--
The bulk of the party turns, rushing back to assist Kargas and Colvyn. Kellek gets up from underneath the table and detects some magic emanating from the unconscious spellcaster in the doorway, though it'll take some time and concentration to isolate and understand all the auras.
Flo provides some divine luck to Kargas.
The mercenary's gaze turns if anything more steely. Sparing no more words, he swings his bastard sword in a deadly arc. The blow strikes Kargas in the arm, cutting deep. He continues the arc, sending Kargas' blood across the floor. The absolute ease with which he landed his blow sends a shiver down Kargas' spine.
The mercenary backs into the hallway, getting out of the flank in the process.
|||| INIT ||||
Colvyn
Rig (x2 turns)
Guiness (6 dmg)
Kellek (1 NLdmg)
Kargas (20 dmg, shaken 2 rds)
Flo
??? Woman (21 NLdmg, 11 dmg, unconscious, prone, limned)
??? Mercenary (16 dmg)
Bold are Up!
I might not be able to post again until late tonight, so if you decide Kargas can reroll his attack last turn here's the roll:
Ha, one point better. If we're not doing the reroll please ignore this! :)
Rig turns to Kellek and says, "Don't take any chances. Kill her if she stirs," as he starts to move, carefully, through the grease.
His longer strides allow him to pass the others ("Make a hole!") as he runs back to help the others.
"Sorry for the quick split, pal," he says as he casts a healing spell on Kargas.
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"Honestly. Dwarves are wasted on cross-dungeon." says Kellek taking stock of the room and woman's possessions.
Calvin drops the club and take an arrow out of the quiver. He knocks it on the bow string and aim at the merc. "Well, the group is back, so that mean the girl is out. Too bad for you, you have blown your chance to walk out of here." He releases the arrow and let it fly toward the human.
Flo slows her run with a pair of heavy steps while she pulls out her other wand. "Don't let up Kargas!" she calls out as she closes some of his wounds. This guy is toast now. Don't know why we didn't just do this to start, but we're all flowing with it.
________
Kargas steps over to get a clear angle at the mercenary, and then delivers a powerful, luck-infused swing!
Despite the hint of fear eating at him, Kargas's falchion bites deep into the mercenary's leg.
----
-
Colvyn's arrow sails through the air and gashes the mercenary's cheek, though the wound is more irritating than life-threatening.
The mercenary responds with another powerful swing. His bastard sword arcs through the air and delivers a mirror of the bloodrager's blow, cutting a deep gash in Kargas' leg. The mercenary's quiet efficiency strikes fear into Colvyn this time, leaving him shaken.
|||| INIT ||||
Colvyn (shaken 2 rds)
Rig
Guiness (6 dmg)
Kellek (1 NLdmg)
Kargas (24 dmg, shaken 1 rd)
Flo
??? Woman (21 NLdmg, 11 dmg, unconscious, prone, limned)
??? Mercenary (30 dmg)
Bold are Up!
|
Guiness moves up beside the doorway in the open location, his short stride insufficient to bring him all the way to the enemy. He prepares his hammer for a powerful strike in case the mercenary comes within range.
Sparing a sidelong look at the heavily-wounded Kargas, he remarks in Dwarvish, "Ты выглядишь как дерьмо!"
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Still pretty angry about the whole broken sword thing, Rig slides behind Colvyn and throws a dagger at the man. (I'm taking a -2 here for range, not sure about soft cover penalty)
What is this guy? "Don't falter Kargas, keep at him!" Flo says, trying to encourage the Half-Orc while maintaining the butterflies for at least a little while longer. Clever though, he knows how to work the field to his advantage. We have no choice but to chase after him in a narrow hallway where our numbers are meaningless!
________
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"That sounded like Kargas's leg coming off.... Curses. Why does that man always have to scream when I'm trying to concentrate?"
Even through the azure haze of the Thunderbird blessing Kargas growls in pain as the warrior's blade bites deep again. He's a better fighter than me, the thought rises unbidden in the half-orc as the human backs away into the tunnel.
Unwilling to follow the warrior into the narrow confines, Kargas drops his falchion and draws the ranseur again, jabbing the weapon past his enemy's legs, then angling the blade and yanking back in an unpracticed sweep, hoping to topple the mercenary onto his back.
Hardly waiting to see the results of his own effort, Kargas steps out of the doorway next to Colvyn. "Shoot him, hunter! Fish in a barr--tunnel, hallway you know what I'm trying to say!"
|
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Even through the azure haze of the Thunderbird blessing Kargas growls in pain as the warrior's blade bites deep again. He's a better fighter than me, the thought rises unbidden in the half-orc as the human backs away into the tunnel.
Unwilling to follow the warrior into the narrow confines, Kargas drops his falchion and draws the ranseur again, jabbing the weapon past his enemy's legs, then angling the blade and yanking back in an unpracticed sweep, hoping to topple the mercenary onto his back.
[dice=Trip Attempt]1d20+8
[dice=BoL Trip]1d20+8
Hardly waiting to see the results of his own effort, Kargas steps out of the doorway next to Colvyn. "Shoot him, hunter! Fish in a barr--tunnel, hallway you know what I'm trying to say!"
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Colvyn lines up his clear shot and fires!
He finds a chink in the well-armored mercenary's banded mail and sends an arrow into his side.
---
Rig tosses a dagger into the air, sailing it over Kargas' head. It bounces off the ceiling, bounces off a wall, and somehow - miraculously - plunges blade first into the mercenary's calf. Kargas seizes on the opportunity and on Flo's blessing, and tries to trip the mercenary. His swing almost catches the fellow's leg but the mercenary pulls back in time.
Between Colvyn's arrow and the dagger sticking in him, the mercenary is looking ragged. He tosses his bastard sword to the ground and calls out "I yield, please, have mercy. I'll help you however I can if you leave me my life." His expression is dark, jaw set grimly and his voice choked with pain.
|||| INIT ||||
Colvyn (shaken 1 rd)
Rig
Guiness (6 dmg)
Kellek (1 NLdmg)
Kargas (24 dmg)
Flo
??? Woman (21 NLdmg, 11 dmg, unconscious, prone, limned)
??? Mercenary (43 dmg)
Bold are Up!
When the mercenary surrenders Kargas lets out an involuntary sigh of relief. Planting the haft of his ranseur on the stonework the cerulean glow fades from the half-orc's eyes and scar-runes, and he leans slightly against Flor.
"Hey Flor, we won," he grins weakly. "Bastard sure did a number on me through."
"Looks like it Kargas!" she says with a weary smile and a comforting arm around her friend. "Let's do something now about everyone's injuries." Raising her hand, the birthmark upon it glows and briefly fills the room with the faint image of a glowing meadow buzzing with life and riddled with wildflowers.
________
The mercenary unclasps and drops his shield, but he hesitates to step out into the waiting, heavily armed crowd.
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"A surrender from a foe is a victory in my book. And he might be able to tell us more about Nualia." Rig steps forward to the man, himself without a weapon armed. "Come, and let's get those wounds bound before you bleed to death. Unlike the goblins, we won't harm a man who asks for mercy."
Kargas grunts in agreement with Rig. "He's dangerous, but he surrendered. I'm no goblin, a foe beaten doesn't have to be a foe killed. Tie him up and take his blades and I reckon he'll be less of a threat."
|
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”As you like”, responds Guiness, putting away his hammer and pulling out some rope. Trusting in the smooth-talking Rig to negotiate the proper agreement, Guiness aids the others in stripping the man’s remaining weaponry and tying him up securely.
”Kellek, what is the situation with the mage?” he adds as an afterthought.
Once the mercenary is securely tied up, Colvyn moves next to him. "What a pity. If only you had stayed on your side of the door. Now, let's resume our conversation from earlier. What else is there in here that we should know about?"
The mercenary steps forward, hands out, and submits to being tied up. He nods gratefully to Rig, who he seems to see as the most reasonable person in the group. Guiness ties the fellow up tight with rope and he eases himself to the ground against the wall.
He sighs and mutters "Why do I keep picking jobs that burn me in the end...? Too proud for guard work, aren't you Orik..."
His head snaps up at the wave of healing from Flo and he smiles, more of a grimace really on his craggy face, appreciatively at her. "Well, at least I had enough luck to fight you lot rather than, say a horde of goblins." He shakes his head and looks up at Colvyn from his sitting position. "You lot were fighting Lyrie, I wasn't about to let her go get herself killed without at least trying to help. She's a hothead, but I'm sure you could have reasoned with her if you'd given her a chance."
He grimaces. "As for what I can tell you, it isn't too much. Nualia didn't let me go downstairs to where she was doing her work. Said it was 'not for my filthy eyes to see', whatever that means. What I can tell you is what I know of the area around here."
"There's some kind of tentacled beast living north of the supply room. We kept the hell away from it and it didn't wander out, so you can probably do the same." He pauses. "Off west of here is a jail of sorts. The goblins used it sometimes, but I don't think anyone's in there any more. Their jail warden or whatever goblins would call it, that little runt died on the raid on Sandpoint."
"Through the double doors is some kind of temple. I only got a glance of it. Nualia keeps her demon hounds in there. I don't know exactly what they are, but their screaming sends a shiver down your spine from plenty far away."
---
Kellek sees the sorceress is KO'd and still slumped unceremoniously on the floor.
|
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Guiness will guard Kellek as he checks out the mage, Lyrie. When he is done (assuming he also removes her materials needed for casting spells), Guiness offers to move her unconscious body over to the others.
"Kellek, do you think she knows anything beyond what her bodyguard knows? She may have been down in those lower levels..."
"Just so you know, Lyrie isn't dead either. We had to knock her out, and I'm pretty pissed about her breaking my sword, but she's alive. If you think she knows any more than you, you might encourage her to tell us. Nualia is the real foe."[
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While the others speak to Orik, Flo goes about healing everyone of their wounds with their wand. They both got lucky! He can clearly be reasonable, but why did it take violence and our mercy for him to be so? I'll have to figure out how we can just skip to this part in the future.
________
Giving Floredana a grateful nod, Kargas scoops up Orik's sword and sheathes it, slinging the weapon over his shoulder.
"How many demon hounds?" Kargas asks over his shoulder as he checks the next door in the line.
Orik looks uncomfortable for a moment, before answering "Lyrie was working with Nualia on whatever they were doing down below. She probably knows more about whatever they were up to. I don't know if she'd listen to me though." He scowls and adds with a hint of sullenness "Maybe if you got that Tsuto to talk to her..."
He glances at Kargas "I never got a good look at them, but it sounded like half a dozen screaming voices."
---
You lift a bunch of items off the mercenary, finding the following:
1x ??? vial of blue liquid labeled 'healing'
1x masterwork heavy steel shield
1x masterwork composite (STR +3) longbow
1x masterwork bastard sword
A pouch of coins with 15 platinum and 96 gold pieces.
On the spellcaster, you find:
1x ??? vial of light blue liquid
5x ??? different scrolls in a scroll case
1x ??? elegant wooden wand
1x dagger
1x ??? cloak
1x silver comb worth 25 gp
1x ??? dull gray stone, currently glowing with a pale, heat-less flame
1x Spell component pouch
A small pouch of bizarre artifacts, including little bundles of hair, fingernail clippings from a medium creature, used handkerchiefs, and a pearl earring worth 50gp
A spellbook with spells as described in the spoiler below.
A pouch of coins with 23 platinum and 278 gold pieces.
1st - burning hands, grease, ray of enfeeblement, mage armor, comprehend languages, detect secret doors, floating disk, identify, obscuring mist, sleep
2nd - locate object, minor image, see invisibility, invisibility, mirror image, shatter
Disclaimer: I distributed spells to levels from memory, so some may be wrong.
Kargas opens the door next to Flo, revealing what could easily be taken for a large storage closet at first glance - that is, if the explorer were deaf and willfully blind. The walls of this room are covered in deep shelves, and on the shelves there are large, rusty cages. And in those cages are dozens upon dozens of baby goblins.
When the door opens, the goblin babies begin a terrible cacophony of screaming, yelling and gnashing of teeth. They look wild and hungry.
|
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Guiness picks up the masterwork heavy steel shield, setting down his own battle-worn shield. He smiles, and says quietly to Rig, ”I am no negotiator, but I suggest we get as much information as we can in exchange for letting them go. We would take their premium equipment as the spoils of battle, then extract a promise from them to leave and never return.”
Glancing at the shrewish spellcaster, he continues, ”Given her attitude, we may not be doing him a favor, but stranger things have happened...”
1x ??? vial of light blue liquid -> Potion of Cure Light Wounds
5x ??? different scrolls in a scroll case -> Scrolls of... comprehend languages, minor image, see invisibility, sleep, and whispering wind.
1x ??? elegant wooden wand -> Wand of Magic Missile (38 charges)
1x ??? cloak -> Cloak of Resistance +1
1x ??? dull gray stone, currently glowing with a pale, heat-less flame -> Dull gray Ioun Stone, enchanted with Continual Flame
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Before Guiness has even completed his sentence Kargas is shaking his head. "Not a chance in all the Hells, dwarf. Bastard signed on with goblins an' demons to massacre a town. The Sandpoint chiefs get to decide what's done with' em, and I'd bet my left arm it ends with both of them kicking on the end of a rope."
Opening the door the half-orc takes one look at the nursery and immediately closes the door, just as the shrieking starts. "It's empty," he informs the others, carefully ignoring the muted wails.
|
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”I know the goblins raided the town, but not sure about these lot,” replies Guiness, ”Of course, you were there and I was not. If they were involved in that, justice demands they answer to the Sandpoint authorities.”
”Working with and for demons seems pretty bad too. Sounds like the girl is in deep there. Perhaps there will be evidence behind those creepy doors that will allow us to understand their level of criminality...”
"Tsuto won't be speaking to anyone... ever again," Rig tells the warrior.
"Hmm, I didn't think these 2 had anything to do with Sandpoint?"
"I don't recall seeing anything else but goblins during the attack. Then again, the town is big and I couldn't be everywhere at once." Colvyn starts exploring the corridor from where the mercenary came from, making sure that there isn't any traps.
"They might even be tasked with working off their crimes, or something to that effect. If we can't prove they were at the raid, we do know that they were assisting the goblins that did. We might as well have the elders sort this out," Flo reasons out loud. "Either way, I say we keep the ball rolling and sort out prisoners and their fate after we finish up here." We already can't be on the same page in the middle of a fight, let's save the debate for when we are safe and sound on that boat!
When she is confident that Orik and Lyrie aren't going anywhere, Flo will follow the others down the hallway at a distance.
________
Kargas orders Orik facedown on the stone and hogties him and the unconscious Lyrie, then follows Guiness and Colvyn.