Horatio looks at the creature holding the trident at the back of the poor tortured creature, a flash of black fire reflecting from the onyx embedded in the eye patch over his eye. He cracks his neck and whips his pistol up and a muffled *FWUMP!* reverberates around the chamber. Once the shockwave subsides, you look to see the Sahuagin in the same position, unmoving...a single trail of greenish blood seeping from the large hole right between it's bulbous eyes. The gentle current begins the sway the creature to the bottom of the cavern, among the detritus of the tortured Locathah.
”God’s damned blackbirder,” he mutters, recalling his time in Sargava and the slave ships he had seen plying the coasts.
Hating slavers with a passion he had no problem in shooting the enemy, especially as he suspected that the creature he freed was actually related somehow to the eggs they had seen already.
He moves quickly to her, and speaks quickly in Aquan –
”Are you alright? Have you been injured?” he asks it, hoping it understands him and is alright, his Healer's Kit ready if needed.
|
Variel had just enough time to duck as he caught the movement out of the corner of his eye when he saw Horatio draw and fire. By the time he looked up the sahuagin was floating down to the bottom of the floor. Variel looked at Flynn with amusement, I take it the sahuagin did not offer to surrender? I did not know what it said but I take your action as a good enough answer. Let us see about this Locathing you mentioned on the way in. Any chance you can help it Adular?
/...eggs...eggs...eggs.../ She mumbles and when released from the shackles moves awkwardly through the water towards the eggs and begins to gather them into a sack. Mumbling the whole time, she does not seem to notice or pay attention to you at all. You suspect that she her mind has snapped and she was broken under the torture.
/...eggs...eggs...eggs.../ She mumbles and when released from the shackles moves awkwardly through the water towards the eggs and begins to gather them into a sack. Mumbling the whole time, she does not seem to notice or pay attention to you at all. You suspect that she her mind has snapped and she was broken under the torture.
Horatio will place his hand on her and cast to staunch any ambient wounds that aren't apparent.
Then he takes her gently in his arms and looks at the others.
"Her mind is near broken - she fears for her young at the least..." he says to them.
Then, gently, he does what he can to guide her to the room that holds her eggs, leaving the corpses and loot behind on the cavern floor.
I take it the sahuagin did not offer to surrender? I did not know what it said but I take your action as a good enough answer.
He glances at him.
"Wasn't really paying attention. But when a basterd slaver's got his weapon to an innocent lass's back and wants to "make a deal"? Well, I deal in steel and lead..." he says with a toneless voice but a nod at Variel.
After being sure that the female is okay, he turns back to Variel thoughtfully.
"Thanks for the support, though; I reckon we make a pretty decent team," he says, giving the elf a more friendly smile as he helps the female back to the nest.
/...eggs...eggs...eggs.../
As the female is moved back, he glances at Dhaavan -
"Hey, wasn't that the answer to your riddle earlier?" he asks him, wondering if that was merely a coincidence, or somehow providential.
As he waits for Dhaavan's response, he looks at the creature and switches back to Aquan -
"Your eggs are safe - you are safe and free... What is your name? What can we do to aid you?" he asks her gently.
|
|
Indeed Flynn we all can work together well. It just takes some time to get to understand each other. I am glad that you decided to come after all.
Variel lets Adular and Flynn look after the creature while he checks on the rest of the officers. Rain, are you okay back there? I saw you dispatch those other Sahuagin easily. Well done. I am sorry I did not linger but feared the worst with that one fleeing.
b]Excellent job Jiro and Dhaavan. You kept the threat contained and from anyone else being alerted. We still might have a chance of stealth for a bit.[/b]
While the medicine-men work their magic, Dhaavan works his.
The sorcerer manages to swim over to the Locath female with Rain's assitance and grins, placing a hand on hers and starting to help with the eggs "Hey there, shhh, it's alright. We're here to help you and the younglings. See, Flynn here, he's fixing your wounds, and this is adular, a holy man. Rain will protect you, she is strong; can keep you and your family safe" Dhaavan's voice is calm and soothing.
I want to invite you and all of your people, your community to my home. It's an Island fortress on a protected cove where you will be safe and can hatch the little ones without fear of the Sahaguin monsters. You can come with us, join our community Dhaavan offers.
He looks the poor creature over,
Seijiro provides a translation for the poor deluded creature into Aquan in case it doesn't speak enough common to understand him.
He helps her gather her eggs, even if help is just assisting her to maneuver, which can't be easy with her lower extremities gone...
Rain had been close enough to Flynn to have seen the man take aim and shoot the Sahuagin right between the eyes. It had been an impressive shot which brought it down immediately. Through their message connection, Rain voiced her praise, //"Direct hit, Flynn. Very well done."//
She watched the broken mother move toward the spheres containing her unborn tadpoles and Rain understood the female's deep-seated desire to protect her unborn offspring. Rain was glad the Sahuagin torturer was dead. She listened to the Aquan murmuring as the Mother collected her eggs and placed them in a sack.
Rain, are you okay back there? I saw you dispatch those other Sahuagin easily. Well done. I am sorry I did not linger but feared the worst with that one fleeing.
//"You were right to give pursuit. I am well, and, thank you."//
Rain will protect you, she is strong; can keep you and your family safe, Dhaavan's voice is calm and soothing.
She had heard Dhaavan's assurances to the Mother Locathah (that's what Flynn had called the creature moments earlier) and inclined her head after the sorcerer mentioned her name as protector. Flynn was already at hand, caring for the creature.
Flynn and Adular diligently worked to heal the many wounds inflicted in torture. Healing could fix a broken body but would not mend a broken mind. It was a sad thing, indeed.
Jiro floated beside them; kindly speaking the Aquan tongue and helping to gather the many eggs.
Her companions were capably addressing the needs of the Locathah and so, with magical pike firmly in hand, Rain swam to the cavern where the torture had taken place.
Careful of the Sahuagin's body and its greenish blood seeping into the surrounding water, and the rusty shackles above, Rain's gaze swept the area, from the trident beside the dead fish-man, wandering if anything of import was in the space, past the detritus, even on the body of the lifeless Sahuagin itself. She used the end of the pike to push and prod when the bloody debris was too much for her to touch with her hands.
After her initial search, Rain cast , in case there was anything magical hidden beneath the gore or within this small cavernous chamber.
The Locathah twitches in your directions at all of your kind words, looking at you each in turn as soon as the eggs are gathered. /...I...debt...you...find...you...I will./ Looking at Dhaavan she says /...have new home...kind offer...deep water home.../She then makes a strange gesture with her webbed and clawed hand that Flynn recognizes as a Locathah sign of great thanks and also means that the Locathah as a whole will repay the debt, even if this particular Locathah dies, someone will come to repay if she can get word to any of her people.
She then ties the sack of eggs around her neck and swims off at out of the tunnel towards the surface entrance. You suspect she will make her way out through the cove and into the open sea.
---------------------------------------------------------
As you proceed down the tunnel, you come upon a much larger cavern. It is about 50 feet tall, 35 to 40 feet wide and about 70 feet in length. The water in this cave is murky with fresh blood and gobbets of flesh hang in the air. You are momentarily sickened by the fact that you are breathing blood and bits of flesh into your lungs. In the center of the room, 10 elderly and young Sahuagin are in the midst of a feeding frenzy reminiscent of sharks, tearing hunks of flesh from the bodies of four dead locathah and 3 giant moray eel. They are so engrossed in the frenzy that they do not notice you or your lights. From where you are you can see 3 exits from the chamber that all have curtains of seaweed blocking them. You cannot see the far side of the chamber due to the murk and distance from your lights.
Rain collected the trident and swam back to her companions. Through their message spell connection she offered it to her companions, //"If someone can wield this mundane trident, then it will do some good, down here. There was nothing else in the torture chamber."//
Slight ret-con-ish: as the party passes the room with the dead Sahaguin, Dhaavan flicks out his dagger and goes to work on the shark, cutting out some of its more impressive teeth and pocketing them, mumbling, these should work nicely, and there's sentamental value
//Whats the plan for these ones, Cap'n? Their kin came to my home, killed my people. Plusd they're eating other fish-people, the kind I'm rather sympathetic towards. Do I trap em, or send em running? Not sure how ta direct em out the way we want em to go// lots of folk take issue murdering noncombatants, for reasons, and while there's no mercy for these creatures, Dhaavan is not intent on butchering, but weighing the tactical elements of the decision.
As she swam, Rain was not happy with breathing in any of the blood and gore as they passed through the murky water. Through the message spell she heard Dhaavan put a question to Variel. Not content to leave the Sahuagin feeding group in case they cause trouble later -- or in days to come (noting the young Sahuagin feasting), Rain steadily/quietly voiced her opinion, //"We need to kill them, swiftly. We do not want them giving warning or telepathically calling sharks to defend them. If we injure the old they may die in due course, yet the young -- if we show mercy now, they will only grow and cause trouble later with their bloody raids. They are predators and cannot be reasoned with."//
Her gaze flicked over to the feeding frenzy and Rain watched them -- for signs they were noticed and/or the Sahuagin moved. Her eyes moved around the cavern for any other threat.
Seijiro will tie a kerchief around his face to at least strain out the solid bits so he doesn't have to 'breathe' them in while trying to waterbreathe. He holds other action for now, depending on how Variel wants to progress here...
He whisper through the message spell, "Do we have any choice here but to scare them off and let them scatter, warn the adults?"
|
|
Answering Rain in regards to the trident. I will gladly take it. It will work much better than my cutlass underwater and I can wield it effectively. sheathing his cutlass he grips the trident in 1 hand as he casts light on his new weapon.
Variel was concerned when Dhaavan offered to take in the Locathah. What changes to the ecosystem would occur and would lady agatha approve he did not know but it was Dhaavan's choice. Luckily the Locathah refused. As the Locathah left Variel wished her fairwell. Live free and mY you find your home in safety.
At the new area...
Variel wraps a piece of cloth around himself similar to Jiro. Variel did not like the thought of killing the old, infirm, and the young. Yet Variel did not know what else t do to prevent the adults from being warned and rising up against them. Trying to assuage his guilt he listens to Rain and finds himself nodding in agreement. These are vicious creatures and the threat needs to be removed. They brought this upon themselves. Dhaavan trap them fro fleeing so we can kill them quickly.
These are vicious creatures and the threat needs to be removed. They brought this upon themselves. Dhaavan trap them fro fleeing so we can kill them quickly.
"Aye, yet the tooth of a young viper is still filled with poison.." he muses softly, then shrugs.
"We've found shackles aplenty and you've the wand of Web spells besides. If we net them now, we can maybe catch them and - hopefully - try to reason with them later. Maybe turn them from their dark ways, or something like that..."
"Besides," he says with a calm voice but a somewhat ruthless gleam in his eyes "if they're prisoner now they'll call for help - and the help will come running right into whatever ambush we have for them, provided we have a handy ambush set up.... On the other hand, if you don't want to ambush folk, then we might also consider using them as a tool to bargain with their kindred and see how that helps us when they show up" he adds, then turns to the others, curious to see what they think of the advantages of the idea.
"Aye, the webs to block off their escape will make this much faster. I'd feel worse about this, if they weren't chowing down on other intelligent beings like that poor mother we just helped."
They are all over the place and won't be all caught in a single web.
"Aye, the webs to block off their escape will make this much faster. I'd feel worse about this, if they weren't chowing down on other intelligent beings like that poor mother we just helped."
"Whatever we do won't catch them all at once, and their kindred will likely come running to help them. If we block paths, let's plan to be ready to hit a threat coming from the opening we don't block; maybe use some sneak attacks on whoever swims through the one place we leave open."
"Whatever we do, though; we need to move fast. They don't call that a "Feeding Frenzy" because they're taking their time," he adds, his eyes narrowed at the wide expanse of danger.
He turns to Dhaavan.
"If you can't net all the entrances, which one will you leave open? That's the one I'm going to ready an attack from; I'm hoping the others will leave that way, too, but I'd just assume know where to being standing and where I need to point my weapons," he says with an ironically dry grin.
"But given how long it takes to move - I'd rather be heading that way before things go south, if you get my drift?" he adds.
Aye Cap'n. Adular, yes got any spells o' silence? Keep our work nice an quiet like? if he has it, Dhaavan will wait till someone casts silence on a rock out something, and girls out into the group.
Then Dhaavan uses the wand to web the back group of 4 Sahaguin, and block off the rear exits entirely. Just need the others to take out the ones in the front, and block those exits.
Adular nods, "Got one, Dhaavan... but if we run into a spell caster later you may wish I kept it? Your call though."
Dhaavan shrugs Dunno if these ones'll call out others to deal with here'n'now, but ya make a good point about casters here.
Standard: cast web
Round 1 action: SM 2 to summon Fiendish Dolphins.
Seijiro moves forward and to his left (southeast on the map), to give room for the casters/shooters to aim and send off spells, and cut off any attempts to escape via the southeast tunnel.
Rain lifted the kerchief around her nose and mouth and with extended pike before her proceeded to swim forward (15 ft) toward the north-west tunnel to stop the Sahuagin who attempted to escape down that passageway.
This chamber, like the others, is covered in bones and the detritus of various meals. In addition, there is a large number of little baubles including colorful pieces of seaglass, shiny bits of uncorroded metal, and other shiny odds and ends. There is another seaweed curtain blocking an exit to the south.
Seijiro, once there, will try to make himself as unseen as possible...
Dhaavan seems to want him to do it, but recognizes his point, since an action has to be taken anyway, Adular nods, and casts silence on the largest group of them.
Round 1:
After the inexplicable amount of time that you were able to talk and discuss strategy and the finer points of the arcane arts, you begin your attack upon the Sahuagin feeding. As soon as the web drops, the creatures begin to scream, whereupon Adular manages to enact an area of supernatural silence. You believe that you may have prevented the entirety of the base from being alerted, however those in the room still scream and flee when they see what has occurred. Most of them attempt to flee north through the open tunnel that Rain is covering. Variel and Horatio move into the room while Seijiro makes his way to the other side of the seaweed curtain.
All of those in the web will be struggling this round to break free.
The rest will flee north through the seaweed curtain.
--------------------------------------------------------
Simultaneously, after hearing the screaching of those not caught in the bubble of silence, a large hideous beast of a sahuagin comes through into the area that Seijiro is occupying. She is carrying a wicked looking large spear and moves straight for you Seijiro, almost as if she knows exactly where you are despite your attempts to remain well hidden.
Once in range she jabs at you viciously with her spear.
Amazingly, Seijiro stabilizes at -11 as he falls to the bottom of the tunnel.
Horatio turns and attacks the white one toward the south…
|
|
AoO on light brown for
Variel misses the Sahuagin youngster as his attention was diverted by the roar from behind the seaweed curtain where Jiro had just disappeared. Variel know that Jiro was resourceful but whatever made that roar sounded large and angry. Leaving the noncombatants alone Variel casts shield on himself and swims 5ft towards the seaweed curtain ready to push through to aid Jiro.