Jerram charges in at the alchemist, his hands reaching to his tail where he'd pulled a three section staff out. Jerram lands swinging hard at the alchemist trying to end the fight quickly.
Wow!
I know IRL, you'd normally have us roll a third time, so here it is just in case you need it.
Davin mutters a few words while hidden behind his desk and a sudden strong feeling of warmth and invigoration runs its course through your body leaving you with a renewed energy.
The now enraged alchemist downs his “friend”enemy with a swift slash that nearly leaves the corpse headless. Following through on his swing and uttering a visceral howl of glee, he throws a wide hooked haymaker at the Oread.
His clawed hands flash mere increments from the druids face missing him but striking strong talon. The bird flies from its perch but not under its own volition. A large crash sounds as the glass in a cabinet makes abrupt contact with the bird. Glass shatters and the impact and noise from the crash stun the hapless bird momentarily.
As the alchemist fists impact the druids companion, Jerram charges drawing a three section staff with his tail. The ferocity of his attack dazes the Alchemist as the staff whirls making contact with the arms and then smashing into the unprotected solar plexus. With a thud and a breathless howl the alchemist attempts to catch his breath.
The attempt fails as the druid mutters a few syllables. A swarm of voracious light fingered monkeys rush the alchemist. Shirking away from them he forgets his pouches and a large flask is withdrawn. Shaking his head to clear the noise, the alchemist seems distracted and a little of kilter from his massed attackers.
In his moment of confusion, Shadara rises and slams an row in the tightened neck muscles of the alchemist drawing forth another roar of pain.
Before he can retaliate, he grabs his head and drops to one knee. Richard has a slow almost unnoticeable grin on his face at the reaction of the beast but still appears to not be completely attached to his surroundings.
The downed alchemist hears Quentin as he speaks in a concise confident tone, Brown dog, this madman has shed too much blood. Bind him!
A glittering mass of webbing falls around the enemy entangling his limbs and hampering his movement. Just out of the web's radius a spectrally hued spider waits sizing up its entangled meal.
Davin sits hard on the ground behind the desk breathing heavily and quite obviously exhausted from his spell casting.
The alchemist stays on one knee howling in pain and with intense frustration. Still swinging his arms at the nauseous primates, he searches to find the proper pouch.
Suddenly Ethereal music begins to throb out from the surrounding area permeating each of you and strengthening your resolve....
As the music plays in the room Shadara stands up drawing another bladed arrow and draws to her cheek. Seeing the movement of the hand trying to grab a pouch she aims and fires at the that hand.
Looks like you are stuck in a sticky situation my friend. You might consider a change in tactic. I know, how bout you play dead.
Jerram pulls back then spins, swinging his staff around and striking at the alchemist on quick succession, yet the monkey seems a touch distracted as he does, and his strikes don't land as well as he'd like.
Well, I guess my luck from last round had to balance out somehow.
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Quinten frowns as he watches Jerram's blows glance off the alchemist. I wonder if he's softening or redirecting his blows to avoid harming the monkeys.
The spider behind the alchemist has no such qualms. Its head lashes forward as it tries to sink its fangs into the alchemist's arm.
Anger fills the teacher as he hears his father's labored breathing. He moves opposite Jerram and raises his pointer, jabbing downward with the metal tip.
As the enemy is distracted in the chaos, Mang Fu Ha Saan takes a brief instant to asses if his enemy is wearing any metal armor, and if so where it is located.
Seeing no metal visible on the alchemist for his idea, he quickly shoots a glance back to his companion, who while having taken a blow does not appear to be in serious condition. Looking back to his foe, he takes a swing with his weapon.
Davin sits somewhat out of breathe and tries to recover some energy. The maddened alchemist still besieged by a swarm of monkeys , downs a large vial that he has been holding. He appears momentarily to pause in his labored breathing and when it begins again it is no longer ragged or rapid.
Jerram attacks again with his staff only the distraction of the monkeys seems to have put him off kilter and he misses widely and eliminates a few of the pesky primates.
OUr druid realizing the alchemist has no armor which to anchor a spell,decides his best bet is to smash once again. With a over hand arc made sloppy from the confines of the room,the hammer still makes a solid thunk into the side of the alchemists head. Groaning he topples sideways.
As he topples Quentin and his summoning attack the body. The pointer embeds itself into the upper arm of the alchemist and takes a moment to retract it. When it does retract, it is covered in a strange black ichor. As the teacher pulls the pointer free, an arrow streaks by fired by shadara and nails the alchemist in the face just below the right cheek bone. The alchemist doesn't even twitch at the impact.
Richard seeing that the creature is down waits to see if it stays down before he makes an attack.
Jerram stands watching the alchemist as he collapses to the floor. He holds his battle position ready to move if needed and he breathes deep, showing the signs of battle fatigue.
Richard keeps an eye out for other threats as he keeps his facade up of being out of it.
Fortitide throws dc 14
With the fight over, Mang Fu Ha Saan moves to the other end of the room where Strong Talon was thrown to tend to his companion. He begins to remove the shards of glass still caught within Strong Talon's feathers as he uses what limited magical healing he has to slowly return his companion to his full strength.
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Quinten's eyes move from the pointer to the slain crossbowman. The teacher swallows bile as his eyes follow the slashes across the youth's neck and chest. He's dead. I made a man kill his friend.
Dropping his weapon and closing his eyes, Quinten reaches up to to the bronze circlet that enabled him to redirect the alchemist's rage. Much to his surprise, it's cool to the touch, as if nothing is wrong.
With an effort, Quinten lowers his hand, opens his eyes and looks at the shattered door. If we'd been too close, we might have died. So could any students who were visiting Dad.
The teacher looks around the room, avoiding the bodies but taking in the exhausted monk, bloodied bird and broken glass. First, the Scorpions raided my home. Then they came here. I don't care if I led them here. They'll pay for defiling my father's sanctuary with blood.
The teacher scowls as he picks up his weapon with his left hand and grabs the wooden dog with his right. Water pours over the pointer's tip, washing away the acidic blood but leaving behind the narrow channels it had already etched into the weapon's shaft.
Jerram gives a sharp, wordless bark before jumping back, away from the body and seeking cover.
Shadara peaks up over the table to see why Jerram yelped.
Um.... what happened to the crazy guy. I wanted to taunt him a little more.
She stands up and walks over first to the body of the assailant that cut her with the sword, pulls an arrow from her quiver and stabs him in the eye with it making sure that the bolt goes into the brain. Then stepping on his face she pulls it out again. She rifles thru his pockets and pouches taking anything she finds and putting in in a pile on the floor. She does the same to the bowman except that she takes his arrows and adds them to her quiver. after searching his pockets she then inspects the bow to see if it is any good. Once done with the bowman she moves over to where she last saw the Alchemist. Using an arrow she used to stab the other two assailants she checks the pouches to see what vials are undamaged and any other items that may be viable.
As shadara searches and pokes around, a small pile of items accumulates. After searching for a bit, she finally pulls the spoils to the middle and places the quarrels from the bowman's quiver into her own.
Walking back to the pile, she sorts it into like items; 4 potions, 1 flask,a moderately ornate crossbow, a unkempt bastard sword, a couple of belt pouches containing a variety of coins nearing 50 gold pieces and a few random tetrarchs. And a few daggers of a variety of kinds lie scattered around the room or in your companions.
The bodies sill have their armor in various conditions upon their corpses. A small gem dumps out into the pile as the pouches are moved.
Closer observance reveals the potions contain red, purple,iridescent, and sickly yellow liquids. The iridescent one appears to be viscous in nature while the purple one smells like the city sewer's in the barrows.
Once the pile is complete Shadara takes the daggers not currently sticking out of anyone and hides all but one on her person. the last dagger she keeps in her hand. She inspects each of the potions and the flask to see what is in each one. She then looks at the armor to see what type of armor it is, if any are in good enough shape, and if any would fit her.
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Lost in his thoughts, Quinten registers Jerram's yelp too late. As the teacher steps back, the corpse explodes, covering him in ichor.
Scowling, the teacher uses the conjured water to wash his clothes. Dad, I wish you'd taught me the basics of wizardry so I could cast Prestidigitation and Mending. My clothes are a hole-filled mess.
As Shadara stabs an arrow through the swordsman's eye, Quinten involuntarily looks down. Not wanting to see the bodies that line the floor, he turns toward his father, who stands slowly.
After the stories Dad told, I can't believe one spell would take so much from him. I'd like to think he's exaggerating his weakness to force us to step up, but I don't think he's faking it. Has he really gotten so old?
The teacher's scowl deepens as another explanation occurs to him. Perhaps he's doing more than translating. That would explain why he won't let Mom help.
Dad, are you alright?
The body quivers briefly before exploding sending "blubbery shrapnel" outward and then becoming a "ball" of vapors. This "ball" flings out tendrils of wisp substance before dissipating. Everywhere the mist touches acidic burn marks leave their traces.
corpse explosion damage: 2d8 ⇒ (7, 6) = 13 reflex greater than 20 take half damage. Shadara reflex greater than 20 take no damage....Fortitide throws dc 14 damage on failed save: 1d4 ⇒ 4
yes
While tending to his companion Mang Fu Ha Saan doesn't notice the corpse of the alchemist showing signs of it getting ready to explode. The explosion, however, does garner his attention as acid rains onto his back. He grimaces through the pain but does not stop attending to his companion until the slow working magic has done its job. When finished, he stands and walks over to the pile on the floor that Shadara has made of the enemies gear. Seeing a large sword among the items, he picks it up.
Needs a bit of work, but I don't see anyone else being able to use it.
With that he walks over to the corpse of its prior owner and lightly kicks it in the face as if to get its attention. Thanks, schist eater.
He sheaths the sword and puts it away before looking over the group to assess their condition.
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As he walks toward his father, Quinten clutches his chest. Dad's magic only closed one of the slashes. I could use the Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds to heal the others, but I'd prefer to save that for emergencies. I hope Mang brought the less powerful wand we got for delivering the eggs.
Davin stands and looks around his office and the mess. I I guess that didn't go quite as planned lucky for us. Taking a step forward, the professor collapses to the floor.
Short moments later, several of the "campus" and mage guards from the city officials come rushing down to the room.
Clear the hall. What is he doing here? brusque dwarf states pointing at Davin. Take these others in custody. Drop your weapons!the lieutenant orders your group. Upon his order several guards begin spells and others draw their weapons and hedge you into the room.
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As his father falls, Quinten grabs him and lowers him to the floor. Dad? Not sure what else to do, the teacher focuses on his glasses. If you have the power, show me what's wrong.
The crossbow bolt in Davin's shoulder glows with a faint green light. Poison.
Tears wet Quinten's eyes as he stands and faces the guards. With an effort, the teacher focuses on the dwarf. My father is poisoned. If you have no one here who can heal him, send for a healer.
You asked why he is here, so I suspect you're new to the Academy. He is a teacher, and this is his office. I came with my friends to ask for a few books, but as we talked, the door burst open and we were attacked. Were it not for the intervention of Mang, Shadara, and Jerram, my father and I would be dead.
I'm sure Richard did something as well, but I don't want to draw attention to him. I doubt he's registered with any of the mage's guilds, and I have no desire to explain where he comes from. One of many reasons we can't afford to be arrested.
As he speaks, Quinten glances at the other guards, the teachers, and the students, hoping they will pressure the lieutenant if his words alone fail. Will you repay their kindness and bravery by forcing them to spend hours filling out paperwork? That seems a waste of time and resources better spent investigating our attackers.
Quinten returns his gaze to the lieutenant. I have not had the chance to check their bodies for tattoos, but I believe our attackers came from the Yellow Scorpios, for their leader mentioned wanting Nella's favor. They made no attempt to keep their assault quiet, so it's possible the attack on us was a diversion meant to hide other activities. Please question us quickly so you can return to keeping the students safe.
And now I hope that I'm speaking to honest guardsmen, not ones in the Scorpions' pocket.
Mang Fu Ha Saan just finishes healing the group with the wand when a loud mouth Dwarf comes into the room making demands. Ignoring the orders of the Dwarf he puts the wand back into storage and without a trace of fear he steps to within arms reach of the dwarf and responds to the demand with a cold, hard, menacing gaze. He leaves his arms at his side, with his clawed fingers extended.
Richard winces as the acid burns him but with a thought he directs his thoughts towards his wounds and the rabidly begin to heal dampening the pain.
Seeing the threats gone Richard rises to his feet but before he can say or do anything more the the guards barge in.
He watches them all carefully as Quinten speaks. His mind reaching into theirs trying to make sure they are who they claim to be.
I didn't find much on them. Just a few coins, I was about to check them to tattoos, but now that your here I will leave it to you.
Shadara picks up the bag of coins to show them and then turns around. As her back it to the guards she uses slight of hand to take the tetrachs and most of the gold into her own pouch.
As the obsidian warrior steps forward, the dwarf merely nods and a few of his compatriots release small globes. These Globes slam into Mang and he finds that he can no longer move. Being somewhat familiar with magic he realizes a hold or immobilize spell especially when being held within its power.
Your friend didn't obey orders. He now can't. He has a naked blade . Direct violation of The cities laws. He so kindly volunteered to show what not to do. Now DROP YOUR WEAPONS!
The now irritated Mage-guard spits out.
Those who are not standing empty handed by time I finish are to be immobilized immediately. And be cautious one of them is attempting to mind probe me. Most likely he will try others as well.
Now, I do not know the situation here. I will learn it though. It appears that atleast one group attacked our beloved Davin. Maybe both.Either you will await his waking before you may go about what it is you are doing. In the meantime, motioning to several guards...For your safety and ours, strip them of all but their clothing. We will detain them in this room while further inquiries are made.
Several of the guards start to move towards each of you as the dwarf finishes.
Mang finds himself stripped and then redressed after examination of his clothing and gear.
Mage-guards....are the ultimate authority when it comes to the law. Only way to go higher is to go directly to one of the three triumvirate. They are very advanced in training and most have some ability with magic.
You also will most likely know how to interact with them when it comes to "explaining" your actions.
Your friend didn't obey orders. He now can't. He has a naked blade.
While tending to his companion Mang Fu Ha Saan doesn't notice the corpse of the alchemist showing signs of it getting ready to explode. The explosion, however, does garner his attention as acid rains onto his back. He grimaces through the pain but does not stop attending to his companion until the slow working magic has done its job. When finished, he stands and walks over to the pile on the floor that Shadara has made of the enemies gear. Seeing a large sword among the items, he picks it up.
Needs a bit of work, but I don't see anyone else being able to use it.
With that he walks over to the corpse of its prior owner and lightly kicks it in the face as if to get its attention. Thanks, schist eater.
before looking over the group to assess their condition.
As the obsidian warrior steps forward, the Dwarf meets his gaze and continues in his commanding tone of voice. All of you are to empty your hands immediately! Now, I do not know the situation here. I will learn it though, it appears at least one group has attack our beloved Davin, maybe both... He motions to the other guards to move to secure the room. Be cautious, one of them is attempting to mind probe me.
Mang Fu Ha Saan stands resolute, at least until the Dwarf mentions Davin as a beloved compatriot and giving the impression that they might have attacked him. His expression changes to one of momentary confusion before speaking. He pounds his fist to his chest in salute.
Hail newcomer and speak friend! I am Mang Fu Ha Saan, behind me stands Quinten Gladwell, son of Davin Gladwell. We are his compatriots.
He looks back to Davin, and Quinten before continuing. Davin was attacked by the Yellow Scorpions and has been poisoned. He needs immediate aid.
Shadara turns back around to the guards dropping the money pouch and the dagger that she was holding. The tip of the knife buries itself into the floor deep enough to hold itself upright. She then sits down crosses her legs in a meditation stance, rests her hands palm up on her knees and closes her eyes.
I mean no harm to you. I would like to wait here for Davin to regain consciousness. I will be of assistance if needed.
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Quinten tenses as Mang steps toward the dwarf, towering over him. When the warrior greets the dwarf respectfully and reiterates the request for aid, the teacher relaxes. Thanks, friend.
Please tend my father quickly. The sole spell he cast during the fight took far more out of him than it should have, so whatever poison I detected must be strong. And his body isn't as resilient as it used to be.
Quinten studies the dwarf and the other guards. I don't recognize any of them from my visits here or Fae's descriptions, but that isn't a concern by itself. The flood of storm refugees has forced the Mage Guards to expand their ranks and move their most experienced members around.
The dwarf seems friendly, but it's still possible he's working for the Scorpions. If so, he'll stall long enough for the hall to clear completely and for the poison to do its work, then find an excuse to arrest us. That'll let him earn his "assistance payments" without exposing himself.
I have no way to tell if he's trustworthy immediately. Richard might detect suspicious thoughts from one of the other guards, but he may only be able to read the youngest, who are the least likely to know of any arrangements.
Perhaps I give Richard too little credit. The dwarf resisted his probe but couldn't identify its source, and none of the other guards reacted. If he can hide a spell from a room full of well-trained casters, he's more capable than I assumed.
Unless Richard says something or the guards ignore our request to help my father, I'll assume they're honest.
But when Quinten steps away from his weapon, he moves toward his father. To be safe, I'll watch the person who tends him.
Provided you help Dad, I'll be happy to stay here until he recovers. However, I'd ask that you allow the vanaran to disarm himself. I don't know the reason, but he's asked not to be touched under any circumstances. Guardswoman Fae tells me you're encouraged to respect those preferences. She also made it clear how much she despises that rule and others like it, but I imagine that's why she's guarding an often empty house instead of the nobles and politicians she used to protect.
With a brief nod, the dwarf allows you all to disarm.
Turning to Quentin, You may be his son, I am not familiar enough with all the families of the academy and if you are forget the brusqueness but my duty is to uphold the law before anything else. It was written specifically to keep this city working properly and thus has to be enforced properly as well.A somewhat jovial human states. Brinton thats the captain, has no use for manners nor for niceties. It does make him an effective mage guard although, little loved b the people.
About this time a lady well into her years arrivs and is hustled in.
Davin? what happened where are the others? Are there more injured? I will fix davin first and then I will rush upto helping the others nary fools who were by the teacher. Now who knows what happened? I know not to ask Brinton for he knows nothing until a full inquisition can be made,The lady says with sarcasm oozing out of the last sentence.
Waiting just long enough for a basic explanation, she begins to dig through her bag of things and take out a few herbs and other hoopla piling them on the floor infront of her the whole time talking to herself. A bit of rosecresent, and maybe some ......... Ill also need a bit of bitter wor to help numb the injection site.......no no not that one that could cause more hurt then.......
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Quinten nods as the guard speaks. I understand. If it would ease your investigation, I would be happy to submit to a Zone of Truth spell. I have nothing to hide. Or at least nothing to hide that I can't dance around with proper wording.
The teacher relaxes as the healer walks in. I've seen her enough times that it's unlikely the Scorpions planted her here. She knows who Dad is, and her voice suggests concern, so they may be friends. We should be able to trust her.
Besides, I don't know enough about medicine to detect foul play.
The teacher's focus shifts back to Captain Brinton. When you spoke, you emphasized upholding the law before anything else, so I suspect you're the type to put the letter of the law before the spirit. That could get us in trouble, but it could also make you predictable. If I can remember enough law, we should be fine.
Let me see your coins.Brinton demands rather abruptly. Once the healer has ensured his travel ability, we will have all of you and him to the Hall of Investigation to await the final decisions. However, the bodies say that blades were drawn so that will have to be balanced as well.
A few minutes later and He should be fine. Will need several days to heal though. The poison had spread through most of his body and had begun to decay him from the insides. Don't worry Quentin he'll be back to teaching before the next break comes.The kindly healer says patting Quentin on the shoulder in sympathy.
Turning to Captain Brinton, You may move him. remember he is still weak and be courteous enough to let the head Mistress know ou are taking Davin for awhile. I wouldn't' want on her bad side
Thanks for the assistance. You may leave now.the dwarf preemptively dismisses the healer.She vouched for who you were quentin so much of what you said could be true as well. You may stay armed on the trip to the halls but do not draw weapons unless these "yellow"scorpions attack us first.
Stretcher! get me a blasted stretcher you should have had one here already The dwarf turns away from you uttering harsh and direct commands.
A litter arrives and after about 30 min traveling you arrive at the hall of investigation. You follow the guards into the large square artifice and once inside, you are assailed by noise and hustle.
One clerk or patron rushing from one desk to another often merely dodging the others running the same sequence.The guards lead you up to a table and motion for a clerk, Take these to the third room and have them wait. See to their immediate needs. They may have their stuff with them but it will need to be searched as part of the investigation. Leave three guardsmen with them .Brinton orders the clerk.
ffff follow me sirs and ah ..[b looking at shadara..[b]missus he strides of calling out the names of three as he goes.
You are led to a room about 10ft by 30 in size. There are chairs and a table in it and a pitcher of refreshment sits at the center. Here you are. Don't leave the room. If you need something ask one of these three. One will remain inside to assist and the other two will be posted outside. Paul..you can do the inside.The clerk turns and motions to the human guardsman then hurries back into the hustle.
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Quinten presents the oversized copper that identifies him as a member of the Society for the Preservation and Study of Historical Artifacts. The front shows the Society's seal, a statue of a man in robes now centuries out of fashion. The back shows a small staff with lines radiating out from it through a circle and triangle, the symbol for occultists.
I hope Richard can see this. I doubt Janna forgot to give him a basic coin, but if she did, he might need to create an illusion of one.
As the healer tries to reassure him, Quinten frowns. I should have been more careful. If I'd found a way to conceal our identify from the Scorpions, or at least my involvement, none of this would have happened. But to the healer, he says only, Thank you.
The teacher stays silent as the party walks through the city streets, flanked by mage guards. As the clerk deposits them in the room, he shakes his head. Shadara, it seems you have an admirer.
More seriously, I'm sorry to have gotten you all involved in this, but thanks for escorting me. Dad and I would be dead if you weren't there.
The Mage Guards haven't put us in a cell, so they're likely to question us soon. Be as straightforward as you can be when you talk with them. If they get the sense you're lying, they might resort to mind-reading magic.
Quinten glances at Richard. I trust all of you understand how unpleasant that can be. If we're lucky, we'll get a mind-reader who is disciplined enough to restrict herself to surface thoughts. Even then, involuntary thoughts can often reveal personal matters. More than one marriage has been undone in these halls.
Hopefully, Paul will assume I'm referring to salacious personal matters. I don't want someone digging around in my mind and learning that Dad is an oracle. I'm sure the others have secrets they'd prefer to keep private as well.
Jerram hangs to the back throughout the interaction, letting the others do the talking. When asked, he fumbles for a moment before pulling out the coin he received at the gate. He presents it to the man for inspection with a nod of his head.
Once all the inspection is done, Jerram follows along silently, watching the people in the street as they pass. Though he seems ready for anything, he's more relaxed than during their previous city trips.
Finally resting in the room, Jerram sits at the table and helps himself to the water there.
Jerram lifts his chalk board in a questioning motion.
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Quinten thinks. All of the guards have basic literacy, and a few can sign, so you should be fine unless they ask you to submit to a truth spell that only affects spoken words. Since they've respected your beliefs so far and the rest of us can answer every question they're likely to ask you, I don't think they'll do that.
It might help if you explained why you stay silent. If the guards feel sorry for or respect you, they're more likely to accept your answers at face value. However, I doubt that will be required. The guards occasionally deal with people who have taken vows of silence, though I think it's been six or seven years since they've had someone whose vows were genuine. Hopefully, Paul is listening and picking up that yours are.
The teacher glances at the others, wondering if they have any questions.
Shadara pulls the coin out and holds it out in the direction of the voice that asked without opening her eyes. She listens for the acent and then puts it away. When the group is ready she gets up checks that her gear is settled and moves with the group trying not to draw attention to herself. As she enters the hall with the group she starts scanning the room trying to get a feel for the place.
The staff seem a bit agitated. I wonder if what happened has them worried more than normal. I will have to check a bit more.
Once they get into the room and everyone is settled, she approaches the guard left inside with them.
She speaks in a smooth and soothing voice with a bit of inflection to sound more vulnerable.
Paul, is it? I was wondering if you might be able to escort me to the bathroom, I need to go and as you can imagine it is difficult to do here when surrounded by men. I promise I will behave, I'll even leave my gear here.
She takes off her gear in a way that shows her to be vulnerable while slightly accentuating the curves of her body.
Sure lady let me get some one to escort you I am to remain here.With that he sticks his head the door and calls Ezcort we need an escort here. a busy little halfling about 3 feet tall rushes over looking rather annoyed Is you not seeing what is a happening? we hasn't the time for ebery esvort you want. Now Is it real or is you gibbs me a joke? The highly pitched and agitated voice of the lady yells back in Paul's face; then gives him a friendly wink.
Oh I sees it was the new ones that you was rispectin. Come along MissyShe motions to shadara as she walks away toward the back of the busy-ness
No insight on Paul's agitation or not
Shadara follows the halfling out of the room and across the main floor toward the opposite side of building. As before there is a flurry of activity. The noise of running clerks and multiple conversations makes it hard to hear things going on further than a few feet away. As she crosses the room she hears many different pieces of conversation.
As she makes it across the room she asks
Thank you for escorting me,what is your name?
Aren't you noice for thankings me, name Areetta, she says.
Nice to meet you Areetta I am Shadara. Are you coming in with me or staying out here?
I is stayin with you til you back in room three.
They enter the bathroom and shadara notices that none of the stall doors are closed and no one is at the sinks. She walks into one and closes the door. As she sits down she asks,
Would be able to answer a question or two. Did I hear that there was a assaination that happened at the same building we were in when we were arrested. Did Davin die?
Areetta laughs, You not hear correctly, Davin fine, attempt made on someone else.
Shadara chuckles glad to hear that I was wrong, can you tell me who they tried to assasinate?
Areeta stops laughing. I not supposed to me tellin you tings. If you done I need take you back.
Shadara steps out of the stall. I am sorry I did not mean to put you in a bad position.
As they walk back across the room a clerk rushes by knocking over areetta. Shadara reaches down and helps back up.
Does that happen to you often?
More than I care to admit, she mutters.
How about I walk in front of you since I know where we are going to clear the way.
So use you like shield? Not work with others.
Sure it will. Watch I will show you. I will follow others to get where we need to go by acting like their shadow. Now stay right behind me.
Shadara stands in front of areetta and starts moving forward slowly. At first areetta gives her more room but at shadara's encouragement she follows right behind her. Shadara then starts to move from clerk to clerk right behind them walking in the wake of each to move across the room. No one evan seems to notice they are in the room as they move. As they get back to the hallway areetta stares at Shadara with awe. Shadara steps to the side and squats down to her level.
Now do you see how it is done? Why don't you try and I will watch you to see if I can offer any more advice.
I don't know, not spose to leave you?
I will stand right here and not move.
Areeta watches the bustle for a moment and just as shadara is about to speak, she steps out behind a clerk and takes off. Shadara watches as she navigates thru and around the room without running into a single person. Moments later she is back in the hallway with Shadara.
That was amazing. How I ever repay you for kindness?
Shadara squats down again. I do have one thing I could use your help with but it is ok it you don't want to. I have heard that some of the guards are not very nice and like to cause problems. I don't have anything to give and worry that when they check my possessions that they will claim to have found things that should not be there. Do you think there is a way to get my gear out of here before they check it?
I knows the likes. Some on duty all times. There might be way get stuff out of building. I help you, you show kindness when not many do to me. Where you want the stuff to go.
The Linderlost. Find Mary and let her know the gear is mine and she will put it in my room. Are you sure it will be a big risk?
No worries, most treat me as someting to trip on. Only few are somewhat nice. They rest are mean on purpose. I do as asked, they never know. Come
Areetta leads her back to the room and goes in with her. she turns to Paul. Cap'n Martin ask to look at her pack, she points at Shadara. I told no noicely bring pack to him now.
As areetta is talking shadara slips her coin purse out of her belt pouch and into her pocket and then takes off the pouch. Paul looks at Areetta and smiles.
You sure that you don't want me to call someone else. Captain Martin can be such a petty and mean person. He tripped over you, you did not run into him. Sometimes he is just mean to everyone. He winks at her.
No need I do it or get in more trouble. She grabs Shadara pack and while her back is to Paul she winks at Shadara. Paul goes to the door and opens it sticking his head outside.
Make way, she has been asked to take this by captain... He isn't able to finish the question as she rushes out of the room making alot of noise.
Shadara turns to the rest of the group as Paul opens the door and says in a quiet voice.
Quinten you lead, everyone else stay calm and quiet, there is alot going on.
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Quinten stops pacing and turns to Shadara as she enters. As Paul looks away to open the door, he signs.
What see?
Once that is done, he says, It's possible our packs may be searched as well. If any of you have potential contraband, such as questionable drugs, it would be in our best interests to disclose them.
If there is a lot going on, we may be waiting for a while. The teacher gestures at a game board and set of cards on the table. Would any of you care to teach me a game?
Quinten glances at Richard. I could use the distraction, and the games you know could tell us something about who you were in your past life.
Shadara signs back to Quinten making sure that her body conceals her arms from Paul by making smaller gestures.