Lluvia takes a moment to catch her breath and checks on the thug she just stabbed, only to realize there is nothing she can do for him any more. For a moment she closes her eyes and sends a prayer to Desna asking for forgiveness... had it really been necessary to become that violent? The thugs didn't employ deadly tactics, but they did let a devil loose.
“We need to find that which escaped; that was the wizards doing. That's why I changed my tactics.” She points with the rapier, which is still dripping with blood, at the dead body.
“Is everyone alright, other than a few dancing sparks in front of the eyes?” she calls out a little louder and in more quiet tone to the half orc guardian: “Someone should be posted on every exit large enough for it... and then I strongly recommend postponing the event until everything is cleaned up – unless you wish to keep the patrons for questioning – that will hardly be necessary as far as I see it, but who knows what the city guard thinks. We need to contain it.” She looks into the little group that fought the thugs: “Does anyone here have the ability to locate something deeply, inherently evil?”
Slowly she lets her gaze wonder through the room, trying to find the little critter, while her hand clasps the hilt of the rapier almost painfully.
"I can pray for the spell; it will take a quarter turn of the glass to do so. Once I cast the spell, I'll only have ten minutes to scan the area," says Relverest crisply, blinking his now-seeing eyes. "The little devilling will have secreted himself somewhere in the city by then." He glances around.
"Not to mention, there may be other evil things about," he says a bit more quietly and uncertainly, his emerald eyes flashing. He finds it unlikely that there is a paladin hiding in the crowd.
"And I agree, Lluvia, we can't rush into the street and try to call back in the patrons--no number of succubus outfits will do it, 'liis--'tis better to postpone and re-open tomorrow. This was a rather shocking event, and to try to continue today would speak poorly to the care of the management for its clientele. Just my opinion, of course."
Relverest assists Bojask with the cleanup, unafraid of getting blood on his gear. "I take it you work here, sir? Let us continue to help. We would be happy to continue in service to Ser Vancaskerkin's establishment."
Brom looks up again at the rafters. With a slight shake of his head, he proceeds to the gruesome bodies. Brom crouches silently with his face filled with horror at the sight of the dead. Brom does not speak a word of anything.
The 'Goblin is mostly empty now, even some of its employees having deserted Saul. Bojask hauls the man up near the golden chest, gruffly asks him, "This is what you want?" and then slugs him in the face, knocking him out.
Saul laughs at Lluvia and Relverest's seriousness regarding Old Scratch. He simply calls out, "Old Scratch! Come out, now. Come to me.", and at his word, strangely, the little imp pops into sight near the rafters and flaps down to land at his feet. It looks sullenly at him, resenting the control t hat he has over it. "Old Scratch is...indebted to me. You needn't worry about him for now... I feel like the only ones to worry about in this establishment are you all! Formidable folks, you are. And you say you're offering yourselves to my employ? I might have to take you up on that offer..."
„I was wondering why the cage wasn't locked.“ She swallows her anger – mostly at herself for all the unnecessary bloodshed. 'When you dance with the devil you don't change the devil. The devil changes you.' the line from an old play comes into her mind. Still, that was no excuse, but she couldn't change what had been done.
She wiped off her rapier at the dead wizard's clothes but doesn't put it away yet, she still doesn't particular faith in the control Vankaskerkin has over the devil. „What do you propose?“
Shayliss continues generally tidying up, scooping scattered chips and cards off the floor. "I said it was just supposed to be a harmless little mascot, right? I mean, I hear over in Korvosa they have things that look like that which they all just treat like pigeons, and you know, in Chelliax they summon up real serious devils all the time and make them do things for them. People say they're all going to hell for that, but I think that applies to anyone who just forces slaves to do all their work for them."
"It is not for me to judge," says Relverest, "but I personally will not consort with devils. They are not honest, and they intend harm."
"I feel sick." Brom places both of his hands on his stomach after looking at the dead bodies near him. His knees are now on solid ground with his face looking down on open floor. Everything Brom has eaten today comes out of mouth. The sound is no doubt disgusting in nature. "Ugh."
At her attacker's defeat, Aine whirls around looking for another threat. With no other thugs to be seen, she takes in a deep breath and lets out a low growl, allowing the rage flow out. "Mrgh. Thanks for the help," she grumbles to Lluvia.
She then turns her attention to the grounded Bromsen, giving him a couple hard pats on the back. "Keep it together, man."
Relverest drops the subject of imps and inherent evil for the moment and kneels to check on Bromsen. "Hmmm...are you ill? Poisoned? Were you injured? Or was it the blood?" He looks over the monk, careful to avoid the 'leavings'.
"So does any other creature in this world, honey. We just faced several not a minute ago." Sapphire replies to Relverest. "Devils just do it better and with style."
Seeing the look the small devil gives Saul, Sapphire kneels down, becoming eye level with Scratch.
Shayliss just kind of gives Sapphire an odd look when she switches to an unfamiliar language, before turning back hopefully to Vancaskerkin. "So... you were getting to the part where you needed a new security staff and some dancers? Oh and uh... does anyone know where there's a cheap place to get a room in this town?"
Lluvia has to smiles in spite of herself at Shayliss' pertness, though Sapphire's comment sends a cold shiver down her spine. While Lluvia had never met a devil one could easily see their influence in Cheliax and while she loves the operas in Egorian, she certainly doesn't like the style of oppression and driving others into suffering of the devils. She holds her rapier lowered but keeps an eye on the little critter as she waits for Vancasterkin's answer.
"Well," says Vancasterkin, "As you can see, most of my staff has deserted me after that...disaster." and indeed, only a few bouncers and Bojack remain in the joint, in addition to a curious dwarf poking his head out of a lower-floor room (likely near the vault). "So I'm in need of an entirely new staff. Entertainers, bouncers, dealers, watchers, you know it. I'm also in a position to offer you room and board for as long as you work for me." Saul smiles, his most charming one yet, "I pay fairly well, although it can be dangerous from time to time. The other Crime Lords seem to have it in for me."
"Care to stay for drinks, talk about a job? You're free to take anything off of the thugs you've incapacitated, if you'd like... The gendarmes will be by shortly to take the two live ones into custody."
Brom looks up at Relverest making eye contact. "I...I.. have not seen much action." Brom looks away with his face a little red from embarrassment. "Blind you might... say."
Old Scratch sniggers at Sapphire's words, and replies in the same language.
Saul's words catch her attention when the phrase "Crime Lords seem to have it in for me." leaves his mouth.
Putting aside her suspicious feelings towards Saul, she turns to him with a smile, "That sounds lovely. Oh, and if the authority does catch those lowlifes who ran off, I would love to talk with the women who was throwing orders around." she says in a cheerful tone.
Saul barks at Old Scratch here, "Shut up, you stupid thing! Go back to your cage. I'll let you know when I need you again."
Shayliss struggles to contain her joy at this latest development. Free food, a place to stay, and no established dancers to take center stage?
Overwhelmed by dreams of stardom, she jumps straight into the air with a squeal of delight before bursting into a rapid fire series of questions. "So can we start right away? Is there a fitting room? Do we have to provide our own costumes? Do you always do the devil thing or was that just for tonight? You know if you're worried about things like this happening again ooh I could just carry around a whip that'd still be pretty sexy and keep people in line without there being big scary blades all over and blood and maybe like some thick leather thing if you're really expecting trouble- is there a place around to get stuff like that? I guess I should really have a look around the rest of this place too, and yeah I suppose it would be a good idea to at least pat down these two and make sure they didn't nab anything else before they get dragged off- and oh, you mentioned drinks? I could probably stand a glass of wine or something to settle the nerves." Eventually, she remembers to breathe.
Relverest watches Vancaskerkin for signs of prevarication, but senses nothing. He bows to the Gold Goblin's owner with a smile.
"We would be happy to accept your offer of employment. Fiddler, greeter, and handy with a glaive when I'm not blinded--Relverest at your service. Oh, and...did you know these particular thugs, Ser Vancaskerkin? That is, was a particular crime lord after you? It might be good for those of us working in security--and that appears to be part of the job for all of us--to know a little something about the situation. If possible," adds Relverest. He glances at Shayliss' bubbly outburst, then returns to Vancaskerkin, smiling courteously.
Awfully convenient that this fellow was in the vault during the failed robbery, and he seems none too concerned about the potential loss of customers. Hmmm.
Lluvia would like to hear more before she says anything. She hesitates a moment before she puts her blade away and moves quickly to the next bar then. Since Vancasterkin has offered them drinks she looks for a bottle of wine - not necessarily a good one but she first she can get and pours some into glasses or tankards if she doesn't find any and waters her own down. "You wanted wine, 'liss? If you feel like dancing or trying one of those costumes laying about the place you might as well just go ahead; I have a feeling you can't stand still anyway and it would be a shame if your forced yourself to." Her nautral countenance briefly becomes a warm smile. "Anyone else - since there is no bartender around anymore I suppose we'll have to help ourself... then we can discuss business."
She glances over to the prisoners to make sure they are safely tied up.
"Sapphire is an excellent bartender," offers Relverest.
Saul laughs at your willingness to work for him, beaming as Old Scratch flies up to his cage and closes himself in to sulk.
Bojask is busy tying up the prisoners and piling the dead in a corner for the gendarmes to pick up, while at the same time stripping everyone of their arms and armaments and piling them separately, near the stage with the chest. At Saul's direction, his two remaining bouncer-employees pick up the large golden chest and carry it back to the vault, under the supervision of his dwarven moneycounter.
Meanwhile, Saul approaches the bar and pulls out seats for everyone, before going to the inside of the bar himself and pouring drinks for everyone, pulling out cups from underneath the bar.
"We'd probably start real work tomorrow, though I'd certainly appreciate the help cleaning this place up. It'll probably be a few days before we can open up the 'Goblin again, as I need to hire a bunch of new staff, even with you guys as new acquisitions. We'll talk about what you all are going to do, officially, as well as compensation. I'll introduce you to Larur, my floor manager, later. He'll be your primary contact with the business."
"There are a number of tasks each of you can accomplish to help keep the 'Goblin running. Getting out there and talking people into coming to the 'Goblin, or putting out advertisements are usually helpful. I need a manager for the floor, someone who keeps the clientele and the employees, both, happy. Performers and bouncers are always welcome, and spotters for cheaters are good. If you're good, you can be a dealer or a croupier at a table."
"And no, Shayliss, you won't have to wear the succubus outfit. That was...event-specific, although if you have ideas for what you could wear, I'm.." he eyes her up and down, greedily, "open to suggestions."
"Any questions?"
Shayliss takes a drink and starts brainstorming, mostly to herself. "Well, the devil thing is still a neat idea especially when you have a real one for a pet, but I guess you want to wait for people to forget how tonight went... but oh! If you can get ahold of those two big shirtless guys with the swords, you could do some sort of Katapesh theme night. Just... get some big ol' braziers and scales and dress all the guys up like genies and have the girls wear those sheer poofy pants and veils... and maybe do some old time-y thing with everyone wearing togas, maybe have the girls just do those little tunics that come down to here with just the one shoulder strap... or some kind of mammoth country night with just little bits of fur and everyone carrying big clubs... or ooh, some Shoanti thing with crazy face paint and lizard skulls... you could do something different every week I bet without costing too much!
"I definitely do need to think up some kind of stage name if I'm the only one who's going to be dancing around on stage though every night though. Don't suppose anyone has any ideas?"
"I assume the person doing floor management would report to Larur? As I look about our merry crew, I see a possible delineation of positions, but I shall make only a few suggestions and let the others weigh in," and Relverest, if anything, looks even more charming as he extends an open hand, and continues.
"I would be delighted to serve in the role of floor management; I have no shortage of charm and courtesy toward patron and worker alike. I humbly suggest Shayliss as an excellent beacon for the Gold Goblin; her dancing and beauty radiate loveliness, but nothing tawdry. At times, I can accompany her on the violin. As for the rest of this merry crew, I will let them speak their minds," he says, bending the knee.
Sapphire stands back up to join the other conversation, just in time to catch Relverest's words. "Brewer actually... you know what, never mind." an exasperated look of annoyance comes across Sapphire's face. "I say that I make alcohol in my spare time, and suddenly everyone thinks I a bar wench. If anything, that little redhead would fit the roll more than anyone else."
Walking over to the bar, Sapphire gracefully vaults the counter, miraculously cleared of leftover tankards and drinks of customers from them running out. "Even in fear, patrons have to have their booze. What a city." She begins to pick though the different bottle and barrels, looking over the selection of drinks.
"Let's see what we have here. Not bad, not bad, blech... not my choice, this seems ok. Oooh! This looks good." Sapphire takes a bottle out from behind the counter. She pulls the top off with her teeth, spitting it onto the counter in a rather unladylike, but humorous fashion. She pours it into a tankard, not even looking while continuing to peruse the choices almost as if it was muscle memory. "It seems like have have a decent selection. I guess I could help here, maybe even make some of my own drinks that you wouldn't have to end up paying for."
'All he wants is yet another crew it seems. This seems to be a waste of time; I need to find out what happened to Milon Cath and what the shadow in the sky means.' Lluvia looks over to Shayliss and feels a little dizzy. Shayliss is so excited about this, she's never gonna drop it. And Lluvia in turn is never gonna abandon the charming, if naive girl. Lluvia sighs in frustration and turns to Vancasterkin.
"So, that is the job you're offering? You want us as a new crew, but don't have much of a plan yet nor can say how much you offer and when? And you implicitly describe yourself as a crime lord? All of this... was, purely economically seen not so bad evening for you was it? People didn't loose a lot of money, but you do keep all the entry fees; why not just leave it at that and try another town not clouded by darkness. Who know, if you ask the best of your staff, you know the people who didn't just play along but were really good at what they did, you might be able to hire them again if you try a little bonus."
Lluvia arched her head a little and watched Vancesterkin closely. Maybe it was time to drop a bit of information and see whether it would lead anything. "On a different topic. Did you ever hear the name Milon Cath or have any idea what happened to him?" That might betray a bit of her allegiance and would likely not lead to anything. Still Lluvia was curious how he would react to this. She sipped from her watered wine.
Relverest's eyes widen at Lluvia's little speech.
"Please excuse my elven friend---she's clearly shaken by today's events. Of course, we don't mean to imprecate you or your establishment. Lluvia, a word?"
The cleric stands between Lluvia and Saul and speaks in a low tone. "By Aroden's dead backside! Are you trying to stab yourself in the face? You insult the fellow--our employer--and then ask questions about Milon this and the darkness in the sky that, a darkness that everyone knows about and hasn't left town anyhow. In Riddleport. Land of thieves. Thieves who don't like a million questions. Slow down and have some patience, or you'll wind up getting yourself fired before you're hired. I myself didn't see any other establishments hiring in this town, and I've walked enough to make a Caydenite cry into their beer." His eyes glitter.
Rel turns back to Saul. "You mentioned keeping the employees happy? I'll also keep them in line." He crosses his arms and glances to the bar.
"And Sapphire, your specialty drinks should cost extra. Don't sell yourself short, dear."
Finishing her wine with a speed that suggests she has very little (or perhaps very much) experience with alcohol, Shayliss picks up on the mounting tension.
"So, um... if you're hiring us right away, I suppose we should probably close the doors and clean things up a bit? It wouldn't really do to have people wandering in looking for a good time without a trained staff and with bodies just sort of strewn about. If nothing else, that's going to leave nasty stains on the floor, won't it?"
Barring any objections, Shayliss stands, heads over to close the doors, and does her best to empty the pockets of the thugs, piling everything in a pile on the bar, and attempts to locate a mop and bucket, hoping someone else will handle the grim work of actually moving the bodies outside.
Brom wipes a few tears from eyes and gets up quickly. The tears cease as he stands tall. "I am willing to lend my eyes and ears to find cheaters that break the rules." Brom pauses for a moment.
"Lluvia has a good point." Brom sternly looks at Relverest. "Dear gosh, Relverest! Maybe you do not want to read the fine print before you sign, but I would like to know what we are in for. Unless you do not care about sending people to their graves without any good reason. There are very few good reasons." Bromsen points to the dead bodies piled up by the orc bodyguard.
Lluvia listens to Relverest for a moment but leaves him standing after half his speech with a: "Please, I believe that Mister Vancasterkin is man enough to speak for himself. And I am not his employee yet."
She glances over to Shayliss. "Please wait a moment, beautiful."
Saul laughs, a grin spreading out over his face as Shayliss suggests more and more ideas for bringing in money to the Goblin. He approves, clearly, but he looks slightly off-put and hurt when Lluvia brings up her concerns about him.
"I don't believe you understand the economic loss that I will have gone through tonight. I had to refund many of the entrance fees of the customers, and I spent a large portion of my own funds to even buy and fix up this place. After a disaster like that heist, most of the employees that I had gathered won't want to work under me anymore, and many of the customers will simply go to another gambling hall with a better reputation."
"As for me being a crime lord...well, it isn't so easy to wipe away the results of a lifetime of sin. I just don't want to lose, when the other lords want me to so badly, and I want to live an honest life, with an honest man's work" he grins a little bit, "Even if that work is swindling money off of a bunch of thieves."
"As for payment, I'm willing to offer you eight gold every week, and if you help me make greater profits, you'll see raises. As for a plan, well, it mostly just involves cleaning and re-hiring for now, and then re-opening the Goblin with the hopes of bringing in some customers."
Shayliss' eyes light up at the prospect of earning a whole 800 copper per week, as she continues doing her best to clean up the mess combat has made of the place.
"...I'm also in a position to offer you room and board for as long as you work for me."
"I guess we can make a statement." Sapphire speaks up from behind the counter. She hops up, throwing her legs over to rest over the side, crossed in a bit more elegant fashion, still all the while taking swigs of the bottle in hand. "Look, this whole damn city is shady. Half of it is slums, it's riddled with thieves committing crimes, and there is a giant black cloud over the city literally creating shade over much of the city. I wouldn't be surprised if our employer has a shady reputation, but we can use that to our advantage."
Sapphire hops down from the counter and walks towards the two thugs tied up on the floor, looking one over before delivering a nasty kick to the face sending him to the ground. She spins around to face the others, breaking the now empty bottle over the back of the other thugs head mid turn. "You, sir, had put so much of your time, money, and effort into making this a great night. One little group comes to crash the party, and we sent the running, bleeding out, or into the hands of the authorities. We use this as an example to show that "You" want a fun and safe night for all your customers, and will do so by any means necessary to make sure they get that. This will say, "You don't mess around." Sapphire raises the broken bottle, examining it as she run her finger over the sharp edges. She licks her finger of a few drops of alcohol left on it before looking back up with a smirk, "And neither do we."
As for the thugs, the only one with anything really special or interesting is the wizard. He has one expended and empty scroll, a wand, another scroll that isn't expended, a sickle, a pair of bracers, a spellbook, and a coin pouch with 33gp. The wand, the unused scroll, and the bracers radiate magic.
Each of the three thugs you have here, either dead or alive, is wearing a suit of leather armor that probably needs to be washed, each carries a shortbow with twenty arrows and four daggers, as well as a sap and 6 gold each.
All of this is in a little pile of stuff, compiled by Bojask who is busy stripping the thugs of everything they have before the gendarmes show up.
Brom approaches Relverest. Whether he heard him or not, he speaks to him as he is silent.
"I apologize for what I just said. You are a decent fellow. However, I would have helped you whether you were a decent fellow or not. Hopefully, I can be more helpful in the future. Your choice of words are indeed better than mine." Brom takes a humble bow towards Relverest.
Brom listens to Saul.
"As for me being a crime lord...well, it isn't so easy to wipe away the results of a lifetime of sin. I just don't want to lose, when the other lords want me to so badly, and I want to live an honest life, with an honest man's work" he grins a little bit, "Even if that work is swindling money off of a bunch of thieves."
"As for payment, I'm willing to offer you eight gold every week, and if you help me make greater profits, you'll see raises. As for a plan, well, it mostly just involves cleaning and re-hiring for now, and then re-opening the Goblin with the hopes of bringing in some customers."
"I am a honest man. If I wasn't honest, I would not be a monk anymore. If you truly wish to be a honest man. You have my respect. Being an honest man seems to be quite a dangerous venture in this place. That is adequate payment. I accept your generosity in offering lodging."
Sapphire hops down from the counter and walks towards the two thugs tied up on the floor, looking one over before delivering a nasty kick to the face sending him to the ground. She spins around to face the others, breaking the now empty bottle over the back of the other thugs head mid turn.
Brom, not pleased of Sapphire's behavior, responds, "Really?! Come on! That is completely unnecessary."
"I believe you", says Lluvia after a moment of consideration. "I'll help getting this gambling hall started again."
She slips from her bar stool over to Shaliss and starts helping her with the bodies of the dead. "I was going to wait for the city guard with that, but since you're already on it... we may need a cart... and identify them."
"No apology needed, friend, nor from anyone," says Rel, his eyes fixing on the monk and then flicking to others in the party. "We shall talk later."
Relverest bows to Saul. "Thank you for your offer. I accept employment and lodging alike. Can you direct us to Larur?"
Replying to Brom, "Oh but it is. They ruined my night, cost Mr. Vancasterkin money, terrorized guests, all while barely taking a scratch. If anything they deserve to be blinded and tormented as well."
Sapphire walks over to Bojask who has compiled a stack of gear from the thugs, "But at least they were decent enough to leave us gifts." She picks up a set of leather armor, turning towards Shayliss, "Oh Shayliss, here is something you could add to you closet, although it could use some cleaning. Some of this is even magic." she says holding up the bracers.
With her magical-detection spell and knowledge of how magical auras work, Sapphire is able to determine that the bracers are bracers of armor +1 and the scroll is a scroll of shrink object, but she is unable to determine what the wand is at the moment.
Saul exclaims delightfully at the PCs pronouncements of accepting labor from him. "Good! Great, actually. Finally, I'll have competent people under my employ...maybe we can actually get this place working again. Wait here for a bit, I'll get Larur out here to talk to you about your employment." and with that, he retires to the back rooms.
Shayliss holds up the armor. "Well... I suppose if I took it in a bit here, and let it out a lot here... or maybe just cut it open here like a vest... and oh! They did have knives? Well, that really could have turned ugly then."
1st-level spells: hold portal, magic missile, shield, grease, identify, magic aura, true strike.
Relverest peers at the wand Sapphire has recovered, but can't make heads or tails of it either. "We can store it away and figure it out later, Sapph. Shay, I'm sure you can make something rather fetching and functional with that armor given a few hours of adjustments. Hmm...it may need to be cleaned, though. Where's Larur?"
Brom gives a disapproving look at Sapphire momentarily, but after a blink of his eyes he turns around. Brom walks over to Aine.
"Aine, you have been rather quiet as of right now. Anything on your mind? My arm has gotten better from the last arm wrestling match we had. No longer painfully sore.."
Brom smiles a little.
"I could only imagine what your full strength could be. I might of had merely a glimpse of it during this predicament."
Lluvia didn't participate much in the conversation at this point but rather picked up where Shayliss was busy a few moments ago - cleaning up the place. She gets a bucket with water from somewhere, creates suds from it and starts cleaning the blood stains and all the other dirt. She seems completely lost in her work but whenever anyone looks to her she immediatly returns the gaze, proving that she is keenly aware of her surroundings.
Shayliss gets a little distracted, doing her best to take a knife to a set of armor, and using a little prestidigitation to smooth out the errors and generally remove the smell of sweaty thug. "Hmm... it could really stand some rhinestones or tassels, but this should do... and I suppose this little cleaning trick could help some with those bloodstains too..."