old .. Nay, Can't say that, I'm probably older than him. What do you think of all this, Nessa? You know men. What do your instinct say?
He is asking the question seriously
The rest of the evening seems to pass without any more trouble. There is not many clients, and it will be important to find a solution to bring more people into the Gold Goblin, or soon Saul's money will dry.
You've heard frightened , whispered conversation between some of the staff members. Even your recently hired bard seems on her nerves, and ready to quit.
How droll! Alayna does her best to both keep an eye on the crowd while keeping them drinking and playing. I wonder if this voyage is goin' ta the Locker? I shou' palaver wit' Cam about find'n a new Cap'n. It's hard to keep the dour nature of her thoughts off of her face, but hey, as long as Saul is paying, Alyana will be'a playing...
Nessa moves around and sits on the edge of the desk, her legs crossed at the knee. Her tail moves to pick up the bottle and pour a little for herself as she gathers her thoughts, "I suppose it depends on what you want an answer too, as far as my instincts go they tell me men want one thing above all others, sex, and right behind sex is power." She moves her foot to slide along Saul's leg as she continues, "To bring any man down you need only catch him off guard, preferably when his pants are around his ankles. At that time they are most vulnerable and you can get away with literal murder." She pours him some more to drink, "To deal with this problem you need to either find his dirty secrets and use them against him, or actively try to kill him."
She takes a sip of her drink, licking her lips afterwards and continues, "If you're talking about the profits here at the casino then that's another matter entirely. We have men coming as it is, but there is one thing we are lacking, women." She watches his face for whatever expression he might have to her next words, "Our customers are almost all men, but we have few women coming in. I think trying to lure in women will likely help our profits considerably." Nessa downs the last of her drink and then slides off the desk and moves slowly up to Saul as she continues to speak, "The best way to lure in women would be to hire some incubi, men dressed as scantily as our succubi are, particularly handsome men, will lure the women in droves once the word is out." She moves to sit on his lap, her back to his keyhand, and wraps an arm around his shoulders as she leans in, "Does that answer your question?"
Dolgrin takes the man to a room in order to sleep off the remnants of the poison before heading back out to the main area to keep his eyes out for more trouble, despite the fact the place was nearly empty.
Good ideas for the casino. You sure you're in the right ..business,Nessa? Try to find a few men... I know you can do that easily. Just remember that for some people, like Clegg, prefers power over sex. The thrills and sensations are longer. He's stronger than we are, so far. You'd all better keep far from him, as long as possible.
Smiling at the compliment Nessa leans in and nibvles on Saul's ear. She takes his good hand and slides it along her inner thigh and under her skirt as she breathes in his ear, "Now why don't we see if I can make you forgot about your troubles for awhile before I return to the temple for the night."
Cameron calls the group together, "Seems Zincher frightened most of the patrons away and we need to something more or this place will never take off. I uh have a couple of ideas. I think we need a more mixed crowd here, it's mostly middle aged men right now. So how about we make entry free to ladies before say 11pm, and put on some entertainment for them? Male models, whatever works. Doesn't need to be every night if you're worried about frightening the usual clientele. Perhaps we should make out this place is edgy - bill it as 'Zincher's kind of casino?'"