The guards are spaced evenly through the building. Flori and Lefty will be near the center. Skaler and M'kellid are at each end.
Two of the guards show up hungover but get to work quickly enough.
The bride is concerned but the rain stops and the evening is cloudy but dry. Flori and Lefty (and the rest) take up their stations, carefully watching the proceedings.
It is an impressive crowd, from the upper crust of Absalom society. Some of the richest traders, merchants and bankers in the city show up, names Flori and Lefty vaguely recognized. A few nobles even show up, slumming it among the commercial classes, and even a few political powers show up, probably looking for bribes.
The guests pile in, over three hundred of them, sitting in a vast sea of tables and chairs, waited on and served by the staff. The wedding ceremony itself is stunning, the altar to Abadar, Rodgam's personal god, is covered with flowers and jewels and flashes in magical lantern light The torches along the wall lit the shadowy old warehouse into a bright, warmly lit hall. The actual wedding goes off without a hitch, and the happy couple take a table.
Everyone else gets to eating and dancing, as a band takes a small stage and strikes up a jaunty tune. A fat man with a bright red face, and obviously having drunk a bit too much of the fine wine,s tumbles near Flori saying, "Now why is a pretty young lady like yourself carrying a such a nasty weapon."
To make sure no one harasses me.
Flori's usual frosty glare doesn't seem quite up to snuff and the tipsy man keeps flirting for a few minutes. Eventually he wanders off, for more malleable prey. The night goes on, a good part lasting long after dark.
Lefty surveys the scene of dancing and eating people. He is looking for trouble. He checks in with Message with everyone, nothing unusual. Then M'kellid says, "I think I see something...a necklace on a table. Wait it is-"
Then the room is plunged into sudden blackness. Every torch, every lamp, every candle is snuffed out instantly, plunging the room into darkness. Even the magical lights, such as the sunrods are extinguished. The overcast night sky outside sheds no light.
The crowded hall becomes a panicked mass of people shouting, yelling and cursing. Lefty, with low-light vision can still see somewhat, but his sight-lines are full of people running and crashing into each other. The orderly wedding has become a madhouse.
Then, to his horror, he hears one of the guards voices through Message. The man's voice is thin and scared, obviously under duress.
"That's one." Then, "I said it, let me-" it cuts off with a gurgle.
Lefty thinks it's a Darkness spell.
There goes my bonus...
Everyone get ready to move! Arm up! I'll get the lights back on, he whispers to those who can hear him.
It seems like a Dust of Twilight spell, but of a much larger range. The building is 100 feet long and 30 feet wide. The guard who was killed was in near the middle near one of the side doors. Lefty can see what M'kellid probably was looking at, but sees nothing among the chaos. That said several tables have been flipped in the panic.
Lefty knows the spell normally only covers a 10' spread. If it's this close to him, the culprit is probably in the spread right near him!
Come towards me, he tells his allies.
Forget the amulet. The elf looks for someone cloaked or otherwise looking out of place, or making furtive motions, like reaching for a wand or weapon inside the 10'spread.
He'll act after he spots it.
Flori heeds Lefty's words and walks towards where he was.
Lefty scans the jostling crowd. It is hard, among the tossed tables, panicked guests and chaos to see anything. A few of the guests must have some magic as a few small halos of Light appear, but the small areas just make the rest of the room harder to see.
Flori pushes through the crowd, but finds it hard going. The other guards are shouting through Message, adding to the chaos and jumpiness.
Lefty thinks he spots someone, a thin man with a young but boring face, start to pull a wand. He doesn't look evil and maybe he is just someone looking to cast a bit of light?
Lefty casts Dispel Magic to end the effect. CL vs. DC.
He's quite close to Rodgam. Everyone gets to roll initiative.
The room is dark, with a few areas of light, small circles of them. Room is still in a panic and people are trying to get out of the main doors.
Flori doesn't see much in the mess, and the darkness is more opaque to her then Lefty. She spots half a dozen men and women who act strangely only to dismiss them as they are fighting trying to escape.
The ranger has to fight the crowd as well, and in the darkness not everyone can see she is armed so assume she can be knocked over.
Unable to do anything about the darkness, they all waste rounds trying to see. The assassin kills and escapes, free.
Lefty spots the man pull a wand. However, due to the chaos, he is bumped and jostled too much to get a spell off.
The guards are converging, pressing through the crowd. Flori and Lefty have trained them well, and even in dark chaos they know they have to react.
Stay there, Flori!
Flori waits.
Lefty leaps through the fleeing crowd, though it's thinner in the middle where he is.
He stops and uses his ring to cast Darkvision on Flori, then points, That guy! With the wand!
She sees him, now. If she can reach him in a move, she'll attack with Chopstick.
Add +4 to hit and damage, if he's 1/2 human or more.
The man sees Lefty point but doesn't have time to dodge. Flori covers the distance, now seeing clearly enough. Her blow catches the man in the back, knocking the wand out of his hand. He curses, and the other guards circle in.
M'Kellid throws a Snowball but it misses, flying wide. None of the others are quite close enough to attack, yet.
Again, the assassin curses and darts toward one of the locked and barred doors. Sprinting, he throws a flask of some oil at the door. It smashes against it, and despite Lefty's best attempts, the door swings open wide, allowing a breath of fresh air off the docks. Vaulting the crowd, the man heads outside.
Lefty casts Haste on Flori, himself, Shadow (like he needs it), M'kellid, Skaler and the closest guard. We move 60', Shadow moves 80.
Out the side door. After him!
Flori gives chase, siccing Shadow on the fleeing man as she exits the door. Lefty is right behind.
They all pile out into the street, the man with a lead but Shadow making up the distance quickly. The cat moves like a shadow, silent but sure.
The assassin is headed for an old looking building when Shadow catches him. The cat tries to bite him.
The claws rip into him, but he keeps his feet and vanishes into a crumbling old warehouse. Behind him, int he area in front of the door he drops something, a bunch of somethings.
That will slow her, but Flori won't lose any ground on the slower man.
She moves 30' through the caltrops without issue. Shadow also moves at half speed: 40'.
Lefty does like Flori, right behind her.
Three creatures are perceiving the man. Shadow has scent.
They jump between the caltrops are high speed. The bleeding man is hardly going any faster and even with the spiky metal tools, the gap closes. While the man vanishes from vision for a second as he dives in the room, the trail is clear between his blood and Shadow's nose.
All three of them spot the man hurry into a broken old tunnel, leading into the sewers. A noxious, putrid smells rises from the cracked tunnel, lined with rotten bricks and old mortar. They are gaining on him, and the knee deep sewage will slow him more. But his blood may draw unwanted attentions from the local sewer predators and scavengers...
Flori has no trouble tracking the man.
Shadow uses his nose to know where the man went. Lefty follows close, ready to attack on sight.
They splash into the muck stirring up some very nasty smelling items, but Shadow is determined. With her help, they follow the man through divides and turnings, never losing him. Flori has no trouble following the blood trail and his stirred up muck.
They soon close on him, and in a long straight tunnel they spot him, 15 feet ahead, trying to push through the thick slime and grease of the sewer. He glances them and cries in alarm, trying to get away.
Flori steps up to him, blade drawn. Surrender or die! she shouts.
Shadow flanks with his master, cutting off escape.
Lefty prepares to cast, motes of deadly magic glowing around his upraised hands. If the man does anything but surrender, he'll cast, and Flori and Shadow will attack.
He fears the man will escape, anyway. He has no counter to teleportation magic.
The man is normal height and weight, maybe a bit stockier around the shoulders. His thin brown hair is balding, and his face is thick and red from his exertion. he is not wearing any armor, just dirty brown non-descript clothes. In his hand he has a long knife.
When Flori shouts at him, he growls back, 'Never!' and tries to stab Flori, a wild look in his eyes.
It goes wild, the man obviously not used to fighting.
Flori expected something more sinister. Maybe he's not who they're looking for.
She tries to knock him out, instead.
Lefty flanks with his sap.
The blows hit the man hard, and Lefty's blows leaves the man with a bloody lump on his head. He falls, senseless into the muck. The splash is loud and slings slimy goo onto Flori's nice clothes, ruining them.
Just as that sound dies away, Shadow tenses, nose twitching. Then Flori can hear it, something sloshing down the sewer. Squeaking, and rustling of fur. Up the narrow channel comes a horrid, strange sight. Squeaks and chattering cries rise from a tangle of diseased rats with their tails knotted together.
to know about the thing.
Get him out of here. I'll hold it off!
Lefty casts Glitterdust, hoping to blind the thing. Will 18. He turns and runs.
Flori grabs her blade, hoists the man up on her shoulder, and runs for it. Shadow gets between her and the creature.
Lefty got in before Shadow. He casts Vanish on himself, and squeezes on, right behind Flori. He can see what follows.
Shadow backs in. The elf can help protect Flori. Shadow always defends Flori.
The space is tight and Lefty sees no end to it. He hopes this doesn't go to a dead end or a grate that prevents them from fleeing.
Lefty's glitterdust hits the snarling nest of rats square on.
The dust isn't enough and the beady eyes of the ratking are undimmed. It hisses with a dozen throats and attacks at Shadow.
A flurry of bites land but do little damage to the big cat, who hisses and spits at the nibbles of pain. But the ratking's teeth are frothing with illness and poison...
The cat shakes off any effects though, ready to counter attack.
Shadow fearlessly defends his own.
He moves back 5'.
Latharien isn't enjoying this, either. He fires, and becomes visible.
Flori keeps forcing her way forward, unable to do anything else.
Lefty's burning spell hurts the ratking, burning fur and flesh, and making the rats squeal in pain. Shadow seems ti have a hard time biting the swirling mass of rodents, perhaps confused by the swarm like nature of them.
It is not stopped though, smelling blood in the water. Again it tries to bite Shadow in the tight confines.
The tunnel doesn't widen, only becomes more choked with waste,slime and sludge. Flori's nose crinkles as she sees everything from old papers washed down the drains to a whole cooked turkey, floating in the muck.
Having no other choice, Shadow carries on.
Lefty knows this thing's hard to hit, so he goes with the sure thing.
He then pulls out the extra CLW wand. Shadow's looking a bit ragged.
Flori trudges on.
FLori pushes on then curses. She has reached a dead end, a dirty grate covered with muck blocks her path.
Behind her Shadow's claws rip into the tangled mess of dirt and rats, killing several of them, the dead bodies pulled along by the others. Lefty's missiles seem confused by the group of rats and the missiles seem to do little damage.
As they watch, the murky water starts to rise above Lefty's knees. They might get trapped down here.
The ratking, bothered by the rising water bites Shadow some more.
It seems less eager to grapple with the cat however and only pair pair of jaws hits the mark.
Shadow is about to counterattack when Flori calls him back to her. He obeys, leaving Lefty to defend them.
The elf draws his sword and goes into Total Defense. +6 dodge bonus to AC (22, now).
Flori drops the unconscious man, draws her bow and two arrows, and tries to kill the nasty thing. Lefty tries to make himself small, but he's still an obstacle.
She misses by a mile, as people using this dice roller are wont to do.
The arrow misses, skittering between the densely packed rats.
Seeing Lefty exposed the rats surge forward.
As before some of the teeth bite the elf but it isn't the blood or pain, but the foul filth pressed into his wounds that worry the rouge.
He feels kinda queasy but nothing happens.
The sewer water keeps rising, reaching Lefty's and Flori's waist, with clinging scum and filth.
Flori regrets trying to save the man, who is now drowning. Get behind me!
She moves forward and faces the thing herself.
Flori misses as well, but the water is rising. Squeaking the ratking scurries away, nearly swimming.It becomes clear why as the sewage rises to their necks, and the knocked out man starts to sink in the sludge, and Shadow has a tough time.
Lefty grabs Flori's bow, not the man. He can't help him.
He's not strong enough to deal with the drowning man. Flori will grab him if it's possible, but she won't risk drowning herself.
It would be nice to have a culprit to show for all their efforts, but survival comes first.
It isn't easy. It isn't pretty. It certainly isn't pleasant. But after a solid hour or so of swimming, treading water and wading through filth all three, and the knocked out man, get back to street level, the sewers behind them. Stinking to high heaven and exhausted they sprawl on the dark nighttime street for a moment. Then the assassin stirs, moving slightly.
Some rope, Lefty. I'll tie his hands.
Yes, the elf replies, digging through his pack. I'll gag him, too. No telling what nonsense he could pull.
Once they're sure the man can't wave his hands or speak words of power, Flori starts casting Prestidigitation on everyone, wanting to get rid of the nose-wrinkling stench of sewage and rotting turkey. She'll cast some healing on Shadow from her wand.
Lefty casts Detect Magic, hoping to find any items on the man that would help him escape.
We've got to get back to the party, and make sure everyone's all right. the ranger says.
Right. We can figure out what this man is about later, perhaps in a Zone of Truth, or like magic. Rodgam's in good standing with the church of Abadar. He can persuade them to get to the bottom of this. Maybe they can check me for disease, too.
Tired but successful, the trio returns with their suspect, hoping no one was harmed, and the lights are back on.
Absalom is a big city and never fully sleeps. Even now, late on a rainy night they pass peddlers, beggars, nightsoil men, and revelers. On one dark corner a oil-cloaked Watchman spots them and waves them down, shouting, 'Who the hell are you?'
They make quite a sight. An Elf, a woman and a cat, all filthy and coated with sewage, carrying a tied up m an through the street.
The Watch Man has a whistle at his lips and a sword in his hand, eyeing them, the rain running down his red beard. 'What's all this?"
You are right to question us. This is the man we believe is responsible for the recent spate of murders. We just chased him out of the Rodgam wedding, after he tried to murder someone there. Follow us back there, and Sir Rodgam can verify the truth of my words.
The Watch man eyes them, adding, 'I think we'll have to go look into that..." As he speaks the assassin starts to writhe and twist on Flori's shoulder. His muffled cries are loud and ragged, as his whole body seizes and jerks.
Let's just get him there, and we can figure out what's wrong with him later, the elf suggests. We need to find out who he is.
Even as Lefty says it the man stops thrashing suddenly, sagging across Flori's shoulders as dead weight. There is no mistaking it, the man is dead and the Watch Man's eyes widen. 'That...that man is dead!"
he blows the whistle and more men come running up,s words and clubs drawn. "You are under arrest!" The first man says, a bit shakily, and eyes the many weapons they have. "Come along quietly."