"Anchor? ... Uhhrmhm..." Miranda mumbles then opens her eyes. She looks around, but doesn't really seem to be processing all that is happening just yet.
Turning his attention to the doorway, Aldous imagines a martial artist striking a wood block, sundering it in two. With a quick yell, a gust of wind circles around the room.
"Do we really think this thing is going to explode?" Varuzhan hurries and dives into the depression as well. While he's there, he will attempt to cast a spell on Miranda.
.
Miranda begins to feel more life coming into her.
With the others backing off from the slime's immediate vicinity, though not at all in the direction Boros had hoped--but s##& happens, he reminds himself, and good soldiers adapt--the gunslinger makes his own retreat as well, moving evasively in an effort to avoid giving the slime a free shot at him while he finds cover.
Slipping underneath a lashing tentacle by a wide margin, Boros evades the slime's reach with a rude noise and an insult in Gnoll, then hauls ass away from it. He knows what an explosion can do, and has no desire whatsoever to see the slime's impression of one. Darting around Aldous, just as the man unloads a spell of some sort at the door, Boros runs flat-out for the rear of the chamber. He'd seen Varuzhan and Nissim--the latter carrying Miranda as well--take cover in that depression in the floor, but he wasn't sure there was room for a fourth, which Aldous might well need for himself.
As he runs, the advancing light of his pistol reveals a shadowy shape that soon grows clearer: an altar of some sort. It looks pretty stout and should--with the distance--be enough to weather the impending slime blast. With barely a hitch in his step, Boros hurdles the altar with a one-handed vault over the top that ends in a crouch with his back to the altar.
With the door ready to turn into a projectile, Juliette stops her performance and runs back up the stairs. It seemed like a better idea to Juliette to run away from an explosion rather then towards one, even if it meant that she would be separated from the others.
While the others scurry away to hide in depressions, run up stairs, or jump behind obstacles, the barrister focuses his attention on the door, slamming a gust of wind into it and breaking off a good number of the needle-sharp protrusions extending from it.
A moment later, both the remainder of the door barrier and the bloated body of Slimerina violently explode, showering the nearby area with spikes and acid. While the needles mostly shower the interior of the room Juliette vacated just in time, out in the larger room it's acidic residue endangering the lot of you.
//3 damage
//cover=>no damage
//cover=>no damage
//cover=>no damage
Combat over(?) - the bold may act
Conditions: Darkness except near light sources, we are still round-based, so don't go chaining 7 actions up.
Miranda 0/-14 HP (disabled)
Varuzhan 1/12 HP
Nissim 13/14 HP
Boros 6/11
Juliette
Aldous 2/8 (-3 from acid)
OR
After the explosion, Nissim casts Light on a copper and tosses it out of the small pit. He raises his head to take a look about the room.
After hearing the wet sound of the slime's remains splashing the walls and ceiling--accompanied by the fainter sound of hardened slime rattling against hard surfaces--Boros pokes his head up past the altar for a quick check of the area, which is made easier by the sudden appearance of a light near the depression where the others are sheltering.
Taking a moment to sheath his gladius, Boros then swiftly reloads his pistol while edging carefully past the corner of the altar. "Everyone okay there? Because if yer not dead, then I think it's past time for us to be leavin' here. That nasty beast might be coverin' the room in chunks, but she seemed awfully confident that she'd be getting a chance to eat us regardless."
"Brr!" Miranda let out a shiver. Partially due to her recent near-death experiance which she was just piecing together. And partially due to the sudden urge to sprout wings and drink souls. I'm fairly sure *that* wouldn't be good would it? But back to the present! Unless she had gotten another blow to her head she was fairly sure she had moved while unconscious - and seeing the exploding slime she was more then happy that this was the case!
With her hands shielding her eyes from the sudden light Miranda got back to her feet again with a thankful nod to everyone around. Not being dissolved felt really really good. With a bit of luck she'd also stay that way!
"Uhm." she tested her voice. "I think I heard something; the book upstairs - it was some sort of anchor for the slime. While it is uncovered it will keep reforming; we have to disrupt the link!" Once she started speaking, she only spoke quicker and quicker driven by the urgency of the situation (and a healthy desire to not be slimed again!) "But it's still probably trapped, we have to be careful!"
Varuzhan crawls out of his hole, viewing the aftermath of the exploded slime. The cautionary words from Boros and then Miranda processing through the strix's mind.
"The book's an anchor? Okay, makes sense why the slime was telling us not to touch it, then. Good thing there's a bonfire nearby!" Knowing that some of the others were upstairs, Varuzhan hurries upward, while calling out. "Juliette! Rexus! Lily! That magical book upstairs - we need to destroy it, and quickly!"
Varuzhan will also hurry up the stairs, with the goal of getting to the book.
"Just cover or block would probably suffice... Just so they aren't connected anymore!" Miranda quickly adds; the thought of destroying something that could contain tons of interesting information was unappetizing to say the least.
Learning about the possibility of the book bringing the slime back, from Varuzhan yelling Juliette makes her way towards the book, ready to put an arrow into it if she can reach it shortly.
"Indeed!" Aldous yells, sprinting towards the door, understanding the subtext of Miranda's objections. Knowledge was power, and they'd be best off not destroying it. "Break the connection, not the book!"
Down below, when you come out of cover, you find the remains of the slime creature turning into an ill-smelling smoke, somewhere between blood and old eggs, the chunks turning into mist as if burning away.
Where most people are glad that they survived and the battle is over, others grow alarmed at Miranda's words, and when Juliette attempts to shoot the book following Varuzhans yelling, she finds that her arrow barely scratches the leathery cover. Not what she expected, possibly, but a reason to trust the Half-Tieflings information, probably.
Nissim and Boros had time to take a good look around, something impossible before when they've been in a hurry and fighting. It seems that originally, this room was a storage room for the butchery above(the hooks on rails on the ceiling kind of give that away). Most likely with a different, more easily accessible entrance from upstairs. To the southeast, there's a rusted portcullis, with stairs leading further down.
Aldous+Varuzhan: same Perception check as Juliette in the previous post, downstairs variant.
Rexus and Lily, if they heard Varuzhan, don't seem to react to the noise. But then, that's quite a few corners to them and you have no idea what they are doing right now.
Combat over(?) - the bold may act
Conditions: Darkness except near light sources, we are still round-based, so don't go chaining 7 actions up.
Miranda 1/10 HP (infernal healing 2/10)
Varuzhan 1/12 HP
Nissim 13/14 HP
Boros 6/11 HP
Juliette
Aldous 2/8 HP
Nissim knows little about summoning, but if he understands what Miranda has said correctly, the book may not have to be destroyed. Perhaps it can't be destroyed if it's well warded. It does seem to him though that all the group has managed to do is reset the slime creature. Upon it's destruction, it will simply re-form and begin again where it left off.
If they undid something that began this, perhaps the party can correct things by restoring it.
NIssim runs for the upstairs as well, grabbing his lit coin on the way.
"If all we need to do is cover it, try throwing a cloak over it or something!" Varuzhan heads on up while unclasping his own cloak, with the goal of implementing his own suggestion.
With a small groan Miranda headed back up, trailing Varuzhan. "That should work! I think. Yell if the slime stops blobbing about." Miranda suggests to those checking out the cellar a bit more.
With everyone else leaving the basement, and what may well be an endlessly reappearing foe, Boros wastes little time making his own exit, lingering only to ensure those members of the party less able to take a hit get out before he does. Though he very much hopes that the issue doesn't come up, a close fight with the slime is best left to him for the time being. As he reaches the stairs, his breathing only a bit heavier than usual from the sprint, he raises his pistol into a ready position--which conveniently serves to clearly light the stairs up along with a good portion of the room--and draws his gladius with his free hand. Voice laden with urgency, Boros chivies the others up the stairs as his head and eyes pan from one side to the other in search of the impending threat. "Do whatever ya damn please with that misbegotten bundle of dusty arse-rags, but do it upstairs, for gods' sakes!"
As Miranda approaches, he stops her long enough to lean down and give her an awkward cross between a hug and pat on the back, not quite certain which is appropriate to express his relief at seeing her alive. "And I'm glad to see that yer back on yer feet, lass. I wish ya'd bit a bit more careful with yer life, ya nearly lost it in there." Releasing her from the hug, Boros clears his throat and straightens up to resume his intent watchfulness, though a faint blush stains his cheeks; he's not accustomed to being so forward and emotional with folks he's only recently met.
Miranda recoiled a little at the hug; her first instinct was to jump away to avoid another slime-attack! But seeing as it was a mere hug - and that jumping away would probably lead to a painful tumble down the stairs - she was glad she didn't. And since jokes were easier to swallow then thinking about her near-death experience she giggled as she returned the hug/pat. "Naww! Cute!"
When Varuzhan and Juliette manage to place his cloak over the book, and wrap it up tight, the blob-ish gathering of red ooze in the lower floor suddenly flows apart into a huge puddle, which Nissim promptly communicates towards the others upstairs.
Combat over.
It would seem you are not currently in danger of being engulfed by a reforming slime monster. Nissim, considering what information he has, is pretty confident that his view on what's happening is spot-on. Regularily, an anchor would prevent a summoned creature from being banished to it's home plane. Being destroyed while anchored is still a very painful process, as the very essence of a being is pulled back from between the worlds, violently reassembling into a mind again that is bound into the anchor itself, unless given a specially-prepared host to use.
The praxis does not see widespread use these days, however, as most beings bound in such a way tend to hold a grudge and hatred against their binders that transcends mortal bounds. One popular example, after regaining his freedom, a powerful Devil exterminated the complete bloodline of his original binder in revenge, over a 100 years after his binders death by natural means. Only very brave, or very stupid casters dabbled in this field for the last couple dozens of years.
You collectively find yourself somewhat relieved that everybody made it out without getting slimed. Having been in battle, there was little time to consider it, but what happened to the Gnome was not very pretty...and could have happened to anybody here.
Glad that things worked out, you are ready to explore once more.
What could POSSIBLY go wrong...
Varuzhan marvels at the insanity of their exploration of this place. "Hah, go figure. I get possessed by some sort of creepy skull pile, and it was actually trying to get me to do the right thing, by killing that slime."
Severely injured, Varuzhan continues to Rexus and Lily. He pulls them away from the captive to explain the situation. "Turns out the slime creature worked for the Chelaxians. It backstabbed me and Miranda. Nearly killed Miranda and did quite a number on me." Varuzhan shows the wounds that nearly brought him down. "I know I'm taking more than my fair share of your abilities, but could you help me again with healing? Without your magics healing me earlier, the slime creature would have had me for sure."
Shaking his arm absentmindedly, Aldous suddenly realizes that he's burned. The adrenaline kept him clear-headed, but now that the danger seems to be over, the barrister grimaces as he touches the red splotches on his arm, concerned with both his skin and his shirt.
Drat!
Closing his eyes, Aldous thinks of the anatomy labs of his university, and its healers and wizards pouring over the recently deceased, looking for the secrets of life and reanimation. Touching his burned arm, and then doing the same for the obviously scalded Strix, both men's wounds heal, the slime-caused burns fading to mere red marks, while the sound of scalpels sliding across flesh ring out throughout the foundry.
"Anyone else need healing?
Miranda looks closely as the book is packed away. "Just don't drop it - remember it is still trapped!" she reminds everyone once again. Just to be sure! "And it might have some more clues in it for later."
After that she finds a nice spot perch on and rest for a while. She could feel the magic making her whole again, but it wasn't a particularly pleasant process. "All right then. Should we comb over the bottom floor now? And then deal with our guest ..."
Nissim does what he can to bandage up any remaining injuries, Miranda is probably in greatest need.
As he works he ponders the role of the mad gnome in all of this. It seems in the end he was some sort of guardian against the bound creature. But why and what was his reason?
It was a pity he came to the end he did. Although Nissim does feel sorry for that, the gnome just wasn't acting in ways that showed he was trustworthy. Perhaps if he had trusted a little more, we would have as well.
"We should finish our business here quickly. We are all nearly exhausted and we need to recover from today's events."
Miranda quietly lets Nissim look over her wounds too, but the drought she was given earlier seems to have taken care of most of the damage. Eventually after she has recuperated/grown restless enough she jumps down again and heads down the stairs.
"All right! Let's take a good look then before we hurry away." she exclaims cheerfully. And deal with the spy? she added to herself, if in a somewhat less cheerful tone.
Once downstairs she takes a good look at the room beyond the doorway. Last time she entered, she really hadn't gotten the chance to do that ...
Trying to not waste what little healing she had when the building seemed quite intent on killing everyone involved, Lily watches as Aldous heals himself and then Varuzhan. That left Boros in the rather nasty predicament of still being quite injured.
She focuses for a moment and a golden glow laced with crimson suffuses her hand, her palm stretching out as she intones subaudibly, healing the worst of Blackhand's wounds, but not quite mending him entirely.
"I think I'll go with you this time..?" Lily asks, as she looks between the wounded, Aldous having already used his magic to triage the worst of the wounds.
"You seem to be more than a mere barrister, Aldous. Thank you." Feeling much better with the help of some magic, Varuzhan begins heading down. "Yes, come explore with us, Lily. As far as we can tell, we've neutralized the threats below. Although there do appear to be steps that head ever deeper. The Chelaxians summoned the slime creature as a trap for the rebels. It was obviously a powerful trap. We should be careful that we don't stumble across more of them"
Varuzhan takes the book with his cloak around it and places it securely in his bag. Without his cloak, Varuzhan's large wings are hard to miss, though his right wing looks obviously injured. Feeling refreshed, he is ready once more to lead the group deeper into the darkness.
Boros leans against a handy wall while doing a bit of work on his weapons. He is utterly exhausted, and not quite all present beyond an almost manic watch for even the slightest hint of yet another threat, so Lily's presence goes entirely unremarked until her soft voice sounds right next to him. That results in a violent twitch that has him falling over with a shouted curse, though he recovers quickly. Looking around with a startled expression for the enemy, Boros gradually relaxes a little once he realizes what happened. "Oh, okay, not a threat. That's reassuring," he says as he gathers up his dropped gear. "But please, Lily, make a bit o' noise next time ya come up like that. I'm a bit tense right now, and surprises are a bad thin' when I'm like that."
He then looks himself over with a raised eyebrow, noting that the worst of his injuries are healed over, and he looks to the quiet half-elf with a smile "This is yer doing then? Much appreciated, it is. Not too fond o' bleedin' into my boots, and those slime wounds itched and burned somethin' fierce." Finishing up his weapons, he then nods in belated response to her question. "Sure, come right on. I'm headin' down after Miranda to keep an eye on her myself, yer welcome to explore with us." He then chuckles slightly as he sets off in the direction of the formerly hidden stairs down. "Besides, what fella doesn't dream about spending time with two pretty lasses in the dark," he adds over his shoulder. "I might lucky and we find somethin' scary that'll have ya both cuddlin' close with me."
Mmm, what a shame. After going for so long without his usual running off at the mouth, Boros' streak has been broken and his unpleasant habit of speaking without letting his brain vet his words first has made itself known again. And, as is usual, he is entirely oblivious to the fact that his parting words were better left unspoken.
Lily's brow furrows slightly as Boros responds to her healing in a much more emotional way than she'd expected. Both before he realized it was healing and after. She tilts her head slightly, then chews on her lip for a moment, before reaching into one of her small quarrels and pulling out a bolt. She focuses on the bolt, running her hand along the edge, before it glows with the same gold-touched-with-crimson light that had been present when she cast her healing spell.
She then proceeds to hold the bolt out to Boros - the only person in the party who needed light to be effective. Well, Nissim to a lesser degree. "There, now no more worries about being in the dark. Though... a lot more likely to find something scary before it finds you?" she asks with a small, playful smirk as she comes to terms with Boros's unconventional affections.
Seeing the glowing bolt, Boros snorts in amusement and takes it, tucking it behind a strap on his armor to keep his hands free. "Thanks again, and that is a darn handy little bit o' magic, I must admit. And to be honest, I've about had a bellyful of scary today. Be just as happy to skip to the cuddlin' part, with nothin' that needs killin' beforehand," he says with an amused tone of voice while stepping into the office, now nicely lit and visible thanks to the bolt.
As he glances in passing at the desk while showing Lily where the book was resting, something odd catches his eye. A bit of prodding reveals a compartment under the book's resting place. Much of the contents are little more than spare office tools--extra quills, a few vials of long-gone ink, and the like--but Boros does uncover something of value under the refuse; ten coins of an unfamiliar minting, but made of what even he recognizes as platinum! Wrapped carefully in a scrap of tattered cloth is a vial whose contents are still liquid after all this time, and he doesn't hesitate to pass it off to someone who can figure out what is inside. "Looks as though someone had quite a stash set aside for a special day," Boros says as he admires the coins. "Well, we all bled together, so we share out together too," he adds as he counts out the coins to the others. Finding himself left with an odd number, he shrugs and tucks them into the pouch holding the ring he found. "We'll split these after we change them out for their value in gold or silver later."
When Miranda gets too bored and squirmy to put up with any more treatment, Nissim lets her go. He brushes his hair back and tries to retie it with the usual poor results, then he wipes down his spectacles. After that he follows her down the stairs to finally see what this has all been about.
While Miranda rests a bit, the others bring Lily up to speed, taking another look at the small side room, making sure to keep the book covered up in the cloak.
Lily herself also has news to share, telling you that a group of people had gathered outside the livery. She actually was on her way to let you know when you rushed upstairs again shouting something about the book.
Boros and Aldous, having been healed, quickly rush to the front door, where Rexus is busy fixing the door closed by placing the chain on the inside handles and holding it in place with his weight. Looking through some slits between the heavy doors, or between those and the walls, a group of possible 20-30 people can be seen outside. Talking with them, several Dottari, one of which approaches the Front Door, hammering against it with a metal-clad fist:"In the name of House Thrune, open up!"
Rexus is cursing under his breath. Before giving you time to even consider, you can hear the more heavy of a portable door pounding against the door. The impact causes a rain of tiny white particles that you assume were part of the building until moments ago.
Boros tells Rexus to jam the door as best he can and retreat, fearing the whole building may collapse on them - at the same time Aldous hopes they don't realize the wooden shed in the back would allow easier entrance. Having helped Rexus to affix the chain, they grab Gregory and move towards the others as fast as they can. More thumping can be heared, and more substance of the building breaks off and causes some dangerous-sounding creaking to be heard from the ceiling. Ushering the others down the stairs, hoping the area downstairs would be safe in case of a collapse, Boros brings up the rear, behind Varuzhan and Rexus who almost fell down, dragging Gregory in between them. Nissim had already convinced Lily that it was safer downstairs, and Miranda and Juliette already had moved instinctively.
Arriving in the main room, they already wave for you to move further away from the staircase, to an area of the underground level not below the livery itself. You barely manage to arrive at the southern wall, following some more steps, when an deafening sound announces the collapse of the livery.
Dust, smoke, and a wave of force rush at you, but the ceiling of the lower level holds.
The few steps downwards were barred by a portcullis before, rusted stuck, but the force of the impact upstairs pushed it lose, and it hangs at a diagonal angle, only affixed by one of it's hinges now.
Carefully, you start taking a look at your surroundings. The way up is impassable, with debris covering the stairs. The lower level is more densely populated with rats now, still confused and in a panic. The way through the portcullis leads to another door...a heavy iron one...at first, it seems as if it would be rusted shut in it's frame, but it actually is slightly open, and some force, possibly by using something as a lever, it's quite possible to open it. Beyond, you hear the sound of a small waterfall. There is a wider open area, with a very peculiar set of cobblestone floor one would not expect in a cellar. In the far back, a few wooden boxes are stacked up against a brick wall.
The far more defining feature of the area is a large round opening with a waist-high wall running around it. Peering down into it, you can see a slow-flowing mass of brackish water about 15 feet below, and about 5 feet above, an small in-flow opening spewing forth some more brownish-colored water into the stream below. The smell unmistakably proves that you have found an access to the sewers. Which, on further consideration, may be fortunate, because even IF the dottari go to the trouble of clearing away the debris, you may not be keen to rely on their help.
"Ewwww." Miranda pinches her nose as the odour of open sewers reaches them. She carefully makes her way to the hole in the ground and peers over the edge. It was an way to escape at least - and probably slightly nicer then the tender affections of the dottari. "Let's hope there is a better way out ..."
The tiefling peers into the murky depths for a little while before she shines up. "Or a boat!" she exclaims and heads over to the boxes stacked against the wall. Maybe one of them would be big - and waterproof - enough for her to ride in? And maybe there are things in them. Nice things! "With a bit of luck, we could even make a raft. What-do-ya-think?"
Once she had time to examine the boxes properly and notices the floor she'll also give that little mystery a good look-over!
Waving away some of the dust that followed the party down the stairs, Boros looks at the blocked-off stairs with a rather dour expression. "Well, we're not gettin' out through that, not without tools and help we don't want from the other side." Shaking his head in disgust, he follows the others into the area beyond the destroyed gate. "Idiots, now they get to deal with a slum fire, once the stuff that fell on to that smolderin' pile o' wagon catches light." Dodging a few stunned rats along the way, Boros takes a look at Gregory in the light of the glowing crossbow bolt, a faintly malicious smile turning up the corners of his mouth. "And hey there, citizen! Looks like yer in spot o' trouble for real now. Nobody knows yer down here with us, and we have no incentive to drag ya along if we find a way out for ourselves. Can you say 'rat treat'?"
Taking the bound man from Varuzhan and Rexus, Boros drops him in a nearby corner with little care, looks around the room speculatively, then nudges the likely informer in the ribs with a boot. "Yeah, draggin' ya along behind us will actually take some extra work on our part, seein' as we can't trust ya with hands loose, so maybe we just leave ya here. Alone. In the dark. With the rats. The hungry, hungry rats." He leans down and gives Gregory a very direct look before continuing. "We're goin' to have a look around here, make some plans. While we do, I want ya to give some hard thought to how, and how soon, yer life might end. When we're ready to go, I'll come back and ask ya some questions. Yer answers decide yer fate."
That said, Boros leaves the informer to his thoughts and joins the others in exploring the room, his own attention caught by those boxes. If this was a rebel hideout, those might well be part of an old supply cache. And it looks as though it was never discovered when this place was raided so long ago, but Boros still refrains from simply rushing in and rooting through them. Wary of tripping a trap--possibly even another encounter with something like the slime; that'll stick in his mind for some time for sure and certain--set by the rebels against probing authorities, he searches the area around the boxes carefully for any hint of danger.
"You seem to be more than a mere barrister, Aldous. Thank you."
Aldous looks to his feet and brushes some dirt from his sleeve, a seemingly unconscious habit. Smiling, he looks back to the strix. It was certainly the strangest person the barrister has ever met, but strange creature or no, the strix was an audience, and Aldous loved audiences. "Ahem, indeed. I am a barrister and much more. I am a student of the very nature of things, you see-"
And then everything goes to the Hells.
-------------
Down below, Aldous sighs and pulls a crate over to where Gregory sits. The barrister would do no exploring; his eyes weren't keen - especially in this light - and he had no desire to get even dirtier, truth be told. "I'll sit with the prisoner," Aldous said, to no one in particular, and that he did, staring glumly at Gregory. "I'd hoped you'd get to live through this," Aldous said, cleaning under his fingernails. "I'm many things, but I'm not a murderer. I suppose that it wasn't meant to be."
Boros finds no traps near the boxes, but the wood they were made of is moldy and somewhat rotten, as if they had been repeatedly exposed to water(If there was more water, their contents must have been heavy if they stayed in place), with some moss growing on them. Building a floating device out of those seems unlikely to succeed.
"I'm not sure these would float. Or stay in one piece..." Miranda comments and pokes the decaying boxes. That was a shame. But there might be something *inside* them! With renewed vigor she jumps atop on of them and declared "Let's open them up and see what's inside!" as her dagger already started digging into the wood near one of the edges.
She had only chipped away a few splinters once she noticed something from her new vantage point, halted and pointed to the floor. "Youknow - I think we are in old old Kintago now! Maybe a market hall?" She paused and sat down, deliberating. "They raised the streets and built over it just to get away from the flooding. ...And maybe that means more parts of old old Kintago can be accessed from here?" And that means I don't have to swim in crap! Yey!
As soon as the contents of the boxes were revealed Miranda took a lap around the old hall looking for anything that would let them progress further while still being dry.
Caught up in the moment, Varuzhan may have helped carry Gregory to safety. But that was only so that the party could fairly deliberate on his fate.
"I'll sit with the prisoner," Aldous said, to no one in particular, and that he did, staring glumly at Gregory. "I'd hoped you'd get to live through this," Aldous said, cleaning under his fingernails. "I'm many things, but I'm not a murderer. I suppose that it wasn't meant to be."
Varuzhan intervenes in the conversation at this point. "It isn't murder if you're defending yourself. Question is, is he a rat? If he is, then we should let him get to know more of his kind." The strix figured he might as well encourage Boros's little story about hungry hungry rats.
But Varuzhan quickly moves on, exploring further into the depths. "So, what's the point of all this? We're here, we know it was an old rebel hideout that the authorities uncovered. But it just looks like a dump now. Feels like we wasted our time coming here, and nearly died in the process. Let's finish our search of this place. And quickly, before those rats get any ideas." Varuzhan continues his explorations, keeping a wary eye on the rats. Perhaps they might still have a bond after his earlier experience being influenced by them, it was hard to say.
As he cautiously pokes through the rotted boxes in search of anything useful or interesting, Boros adds his own thoughts to Aldous' lament. "Right, as Varuzhan said, not murder if we leave him here. We kept him from gettin' buried under a heap of rubble, possibly even burned if it catches fire. We're under no obligation to do more." He then waves a chiding finger at his winged compatriot. "And shame on ya, Varuzhan, for comparin' a dirty bastard snitch to a rat. Rats have standards, after all. I'm sure Nissim is quite put out on behalf o' his little partner there."
He then casts a glance at the aforementioned rats sharing the floor with them. "And they won't bother us, unless they're starvin', mad from disease, or if we're in a bad way that makes us look like easy meat. Say, for example, bein' bound and helpless in the dark while stinkin' o' fear. That'd get their interest." Chuckling maliciously, Boros resumes his scavenger hunt.
Given the choice between the sewer, and clinging to the hope of any alternative whatsoever, Lily carefully turns her attention away from the man that she'd have no way to save if it meant dropping down into the water below, and towards helping Miranda to find anything that could keep her out of the dank, dark pit.
Aldous sighs, continuing to stare at Gregory. "Semantics, my dear soldier. And trust me, I understand semantics better than most."
Standing, the barrister paces in front of the prisoner, trying to broadcast his agitation onto Gregory, make the man come unhinged and confess. "Dammnit man, talk! We know you didn't just happen on the Livery, and we know you're involved with Captain Hunter! Your situation can only get better by coming clean!"
Nissim looks grimly at the collapse that has both trapped and saved them.
Why does even our good fortune always seem to leave us worse off then before?
He sighs and recasts light on the coin he had used previously. He then joins the others in rooting through the old boxes for whatever it was they had come to find. It would be good to find it quickly. Who knows how long it would take to get out of the street square turned sewer, if they even could. And he really needed to get back home soon.
Presented with an onslaught of threats, Gregory's relief at being saved from the collapse of the livery quickly turns into fear again. From several individual fragments, he finally pieces together that you indeed seem to know he is not just a trespasser or ordinary civilian.
He finally breaks:"So yeah, I'm working for Hunter. What was I supposed to do? Get executed? You'd have done the same to save your sorry lives! So don't f!#*ing judge me! Yeah, I was a criminal. They caught me red-handed and I took the option they offered me...to work for them.", he swallows hard, causing him to cough a few times, then continues:"Look, you seem to have made up your mind. I'd love to be strong enough to say screw you, do what you want. But I'm not. I'll gladly beg for my life if that has any chance of succeeding. I am honest. I'm not gonna lie and tell you I have a wife and kids, but I have a sister, a brother and a mother that I love.", looking at Aldous, his tone becomes more frantic:"Look, I don't REALLY know who you guys are. I already forgot your name. But look at it that way...you guys seem to be in trouble, too. You let me go, I'll help you out...come on!", before adding "Ladies, talk some sense into them!", addressing Lily and Juliette, who both seem to attempt to put some distance between themselves and him...something he obviously does not feel comfortable with seeing how the males were threatening to turn him into rat food.
While some are busy with the prisoner, some others, not too keen on entering the sewers, are pacing along the walls of the area. To their detriment, there seem to be no hollow areas beyond any of the walls. Considering the area near the river is densely populated, with lots of houses, it's actually unlikely that there is a whole "undercity" still intact, as there would be problems with carrying the weight of the structures above. Even with the livery, the "open" underground area was not directly below the building, rather slightly to the south. Meaning above you runs a street. One that does not see heavy traffic. It still is quite possible that other houses near the river have such "cellars", possibly in some cases even one's the residents don't know about. But right here? There seemed to be only two exits...upwards after clearing the debris, or downwards, on into the sewers. On the bright side, your KNOW it can't be THAT far to the Yolubilis river.
When those investigating the storage area start to break open the boxes, they are surprised at the quality and quantity of items they find, it also quickly becomes clear why the boxes stayed on the ground, rather than floating away when the area was flooded...their contents are all rather heavy.
One of the boxes contains:
- a silver dagger
- a set of bracers(magic)
- padded leather armor(magic)
- a composite(+1 STR) shortbow
- a hand crossbow
- 10 crossbow bolts(magic)
- a cold iron morningstar
A second box contains:
- a cloak(magic)
- a helmet(magic)
- a locked, watertight iron coffer
A third box contains:
- 6 little silver statues of ravens(magic)
- a small puzzle box made of a weird metal
Aldous runs his fingers through his hair, a small smile on his face as Gregory spills all. Knew it!
Crouching again to Gregory's level, the barrister looks at the man again for a long while, unspeaking, as the others go through the boxes. "There are worse things then desperate men in this world. That you did the smart thing in your unfortunate situation means something good - we can work together without ethics or pride getting in the way. Perhaps there is an unhappy compromise we can come to, in that all compromises are unhappy."
"Why were you looking in the windows of the livery? And how can you help us? Be honest, I've got a keen eye for lies, Gregory. And your life hangs by a lifeline, of which the weight of falsehoods will snap."
With Gregory finally admitting to his role as an informer, Boros smiles faintly and leaves the finer aspects of turning the snitch to Aldous, who can clearly talk circles around the now-terrifed man. This leaves the soldier free to concentrate on those boxes, and what's inside them. With just a bit more work, he gets them all opened and begins emptying them. Boros whistles softly as he exposes the contents of the various boxes to the light for the first time in many decades, stacking everything neatly in various piles, armor and weapons in one and everything else in a second. "Well now, looks those old rebels had some pretty good supply officers in their ranks, if this cache is anythin' to go by," he says as he examines the armor for a moment. He then calls Miranda over and points out the sealed iron coffer's lock mechanism. "Here, ya think ya can do somethin' to get that open? Preferably without hurtin' whatever's inside?" Leaving the halfling to her work, he carefully inspects the crossbow for signs of damage or wear, drawing and releasing the string several times in succession to see if it is still sound. Boros then does the same for the shortbow, testing it to its limits.
Originally Nissim helped Miranda locate and open boxes. But as she, and then Boros, begin to lay out the contents, Nissim steps back. Muttering a couple of incomprehensible words and making a spider-like movement with one hand, he begins to look for magical auras among the objects. As he locates an enchanted item he looks it over carefully, observing its aura, to try to figure out the nature of its magic.
Bracers:
Padded Armor:
Bolts:
Cloak:
Helmet:
Statues:
After several minutes of manipulating and staring over the items, he tells Miranda and Boros:
"The bracers and armor are easy enough to understand. Each has been augmented to provide more protection than they would normally. The bracers will protect the entire person, not just the area they cover. The statues transform into the objects they represent. Presumably they become ravens that can give some assistance. What type I'm not yet quite sure. As for the crossbow bolts, cloak, and helmet, I don't yet know. I can try again. More time will help of course. Or Aldous can give them a look as well."
Gregory, who was staring at some nearby rats looks up at Aldous:"Simple enough, I happened to see you enter. That place was chained up, and you made a fair bit of noise getting the door open. I was nearby, you caught my attention. And you didn't seem like homeless guys trying to move in, so I figured ya' were here on some seedy business. Something you meant to do in some remote empty house. So I thought I'd best give it a look, could be a chance to do my job...", Gregory looks away with what little defiance he has left, staring at the rats again for a few moments, before returning his gaze to Aldous:"As for how I can help you? If we're being honest, you guys ARE on some mighty seedy business, what with that slime thing and what you did with that gnome. Somehow I doubt that's either the first, nor the last time you run into problems with the Dottari. My info is usually good, and Hunter trusts me...now, I can't do that repeatedly, or they'll get rid of me, permanently, but once, I could feed the dottari some made-up intelligence or b*!@$!&# story to help you out. I won't even ask why and what, or how you'd benefit from it. What I claim as truth is on your conscience, then...if you want to accuse some friendly old lady for unsanctioned summoning, her blood is on your hands - just saying."
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Miranda's dissapointment over the boxes state all but disappears when they start opening them up and see what's inside. Ohhh! Really nice things! She starts stacking their loot on a particularly dry and mold-free spot on the floor for examination, which Nissim already starts. Lifting the morningstar just to test its weight (a bit much for her size really!) she takes a practice swing in the air.
"I think you are right. These things are of really high quality; even the non-magical stuff." Miranda comments in response to Boros after Nissim has divided the things into mundane and not. If I swing this in an uppercut, maybe I even get a little airtime ...? she thought to herself before putting down the weapon before she did something too stupid. Instead she briefly sat down and picked up one of the ravens. "So you are saying this can turn into a real bird?" She leaned in closer to inspect the statue. "Neat! Maybe they used them as messengers? They are easier to keep in your pocket then a real one no doubt. Hmmm ..."
Her thoughts of tying together all six birds and then flying laughing trough the streets were quickly interrupted by Boros request. Probably a good thing too, otherwise she would risk losing a great deal of time to that thought. With a start she put back the raven and headed over to the chest, peering into the lock while she fumbled to fetch her tools from one of the more discrete pockets.
"Hmm. Four pins I think..." She stated and stuck something that looked a little like a sideways fork into the lock and rumbled the tool around a bit. But the lock didn't yield so easily so she quickly switched to her pick and torsion wrench. After a bit more mucking about she pocketed her tools again and nodded. "Yeah I think I can get it open, just may take a while. Their quartermasters dedication for quality extends to the locks too it seems!" Miranda concluded with a laugh.
Then she moves over to the true prize; the puzzlebox! A locked coffer was probably a mere vessel for valuables but this! This probably contained something secret, something really astounding! She cradled the box carefully in her hands and peered at it in wonder.
"Look at this! Isn't it pretty?" she noted absent-mindedly as she tried to identify the strange metal. It wasn't something she had ever seen before was it? Hmmmmm - no. And I have seen lots of metals... But that was really secondary right now. She rotated the box a few times in her hands to get a better look. Right now she wanted to figure out how to open it! But that too seemed to elude her ...