
Lemmy |

"Whatever..." says the shielded warrior as he drops his weapons. The crossbowman does the same. "It should be at the big room by the end of the corridor..."
He proceeds to move up to his fallen friend and pour the contents of a small vial on the dwarf's mouth.

Tai Leng |

"Eitylen, can you tend to Brother Cyrus?" Leng says, handing Eitylen a potion.
"I'll check out the room, in case there's any more surprises." with that, he heads off to the big room at the end of the hall.

Lemmy |

"Wait." says Ayren. "Take this. It's supposed to react to Lord Richard's collar. This way you can identify him if there are more than one cat around."
Ayren hands a small pendant to Tai Leng, similar to the belts usually linked to a cat's collar.
The door at the end of the corridor leads to a much bigger, much darker tunnel, lit only by a few torches on the walls. It seems to go on for a few miles, but no more than 60ft from Tai Leng's position, there is a double wooden door, each of its halves about 10ft in length and height.
(Map Updated)

Lemmy |

Tai Leng slowly opens the doors, and spies through its cracks before opening it. What he sees is a rather large room, 30x50ft. Inside, he can see 4 men, 2 of them guards using armor similar to the ones the group fought moments ago. There is also a young man in fancy clothes and an older man in grey robes.
In front of them, there is a large wooden cage containing a unusually large tiger who has one of its paws chained to the wall.
Tai Leng's amulet tells him the beast is Lord Richard.

Eitylen |

It is not a good Idea to procced. We have a group of 4 ahead and 5 more behind us, either group by themselves is a challenge, the two of them is a death sentence

Lemmy |

Well... You did defeat the apparent leader of the armored guards, so you could possibly persuade/force him to cooperate.
BTW, both the chain at Lord Richard's paw and the door to the wooden cage are locked by padlocks, you could possibly break them (or find the keys) and simply unlock them... Who needs Disable Device when you have Stealth and Sleight of Hand? ;)
Releasing Richard and letting him maul the guys is actually a cool idea, only problem is that he might get hurt, and one of the specific orders that Ayren says he got from his employer is for the tiger to not get hurt.

Tai Leng |

Sadly, I left my bolt cutters at home. But we'll try the diplomatic route, I suppose.
Leng quietly heads back to where he left the others.
"They still have some guards up ahead. I think our best bet is getting that man to tell his other men to step aside, else this may get bloody again. I'll admit, I don't exactly have a way with words myself though."

Lemmy |

"Only one of those works for me" says the thug leader "The others are the man behind this little operation and two of his own associates. I may not be willing to let my boys die just so a spoiled bastard can smuggle kittens and parrots, but I can't attack my employer either." He then speaks with a even more serious tone. "Give me your word that you won't harm any of my men and I will get my boy out of that room and make sure none of the others hassle you when you're leaving, but that's all I can do for you."
The crossbowman speaks timidly
"I-If that helps... The guy in fancy cl-clothes keeps a bunch of keys in his pockets. They pr-probably include the ones for the cage too..."
Is anyone doing anything about Brother Cyrus?

Tai Leng |

"I give you my word, that unless your men attack me first I will do no harm to them."
"I don't speak for my companions, but I can't imagine why they'd refuse."

Lemmy |

Ayren just shrugs. "I don't mind either way... I wasn't hired to kill anyone, so whatever you guys decide."
Looking back, it seems the 2 other guards weren't actually killed, although one of them is at -16 HP, so pretty damn close. oO.
"Fine, then." says the thug leader, then he turns to his subordinates "Korg, go take care of the wounded." he says to the dwarf before turning to the crossbowman. "You. Go and tell Jimmie that he is late for the shift change, then come back here with him."
"Yes, boss." reply both the crossbowman and the dwarf in unison, before going to attend to their respective orders.
A couple minutes later, the crossbowman is back with another guard. And the shield warrior speaks again. "Very well. I'll attend to the last part of the deal. You guys do whatever it is that you came to do here. Not my problem anymore."
he then walks towards the stairs you came from, quickly followed by his subordinates, the dwarf carrying two seriously wounded men on his shoulders.

Brother Cyrus |

Cyrus' eyes snap open and he immediately channels energy.
Sweet life giving power: 2d10 + 3 ⇒ (2, 1) + 3 = 6
"Ugh...I hope we came to an agreement." He says, noticing the still living thugs.
He channels more holy energy, not satisfied with his current mortality, should time allow.
Not stingy curative power: 2d10 + 3 ⇒ (7, 2) + 3 = 12

Brother Cyrus |

I took Improved Channel twice and Lemmy's houserule on Channel Energy adds your level to it.
Cyrus follows Tai Leng and informs him that he could burst the padlocks.

Tai Leng |

Leng whispers back. "Do it if they try anything."
Leng walks into the room brazenly.
"Step aside. That tiger is rightful property of our employer. We're taking it. If you get in our way, you will get hurt. If you don't, we can all go our separate ways."

Tai Leng |

"Who I am doesn't matter. Thonn, I assume, is the leader of the guards. He's...indisposed at the moment. Alive, I assure you, but he won't be coming to your aid this evening."
Nothing in there is technically a lie, I believe.

Lemmy |

Well, I think it'd fall more into Intimidate anyway
"Shut up, peasant! You two, take him!" shouts the fancy-looking man.
"Uh... I don't have any combat spell... You told me I shouldn't bother." says the old man.
"And there are 3 of them..." says the archer.
"Ugh... Incompetent fools..." says the fancy-dressed man "Very well, then. You can have the beast, stranger. But if we ever cross paths again, don't expect things to go so smoothly for you."
The man then proceeds to leave (assuming no one stops him) and is quickly followed by his employees.
Now it's only you 3. And Lord Richard. Ayren is back in the room where the shield warrior and the dwarf were talking before they were interrupted by the fight in the corridor.

Brother Cyrus |

"Perhaps the cat will recognize the pendant? If all else fails, I hear cats like rope..." Cyrus begins to feed rope off of his robes.

Lemmy |

Ayren appears, walking through the huge door.
"So this is Lord Richard, huh? He is bigger than I thought. I should have asked for more gold..." says the half-elf. "I have a sleep potion here, but I don't know if it'll work on something that big, and somehow, I'm not inclined to finding out if we can carry him away before he wakes up." Ayren looks around and adds "How did they get it here in the first place? That cage is wider than the tunnel!"

Tai Leng |

"I'm sure I have no idea. Maybe they did as you said, drugged the tiger and carried him in here?"
Leng sighs.
"I'm beginning to think you should have asked for more gold too."
"I don't suppose someone here is secretly a tiger tamer?"

Brother Cyrus |

Brother Cyrus begins to sweep the room for traces of magic. "Perhaps they used some sort of magic..."

Brother Cyrus |

Brother Cyrus approaches the crate with mounting curiosity. "It appears the collar on Lord Richard and this crate, or rather possibly something within the crate is touched with a magical aura. Their purpose eludes me...Tai Leng? Your thoughts?"
Cyrus attempts to open the small crate of wonder.

Lemmy |

Lord Richard roars impatiently as Brother Cyrus moves closer to the cage in order to check the wooden crate.
The wooden crate is not locked in any way. Cyrus opens and finds a couple wands, both of which irradiate a magical aura typical of Enchantment spells.
"We really should get out of here, you know..." says Ayren "What if that guy decides to return with back up?"
Pro tip: Remember what else you guys saw on your way in.

Tai Leng |

A lot of cats, and also bats?
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Here's hoping one of both of these is a conveniently placed wand of Charm Animal.

Lemmy |

Also... Empty cages. That are conveniently 10x10ft wide.
Tai Leng successfully identifies the wands as being partially charged with the spells Charm Animal and Sleep. Because what else would you use on a operation to smuggle animals? CL 1. There are 14 charges in the wand of Charm Animals and 5 in the one of Sleep.
Here is hoping Nicos post something anytime soon. Eitylen is too quiet.

Tai Leng |

Leng glances at the tiger warily, but seems content that it will follow at least one of the group. Nevertheless, he keeps a tight grip on the wand of Sleep, just in case.
"So. Shall we take our leave?"

Brother Cyrus |

"Aye, lets get this cat out of the cage." Cyrus hands Eitylen 10 feet of rope as a makeshift leash before attempting to burst the padlocks with a cast of Shatter each.

Brother Cyrus |

Cyrus shrugs. "Time is of the essence." He says but holds his DIVINE POWER in check.