The Ravens drop themselves into the foul stink of Villegre sewers, and start making their way to the Skritt's Villegrescratch. As they march through the dark and humid waste roads, they come upon the area they first encountered the Skritt. Today, they notice that the wooden barriers have been smashed apart, and a thick brown sludge is laying on the cobblestone. On the other side, three Skritt bodies lay, impaled by wooden stakes through the stomach. Their tails have been sawed off.
Bazzle looks around, "Well then. Looks like our enemies are moving faster than we are."
"There is no time like the present to play catchup."
Let's press and track them. They can't be too far. - says Abbo, immediately looking around for tracks - Bazzle, please stay hidden, in case we find them. We need a card in our sleeves.
Abbo finds a few footprints in the brown sludge. It doesn't really tell him where they went, though.
Vandomir takes a look to see what clues he might find...
...and points them out to aid the real trackers in the party.
Bazzle nods at Vandomir's assessment. "Lag back or Scout ahead? If I am up ahead I might fight traps or learn something before it is a problem."
"The sewers is the one place I feel more comfortable in my other form, but given who we are trying to meet, I think I'll stay like this." Aster says to no one in particular.
At the footprints, Aster will draw in a deep breath. The stink is just as bad as always but on occasion one can gather more. "This way I think... no this one, here... yes."
Rexandi nervously munches one of the warm scones before the party is back into the filth.
It takes a little while to find proper tracks, but Aster's familiarity with the sewers helps tremendously. They weave through the sewer like mice in a maze. Most of what they find as they travel are traps that have usually been sprung. Splatters of blood are found around these bear traps, falling poison needles traps, and a rock deadfall tripwire. It would seem that they're missing their trapfinder.
Still, that doesn't seem to stop them. Around a bend, the group finds a threeway hallway, which is about wide enough for two humans. The hallway straight ahead is covered in tripwires, some of which have been snapped. At the end of the hallway before it turns sharply to the left, lies a large pile of ice. At the Raven's feet is a large net with rocks tied to the ends. It's been ripped open. The other hallway veers to the right, about three quarters down the first hallway. This one is flooded with murky water, and leads ever downwards until it is fully submerged. A single Skritt lies here. Its only wound is its missing tail.
"Ugh! More bounty hunters!" says Rexandi with disgust. "We've gotta put a stop to this!"
She leans down to examine the Skritt and see how it was killed, and what kind of tool was used to remove the tail.
Rexandi's ability to understand anatomy reveals a startling and horrifying event. The only wound on the Skritt is its missing tail, which has been sawn off with jagged teeth. The cause of death was blood loss, but judging from the pool of blood around it, it was either unconscious, or never bothered to move or heal itself.
"Most disconcerting."
Aster's frown is deep, tinged with anger, but she says nothing. Instead just looks around for footprints that might tell her what happened.
Aster can tell that there are 4 Skritt that were part of the fight. They tried to run to the hallway that turns to the left, but turned around and ran into the murky water. They never returned.
A few of the rat catchers fell over while running over the trip wires. The only bloodshed comes from the one dead Skritt.
Not really any help tracking, Abbo tries to see if he actually notices anything in particular to help.
If we already have a direction, we should probably press. - finally says the brawler, not too confident on his ideas of diplomacy, but still considering the advantages of avoiding bloodshed and reinforcing their ranks.
Aster nods "This way, they are chasing the other Skritt."
The group continues to follow the Rat Catcher's trail, which stays on land in their search for their quarry. It isn't much longer before the walkway leads into a basement. Though there's no trap door to the surface, there is a narrow tunnel that leads into what seems to be another basement, then another tunnel, and another basement, until their darkvision no longer registers.
As they peer into the dark tunnel, two eyes shine deep within due to Vandomir's light. Aster and Rexandi hear a gruff whisper.
"Boys, we got company. Stay quiet."
Aster smells the tell-tale sulfur of Orc sweat.
"Ah, here they are."
Aster, the human, steps forward once her group is ready. "Hello." she says clearly "We would like to talk. Not fight. We can do it out in the open or remain her clogged in the dark. We can do it with just two of us or so we can see all and hear all. We can do it with politeness or screaming. But we will talk. Or we will fight. No matter your strength, no matter if you have a hope of victory or not, if we fight some of you will die. So it would be nice to at least try the talking part."
Aster has her shield on her arm, but does not have her morning star drawn.
There's some shuffling and the clanking of metal, but a high-pitched, crackly voice speaks. "I'll talk. Let's talk. Who're you, and whaddaya want?"
"Aster, it's a pleasure to meet you." giving a very short bow "You wouldn't want to step out of the dark there would you? You step forward, I step forward, we chat. Just you and a middle-aged woman past her prime. All the big scary people can stay behind us. It's just much easier to hold a conversation face to face."
Bazzle having followed the previous advice to stay hidden keeps to the shadows and follows alternate routes keeping his friends in view.
"Darkness darkness you prefer the light you think?" The high pitched voice intones. Slowly creeping forwards out of the distant darkness is a Halfling that smells like an Orc. Flies swarm around it, and the man's black hair is slick and greasy. Wearing tattered clothes, and carrying little more than a dagger and a sling, the Halfling man might look creepy, but not particularly threatening. "Bad luck t'give your name so freely. They call me the Gutter Rat." He smiles with bug eyes.
"His name's Sumak!" A deep voice grunts back in the darkness, clearly annoyed.
The cryptic words at the beginning were a disguised spell being cast. There were likely somatic or material costs to the spell, but you couldn't see them. The seemingly innocuous pouch hanging from the Halfling's belt is probably a spell component pouch. A spellcraft check can reveal more information.
"It's one name in a pool of thousands." she shrugs with a smile. "Sumak, the gutter rat. Nice name that is. You are down here catching rats, but you name yourself after one. Does that mean you secretly wish to be caught?"
"Nevermind. You wanted to know why we are here. The reason is that we want to know why you are hunting the rats? Is it just the gold, or the sense of being better than another?"
Sumak chuckles. "I'm sure everyone's got a different reason for being here. Me? I'm worried sick bout our poor elf boy and his dog. You wouldn't know about that, wouldja?"
"Oh he's gone already one would think. Adorable dog, wasn't it? He's alive don't worry, not that I think you really would. He did tell us plenty of tidbits about you and your friends though. Which is why we are here? And WHY knowing those Reasons are so important." Aster's tone slides from silk to steel.
The gruff voice whispers "Snitches get stiches." Followed by a chuckle.
Sumak frowns. "Persistent. An what's it to you how and why we make our living? For once, we're law-abiding citizens, chartered to tame these sewers under authority of our Lord-Mayor. Ol' Sumak can soon buy himself some clothes fair an square."
"He is outside your reach, you who chuckles cowardly in the dark." Aster says without worry about the gruffness. Turning her attention back to the hafling, touching on something he said "For once?... hmm, can I ask what you and your associates did before hunting the ratmen?" she pauses then reconsiders "You know that doesn't really matter. I assume it was something unsavory, but comes with a certain knowledge base on how things are handled when a rival gang pushes in on your turf. Because that is essentially what this is. No matters the reasons why we are doing it. A rival gang is pushing in and that leaves you with three choices."
"Run, which in this case would mean get out of the city and never ever come back. That is the route your 'snitch' choose."
"Fight, and hope the other group is weaker. Let me assure you that that 'snitch' told us everything he knew about your numbers, skills, and magic, and still I am standing here, alone without my weapon in my hand. Why, because I KNOW we will win, I know if we fight you will die." she leans down to look the creepy little man in the eye "We have faced Dragons, little man. What about you?"
Straightening, she brushes a bit of gunk off her emerald sleeve "Last choice is join. If we decide you are worth it."
Aster pauses, calm and cold. "So Sumak, the Gutter Rat, let's start with you. What do you choose?"
As the two groups are talk to each other, Bazzle gets some time to sneak around back. It's a narrow hallway, barely large enough for a single person. At one point, Bazzle finds a hole in the wall as it slowly srumbled, and squeezes through without much effort. At that moment, he looks up at the new space, and is immediately face-to-face with a Tiefling man. The Tiefling looks just as surprised as Bazzle.
"Oh s~*!. Great minds think alike, huh?"
Sumak the Gutter Rat grins sinisterly from ear to ear, showing his three best teeth. "Boys! Put 'er on ice!"
"You're an idiot." Aster responds as she slowly reaches for her weapon.
Bazzle slides back out of the hidie hole as quickly as he can. He leaves behind a bomb next to the tiefling.
Bazzle yells out after the blast, "Hurry get into position. Does no good to bring a dozen with you if you aren't gonna get in the fight."
With the talking option exhausted, Vandomir will go ahead and unload on the visible fellow...
x3
Crit Confirm...
x3
Second attack...
x3
Surprisingly to Bazzle, the Tiefling manages to lash out at the Gnome as he tries to retreat. It's a hasty attack, which only cuts into Bazzle's armour. The bomb goes off, but it isn't clear what the result of it was. Bazzle starts racing back to his team.
Vandomir shoots Sumak right in the heart. As the Halfling tries in vain to recover, the second shot hits him in the head to finish him off.
"Praise be to Milani!"
"Praise Milani." Aster repeats, quieter. She glances back with an impressed look at the archer, then back at the dark, waiting to see if anyone is foolish enough to come out after that.
Rexandi stays very still, trying to keep hidden in the dark and waiting for a chance moment to strike an opponent.
Abbo just breathes deeply, holding his steps as he looks around to check his team - especially trying to see if Bazzle is around.
The brawler then assumes his exotic fighting style and moves ahead towards the first enemy he can get too, pulling a light shovel and passing through the space before occupied by the halfling.
Abbo moves in front of Aster, but he doesn't see Bazzle anywhere. What he does spy with his nightvision are four more humanoids further down the tunnel.
Two half-orcs come racing down the tunnel towards him, both carrying heavy picks. The one bearing a shield comes in first, and charges at Abbo, though Abbo dodges it. One of the figures Abbo spotted takes out and drinks a potion, while the final figure steps closer into vision. It's a tiefling wearing tattered robes. He raises his hand into the air, and behind Abbo and Aster, a wall of ice erupts to cut off their escape.
The tiefling that Bazzle met doesn't crawl through the hole, but does holler "You're all alone, aren't ya?"
Abbo flurries his shovel against Kurch, violently trying to let it do the work.
This is our last warning for you to lay your weapons down! I may be the most patient of us, and even my patient is already running thin! - he yells, showing the enemies that he's simply using a light shovel and still being quite dangerous against one of their biggest brutes.
Abbo tries to disarm the enemy as he hits him with his light shovel.
"Just me and more bombs."