The group converges on Giggles almost simultaneously. Orcsson, Cal, Garvid, and Silvio's attack each hit and the Half Orc falls. His corpse is a bloody mess. A few of the boys gasp at the severity of the kill.
The one burned by acid walks over to Em. He gives her another toothy grin. "You is gonna need to be careful down below. Giggles done warned Lamm."
The other kids come around the others and pat them on the back. "You guys is amazing!"
One of the kids moves up to Silvio. "He's got the rich kid an' Maretha down below. I think he was afraid you was comin'. Said he saw sum trouble at sum tavern last night."
Mouse smiles, reaching out to ruffle the hair of the nearest Lamb. She seems slightly embarassed at the attention, but quickly focuses. Sounds like we c'n expect trouble downstairs, then, if he knows we're comin'. We better hurry - longer he's got 'em, longer he's got ta do somethin' rash. Everyone come out okay?
She begins to wade through the gaggle of children toward the descent to the next level, then winces as she lifts her shield arm and the crossbow quarrel reasserts its presence. Gingerly, she pulls out the quarrel, drops it to the floor, and digs the heel of her hand into her arm over the blood stain to stanch the flow. I ain't comfortable, but I ain't dyin', neither.
Then she looks up and sees Manius holding the back of his head, blood welling between his fingers. Looks like he needs lookin' at more than me, she says, still pressing her hand into her injured arm.
Emilia descended the stairs. Giggles will meet the Lady of Garves sooner than he expected. She was not saddened by the news.
When she reached the bottom step and the burned Lamb with the toothy grin warned her of Lamm lying in wait for them below, she gathered him closer and requested the other wounded to gather closer, as well. She had noted her companions' injuries incurred during the fight with the one called 'Giggles'.
"I will heal those who have been injured. Draw closer to me, quickly."
Once the injured were gathered around her, Emilia grasped her silver and onyx holy symbol and called upon the Lady of Graves' grace to wash over the allied wounded and mend their injuries clean. She bid her Lady a second time in order to knit all the wounds of her allies. They would need to be hale if they were to go up against Lamm and his pet alligator. We must rescue Carlisle and the one called Maretha -- friend to Silvio and Mouse.
"Please keep yourself from receiving multiple injuries from Lamm or his pet. My divine resources are quickly diminishing", she whispered to her companions so as to not be overheard by the crime lord (if he could hear them from below).
Marial stares at her shoulder as the positive energy washes over her, watching fascinated as the wound in her arm knits itself together. Wonder if that's a thing ya ever get used to... She lifts her klar again, re-settling it in place. Everyone all right, then? We better keep movin'.
Silvio looks up at the Lambs as they come out of hiding. He recognizes two of them, "Rafe, Cara. I'm glad you're safe. It's ok, don't be scared. These are my friends." The former-Lamb looks around at the group. Strange what a couple of days can do.
"We have to rescue Maretha. Who knows what Lamm is doing to her." He suddenly looks over to the kids. "Is Teron here? Have you seen him lately?" He glances at Marial, biting his lip.
"Where's Lamm? How do we get downstairs to him?" He kicks Giggles and then searches his body.
Garvid takes his halberd, cleaning the gore from the end of the shaft. People never seem to take care of their weapons... Shouldering it, he then takes a deep breath. "Yeah, just need a breather. Good teamwork, people. Bastard was like run over by a coach." He looks at the corpse.
Leaning on his halberd, he then nods at Silvio. "Yeah, it'd be better if we knew how many people we were facing. So far we got an old sob and a crocodile." He then looks at the kids. "I'd suggest you get out of here." Reaching for his pouch, he takes out five gold pieces and hands them to the burned kid. "Go to some other place for a while, that should keep you covered." And don't think of what would happen if we fail.
"Alright, let's go.", he says, taking a couple of steps, keeping an eye on the stairs.
When she reached the bottom step and the burned Lamb with the toothy grin warned her of Lamm lying in wait for them below, she gathered him closer and requested the other wounded to gather closer, as well. She had noted her companions' injuries incurred during the fight with the one called 'Giggles'.
"I will heal those who have been injured. Draw closer to me, quickly."
Once the injured were gathered around her, Emilia grasped her silver and onyx holy symbol and called upon the Lady of Graves' grace to wash over the allied wounded and mend their injuries clean. She bid her Lady a second time in order to knit all the wounds of her allies.
The boy touches his face where he was burned. "Geez woman...that's cool. How'd ya do that?" He raises on his tiptoes and looks at the holy symbol. "Is that thing got magic?"
He suddenly looks over to the kids. "Is Teron here? Have you seen him lately?" He glances at Marial, biting his lip.
"Where's Lamm? How do we get downstairs to him?" He kicks Giggles and then searches his body.
Rafe speaks up. "We ain't seen Teron." Cara chimes in, "Rumor is he gets down there by going in the boat. You'll have to take the walkway on that side of the building." She points to the right side of the building."[/b]
"I'd suggest you get out of here." Reaching for his pouch, he takes out five gold pieces and hands them to the burned kid. "Go to some other place for a while, that should keep you covered."
"Thanks sir!" He passes out one gold each to each of the kids and keeps two for himself.
"I also have limited healing ability." He spoke, after Em graciously provided her positive energy to the room. "But it's no where near that strong. It would be best to remain uninjured as long as possible, but I have a feeling we may not get out of this without difficulty. But we all signed up to make this happen no matter what, no?"
The bard swung his now bloody sword to the side, creating a spray on the wall. He wiped the blade on Giggles' pant leg before resheathing it. Concerning the matter of going to meet Lamm, he spoke up. "I agree. Let's head on down as soon as we can. Is the door to the downstairs locked, and if so, is there a key up here?"
Em's new "friend" speaks up. "Ain't none of us been down there. We don't know. You go down there...you don't never return"
'Cept us. Marial sets a hand on the child's shoulder in a reassuring gesture.
The boy touches his face where he was burned. "Geez woman...that's cool. How'd ya do that?" He raises on his tiptoes and looks at the holy symbol. "Is that thing got magic?"
"I called upon my god's grace to heal you. It is part of the divine magic that I wield. And be careful of that, please. It was a gift and it allows me to wrought such expansive healing because of my faith and devotion to the Lady of Graves."
She awkwardly patted the boy's shoulder, for her experiences with children was limited and especially children who were Lambs.
Em's new "friend" speaks up. "Ain't none of us been down there. We don't know. You go down there...you don't never return"
"We must go down there, child. There are two innocents who wait to be saved and set free. And a villain that must be brought to justice."
She attempted to ease the boy's mind with a small smile. Smiling did not come easily to Emilia after her brother's downfall.
"I agree. Let's head on down as soon as we can. Is the door to the downstairs locked, and if so, is there a key up here?"
"Cal, they said we gotta use the ship to get down below. That makes no sense at all, but Lamm doesn't make much sense sometimes." He leaves Giggle's equipment with him after seeing nothing that could help them right now.
"Is there a way to the walkway from here or do we have to go back up?" Assuming there isn't a way from the large room, he begins back up the slippery stairs to the walkway they had seen outside the fishery before.
You are all able to ascend the stairs without difficulty. When you arrive back on the top floor, it is abandoned of lambs. You leave the way you came in and circle to the right of the building.
A slippery boardwalk clings to the side of the fishery, held together by barnacle-thick pilings that have been worn halfway through their thickness at the waterline.
The boardwalk hovers about 10 feet above the water as it winds around the building. The dock itself is very slippery. Circling in the waters below is a fin.
The Creature appears to be a jigsaw shark. He is probably circling due to the large amount of chum produced by the fishery.
A jigsaw shark is aggressive, and reports of them lunging out of water to snap at passers by on low piers or attacking small rowboats are well-documented. A typical jigsaw shark can grow to a length of 7 to 8 feet. With a pale tan belly and a blue-gray back decorated with mottled brown, irregular spots, these sharks are easy to identify in the wild.
The nature of the barnacles has weakened the boardwalk. It would be best to keep 15' between each person as you cross it.
"Huh. I guess that's why we rarely find bodies in this neighbourhood.", grimly notes Garvid, staring at the fin. "I'll pass on taking a swim in this water.", he says, continuing.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Silvio spots the sharkfin and stop, pushing everyone back for a second. He points down below. "Look! That's a jigsaw shark. They're aggressive and even known to jump out of the water to get you! They even attack small boats and people walking on low piers. Best to stay out of the water."
He looks ahead at the walkway. "And that's a great example of a gift to the shark. Space yourselves out 15 feet or the boards could crumble. Then you'll get a nice drop to the shark's waiting teeth."
Marial had been preparing to walk out onto the boardwalk, but at Silvio's mention of the crumbling boards, she stays her footfall. It can jump out at us? So is stayin' out of the water gonna do us any good? She pauses for a moment, seeming to steel herself. Ain't nothin' for it, though. Just gotta go one at a time, I spose. And hope it ain't too hungry. She turns to Manius. Ya got the lead?
As soon as Emilia spied the fin, she heard Silvio's warning as to the nature of the predator and what it could do. She sent a quick, silent prayer to the Lady of Graves.
The priestess waited her turn on the weather-worn, slippery boardwalk and would heed the instruction to walk fifteen feet behind Silvio, who stood directly in front of her.
Manius casts a worried look towards the shark fin. Why did I volunteer to go first? "Sure, but you lot better be ready to save me from being fishfood!" Like Varial...
Manius attempts to cross the board as quickly as possible, rapier ready to stab any jumping sharks.
Orcsson makes it to the ship. He can easily board the top deck while the others move forward.
Mouse follows Manius's lead, trying to carefully step in his path.
Silvio follows Marial and takes his time on the slick boardwalk.
Being near the end, Calcedon moves slowly and cautiously, figuring that Mouse knew what she was doing, he mimicked her movements, but doing it with less natural talent. He'd thought about putting his sword away, and awkwardly twisted to do so in the middle of a slick spot.
Moving forward, Garvid keeps an eye on the shark as he braces his halberd for balance. Trying to avoid staying too close to the others, he makes his way slowly towards the ship.
Seeing Marial and Calcedon flail their arms a bit, he grunts. "You two need help?", as he looks down at the water, eyes burning a hole in the shark's fin.
Emilia waited for her turn across the slippery walkway. When Silvio was safely fifteen feet ahead, she began to move as steadily/carefully as possible across the slippery surface, hoping not to slip into the water where the jigsaw shark awaited his next meal.
Orcsson, Emilia, Silvio, and Garvid are able to make it to the boat without incident. In Mouse's haste, her feet fly out from under her and she falls flat on her back, hitting her head. She is able to get up and join the others though. Cal slips as well, but he slides off of the platform. If he had not been taking 30' at a time, he surely would have ended up in the water, but instead catches a rotten board with his hands. He dangles helplessly from the rotten board. It creaks and slowly starts pulling away from the deck's frame. The ferocious nine foot shark leaps from the water barely missing Cal's dangling legs.
The wind was slightly knocked out of him as he hit the ground, sliding toward the edge. By the time the shark came for his legs, he tucked them up as close to the pier as he could. "I've got enough missing as it is, you can't have any more!" he chides the shark.
Seeing Calcedon's plight, Mouse doubles back, doing her best to brace the collapsing board and pull him back to safety. Her footing is poor, however, and she has trouble bracing to help him up.
Mouse sprints back to Cal, sliding sideways to stop right in front of him. Cal starts to pull himself up and reaches for Mouse's hand. Her foots slips, causing her to miss Cal's hand. He falls back into the same position as before. The shark circles beneath him.
Cal holds on to the rotting board with all his might, although he was severely missing his vacant fingers as he grasped for every purchase he could. Mouse had come over to help him, and for that he was grateful, but unfortunately he was distracted with the thought of his Violin getting completely soaked with river water.
"Be careful, we don't both want to go in now."
Mouse finds a new foothold and gives Cal's hand another desperate heave. With this last effort, she manages to get Cal's arms and chest up over the edge of the rickety dock. She reaches for his jacket collar and hauls him the rest of the way to the dock, then carefully but quickly moves several feet down the causeway toward the boat, remembering Silvio's words about how much weight the rotting planks could hold. You all right? she calls.
After quickly checking to see how wet his violin case was as he was sprawled on the dock, he looked over toward Mouse with eyes of gratitude. "Yes, yes. I am all right. I'll be much happier as soon as I'm off this pier though."
I hear that, Mouse replies with a grin.
"Not enjoying the wildlife, I see.", grins Garvid as he sees everything's fine. "Quick moves there, Mouse." He grunts for a second. "You know what'd be nice to see? Seeing the crocodile and the shark fight. Even though, slim chances of seeing that..." He continues slowly, testing the planks before stepping.
The rotten deck of this ancient barge seems to be barely intact, its hull worn and thick with seaweed and barnacles. The barge is held together primarily by the layers of old rope that lash it securely to the pilings that support the fishery and the nearby boardwalk. A single wooden door leading into the aft cabin bears a crude painting of a red fish on its surface.
Uhh...we sure we got no other choice? Marial eyes the decrepit barge nervously. Then she looks back to see the fin circling in the water and remembers. Right. Shark. She gingerly steps onto the barge.
It's the only way to Lamm, it's the only way to Lamm...
"Well, looking at the ground, we can probably make a more dramatic entrance. Though, you don't know what we'd fall into." He points to the rotten planks on the deck. "I'd stick with doors for now. And how the bleeding hells does he survive in this smell... Or anyone..."
Silvio steps onto the barge behind Marial. "What a dump!" He makes a face, looking at the crumbling boards. [b]"They said we have to get down below." He makes his way towards the door.
Not long after Silvio, Emilia carefully stepped onto the barge and followed the others toward the door.
Silvio inspects the door, but doesn't see any traps. The door appears unlocked.
"It's only natural for human filth to live in a place this smelly." the bard quipped as he made his way carefully into the barge. "It makes him feel at home."
Seeing Silvio peering suspiciously at the door of the barge, Marial walks over. You see anything? she asks, pushing the door open a few inches to peek inside.