"Don't you start it too!" Mr. Yellow says as he stabs at the homunculus again.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
^Ditto^
And Mr. Yellow drops to the floor.
"I leave you all for a few minutes, and you fall asleep on the job?"
Cassius strides in with shield and sword ready, and tries to strike down the remaining homunculus.
"I guess I should have stretched first."
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"Wake up you lazy bums! Get up!"
Cassius swings his sword again after choosing to call upon the powers of good to let him smite his foe.
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”Stop biting me!!
Mr, Pink slams his sword on the creature’s skull.
"Come on, friends. Wake up now - the danger has passed. Are you hurt?"
Cassius moves from person to person, trying to wake them up, and checking their injuries for anything severe.
Turns out, I really needed a nap it seems, he says stirring.
The inky, faceless creature simply started moving again as if nothing happened. With no further threats in the room it crawled head first back down the ladder to rejoin it's ward.
Stirred to consciousness he searches the room.
Mr. Yellow groans as he wakens.
"Iomedae, Pharasma and Andoletta forgive me...its venom got to me...though maybe I could harvest and bottle it or something. Maybe it'd help with my insomnia. Anyway, how long were we out? We can't be late!"
”Not long. Just long enough to miss all of the action. Good thing I came back along when I did.”
Cassius helps search around.
|
A thorough search of the room reveals a trap on the trapdoor that leads up to the next (and top) level. This level contains curios and artifacts including an ebony tribal mask from the Mwangi Expanse, a silver torc from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and a mammoth tusk scrimshaw from the Realm of the Mammoth Lords with several spells carved on its surface. The tusk weighs 20 pounds.
"Doesn't seem like the best way to carry spells around. I guess it will survive a rainstorm, though. I once knew this guy that had a regular spellbook and he was constantly complaining bout us spilling drinks around him. So, just sayin'..."
Effing sleeping poison, should have brought more people
Says a tall broud shouldered blond man with somewhat Leonine features. He doesnt look halfbad, but well, if you were a Lady, you would have concerns introducing him to your parents.
You notice some Kellid Tribal tatoos on him. Among others a broken burning Pentagramm on his left shoulder, and a mailed fist crushing a bug on his right. His lower arms are fairly scarred, indicating, to professional soldiers, that he fights with his hands against weapon bearing opponents a fair bit.
He eyes his own right hand, counting 6 bite marks, probably coming from a snapjaw homunculous you just fought.
Hmm, I guess I have been out for 3 hours? Apparently these things bit me every 30 minutes to make sure I stay asleep? At least thats my guess based on how the wounds look.
Broken Pentagramm can either referrr to Asmodeus or to the Demon Lord Baphomet, it being broken indicates hostility to the "deity" favoring this symbol in particular. Bug would indicate Deskari.
Clearly a Kellid, who are well known to be incredibly unfond of the Demon Lords Deskari and Baphomet, on account of these two invading and despoiling their homelands
These could well be "Kellid kill marks" claiming that whoever bears them as slain a servant of either demon lord.
The burning would indicate a slain Demon of Baphomet, rather then a Cultist, the mailed fist is not on fire, which it would be if it was a kill mark for a deskarite demon, so it probably was just a mortal servant.
Name is Dylan Ap Dryfedd, Mercenary, trouble shooter, escort service and in this one Damsel in distress, the latter role being a first for me. We were investigating this installation for a client. Something hit me and I fell flat, bleh, apparently I am barely injured. Normally I am reasonable at resisting poison...
He eyes his rescuers, his eyes passing quizzically over Cassiel , neutrally at Mathus and approvingly at Lorant, before regarding Judah with a
Judah that you? he asks Judah with a sense of befuddlement.
Gotta confess, you rescuing me is not something either of us presumably ever appreciated. Dylan states.
Could you make introductions perhaps? Especially concerning my fighting style and abilities? My guess is that whoever is behind this is upstairs, that we are going to express our displeasure about his antics in good old fashioned violence, and I would rather not have my side freak out when I grow claws and fangs, which I can. As he puts on his amulet and breastplate.
Lorant's eyebrows rise at the sight of the tattooed man.
"Impressive...you've battled the forces of evil and triumphed...are you a veteran of the Crusades?"
Then he hears the name.
"Ap Dryfedd? That sounds familiar...Fanglords?"
Probably not the man himself, it's been decades...maybe his grandson or something, he thinks to himself, remembering an old acquaintance.
"Lorant's the name, Lorant Endronil. Squire to the Knights of Ozem and faithful servant of Iomedae, Pharasma and Andoletta."
Not quite a veteran, had a task being escort for a "totally not an inqusitor" Bard, in Ustalav, we charged into a ritual chamber, turned bloody from all the cultist body parts, like, I dont know that that "Bard" casted on me but I was well, far more effective then normal.Dylan states somewhat fondly
A Schir came through due to all of the bloodshed, I informed it that it serves "Goatface son of Dog Tits, demonlord of motherf#~+ing and real-estate-fraud", so it charged me. Through a conveniently placed grease patch courtesy of "totally not an inquisitor"-bard and well, basically impaled itself face first on my Bardiche. Easiest Demon kill of my life, also only one, so not much competition there. I think the "totally not inquisitor" was working for Kelinahat, but she obviously wouldnt tell me.
Dylan speaks as in telling a reasonably hilarious lark.
The bug buggerer was a random cultist idiot trying to some fields at the Nidalese border, have I mentioned that Deskari cultists literally have absolutly horrible taste in absolutely everything?
Yeap, Fanglord! His eyes light up.
This makes things soo much easier! I am going to shift into my warform, I am not an actual weretiger, I am not going to eat you, and unfortunetly nobody actually needs silver to hurt me, and I dont regenerate either.
Dylan shifts, growing claws and fangs. For some reason, he seems more charismatic now.
See, not any more insane then usually. Wait, there was this better term for insanity that the Bard used, oh right! Dylan quite skillfully mimics a rather pleseant female voice "characterized by a highly opportunistic relationship with observable reality"
Lorant blinks.
"You...may want to put that away shortly: We've cleared these Chymic Works, and the perpetrators have been apprehended, and there's more than enough suspicion in Lepidstadt to go around...how did you wind up here?"
Do you have any injuries or residual grogginess?, says a black clad man in a plague Doktors mask. The voice is muffled by multiple scarfs and mask both but sounds solicitous of the prisoners well being.
A thorough search of the room reveals a trap on the trapdoor that leads up to the next (and top) level.
I am somewhat groggy, and unclear on this installations overall layout, but have you examined this direction?
Dylan speaks as he points to the trapdoor.
"So these creeps have an attic for their attic?!" Mr. Yellow wonders aloud.
Mathus works on their shackles then sees to their medical examination.
Mr Yellow, think you might need a hand or are okay to take a peek? Perhaps Mr. Pink might detect something amiss.
Color based codenames? Dylan picks up.
I guess Black is taken He looks at "Malthus",
Reasonably certain I will be somewhat red colored soon enough, so Red it is
Dunno whats up with the girl, if they dosed her like me with their sleeping poison, she is going to be a lot groggier or even comatose then me
"It's a long story, we'll explain once we've finished here and are on the way back to the Courthouse."
"Ah, right. Good thinking."
Mr. Pink does the detect evil thing on our prisoners, to make sure this isn't a trap.
"No, I am not sensing any evil, although that doesn't mean they don't have some hidden agenda. But hey, let's give them a chance to prove themselves, right?"
Huh, I dont ping as Evil for a Paldin? Given my background and bodycount that is kind of surprising. Dylan thinks with some surprise
You mostly killed other criminals, or in self defense, or in defense of others. Your actual murder count, in the way Lady Nocticula would judge it, is, sadly enough, zero. Even worse, you prevented no less then 13 murders, typically by manslaughtering the would be murderers, often at the relative start of their careers!
His phantom answers
Oh, the figment of my imagination that is in my head is compling a rap sheet of me? He remarks
I hope that, one day, I can proudly revel in you having murdered something truely impressive under my august and wise instruction! She finishes
Dylan speaks to "Pink"
I pay my debts, after all, anyone who rescues me from a bind should be rewarded, this type of reputation greatly increases ones odds of being rescued!
We seem to have joint enemies, and as long as you are not planning to conduct violence against my current client I see litle reason to not cooperate.
Mr. Yellow goes to Dylan and checks to see how he's secured, if there's bindings he cuts him loose.
"You didn't answer my question: what were you doing here?"
Mr. Yellow goes to Dylan and checks to see how he's secured, if there's bindings he cuts him loose.
"You didn't answer my question: what were you doing here?"
Long story. An old friend, who has genuinely thought me some important things, anticipated getting murdered, and went all they way to stake out "vengeance from the grave" contract, with a mercenary guild I run for, specifically requesting me for delivering vengeance, once him having been murdered has been ascertained by third parties unrelated to said mercenary guiild. Should have simply hired me for direct protection, he paid really well while alive and even better post death, but I digress. He speaks.
I take my clients secrecy priviliges pretty seriously. But I can say there were faint hints of weirdness connecting my no longer living employers murderers to this installation, so I sought to verify if this is actually a thing. I am pretty certain the so called Beast of Lepidstadt has not convicted any of the crimes he/she/it stands accused of, and that the true perpetrators are linked in some antagonistic fashion to my no longer living employer.
I go by intuition more then by rational thought, alas I ended up underestimating the threat posed by this installation.
"That story sounds suspiciously like ours...tell me, was this old friend one Professor Petros Lorrimor?"
What? Are you the group that found out he was murdered?
Dylan replies surprised.
"Yes, we stayed in Ravengro for a while with Kendra while dealing with the Harrowstone haunting. I wasn't aware we were famous..."
Not too long ago, the professors cause of death, according to the Pharasmin clergy was changed from "freak accident" to "murder", by a "Father GB", with the note "as found out by a group of intrepid investigators" this then triggered the professors contract regarding vengeance from the grave with the mercenary guild to become active, I think they ask the Pharasmin clergy every once in a while if there are any deaths being ruled as murders which werent considered murders before.
"Ah, good ol' Father Grimburrow," Lorant replies.
"Well then, we have a very chatty person and one that doesn't speak. In any case, shall we move on? This place is probably still pretty dangerous, right?"
"Yes, let's check out this attic's attic."
Agreed
Mr. Pink leads the way up, sword still drawn.
Dylan is right after him, Bardiche drawn and
His facial expression, bodily posture and movement pattern would tell you one thing:
He is insanely pissed about being captured and really wants to ruin the day of anyone responsible for it.
ready for violence.