Crady recovers his gear, and helps carry the spoils and Marillo to their next destination.
Recovering his sword, Marillo looks at the party, shaking slightly. ”I-I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. My family, my sword...I don’t know what to say. Thank you all.”
Relived, Crady sighs, "Doesn't matter. Let's go".
"Hey, we're all still breathing," Pakuzzo says. "Let's head back for now. Then I want to discuss what we're going to do about the Red Jills."
He gathers his gear and as much as he can carry from the fallen tieflings, them calls for Vinz to follow him out of the alleyway.
"I have been unhelpful the last few days. And I do apologise. My mind has wandered to things that have left me... unavailable. Let me carry some of the things. I plan to be focused more now."
With haste in mind, and a bloody companion in tow, Crady leads you to the livery. Though there's still a lot of work to be done below, its apparent the sage has been working diligently. The odors from before all but dissipated and the rancid pool nearly empty. The remains of a once beautiful fountain peak above the stagnant waters.
You draw a few concerned looks as you travel, but manage to avoid getting spotted by any patrols.
It's obvious to you, no one has been here since you're last visit. You feel this is a safe place to regroup
Once they reach their destination, Pakuzzo practically falls backswards as he leans against one of the walls, exhaling audibly.
"Well, now we've got a whole new problem. I think we need to take out the Red Jills, and quickly, before they decide to carry out retribution on Marillo's family. Or for that matter, us."
Perching on the nearest object in the livery that can support his weight, Vinz becomes quickly disinterested in the current proceedings, opting to preen his feathers instead.
Marillo follows in, glumly. ”Yes. But I need to get my family to safely first. Preferably out of the city. These bastards work for Thrune. They are after me. So the Thrune will know of my family as well.” With that he fell silent, staring coldly into the distance.
"What if we move your family here", questions Crady. Looking around, the urban druid continues. "By the looks of things, no one has been hear since my last cleaning."
”Maybe. But what if they find this hideout? And what kind of life would they have, afraid to Step foot outside? Why, mother would go crazy. No. I need to get them out of the city. And fast...”
"The last time we asked Laria, the Bellflower Network wasn't able to help us smuggle anyone. I don't know about the rest of you, but all of my contacts went up in smoke with the Night of Ashes. That leaves us with pretty slim options other than hiding them out in here."
He shrugs in exasperation.
"The only thing I can suggest is to hide your family either here or in the cellar of the coffeehouse temporarily while we eliminate the Red Jills, just to get them out of the way while we go to work."
Marillo nodded. ”I’m going then. The Jills won’t wait long. I’ll be back with them as soon as I can. We’ll be able to move quietly along I think...that, and I’ll need to explain to them what is going on. Gods, I never thought I would get them involved like this.” Marillo tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling. After a moment collecting himself heap started walking a to the door.
"Stay safe, man. Good luck."
Pakuzzo gives a casual wave goodbye, then turns back to the others.
"That leaves the Red Jills to deal with. What do we know about them? We need every edge we can get."
You know they are street gang. Rumors are they are lead by a ferocious boss
Crady watches his concerned friend go to find his family. Not knowing what else to do, the urban druid states to those around him.
"I need to commune with Kintargo. I will be back soon", spoke Crady in a somber tone.
Looking around outside, Crady finds a secluded alleyway and begins his communion with the city.
Marillo walked through the familiar streets of the redroof district. Hey was in considerable pain. Since the rebellion have started he had his ribs broken several times, had been mauled by dogs, shot by crossbows, and healed each time. It was taking a toll on him, physically and mentally. He could feel the anger bubbling up at the thought of the red jills threatening his family. It took all of his will power to calm himself. He thought about Lurio then, his good friend who had fallen off the face of the earth. Was he dead? The Thrune’s had found out about him, a complete nobody. What would their spies be able to do when it came to a nobleman? He shuddered, and made a prayer to any god who would listen for the safety of his family and Lurio’s.
Without realizing it he came to his famiky’s home. He hadn’t spoken to them in weeks, and now he had to explain to them that because of his choices their lives were in danger. They were both government employees for crying out loud. He didn’t want to go in, to break the news. But he had to. Slowly, but resolutely, he made himself enter the house.
While Crady goes off to speak with the city, Pakuzzo takes the opportunity to lay out his arrows and inspect his new wares.
Nearby, Vinz stretches a single wing and continues to preen himself in a hard-to-reach place.
A few hours pass, and still Marillo doesn't return. Suddenly, a silver raven figurine appears, landing next to Pakuzzo. It's unblinking eyes settle on the tengu and it a mechanical voice it speaks. "Marillo is dead. His family is dead. I have another recruit that could prove useful. Coffeehouse."
Upon hearing the news, Pakuzzo shuts his eyes and mutters a quiet "Damn it..." under his breath.
"You heard it," he says, turning around to face the others. "We'll mourn later. For now we need to get back to the coffeehouse. Then we can start talking retribution, I can guarantee that."
He gathers up his arrows and whistles for Vinz to follow him when they leave.
Mournfully, Crady follows the others back to the coffeehouse.
Making your way back seems uneventful for the most part. The toll for the bridge having become more or less habit at this point, the citizens have resigned themselves to paying without hassle.
Upon arriving at the coffeehouse, Rexus meets you at the entrance and hustles you down to the cellar. Once out of earshot of the other patrons, he gushes "Oh, I feared the worst when I heard the news! I'm just so glad you are ok. It's too bad for Marillo...I do hope he found peace when he met Pharasma..."
"Oh! The new recruit, she's over there..."
Pakuzzo approaches the new recruit along with the others. Losing Marillo had left him in a foul mood, and he hadn't put aside the possibility that this new person wasn't a potential mole.
Once she notices them, he folds his arms and looks her up and down without any hint of approval on his face.
"And you are...?"
”S-Sendi.” The woman had been trying to meditate when the group had come in. She was young and was pale of skin. She looked at Pakuzzo, and shuddered. Her left eye was green and the right gray. She took a moment to collect herself.
”I am sorry, but introductions seem to be in order. I have been living in the slums with the tieflings.” As she said this she slowly took off her gloves, revealing abnormally long, and sharp, nails. They looked more similar to a Tenku’s claws than a lady’s nails.
”I have been hiding there for some time. House Thrune does not take kindly to the worship of Irori. I was slowly speeding the word, but then the Jills moved in. They have sold out the few people I had converted to the Thrune for the bounty. Word has already begun to spread about you, though I didn’t believe it until the Jills put money down for information about your group. Anyone who is an enemy of Thrune, or the Jills, is a friend of mine. I would help you if you would allow it.”
Trying to not let the most recent blow to morale corrupt his introduction, the urban druid walks up to the mysterious woman and offers his hand in greeting.
"The name's Crady, miss. Metronicus Crady. The best city guide and druid Kintargo ever had!"
Crady's face darkens momentiarly. "Sorry for our less than welcoming demeanor. We just lost one of our own very recently, so the pain is still near."
"Yes, how fortunate that we were able to replace him so soon," the tengu says bitterly. "I only hope that the rest of us can prove to be so expendable."
He leaned in towards the girl and smiled broadly.
"Y'know, I lost a lot of good comrades to the Night of Ashes; a couple of them were Irorans. If you are who you claim to be, we could sure use those kind of skills for the cause. But Thrune's tricky, see, and I wouldn't put it past them to paint up one of those Asmodean devil nuns as one of the Master of Masters' faithful just to slip a spy into our ranks. So let's just call this a probationary tryout for now until we've moved beyond all reasonable doubt, alright? Alright."
He winks at the young woman playfully, and then the smile drops back into a stone face as he returns to his original position.
She smiled, though it was forced. ”I lost many friends that night as well.” She pulled her gloves back on as she talked. ”Would killing the Jills help earn your trust?”
"It would be a start," Pakuzzo admits reluctantly. "Just don't expect a warm hug afterwards."
”I understand.” She looked to Crady. ”What you are all going through. But if anything, your lack of trust shows me that this operation may yet survive. I will earn a place here, I assure you.” After a moment’s pause she continued ”Do we have a plan for removing the Jills?”
Now that they're talking shop, Pakuzzo relaxes a bit.
"As of right now? Do reconnaissance, identify the targets, and kill 'em all. Beyond that, we're flexible. They managed to get Marillo and his family, and when we faced them earlier they were well prepared for the encounter. They aren't fools, so I would assume that they'll be expecting us to come after them, and they probably have a few contingency plans in place for when that happens.
"Basically, that means if we want them dead, we're going to have to work smarter."
Frowning as the discussion progresses, Rexus pipes up. "They are a particularly dangerous gang. Rumor has it their leader can fly...but I really don't know much else about the underground groups. They tend to do most of their dealings after curfew."
”Well, Crady says he is the best guide within the city.” She turned to him and continued ”Can you find us an unusual route into their territory? If we can kill Jill herself, the rest of the group would probably splinter. I haven’t heard about anyone else with the personality needed to hold them together.”
Crady scratches his stubbled chin. "I'll be right back. I'm going to double check my sources, and scout the best path for us to The Jills."
Sendi watched Crady go, and looked warily at Pakuzzo. She liked the Druid. He was friendly, and made her feel welcome. The tengu? He was what she expected of the rebels. Cold, untrusting, and from how he looked, capable. She had heard of a four armed tiefling as well, who wore the colors of the military, and she wondered when she would meet her. By all accounts the rebellion, such as it was didn’t look like a large organization, and a nagging voice in her head said that if losing just one memeber was a blow then it was doomed to failure. She pushed the voice aside. Irori didn’t achieve godhood in a day, and Thrune would not be expelled overnight. Perfection cake one step at a time.
While this had been going on, Vinz had been eyeballing Sendi from his perch near the window. The giant raven tilted his head this way and that to give both eyes a view of the monk, but if any meaning could be discerned from the avian's expression, it wasn't apparent.
"I'm going to kick a few stones and see what slithers out," Pakuzzo said to those assembled. "New girl, the others will bring you up to speed on the livery and anything else they deem relevent. Be back soon."
He whistled for Vinz to follow him. The bird alighted to the floor and followed the tengu out the door.
You manage to find your way to the region without incident, though you're fairly certain a few patrolling guards looked your way. With a few back alley interviews you manage to find the base of the Red Jills.
You are informed by a meager, frightened man that they hold 'court' on top of the 'Humbright House'. Thinking back on Kintargo's better days, you are able to recall this was once an orphanage and shrine to Aroden. However, following the god's death, they shut their doors and have supposed remained abandoned ever since.
As you try asking around about the gang, you find very few people willing to talk to you. After a few failed attempts to gain any information, you switch tactics and begin lieing to a few of the more intoxicated, downtrodden you encounter.
"Eh? Yous a m-ember an dunno where yas need ter go? Yas a dummy eh? Deys o'er in da 'Temple Hill' district." stammers one such citizen. "You no 'uman. No wunder ya joined 'em."
"Much obliged, my good man," Pakuzzo says to the drunk, slightly dodging out of the way of the man's fetid breath. He places a few copper in the man's hand.
"Get yourself some of the better vintage. Meantime, I've got people to see."
*************
Once the tengu returns hours later with Vinz in tow, he calls the group back together.
"All I managed to get was that the Red Jills are located in Temple Hill. So we know the district, at least. Was anyone able to get some more specific intel?"
Crady takes this knowledge and heads back to the coffeehouse to share it, doing his best to make sure he wasn't followed.
Making his way back, Crady spots a rather inquisitive guard following him and weaves through a few extra alleys. With his expert knowledge of the lay of this fine city, the sage easily looses the novice tracker.
”So I join this group and the first thing we are going to do is burn down an orphanage?” She smiled at her own joke. ”Well I for one can’t wait to start. We should go there tonight. With any luck we can catch them sleeping.”
Pakuzzo nods in agreement.
"I still believe that they'll be expecting us to attack, though. We may need to scout ahead for traps and sentries before we commit to an assault."
Looking up from his research, Rexus opens his mouth to speak, closing it again, he shakes his head. After a long moment, he asks "You aren't really setting out to burn down an orphanage... are you?" Before you have a chance to reply, he chuckles nervously. "Oh of course you aren't. You're the good guys." The man promptly returns to his books.
Heading out into the night, you cautiously pick you way through the back alleys as designated by Crady. Coming up to the bridge, you realize there may be an issue...you have to get across the river...and it's after curfew. Though there are fewer guards on shift this late in the day, there are no citizens in sight, aside from those under Thrune's employ.
”I’ll distract them. You two slip across.”
Sendi took a moment to compose herself, before she took off one of her gloves and started to cut her clothing, and herself. With gritted teeth she continued until she looked like she had been violently attacked. When done she put the glove back on.
She then crept away from the group, telling them to wait until they were distracted. Finally...
With tears running down her face, Sendi sprinted to the guards. ”Help! Please help! Before he gets away, you have to catch him! He’s over there!” She pointed a trembling finger back towards where she came from, and away from the group.
Crady is shocked by the monk's severe disguise. "By Kintargo, she's crazy!" The urban druid whispered.
"Yeah, but it's the good kind of crazy," Pakuzzo whispers back. "Let's move."
Sticking to the shadows as best as he can, the hunter scurries over the bridge, trusting that Vinz will fly high enough to follow after him without drawing undue attention.
Crady follows as best he can in the shadows.
The guards on duty look at each other as Sendi charges out. A moment later, they rush to her side. "What happened? Who did this? Where?!"
Looking to the darkness behind the monk, the guard frowns as he glances back towards the bridge. "Ma'am, we're on duty. We can't abandon our post."
The second guard socks the first in the arm. "Look at this! If there are no citizens left to protect, then what's the point? Besides, " he continues motioning towards the vacant streets. "There's no one out here!" Turning back to Sendi, he looks down to her feet. "I'm sorry but you are out past curfew..." Promptly, he slaps a set of manacles on her before adding "Now, you stay here. We'll be back to discuss your situation."
The two guards charge off into the darkness, looking for Sendi's assailant. One guard remains. Though he had been standing at the center, he scurries towards the bound monk. "What on earth is going on here? You ok ma'am?'