Shayliss ponders doubling back to chase after Zinder, or drawing her whip to trip the thug in the kitchen, but upon (I assume) realizing how venomous the snake is, finds it to be a far greater concern. "That thing hasn't bitten anyone I hope!"
Relverest lays insensate and bleeding, dreaming of a more just and loving world where aasimars ride unicorns and strew flowers about.
Lluvia hears the scream before she reaches the kitchen and, regardless of the patrons around her, she draws her rapier and curses that she didn't put on armor but is in a silken hostess outfit. As she opens the door she notices the thug, the snake, the thug and Bromsen... Silent as a the shadow of a gravestone in moonlight she steps in and engages the snake, the hiss of her blade the only sound and a challange to the snake.
Sapphire watches as Rel drops to the ground after a single swing from Zincher. Not hesitating, she steps back from Zincher, and hurls the platter of drinks at him like a throwing throwing disk. "Are you serious! It's because of meat heads like that you we can't have nice things! Sapphire yells at the the burly man.
She then draws her black dagger from her satchel, preparing for the worst.
Bromsen curls his hand into a fist as his opponent breaks free of his grasp and lands a solid punch on the thug, knocking him unconscious to the ground.
Sapphire hurls her platter at Zincher, and it slaps into him solidly, but it doesn't seem to harm him. Perhaps his boast of tough skin was more than just a boast - perhaps it was true.
Shayliss approaches the snake, alongside Lluvia, and with their weapons they both score hits on the creature. The snake isn't one of the mighty jungle snakes, the kind that inspires dread in even the most powerful of heroes. It's just a regular snake, not made for fighting people with real weapons. It crumples and dies quickly under the onslaught of the two women.
As he retreats, Zincher merely laughs at Sapphire's failed attempt to hurt him and begins to jog out of the door, getting out of sight in mere moments.
Around him, the 'Goblin has fallen into a stunned silence, and this time, Saul isn't around to pacify everyone himself. According to Larur, he's out on another one of his "business trips" today. The tension of battle, however, slips out of the air as the last combatants leave or are subdued.
Relverest makes some sort of strangled bubbling sound on the floor.
Lluvia's face cools off and she takes a look around in the kitchen. Seeing Bromsen wounded and the thug knocked out for good she picks up the dead snake off the floor. "Has that thing bitten you? We better make sure the poison is treated... maybe Relverest can deal with it or Sapphire. We better keep this snake, so we can identify it and the kind of poison." She doesn't want to wander around with a dead snake in her hand, so she put it back into the basket on the floor, the basket it originally came from.
For a moment it looks like she want to go out to the hall again, but, noticing the silence outside Lluvia turns to Shayliss. "Could you... go out, say something to calm people and get either Rel or Sapphire here? I'll tie our little guest up in the mean time... you're just the more charming one."
For three heartbeats she closes her eyes and focuses on her breathing to calm herself down. Then she looks for a rope tie the thug up and for some fresh water to clean Bromsen's wounds.
Shayliss heads back to the main floor, and with a fair bit of surprise, dashes over to be sure Relverest is OK.
Not really knowing what to do about this sort of serious blunt trauma, she takes a moment to find Sapphire. Trying to stay calm and quite, she asks "So... do you happen to know anything about head wounds, or antivenom? We seem to have a situation or two to deal with."
In an effort to do a little damage control, she then hops up on stage and generally addresses the patrons. "So it seems like someone out there is a bit jealous of all the good times we're having in here. Let's not crowd around any injured staff members unless we're a healer though hmm? Instead, why don't you all just crowd around this here stage and see if we can't find something better to stare at?"
Bromsen slowly moves his left hand to his wounded right shoulder. He slightly touches the wound, he feels the wound burn like a hot fire. With a light jolt he removes his hand quickly to avoid any further pain from his shoulder.
"Being bitten twice in the same spot does not feel good in the slightest."
"Has that thing bitten you? We better make sure the poison is treated... maybe Relverest can deal with it or Sapphire. We better keep this snake, so we can identify it and the kind of poison."
"Yes. I am not feeling well at the moment. I am just glad that I found the snake first and no one else got hurt from it."
He examines the thug curiously. "I hope he did not leave any more surprises."
Brom looks for any more clues or "surprises".
After Lluvia returns with a rope and water, Brom curiously asks her a question, trying not to be awkward.
"I have a question that I was meaning to ask you. Do elves sleep?"
Brom pauses for a moment thinking on how he said those words.
Brom speaks really fast in elven, "Not trying to be offensive or anything. Curiosity got the best of me."
Lluvia is easily able to find both rope and water in the kitchen area, and tying up the thug is a simple enough affair. It also doesn't seem like he'd left anything else in the area other than the snake.
Men and women begin to crowd around Shayliss' enticing and dancing form, but murmuring still fills the room as people discuss what it is that happened just then. As the murmuring increases, a figure breaks the line of the crowd and dashes to Relverest's side. "Excuse me," she says as she moves through everyone. This woman is a beautiful half-elf with several lightly glowing blue tattoos on her face and the back of her neck, and flowing, curly red hair. Her robes flap as she falls to the ground beside Relverest, and she pulls out a small vial. She drops a couple of drops of what appears to be blood into her hand before she anoints Relverest's forehead with it, while at the same time murmuring a few arcane words of power. With that, the wounds and bruises raising on Relverest's face begin to lower and knit themselves shut.
She looks up awkwardly at Sapphire, who's the nearest other employee. "Um, hello.", she says.
Relverest's eyes flutter and he moves his jaw painfully. "What...where is Zincher?" He gets up slowly, still shaken from his brush with death.
The half-elven woman at Rel's side speaks to him, her voice soft and her eyebrows creased with worry. "He's gotten away. As soon as he saw your suspicion, he clubbed you and ran for it...though I figure you know that first bit. Are you okay?"
"Well aren't you just an angel." Sapphire says in a cheerful voice to the half-elf. "Who might you be?" Sapphire picks up the tray she hurled at Zincher.
"My name's Samaritha Beldusk.", she says, "I'm a prospective Cyphermage, I suppose, though I haven't found any Cyphermages willing to patronize me yet. You're all employees here, right?" she looks around at Sapphire, Shayliss, and Relverest.
Meanwhile, people have slowly begun to shuffle out of the Goblin. They collect what winnings they can before they leave, and over the course of about half an hour after the incident with Zincher, perhaps three-quarters of the night's patrons have left. A few people still nurse drinks at the bar, and a trio of people are still occupied with a game of Golem, but overall, the night looks to be over.
Once things have definitely wound down, Shayliss hops down from the stage. "Well I wouldn't have been up there if I wasn't. If you're here about some sort of business matter though, you'd want to talk to Mr. Vancaskerkin, and I think he probably has an emergency staff meeting to deal with tonight, so he's probably not going to be in the best mood to see anyone."
Lluvia is lost in tactical considerations and analyses the situation as Bromsen's questions takes her by surprise. She smiles at the curiosity of the question and is charmed by Bromsen's personal interest. "Why, yes. Elves sleep just like anyone else; preferably with a handsome mate."
She ties their prisoner firmly to a chair, hands Bromsen the bowl with water. "Better clean your wounds. I'll see to get help. I hope you're able to guard this one alone for now?"
Lluvia puts her rapier back into its sheath, takes a deep breath, tries to fake a smile and steps out in the hall. The scenery there surprises her, but she steps too the little group in the emptying casino. She regards unfamiliar half human with curiosity and nods friendly to her: "Good evening, my lady."
Into the group she continues: "Relverest, Sapphire... your help may be needed in the kitchen." She lowers her voice and tries to include only those two: "Bromsen has been wounded and poisoned."
"Lluvia, take me to him," says the cleric, still unsteady.
Lluvia is somewhat surprised by Relverest's shaken tone but doesn't say anything yet. She hooks into his arm so that it looks just like a friendly gesture, but she supports him. "Of course", she says and leads him to the kitchen.
"The corpse of the snake - in case the exact kind makes a difference - is in the basket there. How are you holding up, Bromsen? And... whatever happened in the hall, Rel? Where is Zincher?"
"Do you think you're able to guard him for now, Bromsen? I'll try to find help for your wounds and the poison."
"Uhh... Yes."
Brom watches Lluvia curiously. When she leaves the room, Brom crouches down to examine the thug. Brom hopes that his punch did not leave much of a mark on him.
The corpse of the snake - in case the exact kind makes a difference - is in the basket there. How are you holding up, Bromsen? And... whatever happened in the hall, Rel? Where is Zincher?"
Brom looks at Relverest noticing that something went wrong in the main hall given the mark on his face.
"Seems.. like we should have our own private meeting.. Saul certainly has enemies. We do not know why.. This will be more dangerous then any of us have expected. Whether you thought we had a choice, we are now stuck together. I do not know how long the duration, but our job description is not just being employees. We will have to grow as a team to survive."
Brom stands up.
"The snake wound will hopefully be better after a few days. We should probably talk to this guy, when he wakes up."
Relverest limps in on the elf's arm, his head clearing slowly but surely. He scans the scene, mentally kicking himself for being too slow earlier.
"I don't believe I can cure a snake bite's effects with my healing," says Relverest in subdued agreement. Just in case, he takes a look at the wound and at Bromsen's eyes and reflexes.
He speaks quietly to the group, or to the ground. "Clearly, I have been too trusting of the situation here. We need to assume any unusual event in this place is a violent threat, and react preemptively." He looks up, his emerald eyes glowing with emotion unseen prior to this moment.
"I want to speak to this ruffian indeed. I intend to go after Zincher." He looks to Lluvia. "He caught me unawares and laid me out with one blow. This was an orchestrated plan. I still don't know how he won so well at the tables, and it appears he didn't care about that. He just wanted to attack, wound, and humiliate."
Relverest lets out a long breath and glances at Bromsen again. "You're right. A team. Not for Saul, and not for the Goblin, not ultimately. Just the bunch of us." He looks downward again.
You are a fool to think you could be a merry leader of this crew, and here is a challenge to be something greater than that. This is now serious. Well, let's see how this develops, and I shall adapt, he mentally chastises, then reasons with himself.
It doesn't seem like Bromsen is poisoned in any long-term way. He has been poisoned, yes, and has suffered some minimal effects, but he should be better tomorrow without the need for healing.
Outside, Samaritha just kind of sighs. "Oh, okay. Let him know he's got an applicant for a job, if you would then, okay? Please?"
Brom listens intently to what Relverest has to say. He could of sworn that in the last few weeks he saw him praying once or twice. Brom wonders why this man carried so much optimism, so much of a romantic sense of the world.
"Maybe its his faith, but whatever it is... in times like this... thats what we need."
"Our team is still for the goblin, but our motivations are different. That creature in that cage has only made me fill uneasy. We need to protect everyone here. If we leave now... I only expect more trouble to happen to the customers and other employees who partake in this place. The sky has been dark around here for a while and for now... we will play in the dark. We have questions, there must be some answers somewhere. Hold your head high, Relverest, that is when you are at your best. My words don't carry as much as yours do. People make me... nervous... at times.
Brom thinks about Shayliss in particular. Brom smiles a little as his face becomes a little red. Noticing a urge in his chest following afterward, he shakes his head back in forth to remove such thoughts. "I am a monk, I should not be thinking..."
He soon returns to a solemn face and cools down. "If Zincher laid you out, who got you aware again?"
Shayliss nods. "Oh, well that might be another story I guess. We're still a little short-staffed I think and you made a good first impression with Rel there... hey, that wasn't some kind of odd little setup with Zilcher there to get a foot in the door, was it?"
Lluvia shivers at the thought of a team. She tries to fight it down - it's not like the rest of their little crew has done anything - but there it is. Shayliss is indeed an important reason why Lluvia stayed. Lluvia doesn't feel responsible for Shayliss, but she feels she has to try and protect the blood young, charming and spirited girl from herself as well as the night quite so charming world around her.
But actually working in a team is something she hasn't done since the time when she was herself a relatively innocent young diplomat - though "young meant a 140 years in her own case. Even though Lluvia has found a purpose in her life and a greater whole to belong to, it's not unusual for free agents loosely associated with the clergy of Desna to act on their own.
She takes a deep breath and focuses on the matter hand. Zincher's role in all this confuses her - if he was meant to be a distraction, then why so obvious. Why not a nameless goon instead of himself, after he knew he had been recognized? But she wouldn't put that for discussion in the presence of her prisoner.
"Let's get some answers." She gets a bucket with water, stands next to the prisoner and looks for a sign that he may already awake. "No suggestive questions, please. Don't cue his answers... I'll try a diplomatic approach. Would be good if someone else put a little pressure on him." be awake and the throws the water in his face.
Relverest blinks at Bromsen's question.
"Samaritha, my apologies. You have caught us at a delicate time. I humbly thank you for resuscitating me. You're a cyphermage, you say? Perhaps if you can wait for a while, while we do some cleaning."
Brom watches Relverest leave the kitchen in silence. Brom is most certainly confused, but he returns his focus on the task at hand.
"Let's get some answers." She gets a bucket with water, stands next to the prisoner and looks for a sign that he may already awake. "No suggestive questions, please. Don't cue his answers... I'll try a diplomatic approach. Would be good if someone else put a little pressure on him." be awake and the throws the water in his face.
Brom knows that he will not be very helpful in this situation. He will just have to keep his mouth shut when this guy wakes up. "Well... Alright."
Shayliss excuses herself to find Saul and explain things as best she can, "So... Zilcher didn't really seem to be up to anything, but then someone snuck a snake into the kitchen- he's down in there still, and then when people were dealing with that Zilcher hit Rel over the head and ran, so, there's probably some connection there..."
"Also there's a half-elven woman called Samaritha downstairs, looking for some kind of temporary work I think while she tries to get in with those people who study all the crazy old rune stuff. She seems nice enough, and helped get Rel back on his feet, so I guess I'd have to vouch for her... but I'd suppose the snake thing's a higher priority to deal with."