Eva motions for everyone to gather near Sterling before channeling some feel good energy.
Eva then also focuses on Sterling a little more and casts cure light wounds.
Vreni secures the potion,an acid and one of the tanglefoot bags in her belt.
"any of you want dibs or should we split this later? I call the set of armor with the least blood." Vreni turns to her friends as she carelessly removes the armor from the rouges and goes to shovel it into her backpack with the rest of the things.
Eva grabs an acid flask and a smokestick. "We might as well split this up now or we may conveniently forget Vereni has all the loot." Eva says teasingly. "I suggest we split the gold 12, 12, 13, 13. I will take a 12 share." Eva then takes 12 gold unless there are any complaints.
Eva then peeks out at the main road to see if their scuffle has brought any unwanted attention to them.
Looking out onto the main road, Eva can see the Hell Knight outpost and a group of three hell knights marching turning up the road towards them. There has been no alarm raised however.
My next plan is stay unconscious since nobody seems to have brought smelling salts. I'm smurfing nailing it.
"we need to go before those hell knights see us." Vreni hastily drags their victims further into the alley so that the hell knights don't see them and sound the alarm. She then lifts Sterling and slumps him over her shoulder as she tries to find the group a good path to continue on.
Potion of cure light wounds 1lbs
acid vial x2 1lbs
smokestick x1 1lbs
tanglefoot bag 4lbs
masterwork studded leather armor 20lbs
daggers x4 1lbs
The four of you wait until there seems to be a good moment to pass the hell knights and head out. As you cross the road a cry of, "Who goes there!?" comes from behind you but after continuing on your way it seems as though no one tried to follow you.
After an hour of slow moving, Sterling wakes up and can move of his own accord again. Weaving through the South Commons you make it to the Jade Market as planned.
Looking over the market and the gate to outside the city, there is a lone figure standing on the far side of the square with a green patch on his shoulder. There are also city guards at the gate, manning the small door and letting a small group of people into the city currently.
You are currently standing in an alley way opposite the man who is your mark. The square is about 200 feet across and largely open, though there is a well and a few wooden stalls set up along the center line.
Vreni looks around the square to see if there are any other people or guards she didn't notice previously
if the coast is clear Vreni will sneak her way around the square hiding behind the stalls along the way.
Trying to get Vreni's attention before she goes out into the square Eva states "Vreni wait, I don't think we should be trying to sneak around here. It will just make us look suspicious. There should be no reason we are not allowed to meet someone in public. We can simply go talk to him and ask to go somewhere a little more private for the hand off."
Vreni feels a little embarrassed realizing that she doesn't know how a less shady person would normally act. She awkwardly strokes a particularly deep scar on her right cheek and says "Ha your probably right. My default is sneaking... Well lets go talk to them then." Vreni waits to follow the lead of her other party members knowing that she is not the best at the customer service part of the job.
If no one else has anything to add, Eva casually walks into the square towards the target. Once in talking distance she stops, and speaking such that only they will hear, says "We have a deliverable for you. Would you please follow us to somewhere a little more private for transfer?"
When Eva approaches the recipient in becomes clear that it is a male elf. In reply to Eva the man says, "No, you can deliver the package to me here, and then await my reply. Begone with you now unless you have the scroll case for me." The mans tone of voice is impatient and condescending.
While this is going on, you can now notice that there are more city guards and hell knights to the west along the main road past the market place.
The entire square seems unoccupied other than yourselves though and the people entering the gate are all in now and have traveled west along the wall. The two guards remain seated beside the man door in the gate.
Vreni looks to her allies to try and get an idea of their actions moving forward. If no one in the group has any objections and she doesn't get any sense that something is wrong Vreni will inconspicuously remove the scroll from the bottom of her backpack and hands it over to the douche trying to seem natural for the guards and people in the square.
The elven man takes the scroll case, "Thank you for walking this far. It must have been a hard walk to have taken so long." He starts to walk away and says, "Wait here while I read this and reply."
The man walks about forty feet away to the west, deeper into the city and away from the guards at the gate. As you watch him, he sits down on a bench and twists the lids off the scroll, pulling the scroll out of it.
As the man unfurls the scroll a voice booms,
The remaining scrolls explode in a ball of fire.
Some of the stalls in the area catch fire, and the man is hurled backwards, and is now in multiple pieces.
For a moment there is silence. Then the two guards at the gate start calling the alarm and moving towards the explosion. Another group of people that were entering now scatter, the single gate left open.
The city guards and hell knights further in the city also cry out the alarm, though you can not yet seem them approaching the square.
For now, it appears no one has noticed you directly, you are in some shadows at the edge of the square by where you met the man. There are a few accessible alley ways nearby, an open gate to run through, the roof tops to try, or to remain as witnesses to the act.
A surprised smile stretches across Vreni's face as the light of the fireball reflects in her widened eyes "Holy Panacea! f*#&in' amazing" Vreni exclaims to herself in a quiet tone.
Seeing the guards and Hell Knights gathering towards the explosion Vreni stops reveling in the chaos and remembers she has a job to do. Vreni turns to her friends and whispers to them. "Hell knights are going to be converging on this location any moment. We should travel along the roof tops to avoid detection."
If none of her friends disagree Vreni will lead the group along the rooftops and back towards the slums taking any detours that will help them stay undetected.
mahkah slightly confused due to the explosion and separating of the party follows vreni ....she must know where to go...
"Sterling I really must disagree with your walking off casually. At least follow us part way so we know everyone is OK. I doubt anyone waling away casually will not be stopped for questioning." Eva says in a concerned tone.
Hoping that Sterling follows them, Eva follows Vreni to the roof tops. Once they are out of view, she requests to wait one minute while she removes her armor. Eva will strongly request avoiding large jumps, especially before removing her armor.
Taking 10 once out of armor:
Stealth without armor = 10+5 = 15
Acrobatics without armor = 10 + 8 = 18
After a moment of confusion the party gets up onto the roof tops and starts moving around the square towards the safe house. Most of the roofs are flat making it fairly easy to travel.
After about twenty minutes of slow travelling you get away from the sound of marching feet and the shouting of the guards. However, Vreni and Eva hear begin to hear the constant thudding of wing beats, similar to those heard when crossing the river.
Then a light and a voice appear in the dark behind you.
"Dojdi do mene braḱa i prestanat ovie ubijci!"
"Come to me brethren and stop these murderers!"
Mahkah will take out his sling and load it
Vreni will take out a kukri and study the winged beast for any weak points
Eva turns towards the creature and says in response. "Кои се вашите браќа и за она што убиства ви се однесуваат на?" At the same time she pulls out her sickle, regretting now taking off her armor.
The light flashes and disappears as three grotesque creatures appear in front of you. The creatures are masses of roiling flesh with eyes and mouths and are humanoid in shape. They move towards you and try to attack.
"Ovie se moite braḱa i htey sme tuka za vas!" the voice sounds
"These are my brethren and they are here for you!"
The attack from L2 hits Exa, the other two attacks missing wide of Mahkah and Exa.
Eva swings her sickle at the thing in front of her. "Zošto se zagriženi poradi smrtta na nekoi elf?"
Vreni stabs the nasty that Eva just missed.
mahkah confused as to why they are being attack steps back at fires(sounds incorrect but can't think of a better word) the sling and reloads it.
Not knowing what else to do Sterling steps backwards and fires his Crossbow at the creature nearest him and Mahkah.
As the bolt and the sling stone hit it, it reels backs a bit but doesn't fall.
Eva's attack misses but Vreni's hit's something vital and its collapses in a pile of stinking fat and flesh.
The remaining two flesh monsters move forward, attacking Vreni and Mahkah.
As Mahkah takes a scratch, the voice calls out again "Ana uga Adji hukum! You also hear the sound of wing beats get quieter.
"None may flaunt the law!"
Eva swings around for the flank on the one attacking Vereni and tries her luck again with the sickle. Letting her companions in on what she has been yelling in infernal, "They are attacking us for murdering that guy back there with the scroll saying that 'none may flaunt the law'. I don't know why these freaks care though."
"What!? So the Hell Knights have f$&$in' monsters working for them!? Great."
Vreni will use her movement to study L3 and then stab it with her newly bloodied Kukri.
Eva's sickle slices into the flesh monster, dropping it to the roof top, dead.
mahkah steps back again and attacks and reloads again
Mahkah's sling attack will drop the remaining creature, and it will slowly "melt" into a pile of goo.
The roof top is still for a moment, but Mahkah can both hear the receding sound of wing beats, and that people are starting to move around in the house below him.
From the direction of the wing beats a voices calls out, "Sampeyan bakal kejiret siji dina, yen ora iki banjur kanggo angkara liyane!"
"You will be caught one day, if not for this then for another crime!"
It also catches Mahkah's eye that there are two black stones at the center of each of the dead creatures piles of oozing flesh.
Vreni uses part of Mahkahs unwanted cut of the gold they took off the thugs they killed in the alley to pay for the ferry.
"Mahkah you didn't want this gold right? Vreni says to Mahkah before she hands off 4 silver pieces to the ferry man.
no need for things like that....but boss will need my share....probably mahkah says as he grabs the black stones and holds them up here take some...we must hurry now people are moving below...and flying thing retreated...
"I don't think the boss is worried about some gold be picked off of some muggers."
You return to the safe house with no more incidents. When you arrive, Castone is waiting for you. As a courtesy he first looks at the six black stone you found in the summoned creatures.
"These are onyx gemstones, used to help summon fiends occasionally. They're worth about 50 gp each. Where did you come across them?"
After you tell Castone where you found the onyx he becomes slightly agitated, "Did you get any information or have any leads about who these creatures where working for? Also, was the mission successful? What happened when handing the scroll off to the client?"
Sitting on a backwards chair Vreni replies to Castone. "It was f%~!in crazy! The scroll was all 'YOU WERE WARNED' and then BOOM!" *Vreni makes an explosion noise while gesturing with her hands. Did you know that it was gonna frickin explode? because I personally would've loved a heads up on that bit. Thank Panacea that douche decided he needed some personal space reading it... Needless to say we completed the mission.
Eva what did you say that beast said? 'none may flaunt the law'? sounded to me like it was working for the Hell Knights.
"Ya. The attacker was speaking in infernal and called the summoned flesh bags his brethren. I think he had wings, I could hear a flapping sound in the air but he himself was invisible. He called us murders, which we are, but I am assuming he is after us for either the guy getting blown to bits, or the muggers we took out along the way."
To Vreni's question Castone replies, "HA! I had an idea the scroll was along those lines. The Shogunate has gotten rather uppity of late."
Thinking for a moment, Castone says "As for the invisible creature, make sure you keep a watch out for more and keep your heads down for a while. It's probably best to sit tight here for a few days."
Castone then gestures and leads you into the living room, where he motions for you to sit in one of the many chairs. Once you are seated he continues.
"So, the four of you have completed your final trial, and are now full members of The Enlisted. From now on you have a duty to uphold our honor and our word to all others. Your most important duty is to never shame the guild." Walking to each of you in turn, Castone holds out a small leather pouch and hands it to you, when he does so he also grabs the bicep of the arm you reached out with. His hand glows slightly and you feel a tingling sensation where he held your arm.
"I have marked each of you with our sign. Wear it proudly. Take this money as a reward as well." Castone backs into the middle of the room again. "From now on, you will have to fend for yourselves most of the time. Pick good marks, rewarding heists, and simple assassinations. You will owe 20% of your spoils to the guild, to be paid at the end of each month. In return this safe house is yours and will be stocked with basic supplies and watched to make sure it remains secure."
Directly to Mahkah Castone says, "Your debt is now your own. You owe 500 gp for your life to be yours again. The interest on the debt is 5% per week. We shall collect it as 20% per month to be paid when you submit your portion of the spoils. Don't try to rush the payments as you'll need money to keep yourself in good gear and alive."
With that Castone gives a soft dismissal. "Have a good sleep, sit tight here for a few days and then plan out your next move. I'll be back in a week or two with another job for you."
Vreni stops Castone before he leaves "Hey, where do you suggest we find jobs? where can we find you if we need you?"