Bazzle shifts south
Bazzle sidesteps the two brutes as they attack ineffectively. He targets the one to his left, slashing the thug's foot. As the thug starts to fall, Bazzle leaps forward in a deadly lunge, slicing the thug's throat along the way. He twirls his dagger around as the nearly headless thug drops to the cobblestone, drenching it in blood.
The brute with the earthbreaker sees two more of his men go down, and with the jeer coming from Ederion he decides to get the hell out of dodge. "You damn lucky vagabonds. I'll get you for this!" He runs right at Ederion, who is surprised by the bold move and misses with his rapier. Aster gives him a decent bonk on the head, but the leader does not stop. He runs right through Ederion and starts heading down the street, clearly routing.
The thug to Bazzle's right hasn't noticed that his team is fleeing, incapacitated, or outright dead. He tunnels in on Bazzle, ready to fight to the death. He manages, just barely, to whack Bazzle in the chest with his mace.
The two blinded thugs are still blind. They're... trying.
Seeing Bazzle nearly decapitate the thug, Tasha bites her lips. Desna, it's all going bloody. Taking a step away from Rexandi, she smacks the thug hiding in the corner with her shield, following up with a hit from her still dripping sap. "Get out of here!", she shouts in the man's face.
[ooc]That reduces his AC by 2, as per Stumbling Bash
Tasha yells out for the blind thug to run away, but smacks him so hard he gets knocked out cold.
"Bah, run off coward..." - Ederion snarls at the Earthbreaker wielding brute, then moves against the one attacking Bazzle - "Better get out of here too, you idiot"
Aster's mace drips from the man's gore, and she finds herself suddenly ill. She just killed a man, yes not a good man, one that wanted to rob her and hurt her friends, but...
The fight continues though, and she moves to defend Rexi, holding her shield up ready to protect her if any of the men are stupid enough to keep pressing the attack.
Ederion steps over to the thug fighting Bazzle, and runs him through the heart with his rapier. He squeals like a pig, before shaking vigorously and slumping to the ground. His body twitches for a moment, before it's completely lifeless.
Bazzle tosses a pair of daggers at the thug to the east.
Both of Bazzle's daggers stick into the thug's armour, but it seems that only the first one actually drew blood. He curses in pain, but continues to flee.
Rexandi launches another web bolt at the fleeing thug, figuring that now that they've murdered someone they really can't have people spreading around their faces and appearances to the local constabulary.
Rexandi's web bolt strikes true and wraps the leader in sticky strands, but through his immense strength he's able to break the bonds shortly after and keeps fleeing. The last thug is still blind, and yells out "Are we winning?"
"Right now, or in general?", Tasha barks back at the blinded thug, as she tosses her shield on the ground, and grabs her soggy, almost warped bow from her side. Oh, my poor thing., she thinks, leaping onto the street and nocking an arrow at the runner. "Stop right now, or I'll shoot!", she barks in the distance, the thick branches of the weapon creaking in her hands.
It doesn't look like the leader is going to stop, but the blind thug puts up his hands in surrender.
"Don't really think we need to slaughter them all" - Ederion frowns as Tasha and Bazzle pick the stragglers off - "See? His friendly" - the elf continues, as he relieves the thug of weapons and valuables, then blindfolds him.
"Why did you attack us? Be truthful, and you will live" - he asks calmly.
"Bazzle looks back at Ed I was thinking controlling their release. Though I didn't pick this fight."
Aster couldn't chase the man down if she wanted to, which she doesn't. "We made a lot of noise, we shouldn't linger." she mentions unnecessarily.
The thug seems quite hesitant on answering, but Ederion's assurance that he'd live eventually gets the truth out of him. It's a lengthy process, but he reveals that the gang gets in groups and jumps people who look to be up to no good. He got involved because his drinking buddies did, but he doesn't deny that they target non-Chelaxians exclusively, usually the poor. They beat them up, rob them, try to find anti-Thrune stuff, and if so turn them over to the Dottari. They didn't know that your group were heavily armed, no less very experienced fighters.
Ederion gets the sense that the man is telling the truth.
Aster keeps a lookout for any guards. Though there are some civilian witnesses, no guards can be seen.
The following things have been affected by being underwater for a long period of time:
Rusted:
- Masterwork Shortsword
Water Damaged:
- Masterwork Longbow
- Masterwork Sap
Ruined:
- Journal, parchment, most of the writing supplies, except the ink
The mending spell will fix all of these up (except the ruined stuff), or a craft skill appropriate to the item. Magic stuff isn't invulnerable to damage from the elements, but it takes much longer.
"You are nothing but trash" - Ederion snarls - "I regret having decided to let you leave, as I would love nothing more than skewer you" - he adds, after hearing the despicable deeds - "Next time we meet, there will be no words exchanged" - his rapier flashes, and a mark is made on the man´s face.
Rexandi hustles always with the group and says sourly, ”Now sketches of our faces are going to be on ‘wanted for murder’ posters.”
”What’s our next step?”
Seeing the thug run down the street, Tasha bites her lips as the arrow trained on his back starts to shake. A moment of hesitation later, she lets go of the string, pointing the arrow downwards with a sigh. That's bound to bite you in the ass., she thinks to herself, wearily throwing her head backwards. But... so would've shooting him in the back.
Watching Ederion mark the vile thug's face, Tasha's eyebrow shoots up. Now that's something for the books. Or for the opera, one day., she notes, but Rexandi's words seem to shake her out of her brief daydream. "Yup. Oh, Hells.", she rubs her palm on her face, clearly worried, before a dry smirk appears on her face. "If we want to be cynical about it, though, I'm not sure there's a half-decent sketch artist left in Kintargo nowadays.", she retorts, before continuing. "You're the veteran rebels, right? Run back to... home, change our outfits and hair?"
As the party walks through the streets, Tasha's hand disappears down her water-drenched bag. "Oh, noo-", she winces, her hand reappearing grasping a pile of pulpy gray goo. Her lip quivers for a moment. "I had three half-written articles, and a month's worth of stuff to put on notice boards." She groans, throwing the pulp angrily back into the bag. The burlap sack hanging over her shoulder jingles unhappily in response. "I bet dollops to divas my armour is going to be all rusty, too..."
”Oh no!” says Rexandi, suddenly changing gears. ”I can maybe fix some of this - if we can get inside somewhere - but the water logging is too much for a little magic to help. I sure hope the bow isn’t warped.”
Bazzle looks around. "We were accosted in the street in plain sight of many witnesses. Can't say this is on us even in Kintargo. Assuming the witnesses are honest."
Bazzle looks around to see if those that fell are actually dead. "Are any of them . . .you know . . . " He makes a keek sound and motions his thumb under his chin along his throught.
”Oh yeah,” says Rexandi, briefly pausing in her inspection of Tasha’s gear. ”That guy Aster hit in the head? He’s not getting up ever.”
"I..." Aster looks a little pale at the mention of the man's head. "We should go. please"
Bazzle nods.
He gathers his things and starts back in the way they came.
As he passes folks who might have seen the scuffle he talks with Ed, "Common thugs no doubt. Thinking they could get some free coin. What's Kintargo coming to. Honest folk getting mugged."
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The cowardly man receives a mark from Ederion, a three-pronged claw. This mark will turn into a scar if left to heal naturally, but would disappear if treated with magic. Having been freed, the man scurries down the road and into the alley, bashing into a barrel in his hurry.
Apart from the knocked out thugs and the ones that fled, there are no survivors. Three men, scummy they may be, lie dead. The onlookers start dispersing once the party starts paying attention to them. Bazzle and Ederion try to make it clear that they were the assaulted, not the other way around. The onlookers show no desire to interact, but instead hurry into their homes. Guards will be present soon enough, and no one wants to be around once that happens.
The party don their tattered hooded cloaks and carefully head to the Wasp Nest. They don't appear to have been followed, but the Halfling Laria hustles the bloody figures into the hideout as quickly as possible. She promises to get them something to eat, and leaves them in the hideout for the meantime.
The inside of the Wasp Nest smells dreadful. Most of it is due to the musty sweat of Humans and Skritt training relentlessly, with members of each laying on their backs gasping for breath. The rest of it smells like urine and chemicals.
- Recruiter Laria Longroad (upstairs in the Coffeehouse Kitchen). She is the owner of the Long Roads Coffeehouse, which was used as a front for the Bellflower Network, but for now it belongs to the Silver Ravens. Very caring and motherly, but also cautious and somewhat cynical. She dislikes talking about herself, but takes great interest in others. She's best known for picking up a fully grown man and tossing him out of the coffeehouse. She's a great source for rumours and practical advice.
- Spymaster Rexus Victocora, formerly the eldest son of the now extinct Victocora noble line. Rexus is normally a very fun-loving and eccentric man, but the murder of his family, followed by their turn to undeath, and fighting them by his own hand has weighed extremely heavily on him. Now he struggles between his high-minded ideals of peaceful protest and diplomacy, with his desire for total revenge. In addition, he's a highly wanted man by Thrune, so he spends nearly all his time cramped in these walls. He's known to be very intelligent, educated, friendly, and cannot bear to wear anything less than his embroidered noble outfits. Rexus is a good source for research, linguistics, and very minor arcane spellcasting.
- Nisha Sunsister, currently working as sentinel to assist management. Nisha is a scarlet skin tiefling, clearly from a succubus bloodline. She's a very shy and anxious woman, but wants to help everyone as best she can. Apparently she opens up significantly once she feels safe with someone. She's a talented alchemist, and is more than happy to create potions and alchemical items for anyone who asks.
- Vendalfek, your resident friendly faerie dragon. Vendalfek is more of a pest and a mascot than much else, but he tries his best. He's quite a curious and devious miscreant. Though he doesn't dwell on it, a lot of his previous friends were worshipers of Milani, who were slaughtered weeks ago.
- Rillia the half-Elf Mermaid. Currently living in the water reserve of the Wasp Nest, Rillia looks miserable. She only speaks Elven and Aquan. She was rescued by the Ravens within the Lucky Bones flooded basement, which was under control of the Skum. Rillia awaits the heroes to travel with her to her homewaters, where she desperately needs aid to fight the Skum. In return, she swears that she and her people will help the Ravens in any way they can. One of those benefits would be to scout the waters, and harass or even sink battleships belonging to the Chelish Navy.
Tarnagius is currently in the Vashnarstill manor, while Kethaera is out with the street performers.
- Forvian Crow, leader of the group known as the Salty Labourers. Originally a mercenary leader, Forvian has signed on with the Silver Ravens after being rescued from deadly forced labour in the Salix Salt Works. He and his team are dedicated to the art of bashing skulls in, and are more than happy to get in a fight. He's a stern, gruff man. He values loyalty, honesty, and dark humour. Rumour has it that he and Laria used to be "involved", which he's never bothered to dismiss.
- Derrattata, leader of the Skritt Squad. Skritt, Ratfolk, and Wererats get mixed up constantly, but the short of it is that Skritt are smaller rat/mouse people who are extremely communal, social creatures. They are extremely quick communicators in their native tongue, and value teamwork above all else. This tiny mischief of 4 Skritt have dedicated themselves to the Silver Ravens to help protect their people in the sewers. They specialize in sabotage and scouting, but can be useful as an accessory to a fight, or as a guide within the sewers.
Aster strips her armor and weapons, and cleans up as best as possible, wanting more than anything to just forget the day's horrors with a cup of something warm and foggy and a massive pile of something sweet.
As she eats, she'll try getting to know Derrattata, speaking in Skittish, and she'll ask him about the sewers like a normal person would ask about the goings on of a hometown they have been gone from for decades.
Aster is able to take a cold shower, one of the perks of this hideout. She receives a steamy tea and almond milk beverage called an Oppara fog, with a large sweet roll.
Aster's used to the Skrittish language, but it can be mildly annoying trying to speak with a native. Skritt speak using their whole body, combining words, movements, and sometimes even scents. A common annoyance is that they simply assume their recipient understands the context for what they talk about, which Skritt can miraculously figure out.
The conversation seems nice enough, since Derrattata is more than happy to talk about his home and how he misses it. There seems to be some tension though. Not only is there a racial tension between Skritt and Wererat as they've been fighting for safety and resources for generations, but Aster figures Derrattata really envies Aster's ability to exist both above and below ground. She can walk among the humans without hostilities, and this frustrates Skritt to no end. Though it was mostly a pleasant conversation, Derrattata is unlikely to be particularly moved by it.
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As the stench of the Wasp Nest hits her nostrils, Tasha nearly gags. "Ugh. That's worse than the tents after a winter caravan run.", she hisses through. Moving to her corner of the room, she pours out the contents of her writing bag with great displeasure at the destruction of what's more than a month's worth of writing supplies. Groaning, she disappears upstairs, returning a moment later with a flagon of coffee.
Nodding in a sarcastic smile at Rexus passing by, she shakes the burlap sack containing her newly recovered armaments. "Right. Let's see what the damage is here.", she chirps, before unloading the bag onto the ground. A set of heavy, Age of Enthronement era, Chelish armour pours out of the bag, alongside a heavy, bronzed shield. Despite the scent of sewage, the armour appears practically intact, even the studded leather skirt showing little damage. Tasha gasps in a pleasantly surprised tone. "Wow! I never knew it was actually true. I guess it really is magical." A smile crawls on her face as she leans back.
Turning back to Rexus, flagon of coffee in her hand, she scratches her head. "Uhhh, could I borrow some paper from you? Mine's...", she points to the gloopy gray mass in a bucket. Sitting down with a quill, stopping only once half-through to get a re-fill, Tasha shows up with a devilish grin to Rexus' desk two hours later, slamming a parchment on it.
Fellow Kintargans!
It is with great pleasure that I report to you that the Order of the Torrent has been stripped from its Charter by our wise autocrat Barzillai Thrune. And good riddance. I have no doubt that I was never the only Kintargan wondering why we need not one, but two Hellknight orders in our fair city, especially since we now have our very own Chelish Citizen Group. Clearly, in times such as these, at least one of those had to go, as to not put undue burden on our public finances.
Few have reason to question our Lord-Mayor, but to those who have the seeds of doubt in their mind as to why he settled on the Order of the Torrent - permit me to explain. As you recall, I've been a fan of the CCG since its conception. They're entirely funded by what people freely give to the numerous armed individuals showing up at their door, and they give so happily. After all - the CCG is exceptionally quick in identifying dissidents, and their word is quickly becoming law.
The Order of the Rack, too, is necessary for Kintargo. Where would Kintargo be, if pursuits of the mind were left to their own devices? Would we truly be Kintargo, if we let whimsical and childish pursuits such as art be centrepiece to our culture? The Order of the Rack knows that everything foreign and new must be feared, and if possible, destroyed.
It leaves the Order of the Torrent. True, the order did have a lot of supporters here in the days of that freedom-loving sycophant, Jilia Bailinus. And, perhaps an order based on protecting us from the dangers of the sea and waters might be a reasonable precaution for a town whose largest exports after minstrels and artists are maritine goods. And, true, there are multiple reports of monsters from the seaside and the sewers kidnapping merchants and children. But ask yourselves this - would you prefer to be kidnapped and driven into the depths, or to have your children's minds risk being changed and broadened by art and culture? And, besides. If you go out in a town where monsters are roving, it's obvious you're asking for it.
Barricaded safely away from the sea, art and the written word,
The Crier
"I think we really ought to find the Quill. If we can send a couple of workers to pick up my printing press from my old apartment, with the Quill alongside us, we should have a good finger on the recruitment." She sighs. "We should probably keep an ear out for any Order of the Torrent Hellknights roaming around. We could use some well trained fighters on our side."
"You never cease to amaze me, Tasha." Says Rexus after reading her work. "But can you tell me who this Quill is? Are you referring to the Poison Pen of Kintargo? Because I've been trying to locate that one, to no avail."
"We need space. I mean this smell . . . it can't be healthy."
Tasha nods at Rexus. "That's the one. Bazzle's right, I think the smell's getting to my head. I can't imagine being here all da-.", she starts saying, before realising that this is the everyday for Rexus. Foot, mouth, no need for introductions, you two are well acquainted. "I mean, we'll get on that, soon. I hope."
"Well if we are going to try and help the mermaids we are going to need to equip ourselves for underwater fighting, they have special crossbows that work under water, as well as other things that work even underwater. Not to mention. Breathing."
"Not likely to find that kind of equipment in just any store." Rexus replies, completely ignoring Tasha's comment. "It sounds more like something the Torrent would have, maybe."
"Certainly didn't have any in the hideout."
"I wonder if we get that pump going if the former Torrent digs might work to alleviate our overcrowding."
"We still have plenty of charges in our wand." Aster inserts herself in the conversation, unsure about the one she was currently in. "So breathing should be fine. It's just all the other aspects of exploding underwater which will still be hard. And that is lovely armor Tasha"
Rexandi sits next to Tasha. She seems to have a slight perfumed scent to her shawl.
"Let me see what I can help with," she says. "Mending isn't a very powerful spell, it can't really fix things that have rusted through or bent, but it can take care of small dings, pits, and tears. Nothing I can do about the paper, I'm afraid, but I can maybe help with some of the other gear."
"I'm not quite sure what you mean, Bazzle." Says Rexus, perplexed. He's sitting at a table in the 'Storage Room', which is one of the larger rooms filled with crates of supplies. There are no chairs here, instead Rexus sits on a crate to do his work. Rexandi starts working to repair Tasha's items, which takes time.
He takes a sip of coffee, which he drinks regardless of sunlight. Putting it down, he says "I'm really glad you're setting out to save the merfolk. That mermaid Rillia, I can relate to her situation. Her family is fighting a losing war, and it's unknown if her sisters are alive or not. Meanwhile she's trapped in this pool, unable to do anything, slowly suffocating from the fresh water. I don't mean to push you, because you're doing amazing things already, but the sooner we get to her home, the better. I learned from my experience fighting in the Archive that I'm not a fighter, but if I could do anything for Rillia and her family, I would do it in a heartbeat. No one deserves that kind of pain."
Rexandi can't help but pause and let out an awww.
"That's so sweet of you Rexus."
Resuming her spell she finishes mending another tiny piece of Tasha's gear.
"You know, we really are doing our best to help all the people here. I'm sure that if Thrune discovered the merfolk they'd be in real trouble too. We're just doing our best to help everyone in the city with our meager resources."
"Speaking of which, we still really need some way to make money. I might have to go play music on the streets again with my clavichord for a few coppers!"
That was the last straw for Rexus. His lip trembles as he pulls out a handkerchief (made of silk), then begins to cry into it. He tries to stifle the emotions as they desperately try to escape his heaving chest, but only with limited success. As he cries, at one point a whimper escapes him. "Dad..." He mutters.
When he's finished, he slowly comes out of it and apologizes with a defeated air. When Rexandi brings up money, he replies "Yes, Laria had some plan to get donations. The Street Performers, they can put on a show. You could definitely join them, if you want to."
"That might not be a bad idea, if they think my skills are up to the task," says Rexandi. "I'm no bard, just a casual hobbyist. And being out on the streets as a tiefling is always risky these days. But I'll do it if it will help!"
To the side, Ederion sits next to the mermaid, speaking to her softly.
"But now we are going" - he adds with a comforting nod - "We are going to help your family"
Rexus smiles gently. "Talk with them some time when they're tasked with busking. I think they'd appreciate it."
-------------------------------------------
Rillia's domain, which used to be a pool of drinking water for the Ravens, smells of urine. Ederion understands that just as humans can drink fresh water but not salt water, Rillia experiences the same problem in reverse. This is why Nisha has been making salt water for Rillia to drink, but it's only been a staling method. The orange-haired beauty raises her head out of the water, though obviously stressed and weary, and sings softly for Ederion.
"What feels an eternity I long,
for the sound of your words upon my ears,
Though dreaded, I await,
To know of my sister's fate."
"We are making arrangements as we speak Rillia - soon you will swim free in clear waters, to meet with your family" - he reassures her as best as he can, while his mind races for chances to deal with the situation at hand.
Rillia reaches out for Ederion to hold her hand until she needs to breathe again.
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With the Ravens deciding that they'll splurge for the scroll of teleportation, they go to bed for some much earned sleep.
Fireday, the 14th of Sarenith
Day 6 of the week
Morning comes around quickly for the Silver Ravens, as they prepare for their underwater adventure before curfew lifts. They want to grab the scroll and get teleporting as soon as possible. Laria is busy cooking up a hearty breakfast for the group, who may have quite awhile before they get another cooked meal, if at all. They now press towards a battle with enemies twisted with foul magic, in an environment they were never born to survive in. Who knows what dwells below the ocean waves, where sunlight never shines?
In an effort to help their leaders with time, the Salty Labourers offer to buy last-minute items on the behalf of everyone.
While everyone is eating, Rexus asks "Do you have any recommendations for what the three teams do while you're gone? There are a lot of possibilities. Earning coin, securing a safe house, investigating some side missions, clear out danger in a district, and so much more."
Aster nibbles on breakfast, while cradling a cup of tea, "Making people safer is always a great suggestion, though securing a new safehouse might be best for everyone."