HP 20/20
AC 14, touch 13
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +5
Spell points: 2/3
Effects: courageously inspired (+1/+1)
Anivash grunts as the stone hits him. Smiling, he tries to leap over the Barbers, to get behind them, but can't seem to find the lift. Landing instead in front of them, he throws a quick series of fists. As he strikes, he lets out a yell that almost seems to ripple in the air.
Nalshene steps past her allies and casts a color spray spell, trying to quickly stun them out so that one can be held for questioning as needed and the rest dispatched.
COLOR SPRAY SPELL 1
Casting Somatic Casting, Verbal Casting
Area 15-foot cone
Duration 1 or more rounds (see below)
Swirling colors affect viewers based on their Will saves.
Success Dazzled for 1 round.
Critical Success The target is unaffected.
Failure Blinded for 1 round, dazzled for 4 rounds.
Critical Failure Stunned for 1 round, blinded for 4 rounds.
Ord takes it quite personally that his group has been attacked by the ruffians. He pulls and throws a bomb at green, hoping to splash the rest.
vs TOC for
Not feeling well after that last attack BJ moves in to strike with both hands on his sword.
for
Grimkell is surprised by the sudden attack of the group of Barber's and winces as the stones bounce of BJ's face, leaving a bloody mess. Knowing the fighter will likely just ignore the pain, he reaches out to him with a divine touch, trying to heal some of his hurts as he moves to the front line.
"By the bountiful beard of Father Torag, I heal thee, and ask thy vengeance on these enemies of Good!"
After casting, the cleric raises his steel shield in defense, in case more stones start flying.
Grimkell manages to heal some of Robert's wounds, though not significantly.
Nalshene's spell flares between the Sorscerer and into the bandits, dazzling and blinding!
Anivash attempts to tumble, but stumbles, only allowing him to make a single succesful attack.
Ord's fire takes one of the dazzled bandits, who flails in the fire remains up.
Not the case for Robert's opponent, who falls to the ground lifeless in one hit! The one hit by the goblin's fire desperately attempts to put out the fire, but succumbs before he can quench it! This leaves only the blinded bandits to stumble and attack.
Both swing blindly, missing widely!
Jean continues to encourage his allies, then slips over to the yellow thug and lashes out at him with an ax.
HP 20/20
AC 14, touch 13
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +5
Spell points: 2/3
Effects: courageously inspired (+1/+1)
Anivash throws more punches at the foe, though this time he aims to merely knock him out, not kill him.
Knowing that her friends can pretty much mop up from here, Nalshene just grabs a rock with her mind and hurls it at (blue).
Seeing that the fight is under control, Ord moves up and melees with his dog slicer. He is not very effective.
Between rocks, hatchets, and punches, you bring down the remaining barbers! Anivash manages to pummel one of them into unconsciousness to avoid adding to the body count. Snips, from the door, looks positively white as a sheet.
When you inevitably move to questioning the Barber, it turns out that the Barbers themselves have been afraid for their lives and scrambling to figure out who is behind the murders. Remna, a former scullery slave with a mean streak was among one of the slaves freed during the Fiendflesh siege a little over a year ago. She joined the Bloody Barbers and shaved part of her head after being freed, then disappeared mysteriously about a week ago. The Barbers have questioned several witnesses to track down the killer and get revenge, but the only helpful information they found was that the probable killer wore metal armor and seemed to have difficulty controlling the right side of their body... which might be useful knowledge when you finally track down the killer.
Finally, he admits that he thought -you- might have been part of the crew when you barged out, weapons drawn. "See, all just a misunderstanding... if you let me go, I'll convince the rest of the Barbers that it was all just a misunderstanding. Much less messy for everyone."
Grimkell tries to convince the newly captured Barber to give up any more information, but he comes off as preachy and pedantic, and the rest of the group can't help by stare at the absolute ass he is making of himself.
Jean knows that dangerous "misunderstandings" are just one exciting part of the bustling city of Absalom. He reassures the Barber that there are no hard feelings on his part.
Revenge for a hired killing, hey? Might be useful to keep our eyes peeled for information about a half-elf cleric that met an untimely end.
Ambrus Valsin greets you somberly when you return and describe what you have found. "I am relieved to hear that resolving this situation won’t involve going toe to toe with such a formidable opponent, but I remain troubled that the killer is still at large." He reaches into a satchel and retrieves two items: a healing potion as a reward and a letter with your next assignment before dismissing you to discuss your assignment among yourselves.
With the ongoing rash of disappearances in the streets of Absalom, it seems prudent to strengthen ties with our allies. I’m sending you into the sewers to meet with one of the Society’s most dependable, albeit more unconventional, allies in Absalom: the Sewer Dragons Kobold tribe.
You’ll be meeting with their speaker, Dragonspeaker Engashez, and offering whatever assistance you can. When people disappear on the surface, bodies usually end up in the sewers, and having the eyes of the Sewer Dragons helping us could prove invaluable.
Ord nods, accepting the mission, Great, Kobolds. There will be traps. he thinks to himself.
Lost in the common that was quickly exchanged, BJ just smiles a nods.
Anivash's smile fades a bit at the new assignment, along with concern and frustration that they didn't really succeed at their previous one.
Into the sewers? Is this the time Pharasma will keep me to her bosom? That is where she found me before, in that cave, but she chose not to take me home then...
Still, out loud, he only asks, "Is there a way to let them know we are Pathfinders, so there are no misunderstandings with the kobolds?"
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Is this all the same day?[/ooc]
"Ah, the sewers. Don't we have any allies that frequent fine alehouses?"
Jean heaves a dramatic, but good-natured, sigh.
"Ah' I've heard of the Sewer Dragons in the past. They are nothing to be laughed at, but are good allies when they wish to be allies, from what I understand."
After a brief breather, you travels to the cramped operating base for the the Sewer Dragons to meet with your contact.
Dragonspeaker Engashez gesticulates wildly while pacing within the tight confines of a foul-smelling side chamber in the sewers. The energetic and elaborately attired kobold strides around a deep circular pit in the center of this chamber, waving her hands to accent her ongoing speech.
“Bandits! Intruders! Not-true dragons! These new kobolds, these so-called ‘Dragon Sharks,’ are a blight upon the Sewer Dragons’ dominion of Absalom’s most grand sewer ways. They cannot be allowed to continue their intrusion into our territory and must be stopped. You will help us, yes? The Pathfinders have always proven to be firm allies in the past, and it’s time our allies made their presence known in these sewers.”
Engashez looks down into the out-of-place pit, a hint of disappointment in her eyes. “Especially after one of our other allies decided to wander off!” She then looks up and nods her head vigorously. “Yes, you can go with Fazgyn. Trap the Dragon Sharks between two sides and crush them for the glory of the Sewer Dragons and Chief Yiddlepode!”
Being a bartender in his old life, Robert knows a lot of the society where he comes from. Not so much of the bigger world.
“Kobolds, these is little green men. They don't like the sun much, too much sun for them is bad for their eyes. They be in deep woods or under the ground.“
"I've dealt with kobolds before... in fact, Engashez and I met a few years back! She means well.... for the most part. Kobolds also really love to build traps, so don't go traipsing around without paying good attention to your surroundings!"
"Ah, kobolds. Frightfully dangerous when surrounded by those traps you mention, Nalshene, but take out their leader and they head for the hills. We should also watch out for "draconic" magic. Not unusual for one of their leaders to claim to be 1/64th dragon or some such nonsense."
Knowing something of the diminutive dragon folk Ord nots in agreement.
Grimkell's lip curls in distaste as the others talk about these alledged "sewer dragons". "Why does the city allow these vermin to live below the streets? Kobolds are a blight and allowing them to live in Absalom will only result in someone getting hurt. Mark my words! We may need their help today but we should really be pushing them back into the wild where they belong."
"What friend wandered off?" Anivash asks.
He glances askance at Grimkell, edging away from him, as he calls the kobolds vermin while in their midst.
Perhaps he truly wishes to meet Pharasma now?
"What friend wandered off?" Anivash asks.
“A loud oaf who was supposed to be guarding this section of sewer! I wonder where he and the other man want off to? It doesn’t really matter though; we have you to help us now!”
When you are finished asking questions, the kobold trapper Fazgyn greets you, eager to lead you and his squad of kobolds against the Dragon Sharks. However, he seems to think that you are unprepared for the trap lined corridors of the underworld, and proceeds to give a tutorial on trapfinding as you progress.
“To find traps, you have to be trap-smart, and you get trapsmart by dealing with traps or being really good at spotting traps. If you’re not good at looking, you might miss the trap that kills you!”
“It’s easy to get distracted by enemies and arrows and forget to watch for tripwires. Want to stay alive? Take a moment to look around.”
“When I’m walking like this, I’m always looking. It takes effort unless you get really good at it. Some dragonbloods can sense magic and magic traps, but that also takes effort. You want to focus on sneaking? Hiding behind shields? Life’s full of choices, and my choice is to look for traps and stay alive.”
“Once you find a trap, you can jam it, trip it, reconfigure it—you name it. Or you can hit it until it’s gone, but that probably sets it off.”
"Or just use magic to kill magic traps. I don’t know the details, but it takes strong magic to do.”
“Maybe it’s not a trap but it’s brambles or falling rocks or sky thunder or snakes. Use your outside smarts to avoid those.”
“Sometimes there are ghosts instead of traps—bad news. The more you know about spooky things, the more you can trick those ghosts into going away.”
Furthermore, he suggests that you be on the lookout for traps yourself!
"Why, thank you for all the information, Fazgyn! You're truly a testament to dragon-kind."
Anivash agrees with Nalshene for the most part.
"Of course, if we are lucky enough that Pharasma really has chosen to call us home, it won't matter how carefully we look," he says cheerfully.
He does try to get any more information he can about the loud oaf and the other man, though.
Just your typical stroll through a sewer.
BJ just walks on, into several walls and almost off the edge of the sewer's walkway a few times. Not really paying attention to anywhere he is walking. “Where be that smell come from?“ he asks as he finally smells the sewers stench.
Noticing the stonework in the sewer tunnels, Grimkell spies a place where their is an unusual seam. Looking closer, he sees a pit at the junction of the walkways.
"Eyes front, Pathfinders! There is a pit ahead there at the junction. Be wary!"
Grim points out the hazard to all, making sure no one gets close before they spy the trap.
"Well seen, Grim. I missed it myself. Your eyes will come in handy in this endeavor, I think."
Your kobold guide claps his tiny hands in a gesture of respect. "Well done!"
Then Fazgyn uses the discovery as a teaching moment. The kobold reviews how you can overcome the trap and encourages you to attempt disarm the trap by jamming the concealed trapdoor or batter the door down with brute force.
As you proceed, cautiously, until Anivash calls out that they spotted what appears to be a slicing blade trap. This clearly was some of the party's first real times exploring a trap infested lair as several realize that you need to actually 'look at the floor'. For lack of a better option, Jean moves forward to attempt to disable it and there is a <snick> as the trigger is deftly jammed.
You proceed deeper into the sewers and fetid unspeakable things float in the trough down the center of the tunnel. You feel like you're approaching the lair of your foes and you are presented with an option: To approach stealthily and potentially ambush your foes or to continue thoroughly searching for traps
As you venture in, mostly searching, it is clear that you have further lessons to go as Robert runs face into another slicing trap! It bites deep into the unfortunate Fighter!
From deeper in the tunnels, your presence is clearly noted as several beings start clamoring in Draconic!
Nalshene casts mage armor on herself and prepares for a fight.
From around the corner, you hear a sudden, strangled cry of a woman's voice. "Help! Anyone!? These things have me trapped!"
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Feeling the sting from the trap, Robert hears the woman cries for help.
“We Move!“ he hisses before racing into combat.
"We have to help her!" Nalshene follows the others (but definitely doesn't take the lead) to go help.
