The exodus from the Nest goes smoothly; there's no immediate raid by either the dottari or the Queensmen, and even the northern sewers seem mostly free from roaming dangers. Those whose travels take them to or over the Bleaksbridge notice that Saul Porter's Dancing Devil Gambling Hall has a hand-painted sign hanging outside: "Temporarily Closed."
The following day, there's a message delivered to Eradon Manor via the silver raven wondrous figurine of Songbird Hall. It's from Dom & Jessibel. It says that the two buried Zea (and the remains of the two Silver Ravens of old found with Falina) in the Tears of Aroden cemetery in eastern Redroof. Dom apologizes to Davina but says that he needs to avenge Zea's murder by Scarplume. Toward that end, he and two tieflings from the Devil's Nursery intend to hunt the strix down. A couple of lines in Jessibel's more flowery handwriting add that the bard will be tagging along to provide healing and to keep Dom focused. She asks Davina to inform her family..."once they realize I'm missing again."
Davian’s looks upset at the note she received from Dom and Jess. ”I hope those two take care of themselves. I hate thinking they are running around on their own.”
”I suggest we find rooms at the Silver Stein. We can keep Sabrina there, and have a close base while we examine the Fantasmagroium.” she takes her time thinking about the logistics required to clean out this location without too many people noticing.
Upon hearing of the note from Dom & Jessi, Rexus decides that he'll stay with Sabrina at the Silver Stein. That way, there'll be a rescue party handy in the event things go south like they did with the Red Jills.
"That sounds like a good plan," says T'chazzar in agreement with Davina. "We're going to need more room if we start recruiting again, so we don't have much time to spare."
With their successful escape and move to a new location Falina opted to stay at the inn as well with Rexus and Sabrina. While Rexus seemed able to stay out of trouble Sabrina didn't and she felt someone should keep an eye on the young woman. She spent some time with both, getting to know them better, and found herself quite intrigued with Sabrina due to simple attraction more than anything else.
With Rexus:
Finding an opportunity to speak with Rexus wasn't hard, he didn't seem to get out much, more interested in his books than anything. Falina decided that was a good opening for conversation and asked, "So, what is it you're studying now? Anything interesting?"
With Sabrina:
Falina found many opportunities to chat with the young Sabrina, the girl seemed happy to be free again and it was something she could relate to given her own circumstances. "How does it feel to be free of your circumstances? I can relate given how the others found me." Her expression was said as she continued, "Be glad you didn't miss almost a hundred years."
"I don't know what to do with my free time, now that all those old documents have finally been decoded," Rexus admits. "I was thinking that--perhaps with Lady Jessibel's help--I might compile a list of citizens of Kintargo who might be sympathetic to our cause."
"You were in limbo for nearly a century?" Sabrina asks, sounding a bit skeptical. "That's...well, it's awful. All your friends and family must be...."
Sabrina opts to change the subject as it grows grim and dark. "As for my situation...I'm glad to be away from Blossie and Saul, but at the same time I'm afraid they'll find me again and do gods-know-what to me. At least I have some help and protection now."
Falina & Rexus:
Falina considered the nobleman's words and then said, "That might be a good idea, particularly among the nobles of the city. You and Jessibel have the connections between and she the personality to charm them into working with us paired with your intellect to come up with safe ways to approach them and keep you both out of trouble I think you'll make a great team."
Falina and Sabrina:
Falina nodded at the question, "Yes, I was cocooned by an undead spider-lich-thingy." She frowned, then and said, "It was a trap set up by Thrune during the original rebellion. We had already failed but were trying to do as much damage as we could, make it too costly to be worth the effort. We were doing well too, I'd accounted for almost all of their family who had been sent to try and govern the city." She grinned a naughty and vicious grin as she said, "It took them a while to figure out I kept seducing them and draining their life from them before they tricked us with that lich."
Falina's expression became bitter again at the memory of the lich. "And too think, I'd finally gotten a chance to get Silverbelle into my bed after that mission. Sadly she was just a withered and devoured husk when I was rescued by the others." She looked back to Sabrina then and said, "Believe me, the fears of Saul and Blossie are nothing in comparison to that horror."
Turning to face Sabrina more Falina said, "Of course, if you're still worried I'm sure I can distract you for a time." She leaned in closer to the younger woman and lay a hand on her leg, "If you're old enough of course."
Your group, Rexus and Sabrina in tow, heads for the Silver Stein Inn as soon as the nightly curfew ends, arriving in time for a hearty breakfast before you press on and investigate the old museum. Sitting at a small table just inside the front doors, flirting a bit with the young bouncer Mortan, is a familiar figure: Jessibel! The young noblewoman waves and relocates to a larger booth to speak with her fellow Silver Ravens.
”After burying Zea, Silverbelle, and Narathan in the old cemetery, Dom and I, along with a couple of tiefling fellows lent to our cause by Baelgar, tried to track down where your nemesis Scarplume went after the fight the other night. We didn’t learn anything, but apparently our inquiries brought us to the attention of the remaining Red Jills, who tried to ambush us. I masterfully talked them down, convincing them that you guys were only there to talk and that the strix woman’s actions were the reason a battle ensued. We found out that the Jills who robbed the Dancing Devil that same night never returned to the hideout; they were apparently ambushed en route by someone or something as they tried to traverse the sewers. I asked the surviving Jills to take us to the ambush site to search for clues, and while we were down there we came under attack by a couple of ghouls. Our best guess is that the Jills who robbed Saul Porter passed into ghoul territory as they used the sewers to return to their hideout. Maybe one was taken alive and spilled the located of the hideout, which the ghouls then raided. That’s my theory, anyhow.”
”We decided to stay here last night before picking up the search for Scarplume this morning. Being the only woman in the group, I got my own room. When I woke up, I found a note from Dom passed under my door saying that he’d never forgive himself if something bad happened to me and that he and the two tieflings had already left to continue the hunt. I was hoping you’d all stop in here before….”
Jessibel’s speech is interrupted when a six-person Queensman patrol enters through the inn’s front doors. It’s led by a tall, dark-haired female with small, pointed horns growing out of her head*. She scans the sparse crowd imperiously, locks her gaze on Jessibel, and waves her comrades forward.
”Black-haired female, black-and-red armor…smaller than I expected,” one of the Queensmen comments as he gives the young noblewoman a once-over. ”Looks like we’ve finally caught the Black Thorn! Now come peacefully and maybe—just maybe—we won’t bring your friends in, too.”
”The Black What?” Jessi asks, trying to buy some time. The horned woman strides forward, however. ”I know you!” she hisses. Then she gazes at Sabrina. Even though the other girl’s hair is still dyed black, recognition reflects in the Queenswoman’s eyes. ”Well…hello cousin. Fancy meeting you here. Arrest them all!!”
You recognize the patrol’s leader from the recent Vashnarstill bash: Mina Sarini, one of Sabrina’s creepy cousins.
You witness this scene from the stairs.
The Queenswoman glares at your group intently...or is she concentrating on a spell-like ability or silent spell, perhaps?
Davina scrambles out of the booth as quickly as she can. She gets between Jess and the thugs. "What seems to be the issue here? We were just having breakfast with friends. What charges are you arresting us under?"
Falina and Sabrina:
Pleased at the young woman's seeming interest in taking things farther and gave her a very firm kiss on the lips. She didn't hold much back and let a little of her dominant personality show as she controlled it before finally breaking off breathless and saying, "Yes, I think we're going to have to explore that in much greater detail Sabrina..." she trailed off a moment before she let her hand slide further up the girl's leg, "but later on when we have more privacy."
At the Silver Stein:
The arrival of the Queensmen was not pleasant in it's timing. They were just finding things out and she was getting interested teasing Sabrina unobtrusively and then this b@*&! showed up to cause problems. That she was demanding the thugs to arrest them all just pissed Falina off. She rose to her feet, put herself between the goons and Sabrina, and said, "I don't think so you stupid b+!~$." She said a few words and then blew a kiss at the guard nearest the horned woman. The guard felt a sudden feeling of friendship with the striking woman come over him.
Falina knew her magic took hold, she could feel it settle over the guard's mind and adjust his attitude towards her. She said to him sharply, "We're members of the inquisition gathering evidence that that traitor," she pointed to the horned woman, "has been aiding the so called Silver Ravens. Help us take her into custody for questioning."
As much as Leora wants to jump out of the booth and fight Mina, she follows Davina and Falina's lead for the moment. She stands up from her seat. "We don't want to cause any trouble, please explain what's going on here."
Arani had awakened in a moment of panic as her mind slowly caught up to remember where she was. She'd spent the night in an empty room in the Silver Stein after evading the unnervingly dogged pursuit of the Queensmen patrols, each with lolalists sporting those odd small horns. The tieflings ability to see in the dark was something she was used to, but these most recent patrols seemed to have an uncanny knack for tracking her.
She'd slept later than she normally would, probably due to exhaustion as loathe as she was to admit it, and now this. The Queensmen that just entered the common room were looking for her, the perfect cue to head out onto the roof, except for the fact that they thought some innocent down there was her.
From her position on the stairs, she could see the patrol members as well as a few of the group in the corner booth.
'Jessibel....it's rare to see her without that brat Sabrina in tow. Who the hell did they think they had? Damn it!' Knowing that she couldn't very well let someone else get taken in for her action, she draws an arrow, preparing to engage.
Jessibel hops to her feet, drawing her rapier standing at Davina's side. She obviously expecting a fight, as she starts one of her inspirational battle songs. The bard also makes eye contact across the room with the young bouncer Mortan, who nods and draws his longsword while closing on the Sarini Queenswoman. Sabrina show some of Jessi's spunk, climbing atop the table, drawing her rapier, and telling her cousin there's no chance in Hell that she'll be returning to her family. Rexus--who's supposed to be dead--delays in the corner of the booth, waiting to see what T'chazzar will do.
The horned woman, seeing no real signs of compliance, drones a strange single word: "Thunder."
T'chazzar stands slowly and rests his hands on his belt, then his thumbs press against the hilts of his blades and loosen them from their scabbards.
Three of the Queensmen step forward and dig into their belt pouches. Two hurls what appear to be small stones at the party; the third keeps his stone clutched in his hand for now and instead draws his light mace. The first thunderstone goes where it was aimed, detonating near the feet of Davina and Jessibel; the second, meant to strike the ceiling near the corner where Falina, Sabrina, and Leora are gathered, instead hits closer to Jessibel. The loud BOOMS! deafen Jessibel while threatening to do the same to DAVINA (2 saves), and T'CHAZZAR (1 save). .
Another Queensman moves to intercept the bouncer, taking a swing at the young man's ribs but missing badly. The fellow charmed by Falina closes on the leader and orders her to submit to arrest and subsequent questioning.
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T'chazzar turns his head at the orbs come in and leans forward slightly, his mouth agape. Though it looks ridiculous, the pose means that all the air in his head rushes out and back in as the stones explode and change the air pressure, and this prevents him from being overwhelmed by the blasts.
His swords move smoothly out of his scabbards and he advances on the guardsman and stabs with his backsword.
Kind of an amazingly good start!
The Queensmen finally seem to have updated themselves a bit: a six-person patrol instead of three, having an actual leader, armed with a few alchemical doo-dads...but they're still wearing basic studded leather armor and not bothering to gird themselves with shields of any type. As a result, T'chazzar easily stabs his foe between the ribs, badly wounding the fellow.
A misshapen creature like the ones most of the Ravens fought near the sludge pool beneath the Fair Fortune Livery suddenly materializes adjacent to T'chazzar, Davina, Jessibel, and one of the Queensmen. It lashes out at the bard with its twin claws. Jessi wards off the first with her buckler but the second rakes across her forearm . The bard winces but manages to maintain her inspirational song despite her temporary deafness.
"Call down, Colbin!" the female patrol leader tells the Queensman charmed by Falina, holding her hands before her in a non-threatening manner. Suddenly, however, she draws a heavy mace, steps closer to the bouncer, and swings two-handed for his ribcage! Mortan seems to have been expecting treachery and dodges the blow easily.
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T'chazzar continues his momentum, stabbing with both of his swords now in an attempt to fell the citizen-soldier in front of him. Hey, the guy decided he wanted to be a soldier, and that comes with certain risks!
Davina yells loudly clearly not able to her her own voice, "I know what those are. Remember we aren't from hell so they will attack on sight. They are mindless so any spells or songs that affect the mind would be wasted. Sorry Jess. Watch out for the two claws. Fire and poison won't do anything to them, and cold and acid won't do much. If it isn't a good or silver weapon, then your hits won't do as much damage."
She pulls out her silver dagger as she steps next to Jess, and stabs at the Lemure with a flank.
Moving around into another booth for cover Falin heard Davina call out a warning about the devil. Getting a better line of sight Faline sent a beam of blackish energy out at one of the thugs.
"Really. Not only do you mistake someone else for me, but you attack her and her companions with no provocation. Nothing but thugs and hooligans!" a darkly alluring figure utters from the stairs, smoothly releasing a rapid duo of bowshots at two of the Queensmen. Clad in black and red leather armor, the cowl over her head and veil across the lower half of her face obscure her identity, though locks of raven black hair can be seen as she moves.
Clearly, the aforementioned Black Thorn has arrived
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Leora slips out of the booth and moves to buff T'chazzar, but it takes her longer than expected to reach the drow . Sabrina, not wearing armor, opts not to wade into the battle but still repositions a bit to help defend Rexus, who continues to hide in the corner of the booth.
Davina flanks the lemure, delivering a decent strike with her silver dagger. Not armed with a silver weapon and feeling that her friends can deal with the lemure, Jessibel delays while Falina blasts one of the Queensmen with a ray of enfeeblement.
A pair of arrows suddenly whizzes from the staircase leading upstairs. One skewers the neck and throat of the westernmost guard, dropping him in a heap; the second digs itself deep into the ribcage of the loyalist Falina had charmed. Despite his pain, this fellow tries to beat his former captain into submission, but the effort is costly and sends the man into unconsciousness.
To the south, the bouncer hacks into the horned woman's arm, drawing blood, but then he's flanked and belted by a nearby Queensman. At this point, Jessibel withdraws from the devil fight and squeezes between Davina and the booth Falina's taken cover in, moving south to help the double-teamed bouncer. Too late: Sabrina's cousin delivers a crushing blow to the head and shoulders that drops the young man to the floor. She then turns her attention to the newly-arrived bard, telling her henchman to deal with the Black Thorn.
T'chazzar's clipped by a mace strike a moment before he runs the fellow through. The weakened Queensman zapped by Falina takes the fallen man's place but his swing doesn't connect.
Perhaps because Davina's silver dagger actually hurt it, the lemure swipes both its claws at her, neither coming particularly close to connecting. The mindless thing doesn't bother trying to escape the flank that the aasimar and drow have on it.
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Her eyes quickly taking in the whole of the battlefield, the Black Thorn takes a step forward. The last step down was steeper than she'd anticipated though, causing her to fumble her first arrow. Hissing a curse under her breath, she quickly nocks and fires the second one, directly at the unfortunate Queensman given the dubious task of taking her on alone.
With the success of her first strike Falina began to cast fom behind the table again. She sent another sickly black ray of energy at a different thug this time in an effort to further weaken their enemies. She tried to choose a target unaffected by her spells thus far and, hopefully, unengaged with her allies.
Arani puts an arrow into the leg of the Queensmen sent against her; the fellow seems to be having second thoughts about that course of action now.
Davina stabs at the lemure with her dagger again. "Some one go help that young man. He was just trying to help."
Davina's latest stab misses the mark and the devil-woman snarls, "Bag her!" at the Queensman she's tasked with capturing the real Black Thorn. The fellow nods, still grimacing in pain from the arrow sticking out of him, reaches into his belt pouch, draws something small, takes a step toward the distant rebel, and hurls the thing in her direction. Meanwhile, the weakened Queensman continues to press his luck (and the battle) against T'chazzar. Neither comes close to scoring a hit, much to their leader's frustration; the thrown item splats on the floor, revealing itself to be a tanglefoot bag. The patrol leader dodges a weak rapier stab from Jessibel.
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The patrol leader sees the writing on the wall and withdraws from combat, heading for the front doors. Meanwhile, the mindless lemure continues to swipe its claws at Davina, this time catching her in the shoulder .
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T'chazzar stabs once more and hopefully finishes off his civilian guard foe.
Seeing the bi+<# that had come for her turning tail, The Black Thorn sends her off with a parting gift, selecting first a thistle arrow then a regular one.
"Aww..what's wrong? You came to the ball and got shy before we danced!"
Still next to T'chazzar, Leora heals his wounds. She pretends to mix something in her flask and then splashes him with the contents. "That'll have you right as rain! "
Davina hisses in pain, and swipes at the lemure again.
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The two surviving Queensmen attack T'chazzar and Jessibel, neither coming particularly close to a hit. T'chazzar keeps the pressure on his weakened foe, scoring a decent hit and barely missing with his follow-up stab. Meanwhile, he gets some healing from Leora, who masks her divine spell masterfully.
The Black Thorn displays some masterful shooting, putting a pair of arrows into the back of the fleeing patrol leader. The horned woman gasps in agony but reaches for the doorknob, using it to keep herself upright. Then her bleeding wounds cause her to lose her grip and she slumps, unconscious and dying, to the floor.
Meanwhile, the mindless lemure dodges Davina's slash and wheels around, lashing out at the nearby Queensman, putting the fellow close to death's doorway with a swiping claw.
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The Queensman fighting T'chazzar suddenly stares at the drow in disbelief for an instant before his eyes roll back in his head and he crumples to the floor; the secondary stab he thought he'd dodged instead found his kidney.
With the Queensman fallen, T'chazzar turns on his heel with sudden grace and brings his blades to bear against the lemure.
Falina chanted and gestured again and a pair of energy bolts leapt out to strike the last standing Queensman that Jessi was fighting.
With Dom not present, T'chazzar proves he can pick up the slack when it comes to melee combat, turning on the summoned devil and running it through with both his blades. Jessibel lets out a startled "Eep!" as Falina's magic missiles skirt her to slam into and drop the last Queensman standing. The young noblewoman looks over her shoulder at the sorceress and nods her thanks. Then she turns her attention to the similarly-clad archer standing at the foot of the stairs. Giving another cautious nod, the teen says, "Nice armor."
The sound of running footfalls causes momentary alarm, but Jessibel tells Arani to stay her arrows: The person rushing down the stairs behind her is Alyss Rustwell, the inn's proprietor. "What happened?" the woman demands before letting out a shriek when she sees her young bouncer lying in a pool of his own blood.
"Likewise." The veiled and hooded archer replies with a hint of a smile in her voice. "Unfortunately it appears the similarities may have brought undue trouble to you and your friends. For that I am sorry." she says before the running footsteps and screams of the innkeeper interrupt.
Seeing Alyss's bouncer on the ground and that the rest of the group seems to be handling everything, Leora moves behind T'chazzar to help the badly-wounded bouncer. She pretends to mix something in her flask before pouring it into his mouth.
"Any Thorn in Thrune's side is a friend of ours," Leora says to the newcomer on the stairs, wary of saying too much in front of Alyss.
"We're really sorry about all this, Alyss. We were just having breakfast, and these Queensmen came in to arrest us. We tried to talk to them first, but they wouldn't have any of it. Your bouncer tried to help. He'll be alright with some rest," she adds, continuing to tend to Mortan.
"Sab that one is a cousin?" Davina points to the horned Queenswoman.
"Thoughts on what we should do with her?"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Davina. Thank you for your help. We get confused with someone else all the time." She grins.
"What are we going to do with them?" she shoves at one of the downed Queensmen with her toe.
T'chazzar starts to wipe down his swords and says, "Sorry for the mess. We'd better figure out what we're going to do with these bodies."
"Well for the sake of our hostess here, it would probably best if they were taken out back and dumped in an alley somewhere. Perhaps the ran afoul of one of the gangs in this area, what with the city watch a bit negligent around here." The Black Thorn replies, walking into the main common room and checking a couple of the copses as she speaks. She was still deciding how much she could trust these strangers who were so quick to take arms against Thrune's squad......granted they were attacked first.
With the fighting over Falina felt a wash of relief. She went to Sabrina and asked, "Are you alright luv?" It was around then that Alyss came storming down to see the mess and demand answers. Falina noticed the nickname Davina used for Sabrina and made note to figure out the relationship between the two.
As they discussed what to do with the bodies Falina said, "If the sewers are like I remember them just toss them in, something will drag them away for a meal and it won't be a problem anymore."