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Holy...Did Fade just kill someone invisibly? No holding back now...
Orrin slogs forward, net and sword at the ready. His shield pushes further out of his parka until it is fully separate. The "mystery," such as it is, of the moving shield and incredibly bulky clothing are revealed as the parka itself falls limp, and a grotesque tentacle protrudes from the half-elf's side, holding his shield! "Well, friend Spackle, I'm not one to say 'I told you so,' but if you insist I do, I will rise to the occasion!
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I don't know... It's really kind of interesting. It's a lot like me, only my 'other' appendage doesn't look like anything and people can't see it, but it's there. Always.
"Will you two focus?! For cryin' of loud! " Fade says with a tone of annoyance. "By Cali's wrath." he shakes his head in apparent frustration but a small grin can't help but form on his face.
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"Gentlemen we have bigger problems. Those guys don't sound friendly, and the dogs sure aren't."
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"Bigger problems??!! It looks like 'e swallowed 'is twin brother and now 'e's tryin' to escape out the back of 'im! An' I'm working on sippin' this same swig o' wine fer the third time. Wait a minute, are those veins? Oh, I'm gonna faint 'n vomit fer sure. Or the other way 'round. Either way, 'tain't gonna be too pretty."
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Orrin moves through the muck as a strange appendage appears from his side weilding a shield at the end of the other-worldly tentacle, much to the surprise of everyone around.
The remaining guard loads an arrow into his longbow and fires an arrow at Natula. "Yer gonna pay for that!"
The arrow snaps into Natula's shoulder. The Ulfen woman grunts as she steps back a couple of steps, clutching the shaft as it protrudes from her skin.
Barrakhan
Natula (11/19)
Serres (4 NL)
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Dogs
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Orrin
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Guards
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Spackle
Feybella
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Resisting the urge to kill about 50% of the people present... maybe. Maybe later, she channels her magical fury at the man who shot her.
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"Spackle you gonna Inspire us some courage or shall I bless us this fine day?" She rides Wolfie forward a few feet.
Fey attempts to Charm Animal on the dog with the lovely pink stripe around his riding saddle. "Nice puppy. You don't want to hurt us. We're your friends."
Feybella casts Bless on the entire Party. "Blessings of Desna upon you. I'm too chaotic for Erastil."
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"Give me a minute lass, it be comin'!"
Looking to the lone remaining guard, "Alright boyo, let me see ifin I got this right. You go an shoot the ONLY human in the whole group? Ya puddin' head! She may be a stick in the mud, but she be OUR stick in the mud. Were 'bout to show ya how we feel about that. Get ready to fill yer pants full o' porridge!"
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Fade shifts to his left, to get a better view of the dogs harassing his friends and the archer off in the distance that just shot Natula. Around him whorls form in the mud and muck begins to rise like dirty rain water falling up. As aether leaks from his skin it takes on a strange shimmer. A small stone floats up from within the mud and with his hand outstretched he wills the stone to fly toward his target...
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Spackle hurls taunts and insults in the direction of the soldier which seems to bolster his friends resolve.
Faybella snaps her fingers and tosses the dog a small treat as she tries to charm it.
The dog eats the treat as it whimpers slightly and backs off of Barrakhan for a moment. Natula points a single finger at the Taldan guard and in an instant he spontaneously bursts into flames. His screams rise through the air as he swats at his clothes and armor.
His screams quickly dies down as the man collapses from the instant burns all over his body.
Fade sends a small vortex of unseen force hurtling next to the dog. It is only known as the mud next to it shifts slightly but misses the dog overall.
Inspire Courage
Barrakhan
Natula (11/19)
Serres (4 NL)
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Dogs (Purple- charm animal)
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Orrin
Spackle
Feybella
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"There are more groups like this around, so don't let your guard down just yet folks. Don't tell me they just yelled 'Intruders' for their own benefit... not to mention all those other dog howls we heard." Fade says sharply, as he focuses to contain the blurry and indistinct aether threatening to pour from his skin.
"Given all the other campfires surrounding the town, it seems more like a siege and less like town guards. Don't tell me... no one else... noticed that..." he says the last with some minor distraction and obvious physical exertion as he finally gains control of his power, causing his skin to return to normal and the ground around him to cease it's churning.
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Spackle moves in and stabilizes the pair of guards as the two dogs dart off through the mud int the woods.
As Natula is stomping out her fire Orrin and notices nearly a dozen similar campfires surrounding Railford. You seem to be standing between the sound of numerous barking dogs in the distance behind you and Railford just in the nearby distance just down the trail.
It only takes a couple of minutes before you begin to hear the voices of more soldiers barking orders as they follow the sounds of their dogs.
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Fade rushes to catch up with Orrin and Barrakhan, slipping a bit and nearly losing his footing in the ever present mud as he does so. " Hey!" he calls out ahead, "We seem to have a clear shot to get to the town right now, as much as I can tell with all this damn mist around. Better to stand there than out here with who knows how many coming at us from all sides. Lets not take our time out here."
Fade begins to head to Railford, urging the others to do so as well. "Remember, they have a distillery." he says with a wry grin.
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Spackle moves in and stabilizes the pair of guards as the two dogs dart off through the mud int the woods.
As Natula is stomping out her fire Orrin and notices nearly a dozen similar campfires surrounding Railford. You seem to be standing between the sound of numerous barking dogs in the distance behind you and Railford just in the nearby distance just down the trail.
It only takes a couple of minutes before you begin to hear the voices of more soldiers barking orders as they follow the sounds of their dogs.
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Spackle moves in and stabilizes the pair of guards
Natula continues stomping the guard.
Interceding before the guard actually dies, "Oh no ya don't! Jest saved 'im I did. Lass, ifin ya kill 'im, we canna use 'im as a bargainin' chip, so, stop actin' like a spoilt child 'en step aside so's good ol' Dourcloud there can drag them inta town. Besides, killin inna fight is one thing, murderin a helpless man costs ya yer soul. Is he really worth damnin' yerself? You think long 'n hard whilst we get the leverage inta town. Stop actin' daft 'n get it ta gether."
Turning to the half-elf, "Ye thought I be fergetin about a distilery? Now yer just insultin me!" Over his shoulder to Natula, "When yer done pullin' yer head outta yer arse, ya mighin' want to do the same fer the shaft stickin' outta ya. Maybe it'll change yer mood."
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"Indeed, we should proceed to the town before we end up brutally beating up any more guards," Orrin remarks wryly, pointing out the many other campfires. "A visit to a distillery should brighten our spirits, less so if the occupants are out to kill us too, and we end up doing something we might regret. Who'd serve us, then?"
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"Boyo's got 'imself a point. Wait, yer brother there ain't gonna be drinkin' with us is, is he? An another question. Yer a half-elf, but what is the other half? Octopus? Zat make you a Octo-elf, a helf-o-pus? Wait, why 'er ya walkin' away? I'm askin' simple questions man! Okay one more. Ifin ya eat calamari, does it make ya a cannibal? Hey now, did yer tenta-brother just flip me off?"
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"Either he's - no, no, it's, stop making me think it's a person, much less a brother - always flipping something off, or it's only got one finger. And I don't know where it's from, it was spliced onto my body by an ex-friend of mine, may he remain forever buried. But it's probably something from beyond this plane, like a shoggoth."
"And even if it was squid, I'd eat calamari, implicit social contract regarding cannibalism be damned. Gods' gift to us mortals, that dish is."
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"Indeed, we should proceed to the town before we end up brutally beating up any more guards," Orrin remarks wryly, pointing out the many other campfires. "A visit to a distillery should brighten our spirits, less so if the occupants are out to kill us too, and we end up doing something we might regret. Who'd serve us, then?"
Natula slows her stomping slightly, and looks at the man with the tentacle as if honestly seeing him for the first time.
"'Weapons out'. That was you wasn't it at the top of you voice in range of these bastards? That was you, right? Well, what in the Nine Hells did you think was going to happen then? What in Hells is a weapon for, but for killing? And what are mercenaries for but for dying. I at least gave this one the chance to talk, before slamming him to the ground without even knowing who he was." Her scowl falls on Serres for a moment and then snaps back to Orrin. "This man made his decision, he made the purchase, and now he's made a down payment it. So, just so I have this straight, now that we've declared war on on this lot, you were suddenly were planning on taking them prisoner? Adding two more belligerent mouths to feed. Two possible daggers in our backs? Compromising our contact, and the entire Society by involving them in our little kidnapping scheme. Way to make friends and influence people. Mercenaries always work for someone with money, and this many means lots of money--money and power. I guess we could let them go, but they have a general idea of what we look like now. So tell me, when we attacked them, how exactly were you hoping this would end? Hmm? I certainly hope this isn't it." She waves her hand around the campsite.
Then Natula takes a grip on the arrow jutting from her shoulder, twists it back, and forth, lining up the barb with the hole, and pulls the thing free. With a curse and a gesture its fletching sparks and ignites.
She points the fiery arrow at Orrin's tentacle. "And that seems really, really insecure."
"I think we're done here." The arrow falls to the mud.
Plainly intending to startle, Natula's bat buzzes Orrin and Serres as it passes, following its mistress.
"SQUEEE!"
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We're going to die. We're all going to die. If the mercenaries don't get us, our fellow Pathfinder's will. She looks to the heavens for guidance and gets a drop of rain in her eye for the trouble.
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Orrin shrugs as Natula passes, turning to Fade, Spackle, and anyone else about. "Well, this doesn't bode well," he comments in a whisper. "Mistakes were made, I s'pose, but that tends to happen in this imperfect world of ours. Best thing to do is roll with them and work out how to fix them. Makes me wish I could say something light like, 'But Spackle told me to, it's not all my fault.' But alas.
And this thing is actually pretty secure, I've tried to cut it off a bunch of times. Shall we follow the leader?"
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As the team makes the way into town, "Well, we don't actually be knowin' who these boys be belongin' to do we? Mightin' be thet they 're hired blades, but given' what they be shoutin', could also be they are soldiers followin' orders. That's why we're tryin' not ta kill everyone we meet. It's thoughtless murders like THAT that be hurtin' the Society's reputation. Not keepin' stangers alive til we find out what's what."
Turning to Orrin, "Don't worry boyo, she's just blowin' off some steam. She got shot an' a dressin' down inna matter o' minutes. Ya just happen ta be the nearest target. Is yer brother there lookin' at me? Ack, make 'im stop."
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"There is no honor or advantage is beating those who no longer oppose us. Killing him quickly, though unnecessary, would be more honorable than beating him slowly to death."
This is the longest phrase that Barrakhan has spoken since joining the group. Having so said, he checks on the various guards to see if any are still living.
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"It sure looked like they were going to shoot first and question the bodies second. I just beat them to it. Besides, I'm almost sure one of those guys is alive. I didn't hit mine that hard and Nat didn't stab her guy, she just put out her fire, aggressively." he says as he keeps walking to the town.
"Nat may not like me, or any of us really, but she's stuck here like the rest of us for the time being and I'd hazard a guess she wants this over soon and preferably with her skin intact. That means working together. We will get better at that and maybe then she won't hate things, at least not as much. "
He looks to Orrin and the others, "You're all trying, I'm...I will try. We just need ground rules, you know, stuff we agree on. By the way, I think you were smart to call for caution when you sensed danger. You weren't all that loud but then there was all that yammering that did get loud. No offense Spackle but you did get pretty upset there. No matter really, they had dogs. Dogs are tough."
With a mixed look, he says "Sure there's a chance we could have talked our way past, and in the future, we will try that. For now, let's just agree to be better."
He looks in the nearby distance and says, "Hey! That looks like it could be a distillery! We made it!"
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So, near as I can tell, both guards are alive and Fade is using TK to drag/push/pull them with us. At least, tht was what I was going for.
You only make it a few hundred feet as the voices pick up. A quick shout is hear behind you as multiple arrows begin to stick in the mud behind you, though it seems as if you are making good distance between you and more soldiers.
Atop a hillock stand half a dozen small stone cottages surrounding a tall brick and timber building topped with a massive tin-covered water drum. A sign over its looming doors reads Railford Distillery est. 4693. From a squat brick building sharing an adjoining wall with the distillery rises a long cylindrical chimney. A low, moss-covered cobblestone wall surrounds the entire property.
As you arrive in Railford it seems to be vacant as the windows are all shuttered.
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"So, what's the game plan?" Orrin asks the group at large. "My ideas are to sneak into the distillery, or maybe knock on a few doors or windows. The latter might help us know what's going on, whether the town's under siege, if there are still civilians here. Might also put us or them in danger, though."
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Orrin quickly coils his tentacle back under his parka, leaving it stuffy and unseasonable once again. With the constant drizzle, however, it seems a reasonable choice of attire. He sheathes his longsword, leaving his hands to hold his net and shield. "Good idea, sometimes I forget. And stop calling him - damn, not him, it, stop calling it my brother!"
"Still, what if someone is holding the town hostage, and punishes them for talking to us? I suppose we'll likely take down whoever has them in such a vise."