@lirana- "Heavens no Mi'lady; I only know a few spells." (rex is a sorcerer with only non-combat spells currently. Comprehend lang, mage armor)
@Berenice- Stellx yells out again, "Ouch dang you. Please stop..."
after a few moments you start to hear snickering coming from the hole.
Aldren eyes Rex with renewed interest. He can cast spells? Not as entirely useless as he appears. Not that it's here nor there...
"That's good to know, and thank you for the help, even if it proved fruitless, we learned something. You maybe right that Ba is our only choice, but perhaps we all ought to get to someplace safe and rest first. A bankers vault, as deliciously scandalous as the idea is, may not be quite the right location. It seems as if this certainly won't be the place, but you said you had some suggestions?"
He suddenly remembers something, looking at Carawyn, "Ah... and the summoning circle. Miss Carawyn, you mentioned something about it. Do you think we need to destroy it before we go? Or is it's magic depleted?"
"Miss? We don't think anything tried to hit us, though maybe we did miss it. Maybe he means the devils that the circle brings? They missed us, though we don't think they were very glad to see us, either," Carawyn replies, looking around at the runes. "Do we want more devils? Maybe he does. It is good practice and then he could be a Hellknight. But if we can't kill them all, they might kill us, so maybe we should destroy it? But ... Hellknights..."
The gnome fixes an unblinking gaze on the half-elf, trying to decide what he might be thinking and if he might want to become a Hellknight at some point.
"You're just f$#@ing with me, aren't you?" Berenice says indignantly. She turns back to the others.
"Anyone else wanna help me give this @$$hat what he deserves?" she bellows to the others.
Aldren is pretty sure this won't work as the grimple seemed content to stay in his hole before, but he shrugs and figures he'll try to get the blasted fey "sorted out". "Um, excuse me a moment," he says to Rex, before turning and heading back down to where Berenice is dealing with the fey.
He walks up to where he is out of view of the hole but close enough to be heard. "Berenice, why are you torturing the poor thing? He's being perfectly reasonable. Why don't you go back up and meet with the others?" Meanwhile, Aldren points to a spot about 30' away, in the shadows, and makes a gesture of holding up a bow and pulling back on the string.
He then says, "Stellx, I'm sorry for her. I tried to tell you that earlier but then I got upset, too, and I wasn't fair to you. I'm sorry. You're a pretty fey and we did steal your property. I'd like to return it to you and let you leave this place, but I'm going to need your help. I think those runes in that room downstairs are what's keeping you here. I can't reach all of them, but you can fly. I can't fly. I'm just a stupid, ugly half-human without any wings. I'd like to apologize to you by helping to let you leave, but I can't do it without your help. Will you come out and help me, please?"
Berenice glares at Aldren until she realizes what he's indicating and gives a curt, but understanding nod as she gets into position and readies to nock an arrow.
I'm having a flashback from a tom and jerry cartoon. while reading Berenice and Stellx.
(I'm giving Stellx a +5 modifier rather than you take -5 penality I don't think he would believe that after being threaten multiple times. oh well didn't need it. lol)
Stellx says "Get out of here Ugly!"
Rex says to the others "I suggest we go to a friends tavern and take everything there, its call the Long Roads Coffeehouse. Unless anyone has better ideas? the owner is a close friend of the family. I can trust her." rex carefully gathers up the pages and binds them together the best he can.
"Monsieur Aldren is correct. While in some sense anything we put in the vault at Abadar's temple would be safe from thieves, the Lord Mayor has full legal authority to just seize the items if he gets wind of our little attempt at a coup d'état. Certainly the bankers of Abadar would not resist him," Laurent says, emphasizing the term bankers with some distaste.
A slightly confused look crosses Laurent's face as he tries to puzzle out Carawyn's meaning. "Eh, perhaps I am misinterpreting you mademoiselle, but I think you are saying that we should destroy the runes if we don't want any more devils? If that is the case, can we just deface them in order to destroy the magic?" Laurent asks, placing his hand on the hilt of his shortsword.
Aldren stares at the hole from which the grimple's disembodied voice emanates. Why that ratty, double-crossing, two-faced, ferret f%&$ing pile of dung... These and other friendly thoughts flitter through his head, though his face remains largely expressionless.
"Okay, fair enough. I can't fault you for not believing me. I guess, what, you'll just stay here another fifty years until the next group of people come? And your family...all dead. I think I killed a lot of them. Hmm. Sorry about that. Anyway, sure is going to get lonely here for you. We killed at the rats, too, so you won't even have them for company. Oh well." He walks away, towards and past Berenice. He shrugs, but also pulls out his crossbow, notches a bolt, and then stops and waits.
Berenice stows her arrow and stomps up to the hole.
"Devils take you, Stellx!" she snaps, sticking her arm in the hole with her middle finger extended.
She rejoins the others with a grouchy expression on her face.
"The traitorous little wretch is staying in his hidey-hole," she informs them. She listens for a moment, then her face lightens up at Rexus' mention of the Long Roads Coffeehouse.
"You're a friend of Laria's, Rex? Me too!"
"I certainly wouldn't mind going elsewhere to rest up, but what time is it? Will we have to worry about being out after curfew?"
"Indeed," Carawyn responds happily to Laurent, pleased that he seems to be so much more understanding than most people.
It hardly seems traitorous to defend one's home. Or maybe Arch-Thrune thinks the same of those who would defend Kintargo?"[/b] she says as the others return. "Perhaps if we had a short cut to Long Road, we wouldn't have to worry about curfew?"
She smiles at her solution.
Laurent smiles, glad that he has had some success in translating the gnome woman's opaque manner of speech.
He sets about using his sword to do what he can to destroy the runes surrounding the pool of filth.
"Regarding the coffee house, I will be happy to meet you there, but probably tomorrow morning. I did not anticipate this little adventure, and other than my sword and the armor I am wearing, I left everything else that may be of use to us at my uncle's estate," Laurent says. "I would like to go there and collect these things, and take bath and change my clothes. Perhaps I can meet you at Long Roads tomorrow morning?"
Berenice joins Laurent in destroying the runes with the silvery dagger she has.
"Anyone else want this? Otherwise, I might keep it. It's a dagger for you tallfolk, but it's a good-sized shortsword for me," she asks idly.
Rex says "She and my parents were involved in several enterprises. What is your relationship with her?"
"Where I would recommend us staying here it worries me what kind of trouble the little one could cause. throughout the night. I think we might be best served staying somewhere else." he takes a look around. "and where I normally not have a issue with cleaning oneself up, I don't really know if we should go our own way yet." looking at Laurant sheepishly.
Rex says "She and my parents were involved in several enterprises. What is your relationship with her?"
Berenice scratches the back of her head.
"Well, I'm a regular at Long Roads. Laria was one of the first halflings I met when I moved to the city, so naturally I started frequenting her establishment. We halflings have to stick together. Kintargo may be nicer than the rest of Cheliax, but only if we make an effort to keep it that way."
She gives a weak smile, hoping that was sufficiently vague.
"Well, I suppose if I have to choose between risking sleep with the pretty fae running free or risk running into a patrol for breaking curfew... Well, I guess I'd rather run into a patrol. At least they are likely to smell better."
"Laurent, depending on the distance to your uncles estate, you might be better off going to the long roads until after curfew at least. The longer you travel, the greater you increase your chances of being caught."
Laurent decides to relent for now. "Very well, I will accompany you to coffee house. Though in the morning I really must insist I make it back tomorrow morning to the Greens," he says.
The young nobleman looks over the progress he and Berenice have been making on destroying the runes. "How does this look, mademoiselle? Will it be sufficient to dispel the magic in this place?" he asks Carawyn.
Carawyn nods.
"It's smashing," she says. "The devils won't go down to Kintargo anymore this way. They'll have to come some other way."
She cocks her head.
"We could get some coffee now, to go to sleep."
Your party heads towards the Long roads Coffeehouse. Packing away everything from the crates you can move the items without having to carry the crates with you. The party moves from shadow to shadow trying to stay off any major roads. During one short alleyway the party has a short scare as a large cockroach the size of a medium sized dog raises up and scurries into a sewer grate before anyone can jump.
Once you get to the coffeehouse you see that there are several entertainers present. playing different kinds of music and people are having a good time. serving coffee and pastries at even a late hour. along with a few other stronger drinks.
a quick look around the room you see Laria talking to someone at a small bar. There are probably about twenty people in the coffeehouse at this time people that live relatively close by.
Aldren looks at the party goers longingly. I was supposed to be with a lovely blonde by now... maybe brunette... I don't care, really not that picky... even a ginger... instead I... He raises an arm, sniffs himself, nearly gags. "Damned sludge devils. I need a bath." He looks at Berenice with a scowl, "This is all your fault. Liberté, Equalité, and the hidden rebel base to get all the tricks. I can't go out there like this. Ugh... Calistria forgive me."
In the back of his mind, something tells Aldren that a party in the wake of today's riot might not be the wisest of actions. Overcome with a desire to join the festivities and self-loathing at his stench, he ignores it.
Berenice waves as they step in.
"Laria, good evening!" she calls.
Laurent feels, well, like someone who has been vomited on and is covered in insects, so he is rather embarrassed to appear in public. Still, it is important for a gentleman to put his best foot forward, so he tries to keep his discomfort from showing. Laurent does his best to fix his hair and draw his cloak over the vomit stain on his doublet in an effort to accomplish this.
He takes in the coffee house; it seems very... middle class, to his tastes, but is best not to offend Berenice and Rex, who seem to know the proprietress.
Carawyn seems completely oblivious to any possible offensive qualities about her companions.
She enters, looking around, though her veil as usual hides her exact expression.
"It smells like bitterness in here," she murmurs, looking around at Aldren and Laurent.
Aldren returns Carawyn's look with a mix of indignation and mock outrage, "Of course we're bitter! We smell! Badly! Not that we can't smell. I mean as in we stink... giving offense to the noses of others... I..." He realizes he's babbling, trying to anticipate Carawyn's odd way of interpreting and responding to things. Though he is not actually outraged, he is frustrated. This amount of ... filth, is not something to which he is accustomed.
He sniffs. "I just want a bath... Maybe with him," he adds the last while glancing at someone near the bar, then sighs in resignation.
He then watches Berenice run off to greet the other halfling and hopes something not wholly atrocious comes of what remains of this all too eventful day. Dear Mistress, please just let this end and have me wake up with a bad hangover.
"It is always better to give than to receive," Carawyn nods, looking as if Aldren's making sense for once.
She looks him critically up and down and then casts the same quick spell in succession.
The first seems to clean the half-elf's clothing, while the second suddenly sends an overly sweet perfume wafting from his form, overlaying the stink. She nods in satisfaction, as if at a job well done.
Aldren practically beams as the filth disappears from his clothing and starts to hug Carawyn when his nose is assaulted by the cloyingly sweet smell that now overpowers the lingering stench. Oh my... what is... Strawberries and cream? With licorice!? He tries to cover his dismay by continuing with the hug.
"Thank you, Miss Carawyn! That's very... creative of you! And such a kind effort." He glances at Laurent, slightly wide-eyed. "Well, with that... when in Katheer, do as the Kelishites do."
He shrugs, then heads towards a bottle with one of the more alcoholic looking beverages. Please let no one in this room remember me, Mistress, if I've ever done anything to please you, grant me this mercy... and let me forget this ever happened.
everyone can give me perception checks-
@Berenice- as you get close to Laria she moves in to give you a hug then at the last moment turns away. "Wow, you stink. What have you been up to digging in sewers?"
@Laurant- Beppe hands you a towel soaked in water. "you will probably need to clean your self up before going into public. maybe a stop by a tailor? At least is night, you'll be able to hide the stains. " Beppe says with a smile. "I'm sure Laria has a place you can clean up in."
@aldren- you walk into the Coffeehouse, you immediately see Berenice head off to talk to Laria. you see that there are some patrons but most of them know each other and they are keeping to themselves.
@carawyn you see that several tables here are made for smaller people towards the middle of the room. a equal amount of both. You see step ladders going to the taller tables because Laria only hires Halflings.
Aldren pours himself a stiff drink, paying for it if necessary, and after one strong gulp then switches to sipping at it. Even with his clothes properly cleaned, a sacred courtesan is trained to know something about perfumery and the emotions that smell can trigger. He is quite confident his current olfactory impression would be pleasing only to his Mistress's winged servants and a girl in her tweens. Nope! Just... no.
He's content to let people continue with their own conversations while Berenice talks with Laria, though if anyone approaches him, he decides to turns on the charm and prepares a self-deprecating remark about a younger sister playing a joke on him. He knows Calistria blessed him with his mother's looks and a smile could open more doors than a key. And father's temper, though only towards those who deserve it.
"We see our friends from before, at the grand speech," Carawyn observes, her eyes straying toward them before heading back toward the properly sized tables.
"Just mucking out a barn, you know?" Berenice replies.
She's so glad to be among friends that she fails to notice the CCG goons hanging out at the shop.
"I can't believe you never introduced me to Rex here! We have so much in common!"
"There is no time for that Berenice, there are loyalist in this place." Laria says in a quiet voice to her. "Meet me in the back room and come one at a time." with that Laria leaves and heads toward a back room off to the side.
Berenice gives a nod. Wanting to look like she belongs there more readily, she orders a drink and then turns to the others.
"You know, she keeps the best stuff in the back room. Hard to fit back there, though. It's best to go as an individual."
How else would we go? Though are we really individual? We think there's me and she, so ... should we not go? Does everyone have a watcher? We thought they were all individual, but maybe the aren't..."
Carawyn has an existential crisis.
So concerned with getting cleaned up is Laurent, he neither notices the Chelish militiamen in the coffee house, nor does he take Berenice's meaning.
"Of course Mlle Bluethistle, I will join you just as soon as I deal with this" he says, pointing at the stains on his clothes.
Upon seeing Carawyn clean up Aldren with a flick of her fingers, Laurent brightens up. He accepts the towel from Bepe, but says "Thank you Beppe, but I think I might have my problem solved."
He turns to Carawyn and asks her "Mademoiselle, you wouldn't be able to clean me using your magic as you just did M Aldren, would you?"
Carawyn blinks as her musings on individuality are disrupted.
She smiles at Laurent and nods.
"We are able to do that," she affirms. "It is a simple spell."
Her eyes then drift back to Berenice.
"But can we do that ourselves? Or do we need our voices? Is there enough room for all of us?"
Despite the bizarre cacophony of smells assaulting his nose, Aldren is pleasantly surprised by the counterpoint of the alcohol in his mouth. He's also found a few comely patrons he enjoys watching. Ah, even if I can't partake, I can have my fantasies...tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm definitely finding a cathouse. The damned Thrunes can't have closed all of them.
After lazily finishing his drink (and ordering a refill), he'll follow through whatever door Berenice had used.
Laria calmly waits for everyone to make it into the back room. when Berenice first comes in she is greeted by a warm hug, when Rex soon follows she also gives him a hug. "Please, sit while we are waiting on the others. tell me what you need." with that Rex launches into being approached by a Halfling named Ba shortly after his estate was burned to the ground. and then tries his best to introduce everyone as they walk in. Letting Berenice add other things as needed.
"THERE'S the Laria I know!" Berenice replies.
She takes a sip of her drink and sits down. She comments on each person as they're introduced:
"Cary's a bit of a weirdo, but she's a team player and handy with magic," she says when Carawyn is introduced.
"Laury may be a noble pup, but his skills are similar to mine, and I respect that. Plus, we already know his buddy, Beppe," she says as Laurent enters with Beppe in tow.
"Aldy's a handsome, ornery fella, and in times like these, he's just what we need. We went to the protest this morning together," she says as Aldren saunters in.
"Liri's softer than Aldy, but still plenty pretty and a damn good healer. We'd probably have died several times tonight if not for her!" she says when Lirana enters.
"Septy's a copper, but he's as p!ssed off at the new Lord-Mayor and his CCG hellhounds as we are, and I think he'd rather eat his armor than break a promise, even to smallfolk like us," she concludes as Septimus brings up the rear.
With his glass of liquor in one hand, Aldren enters to hear Berenice's introduction and, though it's clearly an act, honest to gods manages to pull off a blush on demand.
"Handsome and... Bee, how could you suggest such a vulgar... Sure, that brother and sister were quite fetching and I've a dozen things in mind to do to... Oh wait, you said OR-nery... Right, yes, quite. Handsome and or-nery."
He grins at Laria and bows. "Aldren, if it pleases. And if it doesn't..." He pauses, considers a moment, then winks at her, "I'd beg for a proper chance. Maybe after a bath. Sorry about the smell. We were killing demons, or Devils, or something.... Honest."
Laurent gives a little ahem to Carawyn and mentally decides to stop using the subjunctive with her. "Please use that spell on me Mademoiselle. I'm afraid that my current sorry state is not a good fit for this coffee house."
"Thank you for compliments Berenice and it is nice to meet you Laria. I hope you don't mind our collective appearance here tonight."
Carawyn nods and absent-mindedly casts the spells to clean the man before ambling toward the back room.
"No, we can't go separately. That would never work," she mutters as she makes her way.
She cocks her head at Berenice's description before nodding.
"We also have a friend that is a gremlin," she adds helpfully.
"Cari, I would NOT call that treacherous pipsqueak a friend!" Berenice adds, scowling at the memory of Stellx.
"Unless you have a weird backwards definition of the word friend where it means "someone you want to kill". Then no, we do not have a gremlin friend."
Aldren glances at his compatriots as they begin to debate the semantics of Carawyn's speech patterns and sighs. With a sip of his glass, he looks for a convenient place to rest his tired body and sits. Ugh... I can't wait to get out of this armor. I hope I can get a bath. This is really all too much. Maybe tomorrow will be better. They can't possibly expect me to keep killing Thrune lapdogs and devils every day, can they?
Laria takes a moment to take it all in, " Well, Berenice, Rex, your welcome to stay here to rest and recuperate." she takes a glass of wine and swirls it in a glass appearing to make a decision while looking into it. Suddenly taking a drink she appears to come to agreement with herself, " Those that know me know I run a coffeehouse and am a civic minded person. Those that really know me know I work for the bellflower network. (Rex takes a gasp.) I know, I know. I shouldn't be telling you this but I feel like you need some help and for the life of me I cant find out how to tell you all the things I know and somehow keep it a secret. "she gets up and walks around the room looking at all of you. "I can plainly see you need a safe place to rest, and I know just the place. You see , under my business is a safe place, I call it the "Wasp's Nest" due to a statue I found in there. Currently though I cant show it to you I need to make a appearance outside because there were CCG guards in the waiting room, but there is someone already down there by the name of Nam Comerivos that can show you around I haven't seen him in the past week but he takes the food downstairs that I send. He Is waiting for some good to come through the underground waterways which the tunnel has some access."
"Please everyone be carful, ill give you fair warning that over half my network has been taken in the past two weeks. We live in dark times."
Berenice gapes a little at Laria's directness.
"Little early to be name-dropping the s-e-c-r-e-t h-a-l-f-l-i-n-g l-i-b-e-r-a-t-i-o-n f-r-o-n-t, ennit Laria?" she says uneasily. She figures the cat's out of the bag now, but she felt there should have been SOME attempt at secrecy.
Aldren grins at Berenice and half-heartedly tries to cover a soft chuckle. After it passes, he looks back at Laria a tad more seriously. "You say there were Thrune lapdogs out there? Goddess, I must be exhausted, I'm sorry, I hadn't noticed. You sure you don't want us to wait here within earshot, just in case? I can drink and stab things at the same time; been doing it for years."
In truth, Aldren is very eager to investigate whatever statute would give rise to the name "wasp nest", but safety comes first...
Laurent give a smile and a brief bow of thanks to Carawyn for her job cleaning him up.
He joins the others in Laria's back room just in time for the Bellflower revelation; he's more surprised Berenice is involved than this halfling woman he barely know... but then he also barely knows Berenice. Though fighting for your lives against devils and unseelie faeries certainly tends to bring people together quickly.
Regardless, thanks to Carawyn's cleaning, he manages to maintain the composure he lost from the many indignities he suffered at the livery, and keeps his shock in check.
"Thank you for the offer of sanctuary Madame. Much like Monsieur Aldren I did not see the militia members in the common room. They seem to have appeared from nowhere these past few days."