He'll gesture to the others, holding up two fingers and pointing the direction. He'll step forward, chain loosely tossed over one shoulder. Calmly, he'll call in common, "Greetings, gentlemen. We're new here and have a few questions."
"Is right." the old man says through narrowed eyes. He leers at the strangers with no pretense toward friendliness, his eyes shimmering for a moment.
Detect evil. Fiends everywhere, you know. Can't be too careful.
No Levar trusts in the power of his own weapon and doesn't mess with the weird artifacts.
You're behind this, then! Tell us where we are, and how we get out of here! one of the men says, taking a menacing stance.
It seems one of them has a big ledger among its gear.
Perception
"Perhaps you should start by telling us who you are and how you got here, then we can decide whether we will assist you or leave you here. With your rude behavior I am tending towards the latter".
Is dangerous peeking yer nose in someone else's business like that. Might get scragged that way. one of them says, then the other, a little less confident, to the first mayhaps they know how to get off this place? The key out?
Might be, the first says to his companion, then to the adventurers that true? You know the dark of an exit from this place? We've been here long enough, and we don't want to end up like Jory, he says, pointing in the direction of the statue near the tools.
"We don't know yet, but we're working on it. What happened to Jory? If we know, we can avoid it."
Can Lun see the ledger to determine if it matches with Esteven's description?
"Still we do not know your names..."
Name's Efrik, and this is Ronsen, the brighter of the two says. Jory got turned to stone, it's as if it crept from the ground. No warning, no signs of anything attacking him, nothing. Must be a thing here, everything in this damn place has been turned to stone.
What got you here? Visiting Thames as well? We was just - eh - bringing back 'is ledger, ya see. Whole place turned out to be a portal, though I dunno what triggered it.
"Perhaps it was the 'returning' of the ledger, which we will take now if you don't mind." Cedric says as he holds out one of his clawed hands.
"Thieves, eh? What'd'yew want with a thing like that?" Bart says, out of earshot. The tension in his sword-arm seems to relax when he realises that the men are likely cagers and not shapeshifters, but he watches them through narrowed eyes all the same, waiting for their reply.
"Tell us everything that happened before the portal triggered." he says calmly. "Where you were, what you touched, what you had on you, who was closest to the portal."
Why don't you tell us? Bunch o' berks storming in, asking questions. Ain't giving up the ledger until you find us a way out of here.
Sensing trouble, No Levar will quietly stay with the group as they interrogate the men while his eyes wander around at the various piles of junk and scans for anything lurking beneath. He didn't like that something was turning things to stone and he wasn't going to be the first one caught off guard by it. The paranoia of being in shark infested waters began to set in as this situation felt oddly similar. He does a quick Detect Magic scan around his immediate area also.
"Very well, you can come with us. As part of this agreement you turn over the ledger upon returning to the cage. Fair warning, it will not go well if you try to double cross us." Cedric extends and retracts his new living blade to emphasize his point.
He retains his stony cool demeanor. "Yes, I am asking questions. I am asking so that I can figure out how the portal was triggered. Figuring that out can only help us get back. If you decide to cooperate in all of us getting out of here, then let me know. Until then, let's at least be civil to one another."
"Civil? To thieves? We should take back the Ledger and be done with these rude mortals leaving them to their own devices".
He will turn to the Gith, "Pragmatism says we should set aside any differences while we are all in the same trap."
"Perhaps but I would not turn my back to either of them if surrounded on all sides, would you?"
"Now see here, I ain't gonna condemn these fellers to a life on the lower planes. That's for the gods ter decide, not fer us." the old man barks, shifting uncomfortably as all eyes turn to him.
"Efrik, and er... Ronny?. Give us a look at the bloody ledger and we'll see you berks out of here. That's our final offer."
You can have a look at the ledger, but we're bloody well keeping it. It not yours.
The rogue presents the ledger: it a hefty volume, quite a burden carry around, with a silver ornament on the cover and a stylised rendering of a grim gargoyle - quite similar to the one on the calling card that No is still carrying.
"Could this be the key to the portal itself?" the man grunts, looking expectantly at the spellcasters before turning to the last few entries to search for any clue to Balthazar's whereabouts.
He'll "Could be. It could even be a specific page. It's hard to tell, keys don't have an aura. We'd need to be closer to the portal." He'll look over without touching the ledger. "are there any pages that seem less worn?"
Cedric turns to the Mirmir, "You wouldn't happen to know where the portal out of here is?"
Nope, but this is an outer plane. People's beliefs play a huge role here, so expect some symbolism. Given the lawful nature of this plane, it's likely a symbol that got you here, so you might want to check which symbols the both of you were carrying in common, and start from there.
Perception
Checking to see if they and we carry similar symbols besides the business card and the sigil on the Ledger.
Bart digs into the folds of his mail to reveal a bronze amulet, depicting a lightning bolt clenched in a fist. As if dismissing the idea, he stows it back out of sight. "Well, I'm as good as stumped."
No Levar gives a chuckle along with a shrug and keeps an eye out for whatever turned that other guy to stone.
Lun investigates the symbol that each party is carrying, but he can find no other than the gargoyle.
Can't be standing around too much, Efrik says, might turn to stone. Listen what, we just continue our business here, and you continue your. We find a way out, you be the first to know. Off you go. he says, with a slightly patronising voice.
Lun has had enough of these two thieves, he uses Daze to(or attempt to) cause the one holding the book to drop it.
Daze
Oi! He's trying to peel us! Scrag 'im, Efrik! Write his name in the dead-book!
Though Ronsen resists the spell, the two goons are slow to react.
---
Lun
Cedric
Arianna
No
--
Goon
Goon
--
Bart
---
---
Lun
Cedric
No
--
Goon
Goon
--
Krachxton
Bart
--
No Levar hears the sounds of angered confrontation and turns to draw his weapon as everything becomes hostile. He steps up to the front of the group and waits for them to make the first strike. "You really don't want to do this..." His weapon and his pants are still covered in blood since he's been unable to find the proper time to clean up, creating quite the barrier between the group and the men.
Cedric will move forward next to No to block the gap. "Someone elses ledger is clearly not worth your lives. Drop it and go this is your last chance."
His voice is a bit squeaky and unsure.
No gets ready to defend himself, while Cedric tries his best to be intimidating, but barely sounds the part.
---
Lun
Cedric
No
--
Goon
Goon
--
Krachxton
Bart
--
Lung throws a flurry of blows at the ledger wielders mouthy partner.
Fist 1
Damage
Fist 2
Damage
Energy damage is sonic.
Ooph! Lun Tsu's punch goes straight to the stomach, even though the goon manages to evade the first swing. The goons move up, and draw some long knives - they don't seem to have any hesitance to cause bloodshed. No manages to evade the blade, but Lun gets a broad cut in the chest.
--
Krachxton
Bart
Lun
Cedric
No
--
Goon
Goon
--
--
Now that they have attack one of his new friends Cedric unleashes a full attack on the closest one.
While he disagreed with starting violence, he was annoyed with the thieves anyway. Whipping off his chain, he swing the business end into Efrik's head.
No's heightened senses catch the attack, deftly moving to retaliate with his own attack.
"Oh no yer don't."
Krachxton disagrees with the violence, and the violence disagrees with him. Fortunately, there's Cedric's eidolon, who knocks out one of the goons good. Bart proceeds to spank the other thug, and a solid knock on the head sends him sleeping.
"That one still have a pulse?" the old man asks, nudging the thug at Cedric's feet. "I'd say the gods are smilin' on him if he does. He's a damned fool pulling a knife on five armed men."
He sighs, and lifts the weight of the unconcious thug onto his shoulders. "No sense leavin' the poor bugger here. Let's move on."
"Yes we have retrieved the Ledger and we should bring them along to five justice in Sigil. Even simple thieves do not deserve to be left here", Lun states wincing at his cut.
"Hold still." Krachxton steps up to Lun, looking directly in his eyes "Your journey is just beginning, and you have much father to go." The words resound with gravitas, and hen he is finished, Lun feels better.
Lun moves his arm back and forth seeing the work done, "I thank you Kraxhxton. My apologies for instigating violence but those ruffian were toying with us and I had enough of their lies and snarky comments".
Cedric looks at the eidolons claws in shock and awe. "I had no idea this thing was that strong." The gnome comments from inside his summoned creature. "Here let me carry the wounded man, you're already wearing armor." Cedric says to Old Bart.
No quietly brushes himself off after the quick encounter but continues to keep a wary eye out for whatever petrified the other fellow.
"We should move from here quickly, I feel like whatever got the third might still be lurking around."
Lun grabs the Ledger.