Standing up, Kamilla slaps the dust of her breeches, and nods to the gnome. "Much obliged. Now, next question, what do these keys unlock?"
Kamilla surveys the room, hoping to find a convenient spot to lock up the gnome for the time being.
Not seeing anything immediately pressing with the children, Pia will hand the Preet girl a key.
"Here is my address. Ms. Preet, here is the key. We will meet you there after dealing with Lamm. You all can take any food you like. It's small but warm and dry. Anyone with family, we can get you home, if not, you're welcome to stay as long or short as you want. No pressure. You can offer the same to any of the other kids if you see them on the way. I think there are still a few inside, if you can wait for them, see who wants to go."
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Leaving the interrogation to Kamilla and company, Rebecca heads outside to check on the children and Pia. Hearing her offer, she holds up her hand.
"Hold up a minute. Ms. Preet, your father hired me to find you, and so I have. He and his vessel had to continue on it's route, but they will be back within the month, seas willing." Rebecca smiles calmly at the girl. "You are more than welcome to stay with Mrs. Verlaine until that time, I can personally vouch for her character having known her late husband. You may also stay with me if you wish. The only request I will have of you while we wait is that you provide an account of how you were abducted and what Lamm forced you to do while you were in his not so tender care. You aren't in trouble for your actions, but anything you can tell me might help ensure the snake pays for his." Tossling the young girl's hair as an older sister might, she nods to Pia. "Speaking of the serpent, we have information from our gnome captive as to where Lamm was during the tussle. Do you want to come with us to see this done?"
Pia hefts the crossbow. "Definately"
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Roran goes to Azreal, looking him over. Never seen you this beat up before Az. You alright?
The dragon nods his head. I will be. Not enough room here for me to maneuver. Otherwise He would have never gotten the hit! Azreal attempts to look strong, but its clear he is rather hurt.
Roran will pick up and the chainmail and glance over it. Mind If I take this? And, can anyone here help mend Azreal's wounds?... He asks the group.
Its my fault he got hurt. I should have been able to block those blows... Dammit.
After that, if anyone heals Azreal a bit, he will take Azreal outside to the kids.
Hey kids, anyone here ever pet a real dragon before? No? Would you like to?
Azreal leans his head down to puff his breath over some of the braver children's head. Its quite clear he enjoys children, or attention. Or both. Roran Merely stands back, his face a broad smile.
\
A small waifish girl with dirty brown hair in a ponytail and pale skin crawls out from behind boxes in the far corner along with a smaller, and presumably, younger child. She looks around the room at her rescuers when she sees Corwin. A huge smile crosses her face and she screams, "DADDY!" She then runs up and gives Corwin a huge hug.
"Wren..." Corwin yells, dropping the dagger and rushing down the stairs and across the room to meet her. He swept the child into a crushing embrace, nearly smothering her. "Oh thank Nethys, thank all the gods! Whomever is listening right now, thank you!" Setting her down carefully, he looked her over for any injury, any lasting mark.
"Wren...I am so sorry. I wasn't here when the sickness came...then by the time I found the orphanage that you had been taken too, Lamm had taken you. Its taken me all this time to find you... I... I thought that I might never see you again." Corwin says, kneeling in the grime on the floor, looking into her eyes.
"But you are alive...are you unharmed? ...are you OK?" he asks tentatively.
"My friends and I need to see Lamm brought to justice. I need to make sure that you are safe and that he cannot harm you any more. Before we go to find him, is there anything that I should know?"
The gnome groans, "My key and the iron key open the cabinet in the corner he points to the southwest corner of the room and the other one is a key for every door in the fishery."
Ms. Preet smiles and says, "All of us are happy help, miss, however we can."
At first most of the smaller kids seem scared of Azreal but after the older kids look comfortable near him, they soften up to him and start to pet him. The kids squeal and giggle with the blast of cold overhead.
"I'm fine, Dad." She gives a huge smile and another hug. "I never saw him much, so I can't help that much."
The children gather and lead by Ms. Preet, Wren and the older boys, the motley crew of former Lamm's Lambs heads towards Pia's home.
As the party moves around on the southern dock/porch, you all notice it is very creaky and too much movement or weight could cause problems.
Kamilla takes the keys and checks out the cabinet that the gnome pointed out.
Inside the cabinet, you find, mixed in with an assortment of broken and dirty beyond imagining toys, six small pouches containing a variety of coins. Four have some amount of copper pieces and two have some amount of silver pieces.
"I'm fine, Dad." She gives a huge smile and another hug. "I never saw him much, so I can't help that much."
"That's fine then." Corwin says, ruffling Wren's hair a bit before walking her back up to where he dropped the dagger. "I don't think that i want you leaving my sight until we can get out of here." he continues, picking up the dagger and handing it to her. "I want you to have something to defend yourself with. Can you be brave a bit longer? I need to help these other people deal with Lamm if I am able." Seeing the look in her eyes, he quickly continues, "Don't fret. I will stay well away from any swinging blades and just use magic from a distance."
"Sure I can! I'll be brave just like you dad." Wren takes the dagger and gives it a few swings. It is obviously a bit big for her.
"So the question becomes should we take the gnome with us or leave him with his unconscious buddies. Either way would have risks." Rebecca looks at the gnome then at her companions. "Even bound, if he is left conscious behind there is chance he would break free of his bonds and run. He could even help his former colleagues to escape, should he care enough to and they regain consciousness." Her tone is slightly sarcastic as she says the last sentence, implying exactly how likely she believes the gnome would suddenly become altruistic enough to save someone in addition to himself in such circumstances.
"However, if we bring him with us he could find a way to alert Lamm of our coming. While it wouldn't be a smart move, he might fear Lamm more than us. Thoughts?"
Kamilla holds up the key. "I say we lock him in that closet."
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Roran smiles You know, I like this girl. Agreeing with Kamilla's suggestion.
"Agreed, bound and locked up, the gnome is unlikely to free himself in the minutes it will take us to deal with Lamm." Corwin says, nodding sagely.
"Sorry, I might be able to bind his wounds, but it would take a long time, and I have no supplies," Kamilla says in reply to Roran.
"We also best not dawdle too long here, lest the snake gets away." Kamilla then steps out on to the walkway leading to the boat.
It is an easy job forcing Gruller into the cabinet and locking him in, he's indignant but is easily forced.
Pia will slowly approach the young dragon, "This might sting a bit, but should help."
She frowns when it barely seems to make a dent in the creatures wounds.
Kamilla sniffs the potions she took off the goons, dips her finger in and dabs it on her tongue.
"No idea what these are, best be careful. Seeing as they're also drug dealers, there's no telling what they have on them."
"Indeed so. Well then, best we are off to deal will Lamm."
As the party walks out the dock slowly, the derelict ship, the Kraken's Folly comes into view. The rotten deck of this ancient sailing ship seems to be barely intact; its hull is worn and thick with seaweed and barnacles. The ship 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. The rickety walkway leads along the ship's starboard, a foot below its railing, A single wooden door leading into the aft cabin bears a rude painting of a red fish on its surface.
An arrow already nocked on her bow, Kamilla takes great care where to place her feet. Turning to Roran, she asks, "That dragon of yours, any idea how heavy he is? Can he fly? This contraption does not seem very stable."
She regards the state of the derelict ship warily. "This may be a silly question, but can everyone here swim? You know, just in case."
"Sounds like something is on the other side... small, chittering... given our surroundings and this things' condition, I would wager we will encounter rodents of the furry variety in addition to the lecherous old man kind." Rebecca sighs, rapier at the ready, as she further inspects the door for additional traps.
Rebecca doesn't find any traps but the door is locked. Disable Device DC 20 to open.
Though the lock is complex for such a derelict vessel, Rebecca manages to get the door unlocked after a few moments with her picks. Grunting with satisfaction, she puts away the lockpicks and pulls her rapier back out.
"Should be ready to enter, just be careful. Something is on the other side waiting, and unless he can shapeshift I doubt it is Lamm."
Pia readies her crossbow as Rebecca goes to open the door.
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Spiders 8/8/8/8/8/8 HP
Wren 6/6 HP
The air in this small room is thick and musty. Thick sheets of cobwebs hang from the walls and mounds of blankets, cushions and straw clutter the floor. To the south, a narrow flight of stairs leads down into the ships hold.
You see crawling amongst cobwebs a tiny multi-hued spider from which the chittering is coming from. There is also more chittering coming from down the staircase.
Wren simply hangs back by her father.
Wren
Roran and Azreal
Chittering 1
Corwin
Rebecca
Pia
Kamilla
Doing a quick sweep around the room as she enters it, she quickly spots the small chittering spider in the corner. Listening closely she hears three more sets of chitters coming from down the stairs below in the ships hold. Softly, she says, "Spider in the corner, at least three more downstairs if my ears don't deceive me. Be careful, poisons are hard to cure this time of night."
Corwin takes a few moments to quickly inspect the potions and wand.
2 known potions. I did the roll on the wand to see if I could determine charges. Otherwise I will assume that Corwin was able to parse out the activation word as the man used the wand.
"At least two of these potions are weak healing potions, the third is likely the same, but one can never be to careful. I will hold onto the wand for now, but it is likely that my own spells are stronger than that of the wand." he announces.
"Why I am not surprised to see Drain Spiders in this cesspool... Be careful, their bites are painful and can debilitate even the strongest of guardsmen without anti-venom."
"I only see one, but will take your word for it. Nasty little biggers. I don't normally have anti-venom in my kit either."
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"Put on your stomping boots I suppose. Luckily they're small, and they don't form up in swarms," Kamilla adds.
"Is that what was always making the noises in the middle of the night?" asked Wren from behind her father in a whisper. "Ven got bit a few weeks ago in the middle of the night...he got sick and they took him away."
Corwin glanced back over his shoulder at Wren where she stood, holding the dagger with white-knuckled tension.
"You wouldn't have known Wren. We kept them out of the house. Like most pests, they don't do well when frozen. I would cantrip the drains every week or so, and we were never bothered...so you never saw them."
"I am sorry about your friend." Corwin says in a flat tone, attempting to keep the horror at what the children were subjected to out of his voice.
Roran re-mounts Azreal and flies around to join the others on the ship. As they land near the bow of the ship the rotting wood gives way under Azreal's weight and they both plummit into the hold below.
Roran swings his falchion at the nearest spider and cutting it cleanly in two.
Spured on by Roran, Azreal unleashes the fury of a dragon and taking the spider down with a single bite.
Spiders 8/x/8/8/x/8 HP
Wren 6/6 HP
Chittering 3
Wren
Roran and Azreal
Chittering 1
Chittering 2
Corwin
Chittering 4
Rebecca
Pia
Kamilla
Chittering 5
After all the whispered conversations, the sudden noise and flying splinters from Azreal's attempted landing startle Corwin. He grabs his daughter and sweeps her to the side of the boat where the planks are likely the strongest.
Recognizing the darkness below, he spies a bit of broken planking lying nearby and points at it, "Lux" he utters. The bit of wood illuminates like a flaring torch and Corwin kicks it over the edge, down below.
"Well, it looks like we have faster way down now. I doubt it is easier however." he says.
"Thanks for the light Corwin!" Roran shouts up.
One of the remaining spiders in the hold scuttles up to Roran but before it can sink its fangs into him or Azreal, Roran cleaves it in two.
Spiders 8/x/8/x/x/8 HP
Wren 6/6 HP
Azreal 6/21 HP
Roran 13/13 HP
Chittering 3
Wren
Roran and Azreal
Chittering 1
Corwin
Rebecca
Pia
Kamilla
Kamilla stumbles a bit, but is able to retain her footing. "This place is falling apart fast!"
Edging towards the hole, she looks down, judging the distance and searching for any of the spiders.
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Rebecca approaches the spider they initially found on top level with them and attempts to pierce it with her rapier, but the creaking boards and general foreign nature of fighting upon a merchant vessel causes her aim to be radically off.
"Best keep back, daughter of Corwin. Hells, almost better to be on the pier, lest you find out how well you can swim." She smiles while she says this, but there is concern in her voice.
As Corwin and Kamilla near the edge of the hole, the deck begins to creak and they hop back before it collapses beneath them.
"I don't see anything in here, Roran any thing down there or a passage other than spiders? I think this was a trap."
Pia will head towards the pier, ready to help others get off the creaky boat.
The last spider in the hold scuttles towards Roran and Azreal and Azreal's fangs dig into the drain spider's chitin but doesn't manage to kill it this time.
The spider crawls up and sinks his fangs into Roran, who takes 1 point of damage. Roran feels his muscles spasm and twitch as he feels his strength drain away.
Spiders 8/x/2/x/x/8 HP
Wren 6/6 HP
Azreal 6/21 HP
Roran 12/13 HP| -1 STR
Chittering 3
Roran and Azreal
Chittering 1
Corwin and Wren
Rebecca
Pia
Kamilla
Roran takes a swing at the last spider and upon contact it simply disintigrates into a fine mist.
Azreal and Roran scan the ship's hold.
"Do you see that?" asks Azreal.
"Sure do. Roran shouting up to the others AZREAL AND I FOUND A SECRET DOOR DOWN HERE. IT LOOKS TO HEAD BACK TOWARDS THE BUILDING."
Spiders 8/x/x/x/x/8 HP
Wren 6/6 HP
Azreal 6/21 HP
Roran 12/13 HP| -1 STR
Roran and Azreal
Chittering 1
Corwin and Wren
Rebecca
Pia
Kamilla
"Great, one more up here and I will join you!"
Taking more careful aim, Rebecca attempts to turn the spider into a kabob with her rapier.
The spider is DED, dead!
Rebecca carefully makes her way to the stairs and descends them to join with her companions. "Pia, watch the floor as you come down, this place is as like to sink around our ears as not. Best we retrieve Lamm before that happens, lest he try to escape through the waterways."
Pia will eye the boat suspiciously then slowly and carefully make her way to join the others.
Kamilla curses under her breath as she hurries down into the ship's hold.
"Great, good job, but now keep your voices down, we don't want that snake Gaedren to slither away now do we?"
Rebecca smiles as she rolls her eyes. "Noted, but if he didn't hear that -" she gestures to the vaguely dragon shaped hole in the deck, "I somehow think we might either be facing a deaf man or a deceased one."
Rebecca closes her eyes and after a moment her halo returns around her head. "Time to end this in any case."
So saying she begins to search the peeway and the door for traps and locks.