The gargantuan centipede does a repeat performance, pieces of its carapace flying in all directions to once again coat the marketplace square in gore following Tetsudo's attack. Gwendallyn positions herself defensively in front of Tereze, in preparation of the remaining centipede's approach. This happens shortly thereafter, as both remaning centipedes begin to slither towards her. Both lunge at Gwendallyn, one managing to slip past her defenses. She winces as poison begins to seep in the wound, but reflexively grabs the offending centipede in a grapple!
Initiative Order (Round 1-2)
Tereze
Fiona
-----------
Tetsudo
Locke
Gwendallyn (-15, -6 DEX. DC 14 Fort)
Huge Centipedes
GM, that huge centipede below me would currently be hurt and on fire after the firebomb. It takes 1d6 fire dmg at every turn unless put out.
The writhing silver statue lets off a pulse of eerie otherworldly light, causing the exploded gargantuan centipede to implode back into a whole centipede from the various gore bits strewn about the marketplace in slow motion! The newly-regenerated centipede lunges at him, biting the Turtle Warrior with its sharp mandibles!
Initiative Order (Round 1-2)
Tereze -5 (Caster Level Check Needed for neutralize poison, DC 14)
Fiona
-----------
Tetsudo -16
Locke
Gargantuan Centipede (-53, on fire)
Gwendallyn (-10, -6 DEX. DC 14 Fort)
Huge Centipedes (-13 on one/flaming)
The gargantuan centipede succumbs to Fiona's curse of misfortune. The result of the curse becomes apparent, as it suffers a mortal turn of its luck as Tetsudo re-splats the insect all over the market square again, re-coating the entire square in another layer of green gore. Gwen is unable to fight off the poison, but with a surge of strength flips the massive centipede she is grappling over and slams her fist firmly into one of its large eyes.
The grappled centipede struggles to get better leverage in Gwen's embrace, but is unable to un-pin itself from the grapple. The other centipede lunges past Gwen as she is distracted to attempt to nip at Tereze, but she is able to dodge its clumsy attack.
Initiative Order (Round 2-3)
Tereze -5
Fiona
-----------
Tetsudo -16 (2 Fort Saves pending DC 17, cure 1 save (1st = 1 pt, 2nd = 8 pt))
Locke
Gwendallyn (-10, -7 DEX. DC 14 Fort, Grappling)
Huge Centipedes (-15/flaming, -11/Pinned)
|
As faint bite marks appear on her torso, Tereze looks the cetipedes grappled by her friend and with the turtle riding swinging around for another charge..
I suppose you can deal with zose. she says stepping back.
Then she reaches out the the Gods above and readies herself to calls down the divine mist to heal her companions as soon as Testudo makes his charge.
Tetsudo wheels around and charges the flaming centipede, causing another insect to explode in all directions. Locke's arrow strikes his target true; while Fiona orients on the remaining insect, causing it to succumb to her curse of misfortune. Finally, Gwendallyn maintains her grip on the insect; fatally twisting its head off of its body, causing it to collapse it a huge pile on the flagstones of the market square. The sounds of battle fade once again, leaving the group standing alone in the square; the statuette sitting innocently nearby as the noontide sun above glints off of its surface.
|
Before anybody moves, Testudo shouts.
NOBODY MOVE. NOBODY CAST A SPELL, NOBODY DO ANYTHING! I DO NOT WANT TO BE KILLING CENTIPEDES ALL DAY!
With that, he moves over the the thing and tosses his tabbard over it so he's not touching it.
We are going to take this thing back, IMMEDIATLY, and we're not going to do ANYTHING that might trigger it until it's someone else's problem.
He sounds... less noble than normal. Apparently, the giant bugs and severe stiffness make for a cranky turtle rider.
Tereze gathers the group and leads them back to the Pathfinder Lodge in the city.
The group finds their return back to the Lodge relatively uneventful, ending back up at the Sedeq Lodge without issue. Yasmin looks up from a report she is perusing, surprised to see the party back so soon.
"Welcome back," she says while trailing off a bit towards the end with a raised eyebrow as she takes in the relatively ruffled state of the group. "Have any luck finding those statues yet?"
|
"No worry, Tereze, didn't mean anything by it.
Just a healthy worry, you know.
Really, if it wasn't for your healing powers, we'd have been in some dangerous spots."
(points at the spot of previously punctured lung)
Looking back, i think DC 10 perception was enough to notice something back then.
[PM'ed content]
Yasmin gingerly takes the statue presented to her by Tereze, turning it over in her hands to observe it at all angles. "It reacts to arcane spells, you say? This certainly could be a dangerous artifact, for sure!" she says. The Venture-Captain moves over to a chest in the corner of the room, opening it to reveal an interior lined with a dark metal of some kind. She wraps the statue in a well-made linen and places the bundle inside before sealing the check with a lock. Yasmin turns back to the group. "Thanks for the hard work. Recuperate if you need to, but I would not hesitate for too long. The other statues may slip from our grasp if the other buyers for the statues leave the city."
After some brief discussions with some townsfolk nearby, Tereze learns of an individual who had been seen at length talking with Chaim named "Buri Buri-Ban," a human thug perceived to be part of another smuggling ring in the city. The townsfolk frequently see him at his favorite lunch spot, the Fetching Fan Cafe just off the Sengali Square down the road.
Should the group follow up on this lead, they will actually see a man matching Buri's description sitting down for a meal at the patio for the cafe. He appears to be engaged in a conversation with a waiter, while he is empty a drink flask into a cup at the table. He takes a long swig as a bustle of customers briefly obscure him from view, but when the cluster of people clears Buri is nowhere to be seen!
The group enters the warehouse, noting that the area inside is about 100 feet on all sides of the square room filled with a variety of vats filled with a melange of spices that assault your senses. Endless motes of spice dust float about in the air inside, dancing around the catwalks and chains that dangle from the ceiling. Six workers, clad in little beyond loincloths and bandannas that they wear around their face like a mask, move amongst the vats refining spices in the vats. A foreman stands up on one of the catwalks above supervising the process.
Everyone will notice a visible ripple in the spice dust on the floor and the air about 20 feet in front of you, moving in a way that suggests that Buri-Ban is attempting to flee through this warehouse towards an exit on the other side about 80 feet away. As you notice this, several of the workers note your presence and begin shouting at you in their native language!
|
|
Tereze sees the other man escaping and with a grim expression calls out in her native tongue as she moves forward.
You who curse me every day, for once save others rather then harm. Appear and block that door!
She points at the far door and suddenly a shadowy figure seems to rise of the ground and hover in front of the door. As it's head turns, the creature's tattered hood reveals eyes that glow with a cold blue light within horrid shadowed skull.
Seeing the movement in the dust the creature reaches a skeletal hand in the direction of the invisible creature and lets out a moan.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As Tereze's illusionary wraith emerges near the exit, the group will notice Buri-Ban appears from his concealment as he engages in "combat" with the illusion. Tetsudo takes advantage of this situation and charges the man, literally plowing through the man and sending the two halves of his corpse flying in opposite directions. The gore coats several nearby workers, who immediately double over and begin vomiting into their facemasks, resulting in more retching from the build up. A shiny copper statuette of a cat tumbles to the floor near the left half of Buri-Ban's body, the figurine lightly dusted in curry powder.
Now before zat statue hurts someone else, someone examine it!
Several workers not puking nearby look confused, shrug, and stare very intensely at the statuette. They then look back at Tereze, muttering something in Kelish.
|
|
......
"That was a bit an excessive display of force, for subduing a running suspect."
Then the stench of vomit joins the faint irony smell of blood.
"I suggest we get some fresh air, and avoid further attention we might draw to ourselves, what with the slaying of a man in the middle of an industrial plant. I'd hate to have the VC bail us out of prison."
The group quickly departs from the warehouse as a gathering crowd of workers converge to gawk at the carnage within. Moving a safe distance away, they will notice several guards rushing past them towards the building to investigate the ruckus.
The group is able to return the statuette from the spice warehouse without incident. Meanwhile, Tereze is able to learn of the 3rd statuette's location, in the possession a merchant Nasir Tandir; a heavy set man who maintains a warehouse of his own due south of Qalli Trading House in the Overmarket neighborhood called "The Secure Market."
In the Overmarket, the streets are broader, the buildings farther apart, and the alleyways less dark. The spice levels in the air are much more breathable as well. This is the middle class portion of the Qalli—not as crowded as the Central Market where the poorest of the poor rub elbows with high powered merchants. The Overmarket almost has the feel of a residential neighborhood, albeit one with many more shops and stalls than houses and apartments. Tandir's warehouse is easily located, where the front door to the warehouse is wide open.
Directly inside the front door are two men in the middle of a heated discussion. One, behind the low counter, is a fat, jowly man, looking wary but defiant. The man standing across from him is grizzled but menacing—his body lean but for a sizable paunch and his cheeks scraggly with half grown gray beard. The fat man blusters, “I’ve already paid you what you’re owed, Belal. You told me protection would be ten a month, plus another five for the mucks. By those rates I’m paid up through the end of the year!”
Belal reaches across the counter and grabs the man by his collar. “Rates have changed, Tandir. I’ve told you that twice now. If you want my protection”—he jerks on the collar—“you’d better pay me the rest.”
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Tereze motions for the others to hide and grabs Gwen and drags her over so only the two of them are seen at the door.
Then she speaks up in her sweetest voice while leaning casually against the door frame.
15 gold a month? It does seem like a lot to pay... I do not know Gwen, do you zink he is worth that? He seems a bit out of shape to me.
She gives him a very obvious once over and waits.
The tough manhandling Nasir lets go of the man's collar as he turns to look at Tereze and the group behind her. He clears his throat loudly and smooths his clothing as he steps back slightly from the merchant.
"Err...This is a private warehouse, madam," Nasir says nervously as he gets to his feet and attempts to regain his aplomb. "Is there something I can help you with?"
|
|
Tereze watches with amusement as the two men try to regain their balance after the fight.
You have recently acquired an item of considerable danger. A statue about so tall. She holds her hands about the distance apart of the other statues.
One of ze statues from ze same batch has earlier today released a series of monsters on its unsuspecting owner. I am sure you heard about ze disruption earlier today at ze Central Market?
It was lucky ze pair of us were nearby at ze time. We had to put down ze monsters to protect all ze innocent people zere in the square.
We are simply here to ensure no such terrible zing happens in your establishment you have clearly worked so hard to build. Monsters do make such a mess...
When Tereze mentions the statue, Nasir flinches reflexively in the direction of the counter he was leaning against. The thug next to him adopts an appraising look as he too looks at the counter. "What's that, Nasir? Peddling dangerous artifacts now, are you? Be a good merchant and show your wares, won't you?" He flicks out a dagger from its sheath on a belt, flipping it threateningly in the air as the thug begins to advance around the counter. The thug calls out behind his shoulder, "I won't have to report a dead merchant to the boss if there's no witnesses. Boys, get'm!"
Initiative: (Round 1)
Belal
Locke
Tereze
Tetsudo
Gwenddallyn
Fiona
Thugs 1&2
Nasir
Gwen grasps the thug firmly in her grasp, the man struggling vainly against her iron grip. Tetsudo's lance greets him immediately after, the weapon piercing his leather armor like butter, while Roshi is able to adeptly nip the man due to him being restrained by Gwendallyn. Fiona puts one of thug's back-up thieves to sleep with an uttered curse, the man collapses to the ground with a snore.
The other thief lets out a curse of his own, moving forward as he draws a shortsword to stab Tetsudo with. Unfortunately for the thief, his attack is unable to get past the turtle knight's defenses. Meanwhile, Nasir cowers behind his counter as he covers his head with his hands. The thug in Gwendallyn's grasp decides to stab her with his dagger, the blade finding a gap in her defenses and dealing a bit of damage.
Initiative: (Round 2)
Belal (-16, grappled by Gwen)
Locke
Tereze
Tetsudo
Gwenddallyn (-5, grappling Belal)
Fiona
Thugs 1&2 (Red Unconscious)
Nasir