Rexus gasps as Geoffrey takes a hard swing from the blue devil. "Geoffrey, are you okay? I normally am a little shy of my magical prowess, but I must do what is needed in this scenario. Fiends, let's see how tough you are when you cannot see!"
He holds his palms out, and a dust made up of thousands of colours shoots from his hands, coating the lemures and filling the fetid water with a brilliant shower of rainbow glitter.
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The red mass of demonic juice succumbs to the spray and folds into the polluted waters, unconscious. Blue manages to avoid most of the spray, flattening its blobby self into the ground.
-- Bold is up --
Victor, Issil, Pádraig
Blue (-7)
Morvena, Rexus, Geoffrey (-9)
Red (Unconscious, blinded, stunned)
Issil draws her mundane dagger, then casts a spell. She steps forward and touches Geoffrey.
"I'm out of juice for the rest of the day- please don't die."
"Also, no one step in the pool. Oh come on, don't give me that look. Was it that obvious?"
"Wow, great spell! Geoffrey keep yourself safe, I'll finish this guy off before he wakes up!"
Victor drives his dagger into the area that he assumes is the skull of the floppy, turd pile.
Geoffrey smiles re assuredly at the young lady, "Relax! I have no plans on heading to the Boneyard just yet!"
He steps forward and drives the silvered dagger into the lone remaining conscious devil.
Feeling more confident now that at least one of the creatures lies unconscious, Morvena sends another dart of acid zipping towards the one that still struggles!
Victor continues to try to find the vitals in the mass of goop, and is obviously failing. "This is far worse than butchering a pig! Where's its brain!"
"Geoffrey, please, go ahead. And can I have that dagger back when you're done?" Issil casts more Create Water to clean the refuse off of her.
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Pádraig Henry detects magic and begins searching the foul-smelling room, looking for clues that explain what's going on here and for anything of value that can help build their campaign war chest.
"Well done, friends. Those devils were tough. Anybody still hear those pipes? Lost track of them during the fight."
Geoffrey raises an eyebrow once he has finished off the disgusting devil. "Would you like me to clean it first?"
"Naw, I can do that." Issil is dripping wet as she plucks the dagger back and conjures more liquid to fix it.
Victor watches as Geoffrey uses brute strength behind the dagger instead of delicate positioning "That seems to work a bit better on these, good to know." He withdraws his dagger and heads over to Issil the water fountain to clean it and himself off.
"Does anyone know what they things even are? There's some really disturbing things down here, do you think they're all thanks to the rumors of people working with Devils and stuff around here?" He says as he puts his dagger away and retrieves the crossbow, then starts looking around with everyone else.
"Good question. Where did those pipes come from- and what is this stuff?" Issil frowns as she looks at the goop.
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The remaining devil is rendered lifeless when Geoffrey delivers a swift stab to its head.
With the enemies taken care of, Padraig has a better opportunity to inspect the room. The markings on the wall, in particular, look to be written in the demonic tongue.
The sound of the panpipes heard just past the pool is now strangely absent.
Victor heads over to investigate "I'm pretty good with languages, let me take a look..."
He leans over to have a look, translating the meaning of the message "They were intended to open a portal to hell, which was this pool I guess of slop. They seem to have stopped working some time ago." He takes a step back and shakes his head "Summoning demons and devils from Hell, what was someone thinking!"
Rexus nods along as Victor explains what the runes say. "Yes, I share your skill in language, Victor. That's exactly what these runes say. As to why someone would attempt to summon devils in what was once a Silver Ravens' hideout... I haven't a clue," he notes emphatically.
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"Huh, weird. I guess we stopped it though, right?" Issil shrugs. "Was this supposed to be our hideout? No way am I sleeping on a Hellmouth."
"Maybe this was a trap set to ensnare other members of the Silver Ravens, should they return here?" Geoffrey volunteers as he returns the silver dagger back to Issil.
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Victor scouts further ahead into the Livery. The rooms at the end of the basement have fallen mostly into disrepair. Chunks of plaster hang from the walls, exposing rough stonework beyond. Scattered furnishings that once outfitted bunkrooms, a kitchen, and even an armory lie scattered about in states of complete disrepair, and doors hang from hinges in the crumbling archways that lie between the chambers.
"Huh. There's a nest in the northeast corner. Or, there was a nest. Maybe those Grimples were using it? Ugh."
Issil keeps her dagger and shield ready, just in case.
"A key? Nope, but who needs a key!" He says with an air of disdain as he heads over to pick the lock.
He stops to take a closer look at the nest before he does so, loaded crossbow in hand.
"Just give me a minute here."
Morvena follows quietly after the group, Pava fluttering down to ride on her shoulder. She too had understood the writing on the wall and while Rexus being familiar with the language of devils didn't surprise her too greatly, Victor also knowing it did.
Much, much more to him than meets the eye. What sort of skeletons do you have hiding in your closet, sir?
When they enter the rooms at the far end of the basement she gazes around with a frown. "Is this all there is, then? I had expected a place hidden as well as this one to...have a little more to it, I suppose."
"Come on Morvena, you expect too much sometimes," Pava laughs gently. "I think this would be a fine place to have a hideout, once you clean it up a little! And I am sure that it was fine, once! I bet it could be again."
Geoffrey chuckles quietly as he eyes the area with a critical eye, looking for areas where defensive tactics could be used to maximum effect. "I think this place is perfectly fine to me. It is warm and dry...well except for that pool of sludge anyway...and the best feature is none of the Dotarri or the other Thrune lackeys are likely aware of this place." He turns to face Morvena with a serious look upon his face. "I fear we cannot return to our home now, not after what happened at the Opera House."
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"Is there more to clear up on the ground floor? As a safe house, this place will do for now, I suppose." Pádraig Henry sounds like he's trying to convince himself it's true.
"If others know of this place's connection to the Silver Ravens, we should probably find other alternatives we can bolt to, if we're discovered here."
He turns to their patron with a question. "Signore Victocora, can you find out who is the present owner of the livery?"
He takes a seat on one of the crates, while Victor opens the lock on one of the others. "Perhaps, we should make ourselves as comfortable as we can. We will be better prepared to handle our next challenge, if we rest first."
"Ugh, this place stinks." Issil sits on a crate. "But it's better than nothing. The city guard will be looking for our heads, anyway."
"Resting will be a good idea, let's see if we can clean this place up a little. Big fancy houses are overrated, anyway." She gives a knowing look to Morvena and Geoffrey.
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When Issil goes to sit on a crate, she falls right through the straw filling. It seems these crates contain more than expected!
The first one contains a leather armor, a composite shortbow (+1 Str), a masterwork hand crossbow, a masterwork silver morningstar, a cloak, and a pouch of a dozen pearls surely of some value.
Victor manages to pry open the second crate, and what's inside is much more alluring. The coffer contains a small stack of documents and scrolls.
The documents are thick and bound together with twine. They number hundreds of pages in all, many written in a strange cipher of a language that appears to be a mix of Celestial, Elven, and Strix.
Finally, the third crate contains six clay raven figurines.
Rexus blows the dust off one of the documents and begins flipping through it. "...Silver.. Ravens.. Aroden.. Kintargo.. Hmm..." He squints as he struggles to decipher the complex writing, then shuts the book. "It seems this is what mother wanted us to find. This is everything we could have ever wanted to know about the Silver Ravens, and I think I can figure out exactly what it says - with enough time." He begins packing up the books. "I need to decode these, but it's going to take some time. This place could be a potential hideout, but.. well.." He sniffs around and makes a disgusted face "It's in quite the sorry state. Why don't we take our findings to Laria Longroad at her Coffeehouse after we rest? She's the one who had my mother's things. I'm sure she'll have some insight."
Issil dusts herself off. "Yeesh." She looks around, only to be distracted by the pearls. "Oooh, pretty pearls! You never told me the Ravens were loaded!" She feels them in her hands.
"If the Coffeehouse is fine with hosting us, sure."
Geoffrey grins at Issil in response, "Yes indeed Issil, it felt more like a gilded cage in many respects...well in all respects to be honest," glancing at Morvena. He hefts the silvered morningstar experimentally before affixing it to his back. "This will be handy should we find any more of those devils. I agree with you Rexus in this place would make a suitable hideout for us, once some work is put into it. We should wait until nightfall before leaving though. I am sure we are indeed being hunted by the Dottari."
"Jackpot!" Victor exclaims as he pops the lock and finds all the documents. At least until he sees what Issil landed on "Oh, well, two jackpots then?" He takes a quick look at the pages as well "Hrm, some of these letters are Elven, and some Celestial... and some are something else entirely..." He hands it over to Rexus.
"So what kind of goodies do we have in there Issil? Well other than those pearls, those look pricey..." His eyes quickly settle on the leather armor and hand crossbow. "Now THESE look useful...I wonder if there are any bolts hiding in that straw to go with it..." He hands Morvena back her crossbow and bolts then begins hunting up some bolts in the crates.
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"I've been in plenty of gilded cages, but House Tanessen was the shiniest. Fake smile a plenty. Clutching onto whatever scraps of status they could find." Issil rolls some of the pearls in her hand. "Ready to discard human life as soon as the opportunity presented itself. That's not me."
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Pádraig Henry takes a look at the scrolls. "What have we here? A scroll of misdirection, a scroll of pass without trace, a scroll of undetectable alignment, and a scroll of whispering wind."
He examines the armor and the cloak. "This is leather armor +1, and this is a cloak of elvenkind."
Of course, the erstwhile Silver Raven is drawn to the six clay raven figurines. "They're enchanted, that's certain, but I'm not sure what they are. Can one of you identify them?"
At the Rexus Victocora's suggestion, Pádraig Henry nods. "After passing the night here, brunch at Laria Longroad's Coffeehouse sounds splendid."
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Morvena kneels down with the rest as they pore over their new acquisitions. With Padraig expertly identifying the enchantments on the other items, she turns her attention to the small raven figurines - but finds herself just as stumped as their loquacious halfling.
"I have no idea as to the nature of these figurines," she sighs, a bit frustrated. "These sorts of examinations are meant to be done in a calm, controlled environment that lends itself to clarity of thought - not in a hidden basement reeking of sewage!"
"Ah well," she continues after a pause, "we have most certainly found enough to make this little excursion worthwhile. And yes, retreating to this coffee establishment is highly agreeable. I am sure that its accommodations are quite lovely," Morvena adds, giving Issil and Geoffrey a look.
Noticing that Padraig is examining the pearls and the ring that they'd found, she holds out her hand. "Let me have a look at those as well. If nothing else, a Sarini is bred and taught to know quality when they encounter it."
Once the pearls and valuables start making the rounds, Victor takes a look as well "Aren't these fancy looking... Maybe I could trade some for some proper tools, we wouldn't want to undersell ourselves!" Its pretty obvious the group doesn't have a good grasp of market values lately!
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As it becomes obvious no one knows the value of the ring or the pearls, Pádraig Henry says, "There's no harm in hanging onto what we have, until we're able to assess their true value. We can count on Issil to keep a close eye on the jewelry." He smiles at the oracle.
He nods to Geoffrey, "Quite right, we should make sure our presence here is concealed from prying eyes. I'm still not sure we cleared the entire ground floor."
Pádraig Henry agrees with Victor, "It's uncomfortable, but I'll sleep in my leathers here, until we're certain it's safe. I'll take the deadman's watch, middle of the night."
Issil shrugs and guesses the value, but it's clear she is way off the mark.
"Yeah, I'll keep a good eye on this stuff." She rolls the pearls in her hands before pocketing them. "I don't like the curfew, at all. Let's try to clean this place up and hide our presence before we sleep, eh?"
"I can take the last watch, by the way. Sleeping while clothed...it's been a while!" She laughs.
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You comb through the Livery once more, double checking any drawers or cabinets and ensuring all doors are secured behind you. On the ground floor, you also find what was once a large mortar in the southeast wall that has deteriorated to almost nothing.
The sun sets and the night begins. All is quiet in the basement at the Fair Fortune Livery and you've acclimated quite well to the awful stench of sewage and mold.
Rexus stirs from his sleep while Padraig is in the middle of his security guard shift.
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Standing from his corner of the basement, Rexus yawns and quietly walks over to where Padraig stands. "I forgot to offer my thanks for accompanying me here, especially in clearing out the vermin. I'd have been hard pressed attempting this on my own," he grins, offering a handshake. His lips fold into each other as a more serious look falls on his face. "I wish it had not come to this at all. Diving into a derelict hideout in search of something - anything - that may aid us in our fight against Thrune... The riot and its countless innocent victims... All of this sneaking around," he laughs softly, "I'm reminded of my youth. And just like back then, I'm determined to do what I must to fight for what I know is right." His words are spoken with conviction. "What about you, Mr. Henry? To what end do you strive to free Kintargo from its tyranny?"
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Pádraig Henry weighs his response with care, aware that a Chelish nobleman asks the question. "Signore Victocora, my people have suffered long under the yoke of Cheliax. Thrune's pact with Asmodeus make that tyranny unbearable by the basest slave."
He pauses, deep in thought. "Kintargo represented a city of vast potential, where merit and effort might determine one's future, unfettered by the fickle bonds of birth, race, creed, or title. But I'm no fool. Kintargo, before the new Lord-Mayor, was neither perfect nor a place of peace for my kind."
"'Do you remember any instance where tyranny was destroyed and freedom established on its ruins, among a people possessing so small a share of virtue and public spirit? I recollect none, and this more than the *Chelish* arms makes me fearful of final success, without a reform.'"