Anna inspects the door. While she doesn't find anything, she does hear some noise coming from the other side of the door. She can identify two different voices belonging to some male adult, and what sounds like muffled cries of a baby.
Tolvan looks worried when he hears the child's cries and prepares to fight. He casts Gravity Bow and knocks an arrow.
Anna first tries to make out what the voices are saying. If she's learning anything, she'll keep listening. If not, she'll open the door and react to whatever's inside.
Moving your hear closer to the door, you make out a faint conversation.
- Sush that baby, or they will hear us.
- Are you so afraid to die?
- There is no point of dying here for no reason. Now make that baby quiet before I do it myself.
- Don't you touch that child. Its fate is in the hands of the Viziers. He wants that child to stay alive and well, and that's what he will have. Don't make me explain that to you the hard way!
- Fine, fine. Just keep it quiet.
The conversation seems to have reached a conclusion.
Let's see what this is all about. Shall we?
When the others are behind her, Anna kicks the door open, leveling her crossbow at the men.
"Hello, Everard, I presume? Step away from the baby or I perforate your lungs."
Best listen to the woman. She will shoot you. Tolvan warns.
Anna is quite the sight as she kicks the door down and enters the room. The two men inside take a second or two before they actually react. The one closest to the door lower his crossbow, his eyes going from Anna to the other man in the room. The other man's eyes go from the child gently nestled in the chair in the corner to Anna. "Everard?" He recovers a bit of his composure. "No, I'm not Everard. My name is Garrick, and you are stumbling on things that are no concern to you."
Anna narrows her eyes. "Okay, one: did I stumble? No. Two: I make it my concern whenever someone talks about silencing babies or giving them over to creepy fish cult viziers. Three: We're after the Whispering Way, so if you know where they are you'll drastically increase your lifespan by telling us."
"What?" He looks at the child and then at the other man in the room with a frown. "No one is killing the child. We need that baby to save the town. The fishing went dry, the people are starving. We need to do this before the town disappeared." Then there is a faint smile on his face. "As for the fools from the whispering ways , one decide to get shorter by losing the top nine inches of his body. As for the other, he went missing. No idea where he is now."
Anna's mouth twists. She hated not knowing the whole story. "Okay, is that Rufus and Imelba's daughter you've got there? What's the plan with her? What do you need to do to keep the town from dying?"
"Oh, and, uh, thanks for killing one of the Whisperers."
Danica also enters into the room to back up Anna. "Step away from the baby or you will have us to answer to." Danica slowly approachs the men, sword still in her scabbard, her arms are down to her side with clenched fists and in a slight horseback riding stance. She uses her inquisitor ability to Detect Alignment; Detect Evil.
"Whose daughter?" He looks at the child again, then back at you. "It is possible, the timing would be right, Everard brought the baby here. Don't know where he got it." When Danica enters and mention to step away from the baby, the priest turns to her with an angry look on his face. "The child was given to our church willingly and lawfully. There is nothing you can do about that. I suggest you stop with those threats."
As you ride your horse closer to the pier, you notice the man trying to open a large crate with a crowbar. He is an old man with white hair and a mustache. He wears a pair of weird goggles on his brow. The crate winces and creaks but doesn't seem to want to open. You are almost on him when he finally raises his eyes toward you. "Hey, you!, Yes you on the horse, mind giving a hand to an old man? I need to open this crate and can't seem to get the job done."
Greetings and salutations. I am Andjela. What is this place, this crate...
Danica does not care for the words that are coming from these men. "As a child of the Bright Lady I offer you repentance from your EVIL ways. You threaten the life of an innocent baby. Even though a life was offer to you, any goodly being would never jeopardize such a life. I again offer you one last time to stand down."
As threatening words are exchanged Tolvan stiffens and readies to cast a spell.
"This is where I will test my newest invention! but first I need to finish getting it ready. I did promise the maiden voyage to the other group that pass here a couple days ago. Nice fellows, helped me with getting my stuff here." He turns and grabs another crowbar and pass it to you. "Here, take this one and try the other side of the corner while I work on this one."
"Stand down? You are the ones invading private property and threatening us. I am entirely in my right here to chase you out of here by force. Now begone, before things get really complicated for you."
"You're stalling for some reason. We just cleared out your church of creepy fish monsters and headless corpses, so you don't have backup coming from there. We're not leaving. So unless you stand down, things are about to get really violent."
If you were aware of an opponent before rolling initiative (such as when you ambush an enemy or negotiations break down into combat, but not when both sides happen upon each other or you are surprised), you can attempt a Sense Motive check as part of your initiative check (DC = 11 + the highest Bluff modifier among your opponents or DC 15, whichever is higher). If you succeed, you gain a +1 bonus on the initiative check, plus an additional +1 for every 5 by which you exceeded the DC.
Danica throws her body towards the baby using it as a shield not caring for the attacks that will befall her body. "TAKE THEM OUT!"
Tolvan puts an arrow into the speaker.
Anna brings up her finger and fires a ray of cold at the guy holding the baby.
Surprised by Danica's move toward the baby, nobody moves for a second, then all hell breaks loose. Tolvan is the first to react, sending an arrow at the man. It hits him in the thigh. Then Anna sends a freezing ray at the same man. The magical attack hits the man in the stomach this time, making him bend down slightly with a grunt.
Danica = 23
Anna = 24
Danica scoops up the baby and tries to exit out of the room. She holds the baby with her sword hand and uses her left hand for defensive purposes.
"Nonsense! You don't need strength to do this. All you need is a good lever and a counterweight." Once everyone is in place he looks at the two of you. "Now on three... One... Two... Three!" With the crowbar in place, you let your weight do the work. It takes a few seconds, but the top of the crate, let go and you are finally able to see inside. There are weirdly shaped pieces of metal and some gears. "There! I'll be able to put the last few pieces in place and my invention will be fully functional. As for what it is, well, to be honest, it is a boat that travels under the waves. It will allow people to travel underwater. Just think of the discovery we will be able to do!!"
The man seems lost in his though for a moment, just staring at nothing as he seems to be seeing something only his eyes can see. He snaps back to reality. "Yes, the other group that came through. Nice people, very nice people. They helped me get my ship to shore so that I could assemble my invention here safely. There was four... no, five of them. The young girl stayed back to hold their horses while they were helping. Once they were done here, they traveled to the town. Were looking for someone that rode by here a few days ago... I think." He turns and grabs a part from the crate. "Well, if I want to finish it soon, I need to get back to work. Nice meeting you."
Danica grabs the baby and run out of the room. Just as she is almost out of sight from the two men, she she's a third one coming in from the opposite door. The man looks like an older version of the man the group killed in the temple. His clothes also suggest that he is higher in the hierarchy of the religious order. Base on these clues, there is no doubt that he is the Vizier everyone talked about. Seeing Danica with the baby, his face goes from surprised to angry in a matter of seconds.
The man that was talking to you earlier starts casting and the moment he stops a cold, cloying miasma of greasy darkness hits you. Unaware of the new enemy that is coming from behind, Kimberly uses her magic to bless the group. The cultist, crossbow ready, aims at Anna and sends the bolt flying. But his aim is off and the bolt buries itself in the wall instead. As for Ananias, he moves forward for an attack on the priest. Also effortlessly, Ananias drive his blade deep into the man. By some miracle, the priest is still standing.
Danica begins to feel a wave of negative energy assaulting her body. A sense of nausea start at the pit of her stomach but she pushes the feeling aside. Her main goal is to provide safety to the baby in order for the others to focus on their tasks.
Danica calls upon the Bright Lady's protection; Danica casts "protection from evil" on herself.
The child Kimberly may have seemed distracted, Anna sharp and the Elf a bit intellectual. Danica would have been, blunt and open.
Anna coughs and nearly retches at the evil spell effect. But she grits her teeth, steps forward with her dagger drawn and slashes at the priest, hoping to finish him off.
Tolvan caughs a little but is obviously not sickened. Perhaps he is not good? :)
This round Tolvan readies to magic missile any enemy caster that begins casting.
The man in the doorway, blocking Danica exit casts a spell on himself and then readies his trident for a fight. The priest looks at Anna and spit blood in her direction. "In the long run, you will lose!" He then gather energy that surrounds his hand. As he opens it, the dark energy surges forward as a wave going all the way to Danica. The cultist drops his crossbow and take out a dagger. Still somewhat intimidated by the group, he tries a stab at Anna but the rogue dodge it effortlessly.
Hurting from the two attacks from the priest, Kimberly releases her own channeled energy to heal the group. Noticing that Danica stop running away with the kid, she turns to the inquisitor. "Something wrong Danica?" Ananias eyes seems to glow with rage as he cuts away at the priest. The first strike cuts open another deep wound while the other bounces off the armor.
Anna
Danica
Vizier
Tolvan
Priest
Cultist
Kimbely
Ananias
When the negative energy washes over Tolvan he grows impatient and fires his spell and the channeling cleric hoping to drop him. He smiles at Kimberly as they positive energy reverses his damage and more. Regardless of the enemy dropping or not, he moves to where he can just see the other enemy before stepping back 5’ out of sight.
Anna throws off the worst of the negative energy, and she flashes a defiant grin. "That's okay; I tend to focus on the short-term, anyway."
Her blade flashes a couple more times.
"Yep, that is the name they gave me." The old man barely turns is heading toward Andjela while he is trying to install the piece he took from the crate to the machine by the water."[/b] He mumbles a few things while tightening the screws that hold the piece in place. "Didn't see them ride out of town yet, so they should still be there."
Danica feels the dark energy over her body and the anger begins to swell in her. This priest really has no regard to the young life in her arms. Her attention immediately goes to the baby as she checks to see if the dark energy has affected her.
Heavily injured, the priest is unable to resist this series of attacks and collapse to the floor. Blood starts pooling under the body. With Danica distracted by the well being of the baby, the Vizier closes the distance between the two and attacks with his trident. The strike is surprisingly accurate and hits the Inquisitor.
The cultist aims at Anna again, but fails miserably. Unsure of her next move, Kimberly waits to see where her healing will be needed next. With his first target down, Ananias starts cutting away at the cultist. Blood starts flowing as the scimitar finds its way past the man's defense.
Anna
Danica
Vizier
Tolvan
Cultist
Kimbely
Ananias
With the priest falling, Anna switches targets to the cultist.
Concerned for the child, Tolvan creates a pit with the Visier in the NE corner. [ooc]DC 19 Reflex save or fall into the 30’ deep pit. [ooc]
And, if I know them... they trouble they’re in gets deeper and deeper, the longer it takes us to catch up.. Bidding the builder farewell, Andjela guide’s her dappled grey as Sonny suggested.
Danica takes a defensive position.
Danica stays on the defense while Anna attacks the cultist with her dagger. She lands two good strikes and one almost inflict a serious wound, but the blade just can't seem to dig deep enough. Visibly upset at Danica for defying him, the Vizier's attack becomes reckless. He strikes at the inquisitor before him, hoping to quickly finish the fight. His hope is destroyed at the same moment he notices that the floor beneath him just vanished. Unable to react in time, he falls into the pit.
With the threat down thirty feet below the floor, Kimberly moves next to Danica to use her healing energy. Back in the other room, the cultist still tries to strike at Anna with his dagger, but his attempt looks even more feeble than before. Unphased by the cultist serious lack of fighting skill, Ananias just keeps slashing at the man's flesh. With a swift slice of his scimitar, Ananias separates the man's head from the rest of his body.
As you walk the rest of the way to town, you notice a lack of activity going around in town. The few people you passed in the street all seems to look at you with hatred in their eyes. You catch of them mumbling a few words to each other as they pass you. "More of them..." "Troublemakes...""Chase them out.."[/b]
Eventually, you make it to the town square. You immediately notice that there is a large gathering in front of what looks like the town's temple. A few armed men are keeping the crowd from entering the place. While everything seems to be peaceful, you can feel that the tension is running high.