Lindale is about to give chase when the barbarian beats him to it and he instead attacks the man left on the ground.
As the human stands back up, Toramin takes a swing at him.
Toramin silently swings his deadly hammer, shattering the mans right humerus bone. The man drops his sword as his arm falls limp to his side. He goes white faced but remains standing, looking around at all of you. He clumsily draws a dagger with his left hand (it's clear to any man who's every held a sword that he's never fought left handed in his life) and holds it up, teeth bared. "I'll not fail in my duty! I'll kill ye all with my bare hands if I have to!"
"Indeed you fought well. Matching our minotaur for strength is no easy feat. But if you will not surrender you must die."
And with that Lindale stabed forward...
Even in the mans damaged condition he manages to move enough that Lindales blade meets armor instead of flesh. But between Gabriel and Lindale hammering away at him he falls down, gasping for breath and unable to move. The man refuses to admit defeat, but now he is simply too physically handicapped to continue fighting.
Seeing Toramin take a blow to the throat made Dalton gasp for breath as well. Ghastly! Not normally the most compassionate person, the bone-chilling noise of the Dwarf struggling to draw breath made him shudder. Dalton was no healer, but he had to do something...
The only way I can help him is to stop his foe... Using the last of his energy, Dalton focused his mind on the assailant. If I can only stop him, maybe we can make it out of this... It didn't even occur to him the fight was essentially already won, he was so shaken.
Then he collapsed.
Toramin mimes tying up the struggling guard as he goes to check to see if the two guards he downed are still alive. Simply being on the opposing side does not abrogate my duty to work towards their common good.
It takes a good half a minute, but Bjorkus runs down and tackles the lad. He cries and begs for mercy the entire way back.
Well, hopefully, Toramin will find some keys and other interesting items as he checks the head guard's vitals and empties his pockets.
You find a ring of keys (7 to be exact), a very fine looking masterwork dagger, a golden ring around his finger that Dalton can tell is real gold (appraise to know more), and a magnificent silver cape.
"Quit your ballin' or you're gunna get a lot worse than a little roughed up", Bjorkus growls as he return to the group with the young archer over one brawny shoulder.
He drops him adjacent the other prisoner and begins tying him up.
"You alright Dalton?"
Is he alive? In either case, Toramin will strip him of his armor. That s+$~ is expensive. :-)
Toramin will also search the other guards. Any information or valuable could give them an edge. The dwarven paladin doesn't even bother to talk, but he will line up behind Dalton for some healing from Gabriel's wand.
Doesn't take a cleric to pronounce this man dead, his necks at nearly a 90 degree angle.
Before you start looting, give me three perception and heal checks everybody.
From either watching closely or looking at his wounds, you can all tell that guard 4 isn't as injured as he's acting. In his collapsed state he holds a dagger in hand. Didn't he drop with shortswords in hand?
Toramin stomps on the ground and shakes his head. If that fool tried anything funny, he would get the joy of a dwarven longhammer. (It after all, has better reach than a dagger.)
Readied Action (If the guard does not immediately drop his dagger and surrender):
The guard huffs and drops his dagger, then raises his hands above his head. "Can't blame a man for trying. If you would allow me, I would stand up and fully disarm myself."
The man stands up slowly, trying to raise both hands over his head but grimacing with his left arm gets to about shoulder height. He starts taking out daggers, and by the times he's done there's a pile of 14 daggers in front of you. He takes off his voluminous cloak and rolls up his sleeves, showing he has no more hidden weapons. He holds his injured arm up with the other, leaning against the stone wall a good 15 feet away from you all. "I'm not fool enough to take you all on. Although that one might be." He jerks his head towards the big man Bjorkus was wrestling, now unconscious. "Wouldn't heal him if I were you. He's so loyal he'd bite your guts out if you gave him half the chance." He glances at the young lad. "So, what do you intend to do with me and the boy?" He glances to each of you carefully, judging you.
Toramin senses nothing, nowhere about no one.
Unable to speak, Toramin shrugs and pantomimes someone being restrained. He also pulls out his holy symbol, draws his hand across his throat, and the shakes his head in a negating fashion.
He is trying to convey that they will be constrained, but not killed (for religious reasons).
"I don't think we're gunna kill you two unless you give us a reason to", Bjorkus explains as he finishes tying the boy up. "Cooperate and it won't need to come to that."
"Why don't we start with the sewers", the bull says. "What's goin' on down here. There's some kinda poison or somethin'."
"Only poison down here is sitting on that green handled blade at your feet." He grunts and shifts on the wall. "Yer right tho, something's going on down here, wish I could tell you more. Just got pressed into service a few weeks ago." He cricks his neck, licking some blood off his lip. "There'll be no badgering from me or the boy, neither of us have any love for the country or their mad king. Let us go and we'll keep our silence."
"Not yet. What kinda defense is past that door?" Bjorkus asks.
Toramin makes the universal sign for "yeah, yeah what he said."
The man has that look about him that tells you he's a man not used to taking orders. "Don't know. Was brought down from the outer city, told to hold the door. Haven't been past the door, was very specifically forbidden to go past it." He glances south "There's a patrol coming in a few minutes." He looks back. "I can cover for you, me and the lad can. We'll tell em the other two went off to take a piss. Should give you a little more time before they sound the alarm."
Bjorkus casts the drow a glance, "What do you think?"
"Why would we trust you when the next patrol comes around? You seem to about the boy here but not the others, why? Is he a relative?"
"Because I want nothing more than to flee the capitol and never look back. Can't well do that if you tie me up and leave me to the kings mercy. Rather have you just slit my throat down here." He glances at the boy. "He's a good kid. Done nothing wrong to end up here, needed money for him family, but couldn't do anything but hunt. Wasn't even that good at is, as your noble archer over there probably could tell."
"Think we can trust 'em?" Bjorkus asks with a snort.
"Or should we slit his throat like he says?"
Toramin pantomimes walking. He doesn't think anybody should die down here if they need not. If he can get the kid passed the monsters, he would end up surrounded by our army and whatever safety that might imply.
Still reeling from the fight, Dalton stumbles over to the group. "Let him fib to his fellows, buy us some time. I'd rather be far away from them as can be." Dalton clearly wants nothing to do with either one, distancing himself from the talker behind the meatier party members. One close shave too many...
Bjorkus shrugs.
"Alright. We're gunna let you go and you're gunna buy us some time and then make yourselves scarce once the coast is clear. Get out as quick as you can, somethin' down here is poison", the bull rumbles while untying both prisoners.
"But if you tell anyone ‘bout us and I find out ‘bout it, I'll track you two down and you'll wish we gutted you here in this s*@#-hole. Ya got it?" the bull asks with an angry snort and a glare at the young archer.
Toramin pulls out the map, and shows the exit to the quick guard, and the pantomimes surrendering. It would be foolish for them to escape their oppressors only to be cut down by our army.
The man looks inquisitively at the pantomiming dwarf. "Oh don't worry, I'm not that easy to catch. I'll probably slip right out from under their fingertips. These were...special circumstances." He starts re-arming himself. "It is much appreciated master half minotaur, but you might have to get in line for my head." He finishes up looking how he did before, making sure his wound is covered. He motions for the lad to come over, then says "We both know you couldn't lie to a blind, dumb beggar so just keep your mouth shut." He smiles, pushing the lad off to his post. "If I were you I'd hide around the corner you walked in from. We don't patrol outside the inner circle."
Toramin starts moving the bodies and the loot out of sight. Dalton doesn't look so good; I hope the lad can help him.
Lindale points his sword at the man before he can pick up his weapons. "Once we get past the door, what will we find?"