Miikae was sitting down eating a bit of brown sludge that was called leftover rations. Sands stood next to her in the stable chomping happily on some oats. This is really quite foul... Perhaps I should see if the guild has anything better...
She looks up when the Greystone member speaks to her. "Tell her I will be there shortly. Thankyou." she says without getting up. Looking back to her sludge she frowns, then dumps it on top of Sands oats. "Eat up, it's tasty I promise." she said.
Sands snorted and stamped one hoof.
Miikae stands up and brushes herself off and straightens her outfit somewhat. Leaving Sands to finish his meal she leaves the stable, "Let's see what 'Klara' wants. I'll return shortly."
She soon finds herself entering the common room, arms crossed and looking for Klara...
Cuddlekins! Klara calls out to Pervince as he enters the common room. Still recovering from the commotion caused earlier by Karrick and Liam, her outburst is hardly welcome.
Keep it down A gruff old dwarf calls out clearly in midst of a hangover gingerly treating it with human liquor.
Muziel enters the common room to find it tense, as if ready to ignite. He whispers to Miikae. "Watch your back. Something's about to go down."
Muziel scans the room, looking for something that's out of place. .
Ignoring the dwarf, Pervince waltzes across the room and throws out his hands to reach for Klara. "Hugs!" His smile is absolute. After his hug, he looks toward the other Greystones, and sobers up somewhat. "We have a plan, one that will be looked well upon. There is room for a little affection here." He clings to Klara momentarily before releasing her again.
Now Cuddlekins, tell Karrick to play nice with Hana and I will tell you what I found while you left me all alone Klara says in a playful voice.
Some in the common room are not fond of seeing a Halfling and a human be so intimate and they let their feelings known with disapproving looks and grunts.
Gloria walks up to Pervince and Klara You two should take that somewhere else Klara. You know I respect you, but I can only keep these ones contained for so long.
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A Greystone Dwarf whispers in Gloria's ear
Kera stands near Karrick keeping a close eye on him. She is worried that he might sneak off from the group and do something. When the others enter the room she nods to them in turn.
She smirks slightly at Klara and Pervince. The disapproval in the room just makes the smirk widen.
Perception:
Miikae watches the display of Pervince and Klara with impatience, still not thinking the woman should be here. "What are we doing here?"
Karrick is quiet when he comes in with Kera, his thoughts distracted by too many past memories having come to the surface and too many possibilities for his future hanging like loose threads all around. Karrick sticks near the wall, watching Gloria passively, clearly distracted by his thoughts.
.
Upon overhearing the news from the Greystone dwarf, Muziel is concerned. Where were they found? Who was behind it? Why was this being kept a secret? Pervice could probably get some answers from the Greystones, if only he could be convinced to do something other than fondle Klara.
"Many thanks to you and your guild for your hospitality, Gloria. Might you be able to show us a private room where my colleagues and I can talk? We can let the lovebirds have some space back in our quarters."
Yes, go to your private rooms I need to think. Gloria answers abruptly.
Klara agrees and follows you, two Greystone guild members accompany her as she eyes the still silent Karrick.
Gloria walks outside and sends some men to "Round up the Others" She turns to see Muziel has followed her and says Now what you little freak? I'm not into skinny diplomats so don't try to sweet talk me
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It is odd that the funeral procession would go to Alkenstar. Typically the Guild burial grounds are near the Gunworks for the Dwarven guilds, the Human guilds are buried in Alkentstar. It maybe because of the amount of dead, or due to the time of crisis, you are not sure.
Gloria definitely seemed like a blunt person, so Muziel lets go of his usual obsequiousness. "Of course not, Gloria, let me be direct. Most of the Reidfords are dead, and yet we're wasting time on a funeral procession to Alkenstar? They're not even supposed to be buried there - their burial grounds are near the Gunworks. I mean, what's going on? How did they die? Why are they being taken away? Is there something to hide?"
. Gloria is a hard one to talk to, but Muziel hopes she'll give him something.
I know you sneaky Nidal like to eavesdrop, but I didn't think you'd be so blunt about it. The dead are no longer welcome at the original burial site, that's all I can say about that. Go with Klara, you may still be able to save Hana and get your money.
Muziel scurries back to the rest of the party and their private quarters, at last able to talk with Karrick and Kera. He notices that Karrick seems distracted. "Say, Karrick, you don't look too good. Did you and Gloria finish your business? We have a Duchess to find, but word has it that most of the Reidfords are dead. They're being taken by a procession to Alkenstar, apparently because the dead are no longer welcome near the Gunworks, or so Gloria said."
Arms crossed and head bowed where he leans up against the wall, Karrick takes in a slow breath when Muziel approaches, and only releases in a metered sigh after a few moments. He bobs his head in a nod, once, and then looks up to the alchemist. "Yeah," he intones gravely, "I got it all sorted out." Leaning away from the wall, KArrick gives a look to Kera and quirks his head in a nod that suggests come along, and then turns to Muziel.
"Let's go find the Duchess. I got a reward t'get from her." Whether she likes it or not.
Klara sees Karrick and Muziel come into the private quarters. Now Pervince, tell your friends to play nice and I will tell you what I found. She glances at Karrick to gage his reaction and turns back to Pervince with a smile.
Miikae goes to check on Grachius, asking to have a private word if guards are around. "How are they treating you? Better than your last prisoner I imagine. Remember Slief? You almost killed him. If I hadn't have healed him I doubt he would have made it. Now is there any good reason that we shouldn't just leave you here? I may not be a deputy, but tell me why you should live any longer?"
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Slief, yes. He was going to expose me so I couldn't have that. I have no moral reason for you to care about me if that's what you seek, but out of practicality you may want to keep me around a bit longer since I am one of the few that know how to bind the shepherd. Grachius seems to have gained his wits about him a bit more than before; now that he is out of the desert heat.
Kara took in all that was going on silently. She was on edge keeping a particular eye on Karrick.
Muziel looks about. Karrick seems impatient, eager to get moving. But they could definitely use the information. "Okay, Klara. We want to find the Duchess as much as you do. What did you find?"
Muziel is right, all that Karrick cares about now is going forward and getting to Gloria. Funerals, bindings, the entirety of Alkenstar could be on fire right now and all he cares about is getting from point A to point B. His impatience isn't hidden, displayed in tense muscles and jittery hands.
Well, Like I told Karrick. I want some assurance that you will not try to harm Hana. She may have done some underhanded things to maintain civilization out here in the wastes, but at least give her a chance to explain herself. Klara Pauses to gauge reactions a bit.
Karrick you seem tense. Please at least hear me out. As Muziel heard, the Reidford's including Hana's right hand man Gurney, are dead. The only one not accounted for is Hana herself. We found them in an underground compound, believed to be linked to the Martel Vault. We could not venture further because the passage was locked with Hana's sigil. It is known to me that you visited Slief in the Nidal Tower, did he still have the key on him? Or maybe Grachius knows.
It felt like everything was unraveling and she was left trying to hold all the threads, desperately trying to get them to go back together. Taking a deep breath Kera trying to remember what Muziel had said about Hana’s party. She didn’t have to think to long as Klara retouched on the point.
“All…dead…”
Something VERY serious was going on. Looking over to Karrick she frowned. He looked like a powder keg about to explode. She really had defused him as much as she could. Turning back to Klara she nodded her head slightly.
“I’ll get Grachius”
Moving out of the room she hurried to Miikae and the creeper. Standing in the doorway she addressed Miikae only.
“Got some bad news. All Hana’s men are dead…and it seems she was the on that set Karrick up to take the fall for the bomb. We need to question sad sack there…”
She motioned toward Grachius.
“…the tensions pretty thick in there.”
Kera turns to Grachius now and bears down on him, her hand on the hilt of her sword.
“You do one forsaken thing to make things worse and I WILL NOT hesitate to take your head clean off…got it?”
Intimidate:
Completely oblivious to Hana's role in Karrick's imprisonment, and misunderstanding Karrick's impatience to be a matter of the reward, Muziel responds dismissively to Klara's concern. "Kill the Duchess? Why would we want to do that? We just want our payment, and to get answers. And we already knew the Duchess was headed to the vault."
"My question is, how did everyone but the Duchess die? And how come whatever killed them didn't come looking for you?"
[spoilel=Muziel] [/spoiler]
Karrick do you want to say anything? Klara asks plainly.
Muziel looks at Karrick, somewhat puzzled. Did he want to kill the Duchess? He turns back to Klara. "You're changing the subject, Klara. What did you find down there?"
"I ain't got nothin' t'say. Ain't no need." Karrick remarks with arms crossed. "I'm thinkin' Muziel's question's more important. Ain't it?"
Which question? Why do you want to kill the Duchess? That one is for Karrick to answer. As to what killed them? I do not know. I do know that Hana was not in the area, and the door was locked before us.
Also, any insight on how Muziel also won't become dominated by the Rod if/when the time comes?
Muziel has some insight into what has happened. "Well, Klara, you may not want the Duchess dead, but she probably wants you dead now. I'm pretty sure the Reidfords weren't killed by accident." If what he suspected was true, there was a decent chance they'd have to kill her, granting what seemed like Karrick's wish. So much for the reward.
"So where is this underground compound? I think we're ready to head there immediately," he says, looking at Karrick.
It is under the Reidford's guild house. You were right to want to check the compound and you inspired the Niven guild to search it themselves more thoroughly. However, it is my understanding that the Niven's want you dead almost as much as the rest of the Altkins here, so waltzing in there is probably not a smart move. Oh, by the way, ha, they are zealous worshipers of Erastil in case anyone was wondering
Klara laughs to herself at your expense.
Muziel sighs. Those holier-than-thou Niven were continuing to be quite a nuisance. "Well, why don't we waltz in there? The Niven are part of this funeral procession to Alkenstar they're putting together, right? Won't that diminish their numbers? Maybe some Altkin are interested in taking control of the Reidford compound before the Niven claim it for themselves. Or do you have a better idea?"
"I dunno about Pip, but I'm up for a little full-frontal assault." Leaning away from the wall, Karrick finally decides to join the conversation. "Me, you," he directs to Muziel, "Pip, Gloria, Horse-girl an' shorty makes a pretty strong force." To say nothing of Klara, whom he makes no presumptions about.
"Speaking of that little guy," Karrick looks down to Klara's leg, not finding the halfling there, "The hell'd he run off to?"
Cuddlekins? Klara says surprised. Pervince was sitting next to her only momments ago, and now seems to have disappeared.
Klara looks at Karrick with a stone cold stare forged from years of being one the top bounty hunters in the region I do not advocate killing innocents, and here I thought I was wrong about you. Maybe you had more to do with your past then you pretend. The Niven maybe zealous, but they are good people.
"How are they "innocent" when they're the ones wanting to kill us? I was just trying to have a discussion of history with Flynn when we were summarily treated as a hostile."
Muziel winks at Karrick, then looks sternly at Klara. "So give us another plan if you want to protect these so-called innocents. You were down there, did you see another way into the passage?"
You are a diplomat aren't you, trying to pretend a nation that embraces pain and villainy could some how be a victim HA! That might work in Alkentstar, but in Martel people are more grounded. Even if I condoned such an action, the people would not. These people, who live in a magicless mutated wasteland, would chew you up and spit you out before you could say innocent. Hell with Grachius here captured, its the guilds keeping them from busting in and burning the place down with him inside. You would be acceptable collateral damage.
Klara speaks sharply, but true. You have all heard of the impromptu lynch mobs that spring up in Martel.
It seemed her attempt at intimidating Grachius had not gone as planned. Maybe it was because she was tired…or because her heart just wasn’t in it. This whole adventure had gone very different then she had intended. Looking to Miikae she motioned to the door with a nod of her head.
“Come on…lets get back to the others. Him too.”
She pointed at Grachius then moved toward the door.
Muziel humors Klara for the moment. She might be right about getting lynched, after all. "Okay, let's assume for the sake of argument that we're not killing the Niven. How do we get inside the vault?"
There are a few options as I see it. Option one allow me to do the talking to get you access, hopefully I can cool their zealous nature. Option two, choose one among you to duel one of the Niven for the opportunity to search the ruins. The locals will respect such a pact forged through such a duel. Option three, we sneak in. Klara says eyeing Karrick when she gives the last option.
"I would've placed my bet on Pervince in a duel any day," says Muziel, looking about. It seemed the little man had snuck away. "Whadya say, Karrick? You can bring knives to a duel, right?"
With a casual roll of his shoulders, Karrick looks unconcerned about the duel aspect. "Depends on if they're good at shootin' with someone in their face. I could sneak in past 'em, sure. That's no problem. But I ain't the only one goin' on this mission."
Crossing his arms over his chest, Karrick looks to Muziel, then back to Klara. "I say we let sweetheart here try'n sweet talk 'em into lettin' us in. Then, if that fails, we try the more direct route."
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As an Immediate Action, once a turn you make make a Dueling Dodge which gives +4AC/Reflex until that attack that it was used against resolves, but you are -2 AC Until the start of your next turn.
As an Immediate Action you may make a resolve action to ward off death and keep fighting beyond death. If at 0 you make a fort save to remain conscious, if below 0 you can remain conscious, but with the staggered condition.
*Hero Points can be used just like they can for any other combat.
I will leave then and arrange to meet Flynn. Get ready and decide amongst yourselves what you want to do. I shall meet you at the Giant's Toe Tavern a few blocks from the Reidford guild house to tell you how it went, and to make a final decision. I beg you not to drag your feet on this.
Muziel will wait until Klara leaves and Kera brings Grachius in. "So Grachius, I hope you're feeling rested, because we're heading to the Giant's Toe Tavern. Do you think you can keep a low profile? Word on the street is you're not very popular in these parts." Of course, Muziel probably wasn't so popular either.
Muziel reflects on Grachius's question. .
Exhaling slowly, Karrick moves in beside Grachius and Muziel. With his goggles down its hard to tell exactly the kind of look he fires to the alchemist, so perhaps it's a good thing that Karrick clicks his tongue and adds, "Ladies..." His head motions in their direction. "It's not notice to gossip."
When Grachius and Muziel started whispering in some language Kara frowned then rolled her eyes. A smile crosses her face when Karrick makes the comment she was thinking.
”I think this was all too much for Miikae. She headed out with Sands. Looks like it’s just the three of us.”
Kara wasn’t happy with the way the numbers were dwindling but nothing could be done about it at this point.