Neziana wrinkles her nose, though that's hard to make out from under her hood. "It smells about as vile as Gaedren is. The city will be a better place if we get rid of his stench."
Once they get closer she points to the wide opening and says. "There are small kids in there, that would make things chaotic. Ideally we would find Gaedren first, then we might not have to deal with all his underlings. I have no idea where he is of course. But if we find him through the smaller door, we might be able to avoid fighting more people than necessary. Fighting is risky, we could get hurt. So I suggest we try the small door. Let's see if we can get there without being noticed. Perhaps by climbing over the railing."
"Never mind the fact that the kids could get hurt too, I guess..." Tassira whispers under her breath. "...I'm not the stealthiest, even with Ravnos' help. But I can give it a try."
The cat in her backpack *meows* in agreement.
"Or they could be used as hostages against us. Whatever takes us most directly to Lamm is best. If the snake's head is cut off the rest may die. With Lamm eliminated, the rest may walk away if given the option. It gives us a bargaining chip as well. I think the small door is the better choice."
"I can climb OK," Nebbin says. "I don't really like fighting, so that sounds much better."
Tassira steels herself and follows Nebbin...
Though her feet are much surer than she thought when it comes to being quiet, being able to climb up is a different story...
Tassira and Kayleigh both struggle with the rail, though they manage to do so quietly. Tassira bites back a curse as she barks her shin against the rough wood.
Both ladies gain the rail with a surprising lack of noise. The loading dock is old but sturdy, and the group huddles against the wall out of sight as Neziana makes her cautious way down the steps. Just as she reaches the door by the water, a long dark shadow stirs under the bow of the boat. It's barely visible in the shallows for just a brief second, then disappears into the deeper darkness of the Jeggare sending a small wake washing against the pilings.
The doorknob in Neziana's hand will not turn. The door is locked.
Although she's not anxious to inflict damage or punishment upon Lamm and his mature minions, Kayleigh doesn't want to get caught unprepared either. Now that the small bit of embarrassing climbing was out of the way, she draws her never-before-used morningstar and keeps it at the ready. Will today be the day she actually gets the weapon bloody?
Keeping away from the water, Nebbin waits to see if Neziana can get the door open.
"Is it stuck?" he whispers uncertainly. "I can try to knock it down..."
"A shadow in the water. We better not fall in. It might be a dangerous creature attracted by previous victims Gaedren has dumped in the water." Neziana says with a hint of alarm in her tone.
She then turns towards the door and studies it.
After finding nothing dangerous she tries to open it carefully, only to find her way barred. "It's locked." Neziana comments in a matter of fact tone. "Don't worry, I'll handle it. Our moment of surprise will be completely ruined if you just bash it down."
A pair of lockpicks appear in her hands and she deftly get to work picking the lock.
The lock is stubborn - difficult to pick quietly more because it's old and rusted than because of any cunning in its design. As Neziana's making the attempt you pick up voices from the other side of the door. It sounds like the beating may be going on nearby. Despite the distraction the rogue does eventually defeat the lock and there's no sign that anyone has noticed your efforts.
Tassira grits her teeth and starts calling a familiar arcane incantation to mind.
Neziana grits her teeth in rembered pain. It hurts! Ow! Please Stop! But in her memories her pleading had no effect, the beating never did stop. Cold anger fills her as she says."Sounds like Gaedren is his old self and beating someone up. We might be able to interviene if we act quickly. Let's move quiet too, to take advantage of the moment of surprise." The tiefling puts away her picks then tries to open the door as quietly as possible, hoping that the rust won't make it too loud.
Opening this old door without making a sound proves impossible, but it likely would not have mattered anyway. Neziana's first view of the room beyond includes a young man seated on a crate against the riverside (eastern) wall. He spots Neziana immediately and cries out in alarm.
The room beyond is a stench-filled mess. It's dominated by a large cylindrical vat that's being slowly filled by some smelly runoff coming from troughs cut through the western wall above the vat. The vat itself is about 6' tall and covered in waterproofing tar, but still leaks its contents onto the floor, making the floor around the vat slimy with fish offal.
A wooden stair opens immediately to your right, just beyond the door. This stair leads to a raised walkway - one of two in the room - that affords someone at the top the means to poke into the vat with a long pole. The door at the top of these stairs is open, and a young boy stands in the doorway, mouth agape at the sight of intruders.
A second set of rickety steps spans the eastern wall and leads to a walkway that wraps around the southern end of the room and runs along most of the eastern wall. Below this walkway hang dozens of empty hammocks. High on the eastern wall, accessed by this second walkway are two doors which are shut.
In the middle of the floor is a wide rimmed opening that loos like it drops straight into the river shallows below the building.
Directly in front of you, with his back momentarily turned toward Neziana is the half orc, steady kicking his victim, who lies balled up on the floor and sobbing. Two other boys and a girl stand there witnessing the beating. The tallest of these has angry eyes and a fixed look of determination on his face as he watches the beating.
HP 15/15
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (-2 to all when raging)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +0 (+2 Will when raging)
CMD 17
Rage: 1/9
Harrow points: 3/3
Effects:
"Hey, you leave him ALONE!" Nebbin cries, rushing toward the half-orc, massive board raised.
Anger seems to suffuse the young man, who seems to almost swell as in the moment he forgets to try to make himself smaller.
A light blue mist cascades from Tassira's fingers, and she channels it at the half-orc's back! "Diin!"
Emileva waits at the bottom of the stairs, watching the partially opened door at their rear, waiting as Neziana works. Now that they're closer, the sounds of the beating are inescapable, and she flinches internally as each blow falls.
We should have gone the other way to stop it. But this is the better plan. she tells herself. As each blow falls, she tells herself again. Stick to the objective, this is the better plan, this is the better plan...
She draws her falchion and keeps waiting.
When the door opens and she hears the shout from inside, she springs up the stairs.
Neziana steps forward, besides Nebbin and stabs at the half-orc. Her words are frosty as she says. "Time for you to pay for your heinous behavior, die!"
She stabs forward with a quick thrust. The rapid movement causes her hood to come off to reveal the face of a not quite human girl. She got dark hair, skin, nose and mouth like a human, but she also got ears like a cat covered with dark fur on top of her head, cat-like eyes and whiskers.
Neziana tries to tumble around the half-orc to stab him from the other side.
The violent movement causes her hood to come off to reveal the face of a not quite human girl. She got dark hair, skin, nose and mouth like a human, but she also got ears like a cat covered with dark fur on top of her head, cat-like eyes and whiskers.
She stabs at the half-orc, taking advantage of the flanking from Nebbin. Her words are frosty as she says. "Time for you to pay for your heinous behavior, die!"
The sight of the man being clubbed down fills Neziana with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he's getting what he deserves for what he has done, but on the other hand, it's still a man getting beaten to death, something she has bad experiences with.
Still, she does not hesitate. She runs forward to the other of Lamm's underlings and stabs him with her rapier. "You are as much at fault as him for letting him do that to a child!"
The wild dash causes her hood to come off to reveal the face of a not quite human girl. She got dark hair, skin, nose and mouth like a human, but she also got ears like a cat covered with dark fur on top of her head, cat-like eyes and whiskers.
The sight of the man being clubbed down fills Neziana with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he's getting what he deserves for what he has done, but on the other hand, it's still a man getting beaten to death, something she has bad experiences with.
She hesitates for a moment, long enough for the other man to act before her. She vinces as the man attacks her companion, but react right after, tumbling around him to hit him from the other side. "You are as much at fault as him for letting him do that to a child!"
The violent movement causes her hood to come off to reveal the face of a not quite human girl. She got dark hair, skin, nose and mouth like a human, but she also got ears like a cat covered with dark fur on top of her head, cat-like eyes and whiskers.
The guy relaxing on the crates scoops up a short sword that was lying next to his seat, hops down and sprints up the stairs, hollering the whole time about intruders. Almost immediately a dog starts barking from somewhere deeper in the building.
Nebbin closes the distance and brains the big half-orc with his trusty board. The half orc reels from the blow, shaking his head to clear his vision.
One of the kids runs for the corner of the room opposite the door the party is entering by, trying to hide among the hammocks under the southern walkway.
A second , this one a skinny young girl of perhaps a dozen years, backs away from the party as they enter, her involuntary steps edging her closer to the hole in the floor. The third youth, a boy about her age or maybe older, interposes himself between the melee and the girl, broomstick clutched firmly in his hands.
The crates to the left of Nebbin and the stairs to the right impede Neziana, so she attempts to vault the rail of the steps and work her way behind the half orc. . She gains footing beside her target if not behind, and her jabbing attack draws blood.
Emileva comes through the doorway behind Nebbin, but can't find a way to contribute directly to that combat, so she continues up the steps that ascend the north wall. It's evident that more children are working in the room beyond the door (this is the room with the open loading bay doors).
Blinking away the pain with his one good eye, the half orc wheels away from the little boy he was beating half-to-death and snatches up a flail that was sitting on the crate behind him. He lashes out at Neziana but fails to connect. He gives some ground in the face of the huge human, clearly hurt by the onslaught.
Tassira tries to get a shot at the retreating half orc around Nebbin's huge frame but only manages to hit the wall beyond the enemy.
Kayleigh acts rear-guard at the top of the loading bay steps outside, alert for enemies looping around the back.
HP 15/15
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (-2 to all when raging)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +0 (+2 Will when raging)
CMD 17
Rage: 2/9
Harrow points: 3/3
Effects:
Flinching for a moment as the half-orc swings -- even if it wasn't at him -- Nebbin then advances implacably, huge board in his hand again swinging in a crude arc toward the abuser.
"Where's Carawyn?" he demands, voice low and intense in a way no one in the room has heard before.
Nebbin presses his board of fury attack right into the half orc's cranial cavity. His neck snaps audibly from the force of the blow and he collapses to the ground.
In the chaos of the rush the girl by the hole in the floor takes one too many steps back. She teeters for a moment trying to regain her balance, then falls with a scream. On her way down, the back of her head cracks on the rim of the opening with a sickening thud. An immediate splash tells you she's in the river. The boy with the broomstick throws away his makeshift weapon and goes down on all fours, staring down after the girl in horror.
At the top of the stairs, Emileva stands in the opening of a doorway into the chamber with the loading bay doors and from here she can see the kids move as a body for those doors and the possibility of escape. One of the boys trips and falls hard on the loading dock. He balls up in a fetal position and lies there, maybe crying.
Another of the kids, this one an older girl but perilously skinny, stops running at the doors and turns around as if she heard something. One of the boys tugs at her arm.
Run Carrie! Come on!
Emileva takes a couple of steps into the room and calls to the fleeing children.
"Wait! Don't run! We're here to bring vengeance down upon Gaedren Lamm and his henchmen! We will make sure he never harms anyone again! We will take you to safety, and we need you to point out your abusers so they can have justice done to them! Help us strike them down for you!"
While she does this she scans the room carefully, suspicious that there is no obvious taskmaster to be seen. If these children were here alone, why did they wait to run?
Kayleigh looks at tall Tassira in the doorway, considering if she should move up. Then three people rush out the doorway behind her, one moving in her direction. The normally peaceful cleric raises her morningstar menacingly but holds her ground for now, trying to decide if any of the fleeing children are Kevlin, the young lad she's been quested to find.
for
Neziana steps over the dead half-orc, sheathing her short sword and pulling out a bow in hopes of getting a shot at the guy banging on the door upstairs or anyone who opens that door.
As Emileva steps into the room, she gets an insight as to why they leave these doors open. A trough on the east (riverside) wall contains a mound of half-rancid fish flesh simmering in a shallow bath of some kind of solution that fizzes around the edges of the meat. The smell in here with the doors open is terrifying enough.
A table in the corner is slimed and scaled beyond any redemption. It's been used as a cleaning table for the fish, and the ichor runs freely into a chum barrel at the table's lip. A couple other barrels of this nature draw flies nearby.
Hearing Emileva's offer, 'Carrie' and her boyfriend stop at the bay doors and start backing back into the fishery. They fearfully point at the 'kid' balled up and crying on the deck in front of Kayleigh.
Eeee's one of them! she says, her eyes and her voice filled with venom. He's a gnome! He's baiting you!
The door the guy upstairs is pounding on suddenly jerks open and though a man stands in the frame, it's the black dog that draws your eye. It ducks through the legs of both gangsters and practically flies down the steps, snarling and trailing spit-ropes the whole way.
The man who answered the door steps up to the railing, points a wand at Nebbin's huge frame below, then curses when the charge fails to fire and a single drop of green acid drips from its tip. He shakes the wand violently, then concentrates to try again.
Hearing from some of the kids that one of their number is actually a sneaky gnome minion of Lamm's, Kayleigh approaches him and demands that he toss away his weapons immediately and surrender.
Tassira hurries into the room and starts running up the stairs, preparing another arcane incantation.
Kayleigh steps over to the faking enemy and makes her demand. He springs up so quickly, her readied attack misses him and he gains his feet. The kukri knife he's been concealing in his prone position whips out as he stands, but Kayleigh's able to deflect the blow.
Yer gonna bleed fer rattin' me out you rotten squeak! The mad-eyed gnome screams at the boy as he presses his attack against Kayleigh.
What in the hells are you waiting for?! Follow Bloo and go punish these intruders! The older man with the wand shouts at the boy who came and got him. He places a boot on the boy's backside and literally kicks him toward combat with the party. He screws up his face in determination, grips his short sword, and runs along the walkway trailing the dog.
HP 15/15
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (-2 to all when raging)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +0 (+2 Will when raging)
CMD 17
Rage: 3/9
Harrow points: 3/3
Effects: Rage
His heart pounding, Nebbin remembers the creature in the water and fears the little girl could be its next meal.
Rushing to the pool , he reaches down to try to grab the girl.
It's a full 5 feet to the water. You cannot reach the water, and you cannot see her because the river's so brown, though you can infer where she went in by the wake. She must have sunk like a stone.
Nebbin forces the shocked boy away from the hole and drops in. As he falls he gets the briefest glimpse of the gloomy underside of the fishery. The side of the old ship forms decrepit timber wall to the east, toward deeper water. There's an impression of just barely missing hitting some pier structure floating on the water, and then all that is lost in brown murk. On the way down his leg strikes something in the water, directly below him.
Back in the fishery above, the boy that Nebbin pushed away from the hole snaps out of his nightmare-paralysis and finds the cast-away broomstick at hand. He scoops it up and goes after the older boy with the short sword as he reaches the bottom of the steps.
No you don't, Avram! he screams. You're not stopping them!
"Uh, guys? Where did you all go? Could use some help in here." Neziana should out as she's suddenly left all alone with all the enemies. She drops her bow and draws out her rapier. She turns her side towards the enemies to make as small profile as possible. I just gotta hold out until the rest return, I can't take them on three versus one. She lunges towards the dog, but she's not used to fighting from a defensive position and her stab goes wide.
"Get out of here. I'll hold them off." She says to the boy next to her, encouraging him to withdraw.
When the girl calls out the child on the ground as a gnome henchman of Lamm's, Emileva follows her pointing finder out the door. She finds the gnome already confronting Kayliegh, so she comes in directly behind him. She doesn't say a word as she swings her falchion down on him. She's not in a negotiating or prisoner-taking frame of mind.
The gnome dodges just in time to avoid Emileva's wicked attack. His eyes grow impossibly large as he realizes the pickle he's in - caught between two well armed women.
Back inside, the man with the wand gives another, more convincing attempt at the wand and a flash of green streaks across the room to strike Neziana just as she steps clear of her foes.
The mad dog takes advantage of Neziana's preoccupation with burning clothes to savage her leg.
Tassira hears Neziana's cry of pain and runs back to the top of the stairs next to the foul vat. She summons up a blast of cold energy and aims it at the dog biting her!
Unfortunately, in her haste to help, her ray ends up impacting the railing in front of her.
"...oh dear..."
Kayleigh keeps the gnome between herself and Emileva and tries to bash the little creep with her morningstar.
for
Kayleigh brings her weapon down on her adversary's shoulder, tearing nasty gashes in his worn armor and drawing blood. He lashes out with his own counter but can't score a blow on the priestess.
He then attempts to tumble out of the situation he's in and does avoid Kayleigh's attacks but exposes his flank to Emileva.
Back in the fishery, tragedy compounds tragedy...
The fight between the two boys by the steps comes to a messy conclusion as the older boy plunges his short sword into the broomstick wielder's chest. The wounded boy screams as he slides off the blade and collapses in a heap on the floor. His killer wheels around looking for another enemy.
As the gnome dodges to flee, Emileva, who hasn't completely recovered from her swipe at him, flicks her falchion after him. Unfortunately her blade isn't quick enough to keep up with the moving target.
HP 15/15
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (-2 to all when raging)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +0 (+2 Will when raging)
CMD 17
Rage: 4/9
Harrow points: 3/3
Effects: Rage
Struggling with the weight of his armor, Nebbin swims downward and tries to grab the little girl .
Nebbin's momentum from the drop takes him quickly to the river bottom. There's maybe 12' of water here, with the ship's side taking away an entire flank and most of the light. The ground below the building is crunchy with bones as load after load of fishery leavings have been dumped down the hole he's jumped into. To either side, barnacle covered pilings loom in the darkness - the rotting supports for the entire enterprise above. Nebbin lunges at a dark shadow to his left, but only manages to bump into it rather than grasping it.
---
Back up in the fishery, the remaining Lambs do some combination of cowering, fleeing (in the case of the child on the loading bay), or bleeding out by the stairs.
Neziana screams out in pain as she's bitten by the swift jaws of the dog and covered in acid. Well, this is just not working out very well. We've lost three people so far, while we've only managed to take out one of them so far. Hopefully the others have better luck than me. Though I really wish there were someone else I could fight alongside with so I can strike while the enemies are distracted.
She grits her teeth and stabs at the dog, hoping to take advantage of it being busy biting her to stab deep into it's body. After stabbing she steps on top of the body of the boy, hoping that he's still alive and that her presence will protect him.
Irritated that she missed an opportunity to put this vicious little pest down, Emileva advances rapidly on the gnome. Once he's within her reach, she swings her falchion low, making it harder for him to use his short stature to avoid it.
Kayleigh takes a 5-foot step north to make it harder for the gnome to flee down the stairs and back into the fishery and then again swings her mace at the little sneak.
for
Tassira unlimbers her crossbow and takes aim before firing!
When Neziana stabs the dog he squeals and lets go of the leg he was worrying.
Wand man sneers at Neziana from on-high. You've broken into the wrong abandoned warehouse, girl! And your idiot friend killed my employee!
He pinches his face and flicks the wand at Neziana a third time. There's a spark, some spitting and some acrid smoke, but no elemental attack spell.
He curses violently, swinging the wand around in frustration.
The dog recovers - his blood lust is up and he is apparently not a creature that backs down often. It renews its attack and slips past Neziana's careful defense.
Tassira's bolt hits the mutt just as it makes its attack on Neziana, but is a glancing blow.
The short sword wielding boy circles the fight between the dog and Neziana cautiously bloody blade extended.
---
Outside on the loading dock, the ladies press their attacks against the wicked old fey, and though they hem him in, they fail to score the killing blow they seek. He dodges and parries and never gains enough balance to attack effectively himself.
HP 15/15
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (-2 to all when raging)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +0 (+2 Will when raging)
CMD 17
Rage: 4/9
Harrow points: 3/3
Effects: Rage; hold breath (11 rds. remaining)
Hoping the sea monster isn't getting close, Nebbin grabs again for the girl.
On his second attempt Nebbin snags the limp arm of a child. He pulls her to him, reassuring himself he's found an intact body and not the part some predator left behind. Satisfied with his catch, he kicks for the surface. Just before he breaks through into air he catches a glimpse of a fast moving shadow near the surface of the water.
The area Nebbin bursts up into has a rotting old dock that bobs on the surface of the water, half its timbers cracked and algae-covered. The old dock runs the length of the port side of the ship, then angles just where Nebbin's surfaced to provide a low path back to the foundation of the fishery.
As he pulls hard for the nearest part of the dock he spots a fast moving dorsal fin by the bow of the boat. He tracks the big fish's progress toward him with horror as he struggles with his heavy clothes and the dead weight of the drowned girl.
Neziana feels pain shoot through her whole body from her many wounds and her siight getting blurry as the dog bites her yet again. I can't let things continue like this. I'm going to die. She keeps her defensive posture and stabs at the dog.
If the dog goes down she retreats back out the door to get away from the wand guy. Upon seeing the gnome fight, she goes up to flank. “See here you wicked creature.” She says to distract him.
If it doesn't, she 5 fits towards the door.