"A neutral place, then. We'd best be going. Fair enough, no burning today. We'd be seen in a negative light in any case for doing it." Corian nods, frowning on one side of his face, a little embarrassed at his impetuous proposal.
"There will be fires soon enough, I fear. It would hide evidence of our passing, however." Voreni muses, unaware that the decision has already been made to avoid the destruction. "If I had prepared more thoroughly, perhaps we could have examined the potential for a limited scale arson attempt. Keep the fire contained to the office area alone, for instance." He finally snaps out of his thoughts when he sees everyone else preparing to leave. "Right. No sense crying over spilled alchemical reagents now! Captives have been freed, villains have been trounced. Time to determine our next move."
Having decided against burning down the Salt Works, the matter of what to do with the rescued mercenaries is still present. The men look weak and are clearly in need of rest and likely some medical attention; they'll be of no use in a fight in their current condition, and likely would not be able to travel any further than the city limits.
Forvian Crowe speaks up, his voice still dry and raspy, though growing a bit stronger.
"I know we must look like hell, but don't worry too much about us. I've got a safehouse we can lie low at for now while we rest. But...if me and some of the boys were inclined to return the favor to you, how might we go about finding you?"
"Forgive me if I don't want to divulge all of our secrets friend, but if you need to find us, speak to the owner of the Long Roads Coffeehouse. She knows how to find us.' Ignati extends a hand in friendship and smiles at Forvian.
"I hope your strength returns."
"Trust me, Hell is usually more organized than you lot," says Corian with a wink. He offers them some water. "May you return to good health."
Even with the immediate danger gone, Valleria keeps her sword and shield ready, looking around while the others talk to Forvian and his men. "Be safe and strong... I feel we'll indeed need to ask you to return this favor in the future."
Forvian takes a drink and coughs. "We'll be in touch in a few days. Count on it. We owe these Devil-dealers some payback, and Forvian Crowe always pays his debts."
Crowe and the other mercenaries make haste as they are able and file out of the building.
With bloodied weapons and armor, you take the back way into the Wasp's Nest, and send word to Laria of your return. As soon as she is able to step away from the cafe, she comes downstairs with a pot of coffee and a basket of pastries to celebrate your victory.
"Don't go tellin' me too much, but are you all whole? Did you manage to get to Forvian in time?" she asks, concern creeping into her voice.
"We did, indeed," Wilhelm says, nodding. "He and his company were in poor condition, but alive. They're hunkering down at their own safe house for the time being until they have regained their strengths to the point where they feel they can resume activities against the establishment. You may be contacted by them when they come to seek us out. How were things here while we were gone? Any more signs of sabotage?"
"Ah yes. It couldn't hurt to do another sweep of the place."
"We should speak with Rexus. Perhaps he's found something alchemical to address that blank sheet of paper...and yes, don't we have an appointment with Signore Manthai?"
Corian frowns. "Many mysteries, and no real common thread."
"I'm glad to hear you met with success, but you'll want to lay low for a bit. I doubt the Dottari will come after you too much for hitting some mercenaries, but this won't pass unnoticed, either." Laria says.
"We haven't had any other accidents lately, but there have been some odd noises down here from time to time. You should talk to Rexus, he sounded pretty worried the last time we spoke. He's got the Fushi sisters watching that study of his, like he's expecting some kind of trouble."
Voreni nods with Laria's wise advise about laying low but frowns when he hears Rexus is worried. "Rexus' instincts have been pretty good so far. If he thinks trouble is coming in his direction, it likely is. The question is, can we assist him without being noticed by that trouble? We must keep our profile to a minimum after the Salt Works."
"I think the only way to find that out is to ask him what he needs," says Wilhelm, vaguely, distracted by the continued worries of the odd noises that have been continuing. "If it comes to a choice between lying low and helping, I would hope that we'd all choose the latter without hesitation."
Unless others object, he'll nod a thanks for the advice and information to Laria and then seek out their other benefactor, keeping an eye out for architectural anomalies on the way.
"That we go to help the person who has yet to lead us astray is without question, of course." We have to move our operation somewhere more private that a public business... He thinks to himself.
You find Rexus deeper within the Wasp Nest, in one of the rooms that he had cleared out for use as a study. He is looking over a pile of papers with a look of intense concentration while the Fushi sisters stand nearby. He doesn't seem to notice when you enter.
Wilhelm gives a supportive glance to the Fushi Sisters as he pushes past them into the study. Seeing that the man is deep in concentration, he gently clears his throat to announce their presence.
"Hello, Rexus. Do you have a minute? Laria said you've seemed extremely worried recently. Have you discovered something disturbing in those papers?"
"Any luck with that blank page?" says Corian merrily, and a little abruptly, then wonders if he has spoken out of turn.
Voreni slowly moves to stand near the Fushi's. "How are things? Rexus has a look that reminds me of my mentor when he was deep in concentration."
Morrigan listens intently for Rexus' response.
Rexus looks up momentarily and spots you, then jumps back in surprise.
"Oh! I didn't hear you all come in. I think I know what's going on with this paper..." he says, gesturing to the blank sheet that you had found earlier.
"It has a strange magical aura, and I believe that the contents of the page have been hidden with magic. I have a theory about how to reveal it, but I wanted to wait until you were present before I went any further, in case this page is connected to whatever creature has been skulking around and forced Morgar to cause that collapse."
Once everyone has readied themselves, Rexus takes a deep breath and casts his spell. After a few moments, he nods and speaks a short, unfamiliar phrase, and the page comes to life, revealing a long set of text written in small, but still legible, script. Anyone who reads Infernal, or has Comprehend Languages active, can read it.
"It's a contract!" Rexus exclaims, "Binding a creature called 'Blosodriette' to the bloodline of the Sarini family...how curious..."
Before he can say anything else, you hear the sound of magic being worked and a terrible, fiendish-looking Wolverine appears and charges towards Rexus.
Round 1, Initiative Count 18
"What's a Blo-holy hell," Says Wilhelm, caught by surprise in mid question by the sudden appearance of the animal. His quick reflexes take over and, in a bid to protect Rexus and the sisters he circles clockwise around the table to take a stab at the thing.
"It came from nowhere," he supposes to the others. "I think it was summoned. The summoner must be close, but I can't see him!"
- Combat Reflexes
- 10' reach
- Cavalier's Banner
Surprise Round
The wolverine bites deeply into Rexus' neck, gravely injuring him.
The creature howls in pain as Wilhelm's spear digs into its flesh, and is now enraged. In a bid to reach the object of its rage, it begins clawing at the Fushi sisters between them.
The wolverine's savage flurry mostly fails to land, though one of the sisters takes a claw across her arm for 5 points of damage.
Voreni and Wilhelm were able to read the contract, and can confirm what Rexus was saying: it binds a creature called Blosodriette to the bloodline of the Sarini family. Wilhelm understands that the contract itself holds a great deal of power over the creature who is bound by it.
Corian casts Bless, uttering quiet words to Milani.
Ignati moves to look over the document, also able to read Infernal, but when the wolverine appears he tears his eyes from the contract and turns on the creature, trying to stab it with his rapier.
"Can anyone see invisible creature? Morrigan, your pig, can he sniff the summoner out?"
"I can't see invisibility but Bacon can try. Bacon, sniff!"
"Also We haven't rested from the Salt Works yet so my spells are pretty much depleted."
This special quality allows a creature to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. Creatures with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights.
The creature can detect opponents within 30 feet by sense of smell. If the opponent is upwind, the range increases to 60 feet; if downwind, it drops to 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at triple normal range.
When a creature detects a scent, the exact location of the source is not revealed—only its presence somewhere within range. The creature can take a move action to note the direction of the scent. When the creature is within 5 feet of the source, it pinpoints the source’s location.
Morrigan withdraws a scroll from her backpack and reads off it. The scroll ignites in black flames then crumbles to dust in her hands. In its place a falchion of pure shadow magically appears in her hands.
Valleria is not always fast but, perhaps because of the last fight in the Saltworks, she is still alert and moves quickly forward, slashing with her sword even if poorly.
"Fushis, Rexus, move to a safer place... this is not the fight for you but we are quite capable of handle it! Come, create, try to get a piece of me!"
Voreni's eyes go wide at the sight of the furious creature and his mind races. Without thinking much about what he is doing he draws his rapier and moves carefully to try and place himself between it and the sisters he had been standing beside while stabbing at the beast.
Round 1 Recap
Combat Map
22: Ignati thrusts his rapier into the enraged wolverine, dealing 4 points of damage.
22: Valleria leaps into action, narrowly missing the wolverine.
21: Morrigan produces a scroll and casts Shadow Weapon; meanwhile, Bacon indicates the general location of...something that the pig just doesn't like. It is common knowledge that animals are uncomfortable around fiendish creatures.
19: Corian casts Bless. Everyone has +1 to attack rolls, and against fear.
18: Wilhelm wounds the creature with his spear for 5 points of damage.
18: In an effort to reach Wilhelm, the creature goes into a savage flurry against the Fushi sisters, but only manages to claw one of them for 5 points of damage. A small dart flies towards Morrigan. A small, red creature with a single curling horn on one side of its head appears atop the boxes where Bacon had been pointing.
Morrigan takes 6 points of damage. Morrigan, I will need a fortitude save; the dart was poisoned
11: Voreni slips into position and deals a dire wound to the wolverine with his rapier. The creature suffers 7 points of damage.
Forgot to add the bless; that makes it 12, which hits
ditto
The Fushi sisters go to work on the wolverine, giving Rexus cover to escape. Korva steps in front of him to protect him. Their knives do good work, dealing another 8 points of damage.
Round 2, Initiative Count 18+
After a few seconds to think about the contract and the nature of both it, and the blowgun-wielding creature that just appeared, Wilhelm gets an idea. He's not sure if it will work, it really depends on the personality of the thing, but it all hinges on the notion that the contract binding it is important. Leaving the wolverine in the capable hands of his allies, Wilhelm takes the contract and holds it as though he's about to rip it. It's written in Infernal, so that's the language Wilhelm is certain the creature can speak. All this assumes, of course, that this is in fact Blosodriette. Otherwise, he's just going to look and sound like a crazy fool.
"Blosidriette, ως φορέας του συμβολαίου σας, εγώ διατάζω να σταματήσουν αυτήν την επίθεση με τη μία και να εξηγήσει τον εαυτό σας, ή θα το καταστρέψει τώρα και τότε θα σας καταστρέψουν, καθώς και!"
"Ignati, help me flank this beast!" Once Ignati is in position, Valleria strikes with her shield and thrusts with her sword.
The wolverine cries out and dissolves into a wisp of black, foul-smelling smoke.
The horned creature, which Wilhelm recognizes as an Imp, lowers its blowgun immediately, its eyes wide with fear.
"Please don't! I was just trying to scare you away from the contract! I was trapped in that stinking hold where you found this stuff for centuries. Only one of the Sarinis can release me from the contract, but since you're holding it...I could serve you instead."
"Your scare tactics have cased one of our friends to think he's going crazy, and directly caused the death of another," Wilhelm points out, still holding the contract but not yet making any move to follow through with his threat. "That makes it difficult to establish a trust and working relationship, and the fact that I know what you are makes it more difficult. You've been hiding among us for days, so by now you must surely have discovered our purpose here. I have no desire to kill a potential ally out of hand, but my friends who have directly suffered grief at your instigation may need more persuasion. So what service could you render that could make up for all of that?"
He looks around at the others in the room, to try and get a sense for what their take on this situation is. He, himself, finds the idea of drawing a fiend into their ranks more than a little morally repugnant, but so too is his feeling toward unnecessary slaughter. Though the desire for justice and protection if his allies would help assuage the latter, and simply having lived his whole life in Cheliax makes the idea of having an infernal servant more normal and less obviously pants-on-head crazy.
"Well...as you already know, I can be tough to find when I want to be. I'm a better spy than anyone you have on staff right now. Frankly, I couldn't care less about your politics, so why wouldn't I serve you loyally?"
Ignati doesn't move to attack the fiend but he keeps his rapier out and his opinion is clear on his snarling face.
"Like you said Wilhelm, she killed one of our own. That we're not running her through is more sympathy than she deserves." He looks toward the rest of the room, hoping to reason with his friends in case anyone disagrees with him.
"The Thrunes use demons as their allies. We're better than that, aren't we? What kind of message will that send to our supporters if we use the same methods as the very people we want to overthrow?"
"I do not care about the message, but I do care that we cannot trust it and that we can count on it serving it's own desires to sow death and destruction. We must dispose of it immediately."
Blosodriette looks at Voreni with an expression of deep hurt, her eyes sad and her lower lip quivering.
"Please, brother, how could you be so cruel to one who shares the same tainted blood? Surely you must know the sting of the world's assumptions, of being forced into living up to them? I didn't ask to be an Imp; I'm as much a victim here as anyone is."
"I agree with the majority and say we kill the devil. Contract or not, there is no way I'd trust this creature. As long as it is around, I'd have to sleep with both eyes open."
To the imp, "It is a pity you were born an imp. May your god, if you have one, grant you mercy and may you return as something more pleasant in the next life."
Wilhelm is surprised by the nature of Blosodriette's protest to Voreni. Perhaps he's looking too hard for a reason to spare the creature, but he also is a believer in reformation over capitol punishment. The latter can always be applied later if the former proves impossible, but can never be taken back once applied.
"Blosodriette, can you honestly say that you would truly renounce evil and strive to be redeemed?" he asks, seemingly not having heard Morrigan while wrestling with his own moral dilemma.
Corian narrows his eyes, and detects alignment.
"None of us can help being who and what we are. You cannot help being a sadistic being, this is true, however you are a liability. I pity you, imp, but we both know we are not siblings in blood, spirit, or any other sense of the word." Voreni glances at Wilhelm. "Are we all priests of Sarenrae now?" His calm demeanor is somewhat shaken by the pitiful imp's manipulations. It causes Voreni to feel agitated and snap at his companions as his tail flicks restlessly behind him.
Corian detects Blosodriette's alignment as Lawful Evil, as one would expect of a Devil.
Blosodriette looks intently at Wilhelm and replies, "Yes, I want to redeem myself. Just give me a chance to serve you, and you'll see what I mean."
"Wilhelm don't let it plea to your sensibilities. It'll turn on us as soon as it can." Ignati takes another step closer to the imp, keeping his rapier drawn and pointed in front of him.
"Corian, Valleria, what do you say?" Please say 'kill it'. He thinks to himself.
"I'm not yet sure... is there a guaranteed way to redeem it?" Valleria answers to Ignati's question. In truth she would really like to kill the devil by herself but was far more worried about how to do that if the creature suddenly becomes invisible once more. She discreetly looks around, searching for some kind of powder to throw at it.
Corian's knowledge of Planar magic and contracts tells him that while destroying the contract would not kill the imp, it would banish it back to hell. Imps, in general, do not have any ability to travel between planes on their own, so the creature would be trapped there for the forseeable future.
"...this creature is evil. If we destroy the contract, we will send it back to the Hells."
Corian stares at the creature. "Propose your acts of redemption and we will consider them. You'd be starting by performing acts of obeisance to these tengu, and honoring the death of the one you slew. Paying respects at her funerary site. Repaying the young man whose mind you stole. That would be a start." He kneels a little closer to the small fiend. "Do you truly understand atonement? It involves great burden. Excoriation. Sacrifice. We will not be bought off with a few cantrips and favors."
"This creature doesn't understand redemption. Anything it says will be lies."
"And if we destroy the contract, then what? What if she's summoned back to this plane? We're better off getting rid of it."
Valleria sees that the floor is covered with dust, which has gathered next to the stacks of boxes; she might be able to gather up a handful and throw it at the creature.
Blosodriette gives the group an exasperated look and says "Jeez! Fine, just banish me then. Destroy the contract, at least that way I'll be free. Send me back to hell, I really don't care anymore."
With the new information about how easy it is to send the creature away, Valleria gives up in her quest to find dust. "Corian, Morrigan, what would happen if we put the contract inside a bottle and bury it?"