Between your sudden flurry of attacks, the man is caught helpless! The blade, the bomb, and Orz rip into him, and he falls to the ground, bleeding out.
You are now out of combat. Mutilated bodies of what you assume are workers litter the room, as do, now, the bodies of Goblin and this person.
There is also a strange worked bit of glass in an alcove to the northeast, as well as where the man came through for you to check out. There has not yet been any sign of Ameiko.
Too wound up and impatient to stand still with the mutagen still coursing through him, Lackspell will stride over to the alcove to examine the worked glass.
With their enemy defeated, Varak quickly took to his knees, looking over their fallen foe. "My friend, please apply your manacles before I heal his wounds. He has questions and crimes to answer and I'd appreciate his hands and feet bound as to avoid any of those punches or kicks," he asked of his armored friend. Rather than cast one of his more potent healing spells, he'd instead channel the fervor of his faith, only needing the mans wounds sealed.
The man is bound and you apply just enough healing to bring the man back to consciousness. He coughs, his body covered in wounds, and tests his bonds experimentally. He glares sullenly at you as Arkon rifles through his belongings.
Ren, you can see that it is a set of stairs leading down into a basement level. You'd have to descend the stairs to see the features of the room.
You find;
A composite shortbow (+1 strength bonus) and 20 arrows
Masterwork thieve's tools
A masterwork lute
Silver earrings
A ring
A journal
A potion of some type
6 pouches of gold dust
8 pouches of silver dust
10 platinum pieces
Arkon, the ring is definitely magical but you can't figure out what it does. You can make another spellcraft check (as can anyone else who wants to examine it).
The potion is a potion of Cure Light Wounds.
Lackspell, here you find a true horror. What is inside the glass used to be a man, but now it is macabre art. You recognize the man that was yelling at Ameiko just last night; Lonjiku Kaijutsu.
It is difficult to recognize him, however. He is bound to a chair, and the chair itself apparently had been drenched in molten glass. Upon hardening, it came to resemble a throne of shards. But what was done to the man inside....
You can see areas where his the glass burnt him to the bone, his flesh melting into the glass in a grotesquely beautiful fashion. The only thing that makes him recognizable is the fact that he bowed his head as it was happening, and his face was spared the worst of it.
"You have much to answer and if you surrender and cooperate the grace of Apsu will see you unharmed and spared. Let us start with the most concerning: where have you hidden Miss Ameiko," the reptile was quick to get to the point, his tongue flicking from his mouth as he seemed a bit agitated despite wishing for peace. Frankly, this elf has caused quite a bit of misery for the town and had possibly hurt someone Varak knew to be very kind. It was a struggle to not be more violent with one who deserved it, but the priest pressed on and prevailed, though he had yet to learn of the horror hidden just behind him.
The man will spit at you. Looking at him a bit more closely, he appears to be a half-elf.
"You'll get nothing out of me, you devolved reptile! I serve a greater cause!"
Lackspell stares at the scene before him for a moment, his mind almost refusing to accept what his eyes are seeing. Then suddenly the horror of it overwhelms him and with a cry of revulsion and dismay he reels back from the glass encased corpse.
Stumbling across the room in an almost instinctive attempt to get away from the ghastly sight, he falls to his knees and is noisily sick.
How ... how could... oh gods ... how could anyone do this to another person... and he did this to his own father!!! Even Veltic was not so monstrous.
The shock of the moment plus being sick and expelling the remainder of the mutagen from his system ends the effect prematurely and by the time he has finished being ill, he has shrunk back to normal.
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Chrona's theatrics die down while the man is bound and revived, her sword fizzling out and her hair losing it's fiery flicker. She walks up to him as he talks back to Varak with disrespect, as she grabs him by the face it is clear the ifrit's blood still boils underneath.
"You have no right! Listen to me you goblin-f!@~er, cooperate or I'll make you look worse than the inside of this room. Did you cause the Festival attacks? Are you responsible for what happened here? Where is Ameiko?!"
To be clear, are you searching the rooms on the current level that you passed over?
You find nothing of note. The rest of the level is much as you would expect it; a place of business, although some rooms have certainly been rifled through by the now dead goblins. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to any of the destruction you find. Likely, it was merely wanton acts of destruction by bored goblins.
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When they finish clearing this floor, Ren stops hiding and says to Arkon:
Tell the others I'm going to get the guards to take custody of our prisoner. They should see what the Elf and his goblins did.
When Arkon indicates he understands Ren goes out the door they can in. Calling the guardsman over they talked to before she quietly says to him:
I need a few Guards with strong arms and stronger stomachs. There were goblins and well... It isn't pretty. It's also not something any of the town's children should have to see.
Then assuming he starts gathering some guards, she fades back into the shadow of the glass factory to wait.
Trying desperately to find something other than the horrific thing in the alcove to look at, Lackspell finds himself standing at the top of the stairs looking down into the basement as the rest of the group continue to search around the remainder of the ground floor of the building.
Downstairs... that would make sense... probably a good place to hide goblins down there... And the journal mentioned a smuggler's tunnel... surely that must lead in down here... Maybe Miss Ameiko is locked up down here... that seems ... likely. Or at least something we can hope for. But .. but... someone who could do ... THAT ... to his own father, is capable of anything...
Numbly, he pulls a sunrod from the outside of his pack and striking it on the doorframe, takes a couple of cautious steps down the stairs.
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While the others try to pry answers from the half elf, Praetor removes a whetstone from his pouch and begins honing the edge of his greatsword.
"Way I see it you have two choices, both have the same outcome. One just ends sooner. Tell us what you know. Do it now and you won't have to sit in jail, and we won't have to question you sharply."
Praetor's attention isn't on the prisoner, though. It's on the room, the goblins, the horrid glass art in the alcove. This is what I was sent to destroy. This is my purpose. This madness will end."
After a few moments of silence, the paladin speaks aloud. "The Dawnguard hold the belief that mercy towards evil, such as we have encountered here, is a form of weakness. When a wounded leg festers, you cut it off before the infection spreads. Your sickness has ended many innocent lives," now he is looking at the shackled half elf with disgust in his eyes. "That has come to an end."
He stands above their prisoner. "Where is Ameiko? Why did this happen? Speak!"
The bound half-elf looks at all of you in turn, contempt plain on his face. When you call him Tsuto, he does glare at you, Chrona.
"Question me sharply all you want, you knuckle-dragging oaf! You'll get nothing from me. Innocent...bah! There are no innocent left anymore."
He falls silent. It seems clear that unless you have some way of magically compelling him, he has resolved to stay silent.
Ren, you are able to find the guard from earlier, and he nods grimly before going to retrieve more guards to assist.
Lackspell, you go down the stairs. You can see, with your sunrod, that the hall continues on for about sixty feet, then breaks off to the left. However, from where you are right now, looking to your left, you can see that a wall has been tunneled through enough to allow Small creatures to pass through unhindered.
Lackspell stands at the bottom of the stairs for a moment, staring down the hall. Then he quickly mixes and drinks down a potion . He stands, listening carefully for any sounds from down the hall ahead of him.
He bites his lip nervously as he considers...
Should I call out to her? She might be tied up just around that corner. But there could also be more goblins. I doubt it though. Any more goblins couldn't have failed to hear all that noise upstairs. Still, best just to stay quiet for the moment.
Then he moves over to the hole in the wall to his left and, poking the sunrod through the hole, looks into whatever is beyond.
You find Lackspell easily, as he is holding a sunrod.
The tunnel continues straight, then breaks off to the right. You could probably squeeze through if you wanted. There is still also the path straight from the stairs that forks left.
As Ren catches up to Lackspell he glances around and her and then smiles quietly to himself as he turns back...
Good, I am glad she is here. She makes me feel safer in places like this...
Then he speaks softly ... This is new he says, gesturing to hole in the wall...or maybe newly re-opened? I don't know. I can't hear anything down there, but if it is this smuggler's tunnel he was writing about, then I suppose it would make sense that if he's got Ameiko anywhere, it would be down there.
Down there, in the dark... stop it you fool! You're the one carrying the sunrod, you are bringing light down here. And after what we've seen upstairs, if all he's done is leave her in the dark then she will be very lucky indeed
He licks his lips nervously.
What do you think Ren, through the hole, or down the hall?
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Chrona gets a smile on her face as the half elf glares at her with contempt. When Praetor leaves she follows him, "If you don't want me to join you I understand, but we should talk before you interrogate that one. Aldern shared some details with me about Ameiko's family history that may prove useful. I'm also curious if that goblin of yours will recognize him."
As they descend the stairs onto the dark Chrona casts Dancing Lights, letting the luminaries float before them to light the way.
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Ren looks down and speaks softly as if explaining something obvious.
Ameiko would either be struggling or unconscious. Carrying a full grown struggling woman is hard. Ripper used to have to pin the new girls down and beat them before he took them in the hut..... I grabbed on the walls, kicked and bit the first few times before I learned better.
Ameiko would have fought, unless they knocked her out. And a limp grown woman is heavy. So I doubt the Elf could carry her while crawling. She's too big to be carried by goblins. So I think they would have her in the bigger passages someplace.
She raises her head and almost meets Lackspells eyes.
Master Lackspell, I'll go Scout ahead with Mr. Arkon and Orz. But I can't see as well as him down here, so count to 10 and then follow slowly with the light. Don't worry, I will warn you before you run into anything. Just shout if anyone comes up behind...
Without waiting for a reply she quietly disappears into the gloom ahead.
Lackspell stares, speechless, at Ren as she disappears down the hallway ahead.
I... she... oh, oh! Ripper? What sort of name is Ripper? What sort of name is Lackspell? But he, he must have... How? How is she so strong? By the gods!
...nine ...ten..
Startled to find he has been counting to ten under his breath while running through what Ren had just told him, he sets out at a slow pace, following her path down the hall.
Having stepped away to wipe his have, tail thumping on the ground in an unintentional display of aggravation, Varak let his companions take control of the interrogations. He did not trust his anger with the half-elf, especially since his tenants only allowed mercy once for their enemies. The father of dragons would never forgive such an insult. Afterwards, Varak would follow after his companions down below, silent as he contemplated if it was possible they were too late. The lizardfolk truly hoped not.
You head down the hall, which forks to the left. You can see that it extends perhaps thirty feet before hooking left again. There are two rooms on the right, both with doors closed. One is in the center of the hall, and one is further down, near where the path goes left again.
This room is empty. Clearly used as a storeroom, it has been ransacked by Goblins and you find nothing of worth.
It's faint, but you can hear somewhat labored breathing through the door.
Arkon, filled with the desire to smash something, smites the door! It splinters.
On the ground ten feet in front of you, you find Ameiko. She is bound, and unconscious. Examining her will show that she has been badly injured, and needs medical attention.
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Praetor is all business the moment he sees Ameiko. He kneels down next to her even as Arkon heals her with magic. The paladin tries to determine the cause of her injuries, and will attempt to care for the most serious of them. He removes the healing kit from his backpack to aid him.
"Ameiko. You are safe."
Once the worst of her wounds are bound and she is stabilized, he will add additional healing after Arkon's spell.
"We need to get her out of here."
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Ameiko draws in a shuddering gasp, returning to consciousness as the worst of her wounds are magically healed. Praetor, while there was certainly blood, there were almost no lacerations. There was a lot of bruising and probably fractured ribs before you healed her. She was clearly injured by blunt weapons, probably hands and feet.
Her eyes flutter open and she fixes you with a small smile, Praetor. Her voice is weak but steady.
"Normally I like to be bought a drink before I wake up tied hand and foot. For future reference, my safe word is 'lawsuit'. Also...ouch."