"Glen prefers not to get up and personal as it were.. though considering this unsightly resin you've deemed to coat him with it may be time to make an exception."
Glen drops his empty crossbow, and quickly pulls out his dagger using his knowledge of anatomy combined with quick movements he attempts to jab it in between bits of the man's armour, unfortunately the sticky goo is still severely hindering his movements.
"Ali, Glen would say this is not the time for napping, but if you insist he shall attempt to die with a minimum amount of noise!"
Kalica glares at the Mage. "You shall meet your death with my blade fool!" She growls. She charges at the mage and slashes downward through him with full on rage.
Round Three Interruptus
The fighter who entered with the mage raises his sword ready to engage the charging elf...but she flies right past him!
Seeing his foe pay him no mind he tries to strike her as Kalica makes her attack on the mage.
The attack misses thrown off by the fighter's surprise at Kalica's sudden attack on the magician. For his part the mage is just as surprised and only feebly lifts a his hands to cover his face..
One can only wonder where the slender and pretty elf keeps all this rage, but one thing is for sure, just as a barbarian, it seems to fuel her strength. Her downward slash severs one of the mage's hands and strikes his throat sending a gush of blood across the elf. She then returns the stroke back up but at a slightly different angle. The cut slices open the man's belly and his entrails spill out onto the floor very nearly at Kalica's feet. What's left of the man collapses to the floor with unsettling gurgling sounds and the smell of bodily fluids and gases unfamiliar to those not blooded veterans and surgeons.
Round Three Continues
Fighter 3: Aghast at the ease at which the elven ranger slaughtered his companion, the fighter hesitates but a moment before his raises his blade in anger hoping to avenge his fellow assassin.
His arms trembling with rage, he appears to forget the basics of his swordplay. Kalica is easily able to dodge his attacks.
Miyari growls at having goo on her. Disgusting! She draws her sword and attempts to scrape the goo away with the edge. Clean fur is of the utmost important, even in battle!
Round Three Continues
Sneak 1: The rogue is already attempting to move away from the pair attacking him when the angry barbarian swings his enormous sword over his head. He sees his other comrades falling like wheat to an elf wielding curved steel and makes a snap decision.
He bolts for the now open front door.
No sound comes from the bedroom Roswitha just exited.
Walking out of the room, hair mussed up and obviously having enjoyed a bit of sleep. "What's going on?" he says grumpily looking around.
However quickly he assesses what's going down or at least the paranoid voice in the back of his mind that's followed him from the forest and the previous capture in the forests.
"Don't die Mr. Glen! Why you so gloopy?" Ali asks, since the smaller gentlemans' movement is restricted.
Ali moves forwards in an attempt to free him.
Round Three Rewind
"You need a good scrub up." Ali says as a ball of water coalesces above the goblins head. Hanging there for a second before the spherical meniscus breaks and explodes it a heavy shower onto the investigator.
"It weren't exactly what tha' means by making water at night."
Miyari steps in towards the sneak and draws her sword, swinging the blade at him as she strains against all this disgusting goo.
Good girl, stay quiet, Roswitha thinks as she whirls on the diminutive fighter. Ali and Glen seem to have the creeper under control.
Darkness coalesces in her hand and she flings the ball of night at the nearby gnome.
Round Three Final
- Gnome Fighter: Dodging the goo easily, the small fighter rushes Roswitha with blurring a speed, a rapier appearing as if by magic from the humanoid's sheathe. She quickly slashes at Roswitha attempting to cut her down.
- Ninja Frog???: Quite suddenly, a tiny figure looking very much like a standard amphibious creature called a frog but garbed in tight yet loosely fitting black clothing much like some of the sneaking rogues emerges from the bedroom Roswitha just exited. It spots the feisty little female gnome approaching and begins to hop in quick short bursts towards her. As it arrives before her, one almost thinks it has one amphibious appendage wrapped around the hilt of an equally tiny blade sheathed on its back...
In a blinding flash, light erupts from the weapon in the frog's grip as it smites the gnome.
Round Three End
Notables:
- Fighter 1 unconscious and bleeding.
- Roswitha receives 5 damage.
- Mage slain by Kalica.
- Sneak 1 fled.
- Glen affected by tanglefoot bag effects for 2 more rounds.
- Miyari affected by tanglefoot bag effects for 5 more rounds.
- Ninja Frog??? appeared.
Round Four Start
- Sneak 2: Oblivious to his circumstances, the angry rogue presses on determined to slay the small humanoid who injured him.
"Die!!" he hisses.
Fortunately for Glen, despite the goop on him, the rogue's rage is severely impairing his skills at delivering the death his blade surely offers.
Glen feels a bit of mobility returning as he's drenched by Ali's spell "That seems to be working, thank you Ali. Glen is still gloopy, but it is starting to come off. This fiend is still after Glen though, he appears not to have a handle on his emotions, and this slop is making it more difficult for Glen to avoid him."
Glen tried to avoid the angry slashing of the Rogue chasing him, but with his movement hindered it looked like only a matter of time before one of those swings strikes true. The only hope would be to drop the sneak first. The little goblin takes a stab at the angry man with his tiny little dagger.
Kalica glares at Warrior 3 and grins wickedly. "Your next!!!" She shouts out before she steps towards him and takes one massive swing at him with her curven elven blade.
Round Four Interruptus
Kalica:Kalica's beautifully crafted blade sings and slices through the man's simple armor like paper.
The man collapses spitting blood.
Round Four Botting
Armin: The raging barbarian is unable to prevent the rogue from fleeing in the face of likely death, but before his head has cleared, he sees the attacker trying to skewer their smaller companion. Lifting his sword, he brushes past Miyari to bring the massive blade in an arc from around his back into the sneaky assassin's flesh.
The rogue feels some pain and looks up at the goblin towering over him. He's puzzled for moment as an even larger giant stands next to the huge goblin. Glowing tattoos of straight lines and dots line the man's skin. The sneak blinks feeling confused since he knows a moment ago the goblin had been shorter than him. Looking around it takes a moment for him to realize that his waist and legs are laying next to him...wait! Next to him?? He makes to scream, but instead of sound a burble and froth of blood comes out and he faints never to wake again.
Roswitha, magic having failed her, falls back from the armed gnome with a cry of pain and casts a spell of self-protection, then draws her dagger and waves it threateningly before her while holding the nasty slash closed with the other hand. She barely notices the gnome's tiny attacker through the haze of pain and fear.
All is quiet in the bedroom ROswitha left...
In the meantime, the Ninja Frog attempts to slice the gnome with its tiny blade once more.
This time the gnome seems to realize something is stinging it and manages to dance around confounding the frog assassin.
Miyari steps forward and calls to the Gnome Fighter, still fighting against the sticky substance, "If you will not surrender, then look to your companions to see what comes next."
Round Four End
The female gnome's head turns this way and that at Miyari's words.
"Wha..?" she says as she sees the carnage of her former squad's dying remains. Her eyes go wide, and she is visibly shaken. Taking a step back, she holds her rapier out before her almost defensively. "Th-they're all dead...?"
Quite suddenly, a ball of hides falls from the smithy rafters and lands on the female gnome who squawks in surprise knocked from her feet. She starts to struggle until she feels the point of sharp a dagger against her pulsing jugular. She carefully turns her head and eyes her assailant.
"Now, now," the mass of fur and hides says with a bit of a bumpkin accent. "It do be time to play nice now." It chuckles from underneath a straw hat.
"Well, for you to play nice. Me, on the other hand? I always play the same way I do anything—dirty."
With that last suggestive comment, the straw hat lifts up and a funny looking halfling face sends Miyari, Roswitha, and Kalica a wink and a smile. He continues to chuckle at his own "wit."
Notable:
- Fighter 1 unconscious and bleeding.
- Sneak 2 slain by Glen and Armin.
- Fighter 3 slain by Kalica.
- Tanglefoot bag effects concluded.
- Silly halfling appears!
- Combat ends!
"Let's just get that bit there," the halfling says nudging the gnome's rapier away with his boot.
"Getoffame!" the gnome says her voice tinged with fear and anger.
Ignoring her, the halfling pushes his straw hat back exposing a rather comical face with a broad smile. Though missing one here and there, the halfling has rather white teeth which seems surprising.
His eyes flicker between Roswitha, Miyari, and Kalica for a moment before finally settling on Kalica and her bloody blade. He whistles softly.
"My cuz not be lying. You really are something!" He waggles his eyebrows. "I don't know if I've ever seen an angrier elf. But damn if it isn't a damn fine look on you, sweetleaf!"
He quite adroitly somersaults backwards off the gnome to end up on his feet. Attempting to take advantage the gnome starts to rise, but the halfling plants a boot squarely between her shoulder blades and roughly pushes her back down.
He doffs his straw hat and twirls his raggedy mud splattered cloak in a bard-like flourish.
"My name is Haller Grubbens. You can call me Grub seeing as how everyone else does. My fancy pants magic man cousin advised me you had requested a guide, so I came to see if you would be worthy of my time."
Once again he rather unsubtly looks over Kalica's slender elven form.
"I'm happy to inform you that I accept and look forward to showing you the Greenbelt!"
He grins and then smooths his unruly eyebrows down with a forefinger and pinky.
Miyari grimaces at the scene. She sheathes her sword and pulls bits of glue from her fur. She gestures towards the dying fighter, "Can anyone make sure he won't die? I have no gifts in healing arts."
She then turns her attention towards the halfling who appeared. She taps her mouth lightly with a finger in consideration and says towards Grub, "Well, thank you for your kind offer to be our guide. Do you have any insight as to who these attackers are? Personally, I am not a fan of being awaken in the middle of the night and then covered in glue."
The tiny ninja frog suddenly leaps onto the female gnome's head, wakizashi raised high. The gnome squawks in alarm.
"Ginji!" a small voice hisses from a sleeping cell door. Arielle stands there holding Bubbles under arm. The frog Ginji starts slightly and releases the sword to gesture at the gnome below his webbed feet, and then once again raises the sword to strike.
"No!" Arielle stamps her foot.
The frog ninja's shoulders slump, and it sighs louder than one would expect. Without any wasted effort, the blade spins to reverse in one hand and is swiftly sheathed. The frog suddenly hops up and throws something which impacts the gnome's forehead and explodes in a puff of blue smoke. Both the gnome and Grub cough as the acrid smoke quickly dissipates. Ginji is nowhere to be seen.
"Look, Bubbles! It's Mr. Grubby!"
Grub looks at the little girl in surprise.
"Well lookey here! It's the R-L!" He leans forward, and the pressure makes the gnome wheeze. "How do you always manage to get mixed up in crazy stuff, girl?"
He waves a hand to head off any innocent replies to his mostly rhetorical question. "Later, later. Definitely more pressing business now."
Cocking his head in Miyari's direction, the raggedy halfling says, "Seems a certain commander is less than pleased about your group but determined he couldn't be directly associated with your murder. So he hired these mercs that are left over from the civvies that usually collect around these parts."
Gesturing at the gnome, "Our little gnome's friend—the one who ran out of here?—will probably be back with more dangerous opponents. I suggest a quick exit from the fort before the certain commander decides he is willing to get his hands dirty after all."
The "little" gnome snarls from down under Grub's boot and spits into the dust to show what she thinks of him.
He reaches down to press his dagger against her neck causing her to freeze.
"What would you lot like to do with this one anyway?"
He chuckles menacingly.
Glen rubs off some remnants of resin stuck to him as he walks over to the halfling pining down the gnome woman "Glen is pleased to meet you and most grateful to have a guide, but please Mr. Grubby let's treat the lady with civility." Glen reaches down to pick up the small rapier "She's unarmed and very outnumbered, Glen would think there is not too much risk to treat her with a bit more courtesy. If she's a mercenary like you surmise her job is already botched, and I doubt she is so foolish as to try anything. Glen says we should let her up, or at the very least remove your dagger from her neck"
The little goblin crouches down to look at the gnome woman speaking to her in gnome
Armin's blood rage comes to an end, his wrathful visage abruptly vanishing as though an off switch had been flipped. He looks down at his kills, his expression impassive. They had certainly gotten him good, but they apparently couldn't take hits too well - all things considered, this was not terribly surprising. Several seconds seem to pass before the android even realizes that the strange halfling is there. Armin blinks a few times, making sure that he is not just seeing things. Another second later, and his brain finally seems to catch up. Realizing that "Grub" is apparently an ally, Armin relaxes and kneels down to wipe the blood off his blade, using a scrap of his victim's clothing as a rag.
"I did not expect us to see this kind of action before reaching the Greenbelt," he muses as he works, not sounding terribly upset about their situation. He eyes the gnome briefly before looking back to his sword, apparently indifferent to her fate. "It doesn't matter to me. You're the one holding the knife, at any rate."
Roswitha looks around frantically for more enemies or for random hobbits halflings dropping from the rafters. "Is it... is it over?"
She kneels next to Arielle and gives the girl a one-armed hug, keeping the other hand free... just in case. "You did a really, really good job at keeping quiet and still, Arielle. I don't think they would have hurt you, but you kept really really safe that way," she whispers in the girl's ear. "You know Mr. Grubby, Arielle?" she asks aloud, "Where did you meet him?"
Roswitha gives the sudden halfling a brief, wary nod of thanks for his help, not moving from her place next to the child.
Arielle leans into Roswitha.
"Mr. Grubby was at Uncle Oleg and Auntie Svetlana's fort when the bad people came," Arielle says in response to Roswitha's louder question.
Kalica arches an eyebrow in response to Grub's comments then reaches over to her fallen victim and quickly cleans her sword off on his clothes.
She then looks over at Armin and replies, "Nor did I Armin,expect to see this kind of resistance thrown at us." She then pauses to speculate. "Perhaps, there is more going on here than meets the eye."
She then sheathes her sword and sits down. "I agree with Grub, we must all ready and head to the road quickly. I suggest we do not dally."
She then points to the fallen female gnome on the ground. "We either need to tie her and gag her or end her quickly. We don't have time to doddle."
He eyes the gnome briefly before looking back to his sword, apparently indifferent to her fate. "It doesn't matter to me. You're the one holding the knife, at any rate."
Grub shivers. "Whew! So cold you are!"
"She's unarmed and very outnumbered, Glen would think there is not too much risk to treat her with a bit more courtesy. If she's a mercenary like you surmise her job is already botched, and I doubt she is so foolish as to try anything. Glen says we should let her up, or at the very least remove your dagger from her neck."
Grub laughs and removes the knife. He lifts his foot and steps to one side.
"I would never have done such a thing anyways. I was just trying to scare the wee one here a bit."
He looks at Kalica with a smile. "Already agreeing with Grub. I like that very much." He blows Kalica a kiss then suddenly snaps his fingers.
"As for getting out of here, I know a way. But first let's lock this lass in one of these rooms so she won't be seeing my secrets."
"Wee one!" the gnome sputters as she picks herself off the floor. She clearly has an inch or more on the halfling ranger once on her feet. She glares at him but makes no move. Instead once her indignant look has been delivered she says to Glen.
She glances around at her party's corpses, and her lips press into a thin line. Glen can see the resentment and anger building behind her eyes.
Roswitha gives Arielle's thin shoulder a light squeeze, then rises.
"If we must leave, let's do it quickly. My rope is in the stables with the gear. I can tear this blanket into strips to bind this... lady. Someone should check the others and help them if they still live. If a couple others could help make with blanket strips, we can be out of here quickly," she suggests, "We might also suspend her from the rafters once we finish. It's hard to free yourself with nothing to fight against, and she'll have no way to thump around and make noise to attract attention. It's harder to struggle against nothing than something."
She darts back into her little bunk room and begins tearing the blanket into strips and braiding them together for strength.
"Well, if Arielle knows and trusts you at least some, that's better reason for trusting you than nothing at all," says Miyari to Grub. She then speaks to Roswitha, "If you'd rather not tear apart a blanket, I do have some rope that might work better for suspending her like you suggest. Still, if there is any spare rope in here, I'd rather part with that than with my own."
She looks at the gnome and shrugs, "As for worries about some quest for revenge, they attacked us while we tried to sleep and... well, mercy extended once is wise and kind, but mercy extended twice is foolish." The last, she pronounces with some gravity to her tone to be sure the gnome understands her meaning.
The gnome's eyes narrow at Miyari's implied threat, but she closes her eyes and jerks her head in a nod to indicate she understands the catfolk.
Grub chuckles as if watching a show then claps his hands and rubs them briskly.
"Well then, let's get moving!"
The party does find some slightly brittle rope which is clear why it was left, but it will certainly do for a while. Also, Glen discovers a bit of chain with a hook used for suspending armor that needed to be repaired. Tying her up is swift as she offers no resistance, but she certainly grits her teeth once gravity takes hold. Grub closes the door to the room from where the gnome hangs from the rafters.
Arielle approaches the dying warrior and reaches out her hand to touch his head. There is a flash of light, and his breathing seems less labored; his wounds no longer bleed and seem to have clot.
Then she stands in the center of the room, her eyes glittering. She raises on hand, and the summoner sigil on her forehead glows while the one on Bubbles' tummy also lights up in concert. Without warning, something causes all the corpses in the room to jerk, and some kind of light erupts out of their mouths or eyes or somewhere and fill Arielle's open hand. She clenches her fist and the light disappears fading in time with the seal on her forehead. In mere seconds her eyes have once again become the sad brown barely seen in the dark.
Grub shivers.
"Gah...that just never gets any less weird," he says to no one particular.
"Anyway...!" Grub moves quickly to an area next to one of the cold forges and pushes on a pair of stones simultaneously in two different places. Suddenly a section of the floor near him pops up just enough to lift.
"You there!" Grub calls to the hulking Armin. "Come lift this up."
Roswitha makes sure that the gnome is not being choked by her involuntary suspension, then watches Arielle's little ritual with confusion. She opts not to remark upon it and perks up as the floor hatch appears.
"I certainly hope normal-sized people will fit in there. It looks fine for you and Glen and Arielle, but the rest of us have bit more altitude,"Roswitha grumbles, "And please let it be not too full of spiders."
Glen looks up at the Gnome woman as the others start lifting her to hang her from the hook "You're sure the hanging is necessary? It seems an additional humiliation that could be avoided..." The young goblin would probably have gnome girl go free if it were up to him. He couldn't help imagining if it were him in her place, being hung up by a group of larger people seemed particularly distasteful to him. He quickly exited the room where the Gnome was suspended following Grub to the secret hatch.
The gnome is left hanging in the closed bedroom while the party gathers their gear. The adrenaline may have started to wear off by now reminding them that they are in fact rather tired, but nonetheless there isn't time to worry about that. Arielle in particular begins to fuss slightly and rub her eyes a slightly bratty pout adorning her adorable face.
The halfling ranger Grub leads the way down a cramped tunnel which is not as tight as Roswitha feared. His small torch is the only thing most of the party can see for what seems miles but is little more than half a mile. Th packed earth eventually opens up, but Grub plunges the party into darkness (not that many are bothered at all by this sudden change in light) before reaching this opening. He trots ahead, and he uses a soft bird call to indicate the exit is safe.
When the party emerges, they discover their horses and pack animals and all the gear that would have been left with them waiting.
"Alrighty!" Grub says softly. "We definitely need to git, so we'll need to travel a bit to a spot I know; it's probably about two hours or so from here. All open wilderness; we won't be using any tracks, so it's best we run a length of rope through all the horse's bridles to keep us all together in the darkness."
He hands the end of a rope to Armin to begin the process. Once it's attached to the saddle of the android's horse, Grub takes it back so he can lead the way.
"Everyone ready? Let's go!"
With Miyari calming down some, she sheathes her claws and looks towards Arielle to make sure the girl is alright. She crouches and says to the girl, "We will find somewhere to rest soon, we just have to make sure that anywhere we go is going to be safe."
She will help Arielle in any way to prepare to head on outside and follow after Grub to the hideaway that he mentioned.
Around the two hour mark (maybe a little over), the party finds their horses and animals coming to a halt, and a small fire suddenly bursts into existence throwing the silhouette of the halfling ranger into high relief.
"Here we are!"
The party stands in the lee of a small mound with a fire pit that is sheltered under a weathered piece of stone but seems to have regularly spaced slits causing the little bit of smoke the fire makes to spread out and become nigh invisible after a few feet due to the dispersing effect. The mound seems to curve into a three-quarters circle giving it a very hidden feel, and the large bushes and small tree at the other end effectively hide the only natural entrance.
"You lot get some sleep," Grub says pulling out a rather stereotypical halfling pipe and getting a good cherry going in the bowl. "I'll keep watch for now."
He takes a puff and smiles wickedly at Kalica, "Though if you want to keep Grub company, Sugar Hips, I'd be more than willing to entertain." He winks and takes another puff. The oddly calming smell of his pipe seems to fill the area without being cloying.
The following day, everyone awakens to the smell of meat roasting and camp bread cooking. The party has finally spent their first night camping out and has done so in safety away from the rather tumultuous events of the past few days. They feel refreshed, and more alert and alive knowing they have finally reached the wilderness and in some ways begun their true purpose.
"Good morning!" Grub says cheerfully. "You all look like you're feeling much better and happier to be alive."
Armin quietly complies with Grub's request to handle the heavy-lifting, nary a complaint coming from out of his mouth. When not in battle - or rather, when not angry - he seemed to be a totally different person. The more personable kind, thankfully. His body moves of its own volition, tirelessly trudging through the escape tunnel, but the android's mind felt numb from fatigue. Far too fatigued to even think to suspect Grub of foul play. For the better it seems, when their horses come into view. Something resembling a smile passes over Armin's face when he is reunited with Aeon. After mounting up and passing the rope along, he rides after Grub, glad to put the fort further behind him.
Once they have all reached the safety of the camp, Armin is all too quick to unsling his large blade and dump it onto the ground. He sits down beside it, claiming his spot for the night; but as "tired" as he is, he did not want to sleep just yet.
"Did you plan this out all by yourself?" he asks Grub, genuinely surprised by the ease of their escape.
The halfling chuckles and puffs on his pipe.
"I would certainly love to take credit, but the captain and my cousin had more to do with it. The Issian Guard isn't privy to the secret escape tunnel should the fort need to escape or sustain a siege. Pfarsis is a sharp one. He had the foresight to know that no matter how things turned out in your little conference, there was absolutely no reason for your belongings to remain inside the fort."
He pauses to blow odd shapes with the smoke.
"That Issian Guard upstart actually thought you were being intentionally trapped in the fort, so didn't really pay attention to where your animals were sent as long as it didn't appear you would be able to get to them for an escape."
Grub waves the pipe in an arc to indicate where they were.
"This place? Yes, this part is all me. Not too many people know about this camp. Not many at all."
"It was a fine collaboration, then," Armin remarks, the closest thing to a compliment he could think to give the halfling. As much as he hated to admit to himself (he certainly would not admit it aloud), attempting to fight their way out of the fort would not have gone well. Not for them, or for anyone else who got involved.
"I can only imagine that our escape will stoke any delusions the Issian Guard has about us. Are they likely to send anyone else after us?"
Roswitha hands over care of Arielle to the catwoman, with whom the child seems fascinated. Even though she likes little ones, Roswitha doesn't feel herself the motherly type. Maybe someday. Easier to think of the girl as a little cousin and turn her over to her furry "mother" as often as possible. A little babysitting now and then is fine, of course.
She follows quietly through the tunnel and leads Stem forward with the rest of the party without complaint. Once in camp, she drops off quickly, her mind feeling fuzzy and powers drained from the interrupted rest. She hated when her sister teased her about "beauty sleep", but the fact is, her brain can't seem to recover from the use of her powers without rest. Annoying, but a good night's sleep in exchange for tapping into the deep powers of the universe seems like a good trade to her. She regrets missing the conversation she can hear dimly as she drops off, but it is probably boring anyway.
Roswitha's effort at sleeping in the next morning is interrupted by the smell of bacon, and she blesses the good fortune that gave them a halfling guide. Whatever one might say about halflings - and some people said a lot - they knew their grub.