|
Mikhaere follows Mella inside, silent but conspicuously standing just in front of the guard Iago he had left previously. "Caw, I thought I could avoid the blood around this side," he grumbles to himself.
"Did you hire some thugs to follow us or something?" he asks Nasir idly while quite obviously picking a wood splinter out of where it had stuck in his claw.
|
Mella & Mikhaere slowly make their way through the warehouse. Nasir is lying on the ground behind the counter in a fetal position. He doesn't respond to their questions.
Jarlgur catches his companions get waylaid from the corner of his eye. He turns about to jab at Far with his spear but misses.
Raz chuckles to himself as Maaarv lies before him bleeding. He then moves into position to flank with Eadie.
Far noticing his compatriot on the otherside of head swings high in attempts to bring the tall woman down.
Iago noticing the heat coming in from behind, steps out of the warehouse. He swings at Rackles with his club, hoping he's easier to hit then the iron maiden. (air guitar, air guitar, air guitar, San Dimas Rules!)
Round 5
All Heroes May Go!
|
|
"Yes, ma'am," Mikhaere half-heartedly salutes the paladin before he saunters on up to Nasir and looms over the foetal man with an arched brow. The tengu lightly shakes the man's shoulders with one clawed hand.
"C'mon, man. Where's the statue? The one you bought from a guy named Chaim recently. Tell us and there won't be any more problems."
Mikhaere isn't too intimidating. Probably because his tone of voice is altogether bored rather than scary and angry sounding.
|
|
Rackle's second blade finds Far's flesh, carving out a pound. Far falls to the ground dying and bleeding out.
Eadie steps out of the way of the dead man and hacks at Raz for minimal damage.
After Far falls, Jarlgur channels positive energy, healing everybody within 30' of the oracle. Far's wounds, along with everybody else heals ever so slightly, allowing him to awake. Maaarv is stabilized.
Mella catches the arm of Iago with her blade. The slash leaves a jagged wound in his clubbing arm.
"What? Statue? What are you talking about?" Nasir sobs out as he tries to cover his face with his robes.
Raz tries to return the favor and knock Eadie a good one.
Even though he is on the ground, Far grabs his club and tries to distract Rackle by swinging at his feet while prone on the ground.
Iago swings at Rackle as well, hoping to bring down the bird-brained buzzsaw.
Missing, Iago then 5' step to K9 gather forces with his fellow men-at-arms.
Round 6
All Heroes Go!
|
|
Mikhaere stares dumbly at the sobbing figure of Nasir for a few moments, confused as to what he was hearing. But how could he not? Did Torch get the wrong name here or something? "Mella, he says he doesn't know about a statue," the tengu calls out with a frown.
"Don't be lying to me, you hear?" Mikhaere grumbles. "Look, it's a statue like, uh, well it probably looks like," the tengu continues to detail the statue that they'd nabbed from the Marketplace earlier that day, "or maybe a little different, but, yeah, probably insects on it."
Mikhaere's ramblings continue to fail to be anything even remotely resembling intimidating. So instead he takes a long look around, first at Nasir himself, and then around his warehouse, looking for anything that might match the description of "insect summoning ancient Osiriani relic".
|
|
Eadie hits Raz in the side of the neck. Blood starts to pump from his wound, but he still stands and is ready to give her a rightful thrashing.
"I don't know anything about any insect statue. Are you all rabid etymologists?"
Maaarv dreams of steam-driven goats.
Jarlgur misses with his poke at Iago.
Belal still continues to foam at the mouth as his body slows down in his convulsions. Jafar who is only the far side of the building lies dying as he was not touched by Jarlgur's divine blessing.
Rackle drives both of his wakizashis through the the shoulder blade of Far, pinning him to the ground. He falls unconscious again.
Mella bursts out of the warehouse like the Kool-aid man with a long singing strike. *Snicker-snack* The paladin decapitates Iago. His head rolls under the feet of Rackle as his body slumps over toward Jarlgur, pumping blood from the neck stump.
Raz witnesses the quick dispatchment of the other men. He drops his club and starts to run back into the crowds of Overmarket
Raz crumbles before Eadie's mighty blade. Blood drips onto the sand as onlookers stand astonished at the murderous scene before them.
End of Combat
|
|
Belal looks quite awful. His pupils are burst with blood as they stare up into the sky. His muscles appear to be quite atrophied as if he went from his mid-forties to this eighties in 30 seconds. Belal's hands and feet are crumpled up like claws, rigored stiff. Otherwise, his personal effects consist of a masterwork dagger, masterwork studded leather, a potion and 50 gold pieces.
Mella races over Maaarv and tries to bring him back to life with a series of punches to the chest and slaps across the face. She is sure she heard somewhere that this brings people back from the brink of death.
|
|
Mikhaere snorts, shoves Nasir out of the way, and crouches down to open the secret cabinet in the counter. If it's not locked, he'll rummage around in it to find the statue and then follow everyone else outside to check on Maaarv. If it is locked, he'll still head out there to report his finding.
Either way, he crouches over the bloodied-up alchemist, marvelling at his red shirt before channelling some healing magic into his crumpled form. As he wakes, Maaarv hears the strange song of the swamp echoing in his ears for a few moments: the croaks of frogs, the slosh of slow-moving water, the buzzing of insects, and the creaking of rotten logs.
|
|
Rackle's second blade finds Far's flesh, carving out a pound.
As Raz makes to run … The koala tea of mercy is not strained … be damned! I’ll leave the ethics stuff to Mella.
Eadie hits Raz in the side of the neck. Blood starts to pump from his wound, but he still stands and is ready to give her a rightful thrashing.
“So it’s just a flesh wound, huh? Here have another …”
Although she is clearly wounded, when Maaarv comes around Eadie will kneel down, put an arm around him and not say a single word.
|
|
Mikhaere opens up the secret panel and finds a strong box. Unlocked, he opens it to find the bottom littered with genies. Also placed within is a statue that is 8 inches tall and weighs 2 pounds. It’s an accurate depiction of a giraffe, including carved markings to represent spots, eyes, and so on.
Maaarv awakes after being healed by the druid's spell.
|
|
Maaarv comes to with a dull pain in the back of his head and a bit of ringing in his ears.
"Eadie, did we win? Tell me you got the bastard that got me." He smiles weakly with a wink and pats the fighter's hand.
"Mikhaere, I can only guess by the faint aroma of stagnant water in my nose and croaking in my ears that you had a hand in my survival. Thank you." He nods his head toward the tengu.
"Once again I find myself being a burden on you all. I guess it's obvious that House Osirion has tasked me with being as useless as possible. What a way to earn some prestige, right?"
"Hey, nice marmot, er giraffe," he notes of the statue.
He flicks his wrist and a wand appears. He taps himself a couple of times, "Just to be sure."
|
|
Eadie stands up with a smile, but winces as she puts weight on her injured leg. As subtly as she can, Eadie *clears her throat* and shows her wounded knee to Maaarv and Jarlgur.
“What kind of potion is it, Rackle?”
“What about tackling the beefy Buri Buri-Ban next, before attempting the secure market? Torch said his favorite café fronts Sengali square."
"I’m starting to wonder if we don’t just go in swinging this time, Mella?”
|
With all the immediate threats past, and the second statue secure Mella cleans the blood from her longsword before sheathing it. Looking at the street scene, Mella sighs and shakes her head. "Before this day is over, it seems that the value of these statues will only be measured in blood."
Mella begins moving the bodies of the thugs off the street into Nasir's warehouse, arranging them with a sense of duty and respect. When she is done, she admonishes Nasir "Their lives are a currency you foolishly spent, and now you will see to their final arrangements."
|
|
Mikhaere nods his head in return to Maaarv's thanks. When the others start to concern themselves with other things, the tengu will mumble to him in a low voice: "So long as we embellish the story to Amenopheus, I'm sure there'll be no problems." Mik gives him a light pat on the shoulder before following Mella back indoors, just in time to hear Nasir's dummy-spitting.
"Hey. We did ask you nicely to begin with," Mikhaere shrugs nonchalantly, the insults bouncing off him like raindrops off his waterproofed feathers. He'll then happily leave, unconcerned by the money or what would happen to the dead rogues strewn about the place.
"But man, a giraffe? Osiriani relics are kinda weird... are we sure this is the right one?" He looks at Jarlgur for a moment. "Wanna give spellcasting a go? Then we'd know for sure." It's really not clear whether Mikhaere is serious or not...
"Who's number three on our hit list?"
|
|
"Oh, I am so sorry about your scraped knee, Eadie. What a devastating injury you've suffered." He winks and grins at the fighter. "Good thing Jarlgur has his wits about him."
That's the way, Rackle.
"Honestly, it doesn't matter to me who we go after next. Do we have time for me to mix up a little extract for myself? It shouldn't take long at all. Just a minute."
Maaarv opens his pack and removes a small kit containing various bottles of liquids and powders. He spends two minutes mixing up two vials of identical extracts.
"Don't know why I didn't make these sooner," the alchemist mumbles to himself.
|
Jarlgur walks over picking up the platinum pieces and stuffing them into his belt pouch. He turns to Nasir and says, A fool and his money are easily parted. He returns to the group. In the future, I have a wand that is much more efficient at healing after battle. He gives a crooked grin. It you don't mind the feel of demon taint for a short time. He gathers himself, looking around the market. Who do we have left to see?
|
|
"Oh, I am so sorry about your scraped knee, Eadie. What a devastating injury you've suffered." He winks and grins at the fighter.
Eadie nods her thanks to Jarlgur before giving Maaarv a shove in the shoulder. She tries unsuccessfully to keep a smile off her face.
“I have been thinking of ways to help us in the Secure Market, but confess to have not come up with much. There is an item called a Pathfinder’s Pouch which would let us carry 10lb of gear into the market without the risk of detection. It costs 1000 scarabs though.”
“Maybe we do a walk-through of the market first and then come up with a plan?”
“There’s still Buri Buri-Ban, the beefy Garundi we can tackle in the meantime.”
Eadie approaches one of the onlookers for the location of Sengali square.
|
|
A crow cannot help gathering shinies to line his nest... glad to see the cousins from the homeland are still, at heart, tengu.
The suggestion to buy a magical item to deal with the Secure Market's, well, security, has Mikhaere skeptical, however.
"If you've got a thousand gold coins just lying around, go right ahead..."
He'll join Eadie in pestering one of the shocked onlookers for the location of Sengali Square, affecting a demeanour that he wasn't surrounded by bloodied corpses.
|
|
Mella wipes the spit off of her, glaring at Nasir. "A bold act for a man who was just cowering in the corner pissing himself while he allowed his protection to be slaughtered. Perhaps you are too confused about the teachings of the Inheritor, She does not preach redemption or forgiveness like the Dawnflower. Dishonor me again at your peril, coward."
Returning to the street Mella approaches the rest of her group, listening to the discussion and nodding at Eadie with agreement. "Buri Buri-Ban it is."
|
|
You are directed to take Zephyr street until you reach Sengale Square. The Fetching Fan café can be seen along the eastern edge of the Square. Sitting outside of it is a burly looking Garundi man drinking from a very small porcine shaped porcelain cup. One of the waiters walks up to him and bends over close to the man's ear. The both of them stare in the direction of the group of Pathfinders walking in their direction 100' away. The Garundi stands and starts to reach for something inside his waist sash.
What do you do?
|
|
“Wow, it’s so hot today. I wonder what that big fellow could be fetching?”
Eadie will continue walking nonchalantly towards Buri Buri-Ban. She will try to subtly keep a little distance between herself and Maaarv , while joking around with her companions.
“Say, when the GM turned his back, did anyone else notice that his whipping scars seemed to form the initials ‘Z’ ‘R’?”
|
|
Buri Buri-Banret retrieves a vial out of his waist-sash. As Buri drains the potion he begins running with a package in hand. By the time he’s taken three steps across the square, he’s already invisible.
You notice puffs of dust kicked up in Buri's haste which head-off toward a near-by refinery. Shortly afterward a passerby in front of the refinery is knocked off of his feet by an unseen force.
|
|
The swamp tengu moves swiftly to bash his head into a nearby wall, groaning all the way. When he's done his self-flagellation in the face of the utter stupidity of the humanfolk in this city, Mikhaere returns to speak with the rest of the group.
"Looks like he bolted off to that refinery over there."
Mikhaere will follow suit, approaching the refinery entrance and looking around for any windows in which to peek through, or any other sign of what might be inside.
|
|
The Pathfinder take chase and cross Sengale Square toward the refinery. The refinery is a two-story building with no windows. It looks frugally made and set into a block of buildings that are built up one next to another. The only decoration consists of writing in large letters painted above the door and a stark sign by the entrance, both in Kelish.
No Open Flame
For those who don’t read Kelish there is a helpful icon of a stylized flame with an X through it.
Upon reaching the entrance, the party observes The room is filled with boxes and spice vats. The refining process creates a tremendous amount of dust which is constantly settling on everything and swirling around as the refiners go about their work. A ripple in the dust can be seen moving across the refinery floor 20 feet from the main entrance.
Round 1
Maaarv & Eadie are up.
The orange squares take 20' of movement to move into the square. Or DC 10 climb check for only 10' of movement to into the square. Mella & Eadie are further behind the group because they have a slower movement speed.